Hello everybody, King of Swag has returned with a new update of If I Was In Pokémon! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I was stuck in reality. My imagination wouldn't work so I was thinking up a storm for what to add in this chap.

But I'm guessing you're all interested in what might happened in this chapter, but to those who have forgot lets jog their memory huh? Nicholas had reached an abandoned cabin in the middle of a rainstorm while trying to find his way through the Viridian Forest. He met a girl, Alex Rose, and her Pokémon, Umbreon. The Pokémon aren't exactly playing well with each other, but their trainers are getting along just great!

Now, let's get on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! Except my OC. I don't own Alex Rose either.

(PS-I'm giving a heads up that there will be a few Pokemon that don't originate from Kanto. Leave now if you only wanted to read a strictly Kanto region based story. And I won't be able to update this fic as fast as I want due to multitasking stories and reality. But hey that's life...)

NOW READ!


Chapter 8: Getting To Know Each Other

Regular P.O.V

Nicholas hummed in bliss as he bit into the greasy delight known as steak. The meat-loving teenager opened his eyes to look at the female sitting across the small table, the same female who perfectly cooked the steak to well-done and seasoned with the right seasons. He was a bit annoyed that he and Alex were supposed to make BBQ ribs, but since the cabin wasn't theirs and there wasn't a lot of ingredients, they couldn't make such a meal. Even so, they made steak and rice so who was he to complain if he still got food?

"Oh my God, Alex this steak is sooo good! How did you learn how to cook like this?" Nicholas questioned and the girl blushed lightly at the praise. She swallowed down chewed rice before smiling back at Nicholas.

"I had learned how to make food when I was little. Went up from making peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches to frying steaks." Alex informed with a sheepish chuckle at the end. "But I can't take all the credit. Especially when you added the rice and corn." She said pointing to the remaining rice and yellow vegetables on her plate.

"Never before have I tasted rice this amazing." Alex admitted, scooping up more rice with her spoon. She hummed in bliss, just as Nicholas had done when tasting the steak.

"Thanks, I've been helping my mother make food a lot since I was 10." Nicholas revealed before leaning to the side in his chair and looked towards the kitchen carpet. "So how's the food guys?" Nicholas asked as Alex followed the same actions and turned her head. Eating Pokéfood from their own bowls was Charmander, Fang, and Umbreon, along with another Pokémon joining the group. It seemed Alex had another Pokemon in her team.

The newly introduced Pokémon was a Riolu, a special Pokémon that can sense aura/emotion and attack with such energy. It was a blue and black dog like Pokémon that stood on two feet. It had a yellow collar like ring around it's neck and had yellow oval orbs on both inner and outer wrists. The eyes were a dark red as well.

Riolu had been sitting next to Alex's Umbreon, sharing a large bowl of Pokéfood. Or more specifically, demolishing the puffins like a raging Munchlax. Riolu had been eating handfuls of Pokéfood with a happy smile and a satisfactory hum, while Umbreon had kept to a straight face and simply ate one piece at a time.

Charmander didn't have much of an expression, but just like Fang she had a smile while she ate her food, albeit her smile being a bit smaller.

"So...?" Nicholas asked slowly, a waiting raised brow. In truth, the only Pokémon he wanted to impress were Fang, Umbreon, and Riolu due to Fang just joining his team and the other two Pokémon being Alex's.

He soon got his answer which was a happy hiss from Fang and a raised paw from Riolu. He felt a little put off when Umbreon didn't answer, but seeing Riolu practically clap and giggle made up for it. "Lu Lu Riolu!" Riolu exclaimed joyfully and by the tone of Riolu's voice, Riolu was a male. Nicholas smiled from the praise by the newly introduced Pokémon.

"Thank you. It's good to know others appreciate my cooking." Riolu gave Nicholas a thumbs up before leaning over the bowl and quickly shoving more puffins into his mouth. As Riolu stuffed his face Umbreon leaned back with a small scowl, but even so she looked a bit amused. Charmander, who stopped eating for a second and stared with a raised brow, was the only one to take notice of Umbreon's mixed expression.

Alex held up a finger and waved it in a disapproving manner. "Riolu, remember what I said about sharing?" Just when Riolu heard his name, his entire form froze with a handful of puffins only an inch towards his open mouth. Beads of over dramatic sweat began racing down his face while his eyes slowly looked at his trainer.

Alex didn't have a frown on her face, but a grin which made Riolu a bit confused. "Not only that, but remember last time you ate too much? You had a tummy ache." Riolu's pupils shrank and his paw slowly moved away from his mouth, which was etched into a hard frown. It looked like Riolu had remembered whatever Alex had said and lost his appetite.

"Lu Lu Ri..." Riolu said slowly and held the puffins to Umbreon's face. Umbreon only took a single puffin from Riolu's paw and nodded in thanks.

