"No fair no fair no fair! I want to travel with Bree and Serena too!!" Theresa and her little Piplup were both jumping up and down in a show of energetic temper after Bree and I had announced our intention of traveling through Sinnoh together. We were back at Theresa's family home and lounging in the living area after a delicious dinner prepared by Vanessa.

"Now, now, Theresa. Try not to be too sullen," her dad chided gently with a calming smile as he draped an arm around Vanessa's shoulders.

"But it's not fair! Why can't I go traveling with them?" Theresa demanded, her lips forming a perfect pout as her eyes shimmered sadly. Honestly, I was surprised at Bree's stubbornness on this topic, but I just sat back and watched the two sisters since it didn't seem my place to say anything.

"For one thing, Risa, you've already got some travel companions that are waiting for you," Bree said, pointing an accusing finger toward her younger sister. Her pout immediately fell and her expression turned more petulant.

"They won't mind if you two come with us," she muttered as she gave a soft glare to her sister.

Bree was unaffected by her sister's mood swing though and pointed her finger even firmer towards her little sister.

"I have my own schedule to keep, I am not interested in having three little hooligans trying to keep up and getting lost when they can't," Bree stated seriously and I had to hold back a giggle when Theresa's face turned a splotchy red color and she spluttered with obvious rage.

"Just because we're shorter than you doesn't mean we can't keep up!" she argued, placing her fists on her hips firmly.

"Second," Bree said, holding up another finger and completely disregarding Theresa's rebuttal. "You and Serena are rivals as coordinators. If you both traveled with me you'd be entering all of the same contests and you might start getting pouty if Serena wins two or three in a row."

"I would not get pouty!" Theresa yelled, her lips quivering in a textbook pout. Bree quirked up one of her coral eyebrows in silent accusation. Theresa instantly covered her mouth, clearing her throat and looking to the side to get her face into a normal expression once again.

"Sweetheart, I know it seems exciting to travel together with your big sister and your new friend, but don't you think your friends in Jubilife City would be sad if you suddenly told them you weren't going to go with them?" Vanessa asked gently, giving her youngest daughter a sweet smile. 

Theresa's bottom lip quivered a little bit and I was surprised when her Piplup waddled over and threw herself against Shinx's side and began wailing piteously. Bree and I exchanged a look and I saw her tough expression soften. Without needing to say a word, Bree stood up and walked over to Theresa and I went over to gently pat Piplup's back as Shinx gave me a concerned look.

"Don't cry, Risa. You know I'd love to hang out and have an adventure with you anytime. But you already promised your friends that you would go on your Sinnoh journey together with them, and you should never go back on a promise," Bree cajoled, her voice now gentle as she knelt down and placed a hand on her sister's cheek, forcing her to meet her eyes.

"But I didn't know you would be back in Sinnoh," Theresa rebutted with a pitiful sniffle.

I watched as Bree gathered her little sister in a hug, chuckling gently and whispering that she was being silly. It was such a sweet moment and looking over at their parents I could see a deep love reflected in both of their eyes as they watched the interaction between their two daughters.

An intense feeling of longing filled me. I watched the tender moment as an outsider and my thoughts once again went to my mom. I had been meaning to speak to her for a while now, but I was so scared to see the disappointment that had filled her face the last time we had spoken.

A fuzzy paw rested on my knee, prompting me to look away from the scene of a strong family bond and down into the curious eyes of Roisel. Her little chest was rising and falling quickly with her normal rapid breathing, and as she blinked her violet eyes up at me she tilted her head to the side, letting out a small whistle, before jumping onto Shinx's back. She stood precariously on Shinx's back and lowered one paw onto Piplup's round head, patting her the same way I was patting her back.

"You've gotten really attached to Serena's pokemon, huh, Piplup?" Theresa asked with a sniffle, coming over and rubbing Roisel's ear affectionately. Piplup looked up, her big eyes leaking large tears as she nodded in agreement, still slumping against Shinx's side.

"Shinx shinx." 

I couldn't help but smile as Shinx craned his head around to bump his nose against Piplup's wing, which sent a small spark of electricity into the little water type. Piplup let out a small shriek, falling back onto her rear, which caused Roisel to lose her balance and topple off of Shinx's back as well. Everyone chuckled at the three and I saw Theresa's lips quirk up into a small smile.

"You have a Pokedex, right, Risa?" Bree asked after she had stopped chuckling. Theresa nodded silently and produced a pink Pokedex from her shorts pocket. Bree pulled out her own, which was a red color, and she motioned for me to pull mine out as well.

