Chapter 9

"So this is the Dreamyard, huh?" I look around the ruins we had just entered.

"Yup. This is where you get to catch a Munna." Tim grins, knowing that I felt a bit nervous about actually catching a Pokémon. It would be the first Pokémon for me to catch.

It had taken a while for the Gym Leaders to actually convince me to try to get them a Munna. They finally managed it by telling me that to understand Pokémon properly, I would also need to understand how they are traditionally caught. So I reluctantly agreed, but I still had reservations.

As we head farther into the ruins to locate the Munna we were after, I am suddenly tackled to the ground. A mass of pink is all I am able to see from my position on the ground. The suddenness of the attack has Tim frozen in shock for the moment.

"YLVYNA! NO!" A girl's voice comes from the same direction that the pink mass, an Audino I finally realize, came from.

It was not a girl, like I originally thought, but a young woman. Her wavy blond hair was like spun gold and reached her mid back. She wore it in a loose braid that was draped over her left shoulder. Her sky blue eyes were full of mirth that spread down to her Cherrim pink lips, though she was obviously trying not to smile. She looked to be about sixteen and stood around five foot two inches.

While her face said she was a sweet and gentle person, her outfit brought out the hidden glint of steel in her eyes. She wore a red v-neck shirt that was long enough to be a short dress. Over it was a white button up shirt with sleeves to her elbows. The white shirt was tied just beneath her rather large breasts. She wore her dark denim skinny jeans tucked into her black leather knee-high lace up boots. There were two packs on her, a black leather mini back pack and a black leather pouch strapped to her right leg. Her jewelry was more of a mix between elegant and tough. A black leather choker with a deep red garnet pendent graced her neck with matching garnet drop earrings. On her right wrist was a black leather bracelet with short metal spikes. It was the detailing on her shirt that really caught my attention though. Her shirt had a detail of black wings on the right hip, reminding me of the wings I had seen recently on Kevin's wrist.

"I'm sorry about Ilvi. I only recently caught her, so she doesn't know what not to do yet. Are you okay?" The young woman asked as she pulled her Audino off of me and helped me up from the ground.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine." My thoughts were spinning rather crazily. "Wait. Ilvi? I thought you called her Ylvyna earlier."

"I did. Ylvyna is her official nickname, but to save time during battles and stuff, I just call her Ilvi for short."

"Long names are mouthfuls, aren't they? I often shorten my Pokémon's names as well."

She gave me a considering look before smiling. "My name is Jennifer. What's yours? Both of yours?"

She glanced at Tim, bringing him into the conversation. He smiled back at her.

"I'm Timothy Adams. Tim for short."

I hesitate for a second before replying to her question. "Saphronia Stone. But it is easier to say Sophie."

"Saphronia? That's a beautiful name! Do you mind if I use it as a Pokémon's name?"

We both blink at her, completely confused. She rolls her eyes at our confusion, obviously used to the reaction but tired of having to explain.

"My full name is Jennifer Smith. Totally common and bland. So to make up for it, I give the Pokémon I catch really fancy and often long names. Like Ylvyna. If I hear a name that is unusual or uncommon, I tend to write them down for future use. I do the same if I think of one. But if the name is someone's I like to check to make sure that it is okay for me to use it. What's so funny?"

By the time she had finished explaining, I was laughing so hard that I had nearly fallen down again.

"I'm sorry, it's just that when I heard yours and your Pokémon's name, I had wondered if it was something like that."

She started laughing along when she got it. Tim looked between the two of us, utterly confused and starting to wonder if we were alright.

"Is there something wrong with the name Jennifer? Or with having a common name?"

Jen glanced at him and shook her head. "Males." She muttered to herself before answering his question. "There's nothing wrong with it, I just want to give my Pokémon names that when called won't also call fifty other Pokémon."

Tim nods his head in understanding. There is a rustle in the tall grass just behind him and we all turn to check it out. A Munna floats up out of the grass and stops, watching us.

"Tim! Why don't you catch it?" I try to push him towards the Pokémon but he digs his heels in with a grin.

"Nope. You were the one the Gym Leaders asked a favor of. You get to do it."

I glare at him and his grin gets even bigger.

"I don't have a poke ball."

"Oh! I can help! Here's a Heal Ball!" Jen suddenly thrusts a ball into my hands, smiling.

"I don't suppose you would catch it for me?" She shakes her head. "Drat. Well, no complaining about how I do this. Dawn!"

As my Psychic type comes out, Tim frowns. "It would be easier if you used Dusk. Type advantage and all that."

I look over my shoulder at him as I head towards the floating Pokémon. "Do you want to do this? No? Then shut up."

Jen is trying to stifle her giggles into her hand as I turn back around.

As soon as I get close enough for the Munna to start getting nervous, I sit down and dawn settles in my lap.

"So, have the two of you been traveling together long?" Jen asks Tim.

"No, just for about a week actually."

"Really? You guys must have known each other for a while though right?"

"Nope, again, just for about a week."

"But the way you guys interact is like you grew up together."

Tim shrugs. "We just get along really well."

"All done." I say as I stand up and start walking back towards the city. They both look at me, then where the Munna had been and then back at me again.

"What? But there was no battle." Tim states as he and Jen run to catch up to me.