Nicholas only looked at Riolu in confusion when he saw the black and blue Pokemon drop the remaining puffins in the bowl with a small whine. "What you're not gonna eat anymore?" It wasn't him who said it, but Alex. When Riolu nodded in response, the teenage girl placed an elbow on her knee and cupped her chin. "I said to slow down, not starve yourself." She joked and Riolu looked at her with wide eyes.

As if reading his mind, Alex gave a smile and nodded. Riolu let out a happy "Ri Riolu!" and pulled the bowl closer to him. But when his hand was gonna dig into the bowl, Alex raised a warning finger. "Riolu...?" She said slowly and Riolu gave her a nervous chuckle before taking a single puffin from the bowl and placing it in his mouth.

Nicholas only grinned at seeing the aura Pokemon happily eating again. "He's a hyper one isn't he?" He asked.

Alex giggled when she witnessed Riolu try to sneak 3 puffins into his mouth. Keyword: try. "Yeah, but whaddya expect? He was just hatched about a week ago."

Nicholas blinked in surprise. "Really? So Riolu's just a baby right now?" Alex gave a curt nod in response and an amused chuckle escaped from Nicholas' lips. "Huh, so that's why Riolu looked a bit smaller than the Pokédex's description." Nicholas continued to watch Riolu consume the puffins and hum as if he was playing a game. "And why he's so jovial too."

"Yeah, he's a happy little bundle of joy isn't he?" Alex commented.

Nicholas pulled himself back into his chair and sat upright. "You got that right, but..." Nicholas trailed off. Alex tilted her head in wonder. "But what?" Alex questioned.

The black teenager gave Alex and sheepish chuckle and scratched his cheek. "It's just I uh... I never actually witnessed a Pokémon hatch from an egg before." He admitted with his volume of voice getting lower with each word, just like his head as he looked at his plate. Nicholas didn't hear any response and looked up to see a sly grin from Alex. The pale skinned girl put an elbow on the table and leaned closer. "Are you for real?" She teased and Nicholas felt embarrassing heat rise in his cheeks. "You never seen a Pokémon egg hatch?"

Nicholas pushed his glasses higher to his eyes, the reflection from the lights turning the lens white for a split second. "W-Well," He began to stutter, actually feeling a bit more self-conscience about the topic. "I have seen an egg hatch, but it was from Pokémon documentaries. I never seen it happen in real life is what I meant." Nicholas informed and Alex gained the 'Now I get it' expression.

"I see, so you're still waiting to see it happen in person?" Alex asked, losing her sly grin and just going for a calm smile.

"Yes, I am." Nicholas nodded. His voice had evened out with the loss of his embarrassment now that his tidbit secret was now viewed clearly. "I wanted to see it in person because when I was 9, my mother told me that watching a Pokémon hatch is one of the greatest experiences in the world." Alex looked like she was getting more interested by the second. Nicholas rolled his eyes. and laughed a bit. "That and the constant educational videos on Poké Planet of a wild newborn Pokémon didn't really help my excitement."

"I can see why you're so interested with eggs." Alex nodded.

"Yep, but seeing it on TV doesn't exactly give powerful emotions like we do in reality."

"You got that right."

Nicholas leaned over the edge of the table and pointed to Alex. The black haired female blinked in surprise at the accusing finger. "Question is, what does it feel like? I mean you did experience it when Riolu hatched right?" Nicholas questioned, almost impatiently.

Alex raised her hands to motion for some space and had a nervous smile. "H-Hey you may not know, but girls do need their space.." The joke had made Nicholas pout a bit and lean back in his chair with a huff. Nicholas looked at Alex with an arched brow and a roll of his hand, he allowed her to continue.

Now that Nicholas had given Alex more room, he rolled his hand in a gesture to carry on. The black haired girl nodded and tapped her chin in thought. "Well you're right about me experiencing Riolu's birth, but to explain it would be... difficult." She didn't notice the brow twitch on Nicholas' forehead.

"All I can say is... seeing my Pokémon hatch was like..." Alex paused to think of her next words. Then without warning a finger shot into the air and she had a large smile on her face. "It was like eating a cake!"

Silence.

Nicholas only sat in his chair and stared at Alex with a slightly hanging jaw, his eyes blinking slowly in disbelief. Alex could feel the pressure of someone staring at her with an intense gaze which in return caused her to start sweating. She could even tell that the Pokémon were staring at her. 'Oh my God... this is SO embarrassing!' She thought as she let out a shaky chuckle.

Nicholas finally found his words and leaned forward to look at Alex at a better distance. "E-Eating a cake? What... what the hell?" Alex's cheeks flushed when she heard a small snickering noise from Riolu.

Alex's hand went back down to her lap and she began sputtering in her seat. "I-I uh, cake? I didn't mean..." Alex opened an eye to look at Nicholas and his face instantly told her she was trapped. And with that, she soon got the idea to just roll with it. "Uh yeah, eating a cake! That's what I meant! It just like that!"

