Yo, I'm back! Enjoy the chapter and thank you all who reviewed/favorited/alerted blah, blah, blah. I'll be releasing an Xmas one-shot soon so be prepared.

Chapter 2: Enter Tierra

"Wow Hearthome city looks AWESOME!" Hikari exclaimed her headache forgotten. Satoshi nodded. "Lets go check out the pokemon center," Takeshi said, "And see Joi-san again!" He instantly ran off leaving Satoshi and Hikari sweatdropping.

"Eh Pikari is that you?" someone suddenly asked. Hikari sweatdropped again. 'There's only one person who calls me Pikari,' she thought and turned to see her good friend Kengo running to her. "Pikari why are you here?" he asked.

"Don't call me that!" Hikari snapped. "My name is Hikari. Hi-Ka-Ri! And I'm obviously here for the pokemon contest. And Satoshi is here to challenge the gym." Kengo nodded. "Well Hikari-chan its good to see you again." he said, "After you check into the pokemon center would you like to go on a picnic in the park?" Hikari thought about it for a second. She wanted to get some more sleep but a picnic did sound good. But before she could answer Satoshi cut in.

"Sure we'd love to go to the park," he said, "We'll meet you there in ten minutes." With that they left to the pokemon center. Kengo watched Hikari leave with a saddened look.

----------10 minutes later----------

"This food is awesome," Hikari exclaimed as she ate her sandwich. "Did you make them yourself Kengo-kun?" He nodded. "Yeah I did," he said. Hikari finished it eagerly. Just then a short girl approached them. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was wearing a green T-shirt with a butterfly and brown cargo pants. Around her waist was a denim jacket and she wore a flower pendent.

"Are you Hikari Berlitz?" she asked seriously. Hikari nodded. Suddenly the girl hugged her. "YAHA! I'M ACTUALLY MEETING BERLITZ-SAMA!" she cheered. "I'm Tierra you're biggest fan." Hikari laughed nervously.

"I have a biggest fan?" she asked. Then she realized Tierra must know her because her mother was a famous coordinator. Tierra got off and nodded. "I know everything about you from you're last pokemon capture to that birthmark on you're--"
"OK I get it," Hikari shrieked embarrassed. Kengo and Satoshi eyed her carefully. "What birthmark?" they both asked curiously.

"Perverts," Hikari said red-faced. "Tierra do I want to know how you know this?" Tierra shook her head. "That's classified!" she said teasingly. "And I came here to discuss a very important matter!" Hikari looked at her curiously.

"Berlitz-sama," Tierra said, "I want to travel with you." Hikari and Satoshi fell silent. "Are you sure?" Satoshi asked. "Traveling with her could be a pain yaknow." Tierra was suddenly shooting him a death glare. "Don't you talk about Berlitz-sama that way!" she hissed. Satoshi sweatdropped. Takeshi was the next to speak up.

"We'd love to have you with us Tierra-chan." he said. Tierra smiled brightly. "Sure but please don't call me Berlitz-sama it sounds too formal," Hikari said, "Just call me Hikari."

"Hikari-sama?" Tierra asked hopefully. Hikari shrugged. Just then one of Hikari's pokéballs fell off her waist and began rolling away. "Hey wait come back!" Hikari yelled and ran after it.

She eventually caught her pokéball in the tower Chimchar was growling at before. "Gotcha," Hikari said. Then she crinkled her nose in disgust. "Man it stinks in here!" she stated and left. "Is it me or is it getting hotter," she said to herself and began walking. The tall figure watched her leave. He smiled at her. "Found you little girl."

Hikari struggled to get back to the others. Every step felt heavier and heavier. Hikari thought that gravity was really against her today. So was the sun. Hikari was feeling very hot and dizzy and (of course) she blamed it on the sun.

As Hikari got closer to the others, Satoshi's Pikachu started growling. "Pikachu what's wrong?" Satoshi asked worried. It was very unlike Pikachu to growl at nothing. Tierra looked at it curiously. Then Kengo noticed Hikari coming and called out to her. But as she got closer everyone noticed she was swaying. "Pikari?" Kengo called out confused. Satoshi was holding Pikachu who was trying to run off and fight. But when Satoshi noticed her current state he forgot all about Pikachu and ran over to Hikari.

