I finally finished my vacation-away-from-home and locked myself in my room again. Well, I attempted to, but then I had to get out for another few more days and I couldn't do anything on my computer. I'm sorry this hadn't been updated earlier!

Thank you so much, Gentle Blossom! Your review had me smiling all day and dancing around my makeshift room for a good twenty minutes! 8D No joke!

And to everyone who's following along with this story, thank you! I'm happy to have you lovely readers with me!

Please have fun and enjoy!

The Blatant Disregard of a Pokémon Trainer v2

Mother a contest champion. Father a famous photographer. What will she do to get away from all the criticizing and all the skepticism? Join the rebellion! Become a Pokémon trainer.

I try to stay out of trouble all the time. But it's not my fault! My mouth can't shut up to save its life! It's almost like a bad habit, one that won't go away no matter what I try to do. I feel really bad for my friends, since they have to put up with me as I go on my journey to become a Pokémon Master.

004. New direction.

Have you ever been in that one moment, where you simply stare at yourself in the mirror and wonder: "Who am I?"

Have you wondered the same thing about the acquaintances you decided it was cool to befriend?

"Aww look!" Ivey beamed and pointed at me, "She's so happy she's speechless!"

Right. Don't forget that said acquaintances are also delusional.

Samantha rolled her eyes and tried to keep the subject on track. "Don't worry about catching them either. You can find them everywhere if you search hard enough at the right places."

Ivey was still too excited to stay with her though. "This is awesome! I'm so excited! Aren't you excited? This is so exciting!"

"Calm down, Ivey," I sighed, yet a small smile slowly reached my lips, "We're not even in Hoenn yet."

"This close," She held up her thumb and her index finger up, about a few centimeters apart, "This close!"

"Okay, okay," I tried to calm her down, but it was suddenly impossible to do something as simple as that. "If you want to come with me, you have to help me figure out a way to survive our scale up Mt. Moon."

Samantha flinched, "Ouch. Talk about bad luck. You have a Pichu."

"I know." I nodded in agreement. "There has to be another way around it. This is too cruel."

"I would fly you guys, but I don't have a flying Pokémon."

Ivey jumped in with her own confused look. My goodness, she was finally calm. It was a miracle. "How did you get here then?"

"Diglett's cave." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. A cave? There was a cave? How come no mentioned this to me before? I would've been all over it!

"It goes straight from Pewter City to Vermillion City," She shot us a look when we nearly smothered her in excited expressions, "but—"

"That's perfect!" I cried my own excited squeal, once again cutting her off. She glared at me and I made more faces at her. "Awesome! How long do you think it takes to go through it?"

"Probably a week," Ivey answered, although the question wasn't directed at her. "Can't be that long."

"Depending on how fast you go, it'll take two to three weeks," Samantha shook her head at us, "but—"

"How long were you in there then?" It was Ivey's turn to cut her off.

"A month, but that's only because I lost my brother mid-way and had to turn back."

"You have a brother?" I hadn't even noticed I was onboard the conversation.

"Is he hot?" Ivey was very excited. Hur hur.

Samantha smacked her over the head. "He's thirty years old and married. Calm down."

"Still, though," Ivey shrugged like it was no big deal, "is he hot?"

Samantha looked both appalled and confused at the same time. "…I guess so?"

Ivey grinned as if she just got news that she had won an award for being awesome. "Sweet!"

Samantha looked at me for help. I simply shrugged and decided it was time to let Ivey know that Vivian had decided to join the other trainers at the buffet tables.

"Get back here!" Ivey yelped in surprise, jumping up from the table and practically pouncing on her Pokémon before it vacuumed up the whole table.

Meanwhile, I turned my gaze to Ivey's two—er… one now, since her bulbasaur was scurrying frantically after her master—remaining Pokémon, the bayleef's eyes locking with mine. I held her gaze, determined not to back down. She felt the same way I did, apparently, since she stretched her neck and made herself comfortable on the ground, sitting on her hind legs and folding her paws, not once blinking. I widened my eyes and got all serious, trying to be intimidating, but she only looked amused at my face. I scowled and narrowed my eyes, daring her to do better. Without having to be mentally told twice, she made some sort of grimace or goofy expression that had Sam snorting.

"Sorry about that—" Ivey chose this moment to re-enter the scene. "What the heck are you doing?"

