"Where are all the Cufants?" I whined out loud as Chestnaught chased away yet another Rhyhorn that had been looking for a fight. "We've been camping out here for a week, and still no sign of a single Cufant. Isn't this their favorite spot?" I grumbled as I pulled out the pokemon guide that I had found in a bookstore back in Motostoke.

I had been in Galar for a month now and things had gone extremely well. I had been endorsed by Milo, the grass gym leader, after he had found me surrounded by a herd of Wooloo. It took a while for him to extricate me from the herd of demons in sheep clothing, but he had found it so amusing that I hadn't wanted to battle them because I was afraid the pokemon I brought with me would completely destroy them, that he had endorsed me and invited me to take his gym challenge. He had been a little shocked when my Simisear that I had trained back in Unova had KO'd both of his pokemon without hardly any effort and he had told me he'd look forward to a rematch if I made it to the Championship League.

Since then I had beaten both Nessa at her water gym and Kabu the fire gym leader, although I had to bring in my Simipour to take on Kabu's gym. Simipour had been happy to be in a battle with me again, but he had gone back to the breeder's lodge I used to work at to help train other water type pokemon that trainers left there. Most of my pokemon were working there actually, and I loved getting updates from my old co-workers with pictures of them all having fun and being helpful.

Having Simipour back with me briefly though showed me that I was really in need of training up a new team here in Galar. And of course, I immediately had gone off on a quest to find me a Cufant. The lady at the bookstore had promised that the information in the guide I had bought was accurate and had been compiled using data from lots of different trainers who had explored the Wild Area, which was an expanse of nature where Pokemon could grow wild and free in the heart of Galar.

"Chesnaught ches ches naught," Chesnaught said with a clenched fist, smiling at me encouragingly. I felt one corner of my lips tweak up and I chuckled lightly, running a hand through my curly bangs.

"You're right. I'm being impatient. And you're having a grand old time beating up on random pokemon aren't you," I said with a teasing grin at my starter, who placed his large hands behind his head and grinned innocently.

A rustling sound caught my attention and I turned quickly, hoping that by some miracle it was the adorable steel type that I had been waiting for for so long. A stumpy pokemon with large flower petals on its head walked out though and I could feel my shoulders slumping.

"Just a Vileplume," I said with a sigh, turning away to continue on my search. A gust of wind from my over-eager partner whooshing past me made my eyes widen. "Chesnaught, what..?" I said, turning around and feeling my chest tighten slightly.

I watched with horror as Chesnaught leaped several feet through the air to land directly in front of the Vileplume, letting out a challenging roar. The Vileplume jumped a foot in the air and let out a terrified screech before falling onto its back and wiggling around like a Torkoal who had landed on his shell. Chesnaught sputtered, trying to hold back his laughter at this unexpected bit of fun but I did NOT find it amusing.

"Chesnaught, you idiot, get away from it!" I yelled, running over towards my currently less-than-bright starter. He looked over at me with an expression filled with innocent confusion, but the Vileplume had righted itself and had squatted down to aim the hole in the middle of its flower directly at Chesnaught's face.

"Chesnaught!" I cried, reaching his side and shoving him as hard as I possibly could just as the Vileplume let loose a cloud of paralyzing stun spore. The spores surrounded me and I coughed horribly as the shimmering substance tried to wind its way through my nose and mouth. My limbs began to jerk sporadically as the spores took their effect and I gritted my teeth as I tried my best to stay on my feet.

My eyes were tearing up and all of my senses began to feel funny, but I could hear Chesnaught's enraged cry and several flashes of green Pin Missiles whizzed past me, striking the Vileplume and sending it sailing away from us. The paralysis was setting in and I stumbled as my feet went numb. Strong arms cradled me against a hard surface and I blinked, trying to make my vision clear up so I could see what was going on. I could vaguely feel my body jerking along and I figured that Chesnaught was trying to carry me to find help. I tried to pat his arm to let him know I'd be okay, but my arm wasn't responding to my brain's commands and just hung limply against my stomach.

"M'kay," I wheezed out, trying once again to make my body respond to me. "Ches... m' okay."

Things got even fuzzier and my vision was getting more and more distorted as Chesnaught continued to run desperately. We came to a stop so suddenly I felt my body pitch forward, but Chesnaught held me tighter and changed directions, calling out to whoever he had spotted. My breathing was starting to get labored and I hazily wondered if some of the spores had made their way to my lungs.

Crap. That's not good, I thought to myself, feeling strangely calm.

