Serena looked at the weird orange thing that was crawling next to her. It wasn't in a Pokéball—she hadn't caught it yet. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to catch it yet.
The weather was still holding up on Route 5. Bonnie ran around in the beautiful field next to them, smelling the flowers and roses.
"Let's take a break!" Bonnie said. "I'm hungry! It's time for lunch!"
"Good idea!" Clemont said, panting and wheezing. Throwing out his Pokéballs, he said, "Come on out, Bunnelby, Chespin, and Luxray!"
"You're so out of shape, brother," Bonnie said. "We were only walking! And is there any more of Cilan's soup?"
"We still have some more left for lunch," Clemont said. "Serena, want to help me set up?"
"In a bit…" Serena said, looking back down the bizarre insectoid Pokémon. It nipped at her feet, causing Serena to jerk back her leg.
"Pika pika?" Pikachu said, surprised at both the Pokémon and Serena's reaction.
Clemont sighed. "Serena, I know that Pokémon wasn't one you were hoping for. But you might as well introduce him to the rest of your team. He'll be battling with you, right?"
"Um, it's a good idea regardless," Serena said. "I choose you, Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon! This is uh, Trapinch. He'll be your new, er, he hatched from the egg Iris gave me."
"Tra! Tra!" Trapinch said, waddling up to them. Sylveon retreated back all the way behind Bunnelby, hiding behind the sighing rabbit. Pancham scratched his head. Braixen waved a hello, but other than that just looked at the Pokémon.
"Ches. Chespin?" Chespin said, walking up to the Trapinch. He knocked on Trapinch's huge head, causing the latter to bite Chespin's hand with a massive chomp.
"Trapinch! Stop that!" Serena that, chasing the wailing Chespin. Serena wasn't sure what she was more impressed by—the fact Chespin could lift single-handedly a Pokémon larger than him, or that Trapinch could hold onto Chespin's flailing arm with his mouth.
"Looks like this little one will be a handful," Clemont said. "Remember Ash's Noibat? Those Supersonics still give me nightmares."
"Aw, I think he's cute," Bonnie said. Serena had finally pried Trapinch off of Chespin, and Bonnie extended a hand to the baby Pokémon. "Can I pet you?
CHOMP.
Bonnie's running was even more frantic than Chespin's. "Wah! He's hurting me! He's hurting me!"
A few shenanigans later, Serena again managed to pull Trapinch off and stood, hands on her hips, in front of it.
"Don't do that ever again," she said. "Look at what you've done! Bonnie's arm is bleeding. Would you like it if someone hurt you?"
"Pinch?" The Pokémon cocked his head.
"Braix! Braix xen xen xen!" Braixen scolded.
"Cham pan!" Pancham said indignantly.
"Chu, Pika pika," Pikachu said, leaping off Serena's shoulder and getting between the two groups of Pokémon.
"Pinch! Tra!" Trapinch said.
"Bonnie, come here," Serena said. Taking out her sewing kit, she cut out a piece of cloth. Bonnie sniffed as Serena wrapped it around her forearm.
"There. Is it all better now?" Serena said.
"Tra! Trapinch!" Trapinch said, and he jumped into Serena's arms, but she raised her hands in surprise—or maybe something else—and Trapinch fell to the floor.
"Pinch. Pinch?" he said.
"Pan! Cham!" Pancham said, annoyed.
"Xen Brai Xen!" Braixen said, her hands also on her hips.
"Chu! Pika!" Pikachu pleaded, getting in between them and Trapinch again.
"I wonder what they're talking about," Clemont said. Picking up the soup ladle, he sipped a bit of the delicious soup. "And lunch is ready."
"Okay, so here you go Trapinch and Pikachu," Serena said, pouring the Pokémon food pellets into the dishes. "And here you go Braixen and Pancham, here's some more for you Sylveon, and…Trapinch? You're already done?"
"Pinch! Tra!"
"You want more? I'm sorry, you'll have to wait until dinner. We have to divide the food equally, and if I give more to you then I'll have to give more to everyone, and then we'll run out before we get to the next town."
"Pinch. Pinch," he whined.
"No no. Now be good while I eat my meal," Serena said, sitting back down at the table.
"Braix. Braix braix xen," Braixen said, waving her wand around as if she was teaching Trapinch a lesson.
