Cheren and I walk through Route 2 together after I gave Oshawott a berry. "So, you're pretty good at battling." He says.

"I guess. That was my first battle. I don't really like battles." He stops.

"What? Why don't you like Pokémon battles?"

"Pokémon hurt each other just to prove who's stronger. Then the Trainer of the victor receives money. I just don't agree with it," I say quietly.

"Battle me."

"What? No, I-"

"You're battling me," Cheren interrupts. "That's how other Trainers will treat you. It's the law of battles.  When two Trainers' eyes meet, a battle begins."

~Just go with it! I can take Glasses down anyday!~ Oshawott huffs. I look at him.

"Are you sure?"

~Stop it! Stop treating me like a baby! I'm strong enough to fight, and I will! Corona, please, have some faith in me.~

Was that what he saw my concern as? Was I overprotective? I can't believe I managed to question his capabilities like that without even thinking about it. I straighten my spine.

"Go, Oshawott!" I say clearly. Cheren throws out a pokéball.

Sni! She glances at Cheren. ~Finally! You haven't let me out in forever!~He points forward.

"Snivy! Use Vine Whip!"

"Dodge it, and use Tail Whip!" Long, green leaves surge forward, but Oshawott hit the ground and rolls before popping back up to shake his tail at Snivy.

"Now Tackle her!" I shout.

Oshawott flies forward and rams into the grass snake.

"Make a comeback! Vine Whip again!" Snivy's vines shot out from her sides, and smacked Oshawott before I can respond.

Oshawott gets right back up and snarls. ~That's. It. Snivy! You're going down!~

"You go, Oshawott! Tail Whip as you run, then Tackle again!"

~You got it!~he responds. Wagging his tail as he runs, then Oshawott launches himself at Snivy, and she goes down. As he lands on the ground, Oshawott bows to Snivy.

~Perhaps next time you'll win?~

"Good job Oshawott!"

~I told you I could do it!~ he yells triumphantly.

"I never said you couldn't." I give both Snivy and Oshawott a few Sitrus berries, and they both regain their full health.

~Thank you, Miss,~ Snivy says sincerely.

~Yes, thanks,~ Oshawott adds.

"You're very welcome," I say with a smile. No sooner than I say that, do I realize my mistake. I'm not alone. Cheren is still directly behind me,watching the whole exchange.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" I ask, trying to play dumb. He shakes his head.

"I saw that. They talked to you, and you talked back. Seriously, Corona, what is going on?"

Arceus, no one was supposed to find out, not this soon. But what should I do? For some reason, I want to trust Cheren, but what would that do to my task? I look to Oshawott for help.

~Just tell him you'll tell him some other time.~ I take a deep breath.

"Cheren, I'll tell you all about it some other time." He stiffens and turns away.

"Fine. I suppose we did just meet." He turns back to me. "Tell me after you beat the Striaton Gym. I know you will." He returns Snivy and walks away. After a while, Oshawott tugs at my sleeve.

~We should keep going. Striaton City isn't too far away.~ I nod to my otter.
I manage to evade all the Trainers on Route 2. A few wild pokémon jump out at us, but Oshawott just battles them to train himself. I didn't catch any of them. While he control his own training for the most part, I had taken my rapier off to practice. By the time we reached Striaton City, Oshawott had reached level 14, and had learned Razor Shell. His levels rose so quickly mainly because he had been fighting all the battles. Night had also fallen.

Oshawott became sleepy so I returned him to his pokéball. I went into the Pokémon Center, and gave him to an Audino who was working behind the counter. She put his ball in the healing machine, and removed it after a few seconds.

~Have a good evening.~

"You too," I say, then leave before she can ask any questions. I go straight to the gym next door. A man was standing in the doorway though.

"Are you looking for the Gym Leader?"

"Yes," I say.

"I'm sorry, but the Gym Leader is out right now. He may be at the Trainers' School. I would come back in the morning though."

"Thank you." With Oshawott's pokéball in my hand, I walk back past the Pokémon Center, and enter the third building.

The school is empty just about. Only a few lamps are lit. Actually, there is nobody here. Then I see a dimly lit lamp in the corner. And the black-haired teen behind it. Cheren has his nose buried in a book, and he's taking notes in a notebook. For a few seconds, I just watch him silently. Finally, I say, "Hi, Cheren." He jumps.

"Corona!" He whisper- shouts. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for the Gym Leader," I say wearily. "I was told he was here."

"No, he left hours ago," Cheren said quietly, clearly exhausted.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Research," he says.

"For what?"

