“Tepig!” Tepig cried out, eyes wide, and he ran forward, charging at Snivy.

“Snivy!” Snivy glared at Tepig as her eyes glowed red.

Tepig skid to a stop and stared at Snivy in fear.

“Tepig! What’s wrong?” Trixa uttered in shock.

“Use Leer again!” Ella demanded.

Snivy took a determined step forward, her eyes still glowing red, and Tepig grunted frantically, backing up several feet, a terrified look on his face.

“Again!” Ella continued.

“Tepig! What’s going on?” Trixa pleaded. “Don’t be afraid! Please! I don’t understand!”

Snivy advanced on Tepig, and Tepig was running backwards until he ran into Trixa’s feet, scared of Snivy.

Trixa knelt down and gripped Tepig in her hands from behind. “Tepig! What’s going on? Is Leer like Psychic attack? Is it forcing you back? Is it taking control of your body’s movements??”

“No!” Prof. Juniper called out.

We all turned to the professor.

“Leer lowers the Defense of the opponent, making Physical moves hurt more. It gives the opponent an intimidating stare and sometimes causes a fearful reaction.”

“Is that all?” Trixa smiled down to her Tepig. “Come on, Tepig! Don’t be so scared! Go!” She gave Tepig a happy shove forward and Tepig stumbled into Snivy.

Tepig was now on top of Snivy, Snivy struggling to get out from under Tepig before finally shoving him off of her.

“Snivy!” Snivy stood up and dusted herself off, frowning.

Tepig got up and let out a snort of fire from his nostrils.

“Tepig! Fight back with Flamethrower, now!” Trixa ordered.

Tepig squealed loudly and glared furiously at Snivy, but he didn’t attack.

“Flamethrower?” I muttered.

“What’s wrong now?” Trixa cried out desperately.

Ella pulled out her Pokedex and stared at it.

“Tepig is too young to know how to use that move, Trixa,” Prof. Juniper explained.

“Oh, just great!” Trixa wailed with disappointment, dropping to her knees.

“Snivy, use Tackle!” Ella said, looking up from her Pokedex.

“Snivy!” Snivy moved in a flash, tackling Tepig.

Tepig grunted in pain and bounced along the ground.

“Tepig! No! Are you okay?” Trixa asked with worry as she stood back up.

“Finish it off with your Vine Whip attack!”

Vines rose from Snivy’s shoulders and flew out at Tepig, who was struggling to get up.

“Tepiiiig!” Trixa screamed, covering her eyes.

“Tepig!” Tepig stood up and with a squeal, leaped over the vines.

“Hey! Why can your Snivy do its type move, but not mine?” Trixa questioned.

“Flamethrower is a more advanced move than the basic Vine Whip, Trixa,” Ella said, crossing her arms impatiently. “These Pokemon aren’t that high leveled yet!”

“Well, that’s not fair!” Trixa said angrily. “Tepig, use Fire Blast!”

I lost my balance and fell to the ground. “Is she serious right now?”

Ella raised a palm to her forehead, shaking her head. “Fire Blast is even more advanced!!”

“Really?” Trixa gasped, looking up at Tepig.

Tepig landed and snorted out an attack from its nostrils, but only a small fireball flew out.

Snivy swiftly leaped into the air, avoiding the fireball, and her vines flew out again, smacking Tepig in the face.

Tepig screamed out as he was dropped.

Snivy landed a few feet away.

Tepig grunted hard, pushing himself up, but then fell back down. His eyes opened and he glared at Snivy, exhausted.

“Finish it off, Snivy! Tackle attack!”

“Enough! Time is up!” Prof. Juniper stated, raising a hand and stepping forward, causing Snivy to stop charging. She smiled at Ella, Trixa, and their Pokemon. “You all did very well. I think you now have a bit of battling experience and know what to work on.”

“Tepig…” Trixa knelt down beside her Pokemon and rubbed his head.

Tepig looked down, a depressed, defeated look on his face, and grunted sadly.

“Now that was a good match!” Ella said to her Snivy while on her knees.

“Snivy!” Snivy replied proudly, looking up at Ella.

“It’s a pleasure to have you join up here. Come on back!” Ella returned her Snivy to her Poke Ball and stood up, walking over to Trixa. “Trixa, honey, you’ve got to learn the basics of Pokemon battling.” She smiled and reached a hand down, helping Trixa to her feet. “Your head is always in the clouds. This is a direct cause of you not paying attention during the times we were studying together. You were always getting distracted or just not caring.” She held up her Pokedex. “The Pokedex would have told you Tepig’s moves. I checked to see what moves my Snivy had, too. You have got to try harder if you really want to take this seriously. I bet you could have won if you had been more focused.”

