Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.

Really sorry for the late update - I was on a hiatus from Fanfiction but I'm back now.

Battle scenes aren't my favourite to read or to write, but they're kinda necessary for the story so bear with me - I tried to make it as interesting as possible :) And if you stick with it, there's a much more interesting scene which follows ;)

Enjoy.

Chapter Five

~ Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy ~

"I think we lost them," I panted, bracing my hands on my knees in order to catch my breath. Next to me Calem nodded, mirroring my position.

"Yeah, just about. That was close though," he commented. After I caught the Riolu (which I still think should have been Calem's – he's the one who weakened it after all, I just dropped my pokéball at the wrong moment) the press didn't waste any time flocking around me hoping for a story. I couldn't afford to be in the news again or Sycamore would kill me so I upped and ran along with Calem who wasn't too fond of cameras either. Unfortunately when I looked down I saw that Fennekin had also followed me. My heart sank; it would have been much better if she'd stayed and gotten lost amid the chaos.

"Where are we?" I asked, straightening up and pushing all thoughts of the fire-rat out of my head as I looked around. We were in wide grassy space with a few trees dotted around here and there and not much in the way of shrubbery.

Calem shrugged. "No idea, but this is the ideal place for a pokémon battle." I looked at him sharply to see a grin on his face. "Come on Seri, we never got to finish our first battle since we got interrupted," he reminded me, giving me a hopeful look.

I hesitated. "Um, I don't know, Fennekin is really tired from running and Riolu's really weak from that battle it already had with you," I mumbled, not looking at his eyes. I bet they looked irresistible right now and as soon as I looked at him I'd probably give. "And shouldn't we find the others?" I added as an afterthought.

"I have berries and potions to get them back to full strength and we can find the others later," Calem said persuasively. When I didn't answer, still staring at the grass under my feet, he added, "Or are you to scared?"

That's it. No-one accuses me of being scared. "Fine," I relented, finally looking at him and then regretting it. Those sparkling eyes really were impossible to refuse. "I'll battle you."

"That's the spirit," Calem nodded approvingly. "Does a one on one battle, no switches, sound good to you?" I had no idea what he was talking about but I nodded anyway.

"Fennekin!" the fire-rat piped up enthusiastically. I scowled at her but Calem laughed.

"Someone's raring to go," he said in amusement. "Now if only her trainer had that much enthusiasm."

I narrowed my eyes at Fennekin, and then did a double take when she poked her tiny pink tongue out at me. "Baby," I muttered under my breath, not rising to the taunt.

"Okay give me your pokémon and I'll heal them, and then we'll start," Calem said, having missed my exchange with Fennekin.

Five minutes later Calem and I were standing several meters apart, each with a pokéball in hand. I still wasn't sure how to battle so I'd just have to follow his lead closely and pretend I knew what I was doing. "We don't have a referee so this won't be a proper battle, more like a training exercise, and we won't battle our pokémon until they're unable to battle but only until I say we should stop, is that okay?"

"Sure," I agreed, still completely clueless as to what he was going on about.

"Ladies first then," he smirked, mock bowing to me and gesturing with his right hand for me to step up.

"Uh… okay," I murmured, looking at Fennekin and remembering the last disastrous battle we'd had. She doesn't listen to me at all, I thought, but I have a new pokémon now. Maybe he'll listen to me? "Go, Riolu," I said unenthusiastically, sending out the freshly-caught fighting-type.

When he appeared, he instantly whirled round to face me with narrowed red eyes and I got my first proper look at him. He was small, and stood on his hind legs. His forepaws were currently balled into fists and his ears were grey and raindrop-shaped. I could see why he was a fighting type; I could tell just by looking that there was a lot of power stored in his compact hind legs. "Riolu," he growled, glaring at me.

"Uh, okay, erm… What moves do you know?" I asked him uncertainly. Riolu just looked at me. "C'mon, help me out here – we have to battle Calem," I informed him.

"Scan him with your pokédex – it'll tell you what moves he can use," Calem called over to me. "Generally trainers don't use freshly caught pokémon in battles immediately after capture, usually they train them up a bit first so they can get used to each other," he advised as I fumbled with my bag, withdrawing my pokédex on his suggestion. "But I am excited to see Riolu in action – he's certainly strong, I know that much already."

