A/N: Hi guys! I hope you've had a good weekend so far! I am SOsorry about the lack up updates lately! I got caught up in writing for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. … But I'm back! This story has my full attention now, until the end! Read and Review!

"It looks like the closest gym is about a day's journey away. We should be able to be back in Violet City within a week, maybe less." Alex said.

Kristin looked up from packing. They were in the main part of the Pokémon Center, their supplies spread out before them, bags waiting to be repacked. Kristin emptied her bag of anything she didn't need first, like wrappers and empty water bottles. Then she looked expectantly at him. "We definitely won't need any longer than that. I plan on winning a second badge as quickly as possible."

Alex nodded and started ruffling through his bag. He looked confused and he brought his hand up with something in it: a poke ball. "I don't remember putting a poke ball in here."

"Maybe it was hidden from when you first packed."

He shook his head and looked at his belt, where his poke balls were. "No, and I don't think it's a spare, either." He tossed it up. A beam of red light shone, and a Pokémon appeared in front of him. It was large, very tall, and stood on four strong looking paws, with fur that looked like a tiger. It had a fluffy beige tail and mane and looked up at Alex with wide eyes. Alex looked shocked, his mouth open as he stood frozen.

"Are you okay?" Kristin asked. She touched his arm and he regained focus, but only for a moment. "What Pokémon is this?"

He smiled. "This is Sport, my Arcanine." The Pokémon perked its ears at its name. "It belonged to my grandmother. I used to play with it all the time. She must have slipped it in my bag when we went to see her." He didn't seem to care that Kristin was listening at the moment, he was lost in memories. "She promised me that someday I could take care of him… I guess she thought now was as good a time as ever."

The Pokémon walked up to him and sat down, looking at him with wide, friendly eyes. It barked at him playfully, shifting its front paws to get his attention. Alex was brought out of his memories and knelt down, putting his arms around Sport. He stayed like that for several minutes, and Kristin watched with a smile. She could feel the Pokémon's happiness, and the sense of peace that went through it when Alex hugged it went through her as well. It was good to see something ordinary, she thought. So much had gone on in the past week and days. She couldn't keep her thoughts from wandering to Meg, which they seemed to do most of the time lately. She was sure her friend was alive, because why would they have taken her if they didn't want something from her? But she wondered what their reasoning was, and how Meg was faring in Team Rocket. Was she being held prisoner? Were they letting her act on her own, as long as she did what they asked? She had never heard good things about Team Rocket, but she had never heard anything too serious, at least not in a while. They didn't have a reputation built solely on harm…

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized Alex was looking up at her. He had asked her something, judging from his expression. "Sorry, what was that?"

He grinned. "I guess deep reflections are sort of a thing this morning. I just said we should probably head out. We have the supplies to spend the night outside, and we should reach Azalea Town by midday tomorrow. It's supposed to be a clear night, too."

Kristin turned back to her backpack, currently empty. All her supplies were laid out around it, so she could be ready in five minutes. "We'll be out of here in minutes." She said as she started packing things in.

True to her word, Kristin and Alex left the Pokémon Center quickly, leaving Violet City as they moved towards Azalea Town. Alex turned to look at her after they had been walking for a while. "I think we should let our Pokémon out. They'd love to stretch, and there's no one around."

She responded by throwing up her poke balls. Pidgeotto soared into the air with a cheerful cry, circling above once before flying ahead. Bayleef ran to her and nuzzled her hand, walking by her side. Electabuzz let out a friendly growl and punched the air, clambering along just behind her. "That's everyone for me." She said.

"And here's mine!" Alex cried. He released Sandshrew, Totodile, and Bellsprout quickly. Totodile did a happy dance, and Kristin wondered if Totodile were ever unhappy. Then Alex released Arcanine, and all of their Pokémon froze. "Guys, this is my old friend Sport. He's part of our team now." His gaze moved to Kristin. "Both of our teams."

Sport walked over and regarded the other Pokémon with wide eyes. When the smaller ones looked ready to flee it tensed and backed up slowly, its eyes glancing down sadly. Totodile was the first to step forward, holding out one hand to Sport. From there it was a matter of courage. They stopped for a few minutes to let the Pokémon adjust before starting up again, determined to cover as much ground as possible.

Sunset…

Kristin paused for a moment to find a water bottle, taking a few drinks from it. Alex was doing the same thing. They had been walking since early morning, stopping for half an hour to break for lunch. She could see that everyone was ready for a rest, including herself.

"Let's stay here for the night." She said. "We could all use a break."

They were in the forest, but it was more open in this area than she thought it could be. They were walking along a well-worn trail, and to the side were small meadows in the spaces between the trees. Alex walked over to the largest grassy area and sat down, his hands holding him up as he let his head dip back, eyes closed. All the Pokémon followed his example, walking over and lying down.

