A/N: Sorry for the delay, been busy lately. But Sun and Moon are out, and I'll get to play them in a week or so, so I felt motivated to upload this.

We finally get around to introducing a character I like very much. Anyways, feedback would be really appreciated.

The man I'd barreled into was tall and slender, and dressed expensively, looking impressively clean and composed despite the ash dusting his immaculate pale hair. Instead of the sturdy, practical hiking attire I'd seen around Mt. Chimney, he was wearing an expensive-looking dark suit with a crisp white collar shirt and a weird red…scarf? (Whatever it was, it looked fancy.) His fingers were adorned with thick silver rings. In short, everything about him screamed, money! I have lots of money! Which was meant this was a Potentially Bad Situation.

"Sorry! Sorry!" I said, panicking a little. It wouldn't do to upset a rich boy. Rich people were generally trouble. Sure, some of them were nice enough to give handouts sometimes, but they could also could turn very nasty. A glint of light caught my eye and I glanced down to see the silver pin with its strange multicolored stone at my feet. "Uh, I think you dropped this—" I snagged the lapel pin in my fingers and almost dropped it again. A tingling sensation shot through my skin when my hand met the iridescent stone, like an electric shock. Something about that rock was weird. I looked up. He was staring at me.

"Here." I ignored the tingles and held it out to him, hoping it wouldn't explode in my face.

"Thank you," he said, taking the pin back quickly. He continued to stare at me cautiously. I hoped he wasn't wondering how much he could sue me for. Murphy padded out cautiously and went to sniff at the man's shoes, tugging curiously at his…were those designer socks? Geez.

"Murphy, don't!" I hissed, nudging her with my foot. She ignored me completely and began to brush against his pants. "Wow, I'm really sorry—" Great. Now Mr. Rich Fancypants was going to make me foot his dry cleaning bill.

To my surprise, he laughed a little. "It's fine," he said. And I could tell that he wasn't just saying it, he really didn't mind. He bent down to pat Murphy on the head. She purred, arching up into his hand. I blinked in shock. "Meowth aren't commonly used by trainers in Hoenn. I haven't seen one in a while." he straightened up and looked at me. "You said his name was Murphy?"

"Murphy's a she. It's a gender-neutral name," I said automatically, already used to people assuming that Murphy was male.

He smiled slightly. "Of course," he said. I sensed a slight hint of indulgence in his tone. It annoyed me slightly, but but I kept my mouth shut. Murphy purred even more loudly, pressing meaningfully against his pants leg, searching for more attention and leaving cream-colored hairs all over the dark fabric. I hoped that whoever this guy was, he was rich enough that he'd bought more than one of those suits.

"She likes you," I said, a touch of envy creeping into my voice. It had taken ages for Murphy to like me, and now she was snuggling up to someone she'd known for all of five minutes. It was a little disheartening, but I relaxed a little. Surely anyone that Murphy liked couldn't be all that bad. I hoped.

"Pokémon seem to warm up to me quickly," he said, which both annoyed and saddened me a little. He must have noticed my crestfallen expression because he quickly added: "You should understand that it's no reflection on your own ability as a trainer. She seems to have bonded with you quite strongly."

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"When you ran into me and fell, she immediately put herself between us, trying to see if I was a threat. She was ready to protect you. I could tell she was startled—her ears were flattened and her fur was bristling—but she still wanted to make sure you were alright. Meowth love shiny objects, but she ignored the pin I dropped to watch you." he gestured to the shining stickpin on his lapel.

I blinked. He'd noticed that much already? Wow. Maybe he was more than just some lost rich dude then. "Oh," I said lamely, glancing down at Murphy as the man gave into her shameless bid for attention and bent down to give her a proper scratch behind the ears. She purred luxuriously, arching her back.

"I'm Riley. Who are you?" I blurted out. He glanced up at me curiously and I rushed to explain. "You've got Murphy's attention, so I figured…"

He laughed. It sounded surprisingly good-natured. "I see. My name is Steven."

I half-expected the conversation to end there. I had no idea who this guy was besides the fact that he liked Pokémon and was rich. There wasn't much of a reason for him to interact with a random rookie who'd crashed into him. I assumed he'd excuse himself politely and leave. Heck, if he didn't do it, I probably would. I wasn't the best at making small talk with people whose suits cost more money than I'd ever had.

In hindsight, the conversation should have stopped there. That would have been better for everyone involved, especially me. But it didn't stop there. And I blame Steven. You hear that, Steven?

