A/N: Adjusted some things for narrative use. Also, found a good way to justify one of the Nuzlocke rules!

How to Catch Pokemon

"Lel, there you are!"

Leila smiled as she came up and saw both Shauna and Calem waving. "Hey! Good morning!"

Shauna beamed at her. "I think we just passed you in Aquacorde! Calem's about to show me how to catch pokémon! Come join me! His parents are amazing trainers, so he knows all about battling and catching pokémon and stuff!"

Calem sighed, then chuckled good-naturedly. "Well… yeah Mom and Dad are good trainers, but that doesn't really have anything to do with me."

Leila tilted her head, away from the side that Ruairi was sitting on. She wondered if Fi was listening in too from inside her pokéball. "But of course it does. Not the… being a trainer bit, that's all you, but… you know, info, how battling works, the system, right?"

Calem looked at her quizzically. Leila wondered if she had said something off. "I mean, like, my mom's a Rhyhorn racer, and while I'm pretty bad at it, I still know how races and rankings and everything works. Stuff like that."

The boy seemed to ponder it for a moment.

"Huh," he replied. "You have a point. Seeing as how…" he held up a pokéball and grinned. "I'm teaching Shauna how to catch pokémon. How about you, do you already know?"

She nodded, thinking about Fi. "Yeah. I… caught one earlier, actually. Sort of." It felt more like a freebie than anything… and I'm not sure I could catch pokémon in a traditional sense, considering…

Calem raised his eyebrows. "Sort of?"

"She wanted to join me. So no battle type of thing."

Shauna squealed, while Calem shrugged and nodded in understanding. "Fair enough."

"So you have another new friend!" Shauna exclaimed. "What kind of pokémon is she?"

Leila smiled at the girl's excitement. "A Pidgey," she replied. "Her nickname is Fi. You'll probably get to meet her soon enough."

She could just imagine Fi hopping up and down in the pokéball. She wondered what Fi thought of all this.

"But enough on that, Calem's about to show you how to do this, right? I'll watch too," she said cheerfully, striding up to Shauna and placing herself beside her. The other girl nodded, bouncing on her toes.

Calem grinned at her. "You could use a refresher, huh?"

She shrugged. "Considering? Why not."

He laughed. "Cool then. Okay Shauna, watch what I'm doing. Lel, chime in if you want to add anything."

With that, he stepped into the tall grass.

A few steps later, he yelped and jumped back out of it.

"Bunnel…by!"

The pokémon shot out of the grass angrily, both ears clenched like fists. "Bunnel!"

Leila felt Ruairi wince on her shoulder. "Calem stepped on his tail."

Ow…

"Go! Fletchling!" Calem shouted as he threw a pokéball into the air. A bright light shone as it opened, forming into the air as the flying pokémon Leila was used to seeing in her own home. "Use Tackle!"

Fletchling let out a battle trill and rammed itself forward.

Bunnelby reeled backwards from the attack. He struggled to stand, but still managed to glare in a fierce way at Fletchling, as though leering in challenge.

"You have to make sure to weaken it before throwing a pokéball!" Calem called back to them. He pulled another ball from his bag. "Here we go!"

He tossed it at Bunnelby. The pokéball hit him, bouncing up slightly before opening and capturing him in a blast of light. Then it closed and fell to the ground, rocking back and forth a few times before the indicator light flashed.

"All right!" Calem cheered. "Good job Fletchling!"

"Ling!" it cheeped back at him. He held up its pokéball and it flashed back inside.

Shauna clapped wildly as he went to retrieve the ball. "Wow! So that pokémon went into the pokéball and…"

"Yeah, and now I've caught it," he replied, smiling at her. "Anything to weaken a pokémon – even sleeping it or anything else, will help. And you can't catch another trainer's pokémon."

"You need to have 'caught' a pokémon for it to register in your trainer profile," Leila added. "And if you use a ball and the pokémon breaks out, that ball is broken. So it's good to have lots of pokéballs on hand."

She was beginning to wonder about Bunnelby though. He had been minding his own business, apparently… then Calem stepped on his tail… then Calem caught him. She had known about how pokémon were caught, but seeing it in person… it made her wonder about things. It left a slightly unsettled feeling in her stomach.

Shauna cheered as Calem picked up the ball and placed it into his bag. "Awesome! I'm gonna throw lots of pokéballs so if I find a cute pokémon we can be friends!"

He chuckled at her. "Did you get any back in Aquacorde?"

She paused, then wilted. "No…"

"Here, it's no problem, I have a few, I'll share," Leila began, stepping up and already digging into her bag.

Calem shook his head at her. "No worries, Lel. Keep those balls, you might need them. My parents gave me a ton… here Shauna, take some."

He reached into his own bag to pull out a good handful of pokéballs. Shauna was wide eyed as he placed them into her waiting hands.

"Wow… thanks Calem!" she exclaimed.

Leila smiled at her. Then Calem pulled out another handful and grinned. "You too neighbor."

She blinked. "What? But I already have some."

"Take some more then," he replied cheerfully. Then he sighed. "Seriously though, take some, I swear half this bag is filled with pokéballs."

Leila had to laugh at that. "All right then," she smiled, and she cupped her hands so that he could deposit the balls with her. "Your parents wanted to make sure you were ready, huh."

"No kidding, right?" he chuckled.

She ended up pouring the balls into her bag. She would organize it later.

Shauna cheered as he stepped back again. "So it's three of us now, let's head up to the forest together!"

Leila thought for a moment. She couldn't quite ignore that unsettled feeling… and with Ruairi sitting on her shoulder, and Fi in her bag, maybe…

"You two go ahead," she answered with a smile. "I want to get to know Fi a little better. I'll be up there with you in a little bit?"

Shauna tilted her head. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Fi's the new one, after all."

"Makes sense," Calem shrugged. He glanced at his bag. "I should get to know Bunnelby too. But we'll head up to see if Tierno and Trevor are there – don't take too long," he added with a grin.

"I won't," she smiled back. "I'll see you in a bit. Find some cute pokémon, Shauna."

She giggled. "Okay!"

The pair waved and began to make their way up the trail. Calem looked as though he was watching his feet very carefully as they passed through the grass.

Leila sighed and brought herself to the side of the road. She reached back into her bag and pulled out Fi's pokéball.

She wondered if it was because she understood some pokémon. She could talk to them, respond to their questions, ask them for advice… and in that, she sometimes felt like she had an odd kinship with them that most others didn't. It made catching them, just as Calem had just done, feel strange. They were friends, but at the same time…

"Something up?" Ruairi asked.

"Yeah," she answered, glancing at the trail to see if Calem and Shauna were once again out of earshot. They were relatively far up it now, talking together. "I'll ask Fi too. And… actually, I have an idea, while we're at it," she grinned. "Seeing as we'll be taking the Pokémon League challenge and all."

"But don't take too long," he reminded her. She giggled.

"Yup… because they'll be waiting," she nodded. "Well, I hope this doesn't at least."