Cris walked slowly through the forest, trying to be stealthy so as not to disturb wild Pokemon that might be too powerful for his Lucario. Stone Forest was home to numerous wild Pokemon, even more compared to Quartz City. Cris had to be careful, because if he encounters even a single Pokemon, there's no doubt it would have buddies to back it up close by.

The forest itself wasn't too hard to travel in, since there were well-worn paths made by many other travelling trainers and people. All Cris had to do was follow the path they made all the way to Sapphire City. All he knew about the next city he was going to was that it was well known for its people and their talents.

Sapphire City would always have these kind of festivals so that they can showcase all of the talents that each person had to offer. Cris thought it was a wonderful idea to have talent-festivals and he thought for sure he'd find something that he would want to go after with his life, whether with his Pokemon or without (but, he'd much rather have a dream to achieve with his Pokemon, even though it was just him and his Lucario at the moment).

After some time walking in the dense forest, Cris managed to relax a bit and enjoy the amazing sights and different smells of Stone Forest. He noticed that the trees and plants around him weren't just growing haphazardly and with no control.

Each plant seemed to have their own boundaries that every other plant respected. And if some trees did meet near their branches, then it would form into a thick and strong canopy overhead, making a covered pathway for all those who travelled through the forest. Cris breathed in the fresh forest air and exclaimed, "Wow, this place is so calming. You could really feel the life all around you huh Lucario?"

Lucario took a deep breath, as if completely understanding what Cris said. Of course Lucario understands, we've been together for weeks now. He even evolved while we were training in Quartz City. Cris thought to himself, feeling like it happened so long ago. He felt a strong connection with his Lucario too, like the only thing that kept them from talking for hours was Lucario's inability to speak human language.

Conversations could still happen between them, it would just be filled with Lucario's grunts and growls half the time.

Cris and Lucario walked for what seemed like hours and hours along the same dirt path in the forest, hoping to finally reach the next city, which Cris hoped would finally be the place where he finds his dream life goal. While his thoughts swam around in his head, shifting and switching from Pokemon battles to the diverse cities he'll visit, Cris' thoughts suddenly went to his encounter with that girl near the Pokemon Center.

While she wasn't exactly part of any evil organization, she did seem like a person who held mysteries and secrets. Being the paranoid person that he is, Cris cautiously looked around him to see if the mysterious girl was following and spying on him. He didn't think she'd follow him even this far, surely her home was in Quartz City and she had to be with her family, right?

Cris stopped walking to listen for another set of footsteps that might give the impression that the girl was following him. Lucario noticed him not walking anymore and walked back to him wearing a concerned expression. Cris just smiled and reassured his partner, "It's nothing buddy. I was just thinking of that girl we met back at Quartz City. I'm just paranoid, thinking she might be following us, y'know?"

Sensing it's trainer's worry, Lucario walked over a few steps behind Cris and focused. Its Aura emanating from all over its body as Lucario looked for any possible life forms other than wild Pokemon around them. Once Lucario opened its eyes, it immediately looked at one of the really tall trees a little ways away from them and put on a burst of speed.

Lucario had used Extreme Speed to hit the tree it was looking at with so much force, Cris felt the ground shudder a bit as Lucario's power surged through the tree and into the ground. As the effects of the Extreme Speed reached the leaf-covered branches overhead, something dislodged from them and started falling; an alarmingly large something.

Lucario jumped back and watched the thing tumble against the lower branches of the tree. With a yelp of surprise and concern, Cris realized it was a person falling, "Ah! Lucario use Aura Sphere!" Lucario focused and shot an Aura Sphere right under the falling person.

The force of the blast managed to reposition the person and hold them in the air long enough for Lucario to catch them in its arms. Cris ran over to the two, hoping whoever it was that fell wasn't hurt. The person in Lucario's arms was wearing a cloak of some kind made out of leaves the color of the ones overhead. Lucario set them down and pulled back the leaf-cloak's hood to reveal the girl from Quartz City.