"Give us your Pokedex ID," Bree instructed with a smile, helping me open the spot where I could add a new contact into my Pokedex.  Both Bree and I inputted the code that Theresa rehearsed to us and sent an invitation. Two small pings sounded from Theresa's Pokedex and Bree smile.

"What's this?" she asked, clicking on one of the notifications.

"This will essentially link our Pokedexes. When you open up the friend request you can choose to receive notifications whenever one of your friends catches a new pokemon, evolves a pokemon, you can even get notifications about gym badges or contest ribbons that your friends win," Bree explained, showing her how to turn on or off the many different notifications in her Pokedex settings.

So that's how Aryan knew that I had caught Shinx... I thought to myself. After a moment I got a notification saying that Theresa had accepted my link request and I made sure to turn on all of the notifications for her achievements.

"So now even if we don't travel together, you'll be the first to know if we catch a new pokemon or when Serena gets her first ribbon," Bree said with a wide smile. Theresa's shoulders were slumped slightly, showing she was still disappointed, but I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally returned her sister's smile.

"Thanks, Bree. After the Grand Festival do you think we could go on a journey together?" Theresa asked, her voice quieter and more hesitant than I had ever heard it. Bree smiled, reaching down and tapping her closed fist against the top of her sister's head.

"Count on it, Risa! I'll take you out to Alola after the Grand Festival and help you catch a cool pokemon," Bree promised with a wide grin. 

Theresa's face filled with awe and wonder before she squealed excitedly and launched herself against her sister, grabbing her around the waist and hugging her fiercely. Bree laughed, wrapping her arms around her shoulders before leaning back and spinning her around once, causing her to laugh in delight.

Glancing down I saw that Roisel, Piplup, and Shinx seemed to be in the middle of playing tag. Piplup was chasing after my two cuties, her eyes still looking a little watery, but she was laughing as she chased after them. As I watched, she managed to tag Shinx's twisting tail before spinning around and dashing away as fast as her webbed feet could carry her.

The next morning we said goodbye to Bree's parents and I thanked them profusely since they had pretty much emptied their pantry and insisted that we each take as much food as we could fit in our storage capsules. I hugged Theresa and Piplup goodbye and both Bree and I had to yell after Theresa when she began running off while Piplup was giving Shinx and Roisel a group hug. Once we saw them both off safely I fell into step with Bree as we left her hometown behind her and began following the forest path that would take us to Oreburgh City.

"So, Serena. What kind of training do you do with your pokemon?" Bree asked nonchalantly. She had just pointed out a spinarak in a tree to me and I was still trying to decide if it was cute or creepy, so it took a second to figure out what she was asking me.

"Umm. So far I've just done training for the appeals round of contests. I don't really know how to train for battles or anything like that," I admitted, feeling a little silly. Bree smiled though, not looking at all surprised or offended by my answer and she nodded.

"That seems about right for a beginner. I'd be happy to help out with your training. Once you've got the tools down then you can come up with your own training style that works best for you and your pokemon," Bree explained, slipping one of her hands into her capri's pocket. "Do you have any other pokemon besides Shinx and Roisel?"

I looked at my hip where my Pokeball ring was hanging and I slowly removed Feebas's Pokeball. After explaining how I had caught her I wasn't surprised when Bree laughed heartily, but she also assured me that it would be well worth it to train her up and evolve her into a Milotic.

"My friend Satoshi suggested I try and get in the water with Feebas to train her, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do..." I admitted with a sigh and Bree nodded her head slowly with a contemplative expression.

"Why don't we head into the forest? We can try to find a river for you and Feebas to train in and it's about time for me to do some training exercises with my team," Bree suggested. I was surprised since we had only been walking for a few hours, but I agreed and followed her as she confidently walked off the path and through the trees.

By lunchtime, Bree had found a beautiful spot next to a gurgling river. When she offered to take Roisel and Shinx with her during her 'training exercises' I immediately offered to go with her. But I was surprised when she told me to stay here with Feebas.

"Feebas' don't evolve like a normal pokemon through experience," Bree explained, pointing to the Pokeball that was Feebas's home. "For a Feebas to evolve it needs to feel beautiful. Their sense of purpose and inner potential is what will unlock their evolution into the beautiful Milotic. But from what I can tell from your story, you have called her ugly to her face several times, isn't that right?" Bree asked with a slightly accusatory expression. I gulped, looking away from Bree's piercing gaze, and nodded slowly.

