Forever friends, path to becoming a Pokemon Master

by Skye410

There is an old prophecy that has been foretold, and Skye keeps trying to believe it isnt her. She starts her Pokemon journey and it becomes more trouble than she ever thought. What will happen when she really is the one that has to save the world?

4. Shadow Ball and Team Aqua

"Okay, Poochyena, try again! Use Shadow Ball!"

Poochyena opened its mouth and a tiny black sphere appeared, but it disappeared and Poochyena was thrown back.

I sighed. "We've been at this for three days now... We'll never get this right."

"Don't say that," Ash came over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Three days that you haven't given up, that's really good. You already act like a great Pokemon Trainer by not giving up, so you can't quit now."

"Pikachu, Pika!" Pikachu said, jumping up on Ash's shoulder.

"That's right," Ash smiled. "Pikachu still remembers how much training we went through to learn Bolt Tackle."

"Was it really that hard?" I asked.

"Harder than learning Shadow Ball that's for sure," Ash replied.

I sighed. "Well we don't seem to be making any progress..."

"You'll get the hang of it," Sara smiled. "Why don't we go find a restaurant and have some lunch?"

"No thanks, I'll stay here a little longer and train some more," I replied.

"Okay," Sara shrugged. "We'll go find Jake and ask if he knows any more good restaurants."

I nodded. "See ya, later."

My three friends turned and walked down the hill back towards Petalburg City. I looked at Poochyena, it was tired.

"Do you want to have a break?" I asked.

Poochyena shook its head. "Pooch! Poochyena!"

"Pi, Pikachu!" Sparky said. "Pika, Pi, Pikachu!"

I looked down at Sparky. "You think that if Poochyena has a proper target to aim at, it will get better?"

"Pika, Pikachu!" Sparky nodded.

I smiled. "Okay. Could you please help Poochyena?"

Sparky nodded again and ran over to Poochyena. "Pika, Pi."

"Pooch!" Poochyena smiled.

Sparky moved back a few paces and so did Poochyena. "Alright, Poochyena, use Shadow Ball!"

We trained for a few more hours, and Poochyena still couldn't get it. I sat down and sighed. "We need a break."

Poochyena and Sparky came over to me, tired.

"I don't think we're going to get this right any time soon," I murmured.

"Poochyena..." Poochyena looked at the ground sadly.

I patted it on the head. "Don't feel bad. It's not you fault. We can keep trying, but maybe it will only work when you're a little stronger."

Poochyena raised its head again with a smile, wagging its tail.

BANG!!!!!!

"What was that!?" I exclaimed and stood up, looking down at Petalburg City. Smoke rose up from a building and my eyes widened. "That's the Gym!"

"Pika!" Sparky growled.

"Pooch, Poochyena!" Poochyena barked.

"Come on!" I said and we ran down the hill, Sparky on my left and Poochyena on my right. We ran through the city and eventually came to the Petalburg Gym.

We looked around to see what might have caused it, but there were no traces.

"Skye!"

I turned around and saw Ash, Sara, Brock and Jake.

"What happened?" Jake asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "I heard the explosion and came down to check it out."

Two men and a woman ran out of the Gym and spotted Jake, rushing towards him. "Jake, it's terrible!"

"What's happened?" Jake asked formally.

"All the Gym Badges have been stolen!" the woman replied.

"All the Gym Badges!?" Ash exclaimed.

"We have to get them back!" Brock growled.

"Poochyena, time to put your nose to work," I said.

Poochyena nodded and started sniffing around.

"You check out here," Jake told me. "Mightyena and I will try and get a scent from inside."

I nodded and my brother ran towards the Gym, but more people ran out.

I looked up at the roof and saw flames. "There's a fire in the Gym!"

We all ran into the Gym and saw that nearly everything had caught fire.

"This is terrible!" Sara murmured and got out a Pokeball. "Buizel, let's go!"

Buizel appeared with its arms crossed.

"Use Water Gun to help put out the fire!" Sara said.

Buizel nodded and water shot out of its mouth at some of the fire.

Jake had a control in his hand and pressed a button, making the arena disappear and make the water underneath be revealed. He threw a Pokeball. "Milotic, go!"

Milotic appeared in the water. "Milotic!"

"Use Twister!" Jake commanded.

Milotic used its power to make the water rise up and move like a twister. It moved around the gym and put out some of the flames.

"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash threw a Pokeball and Totodile appeared. "Use Water Gun to put out some of the flames.

The flames were out soon enough and I was relieved that the gym didn't burn down.

"Poochyena!" Poochyena said and sniffed the ground. "Pooch!"

Poochyena ran out of the gym.

"Poochyena, where are you going!?" I called and ran after it. Sparky followed.

"Skye!" Sara yelled and they all returned their Pokemon and ran after me.

What's gotten into Poochyena? I thought as I ran after it.

"Pika!" Sparky said and I noticed that Poochyena was gone.

I stopped. "Poochyena! Where are you!?"

I heard a howling noise and I ran into the Petalburg forest. Sparky and I found Poochyena in a small clearing, sniffing around. "Pooch! Pooch!"

"What is it, Poochyena?" I asked.

"Pooch! Poochyena!" Poochyena dabbed at something with its paw and I walked over to it, crouching down do see it.

"A footprint?"

"Skye!"

I looked over my shoulder to see my friends and my brother running to catch up with us. "Why did you just run off like that?" Jake growled.

"Sorry, but Poochyena found something," I replied.

"What did it find?" Brock asked.

"Footprints," I answered, seeing the rest of them. "Headed deeper into the woods."

