Sorry for taking so long to update. I got distracted and didn't have internet to update. I do not own Pokemon.

Chapter 2

Amy and Cheren both struggled to keep up with Bianca, who seemed ready to run clear across town, as far away from Amy's mother as she could. The only thing that kept her from running clear out of city limits was her Tepig managed to leap out of her arms and tried to hold her back. Bianca seemed to realise at that point just how far she had run, and doubled over panting whilse thanking her Tepig for stopping her. Cheren and Amy both caught up with her at that point, Cheren looking annoyed and Amy still feeling amused by her mother's antics.

Cheren looked at Bianca with more than a bit of annoyance. "You had to go and get us kicked out of Amy's house, and had to manage to escalate everything to the point Amy's mother felt the need to go upstairs and threaten you with imprisonment, all for the sake of battling. What do you have to say for yoursef?"

Bianca grinned cheekily. "Of course I do," She told him. "Let's battle now."

Cheren threw his hands up in disgust and stomped away with his hands deep in his jacket pockets. Amy giggled as Cheren got far enough away that all she could see was his bright blew jacket and told Bianca, "If Snivy doesn't mind, I'll battle with you. She could use the exercise." Bianca grinned and Amy threw the Pokeball in the air.

Snivy landed in a flash of light, and looked over at Tepig. The fire pig gave a small squeel of a battle cry and pawed at the ground. Snivy recognised the challenge instantly and glanced at Amy for approval. Amy nodded and the two faced off against Bianca and Tepig.

Neither girl had any experience with battling, but both had watched tournements on tv before and they knew some basic moves. As Snivy and Tepig circled each other, their trainers also studied them, searching for any sign of weakness. Both stared each other down as their trainers tried to decide what to do.

Bianca attacked first, ordering Tepig, "Tepig go, Tackle attack!"

The small Fire type grunted in reply and charged at Snivy. "Dodge Snivy," Amy ordered, "And counter with your own Tackle. Hit it from behind."

Snivy dove sideways, showing much better speed than Tepig and did manage a Tackle on the Fire type. Snivy didn't manage to land many other attacs however, as Tepig learned to predict these dodges. The two exchanged blows, landing odd attacks and dancing around each other.

Snivy did eventually win, but only when it had managed to hit Tepig directly on the head from behind. It was a shot in a million, but Snivvy managed it and looked rather proud as it stood beside and unconscious Tepig. Amy gave a cheer and Snivy managed to weakly make its way over towards, where the young girl picked the Proud Pokemon up, hugging it gently. "You did great," She quietly told Snivy, who gave an almost grin.

Bianca had already run over to grab up Tepig and check it over. Cheren had Oshuwat out and both wandered over to check on Bianca. Amy was gently giving Snivy a once over, constantly reminding the small Grass snake what a great job it had done. The Pokemon was tired but seemed to glow with the praise.

Cheren suddenly tapped Amy on ths shoulder, causing her jumped up startled. "Good battle," He told her as he handed her a Potion. "Snivy looks tired, I'm willing to bet this will perk it right up." Amy thanked him wordlessly and sprayed the bitter smelling liquid onto Snivy. Snivy shuddered in protest but allowed the Potion to start to heal its wounds.

The children felt a new level of excitement that was dashed when they heard a familiar voice calling to them. "Well, I see it didn't take you three very long to learn how to battle."

The three children turned to see the tall figure of Professor Juniper walking over to them. The tall woman flashed th kids a grin. "Well, I might not like battling much," the professor admitted, "But at least you three knew how to take care of them afterwards. And all three of you seem knowledgable of your Pokemon's needs. If you three are done battling, then follow me please. I have something to show you at the lab."

Cheren and Bianca looked worriedly at each other as Amy looked at the Professor's back. The three of them had never been allowed into the Juniper lab, few people indeed had ever been inside it. Professor Juniper, like her father, was very protective of her research and didn't like people intruding into the building. That she was inviting all three of the children in was slightly frightening and exciting at the same time.

Finally, Cheren moved first, followed by Bianca and Amy taking up the rear as they entered the building none had seen the inside of before.

Amy nervously stepped into the labratory, glancing around the surprisingly small building. It was a little messy, with small bits of equipment all around the building, with tubes and papers somewhat organized in scattered piles. There was little space to move around in the lab, so Amy shuffled behind her friends nervously.

The professor was muttering to herself as she rummaged through piles of papers and boxes. As the kids watched anxiously, Professor Juniper explained, "The lab's becoming a real mess because I spent so much time in the field. I can't keep a lab assistant on right now because the few willing to come in and work either want to be paid three times a reasonable wage or steal my research for themselves. The last man who came in asked for the most ridiculous salary."

The kids eyes widened as they heard the amount. That was more than all three sets of parents earned in a year. Professor Juniper shook her head and added, "But you kids didn't come here to hear about my problems. I'm asking you three a favor in exchange for those Pokemon I gave you. As you three probably guessed, those three are unique Pokemon, very hard to find. I know you three plan to travel around Unova and I was hoping that you would be able to help me with my research."

"But how could we professor?" Cheren asked, "We don't know anything about researching Pokemon."

Professor Juniper smiled triumphantly as she pulled out a small box beside her sink. "That's understandable Cheren, and something that doesn't matter in this case. I would like to present to all of you a Pokedex." She opened the box to reveal three small rectangular objects.

Amy looked at the rectangles, red in color with what appeared to be a flip open screen with Pokeball shaped controls. Amy looked the Pokedex with confusion. "What are these? What do they do?"

Cheren looked at her incredulously. "Amy, these are Pokedexes," he told her. "These are the Pokemon encyclopedia. They record everything the can about Pokemon caught in a Pokeball."