"I... didn't know that..." I muttered, feeling like a complete jerk. Bree chuckled and I peeked over to see that she was smiling at me once again.

"It's okay, you didn't know. A lot of people don't know that actually. Most think that they evolve through experience, but I was friends with a pokemon researcher who wrote her thesis on Feebas and that was what she found," Bree said with a shrug. 

I couldn't help but be amazed by Bree. She was only a few years older than me, but she had already traveled through five regions, earned countless gym badges, and was considered strong enough to be a gym leader. I shouldn't have been surprised to hear that she had a friend who was a pokemon researcher, but I was still impressed.

"So... how can I help her to feel beautiful?" I asked hesitantly. Bree shrugged, glancing over towards the edge of the forest that stopped a few yards from the river.

"That's your job as a trainer to figure out," she replied seriously. "But it's not just beauty. She needs to feel like she has a purpose too. So get in the water and just interact with her. Try to explain what you want to accomplish and how you want her help. She may look clueless and googly-eyed, but Feebas are smarter than they look."

"Okay. I'll do my best," I said determinedly, holding Feebas's Pokeball a little tighter in my palm. Bree nodded happily.

"That's the spirit. I'll make sure to take good care of Shinx and Roisel. If we're not back in a couple of hours do you mind starting dinner for us?" Bree asked. 

I agreed and encouraged Roisel and Shinx to follow after Bree. Shinx seemed less enthused about the idea of leaving me than Roisel, but eventually, both of them followed after Bree. I felt a small pang of sadness as I watched my precious pokemon disappear from my view.

Taking a deep breath, I took off my backpack and quickly set up my tent. Once it was set up I changed into one of the bathing suits I had brought from Kalos and then moved towards the river. I was surprised at how cold the river water was and almost lost my nerve, but I quickly shook my head and forced myself to wade into the river until the water was up to my hips. Shivering slightly, I looked at the Pokeball in my hand and clicked the button, releasing Feebas in a stream of red light.

Feebas splashed into the river and immediately began to swim in circles around me. I tried hard to bury the revulsion that I always felt seeing her lumpy form before tossing her Pokeball onto the grass and turning to face her. Or at least I tried to. Feebas seemed perfectly content to just swim in circles around me and as I turned to try and catch her eye I was rapidly becoming dizzy. After a moment, I switched tactics and walked over so that I was standing in her path and waited for her to swim up to me.

"Feebas, can I talk to you?" I asked, feeling ridiculous. I wasn't sure why it felt so weird to speak to Feebas, I talked to every other pokemon I had met like they were any other person, but something about Feebas had just made me assume that she wouldn't understand me. To my utter shock, Feebas halted inches away from me and, after a small pause, she slowly floated up to the top of the water, blinking her bulging black eyes up at me silently.

"Uh... thank you," I said, feeling awkward, but I figured I might as well take the plunge. "So... I haven't been very nice to you up to this point. I'm sorry about that."

Feebas blinked silently, bobbing gently in the river in front of me but she didn't make a sound. Rubbing my tongue over my teeth briefly I pushed back my feelings of embarrassment and continued.

"I... I'm not sure if you know, but I'm trying to become a pokemon Coordinator," I said, letting my right hand drag through the water absently as I flicked my eyes between Feebas's seemingly empty ones down to the river around us. "You probably don't know this, but usually people go on their pokemon journeys for the first time when they are ten or eleven years old. Before this, I was a professional rhyhorn racer. I didn't like it though and my friends Satoshi and Aryan helped me decide that I should try following my dream even if I am starting late."

Feebas continued to bob silently in the river and as I spoke I found myself relaxing. It was kind of soothing to talk to something that was so emotionless. Even though Feebas wasn't reacting at all, it seemed like she was giving me her complete attention without any kind of judgment.

"So I have entered two pokemon contests so far but I haven't done very well in the battle portion and I lost both of them. The next contest I am going to compete in is in Oreburgh City, and that contest is a double performance and a double battle. Right now you don't have any moves that I can use for a contest, but it would make me really happy if one day you could help me win a contest ribbon..." 

I was so surprised at the sincerity in my voice and the slight feeling of competitiveness that my declaration stirred in me that I blinked and looked away from Feebas, feeling a little silly. Blinking in surprise, I looked down when I felt a gentle bump against my hip. Feebas had swum forward and tapped her protruding forehead against me and I felt myself smile when she backed up and tilted up to meet my eye.

