Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokemon, just several of the OC's in this story and the plot.

I guess I'm accepting rivals now as well. She's got a big traveling group so...rivals would be a good experience for Kumori...

Chapter 3: A Number of New Friends

The dust cleared slowly and it revealed that both Pokemon were still standing. The Growlithe had dust clinging to his fur and he was panting.

Cranidos wasn't in any better condition. Kumori held her breath for what seemed to be a lifetime. Crash…Cranidos collapsed, his legs buckling from under him. Swirls replaced his eyes. Kumori let out her breath in a relieved sigh.

Kyou collected his first Sinnoh badge and held it aloft. "We just won the Coal Badge!" he said in excitement, his hat still on backwards. "You guys did great," he gave both Star and Streak a swift hug.

Kumori hurried onto the battlefield and grinned. "Tomorrow, it's my turn." She and Twilight exchanged a glance and Kyou raised an eyebrow.

They exited the gym and then they noticed several other trainers. They were talking in hushed tones. They all looked to be around the same age as Kyou and Kumori. One of them was a girl with chin-length white hair and side bangs that brushed past her shoulders. A second was also a girl but this time, one with red hair. A third had short brown hair and the fourth was hard to see from their angle.

They walked over to the group and Kyou hung around at the edge. Girls were sometimes strange creatures to him and he didn't like to get too involved with a lot of girls at one time. Kumori, on the other hand, walked right up to them.

"Hey," she grinned.

They looked at her. Four pairs of eyes surveyed the small and slender girl. She was only about three-fourths of the height of the smallest girl in the group there but the confident aura that surrounded her wasn't failing her now.

One of them, the girl with the white hair, was wearing a black shirt with sleeves that covered her entire arms and half of her palm and ended 2 inches above her belly button. She also had on black cargo pants. Her eyes were violet in color and they gazed at Kumori with a strange intensity. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly, brushing some of her hair away from her eyes. Kumori smiled innocently.

The second, the girl with red hair, glanced reproachfully at the first one to talk. "Be nice, Rei," she said. "My name's Kari Smith, she's Rei Hakumei, the one with the brown hair is Kotone Yamashiro and that's Aqua."

Kumori smiled. "I'm Kumori Maple."

"Kumori is a cool name," one of the other girls, Kotone, said.

"Who's he?" Aqua nodded in Kyou's direction.

"I'll let him introduce himself. Get over here, Kyou," Kumori ordered. Kyou rolled his eyes but walked over, Star by his side.

"Name's Kyou," he said, standing ill at ease next to Kumori.

"Can we see your Pokemon?" Aqua asked eagerly.

"Sure, c'mon out everybody!" In a flash of red light, Thunder and Whirlwind were by Kumori's side.

"Let's go," Kyou said with slight reluctance. Streak, Hurricane and Storm appeared next to Star.

An Eevee, a Chikorita and a Buneary appeared next to Rei. A flash of red light and a Dratini and a Growlithe appeared next to Kari. A Bulbasaur, a Ralts, a Pachirisu and a Trapinch appeared next to Kotone. An Eevee and a Turtwig stood by Aqua.

"Twilight is my Riolu, Thunder is the Shinx and Whirlwind is the Staravia," Kumori informed the group. Twilight waved with a paw and Thunder sparked a little greeting. Whirlwind cawed.

"Streak is the Growlithe, Star is the Furret, Hurricane is the Staravia and Storm is the Luxio," Kyou muttered, kneeling down and stroking Hurricane's head. The Staravia was getting a little agitated.

"Shard is the Eevee, Leaf is the Chikorita and Airi is the Buneary." Rei added.

"My Pokemon doesn't have nicknames," Kari laughed.

"Don't feel lonely Kari," Aqua grinned. "Neither do my guys."

"Well, Midori is the Bulbasaur, Takara is the Ralts, Daiki is the Pachirisu and Kichiro is the Trapinch." Kotone interrupted them.

"Nice. Have you guys gotten the Coal Badge yet?" Kumori asked curiously. Three out of four nodded.

Kari smiled sheepishly. "I haven't gotten it yet. I'm planning on getting it tomorrow."

"Hey, me too!" the questioner smiled.