"Ah hah! I knew something was watching me!" Cris accusingly pointed at her, even though it was just a random passing thought, and not so much as a hunch that she was still following him. The girl looked at them, embarrassed. She stood up and pulled off the cloak she was wearing, "I'm sorry okay? To be honest I just wanted to talk to you and maybe join you on your journey...?" Cris crossed his arms at her and regarded this for a while.

She stuck out her hand to offer a handshake, "It's only fair I start with introducing myself first. I'm Bliss nice to meet you uh... again." Cris hesitated, then took her hand and shook it saying, "Cris, and my partner Lucario over there is the one that saved you." Bliss looked over to Lucario and gave it a few pats on the head, "Aw thanks Lucario! Though my own partner Pokemon could've saved me had it not been staying inside its Pokeball." Lucario did a little purring sound as Bliss continued to pat it.

Cris had so many questions for her since their first encounter. He decided to start with, "Okay, I understand that you'd probably follow me from a short distance because you wanted to talk to me, but why exactly were you being all stealthy and spying on me?"

Bliss looked at him, clearly embarrassed again by his question but she answered anyway, "I was trying to figure out how to approach you, seeing as our first encounter ended with me looking like a sketchy and weird person. I had to leave so quickly because I had to get back to my kid brother who I was supposed to be babysitting at that time. I went out early in the morning get some groceries when I saw you battling against a kid so I thought I'd watch to see how it went."

As awkward and lonely as she sounded, Cris thought he'd give her a chance. So she did live in Quartz City. Cris thought. He then asked her his next question, "Okay, how did you end up on that roof when we first met though? Are you like an expert climber? You even got up on that really tall tree over there." Bliss said simply, "Oh that's easy, it was Psychic." Cris' eyes grew wide with disbelief, "Wait, you're a psychic?"

Bliss laughed at this and brought out a Pokeball, "No no, I meant it was the move Psychic that my partner used." She tossed the Pokeball ahead of them and a Gardevoir emerged from it in an elegant flourish. Bliss said, "Meet my Pokemon partner, Gardevoir. It was the one that helped me get over that dead end, but as for the tree, I climbed that myself."

Both Cris and Lucario walked forward to greet Gardevoir. Gardevoir looked delighted to see new companions. Cris let Lucario and Gardevoir interact with each other while he continued his conversation with Bliss again. He said, "I'm on this journey because I want to find my dream in life and chase it alongside my partner, Lucario. Why did you choose to ask me to be your companion?"

Bliss gave it some thought before answering him, "Well, I always wanted to go adventuring. I wanted to go beyond what I grew up with: My life in Quartz City. My life was great before, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to see past my home and explore the world. And I wanted to do that with my Pokemon beside me." Cris understood what she was trying to say. A life of adventure was something like what he wanted for himself too.

He looked up at the canopy above. It was too thick to see where the sun was, but by the amount of sunlight they were getting, he thought is was nearing night. I guess I don't mind having someone else tag along with me, Cris thought as he offered his hand to Bliss.

"Alright then, let's go to Sapphire City together." Bliss looked overjoyed at this and took his hand to hold. Together they walked through the vast stretch of forest with both Gardevoir and Lucario beside them, alert for any possible wild Pokemon that may attack them.

Night came much sooner than Cris thought. They weren't out of the forest yet, but he estimated they could get to the city early in the morning if they stopped to sleep now. He called to Bliss, who was lagging behind them with exhaustion, "I guess we can stop here to rest for the night. We'll get to Sapphire City in the morning."

At his suggestion, Bliss went to a nearby large root of a tree and sat down, too tired to agree with Cris. Cris himself sat down beside her and handed her some food he bought from a bakery in Quartz City. He was saving those pastries for emergencies, but he could always get some more supplies when they reached the city in the morning.

Bliss accepted the food, "Oh thanks. I'm not used to travelling so I didn't really get to prepare for this trip." Cris replied, "It's alright, we can always get some more when we get to Sapphire City." It was getting darker by the minute, so Cris decided to look for some wood to use for a fire. "I'm just gonna get some wood for fire, I'll be right back. Come on, Lucario." He and Lucario started looking deeper into the forest, away from the dirt path, for some fire wood.

