I slept through the whole night, without ever waking up. When I came to, the sun was already up and shining brightly. I turned over to see Blaire still sleeping, facing the window. I get out of bed and head to the balcony. I peek the curtain to look outside, the balcony was looking over a big lake. The water looked very blue, I could see a lot of Pokemon jumping out. I remove my hand from the curtain and turned around to see Blaire looking at me, I walk over and get on my knees.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I whisper quietly.

"No, I was awake for a few minutes." Blaire responds with a smile.

She leaned over and gave me a little kiss on my nose, I blushed and turned away.

"You really are cute when you blush." Blaire says with a flirty tone.

"T-thank you, I guess." I say as I stand up. "Should we wake up Damon?"

"Nah, let him sleep."

Blaire sat up and stretched, and walked to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and examined her face. I went to the doorway and leaned against it.

"I look like shit." She rubbed her face

"No you don't, you look better than girls that use makeup." I say honestly. She is very beautiful to me.

Blaire never wore makeup, she only puts on a little eyeliner and stuff to cover acne.

"Thank you Ash! Flattering as ever." Her smile gives me a heavy feeling in my chest.

I get hypnotized for a moment, she looked amazing in her pajamas. I somewhat return to reality when Blaire looks at me with a scolding red face.

"Uh… Ash."

"Yeah…" I was still on another planet.

Blaire gestures her eyes downwards multiple times, I get the message and look down. I had a boner, my pajama shorts were terrible at hiding it. I quickly cover myself and turn away embarrassed.

"Sorry, this is weird." I try to conceal myself more

"Someone is happy to see me." Blaire giggles.

"I uh… It's not… Sorry!" I slowly walk away.

When I go shopping next, I need to get better pajama pants.

"Gooood morning!" Damon jumps out of bed.

Damon always does push-ups when he wakes up. Even though we're in a game, he still tries to keep healthy habits.

"You still trying to stay fit?" I change my clothes and watch Damon go through his daily 20 morning push-ups.

"Yep, I have a routine for a reason."

"You can't get tired from exercise here, so why bot-" I realized something big.

"Something wrong?" Blaire asks while exiting the bathroom.

"We can't get tired! We could just run everywhere, without ever getting exhausted." I say as I start pacing around the room.

"Now that we have this valuable information...?" Damon changes clothes and stand up.

"We can get everywhere and anywhere quicker! Let's skedaddle!" I open the door and run out.

"Here we go again." Blaire and Damon say as they run out after me.

I make it to the ground floor and get to the front desk.

"Here's the room key ma'am." I drop the key and run to the entrance.

Damon and Blaire were barely keeping up with me. I guess I was going to fast for them. I make it to the street corner and look around.

"For the love of God can you not run like you're escaping a murderer." Damon says annoyed as he and Blaire catch up to me.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit excited."

"You gonna challenge the gym?"

"Absol-utly not!" I wag my finger with every syllable.

"Why not?" Blaire asks.

"I literally just caught Riolu, and I don't even know if she can battle. So I'm going to see if I can find any other trainers."

I pull out my Pokedex and check the map. There is a huge park nearby that many trainers would use for battling, A good place to get a start for Riolu. I take out her Pokeball and toss it in the air.

"Riolu!" She emerges happily.

I caught her in arms and quickly grab the falling ball.

"Hey Riolu, I'm gonna need your help today." I put her Pokeball on my belt.

"Ri?"

I sit her down and get on one knee, and put my hand out in front of her.

"Can you lend me your strength?" I make a fist.

"Riolu…" She gives me a fistbump and starts punching the air.

"So you'll help?" I smile excitedly.

"Rio!"

She grabs my arm and I lift her up onto my shoulder. I start running towards the park, it was a quick run with barely any stopping. After about 4 minutes, we finally arrived.

"This place is amazing! There's Pokemon everywhere!" Blaire says with amazement.

The park was probably as big as Central Park in New York. This place was filled with various terrains and many areas to commerce and battle.

"Look over there." Damon points to a battle happening in the distance.

"Let's go watch!"

We all run to the battle and stand on the sidelines. It was a Geodude vs a Zubat, both were getting very weak.

"Rock Throw!" The Geodude's trainer shouts out loud.

Geodude spews rocks at the Zubat, who could barely hover in the air. The rocks hit directly, ending the battle.

"Zubat is unable to battle. The winner is Challenger Hanson!" The referee states loudly.

A group of people start cheering. The trainer applies a potion to his Geodude and before returning it to its Pokeball, I decided I wanted to battle him.

"Hey, can I battle you next?" I ask the trainer as he stands up.

"Sure! I won't back down from a chance to get stronger." He agrees to my request.

"So you two are battling now?" The referee asks with his hands on his hips.

"Yes sir." We both say at the same time.

"What's your name kid?"

"It's Ash." I answer proudly.

"Ash Ketchum?" My opponent asks.

"No, but that's who I'm named after."

"My name is Hanson, nice to meet you." We shake hands and smile.