The moment Hikari saw him it seemed she had lost all control of her body and began falling. Luckily Satoshi caught her just in time. "Hikari are you okay?" he asked but she had fallen unconscious. "Hikari-sama!" Tierra cried out and ran over to her. "Pikari!" Kengo called. Satoshi (still holding Hikari) placed his hand on her forehead. It was burning hot. "She has a fever!" he stated. Takeshi appeared holding a first aid kit.

"Let's see how bad," he said and placed a thermometer in her mouth. A few minutes later it showed 40oC. "That's too high," Takeshi stated after showing everyone the results. "We have to get her to a hospital or pokemon center or something." Everyone nodded. Satoshi hoisted Hikari onto his back and they began running. Tierra looked around before noticing the maniacal Pikachu. "You smell it dontcha?" she asked and took out a powder. "Well its too dangerous." She sprinkled and Pikachu almost instantly calmed down. "Pika?" it squeaked. When it saw the others leaving it ran after them.

A while later, everyone was at the Hearthome pokemon center (the closest thing to a hospital). Satoshi, Takeshi, Kengo, and Tierra stood (well actually Tierra sat on a nearby bed) around Hikari watching her sleep concerned. Nurse Joi had double-checked her temperature (only to learn it climbed up to 41) before settling her on a bed with an ice pack on her forehead. She then proceeded to call a real doctor.

Meanwhile Tierra looked over at Hikari who was beginning to stir. She began mumbling something. At first, it was no more than a whisper that no one could hear but then it became clear. It seemed Hikari was calling for someone and desperate to find them. "Shin...ji," she moaned weakly. "Shin...ji." Satoshi and Takeshi gasped. Kengo and Tierra really had no clue who Shinji was but Satoshi knew well...and he hated him. "Shinji?" Satoshi repeated, "Why is she calling for him?" Tierra looked up.

"You know him?" she asked curiously. Satoshi nodded. "He's a no good pokemon trainer who cares for nothing other than power," he explained, "That guy makes me sick!"

"But why is Hikari-sama calling for him?" Tierra asked and looked over to him. Kengo shrugged. "I think we should try to find him." Tierra looked over at Hikari before looking at Takeshi. He had lost-in-thought expression. "What's wrong Oji-san?" (Note: Oji means uncle. But it's usually reserved for middle-aged man...not men in their mid 20s)

"I remember reading that people can sometimes have dreams reminding them of a trauma. Remember that time Shinji and Hikari got lost and then said nothing happened? But Hikari was really shaken about it. And when we kept on pushing her to tell us, she couldn't remember. She might be remembering what happened now."

"Shin...ji," Hikari cried again, "Help...me." This was followed by a long silence. "Shinji. Pause. Help me," could have more than one meaning. And it was the first meaning that entered Tierra's mind.

"THAT NO GOOD PERVERT!" she yelled, "Oji-san, Kengo-kun, Satoshi, Find him and bring him over here! NOW!" Tierra was very scary when mad so the boys scrambled out of the room in a hurry. Tierra stayed to watch over Hikari.

"That girl was pretty crazy eh Pikachu," Satoshi said and entered the gym. "Anyway we should be able to get some info on Shinji here right? He always shows up when he's not needed." Pikachu scratched his head. It was true Shinji appeared before many of Satoshi's gym battles but this time he was actually needed. (Note: Kengo went to search the contest hall, Satoshi went to the gym and Takeshi went to the park)(They seem to be more into their own things then helping a sick friend)

"Um hello I'm here for a battle," Satoshi called. A woman in a purple dress appeared. "Yes I'm Melissa, the gym leader," she said, "Let's battle. One-on-one if you don't mind." Satoshi nodded. "Pikachu go." Pikachu jumped off and sparked its cheeks to show readiness. "Drifblim." Melissa said and tossed a pokéball revealing a purple pincushion. "Let's begin," she said.

"Prinplup bubblebeam," Kengo called. His blue penguin launched many beautiful bubbles at the sky. The bubbles connected to each other. "Now peck," Kengo ordered. Prinplup's beak glowed and it reached to peck one bubble. This set off a chain reaction that popped all the bubbles and sent sparkles to the audience. While the judges were rating him, Kengo looked around the audience to find the guy who matched Shinji's description. But either, Shinji wasn't there or Kengo was unobservant because he couldn't see him. Like Shinji would really be at a pokemon contest. But actually, he was there.