"Poochyena! Pooch! Pooch!" Poochyena jumped in the direction of the footprints and I stood up.

"Alright, lead the way, Poochyena," I said and we all ran after it.

We ran deeper and deeper into the forest and Poochyena eventually stopped and started sniffing around again, the footprints were gone.

"Mightyena, help out!" Jake let Mightyena out of its Pokeball.

Mightyena growled something to Poochyena and Poochyena came back to me. Mightyena sniffed the ground thoroughly and we walked forward, but we suddenly fell down into a pit trap.

"What the!?" Sara growled. "Who would dig a hole in the middle of the damn forest!?"

Poochyena licked my face and I pushed it away. "Cut it out, Poochyena. I'm okay." But I was a bit dizzy.

"Jake, you're squashing me!" Sara complained.

"Well it would help if Brock wasn't squashing me!" Jake replied.

Brock got up and Jake did to. He turned around and he helped Sara up.

"You okay?" Ash asked me.

"Huh?" I looked at him, he was sitting up against the wall, and I was lying across his lap, thats how I had fallen.

I quickly got up but hit my head against the wall. "OW!"

"Take it easy or you'll really hurt yourself!" Ash said.

"I'm okay..." I mumbled.

"Hahahaha! Caught like always!"

We all looked up and saw a hot air balloon that looked like a Meowth.

"Team Rocket!" Sara growled. "Why didn't I know it was them!?"

"That's a nice Mightyena you have here," I heard Jessie say. "But I think it would be better with us."

We all climbed out of the pit hole and I saw Mightyena being pulled up in a net and hung below the basket.

"Mightyena, use Bite to break free!" Jake called.

Mightyena bit down on the ropes, but it couldn't manage to break a single thread.

"What do you want with Jake's Mightyena!?" I growled. "And why did you dig a trap for us!?"

"Our pit-trap digging skills is still intact," Jessie said.

"But our drafting the modern technology today is a necessary fact," James added.

"The wind!" Jessie said.

"The stars!" James said.

"Dig a trap!" Meowth added.

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!" Jessie smiled.

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!" James had a rose in his hand.

"A trap dug any other way is just as sweet."

"When earth is moved out work is complete!"

"It's Jessie!"

"And it's James!"

"Meowth, now hat's a name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place," Jessie said.

"Team Rocket..." James smiled.

"We're in your face!" the three of them chorused.

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie's Pokemon came out of its Pokeball.

"Mime, Mime, Mime, Mime!" Mime Jr. added.

I rolled my eyes. "You're boring. Now give back Mightyena!"

"Sorry, but no can do!" Jessie smiled.

"Sparky, use Thundershock!" I growled.

Sparky jumped up. "Pika-CHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" electricity shot out and hit the top of the net, trying to get Mightyena free, but it didn't work.

"Why, that Pikachu is fairly strong too," James smiled.

"We should grab that one too!" Meowth suggested.

Sara threw a Pokeball and Buneary came out. "Buneary, use Ice Beam!"

"Bun!" Buneary said and opened its mouth. A blue beam shot out and hit the top of the net.

"Uh oh, we made the net so no Electric Type Pokemon could break it, but we forgot about Ice Types!" Meowth exclaimed.

"Mightyena, use Shadow Bal1!" Jake called.

Mightyena opened its mouth and a black sphere shot out, breaking the net and falling to the ground.

Mightyena landed on its feet and I had an idea.

"Alright, Poochyena, we got one shot. Sara, can you get Poochyena into the air?" I asked.

Sara looked at me and nodded. "Buneary, put Poochyena on your back and use Bounce!"

Poochyena ran over to Buneary and got on its back.

"Skye, what are you doing?" Jake asked.

"You'll see," I said as Buneary used Bounce to jump into the air. "Alright, Poochyena, now use Shadow Ball!"

Everyone looked up at Poochyena. It jumped off of Buneary's back and opened its mouth.

You can do it, Poochyena, I thought.

A large black sphere appeared in front of Poochyena's muzzle and it got bigger and bigger, twice the size of Poochyena itself!

"This doesn't look good," James murmured.

"Let it loose, Poochyena!" I called.

Poochyena snapped its jaw shut and the huge black sphere flew at the balloon.

"AAAHHH!!!!!!" Jessie and James hugged each other in fear.

The ball went straight through the air balloon and put two holes in it, then the balloon came down to the ground.

"Alright, Pikachu!" Ash said. "Finish off with Bolt Tackle!"

"Oh no!" Meowth said. "I hate that attack!"

Pikachu started running on all fours towards Team Rocket and their air balloon. Electricity surrounded it as it ran and its eyes were narrowed with anger. "Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika, Pika!" Pikachu collided with them. "Pik-A!"

There was a huge explosion and Team Rocket was thrown up into the air with their shredded air balloon. "Looks like we're blasting off again!" they all shouted.

"That settles that," Brock said.

"That was amazing, Skye!" Ash smiled. "How did Poochyena learn it so fast!?"

I shrugged and Poochyena trotted over. "I don't know. But it was super cool. You did great, Poochyena!"

"Pooch, Poochyena!" Poochyena smiled.

"Might!" I looked over to Mightyena, it came walking over and Poochyena looked up at it. Mightyena smiled. "Mightyena, Might!"

Poochyena smiled in return. "Pooch! Poochyena!"

"Pikachu," Sparky said.

"Your Thundershock was great too, Sparky," I smiled and patted my Pokemon as it jumped up on my shoulder.

"Pika," Pikachu called. "Pikachu!"

