Chapter 2: Where Are You, Aron?

On the far end of town was where Cam's uncle resided – the very far end. Once she had finally arrived, she swung the door open and ran inside without even bothering to knock. The house looked simple, but barren. No pictures, simple couch, simple television set. The walls were a mundane brown and everything was so dull. Her uncle didn't mind much, though. Most of his time was spent outside with his pokemon or down in the basement working on numerous lab projects. He was somewhat of a freelance researcher: he didn't work for anyone, but he would submit his research to different corporations and take up errands for professors around the world.

She was about to enter the living room when she spotted a pokemon blocking the doorway. It was the absol that her uncle had gotten as a gift from one of his friends in Hoenn. They were actually quite rare, and they only showed themselves when natural disasters were well on their way. She didn't know the full story behind the pokemon, but she never cared to ask anymore questions.

"Hi there, Abigail!" she greeted with a smile and pet the smooth white fur on her head. "Where's Uncle Nigel?" The absol gave a shadow of a smile, but was replaced with a straight face as she bounded around the corner and into the dining room. Cam tilted her head and followed the pokemon curiously. "So he's –AH!" a chatot flew passed, nearly missing her face and landed on the back of a dining chair. "Chatot! That was rude! Apologize," she demanded.

The bird flapped its wings and chanted, "Where's my daughter? Where's my daughter!"

"Huh?"

"You better get her right now or I'm calling Officer Jenny!"

Cam's eyes widened in response. "Stay here!" she ordered her dratini as she bolted passed Abigail, through the archway and down the hall. She swung open the door to a spare room and found a man in his early 30's with straggly black hair and a custom-made lab coat folded over his arm. He was on a video call, and Cam recognized the deep shade of red on the screen immediately.

She pushed her uncle aside and grabbed the receiver with fake smile plastered on her face. "Hi, mom!"

"Camellia Redfern! Where have you been?"

"Uh…" she looked to her uncle for some help. He was stalling for a while, so he must've come up with some excuse. From there on out it was a game of charades as he made ridiculous, dramatic movements. She kept outwardly guessing, but covered up her wrong answers lamely by saying she only passed those places or visited them beforehand and finally settled on the story that she was grabbing milk at the department store.

Her mother glared at the girl the entire time, not believing a word of it. "One hour getting milk? You were messing around with pokemon again, weren't you? I swear, Camellia, if you ever set foot outside of Goldenrod with some ridiculous notion that you'll become a pokemon trainer, you'll be sorry. You know better."

"I never said anything about pokemon, mom!"

"I know that look. Don't think you can fool me; I'm your mother."

Cam felt a little anger build up, but she ignored it. Although her mother was more direct with her rudeness and ridiculing of her daughter's dreams, Cam couldn't get that angry with her. She had built up immunity to it, and there was no use in trying to convince her that pokemon weren't meant to be feared. Cam and her uncle have tried in the past, but she would have none of it. Her father just didn't like the seemingly dangerous creatures and her mother was paranoid beyond measure. Oddly enough, they adored their vicious tabby cat that mauled Cam every time she walked into a room.

Their tiny argument continued, and at some point along the way, the woman on screen said, "You remember what happened with that growlithe. You don't want a repeat of that again, now would you?"

"That was years ago! And everyone knows not to torment wild pokemon – especially near Lavender Town in the ages of Team Rocket! Some crazy stuff happens when those grunts show up; you shouldn't judge the whole pokemon race just because of what one distressed growlithe did."

"Well what about all of the rattata near the house when we were living in Saffron? Feed them once, and they come back for more like a bunch of savage rodents."

"They're pokemon and they're hungry, of course they're going to come back for more! You expect too much from them."

"They raided my house!"

Nigel let out a loud "well" to get everyone's attention and snatched the receiver out of Cam's hands, pushing her face out of the way and keeping her struggling figure out of his sister-in-law's vision. "I think we're going to go get some dinner, Cam's probably starving!"

The redhead swatted viciously at his arm and muffled through his hand, "I am not!"