"The Striaton Gym leader tests your knowledge of Pokémon and battles. He'll use the pokémon type that is strong against the starter pokémon you chose, so that you can learn that type advantages don't decide they battle."

"That means, I'll be battling against a grass type pokémon." Cheren nods.

"And I'll be battling against a fire type."

"Do you know where I can find the Gym leader then?"

"He'd probably be back at his gym by now." I turn to leave, but Cheren stops me.
"Don't go now. It's late, and you're as tired as I am. Go get some sleep." I nod.

"Fine, I'll go first thing in the morning. You get some sleep too, Cheren." He smirks.

"This isn't the first time I've stayed up late reading. I'll be fine." I leave him alone then.
I go to the Dreamyard. I grew up sleeping outdoors, and I don't remember ever even spending the night indoors. Therefore, I'm more comfortable sleeping outside in a tree, than in a Pokémon Center. The Dreamyard is covered with patches of tall trees, and the grass is uncut here. Which makes it the perfect environment for wild pokémon... And wild raised humans. I send Oshawott out of his pokéball, and he appears with a flash of red light.

~Battle? Where?~ He glances around, then at me. ~You want to sleep out here instead of in the center?~

"Well, yeah."

~Why?~

"I'm a little homesick, actually. My family and I always slept outside."

~Oh right. Sometimes I forget that you were raised by wild pokémon in a forest.~ I nodded.

"For me, if I were to forget them, I would be forgetting my entire past. I have no other memories, other than of them." I walk over to a fence,and Oshawott follows behind me. There's a gap in the fence, but saplings have grown over it. I turn to Oshawott. "Could you cut this with your scalchop?"

~I don't know Cut..." I have to laugh.

"You have a scalchop. You don't need to know a move if you were born with something that can double as a knife just about." His face brightens.

~That's actually a really good point!~ He pulls the shell off his stomach and slices all of the saplings down with one slice.

"Great job, Oshawott." I stop in front of a towering pine tree. Looking at Oshawott, I ask, "do you want to go in your pokéball while I climb, or do you want to hang onto me?"

~I want to hang onto you. I want to see a human climb a tree this tall." I smirk.

"Hang on then." He jumps onto my arm, and then hops onto my head. I grab a stubby branch, and stick the heels of my sneakers into the bark. I press another hand tightly against the trunk. I use my other leg to kick, swinging me up, where I grab another branch. From there its simple. Just grab a branch, swing, get a grip, pull myself up, and repeated. I stopped near the top of the pine.

~Wow.....~ was all Oshawott said, hopping off. I take my bag off, and laid my basket down. These I hang off of a sturdy branch. I stretched and lay down on the limb. Oshawott gulps. ~We're sleeping... up here?~

"Yes. Are you okay with that?"

~Of-of course!~

"I won't let you fall, if that's what you're worried about. I'll be right next to you if you want." Oshawott lets out a sigh of relief.

~Thank you.~ He scampers across the limb onto my stomach, where the tiny blue and white sea otter promptly curled up and fell asleep. I smile, before falling asleep myself.

Next Morning

I wake up to shouting. And a crying pokémon.

"Come on, you stupid Pokémon! Make some Dream Mist!"

~Stop! You're hurting me! I won't make Dream Mist for you!~  Oshawott had jumped up as well, gripping his scalchop.

~What's happening, Corona?~

"I don't know," I whisper. "Get on my head while I climb down a little so we can see." My Oshawott nods and launches himself onto my head lightly.

Silently, I drop down a few limbs. I turn to him. "If we need to jump down, will you be okay from this height?" He shook his head.

~A little bit lower,~ he says. I drop down lower.

"Now?" I whisper.

~Perfect.~ I lay on my stomach as I crawl to the edge to see.

On the ground, two people wearing the same uniform as the ones yesterday, were threatening a pink pokémon with purple flowers.

"Come on, Munna! Make some Dream Mist already!" One of them kicked Munna.

~Stop it!~ she screamed. I look at Oshawott.

"Now." I dropped myself to the ground, my rapier in my hand. Oshawott landed behind me.

"Step away from the Munna," I say threateningly. A uniformed man laughs.

"You're just a little girl. We are Team Plasma. What can you possibly do?" His female partner states wide eyed at my sword.

"She...she has a sword, Brian. I don't think it's fake, either," she says cautiously. He looks at me again.

"I don't think she's anything to worry about. She probably doesn't even know what to do with it." He puffs out his chest. "We are Team Plasma. With the Dream Mist from Munna, we'll be able to get into the dreams of everyone in Unova. We'll convince everyone to release their pokémon for total Pokémon Liberation!"

