Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon

This turned out a lot longer than I originally planned... My chapters usually vary between 2,000 words (at the minimum) and 4,000 words - actually most chapters are either 2,000 or 4,000, there's not usually an in between, but this chapter is a whole 6,000 + words! I stayed up until 3:15 last night writing it and I would have published it but the internet in our house gets turned off at midnight, so unfortunately I couldn't publish it until now, but at least it's up now!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed this story, it really means a lot.

Enjoy.

Chapter Six

~ Blackmail ~

Serena's POV

I woke up bright and early with the sun the next morning as it invaded my room through the cracks in the moth-eaten Pokémon Centre curtains. I yawned and stretched, sitting up slowly. The room was small and square with only one bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and an en suite shower – the bare essentials of every basic lodging room. Fennekin was curled in a ball on the fluffy rug by the bed, her tail tucked under her chin, cushioning her head as her flank rose and fell evenly with her breathing. For a moment, with the gentle sunlight illuminating her glossy fur and her eyes closed, sporting a peaceful expression on her petite face, she almost looked cute. Almost. I shook my head and swung my legs over the bed, ignoring the morning chill that swept over me, and glanced at my watch. 6:28 – perfect.

"Fennekin," I whispered, aware that most people in the centre were probably still asleep and wouldn't appreciate being woken by some girl who forgot to keep her voice down. Plus I wanted to sneak out before Shauna or Calem and the others woke up and Shauna's room was directly opposite mine, so I had to be quiet. "Time to wake up."

"Fen…ne…" Fennekin murmured sleepily, but her eyes remained closed.

"Come on Fennekin, wake up," I whispered slightly louder. Still, Fennekin slept on. "Okay I'm going to get dressed now but if you're not awake by the time I'm ready then I'll leave you behind," I decided, standing up and going into the en suite shower. Fifteen minutes later I was fully showered and dressed, although I had to suppress a twinge of guilt as I put Calem's belt on, and while I was brushing my hair I tried to wake Fennekin up again but she just wouldn't open her eyes.

"Fen… Fen…" Fennekin muttered, curling herself into an even tighter ball. I narrowed my eyes.

"I know you're awake," I accused her, placing my hairbrush back in my bag and walking over to her. "You can't fool me. We have to go now, before anyone else wakes up," I told her firmly.

"Fennekin," she mumbled, shutting her eyes even more tightly. I prodded her with my foot and she hissed but didn't move. If that's how you want to play it…

"Fine then, I'll just go without you," I said slyly, padding over to the door and opening it slowly. At first Fennekin kept up the pretence of being sound asleep but when her ear twitched at the sound of the door creaking, I knew she was awake. I opened the door fully and left the room, closing it behind me. I then stood out in the corridor with my back to the door and waited. The corridor had the same cream wallpaper as the rest of the Pokémon Centre with orange boarders and orange doors to the rooms and I idly took note that some of the wallpaper above the door to Shauna's room was peeling.

It wasn't long – maybe about fifteen seconds or so – before a small scratching sound drew my attention back to my own door. I smiled and turned around, opening the door smugly. My victory smile only grew bigger as Fennekin stalked out, a sour expression on her face as she bared her miniature fangs at me. "Fennekin," she hissed, annoyed that I'd gotten the better of her. I would have loved to gloat but we really had to get going. The sun was rising fast and it wouldn't be long before the others were up too.

It didn't take us long to reach the edge of the town where a gate led onto the road leading straight to Lumiose City. It was so early in the morning that not many people were out and about but there was one woman standing to the right of the gate appearing to be admiring the flowers in the bed running along the brick wall encircling the town. She was quite tall and had a pretty face and pale brown hair tied back in a short ponytail. "Finally," I smiled as we approached. "Once we're out of Santalune it should take us about a day, maybe a day and a half of walking to get to Lumiose and then we can finally part ways when I find Professor Sycamore and get this whole mess sorted out," I told Fennekin as she trotted to keep up with me. It was about half past seven now (we'd stopped for a quick breakfast before leaving the Pokémon Centre) and Fennekin yawned, shooting me a pointed look.

