Chapter Six

Colby and Ellis gave each other glances of surprise. Was this girl crazy? Jumping over buildings was treacherous, even if the buildings weren't that tall. Still, she and her Pokémon could be seriously hurt, if not killed. "What's your name, girl?" Colby asked, with not the friendliest of tones.

After all, she still wasn't totally cured in not rejecting people. She seemed to notice the bite in Colby's voice and gave her a blank stare.

"I'm Amanda…and this is Zero, my Zorua," She explained, giving Zero a squeeze.

Colby nodded slowly and glanced at Ellis again.

"So, you said you were Free Running? What exactly is that?" Ellis asked, his blue eyes flickering between Amanda and Zero.

Amanda pushed her glasses up and pointed to the top of the nearest building.

"Well, it's kind of like a sport in Portsburg. Not an official sport by any means, but a sport of the local trainers around this area. Basically, of my friends named Sam enjoyed running with his Pokémon in an open area. He had a Pidgey, which as a flying Pokémon, couldn't exactly run. So, he decided that he would run with the Pidgey, the flying type style. Sam decided that he would invent something called Free Running that would in a way simulate flying. He lived in an apartment area where the buildings were fairly close together, so he decided that the basis of Free Running would be from jumping from building to building with your Pokémon,"

She paused and took a breath.

"Anyways, he soon began to do this. Other's caught on and eventually made it into a neighborhood competition of sorts. Eventually, the sport spread throughout kids in Portsburg. Everyone added the moves part into Free Running. So, like I was just doing, using Zorua's changing ability, made that into our routine. We are training, and will eventually compete!" The girl finished and Colby was in awe.

It originally sounded like such a preposterous idea since she wasn't aware what Amanda was actually doing… But it actually sounded kind of fun. Zero was licking his fur and Amanda was stroking him calmly.

"Huh…well, that sounds actually kind of interesting," Colby said, feeling envy that she didn't have her own Pokémon to pet.

Ellis nodded his approval, "Yes, surely an interesting idea. Is that the first time you have fallen?"

Amanda laughed, "Oh no, we fall all the time. I'm not exactly the most graceful person in the world… But, that was the first time that we had gotten all the way through to the last change. I'm sure you two know about Zero's changing abilities?"

"Yeah…but I've never seen those abilities put into a routine before or seen one change forms so fast," Ellis added.

"Oh, yeah, we have been working on the routine for around two weeks now. So far, Zero is doing great. I don't know any other Zorua that has mastered that complex of a change sequence. It has taken us some training, and some dedication of course," Amanda pointed out.

"Well, glad your alright…but we better be going, right Ellis?" Colby said. "Yeah, we have to get back to Nicksy. Nice talking to you," Ellis said to Amanda.

She looked a bit glum that they were leaving.

"Wait…before you guys go. I just have one question. Are you two real trainers? I'm guessing we are close to the same age? Between 15 and 16?" Amanda asked.

Colby and Ellis exchanged looks again. Should they tell her? She seemed fairly harmless…

"Yeah, we are both those ages. We are actually going to become trainers as soon as we pick up my Pokémon," Colby 5told her.

Amanda's eyes lit up and a smile came to her face.

"Well…I-I mean, I don't mean to be a burden…or intrude on your personal time, but do you think maybe I could come with you on your journey? Zero and I were going to become trainers also…but I can't find anyone to go on the journey with. It's a long way around Aurora and I'd rather not go alone. I promise we won't be a burden…" Amanda stuttered, clearly pleading with them.

Colby glanced at Ellis. At first, she really resented the idea…because, well, it was more people. But, one more couldn't hurt, she guessed. It was up to Ellis, so she stayed silent as he thought.

"I think there is room for one more in our group. Right Colby?" Ellis asked. Colby looked between Amanda's pleading face and Ellis. Why not…? "Sure…" Colby said, still a bit unsure of people.

Ellis shot her a look that said everything was going to be ok. "Welcome to the team, Amanda and Zero!" Ellis congratulated, with a smile on his face.

Amanda's face lit up and she burst into a huge smile.

She danced around with Zero, "Did you hear that Zero? We are going to become trainers! Real trainers!"

Zero seemed to be smiling along with his trainer. His black eyes seemed to be dancing and he was making noises that seemed to be a sign of elation.

"Thank you guys so much! I can't believe this!" Amanda said, happiness clearly flooding her.

"Don't mention it. It's going to be a great journey…and besides, I need to make some more friends besides the carrot here," Colby said, with a smirk on her face as she used the nickname for Ellis.

Ellis gave her a sour face, "Oh, shush. I'm not a carrot!"

Colby laughed the slightest bit, "Well, Amanda, we have to get back to Nicksy. So far, the plan is to head out tomorrow morning at eight. Meet us in front of the Pokémon Center then and we will get going."

Amanda nodded furiously, "I will be there! Thanks so much guys! See you tomorrow," She smiled, and bounded off into the dark alley.

Colby gave Ellis a look of silliness.

"I can't believe what just happened. That Zorua was amazing!"

Ellis nodded his agreement, "I know! I've never seen that many changes in that short time. Let's get back to Nicksy, because it's getting late. Sorry we didn't actually get to do any sightseeing…"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm glad that we will have someone to keep us company along the journey."

But in truth, Colby wasn't exactly sure what to think. Amanda seemed nice… but her suspicion of people wasn't exactly thinking that this was the best idea.

Colby pushed those worries down and continued the walk in the streetlights of Portsburg with Ellis. The brilliant green lights of the Pokémon center illuminated the street. At least it was fairly easy to find.

