Ch. 7, A Sudden Surprise!

Play Song!: (Route 201 (Daytime) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Music Extended: watch?v=2ajhgkYFCG0&t=353s)

Fennekin and Pancham were enjoying their peaceful stroll through the forest they were in. They just finished eating the Apple that they shared with each other.

"Mmm! That Apple tasted so good!" Fennekin yawned out loud, after swallowing the last piece.

"You can say that again!" Pancham agreed with her and smiled happily.

They continued to look around the place, but didn't find anything unique about the forest. Until Pancham saw a nearby pathway, he looked back at Fennekin asking her,

"Wanna go explore this trail?"

"Heck yeah I do! Let's go see where it leads to!" Fennekin answered proudly and she started walking down the path with him.

A few minutes later...

The two small Pokémon continued to walk down the path, being very bored... So they decided to pass the time by talking some more.

"I really like that bow of yours Fenny, it looks... Good... On you." Pancham blushed while complimenting her.

"T-Thanks! You too, those glasses seem really nice to wear around, huh?" Fennekin smiled back, humiliated by what he told her.

"Yeah I like them too." Pancham replied.

He proudly wore his glasses over his face and put his hands behind his head, trying to act cool in front of her, while chewing on the small grassy leaf in his mouth.

"Let's keep on following this path okay?" Pancham exclaimed.

Fennekin nodded her head and followed him.

"You know, for a Pancham... You're pretty cool to be around with." Fennekin admitted to him while blushing lightly.

"For a Fennekin, you're pretty strong to go against Rock Types like that. I thought you were going to lose!" Pancham told her, laughing a bit from his own words.

"No! Well... Yes I felt a lot of pain from the attacks, but I was taught to be strong. My old Trainer was always strict to me, and he always hit me whenever I did something wrong." Fennekin explained.

"Oh..." Pancham sighed.

He really felt bad for her and didn't want her to think about it anymore, so he wanted to do something fun with her next!

"Tag! You're it!" Pancham yelled all of sudden and touched her.

"W-what!" Fennekin shouted in surprise.

He started running off into the direction the path took them to, with Fennekin running behind him. After a couple of minutes of Fennekin chasing Pancham around, he eventually came to a stop and saw an opening that led out of the forest! Fennekin slowed down and stopped behind him.

"Pancham? *huff* W-Why did you stop?" Fennekin asked.

"Follow me." Pancham whispered.

He walked towards the opening and Fennekin did what he told her to do. The pathway finished and they got out of the forest, it led them to a huge open lake! Along the lakesides though, there were several forest Pokémon drinking the water, and some others swimming in it too!

"Hey look! A lake, come on Fenny!" Pancham exclaimed and ran off to the lake.

When he got to the edge of it, he bent down and drank some of the fresh delicious purified water.

"Pancham, there sure are a lot of Pokémon around here." Fennekin pointed out.

He finished sipping the water and got back up, feeling refreshed from drinking the liquid. He also took a look around and saw tons of other Pokémon doing the same thing that he was doing. They even spotted a small Pokémon walking towards them. The Pokémon was a Pichu, and he ran towards the lake! The Pichu jumped into the water and splashed around happily, enjoying life! After Pancham watched the tiny mouse Pokémon swimming away from them, he had an idea!

"Hey, do you wanna swim with me?" Pancham asked while looking at her.

Fennekin took a step back and shook a bit with fear. Pancham noticed it and asked her,

"What's wrong? You don't wanna swim with me?"

Pancham started to frown, and Fennekin freaked out by his sudden change in emotion.

"N-No! No it's not that! It's just... I'm not really good at swimming... I'm a Fire Type, we're not usually in water all that much. Besides I don't even know if other Fennekin like me are good at swimming." She confessed.

"Aw don't worry about it! Come on let's go! I'll teach ya!" Pancham grabbed her paw and she blushed from the contact.

He got into the warm water while holding Fennekin, but she stopped and let go of his hand.

"Pancham wait, I'm not really good at this! Beleive me, I'll probably drown." Fennekin sighed.

Pancham motioned her to join him, and he managed to convince her after giving her a smirky look.

"You take baths right? It's the same thing! Trust me! I'm here for you!" Pancham tried convincing her even more.

"Yeah but... Well..." Fennekin ran out of options of what to say next.

She slowly took a few steps into the water until she reached him...

"How's the water feel?" He asked.

As soon as the water touched her body, it actually felt very nice! Cool, refreshing, beautiful, and it was clean too!

"It feels really good! Whoever knew this lake was located in the middle of nowhere. Now how do I swim like you do?" Fennekin exclaimed happily.

"You see that's the problem... I just realized that it's probably going to be different for you because you walk on four legs, and I only walk on two." Pancham pointed out.

"You think?" Fennekin shouted back, annoyed a bit.

Pancham jumped back, surprised at her sudden outburst.

"I-I'm sorry..." Fennekin dropped her ears low and felt ashamed by her action towards him.

"It's okay, anyways all you really have to do is just keep moving your feet around and you'll stay above the water easily!" Pancham explained what to do.

He swam farther out and looked back at her.

"Do you think you can swim to me?" He questioned her.

"I'll try..." Fennekin mumbled to herself.

She kept moving her feet like how a dog would swim, and she got the hang of it real quick. She kept paddling her feet and swam towards Pancham with a bright smile on her face.

"Hey I'm doing it!" Fennekin cheered in joy.

She reached Pancham and he grinned back at her.

"See, I knew you could do it!" Pancham gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, thanks for giving me the courage to learn how to do this. Then again... I wish Alex, Melanie, and James were here to see this beautiful lake." Fennekin sighed.

Pancham floated on his back and put his hands behind his head again. He closed his eyes and felt the warm heat from the sun on his body!

"Whatever happened to James?" He wondered.

"I think he went to go train his team or something. He probably felt disappointed sighed.

"I'm pretty sure our Trainers are going to be worried about us if we're not back in time." Fennekin exclaimed.

Then a question popped up in her head, she was starting to feel weird about Pancham.

"W-Why do I feel so nervous now?" She thought.

Fennekin just swam out of the water and eventually reached land again. Pancham was a bit disappointed that they had to leave so early, but he followed along anyway. Both of them found the path again, and they walked through it together...

