For those who are rereading this story, as of August 2015, the Girl and the Giratina has been officially REWRITTEN. Most of the chapters themselves have not been changed much, nor has most of the formatted plot for the story. But some details of the fiction has been tweaked in hopes of avoiding mary-sues, one-dimensional characters, and overall writer's block. This was my first story, and I only want to make it better for you guys and myself. I hope you will still enjoy the chapters.

Chapter 4: Dine and Dash

"How about instead we settle this with a one-on-one pokemon battle. Loser has to pay the other for dinner." Diana wasn't terribly hungry, since she had already eaten dinner a little while ago, but she wasn't opposed to having a light snack or dessert, not to mention she would be getting some starter cash out of the deal.

"What if you lose?" Aaron asked.

"Then it will be my problem to deal with. I'll pay you back later," Diana shrugged before looking up at Aaron with a smirk. "Or are you so confident that I'll lose?"

Aaron was taken aback from Diana's sudden swell of confidence. She was a rookie trainer, but the way she stood and held her ground made her appear like she was a champion. Was this the same girl who was on the brink of tears earlier? Seeing this, he felt a shiver of excitement roll up his spine. Sensing the ambition burning from her eyes, it made him almost want to fight her at his best. Of course, he couldn't go full out on her -she was just a rookie and he was an elite four member- but that didn't mean he couldn't challenge her.

"How about this? To make the match fair, I'll use a newly caught pokemon of mine," Aaron suggested as he pulled out a pokeball latched onto his belt. "It's a low level, and I haven't trained it at all, so it should be a fair match up."

"Sounds good to me," Diana clutched her pokeball and almost impulsively threw it onto the battlefield before she stopped herself. The anime and games never specified how the pokeball was supposed to come back to you, so instead, she simply held the button down to release her Eevee.

"Weeeeev," the Eevee cried before looking around in confusion as Diana knelt down to her eye level.

"Hi Eevee, I'm Diane Brown, your new trainer," she greeted before winking. "But you can just call me Diana!"

"Weev?" The Eevee curiously tilted her head.

"Professor Rowan asked me to look after you, so you don't ever have to be in that stuffy lab again," she patted Eevee's head before getting up and putting her hands on her hips. "And to christen the occasion, I think I'll give you a nickname." She observed her Eevee, who started curiously batting a blade of grass. "Hmm... what about Eve?" Diana suggested, the name instantly gaining the attention of the Eevee.

"Eeeeevee!" the Eevee cheered happily.

"Well then, that settles it," Diana laughed.

"Why Eve?" Aaron asked.

"Because she reminds me of a favorite character of mine and I'm not really sure what she's going to evolve into," she shrugged, not really having a particularly creative reason as to why she thought of it. "Now that we're done with formalities, how about you release your pokemon so we can start the battle?"

"Just waiting on you," he smirked before throwing out his pokeball. "Go Kricketot!" A glittering yellow-orange, cricket-like pokemon came out in a white flash and appeared by Aaron's feet. It had a red button nose and its body appeared to look like it was wearing a high collared tuxedo. The pokemon probably was no bigger than his shoe.

"Oh my gosh... that... has to be... the cutest bug pokemon I've ever seen!" Diana squealed, the pokemon's antennae barely coming up to Aaron's ankle, as she pulled out its pokedex entry: Kricketot, The Cricket Pokemon. Its legs are short. Whenever it stumbles, its stiff antennae clack with a xylophone-like sound.

"It looks slightly different than in the pokedex," Diana observed before doing a double take. "Wait- did you catch a shiny Kricketot!?"

"Sure did. Took me forever too," Aaron grinned proudly before rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I was searching in the tall grass for at least five hours." Wow, talk about persistent... Diana blanched before shrugging. Oh well, like I'm one to talk.

"You ready then?" Diana asked.

"Ladies first," Aaron offered.

"Alright then! Eve, use Tackle on Kricketot!" she ordered. The distracted Eevee looked up in confusion before it ran towards the bug pokemon.

"Dodge it, Kricketot!" Since Eve had been distracted, the Kricketot had enough time to jump out of the way, but not before it fell with a clink from an awkward landing.

