Chapter 3:

New Bonds

Noelle, Ralts, and Phantump continued through Eterna Forest until they emerged through the other side. There was a long strip of rocky terrain, running parallel to a strip of water. At the end of the rocky road, Noelle could see a town with bright flowers blooming all around. He began to walk with his two friends close-by. Ralts jumped off Noelle's shoulder, slid down his arm, and began to run ahead of him. Noelle smiled as he watched his little companion become comfortable with the new surroundings.

As Noelle walked a few steps behind the running little pokémon, he spotted two people battling up ahead. Ralts ran up near the battle to get a closer look at the action, and Noelle joined him a few feet away from the battlefield. On one side was a teenage girl who had flowing black hair, brown skin, beautiful brown eyes, and a small horsea standing at attention in front of her. On the other side was a slightly older boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and a charmander in front of him. The battle had not even delivered its first attack yet when Noelle walked up, so he situated himself a distance away, sat down against a nearby rock, put Phantump in his lap and watched on.

As the battle begin, the girl started out with a Bubble attack from her horsea. The boy had his charmander dodge the attack and counter with a Smokescreen. Horsea's vision became clouded as he tried to shake the smoke away from around him. "Horsea! Use Twister!" the girl shouted.

A few small twisters formed around Horsea and dispersed the smoke. However, as the smoke cleared, Charmander was right up close with his hand drawn back to attack. "Charmander! Use Dragon Claw!"

Charmander's claws glowed purple and they ripped down Horsea's front half. Horsea was launched backwards from the attack. "Horsea get up!" the girl yelled.

As Horsea struggled to return the fight, Charmander closed in once again. "Charmander, finish him with Brick Break!" Charmander swung down hard on Horsea, knocking him out of the battle. "Looks like I win. You couldn't even scratch my Charmander."

The girl ran to her Horsea but was stopped in her tracks by the young man. "Somebody as weak as you should not even try to be a pokémon trainer. I think I am going to relieve you of your Horsea since it won't ever meet its true potential following you around," the boy said to her.

With this, Noelle stood up and began to approach the pair. "Wh… what? You can't just take my pokémon, it was just a battle," she replied, taken aback.

"And what are you going to do to stop me exactly with no pokémon? Nothing! All you can do is watch!" he shouted in her face.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Noelle yelled as he was now close enough to the two trainers. "Leave her alone and walk away. You can't just take somebody's pokémon if you beat them in a battle!"

"Oh yeah? And who are you to tell me otherwise? I see you have no strong pokémon with you to defend her, so what are you going to do?"

Ralts was upset by the claim he was weak and jumped in between Noelle and the boy. "Ralts!" he yelled.

"Fine, I challenge you to a battle. If you win you get the Horsea, if I win, I'm going to take that Ralts and train it to be a strong fighting pokémon."

"Please, you don't have to risk your pokémon for me, I will figure out a way to get out of this," the girl responded to Noelle.

Noelle looked at Ralts. He was looking at Noelle and Noelle could feel the burning desire from Ralts to fight this battle. "I accept your challenge," said Noelle after a moment of internal debate.

Phantump left Noelle's side and floated over to the girl. He grabbed her hand and held it as the two watched the battle that was about to begin.

This was Noelle's first-ever pokémon battle. His heart was pounding out of his chest, and he could feel Ralts' determination to fight this battle. He took a deep breath and let all his nerves run out of his body. This was it. The decisive moment. Was he going to be a successful trainer, or was he going to lose his first ever pokémon battle? It was time to… "Charmander use Dragon Claw!" the boy shouted out ruining Noelle's concentration.

Charmander rushed at Ralts, and all on his own, Ralts dodge the attack. He looked back at Noelle to make sure he was in it to win it, with a confident "Ralts!"

"Great dodge Ralts, turn around and face him and use Confusion!" Noelle shouted.

Ralts did as instructed by Noelle, and as Charmander recovered from his missed attack, he turned back towards his opponent only to be met with a blast of psychic energy.

"No!" shouted the boy. "Charmander, stand up and use Smokescreen!"