Minutes later...

Neither of them were speaking to each other. They just stayed quite while walking together the whole time. Sure, they would look at each other every once in a while, but Fennekin would always blush and look away instantly. That's when Pancham wanted the awkwardness to go away. He thought about what to say to her, but he couldn't think of anything...

"Fennekin, I-" Pancham started, but was cutoff by her sudden stop.

She took a deep breath and looked at him in the eye.

"D-Do you l-like me?" Fennekin asked.

Pancham felt really nervous now, he tried not to shake either.

"I..." He spoke.

"Come on, I won't bite..." Fennekin giggled.

"No! I don't like you! If that's what you're asking!" Pancham yelled at her, surprising her.

He started running away from her and went on ahead past the route.

"Wait Pancham!" Fennekin screamed and followed him.

She started running towards him and felt a bit scared from what she said. She didn't want to be alone, so she tried to catch up to noticed Pancham slowing down and he turned to his left. He kept on running off and Fennekin started getting tired from all of the running.

"Pancham come on! Slow down already." Fennekin shouted.

But that didn't stop him either, she sighed and was starting to get frustrated with him. After a short while, they returned to Cyllage City. Pancham slowed down and stopped, even Fennekin finally caught up to him.

"Y-you... Why did you leave me behind? You never answered my question. Are you alright?" Fennekin asked.

"Leave me alone!" Pancham shouted at her again and ran off to a nearby bench to sit at.

They were at the spot that Alex and Melanie left them at. When Fennekin reached the bench, she climbed up and sat down next to Pancham. She didn't bother talking to him, and neither did he.

"Why is he acting so rude all of a sudden?" Fennekin thought.

She sighed and looked up ahead. She saw her Trainer, as well as Melanie following along.

"Looks like he's back!" She mumbled cheerfully.

Translation: (Normal)

Play Song!: (Cyllage City - Pokémon X & Y Music Extended: watch?v=NXu8L0DWczs)

"Hey guys!" Alex called from faraway.

Fennekin started running towards Alex at a great speed, and jumped up at him.

"Hi Fennekin! Did you have a good time with Pancham?" Alex greeted her.

Fennekin nodded her head happily and looked back at Melanie. She was still carrying the Eevee egg, but Pancham remained sitting alone on the bench.

"Pancham, you alright?" Melanie wondered.

She saw the frown on his face, but Pancham still looked up and nodded.

"Well, we're glad you both had fun. Hey Melanie, we should probably get going so we can meet up with James again." Alex suggested.

"Mhm! You're right, but wait... I was just wondering if you could teach me how to catch a Pokémon now? We're already close to Route 8, so can we go back there?" Melanie asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, lets go." Alex sighed and walked back to where they came from.

As they traveled through the city, Fennekin and Pancham remained quite. Alex knew that something was wrong, so he wanted to talk with Fennekin about it.

"Hey girl, you're acting pretty quite. Are you feeling okay?" Alex whispered.

Fennekin turned around and looked up at him, she was frowning and he didn't like it whenever she did that.

"Did something happen when you were with Pancham?" Alex asked.

"Fen..." Fennekin nodded her head slightly.

"Are you gonna be okay though? Look, I'm sure if something happened between you two. Then you'll both make up eventually, besides... I packed some food for you while Melanie and I ate lunch together." Alex started grinning.

He tickled her and that made her giggle, changing her emotion so suddenly! She looked up to him and started smiling back, that made Alex feel a lot better! But whenever Fennekin took a look at Pancham, he always noticed it... And he would constantly look away and blush lightly, which confused her...

"Alex, do you know what gender the Eevee will be?" Melanie wondered.

Alex looked at her, taking out his Pokédex in the process.

He scanned the egg and read more info about it. After he read the data, he said,

"Looks like it's going to be a male Eevee. I wonder what they look like though!"

Fennekin started tugging at Alex's shirt to get his attention.

"What's up Fennekin?" Alex exclaimed.

She rubbed her belly and opened her mouth, pointing her paw at it.

"Fen-ne? Fen." Fennekin spoke.

"I know you're hungry, but I had to go cheer Starly up because she felt bad about losing earlier. Anyways, you'll eat whenever we get to Route 8." Alex explained.

Fennekin had an angry look on her face, and she opened her mouth at him. She was getting ready to shoot an Ember, until he realized it and shouted out,

"Okay! Okay! Here... Snack on a twig for now okay?"

He pulled out the bag of twigs and gave her one to snack on.

"Kin!" Fennekin giggled and chewed on the small stick happily.

"You're lucky I'm nice..." Alex groaned in annoyance.

A few minutes later of traveling...

"Are we even there yet? We've traveled across this city forever!" Melanie complained.

"It's literally only been a few minutes, why do you always do this to me..." Alex replied.

"Cause I'm excited for Pancham to have his first battle against a wild Pokémon, who do you think I should catch?" Melanie wondered.

"I don't know, whatever floats your boat. There's a few different kinds of Pokémon on Route 8, so you'll have plenty to pick from." Alex exclaimed.

Play Song!: (Sunyshore City (Daytime) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Music Extended: watch?v=BULBrQJHCsc)

They finally reached the beachside of Route 8, and Alex took Melanie to a small patch of grass.

"Fennekin, your food is in my bag. Just help yourself to whatever you want."

Alex and Melanie left their bags behind, and Pancham as well as Fennekin staying there too. Their two Trainers walked around and searched the area for other Pokémon to catch.

Translation: (Poké-Language)

Fennekin didn't really feel comfortable though, being alone with Pancham again. She looked through Alex's bag and ignored Pancham for the time being. What she found was what she was craving for Lunch, a small container that was filled with a Poké-Burger, along with spicy peppers, and a few slices of pickles!

"Yes! Just what I wanted like last time!" Fennekin smiled at the food container.

She opened it and began eating her food slowly, enjoying the taste! Pancham was minding his own business, he ate what Melanie would usually get him. His favorite food were Pecha and Oran berries, along with an orange Pokéblock, and a few Poké-Puffs too! Pancham walked over to Fennekin and sat down next to her.