"Oh I'm sorry if I interrupted your beauty sleep," I mocked, rolling my eyes, "but if we hadn't left so early then Calem would have wanted us to battle the Gym leader here – something I know neither of us want," I pointed out, shivering slightly as the chilly morning breeze picked up slightly. Drat, I still need to buy a coat, I thought, mentally facepalming for forgetting to do that yesterday.

"Fenne," Fennekin muttered mutinously. I ignored her. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and I was extremely close to being rid of Fennekin for good. Even the cold wind couldn't deter my good mood as we were about to walk through the gate leaving Santalune.

Three more steps and I'd be out of Santalune for good.

Two more steps…

One more, and…

Suddenly the woman who had been standing right by the gate stepped in front of me, stopping me. "Oh, you… You are, aren't you?" she asked, studying me carefully with intelligent green eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," I said, puzzled. "I'm who?"

"Fen?" Fennekin yipped, drawing the woman's attention down to the pokémon. The woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, smiled and nodded for some reason.

"You're one of the kids who got a pokémon from Augustine Sycamore, right?" she checked, and I nodded in affirmation, surprised.

"How did you know?" I questioned, not quite sure what to make of the woman. Then it hit me, and I inwardly groaned. "Oh – I guess you saw me on TV, huh?" The woman just gave me a friendly smile as she apprised Fennekin before speaking again.

"That Fennekin you've got there looks pretty happy. You must be a good Trainer," she complimented. I almost choked, and by the sound of Fennekin coughing, so did she. Fennekin, happy? Me, a good trainer? The idea was laughable. I wasn't about to correct the woman though.

"Um, thanks," I told her uncertainly.

The woman looked back at me, her blue eyes large and shining. "In that case, get over to the Pokémon Gym. I'm sure my sister will be glad to meet you!"

I stared at her. Great. I managed to avoid my friends forcing me to go to the Gym only to be stopped by a random woman – who just so happens to be the Gym leader's sister – and forced to go to the Gym by her instead. Just, great. I suppose I can just go and hide out in a café or something for the rest of the morning and then come back and pretend I've battled her sister – but what if she wants to see the Gym Badge? Maybe I can sneak past her, or find another way out of the town… No, I've looked at the map and this is the only way out. Suddenly Fennekin nudged my leg, startling me – literally – out of my thoughts as I nearly lost my balance and fell, but luckily I only wobbled for a couple of seconds before I was able to find my balance again. Spy training really came in handy at times like that.

"Fenne, Fennekin!" Fennekin barked at me, and I was about to glare at her when I realised the woman was still watching us both expectantly. I smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I guess I spaced out for a moment there. Sure, I'll go check out the Gym right now!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster before turning and walking quickly back down the brick path leading towards Santalune Town Square. As soon as I was out of hearing, I groaned. "Urgh, what am I going to do now?"

"Fen, fen-fen," Fennekin answered. My pace was fast enough that she had to trot quickly to keep up, even run a few paces occasionally to avoid being left behind.

"That was a rhetorical question Fennekin," I informed her grumpily. "It's not like I can understand you anyway," I muttered.

"Fennekin," she huffed, sticking her nose in the air and looking away.

"Whatever. You- hey, I know what I'll do!" I stopped, an idea popping into my head. "I'll call Professor Sycamore and ask him what to do. It's his fault I'm in this mess after all. Let's go to a café and call him from there," I suggested, leading the way into town with Fennekin reluctantly following me.

The Town had been cleared up a lot since yesterday with the broken signs having been replaced and all the rubble having been cleared. A small sense of achievement and satisfaction at knowing it was me who had put an end to the havoc caused by Riolu settled inside me. This is what being a spy is all about – helping people and giving troublemakers what they deserve, I thought to myself. It's just a shame that in order to do that yesterday I had to actually catch Riolu.

"Fenne," Fennekin yipped to catch my attention as she bounded over to a table outside Café Au Lait. Part of me wanted to protest at Fennekin choosing the Café we went to, but I told myself that that would just be immature. After all, a café is a café right? So I followed her and sat down, taking my Holo Caster out of my bag. Fennekin jumped up on the seat opposite me, sitting on her haunches and folding her forepaws neatly on the table.

