Many thanks to Daypaw, NoZoMi aNd HoTaRu, Lunar Sphinx, and our newest reviewers health 999, DragonMaster 3000, Schythe, and LoverofBalto for all of your lovely reviews, it really means a lot to me that you guys enjoy my story ^_^

Oh, and DragonMaster, yeah, I did know that, funny, huh? And did you know that since the days of Red and Blue Rhydon could learn moves like Surf, Thunderbolt, Icebeam, and Egg Bomb, and that Aron and its evolutions can learn Aerial Ace? Heh, I remember when I first got Pokemon Stadium for my N64, I had a Lapras that knew Solarbeam, a Nidoking that knew Thunder and Blizzard, and a Raichu that knew Pay Day. And those Pokemon kicked some tail, Lapras happened to be the sole reason I beat Mew in the final battle of the Prime Cup Master Level ^_^; And I'm so happy! I started a new game on my Ruby recently and caught a shiny Torkoal, this new one brings my total collection up to 10 ^_^

Hrmm, as you can all see my updates are sporadic at best. Writing is being juggled between schoolwork and my mother's attempts to get me outside more, that and I recently started my new pet project know to my fans as Remnants, a sequel to my very first fic that's been long in the making. So please forgive me if my updates are slow, but regardless I will try to get them out.

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  Kat woke up slowly. Blinking a few times to let her eyes get accustomed to the morning light she wondered what had woken her up, Isis and Quill were both fast asleep, and the egg still lay curled in her arms. Sitting up she set the egg down in the sheets and moved to get out of the bed.

  That's when she heard it.

  It was a soft sort of peeping, and it seemed to be coming from the egg. Her heart racing with excitement Kat gently picked the egg back up and held it to her ear, listening as hard as she could to make sure she heard what she thought she did. Her breath caught in her throat, the egg had started peeping again.

  "Hello little one," she whispered, "who are you, curled up in that tiny shell?"

  As if responding to her question the peeping increased in frequency. Kat gave a soft laugh at this and set the egg down next to Isis, knowing she would help keep it warm, before heading to the shower.

  After a quick shower she changed into a fresh set of clothes and headed back into the room. Still toweling her hair dry her eyes were met with quite an amusing sight. It seemed both Isis and Quill had woken up and were now arguing about who would keep the egg warm.

  "Meowth! Me meowth!"

  "Pidgey pid, pidgoee!"

  "Meowth? Owth me!"

  Kat cleared her throat and the pair looked up in surprise, even though that look quickly turned into one of embarrassment.

  "Well, when you two are done arguing how about we get some breakfast?"

  Five minutes later the three of them walked into the breakfast hall. A few trainers were here, getting in an early breakfast before heading out. A number of Pokemon were also out and enjoying breakfast or conversing among themselves.

  Kat started walking over to the breakfast bar. "So what do you guys feel like this morning? Toast, fruit, or just plain old pokechow?"

  At the sound of her voice a pair of Pokemon looked up, fixing their gaze on Kat. The one closer to her, a Tauros, rumbled a greeting and walked over to her, licking her hand with his rough tongue.

  The second quickly waddled over as well, "golduck gol!" it greeted.

  "Well, aren't you two friendly." Kat smiled, scratching the Tauros on top of its head.

  "Tauros, Golduck, get back here, what have I told you about bugging other train- Kat?"

  Kat snapped her eyes upward. "Vincent? What are you doing here?"

  Vincent laughed, "I could ask the same of you, little miss explode-and-run, you didn't run away from home, did you?"

  Kat grinned sheepishly, "no, I'm here legit."

  "Oh? And why's that?"

  Kat pointed down at Isis. "Lady Claire signed me up, I'm a trainer now."

  "Really? That's great Kat, congrats. Come 'ere and sit with us, if you don't mind that is."

  "I'd be delighted."