Sparky smiled at Pikachu. "Pika, Pi!" Sparky stopped waving at Pikachu and jumped down from my shoulder, running over to where Pikachu hit Team Rocket with the Bolt Tackle.

"Sparky?" I murmured.

Sparky picked something up in its mouth and ran over to Jake. It was a small, black case with a silver outline.

"The Badges, of course," Brock said. "I'd forgotten."

"Thank you, Sparky," Jake crouched down and patted Sparky on the head, taking the case from it.

"Pika, Pikachu!" Sparky smiled.

Jake stood up again. "We should head back to Petalburg City. It will be dark soon."

"And we're heading for Rustboro City tomorrow," Ash pointed out. "We'll need to rest up."

"You deserve a rest, Poochyena," I smiled and pulled out its Pokeball.

"Pooch!" Poochyena smiled and went inside it.

"Come on, Sparky," I called and Sparky ran over to me, jumping up to my shoulder again.

We headed back to Petalburg City, it was hard to believe we were moving on after staying for so long, I was going to miss my brother, but I had a Pokemon Journey to complete.

#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#

"See you."

"Bye," Ash said. "See ya around sometime maybe."

"Yeah, sure," Jake smiled. "See ya, Skye."

I sighed. "Bye, Jake."

Jake held my chin and made me look up at him. "Don't be so upset. I'll keep in touch, don't worry. And you have your Pokemon Journey to worry about. You'll have lots of fun, I guarantee it."

I smiled and hugged my brother. "I'll see you again when I have to battle you for a Gym Badge."

"Yeah. But don't think I'll go easy on you because you're my sister," Jake smiled, hugging me in return.

I broke away. "And don't think I'll go easy on you because you're my brother."

Jake ruffled my hair. "See you then."

I nodded and my friends and I turned to leave.

I heard howling and I looked over my shoulder to see Mightyena standing beside Jake. Poochyena, who was walking beside me, threw its head back and howled in return.

"They created a pretty good friendship," Brock commented.

"They'll see each other again," Sara laughed. "When they have to meet in battle."

"It'll be fun battling against my brother," I smiled.

Ash nodded. "That's great. The best thing about battling is to have fun."

"Cool!" I replied.

We had been walking for half a day, when we saw a man up ahead. He looked at us and rushed over. "Oh, hello young travelers. Are you, by any chance, Pokemon Trainers?"

"Sure are," Sara nodded. "Why?"

"Well, um.." the man cleared his throat and I looked at the brown suit he wore. "I am from Devon Corp. but we have a bit of a problem-"

"There you are!"

I looked up to see a man dressed in blue pants, a black and white striped top, black gloves and a blue bandanna with a symbol on it. He came over to us. "I was prepared to wait for you, but you had to dawdle into Petalburg Woods, didn't you!?" the man growled. "Hand over those Devon Papers!"

The man hid behind me. "Please help me, he can't be allowed to get the documents!"

"I'll battle him!" I said.

"You're going to help him?" the man growled at me. "Fine. I'll teach a kid like you not to mess with Team Aqua!" He pulled out a Pokeball. "Go, Poochyena!" A Poochyena appeared in front of him.

My Poochyena growled. "Not this time, sorry," I said. "Sparky, you're up."

Sparky jumped down from my shoulder and glared at Poochyena. "Pika!" it growled.

"Poochyena-"

"One question," I said.

"What?" the guy growled.

"I've heard of Team Rocket, now Team Aqua. So......."

"So what?"

"How many other Team Nutheads are there in the Hoenn region?"

The guy growled. "You've got a smart mouth, kid!"

"Why, thank you," I smirked. "I wasn't expecting a compliment from a low-life criminal such as yourself." I formally bowed.

"Ha, let's see if your battling is as good as your smart alec behavior. Poochyena, use Bite!"

Poochyena ran at Sparky, teeth flashing.

"Sparky, jump and use Thundershock!" I ordered.

Sparky jumped into the air and smiled. "Pika-CHUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Electricity shot from its body and hit Poochyena, shocking it and making it fall back.

"Poochyena, get up!" the Team Aqua guy growled.

"Tail Whip!" I commanded.

Poochyena got up, but was a little shaken when it saw Sparky jumped up and spin its tail towards it. It was knocked away and Sparky ran at it again.

"Another Tail Whip, Sparky!" I called.

Sparky nodded and jumped up again, doing a spin, but its tail began shining white. The tail collided with Poochyena and it fell back, crashing into the Team Aqua guy, knocked out.

"You'll regret that!" the Team Aqua guy growled and returned his Pokemon. "Mess with me again and you'll be in for it! But I don't see why I'm wasting my time here when I can just go get what I want from Rustboro City."

The guy took off and the man breathed. "Thank you for rescuing me there."

"No, problem," I murmured, staring at Sparky.

Sparky turned around and looked at me, running over. "Sparky, what attack was that? That wasn't any Tail Whip I've ever seen."

"Pika, Pi," Sparky replied.

"Sparky didn't use Tail Whip," Brock said.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Then what was it?"

"It's called Iron Tail," Ash replied. "Pikachu used it when we were helping you get rid of Team Rocket the first time we met."

"Iron Tail?" I murmured. "I didn't know Sparky could use that attack."

"Maybe it just learned it," the man smiled.

"Either way," Sara said. "It just proves that Sparky is getting stronger. Poochyena too."

"Pooch!" Poochyena smiled.

"Oh dear!" the man exclaimed.

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"That Team Aqua thug is going to the Devon Building in Rustboro City!" the man fretted. "He's going to get the documents from there! I have to go!"

