As can be expected, after Dawn introduced herself and we left the infirmary for the reception, Nate proceeded to do what every teenager does when they meet their idol: gush over said idol and ask an endless amount of questions, the topics ranging from confirmation about stories surrounding her to what it was like being a Champion. In all honesty, if their genders were swapped, I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd asked her to sign a bra.

Dawn, on her part, seemed surprisingly okay with answering them, if a bit short with her answers. It's true they don't concern Team Galactic, but from what she said about her time as Champion I would have figured she'd be less inclined to talk about it. Then again, maybe she had experience handling fans back then.

In any case, when Nate decided to switch from asking questions to requesting to see Dawn's Pokémon, we had to get out of the Pokémon Center so Dawn could safely call them all out.

And now, here we are, with Nate fawning over all six of them. And judging by the kind of questions he's asking about them, it's got to be the first time he's seen any of these species. Which actually makes sense considering where and when we are.

"Wow, they're all amazing!" the boy exclaims after taking close looks at all of them. Pip, Tog and Roh seem to enjoy the attention they're receiving, each in their own way. Rio took it more stoically, just keeping his arms crossed. E tries to remain indifferent, but it's clear by the glances he steals at Nate he's not. And Drif just remains as inscrutable as ever.

"Uhm," Nate turns back to Dawn as he pulls out his Poké Ball again, "Can I introduce Ruffles to them?"

Dawn nods. "Sure," she warmly says.

One throw later, and Ruffles is squawking in front of the six. Tog smiles at him, Roh starts flying all around him and everyone else just studies the little bird.

Ruffles pays the electric ghost little attention and focuses instead on the other five larger Pokémon in front of him, his gaze constantly shifting from one to another. Eventually, his look focuses only on Pip, tuning out the other four as well.

Then, he furrows his brow, spreads his tiny wings, lets out a challenging, "Ruf!" and then takes off.

"No, no, no, no!" Nate says as he grabs his Pokémon's talons before he can fly to the much larger bird, who has just tilted his head. "You're not picking fights with any of them!"

The bird lets out a few protesting sounds, but when Nate doesn't budge, he lets out one final huff as he lands.

Smart move on his end. I'm pretty sure any Empoleon would make quick work of him

Dawn then reaches back into her pockets. "Well, if that is all, I think I'll return them," she says and does just that, all six of her Pokémon disappearing into red lights.

Despite that, Nate remains just as upbeat. "I've never seen Pokémon like that! Do you have more?"

"I have a few more yes," Dawn replies cheerfully. "Unfortunately, they are currently in Sinnoh, where Professor Rowan - my old sponsor - is looking after them. And," she briefly looks at her own watch, "yes, it's the middle of the night over there."

"Aww, man."

I take the chance to clear my throat before the boy can resume his bombardment of questions. "If I may," I tell Dawn, "I believe we should bring him up to speed with our plans."

She nods to me, "Yes, of course." The bluenette doesn't voice it, but she mouths a silent 'thank you'.

"Oh wait!" Nate intervenes as we start to walk back into the Center. And I have to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. How did she put up with-?

"Could we see your Maractus, Mister Beccaria?"

Uh? "Annette?" I ask confusedly.

"Yes, her," he responds earnestly. "If we're doing the Gym challenge together, wouldn't it be better if she and Ruffles make friends?"

...well color me impressed. The kid might not be an annoyance after all.

"Alright," I say as I pull out Annette's Poké Ball and summon her between the two of us. Her first instinct upon seeing Nate is to smile and wave at him.

"Ra," she says.

The boy approaches her and crouches down at her eye-level before smiling back, his Rufflet always by his side. "Hello there, Annette. I'm Nate. It's nice to meet you."

In response, Annette's smile widens and she raises her arms.

"No!" I admonish her, causing her to turn to me, her smile dropping. Nate also looks at me confused. "Let's not get to hugs yet. There'll be all the time when you get to know him better."

Annette lets out a disappointed "Ra", while realization comes to Nate's face at the word 'hug'.

