“This is really it, you guys! Opelucid City! We’re here! Yay!” Courtney cheered, her Town Map in her hands. “I am so ready to battle some Dragon types! How about you, Gary?”

I turned to Courtney and stared into her excited eyes. “I’m ready,” I nodded with less enthusiasm, worry in my chest that had nothing to do with battling the Gym Leader here.

Courtney then turned to June. “Juni, how about you get a little Badge, too?” Courtney asked her. “Let’s all get the Legend Badge!”

“No, thanks,” June grunted, crossing her arms and looking to the ground. “I’ll just wait for you two to finish up here, and maybe go to another town for another Badge, or whatever you guys wanna do together. I’m just here as dead weight.”

“What do you mean, June?” Courtney’s voice lowered and sounded somber, lowering her hands.

“Just whatever, okay?” June snapped, frowning now.

I sighed quietly and placed my hands over my eyes. I didn’t even know what to think to myself. I just knew the girls were once again stressing me out, and it wasn’t any easier to handle in the summer heat, the sun above us sapping our energy. My hands slid away from my eyes and I looked at the city in front of us.

Buildings made up much of the city, with lines of trees planted in front of them. A huge tower stood high over the other buildings, and it looked like a radio tower.

“After this, we’re going straight to Interough City, right?” I said firmly to the girls. “No more stops?”

“Right!” Courtney said happily.

“Don’t ask me anything,” June replied angrily. “My opinion on things clearly means nothing to you.”

“June,” I said hesitantly.

“No!” June said sharply, looking up into the sky.

I sighed and stayed quiet. I could understand June’s anger. Even back in Kanto, I was always the boss, refusing to go off course for stupid sights and insisting that we went straight for Gyms. Now, I was traveling with Courtney for a Badge I didn’t need. Something I’m sure I wouldn’t have done for June. But, why?

“June, this is a really great thing for Gary and I,” Courtney reasoned. “We’re going through one last little battle against some tough Pokemon from a Gym Leader before the Interough Conference! You don’t want us to be underprepared, do you?”

“It’s not about that,” June grumbled.

“Then, what is it?” Courtney inquired.

June didn’t answer, but she did sniffle. “Come on,” she finally spoke softly. “You guys go and get your Badges. We don’t have a lot of time to waste, you know.”

“Are you gonna join us?” Courtney asked.

June shook her head. “I don’t want to. I’m simply not interested, Courtney.”

“Awwww. Such a pity,” Courtney said sadly. “Oh, well.” She turned to me and smiled. “It’s just you and me, Gary.”

I couldn’t smile back, but I managed to nod. “Let’s do it.”

Courtney suddenly giggled, and it ended in a happy sigh. She reached out and grabbed my hand.

I looked down at my hand in shock, and I was suddenly pulled forward.

Courtney wrapped her arms around me and pressed her cheek tightly against mine. “The Interough Conference is so close! Let’s go all the way. Let’s make it to the finals, and give it all we’ve got.”

I couldn’t respond back, taken by the perfume that filled my nostrils and took over my body. A smile crept over my face out of my control, and I closed my eyes, enclosing my arms around her in a hug, as well.

“June, come on and join in on some of this lovin’,” Courtney giggled.

I exhaled softly, but inhaled quickly, desiring more of this ridiculous scent Courtney was wearing. I almost… No… I definitely desired to open my mouth, wrap my lips around her neck, and sink my-

“Juni?”

Courtney’s voice broke through my thoughts, and my eyes opened wide.

June was walking away from us, her head down, through Opelucid City.

I pulled away from Courtney. “June!”

June’s pace picked up noticeably.

Courtney turned to me sadly. “Come on, Gary. She’s leaving without us.”

I looked towards June and walked after her, Courtney by my side.

“This is interesting,” Courtney spoke up as she looked down at her Town Map. “The Gym is located inside of a Pokemon Academy, according to this map.”

“So, a Gym inside of a school?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Courtney nodded.

Nobody said anything after that as we looked around at the stores and other buildings on the blocks around us.

“Some of these buildings look ready to crumble,” Courtney said softly, keeping her eyes on a building as she walked past it.

