Chapter 2

"'Pokémon are by our sides, always. I hope you will understand the meaning of those words.' These were the words spoken by Sinnoh's Prof. Rowan, who has recently returned from his expedition to Kanto, where he spent the last four years studying with Prof. Oak. Thank you for tuning in to Jublife TV. Up next, the mysterious Pokémon of the Lake!"

With a blip, the TV screen faded to black. A young man, about 16, adjusted his bright red hat in boredom. He was average height, really, nothing special about him. His short, blackish-blue hair was stuffed into his cap, which would definitely mean a heap of hat hair the following night, but it rarely bothered John. He had spent most of his morning trying to find something interesting to watch on the TV, mainly out of survival. If they were playing that stupid documentary on the Red Gyarados again, that meant his friend Diamond would be pounding down his front door any minute, literally bursting to talk about it with someone.

"John! Your friend is here to see you!" Flinching in annoyance, he twisted his cap one more time for good luck, and made his way downstairs. Once he made his way to the living room, he found his mother yelling at the front door.

"Wait, Barry!" Her light brown hair ruffled as she sighed in resignation. Noticing his arrival, she turned to John shyly. "Ah, John, your friend WAS just here, but he said he forgot something, and he just took off…"

"Don't worry about it, Mom," John replied, shrugging it off. "He does that. I'll be back later." As he walked towards the open door, his mother called out.

"Wait, John! I know you won't do anything rash like Barry will, but just be careful. That incident with the researcher in Lake Valor got me worried recently, so when you inevitably wind up exploring the lake…just be careful."

Don't worry, Mom." He smiled reassuringly. "I'll keep him in line."

The outside air was refreshing as always. Twinleaf was a small town, roughly four houses, which meant it was really just an extension of Sandgem to the west, though no one refered to the towns as the same. There was still fresh snow from several days ago, and John made a quick move to swing his brick-red scarf over his neck before setting out to his neighbor's green-tiled house. As he approached the door, however, he was startled when the door opened of its own accord, and it just happened to land right in his face.

"Argh!" he cried in pain, clutching his face with his left hand as the person behind the door came out to see who he had mutilated. Not surprisingly to John, a young, blond teenager came from behind the door in surprise.

"Oh, crap! Sorry, John! I didn't see you there!"

"What were you doing?!" John yelled, rising to his feet slowly. "Can't you slow down for just a second?"

"Sorry, J. I had to grab something really quick from my house." His eyes grew really big. "Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot! Did you see the TV just a few minutes ago?"

John rolled his eyes expectantly. "I assume you mean the lake thing, right?"

"Yeah!" A bright glint flashed in his eyes. "They said they saw it in Lake Valor, but it was only for a second. It was an amazing shot! Hey, maybe there's something like that in our own lake! We should go look for it, huh, John?"

I knew this would happen today. Knew I should have stayed at home. "Sure, why not? Let's go."

"Great! Let's head out there right now!" He immediately bolted past him and to the left, heading to the edge of town. Shaking his head, he put a hand to his face, and was relieved to see that it wasn't swelling or anything. Twisting his cap again, he took off in pursuit of his friend.

That glint of his though, he thought to himself. It was the reason he started to refer to his friend as Diamond, because that was how big and sparkly his eyes got when he was truly excited about something. He was a hyper-active little runt most of the time, and he drove John up a wall almost constantly, but they still had a bond that many did not. As he made his way through the thin path of grass and trees, he couldn't help but admire the guy. He would just charge his way into whatever situation he was interested in, while John took time and thought to analyze the best method of approach. John and Barry, therefore, represented two opposites. Maybe that's why we work. Quickly, he found his friend next to a small clearing of trees, jumping in ecstatic energy.

"Hey, here! Here's the lake right here!" He ran over to John as he continued to rant. "Maybe we'll find something amazing here! Come on!" Without delay, he grabbed John's arm and dragged his startled friend towards the rippling surface of the lake. Almost immediately, however, he grinded to a halt. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

He turned towards where his friend was pointing, and John could see two people standing at the water's edge, gazing at the water. One of them was an older man, with bleach white hair, standing about a foot and a half taller than his companion. His companion, a young woman roughly John's age, crouched down and stared at the water's surface for a few seconds, as if looking intently for something. Her long, silky black hair reflected in the water, topped by a white stocking cap. Her deep brown eyes blinked, and she finally spoke.

"Professor, I don't see anything out of the ordinary here."

"Hm, perhaps I was mistaken…" He turned his gaze to the young woman. "Did you check for wild Pokémon activity…?"

