Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon...

This is a bit of a filler chapter I guess, and it's also 2 in the morning where I am now so it's probably not the best written chapter ever, but hey at least it's up.

Enjoy.

Chapter Four

~ Why Me? ~

After whatever-his-name-was had left I looked at Fennekin. She met my glance with a toss of her head and I rolled my eyes. Of all the pokémon in the world, why did I end up with one that had attitude problems? Putting that thought aside I began to walk forward. "Okay, let's go," I said, heading towards the entrance to Santalune Forest which loomed only a few feet in front of me.

"Fen, fenne," Fennekin objected, jumping in front of me to halt my movement. She was looking up at the sky and I followed her gaze. Stars were glowing like gems in an ocean of darkness and a quarter moon shed soft light that I was using to guide myself at the moment. I then felt my eyes moving to look at the forest. Such light would be blocked out by the trees in there, so it would be pretty much complete darkness. Ah. Problem, much?

"What, you're saying it's too dark to travel through the forest now?" I checked just to make sure I had understood Fennekin correctly. After all, I didn't speak pokémon. Fennekin nodded and began trotting back in the direction of Aquacorde town. "Oh, no you don't," I said, shaking my head. "So what if it's night time? I don't want to delay any longer; the sooner we get to Lumiose City the better."

"Fennekin, kin," the fire type argued as she turned round to face me. She yawned, showing me her short, sharp white teeth and pink tongue. I found myself yawning as well, and glared at her. She did that on purpose, but she just gave me an innocent look when I accused her of this.

"Look Fennekin, Calem and the others have been waiting for me for ages already; I don't want to make them wait any longer," I told her. "We're going through that forest and that's final."

"Fenne," Fennekin said stubbornly, sitting down and curling that bushy tail of hers around her paws.

I crossed my arms. Two can play at that game. "So that's how you wanna play it, huh? You know Fennekin, I never pegged you as a coward." Fennekin's big ears pricked up when I said this and she began bristling. "Don't tell me you're too scared to travel through Santalune forest in the dark," I continued. Her amber eyes flashed angrily and she jumped to her paws, bracing them against the ground as she glowered at me. "Coward, coward, coward," I chanted, enjoying the rise I was getting out of her. Okay I know it was mean and childish of me but how else was I going to get her to come through the forest with me? Ask nicely? Yeah, right.

A growl was building in the small pokémon's throat. "Fenne, Fennekin!" she spat, gathering herself together and stalking past me. With her nose stuck high in the air and another toss of her head she entered the forest. Grinning victoriously, I followed her in.

It was dark in the forest. Dark and, yes I'll admit it, scary. Trees loomed high on either side of the rough dirt path and the deep, dark shadows felt like they were concealing nasty secrets. The long grass wasn't helping: it surrounded the path on both sides, sometimes cutting across the middle of it so Fennekin and I had to dash through it as fast as possible and hope nothing jumped out at us. But it also rustled a lot and despite there being no wind I was freezing. Note: buy a coat or jacket ASAP.

"Fennekin?" I whispered. We had just come to a fork in the road and I could hardly see anything, so I had no idea which route to take.

Fennekin, who was trotting along slightly in front of me but still close to my side, turned her head towards me but didn't spare me a glance. Guess she was still mad at me for taunting her. Oh well. "Fen?" she asked in a sharp tone. I glared at the back of her head. It wasn't my fault she was so stubborn.

"Can't you use ember or something to give me some light?" I asked her, trying to be polite.

"Kin," Fennekin replied shortly.

"Erm… I'm not fluent in Fennekin-language," I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear me. I cast a surreptitious look around at the darkened forest. I had a horrible feeling that we were being watched but I couldn't see anything. Duh, because it's dark, I reminded myself. "Is that a yes or a no? Because you'll benefit from giving us light as well you know," I added.

Fennekin heaved a sigh and shot an ember attack at the ground in front of her. Instantly some grass caught fire and I yelped in alarm, jumping on the fire to stamp it all out. "Careful!" I hissed at her, "We don't want to start a forest fire!" Luckily I managed to kill the flames before they spread, and afterwards I glared at Fennekin.

"Fenne?" she asked as if it wasn't her fault. Hmph.

"You need to control it," I scolded her in a harsh whisper. "Can't you, I don't know, create a flame in your mouth and keep it there so it gives us light but doesn't set fire to the whole forest or something?" I asked her, annoyance filling my tone.

