Pewter City, while still fairly large, was no comparison to Viridian. It's streets were narrower, there were few cars and large buildings, and it appeared much more suburban. We entered the city's cobblestone streets at around eight, so not terribly late. There was still the occasional pedestrian walking past, a police car doing routine patrols, or an enamored young couple taking a romantic walk under the stars. That sight made my heart ache.

"There's the Pokemon Center," Nico pointed out, not seeing the faint and brief look of emotional pain on my face.

"Let's not waste any more time, then," Taylor said, leading us to the greatly desired building. It was like a drink of water after being lost in a desert for a year. That's a gross exaggeration, but still: it was nice to have a real bed again.

Just like in Viridian, the Pewter City Pokemon Center had a very comforting and homey feel. The rush of warm air was a shock from the chill outside. A few Trainers and Coordinators sat in the lounge, enjoying the roaring fire with their Pokemon running around carefree.

"Hi! Welcome to Pewter City!" Nurse Joy greeted us from behind the main desk. She bowed slightly. "Would you like to get a room for the night?"

"Yes, please!" Taylor answered eagerly.

"I can see you're worn out from traveling," she giggled as she went behind the desk to get our room key.

"Can you also heal our Pokemon?" I quickly asked, remembering the fainted Pidgey and severely weakened Bulbasaur and Shinx I was carrying. "Also, can you take an extra look at my Shinx?"

"Sure thing," Joy answered, taking our Pokeballs and placing them in trays for the Chansey. "What's wrong with your Shinx?"

"Well, I just caught it in the Viridian Forest," I explained.

"Really?" she asked incredulously. "How rare."

"That's what we were saying," Taylor supplied.

"It was just running around wild," I continued. "It was really powerful, too, so maybe it had a previous Trainer?"

"That's not likely," Nurse Joy explained. "Unless the Trainer had abandoned it a long time ago and it had enough time to return to its feral state in the forest, there would be no way for you to catch it. Was it particularly aggressive?"

"It was. I think my poor Pidgey is proof enough of that."

"Well, I'll see what I can find out." She handed us our room key kindly, then followed the Chansey into the back room.

"Should we go to our room then?" I suggested.

"Yeah, we probably need to call Mom and Dad anyway," Taylor said.

"I should call my parents, too," Nico added. "It's been a while since I talked to them."


"Oh, Taylor! We're so proud of you!" Mom said for the umpteenth time during the call we made in our room. "Your very first Contest, and you won! And you said Blaire was a judge?"

"Yeah, she was," Taylor answered.

Mom had a suspicious glint in her eye. "Would you say it was a…fair judgement?"

Taylor sighed. "Yes, Mom. Blaire told me she judged as if I was a total stranger. If she really was trying to make me win, she wouldn't have given half of the people tens on their appeals, too."

"I can vouch for that," Nico interjected. "Taylor really did win fair and square, Mrs.―I mean, Kris."

"I'll take your word, Nico," she said with a smile.

"Where's Dad and Seth?" I asked.

"Seth has been swamped at the Gym, so your father has been helping out, keeping the Trainers under control, that sort of thing." She glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. "They'll probably still be out for another couple hours."

"Have there been that many people challenging the Gym?" Taylor asked.

She nodded. "Yep. So far, Seth has only given one person a badge, though. Most of the challengers are new Trainers with little to no experience, so the battles don't last more than five minutes."

"That can't be too fun," Nico said.

"Not at all," Mom answered. "Anyway, I should probably let you guys go. Good luck on the Pewter Gym, Terran and Nico! And the Contest, Taylor!"

"Thanks, Mom."

"Thank you."

"Bye, Mom!" I ended the call. "Do you want to call your family now?" I asked of Nico.

"Yeah, thanks." He quickly dialed the number. While it rang, Taylor and I stepped out of the video. "You guys can talk to them. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Good point. It would be impossible to say no to those gorgeous eyes and ravishing smile, anyway.

A middle-aged, Hispanic-looking woman answered the phone. She had a little more weight on her, but was nowhere near fat. Even in her current sleepy state, it was easy to tell she was a beautiful woman, and could only be the mother of one Dominic Romero. "Hello? Oh, Nico! Thank you so much for calling!" Her voice had a slight accent to it, but not too heavy. "It's been too long, you need to call home more."

"Sorry, Mama," he shrugged. "I've been pretty busy traveling."

"That's fine, mijo," she cooed. "I understand." She squinted her eyes behind her glasses at the screen. "Who are these two? Your friends?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry guys," Nico quickly apologized. "Mama, this is Terran and Taylor. They're my new traveling companions. Guys, this is my mom."

"Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Romero," Taylor and I both said

"You too, sweeties! And please, call me Lizette. I'm so glad you were able to find companions, Nico! Tell me, how did you all meet?"

"Just on the SS Anne," Nico quickly explained. "We just ran into each other."

"That's wonderful! You know, Terran and Taylor, he was supposed to be going with his girlfriend, Alexia―."