"How the hell is eating a cake relate to watching a hatching Pokémon?" Nicholas said still sounding confused, but Alex could swear she heard a tint of teasing in his tone. The heat in her cheeks dwindled down, but the pink was still noticeable due to that tint.

"You know, when you eat a cake it's sweet in flavor and when you're finished you feel full?" Alex said, waving her arms in a 'just picture it' motion. "Do you get it?"

"Not at all." Nicholas deadpanned.

"Just think about it. When you eat a cake, it can taste sweet and when you're done you feel full." Alex tried to explain thoroughly, but the male teenager across from her was still puzzled. Even the Pokémon eating were trying to understand her. Alex gave a huff of annoyance. "Can you just picture a full feeling in your heart that gives you good vibes like eating a cake?"

That had to be the answer Nicholas was looking for because his eyes were wide in realization.

Alex rose a brow slowly. "Do you get what I'm saying now?"

Nicholas nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, I see it." Nicholas let out a small stream of air from his lips as he sat back in his seat. "Wow, even though the impression was a bit childish," Alex's cheeks puffed up and seemed a bit pink again. "I can imagine what it feels like. Damn, now I really want to see a Pokémon hatch even more." He chuckled, though it sounded like chuckles of frustration.

Alex rose a brow and grin. "Well if you REALLY want to see a Pokémon egg hatch, you're in luck." She said with a 'I know something you don't know' kind of tone. Nicholas blinked quizzically at Alex. "What are you talking about?"

Alex's grin turned into a sly smirk as she pushed her seat out with her legs and stood up. "Follow me and I'll show you." Alex instructed before she turned and began walking to the kitchen door. Nicholas quickly scurried out from his chair and followed after the teenage girl out of sheer curiosity.

From watching their trainer leave the kitchen, Charmander and Fang looked at each other before getting up and following as well. And seeing his fellow Pokémon race to the living room, Riolu got up from his and Umbreon's bowl to run after them. Only Umbreon stayed in the kitchen to continue eating her Pokéfood.


Ziiiip!

Nicholas stopped only a step away from a kneeling Alex as she pulled a zipper on her backpack. He was gonna ask her a question, but before he could usher any sort of words he saw Alex pull something from her bag; something colorful. Once Nicholas caught more than a simple glimpse of the object, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Is that a-a..." Nicholas muttered and for a second thought he was seeing things. He quickly took off his glasses and cleaned them off quickly with his shirt before placing them back over his eyes. Nicholas wasn't hallucinating like he thought as he saw the same object in his sharp vision. He raised a shaky finger to point at the object in Alex's hands. He was so excited he couldn't even speak, let alone pronounce the trigger word of his excitement. Alex didn't bother concealing the smirk that expressed her entertainment from witnessing Nicholas' reaction.

An egg.

It was an actual egg.

And it was being held in Alex's hands, only a few inches away.

It was an egg inside a large glass container with a soft pillow cushion underneath.

The base color of the shell had been an ocean blue with symbols crossing over it around the 'chest' area of the egg. Two thick white lines had been circling the egg in design before meeting in the middle with a downwards curve before the tips met. On the back of the egg, at the middle of the white lines was a deep red triangle pointing downwards. From each side of the triangle came a thick red red that went straight up, down to the bottom left and down to the bottom right. All 3 of the red lines had stretched out to the front where the tips had pointed to the white lines.

A simple comment of 'It's spectacular...' would be the all around message.

As Nicholas stood next to Alex in disbelief Charmander, Fang, and Riolu scurried near their trainers to find out what Alex was hiding. But once they were close enough, Nicholas nor Alex noticed Charmander's eyes widen once she saw the egg. It looked like she wanted to talk aloud, but before she could Nicholas unknowingly stopped her from making such a mistake.

"You, you have an egg..." Nicholas said slowly, adjusting his glasses for better sight as he leaned in to take in the beautiful object. Alex gave him a cocky smirk and placed the egg holder in front of her face. She almost giggled at her reflection across the glass. "Uh huh! And do you know what Pokemon egg it is?" She quizzed holding the egg closer to him for a better angle.

Nicholas leaned closer to the egg to inspect the egg shell patterns, his eyes narrowing in a calculating manner. His eyes scanned over the patterns; and surprisingly to Alex, such exotic designs for said egg in question had not been lost to the black teenager. "It's a..." Nicholas had a small pause to remember the exact name. If Alex was able to look into his mind, she would be able to see a silhouette form dancing around in his head with the bold words 'Who's that Pokemon?' above it.

As soon as Nicholas finally figured out of the pronunciation of the Pokemon in question, he blinked in small surprise before snapping his fingers with a proud grin. "It's one of the starter Pokemon eggs in the Johto region; Totodile right?" Alex looked a bit caught off guard by the sudden burst of information from the teen. She had expected him to look at the egg and rack his brain for answers for a while, but not just look at it for 3 seconds and automatically know.

