"Ember!" Tepig fired several flares at Herdier

"Wait!" Ron shouted. Ron was a guy I'd met on Route 1. He gave me a potion. We've been battling since.

"Flaming Tackle!" Tepig fired embers, catching them on its body and charging into Herdier. Herdier was pushed into a tree and knocked out. "It worked."

"You two are working so much better together now," Ron said as he returned Herdier. I wasn't listening.

'Flaming tackle' gave Tepig a good physical attack; it damaged Tepig almost as much as the opponent, though. It functioned like a bootleg flare blitz. Ron was still talking.

"I can't believe I haven't won once." Ron sat down. "And I gave you a potion, too."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I returned Tepig.

"I was nice to you; you're supposed to let me win." I scratched my head. He averted his eyes.

"Um, well, I'm sure you'll beat me next time."

"Oh, put a sock in it." Ron pulled a fancy potion out of his bag and started healing Herdier. I took a sip from my bottle of water.

"Ron."

"What's up?"

"You know where the first gym of the Unova League is?"

"Uh, I think it's past Accumula town. In Striaton."

"So, there's nothing in Accumula?"

"No gym."

"No reason to stop then." Ron looked up.

"Where are you from?"

"Nuvema." I felt that was obvious.

"That's cool."

"Yeah." I was getting tired of this. "Well, I'm out." I started walking away, continuing down the path.

"Hey, wait!" Ron ran to catch up with me.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll see you later." I frowned. He stood there, holding out his hand. I sheepishly took it. He grinned.

"Yeah, sure." It took me half an hour to make it to Accumula town. There was no sign of Cheren or Bianca. I walked straight through the small quiet place. The exit gate was in sight when I was interrupted.

A girl blocked my path. She had blue hair and dark skin. Her hair was tied into a long fluffy ponytail.

"Aren't you Andrew?" she asked. I glanced up at the orange sky; it would be dark soon.

"Sure."

"Well." She thought for a moment. I watched the sky slowly darken.

"Who are you?" I asked. "How do you know me?"

"You should battle me."

"I really don't have time." I tapped my wrist. "I have to get to Striaton, and It's already dark." She stood her ground. I grew impatient.

"You're challenging the pokemon league?" Her face softened.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Me too!" She approached me, holding out her hand.

"That's nice." I didn't take her hand.

"You can help me!"

"I probably can't."

"I can't get through Pinwheel forest, I got lost the last time I tried. That woman refuses to guide me unless I beat her, though." She paced as she explained her situation.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You can help me get through the forest!"

"I've never been to Pinwheel forest."

"I'm going to follow you anyway."

"Well. I'm going to Striaton city." I walked around her. Our journey through Route 2 was silent. It was devoid of trainers.

I sat down on a rock, taking a sip of water. She kept walking. It was nearly morning when we arrived in Striaton. The gym was closed. I got a room at the Pokemon center. The girl got herself on. Once morning came, I headed to the gym. The gym was a restaurant. I wandered around as the girl found a table and sat down.

"Can I help you, sir?" A waiter approached me.

"I'm here to challenge the gym."

"Of course, right this way." The waiter led me onto a stage in the middle of the restaurant. I felt the eyes of all of the people on me. Three men walked onto the stage. The one with red hair held a microphone.

"It seems we have a challenger!" The redhead called out. "What's your name, kid?" He held out the mic.

"I'm Andrew."

"Well, Andrew. My Names Chili. These two are my brothers Cilan and Cress. He marched across the stage.

"Nice to meet you."

"Which of us would you like to fight?" The three of them posed together.

"You, I guess."

"Speak up now." Chili stepped closer to me.

"I'll fight you." I pulled out Tepig's poke ball.

"That's more like it." Chili pulled a poke ball out from under his apron. The people starting cheering.

"Tepig!" I released Tepig.

"Simisear." Chili sent out a Simisear.

"Tepig, use—"

"Flamethrower!" The fight didn't last long. Tepig was knocked out after a few hits.

I could feel my cheeks burning as I returned Tepig.