"Where did you get this Meowth?" he said suddenly, as if he'd just remembered something important. I floundered for a second, caught off guard by the abrupt switch in conversation topic. I thought about lying, then I realized that there was no way I could come up with a convincing lie in such a short amount of time. So I went for the long story short.

"I got Murphy…kind of by accident, actually."

Steven stared at me and opened his mouth, probably to ask another question. Then I remembered that there was a reason to lie. Because the actual story of how I got Murphy was embarrassing as fuck. So I cut him off as quickly as I could. "What are you doing on this mountain?"

"You could say I'm surveying the area," he said evasively, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to go survey a soot-spewing volcano in a fancy suit. It was a little suspicious. It was also absolutely none of my business. But he was still standing there and looking at me with a kind of curious expression, and I couldn't just up and leave, could I? I was the one who'd started this conversation and I was going to have to stay in it.

"What's there to survey around here?" I said, trying to figure out a polite way to leave as soon as possible. Murphy had grown bored with our conversation and had wandered over to a sooty patch of tall grass, digging at the ground with her paws. I sympathized; I also wanted to exit the situation we were in.

"There's lots to survey around here," he said after a pause. "Different types of volcanic and igneous rock, for one: obsidian, pumice—and metamorphic rock too, since the heat and pressure from the volcano is so intense. And in the deeper caves in Fiery Path, sometimes Fire Stones can be—"

"Wait, sorry," I blurted out, a little surprised by the sudden energy that had entered his voice. "Did you come here just to look at rocks?"

Steven looked a little miffed. Damn it, I'd managed to offend him after all. "Yes," he said.

"Oh." I cast about frantically for something to say, hoping that he wouldn't get too angry at me. Why was he interested in talking to me anyways? Maybe I should have just grabbed the stickpin and made a run for it. I could have lived for like, a year off the money I got for selling it, and he probably had enough money to buy himself a truckload of stupid rainbow rocks. I settled for saying, "Are you a trainer? I didn't think anyone besides trainers would come up here."

A flash of surprise crossed Steven's face; he stared at me, obviously caught off guard for the first time in our conversation. I shifted from foot to foot. Had I said something blatantly offensive? Did I accidentally reveal the fact that I'd wanted to steal his pin out loud?

"Do you know—" Steven began, then stopped himself. He laughed suddenly. "No, never mind. It's nothing. Where are you from, and what did you say your name was?"

"Riley," I said. "I'm from…Mauville City." It wasn't technically a lie, although when most people thought of Mauville they thought of glamorous, high-tech apartments and flashy streets, not dimly lit alleys and dumpsters. But the last thing I wanted to do was admit that I'd been living on the street just weeks ago.

"Mauville." he repeated. "That's not exactly secluded."

"Sorry?"

"Oh, nothing—please excuse me." Now he was the one with an awkward expression on his face, almost like he couldn't decide if he wanted to be offended or amused. I stared back at him, hoping that he would say something interesting. Thankfully, Murphy decided to rescue me from a rapidly crumbling social situation.

"Meow!" We both turned to see Murphy facing down a small gray Pokémon with a spring-like tail. On its head was a large pink orb. It was bouncing up and down and with an adorably curious expression on its face. As I watched, it bounced closer and closer to us. For a split second I thought it was going to come up to me, but it visibly changed direction and began to bounce towards…Steven. Damn it.

"A Spoink," said Steven unnecessarily. "They're fairly common around here." Um, duh. I knew what a Spoink was. He turned to me. "Are you going to battle it?"

"I guess," I said, not very unenthusiastic about the idea of having someone watch me battle. "What do you say, Murphy? You feeling up to a battle?" Say no, I pleaded mentally.

Murphy purred and faced the Spoink, baring her teeth. That was a yes if I ever saw one. Fine. Have it your way.

"Fake Out!" I said, opting for the safe option. The Spoink squealed in surprise and stumbled backwards as Murphy smacked it in the face with both paws. "Then follow up with Bite!"

The Spoink was still reeling from Murphy's first strike; even an attack as short-ranged as Bite connected easily. I remembered the type effectiveness chart I'd seen in a book at the Pokémon Center—super effective! Yes! "Bite again," I said.

Unfortunately, the Spoink had recovered; it bounded up with startling speed and dodged Murphy's attack. The ball on its head glowed and shot a glowing beam at her. Murphy stumbled suddenly, looking unsteady on her paws. Darn it, that was a Confuse Ray if I ever saw one. Which I had, but only once or twice.

