Lilith only had one interruption while she slept, as no other people came to bother her. It was rather annoying, and something she didn’t want repeating. In fact, the next few days she didn’t see any people at all. The duo strolled through the underbrush as they got further and further from the trail.

The one star Pokemon were a dime a dozen. Foongus stuck to trees while Woobat flew overhead. They like to fly around at night. They couldn’t be compared to the latest challenge she had been facing down.

“Come on!” She shouted.

Pansear stood across from them. The small monkey was the Fire type equivalent to Pansage. Instead of green she was red, and where a bush grew on his head, there was now a flame instead.

She was fast and constantly sent flames in their direction. Incinerate burned up all the greenery it touched while chasing the duo. Pansear was easily the toughest opponent they had faced thus far. She was well into her first Star, but wasn’t too far ahead of Absol in power. The perfect challenge.

The main threat was Yawn. Whenever Absol grew drowsy, her reactions slowed. If not careful, a powerful attack could land. Absol dashed through the trees sending Leer’s out at the monkey. Her mobility was nothing like Pansage, and was the only reason the duo wasn’t barbeque. She could only use her two feet to chase them. They easily baited her through the trees, stumbling over rocks and sticks.

They continued the chase until her defenses had been lowered enough. With a call, Absol dashed out of sight. With her gone, Pansear set her eyes upon Lilith, as she was now the only one visible. She charged forward as flames coalesced in her mouth. Incinerate wasn't able to activate, however. Absol dashed back into view on her flank and sunk her fangs into their opponent. Pansear bled from the puncture holes, but was otherwise fine. The damage was enough to break her shields. In time, she would only be left with a couple of scars. Otherwise, she would be fine.

The duo had used this type of trap many times before. Absol would pretend to run away under the cover of night, but instead hide away as the target Pokemon focused on Lilith. She had great trust in her Partner, and almost all Pokemon in the area wouldn’t be able to kill her instantly. It would work up until Pokemon became an immediate threat to her, so they exploited the plan as much as they could before it would become too dangerous to consider.

“Huff, Huff.” Lilith caught her breath.

“Good job!” She patted her Partner.

Absol hadn't seemed to take the loss all that hard. She was competitive, yes, but Pokemon always had a way of picking themselves back up. What didn’t kill them quite literally made them stronger.

The duo looked around for any other Pokemon that might be nearby. They had created quite the commotion during the battle; it wouldn't be a surprise if anyone was drawn to the noise.

With nothing in the immediate area, the duo backtracked to a small stream that they had passed earlier in the battle. They took the time to clean up, as baths and showers were hard to come by with no Water type Pokemon. The small stream proved to be a relief, not having bathed for days. She could only make do with what she could find.

Lilith glanced at her Pokedex. It was close to 5 and was becoming brighter by the minute. She had Absol scout the area while getting undressed. Bathing in streams was a common occurrence. She let out towels and soap before jumping in. The water was cold and unpleasant, but it got the job done. The small river only came up to her knees so it took some time to get wet. Lilith used the bar of soap packed beforehand, to rub her body down. Absol returned from her sentry duty as Lilith bathed. She reported no people or Pokemon in their general area.

Lilith hummed a tune while Absol sat in the water. She laughed at the funny picture, as only Absol’s head was visible. Minutes went by, until Lilith was all finished up. She grabbed the towel she had placed on a nearby rock and proceeded to rub herself down with it.

“Crack” a branch snapped off in the distance.

Both of their heads snapped to the noise. Neither knew how far away the sound had been, but Absol jumped from the stream as Lilith clung to the towel naked. She watched seconds later as a Pokemon floated into view.

“Defense!” She shouted.

Lilith swore as she recognized the Pokemon. It had a fully spherical body with magnets for arms. A screw sat on top of its head like an umbrella hat. Bolts of electricity floated around its tiny body threateningly.

‘Damn it all, what is a Magnemite doing in the middle of nowhere!’ She thought.

There was no way it was responsible for the sound, its body floated in the air. Lilith looked around for the root cause.

“Hold it!” a voice carried out from the distance.

Lilith reacted immediately to the commotion. It wasn’t a wild Pokemon but another Trainer. She immediately grabbed her Pokedex and hit the safety button. It was designed to start recording everything from audio to video in the device's surroundings once pressed.

If not given a password to deactivate in time, the Pokedex was to send the footage to the nearest Pokemon Center. It was designed after Pokemon Trainers started disappearing in the wilds under mysterious circumstances, be they human or Pokemon. It was a strong tool for staying alive, considering everyone knew about the feature. It dissuaded people who might be on the edge of doing something stupid.

With the safety measure in place she held up the Pokedex.

“Who’s there?” She called out.

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A large disturbance quickly followed from the same direction. The person obviously knew nothing about walking around in the forest undetected. They broke stick after branche while coming closer, making an awful racket.

Lilith held her towel over her naked body as a young teenager walked into view. He had long golden hair for a boy. It had been combed to the back of his head, but stuck out in some places, obviously disheveled. He wore an expensive looking blue suit but sweat marks could be seen around his collar and wrists.

‘Really?’ She thought.

The boy wasn’t prepared to be outside at all, considering his appearance.

“Oh, it’s just a pervert.” He said flippantly “Which way did my Roselia go? It ran away before I could throw a ball at it.”