"Fennekin, I-" Pancham started to speak to her, but she interrupted him before he could even finish his sentence.

"Don't bother..." Fennekin cut-in.

She gazed off towards the clear blue ocean water ahead of them. Fennekin usually liked peaceful places, she would enjoy going to places like this before in the past! She remembered when she went to a beautiful ocean once, with her previous old Trainer...

Flashback!

It was a bright cloudless sunny day in Kalos! Fenenkin was sitting alone at a beach, looking off into the distance. Her Trainer was busy training his Pokémon behind her. She would hear him shouting, as well as her team doing all sorts of attacks in the background too. She ignored the loud sounds though, all she focused on was looking at the ocean beyond her. Until she heard footsteps approaching her from behind... She turned her head around and saw her Trainer walking up to her. Her Trainer's name was Scott...

"Great... Now what?" She thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! I didn't say you could take a break from Training. You realize that you're going to battle against Viola right?" Scott yelled at her.

He was about six ft. tall, and he usually wore dark colored clothing such as a dark gray sweater, black jeans, and dark grayish whitish running shoes.

"Can I just stay here for a moment Scott? I don't really wanna train with you right now... You know how rough Charmander can be." Fennekin talked back.

She knew he didn't understand her, but she talked back anyway. Fennekin didn't really like him, he was always focused on training hard and was trying to become a strong Trainer. He never put fun aside...

"I didn't give you permission to talk back to me like that." Scott kept on shouting, noticing her little attitude.

Fennekin rolled her eyes and got up from where she was sitting. She started walking off towards the water, but she was picked up by her tail right away!

"Don't roll your eyes at me either missy, you UNDERSTAND? You're going to train and practice with Charmander whether you like it or not!" Scott yelled angrily.

He slapped her pretty hard across her face and she flew back from the impact. He let go of her and let her fall back down onto the sand. Fennekin looked up at him and saw the angry look on his face.

"If you fail to impress me with your Gym Battle, then consider me ditching you. Do you understand me?" Scott exclaimed.

She got up quickly and ran towards Charmander, she obeyed him because she didn't want to become a wild Pokémon... She didn't want to live out there alone in the wild... She was afraid of being by herself, and the only thing she could do was just to listen to him, so that he wouldn't do such a thing. When she walked past Charmander, he smirked at her and started to laugh soon after.

"What's so funny?" Fennekin asked, giving him a killer look.

"You're never going to stay here on the team. You're way too weak! Remember when we first battled? You couldn't even figure out how to use your attacks properly on me!" Charmander explained.

"Yeah because I was new to the whole battling thing! You know Scott picked me as soon as I hatched out of my egg back at the lab..." Fennekin sighed, feeling saddened.

"Yeah I remember that! You kept on crying because you were still a baby! When I hatched, I didn't even act like a baby. I acted like a mature Pokémon, but look at you! You're probably going to lose against Viola anyways! And then the next thing you'll see is us leaving without you!" Charmander continued to tease her.

"That's not true, I can be strong too you know! I'll beat Viola tomorrow, you'll see!" Fennekin argued back, standing up for herself.

"Sure you can! I would be pretty surprised if that were to happen when you fight her tomorrow. Besides... When Scott abandons you, I bet you that there will be absolutely no one else out there for you! You'll be alone, for the rest of your life! Without a Trainer!" Charmander finished yelling at her.

Flashback end...

She remembered that same old Charmander on her team, he was also very mean to her as well... He never really believed in her from the start, he always doubted her potential to become a great fighter. She took her mind off of it and continued to eat, shoving the horrible memories beside.

"Listen Fennekin-" Pancham started off again.

Fennekin turned her head and looked directly at him in the eye, making him feel a bit nervous.

"What, DO you want?" She asked in annoyance.

"I know you're mad at me, but I just..." Pancham continued.

"Like I told you, don't bother apologizing... You didn't have to yell at me back in the forest, and you certainly didn't have to run away from me too. I don't like being alone. Why didn't you just answer the question? I'll ask you again... Do you like me?" Fennekin whispered to him.

Pancham gulped nervously and said,

"What do you mean by like you?"

Fennekin rolled her eyes and replied back by saying,

"You know what I mean..."

She gave him an annoyed look, because he was trying to hide it from her. Pancham got up anyway and took his food to sit farther away from her. Fennekin sighed and looked down at the sand.

"Why is he hiding it? Does he really like me or not... I just want him to think I'm cool too... Hopefully he's not thinking it wrongly!" Fennekin thought.

She tried to look at him again, but he turned the other way...

"Was it something I said to him back in the forest?" Fennekin mumbled, thinking more about it.

She saw Alex and Melanie chatting, and she giggled at the two of them being together.

"Wow, I have to admit it... They sure do look cute together." She started laughing next.

Then she touched the bow on her head, and looked at Alex for a minute. She sighed in happiness and closed her eyes. When she finished eating, she laid back on the soft warm sand and decided to sleep for a bit.

Back to Alex and Melanie!

Translation: (Normal)

"You got it Melanie? Just go into that patch of grass with this, and then hold it out. The Pokémon in there will probably jump at you, so you might wanna have Pancham with you just to be safe." Alex suggested.

He gave her the jar of honey that James had, and they were getting ready for Melanie's first catch!

"Hey Pancham, could you help me for a sec?" Melanie called Pancham over.

He walked fast towards her while eating an Oran Berry. When he got up to her, he tilted his head curiously and wondered what she wanted.

"Do you think you can fight against a wild Pokémon?" Melanie asked.

Pancham finished eating his Berry, and nodded slowly, looking too adorable!

"Pan-Cham Pan." He replied.

He moved so that he could be in front of her, and she took out a spoonful of honey. She held it out towards the patch of grass, but nothing happened...

"So what do I do when it comes out?" Melanie exclaimed.

"You just battle it like you would normally do in a fight. Then when it's about to faint, go ahead and use a Pokéball on it, and hopefully it'll want to join your team." Alex explained.

"Okay, I'll try..." Melanie mumbled nervously.

"Don't worry, you're gonna do fine! I'm right behind you if you need it!" Alex encouraged her.