"What are you doing? Get down from there!" I hissed at her, alarmed. "This is a café, you can't sit up at the table!"

"Fenne?" Fennekin blinked, looking at me with large sad eyes.

I crossed my arms. "Puppy dog eyes don't work on me," I warned her. "Now get down before someone sees and tells me off for letting you sit there." Fennekin ignored me, and began to wash her chest fur with brisk licks of her pink tongue. I was about to get up to physically remove her from the chair when a waitress appeared by Fennekin's chair, a warm smile on her face.

"It's all right, your Fennekin is perfectly welcome to sit there. What can I get you two?" the waitress asked pleasantly. Fennekin shot me a triumphant look and I scowled, ordering for the both of us. Once Fennekin was slurping a soda (which probably isn't very good for her health, but who cares?) and I was blowing on some hot chocolate to cool it before drinking, I called Professor Sycamore on the Holo Caster.

The Professor answered after three rings, a neutral expression on his face. "Good to see you Serena, I've been expecting you to check in. How is everything going?" Hmm, so he doesn't know about the Riolu fiasco and me being caught on camera again yesterday… I grinned, glad.

"I'm doing well thanks – or I would be, if both my friends and this lady standing at the gate leading out of Santalune Town didn't want me to battle the Gym leader here," I told him. "I can't see how I'm going to get out of here without battling the Gym leader but it's the last thing both me and my pokémon want to do. It's bad enough that I have to look after the brats until I reach your lab; I don't want to have to battle a Gym leader with them as well!" I explained, getting worked up as I explained my problem and taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

Professor Sycamore looked surprised. "Personally I think it would be good experience for you to take on the Gym challenge," he said, making me frown. "Actually if you do get Santalune's Gym Badge then that makes one less you have to get after I've explained everything once you reach my lab," he added. I was confused. What was he talking about? Before I could ask him to explain himself, the waitress came back with an excited expression on her face.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I couldn't help but think I've seen you somewhere before and just now I remembered where! You were on TV yesterday because you caught the Riolu that had been rampaging around Town, saving us all, right?" she blurted out, her eyes shining. "I can't believe you're eating at the café I work at!" she gushed.

Uh-oh… I looked away from her, at Professor Sycamore, and winced at his glare. "What's this about you being on TV yesterday?" he asked me, his tone thinly concealing his anger.

"Oh, nothing," I said airily, and looked at my watch. "Look at the time, if I'm to challenge the Gym then I really need to get going! Bye Professor!" I ended the call hurriedly, thanked the waitress (and refused to give her an autograph), and practically ran out of the Town Square, fearing being recognised by someone else.

"Fen, Fenne," Fennekin laughed once we reached Route 22, where I could be sure that no-one would see me and approach me for an autograph. Anyone who I saw out here would be here purely to train, and hopefully would be too caught up with their training to recognise me.

I shot Fennekin a dark look. "Shut up," I grumbled, disliking being laughed at. "I don't know why you're so gleeful – we're going to be taking on the Gym in a bit so we're going to do some training now and you are going to listen to me, understand?"

Fennekin met my glare with an even stare, looking innocent as she stood in front of me. I sighed and led her off to a grassy space to the side of the path – a good space to train. Unclipping Riolu's pokéball from the belt Calem had given me yesterday, I felt another twinge of guilt mixed with regret. I really wished I'd been able to accept his invitation to travel with him, but I knew it could never happen. There's no point dwelling on the past. What's happened has happened and it's the future I have to think about, I told myself firmly. "Come on out Riolu," I said unenthusiastically, throwing his pokéball.

"Riolu!" the blue and grey pokémon emerged looking ready for battle, his red eyes narrowed and his forepaws curled into fists. Fennekin trotted up to him, not in the least deterred by the fierce look he was shooting her.

"Fenne, Fennekin fen-fen," she said, tilting her head. Riolu looked down at her, relaxing his battle stance and crossing his arms. He was about twice her size but she wasn't intimidated even though when they were so close he loomed over her.

