Soon after I had captured Lola, I had to sit through the perfunctory "welcome to the world of pokemon" speech that every starter distributor coughs up to annoy beginning trainers. I wasn't officially left alone until Bianca and Cheran had walked me out to Route 19 to show me how to catch a pokemon, even though they SAW ME throw a pokeball to catch Lola. Bianca said that she had to still do it though because technically Lola went with me willingly, and most pokemon won't give up their independence that easily. I still think it was annoying though. Unless you live an incredibly sheltered life and are ignorant of pokemon in general, then it should be fairly obvious that you have to weaken them before you catch them.

Luckily I did get something out of it though. After she got through catching a Purrloin she gave me 10 pokeballs for free. That was pretty fun, though I doubt I'd use them all. I mean, I respect the pokedex project but I have something to prove first, and my quest won't get done if I tried to fill an encyclopedia first.

Wishing me good luck, Bianca and Cheran went back to Aspertia, leaving me all alone on route 19 again. Well, not totally alone, I had Lola with me. I stared at her pokeball, which felt heavier with my friend inside, and smiled as I raised it up.

"Okay Lola. Let the training begin!" I said as it opened up, Lola the Deino leaping out of it. She landed gracefully in front of me, well, as graceful as a lanky, blind dragon can, and gave me a huge smile when she turned around. I furrowed my brows at her as I lifted a hand in front of her face, slowly waving it around while she followed its movements. What the heck? Wasn't she blind?

"How are you doing that? I thought you can't see?" I asked her. Lola sat down and thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it to me despite the language barrier. I could feel something poking into my thoughts, and I smiled as i petted her.

"Well, maybe you aren't totally blind. Let's give it a try and get some training done! If you are going to be strong, then you'll need to practice. Let's find an opponent." I said while she jumped up excitedly. I put my hand on her head, both to help guide her and to somewhat reassure myself, as we both wandered through the grass, searching for pokemon. We heard a growling and Lola tensed up, moving in front of me to protect me as the Deino from earlier returned. They were not happy about Lola beating them, and returned with their friends. I smirked as I gripped Lola's pokeball tightly, looking down at the Deino.

"Perfect. What do you say Lola? Up for round 2?" I asked. Lola snorted and stamped her foot angrily.

"Deino!" She said defiantly. I laughed and stepped backwards to give her more room.

"Let's boogie! Lola, use Dragon Rage!" I commanded. Lola roared as she obeyed, releasing the same purple-blue fire from before. It was certainly a powerful attack, for her level, and it engulfed many of the surrounding Deino, knocking them all out with one hit.

"Yeah! Go Lola! Teach them not to mess with the little guy!" I yelled, pleased with her progress. But I celebrated too soon. Her attack couldn't last forever, and she ran out of breath. With the flames gone, Lola panted softly, trying to catch her breath again. There were a lot more Deino this time though, and they would not give her the chance to beat them again as they all ran forward, tackling Lola over and over and in some cases, biting her. Lola yelped in pain as each blow connected, and it was all I could do to not rush over and rescue her from them. Maybe if I could call her back into her pokeball, I could run away quickly and get back to the gate. Surely the guards and their Arcanine partners were strong enough to fight off all of these pokemon. Gritting my teeth, I held Lola's pokeball up towards her.

"Lola! Return! I`ll get us away!" I cried. The pokeball emitted a red beam of light that shot out, and Lola leapt up to meet it, allowing the beam to hit her scar and pull her into the ball, much to the attacking Deino's anger as they then turned on me. I grinned wickedly at them and turned around.

"Catch me if you can, asshats!" I yelled, sprinting for the gates while the standing Deino ran after me. The one good thing about being small is that I`m fast and very agile. I can dart around pretty quickly as long as I don't have to run far. Luckily the gate wasn't that far. I ran through the doors and smirked as the Arcanine leapt over the counter and charged in front of me, snarling and barking at the now-stopping Deino. They both let loose powerful roars the sent the Deino scurrying for their lives. I couldn't help but giggle at the entire situation as I walked over to the Arcanine, giving them both a tight hug and smiling at their trainer.

"Thanks you guys. Lola and I bit off a bit more than we could handle." I said as the Arcanine licked my hands while the guard nodded.

"It happens, just go on to the pokemon center and get your pokemon healed. Don't worry, we'll make sure those pokemon stay out." She said cheerfully while her Arcanine barked in agreement. I smiled at them as I made my way back into Aspertia.

As I stood at the counter, waiting while Nurse Joy used her Machine to emulate a stronger version of Heal Pulse over Lola's pokeball, I started to think about what went wrong with me and Lola back on Route 19. Clearly she was very powerful, but she didn't have the mindset to limit it. I opened the pokedex and opened up the entry for Deino.

"Deino, the Irate Pokemon. Because they cannot see, Deino bite and tackle everything that surrounds them. These aggressive pokemon are usually covered in scars as a result." The mechanical voice stated. I frowned at the info because Lola never did any of that. I mean yeah she took my hand into her mouth when we first met, and tends to nose me a little, but she's been very gentle and calm to me overall.