"Yes, well." He clears his throat as he stands up again. "Allow me to introduce Ruffles as well." He steps aside to let the two Pokémon get a better look at each other, Annette hopping in the Rufflet's direction.

The two stare each other in the eyes for a while, the only sounds a few squawks coming out of the avian's beak for a while. And then…

"Ra."

"Flet!"

"Mara."

"Ruflet!"

"Mara ractus."

"What exactly are the two doing?" I whisper to Dawn.

"I think they're trying to communicate. Although I'm not sure what they're saying."

Seriously? They're from two different species, how do they even expect to understand each other?

Before I can make my protests vocal, Annette spreads out her arms, does a twirl on herself, all while shaking her ears to make their maracas-like sound, and then makes a couple of hops left and right. When she's done with all that, she takes a bow in front of Ruffles.

In response, the bird tilts his head and narrows one of his eyes. "Flet," he then scoffs, causing Annette to jerk back up. After he flies closer to his trainer's feet, her ears also drop.

What the absolute fuck just happen and what did that prick tell Annette?!

"Ruffles!" Nate scolds his Pokémon. "Is that any way to treat a new friend?"

"Ruf," the bird huffs out as he swells his chest, head held high.

I go to Annette's side while that happens. I crouch down and try to pat her as best as I can with her spike, but she acts first and goes to hug my leg. And let's just say the padded pants are proving useful right now.

As that happens, though, I keep glaring at the bratty bird that is still holding his head up proudly. And I have to restrain myself from kicking him around.

"I'm sorry," I hear Nate intervene. "I don't know what came over him!"

I let out a snort. "Just take him out of my sight. Before I make some introductions of my own."

"...introductions?" Nate asks worriedly while his Pokémon narrows an eye.

"Yes. Him to my right hook."

At the side of my vision, Dawn and Nate both wince. Ruffles merely spreads his wings challengingly. "Ruf!"

Before anything can come of it, though, Nate recalls his bird to his Poké Ball. I then turn to the fidgeting boy.

"Again, I'm sorry!" he repeats. "I didn't mean-"

"Did you teach him to act like this?" I ask as I stand up.

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then you don't have to apologize. But I suggest you do something about his attitude. Not just because he's an oaf, but because arrogance will affect him negatively in battle." I arch an eyebrow. "Am I understood?"

Nate gulps down and nods. "Yes, of course."

"Good," is all I say about that, ending that conversation. I then recall Annette and nudge toward the Pokémon Center. "Now let's get back. We have important stuff to talk about."

Nate follows Dawn and I back to the Center without uttering another word.

After the...less than pleasant encounter between Annette and Ruffles, we talked to the receptionist and arranged for Nate to have a room of his own. We then accompanied him to it and helped him settle in, before we all sat down to discuss the first move of our shared journey.

"So, when are we going to challenge Burgh's Gym?"

And of course, him being an overeager teen means that he wants to take on the first obstacle head on, with no proper preparation beforehand.

"Not so fast, boy," I admonish him. "We are not ready to challenge him yet. You are only now beginning. And I still have to train Annette some more before she's ready for battle."

"I know that," Nate replies. "But Burgh uses Bug-types. And Ruffles is strong against them. Since he's the first gym, how hard can this possibly be?"

"That is the wrong train of thought to have," Dawn thankfully interjects. "The first Gym I challenged used Rock-types. I had four Pokémon with me at the time, but since my first was a Water-type I thought all I needed to win was train just him the bare minimum. That mentality only led to the Gym leader wiping the floor with me."

Nate's face instantly falls at hearing his idol's mistake.

"I won the second time I challenged him, but only because I had properly trained all four of my Pokémon," Dawn continues. "If you want to win, both Ruffles and Annette will need to undergo rigorous training." She furrows her brow before saying her next piece. "And if at all possible, I would recommend you both catch another Pokémon. Your odds will be much better if you face Burgh two-on-two instead of one-on-two."

"So it's already decided he'll have two Pokémon?" I ask her. But Nate intervenes before she can answer.

