My first night camping in the forest was an experience, to say the least. I was so grateful that the cashier at the Pokemart had suggested I buy a beginner's fire starting kit because I would never have known what to do without it. After making a strange tin foil dinner following the instructions I had downloaded to my Pokedex before checking out of the hotel, Roisel and I curled up in my new sleeping bag and fell asleep to the sounds of night-time pokemon.

After awkwardly brushing my teeth with water from one of the many Fresh Waters I had purchased, I packed everything away in my new storage capsules and began walking along the road towards Floaroma Town. Roisel would alternate between scurrying along the ground next to me or riding on my shoulder. I was amazed that the little thing weighed hardly anything. If she wasn't constantly nuzzling my cheek or neck I would probably not have noticed her presence on my shoulder at all.

During the three-day walk to Floaroma Town, I became more and more attached to my darling Roisel. She was excitable and curious and seemed to always be happy. I still wasn't sure why she had seemed so spooked by Professor Rowan, but that thought was soon forgotten as I enjoyed the new experience of traveling with a pokemon partner.

My mind often wandered to memories of Ash and his plans of how he would become a Pokemon Master and travel all over the world looking for new pokemon to befriend. Even though it was silly, I had brought the little handkerchief he had tied around my knee that day we met. I hoped that someday I would be able to return it to him and thank him for being my friend.

We got to Floaroma town the day before the contest was to take place and were able to stay in one of the rooms in the Pokemon Center that were available to trainers. Roisel got a quick check by the Floaroma Town's Nurse Joy and she said that she also had never seen a pokemon quite like her. The next morning I woke up early and was one of the first people in line to purchase a ticket for the day's contest.

Roisel was curled around my neck, hiding inside the curtain of my long hair and only poking her nose out to sniff at all of the people around her. I frowned at seeing her act so timid in the large group, but I left her there. It didn't seem right to force her to confront her fears when I myself disliked large crowds.

My eyes widened and I gasped in delight at the beautiful stage set out in front of me. Stadium seats surrounded the large stage where cameramen and reporters were milling about below the stage, waiting for the event to start. A small thrill went through me as I realized excitedly that for the next several hours I was going to be able to witness pokemon and their trainers working hard together. I quickly found a seat in the front of the upper section of stadium seats so I had a completely unobstructed view of the stage and the two jumbo screens that would show close-ups of the action I assumed. When I sat down, Roisel poked her head from around my neck and sniffed her nose rapidly in the direction of the stage.

"Satoshi told me that he thought I would be a good Coordinator," I told her gently as I reached up and pulled her down so she could sit on my lap and see a little better. "I've never watched a pokemon contest before, but if you like it, I hope you'll help me become a Coordinator," I said. Roisel blinked her purple eyes and tilted her head as her chest rose and fell in a quick rhythm.

I couldn't hold back my smile as I leaned down and touched my nose to her little cold one. Just like the first time I had done that, Roisel sneezed delicately and I laughed. When I pulled back, Roisel turned around and began walking along my leg. When she got to my knee she sat down on her hind legs and straightened her body, peering down at the massive stage with obvious interest. I stroked her back and rubbed her rounded ears affectionately as we waited for the contest to start.

"Hello, lovely people! And welcome to this year's Floaroma Pokemon Contest where the participating coordinators will do their best to earn the coveted Floaroma Ribbon!" A peppy woman with brown curly hair, wearing a pink pantsuit with a yellow belt ran onto the stage and pointed to the jumbo screens above her, which depicted the photo of a beautiful orange ribbon held together by a gold triangle with a small crown on top.

"I'm your host, Marian! Are you all excited for the contest to begin?" 

Cheers exploded around me, causing Roisel to jump nearly a foot off my knee and then speed back up onto my shoulder, looking around her frantically. I tried to stifle my laughter, feeling terrible that I had found her reaction so funny, and I soothingly stroked her little head.

"Let's get this party started with our first Coordinator. Please welcome Norio from Castelia City!"

