The following morning Jennifer woke and crawled out of a medium-sized purple tent wearing a pink long-sleeve shirt with purple hearts and matching pants. At the same time, Diamond was still asleep inside her blue sleeping bag in the tent.

Soon as Jennifer was out of the tent, she pulled out a travel skillet her mother Jessica had packed inside her bag and started cooking omelets for breakfast.

"Meowth," Starla cried out as she yawned, looking up from her spot next to a tree, not wanting to be in the same tent with Diamond.

"Morning Starla," Jennifer said, placing a bowl of fairy-type food in front of her."One day I will bring you back to your old self, she said softly.

"That smells good," Diamond said, coming out of the tent wearing a light blue nightgown and knee-length dark blue pants.

"It's my mom's recipe for spicy breakfast omelets. hopefully, it's almost as good as her omelets," She said, placing two on a white plate and heading to Diamond."She also packed a couple of pre-made meals and snacks for my journey. "

"Thanks, I'm sure they're amazing," Diamond smiled while taking the plate."Let's not forget the Pokemon. Come on out!" She said, throwing two pokeballs, and out came her two Pokemon.

The first was a small green and white puppy compared to the one they saved yesterday from Robert and Anna.

Jennifer took out her pokedex and scanned the puppy.

"Folipup, The Puppy Pokemon. A grass type. Foilpup are very friendly and enjoys being petted by its trainer as encouragement. They tend to live in packs in the forest, led by the toughest of the pack. Despite their friendly nature, they take training seriously and are often aggressive when their pack is in danger. "

The second Pokemon is an orange and yellow chimpanzee with a swirl of fur at the top of its head and a flaming tail jumping up and down.

"Chimchar, The Chimp Pokemon. A fire-type Pokemon. Its rear end is fueled by gas made in its belly. Even rain can't extinguish the fire. It is very agile. Before going to sleep, it extinguishes the flame on its tail to prevent fires. This Pokemon is native to the Sinnoh Region."

"Awesome Pokemon," Jennifer said, putting away her pokedex and putting the other two omelets on a plate for herself.

"Thanks, Chimchar was given to me by my father as my partner for my Pokemon journey, and of course, Foilpup joined me after helping save them," Diamond replied as Jennifer sent out two Pokemon, not including Starla."Your pokemon are excellent as well."

"They are Starla, the child of my mom's two Persain but ended up taking after her mom, the Solan Persian, while her dad, a Kanto Persian," Jennifer said, passing bowls of food to Ace and Starfire."While I caught Ace on Route 1 and Starfire was from Professor Osage's lab."

"So you're from Dusk Town," Diamond said. "I live in Guren Town, while my cousins live in Sinnoh, my dad's home region. I didn't have luck catching anything on Route 1 after leaving Dusk Town to retrieve my Pokedex from her since she is a good friend of my mom who helps breed pokemon for the Rookie trainers."

"Nice," Jennifer said.

The rest of a few minutes was silent as Jennifer and Diamond ate breakfast.

"That was delicious," Diamond said, standing up."I'm going to wash my face," She said, walking over to the stream.

"Alright, I'll clean up the dishes and then get dressed, and we can continue through the forest," Jennifer said, gathering the dishes and going over to a different side of the stream to get a bucket of water to wash them.

~~~

After cleaning up the campsite, Jennifer and Diamond return their Pokemon, except for Starla, and start to continue their way through Guren forest.

"So, Diamond, why do you not like forests?" Jennifer asked.

"It has nothing to do with bug Pokemon like a lot of girls, but more so something that happened to me once in a forest that makes me dislike them," Diamond said. "That's why I was so hesitant to go until I saw you getting ready to leave."

"It's okay. I have something in my past I don't talk about," Jennifer replied.

"Oh really, does it have anything to do with Starla?" Diamond asked.

"In a way, it does," Jennifer stated.

"Got it anyway. How much longer till we get out of this forest?"

"Hm," Jennifer hummed, taking out her Pokepod and reading the map."We should make it to Sunēkuuddo City with a day to spare before your Pokemon Contest." She said, putting away her Pokepod. (It's Japanese for Snakewood; I decided it sounds better than Snakewood City)

"Alright, so I have a day to get in some more training," Diamond said."When are you challenging the gym?" She asked.

"I plan to train some as soon as we arrive in the City, and then tomorrow, while you're training, probably take on the gym or do some more training of my own," Jennifer said.

"Mew," Starla cried out, rolling her eyes.

"What are you saying that it is a bad idea to challenge the gym to the next day?" Jennifer asked, looking at Starla.

"Meowth," Starla cried, looking away and locking her paw.

"She might be saying your other Pokemon aren't ready, unlike her," Diamond said. "Her tone sounds cocky to me, but I don't know exactly what she is saying. "

"That are she thinks I'm being reckless," Jennifer commented.

"Mew."

"I'm taking that as a yes to your comment," Diamond said.

"Starla, thanks for the opinion," Jennifer said. "Maybe it be a good idea to find a new pokemon while we're still in here," She said, looking around.

"Good idea. Do you know what type of gym you will be facing?" Diamond asked.

"Good idea, I should check," Jennifer said, taking out her Pokepod and clicking on the Sunēkuuddo City icon to see information on the locations, more importantly, the gym."It looks like a Water-type gym which is strange for the city's name.

"Yeah, you better find a Grass-type Pokemon, then only two of your Pokemon can handle Water-type Pokemon," Diamond stated."Also, I believe it is named that because the buildings are made out of snakewood. Though I get you most snake, Pokemon are grass or poison, but this gym is a Water type."

"I will find one when we stop for lunch," Jennifer replied."We should be out of here before evening."

"Well, hopefully, you find a good grass type like mine, new puppy," Diamond said.

"There probably pretty good Grass type in this forest," Jennifer replied.

