A/N: Welcome back to Shantel's Conquest. It's been quite a while, but we're back and ready to go. I've been working on both fics off and on during the break, so double upload today! Tried doing a chapter completely in the first person. Let me know how it went in the reviews and leave any criticisms you've got there as well. I hope you enjoy this next installment, and I hope your day was fantastic.

Shantel POV

I stared up at the ceiling in my new room. Sweat dripped down my face, even in this air-conditioned building. Great, I hated it. Stupid humidity, and stupid water. It was like walking in the rain, but all the time. How could people stand living in these types of places? Being all sticky like this couldn't be appealing at all. Johto was colder, but at least I didn't have to sweat like this. I could barely even sleep. It was too goddamn hot. Even having my own room wasn't worth it… well that was a bit of an exaggeration. Not being surrounded by pink was a nice change of pace. That's beside the point! If they thought they could win me over with a new room, they were nuts! I was supposed to be getting my first Pokemon soon. They had promised I would be able to start my journey this year! It was so unfair. I flopped on my bed and covered my head with my pillow.

"Shantel!"

"What!"

"Shantel!"

"What do you want?"

I waited for a few moments… utter silence. Great, she wanted me to come out. I groan into my pillow and slither out of my bed.

"Yes, mom?" I called as I made my way down the hall.

The new house was another wing of the gym. It was pretty big, at least compared to our last place. Guess the upgrade from sub-leader to the genuine leader was a significant pay jump. I walked past the door that went towards the battle arena and paused. I could hear dad training there. That's all he seemed to do nowadays. Even though we were all the way out here now. Couldn't spare a moment from his training, besides dinner. I sigh in frustration and keep walking down the hall. I cut through the kitchen and arrived in the living room. My mother sat on her chair looking directly at me and smiling. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She had done this on purpose. It was super annoying when she did that.

"You've been spending all of your time moping in your room," Lorna said. "Wanted you to come out and smell the daisies for a bit."

"It's too hot out," I state. "If I go out while I'm not adjusted I could run into some problems with my sugar."

"You wanted to go on a journey, right? Properly monitoring your health is a massive part of being an independent trainer. Besides, a little heat has never stopped you before has it?"I opened my mouth to protest, but couldn't think of anything. That was a solid point… why wouldn't she just let me win some of these little arguments for once? It was just plain unfair. Seeing my defeated expression she pressed her advantage. "You can't just stay in your room forever. Get out of here and go explore the city."

"But Mom…"

She must have been really agitated or something because she started to push me out of the house. "At least let me grab my bag!" I wail.

She relented and I ducked back into my room. It was annoying, but she was right. Staying in here would solve nothing, but screw that! They hadn't even asked me if I'd wanted to come out here to this stupid region. I snatched my Pokegear from my desk. I needed to get it fixed anyway. My mom smiled and waved at me as I walked out knowing that she had gotten the better of me. In exchange, I stuck my tongue out at her before darting out. At least I got the last word there. The heat of the sun instantly blasted me as I left, and my grumpiness only increased. Sheer heat wasn't all that bad, but pair that with humidity? Fuck me. The first stop was the local pokemart. It was only across the street. Petalburg was a lot smaller than Goldenrod. Compared to the towering buildings that dotted it, this place only had a couple of homes, a pokemon center, and a pokemart besides the gym. There wasn't even much to explore. It was like a place where old people went to retire or something. There wasn't even anything fun to do here. I opened the door to the Pokemart and stepped in. A sleepy-looking man jolted to attention and faced me.

"Hello, you wouldn't happen to offer Pokegear repair services here would you?" I asked. It was just a formality. They should, but it was polite to ask to keep up the charade.

"A what?" The employee asked, seeming a bit confused.

"A Pokegear." I pull the broken phone out of my bag and placed it on the counter.

The employee's face instantly lit up. He took the thing and inspected it as if he'd never seen it before. He swapped it between his hands, and kinda felt it up in front of me. After a few moments, he put it back on the counter.

"I'm sorry it's not often that I get to see a Pokegear." His voice was full of excitement. "They aren't really sold out here considering Devon and Silph's rivalry."