I also stared at it. It was made of brown bricks, and the bricks were covered in cracks. The texture of the bricks actually seemed to be more moist than solid and dry, which was weird, and it almost looked as if the building was leaning slightly, but maybe it was the hot sun playing tricks on my eyes. I squinted at the building for a second longer before staring at the other buildings on the street we were walking down.

Many of them seemed to be old and ready to collapse at any second. Vines were growing along the walls of several of them, while the paint on the bricks was faded. It almost looked as if these buildings were made of dirt!

I sincerely hoped nobody was in those buildings. “Weird that so many buildings look like crap, huh?”

“Yeah,” Courtney agreed. “And yet, look across the street! Those buildings look like something out of a sci-fi movie!”

“Mhm,” I nodded, squinting across the street.

Many buildings across the street were made of what looked like steel, or maybe chrome! Whatever it was, it glimmered brightly under the sun, making it hard to stare at.

Each sidewalk also held several stores, tall buildings, wide buildings, and both tall and wide buildings that looked completely normal, made of concrete. They weren’t old and tarnished, and stood out strangely against the futuristic and the weak buildings.

I closed my eyes as they started to sting staring at the sparkling, nice buildings, and I looked away.

“Gary, where are you going? We’re headed this way!” Courtney called to me.

I stopped walking blindly and pressed my hands against my eyes, rubbing them. A loud honking forced my eyes open with surprise, and I turned to my left to see several cars honking at me impatiently! I was standing in the middle of the street! “Oh! Sorry!” I ran back to the sidewalk and rejoined my group with a nervous smile.

Courtney smiled back at me sympathetically while June rolled her eyes with attitude and looked away from me.

“We’re going this way, Gary,” Courtney pointed ahead of her. “The academy isn’t that far away.” She squealed with excitement.

A loud roar made not only Courtney’s eyes widen, but mine, as well as June’s, and a distant explosion made us all cry out and jump.

“What was that?!” I exclaimed.

“A Pokemon!” June said strongly, glaring ahead. “I’m sure of that much.”

Courtney sucked her teeth and I caught her rolling her eyes.

June suddenly took off, running down the block we were standing on.

Courtney and I exchanged glances before running after her.

People started running in various directions, some heading towards the direction June was going, while others were tearing down the street in the opposite direction.

“JUNE!” I called to her.

She didn’t slow down, and before she reached the end of the sidewalk, another much louder explosion erupted, causing me to stop in my tracks with fear. June ran fearlessly across the street to the other block, dodging around people running towards her as she ran towards what they were trying to get away from.

“JUNE! What are you doing?!” I shouted.

She reached the other sidewalk and vanished from my sight amongst the crowd as she continued running.

“What is wrong with her??” Courtney yelled.

I ran past Courtney and continued after June, completely trusting in June’s determination.

Another loud roar preceded another explosion.

As I crossed the street, Courtney’s footsteps pounding after me, I began to fear how dangerous it might be to be following June, who was tracking down the terrifying roars of a Pokemon and repeated explosions. June wasn’t too far ahead of me when I finally spotted her, running like she had limitless energy, and I now saw what she was so focused on. It is a Pokemon! I realized as I stared at the towering threat.

“It’s a Torterra!” Courtney screamed. “What is it doing?”

“Torterra’s out of control!” June finally came to a stop, keeping her eyes on the Pokemon.

Crowds screamed and ran in all directions as Torterra started attacking the city.

A few cars started to pull off as well, honking loudly as they tried not to hit any of the people running through the street.

“What does that thing think it’s doing?” I shouted angrily.

Torterra roared again and the tree-like rising on its back shook hard, several leaves shooting off and colliding into a parked car, flipping it easily.

The black car smashed loudly into the ground and slid into a brick building, the car alarm now blaring.

Torterra’s body suddenly started to glow light green and sparkle beautifully under the sun.

“He’s upset!” June cried. “He’s upset about something!”

“NO SHI-!” Courtney had begun screaming angrily at June.

A white beam fired from Torterra’s mouth and smashed into another building made of gray stones.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

The building was grounded easily, dropping as smoke filled the air consistently.

The three of us screamed amongst the yells of others trying to find safety, only we maintained our ground, refusing to run away.

