"Bean! Give that back!" Rian ordered.

Deirdre glared at the Stump Pokemon who cheeped back at its trainer. Rian stopped talking as his expression fell. "You're just a million emotions today, aren't you?" Deirdre sassily barked. She already had to deal with one thief; she didn't plan to add another to the list.

"Bean… please, give Deirdre her hat back," he instructed quietly. Bean seemed to sympathized enough with his trainer to give the girl her hat back. Deirdre quickly placed it back on her head.

"Thanks a lot," she told them in a voice that was dripping with sarcasm. Rian seemed sadder now, and Bean seemed less energetic than a little while ago. Who exactly was she traveling with, anyway?

"Well, there's an intersection here. Which way do you want to go?" Rian shrugged off his previous behavior, questioning Deirdre as they approach the branching paths.

Deirdre looked at the paths. The right seemed to be more traveled than the left, but there appeared to be a group of trainers to the left behind some trees. She didn't really want to disturb them, but perhaps she should? Maybe she can leave Rian with a Pokemon battle and travel to Lumiose City by herself.

"Left," she replied, walking her desired path. Rian and Bean followed her. As she approached the trees, she saw the same girl from before. Someone who looked exactly like her stood beside them. At their feet was a Corphish and a Panpour.

Deirdre quickly wondered if they were the ones to steal her bag. It was a good probability, but she wanted to know for sure before jumping to conclusions. It would be foolish to accuse her on the conjecture that her Panpour was the Panpour that stole her bag.

"Sorry we couldn't get what you wanted," one of the girls apologized. "She was persistent, and Pan got scared." The Panpour climbed up onto her shoulder. Well, okay, it could be them.

Deirdre was going to say something when she heard another voice. "There's always a next time, I suppose," someone who stood behind them sighed. That voice was familiar to Deirdre somehow. She took a couple of steps to get a better look at the third person.

Then it clicked. The third person was the neighbourhood boy that spread lies about her, the one that left her behind. His name was Nevan Valdez.

Just then he looked in her direction, and their eyes met. "Well, would you look at that?" he laughed. "Hey, Deirdre. Wanna have a Pokemon battle? You know that's what happens when two trainers' eyes meet, right?"

The girls turned around and tensed. They'd run away if they had to, and their Pokemon would follow. However, Deirdre wasn't focused on them. "You jerk!" she shouted. "You know very well why I can't!"

"Hm, what a shame then," he told her with a chuckle. "I guess it doesn't matter. You'd lose anyway." Nevan turned to leave. "Ophie, Gerty, I'll see you around."

"That's not our names," one of the girls mumbled. The other shook their head, and the name issue was dropped. They took that as their chance to leave, stepping into the forest to sneak away. Their Pokemon scurried to follow them. Deirdre wanted to confront them, but she had more pressing matters.

"Where do you think your going?" Deirdre snapped at Nevan. "Yesterday, Shauna said we'd all be getting a Pokemon. Where's mine?" She crossed her arms and focused on her breathing. There was no need to let him get under her skin.

Nevan paused and turned back to face her. His expression was serious, and his voice was icily cold. "You don't deserve one," he answered.

"That's ridiculous. Why not?" Deirdre asked, trying not to let her emotions show. She had every right to be a trainer, and her trainer ID card proved it.

"After what your parents did in Kanto!" he snarled. "Everyone acts like they were absolutely forced to join, but no one was holding a gun to their head!"

Deirdre stopped. He knew nothing about her, about what happened, about her parents. "Fine, you can think that," she said, shocked about how calm her voice was, "but shouldn't you get the entire story first?"

"Why should I waste any more time on them?" Nevan responded. "I already know what I need to know." Deirdre knew he was wrong. It wasn't like he was any better. He stole her Pokemon because of his twisted morals.

"You're a child," Deirdre insulted. She was surprised how numb she felt to this. It had always happened. The insults and the discrimination were nothing new.

"Maybe, but at least I have Pokemon," he gloated, finally turning around to leave again. Deirdre let him this time. She already had enough of his flawed logic to last her for a while.

"Are you okay?" Rian asked softly. Deirdre had almost forgotten about him and Bean. The trainer and his Pokemon had expressions of concern towards her.

She uncrossed her arms. "Let's go," she instructed, going the same way as Nevan. Everyone in their group had to meet with Professor Sycamore, not to get their first Pokemon, but for him to check their Pokedexes.

Which she also didn't have.

Ugh.

Bean must've gotten bored, because he started playing with the hem of Rian's sweater while tweeting. Rian didn't mind. Instead, it seemed like he didn't even notice. He was staring ahead, probably wondering about something.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Deirdre said, taking him away from the thing she asked for. She wanted to take her mind off of the hurtful things Nevan had said.

"Nothing much," he told her. "I was just thinking back to the first time Bean and I met." The Pokemon, upon hearing his name, chirped. He floated to the front of them. Rian smiled and gave him a pat on his head.

"How did you two meet?" Deirdre pried, tentatively reaching a hand out to pet his Pokemon. Bean happily accepted the pats, tweeting joyfully.

"I'm sure it's not a story you want to hear. It's quite long," Rian admitted. His Pokemon gave an unhappy growl in disagreement. Rian just gave an airy chuckle.

"We still have some time," Deirdre encouraged. "We haven't even reached Santalune City." The city was in their sights, but it was still a distance away.

"Well, if you insist," Rian relented. Bean gave out a gleeful cry. It was story time!

A/N: The awkward moment when you accidentally misname a character, but you don't want to change it because people say they like it (and by people I mean, like, one person).

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