After an awkward and uneven exchange of goodbyes, Nigel hung up the phone and removed his hand from his niece's face.

"I could've handled it!" she crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him, earning a raised eyebrow.

"You're sixteen. Don't you think you're a little old for sticking your tongue out like that?"

Cam narrowed her eyes slightly and stomped out of the room with her uncle in tow.

"I was talking to her for a whole hour, and I gave you a specific time. Why'd you take so long to get here?" he asked in slight agitation as they entered the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out some leftover pizza slices, poking at the plastic covering to see if they were edible.

Cam hoisted herself up on the counter and grabbed the front ends of her jacket to bury her nose in. "I'll explain everything that happened today, only if you tell me why it's so cold in here."

"I, uh…decided to try something different a few weeks back and gave Vulpix some candy as a reward for a job well done in training… Let's just say she heated the furnace a little more than necessary...and some of the backyard… Thus, the reason we have no heat and no furnace," he mumbled something about trying to cover the cost of buying another one before starting up the microwave. "Delibird keeps opening his door and the air conditioner in there is always on high so…yeah. Anyway, enough about all that. What all did go on today?"

Cam had started from the very beginning (which was technically yesterday). Her immediate family was currently residing in Dewford town in the Hoenn region since there were rarely any wild pokemon that wandered from their habitats. She decided to be a rebel on the day of her departure and slipped away to Granite Cave, where she caught a friendly Aron. She got a boat ride from an old friend to Slateport City where she could take regional ferry to Vermillion City in Kanto. Cam briefly went over how she traveled to Route 6 to train for a while and managed to find the meowth he requested, being sure to mention the boy, Leo, and his "uncalled for" rudeness. She told of how she nearly missed the train, ended up in Goldenrod, stopped by the gym to say hi to some friends, and she ended with the boy and his egg along with Adam the reckless bicyclist.

"Sounds like you had an interesting trip this time. That was some quick thinking with Syke, there," Nigel praised as Cam beamed.

"Thanks! I wonder what was in the egg, though…"

"What'd it look like?" he handed the plate of pizza to Cam, who took it gladly and shoved it into her mouth. She let out a yelp as she kicked her feet off the wall of the counter and shook her head from side to side. "I just took it out of the microwave! Let it cool down, first," her uncle advised as her eyes began to water. She ignored his statement and blew on the pizza, devouring it once again.

"Pale blue," she mumbled carefully through the cheese. "And it had some sort of black splotches on it."

Nigel leaned against the stove and put a finger to his chin. After thinking about it for a while, he shook his head of black tangles. "Never heard of such an egg. Maybe it's a new pokemon? Certainly something I've never studied…"

Cam shrugged. "Maybe it's from Sinnoh?"

"I've only been to Sinnoh a few times to help Professor Rowan, but I never got a chance to observe the pokemon there. I mean, I managed to catch Chatot when I was vacationing in Sunnyshore, but that's it."

"Catch Chatot! Catch Chatot!" the bird squawked out happily.

Nigel smiled at him and crossed his arms, directing his attention back to Cam. "I was thinking about traveling there sometime soon, but I'm trying to wrap up things here, first."

Cam nodded in understanding. Her uncle was never a man to stay in one place for long due to his passion for the hands-on experience. "So what's been going on lately?"

"Not much. Hoothoot keeps trying to fly" this earned a snort from Cam as he continued, "and he still won't listen to reason. Ever since he broke his foot during your last visit, I had him all healed up and taking lessons from Butterfree: how she has the patience and tolerance to deal with that loony is beyond me. Only this time, he's forbidden to jump from anywhere but the small rocks in the backyard, so that's one less thing to worry about. Quagsire's eating everything in sight, and he keeps cleaning out my fridge after I go to bed. I keep forgetting to chain it up before I crash… Ah, whatever. Almost every pokemon is causing a problem for me nowadays – that's nothing new. But something strange did happen about two days ago."

Cam bit off some pizza crust and stared at Nigel, giving him her full attention. "Like what?"

"There have been rumors that a Team Rocket grunt showed up and tried to rob the city's gym leader of her pokemon."

