So almost a quarter year and still no update with a chapter? Um yeah, about that. I might need a while sorting out the next few chapters, so all I have ready with me as thus far is practically another filler. So I'm sorry. D: But as always, enjoy and all comments and criticism is well appreciated. :)

Crisp, bitter wind cut through the air. Stirring at the sound of a distant hoot, the brunette slowly arose only to place a hand through her unruly, spiky hair that was pulled into a positive bed-head. Grunting at the unwanted chilly weather, the brown haired trainer threw off her covers without as much as a care to how unceremonious she looked, and shuffled discontentedly towards her window, drawing in a slow, lengthy breath.

It had been almost been a few hours since her first official Pokémon battle, and yet the residual feelings of her defeat were still etched into her mind. She watched distractedly as a blanket of stars slowly pulled across the dark atmosphere, warming the resting residents of Viridian City with a supple, quietening glow. Nocturnal Pokémon outside scurried across from each corner of the surrounding area. A family of Raticate and their Rattata young were well-hidden behind a small Chilan berry tree, although however visible enough to Elle's trained eye. The moonlit radiance showering down upon them softened the usually bright hue of their fur into gentle lavender.

Wincing, Elle turned away from the window with a palm instinctively at her lips as she saw what the group of rodents were doing. Gulping down her earlier dinner with a force that left her throat throbbing, she was bluntly reminded of how sickeningly primitive Pokémon could be.

Several carcasses of Pidgy, Caterpie, and several other Pokémon that Elle didn't bother identifying lay in a still pool of blood. A handful of Chilan berries were at the mercy of the Normal type's teeth, soiled by the remnants of the liquid that was formerly contained in the now dead bodies.

Eating.
Sleeping.
Preening.
Eating.

Elle had seen this repetitive cycle repeat so many times in her life that it ailed her. It was like habit for those Pokémon – to cease their cycle of life only when the life had ceased itself. It didn't matter if a car crash was to have happened or a deadly virus took place. The Pokémon's remaining family would have coped and adjusted. After all, all they do is eat, clean themselves and sleep, right?

As another Pidgy was pulled apart to become more rodent fodder, Elle slowly recognised the familiar taste of bile that was dancing ever so closely towards her larynx. Forming uncomfortably at the back of her throat, it was an unnecessary, unsettling feeling, the novice trainer reflected bitterly.

Elle's eyes continued to peer at the huddled family of normal-type Pokémon without guarded contempt. The young Rattata got their food, was surrounded constantly by their parents, and heck, probably learnt their scavenging ways by them as well.

Wincing again for the second time that night, she repressed a sudden memory with full force and she cast her glance towards the sky outside once more. "I shouldn't care about this..." Elle whispered to the stillness of the moon. "No-one is to blame for my losses. I just hate how everything's just so downright unfair..."

Her choked voice faded off into the distance, falling quietly onto the depths of silence. Clamming up into two tight fists, Elle's hands were propped up onto her thighs, grasping at the soft material of her green coloured, Oddish-print pyjamas.

Earlier Ruki had asked why Elle couldn't – or more so wouldn't want to – call out her Bulbasaur for some training along the route towards Viridian. She replied with a nonchalant flip of her hand. Apparently Bulbasaur would have done more good resting in her PokéBall than outside training.

Of course, Elle knew she was lying. She simply wanted to protect her Pokémon – but it was infuriating how irony just always loved to bite her in the butt.

Elle already learnt about every single Pokémon, gym leader, berry, antidote and everything else that a trainer had to know in prior to their journey. At least, in the brunette's sense of logic, it was everything trainer had to know! So she was more than prepared for her battle.

So why didn't she win?

The question had repeated itself as if to taunt her, drive her insane until she screamed at nobody aside from her conscious. Naturally her emotions would have been dampened throughout and by the earlier battle. But now, such emotions circulated into a cyclone of something more potent than just a petty moping after a defeat.

She had so wanted to win.

It was her first battle, and she didn't even win!

What would her parents have said if they were to see her like this? Would they have been proud at her failure?

Probably not, was Elle's defiant, internally irate answer.

Nobody would have ever been truly proud of her efforts. They never have.

As the family of Raticate and Rattata sensed the rising sun and made their way to their nesting place within the earth of Viridian, Elle thoughts wondered aimlessly, giving her already stressed mind an additional push of pressure. She had just wanted somebody to remind her again:

Why did she even bother?

Long, dainty fingers curled around the fine, ebony locks of her hair.

Silky as it naturally was, Ruki couldn't detest brushing it or conditioning it repetitively in attempts to make them most luxurious tresses in the world. After all, as a future designer of some sort, it was what had to be done. Style is all and all is style, she repeated in her head, as if a mantra carved into her skull.

After clipping off her last nail, she flicked her hair back and placed in two clips to keep most of it out of her way. "All done," she declared as her softly powdered reflection returned with a smile of affirmation. Ruki was a beautiful girl, as most would believe. Her features were dainty and petite, an adorable smile always adorned her lips, and almost nobody could have ignored what truly made her beautiful: those sets of lively, auburn coloured eyes.

The constant wondering of the possibility of her eyes being red always amused her, though. They weren't dark enough to be considered brown, nor vibrant enough to be a suitable red. On either account, though, she pondered about how terrifying it could be with irises of such a colour – Halloween would have been made a much more enjoyable event if it were to be true.

Shaking her head at her little musings, she stood up and swung her ahead towards the resting figure beside her.