I nodded. Focus, I told myself. I can do this.

"Riolu knows these moves: Foresight, Quick Attack, Feint and Counter," said the automated voice on my pokédex.

"Right, thanks," I said, forgetting it was just an emotionless device.

"You're up Froakie!" Calem's voice brought my attention back to our makeshift battlefield (although technically it was just a stretch of grass which happened to be a pretty good place to battle) and I watched as the blue water pokémon leaped out of its pokéball enthusiastically. "You can call the first move," Calem added to me. He was now completely in battle-mode, with a determined look on his face and a gleam in his eyes. I sighed. Better get this over with.

"Um, Riolu, use… Foresight?" I said uncertainly, not knowing what the move actually did.

Riolu turned around to face Froakie and for a moment I thought he was going to ignore me and not do anything, but suddenly he darted forwards and tackled Froakie, and before the frog pokémon knew what had hit him he was thrown back, landing on his side with a grunt. "Fro…"

"Froakie! You okay?" Calem checked, surprised at the fast attack. Froakie stood back up and nodded to his trainer, and I raised an eyebrow thoughtfully as I looked back at Riolu, who was standing in the middle of the battlefield appearing calm and relaxed.

"So that was Foresight… interesting," I murmured to myself. "It looked a lot like Tackle, only much faster."

"That's because it was a tackle," Calem interrupted. "It's called Quick Attack, and is basically a Tackle only much faster – it always strikes first and is hard to dodge, but does less damage than a proper Tackle," he explained. He looked hot with his game face on, and I had to force myself not to stare at him. I was supposed to be concentrating on the battle, not hot boys!

"Oh." I sighed. So Riolu was ignoring me after all, just like Fennekin. Great. I now have two useless pokémon.

"Froakie, let's kick this off with Bubble," Calem ordered, bringing my attention back to the battle. Froakie opened his mouth, preparing the attack, and I panicked as I remembered the damage Bubble had done to Fennekin when she faced the water type.

"Uh-oh, quick, dodge it!" I yelled, but Riolu pretended not to hear me, bracing himself against the onslaught of bubbles which drove him backwards, but to his credit he didn't lose his balance.

"Rio!" I could only watch helplessly as Riolu suddenly forged through the bubbles and, just as they cleared, landed a direct hit to Froakie that sent the poor pokémon flying back again, only this time much further.

"Oh – that must be Counter," Calem commented, frowning. "It deals twice the damage dealt from a physical attack," he said for my benefit. "Froakie, use- wait, what's Riolu doing?" Riolu had returned to our side of the battle field and was now squinting at Froakie in a calculating manner. "Ah, I see. That's Foresight," Calem surmised.

"Right, well, Riolu use Quick Attack again now," I ordered, adding as an afterthought, "please?"

Fennekin snorted from where she was sitting next to me. When I looked down at her, amusement was dancing in her eyes. I scowled. "It's not funny," I muttered. Her response was only to snicker even more.

"Froakie, don't give Riolu the chance to get close to you. Use Tackle," Calem called to his pokémon.

"Riolu, Quick Attack – now!" I shouted, watching in frustration as Riolu didn't move. Froakie was fast approaching and I prepared myself to wince when the attack hit – only to gape in surprise when, the mere second before Froakie hit, Riolu jumped high in the air to dodge, spinning in mid-air and landing easily, shooting forwards towards the confused Froakie whose back was to him, and turning a white colour right before he hit the water pokémon square in the back, sending the poor thing flying for the third time.

"No – Froakie!" Calem called helplessly. Riolu straightened up and crossed his small arms over his chest, a smirk on his little pokémon face. Froakie didn't get up and I could see swirls in his eyes, so I guess the battle was won. I didn't feel happy about it thought; Riolu had won the battle all on his own with no help from me – it was like I wasn't even there. And now he looked so pleased with himself that I scowled. I'd have to have words with him later.

Calem returned Froakie, telling him he did well, before walking up to me and holding out a hand for me to shake. "Good battle," he smiled, not seeming upset that he'd been defeated. I stared at his hand.