She chocked on her pizza and endured a coughing fit, projecting her worry to her uncle afterwards. "Team Rocket? I thought they disbanded!"

"I don't know, maybe a few still have to get their heads out of the clouds and face the reality that their organization is gone and done for. Or maybe they really are back…"

"Don't scare me like that! There's no way Team Rocket can offer a counter attack without any warning," Cam shook her head disbelievingly while Nigel shrugged.

"It's possible. I heard that even Whitney couldn't fight him off. Some kid came along with a strange pokemon and defended her, scaring him away."

Cam leaned forward on her seat from the counter, completely enticed by the story. "And? Who was it?"

Nigel just shook his head. "No one knows. Those who were there claim that this guy was some elite trainer or something. I doubt it's true, though: you know the people of Goldenrod." Cam nodded in understanding and Nigel veered away from the subject. "But anyway, that's it. Nothing else has happened lately. Just the same old, same old."

She made a mental note to ask Whitney about her knight in shining armor when she visited the gym next. "Oh yeah! Before I forget, here's that meowth. Watch, though. It's a snappy little thing." She held out the pokemon's ball and Nigel took it with cautious hands. The meowth was seen through the red, purring at the sight of him and smiling. "It's a lie. Don't give in to the cuteness," Cam cautioned with a wag of her finger.

"Or maybe he just doesn't like you."

"Hey! I resent that statement. You know as well as I do that I am fabulous with pokemon! Except for Magnemite. And anything electric. But that's beside the point!"

Nigel rolled his eyes at her knowingly false proclamation. "Hm, well we'll just see how evil this cat really is." He was about to click the button when a small light on his watch flashed a bright green. "Ah, it'll have to wait. There's a video call." He placed the ball on the counter and walked out of the room and Cam glowered at the mini meowth with beady eyes.

"Think you're so cute, now huh? Well I'm not buying it, you little devil."

Meowth hissed in return and gave a tiny jump at the spherical wall, causing the ball to wobble slightly.

"Hah! You're not so tough. I'll take you on any day! I have to train my new pokemon, not that he'll get much of a workout from the likes of you. Wanna see?"

The meowth had a look of disdain as Cam giggled in a taunting manner. "Go, Aron!" She reached for her belt and grabbed air, but didn't realize it until she threw her empty hand forward. "Huh?" She felt her belt for the spot where she swore she put her new pokemon. Panic ran through her as she took off her belt fully and inspected her team. Jabari's empty ball was in front as well as Syke's ball next it. There was no other ball on the belt, causing Cam to gasp as she dug into her pouch. "This can't be happening! He was here, I know I had him!"

Once she had dumped everything out onto the kitchen table and there still wasn't any sign of Aron, she exhaled at her new realization in bewilderment. "But…how did it…who could've-" then a familiar voice echoed through her thoughts.

"No way! I'm not going anywhere until I get my meowth back!"

The redhead narrowed her eyes as her face reddened with anger. "That Leo kid! He…He probably stole my aron thinking it was that stupid cat!"

Nigel smiled at the person on screen. "No problem, Professor Oak – really. I'm available to lend a helping hand whenever you need it!" he stated proudly as he tapped a fist on his chest.

The gray-haired man chuckled at his determination. "I'm glad to know that I can count on-"

"THAT LITTLE THIEF!"

Oak let out a noise of surprise at the random outburst. "Is everything okay over there?"

Nigel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and gave a nervous laugh in response to the admired professor. "You remember when I told you about my niece, right?"

"Ah, you mean Camellia?" Nigel nodded and Professor Oak followed up with, "She sounds so charming."

Nigel laughed softly and scratched his head with his index finger. "I should go see what the problem is. You can count on me, and it was nice talking to you again, professor."

"Same for me, Nigel. And thank you again!"

The line cut and the charcoal-haired professor sighed, walking idly to the kitchen. "Cam?"

He saw her traveling items scattered across the table and a red-faced Cam pacing the kitchen. Meowth was secretly snickering, but quickly mimicked Jabari's sad expression when Nigel entered.