“Pervert?” She mumbled “Pervert?!” she said lowder.

“You sneak up on me bathing and call me a pervert?! You dumbass, I’ll report you for voyeurism!” She shouted.

Lilith had really tried to be civil, but the boy's attitude made her mad. No one called her a pervert. With the click of a button, the recording of what had transpired was sent to a Pokemon Center as well as the priority level. She wanted this degenerate to be dealt with.

“A Pokedex, eh? So you're a poor pervert.” he said. “Come on Magnemite, no need to hang around the peasants.”

The boy turned as his Pokemon followed behind. They walked along the stream before moving out of view. Lilith lost sight of the arrogant boy before she started to curse. The floating Pokemon had emitted an energy signature much stronger than Absol’s. If she had to guess, it was a second star Pokemon.

“I’ll kill him…’ She mumbled.

Pokedex were a symbol of being sponsored by the League. If someone had it, that meant they didn’t have enough money to be sent to any of the other schools in the Region. It also generally meant they couldn’t afford to buy a Pokemon Partner from a breeder. Some people looked down on them and refused to accept anything from the League. Other families tested into the program just for the special starter. It was a mixed bag, but it appeared Lilith had encountered one of the nasty ones.

Lilith packed up her things as she cursed out the arrogant Trainer. Their camp would have to be moved with such unsavory company in the area. It took a half hour's journey north before she was completely satisfied with their new location. She found the densest gathering of tree cover and set up her tent.

Before she could call it a day, Absol had finished her perimeter sweep. She nudged her Partner, notifying she had found something. Her survey of the area had been much more thorough this time around.

“What is it girl?” She whispered.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she scanned the small alcove of trees. Absol led the way as Lilith followed behind her silently. Absol moved amidst the trees and didn’t make a sound. They moved about 50 meters away before the hill sloped in a downward direction. Their line of sight opened up, able to finally see what Absol had found.

A Pokemon sat in the sunlight down below. She sat perfectly still and imitated the plants around her. Each hand was replaced by a rose, one was a different color than the other. Red and blue sat amidst the green as Roselia stood motionless.

A slight smile formed on her lips. It was the Pokemon the arrogant kid had been looking for, that was unless another Roselia was in the area. She had walked a long way after their encounter. A devious plan formed in her mind.

She pulled out her Pokedex to check her connection. Finding that she was still close enough to the route, she tapped on the camera. Lilith zoomed in and took multiple photos before drawing an outline for the Pokemon. Lilith then tapped out of the app before opening the report function. She logged her location and set the report to notify all Trainers in the area of her find. She added a description making it quite clear she had no interest catching the Pokemon.

Lilith’s smile was evil as she hit send. With any luck, someone more worthy would show up to battle and catch Roselia. With her work done, she slinked back into her sleeping bag at camp.

***

Lilith awoke to screams. Not out of terror for their lives, but anger. A loud voice carried through the trees and yelled at something else.

“That was Mine!” Someone called out.

Lilith knew instantly that her plan had worked. A content smile formed on her lips as she decided to go and see her machinations unfold. Absol followed on her heels as the arguing got louder.

“Back off before I call a Ranger!” A second voice called out.

Lilith recognized both voices from the previous days in the forest.

‘What are the odds…’ She thought.

She walked over the ridge to be met with a short boy with tattered clothes. Across from him stood another wearing an ugly blue suit.

“The Rangers answer to me, you dumbass.” Rich kid Rick proclaimed.

She recognized Wendell instantly, as Tepig stood across from Magnemite. He too had his Pokedex out recording the incident. Lilith made her way down the hill just before anything could get too out of hand. It appeared that Wendell caught Roselia just before Rick could intervene, having her plan succeed. Once a Pokemon was captured, any steps toward separating the two were considered theft. It was a dangerous thing to be charged with, so she decided it was time to put him in his place.

“What seems to be the matter!” She called out with a little too much jubilant glee.

Her voice caught both off guard as both boys had radically different reactions. Wendell looked more surprised than anything else while Rick could only drum up some contempt.

“He wants me to hand over a Pokemon I caught fair and square!” Wendell shouted excitedly.

He knew how powerful Lilith and Absol were. If he could get their help, then the situation wouldn’t come to blows.

“Oh?” She said, raising one of her brows dramatically.

Lilith tried her best to look concerned, but was unable to hide her smirk.

“So you want to break the law? Who are you? A member of Team Plasma?” She mocked.

Rick grew bright red at the words and sputtered. No words seemed to come out as he made angry hand motions towards the two intruders. After a moment he gave up and turned to leave, seeing that nothing good would come of staying any further. Wendell watched in awe as the rich kid turned tail and ran.

He turned back to Lilith with sparkles in his eyes. She was the type of person he drove to be. He wanted a shot at greatness after having grown up without much support..

“I’ll make you peasants pay for this, you hear me?!” Rick turned at the last moment before shouting his threat and then disappearing into the underbrush.

Wendell grew slightly red. It was an incredibly similar line he had heard just days prior.

‘Is that what I sounded like?’ He wondered.

“Uhh, thanks… I was worried I would have to fight him for real.” He said.

Wendell grew incredibly embarrassed.

‘Maybe she isn’t so bad…’ He thought.