Summary: June is a professor-in-training, Kestrel's a drifter who loves his freedom, Estelle is a Gym Leader, and James has something to prove. They all have separate goals and paths but when you're traveling alone and wild pokémon could kill you at any time, allies are invaluable. The funny thing? None of them would ever have met if they hadn't first met the runaway named Grey.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon franchise in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a poor student. Dun sue me, Gamefreak ;A;

A New Challenger
Chapter 002: Welcome to the World of Pokémon!

To say the atmosphere was thick would be an understatement. Professor Hawthorne's crossed her arms and the uncharacteristically serious gaze she swept across her young charges practically forced them to pay close attention to her every word. The four of them had to give Amelia some credit; for a Pokémon Professor as laidback as she was, she knew how to set the mood.

Amelia hardened her eyes and her voice and spoke as clearly as possible. "I'll say this once and only once," she intoned. "Training and owning pokémon is a privilege and if you fail to follow the rules, to keep yourselves and your team in line, that privilege can and will be revoked. No exceptions."

She paused to make sure they were all paying attention. Sure enough, they were.

"The Pokémon League enforces a strict set of rules and regulations on trainers and they're especially hard on you newbies just starting out. I have rulebooks here for each of you to study on your own time – which I highly advise you to do," she said swiftly, "but these are three you better commit to memory." Amelia put up her fist and stuck her thumb out first.

"New trainers are limited to six pokémon until the time you earn your seventh badge. Not a moment sooner and no more than six; this is to lessen the burden on both you and the officials. Failure to comply will be met with swift punishment." Derek lazily threw up two fingers to get Amelia's attention.

"Question?"

"Yeah. How come they're so strict about that? I mean, I knew the rule was in place 'nd all but I never really knew why."

"They enforce that rule because the majority of new trainers only have enough money and skill to care for a maximum of six fully-evolved pokémon. Anything over that is deemed too much for you to handle. You might run out of money for food because seven is too many to feed or you might lose track of one of them. Generally, the one that you can't keep track of is the newest capture and the one with the least amount of training."

"In other words," James followed up, "the one most likely to cause trouble."

"And get you into trouble, yes." Amelia threw a small smile and a nod in James' direction. The boy in the blue fleece accepted the praise with a sheepish smile.

"But wait!" Amber said suddenly. "What if you're good enough to take care of more than six before the seven badge level?"

"Trust me, you're not," the professor said immediately. "Nobody ever is."

"But I think I could!" insisted Amber. She stood from her seat, pride obviously showing like a. "Like I said, I'm gonna be the strongest one here so the strongest should move faster with their skills than the others, right?" The reactions were mixed: Derek and Grey glared daggers at the girl but held their tongues and James gave a nervous laugh. They would have opened their mouths but found they didn't need to say a thing for Amelia's harsh icy stare both silenced and cowed her

"Nobody ever is," she repeated. Her tone was deadly and her expression deadlier still. "Ever. So don't think you are or you're just asking to have your pokémon taken, your license revoked, and your ass sent back home. Or to prison," she added stonily. Oppressive silence returned and hung in the air as Amelia collected herself and Amber silently apologized returning to her seat. Amelia's index finger joined her thumb.

"That leads me to rule number two: your pokémon are your responsibility!" She yelled causing the teens jolted in their seats. "I'm serious here! This is probably the most important rule and the most overlooked by cocky newcomers." Amber flinched. It was more than apparent that that comment was directed at her.

"You will be your team's trainer, friend, and most importantly, their babysitter. You need to make sure that they're fed and that you have enough money to buy food or you have the skill to hunt and forage when money is hard to come by. You have to see to it that they have enough water; that they're properly trained and socialized so as not to attack every conceived threat to you or themselves. A trainer has to treat their pokémon well and make sure they know the difference between right and wrong and that you're their partner, not their owner; there is a HUGE difference! If your pokémon is too big for conventional dry mix or cooked food and needs to be let out to hunt, you must maintain a minimum five mile distance from the nearest town so as to be sure they don't kill and eat someone else's pokémon. That is one of the biggest mistakes a trainer can make and the one most likely to lose them their license.