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," she started furiously. "The second pokemon I've ever managed to catch for myself was stolen! And I'll tell you exactly who did it. That stupid Leo kid was so hooked on getting Meowth that he had the nerve to try and steal it, but took Aron instead!"

Nigel tilted his head in question and brought up a good point. "That sounds a little too complex for it to be accurate… You shouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe you just dropped it."

Cam turned on him with dangerous eyes. The amber in them seemed to come alive and burn darker with her rage. "I always make sure my pokemon are securely fastened to my belt. What kind of a trainer would I be if I couldn't even hold on to my own pokemon?"

"You've been doing all that running to the Saffron train station; I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow managed to drop him along the way."

"I'm heading out to retrace my steps, okay?"

"Now hang on a second, Cam. You can't just go leaving the region when it's almost dark outside. And although I encourage you to embrace your adventurous trait, your mother doesn't; I promised her that I wouldn't let you leave Goldenrod – or at least, go very far."

"But my aron-"

"Cam, have you bonded with this pokemon?"

She gave a start and looked down at the floor. "W-Well…no...I just caught it and I haven't taken it out of his ball since, but-"

"Then be thankful it wasn't your abra. There's no use in going all the way to another region to look for a pokemon that you've just caught. Chances are, someone came across him already and took him under his wing. It's a very popular route so I'm sure somebodypicked him up."

Cam frowned and crossed her arms. She wouldn't admit out loud that he was right, but that Leo kid could easily be pictured working alongside shady characters in her mind. She didn't trust him one bit. "Can I go search the city at least?"

Nigel's eyebrows dipped in sympathy and he nodded. "Go out back and get Murkrow and Chinchou to go with you. Be back in an hour, okay?"

"Ugh, why do I have to take Chinchou?" The girl expressed her dislike for the electric-type clearly and her uncle looked slightly irritated.

"Because chinchous are walking lanterns and the city lights won't be enough if you're looking for something as small as a pokeball. Just have him ride on Murkrow so you won't have to be near him."

Cam sighed. "Fine."

Once she walked out the door, Nigel felt his absol nudge his leg, asking for attention. He grinned as he pat her head, feeling her body vibrate with inaudible purrs. "I'll tell her about Oak's favor when she gets back."

Cam had searched every inch of the city, even though she hadn't been everywhere since arriving. She used Chinchou as her guiding light and Murkrow as the distance keeper. Also, she needed aerial views to double check her own searches.

At this point it in the game it had been way longer than an hour. Not that Cam was keeping an eye on the time: she had left her Pokenav at her uncle's. Sighing, she sat on a nearby bench and looked up at the sky. She couldn't see any stars like she could in Dewford because of the city lights. She had the same problem when she was living in Saffron. No stars meant no beauty in the sky for her to contemplate.

Chinchou had been let off of Murkrow onto the bench next to her as the bird perched on the back, glancing at his trainer's niece with sad eyes. Chinchou sat down with a "Chin!" and started batting the yellow sacks of electricity that hung in his face with his short blue fins, clearly enjoying himself and oblivious to the situation.

Cam observed the pokemon through her peripheral. He was just an egg when he was left behind at the Day Care. Nigel would usually take in spare eggs if no other trainer wanted them, which was quite a handful. Her uncle was one of those people who couldn't say no to an orphan, couldn't deny any request of his help, and insisted on training every pokemon he had to its fullest potential. He used to take his well-trained pokemon to the Battle Frontier and sell them as rentals, but for the last year or so his researching abilities grew high in demand, taking his attention away from everything else.

Chinchou rolled onto his feet and jumped into Cam's lap, smiling widely at her. "Chinchou!"

Wariness was imprinted on her features as she eyed him, unsure of what she was supposed to do. The sea creature flapped his fins excitedly and the lightning sacks glowed. Even though he was an electric-type, she couldn't help but to smile at how cute he was.

