"I won!" Chespin proclaimed loudly, looking over the piles of berries that he, Conner, and I had collected.

"No, I won," I argued.

"I won, fair- n- square!" Chespin replied.

"No, I won! My pile has ten and a half berries, but your's only has nine and a half!" I insisted.

"No way, the ten and a half berry pile is mine!" Chespin shot back.

"It's my berry pile, Chespin," I chided, "Don't be a sore loser."

"I am not a sore loser!" Chespin exclaimed, glaring at me, "You're just to scared to loose, so you switched my pile with yours!"

"Did not!" I shouted, returning his glare.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Would you two give it a rest!" Conner, who was standing next to the seven berries he collected, yelled over our arguing, "It doesn't matter who collected more berries. What matters is that all of them are edible. And how did you end up with half of a berry, anyway?

"Amanda reached for a berry I was already picking and insisted that it was hers, so I decided to split it with her to avoid a fight," Chespin replied.

"No way," I answered, "It was the other way around. You wanted to fight over the berry, but I suggested that we split it."

"You two would fight over a pile of leaves," Conner sighed, "It's no use trying to keep the two of you from butting heads."

"Is the pile of leaves comfy?" Chespin asked.

"It doesn't matter because they don't exist," I pointed out.

"There are piles of leaves everywhere!" Chespin shot back.

"Not the kind Conner was talking about," I stated.

"How do you know what kind he was talking about?' Chespin questioned.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Conner interrupted "And there you go. Jeez. It doesn't matter. Let's just take these berries to Genevieve and Morgan."

"Okay," I agreed. Chespin and I both headed for the largest pile of berries.

"Those are mine," Chespin stated when he noticed that I was heading for the same pile he was.

"Yours? We're all going to eat them in the end, so does it matter?" I questioned.

"Then it doesn't matter that I'm going to carry them and not you," Chespin replied.

"You know what," Conner sighed, "Let's just do this." He picked up a berry from the largest pile, then divided it into two equal parts. He picked up both parts and put one in each pile, making them both total ten berries. "Now it's even, and I can get a rest from you two bickering."

Chespin and I glared at him, but we each walked over to a different pile and picked them up. Conner picked up his and lead the way to where Genevieve and Morgan had set up camp. They had finished setting up the tents and the fire was going. Night had fallen long ago, and the campfire cast and eerie glow around the clearing. However, its warmth was welcoming, and it did provide some light to see by. Not as much as a flashlight or a light bulb, but still enough.

"Hey!" Morgan exclaimed as Conner, Chespin, and I walk towards the clearing.

"What took you so long?" Genevieve demanded, "We've been waiting forever for you to get back."

"Well, you see, while we were collecting berries, we ran into a Wurmple-" I started.

"The Wurmple got mad and attacked us, then, when it realized that we were too strong for it, the Wurmple ran and got some of its friends-" Chespin interrupted, setting down his pile of berries.

"They attacked us and we won," Conner finished, "but we lost all the berries in the fight, so we had to go and pick new berries. These two goofed off in a silly race while I picked berries."

"We picked WAY more berries than you, thank you very much," Chespin growled at Conner.

"Did you even check to make sure that all your berries were good to eat?" Conner questioned.

"I, uh, well," Chespin stuttered, looking over his pile of berries.

Conner shook his head and sighed, "My point exactly."

Genevieve and Morgan just looked back and forth between Conner, Chespin, and I throughout our argument.

"You know," Morgan stated, "It's times like this I wish I knew what they were saying."

Genevieve nodded in agreement. "Let's just pretend to know what they're staying and cook the berries. I'm starving," she complained, and her stomach growled loudly as if to agree with her.

"Who's ready to eat?" Morgan asked Conner, Chespin, and I.

"I am!" we all chorused. Each of us moved over to the pot Morgan had placed over a roaring fire and threw our berries in. Morgan stated stirring, and soon enough, tantalizing aromas wafted around the camp site.

"I sure hope that no wild Pokemon are attracted here because of that smell," I noted, glancing warily at the surrounding undergrowth, "I've had enough of wild Pokemon for one day."

"Same here," Chespin replied, nodding in agreement, "I'm not interested in hiding under a bush again."

"Fighting them wasn't exactly easy, either," Conner complained, eyeing the pot of boiling water, "How much longer until we eat? I'm starving."

"FOOD'S READY!" Morgan exclaimed, halting her stirring. She removed six bowls from her backpackers and spooned the soup that she made into each one.