And above all, know your limits. If you think you can't handle a pokémon, release it or give it a Ranger and they'll take it back to where you found it and send it off for you. And if you think you've actually got the stones to seek out and catch a species on the danger list, you better train it right and make sure it follows orders no matter how big or scary a motherfucker it is. Train it so well, you can leave a newborn right next to it and they'll lick its face like that baby's their own. You are the boss. Do not let them intimidate you but don't become a taskmaster either. Be their friend and find balance." Amelia let the message sink in for a moment before continuing. Finally, she put up her middle finger.

"Last rule is a bit of a twofer. Unless you know for sure you can walk right by with impunity, do NOT approach a fully-evolved wild pokémon or go into any situation you don't think you can handle. If you encounter something stronger than you and your team, run. Do not stick around, do not try to catch it, and do not try to fight back because it will most likely kill or seriously injure you or one of your pokémon. You RUN. Fast!" she barked, stressing her words to make sure they carried the intended effect.

"Am I clear?"

The apprehension radiating from the new trainers was almost palpable at this point. Amber fidgeted in her seat, James' expression turned solemn, Derek sighed deeply and Grey clenched his fist around the strap of his backpack rigid in his seat. They forced their nerves down and collectively steeled themselves. They were all four well aware the risks that came with being a Pokémon Trainer; they wouldn't be present receiving this lecture if they didn't accept them.

"You're clear," chorused the four.

Amelia nodded and like that, the tension cleared considerably. "Good. Amber, reach into the top drawer of my desk and take out the gray case and pokéball canisters under the coffee packets. And be careful with the coffee because it's imported and costs more money than you'll make in a week," she added snappishly.

"Someone hasn't had her coffee yet," Grey snickered. Amelia scowled.

"And your first clue was?" she muttered bitingly. She punched in an access code and its doors slid open to reveal five shelves housing three pokéballs each. Amber then handed off a rectangular gray case and several cases of assorted pokéballs to the professor. Amelia opened the case and inside were four rectangular devices of four different colors, red blue, black and purple, set into the black foam interior

"Before I give you anything else, these are your Pokédexes." She took the red one out of the case and opened it. The Pokédex had two screens, two speakers and three cameras; two outward and one above the top screen. The left side had a wheel pad for selection with an OK button in the center and the power switch just under it. The left side had four buttons arranged in a diamond.

"They're basically portable electronic encyclopedias. They'll tell you anything and everything you need to know about a pokémon and then some; just turn it on and snap a picture or use the search function. Damn near indestructible by a human but for the love of Arceus, try not to lose it. Normal books are impractical to carry when traveling and these things are damn expensive." She offered the case to the new trainers.

"Take your pick."

Amber immediately took the purple one for herself while Derek accepted the crimson one from the professor. Grey picked the black one leaving James to choose the blue.

"Now then." Amelia got to work handing each trainer a canister of six standard pokéballs and opening the others. They each received one premier ball, fast ball, and lure ball, two great balls, and one ultra ball for a total of twelve in all.

"I don't think I need to tell you how to use those and if I do, then you have a problem. Lastly, you each have a choice." She gestured to the machine in the center of their circle. "In those pokéballs are fifteen pokémon that've been specially trained to guard and obey a new trainer. You may know them colloquially as Starter Pokémon. They all have different personalities and temperaments determined by species and individuality, so choose wisely and choose one."

The four of them leaned in closer to the machine at once. James backed off and with a polite smile and gesture towards the container said to Amber,

"Ladies first." Amber smiled back and started perusing the selection and peering at the pokémon inside. She turned the shelves around rejecting each possible choice until reaching the bottom shelf and picking a ball off its tray.

"What's this one called?" She held the ball out and Amelia took it to see the creature inside. She smirked and tossed it back to Amber.

"Scan it," she commanded. "Press the topmost button on the Pokédex's right side and hold the ball under the cameras." Amber did as instructed and the cameras shot out red scanning lasers crisscrossing over the pokéball before giving a read-out and responding a computerized male voice:

"Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokémon. Characterized by distinctive curly tails and marked intelligence, tepig do not possess an internal flame sac. Fuel for fire comes from flammable slurry created as a side product from digestion set alight by electrochemical cells. Must eat frequently and regularly to keep a decent supply. Primarily herbivorous. Adept foragers and scavengers and typically roast their food before eating. Tepig breathe flames through their snouts and one is able to gauge their health via how much flame it is able to produce. Only breathes smoke if sick or tired. Friendly disposition; socializes well."