"Do you want us to come?" Sara asked.

"I don't have time, I have to go!" the man shouted and took off.

"So much for that," Ash muttered.

"Should we follow him anyway?" Brock suggested.

"Nah," Sara grumbled. "If he refuses our help a second time there's no point."

"But, Sara-"

"What?" Sara growled at Brock. "We saved his sorry butt once, isn't that enough?"

Ash and Brock sighed. "I guess so," Brock mumbled.

"Well, this means that Rustboro City isn't far from here," I pointed out. "We're going there anyway so if we run into the man again we can make sure he's alright."

Brock and Ash nodded. "Good idea, Skye."

Sara sighed. "Fine!"

I took out my map. "Oh yeah, Sara, did you know that there's a Pokemon Contest happening in Rustboro City in a few days time?"

Sara's eyes lit up. "Nobody told me that! As soon as we get there I have to start training!"

"I'd like to see what a Pokemon Contest is like," I murmured.

"You'll get to for sure," Ash smiled.

I smiled, but then I frowned.

"What's the matter?" Brock asked.

"I still need to catch at least one more Pokemon and train it before I challenge Roxanne at the gym," I sighed. "Preferably a Water Type, otherwise I won't be able to win it."

"Well there aren't any Water Type Pokemon around here," Brock pointed out. "You'll have to go without a Water Type I guess."

I shrugged. "Alright."

We continued walking through the forest, I was trying to think of what Pokemon I could catch that would be strong enough to tackle Roxanne's Rock Type Pokemon.

"Skitty."

We all stopped as a small pink, kitten-looking Pokemon came out of the bushes. It stopped and looked at us. "Skitty!" it said.

"Wow, a Skitty," Sara murmured.

"You said you needed another Pokemon," Brock told me. "There's your chance."

"You think I should catch it?" I asked.

"Go for it," Ash smiled.

"Alright, Poochyena, you're up," I murmured. "Use Tackle."

Poochyena ran at Skitty and tackled it to the ground.

"Now, use Bite!"

Poochyena bit Skitty by the tail.

"Skitty!" it cried out.

My eyes softened. "Poor thing...."

"Hurry up and catch it!" Sara exclaimed. "Before it gets away!"

I looked back up and nodded, grabbing a Pokeball. I threw it. "Pokeball, go!"

Poochyena jumped back and the Pokeball hit Skitty on the head, pulling it inside. The ball wobbled for a few moments, and then it stopped.

"YES!" I cheered. "I caught it!"

I ran over and picked up the Pokeball that contained my new Pokemon. "I now have three Pokemon!"

"Now you just have to train hard to be able to beat Roxanne," Ash said. "And don't forget, you're not the only one that has to battle her."

I nodded. "Oh yeah, good job, Poochyena. You deserve a rest." I held out its Pokeball and it went inside.

"Come on, let's keep going."

I ran to catch up to my friends and I kept looking at Skitty's Pokeball in my hand. I held it up and kept blinking at it.

"Pika?" Sparky jumped up to my shoulder and looked at me.

"Huh?" I looked back at Sparky, seeing its worried expression. "Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Pika, Pi?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I smiled.

After a few more minutes, we came out of the trees and found ourselves at the entrance of Rustboro City.

"Well, we're finally here," Sara smiled. "I'll meet up with you guys later, I have to make my way to the Contest Hall and register to get a Pokemon Coordinator's license. This will be my first Contest in Hoenn so I need to sign up."

"We need to register for our gym battles too," Ash said. "Otherwise we won't be able to compete in the Pokemon League."

"I'll go with Sara," Brock said.

"Alright," Sara nodded. "We'll meet you at the Pokemon Center later. Come on, Brock."

I watched as Sara and Brock walked off in one direction.

"Come on, we'll have to go to the Pokemon Center if we wanna register for the Pokemon League," Ash smiled.

I nodded. "Let's go."

"Pika!" Pikachu smiled.

"I'll race you there?" Ash smirked.

I smirked back. "You're on!"

Sparky jumped off my shoulder and Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder. "Pika, Pi!" Sparky cheered.

"Ready," I murmured.

"Set," Ash took a deep breath.

"Wait!" Ash fell forward.

"What the!? What's the hold up!?" he lifted his face from the ground and looked up at me.

"Which way is the Pokemon Center?" I asked.

"SKYE!!!!!!!!!!"

"What?" I mumbled. "It's not my fault. I've never been here before."

Ash sighed and got up. He pointed North. "That way."

"Oh, okay," I smirked. "GO!"

I took off with Sparky by my side.

"Hey, no fair! That's cheating!" Ash called. "Wait for me!!!!!!"

Ash ran after me, trying to catch up with Pikachu keeping up easily.

I laughed as I ran through Rustboro City, looking for the Pokemon Center. "Haha, he should have been ready! What do you think, Sparky?" I looked at my Pokemon.

"Pika, Pikachu!" Sparky smiled at me.

I smiled at Sparky with my eyes closed, the way I smiled when I was really amused.

"PIKA!" Sparky stopped and called out to me instantly.

I opened my eyes but I crashed into someone's chest and fell back, hitting the ground. "OW!"

"You should watch where you're going next time," I heard a growl.

Sparky ran to my side. "Pika, Pi?"

"I'm okay," I murmured and looked up at the person I ran into. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"Obviously," the guy had short purple hair, a purple jacket half zipped up with black sleeves, a light aqua shirt underneath, brown pants, black shoes, a one shoulder backpack and an expression that made him look like a jerk. He sounded like one too. "Watch it next time."