When they entered the doors, the nurse was nowhere in site. Two couches were open in the lobby, so they decided to crash there. It wasn't exactly going to be the most comfortable night, but Colby didn't care. A place to sleep was a place to sleep. They were lucky to even have a couch to crash on.

"Well, today has been a fairly interesting day," Ellis muttered from his couch. Colby lay down on the one opposite him and dozed.

"Yeah…it has. So far I'm thinking that I like the Aurora region so far."

Ellis smiled, "Yeah, it's a pretty interesting place. Goodnight, Colby." "Goodnight Ellis…"

Colby mumbled as sleep consumed her like a wave crashing against the Nighthawk…


Luckily, the strange dream didn't return that she had on the Nighthawk. Colby yawned and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced at the Charmander clock on the Pokémon Center wall, and realized that she was up twenty minutes early. This would be a good time to catch herself up on her PokePages Journal.

Colby grabbed her bag and pulled out the battered black journal, along with her purple fountain pen. She thumbed through the journal of writings, poems, and even some drawings. That was one thing that actually gave Colby some peace, writing or drawing.

Before she knew it, the words were flooding onto the page like an overflowing river. Her thoughts spilled out onto the crisp pages of the journal and she filled one page, then proceeding to the eager next.

Everything from the last few days came from her pen and met the paper, like reuniting two long lost friends again.

The meeting of Amanda and Nicksy, the looks of Portsburg, even the way the ocean smelled, it was all there.

She was just finishing up the last few sentences, complete with a drawing of Nicksy, when Ellis stirred on the couch across from her. He flipped over and yawned hugely.

"Good morning," He muttered drowsily.

Colby stuck the journal back into her pack and stretched.

"Good morning Ellis. Ready for the big day?" Colby smiled.

Ellis stood up, "Oh, most certainly! This is the day I have been dreaming about for my whole life!"

"Same here, and I can't wait to see how Nicksy is doing!" Colby stiffly stood up and went to the nurse's counter.

There she was, as usual, sitting at her desk with a cup of coffee and doing some sort of computer data analysis.

"Good morning you two. Were the couches comfortable enough?" The nurse teased.

Ellis laughed, "Oh, of course nurse. I slept like a rock…sleeping on a rock. Just kidding, thanks again for letting us stay the night."

The nurse waved it off like it was nothing, "Don't mention it. Its no big deal, and we aren't exactly bustling in the night hours. I'm guessing you are ready to take Nicksy and be off on your journey?"

The nurse practically read Colby's eager mind. She was ready for this trek and ready to meet new people, Pokémon, and not to mention see new places.

"That's the plan, nurse. That is, if Nicksy is fully healed…" Colby replied.

The nurse stood up and led them toward Nicky's room.

"Well, his vitals look good and the burns are healing quite nicely. He also seems to be fairly content. So, I think that he is quite ready."

Colby peeked through the window and saw Nicksy curled up in the capsule, facing away from them. There weren't as many wires connected to him, which made Colby feel better. The burns seemed to be scabbing over and it seemed as if his beautiful hair was starting to grow back.

"He looks so much better from when we found him," Ellis said.

Colby agreed, "I know, it's amazing what medicine can do these days…"

"Are you ready to take him?" The nurse asked. Colby gazed at Nicksy, "Yes…we are ready to start our journey."

With that, Colby and Ellis walked back to the waiting room of the Pokémon Center to grab their stuff.

"I can't wait to get this journey on the road!" Ellis excitedly said.

"Me either…oh! Here comes Amanda!"

Just then, the girl came through the door with a smile. She was wearing baggy camo pants, a black t-shirt with a cartoon skull on it, and a backwards cap with a bunch of Unknown on it. Swung over her shoulder was a blue backpack. Ellis exchanged a look with Colby and started to laugh.

"That's a nice hat Amanda," Ellis laughed.

Amanda looked up at her hat and smiled, "Thanks! I thought so to…"

Just then, Zero seemed to explode from the Poke Ball in Amanda's pocket. Her eyes widened with surprise as he emerged from her pocket.

"Ze! Zero!" Zero muttered as he sat down on Amanda's black and green sneakers.

"See! Even Zero is excited to go on the trip," Colby said, with a smile. Amanda pushed up her glasses and returned the smile.

"As I said, this has been our dream for as long as I can remember…"

"Here is l5little Nicksy! All happy and healthy," The nurse said from behind Colby.

She turned around and there sat Nicksy beside the nurse. His bottomless brown eyes were smiling at her and he seemed more vivid than when Colby saw him in the capsule. A smile spread across Colby's face and she bent down to greet the little Pokémon.

She slowly extended her right hand to Nicksy and he sniffed it. "Murr murr!' Nicksy mumbled against Colby's outstretched hand.

He greeted her and immediately came over to sit in her lap. He looked up into her blue eyes and almost smiled. He seemed to know that Colby had been the one to save him and that she was going to be his trainer. "So, Nicksy, are you interested in becoming a team?" Colby asked him softly. Without any hesitation at all, Nicksy responded with a murr. Colby would take that as a yes.

Colby looked up at Ellis, "We have our answer. Lets hit the road guys."

A grin spread across Ellis and Amanda's faces.

"I can tell that all of you are going to become great trainers. I wish you luck on your long journey, and if you have time, come back and visit," The nurse added.

Colby picked up Nicksy and grabbed her pack.

"Thanks so much nurse, and we will come back," Colby said, walking toward the door with Ellis and Amanda.

So the three exited the Pokémon center and waved goodbyes to the nurse, embarking on a journey that would change their lives forever.


A/N: Review and let me know what you think :)