Author's Note: So this is another short chapter. But I think you will all like it.

Enjoy!

Juliana raced across the grassy knolls of Area One in the South Province, laughing as she ran. Her heart pounding wildly to keep up with her pace. Arven was right on her heels just barely out of arms reach.

"I'm gonna getcha cutie~!" He called out to her in a playful voice.

She squealed joyfully and tried hard keep ahead of him. But was beginning to find it difficult as her legs were getting tired. As she lost steam, Arven caught up with her and scooped her up into his arms. He spun them around in circles as Juliana laughed, holding onto him tightly. Arven then tripped and they both tumbled harmlessly to the ground. They lay next to one another, breathing heavily.

"Gotcha." He teased her in between breaths.

For a moment, they were both silent. Until they were met by not one, not two, but three flashes of light. Both sat up, realizing what that meant. Koraidon was out of its Pokeball, alongside Mabosstiff and Tinkaton.

"Hi guys!" Juilana greeted them, wiping the sweat away from her bangs.

"Agias!"

"Ruff!"

Tinkaton giggled and hopped three times.

Mabosstiff approached Arven, who gave him some head scratches, "Hey there bud!" He happily greeted his ace. Juliana looked at Tinkaton with an impish look, "You're starting to copy their behaviors I see."
Tinkaton replied with a smile.

"Agigas!"

Juliana smiled at Koraidon, "Hey sweetie! What's going on, huh?" As she pat Koraidon. Tinkaton faced Arven, smiling at him innocently.

Arven acknowledged her kindly, "Hey there."

Tinkaton giggled and bounced about excitedly. Juliana watched her with a grin, "She's really taken a liking to you."

Arven was a bit nervous by this, "You don't say? Heh… I don't know if that should make me happy or worried."

Juliana laughed, "Hahaha! That's a smart way to think about it!"

While Juilana and Arven shared a chuckle, Koraidon and Mabosstiff conversed a few feet away, Tinkaton approached them both and hopped to get their attention. Koraidon happily acknowledged her, Mabosstiff appeared unsure of what to make of her.

Juliana then remembered something, "I should tell you this story! It happened when she was still a little Tinkatink!"

"I wanna hear it!" Arven replied eagerly.

Juliana smiled, "Okay, so it happened after you and I defeated the Open Sky Titan. We had parted ways, and I noticed it was starting to get dark out. I had called a taxi and returned to Cortondo. Before turning in for the night, I decided to let my Pokémon walk around for a bit. At that time, my team was Floragato, Fidough, Kirlia, and Tinkatink."

FLASHBACK

Juliana tossed her pokeballs into the air, allowing her Pokémon to roam around. She was barely outside the town boundaries, in front of the Grand Olive Orchid. Fidough and Floragato began to playfully chase one another, Kirlia strolled about; appearing to be in a meditative state, and Tinkatink had sat down on the ground a fair distance away, hitting different objects with her little hammer. Juliana kept an eye on her until her rotom phone dinged. She looked at it,

One new message from: Arven

She smiled and opened it up,

"Hey Juliana… thanks for listening to my story. Sorry for hiding it from you, it's not easy for me to open up… I'm glad you still want to help me. Seriously, I appreciate it so much."

Juliana sighed sympathetically and was about to type back when she heard a cry. Jolting her head up, she saw that Tinkatink was being confronted by a Haunter. She was shaking and had her little hammer held in front of her.

Juliana gasped, "Tinkatink!" She ran for her little Pokémon and picked her up as the Haunter made faces at her. Tinkatink cried into her shoulder as Juliana patted her head. The Haunter focused its attention on Juliana and began moving closer.

"Get away from us!" Juliana yelled, scared. She turned and began to walk quickly away, but the Haunter appeared in front of her and stuck its tongue out with its hands over its head. Juliana yelped in fright and fell on her bottom, still clutching Tinkatink.

