Hotel room at four in the morning, lying away, talking to myself, wishing someone would hear me and make it that much better. I wished there was someone that I could tell all my secrets to, someone that could understand the irrational babble that went on constantly in my head, saying things like "Why?" and "There is no way that happens." And "Tell me more."

I was begging myself, listening to the walls give me an empty answer while I stared at the ceiling. Everyone now and again a line from a song would slip from between my lips, and I found myself relating it to my life in some way or another. Like "I can't believe that it's over." And "all I ever wanted" fallowed up by a quick "I'll set fire to the rain."

God I was so pathetic. Even moves like Jagger seemed to replay itself in my brain, and that was one of the ridicules songs they used to play during one of my acts. Back in the big city I ran away from, I knew that music was still playing. Somehow, who was to say that the world hadn't warmed up to my replacement yet?

"It's just a feeling… just a feeling, just a feeling that I have… Just a feeling, just a feeling that I have." I whispered to myself in a monochrome voice. One voice, never changing from song to song, but dragging on the depression through each word.

I'm still lying in the dark
No sunshine
No sunshine.
No sunshine.
She cries
This is more than goodbye~

I wasn't sure how long I could take this kind of abuse. Sapphire refused to answer my calls, even after I sent her a text explaining that I fell in a river today and nearly drowned. That was the reason why I couldn't make up with her at that particular moment in time when she wanted to kiss and make up. I gripped my phone in my left hand, which was stretched out as far as it could go, pulling on the charger while it clung to the wall for dear life.

Sapphire, no matter how much I explained to her, didn't believe me that I really almost drowned today. She claimed my non-existent response to her simple "I'm sorry… Ruby I want to make it work." Was because I really didn't care about her. Had she sent that damn text twenty minutes later I could have responded quickly and convinced her that I wanted that too.

More than anything…

Sapphire was my best friend, not just my girlfriend. And breaking up with your best friend was much harder to do. She was the person that held my hand when I got stage fright for the first time at only ten years old. She was the one that made me popcorn on rainy days, and then ended up throwing it at me because it was more fun than eating it. She was the one that told me she would always understand…

And she was the one that broke up with me…

Moisture was threatening my eyes for the longest time now, but I couldn't tell if it was honest sincerity, or the fact that I was trying to focus blackness without success. Either way I had to flip over onto my stomach and make sure that I still had some of my sanity. I buried my face into the pillow and groaned, still clutching the phone, wishing it would vibrate in my hand to reveal a text saying that she still loved me.

With a heavy heart I snapped the phone from the charger and brought it up to my face. Four in the morning, she wouldn't be awake… so this was the safest time to call.

Too bad there was just barely any signal here. Blocked by the pokecenter walls, blocked by the mountains and trees, I knew that getting a decent phone call in would be extremely difficult. And it seemed every time I lost the nerve to do so was when the signal magically reappeared.

But I had to do this… even if there wasn't much time left at all. Even if Sapphire hated me and there was no hope of her loving me again. I had to get up and force myself to the window and hope I could stretch my arm out far enough to get the last bar needed in order to make a call…

Even if it meant going home… or wherever the city was, since it surely didn't feel like home. I couldn't stay in this tiny town forever… at some point I had to leave and face the rest of the world anyways. My fans would eventually catch up to me whether I liked it or not.

And besides… maybe if I went home and cleared the air things wouldn't seem so bad. I would still refuse to do any more contests or shows, but I could at least smooth things out a bit with my mother. Or it could go horribly wrong and she might disown me—if she hadn't already. Either way I had to do something. And something started with going back…

Jumping to my feet and stretching with a grunt I went to the open window. The room itself was stuffy and hot, but outside felt amazing. Between the black, starlit sky and the cool breeze it was hard to believe that thing could exist in the world I came from. Neon, loud music and people, cameras upon cameras upon tourists, yes indeed that was the world I left… for this…

I sighed. What was it about the mountains? The wilderness and the constant worry of what might suck you in and make you its next victim—whether that be a river or a pokemon—it was thrilling. It was the polar opposite of my safe, coherent city background, and I wasn't sure if I liked it yet or not, but I surely felt something for it.