I blacked out for a minute but when I opened my eyes again Chesnaught was laying me down in the grass and seemed to be trying to communicate with someone. My ears picked up sounds of gasping, but it took me a second to realize that I was the one making those noises.

Hmm. I guess my lungs really are shutting down, I thought to myself and I heard a slightly hysterical chuckle coming out of me. Who needs 'em anyway? Breathing is overrated.

Nearly my entire body was numb at this point, but I could feel something slip behind my neck and tilt my head up. Air began trickling a little smoother down into my lungs and I forced my eyelids open. Something purple was dangling up above me. I tried to say something, but no words came out and I slowly sank into unconsciousness.

* * * * * *

"You're not going to get very far if you just stick to Fire, Water, and Grass types, Sayuri," a deep voice said into the darkness.

"But all of my pokemon work really hard! They can even win in most battles where they're at a disadvantage," my voice responded enthusiastically and I cringed as I heard the hint of desperation-to-please hidden in it.

"You're going up against the best of the best in the league, Sayuri. You can't just skate along on your faith in your pokemon," the deep voice said patronizingly.

"I don't really need to get far in the league," my voice said, sounding small and dejected. "All I want is to cheer you on when you go up against Alder," I said, sounding nauseatingly loyal.

"Hmph. That's why you're my girlfriend," his deep voice said, but his tone was cold and almost mocking.

"Jerk." My whisper shook me out of the dream/memory and I slowly opened my eyes.

"Really? First thing out of your mouth you're insulting your savior? Pathetic."

My entire body stiffened at the deep voice coming from somewhere behind me. I jerked around to see who it was. but it felt like a miniature bomb exploded in my head and I clutched at it, curling into a fetal position and hissing until the pain began to slowly subside.

"Easy does it, Dimwit. That stun spore nearly killed you," the deep voice drawled without a hint of concern and I forced myself to raise my head a bit so I could look through my watery eyes at the guy who had saved me.

Chesnaught suddenly jumped in front of me though, blocking my view of who belonged to the deep voice. I forced myself to smile as I gently stroked Chesnaught's head, assuring him that I was okay and thanking him for saving me. I heard an annoyed hmph coming from behind Chesnaught and he turned to the side, finally revealing the person who had helped me.

I frowned slightly as I looked at the oddly familiar trainer with shaggy purple hair. He was sitting with one leg propped up and looking over at us with a look that seemed to say this all was a complete waste of his time. His dark eyes flashed with inner strength and I wondered why I had this overwhelming sense that I had seen him before.

"Thank you," I said, wishing I could be as rude as this guy was acting, but knowing that if he hadn't intervened I might have seen my last sunrise.

"What kind of idiot walks into a stun spore attack? You realize humans are way more susceptible to its effects, right?" the guy said with disdain and I grit my teeth to keep from lashing out at him. Since I owed him my life, I figured I should at least be civil towards him.

"I didn't walk into it on purpose. I was trying to protect Chesnaught," I said as calmly as I could manage. The guy actually snorted at me with obvious contempt and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're kidding? He's a pokemon. His body is built to withstand moves like that," the guy said without sympathy and I glowered over at him, really and truly trying to keep my temper under control.

"Not all pokemon are made equal," I spat towards him, standing and swiping at my knees and backside to get the grass and dirt off me.

"So you're just an overprotective idiot who can't stand to see her pokemon hurt," the guy said with a sneer. That was it. I whirled around and Chesnaught caught me by the waist before I could punch the condescending twit.

"He's allergic to stun spore, genius," I snarled at him, feeling my fury causing my entire body to tremble. "If he took on a direct hit like that he would have died."

The purple-haired guy's eyes widened in surprise and he slowly tilted his head as if pondering this revelation.

"I've never heard of a pokemon having an allergy to a pokemon move before," he said, sounding genuinely surprised instead of mistrustful, which helped me relax a bit.

"Nurse Joy says it's really rare. About one in a thousand have a gene where status moves like stun spore or even sleep powder can cause a reaction and make their throats swell until they can't breathe. Like people who have an allergy to peanuts," I explained, gently patting Chesnaught's arm so he knew I was okay. He released me from his grip and I smiled at him, feeling relieved that we were both okay.

"Hmm. That's a pretty big handicap," the guy said, looking at my Chesnaught with interest. "I wonder how he's made it to his final evolution with you babying him."

Choice A: Challenge him to a battle

Choice B: Stand up for your training style

A/N Hey! For those who didn't read Drew's Route, the way this works is if you choose Choice A then go on to the next chapter. If you choose B then skip the next chapter and go to the next one. They'll be labeled appropriately. I hope you all enjoy the story!