"Maybe you should have gotten out of my way!" I growled.

"Quit acting like such a little kid and try growing up," the guy said to me.

"Who the heck are you anyway?" I asked.

"The name's Paul from Sinnoh," he answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm Skye," I replied. "I come from this region."

"Well I can't really say it's nice to meet you and shake your hand," Paul smiled in a sarcastic way. "Because you're lying on the ground like an idiot."

I crossed my arms and looked away from him, but I glanced back at him every now and then. "It's not such a pleasure to meet you either!"

He laughed quietly to himself.

"Are you gonna help me up or not?!" I asked, putting my hand up.

"Get yourself up," Paul said to me.

"Well you're the one who made me fall!" I grumbled. "The least that you can do is help me back up."

Paul sighed and put out a hand and I took it. He helped me up and I let go of his hand. "Thanks," I murmured.

Sparky jumped up on my shoulder. "Pika?"

"I'm okay," I repeated to Sparky.

"That's quite a Pikachu you have there," Paul commented, I thought I was hearing things! "It looks pretty powerful."

I blinked at him and tried to clean my ears to make sure I heard him correctly. "Did you just say something nice?"

Paul shrugged.

I also shrugged. "So, what Pokemon do you have? I can tell that you're a trainer. Can I see your Pokemon?"

"They're not so special," Paul murmured. "They're weak, even after all the training they went through."

"Can I still see them?" I asked, not caring that he had an attitude problem.

"Fine," he pulled out two Pokeballs. "Come on out."

They opened up and two Pokemon appeared in front of him, one was an Elekid, the other I had no idea what it was.

I crouched down to look at the tiny red Pokemon with a flame for a tail, it looked like a monkey. "What Pokemon is this?"

"It's called a Chimchar," Paul replied.

"Chimchar!" it said.

"I take it, Chimchar is from the Sinnoh region?"

"Yeah."

"It's cute," I smiled.

"Chim, Chimchar!"

"Are these two the only ones you have?" I asked.

"I also have an Ursaring, but I don't think it would be suitable to let it out here."

"That seems fair," I mumbled, I still wanted to see an Ursaring, too bad.

"Skye!"

I looked over my shoulder to see Ash and Pikachu running towards me. Ash stopped when they reached me. "You okay? Who's this guy?"

"This is Paul," I replied. "I ran into him."

"Literally," Paul added.

"Okay.." Ash murmured. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Kanto region, huh?" Paul asked.

"That's right," Ash nodded. "Which region are you from?"

"Sinnoh."

"Just like Sara," I muttered.

Paul's eyes widened a little bit. "What? She's not here is she?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I travel around with her, Brock and Ash. She's here in Rustboro City. Why? Do you know her?"

"Only too well," Paul muttered. "I'd better go. Return," he said and his Pokemon went back in their Pokeballs. "See ya around, maybe," Paul turned around but pulled to a complete stop, blinking.

I looked around him to see a very surprised and grumpy looking Sara.

Sara and Paul blinked at each other. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Sara pretty much screamed in his face.

"I could ask you the same question," Paul growled.

Sara looked at me peering around Paul, not even seeing Ash. Her eyes snapped back to Paul. "If you've been flirting with Skye, I'll smash you to Sinnoh and back! And then to Kanto, and Johto!"

"Why would I flirt with her?" Paul emphasized her.

As much as I didn't like him, that offended me. "Are you trying to get something off your chest, because if you got something to say, then say it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Paul muttered. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Alright, then get out of here, Paul!" Sara growled.

Paul looked at me for a moment before smiling a little and walking off.

"Why do you hate him?" Ash asked.

"Oh, so you caught on," Sara sighed. "Well, long story short: He used to like me, I rejected him and he turned into...... that!" she pointed in the direction he took.

"Wow," I muttered. "No wonder you thought he might have been flirting with me. But that was just plain rude!"

"Don't worry about it, Skye," Ash said. "He just has an attitude problem."

"I gathered as much," I murmured. "Anyway.... where's Brock?"

Sara sighed. "He went off to flirt with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny."

"Is that normal?" I asked.

"Yep," Ash and Sara said together.

I blinked. "......................................................... okay.............................................. That's weird."

"Not for him it isn't," Ash said. "So, Sara, did the registration go well?"

Sara nodded. "I enter in a few days when the Contest starts."

"Do you know which Pokemon you'll be entering?" Ash asked.

"Yep. I'll be using Buneary for the first rounds and if I make it to the second rounds, I'll use Eevee."

"Contests really are different, aren't they?" I mumbled.

"Yep, I'll show you tomorrow when I start training for it."

"Well I know I don't need to train very hard to beat Roxanne and her Rock Type Pokemon. Pikachu, Phanpy and Totodile will take care of it quickly."

"Lucky for you," I muttered. "I have to train super hard to beat her!"

"You'll get there," Ash put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll help you."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"Now," Ash smirked. "Ready, set, go!" He took off with Pikachu running after him.

"HEY!" I called. "Cheater! Wait for me! I wasn't ready!" I bolted after him, Sparky ran at my side.

Sara blinked as the wind rushed passed her face. It took her a few seconds to turn around. "HEY! WAIT FOR ME! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN CITY!!!!!!!"

#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#

I looked up from Sparky and Skitty playing whilst Poochyena slept, to see Ash walking in with a great big smile. "What are you so cheerful about?"

"I just beat Roxanne," Ash smirked.

"You........ YOU WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" I jumped up, waking Poochyena and alerting Sparky and Skitty. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE GOING TO BATTLE HER!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"Sorry," Ash mumbled. "But I really wanted to challenge her and you guys were exhausted. I would have let you come but........."

