A mahogany haired girl flicked her head towards a seemingly barren desert, which was almost free of life in all directions. A discarded Sitrus berry rolled past the young girl and she picked it up, though she knew the danger of her actions. She smiled slightly as she plodded along the withered grass. Without batting an eyelid, wild Pokémon seemed to surround the girl out of desperation for a direction.

She knew that this was the perfect chance to catch a new Pokémon, so she had a Pokeball in hand as well as her Dedenne nuzzling her left leg as she traveled. Her Deviflame was guiding her from in front, guarding the young woman from any outside threat. A small cat with stuck up, spiky ears glared up at the teenager.

Gripping the slightly too big pokeball in her left hand, the teen looked down at the Pokémon that was beneath her.The tail curved outward and was scaly. It had adorable fangs and cute eyes. Near its pastel blue paws, curled tufts of fur ahot up to halfway cover its tiny legs.

She fawned over the tiny Pokémon in front of her, as she found it quite adorable. Her Deviflame rushed out for its opposition with a severe expression on its face. Smiling at her chosen partner's willingness, she stood beside it with pride.

"Right, go for a Flame Wheel!" Cornelia yelled, flicking a sheepish left hand at the smaller Pokémon in order to direct her Deviflame in an appropriate fashion.

Grunting, the intimidating Pokémon rushed for its smaller opponent, pounding its front paws onto the ground and raking them backwards to create a massive wheel of burning fire that caused the opposing Pokémon to back away in fear. However, this didn't work on the girl's chosen partner as it continued to lead its ball of fire toward the smaller Pokémon with glee. A few scratches welled up on the smaller Pokémon's body as it got burnt, resulting in it flinching all the while.

The opposing Pokémon let out a growl and brandished out sharp claws. Rushing for the female trainer's chosen Pokémon, the kitten-like Pokémon hissed to intimidate its opponent and swiped at its opponent. The Deviflame ducked in order to dodge the smaller Pokémon's claws. The opposing Pokémon made another swipe for the skin of the opposition, but the Deviflame ducked again.

Cornelia shut her eyes and withdrew her Deviflame into its Pokeball before it could do any more harm to the opposition. She grabbed out the big Pokeball that she'd had out before and flung it at the opposing Pokémon somewhat haphazardly. There were a few shakes from the Pokeball before the kitten Pokémon was caught.

...

"Sirenade, the luring siren Pokémon," she read from a small screen as her Pokedex lit up with the information of her new catch. "Due to its cute looks, it is said by myths to lure humans to love and some investigators and predators to their deaths. Its mew has the frequency of 20,000 hertz. Electric/Purity."

She was proud of her new catch and petted the small creature's pokeball with her left hand. She lifted up her eyes and noticed the sun beginning to set in front of her. She felt its warm glow seep through her skin and she enjoyed every minute of it. She soaked up the sun's warmth and sat down on the desert floor.

She thought back to a few days ago when she'd had her massive argument with Bruce. Whilst she was well aware that he had a criminal record, she wasn't exactly sure why she'd said she hated him. She definitely disliked her rival strongly, and she doubted she could ever actually trust him after his dishonesty.

She got up to set up her small blue tent that her mum had bought for her when she told her that she was embarking on this wonderful journey. She smoothed out the frame, stuck the pegs into the ground and put the mesh hood over it. She sat within her tent and let her three team members out of their tiny enclosures.

"Now... what exactly do I name this pretty little beast...?" Cornelia mused. She considered it for a moment. "Cupid. She looks like a cupid, definitely." She stroked its face.

A tanned girl stepped in front of the teen, glaring over her head.

"Shit! Sheila, it's you?" Cornelia whispered, noticing the other girl and looking upward.

Sheila just shook her head in annoyance. "You know what, I think we should have a Pokémon battle," she stated, an intense look in her eyes. "In fact, I think it will teach you a lesson or two."

"You're insane," the mahogany haired girl murmured, shrugging. "Well, I don't see why not! Why don't we see how good you really are!"

Sheila just glared at the other teen and gripped a glowing white Pokeball. With an underarm throw from her left, the girl flung out a Pokémon. In a flash of colourful light, a medium sized Pokémon appeared in front of her. A soft, determined smile  lit up the girl's face as she waited for her opponent to send out her Pokémon.

With a curt nod, Cornelia petted her newest team member, a small Sirenade, on the head. She stroked its fur before realising what she needed to do. She quickly grabbed a hyper potion from her satchel and sprayed it on her Pokémon, waiting for the first attack.

"This is my favourite Pokémon of all, a Indeedee that my mum caught for me," Sheila smirked. She flicked her hand at the Sorenade that Cornelia had sent out before and addressed her Indeedee. "Right, Aria. Go for Psychic!"

Nodding, the Indeedee focused all it's mental energy into the battle and created a pink sphere of light. It stuck its arms outward and directed the energy at the smaller Pokémon. The Sirenade ducked but got hit in the chest by the ball of light, barely seeming to flinch.

"Too bad. It seems Cupid here resists the Psychic type," the mahogany haired girl murmured softly. "Cupid, Light Flash!"