A desperate voice grabbed my attention and I squinted through the smoke to see a blonde girl running towards the vicious Torterra! She was wearing a dark blue dress and white sandals. “Torterra, please, stop!” she pleaded. “What’s happened to you?”

Torterra roared, not paying any attention to the girl who was possibly twelve. He stood up slowly on his hind legs, and then he collapsed on his front legs.

The ground rocked powerfully, and everybody who was still stupidly in the area hit the ground hard, the Earthquake attack proving to be too much to handle.

Several more car alarms were now blaring along with the first one.

It sounded like a building nearby also went down with us, but I couldn’t see it.

I was groaning painfully from my side on the ground, curling up into a tight ball, my body twitching sharply. Pained cries and groans filled the air, but I was unable to open my eyes to the noise, trying to will away my own pain. Torterra’s next, presumably frustrated roar, wasn’t enough to get me to open my eyes, but I heard yet another explosion, and I started to choke as the air around me became less breathable. I was hacking hard, and I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose, squinting through the clouded air.

Courtney was standing up, staring at Torterra.

People were littered around the area, struggling to get up from the ground or remaining motionless, while a few other people ran past me.

“TORTERRAA!!” Torterra’s mouth opened and an orange ball of energy started to charge in his mouth. “TERRAAAAAAA!!!” An orange beam fired from the ball, and the Hyper Beam hit the roof of a small store.

The impact from the attack annihilated the entire top half of the wooden building.

“What’s wrong with that thing?” I coughed repeatedly, and I kept choking after speaking, slapping my chest repeatedly.

“It’s confused!” June choked out, getting to her feet. “That Torterra is confused!”

“Confused? Like, with Confuse Ray or something?” I stared at Torterra’s eyes as he roared and remained still for a moment, recovering energy due to using Hyper Beam.

His eyes weren’t red, which is the sign for a Pokemon suffering from Confusion.

“No, not like that,” June shook her head. “I think he doesn’t understand something. I think he’s scared! I think that Pokemon may have just evolved!”

“What’s to be scared of?” I stood up slowly, my shirt sliding off of my face, and I swiped my hand through the air, trying to clear the air in vain. “That’s not a good reason to attack this city! People are getting seriously hurt out here! We have to stop that thing!” I grabbed Charizard’s Poke Ball with a smirk and raised my hand into the air. “And I know just who to use to stop him!”

“Gary, you-!” June started.

“Nooo!” Courtney screeched, turning to me, interrupting June. Her eyes were filled with worry. “You can’t do that, Gary! Pleeease!”

I slowly lowered my hand as I looked into Courtney’s pleading eyes. “But…”

“She’s right, Gary,” June agreed. “We can’t just attack him like that.”

“But it’s hurting people!” I argued. “We don’t have time to be rationale! We need to take it out now, and we can take it to a Pokemon Center later. I don’t want anybody else getting killed out here! There’s no doubt that people have been, you guys.”

June lowered her eyes and covered her mouth with one hand.

At that moment, looking at June, I remembered the Golbat that had been held against their will, starving, before being set free on a town by Team Solace.

The Golbat killed quite a few people that day, but June’s Electivire didn’t help matters any by electrifying everyone.

I had a feeling June was thinking about that right now. I hoped I was wrong.

“Please, don’t hurt my Pokemon!” a voice cried.

I turned to see a familiar face running towards us.

It was the same blonde girl who had run towards Torterra just a little while ago. She stopped in front of me, a few inches shorter than me, and waved her arms in front of me, coughing hard. “Please! It doesn’t understand! It just evolved! It doesn’t mean any harm!”

“TORTERRAAAA!!!” Torterra roared, and we all gasped and turned to see that Torterra was on the move again. He opened his mouth and fired a green ball of energy from it.

The Energy Ball crashed through the window of a concrete building as people scrambled all over the place, trying to get away. Another Energy Ball slammed into the first car that had its alarm going, and the alarm was silenced as the car blew up against the building it was still inside of.

The building came down upon itself loudly.

Torterra continued shooting more Energy Balls, and a couple of the attacks flew towards the four of us.

We all split up with a shout and avoided the hits.

I stopped and turned to the girl. “If we prolong this any further, you’re gonna have a lot to answer for, girl!” I spoke sternly. “I’m battling this thing!”