"Thanks, you too," I said automatically, carefully taking his hand and shaking it. I was surprised by how warm his had was, and how big it was compared to mine. It felt nice, and there was a small part of me that didn't want to let his hand go. But it would become awkward incredibly quickly if I kept holding on so I took my hand back and held in firmly at my side. "Although I didn't really do anything – it was all Riolu," I admitted, staring at the ground.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Calem said, putting his hands on my shoulders. I forced myself to breathe normally, trying to ignore his touch. "He's probably still a bit sore about being caught – he just needs to get used to being with you and after you've spent some more time together he'll see how amazing you are," he reassured me. I blushed, looking up at him to see a warm smile on his face. His eyes were gentle and I tried not to look at them for fear of not being able to look away. Instead I looked at his hair – a breeze was ruffling it and I was tempted to reach up and run my hands through it, wondering what his hair would feel like. I bet it's really soft, I thought dreamily. Then: Pull yourself together Serena! I scolded myself.

"You really think that?" I asked, a little breathlessly.

Calem nodded, sill with that gentle expression on his face. "Of course. Now come on, we should go find the others," he said in his normal voice, taking his hands of my shoulders. I instantly felt cold where his hands had been and I sighed. It had been nice while it lasted.

"Okay. They've probably gone back to the pokémon centre," I thought aloud. Calem nodded in agreement, opening his mouth to say something when Fennekin pawed my leg none too gently, drawing both of our attention down to her.

"Fen, Fenne," she barked, pointing with her nose to Riolu. He was standing in exactly the same place as when he finished the battle, and I stared at him.

"What?" I asked.

Calem laughed. "I think Fennekin is reminding you to return Riolu – you don't want him running off and wreaking havoc over the town again," he pointed out.

Good point, I thought, reaching into my bag for his pokéball. "I really need a belt to clip these pokéballs onto," I said as the red light enveloped the latest unwanted edition to my party. Placing him in my bag I began to walk back the way we came, Calem following after me.

"Yeah, they're really useful. My Dad gave me mine before I left on my journey – it's his old one actually; he said he won his first Pokémon League with it, and wanted me to have it for 'luck' or something. Not that either of us believe in luck, but it was really cool of him to give it to me. It's like a family heirloom now," Calem explained as we looked for the path. "I think you can buy them in most department stores though. You'll definitely find one in Lumiose City."

Too bad, I sighed inwardly. By the time I reach Lumiose City I'll have no need for a belt anymore as I'll be giving these pokémon back to Professor Sycamore. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I replied. Actually, that gives me an idea… "In fact, I should try to reach Lumiose City as soon as possible – I can't wait to go shopping there and I do really need a belt," I said eagerly, seizing the possible opportunity to go on ahead to Lumiose while the others stayed behind to train. "Oh look, there's the path – Santalune should be just up ahead," I added, catching sight of the stone path through the trees. Fennekin bounded ahead, reaching the path first and then sitting down to wait for us with a smug look on her face. I scowled at her. She was so petty sometimes.

"You can't leave Santalune yet – not without challenging the gym," Calem protested. "If you're that desperate for a pokébelt, you can have mine – I have a spare back at the pokémon centre anyway," he offered. I stared at him in surprise.

"Calem, I couldn't – I mean, your Dad gave you that belt!" I exclaimed, stopping to face him when we reached the path. I couldn't believe he would give me something so important to him! There was no way I could accept it - and if I did then I wouldn't have an excuse to go on ahead to Lumiose City either...

"It's no matter," he shrugged, his grey eyes casual. "Like I said, I have another back at the pokémon centre. It's not like I need this one." He began to unbuckle it but I grabbed his hands, forcing him to look at me.

"Your Dad gave that one to you – it's special," I said gently. "I don't mind going ahead to get one in Lumiose – I can always come back to Santalune after."

Calem shook his head, black hair falling in his grey eyes. "That's pointless," he pointed out. "Besides, I want you to have this one. You're right, it is special. But I got the feeling my Dad only gave it to me because he had nothing else to give me and it's kind of a family tradition of ours to pass things down to our children when they set off on journeys. So it doesn't mean a lot to me that Dad chose to pass it down to me, but it would mean more to me if you have it. Who knows, maybe it'll bring you good luck in your first gym battle?" He was looking at me with those deep eyes that I couldn't resist, and I felt myself giving in after his mini speech.

