"What..." Adele gasped in astonishment at the sight of the pastry thief, but the rest of the sentence turned into a stifled grunt as the thief suddenly jumped out of the bag, slapped it on the Adele's face and hurriedly skipped away from the scene.

"Adele, he's getting away!" Felix shouted and tried to run after the thief. However, he only managed to trip over his own feet and fall on his face on the ground. Meanwhile, Adele had got the bag off her face and, rubbing her nose, grumbled, "No way! Here you go!" She took the first thing she could find in her bag (it was a Pokéball) and threw it at the thief. The ball hit the thief on the head and nearly knocked him over. Almost, because just as the thief was about to hit the ground, the ball pulled him inside, dropped to the ground, moved three times, and then clicked to signal that the catch was successful.

"Bunnelby is registered to your Pokedex," announced the Pokedex from Adele's bag, and Adele, who had been left looking a little stunned at the ball, picked it up. She saw that the Pokedex had just displayed a picture of a greyish rabbit-like Pokemon and then a bright female voice said:

"Bunnelby, Digging Pokemon and Normal-type. It excels at digging holes. Using its ears, it can dig a nest 33 feet deep in one night. It's very sensitive to danger."

"Right," Adele mused, quickly scrolling through Bunnelby's information. Then she put her Pokedex back in her bag, turned to look at Felix and said, "Come on, Felix. Let's go say hello to our new team member." Felix, who had been rubbing his slightly dirty face with his paw, looked up and said cheerfully, "Okay!" Then he padded over to Adele and together they went to Bunnelby's Pokeball.

Adele picked up the ball in her hand and let Bunnelby out. He appeared in front of them and looked around, a little confused. Felix immediately went spinning over to him and cried excitedly, "Hey! I'm Felix, what's your name? This is my trainer Adele! She's really nice and can talk to Pokémon! We're going to have so much fun together and..."

"Felix, let our new friend digest this first," Adele laughed and Felix fell silent, a little embarrassed. But he stayed to watch as Adele squatted down next to Bunnelby and said softly, "Hi there. I'm Adele and I'm your trainer now. Nice to meet you. By the way, do you have a name you'd like me to call you?"

But Bunnelby didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Adele with a slightly suspicious look and Adele couldn't blame him. If she had just been caught by a stranger, she would be a little wary herself. So she just smiled gently and said, "Okay. Hmm, I guess we'll have to think of a name for you then. How about... Dean? Would you like that?"

Bunnelby fumbled with the name for a moment before nodding in agreement. "That's okay," he said, and Adele smiled in satisfaction. "Great! Welcome to the team, Dean!" she said and Felix nodded enthusiastically too.

A short time later, they were back on the road again, continuing their journey towards Santalune City. Adele led the way, occasionally checking her map to make sure they were going in the right direction, and Dean and Felix followed. Felix was very excited about his new friend and chatted to him constantly. Dean, however, did not seem to be the most talkative of individuals and was content to respond with short grunts. Felix didn't seem to mind, however, and carried on chatting as usual.

"So, where are we going?" Dean asked after a while as they walked along the river and Felix's constant stream of conversation flowed in their background music. Adele lifted her eyes from her map and replied with a smile, "Santalune City. I need to sign up for the Gym Challenge and the only place to do that is at the Pokemon Center. And the nearest one is in Santalune, so that's where we're headed."

"Oh, I see," said Dean, and was silent for a moment. Then he said, "The Gym Challenge sounds interesting. I've never heard of Bunnelby taking part before, though, so I can't really say anything about it."

"Well, maybe you'll be the first Bunnelby to do it," Adele replied with a smile and Dean nodded. Then they were silent for a moment (Felix wasn't), and then Dean asked, "How do you know how to talk to Pokemon? I've never met a person who could do that before."

"Honestly, I don't really know," Adele replied with a sigh. "As I explained to Felix, I just woke up this morning and found myself understanding what my mother's Fletchling was saying. So, I guess it's a bit of a miracle or something."

"Or a superpower," Felix interjected. "I'd like a superpower too. Flying could be fun. What superpower would you want if you had a choice, Dean?"

"The one where I could turn deaf if I wanted to," said Dean, a little mischievously, and looked at Felix. "Then I wouldn't have to listen to Fennekins explaining their life stories to every person they meet."

"Hey!" Felix exclaimed and he blushed a little. A few embers flew out of his mouth and Dean had to jump a little further away to keep them from burning his legs. "That wasn't fun!"

"Life isn't always fun," Dean teased and Felix huffed. "Adele, Dean's teasing! Tell him not to do that!" he whined and Adele sighed. "Dean, don't tease Felix. And Felix, don't listen to Dean. He's just trying to annoy you," she said, looking at both Pokémon in turn and they glared at each other. "Is that clear?"

"Fine," they both grunted and Adele nodded. "Good. And then let's move on," she said and then they continued on their way, though this time in complete silence.