“Just give me a chance!” the girl shouted back at me from several feet away. “I can calm my Pokemon down!”

“Can’t you just return him to his Poke Ball?” I suggested.

The girl shook her head. “It smashed it after it evolved. It was an accident. I can do this!” She turned to Torterra and started to cautiously walk over to him.

“No.” June grabbed the girl’s shoulder and stopped her. “It’s too dangerous. Please, allow me to try and calm him down.”

“But, I’m its Trainer! It won’t listen to some stranger,” the girl told her.

June smiled and nodded. “Trust me. I can get through to your Torterra. Just allow me to speak with him.”

“Speak…?” The girl squinted at June in confusion.

June looked towards Torterra and released the girl’s shoulder.

Torterra let out a roar and closed his eyes as he charged forward and leaped at a concrete building. The building seemed to sway as Torterra crashed through it, most of his body inside of it. The Pokemon roared again and stomped repeatedly as he struggled out of the building.

June gulped nervously and brushed aside her hair with her hands. A determined look came over her face, and she moved bravely towards Torterra.

Torterra opened his mouth and charged up for another Hyper Beam.

The blast hit the street and tore through it, raising up the concrete around the blast as it traveled a good distance ahead, smashing into still parked cars and noisily toppling over street signs and trees.

June gasped and froze in place.

“He did Hyper Beam! This is your chance to stop him, June!” I called to her.

June looked back at me and smiled nervously, nodding. She took a deep breath and walked towards the Pokemon again.

“What is she going to do to my Pokemon?” the blonde girl asked me.

“She’ll take care of him. I promise,” I nodded reassuringly with a confident smile, keeping my eyes on June and Torterra. “June does this kind of stuff all the time. Just watch and see.” From out the corner of my eye, I saw Courtney cross her arms, and I looked to her.

She was sneering at June, a look of disapproval on her face.

“Torterra!” June called out. “Please, relax!”

Torterra growled as he turned to June.

June smiled and took slower steps towards Torterra. “My name is June. I’m from all the way in the Kanto region. It’s nice to meet you, Torterra.”

Torterra kept his eyes on June and didn’t say anything.

“I understand that you just went through an evolution,” June continued. “Right now, things must be really different, huh? You’re taller than you were, and heavier, and oh so powerful!” June stopped about a foot away from Torterra and let out a relieved sigh.

Torterra continued to silently glare at June.

“I’m not here to harm you or anything,” June told the Pokemon. “I know you’ve got so much energy in you now that you’ve evolved. I know you’re confused about all of this, but everything’s gonna be okay, sweetheart.” She raised her hand and placed it on Torterra’s head. “I want-huh?”

Torterra’s eyes narrowed angrily, and a low growl got even louder and more vicious.

June gasped as she lifted her hand and took a step back.

“TERRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Torterra charged into June and sent her flying.

June shrieked as she soared backwards and ended up sliding hard on her back. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, curling up into a ball as she uttered a loud wail.

“June!” I ran to her and got down to my knees. “June, are you alright?” I already knew the answer. It was a stupid question. I didn’t lay a hand on her, afraid of hurting her if I did. Torterra’s roar made me look up and my eyes widened at what I saw.

Torterra was on more of a rampage than ever! He was running into a chrome building, seeming to be trying to knock it over as he dented the building with his powerful tackles. He then seemed to get even more agitated and he stood on his hind legs. He fell forward and rammed his front legs against the building repeatedly, determined to take it down.

“He’s using his special move. Thrash attack,” the blonde Trainer said softly.

“Special move?” I asked.

“Torterra was bred with that move,” the girl explained.

Torterra was severely denting the wall of the building, and the entire structure was leaning back. In another couple of minutes, I was certain he would topple over the entire thing.

I got up and squeezed my Poke Ball that was still in my hand. “Well, June tried, and even she wasn’t able to get through to him. No more talking!” I raised Charizard’s Poke Ball.

“Let me try!” the girl pushed me back lightly and ran towards Torterra. “Torterra, listen to me! Hey!”

Torterra turned furiously at the sound of his Trainer and landed on all fours as he faced her.

“Torterra, it’s me! Abigail! Please, don’t do this anymore! This is enough!” Abigail begged.