The new friends, all six of them, spent the night in the Pokemon Center. Kyou lay awake. He hadn't been betting on this. He was now traveling with a group of girls. He really hoped they'd meet a male person who wanted to travel with them.

Day 10

"Rise and shine!" Rei cried out in the morning, spreading the curtains.

A groan and cries of surprise responded to her greeting. "No…" someone moaned. "Five more minutes…"

"Ri! Riolu!" the Riolu chastised Kari.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, prodding Kumori's mattress. Kumori had slept above her. "Wake up Kumori," she said. "And get your Riolu to stop bugging me!"

Kumori yawned broadly and slid off the top bunk. "I need to take a shower first." She grabbed her clothes for the day, her toothbrush and toothpaste and her hair brush. Kumori shuffled towards the bathroom.

Rei was already changed and she sat upon her bunk, talking with her Pokemon. Kotone shook her head. She had been the one to sleep on the bed that wasn't a bunk. It was easy to tell that many of her new traveling companions weren't morning people.

Aqua was still lying face down on the bunk, muttering something into her pillow.

Kyou was in a separate room and he knocked on their door before entering. They looked up. "Where's Kumori?" he asked, a faint blush starting to creep up onto his face.

"Taking a shower, why?" Aqua looked up from her pillow, bleary-eyed.

"Never mind," Kyou muttered and walked away. They heard him going downstairs.

"Oh my god!" the four of them glanced at each other with wide eyes.

"He's cute," Kari observed calmly. Rei raised an eyebrow. She wasn't about to voice her feelings.

"Totally, I can't believe our luck!" Aqua squeaked.

"Why?" Kumori entered the bedroom, towel drying her hair. Twilight glanced at her from where he was sitting on her bunk. She lifted him down.

"Never mind," Kari replied in a sing song voice. "I'm starved. Let's go grab some chow before we challenge Roark."

The friends headed downstairs. Kumori saw Kyou disappear out the door and sighed. "Oh, that reminds me," Kotone spoke up. "Kyou came in looking for you earlier, but you were in the shower."

Kumori nodded absentmindedly. "I'll go talk to him later," she muttered to herself as she grabbed a plate. She grabbed a pancake and five strawberries before sitting down at the table. She let out her Pokemon and put food in their bowls.

Kari slid into the seat opposite her. Only now was the nervousness starting to creep into both girls. They didn't talk much, only murmuring to their Pokemon and flashing agitated glances around the cafeteria.

Kumori managed to swallow two strawberries and take three nibbles out of the pancake before she pushed her food away. Kumori swiftly cleaned up, washing the bowls and then placing it in her bag. She returned Thunder and Whirlwind and headed for the door. She was greeted by a Growlithe. Weird…didn't know there were Growlithe around here…

"Go, Thunder! Use Discharge!" she shouted.

The battle between the Shinx and the Growlithe ended with Thunder the victor. "Shi, Shinx!" Thunder crowed.

"Go, Pokeball!" she threw the red capsule. It bounced off of the Growlithe's forehead before enveloping it in red light. It fell to the ground and began to rock. Ding…ding…ding…It rocked for a few more moments before, dong! Kumori held the Pokeball in the air and smiled broadly at Thunder and Twilight.

"Ri, Riolu!" Twilight punched the air.

"I'm going to name you Wildfire," she smiled. She proceeded to go find Kyou.

She saw Kyou training with his Pokemon near the back of the Pokemon Center. He was reeling off orders to the battling Pokemon in front of him. Kumori watched silently for a few moments.

After a few minutes, Kyou returned his Pokemon and Star scurried to his side. He turned around. "Oh, hey there Kumori!" a crooked smile flashed across his face. Kumori felt her heart begin to beat faster.

"What's up? You wanted to talk to me, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he looked around uneasily.

"C'mon, spit it out," Kumori grinned playfully. She tilted her head, wondering. Suddenly, Twilight began to tug her jacket in an urgent manner. "Hush," she said.

"Fine, fine, well…it's hard to explain. I don't know why but I'm starting to feel this strange aura in the air…" He smiled sheepishly. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Riolu can sense auras, right?" Kumori ignored his last statement. "Twilight, tell me if you sense this strange aura Kyou feels,"

Twilight nodded and closed his eyes. After a few moments, Twilight's red eyes flashed open. "Ri, Ri, Riolu!" he began to say in earnest, flashing a glance at the bushes.

