9.

The Girl in the Sundress

"That's not good…so, he was big up close?"

"I…think…I wasn't really watching…"

"Hmm, what a bother! I suppose we should head back to Viridian, huh?"

"W-well…I…" Liko tries to think of something to say but Joey is already grabbing her shoulder and guiding her to the path leading to the city.

"We gotta go and make a report!"

"Huh!?"

"Yeah, yeah! Didn't I tell you? That Beedrill's been the talk of Viridian City! And there's this super tough trainer that's mighty interested about it, you know, in case it gets bad like a bug infestation or something…so, anyone that sees it has to tell her to keep her up to date. You know, security and stuff."

"..."

"You'll like her. She's not a bug catcher but she's a league of her own…she's a bit quirky, too, but don't let that scare you, except, maybe you should be scared because she beat me in a Pokemon battle…didn't look like her Pokemon was struggling at all but that's probably because I didn't know what I was getting into. Didn't think that tiny Pancham could hit that hard…and…and…"

Liko didn't say anything on the way to Viridian City.

The airship was still there.

The girl wore a pretty sundress, white and pink, a white hat sat on the top of her head, her long brown hair in a ponytail.

It was an odd scene.

A disheveled schoolgirl, a bug catcher, and the girl in a sundress.

Joey waved at the girl as they got close.

"Yo, boss! Found a lost Mareep hunting the big Beedrill!"

"Joey! I don't pay you. I can't be your boss," the girl said before glancing at Liko. "And what about you?"

"W-well…I…"

"She's got the bad luck bug catching bug!" Joey answered, completely wrong.

"Oh dear," the stranger said. "That's serious business."

Liko didn't understand one bit of it all.

Joey left to go back on the hunt, leaving Liko and her Pokemon in the capable hands of the stranger girl with the pretty sundress, who introduced herself as Serena Gabena from Kalos.

"That bee is quite the troublemaker, you know. He's been the talk of the city, as Joey probably told you. It's been quite the mess, bug catchers coming and going…no one's been able to catch it yet."

"I…I see…"

Serena glanced at Liko, who held the sleeping Squawkabilly in her arms, her Sprigatito walking beside her, a little ahead of his trainer's limping.

They made their way to Serena's hotel at the edge of Viridian, no one taking notice of them as they moved through the city with Liko trying not to stare at the sky, expecting the stranger and the Charizard flying around.

Serena had told Liko that her mother was a Rhyhorn racer and they had come to Viridian for a charity race.

"Everyone's so excited to see the Superstar in action," Serena explained, smiling. "Rhyhorn racing is pretty popular in Kanto, too…not to mention bug catching."

Liko didn't know a thing about Rhyhorn racing, only that Rhyhorns were fast if they put their minds to it…if they didn't forget why they started running in the first place, that is.

As for bug catching, Liko didn't understand it at all.

No one in the hotel lobby pays attention to the two girls, as Serena guides Liko to her room on the second floor.

"What's a student from Indigo Academy doing lost in the middle of Viridian forest?"

Liko doesn't know how to respond, and for a minute, she wants to run away. Serena is busy filling a pair of cups with water, her back to the younger girl.

"I…I…"

"Your uniform gave you away," Serena said, turning around and offering the cup of water to her visitor. Liko doesn't take it, and the older girl shrugs before putting the cup on a table beside the bed and taking a sip of her own cup of water. "Did someone try to hurt you, kid?"

Liko feels herself going faint, all the blood draining from her face. Sprigatito hisses at her feet, and the blue feathered Squawkabilly snores on the bed. Serena stares at her, suddenly serious.

"There's a guy asking for you…do you know anything about that?"

Liko stares at the ground, hands opening and closing, not understanding why the world feels like it's spinning. And suddenly, Serena is there, holding her hand, making the girl's world stand still.

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to but I need to know how to help you, alright?"

Liko was tired; she nodded, slowly.

"Do you know any Professor Friede, and why would he be looking for you?"

"I…I…"

Liko, exhausted and lost, finally breaks and lets all the tears out.