“NO! DON’T!” Courtney ran towards Abigail.

“TORTERRAAAA!!” Without hesitation, Torterra charged towards Abigail in a rage.

Abigail stopped running and opened her mouth, letting out a shriek.

Courtney leaped and tackled Abigail out of the way of the rampaging Torterra.

Abigail was forced onto her back as Courtney landed on top of her.

Torterra ran past them but came to a surprisingly quick stop and turned around. “TORTERRA!!”

Courtney got to her feet quickly and stared strongly at Torterra. She quickly raised her hands towards Torterra. “Torterra, you don’t have to do this!” Courtney shook her head slowly. “You’re in a rage right now, and I won’t leave your side. We’ll get through this together, okay?”

Torterra roared and charged at her.

Courtney jumped out of the way again, almost too easily.

Torterra looked back at Courtney and turned to her.

“Courtney!” I was ready to send out Charizard.

“Gary, I’ve got this!” Courtney said strongly. “Leave this up to me!”

“June and Abigail said the same damn thing!” I shouted angrily. “Enough already! That thing is dangerous and June got knocked down!”

“June’s crazy for thinking she can even speak to Pokemon in the first place!” Courtney said sharply. “Torterra’s scared right now after its evolution, and with it now using Thrash, it’s not even thinking straight! Just leave this to me!” Courtney jumped out of the way as Torterra lunged at her.

“Courtney, you’re freaking nuts!” I yelled. “Don’t be stupid! Battle him at least!”

June groaned from the ground and uncurled from her position. “Courtney…?” she whispered.

“Grotle goes from nearly two hundred and fourteen pounds, to around six hundred and eighty-three pounds!” Courtney said, jumping to the side again as Torterra tried to attack. “That kind of rapid weight gain is too much to get used to that fast. Torterra’s not gonna be the fastest Pokemon. I can take care of Torterra. The poor thing just needs to let out all of this energy inside of it!”

“TORTERRAAAAAAAA!!!!” Torterra leaped into the air and tried landing on Courtney, but Courtney dodged this, too, running before Torterra even lifted off the ground! He landed powerfully with a BAAAAAAAMMMM!!! Moaning and shaking his head, he got to his feet. His eyes opened, and we all gasped.

“He’s Confused!” June warned. “Courtney, you have to get out of there! It’s too dangerous! JUST RUN!!”

Abigail got to her feet and immediately took off running. She reached June and I. “What is that girl doing? Why isn’t she running?”

“COURTNEY!” June screamed. “YOU HAVE TO RUUUUN!!”

“Just butt out, June!” Courtney snapped rudely.

June’s eyes widened in shock. “Well!” She crossed her arms, still on the ground. “Then let her die!” She looked to the side, away from Courtney, but I could see her watching Courtney and Torterra from the corner of her eye.

“Torterra, it’s okay, now! You’re just Confused, but we can break through that!” Courtney said incredibly calmly but loudly to Torterra. “I told you I would be here for you through your Thrash, and I still am. We’ll get through this Confusion together, too. We’re almost there!”

Torterra’s head suddenly gleamed like metal, and he ran at Courtney.

“Iron Head!” I called out.

Courtney didn’t move, keeping her focused eyes on Torterra.

“She’s insane!” June burst out, watching Courtney. “What is she trying to prove out there?”

Torterra ran past Courtney and went right through a building as if it were made of dust!

The wooden building instantly collapsed, and dust rose from the destruction. It was definitely a very old building that was ready to be demolished. A strong enough storm might have even done the job.

“Torterra’s too Confused to even aim straight,” June stated. “He’s just attacking almost blindly. He’ll end up hurting himself and more people!”

Torterra’s voice ripped through the air as he ran past a building next to the one he had just grounded, the horn on the side of his face chipping at the corner of the brick building.

“Torterra, are you alright?” Courtney asked the Continent Pokemon.

Torterra roared and stomped in place, enraged. Two blue rings surrounded his body. The rings glowed white and then took the shape of sharp stones and turned gray as they circled Torterra. The red in Torterra’s eyes gave way to green, and with a roar, he attacked with Stone Edge.

Courtney screamed and dropped to her knees, covering her head with her arms.