The Spoink had bounced backwards, out of close combat range. "Shock Wave!" I said. Murphy managed to shake off the dizzying effects long enough to emit a ray of lightning that arced through the air with startling speed. The Spoink ducked, but the electric bolt followed and hit it directly. It made a noise of discomfort.

"Nice!" I said, happy that she seemed to get better at using Shock Wave. Murphy was still confused, though, and seemed to have lost her usual agility. The Spoink shot a glowing ray at her and it connected; she staggered backwards, her fur fluffed in agitation. She stumbled and fell flat on her face.

"Murphy," I said, and to my surprise, the sound of her voice made her pause. "It's okay. Calm down." She shook her head and growled, her tail lashing from side to side. But her fur flattened.

Steven muttered something under his breath that I didn't catch. I jumped; I'd forgotten he was there. Pushing down my irritation, I said: "Shock Wave!"

Murphy's fur glowed with static electricity once more, but this time she yelped in pain and flinched as some of the electricity arced backwards and shocked her. Damn it, it was the confusion acting up again. The Spoink took advantage of this opportunity to shoot another glowing ray at her. Murphy tripped over a rock at the last second and the beam flew over her head. Dumb luck, but I'd take it.

"One more hit, buddy," I said. Bite would be the better option here, but the Spoink was still out of range and Murphy was still having trouble standing upright without falling over. "Shock Wave!"

It took a few more commands to get Murphy to respond, but once she did she immediately shot another bolt of lightning at the Spoink. It made an unhappy sound and stopped putting up a fight, bouncing much more slowly and looking at me with a half-wary, half-expectant expression in its eyes.

"It looks like this Spoink has stopped resisting," said Steven. I glanced at him; he was watching me carefully. Murphy made a relieved sound and sat down, shaking her head as she tried to fight off the remaining dizziness. "Are you going to catch it?" he asked.

"Uh." Out of nowhere, I remembered Thorn and the hateful look in his beady eyes as he'd broken out of the Pokéball for the first time. I shivered a little. "I dunno. You think it wants me to?"

Steven looked surprised. "It certainly seems so," he said after a long pause, during which I fidget anxiously and the Spoink continued to stare at me, bouncing up and down rhythmically.

"How can you tell?" I pressed.

"Well," Steven said thoughtfully. "It hasn't run away by now, even though it stopped fighting. So it's clearly waiting for something. Many Pokémon actually wish to be caught by trainers, to get stronger or to see new places." he turned and looked at me carefully. "Why did you ask that?"

"Ask what?" I said absently, still staring at the Spoink. Sure, it had stuck around, but did it want food or did it actually want to come with me? I wanted to be sure. Despite what he'd said, I couldn't really imagine why Pokémon wanted to be caught. And I never wanted any member of our team to feel trapped against their will, the way I'd trapped Thorn in his Pokéball, the way I'd felt trapped in Manville.

"You asked me if I thought that the Spoink wanted to be caught by you." Steven approached the Spoink, which didn't flee, and knelt down closer to it. "I don't hear a lot of trainers, especially rookies, ask that question."

"Yeah, well," I said, following his lead and kneeling down to look at the Spoink carefully. It stared at me and sniffed the air curiously. I will grudgingly admit that it was cute. "I had a Roselia that taught me a lesson."

Steven was staring at me now instead of the Spoink. "What—" he began, then cut himself off. "Never mind, that can wait till another time." Another time!? Was he planning on seeing me again? Did he have a habit of stalking rookie trainers or something? Groaning inwardly, I slowly reached my hand out towards the Spoink. It sniffed my fingers and hopped a little closer.

"What do you say? You want to come with me?" I asked, feeling unusually nervous. The Spoink began bouncing a little faster, bobbing up and down in what I thought might have been a nod. I dug through my bag and found a Pokéball, gently tapping it on the head with the red-and-white sphere. There was the familiar swooshing sound as the ball opened and the Spoink was sucked in, and then a cheerful ding as the capture was registered. Unlike my experience with Thorn, the Pokéball had barely shook at all. It seemed like the Spoink had really wanted to be caught.

I clutched the ball tighter and stood up, my hand shaking just a little. Bubbles had pretty much been forced onto me, so this was the first Pokémon I'd caught since Thorn. I'd get it right this time.

Steven straightened up. He was still watching me carefully. It was a little weird, to be honest. I decided to break the silence. "So, uh. I think that went okay?"