"Rio, Riolu," he replied gruffly. I just watched as they exchanged a few more words, completely baffled as to what they were saying. Then they both looked at me and I swallowed, suddenly wondering if they were planning to attack me. They wouldn't - I'm their trainer, and pokémon can't attack their trainers… can they? My eyes widened at the thought of being attacked and I had to steel myself to not back away. Even if they do attack me, I can take them, I convinced myself. I've not been training myself for six years for nothing.

Fennekin then trotted back to me and I flinched involuntarily. Pull yourself together, I told myself sharply. Fennekin didn't look like she was trying to threaten me, and she certainly didn't look like she was about to attack me. "Fen, Fenne," she yapped, amusement filling her eyes as if she knew what I'd been thinking and was mocking me. I just scowled.

"What do you want?" I asked her snappishly. "Had a nice conversation with Riolu, did you?"

She nodded happily. "Fen!"

"I have no idea what that means, but whatever. We need to do some training," I said, reminding her why we were there. I looked over at Riolu who was observing me with a guarded expression. "Uh, okay Riolu, I know you're not exactly thrilled that I caught you yesterday – to be honest with you I'm not thrilled either; it was a complete accident that my pokéball landed on you. Actually it was Fennekin's fault, but I'm not going to get into that debate now. I would release you now, only Calem and my other friends will want to know why I let you go and having to explain would be really awkward. Also I'm going to challenge the Gym – another thing I don't want to do, but have to – so I'll need your co-operation. Once we reach Lumiose City and I can talk to Professor Sycamore, I promise I'll set you free. Is that a deal?" I asked hopefully.

Riolu studied me briefly, but then he turned his head to the side. "Rio."

I sighed. "Look, all I need is your brief co-operation. Right now I want to have a practise battle between you and Fennekin, and I need you both to listen to me," I told him, looking at Fennekin as well.

"Fen-Fen-Fenne," Fennekin yipped, trotting forwards so she was facing Riolu. "Fennekin!" Her voice changed to a growl and she dropped into a battle-crouch. Seeing this Riolu also took up a battle position, and I grinned.

"Thanks Fennekin," I muttered. She glanced back at me, looking at me like I was stupid. I held my hands up, getting the message. "Okay, okay I get it – you're not doing this for me. But we're wasting time, let's get started." I took a few steps back and briefly went over the moves they both knew in my head. "Fennekin, use Ember – and Riolu, dodge and use Quick Attack," I ordered.

Fennekin ignored me and instead dashed towards Riolu, raising her paw and using Scratch. Instead of dodging he took the attack, grunting slightly, before retaliating with Counter. "Rio…lu!" he growled, and then used Foresight while Fennekin retreated and turned her back, wagging her tail at him in what I remembered was Tail Whip.

"This is hopeless," I groaned as they continued to ignore my commands and fight by themselves. "No – you're supposed to be doing what I say!" I yelled at them in an attempt to get them to listen to me but neither paid me any attention. "This is just great," I moaned. "I never wanted pokémon in the first place; I certainly didn't ask for any of this, and the sooner I can get rid of them the better. But no, I have to pretend everything's great and that I love pokémon or Calem and the others will hate me and I can't get this stupid mess sorted out until I reach Professor Sycamore's lab in Lumiose," I complained out loud.

"Having some trouble?" A familiar voice coming from behind me made me spin around and I came face to face with someone I would have been happy to never see again.

"You!" I gasped, unable to disguise my shock at seeing him. "What are you doing here?"

It was the guy who insisted he was Gary Oak despite knowing I knew he just looked very similar to famous grandson of Professor Oak. He grinned. "Nice to see you again too," he said conversationally. "I can see you're obviously a great pokémon trainer – your pokémon are listening to every word you say," he continued in the same cheerful voice which failed to completely mask the mocking undertones.

"Look," I began hotly, in no mood to deal with the spiky-haired moron when I was supposed to be trying to train for a Gym battle, "I'm kind of busy right now. So if you don't mind-"

He held up a hand and I stopped in surprise. "Oh but you see, I do mind," he informed me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"I have a proposition for you. If you travel with me, I'll help you with your pokémon," he said, his bluntness rendering me speechless for several seconds. What?!

