She could feel his eyes again. Those cold, harsh eyes surveying the landscape. What were once so keen were now foggy, confused. He was looking for her, of that she was sure, but for some reason he could not see her. He felt her presence, as he always would, but he couldn't seem to pinpoint her exact location. To him, it was like finding the source of a strange heat, one second he would think he'd found it, and the next it would be gone. If she just lay still, if she didn't make a sound, he wouldn't find her. Maybe he would just pass by-

"Oh, so THIS is how our adventure is going to go, hm? You meet a new guy and dump me in the forest? I think NOT missy!" A voice announced, snapping Rose out of her slumber. She sat straight up, immediately alert and without thinking pulled N's jacket over her face, as if that would hide her.

"You did NOT just do that. Get out of there!" The jacket was wrenched from her grip revealing a very irate Roma standing before her. He had his hands on his hips and the vines from his collar held the jacket a distance away from both him and her, as if it were contaminated. Behind him was her messenger bag, which he appeared to have drug all the way with him, and a very ashamed looking Purrloin.

"Don't be mad Roma, we were gonna come back for you when we woke up." N explained, smiling in a friendly way. He paled slightly as the irate grass Pokemon wheeled on him, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Don't even get me started, pretty boy." He hissed, approaching the man-child before him, who threw his hands up in a defensive manner. "This is all your fault, I just know it. I sensed something when we first met, there…is something you are hiding…" He stalked slowly up to N, tongue flicking out and tasting the air.

"Don't be silly Roma, N just wanted to show me the stars. There were so many that we fell asleep before he could show me all of them." Rose told the Snivy, reaching forward to pick him up.

"You!" He snapped, turning his focus on his Trainer. "You are grounded until further notice."

"Grounded? What is that?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh no! I know what that is!" N exclaimed, covering his mouth in horror.

"It means you will not leave my sight until I say so. And you will do as I say until I say so. Got it?" Roma sniffed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Roooommmaaaaa…" She whined, but said Pokemon not having that.

"Don't you 'Roma' me! I recruited a new member to our team, his name is Michael." He pulled out a Pokeball from the now dusty messenger bad and tossed it in the air. With a pop and flash of bright red light, a twitchy brown Pokemon was released, turning to the humans before him with wide red and yellow eyes.

"A Patrat?" Rose asked, a slight smile curving her lips. "Well hello there, Micheal. I'm Rose." She bowed slightly and the Patrat stiffened.

"Wh-what? Why are you being nice to me?" He chirped in a high, quivering voice.

"She's just nice." Roma explained, standing beside the frightened Pokemon and patting his shoulder. "She's new to this whole thing."

"Oh, um, well, hello." Michael replied, holding out a small paw uncertainly. Rose laughed and shook her head, to which Michael sighed and looked down at the ground. To his surprise he was picked up and pulled into a tight hug, his new Trainer spinning him in a circle as she embraced him. He let out a little squeak of laughter and returned the embrace as much as he could with his tiny arms.

After a brief goodbye, made extra brief by Roma's obnoxious throat clearings and foot tappings, Rose and N parted ways once more. He explained that he was going directly to Nacrene City by taking a shortcut through the forest. Rose wanted to go with him, but Roma absolutely refused, telling her that they needed to challenge the gym in Striaton first as an excuse.

"Don't worry, I will be in Nacrene for a few days, so if you hurry up we can camp out together again!" N grinned as he walked off. Rose waved until he was out of sight and then slug her bag over her shoulder.

"You guys ready?" She asked, leaning down so Roma could climb up her arm up to her shoulder.

"More than ready." Roma replied getting comfortable. Michael shifter uncomfortably, eyes darting back and forth from Rose to the ground.

"I…I guess I go in the Pokeball now…" He mumbled. Both Rose and Roma chuckled softly and shook their heads.

"Not if you don't want to. Here, how about you sit on my bag? It's full enough that it should be a nice soft spot to sit on." She carefully picked up the Patrat and placed him on top her bag where he fit perfectly. He smiled up at her shyly, his puffy cheeks dimpling, and they started on their way.

"You know, I thought I had done well. I thought I had liberated that Snivy…" N sighed, one hand stroking his chin as he walked, Purrloin striding loyaly by his side.

"Well, you did. He followed her by his own choice. You should have heard him when he woke, he was absolutely crushed. He didn't want to be separated from her." His companion's ears flattened against his skull at the memory. "Do you know why he decided to get that Patrat to join him? Patrats are known for being excellent watch outs, so she would always have someone watching out for her, even while he slept."

"I just don't understand. He treats her like she is his own blood. I've never met a Pokemon that wanted to be with a human." N stopped walking and stared up at the sky for a long moment, watching Pidove dart in and out of the clouds above. "But, I suppose there are always exceptions to the rule. This will not deter me. I will continue to pursue my goals and free Pokemon everywhere!" He grinned, feeling a renewed sense of purpose.

"I won't give up! I'll never, ever give up!"

Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, when I went to sit down to write, my fever spiked and I couldn't focus, so I ended up just sleeping. This is another short one, I probably won't end up putting out long chapters until I'm out of class. As for who "he" is, don't worry about it too much. "He" probably won't make an appearance for a while. Thank you for reading, and as always, feedback is very appreciated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-Vayel