"Oh my god, it does sound like a xylophone when it falls! That is SO CUTE!" Diana squealed.

"That's from its antennae. They make that noise to communicate to others of its kind," Aaron explained.

"That is so cool!"

"I know, right?" Aaron gushed. "I always like how they sound in the mornings when they-"

"Quick, Eve, use another Tackle while he's distracted!" Diana whispered. Eve nodded and quickly charged across the battlefield and hit the pokemon squarely in the chest, knocking it back to the ground.

"Kricket! Tot! Tot!" Kricketot cried angrily, trying to snap his trainer out of his rant.

"Uh... Quick! Kricketot, use Growl!" Aaron stammered, finally snapping out of his rant before he felt a mental face-palm come over him. Such a rookie move... why did he have to get excited about bug pokemon and go into one of his rants now? He must've been slipping...

"Ohmygosh, that's even CUTER!" Diana beamed as the little bug pokemon puffed up its chest and began rubbing its antennae together in a growl-ish kind of noise to startle the Eevee.

"We won't be cute for long," Aaron clenched his fist in determination.

"We'll see! Eve, finish this up with Iron Tail!" Eve curled her tail into a crescent as it glowed with a shining silvery steel before it charged forward.

Not this time! Aaron thought. He would maintain control and show her what an elite four member could really do! Aaron waited for the opportune time and then shouted, "Kricketot, use Bide!"

"Ah, crap...!" Diana groaned too late as the Kricketot manages to take the hit, surrounding itself in built-up energy. She HATED that move! Still, she knew how to deal with it. "Eve, use Tail Whip!" The Eevee began to swish her tail back and forth in a mocking sort of way that lowered the Kricketot's guard, but the bug pokemon still was gathering energy. "Keep spamming it with Tail Whip!"

She couldn't do anything about the hit Kricketot had already taken, and risking an attack now would only make matters worse if it somehow survived or if Iron Tail missed. All she could do was make sure that Eve could take the hit and strike when the time was right. Ten seconds later, the built up energy inside Kricketot was at its peak. Here it comes...

"Kricketot, use Bide!" Aaron commanded as a white energy ball began to build up above its head and shoot out towards Eevee.

She wouldn't be able to avoid it. No pokemon could. It was a guaranteed hit, so since she had nothing else to lose, she quickly shouted, "Eve, use Iron Tail to cut right through the Bide!"

Eve charged forward and somersaulted in the air before swinging her steel colored tail down on the blast, kicking up a massive cloud of dust from the explosion. As the dust settled, a knocked out shiny Kricketot lay on the ground and a barely conscious Eve struggled to stand.

"Kricketot... is unable to battle. The winner is Diane Brown," Aaron blinked in surprise as Diana whooped and hollered at her victory before quickly scooping Eve into her arms.

"We did it, Eve! Way to hold your ground! You took that hit like a freaking BOSS!" Diana praised before snuggling her Eevee.

"Eeeevwee..." Eve smiled weakly as she pushed her paw on Diana's face.

"Return, Kricketot," Aaron recalled his pokemon before pulling a potion out of his orange backpack. "Here, use this."

"Thanks," Diana nodded as she tried to figure out how to open the potion. "Uhhh..."

"Twist the nozzle on the end so that it unlocks, and then spray it on the wounds. It might sting a bit, so be careful with her," Aaron instructed with a chuckle, Diana easily picking up his directions as she began to spray Eve down. The Eevee winced but soon relaxed after the numbing agent in the spray took over.

"This stuff really works well. That Bide attack looked like it hurt," Diana gazed in astonishment at the miracle potion while Aaron went over their battle in his head. His brow furrowed, not coming up with any solutions before he just decided to ask.

"Hey Diana, I'm curious, what exactly did you do for Eve to survive the attack? I thought for sure that Bide would have caused Eve to faint."

"Well, I knew there was no way we were going to be able to avoid the Bide attack, because it always hits, so I thought we could at least cut the damage in-half so Kricketot would be hit as well. Kind of using a person's power against them," she explained. "Plus, it didn't hurt that Eve lowered Kricketot's defense with her tail whips."

"How did you know that cutting through Bide was going to work?" he asked.