When she snapped out of her tiny stupor, she gave Nicholas a curt nod. "Yup, you guessed correctly. How did you know that so fast?"

Nicholas had a sheepish chuckle before scratching the back of his neck. "I was so interested in Pokemon as a child I was addicted to Pokemon programs on TV. You know the ones they show to let people know about other Pokemon in native regions?" Another nod of response was given from the female. "Well as a kid, I kept watching it and learning about all types of Pokemon. Sure I was a kid and I couldn't remember most of the facts about each Pokemon, but I still have the knowledge on most Pokemon names, their living environments, what element type they are, as well as what region they're from."

Nicholas adjusted his glasses. "I'm like a-" He was interrupted by a grinning Alex.

"Nerd~" Sang Alex as she finished what he was 'going to say'. She began laughing at the end of her tease and earned a set of rolling eyes from a clearly amused Nicholas.

"Actually I was gonna call myself a living mini-Pokédex of Pokemon basics, but that could work." He had joined Alex and began to laugh as well.

While his trainer had been laughing with the other female human, Fang looked at the egg closely for a few seconds before turning his head to Charmander with a small smile. "Hey Charmander, Nicholas was right about it being a Totodile egg." He asked in their native tongue. "Have you ever had the luxury of seeing a Totodile egg so closely?"

In truth, since Fang had been born and raised in the Kanto region he had never seen native Pokemon eggs in real life. Sure it was common knowledge to all Pokemon that there were many native Pokemon all around the world and he was even taught about some facts about this Johto region he keeps hearing about. Fang had heard about this Totodile species from his clan for it was the number one rule for both Ekans and Arbok to know other Pokemon strengths and weaknesses; with never letting their guard down as the rule number 2.

Realizing he had been dozing off about the past, he had brought himself back to reality and looked back at Charmander. Fang's trip back to reality had just been on time to see her answer, but he only got a slow shaking of her head in response, not even a single word spoken to him. Fang's smile faltered a bit at the slightly dismissive action and was about to comment, but noticed she had a far away look in her eyes as she stared at the egg.

Fang seemed a bit perplexed at how much Charmander was focused on the Totodile egg. 'Why is she so interested in it? I mean it's just an egg right?' Fang talked to himself in his thoughts. It was a habit he gained when Jack had kept him prisoner in his cage. Because he was trapped for so long, he had nobody to talk to without causing tension. 'But she looks like she's never seen an egg before...' It actually caught enough of his attention, but it was still confusing seeing as how each Pokemon can make eggs and Charmander actually looked like she never saw one in her life-time.

'Had she even seen an egg before?' He felt a small tinge of pain in his head. Great if he thought about this any longer he would've given himself a headache. And so he decided to leave the topic alone and act like nothing happened. But the lingering thought had proved to be almost impossible to rid of.

As he turned his head back towards the blue egg he muttered under his breath, "I've never seen one before and well... it looks pretty cool to me." Fang tried for another decent answer, but when he didn't get much of a response he chose to focus on other things that could take his mind off of Charmander. Things like Riolu jumping on Alex's back and looking over her left shoulder to look at the egg holder with wide, engrossed eyes and a wagging tail behind him.

That of course was a bad idea for Riolu caught her off guard by adding weight to her less used arm and also...

"What is it? Can I see? It looks cool! Can I hold it?" Riolu impatiently barked a series of questions in his foreign tongue, almost making Alex wince from the sheer volume, painfully pounding against her ear drums.

From the sideline, Charmander's body had instantly tensed up. Her eyes had widened in shock and fear at watching Alex's fingers momentarily lose their potent grip against the glass, almost dropping the container to the floor.

If one was to look at her directly, it was starting take all of her willpower not to rush forward and snatch it so the teen girl wouldn't drop it. The fire lizard had been breathing hard, heart pounding furiously strong inside her chest. Only Charmander had tried to take a step closer towards the egg, she soon acknowledged the fact that the nails on her feet had been digging into the carpet and even the wood underneath like hammered nails.

Charmander didn't notice, but her tail was even burning a bit more than it normally should. But apparently it was enough and because of that she realized she had gotten extremely stressed and began to take silent, deep breaths to calm her nerves. She had even placed a clawed hand on her chest and was surprised at how hard her heart banged against her rib-cage.

If Charmander had taken her eyes off the egg for a minute, she would've seen a bewildered and worried set of eyes on Fang's face. The Poison type, clearly already have registered how stressed she looked, didn't choose to vocally comment about it in fear of stressing her out more and drawing unwanted attention. Fang decided to wait later for Charmander to be perfectly relaxed and then it would be time to question her actions.

The snake had directed his head to the humans and internally hoped that they noticed what he just witnessed.

After Alex tried not to lose grip of the egg container from a bouncing Riolu, Nicholas quickly placed his hands on the container as well to add in protection support. It was no secret that he would be devastated to see a Pokemon egg smash on the ground. Especially when there was an egg that was now in his hands.

