Flora's Pov

"That was quite the show you put on" a familiar reporter walked up to me after I defeated Fantina, Hearthome City's gym leader. I faced the reporter without a camera man. The closer I looked at her, the more I recognized her to be the same lady that interviewed Flame back in the stadium.

"You..." I was confused to see her here "What do you need? I'm unable to have an interview at the moment"

"I know it's not my business, but are you alright?" She frowned "I saw what happened with you and that old dude, but I didn't hear anything" I looked down "I told your friend what happened. I watched them leave together"

"I see..." so Flame went with him after all... "I'm glad I know now. Thanks... If you don't mind, I'm in a hurry" she held her hip as I walked pass her.

"You're a trainer" she said, making me stop "I don't know what happened between the conversation you and your friend had with that old man, but the way you battled with the gym leader seemed to show that you were looking for a purpose. I'd like to know if I can help you out. You seemed really sad to leave your friend"

"I was... I need more Pokémon to build my team" she nodded.

"In that case" she dug in her pocket and handed me a Pokéball, surprising me "Why don't you take this?"

"You're giving me a Pokémon!?" She chuckled.

"A good friend of mine farms tons of Eevees. He gave me this little guy, but I don't have enough time to properly take care of him. I've been looking for some strong trainers to adopt him. What do you say?"

"This... is so sudden! Is this because you feel pity towards me?"

"Well, it wasn't my business about what happened, but I hated to see how sad you guys looked. You looked like you had so much chemistry during the contest" she blushed a bit "It was very sweet how you two held hands during the show. I really admired your performance" she looked shy all of a sudden "Don't think of it as something out of pity, but as something that a fan wanted to gift you to make sure you can be happy" I slowly took the ball and held her hands, surprising her.

"You're a fan, then. You're so kind. You saw me struggling and wanted to help. Thank you for supporting me" her cheeks went bright red "I'll take care of this Pokémon. My name is Flora, by the way" she smiled.

"I'm Bebe..." she released the Pokémon from the ball and revealed an Eevee! So cute! "Eevee is almost a year old, so it's capable of helping you out" Eevee smiled up at me. I picked it up and let it lick my cheek.

"I didn't expect to be handed a Pokémon from a fan. I'm kinda embarrassed" I blushed "Thank you so much!"

"No, thank you for giving Eevee a chance for a better home! Whatever you're doing, do your best!" I nodded happily "I better go, but please let me have an interview the next time we meet!" She waved as she walked away.

"Sure!" I looked down at Eevee "Nice to meet you! I'm Flora" Eevee smiled and cried out "Your trainer gave you to me to take better care of you. She was looking out for both of us! I need more fighters on my team, so are you willing to help me save the world?"

"Ee?" Eevee looked confused.

"Don't worry, I'll train you so you can be the best you can be" I stored Eevee in my bag "Stay in there for a moment, I'll go look for something to eat-" Eevee started glowing. I panicked and took it out as it evolved into a Vaporeon. The water stone in my bag!!

"I-I evolved you on accident!" I gasped, forgetting that I had this evolutionary stones in my bag "Not exactly what I expected" Eevee- I mean Vaporeon, started chasing it's new tail "This will be my first water Pokémon in the team. That'll make you useful" I smiled. It cheered and cuddled into my neck, making me laugh "Come on, let's go get some food before we head to the next city"

After a well balanced meal after beating the Pokémon gym, Tropius flew us back to the stadium, where it was empty "there's no way Flame would still be here" I sighed and walked towards the route where Flame and I left off. It wouldn't be smart to head straight to a new city without training. Anything can happen in the city, and I have to be prepared for anything.

The road through the route was so rainy and humid that I ended up being in a bad mood the entire time. My Pokémon were too scared of me to try to cheer me up. With how uncomfortable I was, I could probably rip someone's head off.

Before arriving to Veilstone City, the rain had stopped and I was able to wash up in the river so I wouldn't be too bad of a bad mood upon my arrival.