"I DON'T CARE IF I WAS EXHAUSTED, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN FROM THAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"Skye, I'm sorry, okay," Ash was scared.

I sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'll just have to deal with it by myself."

"I really am sorry," Ash mumbled.

"No, it's fine," I smiled. "Really."

"Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

I thought for a moment. "You can help me train."

We had been in Rustboro City for one whole day and a bit, Sara and Brock were out searching the place for museums and all.

Ash nodded. "Wanna train now?"

I jumped up. "Alright. Sparky, Poochyena, Skitty, you guys ready for some serious training?"

"Pika!"

"Poochyena!"

"Skitty!"

"Great!" I smiled. "Let's go."

I returned Poochyena and Skitty into their Pokeballs and I ran out of the Pokemon Center with Ash, Sparky and Pikachu.

We ran through Rustboro City to go out into the forest to start my training, I was racing Ash again, and I was beating him.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!"

I pulled to an immediate stop and looked to see a huge, fancy building, a man ran out and ahead of him was two guys dressed in blue pants, a black and white striped tops and blue bandannas with a symbol at the front. The two men ran passed us, one of them glared at me and I knew I recognized him. I had beaten him the other day to protect the man they had just stolen from.

"What the? Was that people from Team Aqua?" Ash murmured.

I nodded. "It sure is."

"Please! You have to help me again!" the man ran over to us, it was the guy we had protected in Petalburg forest! "They stole the documents that Devon Corp. needs to finish a submarine expedition!"

I looked down at Sparky, my Pokemon looked back up at me with a nod. "You can count on us, sir!" I said. "We'll get those documents back for you. You coming, Ash?"

"Of course!" Ash said and we took off after the two Team Aqua guys.

"Pika!" Sparky growled and turned into the forest.

"Lead the way, Sparky," Ash breathed as we ran into the forest.

We ran and ran, passing a lot of wild Pokemon, but our main goal was to find Team Aqua.

Sparky looked around for clues, but had no luck.

"Try Poochyena," Ash suggested.

"Oh yeah," I grabbed Poochyena's Pokeball. "Poochyena, we need you!"

Poochyena came out and looked at me. "Poochyena, please, we need you to track the scent of the two Team Aqua guys. One of them is the one we battled the other day so you should remember the scent."

Poochyena nodded and looked around, sniffing the ground.

"This is taking too long!" Ash complained. "I know Poochyena is really trying, but they might get away!"

"Poochyena!" Poochyena barked and I looked at it, it nodded to me and started running through the forest, we ran after it.

"Looks like Poochyena found their scent," I smiled.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered.

"Pika, Pi!" Sparky was the same.

We ran on and on until we found a tunnel, Poochyena was growling into it.

"Excuse me!"

Ash and I looked to the side and saw an elderly man, looking very distressed. "Yes?" I asked.

"Can you help me?" he begged. "These two thugs came out of nowhere and took off with my dear Peeko!"

I looked at Ash and he looked back at me. "Team Aqua," Ash concluded and I nodded.

"Of course we'll help," I said. "We'll get your Pokemon back."

"Pika!" Pikachu growled and reminded us of our job.

I hesitated for a moment, staring at the cave mouth, but I was determined to do my job, so we ran into the cave with our Pokemon at our sides.

"OW! Ash that was my foot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I growled.

"Sorry, but it's so dark in this cave I can't see my own feet!" Ash growled back.

"Pika!" Sparky growled at Ash.

"Poochyena!" Poochyena was getting impatient.

"It would help if we could see!" Ash grumbled.

"Well does it look like I carry matches with me for these occasions!" I snapped.

"I didn't say that!" Ash muttered. "Geez, when did you get so snappy!?"

"EXCUSE ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" I nearly screamed. "I AM NOT SNAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"You sound pretty snappy at the moment-"

"Shut up already!" I snapped.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu!"

Sparky and Pikachu were trying to stop us from fighting, and not having much luck.

"Why don't you make me?" Ash poked his tongue out, not that I could see.

"Alright, that's it!" I growled and tackled him to the ground. "I'll make you shut up! I may not have matches but I have duck tape!"

"Why the hell do you have duck tape!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Ash growled.

"I bought it while a certain SOMEONE was battling Roxanne without telling me!" I replied and grabbed the duck tape, putting it to his mouth.

I could hear him mumbling protest and trying to get it off, but then something hit me in the face and I fell back, hitting my back against the cave wall. "What the hell was that for, Ash!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Ash mumbled something else and I was hit again.

"OW!"

"Pika!" Sparky and Pikachu growled.

"Poochyena!" Poochyena was the same.

"Alright, Sparky!" I growled. "Use Thundershock!"

Sparky hesitated, but used the attack anyway. The cave was lit up and the first thing I saw was a huge scary, bear face. Too bad the Thundershock hit Ash, even though that was the idea.

Ash ripped the duck tape off. "What the hell-"

I rushed over to Ash and covered his mouth. "Keep it down!" I whispered, my voice was shaky.

"Pikachu!" Sparky growled.

"Pika!" Pikachu stood beside my buddy.

"Poochyena!"

Ash took my hand away. "What is going on?" he whispered.

I heard footsteps and me and Ash were getting freaked out as the footsteps stopped and I heard a growling from the huge bear Pokemon I saw.

"You two are pathetic," I heard a voice and I screamed with fear.

"Ursaring, use Flash."

The cave was suddenly lit up and I saw the bear Pokemon, I screamed again.