Kristin made her way over and set down her bag, kneeling in front of it as she dug for supplies. Someone had to make dinner, and she was starving, so if it meant eating sooner, she would do it herself. They had bought bread the day before, and half a loaf was left, so that could be eaten. She smiled as she thought of what to make. "Pidgeotto." She called softly. The bird Pokémon raised its head from by its wing and flew the short distance to her, landing gracefully. "Can you find me some herbs? They look like this." She held up the leafy greens. She didn't even know what they were called, but the saleslady had told her they were good for keeping up strength. Pidgeotto nodded its head and took off.

She walked over to Alex. He had fallen all the way to the ground, dozing. She took his bag back to her station. She found a small pot inside. Perfect, she thought. They had planned on needing to make something themselves, so he had bought a pot, two bowls, and some utensils. They had also bought some vegetables. She couldn't resist, so she took three of the six carrots out and set them by the pot.

She made a clear spot in the grass to cook over, brown dirt exposed. Then she walked to the path and took stones from the edge, placing them in a circle around the bare patch of earth. Now the fire could be set up, but how was she supposed to keep the pot suspended?

A low growl was heard behind her and she turned. Electabuzz was holding up a sturdy branch.

She smiled. "Thank you, Electabuzz." She was rewarded for her praise with a small feeling of satisfaction that was not her own, but felt just right. "We can stick this in the ground and tie another branch to come off the top, like a right angle. The pot has a band to carry it, so we can just put it around the stick and let it stew."

Electabuzz grunted and set the stick down, going back to find another one. She still felt warm from the shared emotion, but froze a moment later. She hadn't even realized it, but she had felt that same link with Sport earlier that day. And with Bayleef during the gym battle. 'Is my power growing?' she thought. 'Is it going to be like this for every Pokémon someday?'

Electabuzz's return forced her to focus on cooking again. She grabbed rope from her bag and tied it to the first post. She shoved that one into the ground firmly, and then tried tying the other branch. It drooped the second she let go of it. "No." she said. "This has to work."

She righted the branch and looked at Electabuzz. It seemed to understand, pulling the rope tighter until it couldn't budge anymore. Kristin let go of the branch and waited, hands out to catch it if it fell – which it didn't.

"Yes!" she cried. Then she turned quickly to make sure she hadn't woken anyone else up. She let out a sigh when it was clear no one had been disturbed. "Sport." She called. "Can you come here?"

The large Pokémon walked over to her. "Can you start a fire under this pot? I have to go get twigs to keep it going, but once I do can you heat it up?"

It nodded. Kristin walked to the far side of the meadow, where the trees were thicker and more plants grew. She grabbed an armful of sticks and made her way back, quickly setting them up and having Sport start the fire.

Pidgeotto came back with talons full of the leafy greens. Kristin looked at the setup and grinned. "We're ready to cook, guys." She took two full water bottles from her bag and emptied them into the pot. Then she fished out a small white packet. Gently, she tore it open and poured the brown powder into the pot, where it mixed with the water. While she let that stew for a few minutes she cut up the carrots and leafy greens, adding them in when the liquid had thickened.

She didn't know how long it took, but eventually the smell coming from the pot reached her, and it must have traveled because she heard the others start to stir. She felt satisfaction rise in her. Kristin had never been good at cooking, but her mother had shown her some basics before she left on her journey. The packet she had added was her mother's recipe for broth. She ladled the soup into their bowls and set them down carefully, placing a spoon in each.

"I made vegetable soup for us." She said. "The Pokémon have some food left, so they'll eat that. I laid it out for them a little while ago."

Alex stretched, a content look on his face as he sat down next to Kristin and picked up his bowl. "Thank you for making this, Kris." He said. "I'll do the rest of the work tonight. It's only fair."

Kristin just nodded. He had called her 'Kris'. He had never done that before. She shook her head. Why did that make her want to smile? She brought out the bread and split it in half. "We should finish this before it goes stale."

He looked up and his cheeks reddened. He had the bowl up close to his face and was focusing on taking as many spoon fulls as he could as quickly as possible. Kristin couldn't resist laughing. "There is more, you know." She said once she recovered. "You don't have to worry about that."

Alex nodded. "I was just really hungry." He said, clearing his throat. He set the bowl down and looked around, taking a bite of bread. The sun was just barely visible, the sky darkening every minute; it was already too dark to see much in the distance. Their Pokémon were gathered all around, eating and playing in the time before sleep. "It's beautiful here."

Kristin took a small sip of broth. It was beautiful, she thought. There was barely any light, but their fire was still going, and it illuminated the outlines of everything around them in a way she would have once found eerie, but now found curious. It was the first time that day she had felt relaxed, and she closed her eyes and lay back in the grass.

Her hair spilled out around her and she smiled, trying to burrow into the grass. It was very comfortable, being warmed by the fire with a full stomach and surrounded by those she relied on. She felt as though she were on a cloud, weightless as she was moved by something gentle but strong. She fought away some of her drowsiness and opened her eyes for a second. Alex was carrying her. He set her down on a sleeping bag on the opposite side of the fire and sat on one he had placed not too far away.

