Note: So uh, I did a rewrite of this story after abandoning it for twelve years. The first eleven chapters have been updated. If you are a returning reader, you might notice a lot of changes. The plot is the same and even the chapters follow their original concepts, but besides a few snips of dialogue everything else has been updated. It is now third person and I truly believe I did better with the characterization this time around.

Enjoy! Good to be back.

XXxxXX

Pokedex holders are stubborn and competitive. These are not exactly traits that Professor Oak had looked for when considering potential candidates, but it still ended up that way. Dex holders need to be courageous, hard-working, and have the will to never give up. Combine these three traits together in an individual and you cannot be surprised when they also turn out to be a little bit stubborn and competitive.

Stubbornness and competitiveness is why relationships between dex holders can be difficult to manage. Everything in life ends up being a challenge. A calm stroll to the pokecenter turns into a race. A day of poffin baking turns into The Great Sinnoh Bake Off. A simple sparing session becomes a three tiered tournament. Of course, something always has to happen before these situations spiral into a wild and satisfying story.

First, someone always has to initiate a challenge.

XXxxXX

It was a Saturday when their challenge was initiated. Gold had wanted to visit the pokémon daycare on Route 34 to check out some newly laid pokémon eggs. He had been told that a pink egg with red swirls on it had appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the night. This mystery had been easily solved when he learned that two jigglypuff had recently been put into care a few days prior.

Crystal had tagged along that day as she had needed to order a new supply of pokeballs anyway. After finishing up at the day care, they headed towards Azalea town for a bite to eat before visiting Kurt, the pokeball smith.

"Ugh, I told you that I had no cash. I need to borrow a little bit just this one time," Gold whined.

Crystal was holding his wallet to the sky. "How am I supposed to believe you? You would do anything for a free lunch," she said, opening up the wallet and peering into almost a void. There was only a single dollar bill and it was charred along the edges. She guessed that Gold's Typhlosion, Exbo, thought the only way to stop his trainer from gambling during pool games was to ignite all his money into flames.

Gold tried reaching for his wallet hungrily, but his friend turned away and continued to rummage. There was a zipper pocket on one side of the wallet and she opened it. There was a collection of small ripped papers with numbers on them inside. "What are these? Are they IOUs? See Gold, this is your problem. Nothing good comes out of getting further and further into dept."

He smirked, kicking dirt on the trail as they walked along. "Nah, that's not what they are. Gosh Crys, you don't always have to be such a super serious gal."

She removed the papers and tossed the mostly empty wallet back to its owner. She began to flip through them. The handwriting on each piece was different, but they all had the same number of digits on them. Some also had names. "Who is Sarah," she questioned, "or Ashley? Wait, are these phone numbers?"

Gold was chuckling to himself now. He took his hat of and raked a hand through his hair. Crys saw this and rolled her eyes. She was always amazed by how those black strands just exploded from that head of his. Maybe his brain blew up. That would explain both the hair and his stupidity.

Taking advantage of her annoyance, the boy reached over and snagged the bundle of notes back. Crys gasped before glaring at him. Gold chuckled, "Maybe they are phone numbers. I meet a lot of girls in game corners, you know."

"And how many of these girls know your name? Or better yet, how many of these girls do you actually know on a personal basis? Some of those slips don't even have names on them."

"All of them." They were approaching the directional sign just outside of Azalea Town now. The more they walked, the louder the grumbling came from Gold's stomach. "Okay, if I am being honest, only some of them. There, you win. Now can we hurry up so we can get some grub?"

There was a sigh and shake of the head. Crys stopped at the sign and leaned against its pole, crossing her arms. "You know what, Gold? I'm not paying for your lunch until you answer one more question."

"Fine, but you really have to hurry up. Before you know it I'll be scrambling Eggy over a campfire and I just don't think the team will think of me the same after that."

"Oh my Arceus, can you not crack a joke for two minutes, please?" She stood up straighter. "Do you really think that accepting all these numbers is okay? I know your hormones have been running loose since the age of ten, but you really need to think of these girls first. They don't know you and they'll just wind up getting hurt. Should a dex holder really be going around breaking a bunch of girls' hearts?"

"Not everyone is as serious as you, Crys," he replied with a shrug. "I smile, say a few lines, and they get to go home to their friends and tell the tale about how they flirted with the most handsome dex holder imaginable. No hearts are getting getting broken, but dreams are sure being made."

"Oh, so looking like a player is fine to you?"

"Woah, woah, woah. You have asked me a total of three questions when you-"

"And you haven't answered any of them correctly!"

For a few moments, there was no reply. She glared at him and he stared back blankly. Then the corners of Gold's mouth twitched and then shook as he burst into laughter.

The scolding had not been effective. "Hey," Crys said angrily, "could you inform me on what part of that you think is so funny?"

Another few moments passed before he could speak between chuckles. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you are not just super serious, but you are also jealous."

Jealous, she thought to herself. What could she possibly be jealous of?

He continued on before she had a second to ask. "Hey Crys, it is okay if I can easily get dates and you can't. No shame in it at all. It is just a fact that not everybody can be as skilled at this type of thing as me." He pointed a thumb to himself and winked.

"Oh please," she said while leaning back onto the sign post, "and what makes you think I can't get a date?"