~~~

Jennifer, Diamond, and Diamond then stopped at a clearing to break for lunch.

"I'm going to look around for a new pokemon," Jennifer said, eating the last of her sandwiches and rice balls.

"I'm going to do some training for the Pokemon Contest," Diamond said, walking over to her Chimchar.

"Alright, have fun with that," Jennifer said, walking off with Starla.

"Hm," Jennifer hummed as she walked further down the path near the clearing, looking around.

"Meowth," Starla cried out.

"What is it?" Jennifer asked.

"Meow," Starla cried out, pointing up a tree.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes to see a small, light green bipedal raccoon Pokemon. It has large round black eyes. Its hand has three tiny sharp claws allowing it to climb trees. Its belly and mouth are light brown. It also has a red leaf mask over its eyes and leaves sticking out of its small bushy dark green tail.

Jennifer took out Pokedex and scanned it.

"Treecoon, The Tree Racoon Pokemon. A Grass Type. They often found themselves climbing trees or playing. They rummage through trainers' belongings, looking for things to swipe. They have a strong sense of honor and try to protect weaker Pokemon despite their small size and lack of strength."

"Perfect, Starla, knock that Treecoon down with Swift!" Jennifer commanded, putting away her pokedex.

"Meowth!" Starla cried, jumping up and swinging her tail, sending bright golden stars up the tree and knocking down the Treecoon.

"Tree!" Treecoon cried out, flipping and firing multiple golden seeds at Starla as it landed on the ground.

"Starla, dodge, then Tackle!"

Starla jumped back, avoiding the bullet seed, and then ran forward and slammed her body into Treecoon, sending it smacking into the tree.

"Treecoon!" Treecoon swung its tail and sent sharp leaves flying toward Starla.

"Meow!" Starla cried out and got hit by the leaves.

"You got this, Starla!" Jennifer cheered.

"Meowth!" Starla cried out, letting out a loud cry and sending a pink wave toward Treecoon and sending it flying and right to the ground.

"Treecoon!" Treecoon cried out, slowly getting up.

"No way, Disarming Voice," Jennifer said, surprised." Let's finish this, Swift!"

"Meow!" Starla cried out, using Swift again and knocking out Treecoon.

"Alright, Pokeball!" Jennifer said, throwing the Pokeball at Treecoon.

The Pokeball hit Treecoon, sucking it inside with a red light beam. Jennifer stared at the Pokeball nervously as it shook, and finally, after five shakes, the Pokeball clicked, signaling that Treecoon was caught.

"I caught a Treecoon," Jennifer said, smiling and running, picking up the Pokeball containing her newly caught grass-type Pokemon.

"Starla, let's go," Jennifer said, walking back towards Diamond.

~~~

After a few minutes, they returned to where Diamond was to see her Chimchar spinning around, spitting small flames and flying down towards its body like sparks.

"Wow," Jennifer said, looking at the performance.

"Thanks, it could be better, " Diamond commented. "Chimchar return," She said, returning Chimchar.

"I'm sure you can improve it before the contest. I found a new pokemon for the gym," Jennifer said, holding up the Pokeball.

"Meow.'

"Well, Starla noticed the Pokemon for me."

"Seems she is regaining her bond with you some. She seems less annoyed, "Diamond commented.

"Yeah, I think she is starting to open up again. She followed my commands for the most part, unlike my battle in Guren City," Jennifer said, petting Starla's head, letting it last a few minutes longer before smacking Jennifer's hand away. "Still not fully, but she let me pet her longer. She will heal eventually."

"Well, ready to go then?"

"Yeah, let's get going," Jennifer said.

Diamond nodded, and the two and Starla started walking down the Pathway.

After another couple hours, they finally walked out of Guren Forest and looked down from a cliff to see the beautiful late afternoon sun shining down on the city in view with radish brown buildings with black patches.

"There it is, Sunēkuuddo City," Jennifer said with a smile on her face.

"We made it out of the forest, and it is not completely dark yet," Diamond said.

"Come on, let's get to the Pokemon Center to heal our Pokemon and get a room to stay in until we leave," Jennifer shouted. "Afterwards, we train our explore the city," She said, running down the cliff.

"Sounds good to me," Diamond agreed, running after Jennifer.

"Meowth!" Starla cried out, following Jennifer.

To be continued...

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed the eighth chapter of Pokemon Destiny Quest. In this chapter, Jennifer catches a new Pokemon and finally leaves Guren Forest.

Thank you to everyone reading and leaving votes on my story.

Also, the picture above is supposed to be a Diamond. Treecoon picture was not made so entirely, so there is no picture now. My friend hasn't gotten a chance to make it yet more, so edit my drawing. I might use the app I had used for some to make it instead.

Question of the chapter: What do you think the Water-type gym leader is like?

WC: 1965