A/N: I apologise in advance for this very long A/N. Feel free to skip past it if you really want to but there are some things here I think you guys should know.

Thank you guys for the newest reviews, they mean a lot to me. And now I'm going to answer a few of Eevee's questions:

'Silver has made his appearance; will Gold/Ethan pop up at some point too?' I've been using Crystal as a base for a lot of things, such as what Pokemon will be in what Routes, but also other things. Usually if there's a difference between Gold/Silver/Crystal and Heartgold/Soulsilver, I'm gonna go with the Crystal option, unless it makes more sense to use HGSS's option, and I personally found the Lyra/Ethan character to be unnecessary, so he will not be in the story, at least not in the role he plays in HGSS. If I do eventually decide to use him, it will only be a quick appearance, and it probably won't happen until later in the story.

Thank you for the suggestions of Pokemon she could use. A few of your suggestions (I won't say which though) are actually ones I'd put on my plans even before seeing your review, though some were just on the list of ones I'm considering and are not definite, but still it seems like you know Kris really well already. As for your question about Kris's preference of Pokemon, while I have a plan of some of the Pokemon she'll catch, I don't know how to describe her preference. At this point in the story, her opinions of Pokemon are still developing, so I guess she'll just catch whatever catches her eye without really realising she has a preference. Or maybe she'll overthink things as usual. But of course, you guys can still suggest Pokemon, because you might think of Pokemon that would really suit Kris that I just hadn't thought of. And since the story is following the basic plot of the game, she will eventually end up in Kanto, and I haven't got plans for anything she'll catch in Kanto, so I could use some suggestions from Kanto even though it will take a long time before she gets there.

A few other things I wanted to mention was that I will be changing a few 'game logic' type of things so I don't have to explain things that don't make sense. Like in the anime, battles are not turn-based but are fought in real time as you would expect, meaning Pokemon can attack twice in a row, it doesn't matter. And you can't put a Pokemon inside a computer, that just doesn't make sense. Instead of using a PC the way you use it in the games, Kris will probably just send her Pokemon to Professor Elm when she catches enough to do so, like Ash sends his to Professor Oak. I know the transport machine they use doesn't really make much sense either, but what can you do? I guess they just have that kind of technology in the Pokemon world. Another piece of anime logic you'll see here is that Pokemon will say their names, which they don't usually do in to games. I was originally going to stay as close as the games as I could, but I didn't want to have to figure out how to write the sounds they make in the games. Feel free to ask me any questions about other aspects of logic I'll be using here.

And even though I said I'd choose Crystal over the other games when there are differences, but one thing I don't like about generation 2 is that the berries have simple names like 'Berry' or 'PSNcure Berry." I will instead use their modern names like Oran Berry and Pecha Berry because these names are more well known and easier for me to remember. I've been playing Crystal recently and I keep reading the descriptions because I can't remember names like Mint Berry or Gold Berry.

Anyway, I really like this next chapter as we see the trainer deep inside Kris start to emerge. She's always comparing herself to trainers as if she's not one herself and thinks she's not good at this, not realising that no one starts off good at something, she'll get better over time. But enough from me, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.


The white path of New Bark Town disappears as I step onto the short grass of route 29. Finally, I walk on ahead, into the tall grass. Suddenly, I gasp in surprise as something brown and furry jumps up at me. Okay, it didn't actually touch me, but it still scared me for a second. It was now stood on its tail, making itself look bigger. Well, here goes nothing, I think, reaching for Chikorita's Pokeball.

"Go, Chikorita!" I say, throwing the Pokeball like I've seen trainers do when they release they Pokemon who then helps them cross the river that leads to Kanto.

"Chi-ko!" I hear, as Chikorita pops out of his ball. Okay, I can do this. Now I just have to… um… battle. Right. I need to give Chikorita a command. I have to choose one of its attacks. Um, what attacks would it know?

"Sentret!" The brown Pokemon suddenly lurches forward and scratches Chikorita. No! I wasn't ready! In more ways than one. I'm not ready for this!

"Chiko!" I hear Chikorita say, as he jumps out of the way of another scratch. Chikorita nearly got hurt there, I realise. I can't let that happen. Okay, an attack. Think, Kris. Think of the most basic and obvious attack of all if you have to.

"Chikorita, use… um, tackle!" I finally speak up.

"Chik-chi-ko!" Chikorita dashes forwards and then launches himself at the Pokemon, tackling it. What was its name? I wonder. That doesn't matter now. Stay focused on the battle! Whatever it is, the Pokemon jumps back and curls up in a defensive position.

"Tackle it again!" I say, realizing this may be a good opportunity to attack. Or not. I really don't know what I'm doing. Chikorita tries to tackle it, but it jumps out of the way, uncurling itself just in time to see him. It jumps forwards and scratches him, before being hit by a tackle. It jumps back, but Chikorita is smart. He somehow shoots a single leaf at the Pokemon which stops it for a second. Then he takes the initiative to go for another tackle, which knocks the Pokemon to the ground. It lays on the ground for a second, but before I have a chance to feel worried if it was okay, I stand up and quickly glances at Chikorita before running off into the trees.

I won. I won my first battle! I mentally cheer.