Excited clapping sounded as Marian left the stage and an energetic teenage boy ran onto the stage. He was tall and lanky with spiky hair he dyed a sky blue color just on the top. He waved and flashed a charming smile at the audience before he reached for a Pokeball on his belt.

"Time to shine! Oshawott, come on out!" The boy threw the Pokeball directly above him and I gasped when the Pokeball opened to expel a burst of multi-colored bubbles. From the middle of the sea of bubbles, a small blue pokemon flipped before striking a pose and then landing on the stage in front of his trainer. I smiled when Roisel began to climb down my arm, seeming to have gotten over her fear of the loud noises coming from the crowd as she sniffed the air and looked down at the performance curiously.

"Start things off with Water Sport, Oshawott!" Norio said as he jumped back, leaving a large empty space around his pokemon.

The small pokemon, which kind of reminded me of a bowling pin with a very round head, jumped up and down adorable. Every time the little thing hit the ground it was like he had just jumped in a puddle and a burst of water leaped into the air, raining down in small droplets all across the stage as Oshawott happily jumped around in a circle.

"Now, Hidden Power!" Norio said once Oshawott had gotten back into the middle of the stage. The little pokemon let out a raspy, "Osha!" and suddenly a ring of green orbs appeared around his head and began moving out towards the edge of the stage.

"Aqua Jet!" Norio called out with obvious excitement as he pumped his fist.

I watched as water suddenly sprang up to encase the small Oshawott and then the water lifted him off the ground and he sped towards the receding Hidden Power orbs. I couldn't help but cheer when Oshawott rammed into each of the small orbs, causing them to burst apart on the impact. Once the last Hidden Power was destroyed Oshawott, fell back to the ground in an adorable pose that I was pretty sure was meant to look "cool" and his trainer did a quick flip and landed behind his posing pokemon.

"Finished!" he declared. I joined in with the cheers and clapping for the boy and his Oshawott. He grinned confidently before turning to look at the three judges sitting in front of the stage.

"And now it's my pleasure to introduce the judges of this pokemon contest! Please give a warm hand to the President of the Pokemon Fanclub, Mr. Sukizo!"

"Your Oshawott is remarkable!" An older gentleman in a gray suit said. His head was turned away from me but the jumbo screen showed a close-up of his kind face as he addressed the Coordinator who had just performed.

"Next up is Chief of the Pokemon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta!" Marian said and the jumbo screen showed the next gentleman in a red suit with salt-and-pepper hair nodding happily.

"The way your Oshawott flowed between the different moves it used was a joy to see. Well done," he commented kindly.

"And last, but certainly not least, our very own Floaroma Town Nurse Joy!" The Nurse Joy who had helped me just yesterday came onto the jumbo screen smiling sweetly and waving to the camera.

"Your Oshawott's shell is so shiny and well-cared for! Splendid," she said with a wide smile.

"Let's see what score they gave Norio and his wonderful Oshawott!" Marian said into her handheld microphone. After a moment the jumbo screens panned out to show all three judges and after a moment numbers showed up at each of their tables, most of which were 9's.

"And Norio scores an incredibly strong 28.5 points out of 30 for the performance round! Thank you for that performance, Norio, and let's greet our next Coordinator!"

Roisel and I watched, completely spell-bound, as trainer after trainer came onto the stage and had their pokemon show off the beauty of their moves. As I watched the performances I couldn't help but be amazed by the huge variety between all of the acts and I wondered how the judges could possibly give them comparable scores. Once the last performance was completed the top eight trainers were announced and moved on to the battle rounds.

I watched the battles with mixed feelings as the trainers pitted their pokemon against each other and tried to show off the beauty of their moves while still causing damage to their opponent. My arms naturally wound around Roisel's little body as I watched the battles sadly. I didn't want to have Roisel get hurt in battles like this, but when I looked down at my small pokemon she didn't seem scared. Instead, she was watching the battles with wide eyes and I could feel her tiny heart pattering rapidly against my arm.

