AOF: Time for RileyxAmber fluff.

Dee.

A Few Minutes Later.

"You wanna fight, then? Alright, I'm cool with that! Snorunt, Headbutt the little rat!"

"Snooooow!"

The hallway I went down led to the main engine room, where the energy from the windmills outside was converted to electricity. I'd found the culprit: an Eevee.

Snorunt lowered his head and charged, but Eevee was too quick. It dashed out of the way, and Snorunt accidentally hit the big generator.

"Careful!" I hissed. It sparked when Snorunt hit it.

Snorunt got back on his feet, in time to get tackled by the Eevee. Both their small bodies slammed into the generator again. There was a pop of electricity, and the dimly lit room lit up bright yellow.

"Aah!" I yelped. I covered my head and crouched down, like a coward. The automated doors behind me closed, and the lights went out.

Well, great, Deadra, I could hear Amber saying. You broke the power source of a whole town. Nice one.

There was one window, so at least I could still see. Snorunt toddled back to his feet after being thrown from the explosion, but Eevee was stumbling, dazed.

I carpe diem'd the hell out of the opportunity. "Snowrunt, use Powder Snow!"

Amber.

I heard Dee scream before the power went out.

Riley and I had gone into a small bedroom-sized closet, looking for whatever it was Dee wanted us to find. Astro and Riolu had opted to stay in the hallway.

When the lights went out, the automatic sliding door shut itself. I jumped.

"Dee!" I yelled, registering her scream. I ran to the door, trying to pry it open. "Dee-Dee!"

"Amber!" Astro pounded on the door. "Riley! Are you okay?"

Riley pulled me away from the door. "If it turns back on, it could hurt you if it opens again." He sounded like my babysitter.

"Amber!" Astro howled, pounding harder.

"Hyuh!" Riolu shouted, joining in.

I had to get a hold of myself. "We're fine, Azzy. Don't worry. Don't worry."

That calmed Astro and Riolu enough. I pulled out my Pokegear, and called Dee, like she'd said.

"Hey, this is Deadra Thompson," Her voicemail chittered at me. "Leave a message and I might just answer."

I hung up. "Dammit! Straight to voicemail!"

Riley sighed. "Just our luck, huh?"

It was pitch black in that closet; not a window or anything to shed a little light. I looked around nervously.

"Riley..." I murmured. "Could you...could I tell you something?"

"Depends." I saw his outline move in the dark. "Is it an 'I used to squaredance for fun' something, or a 'My mom drowned seven kids to death when she was my age' something?"

I giggled nervously. "The first one," I answered. "I, uh...I don't like the dark...very much."

"You're scared of the dark?" His voice didn't sound mocking at all. Dee used to tease me relentlessly about it.

"Y-yeah." I looked down at what I assumed to be my shoes. "It just...I know someone's here with me...but it's like I'm alone and...and something could jump out and eat me. Is that babyish?"

"No. No, not really; everyone's scared of something." He fumbled around, and took me by the wrist. "Here, how about we sit down. Might as well get comfy."

I chuckled, feeling my face flush a little. We found a wall to sit against, and Riley made sure we wouldn't sit on a mop bucket or something.

"Riley, what're you scared of?" I asked. I tucked my knees to my chest.

I heard him rustle around in his bag. "Oh...nothing. I-It's stupid. You'd laugh."

"Hey, that's not fair! I told you about me and the dark and you were cool about it. Aren't we friends?"

His backback zipped shut. He turned on the flashlight he'd been looking for. The room was covered in pale light.

"Yeah, I guess we are friends," He sighed thoughtfully. "Okay, you know how it is underground? Or underwater? How it's hard to get enough oxygen in places like that?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Riley blushed. "Well, that, I guess. Not really claustrophobic, just...I don't like that suffocating feeling. Alright. Time for Amber to cackle and Riley to crawl in a hole and die."

I laughed. "It's not that embarrassing," I chided. "You said yourself, everyone's scared of something, right? Even the great and powerful Riley?"

Now Riley laughed. "You make me sound fearless or...or something." His pale face flushed bright red.

"Well, what you did in that cave on the way to Jubilife, that wasn't the work of a cowardly lion, that's for sure." I touched his arm. "You've gotta give yourself some credit, Riles, saving us from that Onix was pretty slick."

Riley looked away. He was absolutely crimson, and smiling a little.

"Well...I guess...it was a little brave...but, I should've done it anyway, not justto be beave or cool or whatever. You guys would have died."

I shrugged. "How did you see it coming, though?"

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "I just...I could feel the vibrations, and I saw it coming. I'm weird like that. Could you drop it?"

Damn, and I'd almost broken that shell of his. "Alright, fine. But Dee and I won't let you dodge it for long."

"Look, Amb, I honestly don't know how. I'm thirteen, how am I supposed to know how my body works? You tell me how you girls do that period thing, I don't understand that!"

I laughed. "Is that really the best you came up with?" I asked. "'That period thing'?"

Riley thought for a second, then burst out laughing. "I can't believe I just..." He laughed again, muffling it into his hand.

I don't think I could have gotten through that power out without Riley, even if Dee had been there. Riley wasn't anything like Dee; she would have made fun of me for feeling scared. If anything, Riley made me feel better.

Dee.

"Pokeball, go!"

I threw an empty pokeball at the Eevee, after having weakened it. I wasn't stupid; if I wanted to be in the next contest, I couldn't piggyback off of Tess anymore. I needed that Eevee.

It went into the pokeball in a flash of red. The container rocked one, two, three times...

"Sno, sno, snooo!" Snorunt jumped up and down, nervous.

The pokeball kept on rocking. Then finally, mercilessly, it stopped. White sparks came off as it made a clicking noise.

I laughed. "Yes," I cheered. "Yes!"

I ran over and picked up Snorunt, and hugged him.

"You did it, buddy!" I laughed. "We caught an Eevee! You did it!"

"Sno-o-o-ow!" Snorunt warbled at me, laughing.

I picked up the pokeball, and pulled out my Pokedex. I scanned Eevee. A picture appeared on the screen.

"Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon," The feminine voice warbled. "This pokemon's unstable genetic code allows it to evolve into many varied pokemon. It can adapt to almost any environment."

Cool, I thought.

I glanced at the energy generator in front of me; then, at the closed sliding metal door. It was run on electricity, and Eevee and Snorunt had wrecked the generator.

Sighing, I placed Snorunt on the floor, and attatched the pokeball to my belt. I pulled out my Pokegear, and noticed Amber's missed call.

"Amber? What's up, power surge freak you out?"