Melanie noticed a patch of grass starting to move towards her! She got nervous and her heart was starting to beat faster from excitement! She backed away slowly from the grass, and Pancham got ready for whatever was about to pop out! The Pokémon hidden in the grass jumped out at them with a screeching cry. It scared Melanie and she backed away even more, but Pancham defended her! The small Pokémon looked at Melanie first, then Pancham, giving them angry looks.

"W-What's that?" Melanie wondered.

"I'll go ahead and scan it for you!" Alex told them.

He ran back to his bag, grabbed his Pokédex, and scanned the creature with it!

"Bagon, the Dragon type and Rock Head Pokémon! It's well-developed neck muscles and iron-like head can smash boulders into pieces! This Pokémon is a Male, and it's moves are Ember, Leer, Bite, and Dragon Breath." The Pokédex announced.

"Baaagon!" Bagon screamed at Pancham.

"Now Melanie, go ahead and battle it!" Alex shouted.

"R-Right!" Melanie gulped.

Pancham Vs. Bagon!

The wild Pokémon didn't hesitate to attack, so the small creature ran towards Pancham.

Melanie was never into Pokémon battling though. She's seen battles and learned from them, but she just never battled that much against other Trainers or wild Pokémon.

"Okay um... Pancham go ahead and use Tackle." Melanie started off.

Pancham ran back towards his opponent, bracing for the impact.

While Bagon on the other hand, prepared for the attack.

As soon as Pancham was about to leap forward and attack, Bagon jumped aside and used Dragon Breath on him.

The move struck Pancham, and he flew back away.

"Pan!" Pancham yelled and fell down.

Fennekin even woke up from the move and noticed Pancham battling.

She was wondering what was going on, but still felt a bit sleepy.

Melanie gasped and shouted out,

"Are you okay Pancham?"

Pancham quickly got back up and turned his head around to face Melanie, he gave her a quick wink and then a thumbs up.

"Good, let's see what he'll do next." Melanie thought.

The Bagon went ahead and opened his mouth, he ran towards Pancham again and showed his sharp teeth to intimidate them.

"He's using bite!" Melanie realized.

She looked back at Pancham again and she nodded her head as he looked at her for a moment.

"Cham!" Pancham cried out and jumped up high.

He dodged Bagon's attack and was now airborne!

"Great job Pancham! Nows your chance, use Dark Pulse!" Melanie commanded.

Immediately, Pancham formed a dark ball in his hand and aimed it at his opponent.

"Ba?" Bagon mumbled.

He looked up to see Pancham directly staring at him. Pancham suddenly attacked the Bagon and shot the Dark Pulse at him! The move stung like a bullet, and Bagon was now in total pain! He shook himself off though and stepped away from Pancham, showing a bit of fear. All Pancham could do though was just smirk and laugh to himself!

"Pancham Pan, Cham!" Pancham muttered.

"On? Ba-goonn!" Bagon shouted.

"Now Melanie, nows your chance to capture him!" Alex exclaimed.

"O-Okay, go Pokéball!" Melanie yelled out and threw a Pokéball towards the Bagon, who wasn't paying any attention to her.

The ball opened once it hit him, sucking him right into it, and closing immediately! Then the ball began to shake, it kept rocking back and fourth for a while. But then it stopped shaking, convincing Melanie that she caught Bagon!

"Hey I caught it!" Melanie cheered.

"Pancham! Cham!" Pancham celebrated with her.

"That was really good Melanie, you were great! You too Pancham!" Alex congratulated them.

"Thanks! I wouldn't have been able to pull this off if it weren't for you and Pancham." Melanie thanked both of them.

She noticed Pancham tugging on her leg, and he had a frown on his face. Every time Pancham would do that to her, he would want to be carried... Melanie sighed and rolled her eyes playfully. She scooped him up and put him on her shoulder.

"There, is that better my little baby?" Melanie teased him.

"P-Pan..." Pancham slowly nodded and blushed heavily.

She found it adorable the way his face looked, all red and stuff from the humiliation.

"Alright then, it's time to bring Bagon out." Melanie announced.

She picked up the Pokéball and brought him out. There was a bright blue light that came straight out of the device, and it formed into a Bagon! The Dragon Type Pokémon looked around and noticed Melanie kneeling down to greet him happily.

"Hi there Bagon!" Melanie greeted.

She waved at him and picked him up as well.

"Ba?" Bagon tilted his head and blinked at her.

"Welcome to the team! We're gonna have so much fun traveling together!" Melanie smiled and started petting the creature's head lovingly.

Bagon gave her a smirk and nodded his head.

"This is Pancham, and my friend Alex is over there." Melanie introduced them.

Bagon looked at Pancham, then he looked quickly at Alex.

"Hey!" Alex greeted.

The Pokémon was quiet, and barely spoke at all. Melanie noticed this and told him,

"Don't be shy Bagon, we're your friends now!"

"Baaagon..." Bagon yawned and blinked it's eyes again.

It eventually closed them completely and fell asleep, still in Melanie's arms.

"He fell asleep?" Melanie whispered to Alex.

"Looks that way, I'm sure he's probably tired cause you just battled him. Don't worry though, he'll wake back up eventually." Alex mumbled back.

"Oh, okay...Well then, take a good rest Bagon!" Melanie whispered.

She returned him back into his Pokéball and came back to where Fennekin was at. Alex also noticed her asleep as well.

"She's asleep too?" Alex sighed softly.

He picked her up gently so he wouldn't wake her up, and rested her over his shoulder. He also cleaned up the mess she made with the food, and then grabbed his bag as well as the Eevee egg that he left behind.

"Does she like being in her Pokéball?" Melanie wondered.

Alex shook his head and replied back by saying,

"No, she doesn't like being in her Pokéball. I asked her if she would rather stay out here with me, and she said yes... So I keep her out of it."

"What about when she evolves?" Melanie giggled.

"Then I don't know... Guess I'll still carry her? Do you know what Fennekin evolve into?" Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah, everyone does... She's one of the three main starters of Kalos, she evolves into a Braixen!" Melanie laughed at his response.

"Well I was never outside learning about Pokémon, I was kept inside all the time by my mother." Alex sighed in defeat, rolling his eyes.

He started walking back towards Cyllage City, while Melanie tagged along with him.