"Your battling skills could use a little more polishing," Steven replied. I felt like jumping off the ledge. It'd been a rhetorical question! Rhetorical! "In general, it's best to give Pokémon more detailed commands rather than just telling them what attack to use. Pokémon tend to do better when they have a better idea of the trainer's strategy. For a battle against a wild Pokémon, this doesn't matter that much. But for a battle against another trainer, this can make quite a significant difference."

"Uh, okay," I said. I'd expected a short comment, not a lecture.

"After a Pokémon battles with its trainer for a certain amount of time, it will likely remember common strategies and even learn to adopt the trainer's ways of thinking," he continued. "Then it becomes less necessary for the trainer to give very detailed commands because their Pokémon can fill in the rest. That creates an advantage in higher levels of battle because the trainer won't be forced to reveal their strategy to the opponent. But I'm guessing you haven't had Murphy for that long yet, so you should work on fine-tuning your commands. She should be able to understand most of what you tell her by now."

It took me a while to digest all that. "I guess I haven't thought about it before," I admitted. Was this something they taught kids in Trainer School? More common knowledge that I'd missed out on? I hoped not. "I guess I'm still kind of new to this."

Steven raised an eyebrow. "You're a little old to be a beginner." There was an unspoken question in his tone there. One that I didn't really feel like answering.

"Tell me about it," I said instead.

"Do you have a PokéNav?" he said suddenly.

"Uh." I remembered seeing an ad for the new PokéNav in a window once. It'd looked sleek, high-tech, and very expensive. I also remembered stealing a PokéNav from a passing trainer once and selling it for a pretty substantial chunk of money. But there was no way I was going to mention that. "No."

"Never mind then," said Steven. He smiled at me pleasantly. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other." Wow. What a weirdo.

"Sure," I said evasively. I glanced at the sky. The sun was lowering in the sky and I seized the opportunity. "Uh, are you heading to Lavaridge? 'Cause I am, and I gotta go if I wanna get there before it gets dark."

"Alright," said Steven, finally seeming to catch onto the fact that I wanted out. "I actually just left Lavaridge. I'm heading further up the mountain." he nodded at me. "I should be going as well. Good luck to you."

I watched him as he gave Murphy a final scratch behind the ears and left to trek up the steep rocky slopes. What a weird guy, I thought. Still. He'd given useful advice. I paused to glance down at Murphy, who was busy washing the soot off her paws. More detailed battle strategies, huh?

Well, I reflected gloomily. I'll have to battle Flannery sometime soon. So I'll get to put that to the test.

This did not improve my mood.

Lavaridge Town was surprisingly nice for a town at the foot of an active volcano. The small wooden houses were nothing like the gleaming apartment buildings I was used to, and the fresh air was pleasantly warm. The people living here dressed simply, in practical but comfortable-looking clothes. And everyone seemed relaxed, friendly. A few total strangers waved at me and greeted me. It made me a little uncomfortable, but not necessarily unhappy.

"I have a question," I said, when the nurse at the Pokémon Center returned my team to me. "Can you tell me a little bit about my Spoink? I just caught it, so…"

The nurse nodded and glanced at the monitor on the counter. "Well, it's a he, for starters. His ability is Thick Fat and he knows Confuse Ray, Psych Up, Psybeam, and Odor Sleuth." she looked up at me again, smiling a little sheepishly. "Sorry, uh, is there anything specific you'd like to know?"

"Sure. Uh, how do trainers normally know all of this without asking?" Was there a magical sixth trainer sense that I simply lacked?

"Well, most trainers have PokéNavs or something similar. Those devices have a scanner in them like the one in my computer." she tapped the display on the counter. "So you can scan a Pokémon after you catch it and receive basic information about it. And sometimes, trainers with a lot of potential are given Pokédexes. Those are even fancier." she looked up at me. "Or you could just ask a nurse at a Pokémon Center. None of us mind. Although a PokéNav is worth saving up for, in my opinion."

"Cool," I said, pretty sure that there was no way I was going to spend so much money so I could get information that I could get for free at a Pokémon Center. But I thanked her anyways.

I let the Spoink out of his Pokéball, in a pretty quiet part of town. I'd remembered how much Thorn had clammed up when I'd introduced myself to him in an unfamiliar environment and I figured that meeting the Spoink outside rather than inside would help. But that didn't seem to matter. The Spoink seemed pretty calm when he emerged from the Pokéball. He bounced steadily, the ball on his head gleaming dully.

"Hey," I said. "I'm Riley. I'm your trainer—and, uh, I don't really know how much of this you understand."

