Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Thank you to May and Dawn are the best, Zangoose-Kira, and Umbree for the reviews! I can never express how much they mean haha. And, um, referring back to the previous chapter, Nelly and Mitchell are Jared's Pelipper and Camerupt respectively. Anyway, haha, I hope that y'all enjoy the new chapter! Thanks for reading!

Spotlight
Chapter Ten: The Girl With The Mightyena

I lifted myself up from the ground, my mouth hanging wide open. I had no intention on clamping it shut. I didn't care if this person thought I was the most awful, rude trainer in existence. I was shocked to see her here, standing like some kind of odd thing in the middle of the street, looking at me with a peculiar amount of amusement.

"Where's Jared?" she asked.

Of course.

"Left."

She smirked, as if I had told her something extremely interesting, and scratched the gigantic Mightyena - Milo, if I remembered correctly - on the head. He gave several barks in Zeke's direction, who growled in response.

"Shh, Milo," she said, smiling at her starter. "Corrine's good people, apparently."

"Yena," Milo scoffed.

"Where you headed?" Willa asked.

I stood up to my full height and looked at her. I wasn't sure what to think of her. Here she was, the person who obviously caused Jared more strife than was necessary of any human being, and she was actually being somewhat cordial - albeit slightly condescending in her manner of doing it. I wasn't even sure how that was possible.

"Oreburgh."

She smirked, "What a coincidence."

"You're headed that way, too?"

She ran a hand casually through her odd looking hair, a light smirk playing on her lips as she did so, "You want company?"

I quirked a skeptical brow at her - I wasn't sure of her motives. And Jared had acted very strangely around her. I thought I had a right to be wary of her somewhat, but…then again, she hadn't done anything to me. What harm could it be, traveling with her?

She could kill you in your sleep, a voice in my head spoke up.

Jared could have too. I pointed out.

Great, now I was developing schizophrenia.

I shrugged at her, heaving a sigh as I did so. I wasn't sure about this, but why not give it a go? I always had Zeke and Ozzy with me. As that thought occurred to me, I turned to face them and saw that they were tussling around together, completely ignoring me and my mental plight. Right. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah, well, why not?"

Willa gave me a grin that disarmed me for a moment. She didn't seem so threatening then - I wasn't sure what Jared's past was with her, but I guessed I shouldn't let that cloud my judgment about her - so she strode forward and punched me playfully on the shoulder, "Then let's go!"

Blinking, I found myself following in her direction.

"That Jared is a piece of work, isn't he?"

I almost stumbled over my own feet as I trudged along, smacking into Milo, who growled at me reproachfully, but he didn't seem as into it as he was before. Apparently, he was a well-trained Pokemon.

"Not sure what you mean," I said, staring at her wonderingly.

"…he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Willa shrugged, her teal-tinted blonde hair swishing around her face as she did so. "Ah, it's not important."

"Uh…okay?"

She turned towards me then, grinning, "So! Why are you going to Oreburgh?"

"Why does anyone go to Oreburgh?" I told her with a quirked brow.

"The rocks," she deadpanned. "And the gym leader is a hot piece of - "

"Migh!" Milo interrupted her.

"Milo can be such a prude sometimes," Willa said, patting him on the head. He visibly relaxed, but tried to nip her fingers. The gesture was so familiar to me that I almost gasped in surprise.

"I'm going to get my first badge." I said as we continued walking. It was such an obvious thing to say that I wondered why Willa even bothered with asking the question. Oh, well. Maybe it wasn't obvious to her. Maybe she was just trying to make conversation.

Maybe she's going to slit your throat in the night.

Oh geez, I though, running a hand through my hair. This was getting ridiculous. So I just out-and-out asked it, "Are you going to, like, kill me in my sleep or something?"

Tact. Something that I should probably practice.

She started laughing, though there was a strange edge to her eyes. "No, of course not. I'm not as bad as Jared made me seem. Just a girl that's made mistakes."

"What, are you like his girlfriend or something?"

This made Willa laugh harder, "No! No, no, no. That's too funny."

Apparently, it was, because she started to snort uncontrollably. I found myself laughing along with her, so much that Zeke ended up ramming his skull cap into my shin. I yelped and grasped the offended area, cursing lightly. "Dour," he said reproachfully.

"Alright, Zeke. Serious faces," I said, trying my best to tug my smile down into a neutral expression, but to no avail as I continued walking.

"Houn-dour," he replied, head butting me again.

"What?" I asked, looking down at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Dour!"