"Sleep tight, Kristin. We've got a big day tomorrow, and you'll need your strength." He must have thought she was asleep, because she heard him keep talking, though she didn't know if she was meant to hear it. "I didn't know what to think when I first met you in the Pokémon Center. But now I know you were wrong about what you said to me. Maybe your friend is strong, but you are too. Through all of this you've only lost it once, something I don't think I could do." He was quiet for a moment. "I guess I'm trying to say I'm glad we met when we did. It's been stressful, but fun. It's something I won't forget anytime soon."

She felt a smile start on her lips as sleep tugged her back into its welcoming clutches, sinking into it willingly.

The next morning…

"Kristin."

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, trying to keep from waking up. She groaned when she felt her shoulder being shaken and grudgingly opened her eyes. A moment after she did all resentment was gone. She hadn't realized how much she needed a good sleep, because her body felt refreshed, her mind clear as Alex's blue eyes as they gazed at her.

"You fell asleep on me." He said. "I was going to show you some constellations, but I guess you'll never know which ones now." His voice held a fake note of hurt, which she responded to by grinning mischievously.

She sat up and stretched her long arms, brushing her hair back. Everything from last night had been packed away, and Alex was taking two cereal bars out of his bag. He handed one to her and she took it with a grateful smile. "What time do you think it is?"

He looked towards the sky. The sun was above the trees but not very bright. "Sunrise was about an hour ago, so it's probably somewhere around seven-thirty to eight." He stood and brushed off his pants. "I gave the Pokémon more water and then sent them back into their poke balls, and all our stuff is put away except your sleeping bag. We're ready to go whenever you want to."

Kristin stood, pocketing the cereal bar for later. She rolled up the sleeping bag and stuffed it into her bag, which took up most of its space. She placed it securely on her back and nodded at Alex and they set off.

After probably about two hours walking Alex stopped and brought out his map. "I can't believe I forgot about this." He said.

"What?"

He held up the map and pointed to a long patch of road. "This is where we are." He said. "We're not far from Azalea Town, maybe another hour. We moved a lot faster than I expected yesterday. But this part of the way is filled with trainers. They make it like a tournament, saying you have to beat four to get into Azalea Town."

She looked all around them, still not seeing any sign of life besides themselves. "Why would they all wait that close to the town?"

"They don't want to have to spend the night out here, I guess." He smiled at her. "They don't know what they're missing."

Kristin started walking again. "Alright. We battle as fast as we can. One good thing is that it'll help train for the next gym. I should probably find another Pokémon for my team, too. I want to honor our deal with your grandmother, and it seems like that means at least four Pokémon and two badges."

"I'd agree with that." Said Alex. "I might expand my team a bit as well. But it looks like we have to continue this discussion later."

A young girl was standing a little way ahead of them. She had short brown hair with light blue streaks in it, and looked at Kristin and Alex with a smug grin. "Who am I battling first?"

Kristin sucked in a breath. No matter who said it, she always thought of Meg when it came to who went first.

"Kristin, come on!" Meg called back.

Kristin ran to catch up, putting her hair back into a ponytail. It was her eighth birthday today, and Meg told her she had something special set up. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Meg smiled and Kristin smiled back. That look always got them into some form of trouble, but it also meant a ton of fun was coming.

"Just follow me." Meg said. She started running away from their homes and towards the path to the woods. It was a warm summer day, and the girls were dressed in play clothes as usual. Meg led her to the water that led to the Kanto region, but instead of just wading in the water as they usually did, she walked along the bank to the left, her eyes focused. They came to a stop a few minutes later and Kristin gasped.

Meg turned around and beamed at her. "Ta-da!" she cried.

They were standing by a big tree right by the river leading back to the pass from Johto to Kanto. The tree had a nice branch a few feet up, and from that branch hung a rope swing, a wooden board for a seat.

"I made it without any help. Happy birthday, Kristin!"

Kristin went up to inspect it. She'd always thought about making herself a swing, and this was perfect.

Meg bounced on the balls of her feet. "I thought you could swing right into the water. Get the wind and the water all in one experience!"

Kristin stopped. "Well, yeah… but I don't know if I should right now. It's a little cold."

Meg put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll go first so you can see how fun it is. I tried it out yesterday. Just give me a push!"

Meg stood on the board and gripped the ropes tightly, shifting to get herself moving. Kristin gave her a big push and Meg jumped, cheering just before she hit the water. She came up and sucked in a breath of air, impatiently pushing her wet hair away from her face. "That was great! Kristin, you have to try it!"

Kristin stepped onto the swing, eyes determined. "Alright."

She snapped out of the memory. It had only been about a minute, but Alex was looking at her with slightly raised eyebrows. "I'm fine." She said. She stepped forward, the same expression of determination she had had years ago on her face. "I'm up first."