The city was vaguely large and full of tall buildings. I heard it was famous for its department store, so I went to buy some supplies before searching the city for anything suspicious.

Walking around the city was more difficult than I thought, especially without Flame. He was great at navigating and always made sure we were okay on our journey. Because I've been so stressed out and training in the middle of the rain, my body had grown weak and I could hardly walk.

My vision started to get blurry. I wobbled in place before the road started moving sideways. It felt hot and I think I ended up in someone's arms "Flame..?" I looked around to see who caught me. A girl with short hair and a large man were standing over me while the girl held me in her arms.

"Hey! Are you alright?!" She asked me as my eyes were getting heavy "You're burning up!"

"I've been training all week in the rain..." I ended up telling her. My head was spinning... "Flame..." I started crying.

"You must've worked yourself too hard. It's not good to push yourself like that, especially when you're not use to training in the rain" the girl frowned.

"Let's get her to your place so she can rest" the man said. The girl nodded and picked me up like I didn't weigh a thing. Whoa...

"Don't worry" she smiled at me "You're in good hands. The two of us are gym leaders" gym leaders..? "I'm pretty strong, so I got you" I didn't have the energy to fight them away if I thought they were good or bad. Either way, it was my fault for pushing myself like this. I should've thought of my own health before deciding that I should take on an entire evil organization later. I just need some rest... after that...

Flame's Pov

I watched the training grounds full of Team grunts training under my teachings. Now that I'm back in the hideout, I decided to train everyone as much as I can so they can be better trainers and not lose to little girls who are half their age.

The entire time I've been away from Flora, the more I start to think about her day and night. No matter how much I try to distract myself to stop thinking about her, it never works.

"Keep going!" I shouted at the grunts training and starting to slack "Did I say you can take a break?! I expect more from people who have benefits from this company! Show some performance or you'll lose those damn privileges!" Everyone started working faster again "Idiots"

"Nice to see you back and working, bro" Saturn smiled.

"What do you want, Ferrel?" I called him by the name he hated.

"It's Saturn" he snarled.

"Does it look like I give a fuck?" I asked him, unamused. He rolled his eyes and looked at the grunts training.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" He asked.

"You want to join them?" He quickly shook his head.

"Did you manage to get your Pokémon back?" I nodded "Great! What happened?"

"Caught the guy you described while flying and took care of it"

"That's good. I'm glad I was there at least. You might've completely lost them if it weren't for my quick thinking" I shook my head, not amused.

"Status report" I said.

"We are still on the search for the legendary Pokémon of the lake in Lake Valor, but it's difficult due to the amount of water-"

"You're smart. Figure it out"

"B-But?"

"What?" I glared at him, making him gulp "Do whatever it takes, Ferrel. We need those Pokémon of the lake for our mission. You shouldn't rely every little detail on me! That'll just show how useless all of you are!" he started sweating and nodded.

"Roger that!" He ran off. I sighed and looked over at the training ground to see Charon watching me. I glared hard at him for what he did to Flora and me.

"If you have time to stand around and watch, why don't you go down with the grunts and train! You pathetic piece of-" I held the ridge of my nose to control myself "GET TO WORK!" Charon quickly ran off to do what I said.

I hate this so much... I have better control of my anger when I'm around Flora. I'm always giving a smile to her and always laughed when she did something silly. The thought of her smiling brought a smile to mine. I miss her so much...

I peaked up to see some grunts watching me smiling to myself. I popped a vain and pointed at a random grunt watching me "Give me 20 laps for not doing what I asked you to do properly! That goes for anyone else who wants to be nosy!" Many of them started running their lap, no questions asked. I held my pounding head and groaned at the pain. I hate this... I hate this so much. This is another main reason why I rather stay with Flora than work with these idiots... Flora, please be alright... wherever you are.