But it could only last for so long. He let out a loud "Chou!" as lightning erupted from his body, causing Cam to wail as the painful currents overwhelmed her body. From her head to her toes she was fried by Chinchou's thunderbolt, being one of the moves that she prayed his parents didn't pass on to him. As one could see, this hope only led to her clothes getting singed. She gritted her teeth and leapt off of the bench, sending the pokemon onto the ground.

"What the hell was that about, huh?" Chinchou may have been just a baby, but even a baby electric pokemon can pack a punch.

"Chinchou?" He tilted his body in question after finding a childish amusement in her suffering, but as soon as one of his lightning bulbs swung in his face, he returned to swatting it. "Chin."

"Come on. Let's just go home," Cam mumbled as she trudged back to Nigel's. Murkrow nudged Chinchou with the rounded part of his beak and allowed the water pokemon to stumble onto his back. They glided after the girl and the three slowly disappeared into the darkness of the quieter side of the city.

She wasn't surprised to find her uncle passed out on the couch with Abigail curled up in the middle of the floor. Cam sighed and entered the kitchen, only to find all of her previously strewn items back in her pouch. She grabbed it along with her belt and walked dejectedly up stairs to her room, passing Quagsire, who for some reason gave her the impression that he was up to no good. Cam ignored this, too wound up from the day's events and she opened her bedroom door.

Pokemon posters were plastered on the brown walls, varying from dragon-types to fire, to psychic, to ice. The types were endless (excluding electric), and her favorites were clearly shown by the numbers and sizes of the posters. The only people she had on her walls were the most famous dragon tamers of all time. Claire, the Blackthorn City gym leader, and Lance, Champion of both Kanto and Johto. They were separate posters, each owning at least one of dratini's evolutions. There was another tamer on her wall that had recently risen to the top and challenged Lance, giving him a run for his money. He won the Pokemon League at one point and challenged the Elite Four, taking them out with moderate difficulty, only to lose to the champion by a landslide due to Dragonite's famous hyperbeam attack. His name was Nicolas, a raven-haired tamer from Fallarbor town in Hoenn. Oddly enough, he wore a cape just as the others did. His two altaria were beaming happily on either side of him and the salamence that towered behind with wings outstretched was rather intimidating, but admiringly powerful.

Cam couldn't bring herself to fawn over the images of her idols as she dropped her pouch and fell onto her metal, springy bed. The covers were a lime green: her second favorite color next to red, and the pillow was plain, but fluffy.

Jabari had somehow managed to scale the stairs after Cam, nuzzling her leg to offer some comfort. She smiled at her dragon's attempts and sat up, patting his head. His skin was nice and cool, so she assumed Nigel had let him take a swim in the pond to get him refreshed and hydrated. "Don't worry about me, Jabari. Hopefully Aron found a good home. We'll just find another teammate to be you and Syke's training buddies, okay?"

The dratini hummed happily in reply as the redhead grabbed a ball from her belt. "Time to get some rest. We have to be in tip-top shape so we can start training tomorrow." The pokemon disappeared from the floor and reappeared inside the ball, curling up comfortably. Cam set him on her nightstand and reached for her abra's ball. The psychic creature had the oddest sleeping schedule she had ever witnessed, with him taking short on and off naps instead of resting for several hours straight. She released him from his ultraball and clipped it back on her belt, rising as she did so and pulling clothes out of her drawer. "No getting into mischief. You hear me, Syke?" He nodded his head groggily, indicating that he had just woken up.

After coming back from the bathroom in her pajamas, Cam curled up under the covers and reviewed the day's mishaps. Her thoughts rested on the egg as she began to get drowsy, wondering what would hatch from it. Her vision of this new pokemon shifted as she pulled different features and colors from her imagination, along with what kind of tail it would have, if it had one at all. Finally, her thoughts drifted to the mysterious russet-haired teen before entering the land of dreams.

Cam was up bright and early the next day, not even bothering to think about eating breakfast as she threw on some clothes, grabbed her pokebelt and pouch along with Jabari, and raced down the stairs. The excitement of being out in the open to train was rather overwhelming, so she could forget about getting the correct amount of sleep.