"Cool," said Derek. He then took his turn looking for a new pokémon and stopped at the bottom shelf like Amber. He picked one, looked at the pokémon inside and silently smiled at it before clipping it to his belt.

"You're not scanning it?" James asked.

Derek shrugged. "Nah, I pretty much know what one of these guys can do already. Your turn." He patted his friend on the back and James went straight to the third row.

"You sure you need a third at this point?" asked Amelia. "You've already got two more pokémon than most newbies." James grunted an affirmative.

"Mhm. Can't hurt." He spent a minute deliberating between the three pokéballs on the shelf before making his choice and putting it in his pocket. Everyone looked to Grey to make his choice. He diverted his gaze to the floor and tapped Richter's pokéball on his chest.

"I'd rather catch my own," he mumbled, "and Richter and me have been together long enough." Amelia shrugged and closed the container pushing it into the closet behind her.

"Suit yourself." She brushed her hair behind her ear and cocked her head towards the door. "Head downstairs and go bug my aides for your rulebooks. They shouldn't be too busy."

"They were chasing a bunch of small pokémon around when I got here," Grey said. "Meowth and Pidgey were about to get into it."

"They'll be fine," replied Amelia with a flippant wave of her hand. With that James, Derek and Amber filed out the door politely thanking Amelia before heading down the stairs. Grey waited for them to go before setting off himself but Amelia grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.

"Hey?" Amelia already had the cup of undoubtedly stale hazelnut coffee from her desk in her hands and was chugging it, so she didn't bother to answer right away. Grey gave her a dirty look as she replaced her mug with the coffee pot and drew in its scent. She gave a shuddering sigh of content and smiled, agitation cleared from her face.

"Dear lord, did I need that." She looked at Grey scowling at her and gave him a light push. "Oh, don't look so cross, kid. You'll get wrinkles."

"What was that about?" Grey demanded hotly. Amelia took a long drought from the pot taking in three quarters of its contents and sighed again.

"Hazelnut. How I love thee so…"

Grey raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile in spite of himself. "You've got an addiction, dude," he laughed. The woman shrugged.

"Could be worse," she said airily as she took a seat and crossed one leg over the other. "I could be a smoker. Anyway, I stopped you cuz I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Grey leaned against the desk, visibly relaxing.

"See," she said after gulping down the last of the coffee, "my daughter's out doing field work – her name's June, by the way," she put the pot back in the maker and stood up to crack her back, "but she's late coming home. I'm getting a little worried; maternal instinct and all that. I'd appreciate it if you could go and bring her back to me?" Amelia flashed Grey a surprisingly white smile and batted her eyelashes at him. The boy failed to suppress a snicker and doubled over laughing.

"Oh, piss off! I know I'm still hot for my age!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said between peals of laughter. "But I k-kinda wanna get going as soon as I can. Maybe she got l-lost?" Amelia huffed and threw a crumpled paper ball at his head to stop his laughing.

"That's what I'm worried about, dumbass!" she said.

"Doesn't she have pokémon with her?" he asked, finally done laughing.

"Yeah; three of them, I think." Finger to her chin in thought, she added, "Well, maybe four. I'm not too sure if she took her mantine with her or not. Either way, if you go straight from here into the forest and angle northwest, there's a cave nearby where she studies. Right now, it's about how the paras and parasect there are somehow heavily adapted to light and live near the cave mouth instead of deeper in. She said they've started some sort of symbiotic rivalry with the sceptile there. Interesting stuff; paras populations have skyrocketed."

"Could be bad, couldn't it? Paras' species are on the list of pests since they can seriously wreck a forest if there's enough of 'em."

"That's where the predators come in," Amelia said with a devilish grin. "Predator-prey relationships, kid. More food equals more eaters. You should see how many taillow, zubat and ariados live in those woods and you haven't lived until you've watched a weepinbell turn one of those things to mush."

