Heyo, another chapter here. X3

However, there's something I want to address first and foremost - I'm not going to answer questions like "Is insert character going to be in this story?" or "Will there be insert pairing?" Simply because for the characters part, I want it to be a surprise for my readers, and me telling will just spoil the surprise. Maybe I might make some guessing games or something at the end of the chapter when someone important is going to pop up in the next chapter, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. For the pairings one, there won't be any official pairings in this story, though there'll definitely be a number that are teased.

Please respect this rule. I'm not going to repeat in future chapters, and will simply just not say anything at all. ;w;

Now that that's done, HUGE thanks to HoneyBeeGirl94, RainbowSaga, A Broken Imagi-NATION and Death by Nosebleed for the reviews. =^^=

HoneyBeeGirl94: That's generally the idea of Emil and Lukas' relationship - Emil feels that he's not only in Lukas' shadow, but that he must be like him. However, he wants to be his own person as well. Hence why he's going on a Pokemon journey to prove he's not Lukas, but rather, better or different to him. owo

RainbowSaga: Nope! The second gym leader will be revealed in this chapter. As I mentioned before, I'm not going to answer questions that ask if a certain nation will appear.

A Broken Imagi-NATION: As I mentioned before, I won't answer questions that ask if a certain character appears.

Death by Nosebleed: Lonely Lukas does sound pretty sad. TTwTT he misses his baby brother, but sadly, said baby brother has to go on a journey...otherwise there'd be no story. XD thank you~ X3

Anyway, here is the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy~

They were sailing on the sea as Quan didn't relent the boat's speed. Naturally, this prompted everyone to hold on tight to the boat's edge as it started rocking a bit as Quan turned the boat a few times as well.

Emil honestly felt like he was flying as the wind rushed past his hair and his face. The boat's motor was roaring, but he didn't at all mind the noise as they continued on.

Yong Soo even raised his fist as he yelled, "Whoo! This is awesome, da ze!"

"Yeah!" Michelin agreed in an excited shout.

"Ve~! We're going so fast~!" Feliciano squeaked as he held on, but he laughed a bit.

Leon meanwhile was clinging onto the boat's edge, appearing totally out of his comfort zone and unnerved. Erika meanwhile looked green in the face. She was clutching at her stomach, then her head as she gave a little groan, "Mm…ohh…"

"Hey, you alright, Erika?" questioned Michelin in concern. "You look a little sick."

Erika nodded, "I get…seasick." She immediately looked like she was going to puke at any minute.

"We're almost there," Quan called from over his shoulder as he continued commandeering. "Then you can let go of your lunch." After a few more minutes, the Vietnamese man then spoke up, "And we're here. Hanakai City."

Emil however felt a bit disappointed once the boat stopped at some docks. He truly loved how fast it was going, and feeling the breeze, as well as the smell of the salty sea. But looking around, he felt excitement come through him again.

Hanakai City appeared very differently to all the places they were at before. For instance, the buildings were of a different structure consisting of tiled roofs and what appeared to be plaster walls. Noticeably, the doors had no knobs on them as well. Additionally, there were quite a number of trees around the great city, and there seemed to be some stone structures. There was also noticeably what appeared to be some kind of path that was leading downwards of a distance.

"So, this is Hanakai City, huh?" Michelin Soo was gazing around in wonder. "Pretty different compared to places we've been so far."

"Ve~ are you alright, Erika?" Feliciano asked in worry when the green-eyed blonde finally looked like she couldn't take it anymore. And so for that, she actually leaned her head over the edge and took big, deep breaths.

Quan came forward with what appeared to be a bottle. He patted her back and passed it to her, "Take it. Some Fresh Water. It should help."

It turned out she didn't actually retch, but she definitely seemed close to it. Gratefully, she took the Fresh Water from him, and gulped it down. After thanking him politely, Quan helped her off the boat. Likewise, everyone followed suit onto the docks to take a proper look of the place.