I wasn't going to back down though, so I didn't dare look at her. "Can't talk. Staring contest."

"Lily?" She tried again. The Pokémon let out a small affirmative chirp and her tail swished at the sound of her name, but she still didn't blink.

"Okay fine," Ivey gave up, "Can I talk with you for a bit, Sam? Elsewhere?"

"Sure," I heard the sound of the chairs scrapping on the floor and the girl getting up. I spotted them walking away in my peripheral vision and nearly freaked out.

"Where are you guys going?" I called, eyes still locked on the spot between the bayleef's eyes, right where her giant leaf sprouted.

"Just out for a bit," Ivey waved me off, as if it was no big deal, "Take care of Lily and take a stroll around town or something. Keep yourselves busy."

I wasn't quite happy that they were ditching me for a while as they spoke about whatever, but I couldn't pry. It was rude and mean and none of my business. "I guess…"

"Oh!" She quickly remembered, "And stalk up on those granola bars! You don't have some anymore!"

"That's because you ate them all!" I threw behind her just as the doors slid shut. The second the four of them were out of sight, I sighed and broke eye contact with Lily, feeling oddly dissatisfied and lonely now that our small group had split. Plus, I had to figure out a way to keep myself busy until Ivey's done with whatever, which could take all day, for all I knew. I didn't like it, but unless I wanted to be forever alone for the rest of my adventure, I had to be flexible. It didn't feel great though, and I kept reminding myself that if I wanted to leave by myself, I had to find Ivey first and return her Pokémon, which I could easily do after their top secret conversation is over. Might as well wait a bit and do some sight-seeing. I had missed that on the first day in town, the need to find a comfy bed being much stronger.

I glanced down at Spyk, who was still napping away in my lap (how much sleep does he still need? I know we had a long trek through the forest, but seriously!), and Lily, who sent me a smug smirk when she noticed I had my eyes on her. I stuck out my tongue in reply and placed Spyk on her back, mostly because I didn't want to rouse him as I got up. She didn't seem to mind either, and trotted lightly behind me as I moved to put away the trash, which I found really endearing and amusing at the same time. I patted her head, not holding a grudge over the staring contest, and beamed, her leafy presence being really nice. Sightseeing with two Pokémon couldn't be all that bad. Lily's tamed and Spyk's, well, sort of behaved. Sort of.

Much to my pleasure, I had nothing to worry about.

Spyk didn't even cause a ruckus as he woke up to the feel of the fresh air on his fur. He simply stretched on his tummy, rolled over (and practically fell off), and then stared at me as if I had blessed him with all the power in the world. Don't worry, I hadn't. I wasn't that suicidal. I patted his own little head though, which got Lily jealous so I petted her again, and we started on our little tour. I spotted a few tour guides and considered joining them, but then thought against it when I noticed the mischievous glint in Spyk's eyes. Better not cause trouble during our stay yet.

Pewter City wasn't big, yet it wasn't small. There was enough houses and population so that everyone could get to know each other if they wanted. Yet, most of the building were important and helped attract tourists and travelers, so not a lot of people were out and about. Other than the tourists with the tour guides, I didn't actually spot some natives here.

There was a museum at the back, a Gym near it, and a few more houses around it. The mart was near the center, so trainers didn't have to worry, and there were other small malls and hotels nearby as well. The roads were large and made of chip seal, which gave a sort of rocky, almost nature, kind of feel to the town, especially since it was right next to a mountain. I spotted one or two few trucks loitering around, everyone walking instead, and the vehicles only seemed to be there for emergencies or to transport super heavy items. Pewter City seemed like a good city I would enjoy. I wasn't too big a fan of the more urban cities, like Celadon or Goldenrod, but I didn't hate them completely. There was something about everyone bustling around and going about their own business that attracted yet disgusted me. I like that you could do what you wanted without having someone else wondering what you were up to, but at the same time, it seemed very lonesome. While in small cities and towns everyone gets to be friends, in the bigger ones you can only care for yourself or else you'd get trampled all over by someone better than you.

"Pi pi!" Spyk suddenly cried, startling me. I froze in mid-step in the direction of the museum (might as well check it out, since we had time) and turned back, wondering what he wanted my attention for. He climbed onto the top of Lily's head and pointed at the large building nearby. I glanced back at the gym, wondering why the heck he would want to enter that when it was filled with rock types, and gave him a confused look. "Piii!" He tried again, his eyes growing in what I knew as the wounded growlithe look. I sucked in a breath and resisted the urge to hug him tight.

