Steven and Samantha meet! I would love some feedback, so please review! I'm not going to say that I'm not going to update until I get some reviews, but they would definitely give me some muse ;) As always, Enjoy!

"Shit!" I yelped as I walked straight into a small tree after losing balance for what felt like the umpteenth time. "This is ridiculous," I muttered pushing away from the guilty plant, feeling like a complete idiot. Perhaps this wasn't my best idea to go travelling at night- even though I was completely awake my vision was also completely impaired by the dark that gripped Hoenn by night.

Treeko was dozing in my arms, he had fallen asleep on her feet shortly after the last battle. It seemed that I wasn't the only trainer out at night, I battled a few greenleaf trainers like myself, beating them surprisingly quite easily. I had checked Treeko's stats on my Pokedex, and was delighted to see that he had reached level 11 and learned a new attack that I was itching to try out, quick attack. I was also flabergasted to find that Vaporeon was level 31, which I really should have realized seeing as that she could use bite attack. I decided that I wouldn't use Vaporeon again in battle until Treeko was just as strong, unless circumstances made it unavoidable.

After miraculously not injuring myself for ten minutes, I was beginning to feel more optimistic. The moon light was filtering through the trees, giving me some degree of sight back. I looked around, surprised to see the trees thinning out fairly quickly, I must be nearing Petalburg. In my arms, Treeko's eyes were still closed but his tail was twitching. Without any warning, he exploded out my arms and sprinted forward at top speed, leaving me in the dust.

"Rabie!" I cried in alarm as he left my sight. I walked forward quickly until I found him, hsi green paw pinned triumphantly on a smaller Pokemon. In the corner of my eye, I saw a lithe teenager, no taller than me, walk forward tentivly towards the fallen Pokemon.

"Is that your Treeko?" The boy said, his voice raspy, as he let out a heckling cough.

I nodded, and called Treeko off the other Pokemon. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what got into him. Is your Pokemon alright?"

The teenager's eyes widened in surprise. "My Pokemon? This wild Ralts was attacking me when your Treeko stepped in-" He started gasping for breath and pulled out an oxygen mask from underneath his shirt, taking steading breaths. I blinked in sympathy, he was obviously very sick. "-Thank you," he continued after a second. "I was trying to catch it, but when I threw a Pokeball at it, it broke free and got angry."

I looked down at the Pokemon while flipping open my Pokedex and registering it. The light green Pokemon with the dark red crest looked exactly like the picture in the dex. It's struggles were weakening- Treeko had ignored me and was... sitting on the small body of the physic type.

I looked at the teenager, he had dull brown hair but sharp blue eyes full of life and determination. At least, I think that's what he looked like, the moonlight was still pretty dim. I smiled slightly and held out my hand towards him. "I'm Samantha."

He took it, looking slightly taken aback. "Wally." He took another Pokeball out of his Pocket and gave me a side ways glance, as if asking permission to continue. I nodded in encouragement and he threw the Pokeball at the Ralts- which was incidentally still pinned down under Treeko's girth.

Light enveloped the Pokemon and the Pokeball jerked from side to side, blinking in time. I thought wildly how many times it needed to shake before it was safe to pick up. After a few more seconds I whispered, "I think it's ok now."

Wally seemed to agree because he reached forward and picked up the Pokeball between his frail hands. "Thank you Samantha," he said, apparently astounded to have captured the little Pokemon.

I stifled a giggle at his reaction by digging my teeth into my tongue until it stung painfully. Wally walked away in the direction I was heading, looking at awe at the Pokeball he cradled carefully in his arms as it was the most precious jewel in the world...

"Good job Treeko," I whispered scratching my Pokemon's head gratefully before I recalled him to his ball. I followed the trail that had been made after countless feet trekked across the ground, leaving an obvious path towards Petalburg.