They were interrupted by the rest of their new friends.

"Let's head for the gym, Kumori," Kari called out. "You can challenge him first, if you want."

"What? Oh, sure, thanks!" Kumori returned. "You best come too Kyou," she said in an undertone.

He nodded and they walked towards the gym. The six of them entered and the two challengers waited in the waiting room while the rest of them headed for the stands. They were admitted into the gym and Kumori swallowed, feeling the butterflies in her stomach. Twilight flashed his trainer a reassuring glance.

"Alright, who is first?" Roark asked.

"Me," Kumori stepped forward.

"Very well," he smiled. "Go, Geodude!"

"Let's go, Wildfire!" she called out. The Growlithe appeared in a flash of red light. The Geodude almost seemed to laugh.

"Geodude, start it off with Rock Slide!"

"Wildfire, use Agility and dodge the rocks. Then follow it up with Body Slam!"

Wildfire disappeared, dodging the rocks and then reappearing near Geodude. He slammed into the Geodude with his shoulder. "Quick, now use Bite!" Kumori ordered. Wildfire twisted his head around and chomped down on Geodude's arm.

"Now, Geodude, use Headbutt!"

"Get out of there and then use Roar!"

Wildfire jumped out of reach and stood on a rock. He roared and the Geodude cowered. "Now finish it with Swift!"

Stars erupted from Wildfire's mouth and hit the Geodude. A cloud of dust gathered and then, when it all cleared, the Geodude fainted.

"Good job Wildfire!" Kumori grinned. "Return," she returned the Growlithe. "You did a great job."

"Go, Cranidos!" Roark called out.

"Twilight, you're up." The Riolu stepped forwards.

"Start it off with Zen Headbutt!"

"Wait for it…" The Zen Headbutt plowed into Twilight.

"Kumori, why doesn't she do anything?" Kyou wondered.

"Now, Twilight, use Counter!" Twilight leapt forwards, striking the Cranidos with double the damage he received.

"Oh, that's why," Kyou couldn't take his eyes off the battle, even for a moment.

"Now, Twilight, use Quick Attack."

"Headbutt, let's go!"

"Force Palm, now!" the Riolu's trainer shouted.

"What?" Roark gaped. Twilight had been about to crash headlong into Cranidos but he quickly switched to Force Palm, knocking the Cranidos away.

"Alright, finish it with Focus Punch, let's go!" Twilight stood on a rock, gathering energy. Cranidos lurched to his feet and then launched another Headbutt under the command of Roark. "Dodge it," Kumori cried out.

Twilight jumped to the side and then punched the Cranidos in the side, the Focus Punch being ready. "CRAN!" the dinosaur Pokemon screeched before crumpling.

"Yes! We did it!" Kumori shouted in happiness. She hugged Twilight. "You did great, little guy," she whispered.

"Ri, Riolu, Ri, Ri," he said, nodding knowingly.

"Kari, it's your turn!" Kumori called out in a sing song voice. She walked out of the gym and into the stands.

"That was a great battle, Kumori," Rei said. "And it was really smart to use the Zen Headbutt's power against the user," she brushed back some of her hair.

"Now let's see how Kari does," Aqua added.

Kari's battle went well, ending with her winning the Coal Badge as well. "Sahweet!" she grinned. "So, now we head for…"

Kumori pulled out her Town Map. "I think the next town would be Floaroma," she observed. "But there really isn't any point in staying there long, unless any of you guys are coordinators."

The group glanced around at each other. They shook their heads and then headed out the door. Aqua, Rei, Kotone and Kari headed for the caves to do some training. Kumori decided to take a walk and see what other wild Pokemon were around. Kyou joined her.

As they passed the entrance to a cave, a voice called out, "Beautifly, use Sleep Powder!"

Almost immediately, the two trainers and their Pokemon were fast asleep. They didn't notice the net that dropped on them, or the muffled voices. "We got a good batch this time. The boss will be happy with these choices for his experiments…"

Ooh…cliffy!

Hope you guys enjoyed the story! Oh, and thanks to KakeruTenshi, kari bunny, HayashiOkami and AquafinaPure for letting me use your OC's!

The next chapter will be up…soon as I finish writing it!

Blanket of Darkness