The Girl's POV

The last thing I remember was seeing a few Team Skull grunts attacking someone in the road. After that... things get a little blurry.

When I woke up, I found myself in someone else's bedroom. I was laying in their bed, and it was surprisingly comfy. I looked around, attempting to find anyone who may have been in the room. I did see someone, however they looked very familiar. It was that boy I saw on the road!

I quickly jolted upright, which he noticed right away.

Kane: "Look who's up! It's about time"

I was a little creeped out by the fact I was in this guy's bedroom after falling unconscious.

???: "W-Where am I?"

Kane: "I took you back to my house. The nearest town was still about half an hour away, so I decided it was better to take you here"

???: "Why did you help me?"

Kane: "You saved me from those Team Skull grunts, so now we're even"

???: "Of course... that's the only reason you helped me"

Kane: "Not entirely. Even if you didn't save me, I would've helped you either way"

I suddenly started panicking.

???: "Where's my Pokémon?!"

Kane: "Take it easy, they're in your bag, right next to you"

I picked my bag off the floor and looked through it. I found my two Pokéballs and let out a sigh of relief.

Kane: "So... I never got your name"

I looked over at him, still a little uneasy about trusting him.

???: "My name is Rika"

Kane: "I'm Kane, and this is Riolu"

Suddenly, A Riolu jumped out of Kane's bag and landed on the bed, right next to me. My eyes lit up and started sparkling.

Rika: "CUTE!!!!!!"

I grabbed the Riolu and pulled it into a giant bear hug.

Riolu: "You're crushing me! Let me go!!"

Rika: "No way! You're too cute!!"

Kane suddenly gasped, which made me look up at him.

Kane: "Y-You understood him?"

Rika: "You hear them too?"

The two of us stared at each other.

Kane: "What do you mean, hear them?"

Rika: "For some reason, I can communicate with any Pokémon. It's been like this since I was born"

Kane: "I can only talk to Riolu through our Aura connection"

Riolu struggled in my arms.

Riolu: "Let me go!!!!!!"

Rika: "Oops, sorry"

I released Riolu and she leaped over to Kane and landed on his shoulder.

Kane: "Now that you're mostly conscious and calm, I have a few questions"

Rika: "Like what?"

Kane: "Well... what were you doing out there?"

Rika: "I was trying to find the Bug Type Gym Leader, I'm a challenger"

Kane: "Me too! Maybe we can travel together"

Rika: "No offense, Kane. But I barely even know you. I'm thankful you helped me, but I think I do better on my own"

Kane seemed a little disappointed.

Kane: "That's fine, but why did you pass out to begin with?"

I blushed a tiny bit.

Rika: "I ran out of money... and I didn't eat anything today or yesterday..."

Kane: "Want me to make you something?"

Rika: "YES!!"

My face turned bright red as I stuttered.

Rika: "I-I-I mean... y-yes p-please..."

Kane: "Alright, wait here, I'll be right back"

Kane left the room, leaving me alone with my Pokémon. I pulled a Pokéball out of my backpack and tossed it in the air. My Pokémon came out of the ball, appearing in my lap. He looked up at me.

Rika: "I'm glad you're not hurt, Treecko"

I could hear Treecko speak.

Treecko: "They were no problem. Easy take down"

Rika: "Did you see how Kane and Riolu fought?"

Treecko: "Yeah, I saw. She let all three Rattata hit her at once, then she used Counter on all of them"

Rika: "A seriously risky gamble... but it's pretty impressive"

The bedroom door opened and Kane walked inside with a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches in his hand. He handed them to me.

Rika: "Woah, these look amazing!"

Kane: "Thanks, made them myself"

I took I bite of one sandwich and it felt like my tastebuds were in heaven.

Rika: "This is really good!"

Kane: "Thanks, it's just a grilled cheese though"

After downing an entire grilled cheese, I decided to continue our conversation.

Rika: "So, since you asked me a few questions, now I get to ask you some"

Kane: "Go right ahead"

Rika: "Why did you bet the entire battle with the Team Skull grunts on Counter working?"

Kane: "Pretty simple really. Rattata in the Alolan region are Dark and Normal types, which are 4x weak to fighting moves. The move Counter takes the damage taken by the other Pokémon and deals double the damage. So with three attacks hitting Riolu at once, Counter would deal 6x the damage it took, plus the 4x super effective damage against the Rattata"

Riolu: "Bottom line, I told him to let them hit me"

Rika: "Damn, you thought of all that in the heat of the moment?"

Kane: "Yep, and it was my first Pokémon battle too"

Rika: "That explains it"

Kane: "What do you mean?"

I let out a sigh.

Rika: "For short battles, your strategy was fine. But if you used it against someone who knew what they were doing, you wouldn't last long.

Kane: "Huh?"

Rika: "To simply attack with Counter, you need to get hit. Yeah, it's good for short battles, but prolonged battles will destroy you. You can only take so many hits before going down"

Kane: "It's not the only move she has"

Rika: "What are the others?"

Kane grinned stupidly.

Kane: "Not telling you, you're competition"

Rika: "Seriously? You're taking part in the Trainer Challenge? Do you even have three Pokémon?"

Riolu: "Nope! I'm all he's got! And all he'll need!!"

Rika: "That's not going to cut it. You need a full team of six if you want to win it all"

Kane: "I know, and six Pokémon are all I'm
going to catch"

Rika: "H-Huh?!"