Grey made a face and a sound of disgust. "No thanks!" A shiver of revulsion ran down his spine. "Never wanna make contact with one of those bastards again."

"I take it you don't like Bug-types," Amelia said as he left the room.

He shook his head. "Not them. The bellsprout line," he corrected. Amelia raised an eyebrow but he was already out of the door "Long story!" he called over his shoulder.

Puzzled and curious, the professor pushed the thought out of her mind and sat at her desk to reorganize her notes. Halfway through perusing a document detailing the discrepancies between wooper born from two quagsire parents and those in the enclosure born from a mother quagsire and father corsola, she stopped and regarded her empty doorway with trepidation. She sighed, the lines in her face becoming more pronounced, and rubbed her temples.

"Damn kids are gonna be the death of me. Hope they know what they're doing." Deciding that to dwell on the subject was to invite more gray hairs, she got up and set off for her enclosure to throw herself into her research.

Grey decided that the people of Breeze Town were lucky to live in such a beautiful town. Rolling green hills, warm winds, the beach was just a short walk away. The thought of leaving this place for the next city almost made him sad for he could easily see staying and living there for at least a little while. He placed the rulebook in his backpack and released Richter from his ball who then stretched and shook himself like a dog. As he readied the sky-board, Grey breathed a lungful of prairie air took another look around. The wildflowers were blooming. Yeah, he would miss this place once he was somewhere up in the barren mountains about ready to beg for the sight of anything green.

Grey stepped onto the board pausing to let Richter climb up to the usual spot on his shoulder when he heard Derek, James and Amber coming. His fellow trainers exited the enclosure through a tall gate in the fence and rounded a corner towards the front of the house and stopped a few feet from the stoop, unmindful of him.

"…nearest town to this one is a few miles northeast," James said as he read from a map in his rulebook.

"Yeah, just follow the Cloud River after exiting the forest and you can't miss it," Derek said. He put his hands behind his head and led the group to a stop a few feet from Grey. "It's one of those waypoint towns where we can restock, right?"

James nodded and put the book in his back pocket. "Yeah, it's called Riverton." Derek snickered.

"Real original name for a town right next to the main river in this region," he drawled.

"They can't all be winners," James countered smiling. "We can grab some medicine and food there and maybe catch a pokémon or two, though we probably shouldn't move past Riverton until we've trained up our parties and gotten the new captures acclimated."

"Alright, sounds good!" Amber said in her bubbly way. "So should we leave now?" Derek and James exchanged a look and as one raised their eyebrows at the girl.

"We?" they chorused.

"It was just gonna be me and Derek," James said nodding his head at his friend. "Y'know, keep the party small and all that so we don't end up a walking target for wild pokémon."

"Or thieves," Derek supplied.

James repeated, "Or bandits."

"I said 'thieves'." The brunette shrugged.

"Bandit is a cooler word."

"Fair enough." Amber stomped her foot and impishly puffed out her cheeks.

"Come on, you guys!" she insisted. "There's strength in numbers and all that, right? Plus, we can exchange training tips and info. A dodrio's better than a doduo!" She flashed them a winning smile in an attempt to sell the idea better. The boys exchanged another look.

"Well, first," Derek began,

"The expression is 'better a doduo than a farfetch'd'," James finished.

"Well, there's three of us," Amber pointed to the three of them in turn, "so I changed it to fit."

"And second… Well, I actually don't have a second. Jimmy, your thoughts?"

"Can't hurt. At least for a little while." James retrieved a pokéball from his pocket and smiled at the monster inside. "We'll stick together until we've each got three sufficiently trained pokémon and move our separate ways at the first city with a Gym."

Derek shook his head. "You mean us bros'll stick together while blondie hits the road." Amber glared at him.

"You're blonde, too!" she yelled. James gave a nervous titter of a laugh.

"You might be missing the point of that insult," he said good-naturedly.

"Hmph," Amber scoffed but regained her smile nonetheless. "Well, whatever. Despite his rudeness, it'll be nice to travel with you!"

"Same here."

"Yeah, yeah." It was then that Derek noticed Grey standing alone by the front steps of the lab floating in place on the sky-board with Richter on his shoulder. "Hey, guys, we got an eavesdropper," Derek said dryly.