Some time later...

After traveling for a while, they made it back to the city, and the egg started to move a bit. Alex shook it a little, and it resulted with the egg shaking even more! He gasped and the egg started shaking rapidly now!

"I think it's hatching!" Alex shouted.

He quickly got everyone's attention, and even woke Fennekin up too for the special occasion! But as soon as everyone laid their eyes onto the egg, it stopped shaking instantly... And it just rested there in Alex's arms, staying still as if it was frozen in place...

"What?!" Melanie screamed in disappointment.

"Looks like it didn't want to hatch..." Alex groaned, disappointed as well.

He was really looking forward to meeting his Eevee, and to see what it's personality would be like too.

"Do you think the egg will hatch faster if we run to Route 10?" Melanie suggested.

"It's worth a shot, plus I'm really curious to see what James has been doing over there the whole day..." Alex agreed with her idea.

Melanie nodded back happily and started running off without him, getting a head start! Alex was shocked by her sudden action, not expecting it!

"Wow... For once she actually wants to lead on without me! She must really want to see the Eevee hatch then!" Alex thought.

He chuckled to himself and followed after her.

Even more time later...

Alex couldn't keep up with her still, now he knew how she felt when he and James ran off ahead without her...

"Melanie! Wait!" Alex struggled to keep on going.

He slowed down and fell down to his knees, trying to catch his breath. She turned around and looked back at him. She patted him on the back and told him,

"Come on, don't give up yet. We don't have to run, but we're so close to reaching Route 10! Don't you wanna meet your Eevee?"

Alex nodded his head slightly, keeping his eyes closed at the same time.

"I DO wanna meet Eevee..." Alex replied back.

"Then let's keep on going!" Melanie encouraged him to keep on moving forward past the city!

She started walking along towards the end of Cyllage City, Alex sighed yet again and walked very slowly behind her...

Play Song!: (Route 209 (Daytime) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Music Extended: watch?v=OqsgB2TZ9Ks&t=33s)

When they finally reached the otherside of the city, they looked ahead of Route 10 and saw lots of rocks and various flower patches too! It was quite beautiful looking even. They also saw other Pokémon hiding in the grassy parts of the route, such as Emolga, Hawlucha, and many others too! Alex's Pokédex scanned all of them, as he passed by the various kinds of Pokémon!

"Alright we're here..." Alex announced, still groaning from earlier.

"Shake that egg once more! I think it'll hatch this time!" Melanie suggested.

Alex did what she had told him, and shook the egg slowly. When he stopped shaking it, he set it down on the ground and bent down. He put his ear onto the egg so he could hear inside, and sure enough... He heard crackling sounds coming from the egg! The egg began to shake again on it's own, and the roof of the egg started cracking open slowly!

"It's hatching!" Melanie screamed in excitement.

Alex grinned happily at the small little egg and couldn't help but laugh. Then, all of a sudden... The top part of the egg broke off and it revealed a peaceful sleeping Eevee inside!

"Oh... My..." Alex mumbled.

"That's what an Eevee looks like? It's so adorable!" Melanie whispered into his ear.

"Y-Yeah... It really does look cute!" Alex agreed with her.

He put Fennekin down back onto the ground and that made her a bit angry at him all of a sudden... Since he woke her up by doing that. Alex ignored her though and proceeded to pick up the Eevee. Melanie did the same thing with her Pancham, and put him aside next to Fennekin. Alex even took out his Pokédex so that he could scan the adorable little creature!

"Eevee, the Normal Type and Evolution Pokémon. This Pokémon is rarely seen in Kalos, and it has an unstable genetic makeup which allows it to evolve into eight different evolutions, depending on the environment around it! The eon-evolutions for this Pokémon are, Flareon, Glaceon, Leafeon, Jolteon, Sylveon, Vaporeon, Umbreon, and Espeon! Gender: Male!"

"Wow, eight different evolutions!" Melanie exclaimed.

"Yeah, I never knew a Pokémon could have that many evolutions!" Alex was surprised to hear about that.

Fennekin felt uncomfortable next to Pancham, she waited patiently for her Trainer to end his moment with Eevee. Pancham felt the same way about her as well, he took a deep breath and decided to talk to her about their 'little' problem...

Translation: (Poké-Language!)

"Hey Fennekin, can we talk for a bit in private?" Pancham mumbled over to her.

She turned to look at him and slowly nodded her head in agreement. He gave her a quick smirk and they both walked off a bit away from their Trainers.

"What's up?" Fennekin asked, giving him a serious face.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for running off like that back in the forest, I shouldn't have done that to you..." Pancham apologized for what he did.

Fennekin started to smile again and she felt bad for him as well...

"You shouldn't be sorry, it was my fault for being so serious about it earlier..." Fennekin confessed.

She blushed heavily and looked away, trying to hide herself from him, feeling embarrassed for making him run away from her.

"I d-don't even know what else to say to her now..." Pancham wondered.

He started to sweat from being embarrassed, and eventually asked her,

"Do you wanna talk about it later on?"

"Sure Pancham, we can talk about it later." Fennekin nodded her head again and made her way back to Alex and Melanie.

"Good... Now I HAVE to tell her how I feel about her. I can't just lie to her either! That'll make it worse! Does she think I have a crush on her or something?" Pancham thought to himself, freaking out a bit.

He followed her shortly after, and they checked back on Eevee!

Translation: (Normal)

Alex took one more look at the small Pokémon. He started petting and rubbing his fur and tried to wake Eevee up. Soon after though, Alex got to the point where he accidentally rubbed his Pokémon's ear too hard, and his Eevee's ears moved back suddenly in response! The small little Pokémon slowly woke up, and opened his eyes.

"Ee-e?" Eevee mumbled while getting up.

He looked up and noticed Alex smiling down at him.

"Hi Eevee!" Alex calmly greeted the small Pokémon.

Eevee blinked a couple of times, tilting his head in confusion. Alex started petting him again gently, and introduced himself,

"I'm Alex, and this is my one of my closest friends Melanie."

Melanie blushed lightly when he said the word "closest friends".

"And I'm Melanie, and this here's my partner Pancham!" Melanie introduced herself next.

Pancham climbed up on her shoulder and waved at him.