Once I reached there, I stopped dead as I took in Petalbrug City, it was humongous compared to Odale town. Buildings towered into the sky, and with the moon light glinting off the windows, Petalburg was certainly a sight to behold. Everything was larger than life as I walked through the deserted streets that I knew would be bustling with activity as soon as the first light shone through the trees. Even the Pokemon Center here would dwarf all of the other buildings in Odale town; it rose, about seven stories high with terraces placed outside the rooms.

I looked up in amazement at the sheer size of the building, realizing I had become accustomed to things much smaller in stature, and took a step back in alarm as I saw someone, or something stand up abruptly on one of the terraces on the top floor and lean over the banister. What was somebody doing up at this time of night, when everyone but the teenagers looking for trouble or going clubbing had any excuse to be awake?

I heard the roar of an engine being revved as I walked through the sliding doors, relaxing as warm air hit my face. I handed my Pokemon to Nurse Joy and as she placed it into the machine, she swiped my trainer card, updating it for me. She seemed rather flustered as she handed me back my card without a word and turned away to walk into the back room without removing my Pokeball from the machine.

I debated for a second weather to take it out myself, but quickly realized that if I did something wrong, my Torchic might pay. I would fetch it in the morning. I did however snag a room key and walk upstairs, it wasn't like I was stealing it I argued with myself. All trainers were allowed room and board at any Pokemon Center in any region.

The key read C31; I thanked my lucky stars that the first room I tried, room 31 on the third floor wielded results as I turned the handle and pushed the door open, flipping on the lights so I could see. I set my backpack down on the bed and sat down, thinking about all I had accomplished within one day of becoming a trainer.

I looked down at my hands blankly, realizing they were caked in dirt and mud had wormed itself under my finger nails. Now that I thought about it, I was completely dirty, from head to foot, even my clothes were grass stained.

I looked around, my eyes focussing on a door to the right of the bed. I stood up and walked over, pushing the door open tentivly. I smiled as I stepped into the bathroom; there was a shower with a glass sliding door separating it from the rest of the tiled room. The lou was in the corner and hanging on pegs were two identical complimentary towels with the Pokemon Center Crest ironed on the right corner.

Without hesitation I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower, relieved to find soaps and shampoos on the build in ledge. Three silver handles were built into the wall, and I turned one experimently.

"BOLLOCKS!" I screeched as burning hot water scalded my skin. I turned the other handles quickly until the water balanced out and I wasn't being burned to death.

I scored my face and hands with the soap and scrubbed my body till I was completely devoid any traces of dirt.

I stood in the warm water for fifteen minutes, savoring every drop that cascaded down my shoulders and soaking into my hair. Eventually I decided that I needed reprieve from the constant water pounding over my body. I turned the handles until flow of water trickled away into nothing and stepped out of the shower and hoisted a towel securely up underneath my arms and looked into the mirror. My hair lay limply around my shoulders, accenting my collarbones and the scar that lay just above it. My brown eyes looked rather guarded, even to me.

I sighed and walked back to the main room and dug through my clothes until I found a pair of long pants and a tattered shirt a few sizes to large- my favorite pajamas, and slipped them on before lobbing my bag to the side of the bag and laying my Pokebelt out on the counter.

I saw my Journal on the floor and picked it up, smiling slightly as I picked up a pencil strewn next to it. Twirling it in my fingers, I reviewed all that had happened to me that day and began writing, including details about my Treeko facing off against Brendan's Torchic, Wally's Ralts, and the skyline of Petalburg City.

I laid down my pencil and looked out the window, watching curiously as shadows flitted across the moon, obscuring it from vision. The moon reappeared, seconds later, the shadows dissapeared. I tilted my head in thought before flipping the lights off and lying down in the bed, trying not to think that in Kanto it was not later than six p. m. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.

The next day when I rolled over and looked at the clock, I groaned loudly as my groggy brain processed the numbers, and I realized it was two in the afternoon. I changed quickly and reached the lobby of the Pokemon Center, intending to retrieve Treeko before looking around the town. I heard a clamor from the bottom floor but accepted it as normal, a city this large was certain to have a lot of residents.