As Tinkatink continued to cry, Juliana remembered her other Pokémon nearby. Using her fingers, she whistled loudly. Seconds later, her other Pokémon rushed to her rescue. Kirlia was eager, hopping in front of his trainer protectively. The sudden appearance of reinforcements made the Haunter back away, but it still tried to stare them down.

Juliana jumped to her feet and commanded, "Kirlia, use Psybeam!"

Kirlia nodded and fired a peculiar ray at the ghost Pokémon, striking it. Haunter recoiled in pain before turning around and flying away fast. As Fidough and Floragato cheered, Kirlia walked in front of Juliana, who smiled at him, "Thanks Kirlia!"

At this point, Tinkatink had stopped crying. She was smiling now and was reaching for Kirlia. Juliana knelt to allow Tinkatink to be at level with Kirlia. The psychic type Pokémon nodded kindly at the little one and patted her head. Fidough and Floragato approached for a closer look.

Juliana graciously smiled at all her Pokémon before saying, "Okay guys, it's getting dark. Let's leave before that thing comes back."

All the Pokémon agreed and returned to their Pokeballs. Juliana got them back in her bag and she rushed into town to find the nearest inn.

END OF FLASHBACK

"To think all that was going on while I was waiting for a reply!" Arven grinned.

Juliana smiled nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that. To be honest, I used to be really afraid of ghost type Pokémon. I've slowly gotten over that though."

"That's understandable why'd you be afraid. A lot of ghost types are absolute terrors. I'm glad you're getting better at it though. I gotta admit, it gives a really sweet gesture to the relation your Gallade has to Tinkaton."

Juliana reminisced, "Ever since they fully evolved, he's been the one to keep her from doing anything too destructive. Back then, they were like a big brother and a baby sister. I think they still are in a way."

"That's so adorable." Arven responded.

While the couple spoke, Mabosstiff was sniffing Tinkaton curiously. Tinkaton recoiled from Mabosstiff's odd breath and retreated behind Koraidon. The scarlet Pokémon chuckled in response.

"Hey, I'm always happy to hear stories about your Pokémon. If you remember anything else, you tell me, okay?" Arven gave a thumbs up.

Juliana smiled, "Okay Arven."

Both teens didn't see that their Pokémon had run off. Tinkaton had seen something that caught her eye in the distance and rushed to investigate. Koraidon ran after her without hesitation while Mabosstiff was just tagging along.

The three Pokémon stumbled upon three luxury balls next to a pond. Koraidon tilted its head, realizing that something was unusual. The balls did not appear to have been dropped accidentally. Rather, they had been intentionally placed there. That didn't matter to Tinkaton, she scooped up all three in her little hands and rushed to give them to her trainer. Koraidon checked their surroundings and looked at Mabosstiff. Both shrugged at each other before running to catch up with Tinkaton.

Juliana and Arven were laying in the grass together, lost in the moment when Tinkaton suddenly got right in her face. Juliana's eyes flew wide and she gasped lightly suddenly finding her little firecracker nose to nose with her without warning.

"Ah! Tinkaton! What's the matter?" She asked, sitting up.

Tinkaton cheerfully presented the three luxury balls she had found. Juliana appeared surprised at first, but then shook her head knowingly. Arven had sat up as well, "Oh? She found something?"

Juliana nodded, "Yeah, she'll find items on the ground sometimes." She took the items from Tinkaton, looking at them oddly, "But… I've never seen her find luxury balls before, and three of them? People are usually more careful with the more expensive balls like these."

Arven shrugged, "Eh, people can be reckless sometimes. I should know…"

Juliana agreed, and not thinking anything further of it she put the luxury balls in her backpack.

"How about we get going?" Arven suggested, "Los Platos isn't too far from here."

"All right. Let's go!"

Arven stood and reached his hand to her, and she took it tenderly. After helping her up, they kept their hands joined and began walking to Los Platos. They called their respective Pokémon to follow them.

What to do next?

A funny coincidence, but Ortega and Mela were also hanging out in Area One in the South Province. They had bumped into each other after classes and decided to hang out for a bit. It isn't Ortega's first choice to hang out somewhere in nature, but Mela wanted some time away from everyone. So, he agreed.