"Thank you, that's really sweet of you," I smiled, a good feeling spreading throughout me when Calem gave me a large grin and finished unbuckling his belt. Taking it off, he removed his pokéballs and passed it over to me. I held it in front of me, examining it. It was black so would go with pretty much anything, and had six clips for pokéballs on it, three on each side. There was also a small pouch attached which I guessed was to store extra pokéballs and maybe some medicines or berries or other essentials a trainer might need. I couldn't help but feel incredibly honoured that Calem had given me something so precious – whatever he said about it not meaning much to him, I knew that it probably meant more to him than he was letting on.

"Here, let me put it on for you," he offered, taking it from me again and reaching around me to wrap the belt round my waist. I caught my breath, suddenly aware of how close he was to me and how close the gesture was to a hug. He pulled back all too soon and bent his head to fasten it. I really hoped he couldn't hear how fast my heart was beating.

"Fennekin, Fen," called my pokémon, interrupting the perfect romantic moment between us. I glared at her over Calem's head as fiercely as possible, but she just sent a sickly sweet, innocent look my way as Calem stepped back and I pasted a smile on my face once more.

"It looks good on you," he complimented. I fought a rising blush.

"Thank you, really. It means a lot," I told him, ignoring Fennekin's mocking cries for attention.

"It's my pleasure. I know you'll look after it and put it to good use." I looked away, feeling a twinge of guilt at his words since I after Lumiose City I wouldn't even need it any more. But I couldn't tell Calem that, so instead I just smiled again and looked at Fennekin.

"I think Fennekin wants to get going," I interpreted her cries, for once glad of the little fire rat. "Come on, Santalune's right up ahead and the others will be waiting." I began to walk but Calem reached out for my wrist, pulling me back.

"Wait, there's something else I wanted to ask you before we get back to the others," he said, sounding hesitant. I nodded for him to go ahead and say it, wondering what he could possibly want to say that he couldn't say in front of the others. "I was just thinking that we could travel together." I stared at him, thinking I'd misheard him.

"You want us to travel together?" I repeated, just to be sure. My heart started pounding loudly again and my breathing rate increased as I waited for his confirmation.

"Yeah it makes sense, you know, since we're both trainers headed towards the same goal and if we travel together we can help each other get stronger, and it'll be less dangerous too. And I can help you find your feet as a trainer too; I know it can be hard when you don't know how to get through to your pokémon," he explained, looking at me expectantly. I could just about die of happiness right now, I thought as a grin spread across my face.

"Ye- oh," I started, but my smile faded as I longed to accept but remembered that I couldn't. Partly because if he travelled with me it wouldn't take him long to realise that I really didn't want my pokémon, and I couldn't bear it if he hated me for pretending to like pokémon as much as him when in fact I was planning on getting rid of them. But also because I couldn't risk him finding out about my being a spy for Professor Sycamore – that would create a lot of problems and the Professor was already mad enough at me for being a bad spy and getting caught on camera. I didn't want to risk his wrath if he found out I also had a traveling partner. So I looked at Calem with heavy eyes and a forced smile, my heart sinking low in my chest.

"Oh?" Calem prompted me, his smile faltering when I didn't immediately accept his offer.

"I… I don't think it's such a good idea," I began nervously, wishing I didn't have to say this. "I much prefer traveling by myself, and besides we'll have more fun battling when we meet if we don't already know all the tricks the other has up their sleeve from watching them train every day," I muttered, the reasons sounding flat even to me.

Calem furrowed his brow, his eyes probing mine until I had to look away. "You… don't want to travel with me," he said slowly.

"No! It's not that I don't want to," I said quickly. "I'd love to, it's just… Well… I… It's hard to explain," I sighed, giving up.

"It's okay, I understand. You want to learn how to become a good trainer by yourself – I get it. I was like that too; I didn't want my parents or anyone else helping me either. So maybe when you're more confident in your abilities as a trainer, we can travel then," Calem said understandingly. I looked up at him, a genuine smile spreading across my face. He understands! And he doesn't hate me for not travelling with him! Somehow the fact he understands only makes me like him even more.

"Exactly. Thanks so much for understanding, and it's a deal. When I'm stronger, we'll travel," I agreed happily, ignoring the tiny voice in my head that was telling me I'd never be able to travel with him because of my duties as a spy. "Shake on it?" I asked, offering him my hand. He took it with a grin, once more looking light-hearted.