"Does that answered your question?" I asked Conner, standing up and racing for the food bowl.

"I call first dibs!" Chespin exclaimed as he raced past me and screeched to a halt beside Morgan. Morgan smiled at him and handed him a bowl. Chespin promptly sat down and began slurping at the soup. Morgan released Pidgey and handed him some soup as well. Conner and I came up behind Chespin and Morgan passed us each a bowl of soup as well.

"Genevieve! It's time to eat!" Morgan called. Staring into the undergrowth, she stated, "Genevieve was here just a minuet ago."

Conner and I looked at each other. It wasn't like Genevieve to just randomly wander off.  Especially at night in the dark.

I heard a rustling sound from the undergrowth behind me and turned to look.

"Genevieve!" I exclaimed as Genevieve emerged from the undergrowth behind me.

"What took you so long?" Morgan questioned, looking Genevieve up and down, "You look like you were dragged through a bush backwards."

"I was... sort of," Genevieve replied, "But I had to crawl through the bush backwards."

"Why would you crawl through I bush backwards?" Morgan inquired, "I told you we were about to eat and that you shouldn't go wandering off."

"I know that, but I've found something that I want you to see," Genevieve explained, "Follow me."

Morgan, Conner, Cespin, and I put down our bowls, and Morgan returned Pidgey. Then she turned to Genevieve. "Lead the way," Morgan stated, gesturing for Genevieve to lead.

Genevieve turned and rushed into the undergrowth. We all raced after her, jumping over fallen logs and crawling under large bushes. After running for about five minuets, Genevieve slowed down. "Keep it down past this point," she told us, "There are some really sensitive Pokemon past this point. I've already had to run from them once."

"Agreed. Running from Pokemon once today is enough for me," I noted,  sneaking forward as slowly as possible.

"Same here," Chespin whispered, attempting to army- crawl under a bush, getting his tail caught on a particularly low- hang branch. "Hey, let go of my tail!" he yelled at the bush. I reached under the bush and grabbed hold of his paw, dragging him out from under the bush.

"Thanks," Chespin sighed, rubbing his tail.

I smiled. "What are friends for?'' I replied quietly, turning around and walking in the direction Genevieve was heading.

Chespin stood up and raced after me. "Wait up," he panted, "I'm not as fast as you."

I paused and turned to him. "We really need to hurry. We're going to loose sight of Genevieve at this rate."

"Just wait for a sec though," Chespin panted, coming to a halt next to me, "I'm not used to running like this. And not having eaten in a while isn't helping, either."

I nodded in agreement, "Let's just make sure we at least keep Genevieve in sight. We don't want to get lost in this place or attacked by wild Pokemon."

"I guess you're right," Chespin sighed. I turned and started walking in the direction of the others with Chespin trailing behind.

After walking for a little longer, I spotted everyone had come to a stop up ahead. "What have we stopped for?" I asked.

Conner turned when he heard my voice. When he spotted Chespin and I, he stated, "It took you long enough."

"Why has everyone stopped?" Chespin asked, "We haven't already reached where that thing that Genevieve wanted us to see already, have we?"

"Yah, we have," Conner replied, steeping to side, "Take a look."

Chespin and I came up beside him and looked where everyone else was looking. "No way!" Chespin gasped.

Before us stretched a grassy path lined with bushes and tall grass. In the distance you could see the bright lights of a ciy. Most likely Santalune City.

"I thought that we weren't anywhere near Santalune," I noted, staring at the lights in the distance, "And there wasn't a path through to the other side of the forest."

"How are we supposed to get to Santalune if we can't even find the path?" Chespin asked, "Walk through the bushes?"

"It's not like we can just walk straight to it," I noted, "There's a reason that roads exist."

"Maybe we overlooked the path through these woods," Genevieve suggested to Morgan.

"No way," Morgan replied, "I was looking at the Town Map. There's no way we could have missed it, and trainers travel through this forest way to much to not leave a path. Maybe we should cut through this undergrowth?"

"No," Genevieve stated, "If we tried to walk through that thick undergrowth, it'd tare you to shreds."

"What other choice do we have?" Morgan questioned, looking at Genevieve, "We can't go through it, but we can't find the path through."

"Why don't we go back to the camp and sleep, then tomorrow we can search the forest again to see if we might have over looked something," Genevieve suggested.

"Good idea," Morgan agreed, turning around and walking back the way we had come. Everyone followed her back to the camp.

"We need to get out of this forest," Chespin complained as he was caught under another bush.