  "Great, then let me introduce you to the group." He led her over to where his Pokemon were enjoying breakfast. "Okay, Tauros and Golduck you've met, this is Marowak," said Pokemon nodded his head before turning back to his food, "that's Golbat," he said, pointing to a lump of blue sitting on a chair.

  "Asleep?"

  "Pretending, I think he thinks that if I think he's asleep I'll leave him alone." Vincent leaned over and poked the mass of blue. "You're not fooling anyone Golbat, so stop pretending and say hi."

  The blue mass shuddered as if annoyed and rose to its feet, "golbat."

  "See, that wasn't so hard."

  Golbat glared at him and settled back into a lump, Kat barely suppressed the laugh that rose in her throat.

  "Anyway, the pink fuzzball over there gorging herself is Flaaffy, and this sleepyhead is my starter Meganium."

  "Well it's very nice to meet all of you," Kat said, Isis suddenly meowed at her feet.

  Startled, Kat looked down with an apologetic look on her face, "oh, I'm sorry Isis, you guys must be hungry." She looked up at Vincent. "Would you mind looking after these guys for a second?"

  "No prob."

  "Thanks." Kat quickly hurried over to the breakfast bar and grabbed a couple bowls of pokechow, some toast, and a cup of tea. Upon returning to the table she found Vincent in a staring contest with Quill.

  "Um… Vincent, what are you doing?"

  "Huh?" He blinked as he looked up at her. "Ah man!"

  Quill crowed with delight and puffed out his feathers, a smug look all too obvious on his feathered face.

  Kat sighed exasperatedly, "Quill, just what did you start?"

  "So his name is Quill huh?" Vincent looked over at the tiny bird. "He kept staring at me, so I asked if he wanted to have a staring contest, and the little guy accepted."

  Quill chirped.

  "And won," Vincent added, rolling his eyes.

  Kat snorted and shook her head, "boys." Unloading the food on the table her pair quickly dug in.

  "So who's your starter?"

  Kat took a quick sip of tea before replying. "That'd be Isis, the Meowth, Quill I caught yesterday."

  "A Meowth for a starter? That's an odd one."

  "Apparently Prof. Elm's lab was robbed, the Cyndaquil that I was supposed to get was one of the Pokemon taken."

  "Ah, well I'm sorry that happened to you."

  Kat grinned, "don't be, I got Isis because of it." She took a quick bite of toast. "So what are you doing down here?"

  "I'm heading back home to Ecruteak to train some more before the Johto League. You're going to try for the League too, right?"

  At this question Kat set her cup silently back down to the table.

  "Kat?"

  "I… I'm not sure."

  "What? Why not?"

  Kat hesitated slightly before answering, "I, it's just, I don't want my friends to get hurt."

  "But when you captured Quill didn't Isis get hurt?"

  "Yeah, but fighting a Pokemon to capture it is different from a gym battle, gym battles are more like macho contests, making Pokemon battle to see who's is stronger. Working at the Pokemon Center I saw all sorts of serious cases, but the Pokemon that came in from gym battles were always so much worse." Tears started welling in Kat's eyes, "I don't want to lose anyone else to a macho contest, not like dad." Kat clenched her hands tightly together under the table, tears starting to slip down her cheeks, "I can't lose someone else."

  Vincent put a comforting hand on Kat's shoulder, "what happened Kat, you can tell me."

  Kat sniffed slightly, turning her tear stained face to look at him. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

  He nodded, "promise."

  Kat shifted slightly in her chair. "In Blackthorn we have Pokemon gangs, much like many cities. My dad was walking home from work one night, it turned out there was a bit of showdown going on between two rival groups that night," Kat took a deep shuddering breath. "A member of one of the groups ordered his Pokemon to start attacking any human that wasn't part of the gang. His Pokemon went crazy, they started attacking innocents on the street." She gulped, "we got a call from the hospital that night, dad was in the emergency room, doctors tried the best they could." She paused to wipe away a tear that had slid down her cheek, "Mom got so cold after he died, she had never really liked Pokemon much before, but she had put up with them because Dad and I were so crazy about them. But after he was killed by one, she jut couldn't take it anymore. She absolutely hates them now," A few more tears slid down her cheeks. "I can't stand to lose anyone else, especially not in some macho contest that I started."