He had a flashlight with him in case it got too dark for them to see the way back. The life-filled forest felt and sounded creepier to Cris now that the light from the sun was slowly fading away. He gathered as much sticks and thick branches he could find lying around the bases of trees and started to head back to where Bliss had set up camp for the night.

On his way back, Lucario suddenly stopped and tensed up. Cris stopped walking too, sensing that Lucario felt something nearby. What was it? Perhaps a wild Pokemon? Then Cris heard it. A low growl sounded somewhere to their right, slow and menacing. Immediately, both Cris and Lucario faced the direction of the sound. It sounded like a really big Pokemon, which made Cris worry even more.

Slowly, the unknown Pokemon got closer and closer to them, until Cris could finally make out an outline of it, and he blanched. It was a huge Pangoro. Lucario went into a fighting stance and tried to focused its Aura into keeping the wild Pokemon in a more pleasant mood once it saw them. The Pangoro got closer and saw both of them and growled again, this time more hostile than before.

The standoff seemed to last an eternity when finally the Pangoro decided it wasn't worth fighting them and slowly walked back the way it came. Cris breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that they narrowly avoided that fight.

His relief was short-lived though, as he heard a shrill scream that came from the direction of their campsite. "That sounded like Bliss." Lucario and Cris rushed to where they left Bliss, hopping over fallen trees and small bushes.

When they emerged into the small clearing near the dirt path, they found Bliss battling a wild Absol with her Gardevoir. "C'mon Lucario, let's help her out." Unexpectedly, Lucario only continued to watch the battle instead of listening to Cris. At first, Cris was confused and frustrated. He had to help his new friend out. After all, Bliss' Gardevoir was in danger of the Absol's Dark type attacks. But Cris withheld himself from rushing over to his friend's side.

"Use Ice Punch!" Bliss called. Gardevoir's arm then started to become encased in ice as it connected the punch to the Absol's side, sending it flying to one of the edges of the clearing. The Absol didn't look too fazed by this, however, and began to use Night Slash against them. Bliss' Gardevoir managed to dodge most of the slashes, but for the ones that connected, it made Gardevoir falter a bit.

Out of impulse, Cris yelled, "Hey Absol, leave her alone!" He immediately regretted it as the Absol's attention was now on Cris and his Lucario. Seeing that its trainer was now the main focus of the hostile Absol, Lucario finally jumped into action. Now you start moving, Cris thought as his mind went to the types of moves that would be the most effective against Absol.

He said confidently to his Lucario, "Let's hit it with an Aura Sphere, Lucario."

Lucario focused his Aura into a large ball that it shot at the charging Absol and hit it square in the face. The Absol started to look weak and tired, then Bliss called out, "Gardevoir, let's finish it up with Moonblast!"

Gardevoir harnessed its energy as best as it could, even if the moon was partially blocked by the thin branches overhead. With the Absol still in a daze from Lucario's Aura Sphere, Gardevoir shot its moon-filled ball of energy at Absol which exploded on contact.

When he smoke cleared, the Absol was at the brink of fainting, then Bliss reached for something in her pocket. She produced a Pokeball, which she then threw at the weakened Absol. In went the Absol and they all waited in anticipation as the Pokeball shook once, twice, thrice...

Ding!

The Absol was caught and Cris sighed in relief again while Bliss whooped in delight at her newly caught Pokemon. Cris ran over to his friend and tossed aside the fire wood he was holding. "Woah, I thought you just wanted to scare the Absol away. I didn't think you'd want to catch it."

Bliss laughed, "Well yeah, of course I wanted to catch it, I'm a Pokemon Trainer after all. As soon as I saw it I was so happy and surprised that I yelled! You don't get to encounter Absol on just any day you know."