"And the sooner we get you out, the better," Conner sighed, tugging him out from under the bush.

"Are you scared that the Bug- type Pokemon will decide to nibble on you toes?" I giggled.

"Not funny!" Chespin shouted, lunging at me and attempting to Tackle me into the bush.

I dodged his attack and slammed him in the back with a Quick Attack. Chespin attempted a Vine Whip, but I countered it with Thunder Shock. Chespin and I faced off and stared each other in the eye. Chespin curled into a ball and started a Rollout. I readied another Thunder Shock.

"Stop it you two!" Conner exclaimed, releasing a Ember on both me and Chespin.

Chespin yelped in pain, and I flinched. Both of us turned to Conner in fury. "What was that for?" Chespin demanded.

"Yeah, what's the big idea, Conner?" I growled, "That HURT!"

"Better than having you two go at it," Conner replied, "What do you think that Morgan and Genevieve would have thought?"

"I guess you have a point," I sighed, "Sorry for teasing you, Chespin."

"And sorry for attacking you like that," Chespin apologized, "I just don't like you teasing me like that."

"Whoa, what happened to the camp!" I heard Morgan shout from up ahead.

"Huh?" I mumbled. What could have happened to the camp? I raced ahead and came to a halt next to Genevieve and Morgan. Conner and Chespin both stopped behind me.

"Wow," I gasped, "Did a national disaster strike while we were all out?" I demanded.

The camp was totaled. The ashes from the fire were spread across the clearing, and the pot that had hung over the fire to cook our food had been knocked down and turned over. Genevieve's and Morgan's backpacks had been torn to shreds, and the contents were scattered everywhere. The tents had many holes torn in them.

"I guess we won't be able to spend the night here after all," Conner stated.

"What?!" Chespin shouted, "You mean that we're going to have to sleep out in the open?! That's so not fair! I don't want to be attacked in the middle of the night!"

"We won't be attacked in the middle of the night, Chespin," I sighed.

"What could have done this?" Morgan asked, walking over to he tattered backpack. "And how am I going to get the money to replace all this stuff?"

"I'm not sure, but Pokemon must have destroyed the camp," Genevieve noted, "I haven't seen any trainers in these woods, and had a thief raided our camp, they would have attempted to leave the camp as unscratched as possible."

"But what Pokemon would do such a thing?" I asked, picking up the pot once full of delicious soup, "It's not a Pokemon's nature to be evil."

"Maybe not, but it is in some Pokemon's nature to be naughty," Conner replied, watching Morgan and Genevieve wander around the clearing, picking up anything that they could find to salvage. Luckily they had both found their Pokedex, and because Morgan had carried her Pokeballs with her, she still had Chespin's and Pidgey's Pokeballs.

"Maybe the Pokemon who attacked our camp was the Dustox!" Chespin exclaimed, "It'll bet they're lying in wait for one of us in the tents right now! Everyone duck for cover!" Chespin tugged the pot out of my hands and hiding in it.

"You're such a scared-y Pokemon," I sighed, "There is nothing in those tents that's going to hurt us. I'll prove it to you." I walked to one of the tents and opened up the flap. "Ta- da. Nothing there, see?" I explained. Chespin looked over the top of the pan, gasped, then ducked down again.

"I think you might want to rethink that, Amanda," Conner warned me, backing up nervously, "Look behind you."

I rolled my eyes but turned around anyway. Behind me were three Geodude, and they didn't look particularly happy. "Uh- oh," I mumbled before the lead Geodude shot a Rock Throw straight at me.

---

~ Author's Note

So, what did you guys think of that? I must admit, at first I really didn't like the way this chapter was turning out, but it's turned out pretty good, wouldn't you agree?

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I had some major cases of writer's block in this chapter, sorry. I must admit, having so much homework isn't exactly helpful, either. I sware, my history teacher's insane.

Also, what do you think of the new cover? I had to change it, because I didn't draw the other one, and I felt that it would be unfair to keep it. I drew this one though, and although it may not be as good as the other one, it's not too bad.

So, anyways, I decided to enter this book in the 2015 Pokemon Watty Awards. Please comment to tell me what you think: I need all the criticism I can get to make this book as good as it can be. Also, I'll be editing all my previous chapters, too, so advice on what I can do to improve on them would also be helpful. Also VOTE! It let's me know which chapters you liked and which I need to improve on. Sleeping isn't to bad of an idea, either, if you're like me and tend to read under the covers.

Until the next Author's Note. Bye!