"I didn't. It was just a hunch, is all," Diana shrugged, causing Aaron to gape in shock. "I remembered that the pokedex said that Kricketot have short legs and that it stumbles a lot, so I figured with an energy blast that strong, it wouldn't be able to hold its ground as easily as Eve could, especially since she put so much pressure against the blast. I think that because she did that, the blast didn't fully hit her."

He shook his head. He almost couldn't believe it. This girl, who couldn't even open a potion or throw a pokeball properly, had beaten him. She was an amateur in every way, and yet she seemed to have the right instinct for battle. He wondered how she would turn out as a trainer if she decided to take on the League. He smiled in eager anticipation to see her challenge him properly with a full party of strong pokemon.

"Well then, I do believe I owe you dinner," Aaron stated, putting his hands on his hips as Diana got back onto her feet.

"So if I don't order a whole lot, do I still get paid for my battle?" Diana asked curiously.

"Hey, I thought I was just covering dinner. That was the deal," he mock frowned, pretending that he cared about the money.

"Well, a girl's gotta live off of somethin'," she shrugged before turning out her pockets. "I don't really have any cash on me."

"Not even in that purse you're carrying there?" He pointed towards the bag slung around Diana's shoulder.

"Oh, you mean my flute case? No, it doesn't have any cash either," Diana said before stopping and thinking out-loud, "You know, I've had that slung around my neck this whole time and completely forgot about it..."

"You play the flute?" Aaron asked curiously, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm a first flautist for my school marching band," she explained proudly. "At least, I was."

"Was?"

"Well, I am doing this whole trainer thing right now, aren't I?" Diana gestured towards her outfit and Eevee.

"Fair point- hey, wait a second!" Aaron exclaimed. "How were you going to pay me back if you lost?"

"I dunno. I probably would've played a few songs on the street for some spare coins. I've done it before," she shrugged, scratching Eve behind the ears. He didn't know all that much about this girl. Could it be that she was from a poor household and had to live in the streets? It did explain the lack of gear and poor choice in clothing for the season. Thinking that this was the case, he resigned towards her suggestion earlier.

"Well, if that's the case, I'm sure I can give you some money, along with dinner."

"Really? Thank you so much," she smiled before he added, "if..." She should have known there were strings attached. There was no such thing as a free lunch or, in this case, dinner. "If what?"

"If you play me one of your songs," he added with a sly smile. "I want to be reimbursed for my patronage."

"Alright, but as soon as I earn any money from pokemon battles, I'll pay you back," she resigned, pretending that it bothered her to have to play for someone. "I know you don't have to pay me extra, but I'd feel a lot less guilty about asking for money."

"It's a deal," he cheered as he shook her hand before he added with a laugh. "Just try not to order anything too expensive."

"I promise not to bankrupt you," she chuckled, setting Eve down on the grass so that she could walk next to her. "By the way, how does the whole money system work with trainers anyways? No one's really explained it to me."

"Clearly," Aaron smirked at Diana's pout before laughing. "Kidding! When trainers battle other pokemon trainers and lose, it's a simple formula of the rank of the trainer class times the level of the person's last pokemon. So you say you were fighting a Biker, who normally pays 16 poke, and his last pokemon is a level fourteen Ponyta: how much would you get?

"Umm..." She tallied the numbers in her head, grateful that she was actually good at math. "...two hundred and twenty four?"

"Correct!"

"Oh, okay, so how much would I have to pay if I lost?"

"Well, since you don't have an established class, your formula is 48 poke- which is the standard number for unclassified trainers -times the highest leveled pokemon you have, so you don't cheat the system. So, if you had lost, you would have owed me 240 poke, though there is a rule that if you don't have any money, you don't lose any money, but you'll be flagged by the PC system and less people might challenge you because of it."

"Wow, there are a lot of rules to this trainer thing than I thought..." Diana gaped before her brow furrowed. "But wait, how come I have to pay more than the biker guy just because I don't have a trainer rank?"

"Because your financial status hasn't been determined yet by the system. Think of it as a checks and balances of the economy. No one is paid more or less than what they're owed. People who do well in pokemon battles raise in ranks or claim a certain financial status get paid more than people who do the worst. Understand?"