Not enough to keep me here when Sapphire hated my guts… but it was immense and only growing.

I leaned out the open window, holding myself steady with my hard stomach against the sill and my hands gripping the cell phone I so desperately needed to get signal with. Two bars was barely anything at all, but I figured it was worth a shot. From where my hands were stretched out I couldn't hear anything, but I dialed the number religiously like I had plenty of times before.

It rang twice—no longer the peppy elevator music but a harsh, battling ring—and then hung up. I had just enough time to hit speaker and here the tone.

"Sapphire… I know we need to talk… We can talk through this. We always do… I believe in us." I said loudly because I was nervous. The silent world outside the pokemon center seemed to echo back to me. I didn't feel alone… for once I felt like I was being watched actually. I shook my head.

"Sapph… I'm coming home…soon."

I had never told Sapphire I loved her in more than a friendly way, but I was tempted to now. Because I knew she was such a hopeless romantic on the inside that it would get her all twisted up and confused and probably spill her guts out to me. I could force her to let me in by telling her the words, but it seemed wrong. I don't care who you are, you don't say "I love you" unless you mean it or it is perfectly clear that you are joking.

So I hung up after that awful silence, and left her hanging onto a short intake of a breath. Knowing her she would notice it too, and point it out later down the road when it benefited her most. I could have quite possibly dug myself into a deeper hole, but I didn't care. I knew now I had to face the simple fact that somehow someway I would be going back. I swore I wouldn't go back and now I didn't have a choice. I had been gone for two whole weeks and by the time I found out where I was going, I'm sure it will have gone up to three.

With a sigh I went limp against the windowsill, dangling my arms out over the ledge so that they touched the tops of the bushes that needed to be trimmed and never would. It was such a reflex reaction too, that I didn't even realize it when I let my phone drop—like if it was on a bed or something relatively soft—and it went tumbling down into the dirt between a thick layer of branches and leaves.

"Urrrggggghhhaaahh." I groaned and hung my head. "Seriously?"

It really wasn't that big of a pain, all I had to do was pick and choose my path downwards until my foot found the floor and I could reach down and grab it. Climbing out windows was a game for me—one I didn't always want to play—but a game none the less. Like hoping walls and hiding in the back alleys of the city where no one would find me and Sapphire causing trouble. What a game, what a game.

I sighed and threw my leg over the ledge. At least coming back in through the window would be easier.

"You're leaving?"

A piteous gasp of fear struck up through my chest and sent me overboard in a whir. My hand slipped off the windowsill and my foot sunk into the soft earth where the bushes planted their roots. I twisted, turned, almost caught myself, turned again, and then made the mistake of trying to use the bush itself for support. I fell right through it, and felt numerous twigs and branches stabbing me.

"What the hell!" I looked upwards, fighting with the bush and trying to find a way to stand. I couldn't even see anyone around here, and yet that familiar, slightly annoying voice had been right there.

"Here.. le—let me help you." A single and came through the bush that managed to stay above me and stretched down in offering. I shoved it away quickly and forced myself to stand on my own.

"What the fuck Wally! What are you doing here?" heat poured into my face like lava and I was glad it was too dark to see. I could barely make out his pale skin, and it reflected the moonlight as if he were made of glass. His naturally pale eyes looked silver as well, flickering. It was a side of him that I had never seen before. Moonlight Wally was a little creepy compared to sunlight Wally.

Finally I managed to steady myself—phone in hand—and glare.

"I—I was walking around. And I heard you." He explained, scuffling back onto the cobblestone road that lead outside of the pokecenter rooms.

"What are you some kind of stalker?" I started picking pieces of leaves out of my hair and hat.

"No!" he insisted. "But… But I was hoping maybe… if you're leaving, if… maybe I could come with you?"