They walked some distance again, until Adele suddenly stopped. Felix and Dean also stopped and looked at their trainer, a little confused. "Why did we stop?" Felix asked and in response Adele pointed ahead. "Because of that," she said and Felix turned to look ahead.

A huge forest was before them, its trees towering over them, creating oddly shaped shadows on the ground. Felix gulped at the sight and asked in a small voice, "Do we have to go that way? It looks scary."

"I suppose we have to, I don't really see any other way forward," Adele replied, frowning. She looked at her map and then at the forest ahead, clearly trying to find some sort of detour. But there seemed to be none, for she sighed and said apologetically, "Sorry, Felix. The only way to Santalune City is through that forest. So, we'll just have to go through."

"Too bad," Felix said quietly, and he looked at the forest fearfully. Dean noticed and had to tease Felix a little. "Aww, is the little fox getting scared?" he said mischievously and Felix's ears suddenly perked up.

"Me? Scared? No way!" he announced, suddenly puffing his chest. He took a step forward and said loudly, "Well, let's go then! The forest is waiting!" But just as he was about to enter the forest, a familiar voice behind them said, "Stop! Wait a minute!"

Adele and the Pokemon quickly turned and saw Shauna standing a short distance behind them. Shauna smiled happily at them and then strode over to them. Adele noticed that Chespie was sitting on her shoulder happily, grinning as big as Shauna. Shauna herself squatted down next to Dean and said happily, "Well, you've found a new team member. Tell me who this cutie is?"

"Cutie?!" said Dean, horrified, and Adele smiled. "That's Dean. And he is one big cutie, indeed," she replied and Dean gave her a murderous look. Shauna didn't notice, though, but stood up and glanced at the woods behind them.

"So you've made it to Santalune Forest," she said and Adele nodded. "Yes, that's right. We were just about to enter when you showed up," she explained and Shauna grinned. "Well, so was I. Come on, let's go together!" she exclaimed, and then she dragged Adele with her into the forest. And Felix and Dean had no choice but to follow.

Santalune Forest was a dim trees were so dense that the light couldn't really reach the ground, but here and there you could see little patches glowing in the sunlight. Adele saw a variety of Pokémon as they walked along the path that was trampled into the ground. She heard them whispering to each other, and it created a humming sound in the forest, as if the wind was blowing there. She shut most of it out, though, and just concentrated on walking. You see, the path was bumpy and rooted, so they had to be careful not to fall.

"Umm Shauna," Adele said after a while when they stopped for a moment. Shauna had gotten some debris on her shoe and had to stop to pick it up. She hummed as a sign that she was listening and Adele continued, "Have you ever had any weird dreams?" She watched Felix and Shauna's Chespie playing tag with a little Weedle they had found in a bush, with Dean watching bored beside them.

"My dreams are always weird," Shauna said, tapping the bottom of her shoe, trying to get the mysterious debris out of it. "I mean, aren't yours then? You've never had a dream about a giant Lumiose Galette singing 'Jingle Bells' and dancing the polka wearing nothing but underwear?"

"What... or never mind. I don't want to know," said Adele, but Shauna did not reply. Instead, she tapped her shoe with a single tap and looked pleased. Then she put her shoe back on and turned to look at Adele. "Listen Adele. I don't know what kind of dreams you're having, but I don't think you need to worry about them anyway. After all, they're just dreams; they're not real," she said with a reassuring smile. Adele returned the smile, but it was not entirely genuine.

"I suppose so," she replied, but she couldn't help thinking about the dream she'd had last night. That voice in it, it didn't just feel like a dream. She didn't say anything about it to Shauna, though, but just sighed, "Shall we go on?"

They walked some distance in silence, until suddenly Adele heard a strange rustling noise nearby. It sounded as if something was shaking the bushes rapidly. The sound could have come from a Pokemon passing through the bushes, but somehow Adele had a feeling that it wasn't. She turned to look at Shauna and whispered, "Do you hear that too?"

"Yeah. I wonder what it is," Shauna whispered back, her eyes wide and a slightly frightened look on her face. Felix and Chespie had a similar look on their faces, but Dean instead just looked interested. "Maybe you should look into it," he said to Adele in a sly voice and she frowned. But then she shrugged and said, "All right. You wait here and I'll go and have a look."

"Adele don't!" Felix exclaimed, frightened, but Adele had already gone. She crept quietly towards the sound and finally got close enough. She put her back against a tree and then took a deep breath. And then she peered.

It was definitely not a Pokemon making the noise, but two people in strange orange suits. They wore sunglasses over their eyes and one had his orange hair up like a flame. The other had a heart-shaped lens on one side of her sunglasses. They were both shaking bushes and trees, clearly looking for something. "Come on, the Boss said it should be around here somewhere, so we have to find it," said the other, the one with the flame hair, and his companion grunted. "I know, but it's a bit hard to find here among the green bushes," she said, a little sourly, and shook a bush with a particularly petulant tone.