I stood up and cheered loudly when Norio was announced as the winner of the contest. He and his Oshawott stood at the podium proudly and both of them struck a wide-stanced pose then fist-bumped as they showed off the ribbon they had won. I chuckled at their strange pose, but couldn't help but think that Satoshi had been completely right. I definitely wanted to try being a pokemon Coordinator!

After I escaped the crowds of the Contest Hall I quickly made my way back to the Pokemon Center and registered for a Contest Pass. Nurse Joy was happy to help me and even gave me a special ribbon case in a cute pink color. The next day I found myself walking along the path to Jubilife City where a Pokemon Contest would be held in two weeks.

"Hey Roisel," I said as I checked the map once more to see how much farther it would be to get to Jubilife City. "Do you think we should spend some time training?" I asked my pokemon uncertainly. It felt odd to look to a pokemon for advice on how to be a pokemon trainer... But as much as I had dreamed about running away and becoming a trainer, I had no idea what I was supposed to do now that I was on my journey.

"Roi roi roi roi roi!" Roisel dashed up and down my arm, her blunt claws tickling my skin as she moved around excitedly. I laughed and grabbed her around the stomach, bringing her close and hugging her against me.

"Oh my goodness, you are the cutest thing!" I squealed happily. Roisel whistled her sweet little "Siiii" sound and I walked a little way away from the road before placing her on the grass in front of me.

"Okay, let me check something..." I muttered as I pulled out my pearlescent Pokedex and powered it up. I had created the Pokedex entry for Roisel just like Professor Rowan had requested and as I trained the Pokedex screen on her little form the entry popped up and I took a look at the three moves that it listed.

"I guess I should see what your moves look like first," I commented and Roisel wagged her little tail excitedly.

"Okay, then Roisel. Use Fairy Wind!"

"Siiiiii," she whistled loudly. As she whistled a small breeze kicked up and then a gust of wind with pink sparkles shot past me, stirring up some fallen leaves and making them twirl around.

"Oh, wow! That was so pretty!" I gushed excitedly before looking back down at my Pokedex to see the other moves she had. "Could you show me Sweet Kiss?" I asked, figuring that Pound was pretty self-explanatory.

Roisel dropped down to all fours and jumped around in a little circle before sitting back on her haunches, bringing her front paws to her mouth. Then, as she extended her paws, a small pink heart flew from her mouth, growing bigger and bigger as it flew through the air and then burst into sparkles.

"OH MY GOODNESS, THAT WAS ADORABLE!" I squealed, scooping Roisel into my arms and spinning us both around while holding her above me. She wagged her paws in the air as I spun us around.

"Do you know how cute it would look if you could make lots of little hearts, and then use Fairy Wind to swirl them all around in a little heart cyclone?!" I gushed excitedly. Roisel whistled her little "Siiiii" as her tail wagged crazily in the air.

Suddenly the calm, peaceful morning was interrupted by the roar of a motorcycle. Roisel shoved her little paws over her ears and began to tremble in my hands. I quickly brought her close to me and stroked her back soothingly. Honestly, the sound had startled me as well so I didn't blame the little pokemon at all.

Feeling a little curious, I turned around to look down the path where the noise was coming from. The motorcycle was mainly black with sleek silver accents and the rider was very similar, wearing all black clothing and a silver full-head helmet. Roisel peeked her head up once she had gotten used to the sound and I smiled down at her as the motorcyclist zoomed down the path.

"That's called a motorcycle, Roisel. It's like a car. People use them to get around faster," I explained. Roisel's little claws hooked into my shirt gently but she leaned her head forward and gave a tentative sniff in the direction of the loud machine.

"It's nothing to worry about, Roisel. Let's get back to training," I suggested. Roisel's attention was not so easily diverted though and I giggled to myself at how fascinated she seemed by something as common as a motorcycle.

A/N So.... Sorry to end the chapter there. I was planning on having the next part of the chapter all together but it was getting a little bit long :S Thank you for everyone who is reading this though!! I would absolutely love to hear any reactions or suggestions you might have. I always respond to comments I get <3