Chapter 4: That's Not My Name!

The sunlight blasting in through the open curtains was the first thing Shadow saw the next morning. He groaned in disapproval and rolled over, trying to block out the harsh brightness.

"Good morning!" came a cheery female voice from the other side of the room.

"Hey you," Shadow called back. He was awake now, no point trying to pretend. He rolled over again to see his girlfriend and almost choked.

Kimiko was sitting with her back to him, instead facing a mirror that sat atop the lone end table in the room, her long, soaking wet hair over her shoulder as she brushed it. However, she was wearing nothing but the necklace he'd given her for her last birthday, and a fluffy pink towel around her waist.

"I washed my clothes while I was in the shower," Kimiko explained with a shy smile, seeing Shadow's reflection blush in the mirror. "Only problem is, they're not dry yet. Besides, it's nothing you haven't seen before…" she added as her own face reddened.

A few seconds passed, the only sound being the stroke of Kimiko's purple hairbrush pulling at her knotted golden-blonde hair. Then she spoke again: "If you're going to stare, why don't you come get a better view?"

Shadow's blush deepened in embarrassment as he realized he indeed had been staring. He quickly changed the subject.

"Uh, hey… you didn't bring any other clothes, did you?"

"Would I be sitting here naked if I did?" Kimiko replied, rolling her eyes. "The only other set I've got is the pajamas that I didn't even wear last night."

"You should think about getting some. Nevermind the fact that your… usual outfit isn't exactly the best for traveling… your back is covered in bug bites."

"Oh, is that why I'm so damn itchy?" she complained, her smirk slipping into a frown.

"I would imagine so," Shadow commented. Sighing, he forced himself up and out of bed. He stretched, trying to kick-start his body, before walking over to Kimiko. She made no motion to cover herself; she simply continued trying to unknot her hair. Shadow gently placed his hands on her shoulders and began to rub them, using every ounce of self-control he had to force himself to stare at the top of her head rather than her reflection.

After only a few seconds, Kimiko stopped fiddling with her hair, closed her eyes, and leaned back in her chair, relishing every second and every motion Shadow made.

"Now I remember why I keep you around," she said after a few minutes.

"Do explain," Shadow shot back playfully.

"Your massages make me absolutely melt…" She allowed him to continue for another several minutes before she eventually stood up.

"Okay, that's enough," she said, untying her towel and lifting it over her chest. "No more for you until you go get clean."

"I wasn't even looking!"

"We're standing in front of a mirror."

"… Er, you're right, I think I'll go take that shower now," Shadow said hastily.

"That's what I thought," Kimiko said with a grin, rolling her eyes again as Shadow rapidly backed away, blushing furiously, and closed the bathroom door just a little too hard.

"Waiting for me?" Shadow asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, causing Kimiko to jump.

Still unclothed but toweled, Kimiko had settled herself in the bed and flipped on the television. Too occupied by her own thoughts, she didn't hear Shadow finish his shower and leave the bathroom, and she literally jumped and squealed when he spoke. Shadow couldn't hold back his laughter.

"That wasn't funny!" Kimiko said, playfully tossing a pillow at him.

"I thought so, that's what matters," Shadow shot back, catching the pillow and hurling it right back. "What's on?" he added, gesturing at the TV.

"News," Kimiko said, sounding completely uninterested. "Another trainer's disappeared. Third one this week."

"Huh. That's not so unusual," Shadow commented, sitting down on the bed next to his girlfriend. "A little high, I guess, but people go missing all the time."

"Except this chick was supposedly pretty strong. She'd placed fifth in last year's Hoenn League. The other two girls she was traveling with say they woke up this morning and she was just gone."

"Where were they?" Shadow asked.

Kimiko hesitated before answering. "Camping in the Whispering Forest… the other side of the region, though."

Neither one spoke after that, both of them remembering their less than pleasant experience of the previous night in that very forest. Shadow wished he hadn't asked, as his mind was flooded with feelings of guilt. It took a few minutes before he realized how much worse it was for Kimiko, and what she must be thinking right now. He tried to change the subject.