"So you have to be the best of the best to get paid the best? I guess that makes sense...but what about that whole claiming financial status? Wouldn't it be simpler to just claim a class so that your payment is cheaper?"

"You would think that, but the problem with claiming a certain financial status is that it's harder to get out of. If you want to change it again in order to be paid more, you'll have to go through a lot of a paperwork. An unclassified trainer status has to pay more for loss, but is easier to raise through the ranks without having to claim a financial status, or having to fill out paperwork."

"Oh god, my head hurts," Diana was absolutely dizzy with this amount of information, barely managing to keep from stepping on Eve.

"Well, let's talk no more about money. I'm not really fond of the whole thing myself. Pokemon battles should be for the benefit of the pokemon and their trainer, not just for profit," Aaron smiled, though it made him a bit of a hypocrite. He was grateful that he didn't have to pay her the full trainer loss amount because his Kricketot was the last one in his party, but it wasn't because of profit. If he hadn't been only using Kricketot, Diana would be overwhelmed by the six grand she would have gotten from beating him, his Drapion being a level 57, not to mention she would've been tipped off on him being an elite trainer, and he wanted to prevent that for as long as possible, or at least until she was on her way to becoming a pokemon trainer. He didn't need another fan girl.

"So where are we eating?" she asked.

It was one of those restaurants that had outdoor seating, right next to a small beach, called the Krabby Shack. It was cold from the ocean breeze, but the view was nice enough that Diana didn't really mind sitting outside.

"Good evenin', folks. I'm Rhona, and I'll be your waitress tonight," greeted a perky blonde woman with massively curly hair tucked into a bun. She looked like she was in her late twenties. "Can I start y'all with something to drink?"

"Yes, I'll have a glass of Moomoo milk," Aaron ordered, the waitress now turning towards Diana for her order.

"And I'll haaaaave...," Diana quickly looked for the beverage section before she spotted it under the desserts. "the lemonade."

"That's for pokemon, miss," Rhona corrected, causing Diana to flare up in embarrassment.

"Oh... right, ha ha," Diana blushed, not seeing the small red text underneath it as she hid behind her menu. People couldn't have lemonade? How did that make any sense? "Just a fresh water for me then, please."

"Alright, sugar, I'll be back with your drinks in two shakes of a Mareep's tail." As soon as she was gone, Diana pulled down the menu from her face. Aaron, who noticed her embarrassment, decided to help her by changing the subject.

"So you're a flautist?" Aaron asked, genuinely curious about the girl he was dining with.

"Yes, I think we've already established that," Diana nodded before she frowned almost instantly. "And before you ask, yes, it's what we're called -don't let anyone tell you different- and no, you cannot touch or play my flute."

"Oh uh... I wasn't going to ask that," he looked down awkwardly at the table before meeting Diana's eyes. "But now I'm curious. Why?"

Diana let out a long, irritated sigh before explaining. "Because any time that I mention that I play the flute, people always want to pick it up and play it. Not only is it annoying, it messes up the polish and maintenance I have to do for him."

Aaron arched an eyebrow. "Him?"

"Yes, him. Meet my husband, Jethro." She pulled up her case and patted it on the back.

"You named your flute?"

"Yep. Most people like to name their instruments because they spend so much time dedicated to practicing. When you're in marching band, you're practically married to your instrument. You pretty much have no social life outside of band."

Well, that would explain her personality a bit... Aaron thought. "Why is it- sorry, he -named Jethro?" he corrected himself, noticing a slight glare from Diana at her "husband" being called an "it."

"It's after one of my favorite bands, Jethro Tull, and, aside from beat-boxing on the flute, which is CRAZY HARD to do, the flute solo from 'Locomotive Breathe' is the closest a flute can get to playing rock 'n roll."

"Oh... okay," Aaron nodded, having absolutely no idea who or what she was talking about, but went along with it anyways. "So how long have you been playing the flute?"

"Hmmm... I'd say maybe about ten years?" Diana thought back, trying to remember when Pokemon 2000 inspired her. Had it been that long already?

"Ten years!?"