Flora's Pov

"Hey, you're awake" I heard at the same time I opened my eyes while in a comfy bed. I felt like it's been awhile since I slept in one. I looked up at the girl who caught me the other day and saw her taking off the towel from my head.

"Yeah..." I said to her. She picked up a thermometer to put into my mouth to check my temperature.

"You've had a fever for the pass few days now. I got the doctor to come in and make sure you were okay and to see if you needed to be hospitalized, but as long as the fever is able to go down, you didn't have to go" she took the thermometer from my mouth to read "It's still a bit high, but a lot better than before"

"Have I been asleep for those pass few days I've been here?" I asked.

"Looks like you don't remember waking up to eat, but yes! You were mostly asleep for the pass few days" I held my forehead, not believing I did this to myself.

"Thank you for being so kind as to letting me stay here. My mom was worried for leaving her sight, and I ended up doing something that would make her worried. Flame would had been upset that I did something so reckless"

"Is this Flame person your boyfriend?" I shook my head "You have good people in your life if they would worry about you like that. Can you sit up? I'll get you something to eat" she helped me sit up and left the room I was in to come back with a tray of food "You'll need all the energy you can get" I thanked her and started eating "What were you doing that made you like this?"

"I was training in the rain"

"I see... It must've been something you're not use to. Crasher and I do that often to train as well" I looked at her confused "He's the guy I was with when you collapsed. We're both gym leaders"

"Can I have a battle?" I immediately said.

"Sure! But I want to make sure you're alright first, alright?" I nodded and finished up my food before I was able to take a walk with the girl, Maylene. She took me to her battlefield and faced me "How are you doing?" I checked out my body.

"I feel well. Other than being a bit warm. Thank you again" I smiled. She smiled back and held her hips while I gazed around her gym. There's a lot of gym equipment here... "I have something important I have to do, which means I need to become stronger. I battled Fantina around last week before training in the route"

"Getting stronger is one thing, but you shouldn't rush yourself. If you're able to battle now, I'm willing to help you out and even teach you some strategies after the battle" she winked. I put my hands together amazed, glad I found someone who is kind enough to take care of me while I was sick and teach me to get better!

"Okay!" I battled against her fighting type Pokémon with a passion. I admired the way she battled with them. It was like they were in synced because of how well they can do martial arts. My Meganium, who evolved from Bayleef back in the route with Lopunny, who evolved from Buneary, took on two of Maylene's Pokémon before I switched out to Lopunny. This made our battle victorious!

With a win, I was given a gym badge and lessons on proper strategy. I was taught that it was good to fight with my Pokémon, not just watch them do it. I understood perfectly, knowing it didn't have to be physically to be able to fight with your Pokémon.

After a brief lesson she got me and my Pokémon to use the gym equipment for awhile, It had seemed like I don't know my own strength while I was thinking about Team Galactic taking Flame from me.

"S-Sorry..." I nervously laughed, standing next to a broken punching bag. Maylene and her crew had their jaws to the floor.

"I like you" Maylene laughed "You and I are pretty small, but we know how to punch!" We laughed together before I had to leave to find Team Galactic. I was sad that I couldn't spend more time with her, but there's things that must come first.

"Where do I even start?" I whined, looking around. From the corner of my eye, I spotted someone in that tacky spacesuit outfit "You!" I glared. He looked at me once and got scared bad enough that he started running "Get back here!!" I chased after him, slightly sore from what I've been through, and followed him all the way to the back of a large building.

The grunt running from me went pass two other grunts who were standing guard by the entrance of probably a warehouse "I finally found you!" I faced the three grunts watching me.

"Who is this?" One of them asked.

"I think she's the one that's been causing us trouble. Didn't they say she had lavender hair and was really short?" The other said, making me pout. Who cares about my height!?

"Shut up and tell me about this place! Is this your headquarters!?" I asked, taking out my Meganium and Tropius. The two guards got cautious and sent out their own Pokémon while the one that ran from me was pointing a red device towards my Pokémon.