Cris had always been indecisive. He never knew which clothes to wear for going out. He could never decide on what to order from restaurants. He couldn't even choose which pokemon would be his partner when he was old enough to receive one and go adventuring out of his home, Jade Village. Eventually, time passed him by and he felt that he was 'rushed' when he chose his partner pokemon which was a Riolu. Although, currently on his journey, he grew with Riolu so much that he realized he didn't regret that decision. But for the rest of his choices well, he usually did.

Cris woke up from a dreamless sleep. Most nights we're usually like that. He was staying at one of the Pokemon Centers in the grand Quartz City, home to several species of Pokemon from different places of origin. Quartz City was the largest of all the cities in his region, and by far the cleanest which explained the great numbers of wild Pokemon living nearby and even in the city itself. Cris chose to head to this city first way back when he started out with just his curious little Riolu.

He glanced sideways from his bed to see how proudly his partner Pokemon had grown since that day. His Riolu was now a full grown Lucario and it was still snoozing beside him on the floor as the first light of the day was slowly creeping into the window of the room that they stayed in.

Cris quietly got out of bed and stretched a bit, hopefully not disturbing Lucario while doing so. He then began to go about his morning routine to prepare for his departure from Quartz City.

Cris had traveled only a short distance from his village to the city he was currently staying in because it was the closest one from home, and he was still getting the hang of travelling around and getting surprised by wild Pokemon who either want to battle or just have some of the pastry he was eating. Now that both he and his Lucario were more used to the life of a Pokemon Trainer, they planned to leave Quartz City behind and travel to the rest of the cities of his region.

He had on some long jean shorts, a plain black shirt under his semi-long sleeved blue hoodie and a pair of grey sneakers with blue highlights. Once he was packed and ready to leave the room he had in the Pokemon Center, Cris gently woke his Lucario and said softly, "Hey buddy, it's time to get up. We're leaving soon to get to the next city today, remember?" Instantly, his Lucario's eyes opened and growled a soft response back, then stood up. Cris and Lucario left their room after fixing up the bed, cabinets, and bathroom even though there were people who did that as soon as you check out of the room.

"Thank you for staying with us and we wish you luck on your journey ahead!" The Pokemon Nurse said cheerily as Cris informed her of their departure. "Thank you too for everything!" Cris greeted back then he and Lucario headed out the doors of the Pokemon Center and stepped into the still-slumbering Quartz City. The tall buildings reflected the early morning light which helped brighten up the roads and walkways as Cris and Lucario began their journey to the next city over to find more opportunities.

Cris had offered Lucario if it wanted to stay in its Pokeball for the whole walk to Sapphire City, but Lucario refused and turned it's head away from the ball. Cris thought it was because Lucario wanted to keep him safe when he traversed the Pokemon-filled forest that divided the two cities.

Regardless of reasons, Cris and Lucario continued to walk to one of the exits of Quartz City that led to Sapphire City via a very vast forest. Cris thought Sapphire City was the next best option to find a career or at least some goal that he wanted in life that would make him the happiest. He knew it wasn't enough to just read or learn about it from others back in his village, which was why he became a Pokemon Trainer

(well, kind of a Pokemon Trainer. He just needed a companion to be with him on his journey, and Lucario was the best option in his opinion).

Walking along the sidewalks, Cris looked around at the beautiful structures and monuments made of marble and the purest quartz, hence the city's name, that was slowly coming alive as more and more people started appearing and going about their daily routines and jobs and whatnots. They were almost at the city's border, and the forest's entrance, when someone called out to him from behind, "Hey you! The one with the Lucario."

Cris turned around to face the one who called out to him. To his surprise it was just a kid. Well, to be fair Cris himself was technically still a kid, but he was definitely old enough to be given some form of credit or responsibility for important things like making calls and appointments, or going out to explore the city on his own and stuff, he has been doing just that these past couple of weeks.

Cris walked towards the kid in the most nonthreatening way he could and gave him a polite smile. "Hello, you called to me? What's your name? I'm Cris, this is my partner Lucario." Cris said while gesturing to his Lucario, who grunted a response accordingly. The kid looked at them with a kind of unexplainable anger mixed with great passion reflecting in his eyes.

Then he said firmly, "I'm Nate, and I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" Cris was stumped. Surely the kid didn't mean that? Cris was certain this kid, Nate, knew that he was much older and more skilled as a trainer compared to him. Hmm, how do I turn him down without making him mad, or worse, cry? Cris thought as little Nate continued to look into his eyes with the same intensity as before.

Cris breathed in deeply, "Oh I'm sorry Nate, but I'm kind of busy right now, I have places I need to be. Maybe we can battle later on in the future?" The kid's response to Cris was unexpectedly sharp, "I know I'm still a kid, but I know when someone doesn't want to battle against me just because I'm younger." Nate then pointed at Cris' Lucario and declared, "I'm one hundred percent sure I can beat you and your Lucario in a Pokemon battle. So let's just DO THIS!" There was no backing down with this kid, he thought. Cris contemplated this for a bit and glanced at Lucario. It also looked like it didn't want to fight the kid's Pokemon.