Shinji frowned when he heard that Kengo was the last contestant. "Hmph and I came all this way too." He grumbled, "I just wanted to know if that girl had some skills. But no matter. She begs me to watch this contest and doesn't even enter. And I know I saw her go to the park before. I wasted all this time. But I did get my badge from Melissa so at least that's done." He left the contest hall.

"Could I have made a mistake?" Shinji asked himself, "I could've sworn she begged me when we were in that cave. But..." he put his hand to his forehead. "My memory is all a blur from that." Yes, Hikari wasn't the only one who couldn't remember. Something must have happened that smashed both of their memories. But that will be revealed in good time. How about we get back to Satoshi. Takeshi is too busy flirting with girls so he's not too interesting.

"Pikachu return," Satoshi said bitterly. He had lost his battle. But it wasn't entirely his fault. During the whole match, he kept thinking about if Tierra was right. It seemed unlike Shinji to try anything on a poor defenseless girl like Hikari but Shinji was unpredictable. So Satoshi couldn't focus and lost.

"You're mind was wondering," Melissa stated, "I guess this wasn't a really good match."

"I'm sorry," Satoshi said, "But I really shouldn't be here. You see my friend is sick and I'm trying to find someone who may shed some light." Melissa narrowed her eyes. "I see," she said, "Well in that case you haven't been a good friend. Friendship always comes before battle. I can't believe a battle you could do anytime was you're first priority. I'm sure you weren't even looking for you're friend when you came here."

"Actually I was," Satoshi said, "He's my rival and I thought he was here. His name is Shinji." Melissa's eyes widened.

"Well as a matter of fact Mr. Shinji was here," she said. "But he left in the middle of our battle to go watch a contest for his friend. I think you could learn a thing or two from him." (Yes, he has a badge because Melissa was touched by his kindness). Melissa began to leave leaving Satoshi in shock. Shinji was cold and rude and Melissa was telling to learn a thing or two from him! And Shinji had friends! And did something nice for them! Maybe it was a different Shinji, Satoshi figured. No way could Melissa and he be talking about that Shinji. Satoshi left the gym in despair.

He was greeted by Kengo who had just left the contest hall. "I guess you and me thought of the same thing," Kengo said embarrassed. Satoshi shook his head. "No I really thought Shinji was there. But he would never watch a contest. He'll say he has no time to watch such a stupid display of friendship." Satoshi said.

"Didn't I already yell at you for talking behind my back?" An angry voice suddenly snapped. The two boys turned to a VERY angry Shinji. "For the record I do watch contests because they're good for battle skills and why were you looking for me?" Satoshi and Kengo exchanged nervous glances before revealing the story to Shinji. To their surprise, Shinji listened attentively and looked truly shocked. He even ran of to the PC first.

Tierra was watching Hikari attentively when Shinji stormed in breathing heavily from all the running. "Who are you?" he asked but didn't wait to hear the answer. He just turned to Hikari and stroked her hand gently. Tierra gasped when she saw him. 'That's the guy from the park!' she thought and narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't know why but she really disliked Shinji at this point. Most likely from her overactive imagination.

Shinji noticed her cold stare. "What's wrong?" he asked flatly. Tierra did not lift her gaze of him. "Who are you to Hikari-sama?" she demanded. Shinji looked a little confused. He didn't know if Tierra was accusing him of being her boyfriend or just wanted to know how he knew her.

"She travels with that idiot Satoshi," Shinji said, "And we've been in situations before." Tierra raised a brow at this. "We got stuck in some cave that's all." Shinji said beginning to feel a little uneasy at Tierra's accusations. What he didn't know was those eight words caused Tierra's last strand of sanity to snap. She angrily grabbed Shinji by his jacket and tossed him out of the room. She pulled him by the shirt and began yelling things at him. Satoshi and Kengo were shocked watching it. Let's just say Tierra was using some inappropriate words. (I don't just mean curses. She was saying some M-rated words)

Before anything else could happen, a crash was heard from the room. Like a window breaking. Tierra, Shinji, Satoshi and Kengo ran in for the shock of their lives. Hikari was gone! And the window was broken! Put two and two together and you get...and overactive Tierra.

I couldn't resist adding a character like Tierra. She's nine but she really kicks butt. Her true purpose will be revealed in time so be patient. And the lost memory will be the fluffiest moment of the fic (but also kinda sad). Now review, criticize, flame (gently) or do whatever you want. Just tell me what you think. PLEASE