Charmander flooded the field with smoke. Ralts began to panic and look around furiously to locate his opponent. The small pokémon could not see anything since the smoke was at least twice his height. "Charmander, use Brick Break!" the boy shouted. As Charmander sailed through the air towards Ralts, Noelle instinctively yelled out "Ralts, Teleport behind him!"

As Charmander struck with his outstretched hand, the attack had blasted the smoke away. Ralts was now standing directly behind Charmander, who took a second to dislodge his hand from the dirt. "Ralts!" Noelle shouted confidently. "Use Confusion!"

Ralts blasted Charmander with another blast of psychic energy just as he managed to dislodge his hand. Charmander skidded across the ground, and eventually came to a halt. Charmander attempted to stand up when he collapsed once again onto the ground.

Noelle did it. He won.

Ralts ran to Noelle and jumped up as far as he could. Noelle met him halfway and lifted him into his arms and hugged him close. "You were so good Ralts. I knew you could do it!" "Ralts, Ralts, Raaaalts!" he proclaimed.

The boy picked up his Charmander and returned him to his pokéball. "Fine, take the Horsea. I don't think I could train a weak little pokémon into anything strong anyways!" the boy proclaimed as he turned and left towards the floral city down below.

Noelle picked up the Horsea and walked it over to the girl. The girl took Horsea from Noelle as he took Phantump's hand from her. "Thank you so much… you risked your own pokémon just to save mine. I really don't know what I would've done if something happened to him."

"It's okay, no need to thank me, you needed help and I helped you. It was just what should be done," he responded.

"Are you going to Floaroma Town? I live there, I can guide you there with the quickest route," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, actually I am. That would be awesome, thank you!" Noelle responded.

The two set off down the path once again. The girl had returned her Horsea to his pokéball and had taken Phantump by the hand. The sun was beginning to set as they walked into the town. Phantump and Ralts ran ahead towards the pokémon center in the small town covered in flowers. "You know, I think Phantump really likes you," Noelle said to the girl.

"He is just the sweetest little thing. You know, you fought a battle to save my pokémon and I don't even know your name yet," the girl said to Noelle as they walked towards the pokémon center together.

"I'm Noelle Atlas from Eterna City."

"Nice to meet you Noelle, I'm Ariya Ember from Floaroma Town. Welcome to my hometown."

The two met up with Ralts and Phantump at the door of the pokémon center. Once inside, Ariya gave her Horsea over to the Nurse Joy behind the counter and asked if she could please heal him back to health.

As the two left the pokémon center with Ralts, Phantump, and now Horsea all accompanying them, it was completely dark out. "Oh man," Noelle said, "I was hoping to get to Jubilife tonight. Looks like that isn't happening."

"If you need someplace to stay tonight, you could stay in my brother's room for the night. He is out on his own adventure and hasn't been home in months," Ariya told Noelle.

"Thank you Ariya, I think I will take you up on that," Noelle responded to the offer.

Ariya led Noelle to her house, where they were both greeted by Ariya's mother. "Welcome home honey! Oh, and I see you brought home a new friend."

"Mom, this is Noelle, Noelle, this is my mom. She used to be a Gym Leader y'know," Ariya said with a triumphant grin on her face. "She used to run the Gym in Humilau City over in Unova before Marlon took it over."

"Ariya, was this really the best time you could've told him that? Sit down, I made dinner, and there is more than enough for your friend." Ariya's mom chuckled. "Oh, and don't worry, I have plenty of pokémon food for you guys too!"

Noelle, Ariya, and Ariya's mom spent the next hour or so chatting, laughing, and enjoying the food Ariya's mom had prepared. The pokémon sat on the floor next to the table and played around while eating their pokémon food. Eventually, Ariya's mom cleared the table and sat down in the living room with a book. Ariya showed Noelle to where he would be sleeping and situated some beds on the ground from other rooms for Phantump and Ralts to sleep on.