"Yeah, I started when I was five, and I just loved playing it ever since," Diana explained before she leaned down and scratched the top of Eve's head, the Eevee currently doing figure eights underneath her legs and chair.

"So that means you're fifteen?"

"Going to be sixteen next March," she shrugged. "You?"

"Sixteen, going on seventeen in October, so I'm like two years your senior,"

"A year and five months, at best," she smirked resting her chin on her hands.

"Wow, you did that without even counting."

"I know. I'm a wiz at math," she grinned smugly, her usual cocky attitude flaring up like bad acne as the waitress came back with their drinks.

"Alright, here ya go, folks. So what'll it be?" Rhona took the pencil from her ear and prepared to write on her pad of paper.

"I'll have the Tauros steak burger, medium well-done, with fries on the side," Aaron ordered, causing of major wave of nausea to flush over Diana as a horrible realization came over her.

"T-Tauros steak burger?" she managed to squeak out.

"Yes, ma'am. We have the best stock and selection of Tauros meat and Miltank milk in all of Sinnoh," the waitress stated proudly, Diana barely able to process any of this as she slumped back into her chair.

That's right. They didn't have cows in the pokémon world. They didn't have any of her kind of animals in this world, which meant all those cute and powerful pokémon she had trained with in the games were potentially seen as food here. The video-games did a good job of omitting that little detail.

"Umm... I'll just have the salad," Diana replied weakly, resigning to the only safe thing she could find on the menu that didn't involve her eating the very creatures that she captured. There wasn't some sort of lettuce pokemon that she overlooked, right?

"Are you sure? You could order more if you want. I won't be cheap," Aaron asked, concerned she was trying to starve herself to avoid hurting his feelings.

"I umm... I just don't want the other stuff on the menu..." she mumbled, ducking behind her menu in embarrassment. Aaron then came to a realization.

"Ohhh, are you a vegetarian?" She looked up at him, almost about to say the truth before she bit down on her lip.

"Y-Yeah..." she managed to spit out, the lie tasting horrible in her mouth. At least, I am now... she thought to herself, cringing slightly in discomfort at the thought of having to eat something that she had trained with. At least he didn't say "diet." She probably would've clocked him if he had, no matter how nice he'd been.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been more considerate in what I chose to order. I'll have the salad too," Aaron apologized before handing his menu toward Rhona.

"No, it's fine. You can eat whatever you want. It's... it's my choice," Diana affirmed more adamantly, and with that lie, now had condemned herself to a lifestyle choice. Goodbye, burgers! Goodbye bacon! Hello tofu and... kale. Yuck. This was going to be harder than she thought. Oh well, it was supposed to be healthier, right? Hurts the environment less with greenhouse gases and over-processed meat and all that jazz?

"Well, next time, I'll try and pick us a restaurant that is vegetarian friendly," Aaron offered before changing his order back to what it was before. As soon as the Moomoo milk was left on the table, he pulled out a small golden jar labelled "Royal Jelly" out of his left pocket and began drizzling it into his glass.

"You put honey in your milk?" Diana asked.

"Yeah. I put honey with almost about anything. It's good for your body and good for the soul!"

"If you say so..." But she doubted that much sugar, natural or not, was good for anyone. After a bit more light dinner conversation, their meals were brought to the table. Her plate was a plain green salad mixed with pecha berries, while Aaron's plate had a quarter pounder with fries. Man, oh man, did that burger smell good... She drooled over the savory scent before being thoroughly disappointed as she looked down at her salad with worn disdain.

"You mind if I borrow some of that honey of yours?" she relented, holding out her hand as Aaron gave her the jar.

"Knock yourself out." She wasn't usually one of for salad toppings, but if they were being unusual here for what to put honey on, she thought she'd at least join in and try to make the meal somewhat appetizing to her. It wasn't too bad, the honey being really sweet and organic, while the pecha berries reminding her of peaches in taste and smell, but it didn't really fill her. Aaron, on the other hand, sat back in full satisfaction at the burger and fries he had just eaten.

"Oh man, I don't think I could eat another bite," Aaron sighed, part of his quarter pounder remaining untouched.

I could... Diana thought bitterly, clenching her fits and glaring harshly at the sandwich before shaking her head. No! She would stay strong! She already dug her hole, now she was going to lie in it.