I stared at him. "How about no?" I snapped, about to turn back to my pokémon when he grabbed my arm. My eyes focused in on his hand on my bare skin and they narrowed into a glare. He quickly released my arm, but kept my attention with his next words.

"Hang on, I haven't finished. Look at it this way: you're obviously in need of some serious help when it comes to training your pokémon – they don't listen to you at all and sooner or later your friends will find out, and plus if you're taking up the Gym challenge then you need your pokémon to at least obey you. And I need a partner to travel with because some bad guys are after me and they'll never expect me to be taking up the Gym challenge with a pretty girl by my side – basically you're gonna be my disguise and help me hide from them," he explained, gazing at me with large, pleading brown eyes that most girls probably found it hard to resist. I hesitated, flattered that he thought I was pretty, but then realising that that was his intention – to flatter me so I would accept. I shook my head, disgusted.

"No. I can manage my pokémon perfectly fine on my own thanks. But why me, why not some other innocent girl?" I asked, unable to not be curious.

The Gary-impersonator shrugged. "Why not you? You're the only girl I actually know around here, and like I said – you're really pretty."

I glared at him. "Flattery doesn't work on me," I informed him shortly. "The answer is still no. Now if you'll excuse me…" Just then a scream sounded from behind me and I whirled around to see a girl about my age sitting on the ground holding her leg like she'd just fallen over.

"Ow! That Fennekin burned me!" she wailed, her eyes filling with tears of pain. My heart sank and I ran over to her, as did Fennekin who was looking extremely guilty.

"I am so sorry, Fennekin didn't mean to – here, let me help you up," I babbled, holding out my hand to her. She had dark hair and eyes and her face was screwed up in pain. When she took her hand away from her leg I saw a bad burn, and winced. Fennekin had done that? "I'm so, so sorry," I apologised again, feeling incredibly bad for not keeping a better eye on Fennekin.

The girl ignored my hand and managed to stand up herself. "That's your Fennekin?" she asked, wiping away her tears and beginning to limp in the direction of the Pokémon Centre.

"Unfortunately yes – please let me help you, I really am sor-" I began to apologise again, keeping pace with her, but the girl glared at me and pushed my hand away.

"You need to learn how to control it – that thing is vicious," she said angrily, ignoring my apologies. I watched helplessly as she limped away and then turned back to Fennekin, who was studying her paws.

"I can't believe you hurt that poor girl – what did she ever do to you? Never do that again, understand? You really burned her badly, and I don't care even if it was an accident. It would never have happened if you'd just listened to me in the first place – and that goes for you too Riolu," I added, looking over to where my other pokémon was watching with a neutral expression on his face.

"Fenne…" Fennekin murmured, looking apologetic and guilty.

Hearing footsteps behind me I turned around to glare at Gary's impersonator. "What do you want now? I already told you, I don't want to travel with you! Can't you just leave me alone?" I finished in a yell, my temper having reached its limits. The day was getting worse and worse and I hadn't even battled the Gym leader yet, which was guaranteed to go worse than everything else so far.

Gary's impersonator wasn't put off by my hot temper, a calm look remaining on his face. "So you can manage your pokémon, can you?" was all he needed to say before I snapped.

"That's it," I seethed, barely managing to restrain myself from grabbing him and flipping him over onto his back on the ground and teaching him the meaning of pain. "I've had it with you! If you dare-"

"If I dare what?" he asked innocently, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

I screamed in frustration and stormed away, barely noticing Fennekin running after me. "What do you want?" I stopped to ask her fiercely.

"Fen?" she yelped, taken aback by my tone. I'd been moody and grumpy and snappy with her before but never had I been that angry at her. The shocked, almost frightened, look on her face made me take a deep breath and calm down.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you – I'm just having a really bad day," I apologised. My temper often ran away with me, and I was still working on controlling it.

Fennekin lifted her nose and narrowed her eyes. "Fenne," she uttered snappishly, turning her back to me and trotting over to Riolu, sitting down with a glare on her face. I threw back my head and groaned. I just can't stop messing up today, can I?