"Okay, fine," I grumbled, retracting my steps. "But only to look!"

"Pii!" He beamed happily, reaching across Lily's face to grab my shirt and hug my arm. Oh yeah, love me when I let you do stuff. I feel totally appreciated.

It was built of stone and rock, smaller ones cascading down and around it. There was a giant icon of the badge at the very top, with the words Pewter Gym right next to it. There was no way to mistake this place. The doors were large and transparent, and I could distinctly spot a reception desk through it. I held the door open for Lily to waddle through and smiled at the woman at the desk, explaining to her quickly that I just came to watch. She nodded and led me to a pair of stairs that lead upwards. I thanked her, unsure why the heck she wanted me to go up, and started climbing them, helping Lily when she needed a push and making sure to reprimand Spyk when he wouldn't stop chattering and actually be quiet. When I finally reached the top, I found that this was the viewing area. There was a few other trainers sitting on these raised bleachers, but most of them were leaning over the railing to cheer on the battle that was apparently going on bellow. I spotted some other stairs on the other side, and when I leaned over to see where they lead to, they went straight to the challenger area of the gym. It was really well thought out that way.

"Steelix, dodge and use tackle!" A rough, adult male voice brought my eyes to the floor bellow, making them widen when I finally noticed the giant snake made of legit steel. I knew steelixes were big, but I not that big! It flew—flew? More like sashayed in fast forward—and went head first into its opponent, a small blue creature with an orange shell.

"Are you okay, Squirtle?" Challenger asked worriedly, not at all minding that his squirtle's lack of nickname was an embarrassment to the rest of us trainers. Squirtle nodded obediently and jumped back to its feet, apparently not at all bothered by the fact that metal could come to life and head butt it. "Great!" Sir Challenger pointed to his opponent. "Use water gun! Right now!"

"Squirtle!" The blue created chirped cutely, before taking in a big breath and puffing up its chest. After a few seconds, it released everything it had in a giant burst of water, heading straight for the steel type. I followed the attack with my eyes, surprised at how fast the battle was going on, and leaned over the railing myself. Lily plopped down on the ground, not wanting to see the battle, and Spyk started swinging his tiny fists around on my shoulder, almost as if he was a boxer.

The gym leader wasn't worried about a thing. "Use dig, Steelix!"

Just when I thought the steelix would get hit, the creature bent over and plowed its face in the ground. As if the ground had suddenly become the biggest pushover in the world, it easily let the snake slide in and hide. I gaped and nudged the poor unfortunate trainer that was somehow standing next to me. I pitied the fool.

"What?" He looked confused as to why I was suddenly interacting with him.

"Is he allowed to do that?" I instantly asked, not at all bothered by the look.

He warmed up and smirked, feeling cocky now that he knew I was a rookie trainer. "Of course!"

"Huh." I squinted at the ground and waited for one of the Pokémon to do something. The squirtle looked absolutely confused, and the steelix was still hiding underground.

Challenger smirked, "Squirtle, fill the hole with water!"

I yanked on violently on neighbor's sleeve. "Dude!"

"What?" He hissed, yanking his arm free and not liking that I was bothering him so much.

Tough cookies for him. "He can't do that!"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Yes, he can."

I pouted once the squirtle puffed up his chest, getting ready for his attack. That was so not fair! It was interfering with the attack! That had to be illegal or something!

"Relax, this always happens," The dude who was next to me nudged me back when he noticed my distressed expression, "and I know my brother was ready for it when he chose to go underground," He nudge me again and smirked. "Have faith! He's not a Gym Leader for nothing!"

I gaped at him unashamedly. "He's your brother?"

His smirk grew, "Of course! How else would I be so awesome?"

Wait what. "You're awesome?"

He rolled his eyes at me the second I heard a "Now Steelix!" from the battleground. I looked back down, watching as the squirtle threw up water in the hole, like it was commanded to do, and waited. What was that gym leader ordering? Was the steelix supposed to do something right now? It had to hurry up if it didn't want to drown! Uggh, I hate that there was nothing out of the ordinary happening.

That's when I noticed it.