Alex didn't see it, but the simple feeling of his finger's touching the glass sent shivers through Nicholas' bones. And it wasn't from the built in temperature making the container a bit cold.

"T-Thanks." Alex smiled in gratitude. Nicholas gave a slow and inattentive nod as he stared at the Totodile egg with a dreamy look on his face. On the side note, Alex quickly spun her head over her left shoulder and gave Riolu a scolding expression. "You must calm down Riolu! You could have made me drop the egg!" Riolu's ears drooped down at that, already feeling guilty about such a catastrophe happening. "Riolu Ri..." He whimpered from Alex's relatively harsh tone and upon taking notice, Alex saw small tears gathering at his eyes.

For a second she had forgotten that Riolu was still a baby Pokemon. Using Nicholas' two hands to hold the egg-holder, she was able to take one hand off to scratch Riolu's chin. "I'm sorry for yelling Riolu," Alex said sounding a bit on the 'it's me, not you' side. "But you need to keep calm or something might happen." Riolu, no longer saddened and wiping his tears away, yipped happily on Alex's shoulder.

While that happened, Nicholas tilted his head as he stared at the egg, almost captivated by the decorative pattern like someone who just got caught by a Hypno's pendulum and got hypnotized. Alex, after letting Riolu off with a light warning and watching the aura Pokemon slide off her back, turned to Nicholas with a grin. "So, what do ya think? Pretty cool, huh?" Alex asked and Nicholas nodded with a growing smile on his face. Cool didn't even begin to describe it for him.

Majestic, electrifying, mind-blowing, extraordinary; there was helluva lot more describing words Nicholas had in his mental vocabulary bank.

"Alex, this is just... wow I can't even describe it." Nicholas breathed.

"Then ask me something. You got any questions?" Alex asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah only one." Nicholas took in a small breath. "How and where did you get a Totodile egg!?" That was basically the question on everyone's mind. Well maybe except Riolu because he was still a bit clueless.

Flashing her teeth through a grin, Alex stood up with the egg safely held in her arms. It was secure now, even if Nicholas' hands were to finally let go of the container. "I'll tell you everything back in the kitchen." Alex then leaned forward and placed a hand on the side of her mouth. "That and I don't want Umbreon to overeat." She whispered gently and gave tiny giggles at her little joke.

As Alex led Nicholas to the kitchen for more answers, the African American teenager had followed behind her excitedly; almost like an impatient child who can't stop bouncing when they walk. When Alex gave Nicholas another glance, she had a funny thought about how nobody could rival Nicholas' 'hyper mode' as she puts it.

Unbeknownst to her the only other person, or Pokemon for that matter, that could matched Nicholas' curiosity levels was Charmander. Charmander had been racing to the kitchen as well to learn more about Alex's history with the Totodile Egg.

But from Fang's point of view at seeing an extremely eager Charmander run after the two trainers, it was a bit more on an intense scale.

Especially if the flaming tip of her tail turning a dark orange was supposed to mean anything.


"So." Nicholas began slowly as he pulled out his chair and taking the same seat at the table. Nicholas repeated his question. "How and where did you get a Totodile egg?"

Sitting across the table at the same seat as well was Alex and placed in the middle of the table was the blue Pokemon egg, perfectly safe from falling off any edges. Charmander and Fang had taken their seats on the carpet again, near their food bowls with a few puffins left over.

Riolu having upon smelled the scent of puffins once entering the room had already began consuming them again. Umbreon had stopped and chose to relax on her stomach with a bored expression, but still looking with a watchful eye.

Fang had chosen to eat the remains of his bowl and after realizing that Charmander wasn't going to eat anymore, began to eat her share so it wouldn't go to waste. He had opened an eye while he chewed on a puffin and saw Charmander sitting straight and still staring at the egg. Fang sighed and shook his head before going back to eating.

"My brother gave me the egg. As well as Riolu's egg." Alex said bluntly, a soft smile growing on her face.

"Your brother? What is he like a Pokemon professor?" Nicholas asked and Alex motioned her hand in the 'so-so' gesture.

"No, but you're close. My brother Jason, is actually an assistant for Professor Elm in Johto." Alex corrected, catching Nicholas a bit off guard.

"Wait if you're brother is working in Johto, does that mean you used to live there?" Nicholas questioned.

"Yeah. I was born in a place called New Bark Town, a small village in Johto. My family and I lived there until we moved here in Kanto."

"From Johto all the way from Kanto..." Nicholas gave Alex a teasing grin. "Were you nervous."

"No duh!" Alex exclaimed. "I was 9 when we left! I didn't even know Kanto was a place."

Nicholas chuckled. "Okay, I understand that. As a kid I was scared of a LOT of things because my brother would always try trick me with scary jokes." He admitted, chuckling at past memories of being told Dark and Ghost type Pokemon hide under his bed to eat him at night and Water type Pokemon wanted revenge for all of their 'fallen fish brethren'.