Kane: "Yep, I only want six Pokémon"

Rika: "What about completing the Pokédex or catching them all!"

Kane: "Catching more Pokémon than I can have with me will mean I don't give certain Pokémon enough attention. If I only have six Pokémon, none of them will feel forgotten or ignored"

Rika: "I guess that makes sense... You better choose some good Pokémon then"

Riolu: "He's already got me! So five more strong Pokémon shouldn't be that difficult to find"

Kane: "You're one cocky Riolu...."

Riolu: "What's that supposed to mean?! I'm just confident!!"

The two of them started arguing a little, making me giggle.

Kane: "Why are you laughing?"

Rika: "Sorry, it's just been a while since anyone has made me laugh"

Kane's eyes suddenly started sparkling.

Kane: "You said you're a participant in the Trainer Challenge, how about a quick battle?"

I smirked.

Rika: "You really want to try? I won't hold back, you know"

Kane: "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

Rika: "Alright, challenge accepted. Loser has to buy the winner lunch for a month"

Riolu: "Didn't you say you ran out of money?"

Rika: "Ehe~..."

I forgot about that part...

Kane: "It's fine. If I lose, I'll buy you lunch for a month. If you lose, then you have to travel with me"

Rika: "You're on!"

Kane and I ran out of his house and stood in his backyard.

Rika: "I'm a little jealous, this backyard is huge. Great place for battling"

Kane: "Yeah, the second I saw this place, I knew I was gonna like it"

Treecko jumped off my shoulder and landed in front of me. Riolu ran out from behind Kane.

Rika:"Ready?"

Kane smirked.

Kane: "Oh yeah!"

And with that, Kane's first Pokémon battle begun.

Rika: "Treecko! Use Aerial Ace!"

Treecko dashed towards Riolu as his hands started glowing white.

Kane: "Use Counter!!"

Treecko landed his attack, however Riolu's hands started glowing red, ready to use Counter.

Rika: "Agility! Now!"

With that, Treecko gained a serious speed boost, allowing him to easily dodge Riolu's attack.

Rika: "Energy Ball!!"

Treecko put his hands together and formed a ball of green nature energy. He then threw it at Riolu.

Kane: "Blaze Kick!!"

Riolu launched herself towards Treecko's Energy Ball. Her foot lit on fire as she slammed it down into the Energy Ball, destroying it on impact.

Kane: "Double Team!!"

Riolu started dispersing into multiple of her, there had to be at least 15 other Riolu's.

Kane: "Blaze Kick!!"

All of the Riolu's shot down towards Treecko. I knew only one of them was real, but I couldn't tell who!

Rika: "Use Detect!"

Treecko's vision was enhanced, so much so, that he could tell who the real Riolu was. Thanks to Detect, Treecko dodged the attack, leaving Riolu helpless in mid air.

Rika: "Aerial Ace!!"

Treecko's hands glowed white as he slammed them into Riolu's side, sending her flying back.

Riolu landed in front of Kane, looking pretty hurt.

Kane: "Riolu!!!"

I could tell he was about to run in when Riolu yelled.

Riolu: "Don't!! I can keep fighting!!"

Riolu managed to get herself up.

Kane: "Don't push yourself, it's okay if we lose"

Riolu looked back at him with a smirk.

Riolu: "I don't lose"

Kane: "Alright then"

Kane smiled confidently.

Kane: "Use Counter!!"

Riolu dashed towards Treecko.

Rika: "Running out of ideas?"

Riolu was about to strike.

Rika: "Agility!!"

Treecko was about to dodge, however Riolu was expecting this. She knew exactly where Treecko would dodge to. She then struck Treecko in the stomach, sending him flying back, past me, and into the wall behind me. I quickly turned around and ran to Treecko.

Rika: "Treecko! Are you okay?!"

Treecko's eyes were all swirly, indicating he was knocked out.

Kane: "Yes!! I won!!!"

Riolu jumped into Kane's arms as they hugged. I picked Treecko up and started petting him on his head.

Rika: "You did really good, get some well deserved rest"

I tapped his Pokéball onto him. He then turned into a bright red light and was absorbed into the Pokéball.

Kane: "Good battle! That was tough!"

Rika: "Thanks, but... I guess since I lost, I won't get lunch for a month..."

Kane: "How about this, travel with me, and I'll pay for the food"

Rika: "Y-You'd really do that?! But why?"

Kane: "With someone like you traveling with me, I'll definitely get stronger. I'm also pretty new at this, so having you around to give me advice will be pretty good too"

Rika: "Wow... I don't know what to say. No one actually wanted me to travel with them before. Even though we're competition"

Kane: "Then how about rivals? Constantly training to become stronger than the other"

Riolu: "Even though it's obvious I'll be the strongest"

I laughed a little.

Rika: "Sure, I'd be happy to travel with you!"

Kane punched the air.

Kane: "Yes! I can't wait!!"

Rika: "Hey, don't forget, part of our battle was that if I lost, I'd help you catch a Pokémon"

Kane: "Oh yeah!! I wonder where we should go"

Rika: "If it's okay, I'd like to take you to my home first. Though it's on another island"

Kane: "If I can catch a Pokémon there, I'm ready"

Rika: "Alright, off to Akala Island!"

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I'm sorry for the long wait!! I've been so busy lately, so I hope I can get more out soon.

I hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter!!