That was true. But Cris also remembered something about the Pokemon that Bliss caught. "Doesn't seeing an Absol mean that a disaster is coming? Might want to keep our guard up for the rest of the trip in this forest." Cris cautioned, but his warnings didn't reach Bliss' ears as she was still fawning over catching an Absol.

Cris cleared his throat. Bliss looked at him. "Relax! I'm sure it isn't too serious of a 'disaster'. Why aren't you as hyped as I am about catching the Absol? I mean, I know I was the one who caught it but... Haven't you ever caught any other Pokemon besides your Lucario?"

Cris sat down on a stump and exhaled, "I already told you, I'm not exactly a Pokemon Trainer. Sure I have Lucario, but I treat Lucario as my companion, not as a Pokemon that I can just catch." Bliss fell silent, her expression turned more melancholy.

But her response was more stubborn than Cris expected. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with catching Pokemon even if you're 'not exactly a Pokemon Trainer'. You can always make more friends and companions by catching different Pokemon and befriending them. So stop saying you're not a Pokemon Trainer and feel free to catch some!" Bliss glanced at Lucario and added, "Not just for your sake, for Lucario's too. Don't you think that Lucario wants to have Pokemon as companions other than its human partner?"

Cris had never thought of it that way. He looked at Lucario and thought, Does Lucario want that? Should I have been catching Pokemon to help keep Lucario company whenever I have to go places where Pokemon aren't allowed? He got up from the stump he was sitting on and held his Lucario close. "I guess it's only fair that if I can get to be with a human travelling companion, then I should start thinking of Pokemon companions for you, Lucario." Lucario growled softly and buried its head into Cris' shoulder.

Bliss looked satisfied at this and collected the fire wood that Cris dropped and brought it back to their site. By now there was practically no more sunlight and they had to use their flashlights to properly place the wood in a pile surrounded by stones so that it won't start any forest fires.

Bliss brought out a Pokeball, and a little Litwick came out of it. "Can you please use ember on the wood pile there, Litwick?" Bliss asked politely to the little candle-looking Pokemon. The Litwick happily yipped and spat a small spurt of flame at the wood pile, which then erupted into a bigger fire that lit up the night around them. Bliss thanked Litwick and brought it back into its Pokeball.

"So" Bliss started, breaking the silence after a while. "Now that you've kinda promised that you'd get your Lucario some Pokemon companions, what Pokemon do you wanna catch first?" Cris crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking. "I haven't actually given it much thought. I've seen a lot of Pokemon in Quartz City, and even though there were lots of kinds there, Quartz City is just one of many places where Pokemon live."

His mind went through the memory of each wild Pokemon he encountered and filtered them to see if he wanted to catch any of them to be friends with Lucario. Then he glanced at Gardevoir and recalled a memory. "Hmm, I think I do have one Pokemon that I want to catch."

Bliss leaned in close, eager to listen. Cris continued, "I remember stumbling upon a Ralts while Lucario and I were near the outskirts of the city; Back when Lucario was still a Riolu. Actually, I think that was the battle that got my Riolu to evolve into Lucario." He looked at his Lucario to confirm this and got a pleasant growl from his partner Pokemon.

"Yeah, anyway, Ralts has two different final evolutions. The first is your Gardevoir there, and the other is... um." Cris couldn't recall the name, but he'd seen a picture diagram showing that a Ralts had two different final evolutions. Bliss instantly knew what he was talking about and exclaimed, "Ohh! You want to catch a Ralts or Kirlia to evolve into a Gallade?"

At the mention of the second final evolution, Cris' eyes immediately brightened up, "Yes! Yeah that's right, a Gallade is what I want to have as my next Pokemon."

Bliss replied, "Ooh nice choice! Ralts aren't too hard to find around these parts. We could go look for one tomorrow if you want."

Cris agreed, "Alright, I guess for now let's just get some rest. As soon as I catch a Ralts, we'll head to the city to see whatever it's got in store for us."

They agreed on this plan and bade each other good night. Cris tried to save his excitement for tomorrow when they actually started looking for a Ralts, but his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone that night, and he ended up falling asleep when the moon was more than halfway across the night sky.