"Hm?" James turned around. "So we do." Feeling friendly, he smiled and called over to him.

"Hey! It's Grey, right?" Startled, Grey nodded and spurred the sky-board slowly towards them.

"Uhm, hi," he mumbled awkwardly.

"So, hey, Greyson," began Derek.

"Just Grey."

"Right, Grey. Sorry. Anyway, Amber wormed her way into my and James' little traveling party. We could always use a third. You up for it?" Immediately looking towards the ground and his shoes, Grey stuttered,

"I, uh… Well, thanks for the offer but, uhm... Well…"

"Well…?" Amber pressed getting in his personal space. The boy yelped nearly falling back off his board.

"Sorry, but I promised Amelia I'd do her a favor first!" He sped off towards the forest calling back, "I'll think about it!" and left them in his wake.

Bemused, Amber blinked and waved dust out of her face and scrutinized his rapidly fleeing back. "What was that about?" she asked, genuinely confused. "You'd think he doesn't like us."

"He's shy," Derek said simply. "'S all there is to it."

Grey reached the threshold where prairie became forest in record time before slowing down and heaving a great sigh, berating himself for his conduct. "Stupid," he muttered. "Could've just said yes or no; instead you act like an idiot…"

You're not good in situations like that, said Richter consolingly. Don't get so down about it.

"Yeah, guess you're right…" he answered glumly. "I really need to work on that…" The pair continued in silence. Grey decelerated to a slow cruising speed and took in the sights trying to focus on the task at hand. Balmy heat coupled with a colorful assortment of large plants and draping vines made the forest more of a jungle in the boy's eyes. A symphony of pokémon and animal sounds drifted lazily into the air from the droning of combee wings to the chirping of young bird pokémon and the loud sniffing of a trio of hyperactive zigzagoon. Grey moved into a cooler patch under a large tree and stopped to survey his surroundings.

"She said angle northwest and there should be a cave," he remembered aloud.

What're you thinking?

"Maybe catch a new pokémon here. One that flies to counter your weakness to Grass-types but nothing obvious like a bird or something." Richter grunted angrily.

Don't remind me, he said bitterly. Can't wait until you teach me ice attacks…

"Good a time as any to use this thing." He took the Pokédex out of his jacket pocket and turned it on. Switching to the search function, he input the search criteria for Flying-type pokémon and let the device do the work. One pokémon immediately caught his eye. Despite its status worldwide as a pest, he knew that with enough training and care, it could become a strong flier and a powerful fighter able to rival most fully-evolved bird pokémon.

Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. A pokémon possessing the Poison and Flying-types, zubat are literally blind as they have no eyes and so navigate using ultrasonic cries and echolocation. Hypersensitive to sunlight, they roost in dark caves in groups of hundreds at a time for warmth. Can overcome this limitation with enough exposure. Nocturnal; primarily insectivorous but will readily parasitize livestock and other pokémon for blood. Zubat are regarded as pests nearly all over the world due to their exponential birthrate and low infant mortality due to near limitless supplies of creatures from which to feed. Population control is exercised when numbers get too high but they are docile and skittish and will not attack humans. Surprisingly smart; easily trained and captured.

Grey grinned. "Bingo." Utilizing the "Nest" function on the Pokédex showed Grey that the nearest zubat colony was in the cave he was told to visit. It even had a GPS he could use to navigate. Richter scurried back up to his perch as Grey took off already forming a battle plan. Careful to swerve around larger trees and hop over any protruding rocks or vines, Grey sped forward scaring more than a few wild pokémon. He spurred the board up a hill and saw it ended in a ledge and the rocky tip of the cave peeking just above it to the left. Excitement rising, he jumped off the ledge and used the air jets to slow his fall and kicked up a dust cloud as he neared the ground. Clicking and chittering reached his ears when he hopped off the board.