The stones flew out in random directions, a few flying over Courtney while others smashed into buildings, cars, trees, and through windows.

Torterra stampeded towards Courtney as she continued to cower from the Stone Edge attack.

“Courtney!” June shrieked. “RUUUUUN!!”

Courtney lowered her arms and ran a hand through her blonde hair easily. “Torterra, it’s okay! I’m not leaving you! I promise! I’m going to stay right here! We’ll get through this!”

“TORTERRAAAAAAAA!!!” Torterra opened his huge jaws.

Courtney extended her hands towards Torterra and waited. “You won’t hurt me. I believe in you.”

“Your friend is about to get bitten!!” Abigail screamed in a panic.

“COURTNEY, MOVE IT!!” I bellowed. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!”

“You won’t hurt me, Torterra. It’s gonna be okay, now,” Courtney said firmly. “Come here, Torterra.”

Torterra’s jaws widened as he reached Courtney, and his mouth closed around her right hand.

The first thing I heard was the crunch.

The scream that followed from Courtney’s mouth was surprisingly louder than all of the explosions and roars caused by Torterra today.

I actually stumbled backwards in shock and tripped, falling over.

Abigail covered her mouth with her hands.

June covered her eyes with her hands.

Courtney’s mouth hung open after her long scream had finally ended, and she looked on the verge of tears.

I was surprised she hadn’t cried immediately. I felt like crying just from the crunch I heard.

Courtney sniffled, but to my surprise, a smile crossed her mouth! “It-it’s okay, now,” Courtney said shakily.

“What the…?” June said in disbelief.

“She’s actually smiling??” Abigail gasped.

I could hear the sound of multiple sirens from far away, joining in with the car alarms that were still going, but I didn’t turn away from Courtney and Torterra.

The red in Torterra’s eyes faded away, his Confusion gone, but he didn’t let go of Courtney’s hand.

“You see?” Courtney said. “Ha. I’m still here. I didn’t leave. Everything’s okay, now. It’s no wonder you were so scared, Torterra.” She raised her other hand slowly, shakily, and placed it carefully on Torterra’s head.

Torterra closed his eyes as she touched him, and then his eyes opened again. He slowly opened his mouth.

Courtney removed her hand from it and sat it down on the street. “Ow!” she cried out.

“Torterra…” Torterra said gently, looking down at Courtney’s hand.

Courtney shook her head. “No, don’t worry. It’s fine.” She rubbed Torterra’s head.

“He’s changed!” I gasped. “He’s not rampaging anymore! I can’t believe it!”

June’s mouth hung open, stunned by what she was seeing.

“She really did it?” Abigail said, shocked.

The sirens were getting louder and closer, blaring horns accompanying them.

Ambulances, police, and fire trucks, I thought, still watching Torterra and Courtney.

“It’s no wonder you were scared, huh?” Courtney laughed lightly. “You must have been terrified of this new strength you have. Ha, you snapped my hand in one bite! You’re so strong, aren’t you?”

“Torterra… Torterra,” Torterra said sadly, keeping his eyes on Courtney’s hand.

“Hey, it’s fine! You didn’t know what to do with yourself, honey,” Courtney said kindly. “Evolution must be scary. You know, the same thing goes for humans. We evolve, too!”

“Terra?” Torterra looked at Courtney’s face.

Courtney nodded. “Yeah. We grow up, ha ha ha. Our bodies change, and we start understanding who we are as people, and how to live with other kinds of people who look and think differently to us. And, we start taking care of ourselves the more we grow up, and we don’t depend on our parents as much anymore. We go out into the world as Pokemon Trainers, or doctors, or teachers, or whatever it is we want to be when we grow up. I’m not an adult, but my mom used to tell me that adulthood is very difficult, and that I should enjoy my childhood while I still have it. One day, I’ll evolve into an adult, and I’m just hoping it isn’t as scary as my mom made it sound. But, even if it is, it’ll be okay, because, like you, I have my friends by my side no matter what happens, and they’ll never leave me, just like I’ll never leave you.”

Torterra carefully nudged the front of his face against Courtney’s.

Courtney laughed and rubbed his head some more.

Her words warmed me up on the inside, and I couldn’t help but smile. I could even feel my eyes start to tear up. I looked down at June.