"Maybe your Eevee would like the leftovers?" he offered his leftovers, noticing the burger was making her uncomfortable.

"Sounds like a good idea," Diana agreed, almost forgetting that she had a pokemon to feed. "Here Eve, here's some dinner." But the fluffy, fox pokemon was gone. "Eve?" She checked underneath the table, her seat, but there was no sign of the pokemon.

"Oh my god, where is she!?" Not even one day having been a pokemon trainer, and she's already lost her pokemon! How irresponsible was she?

"Calm down. She couldn't have gotten far. Maybe she's sniffing underneath tables for scraps?" Aaron suggested.

"I already checked under neath the tables and no one else is here but us," she explained as she rechecked the places she already looked to see if something new had happened in the last five seconds.

"Well, it could be that she went out to hunt for some food. Eevees are omnivores, so they can pretty much eat anything. She probably went to go catch her own food." That thought only terrified Diana more. Her Eevee was inexperienced and had never lived outside of Professor Rowan's lab, so who knows what would happen if she tried to hunt for the first time. If anything had happened to that poor little Eevee... no! She couldn't let her imagination run wild. Right now, she needed to focus her efforts on finding her pokemon.

"Eve!" She called out frantically and she wandered towards a grove of trees by the beach. She scanned the horizon, but couldn't find anything. She was about to give up and lose all hope before she heard Aaron cry out.

"There she is!" Aaron declared pointing towards

"Eve!" Diana cheered, immediately happy her pokemon was okay. The Eevee ran quickly towards her feet before darting back and spinning around.

"Eev-eevee! Eve!" she cried out, pawing the ground before running away.

"Wait, come back, Eve!" She almost thought she had lost sight of her before she found her under the base of a tree where the small fox pokemon was poking at a small ball of white fluff. Relief quickly turned to horror as she saw her pokemon bat at her opponent.

"Eve, no! Bad Eevee!" Diana scolded, running underneath the tree to put some separation between the two pokemon urging her hands towards the wild pokemon. "Shoo! Shoo!"

"No wait, Diana, stop! It's hurt!" Aaron warned, stopping her in her tracks. The ball of fluff, it turns out, was a very tiny blue and white bird pokemon called Swablu. Diana recognized it from playing Pokemon Emerald.

"Swa...blu..." the bird pokemon cried weakly, it's right wing bent in a very odd angle.

"What happened to it?" Diana asked, leaning down towards the the bird pokemon.

"I don't know, but it must've hurt its wing," Aaron observed. "We should bring it to the pokemon center right away."

"Never run off again, Eve! Swablus are not for eating, understand?" Diana scolded her pokemon, almost as if she expected an answer or explanation. The Eevee looked up at her and tilted her head. A little angry that her pokemon went wild and did this, she turned towards Aaron and asked, "Do you have any bandages?" He shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. All I have is a couple of potions, but that won't help reset a wing if it's broken." She looked around for any makeshift material before she felt her bag sling forwards. An idea crossed her mind.

"Here! We can use my bag's strap," she offered as she unclipped her flute case's strap and handed it over towards Aaron. He leaned in to pick up the bird pokemon, but all it did was peck viciously at his hand and withdraw further into its cloud-shaped feathers.

"Ouch..." He winced, pulling his hand back and sucking a bit on the fingers that were bit. "No good. It's too scared. Usually Swablu and Altaria aren't afraid of people, but this one won't let anyone near it." Thinking that Eve's presence was the cause of frightening Swablu, Diana fumbled around until she managed to find her pokeball.

"Eve, return!" Diana recalled her pokemon before leaning down and slowly offering her hand out. "It's okay... We're not here to hurt you," she reassured as she patiently waited for the bird pokemon to make the first move. Gradually, the little bird untucked itself and smelled her hand, watching her cautiously as Diana carefully took the strap from Aaron and gently wrapped the Swablu in a makeshift sling. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" She smiled as she lifted the cooing pokemon into her arms.

"Good job," Aaron praised before looking over his shoulder. "The pokemon center shouldn't be too far away. If we hurry, we can be there before nightfall."

"Right."