The ground was rockier here as the grass had begun to recede as one neared the cave entrance and the soil was littered with an abundance of small stones. The cave mouth was visible in a clearing just beyond a cluster of trees so Grey stowed the sky-board and walked down the small hill leading to it. What he and his totodile saw, they could only respond to with amazement and a wide grin. Six or eight paras and one giant parasect frantically scuttled around the clearing, ground littered with the pokémon's signature mushrooms, latching onto tree roots while three imposing sceptile stood sentinel for the saplings. The paras nearest him dug its mandibles into the roots and started sucking. A few leaves rapidly dried and browned, dying and fluttering to the forest floor and the instant it did, one of the sceptile pounced onto the dying tree sticking fast as if glued to the bark and climbed down hissing at the paras and scaring it off. The sceptile would then take off and spit on a seed pod from its back and crush it into a paste that it would rub on the bitten root. The tree's recovery was remarkably fast to say the least. The parasect, the shepherd to the paras' flock, then released a cloud of yellow spores Grey knew to be a Stun Spore attack but the sceptile would leap high into the treetops to avoid it glaring at the parasites.

"Cool," he muttered as he walked.

"I know, right?" The voice came from up in the trees and Grey snapped his head up to search for the speaker. "Up here! No, to your left!" And there she was, smiling sitting on a thick branch as comfortably as an aipom.

"She's pretty," was the boy's first thought. And she was; petite and fair-skinned with strawberry blonde hair tied in a loose braid draped over her right shoulder. From her elevation, Grey could just make out the color of her wide eyes, steel gray, and the furret lazily napping across her shoulders like a scarf. The girl wore a green tank top and shorts, kept a white lab coat tied around her waist and wore thin spectacles on her thin nose no doubt used to read the clipboard on her lap.

"You have really light footsteps!" she said snapping Grey out of his daze. "I almost did not hear you coming."

"Uh… Yeah. Thanks?" She giggled and waved at him.

"My name is Juniper Hawthorne. Just call me June." Grey's cheeks heated up and Richter, sensing it through proximity to his trainer, gave a gurgling laugh.

"I-I uh… I'm psychic!" he blurted out. Then he slapped both hands over his mouth as his eyes widened and his pupils shrank. Richter fell off Grey's shoulder rolling around laughing as the paras avoided him.

"Shit!" Grey thought. June's eyes widened as well. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled and a grovyle was at her side in an instant. The Wood Gecko Pokémon took June in its arms and leapt down from the tree, depositing the redhead and retreating back a few steps aware of what was coming next.

Grey scrambled to correct himself. "No, what I meant to say was my name! It's Purple – no, it's Greyson! Grey! Grey's my name!" he sputtered. "Well, Greyson's my real name but I just go by Grey cuz it's shorter and easier!" He bent down and grabbed Richter bringing him up to June's eyelevel (she was much shorter than him by about seven inches).

"This is Richter! He's a totodile which is kind of obvious. My first pokémon and all that!" He stopped himself and slapped himself in the face, groaning at his stupidity. "I'm sorry, I kind of went motormouth there. I do that when –"

"Wow, a psychic! I've never met one before!" June's face was suddenly inches from his own, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and her pen to a fresh page on her clipboard. The furret on her shoulders started awake and scurried down her leg to avoid the impending chatter. "Were you born with it or did you learn? Can you even learn to be psychic? Which abilities do you have? Telepathy maybe? I bet you can talk to pokémon or something interesting like that! Hey, Sylva!" She called to her grovyle and it responded immediately scrutinizing Grey with a wary eye.

"What is she thinking right now?" June demanded.

Grey blinked. He blinked again. And he opened his mouth to say something but closed it when words failed him. Richter ceased all laughter, amazed at the speed at which June spoke.

"Well?" she pressed eagerly.

"I dunno her that well so I can't hear thoughts yet," Grey replied. Deflating, June pouted and lowered her pen and clipboard. "Sorry."

"Oh…" She sprang back up and asked, "Then what am I thinking?" The boy's face scrunched in concentration as he reached out for the redhead's thoughts. A moment of silence and then…

"…Pancakes?" he announced confusedly. "It's five in the afternoon."

"Every time is a good time for pancakes!" June declared. She giggled again and Grey actually found himself able to laugh with her although a bit uneasily. Her furret scurried back over to her and retook her place while the grovyle stood by, stoic.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I get that way whenever I've found something cool and I want to learn more. Sorry if I scared you." She gestured to her furret and grovyle. "These two are Rosewood and Sylva, by the way."