There was a part of me that hadn't been paying much attention to Wally every since earlier today. When he talked, I barely listened, and then answered as best I could so that he wouldn't get up upset. With all the problems this kid had I figured he must be sensitive, I didn't want to trigger anything.

"Why?" I asked in a sharp tone. Nice as I was trying to be, I just couldn't imagine someone like him slowing me down along the way. I had to get home as soon as possible.

"I… I want to get out of this town. I want to see the world. And I can't—I don't want to—It's not easy when you— He ran a hand through his hair, flustered and trying to find the right words. "Ruby, I don't want to be trapped here my whole life. I need to escape."

I wasn't sure why Wally thought I was the right person to go to for this, but in some odd sense I felt like he had indeed gone to the right person. The fact that those words had come out of his mouth at this point in time… after me running away and making my great escape. Who would have thought? Two completely different people in the world would somehow find each other because they had the same dream.

I wanted to escape the city; I wanted to see the world touched by nature and all its glory. I wanted to raise pokemon and become a trainer and just… breathe. Not in the literal sense of course, I had always been perfectly capable of breathing, but you know what I mean. I wanted that sweet breath of fresh air that only the wilderness could give you.

And here was Wally, pinned, trapped down by the small town air. He DID have problems breathing, and all he seemed to want to do was get away from it. His heart was bigger than his destiny—which should have been to stay here and stay safe his whole life. And as I stared into those pale blue eyes I couldn't imagine we were any different. It was like somehow he was living the opposite life as me, and making more use out of it than I ever could, yet it wasn't what he wanted. And I had it all… everything I could ever dream for, except freedom, which he had here.

Wally didn't even know that I had run away from home, he didn't know that I was "going back" just to talk and clear the air. Wally had no clue that I was even facing the same dilemma as he was now, and yet he knew that I could help him. Sly son of a bitch… How did he figure that out?

"Please… I have pokemon… they can protect me." He was nearly begging now.

I shook my head. "I don't think you understand… Wally, I have to go back to my home, but I'm not staying there. I—I have…" I sighed. "It's a long story…"

"Tell me on the way." He tried to smile, but it didn't sit right over his teeth—which were slightly too large for his mouth and spaced by a tiny gap.

"You have pokemon?" I asked curiously.

He nodded.

"Alright fine." I made up my mind.

"Really?"

"We battle…" I said. His face dropped a tiny bit. "One on one, if I win then you find your own way out of here—hey I had to do it—but if you win… You can come with me." This was more than just a battle. I wanted to see how good he was at raising pokemon. Someone so sickly would surely be easy to beat—even if I wasn't the best trainer in the world. I didn't want to admit that I was hoping this would be an easy way to get rid of him, but rather… an easy way for him to test his own skill. Maybe if he got beaten by a trainer like me he wouldn't want to come.

I could tell that he was thinking carefully about this, trying to decide just how good his chances were. But what option did he have? It was a hit or miss and he would be stupid to give up now. That alone would be enough to prove he wasn't worthy of a journey away from home. I waited impatiently, eyes narrowing until he took a deep breath. It trembled a little.

"Deal." He nodded and stuck his hand out to me. This was not the gentle offering for help, this was a jabbing, rigid determination. "When do we start?"

I reached out and gripped his hand firmly, feeling how much more slender his fingers were than mine. It actually almost made me feel fat. I grinned an evil grin at him, adrenalin surfacing from deep within me. My mind seemed to pivot from anything and everything that had to do with my life outside of this moment. I was too excited to battle now—I hadn't had one in a long time. Even Sapphire seemed to slip away from my mind.

There was just me and him and two pokemon. His eyes flashed in worry for a split second but he hid it well. I released his hand with a snort.

"We start now."

….

~Wally~

Such a stalker… I'm such a stalker!