They walked along the grassy plains beside some flowers. Stopping in a shady spot under a tree.

Ortega spoke, "So I heard that the art club guy made a spot for your painting in the art club. Way to go! That's amazing!"

Mela became bashful, "It's… not a big deal, really."

"What? Come on, Mela! It is! Everyone in the club really likes you to! You see, I've been searching for a place where I could belong to. But I haven't really found anything yet."

This caught Mela's attention, "Eh? Haven't you and Giacomo been hanging out with some dudes lately? Seems like you're makin' it just fine."

Ortega shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. I mean, they're cool and all. But I just don't… I don't feel like I fit in with them, okay!? It's complicated, I don't know how to explain…"

"No worries man, I think we all feel that way to some level." Mela related.

"Well, I…" Ortega suddenly grew nervous, "I don't think anyone truly wants to like… hang out with me you know? How do I know they're not just pretending to like me, huh?"

Mela's eyes widened, "Oh dude, don't make me scared now. You know I'm not good at this kinda stuff."

Ortega sighed, "I'm sorry Mela. I just feel like everyone is finding their place and me? No such luck. I'm like a stray…"

"Don't say that." Mela comforted, "You've got us, Team star, remember?"

Ortega nodded, "I do. I just feel like that's all I have. I don't want to disappear into the crowd again."

Mela pondered for a moment before answering, "I think, you've just gotta dig a little deeper. Find your center and be brave. Don't let the past define you. Focus on the present and how you want the future to go."

Ortega took in her words, "I'll try to remember that Mela. Thanks a lot." He smiled at her.

"No problem bud. Just keep in mind, you've always got Team Star." She smiled back, "If ya ever feel down in the dumps, just give us a call."

"Thanks!"

He suddenly remembered something and started feeling around in his blazer, "Oh shoot, where are they…?" He muttered to himself.

Mela noticed, "What's the matter?"

"I had some spare luxury balls in my coat. But I can't find them anywhere… where'd they go?"

Mela answered, "Didja leave them near that pond we were sitting by earlier? We should go check."

"Oh shoot!" Ortega exclaimed before taking off in a run back to the pond. Mela sighed and did her best to keep up with him. A difficult task considering her signature footwear.

"Ortega, wait up pal!" She tried to call to him. A futile attempt as he was already pretty far ahead, she sighed and muttered, "Ugh… making me run… he's going to ruin my boots…"

When she finally caught up with him. He was frantically looking around the pond, darting about here and there.

"AAGHH! SOMEONE TOOK THEM!"

"Calm down would ya?" Mela replied, "Where'd ya leave them last?"

"There were right here!" Ortega pointed at a spot on the ground. Mela could see the indentation on the ground, so she knew he was correct.

"I can't believe I'm such an idiot!" Ortega slapped his own forehead, "I placed them there so I could sit down more comfortably. Then I left them and now someone took them! THAT… IS… NOT… FAIR!"

"Would you quit shoutin' already? Someone could walk by!" Mela retorted, "Look, it's no big deal man. You could just get more, right?"

Ortega sighed, "Yeah, you're right. I could. I just can't believe I could be so careless."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Mela muttered.

"What was that?" Ortega replied.

Mela couldn't help but laugh and grin, "Hahaha! Nothin' dude!"

"No, no, no! You say that louder so I can hear you!"

Mela began walking away instead, "Come on, let's bail!"

"Hey, COME BACK HERE!" Just as he was about to run after her, he stopped because he saw a small fiber on the ground caught his eye, "Huh?"

He bent down to pick it up, staring at the little strand closely.

"This is… Tinkatink hair! What the…?" He looked around, confused.

"Hey Ortega! You lost or somethin'? Let's go!" Mela called, snapping him out of it.

"All right, I'm coming!" Ortega retorted, running after his pal.

But he kept wondering where the Tinkatink hair came from.