Amy frowned at that. "You want us to catch Pokemon?" she asked hesitantly. "I don't want to force Pokemon like that."

Professor Juniper looked at her for a moment, trying to understand the confusion before seeing the look on Amy's face. She gently told her, "You don't have to catch anything Amy. Just seeing the Pokemon gives me data. I only get more data from you capturing them. So if you can get them into a Pokeball that will help my research but even if you can't, you help identify and locate wild Pokemon for me. So if I do get a lab assistant or if I take the time to do field work myself, then I know where to find the Pokemon."

Amy nods, still not smiling but her face was more neutral. Bianca and Cheren don't seem to have any problems with the idea of catching Pokemon and actually seem excited about the idea. Professor Juniper checks each Pokedex before snapping her fingers. "I almost forgot. I'm willing to bet that none of the three of you have much money set aside for leaving, do you?"

Bianca and Cheren both shook their heads. Belatedly, so did Amy. She had a small amount of money set aside, a bit less than two hundred dollars and that was her life's savings. She hadn't planned on taking that with her but she hadn't thought about how much money it was actually going to cost to travel.

"Well, that's a problem easily solved." The professor rummaged through a drawer, and drew out three cards. Scanning them with her computer, she handed them the cards and told the three, "Here you are. It's only three thousand, but if you're careful it should be enough to get you all started on your journeys. Now for the Pokeballs..."

Amy didnt't fully register the Professor's words as she accepted the card. Three thousand dollars. She was holding the equivalent of two weeks pay for her mother. This was only supposed to get them started. How was she going to get enough money to travel?

Amy was jolted out of her thoughts by a light tap from Bianca. Amy focused on Professor Juniper handing her a small bag, which Amy belatently took. "There you are. Each of you can have six Pokeballs to start with. I assume the three of you know how to catch Pokemon after trainer school?"

Amy nodded, as did Cheren and Bianca. That was one of the first rules all kids in trainer school learned. "Well, I won't hold you three up anymore. You all know how to make it to Acumula town right?"

Amy shook her head while Cheren and Bianca nodded. Professor Juniper turned to Amy and told her about the path at the north of the town, which led to Route 1. "I won't keep you three anymore. Just be sure to say goodbye to your parents before you leave."

Bianca and Cheren were already gone but Amy knew that they were just stopping to see their parents. She hurried out, wanting to start her journey right away but knowing she needed to see her mom first.

Her mother was waiting for her in the living room. "So what did Professor Juniper want?" She asked Amy as soon as she was through the door.

Amy almost bit her tongue in suprise. "You knew she was going to see us?" She asked suprised.

Amy's mother smiled sadly. "Who do you think asked her if you could have a Pokemon? Do you want to go?"

Amy, too shocked to speak, nodded vigorously. With the same sad smile, her mother handed her a package, all wrapped up with a bow on top. "I figured you would, so here, happy birthday."

Amy took the box, wordlessly thanking her mother. She tore open the packaging and opened the first box, shocked. Inside was a brand new pair of Running Shoes. They were designed for new trainers, meant to speed up your travel without hurting you. They were stupidly expensive. "Mom," Amy choked out, trying to push the gift back to her. "This is too big, you didn't need to..."

Her mom just pushed the box towards her daughter. "It doesn't matter. You'll need them on your journey. Now open the other. Go on, it's for you as well." Amy was excited and hesitant as she opened the second package.

Inside was a folded up map. Amy swallowed. This was a full map of Unova, spread out on a digital page. This was an older model but even it was expensive. Her mom couldn't have afforded both. Before Amy could ask, her mother told her, "That was my map, from when I went out on my journey. I thought that, since I won't be travelling again, you could at least make good use of it."

Amy couldn't speak. Her eyes watering, she leapt at her mom and hugged her in a death grip. Her mother didn't complain; only return the hug equally as tight. After a moment, they pulled away and her mother, wiping her eyes, told Amy, "Now get going. If you don't leave now, you'll miss your friends." Amy nodded and took off, waving to her mom as she headed for the road.

She was so focussed on looking behind her that Amy missed Bianca leaving her house and plowed into her friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Amy stammered out as she helped Bianca to her feet, "I wasn't looking and I was trying to catch up to you guys and- Bianca are you crying?"

"No!" The blond girl snapped at her. Bianca pushe Amy's hand away and took off towards Route 1.

Amy stood there, stunned before turning towards the sound of Bianca's father bellowing for her. Her mother, who had walked out the back door, approaching Amy as she did so.

"Have you seen Bianca?" She asked Amy but held up a hand to stop her from talking. "No, don't tell me; this way I can tell him you didn't say if you saw her. I won't lie to my husband even if I don't agree with what he's doing. All children have to grow up some time and Bianca's growing up faster than he'd like. f you do see my daughter, would you give her this?"

Bianca's mother held out a map. Amy wordlessly took it, a little surprised. Bianca's mother smiled. "My husband seems to have forgotten we met on our own Pokemon journeys'. It doesn't matter now though. All of you, try and keep safe." with that, she left.

Amy was a little startled but didn't say a word before taking off to catch up with Cheren and Bianca. Bianca wasn't there and as Cheren started to ask Amy, she shook her head and made a slicing motion with her hand across her throat. Cheren nodded and they waits for Bianca.

When she did show up, she thanked Any for the map and put on a fake smile. "Well? Are you both just going to stand here and wait? Come on, let's go and take our first step of our journey together!"

Cheren almost protested but Amy shot him a look and he fell quiet as he stood on Bianca's right and Amy stood on her left. Bianca's smile became a little less fake as they stood, on the edge of the grass and she called out, "Ready? One, two, three!"

On three together they jumped.