I giggled and sped up my pace.

"Liz, would you PLEASE let go of my hand!" Tyler groaned.

"Hehe if you say so!" Liz smiled her innocent smile.

"Hey guys! I said "I bought ice cream!" And I handed them their cones. Finally, I could carry these bags and not die under them. They all thanked me and started eating.

"What's in there?" Ty asked between licks, pointing at my shopping bags.

"Stuff. Now, what's the big surprise?" I questioned him.

"You'll see!" He gave me a smirk. "We just need to follow this road to the seaside."

"Alright." I agreed and started walking, but nobody came after me. I turned around and saw Tyler whispering something in Dans ear. When he was finished, Dan grabbed Liz, who was blabbing while screaming and dragged her away somewhere.

Tyler waved them goodbye and caught up with me.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Oh them." He said like he didn't know who I was talking about. "They…umm…had to go somewhere. Don't worry about them." 

If I was worried about anyone, it would be Dan. Liz?…not so much. There was a second of silence, when Tyler spoke up again.

"We're here!"

In front of me was a big entrance to a tunnel. It was a deep blue color with a yellow wooden frame around it. The sign above said "Marine Tube ~ The Walk-Through Aquarium". The tunnel, from the looks of it, dived into the ocean and went on as far as the eye could see.

"Why are we here?" Another question popped into my mind.

"Well, I figured we needed some sort of a vacation and this is the most popular spot in Humilau, so…here we are!"

I hesitantly walked forward, while Tyler paid for the tickets. He ran next to me and we entered the tube. It was really wide and made of glass, so we could see all the plants and the Pokémon living deep in the ocean. I also took out my phone and snapped some pictures.

There were Typmole, Basculin, Frillish, Jellicent and Alomomola. Since we didn't have enough time to explore the whole tunnel, we walked the half of it and then turned back. 

The turnaround was kinda embarrasing, for both of us. I was standing, back against the wall of the tube. Me and Tyler were discussing over something, I can't quite remember what, when he stopped talking at one point and smirked a little bit. I gave him a confused look, but he just said to turn around.

I did as told and I was so startled, seeing a big Basculin right behind me. I jumped away from the glass, terrified. Well, at leas Tyler had a good laugh.

But I didn't let him go that easily. When he was laughing his head off, I took a rather weird picture of him. The rest of the walk back we argued, wether I should delete that picture or not.

Of course I wasn't, but it was fun to mess with Ty.

Suddenly, I saw something really fast zooming past the tunnel. By the tim I rushed to the glass, the mysterious object was gone. The only thing I saw looked like a submarine with a flame painted on it.

"Tyler, did you see that?" I asked him.

"See what?" He stopped and looked at me. I walked back to him.

"A submarine! Or…at least it looked like it." I explained.

"Chelle, you imagining it. Submarines aren't allowed near the tunnel."

"But, I saw it. I did!" Now I sounded like I was going crazy.

"Sure you did!" Tyler laughed, putting an arm around me. We exited the tunnel. I was still feeling like a crazy person, but I'm sure I saw something. And what was it with that flame painted on it?…

"Earth to Chelle! Earth calling Chelle!" I heard a voice snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry…just thinking…" I replied.

"About that thing you saw? Oh, let it go, let it go, it was probably just a really fast Tympole…or another Basculin." And he burst out laughing again.

My cheeks went red and I really wanted to slap him.

"Ok, Ok." He said, recovering from laughter. "So, are we off to the airport?"

"Umm…aren't we staying the night?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his neck. "…I'm not feeling another day with Liz."

"Good point!" I said and we made our way to the airport. It was another wonderful day. The sun was shining, the bird Pokémon were singing…and no sign of Liz.

Still, the 'thing' I saw at the tube still bothered be, but I tried to let it go.

"Lit?" I heard a quiet sound. I looked down to see a Litwick hugging my leg. Was it…the same Litwick? Must be.

"Hello again!" I said softly, crouching down slowly. The Litwick jumped away few steps, but came closer again as I reached out my arm.

"Who's this?" Tyler gazed me, then the Candle Pokémon.

"I met him while you were training." I explained, picking Litwick up. "What's up?" I asked him.

The Litwick just cheered in my arms and I decided to ask a different question.

"Do you want to come with me?"

This time Litwick cheered even louder and I took that as a 'yes', tapping him with a Pokéball. It clicked instantly and I smiled. Welcome to the team! I thought.

"Wow, you make friends easily!" Tyler complimented me and pointed at Litwicks new home. I smiled, looking at the Pokéball and our walk continued.

* * * * * * * * * *

Reaching the airport, we sat down on some chairs, not late for once. Just when we thought that we could sigh with relief, we heard an obnoxious voice and the doors of the airport slid open.

"TYLEEEER!!!" And 'miss annoying' was back.

Tyler facepalmed and Liz sat between me and Ty, basically pushing me off the seat. I stood up and smiled to Dan, who had got there, too.

"I tried, I really tried." He whispered to me. I laughed a little and gave him a 'no worries' look.

"Attention! Flight to Kalos, Laverre City, leaving in fifteen minutes! Flight to Kalos, Laverre City, leaving in fifteen minutes!"

"You go ahead!" Said Tyler shaking off Liz. "I'll be there in a minute."

I nodded and me and Dan walked to the plane. I was about to climb on, when I heard yelling from behind me. Both me and Dan turned around.

"FOR THE LAST TIME…I. DON'T. LIKE. YOU. UNDERSTOOD?" Tyler was yelling at Liz.

Tears were forming in here eyes, as Tyler muttered a 'goodbye' and followed me to the plane.

"Don't worry about Liz." Dan said. "I'll talk to her later."

He waved us farewell and we sat down.

"So?…You don't like Liz?" I asked with a teasing voice.

"Do I look like it?" He mocked me back.

"Maybe…" I gave him an answer.

Tyler sighed and rolled his eyes, while now it was my turn to laugh at him.

"But seriously…who do you like?" I still questioned him.

"That's none of your business!" He said coldly and turned his head away.

I think I just made him mad. Oops, I guess. It was late and I decided to get some sleep. I was about to close my eyes, when Tyler spoke up, this time with a quieter voice.

"So…how are your friends? I mean, are they as weird and annoying as Liz?"

"Hmm…no, not as crazy as Liz. Definitely not as annoying, at least not all the time. Well, they can be really energetic, especially Korrina and Laura, but Valerie and Grant are pretty normal." I explained.

"Ok. Was Valerie the one we're going to fight?"

"Yep! She's a very good at battling, just warning you." I smirked.

Tyler replied with a nod and I took that as an end to our conversation. This time, I wasn't interrupted and I fell asleep, still thinking about the so called submarine, that I saw at the Marine Tube.

_________________________________________

And that's a wrap! :)

So, a quick overview of Rochelles friends at the end. And a surprise: Tyler doesn't like Liz. But who does he like then? Oooooohhhhh………mysterious.

Anyways, if you took your time to read this chapter, then please:

Comment + Vote + Stay !

In celebration of over 300 reads on this book, I dedicated this chapter to @calliope95, for begin and awesome friend and for all the support. But everyone else, don't feel left out, because I would like to thank you all so much, too ;) 

See you next time!

~Flora