The two of them started a back-and-forth conversation, and John could hear Diamond whisper into his ear, "Why are you still staring at her?"

"What? No, I'm not."

"Uh-huh, you are. You interested in her?"

"Dude, lay off," he whispered, slapping his friend in the arm.

"Well, I guess I was mistaken, then" the older man replied. "Let's make our way to Sandgem. Come, Rebecca." He turned around and began walking towards the two boys. With muttered apologies, they gave the older man passage. The woman named Rebecca started to follow the man, but stopped before passing them. She turned her head to look at John.

"How long were you standing there, exactly?" she asked.

"Uh…"

She gave a small, mischievous grin. "Good answer. Now, if you will excuse me…" He continued to work up a response as she walked past them towards town. As John watched her go, Diamond glanced at both of them.

"Dude, what was that?" he inquired.

"What do you mean?" John replied, eyes snapping back into focus without even realizing they were out of focus. His eyes met his friend's, and Diamond seemed to be studying them for what felt like eternity. Eventually, he let go of his gaze.

"Whatever." He looked around, and saw something at the water's edge. "Wait, I think they dropped something." John looked and saw the briefcase sitting there by itself in the grass, which he happened to notice was rather tall. "Well, let's go check it out."

John glanced at Diamond like he had grown an extra head. "Are you insane? Wait, don't answer that."

"Come on! It won't be like that time I made you swim the lake because I thought I saw the Red Gyarados on the opposite shore."

"Don't remind me."

"Just do it! Look, we'll be really fast, so the wild Pokémon won't have time to get us."

"That's a stupid plan, and even you know that."

"If you don't come, I'll get it by myself~" He stared at John as he blinked furiously, desperately working on a solution. He sighed loudly.

"Fine, we'll charge it really quickly, and then we bolt out of there. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." They immediately ran towards the case like madmen, swatting away the long grass that almost obscured their own vision. Eventually, Diamond managed to grab the case.

"Got it! I got the case!" he cried victoriously. He turned to run back…and promptly tripped on a small rock. "Waah!" John quickly ran up to him as Diamond face-planted the ground, causing him to lose his grip on the briefcase before it hit the ground. A loud snap signaled that one of the hinges snapped as it hit the dirt.

"Dude, get up! We can't stay out here in the tall grass!"

"Easy for you to say," he responded, getting to his feet while brushing of the dirt from his exposed knees. "You aren't the one who trips on air half the time."

"You mean that rock, right?"

"Whatever, man!"

"Wait… Did you hear that?" They both stopped in their tracks, listening into the silence for the faint sound. Suddenly, a rustling sound could be heard through the blades of grass.

"Uh-oh…"

Two small, black-and-white-striped birds shot out of the trees and began dive-bombing the innocent teenagers, who immediately raised their arms, trying to swat the birds away.

"Starly!" John announced. "Let's get out of here! Get the case and run!" As Diamond grabbed the case, he stopped, and jiggled it curiously.

"Hey, John! I think there're Poke Balls in here!"

"Who cares?! We can't use them!" Ignoring his friend, Diamond raised the case high with one hand, and brought it down hard on the ground. With a loud snap, the other hinge broke off, and three red and white balls rolled onto the ground.

"I knew it! Pokémon! Maybe they can help us!"

"What?!" John yelled, the Starly currently screeching in his ear.

"Catch!" Despite the small bird hounding his every move, Diamond was able to toss him one of the Poke Balls from the case. Thankfully, John was able to catch it, not thanks to his horrible athletic abilities. He eventually found the button on the center of the capsule, and aimed it at the ground next to him.

"We need your help, whoever you are!" he called, pressing the button. Immediately, a blue light shot out of the button and illuminated the ground where he was pointing. The light quickly began to take the shape of a small chimp. As the light faded, John could see that the chimp's stub of a tail lit up in a small, orange flame, and the little Pokémon jumped in the air, ready for action.

"Chim!" it cried, eying the new human who had summoned it, and its eyes narrowed when it saw the Starly attacking his new human friend. "Chim! Char!" The bird's eyes narrowed as it realized who was challenging it, and it flew a distance away from John and his Pokémon for a bit, ready for a true fight.

"All right, that's better," he muttered. "Now, what to do…?" He eyed his Pokémon savior. Hm, a Chimchar. Those are pretty rare these days. He studied the small flame on its stubby tail.

"You're still a newborn, aren't you, Chimchar?"

The chimp nodded silently, still staring intently at the Starly a bit away from him.