"Bas feebas bas," she glubbed out in a voice as ugly as she was. I felt my lips stretch wider and I dragged my hand through the water and gingerly placed it on her head,

"Thank you, Feebas. I don't really know what I'm doing, but do you want to try and learn Tackle?"

"Bas bas," she glubbed again before sinking down and beginning to swim in circles around me. I chuckled at her and swam after her.

For about thirty minutes I tried to coax her into just swimming a little faster since that seemed like a logical first step. She seemed to understand what I was asking of her, but whenever I burst forward in the water to show her how to swim quickly, she always just followed behind me like a little lost Ducklett. Surprisingly, the more I swam with her and tried to get her to learn Tackle, the more adorable I found her. She seemed content just to be close to me and it was so cute to watch her swimming after me or around me that I couldn't even get mad at her for not making any progress.

After a little while I decided that it was useless to try and show her, nothing seemed capable of coaxing her to swim even a second faster, so I leaned back in the river and just let myself float. I smiled when the top of Feebas's dorsal fin skimmed my palm under the water's surface and I wondered why I had been so freaked out by her when I had first pulled her from the river.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Feebas's blue dorsal fin break the surface of the water and I watched as it spun languidly around my floating body. I smiled as the blue fin disappeared from my peripheral vision, only to pop back into my line of sight a little while later on my other side. I slowly lowered my legs, touching the bottom of the river lightly and for some reason, I gently pushed off the river's bottom and spun myself gently.

After a moment, I caught Feebas's rhythm and I was able to keep eye contact with her as she swam in a circle around me and I spun in place. Nothing changed about her facial expression, but for some reason, I felt like she was happy, and since I was alone and we were taking a break anyways... I lifted my arms out of the water and gently lowered them so that only my fingertips were touching the river's surface. I trailed my fingertips through the water and as Feebas and I slowly spun around it almost felt like a strange dance.

As we spun, I was surprised when Feebas broke from her original route and slowly began drifting closer to me. As we continued to spin, she slowly eased over until she was directly below my fingertips trailing through the water's surface. I slowly raised my fingers out of the water, still holding them out from my sides, and I grinned when Feebas also rose up, her dorsal fin breaking the surface and seeming to chase after my retreating hand. Still spinning I lowered my hand and, to my delight, Feebas also lowered her fin back under the river so that I could trail my fingers once again through the water. I continued to raise and lower my hand with Feebas swimming underneath it and each time I rose my hand a little higher, she would bring more and more of her small body out of the water.

As I continued to spin gently around, leading Feebas up and down through the river, an idea came to me. Cautiously, trying to make the change as unnoticeable as I could, I began to speed up. Feebas didn't seem to notice the difference at all and continued to follow after my hand, her dorsal fin always brushing against my palm as I raised and lowered my hand. Smiling widely I sped up again, urging her along, and to my excitement, she sped up to keep time with me. As I continued to increase my speed I also increased the height as I pulled my hand out of the water.

Feebas followed me perfectly, moving her tail fin briskly to keep up with my increased pace and as I raised my hand to my shoulder height I cheered when she actually tried to jump out of the water to chase after it. It took a few tries, but eventually, she was actually leaping out of the water as I raised my hand, never losing contact with the palm of my hand as she jumped up and then angled and dove back into the river.

It may not have been a move, but I felt extremely excited to see that Feebas was at least capable of swimming fast. I was getting pretty dizzy though and as I spun around, preparing to lead Feebas into another jump, somehow my ankles bumped into each other and I found myself falling into the river.

I pushed myself back onto my feet, grabbing my head as my vision spun a little and laughed as Feebas glided through the water, bumping my hips and legs several times as if to check and see if I was hurt. True affection filled me and I reached down and brushed her dorsal fin lovingly.

"I'm okay, Feebas. But I should probably call that a day for now. Do you want to stay in the river for now?"

Feebas rubbed her body against my leg in a silent response which I honestly wasn't sure what it meant. I began making my way towards the river's edge and Feebas followed after me, reverting back to her slow amble and I wondered how I would get her to voluntarily swim fast enough for it to turn into a tackle attack.

"Let's work hard, okay, Feebas?" I asked with a smile and I thought I saw her nod.

A/N Hey guys! So, I probably won't be updating twice a week, unfortunately. Actually I have no confidence that I can even update weekly :S My new job doesn't leave me a lot of extra time, but I appreciate everyone who is reading this and please feel free to leave comments and/or suggestions. I love talking to you and seeing your reactions!