"Right!" She said, and continued kicking Munna. The poor pokémon looked at me helplessly.

~Help me, please...~

"We'll deal with you," the man said, throwing out a pokéball. A patrat popped out. The female grunt also throws out a patrat.

"Patrat! Use Tackle!" They both shout.

Calmly, I tell Oshawott, "Dodge, then use Tail Whip on one, and Razor Shell on the other." Neither scout Pokémon lands a hit on my otter, but one flinches at Tail Whip. The other patrat ges hit with Razor Shell, and faints. "One more, Oshawott," I say so only he can hear. "Razor Shell on the other patrat!" Oshawott lifts his shell. It appears elongated and glows as he charges at the rodent and brings down his seashell. An instant later, Patrat faints.

"What!? How were we beaten by a little kid so easily?!" The man shrieks. The woman shrugs.

"It doesn't matter. We'll still get the Dream Mist, even if we have to use force!" She lifts her leg to kick Munna. I instantly bring my blade down.

I slash the rapier at the female grunt's foot. Luckily for her, the edge only went through the leather of her boot. But she screamed anyway at her partner.

"Doesn't know how to use it?! Arceus, she could've taken my foot off!" The man swore.

"I'll teach you not to mess with Team Plasma, brat. You'll regret having met us!" He throws a punch at me, and in defense, I lift the blade up to meet his hand. Just inches before he touches me(well, really, my sword), he stops. "Aren't you worried about your own pokémon?" He asks. I whip around to see Oshawott defenseless after having his scalchop taken by the woman. The male grunt takes that moment to tackle me to the ground. "You should always put yourself before any pokémon, girlie," he sneers, raising a fist to hit me.

"Let go of her!" a girl shouts angrily. I tilt my head and see none other than Bianca standing there, red faced. She shouts again. "Let Corona go!" When they ignore her, Bianca sends out her tepig, and two other Pokémon. One was a puppy like the one I met in Pinwheel Forest; Lillipup. The other was a green monkey like pokemon with a plant coming out of its head; Pansage.

"Pansage! Help Corona! Lillipup, help Munna! Amber, take those two baddies out! Go!" The blond shouts to her pokémon. Next thing I knew, the grunt was off of me; both of them now huddled against a tree covered in scratches and bruises, and Munna was floating safely behind Bianca. Oshawott had recovered his scalchop thanks to Bianca. Bianca's about to start ranting again, but the man from the plaza appears.

"What are you clowns doing?" Ghetsis asks. The pair of grunts shudder.

"We-we were trying to get the Dream Mist, like you wanted!" One blubbered. Ghetsis disappears, only to show up right in front of them.

"You are a disgrace to Team Plasma! This was such a simple mission!" Images of Ghetsis appear all over the place. I counted five total. I figured it was an illusion, but I wasn't going to tell the grunts that.

"You two are such disappointments. How is our King supposed to achieve his glorious dream, if clowns like you don't stop messing around?!" The female grunt backed up.

"This...this isn't Ghetsis when he's dissatisfied..."

The man gulped. "Or when he's angry..."

"This is Ghetsis when he's extremely displeased with someone..."

"And is going to issue punishment," the man finished.

"Let's hurry back and apologize and hope he forgives us!" The two run off, and a Musharna floats over.

"Oh! That's Musharna, Munna's evolution! It must have heard Munna was in trouble, and used its Dream Mist to scare those guys off." I listen to Munna and Musharna as they nuzzle each other.

~Mama!~ Munna says happily.

~I told you to stay with me during the day!~ the Musharna says sternly, then nuzzles Munna even more. ~Oh, I was so worried!~ She turned to Bianca and I. ~Even though you don't hear us, you have my deepest gratitude. You saved my baby.~ Slightly, I nod. Only enough that Musharna sees, and no one else. She gasps, and whispers something to Munna. Munna beams, and floats behind Bianca as its mother floats away with a sad smile on her face. Meanwhile, Bianca helps me up off the dirt.

"Are you okay, Corona? Did they hurt you?" I shake my head.

"No. I'm fine. What were you doing in the Dreamyard?"

"I went to see the Gym Leader this morning, and he advised that I come here to train after I lost our gym battle. I don't know if it will help though..." I look at all three of her pokémon, each one smiling happily at Bianca.

~Don't worry Bianca! We'll train, and we'll win!~ Lillipup barked.

~Right! A little more training, and I'll have my grass moves down perfectly!~ the Pansage said.