Invading on other people's privacy was never a habit for me, but suddenly it felt like I had been doing it my whole life. After Ruby left me by the river today, I had decided that I needed to figure out why he had such a problem with me. There was obviously something on his mind that was making me a nuisance, and I was determined to figure it out.

So I waited down on main street for as long as I could, allowing my cheeks and nose to burn in the harsh sunlight of this mid July weather. It wasn't exactly hot, but humid enough to make you sweat and strong enough to make you burn. We normally had great weather here, but for some reason this season it was off. Even that seemed to be beckoning me away from here. It was like the nice weather was leaving and calling me to follow it. And oh how I wanted to.

Ruby had appeared in town a little while later, going to the pokemon center which I realized was to pick up his Breloom, so I missed him the first time. He then disappeared for the night, though it was still light out, and retreated to one of the six rooms they had available for visitors. I waiting, again, thinking that I could quite possibly go and find him and talk to him if I really wanted to. Six doors to knock on wasn't a lot, but there was no guarantee he would even answer for me.

I had surprisingly actually though about challenging him to a battle before, just to see if I could get a rise out of him. Trainers loved battles right? I figured someone like him from the city must not get the chance as often as the trainers around wide open spaces like here.

What in the end stopped me from challenging him, was the fact that with his Breloom nearly drowning today I couldn't imagine he would be all that ready to fight, especially if he only had her to fight with. Now I didn't know this for sure—he could have a whole team of six for all I knew—but it just didn't feel right.

So I decided to stalk him. Going against everything I ever felt was right and moral about people's personal space, I broke it. Part of me really hoped I wouldn't find him, but it just ended up being too easy. He left the window open—don't blame him, there was no air conditioning in those pokecenter rooms—and he was talking to himself as if someone was there.

Maybe he had an imaginary friend? Maybe he was slightly crazy? Or too lonely for his own good? There was always the chance that he had a pokemon out with him, but no other voice had been spoken but his so it wasn't likely. I ended up sitting between the large bushes under the window listening to his irresistible chatter.

At some point I had fallen asleep listening to him, but was awoken when a familiar angel voice seemed to call out to me. Yes indeed I thought I had died—which was always an option with me—and someone was coming down from the heavens to pluck me off this earth. It was just that song… that lovely voice and those tender lyrics he sang with all his heart. It reflected sadness, but was initially happy. I absolutely adored the sound, which startled me more than it should have.

"Sing some more." I had begged when his voice cut off into another garbled mess of words he spoke to the silence. It wasn't long after this that he got up and made his way over to the window.

I would have sworn he heard me, somehow no matter how silent I was being, I just knew he found out I was there. I shuffled away and knelt between the branches of a bush while he approached, leaned, and held his phone out into the night, muttering about needing bars.

He hadn't seen me… and I was so relieved for such a short amount of time, all until I heard him leaving a message on his phone. He was… leaving? Well I knew I had to act now. For some reason the idea of losing this very important stranger made my stomach curl, and I found myself strung up on the idea of leaving as well. I wanted to get out of here for a while now…

That was it. That was my chance. I convinced myself that Ruby was my personal saint, sent to me by some unrealistic force that wanted to get me out of this town. Was it fate? Or was it just me and my glass-half-full attitude? Either way I presented myself to him hopefully and terribly embarrassed.

He was angry, that was for sure, and I certainly wasn't expecting him to agree after demanding what I was doing stalking him. He must have thought I was the biggest creep on the planet—and I couldn't blame him. God forbid a nurse walks in on me without knocking, and all hell breaks loose; Ruby had every right to be mad. I had never felt so pathetic in my life, but never before so exited either.

He was giving me a chance? That challenge, a one on one battle… My heart was already racing.

I was a good trainer, and it was most certainly NOT the battle that was worrying me. What worried me, was the fact that Ruby seemed to be so determined to get rid of me. I didn't like it. I wanted to prove him wrong.

As we walked the silent path into the trees shrouded in blackness we found ourselves—or at least I did—breathing heavily. It must be a nervous reaction for your chest to tighten… something I never felt before I met Ruby. Because I had never been so nervous before.