"Indeed. I'll catch up with you later – I'm going to do some more training now," Calem decided, releasing my hand and turning away.

"Thanks again for the belt," I called after him before I also turned away and began walking back up the path to Santalune City, feeling slightly better about everything - until Fennekin decided to open her big mouth, that is.

"Fenne, Fennekin." I already knew I was stupid - only a stupid girl turns down an offer like that from her crush! I didn't need Fennekin to point out how stupid I was. Besides, it wasn't like I'd never see him again - I'd still see him every time we ran into each other on our journeys.

"Shut up. You don't have to look so smug."

"Fen, kin-kin." She trotted ahead, her bushy tail held high. I glared after her. Stupid pokémon. The sooner I could get rid of her, the better.

Normal POV

The sky was dark and few stars shone down from above as a boy crouched among the branches of a tree, peering through the branches at the pokémon centre just in front of him. From his vantage point he had a clear view into one of the guest rooms, and in the guest room he could see two girls – one with long honey0blonde hair and the other with brown hair looped behind her head - sitting cross-legged on the bed, chatting to each other. Luckily for him, the window had been opened earlier so he could hear everything they were saying.

"So he gave you his pokébelt? Just like that?" the girl with brown hair was saying.

The honey-blonde-haired girl nodded, a smile lighting up her pretty face. "Yep! I feel so honoured, he said it was passed onto him by his father."

"Wow Serena, I can't believe he gave it to you!" exclaimed the first girl excitedly. "Before he became a trainer he was always talking about how he couldn't wait to wear the same belt his father wore when he first became a trainer – and he was ecstatic when his father gave it to him on the morning he left to get his pokémon," she babbled.

Serena's face fell slightly. "Oh gosh, now I feel really guilty. I should never have accepted it," she admitted worriedly. The boy watching rolled his eyes. Why do girls always get so worked up over such little things? It's just a belt, he thought to himself, shivering as a cold wind brushed past him. He was wearing a jacket but it did little to protect him from the cold.

"No, no don't feel guilty," the other girl said hurriedly. "It shows that he really cares about you- he wouldn't have given it to you unless you were special to him," she reassured the blonde with a wink.

Serena looked up at her hopefully. The boy watched her scornfully – it was so painfully obvious she had a massive crush on this boy they were talking about. Girls are so stupid. What's so great about love anyway? It only ends in heartbreak, he thought, trying to ignore the pins and needles starting up in his left leg. He'd been sitting in the tree for too long.

"You think so?" Serena asked, her face so painfully eager for the other girl to reassure her.

"Seri, I know so," replied her friend. "Cale's never really been interested in any girls before but I'm his best friend – I could tell instantly that he liked you, and now by giving you his belt he confirmed it."

"I hope you're right Shauna," murmured the blonde.

Shauna shook her head. "I told you – call me Shaunster! And don't worry, I am right. I've known him for so long that he can't keep anything secret from me, especially not a crush. Anyway, I should be getting back to my own room now. It's late and we need to get up early tomorrow if we're going to get some training in before we challenge the gym," she told Serena, who nodded. They hugged goodnight and then the brunette left, and the boy hiding in the tree scrambled backwards out of sight as Serena went to her window, closing it and then drawing the curtains. He'd found out what he needed to know, so he was satisfied despite having picked up at least two splinters while climbing the tree, which wasn't exactly easy in the first place.

Running a hand through his hair, he grinned. "So she's taking up the gym challenge… excellent. This'll make it even easier to keep an eye on her like Boss said," he murmured to himself, sitting back against the trunk. He knew what he had to do now, and it was going to be easy peasy lemon squeasy.

Author's Note: Any guesses as to who the boy at the end is? It's pretty obvious really XD And any thoughts on the scene between Calem and Serena? Hopefully it doesn't seem like I'm rushing their relationship - not that they even have one yet - but there's a reason things seem to be moving so quickly, and you'll soon find out that there's a rough ride ahead for them ;D

Please please please review - reviews seriously make my day. Without reviews, my world stops turning... or at the very least no reviews will mean no more story updates, and I don't want that to happen. Although it's been so long since I last updated I guess it's understandable if no-one's even reading this anymore :'(

Thanks to everyone who is still reading!

~ Jay