I groan, of course, this stupid town wouldn't have anywhere that could repair my phone. They just had to have a whole different company running things out here, didn't they? The guy seemed to notice my annoyance and placed another device on the table.

"I like to collect trinkets like this. Would you be willing to trade yours for credit on this?" He asked, trying to hide his smile. I gotta admit his enthusiasm was a bit uplifting.

"How much would it be?"

"After the trade? Four thousand poke."

I physically recoil. That was more than what I saved as my starting fund! "N-no thanks. I'll just stick with this." A small look of disappointment crossed his face making me feel a bit guilty. "But if I do happen to run into a miracle, I'll bring it back to you," I add.

"Really? That would be amazing!" He nearly shouted. "Sorry, I get a little over-enthusiastic sometimes."

"No problem, what's your name by the way."

"Just call me Carl. Are you stopping in town for a gym badge? I haven't seen you around before."

"Nope, I just moved here. My name's Shantel."

"OH! You're Norman's girl aren't you?" He asked, stunning me for a second. He seemed to take my surprise as a yes because he continued. "He talks about you all the time when coming here to get his supplies. You and your sister Whitney right?"

I didn't really know what to say. I could feel my cheeks flushing a bit as I nodded. This always happens. Gym leader's daughter. Sister of a gym leader in training. It was annoying, but I couldn't fault this guy for it.

"That's awesome! Ever since your dad got here the city has become a lot livelier, and business has gotten better." He mused. "Tell you what, in exchange for your little promise I'll let you grab one item here free of charge.

I avert my eyes. This also happened. I wasn't sure if he was trying to use me to gain favor with my pops, but I didn't get that vibe from him. I took a look around the store. There were potions, berries, and all sorts of vitamins. None of that would help me out though. I had no idea what to get.

"Could I save that for another day?" I asked.

"Sure, but I'm not always on shift. You'll need to come on one of the days that I'm working on to redeem it."

"Sure, and thanks, Carl."

I left the pokemart and continued to roam around the place. The pokemon center was as generic as they come. It had a smaller inn attached to it, but that was customary. Well, that was about everything in the town besides other people's homes. Might as well head back to mine.

"Guys come on, please stop."

My ear picked up on something happening nearby. I turned and saw some jerks picking on a kid. He had green hair and was wearing a light blue button-up with a pair of white pants. He was gasping, but the two kids kept tossing his inhaler back and forth. Immediately, I took off into a full sprint and rammed into one of the kids as they caught the inhaler. We both went sprawling, and the inhaler hit the ground near the kid. While he picked up the thing, I peeled myself off of the boy. Once he got up, he shoved me hard. I almost fell over, but I kept my balance and stood my ground.

"What's your problem? He asked indignantly.

"What's yours? Why were you throwing that kid's inhaler around?"

"We were just playing around, right Wally?"

"Yeah, and I'm a pink fluffy Rapidash."

"Tch, you're just a killjoy, let's go."

The two boys ran off leaving me alone with Wally. Bunch of jerks, but it was good that they didn't try to fight or anything. A one vs two would have just sucked. Now that I got a closer look at him this kid seemed pale. Like basement-dwelling levels of pale. I helped him to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little w-winded." He stuttered, taking a hit from the inhaler. "Th-thanks for helping me."

"Don't mention it, it's what anyone would have done," I replied as the kid dusted himself off. "Those jerks mess around with you a lot or something?"

"Y-yeah. I can't do anything against them." He says. He looked at me trying to identify me. When he couldn't, he seemed to perk up. "Hey a-are you a trainer? C-could you help me catch my first Pokemon?" He asked earnestly. Man, he was almost like a puppy dog with that look. So I felt pretty bad breaking the news to him.

"No, sorry," I replied. I watched the enthusiasm drain from his face with that reply. "Uh… My name's Shantel! It's nice to meet you. I just moved here."

"Wait, you're Mr. Norman's daughter?" He asked, perking back up. "What's it like living in a gym! You must see a lot of Pokemon."

"It's nothing special." I brush aside cooly. That question had gotten really old fast. Especially since I've been hearing it all my life. Just a dull thing to hear.