The Spoink continued to stare at me, bouncing in place. It was a little unnerving. I couldn't detect any resentment in his eyes, though. I thought I even saw a little excitement. So maybe Mr. Fancypants had been right after all. Who would have thunk it.

"Uh, here—you should meet your teammates," I said. With a click, Bubbles and Murphy emerged from their Pokéballs. "You've already met Murphy, when we were, uh." Beating you up? "But this is Bubbles! He's a Skrelp, and apparently they don't normally live around here. So…" I trailed off. Bubbles was sniffing the Spoink curiously with his slightly damp snout. The Spoink seemed to be tolerating it, at least, and was sniffing him back with equal curiosity. Murphy watched them for a few seconds, got bored, and tried to wander off. I dragged her back. "Be nice, he's our new teammate," I said. She shot me a disdained look and padded closer to join them. I decided to stop talking and just watch my three Pokémon interact.

My Pokémon. I shivered a little. Sometimes it would hit me how freaking lucky I was to have my own Pokémon and finally be out of Mauville. I decided to never go back, then glumly realized that I would have to return to Mauville eventually if I wanted Wattson's badge. Whatever. I'll save that for last, if I get that far.

The Spoink squealed in alarm. I jolted out of my thoughts to see Murphy up on her hind legs, swatting at the shiny pearl on his head. Her eyes were practically glowing with interest. The Spoink backed off and shot a Psybeam at her. It missed, but Murphy was undeterred and inched closer.

"Murphy! Cut it out! That's part of his body," I said. She turned and stared at me with mild annoyance. "How would you feel if I started trying to yank that coin off your head?"

Murphy stared at me for a few seconds and broke into a disinterested yawn, padding off to groom herself. Bubbles hopped closer to her and blew a bubble. She moved away politely.

I turned to look at the Spoink. It—no, he was still bouncing up and down—I wondered if he ever stopped to take a break. The small ball on his head was a pale shade of reddish-pink, maybe a little bigger than a ping-pong ball.

"Ping Pong!" I said loudly. Murphy bristled in surprise at my loud exclamation. Bubbles fell over. "That's your name. There we go. Ping Pong." I laughed, immensely pleased with myself. I hadn't even had to think about it for very long.

Ping Pong did not react to his new name. Instead, he looked a little bored and hopped off to investigate a nearby fountain. Bubbles managed to inchworm himself over to me and attach himself to my leg.

I evaluated my situation. I had three Pokémon, none of which hated me (so far), and I'd made it to Lavaridge without falling off a cliff. So far, much better than what I'd hoped for. I grinned. Not bad. Improvement was slow, but it was happening.

"Holy shit. Riley?"

Huh? I turned to see a familiar wide-eyed girl standing behind me. As always, her stare reminded me of a Hoothoot, but her skin wasn't as pale as it had been in Mauville, and she was dressed in much more comfortable looking clothes. There was a Wingull perched on her head. My grin grew wider.

"Amelia!" I cheered, grabbing her by the arm. "What—wow, you look good!" And it was true. She looked a lot happier and healthier than she'd been before. But it wasn't just that—she carried herself with a different attitude. I realized it was confidence.

"Thanks, and you look just as dumb," she said jokingly, tugging out of my grasp. She punched me on the shoulder affectionately and I made mock gasps of pain. "What the heck are you doing here, Riley?"

"Challenging the Gym," I replied. "What are you doing here?"

Amelia puffed up a little. "Beating the Gym," she said.

"Haha, that's—wait, what? Really?"

"Yep!" Amelia reached into her pocket and pulled out a shiny metal case. She opened it and revealed a red metallic badge in the shape of a flame. "Check it out!" The Wingull squawked and she reached up to ruffle its feathers. "Beaky was a boss."

I stared at the badge. It gleamed in the light of the setting sun. "You beat the Gym with just Beaky?" I said dumbly.

"Nope! I caught more! Look—" Amelia reached for the Pokéballs on her belt and in a flash of red light, a Sandshrew and a freaking Linoone were standing at her feet. "This is Sandy and Ziggy." No points for guessing which was which. Amelia had obviously not gotten better at nicknaming her Pokémon.

"Wow," I said. That was all I could really say. Her Pokémon looked strong, at least to my relatively untrained eye. I had to admit, I was a little jealous. But it was good to see her again. I'd forgotten how easy it was to talk to her.

"What's up with you?" she asked. "Did you beat Wattson? I've always wanted him to give the old one-two." she waved her hands through the air. "I remember once he caught me digging through the dumpsters near the Gym and chased me out. What a dick, right?" she looked at me expectantly.

