Dratini took a deep breath before slowly crawling a little closer to Austin's outstretched hand. It looked down at the bait. It did smell good and probably tasted good, too. It then slowly stuck its head out before taking a tiny bite. It chewed the morsel before swallowing and got a happy expression on its face. It then gave a cheerful cry before finishing it off.

"There you go," Austin said as he went to rub its head.

Upon seeing what Austin was about to do, the Dratini once again got a fearful expression and scooted away several feet. It still didn't seem to fully trust Austin yet.

"You seem to be a very cautious Pokemon," Austin told it with a smile.

The Dratini looked down at the ground. It couldn't help it. It was always shy like that. The other Dratini was one of the only other Dratini in the lake with it, and it had always been a bully.

It was then Yellow decided to speak to it as she knelt like Austin before her. "There is certainly no shame in being a little shy, but if you let it control you, you will be missing out on so many opportunities."

It was then Yellow realized what she said and gave a quick look at Austin. She was giving out advice about being shy about things, and she could never seem to muster up the courage to tell Austin how she feels about him. Maybe she should start listening to her advice but now wasn't the time. She just had to wait for the right moment. Oh…why didn't she do it when they had their date in Rota!?

( A.N: Austin taking everyone out for dinner in Rota was a date in Yellow's mind. )

" That's right," Austin agreed, being the only one who didn't "seem" to notice Yellow's sudden embarrassed expression.

"I believe that you are a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for. I bet if it came to protecting something…or someone who you care about, you would do anything." Yellow said as Austin continued it with a quote that stuck with him for years.

" When people are protecting something truly precious to them. They truly can become…as strong as they need to be!"

Austin turned to Lucario who stood there in shock before he nudged Yellow forward.

" Ash, what should I do ?" Yellow whispered to Austin

" .... "

" So."

( ~ Sigh ~ )

Austin whispered something in yellow's ear.

" Just know I will never force you, but I believe I can help you if you give me the chance," Yellow repeated as she extended her hand in a gesture of friendship to the Dratini. "Will you let me?"

Yellow glanced at Austin who took out a leather book from his backpack.

The Dratini once more looked at Yellow's hand as it thought hard about the decision. This human seemed sincere enough with what she was saying. The other humans she was with didn't seem like bad people, either. The look in her eyes was enough to tell it that much, but if it went on a journey with her, did that mean it would have to battle?

Sensing Dratini's surface-level thought, Yellow spoke up once more. "Don't worry. I will never make you battle if you don't want to. I just want to show you the whole world. There is more to it than that small pond you've lived in so far."

The Dratini was still contemplating Yellow's offer. She did have a point. All of its life, it had lived in isolation with no contact with any humans. It was mainly because humans were hardly ever in this area, but it couldn't solely place the blame on that. It was just a scared Pokemon by nature, but was it willing to change? It remembered how the other Dratini had walked all over it, and it did absolutely nothing to fight back. Maybe it should give this human a chance to help it overcome its weakness. At long last, Dratini nodded its head and crawled over to Yellow before nuzzling its head on her arm.

"Awww, that's so adorable," Yellow commented with a smile.

Yellow took out a Safari Ball. "Thank you, Dratini. I suppose I'll officially ask you now. Will you come with my friends and me on our journey?"

The Dratini responded to Yellow's question by pressing its nose on the Safari Ball button and allowing itself inside. The ball made a dinging noise and Dratini had officially become Yellow's Pokemon.

Yellow turned to face Austin but what she saw caused her face turned to brighten up like a tomato.

There standing before Yellow was Austin who was undressing.

" Kyaaaaa !"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[ Pokemon League Plateau - Champion's Office ]

Lance Wataru leaned back as he overlooked files that concerned Team Rocket, a frown on his face while the TV was on showing the News. The Champion had a bad feeling about all of this, a pile of paperwork left unattended on his desk.

Even with all of that, what caught Lance's attention was the report of Ash Ketchum, the son of Red.

Disappearing like a ghost after the SS. Anne Incident just like his father. Ash Ketchum's reappearance in Fuchsia City raised some attention from him.

Why Fuchsia City? What was his goal there?

Was he going back to the gym challenge?

What was he doing in the month between the S.S.Anne incident and his reappearance?

Lance had a lot of questions but no answers and with Brock and Misty having no contact with Ash, his only way to get some answers was gone.

Hearing his Xtransceiver going off, Lance answered it to show Blue Oak on it. "Blue it's been a while, how goes the Viridian Gym?" He asked the young man with some respect in his eyes.

" Not that much, I am trying to find some leads on Team Rocket but all of them keep coming short. As if someone knew that I was coming."

Blue's words caused lance to narrow his eyes.

" Who do you think it is ?"

Lance Wataru said as he understood Blue Oak's words. Someone from the league was a traitor working for Team Rocket.