"Yeah. I'm going to accompany you whenever I have the chance. Sometimes I'll travel with you; sometimes I'll have to do something else for a bit somewhere and leave for a day or so," Blue shrugs.

"And what if I don't want your company?" I challenge him playfully. Traveling with him might be fun. I really don't mind him deciding accompany me, but that doesn't mean I can't play around.

Blue laughs before putting on a semi-serious face, "Too bad. Gramps thinks that you might need someone around too, so you can't get out of it. You are stuck with me forever!"

"Damn. That's too bad!" I say with mock sadness. "I guess I'll just have to sacrifice you to the pokemon then."

"Who says that you can take me? You're a twig; I would sooner feed you to the pokemon," he responds playfully.

"Oh yeah? Two words. Ranger. Training. If that doesn't whip you into shape, nothing will."

"Pfft. Yeah right."

I sigh with mock exasperation, "Name a time and place. We'll see who can win in a fight."

"I'm not going to fight a girl."

"Chicken?"

"In your dreams."

"My dreams must be reality then," I smirk.

"I'll take you seriously when you can beat me in a pokemon battle." Blue chuckles. "You couldn't even beat me when I didn't have any of my own pokemon on me. You know what? I think I'll battle you when you have seven badges."

I laugh, "What? Not eight?"

Blue smiles mischievously, "Nah. You'll be out of my league by then."

Out of his league? I wonder what he means by that. Maybe he took the gym challenge and quit after beating the seventh gym, or maybe he trained under the leader of the eighth gym. I'd ask, but Blue would probably just talk in riddles. I'm really not in the mood for more of those, so I get up and start walking away.

"Where are you going?" Blue asks.

"Well," I drawl, "we need to leave Pallet Town to start our journey, don't we?"

With that, we step out of Pallet Town and onto Route One. I can't help but look around me in amazement. Almia and Oblivia look nothing like this. Fiore is sometimes compared to Kanto, but that is the only region (that is under the Ranger Union) that is close to Kanto in terms of pokemon and scenery. It's a shame that my only experience in Fiore is a year or so living in Fall City. I never left the city's reaches; I have no real idea what the region is like. Thankfully, some of the pokemon look familiar.

I immediately release Jack who takes in our surroundings with an air of indifference. I guess he's probably seen the area around Pallet Town more times than he could count, so it's probably not as exciting for him.

"Squawk!"

I immediately whip my head around and see a pidgey flying in pursuit of a rattata. After a moment, the pidgey ceases its chase and simply lets out another loud "Sqwawk!"

Blue nudges me, "Look, it's a pidgey. You should battle it and try to catch it."

I nod in understanding, "Right. Jack, use tackle!"

Jack responds by charging at the flying type just as it lands on the ground. It is knocked back several feet, but otherwise, it's unharmed. The pidgey immediately flies back up and attacks Jack back. After ordering Jack to tackle it again, the pidgey finally falls.

"Now throw a pokeball at it!"

My fingers brush over my pokeball belt where there should be several empty pokeballs that I could use, and I don't feel anything. When I look, I'm surprised by the fact that I don't have pokeballs. Did I forget to ask Prof. Oak for some? Apparently, I did.

"What are you waiting for?" Blue asks incredulously.

I chuckle sheepishly, "Well, you see...I don't have any pokeballs..."

I hear an audible smack as Blue face palms. I don't need to look at him to know that he is bemoaning the fact that we didn't even remember to bring pokeballs. Well, I forgot to bring pokeballs; he has a team of pokemon already no doubt. He probably doesn't need to catch pokemon anymore, so he probably doesn't need pokeballs.

"We might as well go to Viridian City. It's not too far of a walk from Pallet, and I don't think it'd be too wise to go back to Pallet," he finally sighs out.

I shrug. That sounds good to me. It doesn't really matter to me that I won't be getting a new pokemon any time soon because I don't really need any more at the moment. Plus...explaining everything that's happened so far wouldn't exactly be the highlight of day. Right now, all I have is Jack, and that is really okay.

