Back to Bella, already in LaRousse City.

Bella's POV

Gabe was kind of glued to me after that robot scared the shit out of him earlier. None of us were expecting it to just fly up like that. So, instead of being on my shoulder like he usually was, Pichu was on Gabe's head. My Blaziken was carrying mine and Gabe's backpacks. Don's Machoke was out as well. John, Jay, Jake, and Tiffy were all about to pass out on their feet. It was late now.

We said 'screw it' to the option of going to the Pokémon Center. Answering those stupid questions would be annoying as well. Though, it's not nearly as bad as it was 4 years ago, when we were traveling with 2-year-olds and babies.

Anyway, we were heading to the park. As usual when we are near a city and camping, my Onix would come out and make a circle with his body around us. Though, we'd never been attacked while asleep, we had been attacked at night near towns before. Though, my uncle would roll over in his grave before I loose a fight against some thug.

Pichu was asleep, as was Gabe. Blaziken and Machoke set the bags down and unloaded the sleeping bags. A second later, Blaziken was behind me, supporting Gabe as I reached up and grabbed Pichu. Tara called her Mankey and Vulpix out. About that time, I had Onix out. Moving with stealth that you wouldn't expect from the huge Pokémon made of stone, he circled us until resting his head on top of his tail comfortably, his face on the inside of the circle.

Blaziken and I put John, Jay, and Jake into their sleeping bags at the same time. Abby was already in her sleeping bag. Tara and Don were setting up their little 'camps' as well. Drew and Rob stood behind me. They fallowed me, as did Blaziken, as I set up my area about 5 feet from Onix's head. Blaziken grabbed Gabe and transferred him so he was next to me.

"Night, Blaziken" I sighed before letting my eyes finally close for the last time that night.

"Blaze" Blaziken acknowledged me quietly.

I could feel him moving the hair out of my face just before everything disappeared. I was back in my special world after that. In that world, my older brother was there and so were my parents and the rest of my family. There was never any fire. Blaziken and Blastoise, my brother's first Pokémon (evolved, of course) were laughing together as Emmett and Uncle Sam play their video games.

All too soon, I was called out of my special world by the harsh reality of… sunlight. What's more annoying – waking up from a dream you never wanted to end or waking up with the sun in your eyes? Well, I got both problems!

A second later, I could hear the sound of Onix laughing. He wasn't making a sound, but his body was shaking and making noise.

"I would have woken up" I yawned as I pulled the sleeping-bag over my head.

Everyone says I fall asleep, but I don't. Ok, I kind of do, but I know what's going on around me. I just choose not to get my ass up.

Though, when I sensed Gabe waking up, I got up and out of my sleeping bag. I put on my shoes and jacket and went over to him.

We've all got a kind of 6th sense. Gabe and I are the closest. I've been his mother-figure sense he was a little baby. Though, my senses are with everyone, even Don and his sisters. I say it's a leader thing. Though, it's my leader-thing because Carlisle thinks it's fascinating.

"Hay, Gabe" I giggled when he threw himself at me.

He can sense it's me, too. He threw himself at me and only let go long enough for me to turn around so he could climb onto my back. He does that when he's scared. We tell stories over the fire a lot and a few of them might be a bit scary.

Suddenly, Vulpix strutted in with a bowl in her mouth. I've learned not to ask where she finds these things, but she's never brought a dish full of Pokémon food before.

Pichu and Mankey 'helped' Vulpix with her load of food. Machoke was already in his Pokéball and I'd called Onix back just before Gabe attached himself to me.

"You didn't steal this from someone else's Pokémon, did you?" I sighed as I passed Vulpix.

"Vulpix wouldn't do that, would you, baby?" Tara asked over her shoulder lovingly.

"Hello gorgeous" a man greeted as he walked up.

Blaziken was in front of me in an instant, staring the man down as he torched his hands.

"Hello, Brock" I greeted.

He looked a bit surprised, but recovered quickly and went back to his attempt at flirting. I had to admit, he was adaptable.

"Ah, so you've heard of me" he said, sounding full of himself.

"Yeah, about 4 years back, we were all at your gym. Remember us? We ended up staying the night at your house behind the gym."

"Bella!" he cheered, remembering me. He stopped flirting, thank god. "How have you been?" he looked at Blaziken and it clicked in his head. "You evolved! Remember me, big guy? I knew you when you were a Combusken."

Though, the only thing Blaziken did was relax enough so that his fists were not on fire.

"Yo, Blaziken, Brock is a good guy" I laughed, patting him on the back softly. "He just likes to flirt with every chick he sees, that's all."

Blaziken huffed and sent Brock one final glare before jumping away to wake John, Jay, and Jake up.

"Oh, hello" Brock greeted Gabe.

Though it wasn't as bad as Blaziken, Gabe did take a minute to realize he was being rude and mutter a hello.

"And who might you be?" Brock questioned, being nice even though Gabe was glaring at him.

"You remember Gabe" I said, bouncing slightly to calm the 4-year-old down.

"Gabe" Brock echoed, "That little baby boy. Whoa, but he's so big now! Oh, you don't know me, huh? I'm Brock, a trainer like your sister. I used to run a gym. That's how I first met you guys. You were just a baby at the time, so you wouldn't remember."

By now, Gabe was just being stubborn. When he finally got off my back to go pack his things up, I apologized for both him and Blaziken. I also apologized for Vulpix snatching the food, but he just laughed at that part.

"My friend's Pikachu disappeared with the bowl and he and I split up to look for him. Though, I guess I was the one to find him" he laughed, pointing behind me.

