Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Pokémon. Nintendo does. Flames are prohibited! Constructive criticism is allowed, though.

Omg, sorry for not updating in a long time! I had a really bad case of writer's block! But I'm back, baby! Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate it.

Key:

Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks

Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins

Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions


Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,

Because men do what they often shouldn't,

Because crops fail, and plans go wrong

Some of us grumble all day long.

But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt,

It seems at last that things work out.

Because we lose where we hoped to gain,

Because we suffer a little pain,

Because we must work when we'd like to play

Some of us whimper along life's way.

But somehow, as day always follows the night,

Most of our troubles work out all right.

Because we cannot forever smile,

Because we must trudge in the dust awhile,

Because we think that the way is long

Some of us whimper that life's all wrong.

But somehow we live and our sky grows bright,

And everything seems to work out all right.

So bend to your trouble and meet your care,

For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair.

Let the rain come down, as it must and will,

But keep on working and hoping still.

For in spite of the grumblers who stand about,

Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

— Things Work Out by Edgar A. Guest


Diverging Paths

Chapter 3: The Joy Of Persistence


Somehow, Ethan managed to get us on the correct path to Viridian City. Perhaps his navigational skills have improved. Well, kudos to him I guess...

The rest of the walk to Viridian was silent and without any further interruptions. But if you ask me, it was too damn quiet! And to top that off, Ethan was giving me the silent treatment.

By the time we exited route one, the sun was slowly beginning to descend, signaling the start of twilight. Ethan and I quickened our pace, eager to arrive to Viridian's Pokémon Center before dark.

I decided to lead the way by breaking into a jog as soon as we saw the welcome sign, easily navigating through the slightly busy streets of the city. Fifteen minutes later, we stood in front of a large dome-shaped building, with a bold, red P painted on the roof.

Without any hesitation, we briskly walked inside to get a well needed rest, which I was immensely grateful for. I was extremely hungry and very tired and sore from that very long walk. While Ethan went to the front counter to do Arceus knows what, I immediately rushed towards a sleek, comfy black couch, collapsing onto it with my head resting on the couch's armrest. I laid in complete bliss for quite a while, with my eyes closed, until Ethan's voice interrupted my blissful state.

"Evelyn, get up! Come on, lazy bones. Don't you want to eat," he asked, towering over me. I took notice that the distant attitude he had been portraying was long gone.

I groaned in annoyance, refusing to move just yet. "Go away! Can't you see that I'm trying to rest my aching legs and feet; they hurt," I complained, cracking an eye open to sent him a murderous glare.

He rolled his eyes before retorting. "Same here, but you don't see me complaining and whining."

Grumbling things about how people can't rest without being rudely disturbed and what not, I heaved my tired body off the couch and stumbled after my twin, who was walking towards the doubled doors that obviously lead to the cafeteria.

One excruciating long wait later in line, Ethan and I sat at a table, in the middle of the noisy room, happily digging into our own meals. Mine consisted of a plate of steaming hot lasagna with a salad to the side and a cup of Oran soda pop. An energized Fuego sat by Ethan's feet, gobbling down a bowl of pokéchow made only for fire types with zeal.

At one point during the meal, Ethan suggested that I should release Dreamer from his poké ball so that he could eat too. I was shocked by his suggestion that I choked on some salad. Didn't he learn already that Dreamer greatly disliked humans and Pokémon alike?

I know damn well that letting loose that little hellion would be a severely bad idea, especially with all these people and Pokémon around. Who knows what kind of chaos and mayhem my ralts could cause? He'd probably try to assault all these people with his Shadow Ball and Will-O-Whisp. He could starve for all I care! Uh... perhaps that was a bit harsh, huh?

After managing to swallow down the piece of salad I'd been choking on, I gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, and while we're add it, why don't we just let Dreamer loose upon the whole entire city, hm," I said, sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

He rolled his eyes at my dramatic proposal, continuing to eat as if he hadn't said a thing. I sighed and tried to follow his example, but I was no longer that hungry.

X-X-X

"Nooooo, I don't wanna! Ethaaaan, stoooop," I wailed loudly, trying to pry my right wrist from his ironclad grip.

"Come on, Evelyn! You're making a scene!"— Me making a scene? Pssh, like he wasn't contributing! — "Stop acting like a total drama queen," he shouted, giving my wrist another painful tug. But he was right since our little exchange was indeed attracting the curious stares of passing bystanders.