For a while, Blue and I travel in a companionable silence. Even though this particular route isn't home to many pokemon and is pretty generic according to Blue, I still find myself staring around in amazement. I suppose I really should have worked in more than just two regions that can be very similar to each other at some points. I know for a fact that Murph worked in Fiore before going to Almia to work for the Union. Since then, he's made trips to both Oblivia and Sinnoh to perform certain PR duties. Sven and Wendy had been all over the place. Wendy often recounted tales of the different regions they had been to; oftentimes, the duo had to travel far to follow leads on illegal activities. They even went as far as Unova when reports of poaching in the nature reserve arose. Even Keith, who had been at the job as long as I have, has been to Fiore, Almia, and Johto! He...would've gotten to Oblivia too if Purple Eyes and Mewtwo hadn't...

Keith...I miss you so much. It's not fair that you aren't around anymore...You were always there for me when I needed it, and you were the best friend anyone could possibly ask for. Sure, you were competitive, but that only made us that much better because we were always trying to outdo each other. Ever since you beat me in that stupid competition when we were in school, I've strived to be better than you...I still don't think I've accomplished that yet. I may have been the hero of Almia, but I can't ever forget that you were the one that got me there. You were the one who made me push myself to be the very best. You were the one who helped me up when I was down. You were the one who was my rock. You...were the one who saved my life. I would never admit it aloud, but nothing I could ever do or say will make up for that. And...Silly as it is, I was so glad that you were the one who saved me. For the longest time, I had the biggest crush on you, and I never thought to tell you. Was there ever really a time? Almost immediately after Operation Brighton, you were off to Johto to handle the black market in Goldenrod, and then, problems started brewing in Oblivia. I never had the time, and now there is none. Now, I wish I had made the time. Whether you liked me back or not, knowing what you felt would be nice...

"So..." Blue snaps me out of my trance.

"Yeah?!" I chirp trying to keep the mood my thoughts put me in covered up.

"I was just wondering about Jack..."

I immediately panic, "What about him? Is he okay? Where is he?"

"Saur!"

Oh...Jack is right next to me. In my defense, finding a grass pokemon in an area full of grass is not easy! Let me panic in peace!

"I was just wondering why you named him," Blue continues. "While it's not extremely rare, it's not exactly common."

"Really?" I ask. "Well, for rangers, naming your partner pokemon is practically an unofficial rule! I still remember the scandalized look my base leader had on his face when I told him I didn't name mine. Needless to say, I named her within the next minute." I chuckle at the memory. Oh Barlow..."So did you name any of yours?"

"No, not really. I never really thought of doing it," Blue replies honestly. "Plus, I don't want to give my pokemon a name that's clichéd like Flame. Now that I think about it, I'm probably saving my pokemon by not naming them."

Hmm...Now that begs the question, should I nickname all my pokemon? Apparently it's not common, and I do want to fit in...Drawing attention to myself is definitely not the way to stay under the radar. I guess that settles it; I'm not naming any of my other pokemon. If anyone asks, Jack was given a name because he's my starter.

Suddenly, I see buildings peaking over the treetops up ahead. Skyscrapers? At least, I think they're skyscrapers. Is there a set amount of floors that a building needs to be classified as a skyscraper? I'm not exactly sure...

"Kate- I mean Wendy," Blue grins, "welcome to Viridian City."

I guess it's time to put my new alias to use.

And the votes are in…Most people wanted an extra chapter, but I did get a few questions from Eeveeleah that my characters are happy to answer here.

1. What pokemon are you planning on Kate catching?

Kate: I don't really know what pokemon I want to catch, but I know that my team needs to be balanced. I don't think I'll catch more than my first six though…

Me: In other words, that is a spoiler-y question that shall be answered as the story goes on.

2. Are the Pinchers going to bother Kate on her journey?

Kate: I don't think the Pinchers even know I'm alive…I don't think they'll be bothering me. Besides, with Mewtwo and the Golden Armor, they'll probably be focusing on world domination or something like that.

3. Is there going to be a Kate/Blue romance?

Blue: Even though she won't admit it, I think Kate is hung up on that Keith guy. She is the only one of her friends that I know of, and she gets this…look when she talks about him. I don't think she'll be over him for a while, and I'm not going to be her rebound. Besides, I don't really like her like that right now. She kind of reminds me of Daisy…

Me: In other words, I'm not sure yet. I'm a Keith/Kate shipper. I'm not going to lie. Blue/Kate might be interesting and probably the first of its kind. I'm still thinking it over.

Also, just to clear up any confusion, this is game!Blue. Anyway, that extra chapter will be posted next week. So far, it's pretty long, so I might break it up into two chapters. I'm not sure yet. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and review to tell me what you thought. Until next week!