A.N. Hello, friends! Chapter 12 is here! Again, this may contain some spoilers for the manga. Any spoilers are mostly for volumes 6-8, so I'm going to try not to ruin all of it…but read the manga. Seriously. It's awesome. –Sniv

The Pokémon Center Lobby was very cold. That would probably be expected, since I was wearing just a vest and shorts. And the fact that I had been waiting for a few hours to see if Growlithe was okay.

"What was I thinking?" I asked myself, thinking back to the battle I just had with Cyrus. "You're so stupid, Koya!"

A strange thought popped into my head. What would Phoenix say?

I didn't know. I didn't want to think about Phoenix. She was the whole reason that I had battled Cyrus in the first place.

"You're stupid, Koya. Really, really stupid." I said again.

"Koya?" Nurse Joy said, walking over. "You can se Growlithe now."

"Where is he?" I asked, springing up.

A.N. Let's just assume that Growlithe is a male.

"The psychiatrist's office. It's just down that hallway, fourth door on the left." Nurse Joy pointed to a hallway that I hadn't noticed before.

What's a psychiatrist's office? I wondered as I walked down the hallway. It was a lot darker than the lobby. I stopped at the fourth door on the left, then knocked nervously.

The door opened to reveal a man with brown hair, glasses and a lab coat. "You're Koya?" he asked, peering down at me. I nodded. "Come on in." I walked in and he closed the door behind me.

There wasn't a lot in the room, except for a desk, a few chairs, a table and…Growlithe.

"Growlithe?" I said, walking towards the table where Growlithe was laying.

"You'll be happy to know that physically, it's fine." The man said, pushing up his glasses. "Emotionally, however…well…I'll let you find out."

"Hiya, Growlithe…" I said, reaching my hand out to give him a pat.

Growlithe started to shake, moving away from my hand. I shivered.

"Growlithe, it's me!" I said, now nervous. What had I done? Growlithe shook again, then moved, but this time, the shake it seemed to spread up my arm, and flooded throughout my entire body.

"Trauma." The psychiatrist said. "That's all."

I was still in shock. Growlithe was traumatized. I couldn't touch him. I couldn't touch my friend.

A few tears started making their way out of my eyes and down my face.

This is all my fault. All of it.

The psychiatrist left the room, leaving me alone. My eyes fell some white gloves that he must've left. I ran over and put them on. They were a little big, but they would be good for the time being.

I won't touch another Pokémon with my bare hands. I told myself as I made my way to the door. I don't want to traumatize them like I did with Growlithe.

"Bye, Growlithe…" I said quietly as I opened up the door. "I'll miss you."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I was wandering around in Twinleaf Town, Pokémonless. What could I do now? I didn't want to go back home. That wouldn't go well.

I made my way over to a lamppost and looked at some of the signs attached. One in particular stood out to me.

It read:

DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE?

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING TRAINEE OFFICERS TO JOIN OUR RANKS!

Trainee officers… I thought to myself. I could join, and become a trainee. Then, maybe I could learn how to be a better trainer. And I could start over with all of this…

Something weird occurred to me. Phoenix did say…

"Koya, you're too serious." Phoenix said, right out of nowhere. "You kinda remind me of a policeman. But you're not a man…"

"…You're a boy." Phoenix finished thoughtfully.

"Obviously!" I exclaimed.

"So you're a policeboy!"

A strange, new hope was starting to form in my chest. I tore off the posted with my gloved hands and ran to where the International Police base was, just outside of Twinleaf Town.

I'm going to join the International Police. And I'm gonna be a policeboy.

A.N. Well, there you go! Chapter 12 is done. We're really getting to the good stuff now! I really hope that more people review this…I've only gotten one so far. I'd really appreciate some reviews, people…especially because this story is already on Chapter 12. I've been doing my best, people. Please, review!

Also, Phoenix will not be making many more appearances for the next few chapters. But she's got a bit part coming up, so if Phoenix was the reason that you weren't reviewing, you can review now. She's going to be gone for a while.

Bai! -Sniv