Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Thanks so much for your reviews! I really appreciate all the kind words and nice things said. It's really great to hear that people like my story. And are actually reading it, which sometimes I fear they aren't. Haha, but anyway, I just hope that everyone enjoys this update as much as the others. It's a bit long, though. Thanks so much for taking the time out to read!

Spotlight
Chapter Seven: Just Wandering Through

"You snore, you know that?"

I stiffened, my hands tensing up as I tried to re-tie the sleeping bag I had slept in so unceremoniously from before. I had awoken with a pillow behind my head and no clue how it got there, for I didn't carry one with me. As soon as the haze of sleep had lifted, I put two and two together and had handed it back to Jared with a shy word of thanks, to which he only grinned. And now he brought up my little...problem.

My cheeks felt hot, and I forced myself to keep my gaze low, "Yeah?"

"Not loudly," Jared chuckled, "It's not a problem. Just trying to start conversation."

"And what a lovely, non-insulting way to do so," I told him.

At that, Jared let out a bellowing laugh that sent a few random Starly out of their perches on the encircling trees. I was shocked that such a loud sound could come from such a gangly person.

"Everything ready to go, Jared?"

"Yep," he replied to Theo. "Just waiting for Cor - oh, hey, let me help."

He took the sleeping bag with from my hands and tied it soundly with deft fingers. I watched, making a note to try to replicate the process for myself when he wasn't around, though I was certain it wouldn't yield the same results. He shoved it into my backpack, where it fit rather nicely with my other things. Better than having it fastened to the top like I had been doing.

"And there you go!" he said, handing me the pack. He then went to the task of returning all of his Pokemon, except his Abra, who took up a perch on his back, sitting lightly atop the backpack he now had strapped to him and wrapping his clawed hands around Jared's shoulders. Jared began clipping the rest of the Pokeballs to his belt while I just stood there, feeling slightly useless.

He turned to me finally, and asked, "Ready to head out for Jubilife?"

Feeling well-rested - the Steelix had made a nice bed, believe it or not - and eager to catch a new Pokemon, I nodded and looked down at Zeke, who was chewing the grass around him. "Zeke?"

Blinking as if just coming out of a trance, he then tilted his head to look at me. He seemed to understand what I was going to say before I had to voice it, so he got up, stretched, and then trotted to my side.

"Guess that's our cue!" Jared observed cheerfully. He then marched forward, and I followed, trailing him like a lost Growlithe.

We participated in some double battles along the way, Jared with his Abra and me with Zeke. Theo was amazingly strong, making everyone around him pale in comparison. The look on some of the trainer's faces as he hit them with a Psybeam was almost humorous if I hadn't been in such an awe-stricken mood. We beat everyone, thanks mostly to Theo's tendency to one-hit KO, but Zeke was improving greatly. Something which I was immensely proud of.

After our fourth battle of the day, I finally asked him as we entered a stretch with no trainers around, "How long have you been at it?"

"Training?" he mused, placing a finger to his chin. "About eight years."

I tripped over my own feet, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen," he replied, as if it was something I should know already. "And you?"

"Fourteen," I said, somewhat abashed. "I just set out a few days ago."

"Ah," he mused, but didn't pry. I found that a wave of respect washed over me for him. "I got Theo on my tenth birthday. Best starter I could've asked for. I've been bouncing around the regions for a while now."

"Really?" I asked, intrigued at this wanderer's story.

I saw his head nod, the light catching on that golden earring. The hair that was still in the ponytail swished behind him, and I saw that Theo had taken to tangling his claws in the brown-blonde strands.

"I'm from Kanto, but I've been to Johto and Hoenn," he tacked off the names of the regions on his fingers. "I've gotten a few badges from each, but I've never completed a Gym circuit in any of them." He sounded almost embarrassed of this, but he shrugged, "Mom calls me scatterbrained, but I just say I'm spontaneous. Sounds better, don't you think?"

I laughed at that, "I do."

"But, yeah," he continued, "I've decided to come to Sinnoh to actually complete the circuit here. Mom doubts that I can do it, but I'm determined to prove her wrong. That I can actually focus on one thing at a ti - oh, look at those Wingull!"

I was barely able to stifle the snicker that threatened to overtake me, while Zeke had started to laugh darkly. Scatterbrained, indeed. However, I did follow his thin index finger to where he was pointing at a group of at least a dozen flying Wingull overhead.

"Reminds me of Nelly..."

"Ah, yes!" Jared agreed with Theo, "I remember when she was just a little Wingull. Scrawniest one I've ever seen."