Nigel was still passed out on the couch, only this time, he had drool crusted on his face. Cam smirked at this and quickly made her way to the back door, only to pivot her heel when she saw a typhlosion blocking the way. Cam rolled her eyes at the sleeping pokemon and folded arms. "Come on, Jiles. You have to move." She prodded him with her foot, and when he offered no response, she scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes. "Jiles, get up!" she said a little louder in his ear.

The pokemon woke with a start and glared at her, letting his back erupt in flames to send the 'back off' message. When she flinched, the flames died down and disappeared.

Cam balled her hands into fists and stomped her foot. "Don't get all huffy with me, Mr.! I have some serious training to do and you're blocking the door."

"Kaaaa…" He rested his head down and twitched his ears, not bothering to move an inch.

"Why you-"

She felt a tap on her leg and the girl looked to her feet. When she saw that it was Syke, she beamed. "There you are! I thought you went outside for the night." She turned to Jiles and barked, "You listen here, you big lug." This caught the fire-type's attention as he raised his head, clearly showing offense to the comment. "Just because you were Uncle Nigel's first pokemon doesn't mean you can act all high and mighty. I am your guest and you should treat me as such!"

Jiles raised an eyebrow and pulled a half-eyed, uninterested expression before blowing a smoke ring in Cam's face. The trainer closed her eyes when they began to water. To hell with it. This pokemon was going to pay.

She straightened up and smiled a devilish smile. Syke stared in wonder as Cam left the room and came back shortly after with a water bottle. She gracefully unscrewed the cap and poured the cold water on Jiles' head. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he flinched. He remained in shock until Cam emptied the last of the bottle's contents and threw it aside with a victorious smirk. Jiles' anger could be felt from a mile away and he bared his razor teeth as his body began to heat up, leading to the evaporation of the water on his head and neck. This created steam and gave the pokemon an even scarier look when flames sprouted from his back.

Cam giggled nervously at the sight of the typhlosion rising slowly and sizing her up. She was pretty sure that her life flashed before her eyes.

"Rakaaaa!"

"Eep!" was Cam's response as she made a mad dash for the front door with Jiles in pursuit. She threw the door open and she felt Syke crawl up on her back in fear.

Nigel woke up with a, "Huh…what?" but she didn't stop to say good morning for obvious reasons. She headed out on the road and sprinted into the city, but it turned into a full out run when Jiles' angry roar was heard. Syke had wrapped his legs around his trainer's neck and his arms around her forehead, clinging for dear life and occasionally blocking her vision. This slowed her down, but was pushed to run faster when Jiles started aiming brutal flamethrowers at her feet.

City dwellers turned their heads and raised eyebrows at the screaming redhead that flew past them. Their faces then turned to confusion or fear when they spotted the reason she had been running. Shop owners sweat dropped when they saw the scene pass their windows, as did many of the locals, muttering something along the lines of Cam being back and disturbing the peace.

After going down several alleyways and turning many corners, she finally lost him. She breathed a sigh of relief as she pried Syke from her head. The poor psychic was still fear frozen. "I'll let you get over the shock." Even in his pokeball, Syke had yet to move.

Cam straightened up and dusted off her baggy black cargo pants and straightened the orange tank top she wore. The pendant she had found the day before swung from side to side as she made her way to the gym, her wishing she had remembered to bring a jacket to conceal the lost item. Goldenrod was a big city, so she hoped no one would take notice and claim it. She tied her hair off to the side before taking out her Pokenav and checking the time.

"Ugh, it's too early. Whitney and her crew aren't up at this hour…" Sighing and clipping the device back onto her pokebelt, she headed for the Game Corner to kill some time. "Maybe if I find a trainer to battle before I go to the gym, just to get some practice in…" She nodded at her decision in approval, but the action was never carried out since her previous destination was right in front of her. The building was huge and purple with flashing lights hanging around the entrance. The owner made it so that people couldn't miss it even if they tried. The automatic doors slid open upon her arrival and a nostalgic smile was seen from the redhead as she viewed the many different games. There were only a few people and they were all at the slots – mostly those who were new to the gambling addiction and couldn't pull themselves away for the night. Hearing the slots rolling and the dinging sounds of winners was the greatest music to her ears she had ever heard.