The ground was shaking! It was impossible to tell from here, because we were set up like a balcony overlooking the fight, but the ground was shaking like a mini earthquake and there were these tiny crevasses appearing right under the squirtle's feet. My jaw dropped yet again as the giant steel snake flew out from said cracks, literally hitting the water type's butt as he came out from the ground, its large body flying up to wink at us before going back down and landing perfectly on the ground. That. Was. So. Fabulous.

Oh yeah, and the squirtle was laying limp near his trainer.

"And the winner is our very own Gym Leader, Forrest!" The referee—where the heck did she come from?—exclaimed from bellow, holding up her left hand at said gym leader. The gym leader didn't care about this though, and crossed the field to shake hands with the challenger. Challenger picked up his fainted Pokémon and had some emotional moment with him before he bowed to Forrest and high-tailed it out of there. What a wimp.

"That was so cool!" I squealed, holding my hands on my mouth to muffle the sound. I didn't really want to sound like a crushing fangirl or anything. BUT HELLO, DID YOU SEE THAT? Total epic badassery! That was well thought out! He dodged the water gun and managed to attack it with the same move! I was totally impressed! I wanna see that again! More battling! I want to see more epic battling!

"Alright, do we have another challenger?" Gym leader Forrest suddenly appeared right in front of us, standing on top of his steelix's head to be able to reach our height. I started, taken off guard but then grinned, approving at the creative way of transportation. His gaze shifted through us, and I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was up to it. I wasn't surprised when a few of them avoided his gaze and pretended to do something else, their confidence completely crushed. Mine would be too, after seeing a water Pokémon getting defeated by the very type of Pokémon he supposedly had an advantage over. That would make me want to rethink my strategy. But it also gave me an idea.

There's a thing about type advantage. It gave confidence, but it also turned the trainer cocky, thinking they could easily defeat their opponent without having to try. Without a proper plan or strategy, they can easily be overpowered and taken down, which would cost them a lot (mostly their egos). It's no use to only have an advantage, but it's also good to think ahead in case that advantage can be turned against him. Which also brought me to my next point.

"I would like to battle you!" I said confidently, raising my hand as I spoke.

Screw type advantage. If an advantage makes you lose, then my high disadvantage will bring me a key factor to my victory.

Underestimation.

"Are you sure?" Forrest asked, eyes eying my pichu with concern, obviously knowing that it was a bad move to challenge him with an electric Pokémon. Good gym leader. Go ahead and doubt that my pichu can win. That's when we'll strike you in the face and win forever! MOUAHAHA!

"Yup!" I chirped, disrupting my mental tirade and turning my head to Spyk just to be sure, "What do you say, Spyk?"

"Pichu!" Spyk grinned in agreement, and pumped his tiny fist in the air in determination. I knew he would love this challenge. From what I knew about him, he was almost completely like me; impulsive, stubborn, hotheaded, and egotistical. We had this teamwork thing in the bag. I just hope our lack of practice won't affect us too much. I trusted Spyk and I sure hope he trusted me back. I had some weird calls up my sleeve.

"It's settled then." Forrest nodded grimly, probably unamused by my choice of Pokémon. I was so glad Lily was sleeping on the floor, or else I bet he'd try to convince me to use her instead. I was so not going to do that, because, you know, I'm stubborn and I don't change my mind often. He turned around and he and his steelix started to go back down to the floor level.

"Wait!" I called, outstretching my hand and trying to catch his shirt. I obviously failed and nearly fell off the railing to fall flat on the floor, and Sir-Dude-Of-My-Neighboring-Kingdom was apparently laughing at my failness. I glared at him to SHUTYOURMOUTHFOOL and he shrugged as if he didn't care. I stuck my tongue out at him and we had this weird, make-a-crazy-face face-off, which ultimately amused the gym leader, because, well, I had told him to wait and he got to see it. Haha, oops. There I go, making faces to every friendly—sort of—face I meet.

"Yes?" Forrest drawled once my eyes were back on him, placing a hand on his hip and striking an epic pose. Aw yeah, what an epic gym leader I have to face!

Insert fangirl squeal here.

SQUEEEEE!

What.

"Can I get a ride?" I asked, eying the steelix under his feet as if it was the only source of water in a world filled with mud and dirty things filled with dirt.

