Ichigo managed to earn his second badge. Once he acquired that badge, he and his friends hit the road once more. Although, they are in for a surprising welcome.

"Now use Karate Chop." All of them stopped when they heard some sort of command. They took a look behind some bushes and saw a girl with black hair in a red jacket, gray pants, and black shirt. She looked like she was sparing with a Sawk.

"Sawk!" Sawk tried chopping down on her, but she was able to catch it and push Sawk off.

"Whoa! That girl is strong!" Ichigo said.

"Hang on. I know her." Orihime said as she stepped out.

"Orihime, what are you doing?" Rukia said.

"Tatsuki, is that you?" Orihime asked. Tatsuki looked over and spotted them, but she had her eyes on Orihime.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki said.

"They know each other?" Ichigo questioned. Just who is this Tatsuki?

I wanna be the very best

Like no one ever was

To catch them is my real test

To train them is my cause

Pokemon

Gotta catch'em all, it's you and me

Pokemon

I know it's my destiny

Pokemon

Yeah, you're my best friend

In a world we must defend

Pokemon

Gotta catch'em all

Gotta catch'em all

Gotta catch'em all

Pokemon

(Orihime's voice) Battling is Needed

The two girls ran out to each other and Orihime grabbed Tatsuki by the hands.

"Tatsuki, it's so great to see you again." Orihime said as she was so happy to see her.

"It's great to see you too." Tatsuki said. "I never thought I actually see you out here." All the others stepped out and they were curious as to what was going on.

"Orihime, you know this girl?" Ichigo asked.

"That's right." Orihime said. "Let me introduce all of you. Tatsuki, these are the friends I've been traveling with. That's Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, and Ichigo's partner: Absol."

"Hey. This is my partner: Sawk." Tatsuki said.

"Sawk." Sawk bowed to them as a greeting.

"So how do you two know each other?" Ichigo asked.

"Tatsuki and I are old childhood friends. She's from Rikka Town just like me." Orihime said.

"Which is why I'm a little surprised to see you out here." Tatsuki said. "I thought after what happened to your brother, you wouldn't have the guts to go on a journey like I did."

"Speaking of which, someone should say hello too." Orihime said as she reached for her pokeball and she let out Sylveon.

"Sylveon!"

"Hey there, Sylveon. Remember me? I'm Tatsuki." Sylveon actually did remember Tatsuki and was happy to see her again. "You guys don't mind if we continue this talk at the pokemon center, do you? I got to give Sawk and my other pokemon a checkup to make sure they're in great shape."

"No problem at all. We should probably do the same and take a rest." Rukia said.

….

The Pokemon Center

Upon arriving at the pokemon center, Ichigo and the others gave their pokemon to Nurse Joy for her to look over. While she was looking over their pokemon, all of them had a seat with some lunch and they learned more about each other.

"Wow! Ichigo, you're going for the Unova League? So am I." Tatsuki said.

"Really? That means we'll have to battle each other eventually." Ichigo said. "I just recently acquired my second badge."

"Sounds like you got another rival." Rukia said.

"So Orihime, what made you decide to change your mind and go on a journey?" Tatsuki asked.

"It was actually when I met Ichigo." Orihime said.

"Ichigo?" Tatsuki questioned.

"Me?" Ichigo wondered himself.

"Yeah. At first, I wasn't certain if I could really make it out there, but after I saw how strong of a trainer you were, it made me want to become strong as well." Orihime said. "I really do wish my brother was still here, but I'm actually having a lot of fun on my journey."

"I think it's a good thing you went on a journey regardless of the reason." Tatsuki said. "So how much battling have you done actually?"

"Battling?" Orihime questioned and she seemed a little nervous since she hasn't actually battled before.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Orihime battle." Chad said.

"Me neither." Rukia said.

"I haven't seen her do any battling." Ichigo said. Tatsuki was getting suspicious about Orihime.

"Orihime, how much battling have you done since you got Sylveon?" Tatsuki said.

"Actually….I haven't really done any battling." Orihime said.

"What?!" All of them said as none of them could believe Orihime hasn't even battled once.

"Unacceptable!" Tatsuki said. "If you're a trainer now, you have to do some battling."

"I'm sorry, but I just don't know if I can do it." Orihime said as she grabbed her tray of food and tossed it away.

"I never knew Orihime hadn't battled before." Ichigo said.

"I wonder why that it is? Does she just not like it?" Rukia said as she tried to think of a solution.

"I think I get it." Tatsuki said. "Orihime is like the sweetest person you've ever known. That might be the problem. Orihime might think battling is too much like fighting and she probably doesn't have the confidence."

"But battling is not the same as pointless fighting." Ichigo said.

"I tried telling her that." Tatsuki said. "So it's most likely the confidence problem. She probably believes she wouldn't be any good at it."

"It makes sense. If Orihime isn't really a big fan of fighting, she probably would doubt her own abilities." Rukia said.