He then launched into a story about how he caught Nelly, his Pelipper. Turns out, he had been aiming for a Buneary of all things and ended up catching Nelly instead. She was an integral part of his team now, obviously, and one of his strongest.

"And when do you plan on catching your next Pokemon?"

I skidded to a halt, almost tripping over my own feet again, "Er - well, uh, as soon as I can." I told him, "I was thinking about going searching for one after I helped you out with this."

"Ah, right." He smiled at me. "Good."

I found myself smiling back.

Zeke trotted alongside me, keeping pace with us easily. I ended up relaying the story about how I caught Zeke to them - or, rather, how I found him and the resulting chaos that ended in his failed capture, followed by his real one - and they laughed at the appropriate portions, making me feel less awkward than I had been throughout this whole thing. Jared was easy to be around, as was Theo - as soon as I got over the whole telepathy thing - and suddenly I realized I was going to miss them when we had to go our separate ways.

I remembered my phone in my backpack, at Amelia's number safely entered into the contacts, and wondered if I could at least have Jared as a contact as well. It seemed like it would be a nice thing, to have friends in this large, large world, when I had had so very little kids my age to play with in Floaroma Town growing up (I ignored the fact that Jared was four years older than me).

As if knowing what I was thinking, Zeke nipped my ankle in the usual fashion.

Yes. I still had Zeke. That thought eased the feeling of loneliness.

We continued walking. It wasn't that far away from Floaroma, which was nice. It would be great to maybe spend the night in a new town for once. I smiled as I walked, Zeke keeping pace with my steps rather easily.

"Do you have any badges from Sinnoh yet?" I decided to ask Jared, wondering what I could possibly be up against. Maybe he would even give me a few pointers.

"Yep," he said cheerily, "Oreburgh's, Hearthome's, and Sunyshore's."

I looked at him blankly.

He chuckled, seeming to read something in my expression. "If you want a little insider info, just ask."

"...that would be nice."

"Which gym are you planning on battling first?"

"Oreburgh. I figured that was closest to home, so I'd start there."

He grinned at me, "Right. So you should either stock up on a water or grass Pokemon for that. Those are the two with the most obvious strengths to Roark."

"Roark?"

"The Gym Leader."

"Ah," I said, blinking, "right. I knew that."

"Uh-huh." Jared murmured, unconvinced but amused.

I decided to ignore his doubts, and started to keep an eye out for valuable Pokemon that I could potentially catch. I found none - just Bidoof and Shinx and Starly. As much as I would love to catch a Shinx, they had an electric typing and wouldn't help me any with Roark's gym. There was one exception, though. As we were walkin through the grass, a Budew popped up. The first I'd seen around here. I was happy, but then it got blasted away by Zeke's Ember. He looked like he did it on purpose, too. Maybe he didn't want the Budew as a teammate. I had growled at him and he only laughed. Dark-type indeed.

And, after several hours of random conversation and wild Pokemon attacks, we arrived in Jubilife.

So much larger than my home town, I was shocked when we entered the place. It definitely the largest city I'd ever seen, and it was definitely larger than little Floaroma. I hadn't realized I had my jaw dropped until Jared came over and patted my chin upwards, causing me to close my mouth, "Luckily there weren't any Yanma around. They'd have flown right in."

I wrinkled my nose as I rubbed the spot on my chin where he had touched me. I made it a point to glare at him, but he only started laughing before getting distracted - I noticed this was a common thing with him - and pointing to the large Pokemon Center across the street.

He grabbed my hand roughly and yanked me across the street in a quick jog, Theo nearly falling from his back due to the psychic being caught off guard - I tried not to find the irony in that. Soon, we were bursting through the doors to the Pokemon Center. Trainers left and right stared at us blankly, but I didn't have time to take in their faces, for Jared had maneuvered me off to the side where there was a door, and behind it, a staircase leading down.

Right, this was the usual layout of a Pokemon Center, I remembered learning. Upstairs were the trainers's quarters, where they could stay if they didn't have a place, and downstairs was the trading room, where - of course - trading happened.

Jared's face was alight with something childish and excited. It was almost hard to believe he was eighteen. He walked us over to a machine manned by a rather tired looking woman with bright orange hair, run through by streaks of gray.

"We're here to trade!" he chimed enthusiastically, which only caused the woman to look at him as if he were insane.

"And he's my trainer..." Theo said quietly to me. Zeke and I laughed.

"Yes, that's usually what people do when they're down here," the woman stated before she yawned. "Is this a permanent trade?"

"No!" I burst out immediately, causing the exhausted little woman to give a slight jump. "I mean," I said in a much quieter tone, almost a whisper, "no."

"Yeah, it's just to help along an evolution of mine."