Noelle took off his shirt, his pants, and his socks and crawled into bed in his briefs. He had just finished getting comfortable when he felt something hard pushing up on his arm. He lifted his arm up and Phantump crawled underneath it and situated himself comfortable before quickly falling asleep. Noelle smiled as he lay listening to the soft snores of his two companions. A sliver of light came from the slightly ajar door, and Noelle could hear the faint voices of Ariya and her mother. "…I want to ask him, but I feel like it would be a burden he would be too nice to say no to," he heard Ariya say.

"The worst that can happen is that he says no. I think it might be good for both of you," Ariya's mother replied to her.

Noelle could not make much more out from the voices and dozed off cuddling Phantump.

Noelle awakened to the smell of breakfast. He looked around his room and Phantump and Ralts were nowhere to be found. He stood up and pulled a fresh set of clothes out of his bag, that had the same bright colors as usual. He noticed the clothes he had left on the ground were now gone. He took off his briefs and put a fresh pair on and then finished getting dressed. He shook his head vigorously and his hair returned to its normal position. He made for the door, and slowly opened it.

He walked out into the kitchen where there were three plates of food ready to be eaten. Ariya's mom was just pouring a glass of orange juice for all three plates. As Noelle said good morning and seated himself at the table, Ariya emerged from the hallway with her hair up in a towel and dressed for that day. "Good morning Noelle," Ariya said to him and she manually dried her hair in the confines of the towel. As she removed the towel, her hair was exposed with it's natural curl and was very voluminous. "Yes, it was straightened yesterday," she said to Noelle with a laugh as she saw the expression on his face.

She sat down at the table as her mother also took the third seat and they all began eating breakfast.

"The boys are all outside playing in the flower fields, since I'm sure you were wondering," Ariya's mom said, "I told them to be back in a half an hour, so we will see if that works out," she said with a small chuckle.

Noelle, Ariya, and her mother finished breakfast. As Ariya's mom was clearing the table, Noelle made for the door. He walked outside and could see his partners playing in the flower fields with Horsea. He smiled as he watched Phantump, the once frightened orphan, bonding and having a good time. He was also glad that Ralts was able to enjoy himself after his mother had passed. He looked up at the sun and smiled as he felt his mother's warm embrace every time the sun shined so brightly. He hoped he was making her proud.

Ariya walked out of the house, with her hair back to its straightened black sheen, and joined Noelle on the bench he had chosen to sit at. "Hey Noelle… I know it is sudden, and I don't want you to feel like you have to say yes," she began to say, "but I was wondering if Horsea and I could come with you on your adventure."

As Noelle opened his mouth to respond she cut him off. "Look, I'm not really that strong yet, and I know I only have one pokémon, but I think if I went with you on your journey I could- "

"Ariya." Noelle stopped her. "I would love for you to come with me. My partners seem to like you. Besides, you were so thoughtful and offered me a place to stay and helped me find my way here. It's the least I could do is let you tag along."

"Thank you so much Noelle! I am going to go pack my bag because I know you probably want to leave as soon as possible!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and ran inside.

Noelle watched through the window as Ariya ran to her mom and told her the news. They hugged, and both jumped up and down, Ariya's mom's afro bouncing with each jump. He turned back to his partners who had spotted him and were running at him full speed. They leaped onto his lap and both exclaimed with joy as he laughed at their enthusiasm.

Ariya and her mother emerged from the house a little while later and Ariya had a bag slung over her shoulder that looked full of anything she would need. Ariya's mom had Noelle's bag. "Here hun, I washed the clothes you had on the floor and put them in there for you too," she said as she handed him the bag. "You two have a great journey, and I hope you will have lots of fun. Take care of each other! I know you will both do great things!" Ariya gave her mother a hug and a kiss goodbye and then her mother grabbed Noelle and gave him a big hug as well. He returned the embrace and realized how much he had missed the embrace of a mother since his had left.

T he two of them turned away from the house, Ralts on Noelle's shoulder, Phantump floating and holding Noelle's hand, and Horsea happily bounding along beside Ariya. Ariya's mother waved as the two of them departed. They began the trek to Noelle's first destination – Jubilife City.