~You're a great Trainer, Bianca. You can do anything you put your mind to,~ Amber, her tepig, said kindly. They all rush forward to her, and she hugs them all at once.
"Thanks for believing in me, you guys." She stands up, and bumps heads with Munna. The psychic pokémon floats in front of her face.

~Will you be my Trainer? Please??~ Aww, that's Munna's way of saying thank you. Oshawott hops on my shoulder.

"Corona...what do you think it wants?" Bianca asks me.

"I think she wants you to capture her. She wants to go with you." Bianca beamed.

"Really?! You want to come with me?!" Munna nods ecstatically.

~Yeah! You're so nice, and you're strong!~ Bianca dug through her purse and pulled out a pink Heal Ball.

"What do you think of this one? It'll heal you once you go in, and-" Munna presses her nose on the button and gets sucked into the ball.

Click!

Wow. I have to say, I've never met a pokémon who wanted to be caught; much less one who pressed the button on their own pokéball. Munna must have really liked Bianca to leave her mother for the girl...  Bianca looks at the ball with a puzzled expression.
"Why did she pick me?" Munna came out and floated onto her head.

~Because you're nice! You helped your friend even though you didn't believe in yourself; and you chased them away! You saved us!~ Bianca had already skimmed over the past events, and was rubbing Munna's head.

"You are so cute! I'll nickname you.... Munny!" She looks at me. "I'll see you later, Corona. The gang and I are going back to the Gym for a rematch." She gathers her team together. "Let's go everyone!"

After she left, I sink to the ground. Why? What went wrong? How did he nearly beat me? No...he would've, if not for Bianca... I pick my rapier up off the ground, and slide it back into place over my spine. Oshawott sits down in my lap, looking concerned.

~Corona? Are you okay? ~I shake my head. ~What's wrong?~

"Oshawott, I lost. As Team Plasma members, they would have taken you from me if Bianca didn't show up."

~It isn't your fault! I shouldn't have lost my scalchop.~

"But I'm supposed to take care of you!"

~No, you're not. Pokémon are supposed to do whatever it takes to make sure sure that their Trainer is safe and happy.~

"Oshawott," I say hoarsely, "I don't want to be that kind of Trainer. I want my Pokémon to be able to depend on me."

~And they know that they can,~ a voice murmurs. In front of us is Musharna, who levitated my bag and basket down out of the tree. I take the items from her.

"Thank you, but why are you helping me?"

~You helped my baby. If you didn't jump in when you did, who knows what would have happened to her.~

"But I failed. The grunt tricked me, and took advantage of me..."

~That wasn't your fault dear. Now tell me, how are you understanding me?~

"I was born with the ability to understand Pokémon." She looks at Oshawott.

~You have a very special Trainer.~

He nods. ~I know. She's the best. I'm lucky she chose me.~

~Just so you know,~ Musharna says kindly, ~I told Munna she should go with one of you girls. She liked the idea, and chose your friend. Don't be disappointed. Munna felt like your friend was more carefree; and I agree. Munna is a baby. She wants fun. That's all I wanted to say.~ She looks at both of us. ~You do your best, and that's all you can do. There's nothing wrong with either of you.~Musharna floats away.

I look at my otter. "Well, that explains why Munna went with Bianca."

~I think I'm ready to challenge the Gym leader, Corona.~

"Then let's go."

The Striaton Gym doubles as a restaurant. We go in, and are quickly seated by a man in a white coat. The same man who I talked to yesterday when I came here.

"Are you here to battle, or to eat?"

"Battle."

"Alright, so keep walking through those curtains, and you'll find the Gym leader. Here." He gives me a bottle of water. "In case you need some."

"Thank you." I go through three sets of curtains. They are red, blue, and green. At the end, a boy not much older than me, with leaf green hair, stands.

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym. Depending on the first pokémon you chose, you will battle one of us," he states. Us? Another boy wearing the same waiter uniform spins out from behind the green haired boy. Then another identical boy, only with blue hair, spins out.

"Hey, I'm Chili! I like to play with fire!" The redhead shouts.

"I am the powerful, water type user, Cress," the boy with blue hair says quietly, yet emphatically.

The greenette speaks. "Umm, I'm Cilan. I like grass types." He looks between the others and I. "See, as to why there are three of us...."

"Get down to it already! Depending on what starter pokémon you chose, determines which if us you fight," Chili said obnoxiously. Cress shakes his head at the red head.

"In your case, it seems the Pokémon you chose was Oshawott." Chili and Cress step back, leaving me face to face with Cilan.

"I-I guess you're battling me then," he stutters. He throws out a pokéball. "Let's just get down to business, Pansage." A monkey identical to Bianca's appears with a flash of red light. "Start with Scratch!"