As soon as I walked in, I had to resist the urge to turn around and walk right back out.

Official looking people were hoisting recording devices and boom mikes over their heads towards the middle of the crowd, people were whispering to each other jabbing each other, ogling shamelessly at something unknown. I stood on my toes, trying to peer above everybody's head to see what was going on.

From my vantage point of the stairs and the fact that I was tippy toeing allowed me to get a look at what was going on. A rather slim man, standing at least 6'2 was standing in the center of the Pokemon Center, and by the looks of it, giving a statement of some sort. It was hard not to stare at him; the man had silver hair that was sticking straight out in various places, it was obviously a style that only he could pull off. His rather thin face was extremely handsome, perfectly shaped, while his eyes, the perfect shade of grey flickered from side to side, obviously not enjoying the attention that he had attracted. Arms crossed and his mouth set in a tight line, he looked unhappy.

I realized at once why he had seemed somewhat familiar at a glance, the way he carried himself was not unlike the way my dad had, commanding that attention of everybody around him- larger than life. The strange thing was, the attractive man did not seem to be enjoying the center of attention, in fact, he looked like he would rather be anywhere rather than being slammed by reporter's questions and having everyone's eyes glued to him

His piercing gaze flashed to my face and I felt my skin burn red before I looked away; at the same time I felt unsettled by the look he had given me. I was unusually skilled at repressing unpleasant things, yet the stranger's gaze reminded me of him. I shook my head, ridding myself of those pessimistic thoughts and pushed my way through the crowd, ignoring the cries of "Hey!" "What are you doing?" "Back off," I snorted at their impudence thinking that I would want anything to do with that man, and at the fact that they thought they had any more claim than I to the stranger.

I finally made it to the desk and frowned when Nurse Joy wasn't there to great me. I sighed and reached over, taking the Pokeball that was laying unwatched on the counter. I would like to think my Pokemon were being better watched over in my absence. I picked it up, weighing it my hand with a from; had it gotten.. heavier? Attaching it the my Pokebelt, I pushed forward out of the crowd towards the door.

I felt relieved once I had escaped the throws of the crowd, I was looking forward to exploring the routes around the town. What I really wanted to do was to catch a Pokemon.

I retraced my steps from last night, back into route 101. I was surprised to see everything I had missed when my concentration had been soly on trying to not kill myself by tripping. The large trees were tall, but not wide, allowing a good view of the sky. A small pond was off to the distance, with some people around it. Fishing I presumed.

In the back of my mind I realized that someone must be in charge of the up keep of the route, all the grass was trimmed to the same length and none of the greenery was overgrown.

"Cheyna!" I turned around hearing the angry bark of a Pokemon. A Poochyena, the same one that had been harassing Professor Birch- It was distinguishable by a small scar across its muzzle- was crouched and ready to leap at me.

Instantly I made up my mind.

"Go Tree-AAAHHHH!" I yelled as I threw my Pokeball up into the air. Instead of my adorable little fluff ball, a huge armored bird appeared, scaring the crap out of me.

"Skar!" It shrieked fixing it's yellow eyes on me. I heard a whimper of fright from my left as I fumbled for the Pokeball that was laying on the floor and recalled the beast.

What the Hell!

I put the ball on the ground and carefully backed away from it. Unfortunately, my foot hit something, causing me to fall backwards. Grumbling, I pushed myself up. I looked at the ground, and started to hyperventilate with laughter.

Not so tough now, I thought gleefully looking at the Poochyena, who had apparently fainted with fright. I grabbed one of the Pokeballs Brendan had given me and touched it to the grey fur of the Poochyena. The body was absorbed into it and it rolled before beeping. Looks like I had caught my first Pokemon.

But where was my Treeko?

It didn't take me wrong to realize I had grabbed the wrong one, so I carefully picked the strange bird's Pokeball up- after poking it with a stick to make sure it wouldn't open up and let the creature back out- and held it very carefully as I slinked back towards the Pokemon Center.

