"Who are you?" Cheren asked pointedly.

The young man stood up from his crouching position. He was nearly a foot taller than White and had long, light green hair tied together in the back. Deep green eyes shined curiously from underneath his black and white hat. His face wore an expression of indifference. White's eyes locked on to his for hardly a moment, but his eyes flickered down hastily to his black messenger bag, which was slung over one of his shoulders. White felt her ears burning and she began fiddling with her hair again. She found him very attractive.

"Did you really find everything he said to be rubbish though?" the stranger asked smoothly.

Cheren snorted as if what he said was funny.

"Yeah. The whole lot of it," he replied.

"You're a trainer...aren't you supposed to be a friend to pokemon? If you would just listen to their requests, I am sure you would see why they hate being enslaved."

"Listen to pokemon?" Cheren scoffed, "that might work, but people can't understand pokemon speech."

The young man straightened the black and white hat on his head. He seemed a little embarrassed.

"You can't either. How curious. I guess most people can't," He said thoughtfully as if White and Cheren weren't even next to him.

"Excuse me," White piped up. The two men turned to her and she smiled now that she had his attention.

"Were you the one in the forest outside of Accumula? Last night?" she asked.

The young man looked a little nervous to answer her.

"I was in a forest last night," he said quickly, as if it was an afterthought.

"It was you!" White exclaimed

"What are you talking about?" Cheren said putting a hand on his waist, "do you know him?"

"I was attacked by a crazy pokemon last night," White replied, "it was too dark to see, but I totally remember your voice. You saved me!"

She gasped before she could continue.

"Oh, but are you all right? It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Oh, no. No, she didn't hurt me," he said bashfully, "she was just a little upset about some things. I was able to calm her down very quickly."

Cheren cleared his throat.

"What exactly happened to you last night?" Cheren said, trying to capture White's attention.

"How can I repay you?" White asked him quickly.

"That's not necessary," he said, shuffling backwards.

"Oh there must be something I could do," White tapped her index finger to her chin.

"Look, White, I'll meet you by the exit to the town. I caught some new pokemon last night and the nurse at the pokemon center is still holding them for me," Cheren said directly to White.

The green haired man seemed to snap to attention at Cheren's comment. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is 20 minutes all right?" Cheren asked.

"Maybe. I'll send you a message on the xtransciever if my plans change," White said with a smile. As Cheren walked away the other man stepped forward slightly.

"Excuse me, but I must ask: did you happen to capture a pidove yesterday evening?"

"Yes, I did," Cheren said in tone sharper than a syther, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. Good luck on your travels," the stranger said icily. Cheren sauntered away leaving White and the young man alone.

White looked him up and down. He was standing nearly 8 feet away from her, which was an awkward distance considering that he was holding a conversation with she and Cheren from so far away. White was very curious about her rescuer, so she decided to make an effort to get to know him. He seemed nice enough.

"I'm sorry. My friend can be a little rude," White said to the mysterious man. She smiled brightly at him and he glanced back at her with a look of distrust.

"White," she took a step forward to close some of the distance between the two of them and stretched out her hand to shake his. The young man stepped back on his left foot, but kept his right in place. He looked at her wearily, like her hand might detach itself from her arm and pull out his hair.

White tilted her head to the side after a few moments of no response from the young man.

"Oh..kay," she said withdrawing her hand. She looked a little disappointed. For some reason, he felt the need to quickly fix her displeasure.

"What is 'White?'" the man asked her, still a little anxious. White laughed and shook her head.

"Oh! That's my name. White. Pleased to meet you. And you are?"

"N," he said slowly, still peering at her with his questioning green eyes. White seemed to think his name was funny, too, because she giggled a little more.

"Seems like neither of our parents were very creative when naming us," she remarked.

"I guess not," N said nonchalantly.

"All right, so now that we've met each other, let's try this again," White extended her arm once more. N was now staring at her blankly, as if he was under the influence of a confuse ray.

"You can shake my hand. It's not like I'm a garbador or anything," she said with a roll of her eyes. That was true. White looked nothing like a garbador. N awkwardly stuck his hand out slightly, trying to mimic her. White once again took a step towards him, and before he could step backward, her hand met his and gripped it lightly. She moved their hands up and down in unison.

"See? Geez, you would think that you've never had to shake someone's hand before."

N looked mildly surprised as their hands continued to bob up and down together. Of course he had heard of the practice of shaking hands, but it was something that he wasn't really used to. Most people didn't touch him around…where he was from. His hand finally gripped hers lightly and they ended their handshake after a few more moments. For some reason, White was smiling pretty big, and her cheeks were blushing a bit.

"Hmm, it's kind of hot out here, don't you think?" she said with a sigh. She touched her hands to her face as if trying to calm her blush down.

"I find it adequate. Especially in the forest area past Accumula Town," N said putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sure the beach is really nice right now," she said with a nod.

His face didn't show any signs that she affected him, but inside his heart was beating like crazy from just their simple interactions.

"I see you've already met Snivy," White said nodding down to her little green friend.

"Oh, yes. He is a very kind and observant pokemon. He said he remembered my shoes," N said, also smiling down at Snivy.

"Said?" White repeated him with a tilt of her head.

"I meant seemed. He seemed to remember my shoes. In the forest," N said while looking to the side.

White felt her stomach grumble from hunger, and she held it uncomfortably. Her empty tummy gave her a spark of inspiration.

"Hey! I've got a great idea! How about I take you out?"

N was almost afraid to ask.

"Take me out?" he repeated White, just as she did for him earlier.

"Yes! Have you had lunch yet? I'm starving. It would be nice to have the company, plus I just wouldn't feel right not repaying you in some way. You did save Snivy and I. I'd like to take you out to lunch to show you my thanks."

"You would like for me to join you for lunch?" N asked her, trying to clarify the saying.

"Yes! It's on me!" White said waving her hand. She began scanning the few buildings in the town, looking for a spot for lunch.

"On you?" N said quietly. He certainly hoped he would not have to eat lunch off of his new friend. His eyes followed her smooth brunette hair to where it waved and curled at the ends, down lower to the dip of the curve in her back, and then to…

He stopped his imagination to a screeching halt. It must have been another saying. White wouldn't make a very good plate. She was entirely too curvy everywhere.

"There's a bistro near the entrance to route 2. Are you up for something like that?" White asked N.

"Well…" He began. He was going to try and think of some sort of excuse as to why he could not join this girl. She was a trainer after all, and he had been warned about them. He peered down into her bright blue eyes. She looked at him with so much hope, as if his refusal would shatter her little luvdisc heart.

What could a little lunch hurt? He did admire how she defended her Snivy in the forest. Besides, it might be good for him to see into the life of a real trainer. She didn't seem as cruel and brutal as he had been told that they were.

"That would be fine," he uneasily surrendered.

That seemed to satisfy her enough. She clapped her hands and told N and Snivy to follow her.

/end chapter 5/

Sorry this is so short. I have no consistency when it comes to length of chapters. Some are short and some are long. It just depends on when I can end things on a satisfying stopping point or a mouth-watering cliffhanger. Also, sorry White and N don't battle! As a little spoiler, I'll let you know that they don't battle for a long time. When they finally do, it is kind of heart wrenching :/

Thanks so much to the reviewers! Yall have no idea…when I came home from work and saw that I had reviews, I hugged my laptop and yelled "I'M SO HAPPY!" to the top of my lungs at my house! Ahahaha! xD