The woman introduced herself as Jane and pressed a button on the side of the machine. It was a strange looking thing, bolted up on the wall like that. It had two sets of tubes running in a long loop alongside each other in a tall arch, never merging together but creating a slight artistic M formation at one point where they crossed. Towards the bottom of the machine, the tubes disappeared into a metal box, ending with two holes at the base of where the tube would begin. The whole thing was encased in a rectangle of glass, reminding me slightly of a jukebox.

"Well, if you'll step this way," Jane said, motioning over to the trading machine. I hadn't realized I'd paused looking at the thing until Jared was staring at me from right beside it. I hastily moved forward, Zeke at my heels.

"Do you have to Pokemon ready to be traded?" Jane asked in a drawl.

Jared brought out his Graveller's Pokeball with a flourish and placed it in one of the holes. I blinked before looking down to Zeke and drawing out his own Pokeball. "Don't worry, it's just for a bit," I told him before he was zapped up by the red light.

I had to admit, I was antsy about the whole thing. What if something went wrong and I had to take Sheila instead of my Zeke? The very thought chilled me.

I placed his Pokeball in the other hole, however, and without further ado, Jane pressed another button and our Pokeballs were sucked upward into the tube. I watched as Zeke's spiraled around through the tube and wondered if he was completely dizzy. But that was silly. Pokeballs didn't work like that. I chalked it up to my nervousness with the whole situation. My hands clenched and unclenched at my sides, desperately wanting to hold onto Zeke's Pokeball once more.

After a few seconds, Zeke's and Sheila's Pokeballs were at the opposite place from where they started. Jane instructed us to take the Pokeballs out of the hole and place them back in, or else the trade evolution wouldn't work for some reason. Though identical to Zeke's, Sheila's ball felt completely different. It was slightly heavier and not as warm. It felt alien and wrong, and I quickly shoved the ball back into the slot, Jared doing the same.

Jane pressed another button and the Pokeballs were sucked back into the fray. I watched as Zeke's came to rest in front of me and didn't even wait for Jane's signal. I reached forward, grabbed the Pokeball, and released Zeke in one fluid motion.

To my relief, he was standing there, looking as indifferent as ever. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding and knelt down to scratch his ears. He tensed, as was usual at any touch, but relaxed sooner than usual.

"Dour," he said, pushing at my wrist with his nose.

I grinned at him.

Jared had retrieved his Pokeball now, and as soon as the red-and-white ball hit his palm, it started shaking back and forth. A bright grin twisted his lips and he released Sheila. For a moment we caught a glimpse of her elated, rocky face, and then she started to glow. A light, the brightest I'd ever seen, took hold of her. Her Graveller body morphed, the light never leaving her. She grew rounder, her arms and legs became sturdier, and her body in general grew larger. I watched, entranced. This was the first live-evolution I'd ever seen, and I was fascinated.

After a few seconds had passed, a strong Golem stood in the place where there had once been a simple Graveller.

"Gol!" she exclaimed happily, staring down at her clawed, brown hands.

Jared couldn't contain himself. He launched himself in the direction of Sheila and wrapped his long, lanky arms around her bulk. "Yes! You're gonna be the strongest Golem ever!"

"Golem! Go-lem!"

I just stood there, not knowing what I was supposed to do until Jared grabbed me and made me dance with him and Theo and the newly evolved Golem. We grasped hands and did some kind of ring-around-the-rosie type deal. I laughed freely at it all. Since when do people get to dance around with a Golem? Not every day, that's for sure. At least for people who didn't own Golem to begin with.

Zeke was watching from the corner, and after a few minutes we heard someone cough pointedly.

I spun slightly so I tripped over my own feet, landing on my butt. I was still laughing, even when the two trainers who had obviously come down here to trade instead of watch people attempt to become Lord of the Dance.

Jane spoke, "Yeah, you might want to get out of the way."

Thanks for that spot of wisdom, Janie.

I didn't protest, though. With the excitement of a newly evolved Pokemon coursing through my veins, I made my way up the stairs as I remembered my own mission, not noticing that Jared had returned Sheila and followed me until we were in the main area of the Center.

"Hey, where are you going?"

I spun around, Zeke nearly ramming into my calves as I did so, and found Jared looking at me with a neutral expression. "Er...leaving?"

"Without saying goodbye?"

I immediately flashed back to when a similar exchange had happened - between me, Amelia, and Benji in Floaroma. That seemed so far away now.

"Sorry," I told him. I meant it. Jared seemed like a nice guy, and I knew that we had to go our separate ways due to me being a complete newbie and him...well, not being one. "I'm probably going to stay in the Pokemon Center tonight - "

"Me too!" he chirped. "Awesome, okay, so what are you doing?"