After pulling away from the past, Nicholas leaned on the table. "Now back to your brother, what exactly does he do as an assistant?"

"Even if he given a job as an assistant, that doesn't mean he's stuck with only doing paperwork and cleaning. He's helped Pokemon Elm raise from eggs, healed them, fed them, bathed them. He does about the same amount of work Elm does, but maybe that's because he's like a workaholic. He's been working under Elm for a few years because of his dream to become a profession in the study of Pokemon so I can see why he works so hard." Alex snickered a bit through her teeth. "But even so, he's always been home to help out with my mother and I everyday."

Nicholas rose a brow. "Wait, what about your father? What does he do?"

Nicholas instantly wanted to take his question back and shove it in the fireplace when he saw a downcast look in Alex's eyes. Her smile faltered a lot until it was turned into a sad frown.

"He... my dad passed away..." Alex said, her voice dropping into a mutter.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry I-I didn't..." Nicholas tried to apologize quickly, but he was stuttering out of control.

Alex saw his desperate way of apologizing and gave him a sad smile. "No it's alright, it's not your fault."

Nicholas froze when she began speaking, but when she was finished he eventually relaxed. His arms slumped down his sides and his eyes trailed down slowly. The silence in the room was beginning to be too much to bare, making even Riolu had stop eating.

With the levels tension rising in the room, Alex decided to take the role of the breaker of silence. "Uh if you want me to continue I'd be happy to...?"

Nicholas' answer was a slow and hesitant nod.

"W-Well like I was saying, my brother worked as an assistant for years." Alex continued slowly, trying to remember where she left off. "Uh, but 3 years after my brother started to work under Professor Elm, when my father passed..." Alex paused and Nicholas had a small unnoticeable wince. "My mother couldn't handle the stress of living in a house my dad died in and wanted to escape it. So eventually we moved away from Johto and she wanted to stay here in Kanto. But my brother wanted to follow his dream and decided to stay with Elm, because after doing so much as an assistant he didn't want to throw it all away to start over in another region."

"But at the same time he said he'd still try to help with anything my mother and I had problems with. Like money or some other things." Alex said, covering the reason for moving part of her back story. Nicholas was still quiet in his seat and on the floor Riolu had begun to eat again albeit slowly. Nicholas turned his head to the black and blue Pokemon. 'Maybe feeling the depressing environment made him down too...' Nicholas thought. 'After all he IS a Pokemon who senses auras.'

Alex saw Nicholas' gaze on Riolu and by her feelings on the subject she knew she had to end it. "My mother, Rebecca if you wanted to know, she had been watching me ever since the incident and noticed that I have gotten quiet and start to shut people out. She had tried many times to get me to talk more, but after many failed attempts she decided to get me a friend to keep me company." Alex said and around the time she began to pronounce friend, Nicholas noticed a small smile.

"A friend...?" Nicholas finally said and it was a bit quiet, but it's volume was enough to reach Alex's ears.

"Yeah, she decided to give me a Pokemon friend..." Alex's eyes slowly drifted to the right side, where she saw Umbreon. "An Eevee friend."

Nicholas blinked in surprise before turning to a slightly smirking Umbreon. She had sat upright and looked at her trainer with an agreeing nod of some sort. "Wait, Umbreon was your childhood friend? The Eevee?" Nicholas questioned, but from his smile Alex already figured he knew the answer. "How long did you have Umbreon as a friend?"

Alex tapped her chin and her smile got bigger. "My mother gave me Umbreon as an Eevee when I was only 11 and she was only a baby." Without warning Umbreon sprinted towards Alex and leaped onto her lap. Umbreon let out a small "Bre Bre Umbreon..." before nestling on her lap. Alex gave a small giggled and began to pat Umbreon on her head, sliding her hand down from her head to her lower back.

"Mind telling me how Umbreon became an Umbreon?" Nicholas asked.

"Nobody really knows how the evolution of an Eevee to an Umbreon really happens," Alex said slowly, glancing down to her Pokemon friend. "But all I know is that if you give an Eevee enough love and they're exposed to a full moon, they'll evolve."

Nicholas' right brow rose in interest. A Pokemon evolving from the moon? Sounds pretty far-fetched. "So Eevee can turn into Umbreon from the moon? How does that even work?" It wasn't like Nicholas didn't believe in such evolutionary conditions, but it sounded so interesting.

"Like I said, nobody really knows. Professors say that Eevee can evolve during a full moon because the moon's light gives off special properties that affect Eevee's DNA structure, starting the evolution process." Alex explained, sounding like a mini-professor giving an 'important' lecture. She even raised a finger and spoke in a slightly deep voice to even imitate one. Nicholas put a hand on his chin and leaned back in his char. "Moonlight huh? Interesting..."