"Well, I say it's about time for that all to change." Tatsuki said. "If Orihime is going to be a trainer, she needs to act like one. That means she's going to need to get some battling practice."

"How are you going to do that?" Ichigo said.

"What are you? Stupid or something? The only way to get battling practice is for an actual battle." Tatsuki said. "Orihime!" Orihime looked back to look at Tatsuki. "Get Sylveon. We're going to get you some battling in."

"What?!" Orihime said. When they were able to grab their pokemon, Orihime and Tatsuki faced each other on the battlefield, but Orihime was nervous about this. "I don't know about this."

"You'll be fine." Ichigo said.

"It's just a little exhibition match. It's just going to get you more comfortable with battling." Rukia said. "We'll help you."

"So let's get this started." Tatsuki said. "I'll go easy on you and use a different pokemon. Tranquill, time to battle!"

"Tranquill!"

"Orihime, bring out Sylveon. This will be good for you and Sylveon." Rukia said.

"Okay." Orihime said, but she still didn't sound certain. "Sylveon, here we go."

"Sylveon!"

"So are you ready?" Tatsuki said, but Orihime still seemed nervous about the whole thing. "Allow me to make it a little easy on you. Tranquill, start out with Work Up."

"Tranquill!" Tranquill got roused up and unleashed a red aura.

"Work Up?" Orihime wonders what it was.

"It raises attack power. Orihime, you have to be prepared to battle back." Rukia said.

"I don't know if I can." Orihime said.

"You've got to or else Sylveon is going to get creamed." Ichigo said.

"Battle for Sylveon." Chad said.

"Your opponents will try to make sure you don't have the chance to battle back." Tatsuki said. "Tranquill use Gust." Tranquill's wings glowed and shot out a powerful blast of wind. Sylveon got hit from the attack and the others felt that Gust was powerful.

"Orihime, you've got to battle back." Rukia said. "What attacks can Sylveon use?"

"I remember something about Fairy Wind, Moonblast, Quick Attack, and Attract." Orihime said.

"Okay. Start out by telling Sylveon to use Fairy Wind." Rukia said.

"Okay. Go ahead, Sylveon. Use your Fairy Wind attack." Orihime said.

"Sylveon!" Sylveon stretched out its ribbons and spun them around and created a sparkling wind and it cancelled out Gust.

"Now what?" Orihime said.

"Quick Attack is a good attack." Rukia said.

"Okay. Sylveon use Quick Attack." Orihime said. Sylveon had an increase of speed with a white trail behind it.

"Counter that with your Quick Attack." Tatsuki said. Tranquill used the same attack and the two of them kept clashing into each other.

"Now what?" Orihime asked.

"You're going to need to come up with your own ideas." Rukia said. "Try and see if Attract will work."

"Right. Sylveon use Attract." Orihime said. Sylveon winked and unleashed some hearts. They circled around Tranquill and Tranquill had hearts in its eyes.

"Oh no." Tatsuki said as she didn't like this at all.

"It worked? Orihime, what gender is Sylveon?" Ichigo asked.

"My Tranquill is a male. That means Sylveon is a female." Tatsuki said. "Tranquill, you need to snap out of it." She called out, but Tranquill was acting lovey-dovey.

"Since their opposite genders, Attract was able to work. Orihime, try using that last attack." Orihime said.

"Got it. Sylveon use Moonblast." Orihime said. Sylveon gathered moon energy in a pink orb and shot it towards Tranquill. Tranquill got blasted hard and was knocked to the ground and still acted like he was in love.

"Let's call it there." Tatsuki said as she brought Tranquill back in his pokeball. "I don't like that my pokemon getting all mushy from something like Attract."

"It's a start. Orihime, Sylveon has a great set of moves. You just need to be confident." Rukia said.

"She's right. Sylveon needs you to be strong so she can be strong." Ichigo said. "I already think you can do it."

"Absol!"

"Absol thinks so too." Ichigo said. Orihime felt comfort having Ichigo think that. Tatsuki took a look at those two and was cautious. After all was said and done, they were about to part ways. "Thanks for everything, Tatsuki."

"No problem." Tatsuki said. "If you guys are looking for another gym to challenge, go and try the Mitsuki Gym. It's the nearest one from here."

"In Mitsuki City. Sounds like a good one." Rukia said.

"Great." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, you better behave around Orihime." Tatsuki said, but Ichigo didn't understand. Tatsuki went over to Orihime and whispered something. "I saw the way you looked at him. Watch yourself." Hearing that had Orihime's face turn red. "Take of my girl." She said to everyone and headed out.

"Bye Tatsuki! Hope to see you again!" Orihime said as they all waved farewell.

With Orihime gaining a little experience in battling, perhaps she'll get better and more confident in future battles. Now, our heroes have their eyes set on the Mitsuki Gym in Mitsuki City. I wonder what kind of gym this one will be...as the journey continues.

To Be Continued….