First of all, I'm not dead yet. Still here :). Just bear with me.

On to the chapter!

Christin licked her vanilla ice cream cone. It was soft, and melted in her mouth, sending chills through her. But they were good chills; they made her excited, not pained or afraid. She was sitting on the edge of the earthy toned stone fountain in the center of the capital of Divius (and her second home), New Orilis City.

The area around the fountain had an old timey air. The road near the fountain was paved with cobblestones of different sizes, matching the fountain in color. Dotted about the area were shops and little stands, each selling a multitude of different things: beaded necklaces and polished shells, quilts of many vibrant colors, balloon animals, drawing stands for cartoonists, and berries of all shapes and sizes. And the pastries. Oh the pastries! You could smell the freshly baked scent that wafted off them, mixing with the scents of cinnamon sugar and different jams. One could hear musicians playing music, some singing as well. Christin's favorites were the saxophone and guitar musicians.

She heard the strumming of one of the instruments as a man sang, "I'll try! To never disappoint you..."

She bit into the cone for her ice cream with a loud crunch smiling. She wished she had that kind of talent. She wanted to sing that well. She also wanted to know if that's what she'd spend her life doing. It was all so puzzling. What was she meant to do? What was her calling? Her dream.

Obviously she wanted to be a Pokemon trainer, no doubt about that. But the kind of trainer was more of a puzzle. There were so many options, like Researcher, Performer, Coordinator, even Ninja. And she couldn't forget about the title of Pokemon Master. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. Christin sighed. There were too many options swimming around in her said.

With one final bite, Christin finished her icecream and looked up to the sky.

What am I going to do with my life?

~~~

Ash and Pikachu were the last to step of the ship. Ash stretched a little as his adorable partner mimicked his actions. Both took a deep breath. The smells of a new adventure. And some thing else. FOOD!

Both trainer and Pokemon raced off the docks, following their noses into the city of New Orilis. It had a big city vibe, a lot like Lumiose City in Kalos. However, this place had much more homely feel, not to mention it was much busier. Street vendors were nearly everywhere selling jewelry, clothes, and food. Ash started making his way to an icecream stand when all of a sudden Pikachu tugged on a tuft of his raven black hair.

"Pika pi"

"What's up buddy?"

"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu said. He pointed to a different stand which seemed to be selling supplies to travelers, like maps. 

Ash sighed. He knew it'd be for the best if he stopped for a map, but he wasn't exactly the type who liked to bother with details. Usually Brock handled that. He'd rather just get on the road and figure things out as he went along. Plus, he really wanted to taste some icecream.

Nevertheless, Ash reluctantly made his way over to the stand. In front of the stand was a ridiculously short man, with curly brown hair. He couldn't even reach the counter considering how tiny he was. He stood calling out to passersby trying to attract attention to their stand. Behind the counter were a man and a woman. The woman was tall and lean with pink hair, put up in a ponytail. The man had long blue hair just brushing his shoulders. All of them wore sunglasses, and Hawaiian shirts and leis.

"Hello," the women called out to Ash in a sing-songy voice. "I assume your a traveling trainer?"

"That's right!" Ash replied.

"Well whoop de doo! What can do for you?" the man asked cheerily. 

"Well I..." Ash paused for a moment. He squinted a little and leaned in. "Have we met before?" he suddenly asked.

"You could say that," the woman said smirking. She pulled out a strange device with a metallic hand on the end. It sprung out suddenly snatching Pikachu right off Ash's shoulder.

"Give me back my Pikachu!!!"

The group of captors laugh maniacally in response and threw off their disguises.

"Prepare for trouble, we have Pikachu!"

"And make it double, too bad for you,"

"To protect there world from devastation!"

"To unite all people, within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of leaving with out us"

"We'll reach our goals, no muss, no fuss!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare for a fight!"

"Meowth! Dat's right!" Meowth cried who had disappeared from his post and was now descending on the infamous Team Rocket balloon.

"WOOO-BUFFET!" the blue mascot shouted peeping out of the balloon

"TEAM ROCKET!" Ash shouted out as the duo of Jessie and James ran to join their escaping companions.

"The one and only," James called over his shoulder.

"PIKACHU IRON TAIL!" Ash exclaimed. Pikachu's tail glowed white before smashing the clawed contraption to bits.

"Whaaaa... Meowth, I thought you said that thing was Pika-proof!!!" Jessie exclaimed, burning with rage.

"W-w-well, it was Pika-proof, against electric attacks. Wasn't expecting the twoip, ta use his brain."

"What a pain," James ended with a annoying rhyme.

"Alright Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash exclaimed as Pikachu released a boatload of power straight towards Team Rocket.

"Wobuffet, you're up!" Jessie shouted, throwing out her hand for emphasis. With a surprising amount of speed for a blue blob, Wobuffet leaped out in front of its team, shielding them from the devastating electric attack.

"Over power it!" Ash shouted.

"Stay strong you blue buffoon!!!" Jessie screamed. 

The two Pokemon grunted as they tried to over power each other, resulting in an explosion. Team Rocket and Ash and Pikachu were sent flying.

"PIKACHU!" Ash cried out reaching for his partner. Unfortunately his partners tiny paw just barely slipped though his grip and Ash could only watch in horror as his best friend flew further and further away.