"So…" Gary's impersonator approached me for the third time, amusement dancing in his eyes. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

I was fed up of dealing with him, and I felt a headache coming on. "What are you talking about? Aren't you done messing with me already?"

"Either you agree to travel with me or I tell your friends your secret, which you have gone to so many lengths to keep from them," he said bluntly. "It's your choice."

I stared at him, my heart sinking once more. "You're not serious," I tried to call his bluff but he simply raised an eyebrow. I couldn't believe he was resorting to blackmail... Or, actually, I could believe it. After all he was a thief so it made sense he had very low morals.

"Am I not? Oh look, isn't that your friend Shauna training her Chespin over there? Shall I go and tell her that you hate pokémon and you can't wait to get rid of your Fennekin and Riolu once you reach Professor Sycamore's lab, and that you've been lying to them this whole time? Shall I tell her that?" he suggested, pointing to where Shauna was indeed training her Chespin in the tall grass - luckily with her back to us.

I shook my head helplessly. "She won't believe you," I began in desperation, "she knows you stole Calem's Froakie. Do you really think she'll believe you over the person she considers to be her new best friend?"

"Only one way to find out," he said, beginning to walk over to her. "I'm very convincing," he added over his shoulder. I watched him approach her slowly, every fibre in my body telling me to stop him. Travelling with him might not be so bad… I'll be able to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't steal any more pokémon… And I know he's got a lot of secrets; maybe I'll be able to find them out if we travel together… Besides it's only until I reach Professor Sycamore that I'll have to put up with him…

"Wait!" I called, running after him. He turned around, a pleasant smile on his face and he looked at me expectantly. "I'll travel with you," I gave in, speaking through gritted teeth.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said smugly.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to keep it together. Then I opened my eyes and pasted a smile on my face. "This doesn't mean I'm happy about it though," I warned him. "If you try to steal any more pokémon or do anything else shady, this arrangement will be over," I told him firmly. "And if the others find out about my dislike of pokémon, whether it's you who tell them or not, our travelling arrangement will also end. Okay?"

"Okay," he shrugged. "That's fine by me."

"And one more thing," I added, studying him closely. His chocolate brown hair was messy and windswept, and his bright brown eyes along with movie star looks would make any girl swoon – but his name definitely wasn't Gary Oak, no matter how much he looked like him.

"Yes?" he asked impatiently.

"What's your name? - Your real name? And don't lie to me," I warned him. "I don't like liars."

He chuckled. "I'm Gary Oak – I thought I already told you that?"

I whacked his arm, making him wince. "I thought I said don't lie!"

"Sheesh, okay, okay," he laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "My name is James," he told me at last. I don't know what I'd been expecting but it certainly wasn't something as ordinary as James. The name suited him though, and I nodded slowly.

"I guess you already know I'm Serena," I said and held out my hand for him to shake, which he took with a bemused expression. "I would say it's nice to properly meet you but, really, it's not."

James rolled his eyes and withdrew his hand. It had been warm in mine and my hand was left feeling cool once his was withdrawn. "Don't you have a Gym Leader to beat?" he reminded me.

I stared at him, having completely forgotten. "Oh yeah," I muttered. I looked around for my pokémon and saw they had started to battle again by themselves on the grass. I walked over to them, James following closely on my heels, and watched as Riolu aimed a Quick Attack at Fennekin. It hit the mark and she was bowled backwards, but she staggered to her feet again and used Ember. "That's enough now," I called to them, taking Riolu's pokéball and returning him just before the Ember attack hit. The flames hit the ground where he'd been standing a moment before and caused a cloud of dust to fly up.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin protested when her sparring partner disappeared. She looked like she was on her last legs, and with the power Riolu had demonstrated in the battle against Froakie yesterday I was surprised she hadn't fainted yet.

"Come on, it's time to go and challenge the Gym Leader," I told her, clipping Riolu's pokéball back onto my belt.

"You might want to take your pokémon to the Pokémon Centre first, so they're at full strength when you challenge the Viola," James suggested. As much as I hated to admit it, his suggestion was actually a pretty good one.

"Right," I nodded. "To the Pokémon Centre we go."