"Oh yeah. League regulations dictate the leader use a set number of Pokémon during challenges. Originally, Unova's stated that the first two Gym leaders should use only two and everyone else three, but recently there has been a petition to raise that number by one for all-"

"Thank you, Nate," Dawn interrupts him. "I think that's...exhaustive enough."

The boy smiles, clueless as to what she meant. "Happy to help, Miss Hikari."

The bluenette then turns back to me. "So, yes. Burgh will use two Pokémon since his is the first Gym both of you challenge. One more Pokémon for backup would help considerably."

Especially in my case where he has the type advantage. Good thing that is one thing I'd already taken into consideration.

"To tell you the truth, the idea of catching a new Pokémon had already crossed my mind," I tell her. "And there is one non-evolving mon that would work perfectly against a Bug Gym. And that can be found near Castelia."

"Oh?" Dawn replies. "Who is that?"

"Sigilyph."

I don't remember every area every Pokémon in the games lived in. But I do remember Maractus was not the only one-stage Pokémon that lived in Desert Resort.

"Oh, I know about them!" Nate instantly intervenes. "They're Psychic/Flying Pokémon that wander around the Relic Castle. It is believed they were once the guardians of the ancient civilization that lived there and-"

"Boy," I interrupt him. "That's beside the point."

"S-sorry," he hesitantly replies. At the side of my vision, I can see Dawn looking at me disapprovingly.

I opt to ignore it for now. "The point is, with its types, a Sigilyph can make quick work of both Bug and Poison types. It'd be the ace against both Gyms."

Dawn regards that information with a nod. "That makes sense. Also," she turns to Nate, who looks at her attentively, "you will find plenty of Ground-types there. If you catch one, you'd be set against Roxie's Gym too."

Nate's eyes widen with excitement "Really? That's awesome! When can we go to the Resort?"

Dawn freezes at his question. It takes her a few moments before she can speak again. "This Relic Castle is in the Desert Resort?"

"Oh yeah," Nate innocently replies. "It's north of the Resort's entrance, very deep into it. Thankfully there are Darmanitan statues that indicate its entrance. By the way, did you know it's also nicknamed the 'Buried Castle' because of-?"

The loud groan to the ceiling Dawn lets out stops Nate from saying whatever he was going to. "Not a desert…"

"Not a fan?" I ask.

She regards me with a sidelong glance. "I'm from Sinnoh. Low temperatures are a much more concrete issue than warm ones. And the only desert we have is because of a volcano!"

Point taken. "Unfortunately this is the only option on the table. Any other Pokémon with a type advantage over bugs I can think of either evolves or resides in places far away from here."

"I see," Dawn replies while massaging the bridge of her nose. "Tomorrow we will gather equipment for the desert. Flasks, sunscreen, more Poké Balls and all that. The day after, we will go to the Resort." She glances first at me and then at Nate, who has been watching the whole scene with a stupefied look on his face. "Agreed?"

The question snaps the boy out of his stupor. "O-of course!"

"Sure thing," I add. I know from personal experience how dangerous that desert is.

There is something oddly cathartic in watching the redhead from the Mart have to apply the Trainer discount on Poké Balls this time around. Not sure why though, since she doesn't seem to recognize Dawn and me and isn't particularly fazed by having to apply said discount.

Either way, between Nate and I, we end up buying forty Poké Balls and receive four Premier Balls as a gift. Looks like that applies here too.

After that, we leave the Center and Dawn gives a couple of further instructions.

"Alright, next we need to buy the equipment for the desert and organize for a car at the rent." She looks at me. "If you can take care of the latter, I will take care of the former."

"You sure about that?" I ask her. "Isn't this your first time in Castelia? How are you going to find a good place to buy everything?"

"I've looked up nearby shops. It turns out a retail chain I bought items from in the Battle Zone has a store here too. Their products are reliable."

Ah, nice. "In that case, I can take care of the car, no problem."

"Why are we renting a car?" Nate asks.

"It's simple, boy," I tell him. "It's faster and safer. We'll have more time to dedicate to the Resort and we won't risk crossing unpleasant company along the way."