I shot them all a withering glare. "Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

Another hard yank from Ethan caused me to turn my attention back to him.

"Ouch, quit it!" I yelped, feeling my left hand loosing its grip on the pole I was currently clinging to like a frighten meowth, in front of a diner, five blocks away from the Pokémon Center. I tried desperately to tighten my hold while trying to reclaim my throbbing wrist.

With one final rough tug, Ethan managed to extract my left hand from the pole. His stupid uncalled for action sent both of us tumbling to the concrete ground with a painful thud, causing me to release a surprised yell. I groaned with pain as we laid there, with Ethan somewhat cushioning my landing.

"Ow, my back... and my poor, poor stomach," Ethan whimpered after pushing me off his stomach. The bronze-haired boy shot me an irritated scowl.

I ignored him, rubbing my bottom in an attempt to stop the painful throbbing. I'm pretty sure you guys are curious to what led up to all of this, huh? Well, let's just say that Ethan had tired (the keyword being tired) to get me to bond with Dreamer. I wasn't too keen about it so I had attached myself to a pole in hopes of escaping Ethan's hold.

Too bad it was a loss cause.

He slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his back while staring icily down at me. My response to his look was folding my arms in an act of defiance, turning my head to stare in a different direction. He uttered a groan of exasperation, lifting his hands up that signaled giving up.

I smiled triumphantly before springing to my feet. Too bad that I never got a chance to runaway, for I suddenly found myself being dragged away by my stupid idiot of a brother.

"Let go, now before I hurt you," I growled threateningly, struggling in vain against his firm hold. He ignored me, and continued to drag me along.

"Hey I'm— Help! Kidnap in progress! Assault! Attempted murder! For Arceus' sake, help me; I need an adult," I yelled, dragging my feet and trying to pull away. Passing spectators just walked away without even a backward glance, completely disregarding that I could actually be in need of help— the nerve of people of these days, not helping a poor, defenseless teenage girl! Well, fuck them all then! I don't need their stupid help.

Without thinking things through, I suddenly kicked Ethan in the shin. This caused him to immediately release my wrist, letting out a cry of affliction. He then doubled over; clutching his shin and hopping around like an imbecile.

Now, this actually caught the attention of those heartless and rude people. I just ignored them all and l booked it out of there faster than turkeys on Thanksgiving, leaving Ethan behind.

"You'll never catch me alive, sucka! Better luck next time," I yelled over my shoulder just as I ran around the corner.

X-X-X

"... And that's why my wrist hurts like a bitch," I concluded as I was getting my right wrist gently probed by Nurse Joy in the back of the Pokémon Center.

Said nurse gave me a look of disapproval. "Language! I still don't understand why you felt the need to resolve that little spat with violence. You know very well, Evelyn, that violence is never the answer," she scolded me.

I chose not to answer her, settling with rolling my eyes at her instead while she wasn't looking. As she continued to examine my wrist with care, I couldn't help but wonder where Ethan was right now. Pssh, knowing that moron he was probably training, battling, or looking for a new poképal. But who cares! As long as said moron stays far away from me, I will not have to resort to hurting him. Not that I had any problem with doing that... Man, I am a horrible twin sister, huh? Oh, well!

I was pulled out of my brief ponder, by a sudden pain that coursed from my wrist to my shoulder from Joy applying too much pressure.

"Ouch! H-hey, that hurts like a bi..." I trailed off with a wince as Joy sent me a warning look. "Heh heh... Sorry..."

She didn't take her eyes off me as she snapped her rubber gloves off. "Your wrist seems to be fine. It may be a little sore and tender for a couple of days, but overall it should be fine," she informed me.

I sighed in relief, hopping down from the examination table while pulling on my hoodie and adjusting my bag over my left shoulder.

Nurse Joy was about to say more when a loud cry caused us to jump. "HEY! Watch it, you! Did you just push her?"

"Yes. What is it to you, huh?" a loud hostile voice replied.

She quickly walked to the lobby to see what all the commotion was all about, with me following closely out of sheer curiosity.