"So, uh, anyway… Oh, your clothes are dry. What do you say we go get dressed, have some breakfast, and head down to the gym?"

"Mmm? Oh, yeah," Kimiko mumbled, and hopped off the bed.

As it turns out, with the aid of the shiny beedrill, the pair managed to get to their original destination, confirmed by the nurse on duty as Blossom Town, site of the first Pokémon Gym in Vidiva. The town itself had a very natural atmosphere about it. The roads were dirt rather than cement. Gardens, trees and flowers of various bright colors and sizes were everywhere. Most of the buildings had the appearance of log cabins, with the exception of a select few, including the Pokémon Center, which had to be build to certain standards in order to safely treat any Pokémon brought in (including fire-types, who might otherwise be hazardous in such a highly flammable building) and the town's Pokémon Gym, which resided inside a large greenhouse on the easternmost edge of town. This was the trainer's destination as they left the Pokémon Center about thirty minutes later.

"Well damn, I wonder what type this gym leader uses?" Kimiko said sarcastically as they approached the giant greenhouse.

"Should be fun to see how mine fares," Shadow answered, and the pair walked inside. A bell chimed as the door opened.

As expected, the air in the greenhouse was rather warm and humid. Directly ahead of them lay a huge expanse of tall grass. A female voice echoed throughout the building: "I'll be with you in a second!" Rustling grass could be heard shortly afterwards. Shadow and Kimiko stood in the doorway, waiting for the speaker to show herself. The rustling sound grew louder until finally, a young-looking brunette girl tumbled out, stumbling as her feet hit solid ground again. She let out a small squeal as she managed to regain her footing.

"Sorry about that!" she apologized as she retied her red bandana before dusting off the white apron that she wore over a forest green undershirt. She couldn't have been any older than seventeen. "I was looking for my oddish. Anyway," she looked up as she spoke and her face quickly turned a light shade of pink. "H-hi! M-my name's Nyra. I'm the gym leader here! Are y-you two here for a battle?"

"Call me Shadow," he replied, oblivious to Nyra's blush. "I'm here for the badge, yeah."

"His name's Alex. I'm Kimiko. I'm just the cheering section," she said, playfully nudging Shadow's shoulder. Shadow shot her a grimace at the use of his real name, but otherwise ignored her.

The gym leader refused eye contact after her initial glance, instead fascinating herself on her new arrival's outfits. Then, as suddenly as it came, the extra color left the young girl's face as her gym leader instincts overrode her human emotions.

"You only have two Pokémon with you?" she asked, indicating the two lone pokéballs on Shadow's belt. Nyra's face flooded with color again as she realized where she'd been staring and immediately turned to her left. Kimiko frowned, but Shadow spared the girl further discomfort.

"Yeah, just these two. Why?"

"O-oh…" Nyra stuttered. "W-well… the rules here require at least three Pokémon to battle with…"

"Why's that?" Kimiko asked. "This is the first gym in the league, isn't it? How many new trainers have three Pokémon well-trained this soon?"

"W-well… in general, yes," Nyra replied. "That's why, actually… the champion thought it would be a good idea to have a sort-of high requirement specifically because this is the first gym most new trainers challenge. She said it would help trainers get used to training several Pokémon at once early on in their career, so that they don't end up relying on a single Pokémon throughout their travels."

"Huh… well, damn," Shadow said. "I guess I've gotta go out and catch something else."

"I'm-so-sorry!" Nyra spat out in one breath as she bowed at the two trainers in front of her.

"Don't worry about it," Shadow answered. "Rules are rules. Any idea where there's some good Pokémon around here without going too far from town?"

"Uh… well, there is supposed to be some really rare water-type Pokémon around this side of the region…"

Kimiko looked at her suspiciously. "Why would we want to catch water-type Pokémon? Don't you use grass-types?"

"W-well… yes, I do… but… the routes leading in and out of town are pretty open… you won't find very many Pokémon out there in the open. Unless you want to go southwest into the Whispering Forest-"

"Hell no," Kimiko and Shadow answered in unison.