"She wasn't my girlfriend!" Nico quickly interjected in a very un-Nico-like manner. "We were just friends."

"Please, you two were inseparable," she chastised. "They did everything together. I swear one day they will be married."

"Mama…" Nico groaned, his cheeks quickly flushing. My heart had sunk. He was that close with a girl? There went all my hope for every being with this boy. I tried not to show my utter depression―and yes, it was legitimate depression―on my face, but it was tearing up my insides. A girl he could have been in love with… Just great. Perfect.

"Oh, fine, I'll stop. But anyway, it's great you all have found each other. Will we see you when you roll around to Fuchsia?"

"You sure can!" I answered.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Goodbye, Mama," Nico said pressingly.

"Goodbye, everyone! I love you, Nico."

"I love you, too, Mama."

"Bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Nico quickly hung up. "Sorry about that, guys. She can be kind of…eccentric sometimes."

"I thought she seemed fine," I told him. "What are parents for besides embarrassing their kids?"

He gave a weak smile. "Our Pokemon are probably healed up by now."

"Yeah, let's go," Taylor agreed. "There were lots of Coordinators down there I could try to intimidate before tomorrow." Good old Taylor.


"Your Pokemon are feeling much better now," Nurse Joy said as she returned our Pokeballs. "I tried to examine your Shinx," she began to me, "but I couldn't find anything wrong with her. She's definitely a little shook up from whatever brought her to the Viridian Forest, but I think you'll find her much more docile now. She may have attacked just out of fear, not aggression."

"Great, thanks!" I said.

"It's my pleasure." She went back behind the desk to help some more people. I saw there was still a sizable group seated around the fire, some talking to each other, some playing with their Pokemon, and others just enjoying the warmth of the fire.

"Want to do some socializing?" I asked. Hopefully it would get my mind distracted from Alexia, Nico's 'friend.'

"Yeah, for sure," Taylor eagerly agreed. We walked over to the group of about a half dozen Trainers and Coordinators, all within our age range. Taylor immediately struck up a conversation with a boy. I saw a slender girl with long, chestnut brown hair and green eyes kneeling on the floor, grooming her Torchic. The Torchic loved the attention and chirped happily as its feathers were brushed.

"Hi, I'm Terran," I said to the girl. She turned around with a big smile.

"Oh, hi!" She dropped the comb she was working with, giving her Torchic a grimace. "I'm Charlie."

"And I'm Nico," Nico added.

"Great to meet you both!" She shook both of our hands.

"You have really nice Torchic there," I complimented. "It looks really strong." Really, it did look very strong. Much stronger than any of the Pokemon I had with me.

"Oh, Pru here? Thanks so much!" At hearing the praise for her, Pru stood up straighter with a superior smile. The three of us sat on the nearest empty couch, Charlie with Pru on her lap. "So what brings you guys to Pewter City?"

"We're going to challenge the Gym tomorrow," Nico explained. "Are you a Trainer?"

Charlie shook her head. "No, I'm a Coordinator. I was hoping to enter the Contest the day after tomorrow."

"Really? My sister was hoping to enter the Contest here," I said.

"Is that right? Tell her good luck!" I was almost expecting to hear an added, "she'll need it," but then I remembered I wasn't talking to Veronica, I was talking to a genuinely pleasant Coordinator.

"Sure thing." I smiled. "So where are you from? You have a Torchic, so I'm guessing Hoenn?"

"You're guessing right!" she answered. "Me and my friend, Benji―he's around here, somewhere―are from LaRousse City. What about you guys?"

"My sister―Taylor―and I are from Vermillion," I said.

"I'm from Fuchsia," Nico said. "I just met them on the way to get our starters, and now we're companions."

"That's good. Especially for not knowing them at all before."

I laughed. "Yeah, it is pretty good." Pru started chirping loudly, begging for attention from Charlie.

"What's wrong, Pru?" The Fire-type started pointing at the comb Charlie left on the ground. She sighed, then said, "Well, sorry to cut this short, guys, but Melissa-Chester-in-training here needs to finish being groomed. It was great meeting you guys!"

"Yeah, you too!" She left with the comb, presumedly to her room. As she walked away, another girl approached us. She was much taller and leaner than Charlie, with a dark complexion and darker colored hair and eyes. It looked like a strong wind could blow this girl over, but when she spoke, her commanding, yet still feminine and saccharine voice could blow the wind away.

"Hey, sorry, I overheard you guys talking about challenging the Gym tomorrow. I was going to do it tomorrow, too. I'm Lauren Melendez."

"Oh, cool! Well, I'm Terran, and this is Nico."

"Hi," he said meekly.

"Great to meet both of you. Now, is Pewter going to be your first Gym battle?"

I nodded. "Yep, it is. And you?"

"Yeah. I was hoping to maybe talk battle with somebody to try to prepare myself."

"We'd be happy to." I glanced at Nico, who nodded his agreement.

"Great!" Before Lauren could sit down, a loud bang sounded from outside the Pokemon Center.

"What was that?" somebody shouted.