All right, time to think. He turned his gaze to the Starly, and noticed a darkish spot on the left side of its face. Ah, slight scarring, probably from the day before last. The pain probably set it off, and we just happened to be in its path. Which means it most likely still causes pain… He twisted his hat subconsciously. "All right, Chimchar! Aim your attacks towards the left side of its face!"

"Char!" The little chimp quickly charged his opponent, who quickly flew towards him in a quick Tackle. Twirling in the air as the attack came, he was able to dodge the blow, and succeeded in landing a powerful scratch right on top of the old scars.

"Star…" it moaned, crashing into the ground as it lost the energy to remain airborne. It stumbled awkwardly to its feet, clearly dazed from the blow. It tried to charge the Chimchar again, but, after noticing the glaze in its beady eyes, John took the chance.

"Ok, Chimchar, just push it into the water." The Pokémon ran over to the little Starly and roughly shoved the bird off of the grass and into the chilly waters of the lake. As soon as the bird hit the water, its eyes widened in terror.

"Star!" It cried, flapping its wings furiously, trying to escape its icy prison. Eventually, it succeeded, and it let out another cry, signaling the retreat plan to its friend, and the two birds flew away from the lake.

"Whew… We're ok…" Looking around, he could see Diamond watching the birds fly off, with a blue penguin-looking Pokémon at his feet. He turned and looked at his own Pokémon, who was looking at him with a victorious grin.

"Chimchar!" A smile crept up on his face then.

"Great job, buddy! You really nailed it!"

"Woo-hoo, that was awesome!" Turning around, John saw Diamond walking up to him, his little penguin friend trying to mimic his footsteps. "You rocked out there! But my Piplup was way better than your Chimchar!" The Piplup puffed out his chest in pride.

"Yeah, right."

"You know what, though?" Diamond asked, glancing down at his new friend. "These aren't our Pokémon, right? I hope they won't get mad at us, will they?"

Before John could answer, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Oh, thank goodness!" The young woman from earlier came jogging up to them. "You have the briefcase! I thought for sure it had been…" She stopped as she looked at the scene: two teenagers covered in scratches, a destroyed briefcase next to them, and two of the professor's Pokémon at their sides, clearly just in combat. "Wait… Did you actually use these Pokémon?!"

"Well, there's a story about that…" Diamond managed to mutter.

"Oh my god, I'm dead! I'm so dead when Prof. Rowan hears about this!" She ran forward and grabbed the two pieces of the briefcase. "I'll just take these then…wait, no!" She whirled on John. "No, I'm not going alone! You two are coming with me, and you will explain what happened here!" She scooped the remaining Poke Ball off the ground, cradling it in her hand as she tried to brush off the dirt, and carried it and the tattered briefcase away.

"Come on…" John beckoned to his friend, and the two of them walked in pursuit of the enraged female.

They had walked half of the way back to Twinleaf when they heard the girl talking to the professor. A chill ran through their hearts as the old man looked behind her to look at them, his face stern as always. He walked past Rebecca and stood in front of them, his gaze never wavering.

"You two. Am I correct in assuming you were the ones who used my Pokémon?"

"Yes, sir…" Diamond answered. "We're really sorry…" He held the Piplup's Poke Ball in his hand, outstretched. "If you want them back, here you go. We're really sorry…"

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hm! How big of you…" He stepped closer to him. "Can I see your Pokémon, please?"

"Of course…" The Piplup walked over to the Professor, and he just seemed to stare into the penguin's eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, he spoke again.

"You there, your Pokémon as well, please?"

"Ok…" The little Chimchar walked over to the Professor, who administered the same odd staring test to his Pokémon as well. The little chimp stared right back at the Professor, and after several seconds, the professor began to speak.

"Hm… Yes… I see… That's how it is…" He turned around and started to walk away from the group. "Rebecca, we're returning to Sandgem!"

"But, sir!" she replied, startled. "What about the Pokémon?"

"Hm… We'll talk about that when they come to visit later. Now, come. We must be heading back." As he walked off, Rebecca sighed in resignation.

"Ok, I guess I'll be seeing you at the lab, then…" She was about to walk off, but John decided to stop her.

"Wait, Rebecca, right?"

She stopped. "Yes"

He twisted his cap again.

"Again, I'm really sorry. We're really sorry, I mean." She smiled knowingly.

"I know that. Sorry for snapping at you. I'll explain that later. Come by in a little bit." She turned around and proceeded to follow the professor towards the next town.

"Well, I don't know what that was about…" Diamond commented, looking at his Piplup. "But at least he didn't yell at us, or whatever…" He looked at John. "I guess we should just go home for now…"