"And here's Fennekin." Alex exclaimed.

Fennekin did the same thing and rested herself on Alex's shoulder, giving Eevee a short and very friendly wave. However, Eevee started to shake a bit. Everyone noticed it and Alex asked him,

"Hey boy, are you okay?"

"Buii, Bwee!" Eevee mumbled quietly.

He jumped from Alex's arms and started running away in fear!

"Huh? Eevee! Wait!" Alex yelled.

He immediately brought out Starly and told her,

"Starly, I need you to follow that Eevee for us! I don't want him to get lost and end up getting hurt."

"Star! Starly!" Starly nodded and flew up in the air, she spotted Eevee and started flying above him.

"Come on let's go." Alex exclaimed.

They started running towards Starly and saw her flying through another forest.

"What's wrong with Eevee?" Melanie asked, with a worried tone in her voice.

"I don't know, but he was shaking... Almost as if he was scared of us or something!" Alex answered back, not knowing either.

They had to go through bushes that were in the way until they came to a small opening in the forest.

"Eevee! Come out, we're not gonna hurt you!" Alex called out.

That's when he heard Starly chirping at him from above. Alex looked up and she landed on top of his head.

"Did you find where he's at?" Alex questioned her.

Starly nodded and pointed her wing in front of them in the direction Eevee went.

"Thanks Starly!" Alex thanked her and started following in the direction she pointed at.

They came upon a small bush that started to rustle a bit as they got closer to it.

"Eevee, are you in there? Don't be afraid of us." Alex whispered to the bush.

He heard a sniffle when he came closer to the bush, and he pushed the leaves and branches aside. Inside the bush revealed Eevee, hiding from them, looking very afriad.

"VEE!" Eevee screamed and started running away again.

"Wait!" Melanie yelled at the eon Pokémon.

Eevee stopped instantly and turned around in fear. He started to shake again and closed his eyes, looking away from the group.

"Come here boy, I'm not going to hurt you. You shouldn't be afraid of us, we're your friends!" Alex tried to calm him down.

Eevee opened his eyes again and started walking towards Alex slowly. Alex held out his hands in front of him and tried to get Eevee to come to him.

"It's okay!" Alex spoke softly.

Eevee eventually made his way towards Alex and put one of his paws onto his hand. Alex gently picked him up slowly so that he wouldn't startle the Pokémon. He eventually lifted him up to his eye level and looked directly at him. He started petting his back lovingly, and scratched behind his ear gently. Eevee began to smile from the affection he was receiving and he stopped shaking, feeling more calm with Alex.

"Why'd you run off like that? Were you scared of us." Alex asked.

"Ee-bwee..." Eevee mumbled shyly again.

He began to frown and lowered his head, as well as his ears, feeling ashamed of what he did to them...

"Hey it's okay, I'm not mad at you. Who could be mad at something like you? You look like a very nice and adorable little Pokémon!" Alex smiled at him.

Eevee blushed and felt embarrassed from the compliment.

"If you come with me on my journey, we'll have lots of fun together. We're going to travel all of Kalos!" Alex offered.

Eevee started wagging his tail and nodded his head happily, agreeing to Alex's offer.

"Eeveeee!" Eevee shouted and jumped from his arms.

Alex took out a Pokéball and held it out towards the small little Pokémon.

"This won't hurt, I promise." Alex told him.

Eevee trusted him and proceeded to touch the button on the ball, still smiling at Alex. He was instantly sucked into the small device, and the Pokéball began to shake! When the ball stopped moving after a quick shake, Eevee instantly came back out and jumped back into Alex's arms once again! Now all three of his Pokémon were on him...

"Okay, let's start heading back then." Alex said.

Everyone agreed and he started heading back to Route 10, with Melanie following along.

One moment later...

When they got back to Route 10, it was already near sunset and they still haven't found James yet!

"Looks like the day went by pretty quick." Melanie pointed out.

Alex looked up at the sky and noticed it as well.

"Yeah, the day did go by didn't it? I wonder where James is though, are any of you guys hungry?" Alex asked his Pokémon.

All three of them nodded their heads, as well as Pancham too. Melanie decided to bring out her Bagon and carry him as well.

"What about you Bagon? Do you wanna eat soon?" Melanie said.

"Bagon!" Bagon smiled and nodded to her question.

"Alright that settles it then, do you have the cooking supplies with you Melanie?" Alex asked.

Melanie's eyes widened when he asked her that, Alex noticed it and continued to speak on...

"You don't have it... Do you?" Alex sighed.

"I uh... James has it!" Melanie screamed, freaking out.

Alex face palmed himself, they both had no idea where James could be. Until Starly flew in front of Alex's direction of travel.

"Star!" Starly spoke out.

"Do you wanna go ahead and help us look for James? He said he would be around here on Route 10..." Alex asked her.

Starly went ahead and flew up high, and then she started flying ahead.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Alex thought to himself, watching her going up into the sky.

Fennekin on the other hand was deep in thought, she kept noticing Pancham staring at her. And whenever he got noticed, he would look away quickly.

Translation: (Poké-Language!)

"I think it's time we have that chat now..." Fennekin whispered to Pancham.

He sighed and jumped off of Melanie's shoulder. Fennekin met him on the ground and they continued to follow their Trainers from behind.

"What's up?" Pancham wondered.

"Can we talk about it now?" Fennekin asked.

"Fine... What was it you wanted to talk about?" Pancham replied back.

"About earlier, what happened today after my Gym Battle. When we went to the forest... There was a Pichu that teased you about something? At the lake..." Fennekin reminded him.

She didn't want him to think about the question wrongly from earlier...

"Is it true Pancham? Please don't lie... Do you really like me?" Fennekin questioned him.

Pancham started to blush too and took another deep breath...

"It's now or never Pancham..." Pancham thought.

He looked her right in the eye and finally said,

"Was the question you were asking me... About having a c-crush on you?"

He turned around and felt embarrassed about saying the word "crush" in front of her.

"W-What? Crush? N-No! No, I didn't mean it like that at all! I was just thinking you always hated me... Since I attacked you earlier back in that forest on accident..." Fennekin tilted her head and blushed, embarrassed by what he was telling her.