Finally Cris caved and said, "Alright then, I'll battle you. Let me just..." He looked around for someone who could be the referee for the match and found a woman walking by who didn't look like she was in a hurry. Cris approached her and asked, "Excuse me miss, but do you know how to preside over a Pokemon battle? That kid over there really wants to have one against me." She looked from Cris, to his Lucario, then to the kid Cris was referring to and said in a sweet voice, "I've seen enough Pokemon battles to understand being the referee. I suppose I could if that cutie over there really wants to."

Delighted, Cris thanked her and called for Nate to get ready with his Pokemon. They went to the closest playground area to use as the battlefield and Cris whispered to Lucario, even though they were far away enough from Nate to hear them, "Hey, I think both you and I don't want to fight him, but let's just fight him not with our full force okay? We don't want to hurt his feelings either so let's give him just the right amount of fight alright?" Lucario looked at him as if understanding him exactly. Lucario was able to understand human feelings and emotion with its Aura abilities.

"Okay. Lucario, let's win his one!" Cris called as Lucario jumped high and landed into the battlefield, brimming with enthusiasm. Despite him believing that being a Pokemon Trainer wasn't the thing for him, he certainly always got excited when battling against other people and their Pokemon, even little kids like Nate.

Nate gave a little smirk and threw a Pokeball into his side of the battlefield and yelled, "Nu-uh, WE'RE gonna win this, right Charmeleon?" As if on cue, a Charmeleon emerged from the tossed Pokemon and gave a loud growl of agreement.

The woman who Cris tapped to be the referee of the match called out, "The rules for this battle are simple. It will be a one on one Pokemon battle and whoever's Pokemon will knock out the other will be the victor. Are you ready? Battle begin!"

At this, Nate's Charmeleon leapt forward as its trainer called out the command, "Use Metal Claw, Charmeleon!" Cris' instinct for battling immediately kicked in and he said, "Lucario, let's counter that with Extreme Speed." Lucario then burst into action and gave a quick and not too hard jab to Charmeleon's stomach area before it could connect its steel hard claws to Lucario.

Charmeleon jumped back, a bit disoriented, but otherwise still raging with fire, both literally and figuratively. Nate looked a little annoyed yet impressed at this and stuttered out his next command, "A-alright then, Charmeleon let's hit them with Flamethrower instead. And quickly!"

This time, Cris called out, "Dodge it Lucario." But both he and Lucario knew that they should at least let Nate and Charmeleon have a few hits in so Lucario dodged slower than usual which had its results. The Flamethrower connected against Lucario, but it wasn't a direct hit. Still, being a Steel Type meant that Lucario took more damage than usual, even though the Charmeleon still seemed like it was inexperienced.

Cris gave a half concerned face and said, "You alright Lucario? Let's hit 'em with a counterattack. Use Power-Up Punch!" At this, Lucario quickly got close to the opposing Pokemon and landed the move with his glowing fist. Charmeleon was knocked off of its place and was sent flying closer to Nate. Nate started to panic, "Charmeleon! Are you okay pal?" Cris thought that he should've called for a lighter move to keep the battle going for the kid's sake, but the Charmeleon stood up and still looked in good shape.

Cris grinned at this and called to Nate, "Hey, your Charmeleon is pretty strong. I guess that means you're raising it right kid." Nate beamed at this complement and yelled back, "Really? Well prepare to be amazed, 'cus we're just getting started!" Cris grinned again and prepared for a much longer, but more fun battle ahead of them

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Charmeleon slowly fell to the ground, clearly tired and unable to keep going. By this time, the whole city was awake now and going about their day working and running businesses. It was around close to noon, and only then Nate's Charmeleon gradually got tired and eventually got knocked out with Lucario's Extreme Speed. The woman, who clearly looked like she had places to be at that time now, called out, "Charmeleon is unable to battle which makes Lucario the winner!"

After that, she gathered her bag and other things, walked towards Cris and said, "I'm sorry if I have to leave in a hurry like this. I thought your little battle here would be quick considering you look like you could have easily won that. Anyways, goodbye and take care!" She yelled the last part so that Nate could hear it too, then rushed towards one of the roads that zigzagged the city. Cris approached the kid, who had bent down to hold his Charmeleon on his lap. "That was a fun battle Nate! You fought well with your Charmeleon. You should be proud of yourselves."

The little kid didn't say anything. He looked like he was thinking a lot of thoughts about the whole battle. Then he looked up at Cris with sad eyes that looked like they might cry out buckets full of tears. Cris began to panic, then the kid said, "I said I was a hundred percent sure I could win..." Cris knelt down beside the kid to comfort him. "Hey, hey it's alright. Was this your first battle?" Nate nodded, "Charmeleon and I trained so hard battling the wild Pokemon around here, when Charmeleon finally evolved... I thought I could beat you when I saw you today."