"Oh." I paused, wondered if I should lie, and decided not to. Amelia could smell bullshit from a mile away. "I battled him, but I lost." I ducked my head in embarrassment, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Eh, sucks," she said, shrugging and slightly dislodging the Wingull on her head. Her Sandshrew and Linoone had wandered off and Murphy was staring at them suspiciously from a safe distance. "Whatever, you can get back at him for it later. Where's your team? I wanna see them."

"I've got Murphy, and Ping Pong—just caught him." I gestured towards the fountain, where the Spoink was hopping up and down under a stream of water. "Oh, and Bubbles." I pointed downwards at my foot. Amelia looked down to see Bubbles, wrapped around my leg, staring up at her with bulging red eyes.

"Holy fuck," she said. "What the fuck is that thing?"

"He's a Skrelp," I said.

"What the hell is a Skrelp? Why does he look so weird?" she bent down to take a closer look. "And what kind of shitty name is Bubbles? This thing does not look bubbly."

"They're not native to Hoenn, I think," I said. "I got him—uh. I got him from a breeder. Sort of. And I couldn't really think of another name."

"What!?" Amelia straightened up. "You bought him from a breeder? Did you have to sell a kidney to afford that?"

"No, I kinda blackmailed him." I paused to appreciate her impressed expression and continued: "he was dumping Pokémon he'd bred in a lake and I caught him doing it."

"So?"

"That's illegal."

"Why?"

"Something about ecosystems—I don't really care," I said. "Anyways, he gave me Bubbles so I'd keep my mouth shut."

"Wow. Nice." Amelia looked thoughtful. "You think there are any of the Pokémon left in the lake? Bred Pokémon are supposed to be all fancy and stuff, right?"

"Yeah, Bubbles can do some pretty weird stuff." I shook my leg to try and get him off. He ignored me and began to snuggle his head against my pants. "Oh, and after I got him, these two wannabes came up and tried to take him from me."

"Wannabe gangs?" Amelia stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Jeez, I didn't think they'd exist outside of the alleys."

"Yeah, I know, right?" I said. "They wore ripped pants. To make themselves look tough."

"Amazing."

"And they had the stupidest name. Team Aqua. What the heck is up with that?"

Amelia paused and frowned. "Hang on," she said. "Did you say Team Aqua?"

"Uh, yeah."

"That's…" she trailed off. Then she burst out: "that's the stupidest gang name I've ever heard! It's not scary. It's not cool. It sounds stupid!"

"Yeah, so I beat them," I said nonchalantly. "Bubbles beat them, really. He can do this boiling water attack—it's super cool, you should see it."

"Well, water's gonna be useful," said Amelia. "The Gym here is full of fire-types. I'm surprised it hasn't burned down by now. Flannery's got a Numel and this thing…what's it called…" she snapped her fingers. "Uh, a Vulpix! Yeah!"

"Any tips?"

"Numel just sits in one place and boosts its attack and defense. It gets slower after a while, though. And Vulpix just runs around trying not to get hit, firing off Confuse Ray like there's no tomorrow." she smirked. "Too bad Ziggy's faster."

I nodded, thinking frantically about a speedy fire-type Pokémon, darting around and dishing out fireballs. I was not nervous at all. "Could you help me me out with training?" I blurted out. "I mean, not now, 'cause it's kinda late, but—"

"Sure," Amelia said, before I was done talking. "I charge two hundred bucks an hour—haha, no, I'm kidding," she said quickly. "Yeah, I'll give you some pointers tomorrow. You've got some time to train anyways. Flannery's gonna be gone tomorrow, she's heading up the mountain to investigate something or the other. I wasn't really paying attention when she said that."

"Thanks," I said, relieved. "What the heck is there to investigate in a volcano anyways? Rocks?" I remembered Steven. Was there a secret rock collector's club on the mountain?

"No idea," Amelia shrugged. "Are you hungry? We could grab food."

I tore my thoughts away from rock collections. "Sure, from the cafeteria in the Pokémon Center, or—"

"Nah, none of that," Amelia said, grinning. "Let's. Eat. Out."

"Seriously?" I couldn't believe it. The idea of eating out was a weird one, to say the least. The only place Amelia and I had regularly ate out at was the soup kitchen.

"Yeah, I got enough money from beating Flannery to last a while." And with that, my resolve to beat Flannery rocketed up. Then I deflated.

"I don't know if I can afford—" I began.

"I'll cover you. Just pay me back sometime."

"You're the coolest."

"Yeah, yeah. Remember it."