Maybe that's why the other Deino don't like her. Maybe she's too soft and timid to actually stand up for herself. Suddenly I felt myself growing angry. In a way, Lola and I weren't all that different from each other. I am a small girl who has been told I would never be worth anything by all except a few. Lola too, has paid dearly for being just a bit smaller and less confident than everyone else. Well, that won't happen to her anymore! Not if I have anything to say about it! As soon as Lola comes off that machine, we're going to do some serious training.

I puffed out my chest, my confidence soaring with my solidified resolve, as Nurse Joy brought back my pokeball, giving me an odd and amused look.

"Here you are. Your Deino is feeling just fine now. You can go back to training, but I suggest you be careful not to get too far ahead of yourselves." She said warmly. I smiled and thanked the pokemon doctor, letting Lola out of her pokeball. The poor thing looked absolutely miserable, as if she had kicked her favorite puppy while trying to crush a cockroach. I put the pokeball back on my belt and picked up Lola, hugging her tightly.

"Don't worry Lola, we'll get better. I promise that last beating you took will be your last. Come on, let's go get some special training in and then we'll go show those Deino once and for all what a powerful pokemon you are!" I said, running out of the center with Lola in my arms. Although smaller than normal Deino, she was still pretty bulky, and running with her was kind of awkward, but at that moment I didn't care. I was going to reassure my friend that everything was okay and that I would help her any way I could.

Running until we got to the outlook, I set Lola down and panted, the wind being sucked out of me from my run with a 30 pound dragon. Lola poked her nose into my chest with a soft whine, as though asking me if I was alright, and I couldn't help but grin as I shot upright and threw my arm at Lola, pointing at her.

"I know what went wrong in that last battle, and why those Deino were so pissed at you to begin with. You aren't like other Deino are you? You're small, cuddly, and you don't have a mean bone in your body. Those are all very good things, but some people and pokemon don't think so. They tell you that because of those qualities you are beyond useless and worthless, and that the only way you could contribute to society is by staying out of the way." I declared, making Lola silent and melancholy. I hit the nail on the head. I smiled as I kneeled down to stare at her face.

"Believe me I`ve been there Lola. All of my classmates and neighbors have told me I would never amount to anything. Except for the Gym Leader, Nurse Joy, my mom and the afternoon shift Guard, no one believes I will be anything more than a runt who got lucky to be born. But you know what? I do. I know that if just given the chance, I can be more than what everyone tells me I can be." I continued. I cupped Lola's face with my hands and touched my forehead to her nose, trusting her not to bite me.

"Do you want to know why I believe that? My mom told me something special once. Do you remember the pokeball you brought back to me? That pokeball once held my mom's favorite pokemon. Arrow was a dunsparce that she absolutely adored, and it wasn't because Arrow was strong or pretty or rare. Arrow believed in herself and in her trainer, and no matter what happened she would always take on any challenge. It didn't matter how many people hated her, because my mom loved her unconditionally and she loved her back. That was enough for my mom and Arrow. Arrow showed mom she loved her with her constant willingness to fight for her beliefs, and Mom showed her loyalty to Arrow by buying her a special pokeball that cost her a fortune to get." I petted Lola as I brought the pokeball between us

"The people who make us feel bad for who we are, they don't do it because we are doing anything wrong. They hate looking at others who are what they are afraid to be, and so are determined to bring them down to their level until everyone is miserable. They want you to believe that you are worthless. But look at this pokeball Lola." I said, bringing the ball close enough for her to mouth and sniff it before I continued.

"Look at it and know that you are NOT worthless. You are NOT a loser. When you go into battle, I want you to remember this pokeball and know that you are strong, and that I believe in you. I know you are a peaceful pokemon, but when it is time to fight, I want you to fight with everything you've got so that you can show the world what you are made of." I put the pokeball back on my belt and stood up, looking at the land of Unova sprawled out beyond the railing.

"Let me hear it Lola! Hey Unova! My name is Vixen and this is my partner Lola! We are the going to be the best team that ever walked on the planet, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop us!" I yelled proudly as Lola reared up and put her front paws on the railing.

"DEINO!" She screamed with me, her inner fire lit up by my little speech. I smiled as I looked to the right, seeing the shadow of a big tree branch looming over.

"Come on Lola! Let's not have a bark bigger than our bite! Bite that tree branch that dares to muzzle us with it's shadows!" I declared as Lola ran, leaping up and snapping her jaws on the thick branch until it shattered. The severed limb landed with a thud in front of me while Lola stood on it, declaring her dominance over the fallen wood. I smiled and held out my arms as Lola leapt up to me and we hugged each other tightly, ready to take on our journey for real, and this time, nothing would stop us.

TBC

God I actually cried during this chapter. Okay, now this is based on the repeated ass kicking I got in my game. Unlike in this chapter, Lola and I kept getting sent back to the pokemon center like, 3 times before we finally started getting the upper hand. I hate that you lose prize money if you lose in wild battles. -_-