Alex gave a sly grin that didn't go unnoticed by Nicholas. "That or just give them a Moon Shard." Nicholas sweatdropped at the snickering female and rolled his eyes.

"So which is it then? Moonlight or Moon Shard?" Nicholas deadpanned.

"Moonlight duh!" Alex laughed. "Do you really think my little Umbreon would evolve by such normal standards?" She said in a baby voice when it reached to 'my little Umbreon'. Umbreon, who was still resting in her lap twitched when Alex scratched her ear in a teasing manner. "Bre..." Umbreon's voice sounded like a warning message and Alex took her hand away from her long ears. She pouted at the dark colored Pokemon. "Aw you're no fun..." Alex mumbled.

Nicholas gave a small chuckle at the trainer and Pokemon. With his smile, he looked at his team of Pokemon or more specifically Charmander. "How come we aren't like that?" He teased, pointing to the duo with his thumb.

The fire lizard looked at him with a small scowl, but didn't say anything to retaliate. That made Nicholas a bit confused. She always said something back. Even if she couldn't speak English in front of Alex, she could of at least gave him an insult in her native tongue or a 'friendly' gesture in return. Nicholas blinked at her, but chose not to dwell on it too long and turned back to Alex, who was trying to tickle Umbreon. And said Pokemon was failing at keeping her little giggles under control.

If Umbreon didn't seem so intimidating to Nicholas he would've commented on such a scene. He was gonna say something to Alex, but then he noticed through the kitchen windows how dark it was getting outside. His eyes glanced towards a small clock on the wall and noticed the hands pointed in a manner that said it was 9:45 pm. "Hey um Alex?" The black haired female stopped tickling her Pokemon, who was trying to catch her breath, and blinked at Nicholas.

"It's kinda getting late. Do you wanna finish up now or wait until tomorrow?" When Nicholas finished his question Alex turned her head to look at the clock as well. "Um, I think I can manage to talk a bit more. After all the only things I need to talk about is how I got Riolu and the Totodile Egg and how I started on my journey." Alex informed and Nicholas nodded. And after noticing the time he realized that there were still plates on the table.

Nicholas stood up from his seat and grabbed his plate off the table. Nicholas held out his hand and Alex gave him her plate. Nicholas walked to the sink and placed the dishes inside, already starting to run the water and getting a rag. "Keep talking, I'm listening." Nicholas told as he put soap on the rag and began to scrub off the leftovers from the plates.

"Where should I start, the eggs or my journey?"

"Just start on the journey. I'm sure the eggs will be involved soon anyway."

"Yeah you're right." Alex agreed. "Anyway, about how I started my journey... since I already had Umbreon and Riolu hatched a few days before I left, I didn't really need to go to Professor Oak for a starter Pokemon. But I still wanted to started at the very beginning, so I traveled from Cerulean City to Viridian City."

Nicholas stopped scrubbing a plat to look at the window and outside was the forest surrounding the cabin. Thought it was foggy to see with the rain blurring out the forest's appearance. "So that's why you were running in the rain? You were trying to get to Viridian City?"

Alex nodded. "I made it to Viridian to pick up some more medicine and food, but when I wanted to leave this morning I overslept my alarm and fell behind schedule." Alex said sourly, a bit embarrassed to say it too. "Umbreon and I tried to get back on time and rush out of Viridian to Pewter, but this storm had kept us from going to far." The teenager girl pointed to the window where the droplets of water rested as more water drops violently tapped against the glass like wild fingers.

Alex saw Nicholas give a smirk without turning his head all the way around. "You're pretty lucky you found this cabin too, or else you'd probably be soaked beyond belief and sleeping in a cave." Alex crossed her arms with a childish huff. Nicholas did have a point there. She had gotten lucky to find the cabin and escape the rain. "If the weather reports had told me there would be a storm, I'd have stayed back at Viridian."

"But maybe it was a good thing that they were wrong..." Nicholas said as he placed the last dish in the drying rack and turned off the faucet.

Alex rose a perplexed brow at him. "Wait, how would it be a good thing?" Nicholas chuckled as he used a towel to dry his hands. He turned all the way around to face her and leaned against the counter.

"Because the storm gave me a new friend."

Alex looked at Nicholas, her eyes slowly blinking. She wasn't expecting that as an answer. Nicholas chuckled lightly and put the towel down on the counter. "What, cat got your tongue?" He teased lightly, but meant it as a joke.

Umbreon noticed her trainer wasn't reacting to Nicholas' statement. With a small little nibble, still strong enough, Alex had a small flinch from Umbreon's fangs. The black haired female stuttered for a bit before she had a tiny blush adorn her cheeks. "U-Uh, well I guess you're right..." She chuckled lightly, sounding a bit nervous.

Nicholas rose a brow. "What, was that too cheesy?" He joked again.

Alex shook her head quickly and gave a small smile. "No that's not it! It's just," Her eyelids drooped down just a little and her mouth slightly got smaller. "I don't have many friends so this is a bit overwhelming at the moment." She admitted slowly, making Nicholas blink.