It was about ten minutes before Diana recognized the red roofed building with a white pokeball icon on top of it, and managed to rush Swablu inside to a nurse. After a couple minutes of sitting in the waiting room, one of the Nurse Joys came out from the examination room.

"Is the Swablu going to be alright, Nurse Joy?" Diana asked almost immediately, jumping to her feet.

"Swablu is going to be just fine," Nurse Joy smiled. "Luckily it wasn't a broken wing, just a slight sprain. A little observation and a good night's rest should make it right as rain."

"Phew, that's good," they both sighed in relief. She was happy that nothing bad had happened, especially since she felt responsible for the incident.

"You two were right in bringing this little one to the pokemon center," Nurse Joy praised the duo. "Usually if a physically traumatic incident happens to a bird pokemon in its fledgling stage, there's a possibility it would have been stuck with an injury that would have made living difficult and eventually shorten its lifespan."

"Fledgling?" Diana questioned.

"This is a baby Swablu. You can tell because its wings aren't the usual wingspan of two and a half feet, and it's a lot softer than most Swablu because all of its baby feathers haven't fully grown out yet. This little one must've have fallen out of its nest."

"So my Eevee wasn't the one that broke Swablu's wing?" Diana asked, Nurse Joy shaking her head.

"Oh no. If there was any sort of trauma like that, there would have been claw or bite marks. Eevee don't usually charge head into battle without testing the waters with their prey," the nurse waved off. Diana looked down at the pokeball clasped in her hand. Guess she owed Eve an apology. "Although," the nurse continued, her expression turning thoughtful. "I'm surprised that you managed to find a Swablu this time of year. Usually the flock of Swablu and Altaria that live around here are migrating towards Hoenn right now in favor of a warmer climate for winter. I guess this little one missed the migration."

Diana's expression quickly turned into worry again. What was going to happen to the baby Swablu when this was all over? Noticing Diana's concern, Aaron asked, "Do you mind if we check up on the Swablu in the morning?"

"Certainly. Be sure to sign in on the front desk if you wish to stay the night. It's getting pretty close to curfew," the nurse smiled before turning to help a Chansey move two patient pokemon into the ER.

"It's nice that we got to help another pokemon," Diana smiled softly.

"Yup. Really helps to pay a favor forward," Aaron grinned, his comment striking a certain cord with Diana. Her expression suddenly turned blank.

"Hey Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

"Did we ever pay for the dinner we just had?" He froze, trying to recall exactly what happened during the whole commotion before an icy feeling ran through him.

"...Oh man," he moaned, face palming his forehead. "We just dined and dashed, didn't we?"

"I think so," she agreed somberly.

"Okay, tomorrow, right after we check up on how the Swablu's doing, we'll go back to the Krabby Shack and give them a nice big tip."

"Sounds fair enough, though I still kind of feel horrible about it," Diana frowned before asking, "Will you be able to afford that on top of everything else?"

"Don't worry about it. I have some money saved up that should cover it," he shoved his hands into his pockets, turning towards the front desk. "I'm going to sign us up for a room."

"Okay," Diana stood there, not really worried about Aaron trying to pull something. If she remembered correctly, the pokemon anime had bunk beds, and besides, her dad taught her self defense. If he did try anything, she would make it so he wouldn't be able to try anything ever again.

A nurse pokemon, Chansey, soon came out and handed them a room key with a small egg keychain with the number four printed on it that unlocked a door down the hallway that held, as Diana had expected, a set of two bunk beds and a small wooden desk. The only difference was that there was a direct connection to a private bathroom inside.

"I'm going to use the bathroom first, if you want to change," Aaron offered, Diana nodding as he grabbed his bag and pulled the door shut. Since she had nothing else to wear, she simply kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the bottom bunk.

She loved the fact that pokemon centers gave pokemon trainers rooms free of charge. Must be some child protection law or something, since so many pokemon trainers are young kids who have no steady income of money to pay for an apartment. Made her wonder where she was going to live after traveling around Sinnoh. Who knows even if she wanted to live in Sinnoh. There was the option of living in other regions, like Kanto or Johto. She thought Hoenn seemed like a nice place to live, but maybe it would be a bit too tropical for her taste.