"Trainers take your ground." The referee says from the side.

I walk to the other side of the battlefield, and ready my Pokeball. Riolu was still on my shoulder.

"Watch carefully Riolu…"

"This is 2v2 battle, substitutions allowed. Whoever KO's the other's 2 Pokemon first wins. Let the battle begin!"

"Gastly your out!" His Gastly breaks free from the Pokeball.

"A Gastly huh? Evergreen! I choose you!" I release the Pokeball from my hand.

The ball bursts with a heavy glow. Evergreen appears with his shining glory, and the crowd goes wild.

"He has a shiny Treecko?!"

"How does he have that?"

"Is that even possible?"

The crowd is shouting a million questions a minute. The attention will get annoying if I let it get to me.

"Use Bullet Seed!" I direct my hand to Gastly.

"Tree!" He shoots as fast as lightning, Gastly had no time to think.

The Bullet Seed wasn't very effective. But if it hits fast, it hits hard. Gastly took a lot more damage than I thought, it began to tremble with lack of energy. My plan was going good, all Hanson had to do is recall Gastly.

"Gastly return-."

"Not so fast, Pursuit!" I direct Evergreen to Gastly.

Evergreen rushes to interrupt its escape and destroyed the beam of light trying to reach it from the Pokeball. Evergreen slaps Gastly with his tail into the ground, causing a KO.

"Gastly is unable to battle, the winner is Treecko." The referee holds up a green flag.

The crowd goes wild again. I guess they haven't seen much strategy yet here.

"What happened?" Hanson was confused.

"Pursuit, a dark type move. It prevents the escape of a Pokemon retreating from battle, doing twice the damage in that scenario than if it wasn't. Gastly is a ghost type, which made it super effective. You doomed yourself." I explain as best as I can.

"That was just luck." He recalls Gastly. "Geodude it's your turn!"

Geodude hops from behind Hanson and is ready to fight. I recall Evergreen, Riolu should try to battle now.

"Evergreen, come back." I hold out his Pokeball and he returns. "Riolu it's your time to shine."

I held out my arm and Riolu jumped out in front.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!"

Before I could say anything, Riolu already dodged. It was almost instantaneous.

"Use Brick Break!" I shout as Riolu rushed forward.

"Rio!" Riolu Karate chops the Geodude with great force.

The force of the hit cause Geodude to get stuck in the ground, face first. Everything was silent, we were all waiting for Geodude to get up.

"Geodude is unable to battle. The winner is Riolu, and the match goes to Ash!" The referee holds up a flag.

"Already?" Hanson says as he recalls Geodude.

"That was a good battle." I walk to Hanson to shake his hand.

We shake for a moment before he pulls away.

"Since you won…" He shuffles through his inventory.

"Here, some prize money." He holds out his hand with some bills and coins.

"Eh… oh yeah. Thank you." I take the money from him and say goodbye.

"I want to battle you too."

"Me also."

"Yeah!"

Many people hold out Pokeballs, challenging m to battle.

"This is going to be a long day…" I say to myself.

~~~1 hour later~~~

"And the winner is Ash!"

"Again?" I say getting tired.

Riolu jumps into my arms happily. This was the 6th battle today and I was tired of yelling. Unlike my Pokemon, no potions can heal me.

"Any more challengers? No? The winner of the Battle Romp is Ash!"

The people around started clapping about my victory. I was confused about what exactly I won.

"Battle Romp?" I ask the referee.

"Oh, you don't know? A Battle Romp is like a tournament where anyone can join at any time. And the winner is when no-one else challenges." Hanson says in response

"Yup and here is your prize, 10'000 pokedollars."

The referee handed me a wad of cash. It was for sure a lot of money, but I was too shocked to count it.

"Thank you sir." I thank the referee and walk away with my friends.

"Good job Ash! I knew you could do it." Blaire hugs me from behind very gently.

"T-thanks for the s-support."

"How about that gym battle?" Damon asks as he turns to walk backwards.

"Maybe just a few more days of training, I don't want to rush myself."

~~~4 days later~~~

"Riolu, now use Metal Claw!" I shout across the battlefield.

Riolu runs forward and swipes the Slackoth with great force. It was too slow to dodge, so the win was easily obtained.

"Slackoth is unable to battle. Riolu is the winner and the match goes to Ash!"

"We did it Riolu!" I rush out to give her a hug.

Riolu runs and jumps to me, knocking me to the ground. She licks my face a few times and I return her to her ball. Norman walks over to give me the gym badge, he does it with pride. I stand up and we shake hands.

"It was a good battle Ash, I hope we can do it again someday."

"I hope so too sir."

"Anyway, this is why you are here." Norman holds out his hand and gives me the badge.

"Thank you so much!" I grab the badge out of his hand and examine it in the light.

"I got the Balance Badge!" I face it towards Damon and Blaire and they look at me with embarrassment.

"What's your plan from here Ash?" Norman asks.

"Rustboro City. The 2nd gym badge is there." I answered confidently.