"Do you have another pokemon?" Chili asked. I stormed off the stage, leaving the building in a fit. The girl followed me out.

"Well, that didn't go well," She said with a chuckle. "We should get something to eat." I noticed a signboard displaying a map of the city.

"Go ahead. I'm going to the Dreamyard."

"Where's that?"

"East of the city." She nodded.

"How long will you be there?"

"I might spend the night out there." I started walking to the pokemon center.

"I can come with you." She followed me to the pokemon center. I gave Tepig to the nurse and sat down. The girl sat down and started feeding a Darumaka. "Are you going to catch more pokemon?"

"There's supposed to be a strong psychic pokemon out in the Dreamyard."

"Maybe you should feed Tepig first."

"Your Tepig is ready!" The nurse called out. I got up and took Tepig's poke ball.

"I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait!" The girl ran after me. I headed east towards the Dreamyard. I noticed the gym as I walked by it. I scowled and stuck my hands in my pockets. "Andrew!" The girl caught up with me.

"What?"

"You almost left without me."

"Oh, right." I started walking again. The Dreamyard was a few minute's walk from Striaton city.

It was an old building. Parts of it had collapsed, claimed by trees and vines. I wandered around for a few minutes, noticing a woman sitting on a wall. The girl found somewhere to sit and started feeding Darumaka again.

"What's your name?" The woman sitting on the wall asked. I considered ignoring her.

"Andrew."

"You look familiar" I glanced up at her.

"Hey its professor Fennel," The girl commented. "How are you?"

"Hi, Kenya." Fennel climbed off of the roof. "I'm doing fine." I started walking away, noticing a pokemon. A Pansage leaning against a tree, looking down.

"I'd like to have a word with you." Fennel followed after me. "Andrew, right?" I let out Tepig.

"What do you want?" Tepig charged at the Pansage.

"What's your last name?" Tepig knocked out the Pansage, and I threw a Pokeball at it.

"What?" I retrieved the caught Pansage. "I'm not telling you that." Fennel frowned. Fennel spent some time with Kenya before leaving. Kenya and I ended up spending the night in the Dreamyard.

I caught several pokemon. Tepig was on its last legs when I decided to stop. It walked over to me. I sat down in the grass. Kenya was sleeping a few feet away.

Tepig nudged me with its nose.

"We'll challenge the gym again tomorrow." Tepig climbed onto my lap. "If we lose, we'll probably come back here." I glanced over at Kenya. I was probably too cold to her. "I really want to win."

Tepig stared at me, a small plume of smoke coming from its nose.

"I have to beat Drayden." Tepig snorted, closing its eyes. I looked up at the cloudy night sky. "I just have to." I ended up spending most of the next day sleeping at the Pokemon center. I bought Tepig and my other pokemon some food before heading to the gym. Kenya was already there when I arrived. I noticed Chili speaking with some patrons. I approached him and waited as he finished his conversation.

"Oh, back for a rematch?" Chili tapped his temple. "Let's hope you've at least brought more than one pokemon this time."

"Of course." We took our places on the stage. Chili and his brothers did their dance, offering me the choice of who to battle. I called out Chili again. He sent out his Simisear. I sent out Pidove.

"You have the honor," Chili said with a smile.

"Gust!" Pidove flew in circles around Simisear, whipping up a whirlwind. Simisear held its ground, hardly affected.

"Flamethrower!" Chili ordered. Simisear fired a column of flames. Pidove easily swerved out of the way. "Rock Tomb!" Several stones materialized above Pidove, smashing into it. Pidove fell to the floor, injured. I returned Pidove. Chili's smile seemed to widen. I sent out Munna.

"Hypnosis!"

"Shadow claw!" The hypnosis missed, Simisear rushed forward, slashing at Munna. Munna was knocked out by one hit. This wasn't working. None of my pokemon could really keep up with the speed and power of Simisear. I sent out Tepig.

Work up!" Simisear pumped itself up with a yell. Tepig backed up.