I glanced at him now, holding a pokeball so tightly in his hand I thought for sure his knuckles would pop.

What is wrong Ruby? I wanted to beg him—the stranger—to tell me. I wanted to know why he was here, where he was going, and how come it was so horrible for me to go with him. I didn't have anywhere specific I wanted to go… I would just be a tag along. With all the talking to himself he does, you would think he would enjoy some real company for once.

"Is this far enough?" His voice finally came, sharp like his features, cutting me as if it was a knife. I flinched and glanced back at the town. Sure it was far enough away… but I was thinking about the walk back to town after our battle. The further out we went the longer we would have time to talk afterwards. And if I lost… then I would need that time to convince him it was worth it to let me come along with him anyways.

"I—I guess." I took a shaky breath. "I'll start over here."

Perhaps one of the longest walks I had ever taken was right then and there, while I could feel Ruby's eyes boring into my back with prickling irritation.

What pokemon was he going to use? His Breloom? I highly doubted it. I hoped he would throw his ball first so that I could have a second of preparation before making a decision myself. It would be a cheap shot to pick a pokemon that was obviously a stronger match against his—kind of a rookie move—but if it got me on his journey I would do it.

Kecleon was a good match… that pokemon could hide from nearly anything, and especially in the dark it would never be seen. But I got the feeling that if I sent him out he would end up causing more trouble than it was worth. More often than not I lost track of the pokemon and didn't know when to call out attacks as well. It was a flaw and an advantage.

Gardevior was faithful and loyal and would try her best without question. She had great attack and good tactics, but a lot of weaknesses as well. I had to wait and see on her. She was a pokemon to use when she was the advantage and the advantage only.

"One on one!" Ruby called from across the large empty meadow, lined by oak trees and filled with tall grass. I flinched at the echo he left.

"Right." I said quietly to myself. You start… I wanted to beg him, but it was obvious he was waiting for me.

I closed my eyes shut tight and took a deep breath. Not Gardevior, not Kecleon, Mawile wasn't trained nearly enough. My Beautifly was agile and powerful, but the idea of sending out… such a pretty little pokemon. I didn't want to judge him by his looks—he had a personality it counteract them—but it was hard sometimes. All that left me with was Azumarill—who was too goofy and silly to fight properly—and Salemence…

Oh Salamence… how you have won me so many battles. I gripped the dragon pokemon's ball with a weak hand and brought it up to my chest. Don't fail me now… please.

Salamence was always a little bit nerve racking. He didn't take no for an answer, and could snap every bone in my body with just the swipe of his claw if he really wanted to, but as far as loyalties go I knew he was happy to be mine. I treated all my pokemon with respect and coddling whenever I could, and he was no exception. I just hoped that during battle he would remember that.

That and not set my towns forest on fire…

"Alright…" I took a deep breath. "Salamence!"

"Cattivo!" Ruby shouted, and to my dismay, gripped the ball with two hands, one on the upper red half and one on the lower white half. His teeth were gritted together, his knuckles straining. Was he…? Holding the ball shut?

My eyes grew wide, and for a second I could have sworn I was watching an act on TV. Normal trainers didn't do that kind of thing, and yet Ruby did it so well. He was squeezing the ball shut, while white light built up in side. It flickered and sparked like lightening, snapping at the outside world as his pokemon—Cattivo, whatever that was—demanded his release.

And then suddenly the whole meadow seemed to go alight with white. It blasted, flashed bigger than any other pokemon being released ever before. I covered my eyes, and in shock, actually dropped Salamence into battle, rather than throwing.

Two pokemon then stood in front of each other. A much wider, much broader dragon on all fours, with a mouth bigger than my head, was on my side, while a leaner, faster, and taller green pokemon screeched to life in front of Ruby.

"Alright Cattivo! Let's go!" Ruby snarled. "Agility!"

I swallowed hard… this would be one hell of a battle.