"O-oh sorry." Wally apologized.

"It's fine… so you're trying to become a Pokemon Trainer, too?"

"Well I would, but I'm moving tomorrow. I'd like to have a Pokemon to come with me, but I can't catch one by myself. C-could I have my inhaler back?"

"OH! Sorry, I just forgot about that. Here you go." I handed the inhaler back to Wally. It sucked that he couldn't go out and catch his own Pokemon. "Maybe if you went out with someone else they could help you."

"I I've tried that. My parents aren't trainers, but I did ask your Dad." Wally said. His expression quickly became more downcast. "But my asthma is really bad, and he said I was too weak for a Pokemon."

Those words hit me like a rock. Too weak for a Pokemon. I remember being told that so many times when I tried to join in his training sessions. Mom always told me that he meant well, but it didn't help at all. Seeing the enthusiasm drain from Wally's face filled me up with a determination to prove him wrong in his assessment. My hand shot up as I got his attention. Just wait here for a moment, was what I was communicating. I quickly ran back home and flung the door open. My eyes scanned the room looking for mom as I made my way to Dad's training room. I put my ear to the door to see if the coast was clear. The familiar sounds of battle were almost deafening. I slowly pushed the door open and peeked in.

Dad's Slaking was sparing pretty seriously. Must have been especially intense because he had dragged mom into it, too. She was commanding a weird-looking white and brown raccoon Pokemon in the battle. Must be a native out here or something. I quietly snuck my way into his office right by the door. Just needed to dig around the place to find those association issue pokeballs. They were required to present them to gym leaders for free. I dug around a little bit before hitting the jackpot. A whole stash of glittering great balls! I grabbed two of them and stuffed them into my bag before quickly making my exit. A little bit of guilt shot into my mind, but it was for a good cause. Plus dad got a ton of them every month. He wouldn't notice one going missing, right? I quietly left and ran back to Wally who was taking a shot from his inhaler. He wasn't looking very good. I opened the bag and took out the two balls. Wally's face lit up immediately.

"Let's go get our first Pokemon," I said smiling.

I dragged him out east. The port was out west, and there were no paths to the north and south so that made it the only natural choice. As I pulled him along the trees and greenery began to thicken. I was quickly enamored by the emerald green hue. It was September, right around when the leaves typically change colors, but these were shining. Seeing these made me feel like something good was going to happen. A bit of a premonition I think. Wally tapped on my shoulder frantically, and I looked back. He was practically gasping for air. We stopped for a bit for him to catch his breath. He took a long hit from his inhaler, and slowly got his bearings back.

"I'm sorry Wally. I got a little ahead of myself there.

"Huff, it's fine huff huff."

A loud beeping pierced through the air. I dug in my pocket and pulled out a small radar. It was at 79, which wasn't very good. I quickly placed it back in my pocket. I could take care of it later. Right now I need to focus on Wally. He was starting to cough pretty bad now, and from such a short jog, too. Could he handle a Pokemon of his own? I quickly shook those thoughts from my head. No, that was my dad talking. I'm not him, and I said I was going to do this. I dug into my bag and pulled out a water bottle, and lingered on it for a second. I needed it to stay hydrated, but he needs it more. So I reluctantly passed it over to him. He quickly drained the bottle in between coughs and catching his breath. After thirty minutes he looked like he was starting to recover.

"I'm *cough* sorry," Wally said.

"No I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. We should have walked."

Another few beeps went off, and I checked my radar again. 70 huh? I opened my bag back up and rummaged through it. I could feel Wally's gaze on me as I dug through it. I bit my lip and closed it up. I'd forgotten to pack snacks. This could be an issue, but it shouldn't take much longer.

"Something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just an alarm that I forgot to turn off. Come on, let's go looking. There's bound to be a ton of Pokemon just begging to be caught."

I could already feel my heart rate begin to speed up. It only got worse as we searched around. There were pokemon all around, but I was starting to feel dizzy. I focused on keeping my breath steady as we walked. I had become a mess and my clothes felt pretty damp. If only the Pokemon around here weren't this agile. We'd attempted to chase down a Pokemon Wally called Zigzagoon but couldn't keep up. The flying types could just fly to evade us so they were out of the question at least while we had no Pokemon. As the day continued to go by we failed again and again. It was starting to get pretty annoying.

