Hello again everyone! Thanks for the feedback! One of you guys, I'm not sure who (I'm sorry! I don't pay attention to usernames when I read reviews, but at least you get to stay anonymous for a little while, right?) asked me how old the characters are. The main characters (Shuu, Raith, and Fayre) are about 20-21ish. Brock is 25-ish and Misty is 21-ish. Sorry for the "-ish" but I don't really have birthdays or anything for them. I guess they would on Bulbapedia, but I'm too lazy to make everything ungodly perfect. Heh. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

…

Daytime

I woke up fairly cold and sore. Sleeping bags obviously don't do much when you have to sleep in a cave. It was dark, and I could hear water drops falling down to the rocky cave bottom. I assumed it was morning and packed up my sleeping gear and made some breakfast. I used my Charmander's tail-flame to cook some oatmeal. I glanced over at the tent that contained Brock and Fayre. Last night, Fayre set up her sleeping bag next to mine, but really early in the morning, she snuck over to Brock's tent. How would I know? She is not very good at sneaking around. It's kind of hard not to notice someone trip over you. I don't care much for her anymore. If all she was going to do was cheat on me the whole time, why should I even bother, right?

After finishing breakfast, I hurried to pack up; I figured that they'd wake up soon. I continued on into the cave, leaving Brock and Fayre behind. It was pretty rough trying to get through the cave. The pokémon inside were very agitated, and pretty much attacked anything, even me. I saw some people in dark clothing carting off crates of stones in the darkness of the cave. Suddenly, Charmander started pulling at my pants, pointing his nose in the direction of that darkness.

"What's wrong, Charmander?" I asked him. Not like he could respond, though. He continued to whine and point in that direction. I figured I could go along with him, since something seemed to be bothering him. To my surprise, it was a small child, about the age of 8 or 9. She was beat up pretty badly and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked. She shook her head no. "Where are your parents?" I asked curiously. I must have touched a nerve, because then she started sobbing even harder. I rubbed her back to try and comfort her, and eventually, the tears stopped.

"M-M-Mister?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes?" I replied.

"M-My p-p-parents d-dropped me off h-here…" she stated, her voice starting to crack and fade. She handed me a note. All it said was, "Please take care of this child." I was completely shocked.

"Do you want to come with me?" I asked. All she did was nod her head. I picked her up and Charmander dashed off. I followed him and we found the exit of the cave. In the light, I could see more of her slim features. She looked like she hadn't had a meal in weeks and you could see almost every bone in her body. The first thing I did was heat up some food for her. She gobbled it down faster than the average texting speed of a teenager. I let her get cleaned up in a nearby river, washed her clothes, and gave her one of my spare shirts and shorts.

"Thank you so much, mister!" she smiled at me.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Lael."

"I'm Raith." We both nodded our heads at the same time, and then giggled. She gave me a big bear hug, and gave my Charmander one too. She grabbed my hand we skipped happily to Cerulean City.

Upon arriving to Cerulean City, I decided not to report her to the authorities. I figured that if her parents didn't want her, I don't think they'd appreciate me bringing Lael to their door. Instead, I thought that I should adopt her as a little sister. The first thing she wanted to do was to buy some clothes and gear for her for our journey. I was a little short on money, but when I explained my situation to the cashiers, they let us get bunches of free goods. I ended up only spending money on food, which was a pretty awesome deal if you ask me.

After finding a cheap hotel, Lael was out sleeping on the bed the minute we got our room. I tucked her in and lay down next to her, watching her chest rise and fall. I watched her for a little while, and then began to organize everything from the shopping bags. After finally packing her backpack, I left Charmander out to watch after Lael for me and went outside. The air was surprisingly refreshing for a city. I walked around and visited some of the many ornate water fountains entangled in the city. It was a source of pride among the people. I looked inside one of the fountains and found various water pokémon swimming within them. It was breathtaking to see all of those colourful fish down there and it almost looked like a whole different world. Then, I noticed something odd. There was a Squirtle wearing a bandanna swimming around looking for something. It reminded me of Shuu. I wondered if he was alright.

