The rest of that day and throughout the night had come to pass with nothing out of the ordinary or exciting happening. Erin was beginning to wonder if anything interesting would ever happen again, but guessed that there would be things worth seeing once she got into town. The forest she left the day before had not sprouted again, but continued on as rock and dirt with the occasional thistle-like plant dotting the path. When she breached the top of the next hill, she saw the city. Flourishing though it was in the center with every kind of modern technology imaginable, the outskirts were the slums. As she came upon the base of the city, it appeared as thought the outward most buildings and homes hadn't been lived in for years. On closer inspection however, Erin could tell that the homes were lived in, just not by the most friendly of people. It seemed as though the government had at one point begun the task of rebuilding the rundown ancient structures, but for some reason or another abandoned the project. She felt it best to hurry on through to the main city as quickly as possible.
Luck was not with her on this area, for when she was near the end of the Old City two guys and a girl, all who looked around twenty years old, appeared from the alley ways on either side of her and barred her passing. The girl had the brightest pink hair that Erin had ever seen, and if her clothes where any tighter, Erin guessed she would have not been able to breathe. The guys as well had strangely colored hair and clothing, though thankfully not as tight.
"Well, what have we here, boys?" said the girl in an exceedingly high-pitched voice with an annoying accent that sounded fake. "Looks like a stray. Do you need help finding your way home little girl?" The men behind her laughed at this, at if it were the funniest thing they had ever heard.
"I know exactly where I'm going," Erin lied.
One of the guys stepped forward. "I think this punk needs to learn her manners. When someone offers to help you, it's nice to say thank you."
Erin knew she shouldn't make matters worse, but these punks were getting on her nerves. "It's a wonder any of you know the meaning of manners with Pinky here trying to show off what she doesn't have," she said, jerking her head in the girl's direction when she referred to her as Pinky.
Pinky's mouth dropped open and then snapped shut as her eyes squinted in anger and her face came close to the color of her hair. "Why you little bi-" she said, lunging for Erin. She never got any farther that that because at that moment Erin jumped up and landed on the girl's head, using her as a spring-board as she jumped again, knocking Pinky's face down in the dirt with a thud. This made the guys mad and both of them came for Erin as well.
"Crap," she said under her breath, readying herself for a fight. One guy took a swing at her, but was so big and slow that Erin had no trouble dodging and kicking him in the stomach, making him back step a few paces. In her elation at a direct hit she almost forgot about the other guy as he swung at her face. Although she finally saw his fist flying and dodged, it was slightly delayed and the guy made fair contact. It was stinging terribly and would most likely leave a small bruise.
"All's fair in war, right?" she said as she blocked the same man's kick and made one of her own with full force right into the man's groin. His face scrunched up in pain as he fell to the ground, down for the count. By this time the other guy was back and Pinky was up, thought her face was covered in dirt and her pride had been mortally wounded. Both reached for Erin at the same time, backing her up into a corner. "Great," she said to herself. "I should have just run when I got the chance. How am I going to explain my bruises to the professor when I call?"
Just then Erin saw a streak of orange flash across her vision as the man fell to the ground with a yell. The pink-haired freak didn't seem to notice, but continued to advance on Erin. Eager to see what had become of the man, Erin quickly jabbed with one arm and thrust forward with the other, knocking the girl into a wall.
"Run!" the man was now screaming, pulling himself off the ground severely scratched and bleeding. "She's got a pokemon!"
"What?" said Erin as the guy ran away and the one man she had kicked got to his feet and helped Pinky stand up to run. She looked around and saw the same charmeleon from the day before standing nearby looking quite smug with himself.
"What the-" stuttered Erin as she started, surprised to see him again. "When did you get here?"
"I've been following you since yesterday," the charmeleon replied coolly.
Erin was confused at this. "But…why?"
The charmeleon looked up at Erin with a serious look on his face. "I was brought up to think that no human had ever cared for a pokemon, that they only used them for slaves in battles. Yesterday you said that you had to leave your whole life behind because you helped a pokemon. This conflicted with all my beliefs. I followed you to see if you were telling the truth. You can fight well." It appeared as though he was changing the subject as he looked down, but he carried on again. "You said you could fight well, so you told the truth on that point. I suppose that I can believe you on the other subjects as well." Then he looked back at Erin with a longing in his eyes. "Can I ask you a favor?"
Erin had not expected this, and was curious as to what she could do for the charmeleon. "Sure."
"I know that I'm strong, but I don't think that staying where I am will make me any stronger." He seemed to have trouble continuing, as if he was nervous. "I- well, um. I know that you're not a pokemon trainer, but would you consider allowing me to travel with you?" When Erin didn't answer for a while, he glanced back up at her only to be shocked to see her crying. "I-I'm sorry that I was mean to you yesterday i-if that's the reason. Y-you can just say no and I'll leave, you don-"
"You don't know how much I would love for you to come with me," Erin interrupted him, wiping her eyes.
"Uh, ok," the charmeleon said, attempting to regain his composure. He began to walk toward the Main City and spoke again, his voice once more slick and smooth. "Fine, well, I don't want you to get the idea that I'm your pokemon, because I'm not. I'm just traveling you so I can grow stronger and maybe evolve." Erin followed behind, simply elated and readily agreeing to everything the charmeleon was saying. "Traveling with a human means that I'll get to fight in more battles than if I stayed where I was. I'll fight in gym battles for you if you want, but only for the experience. Remember, none of this is for you, I'm coming along so I can learn to fight better."
They reached the Main City and immediately the atmosphere changed drastically. Whereas before it seemed as though the very clouds were closing in on them, making their surroundings as bleak as possible, now the town was a bustle of life: bright and friendly. "I was going to find a hotel here," said Erin as she tried to take in all the sites at once. "That would have used up most of my money, but since you're here now, we could go to the Pokecenter and get a boarding and meals for free. Only trainers can stay there. That is, if you pretend to be my pokemon for one night."
Charmeleon looked at Erin out of the corner of his eyes. "All right," he agreed. "For one night, but we're not going to make a habit out of it."