"I hope that you make it into the Pokemon League. I'd love to see you there."

"You can count on it."

We left the gym that afternoon with a new addition in my pockets. I obtained my 1st gym badge in this world. It was a long and grueling journey to get this far, and I was about to go farther.

Months passed, and I kept getting stronger and stronger. I found a Fletchinder on our way to Dewford after getting the Stone Badge from Roxanne. He is an interesting character, takes a lot of pride in his victories. Riolu evolved after obtaining the Dynamo Badge from Wattson in Mauville City. Evergreen evolved soon after we were challenged by a family of battlers. They said their family member was on the path to the Pokemon League. I might run into him, he could be a fun challenge. I was gifted an egg in Lavaridge Town by Flannery after obtaining the Heat Badge which hatched into a very strong Toxel. He was cute, and took a quick liking to Lucario. They played together a lot and Lucario taught Toxel how to fight. Evergreen finally evolved into a Sceptile after my gym battle in Fortree City. My team was a bit small, but it was powerful. It was pretty close to perfect, only two more spots to fill. Toxel and Fletchinder evolved on the path to Lilycove City. Talonflame was very strong after evolving, but still as prideful as ever. Toxtricity started to refuse orders when he evolved, and got a bit of a wild side. It was December 22, 2057 when we arrived in Lilycove.

"What a beautiful place!" Blaire says while we walk into the city.

"It really is." Damon agrees.

"We should probably find a place to stay before it gets dark." I say as I look at the forecast on my Pokedex. It was going to be cold tonight.

We took a taxi to a nearby Pokemon Center which also bundled as a hotel. We decided to stay the night there and was going to celebrate Christmas in this city.

"I can't believe it's been 10 months. It felt like it was yesterday when we started. And it's Christmas time, It will be the 1st Christmas without my family, but at least I have my friends." Blaire says sadly.

Lately Blaire has been making me feel weird inside. I have had stronger feelings than ever before for her and it was driving me crazy. It felt like every word she said to me was trying to get me over the edge. I need to make a move, the feeling is getting the way of my thinking.

"Do we… get gifts for each other?" Damon asks as we get a key for a room.

"I don't need anything." Blaire and I say in sync.

Lilycove has a famous place for shopping. You could find anything you want here. I decided I was going to get a piece of jewelry for Blaire, it can't be real but it's the thought that counts.

"You guys go ahead, I want to go explore the city." I say as Blaire and Damon go to the elevator.

"Ok, you remember the room number?" Damon says as they walk into the elevator.

"I know it, I won't be long."

The elevator closes and I run out the front entrance. I look at my Pokedex to see where the department store is.

"Just down the street huh…?" I turn in the direction that the map says the department store is.

As I walk, I see a jewelry store on the other side of the street. It was perfect for what I was looking for.

"This is great." I cross the street and walk inside.

I was definitely going to find something good here. The store was really well kept, I could tell just by looking through the window.

"Hello, welcome! I hope you find something nice today." The lady at the register greets me with a smile as I walk in.

"I hope so." I start to examine the cases.

The displays show many types of jewelry; rings, pendants, and bracelets. The prices were pretty shallow, so not the best choices.

"What's the most expensive items you have ma'am?" I say while moving to the other side of the store.

"We have a line of necklaces that start at 10,000 Pokedollars and go to 150,000 Pokedollars." The lady pulls a special case from behind a desk.

The real price range is $100 to $1,500, which is sort of generous. In normal circumstances, I would never buy such an expensive item in a game. But since this is my life for the next God knows how many years, it doesn't matter.

"I'll take that necklace please." I point to the most expensive one.

It was a ruby and amethyst necklace in the shape of a heart with a gold chain. Blaire's birthstone is ruby, and fits so much with her. Ruby describes love and passion. It was the only ruby one on the display so I had no other choice.

"That will 150,000 Pokedollars."

I give her the money and she places it in a box and gives it to me in a bag.

"I hope that special someone appreciates it!" The lady says as I grab the bag and head out the door.

"I hope so too…" I leave the store and place the bag in my inventory.

Since jewelry was what I was after, I just made my way back to the hotel. It was getting dark and cold quickly. Even in a game, you can't escape the harsh reality of December.

"I'm back!" I open the door to see Damon and Blaire reading a letter.

"Hey Ash, it seems you were invited to a Christmas party in Lumiose City." Blaire says as she rushes to me with the letter.

"All of a sudden?"

"Please Ash! It says you can bring guests. I would love to spend Christmas in Kalos!" Blaire begs and holds my hand.

I couldn't say no to her. She hates to be alone, and loves parties. I just thought of a plan of how the night can go, will I go through with?

"In that case… we should probably leave tomorrow, Kalos is pretty far away. A plane could get us there by tomorrow night."

I guess we won't be alone for Christmas. A party would be fun, but who's the host? The plan was set, we were taking a detour to Kalos for Christmas.

The Pokemon city of love, over Christmas, with Blaire. This couldn't go any better.