Emil noticed a couple of trees that were towering above him and had what appeared to be really beautiful pale pink blossoms on them. He couldn't help but marvel at the sight of them – they were very lovely, and seemed to add a great palette of vibrant colour to this painting of a city. Noticing a sign nearby, he read it to himself, 'Hanakai City. The historical city of the rising sun.'

"Hey, Mr Quan?" Yong Soo piped up. When the Vietnamese man looked up to show he was listening, he continued, "Where's the gym around here?"

Quan responded, "It's actually close to the theatre. I can lead you there – I have business to attend to, myself."

"Business?" Leon arched an eyebrow. "What kind of business?"

"My business," responded Quan, though he didn't seem inclined to share what it was. This prompted the younger Asian to simply scowl in his direction. Regardless, he wordlessly followed him with the rest of the group. At the head, Quan led them past a number of houses until they were walking at a certain path that had those beautiful, flowering trees on both sides.

Looking up, Emil could make out points of sunlight shimmering between the leaves and flowers of the trees. It made the blossoms seem to glow.

However, coming more into the centre of the city, Emil was surprised at seeing more modern looking buildings. There were a couple of apartment buildings, and some larger buildings that looked like normal work buildings, along with some buildings with tin rooves and bricked structures.

Noticing his gaze, Quan explained, "This city combines both its traditions and modernity. It tries to teach its traditional practices onto its youngsters."

"Sounds pretty cool," marvelled Michelin.

"It's fine with teaching outsiders as long as you're respectful to their culture," added Quan. "It's secluded on an island, after all." He then stopped at a set of stone steps and led them up to a rather wide building that had an extravagant tiled roof with what appeared to be a carp swimming with its head raised. There was what appeared to be characters that were finely crafted onto a sign with what appeared to be a calligraphy brush. "And here it is, the Hanakai City gym," he said simply as they climbed the steps.

Once they were there, Emil and his companions circled around the sign. "'Hanakai City Gym'," read Michelin aloud. "'Leader Sakura. The nature-loving yamato nadeshiko!'"

"Ve~ what is that?" questioned Feliciano. "But either way, she sounds really pretty~ Sakura sounds like a beautiful signorina name!"

"A yamato nadeshiko is basically a traditional Japanese woman," answered Quan as he tipped his hat. "Or at least, the epitome of what is considered the epitome of pure, feminine beauty in regards to the Japanese, and majority of the East."

"She sounds really, really pretty~" Feliciano looked really eager. "I'd love to meet her!"

"Epitome of pure, feminine beauty?" Michelin noticeably looked a bit uncomfortable, Emil noticed. He was wondering why she seemed a bit uneasy about that statement, but before he could ask her, Quan slid the sliding door open.

Entering the gym, there were two stone statues that appeared to be in the form of dragons. They looked pretty noble and dignified with sleek figures and their heads held high. Their eyes meanwhile were looking down at them.

Emil noticed a bunch of names inscribed, and figured out that this was probably the gym statues. Looking around, he was wondering where the gym itself was.

Quan then gestured for them to follow him – leading them to a corridor with wooden floors. There were some more sliding doors, when eventually Quan reached a room where the sliding door was a little open. He then raised a finger to his lips – prompting the group to stay silent, before beckoning them to come close. It seemed he wanted them to watch something.

So for that, everyone moved close but made sure to stay quiet.

Emil peeked through the crack and saw what appeared to be a room with straw mats where a bunch of people were sitting down on cushions. There were also very long tables with potted plants and flowers of many kinds.

However, at the very front of the room, there was a woman.

An Asian woman with her black hair in the style of a bob-cut, she also had what appeared to be a kind of golden hair ornament as well. She had warm brown eyes, and was wearing a hakama that was pale pink at the top, and purple at the bottom. She was also wearing socks and zori. Currently, she was attending to a plant on a table of her own – her expression serene and content with a little smile on her face.