- Damn.

The crowd was still there, but the reporters had gone. I looked sympathetically at the silver haired man who was being assaulted by the ravines mob before walking up to the counter.

Nurse joy wasn't there, thankfully, so I simply dropped the Pokeball on the counter and rang the little bell for assistance. I interlaced my fingers and waited patiently for Nurse Joy to come.

She never did.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding.

I rang the bell repitidly. By the time I was done ringing, I decided to make a complaint to the Pokemon Center, the bell was horribly out of tune. They needed to get a new sound system, perhaps a sound of a Pokemon attacking a person. Yea that was a good one, much more interesting than the stupid Ding noise.

I was not amused when Nurse Joy emerged from the crowd, straightening her hat and smoothing down her hair. Really Nurse Joy? Really? Don't you have a job to do?

"Can I help you?" she said, waving herself with her hand.

"I would like my Treeko back please," I said as sweetly as I could.

She handed me my Pokeball back and, realizing how hungry I was, headed for the dining hall, skirting the clamoring crowd that was busy fawning over the silver haired man.

The scents of bread rolls, oatmeals, and eggs surged towards me, and my eyes widened as I saw tables upon tables stacked high with foods and drinks, some that I had never seen before in my entire life. I took my place in the small buffet line made up of those whom had just come into town or those, like myself, who had slept through breakfast and lunch.

What was worse, I thought as I picked up a tray and plate and followed the line through the maze of food laden tables, is that it felt like the crack of dawn. I certainly did not bode well time differences. Spooning some eggs and fried sausage onto my plat I moved onto the next table where I poured myself a glass of apple juice, deciding to branch out- I usually stuck to the basics, water and milk when I was feeling adventurous.

I sat myself down at a table in the corner, and began stabbing my fork into the sausage, taking a small bite. It wad delicious.

I ate in silence, pulling out my Pokedex and flipping it on. I scrolled idly through it, reading the data of the Pokemon that I had registered so far, feeling rather pleased with my progress. Yesterday, I was uncertain where I wanted to go with my life, but now I was a Pokemon Trainer, out to make a name for myself.

I heard the door open, leaking in the noise from the lobby but I didn't look up. The door shut forcefully and I heard the muffled voice of Nurse Joy from the lobby, imploring them of something.

I am a naturally inquisitive person, and if I don't know something, it bugs me like an itch you can't scratch, so then I try to find out what that something is. Then that little voice in my head tells me" Samantha, it's none of you business, and then I tell the little voice to shut up and go jump off a cliff.

So naturally, I couldn't resist the urge to glance up... and I felt liking kicking myself as I did.

The grey eyed man from the lobby was walking through the food line, the silver rings on his fingers clinking melodically against the glass in his hand. The few trainers left in the dining hall started turning around in their seats, and began whispering to one another. One girl in a short skirt and an extremely low cut tank approached him with a scrap of paper and a lipstick tube, and pressed it into his hands, obviously vying for a signature. The man sighed audibly before setting his plate down and scribbling down his name with the lipstick, holding it disdainfully; the girl clutched the paper in her hand and turned, beetroot and retreated to her squealing friends who all converged upon her quickly.

I watched out of the corner of my eyes, rather surprised that I wasn't the only trying not to be obvious about their curiosity. He sat down at a table by himself, removing his black blazer with purple zigzags revealing a white T-shirt, and started eating, pointedly ignoring the stares he was attracting. I realized that in the lobby I had been so entranced by his face that I really hadn't noticed anything else about him. Now I could make out distinct muscles in his arms, and took in his broad shoulders and toned frame.

I watched with amusement as more and more trainers started approaching him, blushing girls and guys who just couldn't stop stuttering, until eventually he was fed up. From there it was like a game of musical chairs, he would switch seats every so often, moving steadily from one side of the room to the other. I tried to contain my amusement, but it was difficult.