"Ches," Chespin said. One of his hands was on his opposite cheek as he whispered to Trapinch. "Pin ches."
"Pinch!" Trapinch said, alarmed. He hopped up and down, but no one paid attention to him. Meanwhile, Chespin sneaked over to Pancham's plate and gobbled a handful while he wasn't looking. And another. And another.
"Pan?" Pancham said after he swiped at his plate, expecting food but receiving thin air. He didn't see Chespin who was lying down, clutching his engorged stomach, when he marched over to Trapinch and started pointing at him. "Pan pan pan!"
"Pinch! Pinch Tra!" Trapinch objected.
"Trapinch, geez, stop it already!" Serena said. "Have you been stealing food from Pancham? What am I going to do with you?"
"Pinch! Pinch!" Trapinch said, head facing the ground, his mouth wobbling.
"Hey, Clemont, can I talk with you?" Serena said.
"You haven't eaten any of your soup yet," Clemont said. "It'll get cold."
"It's really important."
Clemont looked at the Serena's serious expression for a while. "Okay. Bonnie, may you watch the Pokémon please?"
"Yay!" Bonnie said, raising her bandaged arm, and the two walked off. Trapinch tried to follow but Serena shooed him away.
They reached a small lake, the wood of an old dock creaking as they stepped on it.
"This is about Trapinch, isn't it?" Clemont said.
"Yeah. I don't think I can be his Pokémon trainer," Serena said. "I haven't been treating him well as an egg so, well, it's my fault that he grew up to the way he is now."
"That's not all, isn't it?"
Serena bit her lower lip. "No. For a while now I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate him into Pokémon Performances. But I can't. He's not cute, or cool, or clever. I also can't think of a way to dress him up so he can look strong or beautiful. What was Iris thinking? I thought Trapinch was in a dragon egg, but he's not a dragon. I just don't see him winning against a Salamence or a Garchomp or even a Bagon or Goomy."
"He does like you though," Clemont said. "He seems to listen to you whenever you scold him."
"He didn't listen to me when he stole Pancham's food," Serena said, placing her palm on her forehead. "Clemont, am I a bad person? I just don't like how he looks or feels or acts. I can't even brush him like what I do for all of my other Pokémon."
"No," Clemont said simply. "Everybody has preferences. But you must remember that Trapinch can't change how he looks. It's not his fault you don't like his appearance."
"What should I do?" Serena said. "Maybe we can find another trainer that would like Trapinch. Or how about I return him to Iris?"
Clemont shook his head. "Iris has six Pokémon. Like every trainer, I doubt she can care for seven at the same time. But I bet we can find someone on the way to Saffron City."
"Thank you, Clemont," Serena said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You've helped me out a lot."
"It's no big deal," Clemont said, blushing and rubbing the back of his head. "Ash actually told me a similar story once. It involved a girl who was scared of bug-type Pokémon."
"I'm sorry!" said a new voice. Serena and Clemont to see a boy with reddish hair and a blue cap stumble out of the bushes. "I was eavesdropping on your conversation. I didn't mean to. It was just so interesting."
"How much did you—" Serena started to say, but then stopped when she scrutinized the kid more closely. Now that she thought about it, he looked remarkably similar to Ash except his clothes were mostly green and yellow. True, he wasn't as good-looking as Ash, but it was weird how similar yet different the two looked.
"My name's Ritchie," he said, holding out his hand. "And I would love to take your Trapinch. I don't have a ground-type Pokémon on my team yet."
"I'm Clemont," he said, shaking his hand.
"And I'm Serena. And are you sure about that? From what I can tell, it's going to be tough training him."
"No Pokémon are truly bad. They just need love and affection," Ritchie said. That made Serena shift her feet. "Here, how about I go and check him out?"
The group returned to the camp where they saw Bonnie running around, the rest of the Pokémon looking upwards.
"Trapinch! Please don't jump off!" Bonnie yelled. Up on a cliff, Trapinch teetered on a loose rock.
"Pinch! Pinch!" Trapinch said.
Serena immediately assumed the worst.
"Trapinch! Just because I don't like you doesn't mean you should hurt yourself!"
"Tra?" Trapinch said. His eyes started watering, and then he shook his head and blinked his tears away. And jumped off.
"Chu!" Pikachu said, alarmed.