All this thought of living here made her think about how she was going to survive. When she had left her world, she had unintentionally cut off all connections with any life she had back home. Here, in this world, she had no family, no friends, no records, no possessions, nothing that proved her existence. She had nothing but an Eevee, a flute case, and the clothes on her back. It was like having a clean slate. She wasn't keen on going back home- at least, not yet -but it did have a few amenities she would need at the moment, like clothes, food, shelter. Unless some sort of magic could undo how she was brought here, she would have to make due with what she had.

She pulled the pokeball from her pocket and rolled it around in her hand for a second before sending out her Eevee, who appeared on the edge of her bed in a white flash.

"I'm sorry, Eve. I shouldn't have accused you of doing something you didn't do," Diana apologized before patting the top of her pokemon's head. "I'm still new to this whole pokemon trainer thing, so just bear with me here. I promise, I'll get better." She took the Eevee's indifference as a sign of forgiveness as she crawled onto Diana's chest and curled up into a ball.

"Hey, I just finished up in there if you want to brush your teeth," Aaron came out of the bathroom after having changed into a white tank top and pale blue shorts for pajamas.

"No thanks, I'm good," Diana said as she managed to hike up her jeans to her knees without disturbing Eve, which was no easy feat.

"Aren't you going to change?" he asked, thinking it was odd she was sleeping in something fairly uncomfortable to wear to bed.

"Don't have any other clothes," she shrugged, pulling the covers over herself just to keep Aaron from staring.

"What? Why?"

"I just don't, okay?!" she growled sharply. She turned towards the wall, trying to avoid giving away too much before she let out a sigh. "Look, I didn't have time to pack anything, okay? It was a spur of the moment trip."

Aaron sat there in a dumbfounded silence, unsure of how to proceed, only managing to think of ways he could make the situation for her easier.

"Okay, tomorrow, we are also getting you a toothbrush, along with some other essentials," Aaron declared before abruptly switching off the lights. Diana suddenly bolted upright in a panic, Eve sliding down into her into her lap.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, stopping Aaron in his tracks.

"What?"

"Could you leave the door cracked open?" she admitted sheepishly. "I sometimes get up at night, and I like to be able to see where I'm going."

"Sure thing," Aaron shrugged, leaving a small glowing crack from the hall in their room before he climbed onto the top bunk and settled under the covers. That should have been the end of it, but a question still plagued Aaron's mind.

"Diana?"

"Y-Yeah?" she asked, her anxiety slipping into her voice, glad her face couldn't be seen in the dark. Did he know?

"Be honest with me... you ran away from home, didn't you?" Diana didn't move away from the wall, but Aaron could have swore he heard her tense up.

"In a way..." she admitted, finally breaking the silence, somewhat relieved that was the question he was going to ask. "I ran really, really far away from home... but I don't want to go back, at least, not yet. There's nothing for me there right now, but there's something for me here, something that I'm passionate about, so... yeah."

"Well, I guess that's all I needed to know," Aaron admitted. "But you really should call your family, just to let them know you're okay."

"Believe me, I would if I could, but I don't have a cellphone to contact them, and besides, the place my family lives at gets really bad reception," she smiled to herself at the irony.

"You could always send a letter," Aaron suggested, not seeing that Diana was already shaking her head.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that," she humored him, holding her Eevee close as she settled back onto Diana's chest. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, the day she could officially start her pokemon journey right.

Well... after some serious plot rewrites, a loooong hiatus, and a pokemon gen 5, 6, and soon a 7th gen game, I'm back! Out of all the stories of mine, this one surprisingly got a lot of story faves, follows, and even a fave author. Not sure why tho, but it made me happy none the less. Actually, I should say that it was all you guys loving my story so much that I even wrote this, so pat yourselves on the back for getting me off my lazy bum and finishing this sucker!

One of the reasons this took so long is because I rewrote the whole, entire plot. Seriously, I think I spent the better half of the year trying to figure out how it goes. I hope I met your expectations. Also, the naming system Diana is going by is after videogame characters, since she's a gamer nerd. Her Eevee is named Eve after Mitochondria Eve from Parasite Eve.