"'S fine. And it's nice to meet you," he said to the three.

"So what brings you here?" asked June. "You are obviously a trainer. Come to catch one of the paras?" The Bug and Grass-types were still running around feeding and being shooed from trees while the parasect watched twitching erratically as it walked.

"Well, your mom sent me to get you," June rolled her eyes at this and muttered something under her breath, "but I did come to catch something. A zubat."

"Interesting choice," she said quirking an eyebrow. "Most trainers avoid them because they tend to target other pokémon for their blood."

"I'm not most trainers," he said with a hint of pride. "Only it's getting dark and I don't wanna be stuck out here when night falls." June gave him a wide smile winked.

"Oh, I can fix that," she said slyly. Walking up to the mouth of the cave and nudging the parasect out of her way, June went in just past the entrance and put her fingers in her mouth. Grey saw Rosewood the furret cover her ears before June whistled loudly and sharply for a good ten seconds. The instant she finished, the Bug-types scattered devolving into a chaotic mess falling all over themselves and racing up tree trunks, growing ever more frantic as the sound of hundreds of wing beats drew closer. Sensing their job was over, the sceptile also retreated into the treetops.

A swarm of zubat erupted out of the cave like magma from a volcano flying in all directions, blotting out the sparse light and screeching their high-pitched frantic cries. Several broke off from the flock and rushed the paras in groups of three to four to feed on the insects. Six of them attacked Parasect in a jumbled screeching mass of blue fur and flapping wings.

"That was kinda unnecessary!" Grey shouted over the tempest of noise overhead.

"Well, you've got your zubat!" replied June. "Pick one! Rosewood, scare the others back in with Hyper Voice!"

Rosewood ran to the head of the cloud and screamed out a wall of sound that scared the zubat into returning to their cave. Only those feeding were left, leaving Grey with his pick of the litter.

"The strongest will've gone for Parasect," he deduced calling Richter to his side. He pointed to the giant mushroom cap left behind when the zubat finished feeding and narrowed his eyes.

"Here we go. Richter! Water Gun!" The totodile was quick to aim and act, forcing a jet of water out of his jaws and striking the first zubat to break off from Parasect's dry corpse. The Bat Pokémon tumbled head over heels but managed to right itself before crashing into the cave wall. It flew back up only to get tossed around by its fleeing brethren.

"While it's dazed!" Richter dashed and jumped high into the air to meet his opponent with his claws raised. He raked them down across the dual type's fragile frame and drew blood.

He didn't stop there; the Big Jaw Pokémon turned his head, chomped into the zubat's shoulder and twisted his body around to throw it at the ground. The tenacious bat straightened out just before impact and searched around blindly for its assailant with its echolocation. Screeching and crying out, it found Richter and threw itself at him with surprising speed catching the crocodilian off guard in the gut and digging its own fangs into his shoulder to drink a few gulps of blood. It broke off before the totodile could swat at it then ran back in for another Astonish attack. Growling, Richter hopped out of the way and snapped his jaws, thoroughly enraged, while the zubat flew overhead dancing out of reach and dodging Water Guns with renewed vigor. Grey ordered his pokémon to keep the target distracted while he thought up a plan. June watched the battle with rapt interest silently cheering for Grey to win.

"It used Leech Life," he said in a quick hushed whisper, "so it got some energy back. Obviously fast; Richter can't keep up with normal attacks unless – Aqua Jet!" he shouted suddenly.

Richter reacted just as fast; his eyes flashed teal blue and with a grunt of effort, he spat water at the ground to propel him upward and willed it to surround him in a glowing cloak. He streaked at the zubat like a torpedo, a predatory glint in his eyes, and clipped it. Then he landed and went into another Aqua Jet as the bat plummeted to Earth catching it out of the air in his jaws and violently shaking it. He threw zubat away where it bounced off the ground and struggled to get back up but with no lift and injured shoulders it couldn't take off and flee, only lie there and screech weakly.

