Riley.

That Aftermoon, In Amity Square.

"Lee, please let go-I have friends I would rather hang out with. Lee. Stop."

"This will only take a minute, Riley."

"You said that last time."

It must have been quite a sight; a small, older tenager dressed like a pint-sized rock star dragging a younger kid by his shirt behind a tree. Could've made a hell of a yaoi.

But, sadly, it was just Lee trying to force his religion on me. Again.

"Riley, have you thought at all about what I told you in Floraroma?" He asked.

I shook my head, scoffing. "Thought about it?" I echoed, feeling anger rising up inside of me. "It's all I could think about. Where do you get off, telling a teenager he could be part of a huge group with weird powers? It sucks enough just being a teenager."

Lee's mouth turned down in a disappointed frown. "I...thought you'd say that." He looked away. "I'm sorry I just...thrust that all on you. I know it's a hard pill to swallow."

"You're telling me." I took a half-step back. "So, what is it this time? I'm supposed to save the world, or something?"

"No-well, I shouldn't say that. 'Probably not' would be the best answer." Lee shrugged, laughing a little. "But...after today, do you at least believe me?"

"Why would I?" I challenged.

"The way we tag-teamed Chatot in the end. You and your Riolu were in perfect synch. You'd...I think you'd do well as an aura guardian. In a few years."

There goes that term again. "What if I said no?"

"It's a completely voluntary process. Training...really just starts with concious manipulation. Like what you did in that cave, it was sort of like echolocation, right?"

Like when I saved Cynthia. I shifted my weight. "It...it's that easy?" I asked, hesitating.

Lee laughed. "Don't get me started," He warned lightly. "Just radaring an area, that shit's easy. Trying to make a shield or something, that's hella hard."

The whole concept was looking a little brighter. These were some pretty cool things Lee was telling me I could potentially train to do.

I nodded. "I wanna do it."

Lee raised his eyebrows. "You...you do?" Shift's sleek black fur bristled. Lee kneeled down and stroked her neck. "Easy, girl. You're seriously already agreeing? I didn't even get into the cool destiny talk."

I shrugged. "It's starting to sound pretty cool...what else can aura guardians do?"

"Ohh, no. You can't just reject the idea, then say 'yeah' when the oportunity looks cool. Once you decide to begin training with aura, there's no handbrakes. You can't go back."

"I want to do it," I insisted. "You were the one who pushed the whole concept!"

My voice started going up in pitch. Lee made a motion with his hands for me to lower my voice.

"Alright, kid!" He hissed. "Jesus Christ. Why don't I make you a deal? Nothing wrong with a gamblin' man."

I nodded. "Alright. What do you want?"

"I haven't won a decent tournament since I was about sixteen. If we win this whole thing, I'll agree right here and now, I'll teach you whatever I can. How about that? You feel confident about that Riolu of yours?" Lee held out his hand for a handshake.

Considering we were facing both Amber(and therefore Astro) and Volkner the next day, I didn't feel so confident. Amber only hadn't won that battle we had because Astro refused to really hurt Riolu. And Volkner...from what I heard from Tess, him and that Pikachu were unstoppable.

I accepted the handshake. "Alright. We can definitely win." No, we couldn't. But I couldn't tell him that.

That afternoon, I'd made a deal that ended up digging me deeper in the crappile than you'd imagine. Because I was a stupid, impulsive, irrational thirteen year old.

Lee.

That Evening, In a Hotel.

"Leon Higgins, are you retarded?"

"Why would you agree to start a kid so young on training, you idiot?"

I sighed, taking a bite of my cheeseburger. "Because I'm a stupid, impulsive, irrational eighteen year old. Plus, I honestly don't think he can live up to his end of the bargain."

I was eating room service dinner at the hotel I was staying in, videochatting on my laptop with Mark and my fiancée, Daisy. Mark had blabbed to Daisy about all of this going on.

Mark rubbed his temples. His green eyes were glazed over with exhaustion; he must have been working overtime at his dad's resturant.. "You're killin' me, Higgins. You know as well as I do that aura guardian training sucks Machop balls at first. Why do you think I quit before we began?"

"I've gotta agree with Mark," Daisy conceded. "Why didn't you just leave the kid alone? I mean-"

"Because Riley is special." I twirled a few french fries in ketchup. "You don't know what he's told me. Kid's got a great heart, even if his mouth isn't quite there. He has such potential, Dais! Imagine if Gary could-!"

"Lee, stop it." Daisy closed her eyes. "I know how you feel about this. But the facts are there. A lot of aura guardians are dying, and frankly, the less there are, the safer you are."

Mark clasped his hands together. "We're trying to bring you to your senses because we care about you, Lee. What you're trying to do is stupid and reckless."

"Why do you care so much what happens in Sinnoh, anyway?" Daisy asked. "You promised you would just do the guest judge spots, and then come home. I don't want anything to happen to you because you think a criminal organization is rising. I miss you, Lee."

I was heavily outnumbered. Daisy was worried; Mark considered me clinically nuts; even Shift was openly opposed to me stepping one more toe out of line and training Riley.

"I miss you too, Daisy." I hung my head. "I'll be home as soon as I can." I could barely hear the words I muttered.

Mark's chapped lips curled up in a small smile. "You better, because I nearly tapped out my savings on my best man suit."

Daisy and I laughed. She was really pretty when she laughed; her green eyes crinkled up at the corners, and she smiled so wide, you could see all of her teeth...

"Lee, I'm sorry. I've got to go put the little one to bed for Grandpa. I love you, okay?"

Now I smiled. It was a fake smile. "Love you too, Dais. Sweet dreams toni-"

"Bye, Daisy," Mark butted in. That jerk.

Daisy exited out of the chat, and it was just me and Mark. I closed the now-empty takeout box I'd been eating from.

"Hey, asshole. When I'm telling my future wife goodnight, shut your mouth."

"Oh, please. Like you even know what a shut mouth sounds like."

Riley.

At the Pokemon Center.

"Duuuuuude, you missed a great day today out with your little boyfriend."

I scoffed. "I don't even like Lee. He's annoying." I toweled my hair dry. I'd gotten a shower right after coming back to the room.

Tess and I had switched rooms at the Pokemon Center, so the girls could sleep together and I could realize why I hate guys my own age.

Flint laughed. He was already dressed for bed, laid out on his back. "Dude, me and Volkner got, like, three girls' numbers. And you missed it-Volkner got bitchslapped for copping a feel on Amber!"

I chuckled. "Amber? Really?"

Volkner blushed. He still had a red mark on his cheek, in the shape of a hand. "It was an accident! I tripped!"

"You so totally did not! No guy accidentally grabs a girl's ass!"

"Then explain your conception, you asshole!"

I laughed even harder. "Must've been entertaining." I threw the towel on the floor, taking a comb from my backpack to comb my hair.

Volkner shook of the blush, grumbling something under his breath. "So, Riley, what'd Lee want?"

"Not much." My answer came too quick. I hurriedly combed tangled out of my hair. "He wanted to talk about us battling tomorrow. Wanted to know what we were up against."

There. At least I wasn't a total liar; we had briefly discussed the tournament.

"Humph. What'd you tell him?"

"Obviously not much. I've never seen you battle; all I know is that Pikachu you've got." I finishing combing my hair, putting my comb back. "There. I'm going to bed."

I climbed under the covers, mindful of Riolu. I'd kept him in his pokeball after we left the Hearthome Dome(for his own sake), but he was sleeping like a rock at the foot of the bed.

"Wait, Riley-!"

"Goodnight, Flint. Goodnight, Volkner."