I walked back to the hotel room and found Lael trying on her new clothes. She was wearing a bright blue blouse and jean overalls and she was trying to tie her new white sneakers. I chuckled and walked over to help her tie them.

"Thank you so much, Raith! I love my new clothes!" she squealed with excitement.

"Don't thank me, thank the shop-keepers. They let you pick what you wanted for no price at all." I admitted.

"But it was you who found me!" she jumped up and gave me another bear hug. Charmander climbed on top of my head and hugged it too. I smiled at her.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" I asked.

"I wanna see you and Charmander training!" she replied excitedly.

"Okay then. Let's go get something to eat for dinner. Do you want to help me cook?" I asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded her head and skipped to the kitchen. I was about to grab some ingredients when my phone started ringing. It was Fayre. I pressed ignore, and right as I did that, another person called. It was Shuu. My heart did three back flips.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey." Shuu replied. We were silent for awhile.

"How are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm okay, yeah."

"That's good." Another awkward silence.

"Listen, come to room 1202 tonight at 10:00 sharp."

"Wait, how do you-" and then I heard a click. He hung up. My heart raced, I would see Shuu for the first time in what seemed like forever. Then I started to wonder why I was feeling this way. He is just a friend after all, right?

"Ray-Ray! Hurry up!" Lael called from the kitchen. Almost immediately, those thoughts were wiped out of my mind and I hurried over to the kitchen to help Lael.

…

Night time

"Ya sure ya wanna go through with dis?" Squirtle asked.

"It's not like I have much of a choice. I probably won't see him again after this anyways." I replied. The clock ticked slowly and steadily, each second passing like a dripping faucet. Soon, I thought, he'll be here. What will I do when he comes? I decided not to make any moves or anything. I didn't ask him to come over because of personal reasons, it's for business…

Before I knew it, there was a knock at the door. I opened the door and found Raith, and this small, slightly emaciated child hiding behind him. It was rather suspicious looking.

"Come inside." I offered. They both walked in silently. I shut the door after them and they sat down on the small couch. I pulled up a chair and sat in front of Raith.

"I need to ask you a favour…" I started to say.

"What?" he asked.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" I asked.

"You called me unexpectedly, even though you didn't even want to speak to me anymore, and you're just asking for a favour? Are you that heartless? No, 'how have you been?' or anything?"

"W-Well…"

"Ugh, I don't care anymore. What do you want?"

"Well, before I tell you, why are you arguing with me?"

"I-I…" Raith stuttered. I looked up at Raith. He turned his face away, but I could tell that he was blushing. I was confused. If he didn't have feelings for me, why would he be blushing? Or arguing? Or anything? I wanted to try kissing him, just to see how he'd react. I stared at his lips for a little while, but then I noticed what I was doing and stopped. I can't get off track.

"Anyways, I need you to do me a favour." I restated. He remained silent. "I need you to open a gate for me." He then looked up at me puzzled.

"Why?" he asked.

"I can't tell you. Will you do it?" I replied stoically.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I want to know why."

"You'll know after you do."

"Fine. Where?"

"In one of the fountains, the one a duck family statue, there is a gate blocking the way so that water pokémon don't get into the place I want to get into. I need you to gain access to it and move it on my command."

"Fine."

"Thanks." I said unemotionally. I felt really depressed that I couldn't do anything. I couldn't tell him I loved him, because he's probably still hung over Fayre. I couldn't hug or kiss him, because he'd probably flinch away. Then, something unexpected happened. Something I didn't see coming. He reached over and kissed me. On the lips. With tongue.

"Call me when, alright?" he said. I nodded. He led the small girl out the door and then shut it quietly. I touched my lips, still wet from his kiss. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…

…

Hurrah! Semi cliff-hanger! I hope you enjoyed that! Review if you'd like and stuff.