At first, she was startled. Or perhaps that was a little understatement. What, or more so, who she thought would have been Elle sleeping beside her, was instead Jaye.

For reasons unknown to her, she suddenly felt the air rise and her palms becoming wet. Even though only a few drops had formed between her fingers, she was becoming unbearably uncomfortable inside the room. But all she did was look at him! Why was she even feeling like this?

Instinctively, she rushed over to the window and let it wide open.

Gasping in relief, she felt her body slowly easing out the earlier build of warm air. Whether she had realised or not, Ruki found herself silently scanning over Jason's resting figure again, however now just blissfully taking in his fine image of a body.

His skin was bathed in the sunlight, absorbing its rays and shimmering as if it were boasting about how radiant it was. An arm covered his face, dishevelled blond hair falling over it nicely. Her eyes trailed over his body in one lasting glance, before looking away again.

She felt her cheeks inflame once more, but was calmer about keeping herself in check. Fingers tapped softly on the pane of the window. The young fashionista sighed, her body doing a jitter of sorts, until her arms settled to crossing over her endowed chest in a more elegant mirror of Elle's signature pose.

Stopping to think about the mentioned trainer, her strides along the pristine tiles of the Pokémon Centre ceased as well. Ruki smiled a little as she saw her surroundings settle into a balmy atmosphere of the lobby. Despite the early morning, numerous trainers filled out through the Centre in small congregations. Most were waiting for their Pokémon to heal and some were contacting loved ones. As politely as she could, Ruki walked forward to where the receptionist was located at and asked for the whereabouts of her travelling companion.

"Oh, she's down in the waiting room," came the calm reply. A pretty woman with pink locks of hair responded, smiling down sweetly upon the ebony haired trainer. "I haven't seen Elle come out since she came here," she added with a touch of concern. "Here, take these with you. I'm sure these will make you both feel more at home."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Ruki replied, grabbing hold of the blankets and a tray of food that Nurse Joy handed to her. She had to shift slightly in order to get the right balance, before attempting to take any further step. When she managed to create a good sense of equilibrium, the girl returned to find her friend's temporary bedroom and mutely waited for her to wake.

"Is it ready?"

The purple haired trainer scowled as he saw two pathetic grunts failing to carry the simplest of boxes around the base of the headquarters. A tall, sturdy man with black hair and piercing eyes looked back at him through the monitor, sharing the same dissatisfied expression.

"I've got the starter, yes, although it'll be ways until it's competent enough to battle. But don't worry; I'll have the task completed soon enough."

An amused grunt of approval escaped the older man's lips, and the faintest trace of a smile tore through his stark features. "Very well then. I'd expect nothing less from my star pupil," he said, a praise that was rarely ever sung. "Assuming there is not anything further to discuss, then our conversation ends here."

The burly man waited seconds for a response. When had he ascertained there was none, a pause ensued and the monitor faded into black. The trainer walked out of the small cottage and into the streets. He had to retrieve his Pokémon and train until his Turtwig finally evolved. The Pokémon was proving to be a difficult thing. It was surely at the level of evolution, but there was something the trainer didn't realise yet which was preventing the starter from evolving. It had frustrated him, and worse still was that he had no idea how to get it to evolve, other than to train it harder by each passing day. At least he managed to push the initially troublesome Weedle and Rattata to their last stages. Keeping that piece of information in mind was penchant enough to keep him marginally content.

Clouds of dirt caught on the soles of his navy and black shoes as he made his way through the town and up to the Pokémon Centre. He made sure to get some necessities from the PokéMart without much trouble, especially when that random idiot decided to just give him a potion back at Route 1. Even though the overly insistent Pokémon Mart worker was annoying – and got in the way of his plans a little – he actually saved the trainer a few pokémon dollars.

As he entered, the trainer couldn't help but groan in annoyance. A group of what seemed to be three novice trainers were lounging around in the Centre, fawning over whatever trash was playing on the television screen. The preppy voice of DJ Mary emanated in the room, which was a little curious. DJ Mary only hosted shows on the radio.

Deeming the wonderment of the pink haired lady's career to be rather pointless, the trainer bowed respectfully at the receptionist at the counter and salvaged his Pokémon with a few words of thanks.

But the droning sound of the four novices still continued to grab his attention. Particularly the girl with brown spiky hair; she, or what she said, intrigued him quite considerably.

"Augh, I still don't know what my grandfather's finds so fascinating about hosting these shows with her," he heard her complain. "It's almost like those days being tutored by him again – with poems to make it all the more exciting – only just that it's on TV."

The girl splayed across the sofa with little poise. Her hair seemed to have not been combed through in days, and her overall expression suggested that she was not very lady like at all. But her looks didn't concern him, though. What did she say? About her grandfather?

Another girl, one with overly bright, pink coloured clothes clasped her hands together and cast a look of bewilderment. "How could you say that?! Professor Oak probably is like, the coolest grandpa of them all!"

Cringing at the girl's high pitched praise for the old man, he rested a hand in the pocket of his navy blue pants. If this spiky girl kid was truly related to the Professor, then his plans would work all the more accordingly. Hurriedly retrieving a small mobile phone from his smaller bag pocket, he pressed down on one of the buttons with not even as much as a sound. The preteen snuck a glance at his surroundings, checking to see if anyone showed the slightest possibility of watching him.

He inspected the group for a while further, until making his exit as inconspicuously as possible.

Little did he notice the already tattered, fading image of a red R sticker from his mobile falling onto the floor of the tiled hallways.