Cam's smile widened when she noticed a heavy man with neatly combed back hair and a brown mustache sitting in a chair at a card table. He wore a sophisticated black suit, but he had the face of a risk-taker. "Mr. Game!"

The man leaned back slightly in his chair and turned around. "Cam? Is that you?" He laughed a bit after he squinted to temporarily fix his vision, though he didn't have to because he noticed her red hair. "It's been so long! How long has it been? Five months? Come, sit! Play some Voltorb Flip, no charge."

"Thanks." She weaved through the slot machines and sat on the other side of the man as the latter started a new game on the electric board.

"So how have you been? What about your dratini? Did it evolve yet?"

Cam sighed. "Mr. Game, you ask me that every time I come up to Goldenrod."

"Well you never know! Things change and you've put a lot of effort into that pokemon, I'll bet."

He had such a hopeful expression that Cam almost considered lying to him. After all, the dragon was won at his Game Corner by one of his luckiest customers. But lying would end with him wanting to see Jabari be a dragonair - and obviously, he wasn't.

"I wish he evolved…but he didn't," she mumbled lowly, but Mr. Game heard.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Cam began to play the game, mindlessly tapping the cards. "I just don't understand why he's not evolving. I've had him for two years, now. And he's also my very first pokemon. You'd think he was strong enough…"

The man smiled sorrowfully, knowing her situation. "If only you could go on a journey…I'm sure that if Dratini saw at least a little bit of the world, he would grow." His attitude flipped faster than she was flipping Voltorb cards when she cleared the first level. "Now that's some real luck! Luck you can't find in anyone else but Camellia Redfern: the Great Gambler of Goldenrod! And to pull it off with such grace, no hesitation whatsoever! Fabulous, truly fabulous!"

The praised girl rolled her eyes at the infamous and uncreative nickname he gave her all those years ago, but giggled at how excited he was getting. It was a sad thought, but one of these days he was going to have a heart attack just by watching her play a game: she was sure of it.

The two conversed for a while on nothing in particular as Cam breezed through the levels. Most of the game was chance, and it was clearly shown that she had luck that gamblers from all over the region would kill for.

When she finished off the last card, he clapped and cheered for her success. "That was brilliant! Marvelous work, my dear. Come, come to the counter and collect your coins."

"Oh, but that's hardly fair! I didn't pay the usual coins before starting each of the cards…"

"Well if you're really that hooked up on it, I'll just dock thirty from the thousand you just earned."

Cam visibly flinched at the double-digit number that was deducted from her fabulous winnings. Maybe she should have left her nobility at home, or at the very least, with Jabari. "On the other hand, you said it was free of charge."

The man laughed loudly and nodded. "That's more like the Cam I know. One thousand it is, then."

"Oh, and Mr. Game? Could you hold on to those coins for a bit? I left my case at home."

The front door flew open and Cam ran into the living room, heading for the stairs.

"Oh hey, Cam! I need to-"

"Can't talk, Uncle!" She disappeared for a few seconds and ran back down the steps by threes, holding her usual black jacket in one hand and a blue box in the other. "Gotta run!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" But Nigel's order fell on deaf ears, and as quickly as the redhead had come, she was gone. He merely sighed and his guest walked into the room with a bowl of chocolaty cereal in his hands.

"I heard voices. Is there someone else here?" He cocked his head of russet-colored hair in a questioning manner and Nigel shook his head.

"Sorry, Gary. I would have introduced you to my niece, Cam, but she came and left so fast…"

The teen nodded in understanding and took a seat on the springy couch. Next to him, an umbreon hovered over a dual-colored egg in a protective stance. "That's fine. I'll just meet her later, right?"

"Yeah. I have a feeling you two will get along really well." There was a knowing smirk on the man's face, causing Gary to raise an eyebrow, but said nothing.