"Dodge Oshawott!" My otter slid out of the way before the monkey's claws could touch him.

"Vine Whip!" Oh no. Oshawott is weak against grass type moves. I think back to the Dreamyard, when Oshawott sliced down the saplings...

"Use your scalchop to slice the vines!" I call out. He nods, and leaps toward the oncoming vines.

Slash!

"Now Tackle him." Oshawott hits the Pansage's bushy head, and both go down. Oshawott jumps back up, and so does Pansage, only Pansage is rubbing his head. "Use Razor Shell since you're close." An instant later, the shell flies out of his paw and across the monkey's back. Pansage shrieks. It wasn't an effective attack, but Oshawott put enough force behind the shell to pack a punch.

"Seed bomb!" Cilan shouts.

"Dodge!" Oshawott evades all but one seed; which explodes in his face.

~Ahh! It hurts!~

"Oshawott! Are you okay?" He stands.

~Yes. I won't lose!~ Without any commands, he kept into the air, then nosedived into Pansage.

"Water Gun." A stream of water goes into the monkey's face. Before he can recover, Oshawott slashes from Pansage's shoulder to his knee with the scalchop. Pansage loses consciousness.

"And the victor is Corona!" Cress announces. Cilan shakes my hand.

"I wasn't expecting that. You work very well with your pokémon." I smile.

"Thank you. As do you." A bit of red fills his cheeks.

"Whoah! You're hot stuff! You were smokin' against my bro!" I feel like rolling my eyes. Why me? Chili comes over to fist bump me, but I ignore him. "Hey!" Cress grabs Chili.

"Stop harassing her, you idiot."

While they're arguing, Cilan gives me an envelope and a set of three gems enlaid in metal. "Your badge, and your winnings." I take the badge, but not the envelope.

"I can't" I say. "You're pretty much paying me for hurting Pansage." He laughs.

"Not at all! It's our job to test the strength of Trainers who come here. Besides," he put the envelope in my hand. "It's always good to have some savings in case you or your pokémon get sick. That way you can still get what you need and want without going in debt." Reluctantly, I accept my prize money.

"Fine..." The older boy smiles shyly.

"Good, you deserved it." His brothers are already gone, and he walks away to join them. He stops at the back. "I expect to see you on TV at the Pokémon League." And he's gone.

I give Oshawott some Sitrus berries, and then a Belue berry. Those are his favorite.
"What now?" I ask him when we go outside again.

~Nacrene City has the next pokémon Gym. But what about your promise to Cheren? You told him you would explain everything.~ Right, I'd nearly forgotten about that. This was going to be tough...

~Well let's just go along with things!~ Oshawott chirps. I nod. We go through this amazing garden at the edge of the city, and pass under the trellis that leads to Route 3. Cheren's waiting for me.

"You got your badge, great job. Now, please explain what you did on Route 2." Oh geez, he wasn't going to quit was he? I open up my mouth to say something, but luckily I hear Bianca's voice. I see her holding a little girl's hand.

"Cheren! Corona! This little girl's Pokémon was stolen by Team Plasma."

Cheren disregarded his persistence with my ability, and asks, "where did they go?"

"Into Wellspring Cave." Cheren looks at me.

"Help me, Corona!" He ran in the direction Bianca pointed in. The little girl sniffed at Bianca.

"Miss...are they going to get my Pokémon back?"

The blond nods. "Of course! Corona and Cheren are really strong!" She takes a glance at me. "I would help you guys, but someone needs to stay with her." I nod understandingly, then run after Cheren.

Outside the cave, Cheren shakes his head. "They are so stupid. They ran into a cave with only one exit." Wow...that really is pretty stupid.

We go into the cave, and immediately are face to face with two grunts. "Give us the girl's pokémon," Cheren demands. They smirk.

"Like two kids like you could beat us!" They throw out a trubbish and a watchog.
"Corona!" Cheren calls out. "Cover me!" He sends out Snivy, and I set Oshawott on the ground.

In just minutes, the grunts' pokémon are fainted on the ground. One scoffed.

"Tch. Fine, take it." The other grunt throws the ball, which Cheren catches in one hand. The grunts run past us. "They got away."

"At leat we got that little girl's pokémon back..." I start to go out, but where grabs my arm.

"Now we have time. Tell me what you were going to say before Bianca came." I think, but draw blanks. "Please, tell me." I recall N's words back in Accumula.

"Do you remember N?" A puzzled expression pops on his face as I return Oshawott.
"Yeah, why?" He asks.

"He was wrong." I swiftly turn, and run out of the cave.