Grey saw his chance then; he swiftly dug into his bag for a pokéball and tossed it at the weakened zubat. The ball sucked into it with a flash of red light shaking violently as the creature tried to break free from it. Grey, June and their pokémon watched for a tense few seconds before the ball stopped moving completely. The capture was complete. Grey ran up to it and released the bat scooping it up into his arms where it thrashed and squealed and beat its wings furiously in an attempt to escape. Waves of pure, undiluted fear rolled off the shore of its mind and reached Grey's at full force. The boy plopped down and reached into his backpack for a potion. He sprayed the medicine on Zubat's wounds wincing as her shrieks grew louder and more pained tried to shush her into calmness. When that failed, he returned her to the pokéball and resolved to get her to a center as soon as possible.

Grey let out a breath he never knew he held and tended to Richter's bite wound as his heart rate slowed. A grin slowly spread across his face as one thought overtook all others. His first capture! And it was successful! Granted, he knew that most first catches would end in success but the fact of the matter was that he and Richter did it on their own.

"Thanks, buddy," he whispered. "You did great!" The totodile affectionately nipped his finger when his trainer finished treating the injury and happily returned to his pokéball for a rest.

"Hey!" June slid to a stop and offered her hand to Grey to help him up. He took it without hesitating, still grinning from ear to ear. "You did great!"

"Honestly thought I'd fail," breathed Grey. "My heart was pounding." Then he remembered why he came into the forest to begin with. "Oh, right! We should probably get you home and I should get her to a proper clinic." June nodded and took the lead.

"C'mon, I know a shortcut back."

The pair chatted as they walked; small talk like where the other was from and when their birthdays were. He told her he hailed from Puel Town, Almia but was born in Fiore and that he recently turned sixteen. June had been born in Sunyshore City and moved to Breeze Town a few months after. She was seventeen and turning eighteen next spring, so she was about a year older than Grey. When June announced they were almost out of the forest, they heard marching footsteps approaching them and the boy stopped short. She gave him a puzzled look and asked him what was wrong but Grey was high-alert and didn't hear her. He had a bad feeling all of a sudden; ill intent inundated his senses.

A party of men and women dressed in brown uniforms and combat boots slathered in mud from their long hike marched by in a perfectly organized line. All of them wore dark goggles and facemasks, hard leather-and-metal pauldrons on both shoulders and pokéball belts indicating their status as trainers. Most of them marched by without acknowledging the teenagers but a few nodded or waved in their direction. Bringing up the rear, curiously enough, were three scientists and a tall dark-haired man wearing a more ornate version of the brown uniform who kept his entire right arm encased in metal armor. Grey tried his best to keep his unease from showing but the man must have caught it, for he grinned at him and said,

"You know, you shouldn't look so hostile, kind," in a low rumbling voice. "People might think you're looking to start a fight." Rosewood's fur bristled and Grey could feel enmity coming from Sylva in the treetops.

"No fights," Grey answered evenly. "My pokémon are hurt and we're just heading home." June nodded to affirm his statement. William laughed once and continued on nonchalantly.

"Alright. Just get home soon. The woods are dangerous at night. Never know what might jump out of the dark at you. Hehehehe…"

June waited until they were out of earshot before whispering, "What was that about?" Grey's eyes remained fixed on the contingent, not answering until he saw the last one disappear into the forest.

"I dunno…" he muttered. "But I got weird vibes from him…" he trailed off into silence. Better to just ignore it, he decided. It wasn't as if he'd ever see that man again. "Let's just get back."

He took one step forward and let out a piercing yell stumbling back and falling over. A bellsprout strutted oddly by on the ground and two weepinbell followed it by swinging from the branches. Shaking like a leaf, Grey scampered away on all fours and kicked at the bellsprout in an attempt to shoo it. The sentient plant fixed the human with a confused expression, its flower head turned to one side. Sensing no threat, it continued on its way as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, you better run!" Grey said, his voice rising in pitch. "And don't come back!" He shivered audibly and stood dusting off the seat of his pants. "I hate those things!"

"Grey, is something wrong?" asked a concerned June. The boy heaved a sigh and vigorously shook his head.

"I just don't like bellsprout. I really don't like bellsprout."

June cocked her head to the side, wide-eyed and curious. "Why?" Caution evident in his step, Grey tentatively moved forward only relaxing once he was sure it was safe.

"Long story," he called over his shoulder. He lowered his voice to a whisper sighing once more. "Very long story…"