Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Thanks so much for your reviews! I really appreciate them all. I had this chapter done for a bit, but I wanted to wait before posting. Then, I figured why not? It wasn't hurting anything to update a tad early haha. Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews. I really appreciate them. It always helps the writing to have people who care what happens haha. Anyway, here's the latest chapter!

Spotlight
Chapter Six: Foundation Reduced to Rubble

The Graveller appeared in a flash of white.

"Alright, Sheila!"

Large and intimidating, Sheila looked at Zeke with black eyes and a not-so friendly expression. I immediately felt bad for him. But now, once the battle was started, I couldn't stop it. The huge rock- and ground-type Pokemon seemed almost out of place here, where the strongest things were Shinx and other unevolved Pokemon. I stared, dumbfounded, at the Graveller and tried to make sense of it. It was almost like someone had slapped me awake.

Zeke was dangerously weak against this type.

He knew it, too, but we had no choice. We had been challenged and we couldn't forfeit or anything, unless we wanted to lose our money. Either way, we were screwed.

"Zeke, try an Ember!"

Zeke chanced a look back at me, as if he thought I was the most special kind of stupid, and then shot out several fireballs from his mouth. They connected with the Graveller, only seeming to annoy her.

"Rollout, Sheila!"

Sheila pulled all of her arms in toward herself and launched her bumpy, rocky body towards Zeke. I shouted, "Dodge it!"

He did, but barely. He was already tired from his numerous battles. And I hadn't given him a Potion in a good while, since he didn't seem to be taking hits, though he was tired nonetheless. I cursed at myself.

"Let's see... Tackle, Zeke!"

Zeke hurled himself forward, only serving to daze himself as he connected with the impossible rock.

Stupid move. Stupid, stupid. I berated myself as I saw Zeke sway.

"Ah, poor thing," the trainer said in a drawling voice. "Sheila, Earthquake!"

And boy, did Sheila Earthquake.

The ground shook beneath my feet, shuddering and rolling underneath me. Zeke was knocked out before the ground stopped moving, and I was thrown onto my stomach, trying desperately to grasp onto something, but only coming up with twigs. The ground came to a stop and I moved forward and fell on top of Zeke, holding him to my body and staring at his closed eyes. His breathing was even, but he looked so exhausted that it hurt to even look at him. "Gosh, Zeke."

I heard Sheila being recalled by her trainer, and he was beside me in an instant.

"Newbie, huh?"

I stared up at the scruffy man, noting how wiry his frame was. His eyes, a fierce green, steadily held my gaze. I managed a nod, trying not to look too choked up at the sight of my only Pokemon being so helpless. I had been so stupid. Perhaps if I hadn't been so lazy as to not catch that Lotad when I had the chance, maybe I would have won.

But no, Pokemon were more than type compatabilities. I would still have lost because that Lotad wouldn't have been trained at all. I hugged Zeke closer to me.

"Here," the man said, holding out a small device and pressing it against Zeke's mouth, forcing him to swallow. He was awake, and looked healthier than he had just a few minutes ago. "A Revive. Right expensive, they are, but helpful little things."

"Are you okay?" I asked, and Zeke nipped at my fingers in response, which I took as a yes.

The scruffy man held out a hand to help me up. I smiled at him, but didn't take it, hefting myself to my own feet.

"I'm Jared," he introduced himself.

"Corrine." I told him, not wanting to let my Houndour out of my arms, even when he started wiggling. His protests were feeble though, and I realized that we needed some food in our system desperately.

"That's your only Pokemon, huh?" he mused. "I didn't even get to test out Ferdinand."

"Ferdinand?"

"My new Steelix," he grinned toothily. "Just bought a Steel Coat down in Canalave City to evolve him."

"Ah," I said, fighting a shudder. Just imagining Zeke up against some gigantic Steelix was enough to give me nightmares.

"Cost a pretty penny, too, but hey, it's all good." He seemed to be talking to himself more than to me. "I just had to trade him with some kid for a bit to get it to work."

"Trade?"