"'bout to go catch a Pokemon."

Zeke perked up at that, his stumpy little tail wagging.

Jared nodded, but didn't offer to come with. I was glad - my first capture in the wild should be done with just me and Zeke, after all. That's what I thought at least. I wanted to prove I could do this.

"I'll try to get us a room, then." Jared said, moving over to the Nurse Joy that stood behind a counter. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" I turned and left through the glass doors of the Center, trying to pretend that I didn't hear Jared say, "Are your rooms capable of holding a full grown Steelix?"

I shook my head as I finally breathed in fresh air. The lack of fragrant flowers was noticeable, but that was just due to the place where I'd grown up. The evolution was done, and there was nothing preventing myself from catching a new Pokemon for my team. It was long overdue, too. My procrastination of the matter hadn't helped things, and I desperately needed a good Pokemon to help with Roark.

Zeke nipped my ankles, telling me to get going, I supposed.

So I did.

I walked out of the city limits, trying to ignore the trainers for once. I could always battle them on the way back to the Center. I didn't need anything distracting me. Catch Pokemon first, then focus on levelling everyone up.

I made my way through the grass, finding only Starly and Bidoof there. Groaning, I pushed aside bushes and brambles and staggered up the side of a cliff to where there I stumbled upon a large, random pond.

Water, was the first thought that came to mind.

Stupid, I know. But water meant a lot of things. Especially one very important thing.

The presence of water meant water Pokemon.

I let out a little girlish squeal of delight as I raced over to the edge of the pond. Zeke looked at me with disgust as I slipped off my shoes, rolled up my pants, and slid my feet into the cool surface, feeling the mud between my toes, the weeds skate across my skin. He rolled his eyes and trotted forward before bending down at the water's edge and lapping up the cool liquid. I blushed, feeling embarrassed when I realized we hadn't eaten all day. Let alone drank water. I shrugged off my pack and dug around before pulling out a plastic bag full of brightly colored berries.

Zeke perked up at this. I opened the bag and thrust them toward him, "Eat as much as you want."

Zeke didn't take much convincing. He plunged his snout into the bag and started chowing down. What a bad trainer I was, to have neglected food for not only myself but for my Pokemon? I decided I'd let him have the entire bag, no questions asked. I could always pick some more later.

He ate the berries, gulping them down fervently, and I just sat there, waiting for a Pokemon to surface.

It took a while. The sun had moved just slightly to touch the earth, signifying that it was sunset. And nothing had happened. I was starting to grow frustrated with all of this, when a rustling of the tall grass further down the pond caught my attention. I focused on that, expecting to see a Bidoof or something, when it happened.

Suddenly, about seven Buizel burst from the reeds alongside the pond, looking very happy with themselves. They chattered and chirped and dove like acrobats through the air before slicing through the water.

"Zeke!" I said. He looked up at the group of Buizel before barking and charging.

"Tackle!"

Zeke launched his body forward, trying to attack all of them at once. It was a strange sight. I was scared for a moment that he would be ambushed, and for a moment they did all start to attack them. He dodged and leaped and landed in the very patch of reeds that the Buizel had come from. He was wet. Being a fire type, he hated water, of course, but I wasn't sure how to attack them. Ember wouldn't work. And the rest of his moves were physical, and that would require him getting in the water. He'd faint quicker due to the conditions. I couldn't allow that after finding a gaggle of water Pokemon.

A few of the Buizel looked dazed from Zeke's Tackle, and the rest were dazed because their missed attacks that had been aimed for Zeke had hit one another. I guessesd they were weakened enough, so I carelessly threw a Pokeball, hoping to hit at least one of them.

I hit something at least, because I heard the crack of the Pokeball and the sound of the light sucking whatever it was into it. I heard a plunk as it sank into the water, and then it was done.

I blinked, confused, and then knowing what I had to do next.

Rolling up my pants to my thighs, I waded out in the water. Luckily, it wasn't as deep as I'd originally thought. I felt around with my feet for the smooth surface of the Pokeball. It took me a bit longer to find this than I thought, but at least Zeke was keeping an eye out for me. My toes touched what I believed to be the wayward Pokeball and I bent down and picked it up.

There was mud clinging to its surface, but as soon as my fingers wiped most of it away, I could see that it was, indeed, my Pokeball. And it felt heavier, too. Occupied. I was somewhat shocked at this. It seemed so...strange and surreal.

I had caught my first Pokemon.

The question is, I thought as I looked down at the dirty Pokeball in my hands, what are you?

End Chapter Seven.