Correction – we won. It was a team effort. Oh, who am I kidding, it was Chikorita, he did so great. He's so… awesome!

"Great job, Chikorita!" I cheer, this time out loud. "That was awesome!"

"Chiko!" He cheers with me.

"Return," I say, returning him to his Pokeball.

I keep going, turning a corner to go up a small hill. I pass through a small patch of tall grass, but here nothing jumps out at me. I pass by a building which leads to route 46, if I remember my geography correctly. The numbers of the routes are so hard to remember, as they don't start with one, continuing on from Kanto's numbering, unlike most regions which have their own set of numbered routes. I glance at the building, but don't go near it, knowing that route 30 is where I need to go. I head through another patch of tall grass, and suddenly a flapping sound fills my ears as something flies around me. I duck out of the way to avoid being hit in the head by a small bird Pokemon. I realise I'm going to have to battle again. But this time, I know what I'm doing.

"Go, Chikorita!" I say once again, releasing him from his Pokeball. 'Him'? I now realise I never asked the Professor what Chikorita's gender is. Not that it matters, I don't mind either way, but it's like… earlier I'd been thinking about how I want to experience what its like to be friends with a Pokemon, even if it is just for the day. And I think a big part of that is being able to think of it as not just some creature but as a partner, and equal. And, well, I don't want to call my partner by the wrong pronouns, do I?

Anyway, getting back to the battle, I immediately called out, "Tackle!" not thinking of any other attacks for a moment. Chikorita jumped up, trying to tackle this Pokemon that I now realised was still flying just above my height. "Uh… try that leaf thing you did before!" I said, remembering how Chikorita had surprised me in its previous battle. I tried to remember the name of that attack. I knew I'd heard of it before. Chikorita didn't do it yet, possibly not understanding what I'd said. Maybe Chikorita had been taught to respond to the attack's name and wasn't able to understand my dumb description. I never understood how Pokemon could understand our words, but we can't understand their way of communicating. Ignoring this question that no one seems to understand either, I focused on trying to remember its name. "Um… um… leaf… razor leaf!" I finally shouted, hoping I'd remember it right.

"Chiko!" Chikorita stopped running and jumping, its feet still as it now swung the leaf on its head around and more smaller leaves flew towards the wild Pokemon. Its wings flapped faster as it was hit but one of its wings was hit by a leaf and it fell to the soft grass. It stood on its feet but, being a flying Pokemon, I thought, it probably finds it harder to battle on the ground.

"Okay, now tackle it!"

"Chiko!" I noticed my excited tone which matched Chikorita's. Right now, in this moment, I was happy. I was enjoying this. Battling is fun!

After being hit by Chikorita's tackle, the wild Pokemon flew off towards the trees. Chikorita ran back to me and, to my surprise, leaned its head against my leg attempting to hug me as best as it could with me standing and it down on the ground. I smiled, leaned down, and gave it a pat on the forehead, not touching the leaf on its head in case it was delicate like a Butterfree's wings.

"Hey, Chikorita," I said after a moment. It looked up at me. "Are you… a boy or a girl?"

"Chiko!" It said. Okay, that wasn't a very helpful answer. But it was my own fault, what else was it supposed to say? Okay, I need a yes or no question.

"Sorry, um, are you a… boy?" I ask.

"Chiko!" It shakes its head. No, she shakes her head.

"So, you're a girl?" I confirm. She nods. "Great." I say. "I was just wondering. You know, that was a great battle, Chikorita. You take a rest now." I return her to her Pokeball.

Looking around, I see Cherrygrove City in the distance. To my right, a ledge with a small hill leading up to it, a boy up there near a berry tree. I don't think the trees on any of the routes around the region are owned by anyone, because anyone can just pick berries from them. I take a detour up the small hill to the tree and find an Oran Berry on it, one of the most common berries. I put it in my bag, thinking that it could come in handy later if Chikorita needs it. I glance at the boy, who smiles at me. He's holding a Pokeball, so I guess he's a trainer too.

"I'm waiting to catch Pokemon that only appear at night." He says to me, in case I was wondering, I guess. I glanced at my Pokegear. It was only 1:53, but maybe that's what some trainers do? They're determined, and they do whatever it takes to take care of their Pokemon and grow together, as a team (or so I've heard). Maybe he's wasting his time, but maybe he isn't. Maybe he's having a new experience, and maybe that's part of what being a trainer is about.

After glancing at the small ledge, I decided against the idea that had slowly begun to form in my head and instead walked down the small slope back down and made my way towards Cherrygrove City.


A/N: So, I think this chapter is a bit longer than the first two. Or at least, it feels longer to me, because it took a bit longer to write. I hope you liked this chapter because I really enjoyed writing Kris's thoughts in this chapter. So now we've seen her battle, and of course she doesn't really know what she's doing since she's just starting, but she'll get better. Also, if any of you reading this have read my story Skitty and Vui's Red Rescues, I slipped in a little reference to that so let me know if you caught it. So, one more question for you guys, what do you think of the pacing of this story? Sometimes I feel like I want to speed things up because I'm excited for the later chapters, but I can't do that because I don't want to leave out any details. But is it too slow? I mean, it took her two chapters just to leave New Bark Town. Let me know what you think about the pace of the story because I think it could really help.