"Yeah, trade evolution. Never heard of it?"

"Er, well, I guess - "

"Which brings me to this," he said, running his fingers along the Pokeball in his hand. "Would you like to help me out with Sheila, here?"

"How - "

"She's been wanting to evolve for a while," he continued. "I've just never found a trainer that would be willing to trade - "

"You can't have Zeke!" I shouted, my voice higher than I liked.

"You silly girl," he smiled. "I would trade back. The ownership of the Pokemon wouldn't change if we did it that way, ya know."

"Trade back?"

Jared nodded, "Yeah. So Sheila can evolve. Because, you know, Graveller evolve when traded. Just like loads of other Pokemon." He moved his arms as he explained, "Of course, we'd have to go to a Pokemon Center for it to work. We can't just do it willy-nilly here."

Not that I would have. I didn't know Jared at all. Sure, he seemed cordial and polite, if a bit talkative, but I didn't know if he was really a thief in disguise.

"Well, I was headed for Jubilife..."

"Me too!" Jared said, grinning brightly. For such a unkempt person, he sure had straight teeth. "Would you mind?"

Blinking, I shrugged, "I guess. Zeke, do you - "

He shrugged as well, causing Jared to erupt in a fit of laughter.

"Right, then! Wow, this means so much. Thank you!" He put a thin hand on my shoulder, his grin so wide that I thought it would split his face in two.

"Okay, well, we were just about to set up camp..."

"Do you mind if we camp with you?" Jared suggested with about the subtleness of a Hippowdon.

"Sure, I guess," I told him, not really worried. Suddenly he seemed too flighty to be a thief.

"Right, right!" he exclaimed, releasing all of his Pokemon. I almost laughed at the randomness of it all.

"Yes, Jared, you can certainly release your Pokemon all over the campsite."

He grinned, turning toward me, and I could clearly see a dangling golden earring in one of his ears. "There's room, still."

I blinked at him, "Yeah. About enough for a Cherubi."

Jared laughed at my failed attempt at wit, and then moved over. "This is my team."

He had a full team of six, and introduced me to each one. Apparently, he wasn't the stereotypical hiker at all. Of course, there were Ferdinand and Sheila, but there were also Mitchell the Camerupt, Bree the Vileplume, Nelly the Pelipper, and a curiously unevolved Abra named Theo.

"You aren't harrassing another girl, are you?"

I jolted, shocked, and stared at the Abra as he loped over to his trainer. I had heard the Pokemon's voice in my head.

"No, I never harrass girls unless they want to be," he chided. "Only joking, Corrine - hey, what's wrong?"

He must have seen my face, drained of color, and noted that I was slightly freaked out. "Oh, it's because you heard Theo, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Well, he's a psychic-type, of course!" he exclaimed, as if that solved all problems. "Psychic Pokemon have that ability."

I stared blankly at them and felt Zeke curl up around my ankles as I sat down slowly. Theo looked at me - or at least I think he did. Can never tell with Abra - and said, "I can not speak this way, if that would be better." And then he broke off into a broken chorus of, "A-bra. Abra, ab."

"Er, no, that's fine. I'm just...not used to it."

"Newbie, aren't you?"

I flushed, looking away then, "Well, you are too, obviously."

"And how do you figure that?" the Abra spoke, his voice interested and wry.

"Well, you're...not...evolved." I said, and even then I knew my argument held no weight.

Jared laughed at that jovially. Theo looked amused as well, "Theo here is my starter, and the strongest of my team. He's not evolved because he doesn't want to be." He pointed to a clear blue stone on a small silver chain strung around the Abra's neck. "Everstone. Stops evolution."

"Wow..." I said, unable to keep the awe out of my voice.

"He'll evolve when he wants to," Jared said, smiling down at his partner, who had taken up residence on his left side. "Until then, he'll wear this."

"Ah, right," I said, intrigued despite myself.

"Are you hungry?" Jared asked cordially as his Steelix curled around the small campsite, making a ring around all of us. "We could make a fire and cook some of our rations."

My stomach growled in response.