For a while they watched closely at the woman who was very delicately tending to the plant. She daintily took a long stem and very prudently placed it in a certain spot. Likewise, she did so with a few twigs, and a flower as well.

"See that woman over there?" whispered Quan.

"She's really pretty," breathed Michelin. Erika agreed with a nod as she took a small sip from the Fresh Water Quan gave her.

Feliciano appeared to have love hearts in his eyes as his curl also formed into a heart. Emil wasn't surprised at all from his reaction. "Ve~ I'll say~" he sighed dreamily.

"What's she doing?" Yong Soo wondered.

"Ikebana," replied Quan. "Flower arrangement."

Once she was complete, the woman then clapped her hands together, "Alright, class. That will be all for today." There were a few groans from the students, which she gave a little smile at, "I know, it's already that time, but we have another class next week! I hope to see what you can do with your first flower arrangement. Thank you for attending." She then clasped her hands in her lap and bowed down.

At once, the students stood up, and stretched a bit. Then, they were heading towards the sliding door where Emil and the others were. Immediately, everyone scooted out of the way to allow the students to leave.

Once they were all gone, Quan entered the room and surveyed the plants. "I was never able to do that," he murmured. He then took off his hat and bowed in the woman's direction, "Hello there, Sakura."

Sakura then stood up and bowed down in his direction – hands still clasped together at her front. Her eyes seemed to light up upon the sight of the golden-eyed man, "Hello there, Quan. To what may the pleasure be of having you here?"

Quan straightened his posture before moving slightly out of the way so that Emil, Yong Soo, Michelin, Erika, Feliciano and Leon were in sight. "These youngsters were hoping to have a gym battle with you," he explained.

"Well, Emil, Yong Soo and Leon, really," Michelin chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Ah, so I see," said Sakura. "Well, perhaps this evening, then? You see, I have another class coming for tea ceremony." She then smiled softly at him, "Perhaps you and the young ones would like to join me?"

"Tea, huh? Sounds good, da ze!" Yong Soo piped up.

"A spot of tea sounds lovely," agreed Erika with a smile.

Sakura gave a little chuckle at their eagerness before adding at Quan's direction, "You were quite good at tea ceremony, last time I remembered."

Much to Emil's surprise, Quan's cheeks suddenly took a tinge of red as he then cleared his throat. However, the Vietnamese man replied, "It has been far too long since I practiced tea ceremony. Even then, how I was taught, is probably much different to yours."

"It would still be nice if you could join, regardless," said Sakura.

"Perhaps," said Quan slowly.

"But anyway, it is nice to meet you, young ones," said Sakura sincerely as she bowed in direction of the group. "I am Sakura, and I am the Gym Leader of Hanakai City. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Remembering Quan's actions, Emil bowed in response. Erika had also bowed down along with Leon and Yong Soo. Michelin quickly followed suit, as did Feliciano. "It's nice to meet you, too," said Emil, though he felt his face heat up when she continued surveying them quite serenely.

Suddenly, Feliciano piped up, "Ve~ it's so nice to meet you~!" He then skipped a bit forward looking quite giddy, "You are so beautiful~!"

Luckily, he was stopped by Quan who had grabbed the back of his shirt in quick succession. Sakura herself looked really startled at Feliciano's sudden action, but composed herself again. Still, she looked a bit unsettled from his action.

"Sorry about that," apologized Emil, feeling quite embarrassed.

"It is nothing," Sakura replied, giving a weak smile. "My customs are pretty different to yours, I am sure."

"But anyway, Ms Sakura?" Yong Soo spoke up.

"Yes, what is it?" questioned Sakura. "Is it to do with wanting a battle with me?"

"Yeah!" Yong Soo looked really pumped. "I challenge you to a Pokémon battle, da ze!"

Sakura blinked at him, but smiled softly, "As I had mentioned before – I am glad to engage in a battle with you and anyone else from your group. However, that will have to wait until the evening. I have some more classes coming in."

"Just be patient, Yong!" Michelin grumbled under her breath as she elbowed him.

