It was awfully quiet in the forest. The bugs were humming very quietly, and there was almost no breeze, as if the forest was letting Arella and her party sleep peacefully. Well, all but one of them.
Alucard was hanging from a tree, over looking the party sleeping. He was nocturnal, so he didn't sleep at night, which made him the automatic watch dog for the party, which he didn't mind. It gave him something to do.
"You're still awake?"
Alucard looked down to see the now awake Hana looking up at him from the ground.
"I'm nocturnal," he replied, "I don't sleep during the night."
"That's silly."
"It's how we Zubats live. That is why our eyes are very small, because we don't need them during the night."
Hana didn't reply. Instead, she jumped up to the tree branch and sat next to where he hung.
"It's a nice view from here," she smiled, "You can see the stars."
"Ah, yes. I almost forget they are there."
"Really? How do you forget about the stars?"
"The same way you forget about the sun."
Hana giggled, "I guess you're right."
"Oh goodie, you're awake!"
Arella could only stare at the girl that was standing above her, the girl from Union Cave. After a while, she sat up and looked around, but all she could see was white.
"Okay, maybe not awake, but I'm glad you're finally here," the girl smiled.
"What do you mean here? Look, who are you?" Arella asked.
"You're in your dream. Also, I'm Ellen, and I'mma Pikachu," she replied.
"But, you're a-"
"Yeah, I know," she sighed, "Long stor- Oh, looks like your gonna wake soon."
Before she could question the gir- er, Pikachu- any further, Arella fell into a sea of black.
She woke up with a start again. But this time, her pokemon surrounded her, staring at her.
"You okay?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, bad dream," Arella lied, smiling, "You guys all here?"
"Yep, all here," Hana smiled.
"Let's get to Goldenrod then," Arella got up and the whole party walked farther into the Ilex Forest, towards Goldenrod and the third gym.
"Wow. . ." Arella gasped.
"It's so. . ." Hana blinked.
"Big," Elizabeth finished. She, the rest of the party, and their trainer all stood on the border of Goldenrod city, all three girls fixated by how simply massive the city was.
"Girls," Daniel sighed, "If you three decide to go on a shopping spree, I'm going back down to train."
". . .Shopping isn't exactly one of my interests either, unfortunately," Alucard avoided eye contact with any of the girls.
Fudge remained quiet, as usual, but seemed to agree with the other two.
"Then go off and train. Me an' Elizabeth an' Arella are going to have some girl time," Hana stuck out her tongue.
". . .Just be safe, okay?" Arella smiled, turning to Matthew, "You can go with them if you want to. I'm not stopping you."
He seemed to ponder this for a while, looking guilty at some points before running after the rest of the guys that had already left.
"Come on guys, I bet the department store's loaded," Arella smiled.
"This place. . .is huge. . .I'm pooped" Arella sighed as she trudged up the stairs to the sixth floor.
"It was nice to look around though," Hana smiled, "I'm so glad I decided to go with you!"
"She's right, it was a nice diversion," Elizabeth nodded.
"Yeah, it was fun," she nodded back, the noticed the vending machines, "You guys want something?"
Both girls shook their head, and the trainer shrugged.
"Fine by me. . .I'm just gonna get a lemonade."
"Oh phooey!"
All three turned towards a girl about the same age as Arella with pink hair, digging through her purse.
"I thought I had more change. . ." she frowned as Arella digged through her pockets. She found a coin and walked over to the girl, holding it out to her.
"Here," she smiled, and the girl smiled back.
"Thanks, I thought I wasted my money for a minute," she smiled, accepting the coin as Arella bought a lemonade in the vending machine next to her.
". . .You wanna sit and chat for a bit?" she offered as Arella opened her lemonade and took the first sip.
She nearly choked. The girl wanted to chat with her? She knew she was in a guy's body right now, but still. . .
"U-uh. . .Sure" Arella gave her a tiny smile in exchange for the girl's bright smile that she gave back as they sat down at a nearby table.
"What's your name?" the girl asked, sipping a Fresh Water.
"A-Arella."
"That's a pretty girly name for a guy. . ."
"My mom wanted a girl," she smiled nervously "How about you?"
"Whitney. What brought you up here?"
"Uh, those two wanted to come," she gestured over to Elizabeth and Hana, "They're the only girls of the party, so I kinda felt obliged."
Whitney giggled, "You're pretty nice for a guy. Most of the guys around here are jerks."
"U-uh, thanks," Arella blushed, unsure of what to say when something ringed. Whitney pulled out a PokeGear and her expression turned into a pout.
"I'm sorry, my friend's are calling me back," she got up, then flashed another smile at Arella, "It was nice talking to you."
"Y-yeah," Arella managed to smile back at her and watched as she left, then her head fell to the table and she groaned.
"You like her," Elizabeth sighed.
"Wha-" Arella's head snapped back up, "No I don't!"
"Admiiiiiiiit iiiiiiit," Hana nudged her, and she buried her face in her hands,
"I'm a girl in a guy's body. How the hell am I supposed to like a girl?"
"You probably have the brain of a guy right now too," the Beedrill pointed out, "Just because you're supposed to be a girl doesn't mean you're brain's going to cooperate."
"I guess you're right," Arella sighed, "It's still kinda weird though. . ."
"If you wanna take your mind off of it, we can go check to see what the boys are doing," Hana suggested.
"Better then nothing," the trainer agreed, "It would be good to make sure they're aren't trying to kill themselves."
"Agreed," Elizabeth nodded.