  "But Pokemon like to battle for their trainers, they like to make them proud by winning for them and showing them that all their training together has paid off."

  Kat reached over and stroked the top of Isis's head. "I understand that, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to these guys, they're my life now, they count on me." Her eyes seemed to go distant for a second, "Every year since I was ten I'd ask my mother for permission to become a trainer, and every year she'd refuse. I'd almost given up, these guys are a blessing to me, and I don't want anything to happen to them."

  "I understand what you mean, but why don't you ask what they want to do? It only seems fair that they should have some say it in too."

  Kat nodded, "you're right, it has to be their choice if they want to fight or not as well." Kat turned to her Pokemon to let their opinions be voiced, only to find them both curled up and fast asleep once more.

  Kat's hand went to her forehead in dismay, "those two…"

  Vincent laughed, "why don't you go take a walk or something? I'll watch these guys for you."

  "But-"

  "Just go, it'll help you clear your head."

  Kat frowned slightly, weighing options in her head. "I guess so," she unclipped their two balls from her belt, "I'll leave these here with you, just in case. At least this gives them a chance to get a nice long rest before heading to Violet."

  Vincent deftly picked the pair of balls from the table, "don't worry about them, just go and enjoy yourself."

  Kat smiled faintly, "alright already, I'm going."

*****

  Ten minutes later Kat was walking through a small park, the sea on her left and the park's shrubs and bushes to her right. She let out a deep breath of air, she had to admit that Vincent was right, taking this walk had calmed down her nerves considerably. There was still the issue of gym battles though, for that matter any trainer battle. She couldn't stand the thought of Isis or Quill getting hurt, she didn't want to be responsible for it either. But there was still their opinion though, if they wanted to battle then there would be little she could do to stop it.

  Kat sighed and sat down on one of the benches, resting her head in her hands. Her ears picked up on waves hitting the shore, breeze blowing through the bushes, and an odd sort of clanking and clattering that she couldn't quite figure out the source of. She raised her head in confusion and the odd noise continued, getting louder and louder as time passed. She frowned, what the heck was going on? The clanking got louder still, worse yet it sounded like it was headed toward her.

  Kat jumped to her feet as the source burst through the bushes near her. It turned out to be Charmander with several cans tied to its tale by a piece of string. The poor thing was crying with panic, tears streaming down the sides of its face. The string suddenly got caught in one of its claws, causing it to trip and fall to the ground. Kat rushed to its side without a second thought. Kneeling down next to it she put a calming hand on its back, feeling it shake beneath her fingers.

  "Shh, calm down, it's okay, you're safe now," she cooed, stroking her hand along its back.

  "Char, charmander," Charmander looked wearily up at her, tears continuing to stream down its face.

  "Now then, how about we get that string off your tail, would that make you feel better?"

  "Mander!" Charmander climbed back to its feet and turned around so its tail faced her.

  Kat went to work getting the knot undone, whoever had tied it had made it incredibly tight. Her fingers were starting to ach just from trying to undo it, so she could only guess what Charmander's tail felt like.

  A few more minutes passed and Kat finally managed to get the string off.

  "There we go, all better?"

  "Charmander char!"

  "Ah man, why'd you go and take the cans off, I almost caught him."

  Kat's eyes flicked upward as Charmander let out a freaked out scream and scrambled to hide behind her. The speaker turned out to be a young boy, about six years old by her estimate. She slowly rose to her feet while Charmander shifted himself behind her leg, peeking out from behind it to look at the boy.

  "And just what do you think you're doing tying cans to Charmander's tail? Pokemon can't be treated like toys you know."

  "Actually it was I who tied those cans to Charmander's tail."