"I'll take that as a yes." He smiled at me and started working.

The fire was lit, everything put away. I unrolled my sleeping bag for the first time since I started my journey and I did the same for Jared's. He looked at me and smiled his appreciation while he got out everything to cook. I started to pull out odds and ends of food, but he stopped me with a look, "Nope. None of that. You've already done enough for us - oh, I almost forgot! Sheila! Guess what?"

"Grav?"

"Tomorrow, you're going to be a gorgeous Golem! All because of Corrine over here!"

"Graveller! Gra!" Sheila looked positively delighted and tumbled over to me at what I thought was a run. I tensed up, feeling Zeke do the same at my feet. She wrapped all of her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug so that I couldn't breathe.

"J-J...Jared," I rasped. He looked alarmed and quickly called off Sheila.

I gasped for air as soon as I was plopped rather unceremoniously onto the ground next to Zeke once again, who looked laughably relieved. Shaking my head and hiding a wince as I felt my mid-section, I looked over to Zeke, who had started up some kind of conversation with the Pelipper, who sloshed water around his feet out of her large mouth as she talked. Zeke darted back to avoid some of it, but it still splashed his feet. He looked down in distaste.

Nelly laughed; Zeke growled.

"Interesting partner you have there," the Abra observed. "Is Zeke your only one?"

Slightly shocked that he knew Zeke's name, I spluttered, "Uh, yeah."

"He says he told you that you should've caught that Lotad before. You two have been looking for a Pokemon all day and you have yet to even throw a ball."

I flushed and nudged Zeke with my foot, "That's so not cool, Zeke."

He shrugged.

"I'm going to get us a teammate, trust me," I told him, and he snorted. I don't think he liked losing so recently, despite the wins we had accumulated through the day.

"Dour, dour," he said in a sarcastic manner, as if challenging me.

"Fine! Tomorrow we'll catch the greatest teammate ever!"

"Houn."

Theo chuckled, "He says that's what you said you two were doing today."

Zeke shot him a look.

"W-Well, I apologize!"

Zeke smirked, "Dour. Houn-dour."

"You two are funny," Jared spoke up from next to the fire. I hadn't even noticed he used his Camerupt to light one. He was roasting several hot dogs by sticking them on sticks and then jamming those sticks in the dirt next to the fire. Some cooking styles never grow old - I'll admit, I had no idea how Zeke and I were going to eat until Jared came along.

"Thanks." I said darkly.

Zeke snickered.

Theo walked over and used what I thought was a Psychic attack to levitate the hot dogs, still attached to their sticks, and disperse them to the various Pokemon as well as Jared and I. I took mine, not caring enough to let it cool off before biting into it. The outside was burnt, just how I liked it.

The fire was nice, crackling and wavering in the darkness that now surrounded us. Ferdinand seemed to be providing a kind of barrier of sorts, and when I looked towards his massive head to ask permission to lean back against him, he only nodded as if he knew what I was going to say before it was out of my mouth. I leaned back after sliding into the sleeping bag, while Zeke made his own bed just a ways from me, still gnawing at his hot dog. I noticed that he had never really slept close to me, not like Jared and his Pokemon were so used to. It made me long for a time when our relationship would be that strong.

I just watched the flames. Watched as they moved and danced, illuminating Jared's face as he bit into his own hot dog, nodding at something that I was unaware of. I guessed that Theo's telepathy was subjective and he was speaking to just Jared.

My eyes were heavy. I now felt the tiredness in every pore of my body. I stared over at Zeke, whose face was relaxed, his eyes closed, his black fur lit up by the light of the fire. Poor guy...already asleep. I told myself as soon as I helped Jared evolve Sheila, I would catch a Pokemon. For real, this time. My procrastination had already cost us a battle and some money. And pride. Can't forget pride.

I tried to stay awake, really, I did. However, despite my best tries, my eyes slid closed like steel shutters, blocking me off from the world.

The last things I heard before I was carried away to unconsciousness were Jared's kind laugh and the popping of the fire in front of me.

End Chapter Six.