"A water-type sounds fine," Shadow said. "I can just teach it some ice move. Besides, if the ones around here are rare, what better chance to go and get one?"

"Well, okay then," Kimiko said, shrugging. "It's your battle, not mine. Your call."

"Thanks for the tip," Shadow reached out to shake Nyra's hand. She couldn't even look at him as he gripped it. "We'll be back once I've caught something new."

"She's got a crush on you," Kimiko said bluntly as the pair headed away from the gym, down the route to the south.

"Don't tell me you're jealous," Shadow laughed. "She looks like she's underage anyway. Not my type."

"Alex!" Kimiko snapped, aiming a kick at his ankle.

"Ow! Sorry!" Shadow spat. "Seriously, what are you afraid of? Now you know how I feel every day," he taunted.

"Oh, ha ha."

"Relax," Shadow said, leaning in and kissing her. "We've been together for what, almost seven years now? You worry too much."

Kimiko blushed in embarrassment and stared at her feet as the two continued walking.

The pair reached a small lake on the outskirts of Blossom Town about fifteen minutes after leaving the gym. A couple of fishermen were already there, hard at work, and identified the location as Petal Lake. It was Kimiko who asked the question on both of their minds.

"So… how exactly are we going to even find any water Pokémon?"

"Well… we could go ask to borrow someone's rod?" Shadow suggested. "One of these fishermen is bound to have a spare or two."

Kimiko sighed, but didn't argue, and followed Shadow to the edge of the lake. As he went to talk to some of the fishermen, she stood at the water's edge and looked down. The water was sparkling and clear; the lake didn't look very deep, but it also didn't look like it contained any Pokémon…

A few minutes later, Shadow returned, apparently successful in his endeavor. He carried not one, but two fishing poles with him. Kimiko gave him a curious look as he passed one to her.

"Well, it will give you something to do other than sit here and watch me… well, sit here."

"Good point, I guess… though it's you who really needs the Pokémon," she argued half-heartedly.

"Well then, having you help will make it go faster," Shadow commented with a wink before turning to select a spot to settle down.

Several minutes later, the pair had chosen a spot not far from the dirt path leading back into town. After casting their lines, there was nothing to do but wait and enjoy the warm weather and light breeze. Shadow sat patiently, staring at the spot where his line landed in the water as if that would cause some sort of reaction. Next to him, Kimiko lay on her back with her eyes closed, relishing the weather.

"I want an espeon," Kimiko said suddenly several minutes later as the young couple waited for a bite.

"Seriously?" Shadow grimaced. "An eevee evolution? That's not very original."

"They're adorable!" Kimiko shot back, a little hurt. "Besides, they're psychic-types. How cool would that be?"

"I guess so…" Shadow thought. "…But an eevee evolution?" Kimiko didn't bother replying this time.

She did, however, speak up again several minutes later. "Why haven't we named our Pokémon?"

"What?" Shadow said at this sudden question.

"You know, like how people give their Pokémon nicknames, instead of just calling them by their species."

"Eh, I'm horrible at names. What's your excuse?"

"I'm horrible at names," she shot back with a grin.

"Hm…" Shadow thought. In truth, the idea of nicknaming his Pokémon had come to him several times, but he was at a loss as to what to choose, so he simply never brought the matter up aloud. "I like the idea, but I just don't know what I'd call them. I want to come up with something more original than 'Rita' for Chikorita."

Kimiko giggled. "You're right, that is unoriginal."

"Well, what were you going to call Mudkip, Muddy?"

"N-no!" Kimiko shouted defensively. Her tone, though, was clearly mocking.

"Rita wouldn't fit anyway, once she evolved."

"Why not? It's a feminine name, and your Chikorita is a girl, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah… I don't know." Shadow whipped out his pokédex and began to search for Chikorita's data in an effort to find some inspiration. "So seriously, what do you plan to call Mudkip?"

"I don't really know either," Kimiko admitted.

Shadow picked a pokéball from his belt and let it drop, releasing his Chikorita. She squeaked happily as she adjusted to the warm temperature, quickly lying down in between the two humans to sunbathe.