"I think… we should go back," Wally suggested.

"But… why? We're *huff* bound to run into *huff* another group soon." I say.

"You don't look so good, Shantel."

The world felt like it was spinning. My body felt like it was weak and I had a pounding headache. My hand moved towards my bag to grab my water bottle, and I moved it to my lips. It was empty, just like the last time. We should go back, but we'd spent so much time searching. It would be a shame to give up now. We were walking along the path as we came to another clearing. In this center, there were two small Pokemon. They were huddled together, seemingly sleeping. They looked humanoid and looked like they were wearing white dresses. They had green hair, with a feeler sticking out of it.

"Wally, do you see what I'm seeing? Right over there!?" I say in a rushed whisper. I pulled him into the bushes and spied on the two Pokemon. If they were already asleep then catching them would be easy. "We've got this in the bag. Just aim and lob the ball at your target."

I took a ball out of my bag and passed it to Wally. I took a moment to focus on the sleeping Pokemon. The world narrowed down to just the two of us. I could feel my grip on the ball tighten. My heartfelt like it was on fire. Just take a deep breath, focus on your target and throw the Pokeball with all of your heart. That's what my big sister taught me. The ball left my hand and traveled through the air in slow motion. I wanted this so bad, my partner to take on a journey. Someone to experience the world with. The start of my team so we can stand at the top of the world together. As the ball was halfway to the Pokemon, it opened its eyes. It felt like it was looking directly into my soul. Fear crept into my head, but I shook it off. I'm going to remain positive. I had a premonition earlier! Today was going to be an amazing day. I felt a smile spread on my face as the ball connected. Red light poured over the Pokemon, and it was sucked into the device. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as the ball lay in the grass next to the ball that Wally had thrown. I hadn't even noticed him do it. The ball shuck once… twice… three times… then the blue ball pulsed red.

"WALLY! WE DID IT!"

I screamed and pulled Wally into a hug. I jumped around with him and squealed in excitement. I shook him back and forth and let go of him. I ran over to the pokeballs and grabbed them from the ground and presented the one that Wally had captured to him. I admired the ball for a moment before a flash hit my body. My legs bent, and I stumbled back several steps. My breathing was wild, and I felt furiously hungry. No, not now!

"Shantel? You're pale!"

"I'm sorry Wally, I think I pushed myself a bit too far," I say weakly. "We should head back now."

The way back was tough. I felt like I was balancing on a beam. I was constantly swaying, and I couldn't even walk in a straight line. I had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. I just needed to get home. I could recover there. I felt more and more desperately hungry as we edged closer.

"I'm sorry Wally, I should have dealt with this earlier." I said to him, "I made you worry didn't I?"

"Uh, just a little," Wally admitted. "If you don't mind me asking… what's wrong with you?"

"I'm diabetic… type one, not type two," I add after the initial statement. "My blood sugar dropped low during our little outing. I just need something sweet, some food, and some rest and I'll be right back at 100%."

"O-Oh. Okay, just as long as you don't push yourself too hard."

"I know, but I can't help it. I need to be able to push myself to accomplish my goals." I told him. "Wally, being a gym leader's kid sucks. Everyone always attributes everything you do to them. It's annoying as hell. It's even worse because my sister is also an amazing trainer." I note blowing my hair in frustration. "So I'm going to surpass them both. I'm going to stand at the top of the world as a Pokemon Champion."

"That's amazing!" Wally exclaimed. His eyes seemed to glitter, which was pretty sweet. "I don't really have a goal... I just wanted to bring a friend with me to my uncle's place."

"Well you made two friends today," I said smiling and weakly holding up my fingers in a peace sign. By that time we were back in town. "Well, I'll see you later Wally. I really need to eat something before I pass out."

"Thank you so much, Shantel. I won't forget you." Wally promised.

I unlocked the door and made a beeline for the kitchen. Maybe Hoenn wouldn't be so bad after all.