I stopped and stared at him - and then noticed what he was most likely trying to get my attention about.

"Didn't you have a Psyduck with you?" Willa asked, pointing out the obvious.

"Ozzy!" I shouted, my voice far too high for my liking. Oh, oh, no. I had gone and lost my Psyduck. How completely stupid was I? "Ozzy! Where'd you go!"

"Dour," Zeke said, clamping down on my ankle. I swear if he ever got Poke-rabies, I was in trouble.

"What is it?" I gazed down at him, my voice high-pitched and squeaky and sounding like my mother when she found out I had decided the local Drifloon were my best friends. "Zeke…"

He turned around and pointed in a direction, through a mass of bushes. Milo bounded in front of us, leaping in front of Zeke, who looked affronted. He pushed his large black muzzle to the ground and started sniffling before looking back at us and motioning us forward. Zeke, however, had a look on his face that said, "I just told you that."

So, I'm supposing Ozzy went that way.

We moved through the brambles and bushes, getting hung up on the briars and whatnot. Plants just kept attacking me. First the reeds and now briars. I was not looking forward to whoever headed the grass-type gym.

It seemed we walked forever, but soon enough we stumbled upon Ozzy. Literally.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as I fell onto my face, my legs having come into contact with something that had caught me off balance.

"Psy?"

"Mmf," I mumbled but then realized the voice that had reached my ears. I sat up immediately, and looked over to the thing I had tripped over, "Ozzy!"

Typical.

Ozzy was looking at me with those clueless eyes of his. Oh. My. God. Well, at least the incessant worrying was gone, but now I was slightly miffed. "And why did you run off?"

"Duck, psy." He tilted his head, his small claws latched onto either side.

"Dour." Zeke tossed his head into the direction to Ozzy's side. A large pond greeted me.

Right. Ozzy was a water-type. Naturally, he liked water. Ugh. Idiot trainer, that's me. "Right. Okay, well, Ozzy, I'll…um…go ahead and swim," I sighed, feeling defeated. "Sorry."

Willa was snickering, as was Milo, and I turned to her and glared as I heard Ozzy splash into the water, followed by Zeke's annoyed huff.

"Nice, Corrine," Willa scoffed. Milo couldn't seem to get a hold of himself. These two…perfect partners, I swear. And I had only known them for less than a whole day.

"You don't mind if we take a detour, huh?" I asked.

"Nah, I love braving the woods just to let another person's Pokemon have a dip."

"Your sarcasm is refreshing."

"As is yours." Willa grinned.

I wandered to the edge of the pond. At least the woods wasn't as thick around the pond as it was everywhere else. Ozzy surfaced, looking refreshed and happy, and I felt happy seeing my Pokemon like that. It was good that at least he was having a good day, whereas I felt like I had just been trampled by a heard of Mamoswine.

I took off my shoes and let my feet dangle in the waters' edge. It was clear, cool, and very comforting to my already achy feet. I splashed some water on the cuts I had gotten, washing away the blood that had caked there, and was astonished to see Zeke sitting next to me.

"Dour," he said. He was still a ways away from the water, but he was laying down with his head on his paws. At that point, Milo bounded over the top of him and splashed down in the water, the droplets nearly speckling him if Zeke hadn't jumped back at the last second.

"Milo might talk tough, but he's a big softie," Willa said as she moved to sit down beside me. I was still on edge around her, which I thought I had good reason for, but she seemed as casual as ever.

"Do you have any other Pokemon?" I blurted out, surprised at myself for actually asking. I watched as Ozzy flailed around in the water as Milo chased him. The sight was rather humorous. Zeke huffed beside me.

"Of course."

She reached towards her belt and pulled off two Pokeballs before maximizing them and tossing them in front of her. The flashes of light that emitted from them faded away and in their place were two Pokemon - a Purugly and a Gengar. I blinked a few times. Of course my newest traveling partner had to have a cat Pokemon. Of course. I hadn't even realized how much I disliked them until now. Cats. Ugh. The Gengar was interesting, though. I had never seen one in person before. I'd watched all the horror movies on television about ghost-types and whatnot, but I had always found ghosts very interesting. So, I supposed I was a bit star struck at the sight of the ghoulish Pokemon.

"Gordon - the Gengar- was my second Pokemon. Then came Lea," she said, and reached out and scratched the cat Pokemon behind the ears. Lea purred and leaned into her touch while Gordon chuckled in the background.

"Niceee to meet you, Corrine," the Gengar drawled.