I could barely believe it when one girl approached the mysterious stranger with a sharpie and pulled down her shirt enough to expose a good deal of cleavage and implore that he sign her chest. I almost choked on my drink as I watched him turn red and stammer out an apology as to why he couldn't do that.

I looked back down at my plate, attempting to balance the last remaining bits of sausage and egg in one forkful. I furrowed my brow in concentration, lifting the fork up delicately, trying to prevent any food spilledge.

"Mind if I sit here?"

I panicked as I heard a slightly husky gentle voice across from me and the fork clattered to the side, it's contents flying all over. Crap I thought, wiping the contents off the table onto a napkin. I heard a small chuckle and I looked up, glaring daggers at whomever had interrupted my concentration; but my face turned red and my expression changed into one of horror as I stared into the face of the handsome silver haired man; his face was sprayed with egg bits and sausage chunks.

"I am so sorry," I apologized, still frozen in place. He pulled out a red handkerchief and started wiping his face off, smiling slightly.

"Quite alright, my fault." He caught my eye and I looked away, my cheeks flaming. I took a mouthful of apple juice to hide my reaction, failing miserably. I scrolled through my Pokedex aimlessly, tying to keep my eyes anywhere besides his handsome face...

The people left were still whispering, but nobody was approaching him anymore, he seemed satisfied.

"Thank you," he said smoothly, breaking off a piece of bread and popping it into his mouth.

"Mmmm"

"My name is Steven." I rudely didn't look up, regretting it slightly as he continued. "And I'm intruding on your concentration I see. I would be happy to move..." And be stormed by rabid trainers...

"It's alright, I'm sorry, I'm being rude aren't I. My name is Samantha." Steven tilted his head in acknolagment, his eye honing in on my Pokebelt.

"Are you a trainer?"

"Just started off yesterday," I replied, touching the Pokeball on my belt lightly. I cocked my head and looked at the man intently. My mother called me preceptive, but I called it observance. Either way, I had a natural gift about deducing certain things about people. For instance, Steven was obviously well known, more likely famous, but disliked the limelight. However, he was to polite to say it. His clothes hinted towards city life. His lean yet toned frame suggested that he was outside doing something or working with tools a lot, it was difficult to stay in pristine shape like he did if one spent long stretches of time in doors. I was interested by this Steven, and was keen to know more.

"Are you a trainer?"

His smile widened and I felt like I was missing a joke. "You might say that."

The man was obviously hiding something, and I wanted to know what. Steven stood up abruptly and held out his hand, offering it to me. "It's been very interesting talking to you Samantha." I took his hand, barely brushing his skin lightly and shaking it before hurrying out of the diner and out of the Pokemon Center, leaving Steven behind, nothing more than a memory.

An hour later, I was walking away from the busy city and through route 101, the gentle lapping of waves against the shoreline barely heard of the wind rustling through the trees, setting the leaves flurrying.

Steven's POV

I sighed as I got up for the third time, this time choosing a table in the corner of the diner, near a large window that I would enjoy looking out of, observing nature and the interactions between humans and pokemon. I set my tray down with a clatter, my patience wearing thin.

So far the day had been hectic, the press conference with Hoenn 21 had been trying, I hated trying to dodge difficult questions that were lobbed at me. I especially hated the ones the barbed comments the reporters kept giving me about my sudden reappearance. If only I had gone out the back door this morning...

"Excuse me, Could I please get and autograph?"

I looked up. There was a young girl with bleached blonde hair falling around her chin, and she was clutching a paper plate and a crayon in her hand. I nodded silently and scribbled my name on the plate; the best way to deal with fangirls was to give them what they wanted so they would leave me alone.

I felt my shoulders rise, defending me from the stares that were boring into my head, creating a shell.

I shook my head, and ran my fingers through my spiked up hair, taking a deep breath. I should be used to this by now, but that didn't mean I had to like it. Surely everybody in the diner had approached me now, would I ever get my peace?

"Steven, will you sign my chest?"