Nate furrows his brow. "What do you mean with 'unpleasant company'? The road from here to the Resort is perfectly safe." He turns his head to Dawn. "Right, Miss Hikari?"

At that, the bluenette thins her lips as a forlorn look comes into her eyes. "I wish I could say you're right. Unfortunately, when I went on my own journey was when the routes of Sinnoh - places that were supposed to be safe - started seeing trainers being assaulted by a cult calling itself Team Galactic." She folds her arms. "If there is one thing I've learned from that, it's that nowhere is truly safe."

Nate's expression drops at her idol's statement, his head soon lowering. It only raises again when Dawn places a hand on his shoulder.

"Not to worry," she warmly tells him, a small smile now on her face. "We are with you. We won't let anything bad happen." Her smile turns into a smirk as she gives him a wink. "Plus, you won't have to worry about missing out on Pokémon. Any that are on Route 4 will be in Desert Resort too."

That, at least, seems to cheer the boy somewhat up.

"Now, do you mind accompanying me?" Dawn then asks, causing Nate to stiffen on the spot. "Since I'm buying for three people, I'm going to need a hand carrying everything."

"O-of course, Miss Hikari!"

Heh. Fanboys.

"Alright, it's settled then," I tell the two. "I'll handle the car. Shall I meet you two back here after that?"

"Actually, meet us at the park," Dawn replies, causing both me and Nate to furrow our brows. "There is something I want to check there before we set out for the Resort."

"What is it?"

"You'll see. For now let's just stick to our respective tasks, alright?"

"Fine," I say, shrugging. I don't know what this is all of a sudden, but at least I won't have to wait long to find out.

After that exchange, we part ways and go to our respective destinations, me to the rent, Dawn and Nate to the shop.

Arranging for the car was easy, the only problematic part was the fact that we're gonna have to pick it up early. Having to wait in the park for Dawn and Nate proved more of a bother, with Annette practicing her moves as the only means to pass the time.

But eventually, the two do arrive. Although when Dawn reveals what she had in mind I remain taken aback.

"A Pokémon battle? Are you serious?"

She nods. "Before you try your first captures, I need to make sure you know what you're doing." She glances at Nate. "Both of you."

"Against you?" Nate excitedly asks. "I would be honored!"

Dawn lets out a soft chuckle in response. "As much as I would like it, my Pokémon are too powerful for your Rufflet right now. No, the two of you are going to battle against each other."

Annette winces. Nate and I both turn to each other, looking confusedly at each other. When we return our sights to the bluenette, we ask the same thing. "Why?"

"Because you are both beginners," she states matter-of-factly. "Which means you should both be at the same level. Perfect partners for battle training."

"I have a couple of objections to that statement," I retort. "First of all, Annette can't do anything to a Flying-type with her current moveset."

Dawn folds her arms and speaks before I can continue. "One, that's not entirely true, you two just need to get creative. Two, remember that you plan on capturing another Flying-type. What will you do then?"

...okay, she's got me there.

"Alright, first objection withdrawn. Second objection, though: have you forgotten how poorly she and Ruffles mesh together?"

"Ra," Annette adds, as if to reinforce my point. On the side, I also notice Nate making an uneasy expression.

"I know," Dawn replies. "But the two aren't working together, right?"

Huh...that is true.

"Ra," Annette huffes, her mouth thinning.

"Think of it this way," I tell her, causing her to turn to me. "That featherball treated you like that because he thinks he's hot shit. This is the chance to prove him wrong."

Annette presses her mouth even tighter as she muses over my words. Then, an overly large smirk forms on her face. And if she had eyebrows, I suspect it would look devious.

"Ra," she says darkly.

"Alright," Dawn clears her throat, "I believe we can begin, then?"

I nod to her. Nate hesitantly picks out the Poké Ball with his Pokémon and summons him.

"Alright, Ruffles," he tells the bird. "Looks like it's time for your first battle. Are you ready?"

The arrogant avian looks questioningly at Annette, who glares at him. He then turns to his trainer and lets out a protesting "Flet!"

"Yes, we are," Nate retorts.