"Stop screaming!" Ash growled.

"Make me! I'll scream if I want to!" I growled back.

"He's got a point," the voice said again and I turned my head to look passed the Ursaring to see Paul, I screamed again.

Ash put a hand on my shoulder and I screamed once more, jumping up and tripping on a rock, crashing into Ursaring. I fell to the ground on my back and looked up at the Ursaring. It growled and my eyes widened with fear.

"Please don't scream again," Paul covered his ears when Ursaring growled at me again.

My body shook as I looked up into the angry gaze and I shut my eyes tight. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My scream bounced off the walls and it felt like the whole cave shook. Rocks fell from the roof and one hit me on the head, stopping me from screaming.

"I think you have a new purpose for that duck tape," Ash muttered. "You've given me a massive headache!"

"Pika, Pi," Sparky and Pikachu were covering their ears, Poochyena was lying on the ground, its paws over its ears.

Ursaring growled at me again.

"Ursaring, get back!" Paul ordered and the Pokemon did as it was told. Paul walked over to me. "It won't hurt you so please be quiet. Here, let me help you up."

I blinked up at Paul, he put a hand out and I took it. He helped me up and I glanced at Ursaring. "Thanks, Paul," I mumbled. "Sorry guys."

"But what are you doing here anyway?" Ash asked.

"Looking for new Pokemon," Paul replied. "Two guys ran passed me before. Don't know where they thought they were going, the cave is closed off. You can't get through to the other end."

"It must be Team Aqua!" I was suddenly unafraid. "Come on, Ash, we have to catch up with them!"

"Paul, could you come with us?" Ash asked. "Your Ursaring could come in handy with the light situation."

I looked from Paul, to Ash, and then to Ursaring. Ursaring looked at me with its scary eyes and I yelped before hiding in front of Paul, I grabbed his jacket and buried my face in his shirt.

"Uh.......... you mind?" Paul mumbled.

"No, that Ursaring is freaking me out!" I said. "So I'm hiding with you. You'll protect me because you're Ursaring's trainer."

"Uh.. Skye?" Ash sighed. "What are you doing?"

"That Ursaring is giving me glares!" I grumbled. "So what does it look like I'm doing!?"

Paul just blinked down at me, not stopping me from being so close to him, but I knew he was really tensed up from the shock.

"Pika?" Sparky tilted its head to one side, looking at me. Sparky looked at Paul and the purple-haired boy shrugged.

"Skye? Don't you think we should be going after Team Aqua now?" Ash reminded me.

I turned my head to look at Ash, then I looked up at Paul. "As long as you keep Ursaring away from me."

Paul nodded. "Alright."

I let go of Paul's jacket and stepped away from him, trying to avoid Ursaring's glares.

"Let's get going," Ash sighed.

My eyes finally looked at Ursaring and it growled. I quickly covered my face with one arm and pointed at Ursaring. "If I can't see you, you can't see me! Which means you can't glare at me anymore! Now, let's go after Team Aqua."

I took a step to the side, knowing if I walked forward I would crash into Paul again, but it was a mistake, I leaned too far and walked too far to the side and I crashed against one of the cave walls. "OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled.

Ash walked over to me and took my arm away from my face. "Maybe that might help."

"Just a little I suppose..." I muttered.

Paul turned back to his Pokemon. "Alright, Ursaring, lead the way back through the cave."

Ursaring nodded and turned, walking deeper into the cave.

I walked in between Paul and Ash, following the bright light that Ursaring was giving off from the ring on its stomach. Sparky jumped up on my shoulder, Pikachu jumped up on Ash's shoulder and Poochyena walked in front of me.

"We're lucky we ran into you, Paul," Ash smiled. "Otherwise we wouldn't be able to figure out which way to go."

"Only I'm not lucky to have a not-so-scary Pokemon that can use Flash," Paul looked at me and I looked at the ground, embarrassed. "Otherwise I wouldn't have a headache."

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I... I just got scared."

"It's not like you to get scared," Ash said to me.

"Well...... I don't really like caves......" I sighed. "They scare me, and of course Ursaring scared me."

Ursaring growled and looked over its shoulder at me and I quickly hid behind Ash. Ursaring looked back to where it was going and I breathed.

Ursaring suddenly stopped and I looked around Ash to see passed Ursaring, there were two people there, one guy holding some papers and the other tightly holding a Wingull.

"It's Team Aqua," Ash growled.

"And they've got the old man's Pokemon," I growled and stepped out from behind Ash, walking towards the Team Aqua guys. I stopped beside Ursaring, ignoring its glares. "HEY! TEAM AQUA! OVER HERE YOU STUPID CROOKS!"

The Team Aqua guys spun around with shock and saw me, Ursaring, Paul and Ash, not to mention Poochyena, Sparky and Pikachu.

"Well, she can be brave when she has to be," Ash smiled. "She's definitely something."

Paul laughed to himself quietly and walked to stand beside me, Ash came over too.

"Not you kids again!" one of the guys growled.

"Oh yes, us again," I smirked. "Ready to kick your butt again! Now hand over the documents and the Pokemon!"

"Why don't you make us, kid?" the other guy smiled. "Hey, Nick, let's take em out."

"Sure thing, Shaun."

"Ursaring, use Hyper Beam," Paul mumbled.

Ursaring started up a Hyper Beam. "NO! DON'T DO THAT! STOP!"

Ursaring stopped and everyone looked at me.

"Not only will Hyper Beam hurt that Wingull, it will destroy those documents that we have to get back."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Ash said.