"Nope."

"Then how did you catch it?"

"I talked to it."

Jen stops. "You talked to it."

"To her, yeah. She is Psychic and Dawn is Psychic, so talking wasn't very hard. She says her name is Dream."

"You talked to it?"

"Look, if either of you have a problem with how I caught Dream, then why don't you show me how to catch Pokémon the 'right' way, because no one has ever shown me the proper technique for it." I am starting to get frustrated with the two of them.

Tim raises his hands in defense. "No problem, just wondering how talking to it got it in a poke ball."

I sigh. "I wasn't about to take HER away from here if she didn't want to come, so I asked her if she was happy here. She said she was, but that she was also bored. She told me that she had fun watching the trainers that come here to prepare for the Gym battle and wanted to see those battles. When I told her that I was looking for a Munna to help out in the Gym, she said that she would do it. So I asked her if she wanted to remain a wild Pokémon or if she would like to go into a poke ball. I also told her that she would be safe from being taken away from the Gym if she was in a poke ball. She agreed to get in the ball and there you go. That's how I caught her." I consider what happened for a moment. "We did check with her mother that it was alright for her to go. She said that as long as Dream was treated properly, then it was fine."

"You checked with her mother."

"Yep!"

"My brain is starting to hurt." Tim rubs his temples to try to get rid of the coming headache. I grin and turn to Jen.

"What about you? Do you have a problem with how I caught her?"

She smiled at me. "No, it was just the fact that you talked to the Pokémon and got its permission to catch it. I have a friend that has done that before. You just caught me by surprise."

I nod at her and we continue to the City. When I handed Dream over to Chili, Tim insisted on informing him on how I caught her. When Chili burst out laughing, his brothers came to see what was so funny, and the story had to be told again. By this time my face was burning. Even Cilan couldn't help but giggle at my tactics.

Blushing I glare at all of them before turning and running over to the Poke Center. When I got there, I waited for Tim to catch up. We needed to decide whether or not to stay the night at the Poke Center or not. Jen actually caught up with me first.

"I don't think they were laughing at you. I think they were laughing more in realization that your way is actually possible. Or something."

"The point of my journey is to understand Pokémon so that I can be a better breeder. If I don't learn how to talk to Pokémon, how am I to understand them?" I look her in the face."While I want to understand my Pokémon the best, I want to be able to understand others as well. Does that bother either of you?"

Tim is leaning against the wall, having come in just a few seconds behind Jen. He grins and shrugs. "I got no problem with it. I just plan on paying better attention next time."

We look at Jen and see her smiling a tiny smile.

"I know I said that I have a friend who talked to a Pokémon before catching it, and I do, but I have done something similar to this myself."

"Oh?"

"I found one of my Pokémon injured on a Route between towns back where I'm from. I caught her in a poke ball and took her to a Poke Center. Once she was healed I gave her the option of going back to her wild home or she could come travel with me. She decided to travel with me. So I definitely don't have a problem with it."

I smile at her and then freeze, remembering something. "Oh! I forgot about Jolt!"

I pull my newest Eevee's poke ball from my belt. At the same time I am also pulling out the Thunder Stone I had gotten for my birthday. "I'm sorry it took me so long to remember my promise. First thing we have to do is evolve you. Ready?"

Jen and Tim try to stifle their laughter as Jolt literally jumps onto the Stone. As the white light starts to swirl around, we start to see her fur lengthen into spikes. Others in the Poke Center gather around to watch. Before anyone can discern any more, the light grows too bright to see. Once the light has faded enough for everyone to see again, Jolt was fully evolved into a young Jolteon. Small sparks of excess electricity from her evolution jumped from spike to spike before settling in the white fur that made up the ruff around her neck. She pranced around in place for a few moments, getting used to her new form, before she leaped into my lap and looked into my face, pleading to get to battle.

I laugh. "I know what you want, but you still need more experience. And I know just the place for you to get some. Tim, is it okay if we continue on instead of staying the night here?"

"I don't see any particular problem, but we wouldn't be getting very far."

"It's okay. The place I want to get to isn't all that far." I stand up and watch as Jolt dances around my feet before looking at Jen. Talking to her over the past hour or so had given me a fairly good idea of what kind of person she was. "You want to come with us Jen? It could be fun."

She looked startled at the offer, then grinned. "I'd love to!"

"Then come. The two of you will need to keep up with me."

Author's Note: Hello people! I got, what, two reviews? Sad but also happy. Thank you to UEG nastykiller and xXCelebiXx for your reviews. Hey, now you guys know why I wanted those fancy smancy (My spell check wants to change smancy to swanky. WTF?) names! Only one person has given me any. (Puppy dog eyes appear) Won't you give me more? Won't you give me more reviews? I really need feedback, people. I can't correct mistakes I made if they are not pointed out to me. And honestly, I really am not sure how many people are reading this. Is this just a waste of my time? Please, let me know. I won't post the next chapter until I get some reviews. (Preferably at least three) I am about to go and start writing it now- well tomorrow, I need sleep- and will probably have it mostly done by the end of the weekend. But I won't post it. This writer is going to get stingy with her chapters from now on. Reviews lower my level of stinginess. Hope to hear from you soon.

I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional characters!