A/N Hey guys! Updates will be every other Tuesday, so I'll try my best to get a chapter out. Thank you to St. Elmo's Fire and HikariSoru for reviewing, it helps a lot! I would also like to thank my friend and beta reader Human_Wyof for encouraging me to write this and for helping me improve my writing. As always, R&R please!

I was floating in nothingness again in my dreams, when I saw the centaur-like pokémon again. The pink cat was missing; I didn't know where she went. He looked at me and when he spoke, it seemed as if the whole world around me was speaking:

"You have been given a great gift. You have a pure heart and have been chosen for a great destiny. When you understand your gift, do not hide from it, but embrace it and use it to help others."

I was so confused. What gift? I was just a 16 year old girl from Viridian City on a pokémon journey.

Suddenly he spoke again. "It's time for you to return. You have a very important day ahead of you."

I just realized that this centaur-pokémon has been talking to me and I didn't even know who he was. I called out to him, "Wait, who are you?"

"My name is Arceus. Farewell, child."

With that, the world turned white and I woke up in my bed in the pokémon center with Eevee and Pikachu curled up next to me. "What was that? What did he mean by a gift? I definitely have to look him up later." My thoughts were interrupted by Eevee and Pikachu slowly getting up. I asked them,

"Get a good night's sleep? We have a big day ahead of us. Today we're going to challenge the Pewter Gym!" Eevee jumped out of the bed, startling Pikachu, who was apparently much less of a morning pokémon than Eevee, and almost knocking him off of the bed. In response he let off a small spark, making Eevee's fur stand on end. Eevee didn't seem to mind and pawed at the door.

"Okay Eevee, I know you're excited, but why don't we get some breakfast first?" I suggested to them. They both nodded in agreement, and after a light breakfast in the pokémon center we headed out towards the Pewter Gym.

When we got there the first thing I noticed was that the whole gym was covered in rock. I guess that means it's a rock-type gym. I'm sure Eevee and Pikachu are up for it.

A tall dark-skinned man standing in the middle of the gym called out to us, "Are you challenging the Pewter Gym? If you are, my name's Brock, the gym leader."

I replied, "Yep! Eevee, Pikachu, and I are ready for this!"

He pulled a pokéball off of his belt and said,"Okay. This will be a two on two battle until both pokémon are unable to battle. Go Geodude!"

A boulder with a face and arms came out onto the field. I turned to PIkachu and asked him, "You ready for this? I know you can do it." He thought for a second, then walked out onto the field in a battle stance.

Brock looked at me with a bit of laughter in his eyes and said, "You're going to battle me with a pikachu? Oh well. Battle Begin!"

I know the electric type moves won't work because Geodude is also a ground type. Quickly I told Pikachu, "Use Quick Attack!" He ran at Geodude and… virtually did nothing. What? Why didn't that work? "Use Tackle!" Pikachu charged Geodude again, but once again it didn't even seem like Geodude took any damage.

Brock just stood there and called out, "You do know that normal-type moves are resisted by rock types, right? Geodude use tackle!"

Suddenly Geodude moved and slammed into Pikachu, knocking him across the stadium. "Pikachu!" I shouted, "Are you okay?" Although shakily, he got back up, but looked a little scared. I called out to him, "Don't worry. You can do this. He can't win if he can't hit you. Use Agility!" Pikachu sped up, quite literally running circles around Geodude.

Brock just smirked and called out, "Now!" Geodude then charged right in the way of Pikachu's path. Running too fast to dodge, Pikachu and Geodude ran right into each other. The resultant collision threw Pikachu towards me, knocking him out, while much sturdier Geodude was still able to battle if a little hurt from the impact.

"Pikachu!" I cried out and ran onto the field to pick him up. He woke up and looked at me sadly but I reassured him, "Don't worry. It's not your fault. You did fine." Knowing he doesn't like pokéballs, I set him down near the stands so he could watch the rest of the gym battle.

Returning to the battlefield, I called out, "Let's finish this Eevee!" She jumped in, facing Geodude, almost bouncing with energy. This time, Brock took the first move. "Geodude, use tackle!" Knowing that a head-on collision probably would probably hurt Eevee more than Geodude, I told her, "Use Sand Attack!" The sand caused Geodude to miss, and I got an idea. I told Eevee, "Head by the wall of the stadium." A little confused, she did so, when Brock said, "Geodude, tackle again!" I really hoped this worked. "Eevee, use Sand Attack and Quick Attack to dodge!" Throwing sand in Geodude's face, Geodude veered to the left and would have hit Eevee if she didn't use Quick Attack. Luckily, my plan worked and Geodude ran straight into the wall, knocking him out.

A little surprised, Brock returned Geodude, and told me, "You have beaten Geodude, but can you beat my starter, Onix!" a very, very large rock snake appeared, intimidating Eevee.

Shoot. What am I going to do about this? The strategy that worked for Geodude isn't going to work here. What am I going to do? While thinking about what to do, I didn't realize that Onix caught Eevee in a bind. As she was crying out in pain, unable to do anything, I couldn't think of anything that would help. Realizing that I couldn't win, I told Brock, "I...I forfeit." As a battered Eevee was released by Onix, I ran over, picked her up, got Pikachu and ran to the pokémon center to get them both healed.

After Eevee and Pikachu were healed, I ran to the clearing in Viridian Forest where Pikachu and Eevee played tag yesterday. I told them, "Go ahead and play. I need some time to think." They both gave me weird looks but scampered off.

Eevee's POV

After the gym battle I could tell that Kat wasn't her usual cheerful self. After we got to the clearing in Viridian Forest she just told us to run off and play. Pikachu and I walked off to a different part of the clearing to give Kat some space. I asked Pikachu, "So what do you think is wrong with Kat? So what if we lost a gym battle. We'll just win the next time."

He responded, "I know what she's going through. The feeling of hopelessness, that you can't do anything." We both look over and see that Kat is crying. He continued, "We should probably be there for her, not give her space. We need to remind her that it wasn't her fault and that we are there for her.

That does make sense. Before we could walk back to her, a spearow suddenly flew overhead, calling, "Hello! What brings you around here? It can be kinda dangerous in this part of the forest; beedrill like to make their hives in the trees."

I called back, "Right now isn't the best time. Our trainer isn't the best mood and she needs us right now."

The spearow looked at Kat and nodded. "My papa always said there's strength in a flock. Go to your trainer. We'll meet up some other time." With that, he flew off, probably back to his family.

With the spearow gone, Pikachu and I ran back to Kat and snuggled up to her. I know she couldn't understand me, but I told her anyway, "You don't need to get depressed over what happened. We'll just get stronger. It doesn't matter if you get knocked down. What matters is that you get back up."

Pikachu chimed in, "You're one of the strongest and nicest trainers we know. Don't let a few losses get to you."

Kat then stood up and wiped her tears away. Looking back at us, she smiled and told us, "Thanks guys, I needed that." Wait, did she understand what we said? Maybe she got the gist of what we were saying. She continued, "I'm going to have a plan this time around. WIth a little bit of training, we can beat Brock." That's more like it. Both Pikachu and I looked at her expectantly, wondering what her plan was.

Suddenly, her stomach rumbled. I saw it was about noon; planning can wait. She looked a little sheepish and told us, "Maybe after lunch." We both laughed at that, and she joined us. Spirits lifted, we headed back to the pokémon center, ready to take on the world.

A/N Another chapter down! If you have any comments or helpful criticism, please don't hesitate to review or pm me. I'm grateful for anyone willing to take the time to help me improve my writing. Thanks!