Sure enough, there was a Pikachu playing with my Pichu and Tara's Raichu.

"We got the whole cycle, now" I grinned. "Hay, do ya think your friend would mind us sticking around? Those 2 seem rather attached."

"I don't mind" a kid around Don's age chirped as he walked up. "I'm Ash."

"I'm Bella. Blaziken and Pichu are mine" I said, giggling when I saw Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu standing on top of each other's heads with Raichu on bottom and Pichu on top.

I grabbed my camera and got a picture.

"This is my little sister, Tara" I introduced when she walked up.

"Raichu, Vulpix, and Mankey are mine" she said, pointing them out.

"Whoa, the whole line-up" Tiffy giggled, running up to the 3 evolutions to play with them.

Brock looked around and froze when he saw the backpacks being packed.

"You camped here?" he asked me. "Why didn't you stay the night at the Pokémon Center?"

"We were gonna, but most of us were about to fall asleep on our feet anyway" I shrugged. "Besides, I wasn't really jumping at the chance to get interrogated again."

"Interrogated?" Ash echoed. "For what?"

"It has gotten better 'coz Gabe isn't a baby anymore, but it's still annoying as hell" I groaned. I changed by tone to an annoying one as I quoted all the annoyingly repetitive questions. "Where's their mother, where's their father, what on Earth are you doing traveling with such young children?"

"How young?" Ash asked.

"Gabe is 4" I answered. "He's my youngest brother. John, Jay, and Jake are 6; they're triplets. Tiffy is 6, too, but she's Don's sister, not mine. Abby is 10, but turning 11 in 2 months."

"Yeah, and 4 years ago, you were traveling with a newborn, 4 2-year-olds, a 6-year-old, and 2… 8-year-olds…, and…" Brock started having trouble by then.

"I'm 17, but was 13 when I grabbed my younger siblings and traveled with them. Tara had just turned 11, and was about to leave home anyway. Don and his sisters, Abby and Tiffy, joined us a couple months after that."

"Wasn't it hard, though, when he was a baby?" Ash asked, looking amazed. "I mean, don't babies need a lot of attention?"

"Only child?" I questioned him.

"Yeah" he answered.

"Well, by then, Blaziken was a Combusken which is big enough to carry a baby. It was only really hard for the first few weeks because I was so used to traveling alone. It got really easy after about 2 years. Don and the girls were with us before then."

"So, your starter Pokémon was a Torchic?"

"Yup. Tara's was a Chimchar. Don got his first a couple months after we left Brock's gym. I caught him a Machop a couple days after his 11th birthday."

"What about the twins, Drew and Rob?" Brock asked. "They're 12, right?"

"Yeah" I answered, "They each got a Turtwig."

"Awesome, a Blaziken!" a kid cried as he ran up.

"Max, that's dangerous!" cried an older girl, around the same age as Ash.

"Blaze, Blaze" Blaziken scolded, picking the kid up and setting him down in front of the older girl. "Blaze" he said before jumping back to us.

That's how a lot of Pokémon talk. Most of them got their names from the words they say in their speech. It's really weird. The freakiest thing of all is that I've spent so much time with Pokémon that I have recognized the patters in their speech. It's the same, really, kind of like how, a long time ago, there were telegrams that communicated through a series of beeps.

Carlisle warned me about telling people about my little talent and I passed the warning to the others, especially the younger kids. They were raised knowing both ways of speaking, just not really acknowledging the Poké-Talk until recently. I hate to admit it, but they might be better than me, especially Gabe.

"It's ok, May" Brock chuckled. "The only one of us who would ever be in danger with Blaziken would be me."

"Hay, you're not flirting with her!" the kid exclaimed when he and the girl got to us. "You're actually having a civilized conversation with a new girl and not flirting! I'm proud of you, Brock."

"Looks like we're not the only ones traveling with kids" Tara grinned. "How old are you?"

"This is Max, my little brother" the girl said. "He's 6."

"Same age as Tiffy" I grinned, pointing behind me.

"I'm May, by the way" the girl said.

"Bella" I introduced myself. "This is my sister, Tara. All but the blonds are my other younger siblings" I said, jolting my head in their direction as I shook my head.

"Your parents just let you all travel?" Max asked.

"None of us have parents" Tara shrugged. "Ours died in a fire 4 years ago and the others lost their parents to illness a year or two before that."

We split up after the Battle Tower. Ash found this kid named Troy that he wanted to help. He got it in his head that, if he made friends with his Pokémon that he'd stop being so scared of them. Though, the way he says it, it sounds so easy.

"That's Ash for you" Brock chuckled.

"Oh yeah, hay Brock, what Pokémon did you start out with?" Abby asked.

"I started out with Onix, May started out with Torchic, and Ash started with Pikachu. What about the people in your group?"

"Bella started with a Torchic, too, but he's a Blaziken now. Tara started with a Chimchar, and he's a Monferno now. Don started with a Machop, and he's a Machoke now. Drew and Rob both got a Turtwig. I don't wanna copy any of 'em."

"It sounds like there is a fire-trend going on with the first 2."

"Don has a Growlithe, too" Abby added.

Realizing how long their friend had been gone, they bolted. We all went back to the Battle Tower after that, and then back to the Pokémon Center. Finally, we hit the Market and then the park for a little picnic. Well, little as in big because there are 11 of us.

Ok, well this is a day late, but Happy New Years, guys!

And, don't worry, the rest of the Twilight Cast will show up in the next chapter.