Half an hour later James and I stood outside the Pokémon Gym, staring up at it. It was a large building made out of bricks with four stone columns out front, two either side of the entrance and two at the front corners, and there were two large glass windows wither side of the door which was also made of glass. Warm yellow light spilled out of all the glass and in front of the left window was a small pedestal upon which was a pokéball monument above an inscription telling us the name of the Gym, the name of the Gym Leader, and a brief description of her. "Viola: the camera woman who never lets a single smile escape her focus," I read aloud. "That's an… interesting description."

"Yeah, Viola's well-known for her photography as well as her strength as a Gym Leader," James said.

I looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

James shrugged. "Everyone in Santalune knows it – I'm surprised you didn't know," he returned. I should have known that, I thought. Some spy I am, not even knowing that.

"Whatever, let's just get this over and done with," I muttered, leading the way inside. I wasn't really sure why James was coming with me. He said it was for 'moral support' but I suspected he didn't want to let me out of his sight in case I ran off without him after the battle. However tempted I might be to do that I'm not a person to go back on my word, but I guess he didn't know that. I didn't have any real reason why he couldn't come and watch though so I let him tag along. At least if he was with me I knew he wasn't causing mischief somewhere else. Fennekin was walking by my side but she hadn't said a single thing to me after I blew up at her earlier, so I guess she hadn't forgiven me yet despite my apology. Oh well. I never thought I was going to win this battle anyway.

As soon as we entered the Gym I was pounced on by a short fat man with brown poofy hair and a welcoming expression. "What's the hustle, little Crustle? Welcome to Santalune City Gym!" he exclaimed, his small brown eyes twinkling in a friendly way. I was surprised by his enthusiasm but a smile formed on my face at his warm welcome. "So, future Champ, this'll be your first time challenging a Gym, huh?" he asked, and carried right on without giving me the chance to answer. "Are you thrilled? Are you pumped?" The opposite actually, I thought but decided not to say it out loud. "You should be! No worries here! You've got pokémon on your side!" At this both James and Fennekin snorted, and I elbowed James in annoyance (I let Fennekin off this time since she was still mad at me for earlier). "And really, they're the ones who are going to be doing all the battling. Am I right or am I right? Right?" Wow, this guy really was enthusiastic.

"Uh…" I began to mumble, but the man had already turned away from me and was pointing towards a pole fixed to the ceiling in the middle of the room. It disappeared into a dark hole in the floor, and I wondered what was down there. My question was answered by the cheerful man's next words.

"Jump on that pole there, and you'll be on your way to where the Gym Leader's a-waitin' for you!"

"Okay," I said, beginning to walk forwards. I was actually quite excited at the prospect of sliding down a pole to get to the Gym Leader – sliding down a pole is never not fun.

"Whoops!" cried the cheery man, pulling me back before I could go much further. "But wait! I'm supposed to tell you something!" I waited for him to explain further, impatient to slide down the pole. "Viola is a user of Bug-type pokémon. Got it?"

"We got it, thanks," James said for me when I didn't speak, digesting the information. I knew Bug-types were weak to Fire-types, which actually works out pretty well considering Fennekin's a Fire-type.

"You're welcome!" grinned the cheery man. "Are both of you challenging the Gym?"

I glanced at James, realising I didn't actually know if he wanted to challenge the Gym or not. "Nope, I already got my badge yesterday," James informed us proudly. He did? That means challenging the Gym was one of the first things he did when he reached Santalune… He must be a pretty dedicated trainer, I thought uneasily. Even Calem wanted to train his pokémon a bit first before challenging Viola.

"That's right, I remember you now! Congratulations, again! Spectators are very welcome in this Gym, and you also have to go down the pole and then you'll see some stands by the battle field where you can sit and watch!" the cheery man told James enthusiastically. Turning back to me, he added, "Now, have fun and good luck!"

"Thanks," I replied, finding it impossible not to smile at his enthusiasm. "Okay Fennekin, let's go!" My own enthusiasm had been raised by the cheery man's, however when Fennekin simply sniffed and trotted forwards without acknowledging me, my brief sense of eagerness to get to the battle evaporated and I walked forwards slowly. Before I jumped onto the pole I took a look around the room we were in. The floor was grey with darker grey butterfly shapes decorating it – fitting for a Bug-type Gym – and the walls were white but covered with pictures which I guessed had been taken by Viola since she was so interested in photography.