We briskly walked into the lobby to see two teenage girls locked in a staring contest. A small, mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy, cream-colored tipped tail, and a cream-colored, furry collar stood crouched before its trainer, teeth bared. Several nosy trainers were staring eagerly at them while others were placing bets. I shifted uncomfortably as the atmosphere in the lobby intensified drastically.

"So are you going to apologize," a girl with wavy black, waist length hair demanded. Her attire consisted of light blue shorts that fell just above her knees and a puffy short sleeved, black and white gothic lolita blouse. She crossed her hands, tapping her black and white sneakers expectantly.

A pale skin girl with chocolate brown, shoulder length hair scoffed in response. "Pssh, why should I? She was in my way," she sneered, gesturing to the timid girl who was looking at the floor. Timid girl nervously put a loose strand of raven hair behind her ear as she pushed her black rimmed glasses back in place.

The black-haired girl's toned heart-shaped face hardened, her startling blue eyes narrowed to slits. The chocolate brown-haired girl prepared to walk away but was immediately stopped the livid black-haired girl.

"HEY! I'm not done talking to you! Apologize or else," she shouted.

She turned around, shooting the enraged girl an amused smirk, probably pleased to have gotten such a reaction out of her. "Or else what? Oh please, don't leaving me and all these nosy people curious."

She growled and took a step forward, but was stopped by timid girl and the growling of her enemy's eevee.

"R-ronnie, no! It's... It's fine. Please, j-just let it b-be," stuttered the raven-haired girl, navy blue eyes pleading her to drop it.

The girl, now known as Ronnie, turned her head to stare in disbelief at her. "No, Elizabeth! She will apologize to you because it's what's fair! Plus, you did nothing to her," Ronnie cried in frustration, stomping her foot firmly.

"Chansey chanse!" A pink egg-shaped Pokémon waddled up to Ronnie, its hair-like tress bouncing and it's short tail moving side to side with each step it took. It then became aware of the intense atmosphere but it still proceeded forward with a less energetic step.

I quickly took out my pokédex, scanning the Chansey and Eevee. After beeping to life, a male monotone spoke up.

"Chansey, the Egg Pokémon and the evolve form of Happiny. It is said to be compassionate, delivering happiness by sharing its highly nutritious eggs with injured people or Pokémon. It walks carefully to prevent its egg from breaking. However, it is extremely fast at running away. Being few in number and difficult to capture, it is said to bring happiness to the Trainer who catches it."

"Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It is able to evolve into seven different forms, depending on its environment or surroundings. Because its genetic makeup is irregular, it quickly changes its form due to a variety of causes.'

I watched the Chansey shakily hold up a tray, with four gleaming poké balls, to Ronnie before quickly retreating away. She mumbled a "thank you", taking back her healed Pokémon. This seemed to enrage the chocolate brown-haired girl, her blazing blue eyes taking an icy gleam.

As soon as Ronnie looked up, the girl took a step towards her. This seemed to make Elizabeth vey nervous and the nosy trainers excited. But this didn't seem to faze Ronnie at all since she matched her glare with an equally dark look.

Before things could get out of hand, Joy pushed her way through the crowd to where the girls were.

"Alright! That's enough! There will be no fighting in my center! Take this outside and far away from my center before I call Officer Jenny. And that goes double for all of you," she threatened, hands on her hips.

Ronnie and Elizabeth shrunk a little under Joy's venomous gaze, including cold, antisocial girl (as I'm now going to refer to her until I learn her name) while the crowd dispersed hastily. No doubt they were all trying to avoid making Joy angry (an angry Nurse Joy is not pretty. I should know...).

"Fine, I was just leaving," she spoke coldly. "Come on, Grace!" The eevee wasted no time in following after her master.

"Ugh, the nerve of that girl! She didn't even apologize to you," Ronnie shouted in frustration.

Elizabeth made no comment, choosing to adjust her long, bulky golden scarf over her mouth instead before walking away.

"Hey, wait up," cried Ronnie, running after her.

As I watched them leave, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by outcome. Call me nosy all you want, but I was really hoping for that cat fight. Too bad Joy had to ruin it. My money had been on that Ronnie girl... Oh, well!

I then scurried off to find a hiding spot before Ethan's return. Maybe the shower would do, or perhaps under the bed...


Ronnie belongs to Chi-Chiwawa

Elizabeth belongs to FlyingPandaBear

Celia (name is not mention in chapter) belongs to Shriekmon