Nodding, the small Pokémon made a rush for its larger opponent, charging into it with extreme speed and vigor. From the bottom of its legs came a pool of light. This surrounded the Pokémon and warmed it a little. The light then shot towarda the Indeedee at an extreme speed, causing it to collapse from exhaustion.

"You cannot possibly be serious," muttered the tanned female in frustration. "Come on out, Selene!"

From a blue Pokeball came a flash of bluish red light, forming the shape of a small Pokémon that looked somewhat like a bird with glowing red eyes. The bird crooned its name, revealing itself as a Rookidee.

"Right, give it a nice Peck!" Sheila ordered, directing the bird like Pokémon towards the opposing Pokémon.

The Rookidee obliged, allowing its wings to lift it into the air and give it an advantage over its opponent. It flew at the opponent, but the Sirenade barely picked up on it. It pointed a glowing silver beak at its opponent and crooned its name before smacking it in the face twice with its beak. The opposing Pokémon came out of this endeavour relatively unscathed.

"Hmm. Cupid, hit it with a Light Pool!" The mahogany haired teen addressed her Pokémon.

The small, kitten like Pokémon welled up with a bright pink light that surrounded it in a star shape. Its eyes welled up with this light and all sunlight seemed to disappear from the region for a second. The Sirenade began to stand on its back two paws and held the star with its front pair of paws. Shooting out beams of curved light at the target, the Pokémon seemed to damage the Rookidee significantly. The Rookidee feebly pecked at it but fainted from all the injuries.

Withdrawing her Rookidee, the tanned teenager realised what a tough spot she was in and groaned in frustration.

"What's wrong? You giving up already?" Cornelia sneered.

"Not likely!" Sheila retorted, grabbing out a bright red Pokeball. "Come on out, Artemis!"

In a flash of pinkish red light, a Deviflame stood before her.

"It's time to fight fire with fire!" Cornelia mused with excitement. Withdrawing her Sirenade, she grabbed her chosen partner's Pokeball. "Nova, it's your turn in the spotlight."

Without a moment of delay, flowing pink light came from the Pokeball that her starter Pokémon was contained within. The light formed the shape of her own Deviflame, that being the one she had named Nova.

"Artemis, Crunch!"

"Nova, Incinerate!"

Both Deviflame rushed for one another. The smaller one went first, chomping at the larger one's legs and causing it to whine slightly in pain. Growling, the larger one spat a giant ball of fire from its mouth, covering the smaller one in the flames. Both got burnt as a result of this ordeal. Scratches welled up on both their bodies, the smaller one getting more painful scratches than the bigger one.

"Right, give it another Crunch!" Sheila yelled.

"A Flame Wheel!" Cornelia hollered.

Both Deviflame rushed at one another with an intimidating glare each. Whilst the bigger Deviflame began to form a wheel of fire with its legs, the smaller one leapt towards it and bit at its head. The bigger one flinched as the smaller one retreated. Growling, the Deviflame that was larger in size created a wheel of fire and hurtled it at its opposition. The smaller one whined in defeat and collapsed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Sheila snapped in anguish.

"What are you doing moaning about a loss? I thought you were made of stronger stuff," Cornelia scorned as she withdrew her Deviflame into its ball.

"Like you're one to talk," The tanned girl retorted as she guided her Pokémon back into its enclosure. "Just because it doesn't hurt someone physically doesn't mean you can injure someone's mental health."

"What a philosophy," Cornelia muttered with a shrug.

"I'm serious, Cornelia Abernathy!" Sheila shouted at the mahogany haired girl, truly worked up now. "I know it was you that gave Bruce a few home truths!"

"You're friends with that asshole?" The teen snapped, folding her arms over her chest. "Here I thought I could trust you, but I guess not."

"This isn't an argument, Cornelia," sighed Sheila, feeling quite frustrated by the fact that the other girl seemingly refused to understand. "Maybe you'd understand him better if I told you that he's like how he is out of habit and as a protection measure. He isn't always rude, but he is around you. Maybe if you understood that he didn't mean to be rude to you, you'd get where I was coming from." Sighing, the tanned girl continued on, "What I'm saying is, you've got to give him another chance. When you said you hated him back then, it broke him. He already blames himself for his mother's suicide, his father thinks he's a disappointment and a disgrace, and then you go ahead and say that kind of a thing to him? I'm appalled."

Tears began to well up in the mahogany haired female's eyes, "Why did he get mad at me for winning, then?"

"Because winning was the only thing he had," Sheila murmured softly.

"Why did he react so angrily when I called him a criminal?" Cornelia wondered.

"He didn't mean to become a criminal," The tanned female replied. "His cousin was so close with him when they were young and manipulated him into doing so. And then he thought it would make everyone proud, so he kept doing it. Eventually his mother suicided because she couldn't deal with every bit of stress anymore. I'm not asking you to love him, just be a little more caring and nurturing."

Cornelia shivered with overwhelming sadness. "It all makes sense..." she murmured. "It all makes sense..."