"Getting cold feet?" James murmured in my ear, startling me out of my thoughts. He was closer to me than I was comfortable with and I pushed him away in annoyance.

"Of course not," I scoffed, reaching for the pole and grabbing it with both hands. I then lifted my legs off the ground and wrapped them round the pole, sliding down into the darkness and into certain doom.

I landed on a bouncy surface that I quickly realised was a web, and I shuddered. Of all the pokémon, Bug-types were some of the worst. The faster I get this over with, the better.

"Look out below!" James yelled. I looked up in time to see him jump into the hole, not bothering to hold onto the pole. I had to jump backwards as he landed right where I'd been standing, and he laughed as I fell over in my haste to get out of his way.

"Moron," I muttered. He just grinned and bounced back on his feet before the web stopped bounding under him. He jumped over to me, taking full advantage of the bouncy surface, and offered me a hand up. I ignored his hand and stood up myself, brushing myself off with a sour expression.

"Aw come on, don't be like that," James pouted teasingly while Fennekin jumped down after him, landing gracefully on her feet unlike James and I. I just ignored him and looked around for where to go next.

At opposite edges of the web were two wooden platforms, one with a tent at the back of it with a camera set up and lots of equipment lying around. The other platform was smaller and bare, and I guessed what was where I was supposed to stand. "I'll see you after the battle," I told James and began walking towards my platform, Fennekin following reluctantly.

"Good luck – you'll need it," was James' parting shot as he then headed for the side where some seating was available.

I climbed the steps to my platform and it was only when I was facing out over the web that I realised – the web was the battlefield! It made sense for a Bug-type Gym, but it didn't make the web any less creepy. Fennekin didn't seem to like the web either for she bounded up the steps with me and stood by my side. "So now what?" I wondered out loud. There was no sign of any Gym Leader – the only other person here was James, who was taking his seat in the stands. Then a movement from inside the tent on the other platform caught my eye, and I watched as a tall woman with blonde hair and green eyes emerged, a confident expression on her face. There was no doubt in my mind that this was Viola – she was definitely the sister of the woman I'd met earlier.

"That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge…" Viola began to speak, her voice oozing confidence. She wore simple clothes and a camera hung around her neck. "It's fantastic! Just fantastic!" What's with everyone and enthusiasm here? Does no-one see that I actually really don't want to be here? "Is this your first time challenging a Gym?" she asked.

I gave her a nod. "Yeah," I confirmed.

"Fantastic!" she exclaimed. "Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic! This'll be just fantastic! Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory – I won't let anything ruin this shoot!" With that Viola brought her camera up to her eye as a referee suddenly appeared at the side.

"The match between Viola the Santalune City Gym Leader and Serena the challenger is about to begin! Only the challenger may substitute pokémon, and it's to be a two on two battle. The challenger may go first. Let this battle now commence!" the referee shouted, dropping a white flag onto the web. I took that as my cue to send out my first pokémon and reached for Riolu's pokéball. I had considered using Fennekin first but she was the one with the type advantage, so I wanted to save her for last. Not that it would matter anyway since she probably wouldn't obey me whether I sent her out last or first.

"Go Riolu," I said dully, throwing the pokéball into the air.

I knew from the moment Viola sent out her first pokémon that the battle had been lost before it had even begun.

Author's Note: When I edited this just now you won't believe how many typos and mistakes I discovered - if you find any more don't hesitate to tell me so I can fix them. Constrictive criticism is very welcome; it's the only way I'll improve, after all! I would like to know your thoughts on the pace the story is going - if you think it's too slow (or even too fast although I think it's more on the slow side). Things should pick up next chapter, with the gym battle (which I had originally planned to include in this chapter but the chapter was already pretty long, so you've got that to look forward to!) and with Calem's reaction to Serena travelling with James after she just told him she wanted to travel alone! I wonder how that's going to go down... ;)

Thank you for reading,

~ Jay