  Kat swung her head around to look at the second speaker. This one turned out to be a boy of about fifteen years of age.

  "Chad, she took the cans off its tail, does that mean you won't catch it for me?"

  "No little bro, I'll still catch if for you. I did say that if you could catch up with it and keep it from running I'd get it for you." He turned his gaze to Kat, "you see, my family believes that training should start early. That little bugger hiding behind your legs is wild, we came upon the thing while it was sleeping. I promised my little bro here that if he could wear him out by chasing it I'd catch it for him. Those cans are so he could follow him." He took a step forward, "so if you'll just step out of the way I'll capture him and that will be that."

  "Excuse me? What kind of trainer are you? Charmander would never even think of listening to you if you used such dishonest ways to catch it."

  The boy smirked, "nothing a few beatings won't change," he glowered at her, "now get out of the way."

  Kat stood her ground and brought up her fists, "you'll have to go through me if you think you're going to catch this Charmander." Kat had never fought before in her life, well, unless she counted that boy she had sucker punched in second grade, but she wasn't about to go and let this excuse of a trainer catch Charmander without a fight.

  Chad's eyes flickered with annoyance. Reaching down to his belt he grabbed a Pokeball.

  "Kadabra, let's show this little girl why she shouldn't mess with a Farling."

  He flicked the ball to the ground and the psychic type appeared with a burst of light.

  "Teleport."

  Kadabra glanced back at its trainer with a look of confusion in its eyes, as if asking why he was attacking a human.

  Chad raised his fist, "now Kadabra, least you be the next one attacked."

  A look of panic crossed the Kadabra's face before he disappeared from sight. The next thing Kat knew was that she had been flung across ground. Stars flashed in front of her eyes for a moment as she tried to get her bearings back.

  "Psychic!"

  Wincing as she got back to her feet Kat saw the psychic type start to glow slightly as it built up the attack. Barely even thinking Kat grabbed a ball from her belt and hurled it at Charmander just as Kadabra unleashed its attack.

  Both the attack and the ball hurled through the air. Kat's throw had been good one though, reaching Charmander before the wave of psychic energy and sucking him in with a ping.

  Kat sprinted forward, grabbing the ball and taking off running before the boy even had time to yell. She felt the shockwave of something explode behind her and pushed herself to go even faster. Soon she was dodging people in the streets, people yelling in surprise as she pushed past them.

  Suddenly Kadabra appeared in directly in front her. Kat skidded to a halt and spun to run in another direction when Kadabra's psychic powers grabbed her body and lifted her into the air. Kat tightened her grip on the Pokeball when she felt herself go flying through the air for a second time, and straight into a brick wall. She hit with a crunch and fell several feet to the ground. Her head started to throb painfully and her vision turned fuzzy. The sudden sound of footsteps echoed loudly in her head and caused her to wince.

  "I told you to get out of the way, stupid girl," Chad lifted his foot to kick her.

  Kat shut her eyes and braced for impact. An impact that never came. There was the sound of a scuffle and several people started yelling.

  Kat opened her eyes as someone leaned down to look at her.

  "Hey kid, you okay?"

  "Hurts…" Kat mumbled, immediately wishing she hadn't said anything, for the pain in her head seemed to double.

  The figure turned away. "Hey! Somebody call an ambulance, this kid's hurt!" The figure turned back to her, "don't worry kid, the ambulance will be here soon, they'll take care of you."

  The figure said something else, but Kat didn't hear it. She felt herself sinking slowly into unconsciousness. Her dissipating thoughts centered on the Charmander that now resided in the Pokeball clutched in her hand. Technically he was hers now, she would never abandon him, even though she had only used the ball to get him out of harms way. An inky blackness started creeping along the sides of her vision and the edges of her mind.

  "Dante," she whispered, naming her new partner before she lost conscious thought, and surrendered to the darkness.

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Yes, I am so evil, leaving all of you at such a cliffie. Hope you enjoyed the latest installment, I'll try and update as soon as I can ^_^