"Trapinch! No!" Serena said, running over to under the cliff and extending her arms. Skidding to the floor, she shut her eyes.
"Happy, I choose you!" Ritchie said, tossing out a Pokéball that was marked with a star-shaped sticker.
At the lack of expected impact, Serena opened her eyes to see a Butterfree flapping his wings, carrying the Trapinch. Butterfree couldn't entirely support his weight but it was enough for the two to gently float to the ground.
"Serena! Are you okay?" Bonnie said.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said. She then winced. "I think I just scraped my knee, that's all."
"Tra! Pinch!" he said, running up to Serena, but she waved her arms.
"Trapinch, I would like for you to meet your new Pokémon trainer," she said. "His name's Ritchie. He seems like a great trainer. He just saved you."
"Wow, you nickname your Pokémon?" Bonnie said, moving up to Ritchie with star-struck eyes. "My name's Bonnie! Nice to meet you. And this is Dedenne!"
"Dedenne!" the mouse said.
"Nice to meet you too. And yes, I found that it brings me closer to my Pokémon," Ritchie said. He kneeled down to Trapinch's level. "Hi there, Trapinch. Do you want to be my friend?"
"Tra? Tra!" Trapinch said. He scurried behind Serena, but she nudged him with her feet.
"Go on," she said. "He'll treat you better than I can."
Trapinch looked at Serena, and she flashed a small, surprisingly reluctant smile.
"Here, Trapinch," Ritchie said. He pulled out a Pokéball with a yellow star sticker. "This will be your Pokéball. I mark them because I don't want to lose my friends in case the Pokéballs get mixed in with other ones. Do you want to go inside?"
All of a sudden, there was smoke everywhere. Serena dove for cover, instinctively pushing the first thing she felt to the ground. Coughing and hacking, she looked up when the smoke cleared.
"What just happened?" Clemont said.
"If you say 'What just happened?'" a catlike Pokémon said.
"Prepare for trouble!" said the all-too-familiar female voice.
"And make it double!" said the also recognizable male voice.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To stand by the evils of love and truth!"
"The lovely, charmy, villains!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!"
"Woooobbuffet!"
The trio were in their usual balloon, doing their ridiculous poses when they said their motto. All of the Pokémon were in large bubbles that was only flying upwards.
"Pika!" Pikachu said, using Iron Tail on the wall of the bubble. However, while the transparent surface bounced and shook, it didn't break.
"Do you like our new invention?" James said. "We just received a rare material made from the slime of a Goomy! We used all of it to make these special Pokémon-capturing balls. Nothing can break it!"
"Now watch this!" Meowth said. He pressed a button on a controller, and a large tube-like object appeared on the bottom of the Meowth balloon. Like a vacuum, it started sucking air. All of the bubbles moved towards it.
"Happy, use Aerial Ace!" Ritchie said. But while Butterfree struck the bubble, it wasn't enough to pop it.
"Just give up already," Jessie said. She pulled on the bottom of her eyelid. "It's hopeless!"
"Do you have any other Pokémon?" Bonnie said.
"Yeah, I'll send out—," Ritchie started to say. "Oh. Trapinch wasn't sucked in."
Serena looked at the Pokémon her hand was on. She thought it was Bonnie, or Pikachu—but no, it was the warm head of the ground Pokémon.
"Do you want to help, Trapinch?" Serena asked.
"Tra! Pinch!" he said, determined.
"Here, I can help," Ritchie said. "Go Rose!"
Serena marveled at the blue and white bird before pulling out her Pokédex.
"Taillow. The Swallow Pokémon," her Pokédex said. "If its two tail feathers are standing at attention, it is proof of good health. It soars elegantly in the sky."
"Rose! Pick up Trapinch and fly towards that balloon."
"Argh! What is this brat doing here?" Jessie said. She enlarged a Pokéball. "Gourgeist, come out and use Shadow Ball!"
James tossed out his. "Inkay, Psybeam!"
Straining his wings, Rose plucked Trapinch with her talons. In a blink she disappeared from sight, the Psybeam and Shadow Ball missing their targets.
"What?" Meowth said, gaping. "That Swellow is fast!"
"Now Brave Bird, and drop Trapinch inside the balloon!" Ritchie said.
The Swellow glowed white as she zipped forwards. Trapinch shut his eyes but then—
"Wooobbuuffet!" Wobbuffet said, hobbling on the rim of the basket. He glowed white and Swellow slammed right into him. The Swellow was immediately knocked away.
"That was Counter!" Clemont said. "Add that to the recoil the Swellow took from Brave Bird, and that's massive damage!"
Ritchie caught Rose in her Pokéball in time. "I'm sorry old buddy," he said. "It was my fault. Serena, now it's your turn."
"R-right. Wait, I don't know Trapinch's moves!" she said. Then she remembered Iris's lesson from the previous day, and Bonnie and Chespin running around that morning, flailing their arms. "Trapinch, use Bite!"
"My hair!" Jessie said as Trapinch munched on it. She thrashed around even more quickly than Bonnie and Chespin. "My beautiful hair! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"
"Hold still!" Meowth said, but then he was socked in the head by one of Jessie's panicking arms.
"Inkay, Psybeam this annoying oversized bug!" James said.
The purple beam of energy scored a direct hit on the Trapinch, who whined out in pain. Nevertheless, the ground Pokémon held on, his eyes shut tight.
"Stubborn little one, is he?" Meowth said. Claws extended from his paws. "Have a taste of my Fury Swipes!"
"Wait wait wait Meowth watch out you might—" James tried to say, but it was too late. Meowth already used his attack.
"Do I see hair around here?" Jessie said. Her voice was quiet. Too quiet.
"Jessie please calm down," James said, holding his hands up. "I-it's only about an inch of hair. It's just important that Meowth got the Trapinch off. Isn't that right, Meowth?"
"I-I think this haircut looks nice on you," Meowth said, backing away into the corner. "A-and if anything, it's that Trapinch's fault, right?"
Gourgeist and Inkay hugged each other as they looked at the unusually calm Jessie. Her eyes shifted from Meowth to the trembling Trapinch.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" she screamed, kicking Trapinch into the side of the basket. "Look at what you've done to my hair! Look at it!"
"How dare you mar the hair of the beautiful Jessie?" she continued yelling. Picking up one of his short stumpy legs, she slammed him over and over against the handrail, and he squeaked every time he was smashed. And then, with one final kick she sent Trapinch flying out of the balloon. "Now get out of here and don't come back!"
"Trapinch!" Serena said, running towards the falling Pokémon. Branches and undergrowth nicked her legs and arms as she outstretched her arms. With a flying leap, she cried out as Trapinch crashed into her arms, adding more bruises to her collection.
"Are you okay, Trapinch?" she said.
"Tra. Tra," Trapinch said. He tucked his head, shut his eyes yet again, and buckled his feet.
"Eh? You don't expect me to punish you, do you?" Serena asked, puzzled. The Trapinch nodded, looking up at her with a wobbling mouth.
"Nonsense. Why would I want to do that?" she said. "I don't like seeing anyone getting hurt. Not even you."
"What do we do now?" Bonnie said. She squinted at the Team Rocket balloon which was getting smaller and smaller. "They're going to get away!"
"I don't have any more flying Pokémon," Ritchie said, clipping Rose's Pokéball back onto his belt. "We'll need a way to fly up there."
Clemont's glasses flashed. "Luckily, I have a machine for this type of situation! The future is now, thanks to science! Citronic gear, on!"
It's been a while since Serena saw the Aipom arm pull out and assemble a machine. Pretty soon the Clemontic gear assembled an invention that looked like wings. They looked large, metallic, and angelic, and there was a section that looked like the underside of a hang glider.
"I call it the Flying Ace Machine that Flies!" Clemont said, making an arrogant little laugh. "Well, this is only a prototype so it can lift only small Pokémon."
"Wow! Science is amazing!" Ritchie said.
"Brother, you did it again with the name," Bonnie said. "And I thought all of your inventions needed testing."
"I've got just the Pokémon," Ritchie said, pulling out another Pokéball.
"Pinch! Pinch!" Trapinch said, knocking Ritchie's arm aside. He did the best he can to motion towards the Flying Ace Machine that Flies.
"Eh? You want to use it Trapinch?" Serena said.
"Tra! Tra!" Trapinch said, nodding.
"Why? You'll only get hurt again. Ritchie's Pokémon is more experienced than you are and—" Serena started to say, but then it hit her. She had thought he wanted to hurt himself by falling off the cliff, but that was not it. "Do you want to fly?"
"Tra!" he said happily.
"But why? There's no need to fly. I mean, it's probably fun and all but I'm fine walking all the time and—" Serena said before she cut herself off again. She remembered seeing Iris flying off with her Dragonite, and the words she said. "Don't tell me you heard what I said to Pikachu. About how cool it was to fly on top of a Pokémon? You weren't even out of your egg!"
"Tra!" he said again. He then tried the best he can to flex his muscles with his stumpy legs.
"You want to get stronger too?" Serena said. "No. No way. Was that why you were eating all of that food? Including Pancham's? And why you were biting everyone?"
Trapinch paused a little bit, but then bobbled his head up and down.
"Wow! So Trapinch is a good Pokémon after all!" Bonnie said. "Sort of."
"Ritchie, do you mind?" Serena said. "If Trapinch uses the Flying Ace Machine that Flies?"
He shook his head. "Nope! Anything to make my future Pokémon happy."
Something felt off about those words to Serena—she wasn't sure what—but she decided to ignore it for now. She and Clemont helped strap Trapinch onto the machine, and the Pokémon looked determined.
"I'm attaching a walkie-talkie so you can give Trapinch orders," Clemont said. He held it out between Serena and Ritchie, unsure of who to give it to, but Ritchie snatched it before Serena could respond. The girl felt her heart skip a beat.
"All right, Trapinch," he said. "Hey, is it okay if I call you Trapie?"
"Pinch. Pinch," Trapinch said, shaking his head from side to side.
"What about Pinchy?"
"Pinch pinch," Trapinch said again.
"I don't think he wants a nickname," Serena said.
"That's weird. Usually my Pokémon like their nicknames," Ritchie said, frowning. "Okay. I'll call you Rappy for now. You'll get used to it."
"Trapinch?" he said, looking at Serena.
"It's okay," she said. For some painful reason, her chest was hurting. "Listen to Ritchie."
"Okay everyone, stand clear," Clemont said, operating a laptop he pulled out of his backpack. "Flying Ace Machine That Flies, activate!"
It flew surprisingly fast. The trainers only heard a long "Traaaaaaaaaaaa" as the Flying Ace Machine That Flies zoomed away, sputtering a white smoke behind it.
"C'mon! Let's follow it!" Ritchie said, already sprinting. The rest of the group followed, Clemont wheezing as he tried to operate the laptop at the same time.
Meanwhile, in the Meowth balloon, Meowth and James were trying to console their partner.
"There, there," James said. "It's no big deal. Look at all the Pokémon we caught! We even have Pikachu!"
"If I see that disgusting Pokémon one more time, I swear I'll kill it!" Jessie said. She was clutching her frayed air and sobbed into the side of the basket.
"Well, it's not like it's going to fly up here or anything," Meowth said. "Say, Trapinch can't evolve into flying-type Pokémon, can it?"
"Of course not," James said. "Does that thing look like it has wings? It's not a Bagon. If it does fly here, it'll have to use a…a…"
"James?" Meowth said.
"I think it evolved!" James said. "Where did those wings come from? Oh wait, that's probably one of those dumb brat's machines. Wow, technology is incredible."
Jessie immediately tore her head off the handrail. "Gourgeist!" she screeched. "Seed Bomb that destroyer of lives!"
"Rappy, use Feint Attack!" Ritchie said into the microphone.
"Feint Attack?" Bonnie said. "How do you know Trapinch can use Feint Attack?"
"I don't have 52 badges for nothing," Ritchie said. As the three gave him shocked looks, Trapinch and the Flying Ace Machine That Flies swerved to the right, avoiding the green sphere. With another burst of speed, Trapinch head-butted the basket.
"Hey! Stop that!" James said, raising a fist. "Inkay, use Psybeam!"
"Bide!" Ritchie said.
"Where did you get all of those badges from?" Clemont asked.
"Hmm, eight from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos," he said. "And twelve from Kanto."
"Twelve?" Bonnie said. "But there's only eight badges in Kanto!"
"Yeah, this is my second time doing the Kanto Circuit. Now stop bothering me! I have to concentrate."
Trapinch glowed as he took on the Psybeam, again his eyes shutting tight. The Psybeam added more to the scratches on his body, and he yelped.
"Seed Bomb again!" Jessie said, and the Gourgeist focused before launching the Seed Bomb.
"Aw shoot, it's Super Effective!" Ritchie said. "Rappy, dodge it with Feint Attack!"
"No," Serena said. She placed her hand on Richie's. She noticed it were quite warm. "You'll lose the damage of the Bide."
"Bide won't do any good if he faints."
"I trust him," Serena said. "He can take it."
Ritchie looked at Serena for a while. "No. I don't hurt my friends. Feint Attack, Rappy!"
Trapinch stopped glowing as he avoided the Seed Bomb. Letting out a small but mighty holler, he and the Flying Ace Machine That Flies slammed into the balloon. And then there was a kaboom.
"Gah! My hair is even more messed up than before!" Jessie said, propelling out of the explosion. It had transformed her hair into something similar to an afro.
"Oh no, and I thought we calmed her down," said James.
"The day Jessie calms down is when Trapinches fly," Meowth said.
"Shut up! He was flying today!" Jessie said.
"And we're blasting off again!" they all said, disappearing into the distance with a white star.
"Woooobbbufet!"
"Your invention is a failure again, brother," Bonnie said, staring at the mini mushroom cloud in the sky.
"I'd say it's a success," Clemont said, also ogling the explosion. Then he slapped himself. "Wait! We have to save the Pokémon!"
"Now it's your turn! Cruise! Come on out!" Ritchie said, tossing out one of his signature Pokéballs.
"A Tyranitar!" Clemont said, gaping at the massive green behemoth. All of a sudden there was a sandstorm, and the trio coughed into their arms.
"Cruise, use Surf so all the Pokémon land safely!" Ritchie said, pointing a finger. The Tyranitar roared, making Serena cover her ears.
"Amazing! For a rock type like Tyranitar to learn a water-type move like Surf!" Clemont said, watching the falling Pokémon drop one by one into the tide of water.
"Wait! Some of the Pokémon are weak to water!" Serena said. "Including Trapinch!"
"Yup," said Ritchie. He swiped with his hand to the right, and in an instant the sandstorm, Surf, and Tyranitar were gone. "Already got that planned. Thank you, Cruise."
"He's amazing," Serena thought. "And 52 badges? That's more than Ash, isn't it?"
"Wow! You're so strong, Ritchie!" Bonnie exclaimed. "And Dedenne! Welcome back!"
"De denne denne!"
"Chespin, Bunnelby, Luxray!" Clemont said, snuggling up with his Pokémon. "Nice to meet you again! Oh, and by the wau Ritchie. Which gym leaders have you beaten in Kanto so far this time around?"
"Oh, let's see," Ritchie said, counting his fingers. "Forrest was new, Misty, Sabrina, and Gary! Gary was tough. He bought me down to my last Pokémon, Sparky. I beat them all on my first try though."
"You beat Gary!?" Serena said. She paused from embracing her Pokémon.
"Yup. Oh, hi there Rappy! Good job! Are you ready to join the team yet?"
Trapinch looked up at Serena, but she didn't respond. Hanging his head back down, he shuffled over to Ritchie.
"Wait," Serena said. "I change my mind. I want Trapinch back."
Everyone, from Braixen to Clemont to Pancham and Bonnie, stopped what they were doing and looked at Serena. There was a smile on Pikachu's face as he said "Pika!"
"Eh? You sure about that?" Ritchie said. "You saw how well Rappy and I work together as a team."
"Yes, I know," Serena said. "You're a lot better of a trainer than I am. But I think Trapinch would be happier with me."
"His name is Rappy, not Trapinch," Ritchie said. "And you wanted to let him take a Seed Bomb! Haven't you learned your type advantages? Rappy won't get hurt if he's with me."
"Let's calm down," Clemont said, raising both of his hands, alarmed at the escalating situation. He picked up Trapinch and plopped him down between Ritchie and Serena. "How about we let Trapinch decide?"
"His name is Rappy," Ritchie said. "Come with me, pal! You'll get your own super duper special Pokéball with a sticker on it. And don't you want to be stronger? I can train you to be strong enough to take on the Pokémon League."
"Trapinch, I've messed up," Serena said, her voice quiet. "And I can't promise that I won't mess up in the future either. I'm also a terrible Pokémon battler, but…I want you to come with me. I'll try my hardest to get better. I understand if you want to travel with Ritchie."
Trapinch didn't even stop to think as he walked to one of them.