I started, looking at the ghost-type with large eyes. "You know my name?"

"Gordon's creepy like that."

"And how can you talk! I just got used to the idea of psychics talking!" I didn't realize how stupid I sounded. It was like I was a kid - well, I kinda am - trying to justify the sight of their father in a Santa Claus suit seated by the Christmas tree with a Stantler with a painted nose.

"Ghosts - "

"So naïve," Gordon grinned - well, I think that was a Gengar's default look, anyway - and floated near me, "Ghosts aren't really limited by the things that hinder other Pokemon, you see."

"Because…you're…ghosts?" I asked, wondering how I should have phrased that sentence. Should have done it any way except in that manner.

"No one really knows. They've done studies about it, but no conclusive results," Willa said, shrugging, "I'm not complaining. It's nice to actually be able to talk to your Pokemon where they can talk back, ya know?"

"I think it's because we're supernatural, but then again, I am often wrong." He floated by me, brushing against the hair next to my ear. I shivered. It seemed he brought a cold breeze with him as well. I remembered my encounters with the Drifloon, how they always seemed to have a cold air about them as well. A ghost thing, I guessed.

I could tell he was talking by telepathy, though. His mouth didn't move from that creepy grin while he was speaking. I guessed he could talk like a regular Pokemon as well - like Theo had demonstrated before - but I wasn't about the mention Jared again. Something told me that that was a sensitive subject with her, even though she joked about it.

"Good instincts, you," Gordon said, floating over to Zeke. Zeke barked several times before standing up and moving to sit right beside me. I was shocked, but pleasantly so. Lea mewled in the background. I tensed.

"You don't like cats, huh?" Willa asked, amused.

"My dad has a Purugly. Primrose. Pampered little brat, that thing. She hates me." I said, and suddenly felt a pang of homesickness. I probably needed to call home soon.

Willa smiled, though, and this one looked genuine. "Lea's…she's special."

I supposed she knew her Pokemon better than I did, and I shouldn't judge so quickly. Especially since Lea seemed to not have scratched me or tried to kill me in my sleep. Ah, Primrose. One aspect of home I did not miss whatsoever.

I didn't ask Willa to elaborate on that, but I could tell that by looking at Lea she was very different from Primrose. She was quieter, subdued. Even shy, the way she looked as she sat on Willa's lap. Her face even looked kinder than most Purugly I had seen before. Well, kinder than Primrose. Vindictive thing.

"Yeah…bet so," I said, and there was no sarcasm to my tone. Willa looked over to me, as if she was surprised, and a smile spread over her features. I heard Ozzy and Milo out in the water, splashing around. Gordon had taken to floating around my head, and Zeke was sitting tense at my side.

"Maybe I'll tell ya one day, when you're not such a newbie," Willa's smile turned into the Gengar-like grin I was not accustomed to.

"Sure, sure," I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

"Some things you have to be experienced to handle, anyway. Or they'll take away your faith in things."

Gordon ended up sitting on my shoulder, making Zeke downright uncomfortable as he pressed himself into my leg, rigid all over. I reached out and scratched his hears, and he nipped at my fingers just the lightest bit, only drawing the minimal amount of blood. Willa's words unsettled me, and again brought back the mystery of her. Who she really was, where she came from, why Jared was so unsettled by seeing her… It all slapped me in the face like the brunt hand of a Mr. Mime.

"So! Let's get our Pokemon together and stop lollygagging around. We need to get to Oreburgh and get you that first badge! And get me that gym leader's phone number!"

"Still on about that, are you?" Gordon grinned as he floated to his trainer.

"If I am anything, it is persistent."

"Aware of that, trainer."

I found myself laughing. Despite everything - despite my concerns and everything about Willa, she really didn't seem like she was bad news. I wasn't sure what I was worried about. Even if Jared was wary of her, it didn't mean I had to be. I smiled as I rose to my feet and jammed my feet into my shoes.

"Ozzy! Let's get to Oreburgh!"

"Duck!" he exclaimed. I was surprised to see that he was excited. This little interlude was probably well-needed for him. I was sure that we'd be stopping by more bodies of water for him later on, seeing as how much he enjoyed swimming. Of course he would, he's a water-type. He swam clumsily to shore and then waddled over to me, Milo bounding over him and retaking his position at Willa's side.

"Good call," Willa said. "Seeing how spacey you are, I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot about the gym challenge altogether."

"Thanks, Willa, thanks."

I supposed this was the start of a shaky, odd, unpredictable friendship.

End Chapter Ten.