"O-Oh? Is that what you were meaning to say?" Pancham asked back.

"Yeah... Sorry for making you think that way... I just thought you've hated me since we met..." Fennekin sighed.

"No, I don't hate you... It was an accident... I did have a lot of fun with you though back in that forest! I was just trying make myself look cool in front of you... So that I could get on your good side! I actually thought that you didn't like me at first too..." Pancham confessed his secret towards her.

"Of course I don't hate you... W-Wait, so it was just a misunderstanding all for nothing?" Fennekin gasped, feeling completely stupid for causing all of this on her own.

"Well... I guess?" Pancham replied, not knowing what to say to her.

"I'm sorry for being such a stupid idiot... I should've been more clear when I asked you that question earlier... Sorry for causing this between us!" She apologized, feeling humiliated in front of him.

"No, it's not your fault! Let's just move on and forget about this... Okay?" He offered, holding his hand out to grasp hers.

"Deal!" She agreed, shaking his hand in return.

Translation: (Normal)

Play Song!: (Pokémon League (Nighttime) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Music Extended: watch?v=dUZAZt4jAHQ)

They continued to travel through Route 10, and Alex's Starly eventually came back down to him.

"Staaarly!" Starly called from above.

She landed back on his shoulder and he asked her,

"What's up girl? Did you find something?"

Starly pointed her wing towards smoke in the sky up ahead. Alex examined the smoke for a while, it was dark and it concerned him a bit.

"Wanna go and check it out?" Melanie suggested.

"Yeah, I could use a break before we get to Geosenge Town, thanks for pointing that out Starly... Who knows if it's a forest fire or not... Otherwise, if it is... Then we'll be in a lot of trouble!" Alex exclaimed.

"Lyy." Starly replied back.

They traveled away from the route they were going on, and they went through another set of bushes close together. The sky was getting darker, and the sun eventually set, causing their vision to decrease!

"Alright guys, stay close... We don't want anyone getting lost." Alex told everyone.

All of their Pokémon kept as close as they could to their Trainers, so that they wouldn't lose sight of them, or get separated. Alex eventually saw a bit of light coming from ahead of them, so he started heading there.

"I see a light!" Alex shouted.

Everyone in the group climbed onto their respective Trainer's and both Alex and Melanie started walking a little bit faster towards the glowing light. They eventually came upon a big opening in the forest, and they saw a camp setup! There were three tents, a small bonfire, and logs from trees that were used for sitting on. They even noticed a small table with Pokémon bowls on them, as well as two other bowls that looked like they had some kind of soup made in them!

"Guess it wasn't a forest fire..." Melanie corrected Alex, giggling at what he thought the smoke was.

"Shut up... Hello! Anyone here?" Alex called out.

In one of the tents, someone quickly came out and yelled back,

"You guys finally made it!"

It was no one other than James himself! Everyone was shocked to see him at a campsite, was he the one who setup a camp for them?

"You made this?" Melanie wondered, she was looking around and was impressed by the look of the site.

"Yeah, but I had some help. Come on out you three!" James replied back and threw three Pokéballs into the air.

All three of his Pokémon came right out, and it shocked Alex and Melanie even more than they already were!

"T-They all evolved?" Alex thought.

The three Pokémon that came out were a Grovyle, Wartortle, and a Fletchinder.

Alex came closer to the three, then he looked at James."

"How'd you get them to evolve so quickly?" Alex asked him.

"Like I said, I spent the entire time here while you guys were in Cyllage City. I told you that I wanted to leave because I wanted to go and train my Pokémon. I started feeling a bit weak because you beat me three times already!" James explained.

He quickly noticed Eevee and Bagon being carried by his two friends.

"Hey! That's an Eevee and a Bagon! Where did you guys find those two Pokémon? I've heard that they're both rare ones to find in Kalos!" James shouted.

He was yelling so loud that it scared Alex's Eevee, and he jumped from his arms. The small Pokémon ran around Alex and hid behind him...

"Don't yell so loud! Melanie got the Bagon back on Route 8, and the Eevee came from that egg we found earlier. I think Eevee is a little shy though, he ran away from us when he first saw us." Alex explained.

"Oh..." James mumbled to himself.

Then he noticed Fennekin and Starly on Alex, his eyes widened in surprise and he asked,

"Your Starly and Fennekin didn't evolve yet?"

Alex looked at Starly, then back to Fennekin, and he sighed.

"No, they haven't... But I like them just the way they are right now. Besides, they both helped me get my second Gym Badge! That's much more important than an evolution! They'll evolve when their ready on their own!" Alex exclaimed.

He showed James his Gym Badge Case, and he was impressed by the victory his friend showed!

"Well, can we battle again tomorrow? Maybe your two Pokémon will evolve if we have another rematch?" James suggested.

"Yeah sure, we can do that! I'm really looking foward to seeing how strong you are now!" Alex agreed, giving him a thumbs up.

They didn't notice that Melanie stepped away from their conversation they were having. She was already at the table eating the soup that was made, along with Pancham and Bagon eating their Pokémon food, which were pellets based on what Type they were!

"I'm still surprised that you managed to do this with your Pokémon, you even cooked food for us. Thanks a lot dude!" Alex thanked him.

"Yeah, it took a while... I had help from Fletchinder making the bonfire, Wartortle helped me with setting up the tents as well as getting the logs to sit on, and Grovyle helped me slice the vegetables and the ingredients I needed to make the soup!" James explained, proud at what he did!

"Again... I'm impressed, you did great man! I'm kinda hungry too, and so are my Pokémon. I can smell the soup all the way from here, is it good?" Alex questioned, smelling the delicious scent from the soup.

"Yeah it's good! My grandfather and I used to cook all the time back in Hoenn, so I'm pretty good at cooking." James exclaimed.

"I'm good at cooking too! But you had all the ingredients in your bag the entire time!" Melanie shouted at them from the table, complaining about it.

Both of them laughed before joining her at the table. When they got there, Fennekin found the Fire Type pellets, grabbed her respective bowl, and sat down next to Pancham. He noticed her and smiled at her action, and she started grinning back at him in return. Soon enough, everyone found what they were suppose to eat!

