A.N. Been a while since I've updated, huh? Don't worry – I haven't lost interest in this story!

Disclaimer: Pie.

The next day, Koya woke up to blindingly bright sunlight – something that didn't bother him too much, as he was from Hoenn, the tropical paradise of the Pokémon world. He slowly got out of his bed and tromped over to the bathroom across from his room. The blonde groggily flicked the light switch on, lighting up the small room. With a bath (and a shower curtain) occupying a whole wall, a toilet positioned next to the bath, and a sink right next to the toilet, there was minimal room to move around. But, it was a bathroom. Koya took his toothbrush from the small toothbrush holder and spread some minty toothpaste across the bristles. As he brushed his teeth, Growlithe came sleepily into the bathroom, but not before running into the wooden doorframe in his first attempt to enter the room.

"Growlithe, are you okay?" Koya asked through a mouthful of toothpaste, looking down at his Pokémon companion. Growlithe nodded and sat obediently next to Koya, as the eight-year-old finished brushing his teeth, and his hair.9y The two then went back into the bedroom, and as Koya put on his usual outfit: a light brown vest with white shorts and green socks. He then brushed Growlithe's fur, and when the morning routine was complete, the two went into the kitchen, where Damien was already drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper.

"What are you planning to do today?" the police officer asked as his son sat down at the table, where a plate of warm toast was sitting in the middle of the table, an a glass of milk was sitting at his spot.

"I don't know." Koya mumbled, taking two pieces of toast from the plate and handing one to Growlithe, who pounced on the warm bread and began to tear it apart and eat it in sections. "No one wants to be around me!"

"Understandable," his father sighed. "Koya, I'm sure that if you just give it some time-"
"It doesn't matter how much time!" Koya burst out, his breakfast still untouched. "They're all going to hate me, all because I have green eyes! Dad, can't I get contacts, or something? Something to change the color of my eyes? Please?"

With barely a moment of consideration, Damien replied curtly: "Absolutely not. You don't need contacts, Koya, and your eyes are just fine. You get them from your mother – and she wouldn't like hearing you say these kinds of things."

"But…but…everyone avoids me!" The blonde cried. "They'll throw stones at me, and they'll yell at me, if I even try to talk to anyone! Everyone hates me, Dad, and you just don't get it!"

"Don't be so-"

"Ridiculous?!" Koya yelled, close to tears. "You don't know, because you have brown eyes – no one has a problem with that! But they have a problem with me! Do you just want me to stay inside the house all the time so I don't get stoned to death?! I'm an outcast, Dad! If Mom knew that, would she have said 'don't be so ridiculous?'" Before Damien could say something, his son continued his distressed rant. "She wouldn't, because she had green eyes too! She'd know how it feels to not be liked by people just because your eyes are a certain color, and no one even takes the time to get to know you! You just don't get it! You would care more if Mom was in this position, but because-"

"ENOUGH." Damien interjected. "I will not be spoken to like this, Koya, and you know it. Now eat your breakfast."

After finishing his breakfast in silence, which, by the time he had finished his conversation with his father, Koya had lost his appetite for, he and Growlithe walked back to his room.

"He doesn't get it, Growlithe…" Koya sighed, sitting down on his unmade bed, Growlithe jumping up to sit by him. "He…he doesn't care…if Mom was still alive…" A few tears began to splash down the boy's cheeks. "H-He'd give it more thought…b-but because it's just me…he doesn't care!" Growlithe jumped up onto his Trainer's lap and began to lick the blonde's face to calm him down. "A-And…I said I'd battle P-Phoenix today…but after all the things that I said…" Koya's eyes caught the window, and his idea from yesterday came flooding back. "Of course!" The blonde said, brightening up. Growlithe sat back down on the bed after Koya told the Puppy Pokémon to wait. He quietly opened his bedroom door and snuck down to the front door, picked up his shoes, then ran as quietly down to his room as he could.

"Let's go, Growlithe." Koya whispered, pulling on his brown shoes and opening up the window. The two quietly crawled out, then ran as fast as they could down the pathway that led to the main part of the town. Both were braced for insults and rock throwing, but to their surprise, all the townspeople completely ignored them – giving them a wide berth and menacing stares, but that was nothing compared to the episode yesterday. "I guess it's not as bad…" Koya muttered, passing by an old man who waved his cane at him angrily.

"OI!" Someone yelled, and Koya ducked immediately, causing murmurs to erupt from the townspeople. "KOYA!" The blonde cautiously looked up and saw Phoenix running towards him with a small, blue Pokémon that had big ears with yellow stars in the middle, black back legs, yellow rings around its front legs, and a black tail with a four pointed yellow star on the end. "Hey, why're you ducking? I'm going to hurt you, y'know that!"

"It's not that I'm worried you'll hurt me..." Koya said, straightening up. "You just surprised me, that's all."

"Well, boo to you, then." Phoenix grinned. "Oh! And this is Lucky, my Pokémon partner!" Lucky looked up eagerly at the blonde, then over at Growlithe and grinned.

"Shi, shi!"

"He's a Shinx." Phoenix laughed upon seeing the surprised look on Koya's face. "Which, since you're from Hoenn, I'm sure that you're not familiar with our Pokémon, or, at least most of them, at least."

"I…okay." Koya said.

"Now, come on!" the raven-haired girl exclaimed, grabbing Koya's hand. "We're going to the lake!"

"But I thought that-"

"You'll see as soon as we get there!" Phoenix interrupted, breaking into a run, dragging Koya behind her, with Lucky and Growlithe bringing up the rear.

"Growl, growli lithe, growli? (Is your Trainer this hyper all the time?)"

"Shiii…shinx, inx, shi. (Sometimes…but not most of the time.)"

After a few minutes of running through Twinleaf Town, and the lush, green, Route 201 outside of town, Phoenix finally slowed down in front of a small passageway formed by trees. "We're here!"

"What?" Koya panted, looking up at the trees. "You said that we were going to have a battle! Not go sightseeing!"

Phoenix looked at Koya and sighed. "Y'know what? Someone should really teach you patience." She pointed towards the natural passage way. "Lake Verity is through this passage, and THAT'S where we're going to battle, alright?" With that, she walked through the trees, Koya following behind in her wake, and Lucky and Growlithe following soon after.

After all four had gotten through the passageway, they were met with a clear, sparkling blue body of water, with a small island in the middle. In the lake, Finneon and even some Lumineon splashed gracefully in the water, and on the shore, wild Bidoof and Kricketot played in the tall grass, and various townspeople were having small battles. A few Starly and Staravia flew through the pristine blue sky, which only had a few clouds in it. Upon seeing the surprised look on Koya's face as he looked around Lake Verity, Phoenix grinned.

"Welcome to Lake Verity, Koya."

A.N. Whew! Thanks for being patient – I'll do my best to update on a regular basis.