Cris felt a bit guilty for dragging the battle on for a bit too long and still winning against this kid. He said to him soothingly, "Don't let this loss get you down Nate, you gave it your best effort and Charmeleon really tried its hardest for you. If you both keep that up when training and battling more trainers, then I'm sure you two will become great partners." Lucario also joined them there on the ground and grunted reassuringly to Nate's Charmeleon. Both Nate and Charmeleon's expressions then changed to a happy and more determined face.

Cris chuckled softly and reached into his pocket. He handed the little kid some money and said, "Here, go buy some food for you and your partner. You both deserve it." At the sight of the money, Nate looked even more happy and quickly accepted it, "Oh thank you thank you mister! I promise Charmeleon and I will keep training and be stronger." With that, the little kid ran off towards the nearest Mini Mart with his Charmeleon, both suddenly filled with energy at the thought of being able to get food for free.

Cris laughed as he watched the two happily skipping together. He got up and walked towards his things, Lucario following him. Even if their battle was against an inexperienced trainer and his Charmeleon, the length of the battle took its toll on Lucario and it looked like it needed some time in the Pokemon Center. Cris noticed this immediately when he looked at Lucario.

Then he said half to himself and half to Lucario, "You know, if you just went into your Pokeball, we could have avoided that battle. Would've save us time too, but now almost half the day's gone." Cris was joking obviously, but Lucario just gave him a curious look with a kind of disappointed growl. Cris laughed again, "Relax, it was a joke! Now let's get you to a Pokemon Center and head to the forest before more trainers start looking for battles." They made their way to the nearest Pokemon Center and were about to enter it when a girl appeared from an alley and blocked their path.

She wore jeans with a loose fitting green hoodie that had circular patterns all over it like a Pokemon's eyes when it got confused. The girl looked around Cris' age and she spoke with a high pitch voice, but spoke seriously enough to make him listen to her, "That's kind of mean, what you did there, battling that kid." Cris was a bit confused at this until he realized she must've been talking about the fight against Nate.

He spoke quickly, "Oh no no, the little kid really wanted to battle. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by beating him too quickly, right Lucario?" His Lucario gave a half hostile, half agreeing growl. The girl didn't seem convinced, "So you you dragged the battle to last like, practically half the day?" Cris was dumbfounded. How did she know that? How long had she been watching him? Was this girl bad news? What does she want from him? Is she working for one of those evil gangs?

He gathered his spread out thoughts and asked, "Okay, first of all, how long have you been watching me? It's kind of creepy that you know that. Secondly, I didn't mean to make it last that long, I wasn't toying with him, honest. And thirdly," he paused, eyeing her top to bottom, "What did that battle have to do with you?" The girl kind of got caught off guard by his response and Cris immediately knew that she was probably just a concerned person passing by when the battle started.

It was the girl's turn to look speechless. Cris waited for a response as he and Lucario gave each other looks of curiosity for this mystery person. Finally, she replied, "Alright yeah I admit I was watching you for a while now, I wasn't being creepy, I was being cautious. At first, you looked like the kind of trainer who went around bullying younger and weaker trainers like that kid a while ago. I just can't stand them. Those who do that aren't worthy of being called Pokemon Trainers."

Cris was slightly flattered at her response but replied, "Oh I'm not exactly a Pokemon Trainer either..." She looked at him, confused, "What about your Lucario? Doesn't being his trainer mean that your are a Pokemon Trainer?" Cris was silent at this response. He always considered his Lucario as his friend and companion, but not really as his Pokemon and him as its trainer. "Hmm, yeah I guess it does. But the reason for the journey I'm on right now is to find something that I can be in life. You know, like my life goal? Do you have a life goal?"

She answered simply, "That's a question I'd answer if my close friends asked that. If you ask me, we're not at that level yet." She gave a sly grin as she slowly walked back into the alley she appeared out of. "But we'll just have to wait and see, don't we?" She said as she gradually sounded more and more far away. Cris tried to follow her into the alley but he saw her at the roof of the house that made the alley a dead end and disappeared from view.

"That was weird. Who was she?" Cris then resumed to get Lucario to the Pokemon Center to rest it up. Once Lucario had sufficiently rested, they both headed to the direction that they were aiming for ever since that morning. They reached the forest entrance and Cris heaved a great sigh. "I woke up early this morning to get a head start for Sapphire City, but I guess we're just on schedule?"

Just another day in the life of Cris as a 'kind of' Pokemon Trainer looking for his life goal across the cities of his region. He entered the forest feeling a little growl from his stomach. Whoops, forgot to get some lunch before leaving. Ah well, I'll just eat when I get there. It can't be that far from Quartz City, can it?