Yong Soo didn't look at all deterred, "Well, okay then! This evening, I'm gonna battle you, da ze!"

"Looks like you're going first again," Leon sighed. He then looked in Emil's direction, "You wanna go after him, or do you, like, want me to?"

Emil stared back at him before shrugging, "I don't mind."

"Why not just do rock-paper-scissors?" suggested Erika.

Leon shook his head, "Don't have to. I'll go after Yong Soo. Emil can go last."

Emil scowled at the way Leon said 'last', but chose to ignore him. Gazing at the plant that was on the table Sakura was at, he was curious to ask more about flower arranging or 'ikebana' as it was apparently called, but he felt too embarrassed to do so.

However, Sakura seemed to notice him quickly, "Ah, are you interested in this plant?" She then ushered them towards the beautiful structure of stems, twigs and a flower. "It was my demonstration for my ikebana class."

"How do you make it like that?" questioned Emil. Realizing how blunt it sounded, he rubbed at his arm, "Sorry, I mean…like…" words failed on him – he didn't know how to ask or explain, really.

Sakura however gave a giggle, "Don't worry, I understand what you mean. How do I craft it into how it appears?" Seeing him nod wordlessly, she mentioned, "There is a certain spontaneity when it comes to ikebana. However, there is also the appreciation for the beauty in things you don't usually notice in plants. For instance…" she held up one of the stems. "When it comes to flowers, most people only notice the petals of the flower. They never pay any attention to the stem. How sleek yet strong it is to carry multiple petals of the flower up."

Emil was watching quite closely. Though he was still a bit taken aback at the explanation she gave, he did have an inkling of understanding. He became alarmed when she suddenly extended her hand and passed the stem to him.

"Would you like to give it a try?" she questioned.

He inwardly panicked. However, feeling the pairs of eyes staring at him intently, he shakily got the stem, and inwardly cursed at how nervous he was. Still, Sakura ushered him to come close and prompted him to look at an empty pot. Looking down, he wasn't sure where to put the stem. After giving some thought he stuck the stem in, but gazing at it, he felt pretty stupid.

Especially when compared to Sakura's beautiful piece right next to it.

Sakura however looked quite happy at seeing him do it. "You then add more things – a flower, perhaps some twigs and leaves as well," she said. "But a key aspect in ikebana is minimalism."

"Minimalism?" inquired Leon.

Sakura nodded, "An arrangement may consist of only a little number of flowers among the stalks and leaves. Likewise, sometimes less is more."

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Sakura-san! Sakura-san!"

Turning in direction to the voice, in burst a young man with short, light brown hair, golden eyes, and wearing a sweater vest, khakis, as well as a cap that was on backwards. He was followed with what appeared to be a cat.

"Tsukomi-kun?" Sakura looked surprised. However, seeing him pant, she raised a hand, "Catch your breath first, please." Once he did so after clutching at his knees, she then questioned, "What is it? You looked concerned about something."

"It's the Slowpoke Well!" exclaimed Tsukomi. "A bunch of strangers are invading there and cutting Slowpoke tails for sale!"

Emil stared in shock, "Slowpoke…tails…?!"

"A Slowpoke Tail sells high in the black market," said Leon as he narrowed his eyes.

"What a cruel thing to do to the Slowpoke!" Erika herself looked appalled at the news of what was happening.

"Poor Slowpoke!" Feliciano cried.

Sakura clapped a hand to her mouth as her brown eyes widened, "How horrible!" She then grabbed something from her table which appeared to be some sort of dagger, before declaring in a suddenly deathly soft voice, "They need to be taught a lesson in pain."

"Hold on a moment," Quan spoke up. "Allow me to come with you."

"Us, too!" Yong Soo spoke up as he gestured at himself and the group. "We'll come and save the Slowpokes!"

"How many people are aware of this situation?" Quan inquired Tsukomi. "How many?" he then barked.