Fennekin glared at me but tried to follow my suggestion. She opened her mouth and I watched as a small fire appeared to start in the back of her throat. A look of fierce concentration overtook her features as she tried to hold the fire there in her mouth and not release it in an ember attack. The effect was just what I'd hoped for. The fire shed some light on our surroundings and it looked a bit like Fennekin was holding a torch in her mouth. The only downside was that it made the shadows grow even bigger and scarier but I tried not to dwell on that.

"Well done Fennekin, that's just what I was hoping for," I told her. Something – was it surprise? – flashed in her eyes but it was gone too quickly and replaced by an irritated expression before I could be sure. "Okay, let's take this path," I decided, going right and sticking to the edge of the tall grass blocking the path.

However it seemed Fennekin had other ideas as she headed left. We had a brief argument which she won because she does have our only light source and so we went left. Note: buy a torch ASAP.

Finally (and luckily without having run into any pokémon – my guess was that most of them were all asleep) we reached what looked like the exit to the forest. But as Fennekin and I just got out of the last patch of long grass we saw two figures standing in the exit to the forest. Hmm…

"Fennekin, don't let them see you," I whispered. I couldn't see who it was but my spy instinct was kicking in and warning me that whoever it was, they were up to no good. Edging closer and sticking to the shadows, I strained my ears to pick up on their conversation.

"…And you're sure you can complete this mission?" the taller figure was asking the slightly shorter figure. The shorter figure was still taller than me though, and had extremely spiky hair… I frowned. He looked familiar.

"Of course," the second figure spoke and I had to stifle a gasp. It was the Gary-impersonator from earlier! "Piece of cake." Huh. He sounds confident. What's he up to anyway?

"Good. I expect your report at the usual time. Try not to be late this time," the first figure said in a patronising tone.

The Gary-impersonator clenched his fist. "It wasn't my fault that stupid girl threw me off a cliff," he growled. I smirked. So I had managed to mess something up for him, had I? Good. Serves him right. Whatever he's up to, it's not good. I can guess that much.

The two people exchanged a couple more words before leaving the forest one after the other. I looked over at Fennekin. She was trembling all over and I frowned. She looked like she was on her last legs but before we entered the forest she had as much, if not more energy than me. Then my eyes were drawn to the fire in her mouth. It was growing smaller by the second and realisation flooded me. She was using all her strength to control our light source!

"Okay Fennekin, we're almost there. You can stop providing light now since the exit is right up ahead if us," I told her, pitying the poor creature. She must have been exhausted especially since she didn't want to travel through the forest during the night in the first place.

But Fennekin tossed her head and just stalked past me, a fresh, determined gleam entering her eyes. She was going to see us right out of the forest and nothing I could say was going to sway her. I shrugged. If she wanted to waste her energy that was her problem, not mine. I followed her out of the forest and breathed a huge sigh of relief once I could see the moon and stars again. The Gary-impersonator and the person he had been talking to were nowhere in sight but at that moment I was too tired to care. I was just focused on reaching the next city.

It wasn't far to Santalune City and as soon as Fennekin (still stubbornly holding onto the ball of fire in her mouth despite not needing to any more) and I entered the high walled place we immediately headed for the pokémon center, which was the first building we saw anyway.

As we entered Fennekin finally closed her mouth, extinguishing her flame. She glanced at me with a flicker of hope in her eyes. Was she looking for congratulations because she kept it going for so long? Well tough. I already told her 'well done' back in the forest – she wasn't getting any more than that out of me tonight.

Once inside the center I felt myself relax. I hadn't realised how tense I had been up to that point but I was so glad that I was finally safe and warm that I could let go of all the tension in my body. Fennekin trailed after me as I walked up to the front desk and asked Nurse Joy (I recognised her from Aquacorde town) if there was a place I could stay for the night. She told me I was welcome to stay in a room at the pokémon center and I gladly accepted the room key. She then explained the other services of a pokémon center (I tried not to yawn out of tiredness during her informative talk) and offered to give Fennekin a check-up. I accepted and handed the pokémon over. Fennekin was too tired to protest, it seemed.

After that I headed up the stairs and found my room. I opened the door, locked it behind me, and then instantly collapsed into the bed without even changing out of my clothes. I was that tired. I could barely keep my eyes open two second longer before sleep consumed me.

"Seri!"