She turned to me, trying not to smile, but one was shakily spreading out on her face. She wiped at her mouth and looked away from me.

“It’s amazing how well she gets along with my Torterra,” Abigail said. “It’s like they’ve known each other for years or something. She’s really good with Pokemon, huh?” She walked away from June and I and towards her Pokemon.

The police cars were the first things I saw drive into the area, ambulances approaching behind them, followed closely by fire trucks, the vehicles coming to a stop close to us all.

Torterra noticed the cars and trucks, but once he saw his Trainer, he let out a thrilled yell at her. “TORTERRAAAA!!” He stomped away from Courtney and stopped in front of Abigail.

Abigail wrapped her arms around his head as the police officers exited their vehicles with their guns drawn, EMTs and firefighters leaving their trucks, too. “Torterra!” She kissed his head.

“NOBODY MOVE!!” several cops shouted out, pointing their guns at Torterra. “THAT TORTERRA IS UNDER ARREST!!”

Abigail sighed sadly. She turned to the officers and nodded her head. “It’s okay! I understand. I’m so sorry that this happened. We’ll do whatever you say. Just, please, don’t shoot!”

*

“Grass types are my favorite type of Pokemon,” Courtney said, smiling slightly. “I really, really love them so much. I want to learn everything I possibly can about them, and I always have since I was really little.” She stared at her right hand that was in a black hand splint, which looked like a really ugly mitten with Velcro straps. “I just hope everything will be alright for Abigail and Torterra. It wasn’t its fault. It had just evolved.”

“Courtney, I’m pretty certain people died,” I told her with a sigh. “I can understand Torterra was stressed out or whatever, but, a lot of things got destroyed, and a lot of people got hurt, too. It’s just a bad situation for everybody.”

Courtney nodded, looking down. “Yeah, I know…”

“Courtney,” June said.

Courtney looked to June expectantly.

June was staring at the floor of the crowded Pokemon Center, and she sighed. With a smile, she looked up at Courtney. “That was really brave and more than just a little bit crazy of you to handle Torterra like that. I mean, you broke your hand in the process, ha… But, it was very inspiring and beautiful. You saved the day.”

“Well, sort of,” Courtney laughed. “Thank you, Juni.” She got to her feet and walked over to June. “Hug?” She extended her arms.

June smiled and stood up, getting out of her seat, and she carefully hugged Courtney.

When they pulled apart, Courtney turned to me. “Come here, Sugar Lumps,” Courtney giggled. She spread open her arms.

I got to my feet and exchanged hugs with Courtney, too. Immediately, I could smell her perfume, but the scent in her hair was becoming my favorite scent from her.

She hugged me even tighter. “Besides, if anyone was crazy out there today, it was you, Juni. That wasn’t the time to be pretending to be able to talk to Pokemon, and you aggravated Torterra even worse.”

“What?!” June said in surprise. “Pretending?! I told you that Torterra was going through problems because he had evolved!”

Courtney broke her hug with me and turned to face June. “All you did was take an obvious guess,” Courtney shrugged casually. “Anybody could have assumed that one. You even said it yourself. You said that you think Torterra just evolved. You never said it told you that.”

“He didn’t tell me that, but I could hear the distress in his voice!” June cried desperately. “He was confused and scared! I heard him!”

“You didn’t hear anything from it before it threw you several feet through the air?” Courtney smirked.

June growled as an angry look came over her face.

“Walking up to a scared Pokemon like that, talking to it without knowing a single thing about it as a Pokemon.” Courtney shook her head. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten bitten if you hadn’t infuriated Torterra with that. You really made things worse.”

“Wait a minute! I didn’t-!”

“Excuse me, but are you Courtney?” a deep, gruff voice asked.

We all turned around, unsure of who was speaking or who they were speaking to, but the answer became evident immediately.

A towering man stared down at us with serious, scary yellow eyes. His face was covered in the most bizarre, white beard I had ever seen in my life. It covered his entire mouth and cheeks, and went up just past his nose. It also reached up along the sides of his face, connecting with his much more normal looking, thick white hair. The man was clearly old, but looked so powerful! His chest stood out like cannons in his black suit, and it was easy to see that his arms were massive in the sleeves.