"Alright everyone, dig in!" James announced.

Everyone started eating their food, until Alex whispered to James,

"Hey, do you mind if I scan your Pokémon again with my Pokédex? I wanna read more info about them!"

James went ahead and nodded his head, allowing Alex to do it.

"Awesome!" Alex thought.

He pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the three Pokémon in front of him.

"Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon and the evolved form of Treecko. Grovyle has powerful legs which allow it to move quickly and jump with great power. It lives in dense jungles. While closing in on it's prey, it leaps from branch to branch before attacking."

Then he moved onto Wartortle next,

"Wartortle, the Turtle Pokémon and the evolved form of Squirtle. Wartortle is considered to be a sought after Pokémon because it's long fur-covered tail is said to bring good luck."

"Last but not least, Fletchinder." Alex thought.

"Fletchinder, the Ember Pokémon and the evolved form of Fletchling. Once in flight, Fletchinder can reach it's top speed extremely quickly, giving it the edge in battle by attacking it's opponents before they can get prepared to fight back."

He put away his Dex, and resumed eating his food.

"Wow, this soup is really good!" Alex complimented his friend.

James smirked at the compliment he received, he felt good at the food he prepared for everyone.

A couple of minutes later...

When everyone finished their food, their Trainers returned them back into their Pokéballs so that they could get some rest before the next day!

"Alright everyone, I'm off to bed... I'm really tired." Alex yawned.

"Me too, all that Training I did earlier with my Pokémon made me pretty tired today." James joined him, catching the disease of yawning.

"Goodnight." Melanie told them.

An idea popped up in her head, and she decided to stay up a while longer! She watched as her two traveling companions went into their tents, to go to sleep. As soon as they were gone, she was left out there alone, enjoying the beautiful stars shining in the night sky above her.

Moments later...

Translation: (Poké-Language!)

Everyone was asleep... All but Fennekin and Pancham, the two Pokémon wanted to sit by the fire together.

"The fire feels good doesn't it?" Pancham grinned, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace and quiet that they had to themselves.

Fennekin couldn't agree more! She enjoyed it as well.

"Yeah, I like it too." Fennekin agreed with him.

"So, I guess we're cool now... Right?" Pancham said.

He made Fennekin blush lightly again, and she nodded her head. She went ahead and moved a bit closer to him, resting her head on the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arm around her and brought her closer to him. Then she started hugging him gently, which made him blush from the huge contact he was receiving from her so suddenly!

"What did you think about Eevee?" Pancham asked her.

"He's kinda shy around other people isn't he? He was scared and he hid behind Alex earlier, then he ran from us too." Fennekin answered back.

"Well yeah, but he'll get used to it eventually. I was the same way when I first hatched from my egg, but then again I was known for being too playful when Melanie took care of me." Pancham chuckled nervously.

Fennekin looked up at him and tilted her head curiously.

"What were you like when you were younger?" Fennekin wondered.

"I uh... I would always eat a lot of food, and I would always get myself into trouble. Like exploring places where I shouldn't be, for example! On the second day that I met Melanie, I decided to sneak out one night and I ended up exploring Santalune Forest on my own. I remember being attacked from a wild Pokémon, and Melanie eventually woke up and came out that night, just to find me. Then, she ended up seeing me on the bridge, I was hurt from the attack. I think it was a Panpour that attacked me that night..." Pancham explained.

Fennekin continued to giggle from the story, she found it funny and that made Pancham feel a little embarrassed in front of her.

"Hey it's okay! There's nothing to be ashamed about it, besides... I've had plenty of embarrassing moments when I was traveling with my previous Trainer." Fennekin confessed, trying to make him feel better.

"Oh yeah? Like what? I told you one of my moments, now you have to make it even!" Pancham played along.

"Okay, fine! The first day I met my previous Trainer Scott, I was walking down a set of stairs in the lobby of Professor Sycamore's lab. Every Pokémon there in the lobby... Watched me trip, and I ended up falling down the stairs... On my 'farewell' party!" Fennekin replied back.

"Did they laugh at you?" Pancham mumbled.

Fennekin nodded her head slightly and she looked back down at the ground, looking upset.

"And to make things worse, I can't stop thinking about my old Trainer, nor the fact that I can't evolve yet..." Fennekin sighed.

Pancham started rubbing her back gently, and wanted to make her feel better. He didn't like the look on her face because she was frowning... So he told her,

"Awwh come on! Don't let that stuff bother you alright? I know you're going to evolve soon, besides... Maybe you and Starly will evolve tomorrow when you fight James again."

"Yeah, I guess... Well, anyways I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm beat!" Fennekin yawned slightly.

Pancham watched her get off of him, and he started feeling bad about it. He didn't want his moment with her to end so quickly, he looked back at the fire and heard her walking away from him.

"Goodnight." Pancham whispered.

He closed his eyes, but he heard footsteps coming towards him again. Pancham turned around and saw Fennekin walking back to him, and that made him confused.

"I thought you were going to-" Pancham started to speak, but he was cutoff by Fennekin giving him a quick kiss on his cheek!

She started to giggle at the look on his face, he was blushing extremely hard, and his cheeks looked as red as a tomato would be like!

"That's for cleaning my tail earlier... And for showing me that beautiful lake, and the apple too... To us being great best friends, forever!" Fennekin whispered back, thanking him for their little hangout today.

She winked at him before walking back to Alex's tent, and left him standing there in complete shock!

"D-Did she just..." Pancham thought.

He fell over and couldn't believe what she did to him, he got his first kiss on the cheek from a girl... Sure it didn't seem like much of a kiss, but it was enough to make him feel happy all of a sudden!

"Hey Pancham!" Melanie called him over.

He quickly got up and ran to his Trainer. When he reached her, he was wondering what she called him for.

"Do you wanna make that one special treat that you like so much? It'll be nice to make some for everyone else wouldn't it?" Melanie offered.

"YEAH!" Pancham yelled, nodding his head so that she could understand him.

"Sshh! Not so loud okay? We don't wanna wake everyone up!" Melanie giggled at his reaction.

He started grinning at her, then he jumped on top of the table so that he could join her. They started making something that they were hoping, everyone would love to snack on in the morning!