"I don't know…"

"Let's go check it out," Lauren said. Most of the people inside, including Nurse Joy and even a couple Chanseys, headed outside to investigate. There were two boys who obviously had just been in a battle. A Scyther was in a defeated heap against the wall of the Pokemon Center, while a smaller but very determined looking Spearow fluttered in the air above it. One of the boy's returned the Spearow at seeing all the people coming.

"Chansey! Chansey!" the Chansey chanted as they quickly carried the fainted Scyther inside to heal it.

One of the boys looked very familiar… "Now look what you did! You caused this whole scene! Hmph! I was about to win, too! That was just dumb luck!" Yep. It was Isaac, no denying it. The other boy I didn't recognize. He looked very embarrassed, more about being yelled at by a kid six inches shorter than him than having his battle interrupted like this. He had shaggy blond hair and soft blue eyes that scanned the crowd.

"Benji?" a familiar voice called. I turned to see Charlie running out of the Pokemon Center toward the blond boy. "What happened?"

"Well, he asked for a battle," Benji responded, gesturing at Isaac who was following the Chanseys into the Pokemon Center in a huff, "and I'm not going to not accept a battle, you know? I just didn't realize Sky's Aerial Ace was that strong."

"Well, I'm just glad you didn't blow something up."

"Oh yeah, that's Pru's job, isn't it?" he said mockingly. Charlie rolled her eyes at the comment.

Almost everyone had gone back inside, save me, Nico, Lauren, Charlie, Benji, Taylor, and the boy Taylor was talking to earlier. "If it's any consolation," I said as I approached Charlie and Benji, "it must've been a great battle to make everybody inside come out here."

"That's true. Thanks, man," he said amicably.

"Oh! Benji, this is Terran. He's a Trainer, too. Terran, this is my partner, Benji."

"Nice to meet you, dude."

"Same here." I looked around for someone in particular. All I could see was Taylor introducing Nico to the mystery boy. "Hey, you didn't see that kid, Isaac, with anybody else, did you?"

Benji shook his head. "Nope. He was alone. Why?"

"We ran into him earlier in the Viridian Forest, and he was with his brother. But I don't see his brother anywhere."

"That's weird," he said.

"Really weird," Charlie added. A strong breeze blew through, making all of us shiver. "I think that's our cue to go back inside."

"I second that motion," Benji said. The three of us joined the other group in going back inside.

"Hey, Terran, have you met Nathan?" Taylor said, gesturing to the unknown boy. He had jet-black hair styled into a short faux-hawk and tanned skin dotted with a few freckles along his nose and cheeks. He towered over everyone else present.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much, man. How are you?"

"Not too bad." He smiled back.

"Nathan's my partner," Lauren supplied as we reentered. "He'll be entering the Contest here in a day or two, I forget when."

"No way? Me too," Charlie added. "I'm Charlie, by the way. And this is Benji."

The whole big group of us sat back on the couches, getting to know each other and quickly becoming friends. I glanced at Nico periodically. He wasn't saying much, and only talked when somebody asked him something. I gave him a slight smile that he returned. Our gazes locked, and just like that time on the SS Anne, I felt like we had just connected in a way impossible to describe in the physical world.

The group all in all seemed pretty cool. So far, it looked me, Nico, and Lauren were going to battle the Gym tomorrow, then the next day, Taylor, Charlie, and Nathan were entering the Contest. Unfortunately, as Benji informed us, Isaac also said he planned to enter. That was a major buzz-kill. When I asked Benji if he was planning on challenging Brock, he said he wasn't.

"It's not really my goal right now to gain Gym Badges," he explained. "Really, me and Charlie came to Kanto for two reasons: so she can do the Contests, and so I can find a Dratini."

"A Dratini?" Taylor said. "Why? Those are super rare."

"Yeah, man," Nathan added. "Kind of a weird dream if you ask me."

"It's…complicated," Benji said. "I have my reasons…"

Sensing the awkwardness in the air, Charlie said, "Well, it's getting late, guys. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Nico.

"Yeah, we're going to need our energy for tomorrow," Lauren agreed. "Goodnight, everyone!" she called as her and Nathan went off to their room, followed quickly by Charlie and Benji.

"See you in the morning!" By the time Taylor, Nico, and I had arrived to our room, I almost instantly passed out on one of the beds. There were three beds this time, which was kind of bittersweet for me. On one hand, it was very nice not to have to worry about any awkward feelings between Nico and I sleeping together, but I also felt like it would be one of the few opportunities I'd have to get close to him―emotionally and physically.

It was an exhausting day, so I didn't linger on those thoughts long. I just went straight to sleep, awaiting the exciting day tomorrow.


Sorry for the delay in updates, guys. But school is doing what school does, which is be a pain in my butt. I'll still try to update whenever I can, so don't give up hope on me! At least not yet, anyway :P. Also, BIG thanks to "JessyBabe" for supplying the characters Charlie and Benji! You're awesome! If you still want to submit a character, I'll accept every singly character given to me until the end of the story! Until next time, review, por favor! :D