Trixa nodded and looked down. “Tepig, I’m really sorry. I goofed up and cost us the match.” She bent over and picked up her Pokemon. “Are you alright?”

Tepig looked down sadly, avoiding contact with his trainer’s eyes.

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Trixa hugged him close and kissed his cheek, making her Pokemon look up and manage a small smile. After first returning with her own bright grin, she sighed as her face turned more solemn and turned to Ella. “I’m sorry for that awful battle, Ella. But, I hope that next time, I’ll be much more wise about this.”

Ella smiled and pulled Trixa into a hug. “Hey, don’t be so down. It was an honest mistake. But I definitely do expect better from you next time. We’ve got to make it to the Pokemon League, right?”

“Right!” Trixa agreed as Ella let go of her.

“And we’ve got to hurry,” Ella added. “It’s already nearly the end of Autumn. It will be Winter in no time. The Pokemon League begins at the end of the Summer.”

“Oh, wow! Is that not enough time to make it?” Trixa’s eyes widened innocently.

“Depends on how fast you get your eight Badges,” Ella winked. She turned to me, making my heart stop and then kick into overdrive. “So where are you headed to from here?”

“Um. Well. I mean, huh? Well, um. Yeah. I…” I couldn’t find a way to answer her, and the more time I took, the more dumb I knew I was looking, all the while, lost in the beauty contained in her face.

“Gary will be competing in the Pokemon League, too!” June said cheerfully, placing her arm around my shoulders, beaming.

“Huh?!” I stared at June in shock.

She smiled back.

“Are you serious? Really??” Ella smiled gloriously at me, excitement on her face.

“Well, I mean, what better way than to explore the Unova Region?” I said slowly, shrugging my shoulders, smiling nervously.

“That is great to hear! You already own some Pokemon from Kanto, right?”

I nodded slowly, my heart beating even quicker. “Yes. I do.”

“Can I see them? I’ve never seen Kanto Pokemon in person before!”

“Um… I don’t really have them with me right now. They’re still at Prof. Oak’s place.”

“Well, how about we call him up right now?” Prof. Juniper suggested. “It’ll be good to hear from him again and we can have your Pokemon transferred here!”

“No, really, that’s not necessary!” I replied quickly. “I can get them later on when I’m ready. Right now, I’m kind of just getting the feel of Unova. I’m not even fully sure I want to compete!”

“What?” Ella said sadly.

“I mean, I’m sure I will, but I’m really loving this city feel and want to check out the sights first and relax. June and I just got here. I could use a nice walk to the next town or something, and from there I’ll get my Pokemon. No rush.” I laughed nervously.

“Okay, then,” Prof. Juniper laughed. “I’ll call him a little later and tell him I met you. Gary, right?”

No, Jeffrey, Antonio, Pete, Darren, Tyson, I thought up desperately. With a sigh, I nodded. “Yes. Gary.”

“The same name as his grandson, Prof. Oak,” Prof. Juniper nodded. “That’ll be easy to remember. I guess I should get you a Pokedex.”

I shook my head. “No, I have one from Kanto.” I pulled it out to show her.

“That might not be fully updated with all of the information the Pokedex I have left is guaranteed to have,” Prof. Juniper responded kindly. “The ones I gave to Ella and Trixa are brand new and freshly updated. Just wait a second. I’ll get the spare right away for you.”

“Prof. Juniper, I’m gonna head on out of here, then!” Ella said happily.

“Ah, yes. No need for you to wait around here. Good luck on your journey, Ella!”

“Thanks, Prof. Juniper!”

Prof. Juniper turned and walked back to the lab.

June and I exchanged glances.

“I look forward to seeing you at the League, Gary,” Ella said, grasping my immediate attention. “I know you won’t let me down.” She leaned forward and nudged my shoulder with hers before winking, and then turned to Trixa. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

I turned and saw Trixa holding Tepig in her arms, her head up at the sun, eyes closed, smiling, spinning in rapid circles, mumbling something in a tune.

Ella turned back to me, smiling, and then looked back at Trixa. “Good luck! I’ll see you later, Trixa!”

Trixa paid her no mind and continued twirling.

Ella returned her gaze to me, and then focused on June. “It was a pleasure to meet you, too, June! Will you be competing?”

