SOON AFTER

After the whole excitement, the mysterious person went to the Pokémon Center so that Nurse Joy could take care of Salamence.

"Welcome to the Lumiose City Pokémon Center, how may we help you?"

"Nurse Joy, can you check on Sally, please?" Julia said while taking off her mask, her voice getting higher.

"Of course, Julia, she's in good hands. While waiting, why don't you change your clothes? You don't want to be seen looking like that, do you?" Nurse Joy said in a joking manner.

Julia replied, "Yeah, I know," and went to the changing room.

A few minutes later…

Julia, now using a black shirt with a blue and white jacket, and navy pants, walked to the Pokémon Center counter. If anyone saw her with and without her full outfit, they would never be able to recognize her. Everything about her was different.

"Hey! Here's Sally, she's in good shape, she just needs a little rest."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. I'll get going now, bye!"

"Have a nice day, Julia!"

Julia was walking out the Pokémon Center when a young boy and who appeared to be his father walked in.

"Oof-"

"Ouch"

Julia and the young boy, William bumped into each other and dropped the Pokéballs they were holding.

"HEY! Watch it, old lady" William said to Julia.

"Oh my" Julia was shocked with the young boy's behavior.

"Now William, calm down. We're sorry about that. My son just caught his first Pokémon, and it seems he was too excited." Lysandre said while looking at his son. "Now James, apologize"

"Huff"

"It's okay, kids can be like that sometimes," Julia replied in an understanding voice while staring at William who was grabbing his Pokéball.

Lysandre said, "Yep, both of my-", and stopped mid-sentence, shocked by the person standing in front of him. He was speechless at her beauty…

"If you don't mind, I'll get going now." Julia said to the pair. She grabbed her dropped Pokéball and walked out the door.

Lysandre was still speechless, staring at her dancing hair and graceful steps going out of the door.

"Dad, DAD!" William shouted.

Lysandre broke out of his trance and saw his son staring back at him.

"Come on dad, we have to get Hound to Nurse Joy."

"Right, let's go, son."

They walked to the counter where Nurse Joy was standing.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center, how may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked them kindly.

"Nurse Joy, I want you to look at my Hound. I just caught it but, it doesn't seem to be listening to anything I say," said William in a concerned but pompous voice.

"It'd be my pleasure." Answered Nurse Joy.

Nurse Joy took Hound's Pokéball and went to the treatment room to check on it. When she opened it, she was surprised to see a familiar face. Sally! Nurse Joy returned Sally to her Pokéball and went back out to talk to the young boy and his father.

"I'm sorry but, I think there's been a mix-up with the Pokéballs."

William and Lysandre glanced at each other. "What are you talking about, Nurse Joy?"

"I don't think this is your Pokémon," Nurse Joy said while handing them back to the Pokéball.

William took it and released the Pokémon inside.

"AH!" William shouted, surprised to see a Salamence.

Sally the Salamence looked around, she looked confused as well.

"How did this happ- OH," Lysandre thought to himself.

"I happen to know this Salamence's trainer quite well, she was here just a few minutes ago."

"It was that woman, wasn't it?" William asked his father.

"Probably," Lysandre answered him while nodding.

"Do you know her too?" Nurse Joy asked, with a surprised look on her face.

"We may have bumped into her earlier," Lysandre told Nurse Joy

Julia was walking near the edge of the forest. She saw a nice clearing to sit down and relax with Sally.

"Sally, come on out!" while throwing her Pokéball.

ROAR! Instead of Sally, it was a Houndour instead. Julia stood up quickly, surprised. Houndour was confused and it felt threatened. It was in a defensive position glaring at Julia.

"It must have been that young boy," Julia thought to herself when looking at the Houndour. What should I do? She thought to herself.

"I know. Let's get you back to your trainer, shall we? Return!" Julia said while holding up Houndour's Pokéball.

ROAR! Houndour used Ember and knocked the Pokéball from her hands. She was surprised but, as a former Pokémon Ranger and a member of the Pokémon G Men, she was used to wild Pokémon acting this way.

She got down to eye contact with Houndour and hummed a soothing melody. Houndour, who was tense, started letting down his guard but was still wary. She got closer to him slowly and steadily, with her hand outstretched in front of her. Once she had gotten close enough, she stopped, and stopped moving, her outstretched almost but not touching Houndour. Houndour started feeling more relaxed and touched his head to her hand.

She took this as a sign of trust and started petting him gently. His warm fur on her hand made her feel a warmth that went right to her heart. No matter how many times she makes friends with new Pokémon, it always seemed to make her feel better.

However, no matter how happy she is, Houndour is still not her Pokémon nor her number one partner. So, she took Houndour's Pokéball and put it inside her pocket.

"Houndour, should we look for your trainer?" Julia asked Houndour.

"Ruff, ruff, ruff," Houndour replied sadly, as though he could understand what she was saying.

"You don't trust humans?" Julia asked with an understanding look on her face.

"Ruff," Houndour said while nodding.

"You should at least give him a chance. He might not be like what you think and maybe he'll grow to be better with such an amazing Pokémon by his side."

Houndour finally agreed, and following Julia, they went to the Pokémon Center

IN THE POKÉMON CENTER

"I don't like this, let's look for them." William stated in the mid of all the silence.

"Don't worry about you two, Julia would have noticed, and she'll probably bring Houndour back here before you know it."

"Yeah, she probably would but, I don't know…" Lysandre told Nurse Joy.

"Is there something wrong?" Nurse Joy asked them.

"I don't Houndour trusts people, he wouldn't listen to anything I say." William said.

Nurse Joy smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure Julia can take care of it."

Nurse Joy turned her head a little towards Sally who was staring at the door, looking worried, probably waiting for her trainer.

At that moment, the door opened with Julia walking in and Houndour right behind her.

"HOUND!" William jumped towards his partner.

However, Houndour was still uneasy and nervous. He looked at Julia, who nodded encouragingly and Houndour slowly walked towards William, rubbing his head on his feet. William looked surprised but happy. Lysandre looked shocked at this new revelation.

He turned towards Julia and said, "Thank you."

Julia replied, "Oh please, I should be sorry, I should have realized something was amiss."

"William, was it?" Julia then asked the young boy.

William looked back and said, "Yeah?"

"Hound is a bit nervous right now, he doesn't really trust people that much, I hope you can gain his trust and be more than a trainer to him."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a friend."

"…" William looked at the woman with shock in his eyes.

"Here." Julia gave him Houndour's Pokéball.

William gave her Sally's.

"Bye everyone, thank you, Nurse Joy." Julia said while walking out the door with Sally behind her.

"WAIT!" Lysandre stopped her, "Do you want to have lunch? As a token of my appreciation."

Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated this story in a LONG time. For everyone who may be waiting for new chapters, I'm sorry. For everyone who is reading this, I'd like to say my utmost gratitude for reading this. I started this story as a small hobby and just for fun. To think that some people are actually reading this, I am very grateful. Thank you and I'll try to update more often however, I'm not much of a writer so, please don't expect too much. Thank you :)