I turned in alarm to see a girl with her shirt tugged down pushing a sharpie towards me. I felt my self go red, as I tried to tell her no. "I- I have to actu-atually go over here," I said wildly looking to my left and standing up. I noted how much I towered over everybody else. It was bad enough when everyone in the room was standing, but when they were sitting down...

And idea formulated rather quickly in my head. A girl I had seen during the press conference, wearing jeans and a cardigan was focussing on eating her food, a Pokedex in hand. She was not gawking at me like everybody else, instead she was going about her business.

Do I know her? I couldn't throw off the feeling that I had seen her before. Eaither way, I was selfish enough to use her as my own personal buffer.

I swiftly walked over to the table where the girl was sitting and lay my tray down across from her. Folding myself into the chair, I smiled and asked. "Mind if I sit here?"

The effect was instantaneous, she had been severely startled and she dropped the fork she had been holding, sending bits of food flying everywhere. I widened my eyes as egg landed on my face, but had to resist the urge to chuckle. "I am so sorry," she said, mortified as I took out a red handkerchief and began wiping my face down.

I nodded, listening to her clear voice. Very distinct and unique, I realized. "Quite alright, my fault," I said smoothly. She turned red as I caught her eye, out of embarrassment most likely, and she looked down at her Pokedex, scrolling through the list aimlessly.

I glanced to my right, the rest of the people in the diner were now keeping their space, glancing speculatively from me to the girl, I grinned widely, wondering how she didn't feel the burning intensity of their gazes. She seemed to have noticed the reaction though, and arched one eyebrow; I found myself looking into her brown eyes. "Thank you."

"Mmmm," was the only response she had for me. I was beginning to suspect that her aloof attitude towards me had more to do with naïveness than politless.

"My name is Steven," I said, nodding politely to her. She didn't look up. That still didn't prove she didn't know me (though I had dispelled the notion that I knew her). However, her accent told me she wasn't from around here, most likely not Hoenn born. When she refused to offer up her name, I backtracked quickly. "And I'm intruding on your concentration I see. I would be happy to move..." but I would rather not. I was done dealing with fans for the day, and I was determined to get an engaging conversation out of this meeting.

She seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "No, it's alright. I'm sorry, I'm being rude aren't I-" not a question, a statement. -"My name is Samantha."

Samantha I mused, not an unusual name. I glanced at her Pokebelt, new by the looks of it. A single Pokeball lay latched upon it.

"Are you a trainer?"

"Just started yesterday," she said, her voice changing with the shift in topic. Her fingertips grazed the Pokeball lightly, and I could detect a trace of pride. I opened my mouth to ask what type of Pokemon she had, but she beet me to it. "I have a Torchic."

Samantha cocked her head and studied me with scrutinizing eyes, her green eyes flashing in understanding. I had to resist the urge to figit uncomfortably, what possibly could she have deduced besides my identity?

"Are you a Pokemon Trainer?" I relaxed, letting my shoulders fall; she had no idea who I was.

"Something like that." She looked at me suspiciously.

I smiled widely, brushing away my tthoughts, and offered my hand to her. She took in her own, I almost laughed as I realized how petite it was next to mine, and she shook it lightly.

And then she was gone.

Unfortunately her leave meant that I was once again approachable. I sighed and shoved my plate away from me before striding to the lobby, ignoring the looks that followed me. Nurse Joy blushed as she handed me back my Pokeballs, and my mood that had been light hearted since the meeting of the strange girl immediately soured.

I scowled as I stalked outside and threw up Skarmory's ball into the air. It was about time I did my sweep of the nearby towns, Norman must have started hours ago.

"What's wrong girl?" I murmured as my Pokemon spread her wings in agitation.

"Skar!" she shrieked. I winced, the sounds was like chalk on a chalkboard.

"Shhh, it's ok, Lets go."

I was surprised the she had picked up on my mood that quickly. I jumped on Skarmory's neck before kicking off from the ground and taking to the air.