"Tackle!" Tepig lunged at Simisear.

"Flamethrower!"

"Dodge!" Tepig charged mindlessly into the flames. Simisear grabbed ahold of it and pinned it to the floor. "Ember!" Tepig fired flares at Simisear, trying to get free. Simisear shrugged them off.

"Don't just take it, Shadow claw!" Simisear slashed Tepig, knocking it away. Tepig tumbled across the floor. I considered my options. I only had Tepig Pidove and a Pansage. I'd planned to use Munna and Pidove to buffet Simisear's defenses, but they weren't tough enough to handle its attacks. Chili tapped his chin. He met my eyes.

"Tepig," I said. "Use—"

"Your Tepig is on its last legs." Chili interrupted me. "You still have your Pidove if you're willing to use it. And possibly another pokemon yet to be revealed. But I believe I'm safe to assume it's either not very strong or not a good matchup with my Simisear." Tepig snorted, turning to me. I wanted to tell Tepig to give up. One more hit, and it would be knocked out.

Trust me. I can win. I can take one more hit.

I met Tepig's strong eyes. They burned with determination. Chili flicked his hair.

"Let's get this over with. Rock tomb!"

"Run at it, Tepig!" Tepig lunged past the stones, charging at Simisear. It was the only way I could get Tepig to dodge, attacking.

"A linear attack; your strategy is stale." Chili shook his head. "Simisear, evade." Simisear somersaulted out of Tepig's path.

"Turn!" Tepig stumbled, turning and lunging at Simisear.

"Your pig can't keep up! Flamethrower!" Simisear landed, firing a blast of fire at Tepig. Tepig picked up speed, engulfing in flames.

"Push through!" Tepig rushed through the flames, smashing its head into Simisear. Simisear grabbed Tepig, hurling it across the stage. Tepig landed on its side, knocked out. Simisear collapsed immediately after. Chili frowned and returned Simisear.

"I guess that's it. I should've known flamethrower wouldn't stop that thing." He chuckled. "You have a monster of a Tepig there."

"You could have used rock tomb." I returned Tepig. "But you decided to use flamethrower. You think I want to accept some kind of pity win?" Chili scoffed and scrunched his nose. His brothers appeared at his sides.

"Don't insult me. And more importantly, don't insult your pokemon." He pointed at Tepig's Pokeball. "Your Tepig had already proven it was agile enough to dodge rock tomb. You won fair and square, accept it."

"Congratulations!" Cilan walked over to me, holding a fancy pillow the gym badge was on it.

"Are you disappointed?" Chili asked. "You've earned this trio badge." He nudged the pillow against me.

A small smile formed on my face. A sense of pride grew within me. I took the badge and stepped off the stage.

"Hey, kid!" Chili called out. I stopped. "Take care of that Tepig." Kenya got up and followed me as I left the gym.

"You did it!" Kenya patted me on the back as we headed to the pokemon center. "Tepig is so strong! You think it'll evolve soon?"

"I don't know. I'm just tired." I entered the pokemon center and gave my pokemon to the nurse. Fennel was sitting down. Kenya greeted her.

"Andrew." Fennel offered her hand. "I'm sorry for being so forward." I nodded, shaking her hand. "I believe I knew your mother, years ago." I hid my sudden interest.

"Mrs. Fennel!" The nurse called out. "Your pokemon!" The nurse was holding a single Pokeball. Fennel retrieved it. She winked and walked out of the center. Kenya elbowed me.

Kenya elbowed me. I buried my annoyance and turned to her.

"Hey. Shouldn't you be in a better mood? You beat the gym!" I sighed and decided to spill my guts.

"I was gonna give up. I'd accepted the loss because I couldn't see any possible way to win."

"But you won, so who cares?"

"Tepig won. Not me." I clasped my hands together. "Tepig was the one who didn't give up."

Kenya didn't say anything for a minute.

"I wonder who inspired Tepig." She nudged me again. "Cheer up, dude." I met her eyes. She beamed. I returned the smile.

"Let's get something to eat."