“Nope, not me,” June said, waving her arm and shaking her head. “I’m here for the sights, and to learn how to work with my Pokemon better. I’ve got a long way to go before I’ll feel confident enough to start battling competitively again. That’s why I’m traveling with Gary! He has tons of knowledge and experience on these things. I learned a lot from him while we traveled through Kanto.”

“So, he’s like your teacher! Wow! You’re so lucky!”

Teacher? I thought, feeling my face grow hot with embarrassment. Not really… Although June can be such a kid most of the time.

“Teacher! Ha ha. Yes, I suppose it’s something like that.” June glanced over at me.

Ella smiled sneakily. “Are you sure it isn’t something more?”

“NO!” I blurted out, before reminding myself in my head that she has a boyfriend, and even if she didn’t, I’m a total coward and would never ask her out, and even if I did, she’d never go out with someone as ugly as me.

Ella giggled as June shot me a strange look. “Well, three’s a crowd! I’ll see you two another time! Bye!” She smiled and waved at us as she hurried away.

Three’s a crowd… I repeated in my head. What did she mean by that? I didn’t dwell on it much longer and shook my head hard, turning to the lab.

Prof. Juniper still wasn’t back.

She has to be calling Prof. Oak, I thought. “June, we’ve gotta move.”

June turned to me and nodded, understanding completely, and gave a quick glance back to the lab before facing me again.

June and I ran in the opposite direction of the lab, but we didn’t get far.

“HEY!”

We both stopped.

My heart bounced rapidly in my chest. Oh, no, I thought with fear. Juniper?

“Where did everyone go?”

No, I realized. Not Juniper. Trixa? I looked back.

It was. She was still holding her Tepig.

Tepig was moaning, a nauseous look on his face.

Trixa ran up to me, clutching her Pokemon. “Where are you going? Where’s Prof. Juniper and Ella?”

“Ella? Um… well she went off on her journey,” I said quickly. “And Prof. Juniper said bye to us all, but I guess you weren’t paying attention.”

“Oh,” Trixa said, shaking her head, staring at her Fire Starter. “Sometimes, I have no idea where my head is at. I totally didn’t even know everyone had left.”

“Yeah. Um… I’m going to… um…” I started.

“Leave?” Trixa asked. A sad look came over her face. “I know you’re here visiting. Don’t let me hold you up. But, to be honest, I wish I wasn’t such a screw up. I’m afraid I may not be cut out for this Pokemon Trainer thing.”

“Why?” I asked, glancing back at the lab.

Still no sign of Juniper.

“Why? You saw that battle, didn’t you?” she whined. “I know nothing about Pokemon! I’ll never make it!”

We have to get out of here, I thought frantically, turning to the lab.

Still no sign of Juniper.

“June and I are traveling through the Unova region to compete in the Unova League,” I blurted out before my brain had fully agreed with my mouth to say that thought out loud. “I have tons of experience from my journey in Kanto, and June is a previous Gym Leader from Kanto. We’ll teach you whatever!”

Trixa’s eyes burst open. “Are you serious? You’ve travelled Kanto,” she turned to June, “and you’re a Gym Leader?”

“Um, I used to be one,” June said, blushing. “I was a lousy one, though. Gary is the one who knows the most about Pokemon and stuff. Really. I’m nothing.”

I shot her an angry look before turning back to Trixa. “Anyway, if you’d like, we can travel together.”

“Oh, wowee! I’d just love that!” Trixa’s black eyes were now twinkling with delight, her arms squeezing around Tepig tightly as he struggled in her grip, grunting and squealing.

My eyes shot from the lab, to Trixa.

Still no sign of Juniper.

“Then, we’ve got to go!” I ran past her and June as fast as I could.

“Wait up!” June shouted.

“Hey! What’s the rush?” Trixa yelled.

“You guys started your journey late!” I remembered, using it as an excuse. “We’ve got to make up for lost time! You and I will be collecting Badges! We’ve got to make sure we get to these Gyms in enough time for the both of us!” I charged forward, knowing that now, there was no going back.

I had the strangest feeling that I had absolutely no control over my life anymore.

Not even a day had passed since my mom had been attacked by the refrigerator.

Shortly after that, Prof. Oak was attacked by my Porygon-Z.

Soon after that, Porygon-Z got me and June a free trip to the Unova region, leaving Charizard behind, Porygon-Z itself missing ever since.

And now, it was just me, June and her five Pokemon, and our new traveling partners, Trixa and her Tepig.

I hadn’t fully made up my mind yet, but.

It seemed that Trixa and I.

With June traveling along with us.

Would be challenging the Unova League.