I woke the next morning to Shauna's high-pitched squeal in my ear. "Uhh…" I mumbled, rolling over and trying to go back to sleep.

"Seri, you'll never guess what!" Shauna squealed again. Urgh, does this girl never give up?

"What?" I uttered grumpily, opening my eyes to see her excited face staring down at me. Bleary eyed, I sat up in bed and yawned.

Shauna was almost bouncing up and down with excitement and I couldn't help but be curious as to what the cause of her excitement was. "Hurry up and get dressed – the gang are all downstairs in the pokémon center café. I'll explain everything then, just be quick!" she urged me before running out of my room. I briefly wondered how she got in since I distinctly remembered locking my room last night but I told myself I could ask her later. Right now, I needed to get up. So I heaved myself out of bed and stumbled over to the shower.

Once I was finally ready, having showered and changed my clothes (a spare pair of the same clothes) I headed down to find everyone else. Shauna was waiting for me in the lobby of the center and when I appeared a smile appeared on her face. "Come on Seri, we've all been waiting for you!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm.

"Serena," Nurse Joy called before Shauna could drag me off to find the others. "Here's your Fennekin; she's now in perfect health," the nurse smiled as she handed over my pokémon.

"Oh…thanks," I murmured, taking Fennekin and putting her back on the floor. Fennekin shot me a look through slitted eyes and I sighed inwardly.

Shauna caught me off guard when she tugged my arm firmly and led me over to the pokémon center café, which was annexed onto the lobby. I was so surprised that I almost lost my balance and if Shana hadn't been holding onto me I would have fallen over for sure. Fennekin sniggered as she followed up over to the table where Calem, Tierno and Trevor were seated. I shot her a glare.

"Guys, look who finally woke up," Shauna sang as we sat down.

"Awesome," Tierno grinned. "Now we can get started." Calem smiled at me and Trevor gave a timid wave, but I was staring at Tierno.

"Get started?" I asked. "What's going on?"

Shauna beamed at me. "Calem, show her the newspaper," she urged.

Calem slid the open newspaper over to me and pointed to an article on the inside of the back page. I scanned it briefly, reading it out loud. "Yesterday a wild Riolu began running rampage throughout the streets of Santalune City, upsetting civilians and leaving destruction in its wake. It currently appears to be residing somewhere on Route 22-" Shauna snatched up the paper, cutting me off, and waved it in the air triumphantly. I looked at her, confused. "Um, I don't get it. What does that have to do with us?" I asked.

Fennekin tugged at my shoe. I (gently) kicked her away, too busy to pay her any attention.

"Because, we're going to catch it!" Shauna announced.

I stared at her. "What?"

Trevor took over explaining from Shauna, taking the newspaper from her. "This Riolu is causing trouble, right? So it must be quite strong if no-one else has caught it yet. Whoever catches it will be adding a strong pokémon to their team," he explained. "So we were thinking of having a competition between ourselves to see who can catch it. Whoever gets it will not only get a new pokémon but will also rid the town of a menace," he told me calmly, but I saw an excited glint in his eyes.

"Oh, okay," I nodded in understanding.

"Fen, Fennekin," Fennekin spoke up from by my ankle but I ignored her.

"So Seri, are you in?" Calem asked me. His grey eyes were sparkling and he looked eager for me to say yes. How could I say no to him? I didn't really want to capture this stupid Riolu but I couldn't refuse without arousing suspicion, so…

"Sure, why not?" I replied.

"Great! Let's go!" Tierno leaped up from the table.

"Fenekiiiiin," my pokémon whined.

Finally I could take it no longer. "What?" I snapped, glaring down at her. She just stared up at me with wide eyes. Next to me Calem chuckled and I turned to look at him. "What's so funny?" I asked, disgruntled.

"I think she's hungry," Calem explained. Suddenly my own stomach rumbled and Calem laughed even more. "Looks like you both are," he added in amusement.

I scowled. "Right. I'll catch you all up after I've had breakfast then," I muttered.

"You sure?" Calem asked as he stood up along with Shauna and Trevor. "We can wait for you if you want," he offered.

Gazing into his eyes I was tempted to accept his offer, but I was kind of hoping one of them would have already caught the Riolu by the time I finished eating because I didn't even want one pokémon, let alone two! But I steeled myself against his bewitching eyes and shook my head. "It's fine," I said firmly. "I'll see you all in a few minutes. Besides, the longer you wait to catch it the longer it has to wreak havoc in the city," I pointed out.