"Hey," Shadow said. "So I was thinking about giving you a nickname. What do you think about 'Spice'?" Kimiko barely stifled a giggle, but Chikorita cooed gleefully.

"Oh, very clever," Kimiko mocked.

"It's better than 'Rita'," Shadow said, shrugging. Chikorita, though, seemed to like this one even better; she nodded her head excitedly.

"Really? You'd rather be called Rita?" he said with disbelief. His Pokémon continued to nod in agreement. "Okay then… from now on, I'll just call you Rita. But make sure you're answering to that now, okay?"

Without sitting up, Kimiko reached to her backpack and pulled out a pokéball of her own, releasing her Mudkip. The tiny water-type squeaked in fear as the sunlight blinded it momentarily, but after blinking and taking in his surroundings, relaxed after realizing there was no danger. Chikorita had returned to sunbathing, and Kimiko resumed relaxing on the grass. Mudkip, possibly thinking it was some sort of game, attempted to mimic them, laying on his front and resting his head on the ground, occasionally lifting it up to glance at Chikorita to make sure he was doing it right.

Shadow laughed as he watched the three of them. He was glad that they all seemed to be recovered from last night's incident already and that so far no lasting scars were left. Well, he still wasn't too sure about Kimiko, but at least the Pokémon were easier to read. He debated releasing Sableye as well, but just as he grabbed his pokéball, a thought crossed his mind. He hadn't released the ghost-type since capturing it, and he had no way to know how it would react to their little group, especially after being separated from his own. Still, though, it would have to be done sooner or later anyway… so he dropped the pokéball.

Kimiko, Rita, and Mudkip looked up in surprise at the sound of the pokéball opening. As the white light began to take shape into Sableye, Chikorita jumped up and immediately crouched into a defensive position, and Kimiko asked, "What are you doing?"

"I've got to let him out at some point," Shadow shrugged.

Sableye turned around to face the group, barring his teeth as he saw Rita, ready to attack, and took his own battle stance. Shadow put a hand lightly on Rita's leaf. She looked up at him with a confused look.

"Easy now," Shadow said. "Relax. Both of you."

Rita gave one last glare at Sableye, but did as told, though she never took her eyes off the ghost. Sableye, meanwhile, relaxed as well, though he certainly didn't look happy about being here.

"How are you feeling?" Shadow asked his new Pokémon. Sableye glanced up at him and he could have sworn that if Sableye had a nose, he would have stuck it up in disgust.

"Okay… so, I was thinking… since you're a part of the group now, how about a name?"

Sableye didn't respond at all. No sound, no movement, nothing. Shadow sighed. Before he could speak, however, two figures approached them. How he missed them coming until they were practically right next to them, he had no idea – they stood out painfully in the bright colorful day. The male had short, black hair with red streaks and red coloring at tips. His outfit consisted of a black t-shirt and black leather pants. The female, about the same height as the male, wore a long dress in a similar black, her hair also black, but it was up in two large pigtails and had dark purple streaks instead.

Shadow cast a glance at Kimiko as if to ask her if she knew them. She shook her head before sitting up and addressing them. "Excuse me, you're blocking the sun. Can we help you?"

"Forgive us," the male said flatly. "Believe me, we don't much enjoy being here ourselves, but we have a job to do."

"And that is…?"

"Pardon my brother's rudeness," the female spoke in a similar monotone. "My name is Phobos, and this is my brother, Deimos. We run the Pokémon gym in Phantom Village, in the center of the forest, closer to the western side of the region."

"Just how big is that damn forest, anyway?" Kimiko said as she and Shadow stood up to introduce themselves.

"So… what brings you two all the way out here?" Shadow asked.

"The ghost Pokémon in the Whispering Forest have been acting… unusual for the last few days," Phobos replied. "Naturally, as the owners of a ghost-type gym, it is our responsibility to find out why. They have led us here."

"Is this your sableye?" Deimos spoke up.

"Yeah… I just caught him last night. In that forest, in fact."