"Uh…" He shot me a look. Guessing that I was the only one who had asked this of him apparently, I ignored it. "Okay."

"Yay!" I beamed, making sure Spyk was good on my shoulder before climbing the railing and grabbing Forrest's extended hand—extended for my climbing purposes only—and getting on. He let go of my hand (aw man) when he was sure that I was good standing by myself and could handle it. It was pretty easy, seeing as the top of the steelix's head was pretty flat, and we slowly eased down to the floor, just in case I slipped and promptly fell off and broke my shoulder (I already broke said piece of bone and I never want to do it ever again). If I ever got a steelix, I swear I would never have to use those stupid stairs ever again!

"Watch over Lily!" I threw over my shoulder at dude-who-is-apparently-Forrest's-brother. He pointed at himself in confusion and I nodded. He was still confused, probably because he didn't know who Lily was, so I kindly decided to help him. "Look to your left!" He turned just in time to get hit in the face by the bayleef's giant leaf. She smacked him a few more times, unhappy for being ignored (good thing I was nowhere in her hitting range), and sent a glare in my direction. I bit back my laughter at Forrest's brother's misfortune and sent Lily a grimace. She narrowed her eyes at me and I knew I was going to get it later.

One we got as close to floor as we would ever get, I jumped off and the ref neared us. She looked really similar to Forrest, with the same hair (only hers was longer) and eyes and skin tone… she could be his sister or something! That would totally not surprise me.

"I'm Forrest's sister, Yolanda." She greeted with a smile, holding out her hand for a shake. Aha! I was right!

"Maia," I shook her hand and smiled back, happy to see a girl working for this gym that obviously seemed to aim towards guys. You know, rocks and steel and mud and caves and stuff like that totally doesn't attract girls. Forrest would need to change his tactics if he's trying to attract his next girlfriend to his place, just saying. "And this is Spyk!" Spyk also held out his hand to her and they shook hands good-naturedly.

"Are you sure you want to challenge my brother?" She asked in a whisper, giving wary glances to her brother that was patting his steelix while having a conversation with it. He caught her look and waved at her, a confused look gracing his sexy face, and she waved back as if nothing was wrong.

I wasn't fazed. I had to be determined! "I'm sure,"

"It's just," She started leading me to the challenger side, "you have to have a lot more common sense! An electric type obviously won't win against a ground type—"

"Yolanda," I cut off, hoping I had her name right. I sure hope I did. "I'm completely aware of my chances."

"Then why—"

I shrugged. I didn't have a reason. I just wanted to try it. Battling a gym leader would be a challenge, and challenges are fun to me. "Because it would be good experience."

She didn't look convinced, but patted my arm sympathetically as if I already been defeated and was absolutely sure I would fail, and then returned back to her station. That was so rude of her. The least she could do was fake a smile and cheer me on, even if she thought I was going to fail.

But it still fuelled me.

I felt the rage and irritation of others not believing in me, it growing tenfold when I thought about my backstabbing childhood friends and teachers, and even more, my parents. Every time I had wanted to do something outrageous or cool or fun, my 'friends' would cheer me on and say all was good. When it came to it, they tattletaled on me the second they got caught and hurt and left me with all the blame. If it weren't for their words and them cheering me on, I would've never done it with my own power. I was a dreamer. And my dreams were crushed by the ones who took it too far and my parents.

Especially when they didn't want me to become a Pokémon trainer.

I'll show them! I'll show everyone! I can do anything I set my mind to! You don't want me to become a trainer? Then I'll be one and I'll succeed so hard that you'll finally see how great and how awesome I actually am! I'll do things with my own power and you'll wish that I would call you my entourage! You'll say that you know me, but do you really? I will be the greatest no one ever was, and you'll regret all those things you've ever done to me! And who says an electric type can't beat a ground type? I was obviously not counting on a type advantage when I challenged Forrest, now was I?

I had to show them that I could do it. This is no longer just to test my limits and to work my strategies.

It. Was now. Personal.

Forrest, Yolanda, random brother in the stands, you'll all see that even someone with the littlest odds can overcome the biggest hurdles! It just takes courage and determination!

And that, I've got plenty enough, thankyouverymuch.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Missus Ref bellowed, raising her arms high, "The one-on-one battle between Challenger Maia and our own Pewter City Gym Leader Forrest will now begin!"