Adele frowned. She hadn't understood a word those guys were saying. Looking for what? Who's the Boss? And above all, who were they? They didn't look like ordinary citizens, but rather like some kind of shady people. And they were clearly looking for something of value, if their Boss wanted it so badly. But what it was, Adele had no idea.

She was about to turn around and go back to tell Shauna and the Pokémon when she accidentally stepped on a twig. The twig snapped and made a sound that Adele thought sounded as loud as a cannon shot. The two orange-suit guys immediately stopped shaking the bushes and raised their eyes to the tree behind which Adele was hiding. "What was that?" Adele heard one of them ask, looking around with some concern. Her partner looked around too, then grunted, "I can't see anything. Maybe it was a Pokemon? Or a passer-by. Either way, maybe we'd better go. We can come back later."

"Yeah, I agree," said the other, and then Adele heard them walking away. She waited behind a tree for a while longer, until she was sure the guys had definitely gone away. Then she quietly crept over to see what they had been looking for in the bushes.

There didn't seem to be anything special about the place. The trees and bushes looked just like any other trees and bushes in the forest, and there was nothing strange about the ground. Adele didn't understand what the guys were looking for. If they were looking for pine cones, they were all over the ground. But that was hardly the case, and Adele was bothered by it.

She looked around for a moment longer, when suddenly she heard a familiar voice behind her calling out, "Adele!" and she startled. She turned to look, and saw Shauna coming towards her with a worried look on her face. Felix and Dean followed behind her and to them Felix looked like the end of the world had come.

"Adele! I thought something had happened to you!" Shauna gasped as she reached Adele and leaned against a tree. Felix instead ran straight to Adele and pressed himself against her legs. "Adele, I was so scared! I thought some big Pokemon had eaten you!" he said, his voice shaking, and Adele could hear the genuine fear in his voice. She lifted Felix into her arms and he pressed his head against Adele's shoulder. "What would I have done then? I don't know how to live wild!"

"Shh... It's okay," Adele comforted and stroked Felix's back. Felix seemed to calm down at the touch and soon his breathing steadied to normal. So did Shauna's and Adele told her everything she had seen.

"Wow, that was weird," Shauna said as Adele finished her story and scratched her forehead. "I've never heard of any gang wearing orange suits before. I wonder who they were."

"I don't know, and that worries me a little," said Adele, stroking Felix behind the ear. "We should probably tell Calem about this. He might have more information about those guys."

"Yeah," said Shauna, nodding. "And speaking of Calem, he said he'd be waiting for us in Santalune City. So, if we want to get there before dark, we'd probably better get moving."

And so they did.

After this incident, the journey resumed as normal. They saw some trainers who challenged them when they saw them. However, their Bug-type Pokemon didn't fare too well against Felix's Ember and Adele defeated almost all the trainers hiding in the forest. In that time, Felix and Dean learned a few new moves, and Adele was very proud of her Pokémon. Why had she even hesitated to become a trainer if she was this good?

They had almost reached the other side of the forest when Adele happened to pass under a low branch. She didn't pay much attention to it until something grabbed her face and wouldn't come off. And that something was also apparently alive.

"Arghh! Get it off, get it off!" she shouted, trying to pull off the thing on her face. But it didn't work, the thing remained stuck to her face. Luckily Shauna came to the rescue and said, "Wait, I'll get it off you!"

Adele waited and soon she felt the creature disappear from her face. She felt her Pokedex vibrate and heard it say something. She didn't pay much attention to it, however, as she was more interested in the creature on her face. "Thank you Shauna. How did you take it off?" she asked with a sigh of relief and Shauna grinned. "Like this. I caught it," she said and handed Adele the Pokeball the creature that was now stuck on her face was in. And now Adele understood why her Pokedex had vibrated.

Adele took the Pokeball from Shauna and released the creature. It was small and resembled a green caterpillar. It stared at Adele with its big eyes and said, "Did you catch me? Well, I suppose it could have been worse."

"Excuse me?" Adele huffed, but Caterpie had already crawled over her shoulder. "Let's go then, we haven't got all day! And by the way, my name's Bert, so don't call me anything like gabbage or Silver. I'm Bert and I'm going to stay Bert!"

"All right, Bert," muttered Adele, wondering how she had managed to catch the grumpiest Caterpillar in the whole forest. But in spite of everything, she strode off towards the exit, with Shauna following a little bemusedly behind.

Okay, a few words at the end. I'm sure you noticed that something happened in the forest that wasn't in the game. It was one of the small changes I'm going to make to the plot. I think the introduction of Team Flare is somehow awfully late and that's why I wanted to introduce them earlier in this story. I hope it doesn't confuse some people completely.

And information about both of new members:

Species: Bunnelby

Nickname: "Dean"

Ability: Cheek Pouch

Nature: Sassy

Characteristic: Quick to flee

Species: Caterpie

Nickname: "Bert"

Ability: Shield Dust

Nature: Hardy

Characteristic: Quick Tempered