"Friends? But why? You seem like the type of person who should have tons."

"I know I do, but I didn't really look for friends when I moved here." Nicholas gave her a look to continue. "I'm a Pokémon person so I didn't think I needed a lot of human friends." Alex defended, her hands raising to her aid. Then she put them back down to stroke Umbreon's sleek black coat. "To me, Umbreon was all I needed when I was younger." Alex confessed as Umbreon began to purr on her lap. The girl giggled and continued to trail her fingers through strands of Umbreon's fur.

"I can understand where your coming from. I wanted to interact with Pokémon instead of people as a kid, but because I was such a trouble-maker as a kid my mother wouldn't let me interact with with a lot Pokémon. Especially after a scare prank on my mom." Nicholas chuckled deviously and sheepishly at the same time.

"What happened?"

"Long story short, don't borrow one of Professor Oak's Ghastly during Halloween."

"Wow, that's terrible." Alex giggled.

"Hey it was Halloween!" Nicholas laughed. "I was grounded for a month, and even then I wasn't aloud to go to Oak's lab alone until I was 12."

"That's your fault."

"I know, but it was still worth it. Ghastly was a funny friend, but then a trainer came by to take her on his journey." Nicholas said with a sad smile and looked up at the ceiling, as if he was trying to look into the past. "Still, good friend and good memories."

"Later you should tell me more of these memories." Alex said as she began to stand up. Umbreon felt her legs shift and quickly jumped off her lap. "Why later?" Nicholas asked in slight confusion.

"Because my little back-story took some time and now," Alex pointed to the clock which read 10:32. "It's bedtime." As if on cue, Umbreon gave a small (cute in Nicholas' opinion) yawn of exhaustion.

"Wow, time flew by." Nicholas whistled softly.

"Yes it did." Alex grinned before she put up her arms and yawned too. "...and I'm tired enough to pass out."

"Riiiiioooo~" Alex looked down at the small group of Pokémon and gave an 'Aaaw' when she saw how tired Riolu was. The small dog Pokémon had just stopped his almost high-pitch yawning and wiped his eyes with his paws.

Nicholas had pointed to his own team with a grin. "Seems you aren't the only one."

Fang had gotten tired too and curled himself up, fast asleep. Charmander had tried to keep her sleepiness a secret and keep a straight face, but her eyelids constantly drooped and she flinched each time to keep them open. Nicholas of course, smirked and crossed his arms at her stubbornness to fall asleep. Clearly Charmander's self-contest to stay awake was amusing to him.

The black and blue dog Pokémon had his eyes half lidded and raised his arms towards Alex. "Aaaw, c'mon Riolu..." Alex cooed as she reached down to pick up the baby Riolu. Once her hands were safely cupped Riolu's sides, she hefted him up and hugged him in her chest. Riolu let out another small yawn before he relaxed and snuggled in her embrace.

"Let's go to bed." Alex whispered and gently squeezed Riolu. She looked down at Umbreon and the fox-like Pokémon gave her a nod of agreement before trotting to the door.

Nicholas pulled out two of his Pokéballs and held them towards Charmander and Fang. The red lights flashed from the round capsules and engulfed Fang as he slept. And just as the second red light touched Charmander, the female lizard had finally gave up her determination to stay awake. Charmander fell forward, eyes closed in slumber and before she could hit the ground she was absorbed into the Pokéball.

As both Pokéballs closed with the necessary inhabitant in each, Nicholas let out a strong yawn as well. "...well then," Nicholas smacked his lips. "Yawns ust be contagious, cause I swear I wasn't tired a second ago." He laughed curtly.

"Yeah, well it IS time for bed so..." Alex hinted by tilting her head towards the door.

Nicholas nodded with his eyes half-lidded. "I guess you're right." He agreed. "But where are you sleeping at?"

"I don't know actually." Alex said with a slight frown. "It's not like I live here. What about you?"

"Living room sofa. Better than nothing." Nicholas said before walking to the door.

Alex smirked as she lifted Riolu with a small huff and followed behind. "You're right about that." Alex paused behind Nicholas when she noticed him stop the second he placed a hand on the door. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Wait, you never told me how you got the egg."

"To keep it simple, Jason gave it to me when the day before I left for my journey."

"Oh."

"And what about you? You didn't tell me much about your history."

"Well it is late, but let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yup, how about if you join me on my journey I'll tell you more about me."

"What brought this on?"

"Let's just say you interest me."

"Really?"

"That and I'm gonna need someone else to talk to, hehe."

"Okay then," Alex didn't even think about it for more than 3 seconds. "...deal!"

"Great!" Nicholas smiled. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Hm... how about your first experience with Pokemon?"

"Oh boy..."


And there you have it! It was a pretty long chapter, but I wanted you guys to catch up. Hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned!