Here we go! Another chapter in the story! So I know that the chapters are kind of short, but bare with me. It gets better as it goes along. Anyway...

Back in the forest surrounding the Dragonspiral Tower, the deerling Mack was having fun bragging to his brother Max again. "How did you get away? I never saw you behind me." Max asked, surprised and worried.

Mack boasted, "I almost didn't! I had to attack the pokeball and I broke it!"

"No way!" Max said shocked.

"Yeah way!" Mack exclaimed proudly. "I hit it with a faint attack and smashed it into pieces!"

"Whoa," said Max in amazement.

"But," Mack continued, "I wasn't finished with him there! I double kicked him and stole food from his bag too!"

Their mother walked up from behind. "Is that so, Mack?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

Mack nearly jumped out of his skin and nervously turned around. "Uh… yeah, really! Um… See mom? I can take care of myself just fine against trainers!" He tried his best not to make direct eye contact with her.

"Well," she said flippantly, "I must have been wrong about you."

Mack thought she was serious, "so does that mean I can play anywhere I want?"

The sawsbuck laughed, "Not yet. You're still not ready."

"Aww…"

A few weeks later, the beginning of fall came. The leaves started to change colors on a lot of the trees. And Hima noticed that the color of the deerling that peeked out of the bushes was orange now. Hima pulled a combee honey biscuit from his bag and held it out. The deerling popped out of the bushes and came right up to Hima. Hima thought to himself, "thank goodness that mom makes a lot of these.

The orange fawn ate it right out of his hand and Hima's face lit up. "Never gets old," Hima thought. He reached out to touch the deerling, but it scowled and took a step back. "Okay, you're not ready. At least you aren't threatening me with leech seed anymore."

He pulled out his notepad and started a sketch of the deerling's new appearance. "I'm going to start school really soon. So I won't be coming out here as often as I have been," Hima said, unsure if the deerling would understand. The deerling looked at him in an odd way, leaving Hima wondering if the deerling was either upset or confused.

Mack wasn't sure what school was, but he was kind of bummed that he wouldn't be getting biscuits. "So, sorry you won't get biscuits," Hima said.

Mack blinked, "You're like a mind reader."

Hima thought for a second and said, "well what about giving you a name? That way you know when I'm here or not?"

The deerling thought, "But I have a name already, it's Mack!"

"What about Mack?"

Mack went wide-eyed. "Okay stop doing that."

"Yeah," Hima said smiling, "I think Mack is just fine." He showed Mack the sketch he did of him. "See? It's you!"

Mack looked at it confused. "Are my eyes really that big? And why am I all line-y?"

Hima pulled out two biscuits from his bag, giving one to Mack and eating the other one. "I should probably get going, I think your friend there wants to hang out with you."

"Who?" Mack looked over and saw Max glaring at him. Mack jumped as Max ducked away into the brush.

"See you later, Mack!" Hima said, walking down the trail toward Icirrus City.

"Oh crap…" Mack ran into the forest only to find Max a few yards in. "Max! Uh… hi!"

Max scowled, "Give me one good reason that I shouldn't tell mom."

Suspenseful right? ...No, not yet. But soon! ...soon