"May we have a word?" Deimos specifically addressed Sableye. The Pokémon nodded slowly and deliberately. Without another word, ignoring Shadow's protests, the newcomers and Sableye stalked off to the nearest shaded spot – underneath a tree several meters away. Shadow refused to take his eyes off them.

"What's this all about?" Kimiko asked.

"Hell if I know," Shadow answered. "But Sableye seems to know them. That's… odd."

"Is it really? They are the ones who keep the ghost Pokémon in the forest under control, aren't they? Maybe Sableye's met them before."

"Maybe, but I don't trust them."

The group returned several minutes later. Sableye, unharmed, simply sat down upon arrival, his back to the trainers.

"Thanks for your time," Phobos said. "You appear to be trainers… so I'm sure we'll meet again." And with that, the siblings turned and walked off without waiting for an answer.

"That might have been the weirdest thing I've seen in a long time," Kimiko commented, lying back down in the grass.

"Yeah…" Shadow said, looking down at Sableye. The ghost Pokémon had stood up and walked over to where Rita and Mudkip lay sunbathing and extended a clawed hand without a word. Rita looked at him oddly, but hesitantly wrapped a vine around the ghost's hand and shook it. Shadow smiled.

"So, accepted the fact that you're one of us now, have you?" Sableye grunted at him. "How about that nickname?" Sableye shrugged.

Shadow pulled out his pokédex again and ran over Sableye's statistics and data. After a few moments, he spoke. "I guess since you're a male, we can rule out 'Jewel'. How about 'Diamond'?"

"Eye," the ghost answered with a stiff nod. He then turned and sat down next to Rita, who watched his every move out of the corner of her eye.

"Good lord, you really are awful at this," Kimiko giggled from the grass.

Shadow sat himself down and glanced at her. "Alright, if you're so smart, what are you going to call Mudkip?"

"I was thinking either Kip or Finn."

"And you thought I was bad?"

"Oh shut up!"

"According to my pokédex, that little guy can crush boulders," Shadow said, now looking up Mudkip's information.

"Let me see that," Kimiko demanded, sitting up and taking the pokédex out of his hands. She looked at it for a few seconds, and then looked at Shadow. "…How do I make it scroll down?"

"This button here," Shadow laughed as he poked the button he was indicating.

Kimiko fiddled with the pokédex for a few minutes longer before closing it.

"How about Radar?" she asked. Shadow raised an eyebrow. "…What? Mudkip's little fin on his head can pick up things like a radar. So I think it suits him."

"He's your Pokémon," Shadow answered.

"Speaking of, I think that one's yours," Kimiko pointed in front of them. A yellow starfish with a red core was silently standing there over Shadow's forgotten fishing pole, watching them.

"Wow, a staryu!" Shadow exclaimed. "I thought they were only active at night. Nyra was right, there really are rare water Pokémon around here! Go get it, Rita!"

If she were angry at her sunbathing being interrupted, Rita didn't show it as she obediently dove headfirst into battle. It only took two barrages of Razor Leaf to bring the staryu to the ground. The creature didn't even fight back. Shadow frowned at he tossed a pokéball at it and then frowned more when the pokéball hardly resisted before closing with a ping.

"Well that was anticlimactic," he sighed. "Good job, Rita."

"Chik!" Rita exclaimed happily before returning to her sunbathing.

"So, what should I name it?" Shadow asked as he stared at the pokéball in his hand. He got no answer. Turning around, he saw Kimiko busy with a Pokémon of her own.

She had pulled her fishing line in and brought up a blue seashell. She watched as the shell opened to reveal a softer, lighter blue inside, as well as a pink pearl in the center, complete with an angry face.

"Radar, think you can battle?" Kimiko called. Her mudkip looked at the clamperl and squeaked worriedly, but waddled up to face it anyway. "Don't worry, you'll do fine! Go get it with a Tackle attack!"

Radar obeyed, closing his eyes as he ran in a straight line towards the clamperl. Before he struck, however, clamperl hurled itself forwards, and clamped down on Radar's fin. The mudkip shrieked with pain and attempted to wiggle himself free, but clamperl had him tight.