“Yes, I am…” Courtney answered hesitantly. “Are you the police or something…?”

The man laughed, his voice booming inside of the building, and it was at that moment that I realized just how quiet it had gotten.

When the three of us had gotten here after what had occurred earlier with Torterra, the building was crowded with people discussing the destruction that had taken place. Now, it was quiet enough to hear my heartbeat. Even the news on the TV had been muted as a newscaster spoke about the incident that had just occurred here.

“No,” the man said, still chuckling. “I’m not the police. However, I am the mayor, as well as one of the two Gym Leaders, of this city.”

The three of us gasped at once.

“My name is Drayden.”

“Drayden! This is such an honor!” Courtney jumped swiftly to her feet in front of the man. “I came all the way out here, me and Gary, to battle you today for a Badge!”

“Hmmm. I see,” Drayden nodded. “I’m sorry to have to say this, but, neither me nor my wife will be able to battle you anytime soon. As mayor of this town, I need to tend to this situation with Torterra and what has happened to the city.”

“Awww,” Courtney said, her face falling in despair. “I understand, of course, but…”

“However, if you don’t mind going just a little bit further from here, you’ll find another Dragon Gym Leader. An apprentice of mine. You may have heard of her. She was the previous Pokemon Champion of Unova. Her name is Iris.”

“Iris?” Courtney questioned.

Drayden nodded. “That’s right. She is now a Gym Leader, after having lost her title as Pokemon Champion to the previous Fighting type member of the Elite Four of Unova, Marshal. Rather than choosing to become a member of the Elite Four in his place, she opted to return to her previous position she held as a Gym Leader. But, instead of inheriting my Gym, she requested to open a Gym in her hometown of the Village Of Dragons, and I respectfully obliged.”

My heart stopped.

“So, if you wish, you can find Iris there. And it’s not far from here, either. You’ll be there by the evening.”

“Ah! That sounds fine, then. Wow. I’ll be battling a previous Pokemon Champion…” Courtney’s voice was starting to sound nervous. “This is kind of more than I expected! Wow! Ha ha…!”

“You’ll definitely find you and your Pokemon’s bond and strength tested as well as pushed to the maximum level,” Drayden informed her. “But, I came here originally to thank you, Courtney. Both me and my wife give our most sincere gratitude. Clair would be here herself to thank you, but she’s busy at the police department with Abigail and Torterra. We both appreciate your great show of bravery in taking charge of the situation with Torterra, and all by yourself. You didn’t even use a Pokemon to battle Torterra, as I was told by Abigail. I’m sorry about what happened to your hand.”

“Eh, it’s okay,” Courtney beamed at Drayden, shrugging nonchalantly. “I’m just glad Torterra is okay. Will it and Abigail be in trouble?”

“We’re handling the situation adequately as we speak,” Drayden told her.

“Please, Drayden. Don’t be too harsh on her,” Courtney pleaded. “Torterra had just evolved. It didn’t know what it was doing. It was just scared. I understand that a lot of people are hurt and that things got destroyed, but, please, please, Drayden… Could you…?”

“I understand the situation quite clearly, Courtney,” Drayden said. “Trust that things will be taken care of.” His eyes crinkled and his beard shifted as he smiled at her.

Courtney smiled back and nodded. “Okay, Drayden. And, thank you!”

Drayden nodded. “It was a pleasure to meet you. I wish you both good luck against Iris. Give her my best wishes, as well. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must return to the police department. Thank you again.” He turned away and walked out of the Pokemon Center.

“Wow! We just met Drayden! How cool is that?” Courtney squealed.

“He talks so…” June sighed dreamily. “I’d love to end up with a man who speaks in that kind of a voice. And that build of his? Mm mm mmmmmmm… That wife of his sure is lucky.”

“And they’re both the Gym Leaders of Opelucid City! How romantic is that?” Courtney gushed.

The two girls continued to blab on, and the conversations of the people around us started up again excitedly.

But none of that mattered to me right now.

The Village Of Dragons, I thought, my heart beating rapidly.

It’s in Unova?!

No way.

But…

That means…

This isn’t my first time being in Unova…

My eyes lowered to the floor as memories filled my head.

Will he still remember me?