~~~

Christin was back on her bike making her way out of New Orilis. No, the lab was not in New Orilis. It was on a road leading out of the city. So the ride there should be peaceful all things considered. Christin took a deep breath, partly because the air was so nice, and partly to calm her self. She had dozens of emotions running through her thanks to the excitement of getting her first Pokemon. Although that was definitely a huge factor, there was more to it than that. The silence around her was suffocating; the only sound that could be heard was the rattling of her chains as she road down the dirt paths leading to the lab.

I hate this, she thought to herself. Is this what it'll be like? Traveling alone? No friends? Well, it's not all that different from my life now, is it? She sighed.

Christin suddenly stopped, looking up at the sky. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. It wasn't the first time either. She just had too much running through her mind. She reached up towards the sky watching the sunlight shine through the spots between her fingers.

"When...when can I...when can I know what love is?" she murmured. "I don't even need like a boyfriend or anything. Just someone...special. Someone who gets me. Who I can be myself around. Some one who...loves me for me." Her hand made a fist as though she were clutching the sun.

She shook her head and brought her hand back down on the bike handles when she suddenly heard a rustle in the bushes.

"Pi...pikachu..." A yellow rodent Pokemon stumbled out of the bushes. It looked battered, beaten, and tired. Weak. Very weak. It could barely stand as it staggered about on its four legs like he had been hit with a Dizzy Punch.

Christin immediately hopped off her bike and raced toward the wounded Pokemon. "Oh my gosh!"

"Pika!" the Pikachu cried attempting to get into a battle stance. Sparks dance and flew about its rosy cheeks.

Nevertheless, Christin continued to approach; she crouched low to the Pokemon's level and held her hands in front of her to show she wasn't a threat. She held out her hand to Pikachu's nose.

"Do I really smell like a threat to you?" she asked smiling.

Pikachu warily sniffed the girls hand and it seemed to relax a bit after doing so.

"Pika..."

"You trust me then?"

"Pika."

"Good. Now that that's out of the way," she started, as she picked him up, "let's get you some help little buddy."

With Pikachu cradled in her arms like an infant, Christin made her way back to her bike, putting her new companion in the basket on the front.

Who could've done such a thing to such an innocent Pokemon?   

Christin pedaled as fast as possible as Pikachu's cheeks sparked uncontrollably. She gritted her teeth and leaned forward looking for every possible way to speed up.

"Hang in there little guy!"

A little while later Christin had made it to the lab. It was fairly normal. Constructed of white stone. There was a staircase outside made of a similar substance. At the top of the staircase were several pillars holding up the roof covering the porch before the door.

Christin scrambled up the stairs with poor Pikachu in her arms. She slammed through the door with her shoulder, causing it to fly open.

"Aleya!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"I'm here, I'm here. Now wha... O MY GOODNESS!" the woman, who we'll assume is Aleya, cried. She had curly black flowing down her back with ends that had been dyed purple. She wore large black rimmed style glasses and a white lab coat. Along with said lab coat, she wore kakis and a purple T-shirt.

The woman rushed up and grabbed Pikachu without another word and dashed off down one of the halls to heal the poor thing. Christin closed the door behind her and was about to follow but almost immediately there was a knock at the door.

"What the..."

Christin turned and opened the door. She found a boy standing there, his hands on his knees while panting heavily. He looked beat, with scratches covering parts of his face and tears and dirt all over his clothes. His midnight black hair was disheveled even under the red cap he wore. He looked up at Christin and the first words he uttered were "Have you seen a Pikachu anywhere around here?"

That's it for now guys! Hope you enjoyed. Trying to get my life, emotions, and... well, I'm trying to get everything together. High school is a huge shift so dealing with that on top of stuff I was dealing with already is overwhelming. But I'm working on it.

Thank you to the people who've been helping me through this. Everyday has been like walking through a storm cloud but you've been my light in that storm cloud. So thank you. You've done more for me than you can even imagine.

Even people who just comment or vote on my work, I appreciate that and it really does brighten up my day.

Geez I think I gonna cry :').

Thanks again guys. See you next read