"Other than the super seriousness?" he asked. She glared at him. "You have your good points, I'll admit. Those legs, well, I am your guy friend so I can't really comment on that, but wow."

"They are really good at kicking idiots."

"Ah, and there you go! That is why you can't get a boyfriend."

Crys scoffed. He was being ridiculous. She may have not had any prior experience dating, but she could totally get a boyfriend. She would just have to try and she had just never wanted to try before. There were more important things for her to focus on. It was as simple as that. "Oh come on. If you can get a girl to flirt back with you, I am sure I can do much better."

He raised an eye brow, "are you sure about that."

"Well, yes."

There was that mischievous smile again. He moved closer and leaned in close. "Sounds like a challenge to me. So what you think? Want to have a bet?"

She leaned back away from him. "Don't be silly. You know I can beat you at anything. Oh, and I will actually win fairly."

"Hey, when am I not fair?" This comment was responded to with a glare. "Okay, that time when Silver accused me of cheating in pool was totally bogus. Trust me, if I did cheat, he wouldn't have been able to notice. I have my special ways."

"Whatever, what is exciting bet you have thought up?"

He paused for a moment to think. If he ever thought this long and hard in other parts of his life, they wouldn't have gotten into this spat to begin with. "Ah!" He broke out of his trance. "I've got it so listen up. What if we have one week starting tomorrow, you verses me. You have to find a boyfriend and I have to find myself a girlfriend. I say next Sunday we introduce both of them to Blue and she can decide who has the better date! Whoever can find the better date wins the bet!"

It was Crystal's turn to think, eyes staring down at the road. Had she talked herself into a corner? She truly did believe she could find a boyfriend if she wanted to, but for a contest? Ignoring the potential moral implications of the whole thing, she had to remember her position in all this. Could she even remember a time where she flirted with a boy? Finding a half decent guy worthy of Blue's praise would be difficult enough without a time limit.

She looked up Gold. He was still holding his prideful smirk, waiting for her to either accept the change or chicken out. She couldn't give him the satisfaction of her chickening out.

"Why Blue and not someone else?"

Gold pressed his lips together and shrugged. "She's hot."

Another sigh from Crys, "so, let's say I accept this challenge. What do I get when I win?"

"I doubt you will win, but I like the confidence," he laughed, "I suppose we do have to think about the possibilities no matter how small though. Hmm, okay. On the off chance that you win, I will act as your target for a week's worth of training. I want a protective cup, though. I can't take any risks."

The girl nodded. It was a good deal.

"But, if I win, and I probably will, you have to be my personal cheerleader for a year."

"Okay now, doesn't that seem a little-"

"Unfair? Sure," he admitted, "but since you are so sure you're going to win, there is nothing to be worried about, right?"

A nervous giggle escaped her lips. "I don't know-"

"Wha-what was that? Did I just hear Crystal the Capturer back out of a challenge." She pursed her lips and shook her head. He was not going to get to her this time. "Good," Gold took his right hand from his pocket and held it out to her. "One week. If one of us fails to find someone, then it is an instant loss. Deal?"

She took a deep breath. There was no turning back now as she reached out her own hand.

"Deal. Now let's go get some food."

XXxxXX

"Oh, what have I gotten myself into," Crys exclaimed.

She sat down in the nearest office chair and collapsed the rest of her body onto the desk. It was the next day and she was doing some work at Professor Oak's laboratory. In particular, she had been organising some pokémon that she had caught for the professor's research earlier. Usually she really enjoyed this task as it gave her a moment to look at every pokeball and appreciate her hard work. Today, however, she was far too distracted. "Okay, come on Crys," she said to herself, raising her head from the desk, "never mind Gold and his stupid bet. You have a job to do."

She picked up a ball from her collection. It had a Luvdisc in it. She instantly slammed her head back onto the desk and stayed there.

What if Gold had already found a girlfriend at one of those game corners? Crys had seen the phone numbers. There were tons of them. One of those girls had to be pretty and kind, maybe even a fair bit interesting. And it's not like Gold looked like a washed up Whishcash or something. He could be funny sometimes too; even if Crys would never admit it out loud.

"What's the use? I may as well start thinking up cheers right now."

She turned her head and saw a notepad on the desk. It was not like she was getting anything useful done anyways. She reached out slowly for the notebook and then again for a pen. Time passed and she scribbled down a few lines. It wasn't looking too great to be honest. The rhymes were mediocre and it wasn't very creative.

Maybe it would sound better out loud. Crys leaned back in her chair and scanned the room: left, right, front. No one could hear her or else she would never be able to show her face in this lab again. She took a deep breath before beginning the chant.

"Gol-"

"What are you doing?" a voice said. She had forgotten to look behind her where the only door to the room stood open.

A hand reached out and placed itself on the desk beside her to the left. She looked up to whoever could have been her poor audience if they had walked in a second later. A tall brunette boy towered over her. She looked into his eyes as he stared onto the notebook. They looked like emeralds.

Green Oak, the dex holder. He was also the famous Professor Oak's grandson and the respectable gym leader of Viridian City. He was known to be smart, courageous, and sometimes even a little kind in his own way. This boy was full of good looks and success.

He was perfect.

End of Chapter One