The two Team Aqua guys threw a Pokeball each, out came a Poochyena from Nick, from Shaun was a Crawdaunt.

"Sparky, you ready?" I asked.

"Pika!" Sparky replied and jumped in front of me.

"Go, Phanpy!" Ash threw a Pokeball and out came his Phanpy.

"Phanpy!" it smiled.

"Poochyena, you too," I added.

"You can't defeat us," Nick smiled. "Not this time, kids."

"Elekid, stand by for battle," Paul said and his Elekid appeared.

"Oh, I think we will," I smirked. "Sparky, Thundershock! Poochyena, Shadow Ball!"

Sparky nodded and let out a Thundershock. Poochyena opened its mouth and a black sphere appeared. It closed its mouth and the ball shot out.

The Thundershock and the Shadow Ball flew at the two Team Aqua guys.

"Elekid, help out with Thunderbolt," Paul said.

The three attacks hit Team Aqua's Pokemon and their Poochyena was down at once. Nick returned it.

"Crawdaunt, use Bubblebeam!" Shaun ordered.

I quickly called Poochyena and Sparky back. Elekid got ready for the attack to hit.

I grabbed another Pokeball and threw it. "Skitty! Come on out!"

Skitty appeared. "Skitty!"

"Alright, Skitty, use Swift!" I ordered.

Skitty jumped up and opened its mouth. Golden stars flew out of its mouth and the bubbles were popped.

"Phanpy, your turn!" Ash smiled. "Use Rollout!"

Phanpy curled up into a tight ball and started rolling towards Crawdaunt, really fast.

Phanpy hit Crawdaunt and it crashed back into Team Aqua, making Shaun let go of Wingull and Nick dropped the documents.

"Skitty and Sparky, go get the documents," I said and my two Pokemon ran forwards, starting to quickly gather the papers.

"Crawdaunt, use Crab Hammer!" Shaun yelled.

Sparky and Skitty had all the papers in their hands and mouth, but they couldn't attack.

"Elekid, use Thunderpunch!" Paul said and Elekid ran forward, electricity coming from its left fist.

I closed my eyes but opened them again to see Elekid punching Crawdaunt away from Sparky and Skitty. "Guys, get back here!" I called.

My two Pokemon ran back to me and I took the documents from them, shoving them in my bag.

"Elekid, back here."

"Phanpy, you too," Ash said.

The two Pokemon ran back and Paul looked at Ursaring. "Now, use Hyper Beam."

Ursaring nodded and opened its mouth, a yellow sphere forming.

I returned Poochyena and Skitty and Sparky was beside me. Paul returned Elekid and Ash returned Phanpy. Wingull perched on Ash's shoulder.

"Do it!" Paul ordered Ursaring and the bear Pokemon let the power loose. A huge yellow beam shot out at Team Aqua and there was a huge explosion. Smoke rose up everywhere and rocks flew everywhere, I was suddenly covered by something warm but my eyes were closed so I couldn't tell what it was and I was forced to crouch down.

When the smoke and all cleared up, I blinked my eyes open and finally realized what happened, Paul had put his arms around me and forced me to the ground to stop me from getting hurt.

He coughed roughly and we both stood up. "Are you okay?" he asked whilst coughing, it sounded terrible.

"I'm fine," I replied. "What about you? That cough is really bad."

Paul shrugged and I looked over to check if Ash was okay, he was looking at Paul, his body tense. "Ash? Are you alright?" I asked, running over to him.

"I'm okay," he replied. "I'm glad to see that you are."

I looked at Sparky, it was okay, Ursaring had picked it up and turned around to protect it from getting hurt. I sighed with relief and looked over to the two Team Aqua guys, they were knocked out, and Crawdaunt was no better.

"Let's get out of here," Paul said, still coughing.

I left Ash and stood beside Paul, helping him with one hand on his shoulder and the other against his chest. We slowly left the cave with the documents and the Wingull known as Peeko, and when we got out, the old man was waiting.

"Peeko!" he bellowed and rushed over to us, the Wingull flew over to him. "Thank you so much for getting Peeko back for me."

"No problems," Ash replied, a hint of a growl in his tone as he glanced at me and Paul.

"We have to keep going," I murmured. "Nurse Joy has to see to Paul quickly."

Ash growled. "Yeah, sure, let's go." The sooner she's away from that creep, the better, he thought.

Ursaring looked down at me and I looked back up at it, not afraid anymore, I was surprised when Ursaring nodded to me and smiled a little bit.

"Ursaring, return," Paul said and made it go back into its Pokeball, the he started a coughing fit.

"Damn," I muttered. "Come on, let's hurry up."

We made our way through the forest with Sparky leading the way so we didn't get lost. We eventually made it back to Rustboro City and I was still at Paul's side.

"Ash," I murmured. "Paul needs to be checked out as soon as possible, and the man needs the documents. Could you take the documents to him while I get Paul to the Pokemon Center."

Ash looked at Paul and sighed. "Fine, alright."

I let Paul stand on his own for a little bit while I reached into my bag. I grabbed the documents and gave them to Ash. I put my bag back on and supported Paul again, his cough sounded like it was getting worse. "You've breathed in too much of the smoke from the Hyper Beam attack."

"Oh well, at least you're okay," Paul replied.

I felt my face burning up and my cheeks went red. Ash growled. "Come on, Pikachu!"

I looked up as Ash and Pikachu ran off, I had heard the growl from Ash and was a little worried.

"He sounds a bit angry," Paul mumbled.

"He'll get over it," I replied. "We need to worry about you at the moment." I helped him through Rustboro City towards the Pokemon Center.