The Rufflet lets out a huff and then turns back to Annette, looking utterly unimpressed.

Looks like it's time to take this fucker down a peg.

"Begin!" Dawn instructs.

"Alright, Ruffles. Use Peck!"

Despite all his posturing, the Rufflet instantly takes off and charges at Annette, his beak glowing cyan.

"Wait for him and then use Peck as well. Aim for the beak," I whisper to Annette. I doubt it'll do much, but all her other moves will do even less.

"Ra," Annette responds.

Following my instructions, Annette stands her ground as the bird flies at her. Only when he's about to hit her, does she swing both her ears forward.

To my shock, however, instead of glowing cyan, the spikes glow black.

"What the…?"

Instead of swatting his beak away like I was hoping, Annette's ears hit Ruffles right in the head, forcing him to the ground. The bird tries to stand on his oversized talons again, but before long his eyes roll back and he passes out.

In response to that, Annette folds her arms in front of her chest, inclines back her head and snorts out a disappointed "Ra," as she looks down at the downed Rufflet.

Did...did she just one-hit KO him? And what was that black...thing on her ears?

Dawn and Nate stare at the scene with jaws as wide open as mine. The bluenette is the first of our trio to recover, "Holy Arceus, why didn't you show us you know Sucker Punch before now, Annette?"

She what?!

Annette tilts her head at her. "Ra?"

"You know," I tell her. "That dark aura-thing you did with your ears instead of Peck?"

"Ra?"

Did...did she not notice?

"Wow," Nate intervenes, rubbing his chin in thought. "So, is it true Dark-type moves can be channeled by negative emotions?"

...this has got to be the first time so far where I wish Nate went into more details.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, the Dark type has also been called the "Evil" type," he starts, making a quotation marks gesture with his hands. "Mostly because the majority of Dark-types are predators using underhanded tactics, but I heard it's also because moves of that type feed off of negative emotions. Fear, anger, those kinds of emotions."

What is this, frigging Star Wars?

Still, a Dark-type move could be perfect for catching a Sigilyph. If we can figure out how to replicate it, that is.

"Are you in for some last minute exercise, Annie?" I ask the Maractus.

She nods solemnly. "Ra."

I then look up to Dawn, making a silent request to her.

"Alright," she says, before calling out her Empoleon. "Pip, help them out." She then turns to look at Nate and his Pokémon. "We'll take care of Ruffles in the meantime. Just go easy on them."

I furrow my brow. "Why does he have to go easy on us? The only thing he's always done is take hits and shrug them off."

Dawn shakes her head. "It's not going to be like that for Sucker Punch. That move can only be activated in response to attacks. He will have to attack this time."

Oh, boy…

The bluenette turns back to Pip. "Just stick to Bubble for the time being, alright?" The metal penguin nods. "Good. We'll see you later, then."

After that, Nate recalls Ruffles to his Poké Ball and he and Dawn leave for the Pokémon Center, leaving me and Annette with Pip, who looks on the verge of opening his beak.

"Alright, then," I say as I look down to Annette. "Annie, You are going to hit the bubbles Pip shoots at you. Whatever you were feeling to turn that Peck into Sucker Punch, try to feel it again and try to channel it into the attack. Can you do it?"

"Ra!"

I nod and then turn to the water bird. "Are you ready, big guy?" He nods. "Let's go then."

Just as I expected, Pip lets a series of bubbles come out of his mouth that head slowly toward Annette. If it's normal they move slowly or just an attempt on Pip's part to make it easy for us, I don't know.

But whatever the case, Annette proceeds to pop them all up as they come. At first, the spikes on her ears glow cyan again, but as she grows more and more frustrated with her lack of success, those on her hands start glowing black. And after that, she goes on to attack the bubbles with renewed vigor.

Well, looks like I've now got some coverage with Psychic and Ghost-types. Now I need to get that for Bug-Types.

And chapter. We build more on the dynamics between both the human and Pokémon characters and Annette develops a new move for her arsenal.

Once more, thank you to Softandhappy and Geolight164 for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you next time!