"Fair point," Trevor agreed.

"Yeah – come on, there's no time to waste!" Tierno was the first to dash out of the pokémon center, followed by Shauna. Calem and Trevor strolled out at a calmer pace but they too disappeared out of the center doors.

I turned back to Fennekin as soon as they had left. "Right, let's find something to eat."

About fifteen minutes later Fennekin and I had eaten our fill and we left the pokémon center. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless, and the air was fresh and warm. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the new day. The first thing I noticed was a hat boutique next to the pokémon center, and I made a mental note to visit it when I got the chance. Then I turned the corner, enjoying the fresh air as I strolled towards the center of town.

The destruction wrought by the Riolu mentioned in the newspaper was immediately apparent. Flowers had been crushed, signs of shops had been broken and were now hanging off buildings at awkward angles, and the tables and chairs from cafes had been knocked over and were now sprawled throughout the town. Some of them had even been bent out of shape. Trevor was right, this Riolu did seem like it was a strong pokémon.

"Okay Fennekin, so the others are expecting me to try and catch this wild pokémon, but you and I both know I don't want to do that," I said conversationally as we picked our way through the town. I was heading in the direction of Route 22 (using my map as a guide) but navigating the wrecked town while townspeople were trying to clear it up proved problematic and it took me longer than expected to reach the start of Route 22.

"Well anyway, like I was saying before, I don't want to catch this Riolu," I continued, "but I need to keep up appearances. So I'm gonna carry this pokéball and we're going to go and look for it, okay?"

Fennekin snorted. "Fen, fen," she said, trotting ahead of me. I had no idea what she was saying but judging by her tone it wasn't complimentary. I glared at her but couldn't be bothered to argue with her. I had enough on my plate.

Route 22 was actually quite pretty, I realised as I began to (slowly) walk down the path. There were several flowers and young trees lining the edge, and I spotted a few people (who I guessed were trainers) in the long grass to the sides of the path. As long as I stay on the path I should be fine, I reasoned. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side that day. For right at that moment a blue-and-dark-grey blur came hurtling along the path towards Fennekin and I at top speed, followed by a panting Calem at some distance behind it.

"Ahh Fennekin what do I do?" I panicked, taken completely by surprise.

Fennekin was also taken by surprise and, forgetting her bravado from the night before, leaped into my arms out of fright just as the pokémon (which I realised was the Riolu) reached us. The pokéball fell from my hand and bounced on the Riolu's head just as it passed. A red light appeared from the pokéball and enveloped the Riolu, drawing the pokémon inside it.

I stood stock still, watching in shock as the pokéball vibrated several times and then suddenly lay still with a definitive 'click' sound just as Calem reached me. "What in the world just happened?" I asked, staring numbly at the pokéball which held the now captured Riolu.

By this time some other trainers had realised what was going on and a small crowd had gathered, cheering at the Riolu's capture.

Calem looked at me, his eyes still shining from exhilaration of the chase. "You caught the Riolu which caused so much havoc in the city last night," he informed me with a smile.

"Wh-what?" I gasped. Fennekin gave a bark of mocking laughter and I shook my head. "There must be some mistake… I thought you have to weaken a pokémon before catching it?" I stammered.

Calem shrugged. "I found it further back and battled it, weakening it. I was about to throw a pokéball when it started running away, and your pokéball just got it before mine I guess," he explained.

I stared at him, still not having completely registered what had just happened. "Wait, but, that's not right. You should have the Riolu then – if I hadn't come along you would have caught it," I told him. I really, really did not want that pokémon. One was enough trouble by itself, thank you very much.

Calem held up his hands. "If you hadn't come along the Riolu would have run back into town and caused even more damaged. It's yours, fair and square. Well done," he congratulated me with a warm smile and shook my limp hand.

That appeared to be the signal for the rest of the people to surge forwards and congratulate me. Calem passed me Riolu's pokéball and then backed away as I tried to comprehend that I now had a new pokémon (which I didn't even want). I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even notice the news reporters arrive on the scene with their cameras and microphones until it was too late.

Staring down the lens of a camera which had been shoved in my face, my heart sunk even lower. Why did this always happen to me? Professor Sycamore was going to kill me.

Author's Note: Please please please review! A little review will take hardly any time to write and it makes me so happy :)

Thank you for reading :)

~ Jay