Squeaking at Quan's sudden change of tone, Tsukomi yelped, "Just Sakura-san, and you guys! I didn't wanna tell anyone else, because I knew they'd panic and cause a fuss, so I wanted to go to Sakura-san, first! Because I know she'd be able to beat them out of the well! She's our Gym Leader, after all!" Here his eyes were shining in adoration in the Japanese woman's direction.

"You do not have to come with me," said Sakura. "But your assistance will be gratefully accepted."

"We'll come," insisted Emil with a nod. He had a suspicion on who they were going to face in the Slowpoke Well, but whoever they were, they weren't going to get away with it.

"Very well, then," Sakura nodded. "Then follow me, and I shall take us to the Slowpoke Well."

"Allow me to lead, Sakura-san!" Tsukomi piped up as he stood straight.

However, Sakura shook her head, "No, I would like you to do something for me."

"S-sure thing!" Tsukomi nodded. "Anything, Sakura-san!"

"I want you to write a note about how I will be very late," explained Sakura. "Once that is done, place it down on the table with the maneki-neko at the first room of the gym, then follow us shortly."

"Hai, Sakura-san!"

She then immediately led them out of the Hanakai City gym as Tsukomi fumbled around for a piece of paper and pen. Everyone hurriedly made their way through Hanakai City in a great rush. A couple of people noticed them rush on by – especially because Sakura was with them, but they simply whispered among themselves rather than invade in someone else's business. Emil was very thankful for that. They were running for quite a long time past many buildings and trees – the Icelandic boy was highly surprised at how swift Sakura was on her feet despite her stature and the clothes she was wearing appearing to be a lot. Eventually, they headed towards that strange path that was sloping downwards.

"Here it is," said Sakura as they finally went down to the bottom of the path to some rather muddy ground and at a stone well. She gestured to the ladder, "We climb down, and we enter the well. This is where the Slowpoke make their home."

"Whoa…" Emil peered down the well to see that it was pretty deep. Falling down would definitely hurt. Likewise, everyone else also looked down, appearing quite impressed.

"There is one last thing to take care of, though," said Sakura. "Some people come down here to train or just visit the Slowpoke. So, there is a matter we have to deal with."

Michelin appeared a little confused, "So…anyone who wants to go in, right?"

"Precisely," said Quan with a nod. "Tsukomi had said that we are the only ones who know about what is occurring in the Slowpoke Well. Therefore, we need someone, maybe even two people, to stay up here to prevent people from climbing down and entering a fight, which I suspect will happen."

"So…who wants to stay up here, then?" asked Emil a little unsure.

"Ve~ I can stay up here," offered Feliciano. "I don't wanna battle mean people…" he shuddered.

"Who else?" wondered Erika.

"I can stay up here, as well," said Leon with a nod.

"Really?" Yong Soo arched an eyebrow. "You don't want any part of the action?"

Leon rolled his eyes, "That's not the reason why. Someone has to, like, watch Feli, and be able to convince people not to climb down the well. I totally have the power of persuasion."

"He's got a point," said Michelin. "He is pretty persuasive."

"Very well," said Quan. "Now…I'll climb down first, then the rest of you follow when I hit the ladder three times. If I tried shouting, that'll probably alert the intruders."

"I shall climb last," said Sakura. "Just please, make haste."

Quan nodded as he immediately started climbing down the ladder. Once he was at the bottom, he then knocked on the ladder three times.

Hearing the knocking, Yong Soo scrambled to the ladder as he climbed down quickly. When that was done, there was another sound of the ladder being knocked three times.

This time, Emil chose to climb down. He gripped onto the runs as he gazed down at the bottom of the well where Quan and Yong Soo were waiting expectantly. Swallowing, he carefully made his way down the ladder and into the well.

The closer to the bottom he got, the lesser the light became.

And end scene!

Who are the invaders in the Slowpoke Well? What will happen down there?

Tune in next time on Poketalia Edition: Amethyst.

Peace out!
- Hebi-Kazechi-10