"Oh god, now what do I do?" Kimiko asked no one in particular.

Before she got an answer, though, the clamperl blasted a torrent of water out of its shell, releasing its grip on Radar and blasting him away. Radar struggled to his feet, whimpering.

"Come on, Radar, you can do this! Show it a real Water Gun!"

With a deep breath, Radar planted his feet firmly and exhaled – and nothing happened. The clamperl roared with laughter as the mudkip began to cry. Kimiko gave him a soft encouraging smile, though, and Radar tried again. He took another deep breath. This time, the little mudkip managed to summon a blast of water of his own. Clamperl, who had been too busy laughing at Radar, screamed in agony as it got a blast of water to the face as Radar struck its vulnerable inner shell.

"Okay, now it's my turn," Kimiko said, reaching for a pokéball in her bag. She grabbed the nearest one and hurled it at the weakened water-type. The ball bounced off the dazed clamperl's shell and opened…

…But instead of transforming the Pokémon into red light and absorbing it, Kimiko's pokéball instead released a white light. She and Shadow stared at it in confusion as the light materialized into a rounded shape. When the light faded, the round, black shape, face and all, had become enveloped by a cloud of purple gas. The new creature stared at Kimiko, who simply stared back at it.

The two continued to stare at each other. Nothing in the area seemed to move – even the other fishermen had turned their attention to the commotion – except for Diamond the sableye, who let out a silent scowl.

"GAAAAASTLY!" the creature suddenly boomed, causing Kimiko to jump back, startled.

"Where the bloody hell did this thing come from…?"

The small group simply stared at the gastly, no one knowing quite what to do next. Gastly solved that problem, however, as it floated up to Kimiko and nestled in her hair. She winced as the ghost caused her hair to float about with its odd ghost-type powers.

"Well… at least he's friendly," Shadow said, laughing.

"But… where did it come from?" Kimiko repeated.

"The forest," Shadow said thoughtfully, a vague, forgotten memory returning to him. "You must have caught it when you dropped that pokéball."

"What are you talking about?"

"When that… dusclops… was lifting you," Shadow started, afraid to bring back the memory of the event. Kimiko simply stared at him, showing no sign that it bothered her, so he continued. "Well, you dropped a pokéball. I remember seeing a red flash of light out of the corner of my eye but I didn't think anything of it, I was busy trying to figure out how to save you. I guess I just thought it was an attack. But maybe… maybe that flash was this gastly getting sucked into the pokéball you dropped. Remember when you fell? We landed on top of a pokéball?"

"Oh," was all Kimiko could reply with.

"Kiiip!" came a squeal. Kimiko looked down to see Radar jumping up and down, and pointing at something. Following his little paw with her gaze, Kimiko spotted the clamperl desperately trying to hop back towards the lake. She mentally slapped herself as she hastily scooped up another pokéball from her bag and hurled it at the fleeing seashell. This time, the Pokémon was properly sucked inside, and the ball fell to the grass. The pokéball shook for a few seconds, and then echoed the earlier ping from Shadow's pokéball.

"I thought you didn't plan to capture anything?" Shadow asked as Kimiko walked over to pick up her new Pokémon, gastly still toying with her hair.

"I didn't," she answered. "I just didn't want you to get too far ahead of me. And now, I guess we're… still even," she added, reaching for the gastly. It laughed happily, if not a bit creepy, as her hand went right through it. She sighed.

"Well, now I need to find names for these two also, don't I?"

A/N: Long chapter is long.

So I wasn't sure if I should include the first scene or not, but I thought it was nice character building, showing a little of their relationship and all. Plus, my story, so I can include what I want. Which means a bit of plot showing up too. Yay.

I've had the characters Phobos and Deimos planned for ages, and just had nowhere to fit them in until I started this story. They're perfect for ghost-type gym leaders. Can't wait for that little arc. I hope I have decent descripions, I'm not good at describing goths. xD

And a little surprise at the end. I wonder if anyone even noticed the capture of Gastly last chapter.

Also, this is why I tend not to nickname my Pokemon. I can't.