Once we past by the burned tree for the thirteenth time, I knew we were lost.

Chespin yawned, "I feel like we've been walking forever. Can we take a break now?"

"Says the person who ran half of the way to this forest," I complained.

"I'm a Pokemon, not a person," Chespin replied.

"Same difference," I sighed.

I looked up at Genevieve. She and Morgan were deep in conversation.

"I'm pretty sure that we've seen that burned tree already, Morgan," Genevieve was saying, "Are you sure we're not lost?"

"I'm positive!" Morgan insisted, "The Town Map that my mom gave me says that Santalune City is this way."

"It's been saying that for a while," Genevieve noted, "What if the map is wrong?"

"Why would the map be wrong?" Morgan asked, "It's the latest modle."

Genevieve looked at the map, "According to this, the path out of here should be right in front of us."

I looked around the forest. Only trees, shrubs, dirt, grass, and rocks as far as I could see. "Do you see anything?" I asked Conner and Chespin. The two of them glanced around before shaking their heads in reply.

"I never would ave thought that we would get lost in the first forest of my journey," Chespin sighed.

"I never thought I would get lost in a forest," Conner commented.

I let out a long sigh, the looked up through the branches of the trees. "Does it look almost nighttime, or is it just me?" I asked.

Conner and Chespin both looked up. "No!" Chespin exclaimed, "I don't want to sleep out in the open where wild Pokemon could attack me!"

"Why would a wild Pokemon attack you?" I asked.

"They could get jealous of how awesome I am and attack me while I'm sleeping." Chespin answered.

"You're not that awesome," I replied, "Try annoying, instead. I would totally understand if they attacked you because of how annoying you are."

Chespin made a face. "It could happen. Most Pokemon notice how awesome I am immediately. They could attack me in a fit of jealous rage. It's happened before."

"You stepped in the poor Weedle's nest," I argued, "That was hardly a 'fit of jealous rage.' And hiding behind Conner did not help."

"Next time something like that attacks me I'm using you as a shield," Conner added.

"You two are just jealous," Chespin complained, "It wasn't my fault the Weedle made its nest where someone could step in it."

"Give it a rest, Chespin," I sighed, "It was your fault and you know it. Everyone else managed to avoid the nest."

"It-" Chespin started, but he was interrupted by Morgan. "Well, it looks like we'll be sleeping in the forest tonight," Morgan told us.

"No!" Chespin whined, "I'll get attacked again! We have to get out of here!"

Chespin started to run off in a random direction, but I smacked him with my tail. "Control yourself, scared- y cat," I growled, "Nothing is going to happen while we're sleeping."

Chespin staggered back towards Morgan. "Your tail hurts, you know," he grumbled.

"That was a little harsh," Conner admitted.

"It was the first thing that popped into my mind, and it's better than him wandering this forest alone," I pointed out, "Then we would have to hunt for him all night, and we'd never get any sleep."

"Let's find a good spot to rest for the night," Morgan stated, picking up Chespin.

"How about that small clearing over there?" Genevieve asked. She pointed at a open patch of ground a little farther ahead, surrounded by bushed. It looked just big enough to pitch a tent and make a fire in without destroying anything.

Genevieve and Morgan set up the tent and started a fire, while Conner, Chespin, and I gathered some berries we found in the bushes close to the clearing.

"Be glad we're sleeping in a tent," I told Chespin, tugging on a particularly stubborn berry, "It's better than sleeping out in the open. Wild Pokemon won't be able to get in."

"I though you weren't  worried about wild Pokemon," Chespin commented, coming over and yanking the berry I was having trouble with off the bush.

"I'm not, but clearly you are, and I was just trying to make you feel better about it," I replied, picking another berry. This berry looked kind of like a black berry.

I sniffed the berry, and a tantalizing smell wafted to my nose. My stomach growled in complaint. I hadn't eaten all day, and I was starving. Eating one berry couldn't hurt, could it? I looked around and saw that Conner was tugging at another stubborn berry. Chespin had gone over to help him. If I ate the berry now, no one would know the difference.

I sniffed the berry again, then took a small nibble, before immediately spitting it out. "Gross!" I exclaimed.

Chespin and Conner looked at me. "Did you eat one of the berries?" Chespin demanded.

"Ah, this one smelled different, so I was taste testing it," I lied.

"Really. Let me try it," Conner replied. I handed him the berry, and he took a bite, then spit it out, "That tastes disgusting." Conner tossed the berry into the bush.

Suddenly, the bush started to shake. "I think you made the bush mad," Chespin stated, backing away from the bush.

"How do you make a bush mad?" Conner asked, also backing up, "It's a bush!"

"I don't know, but you just did," Chespin answered.

I walked up to the bush and looked through the branches. Before I knew it, I was knocked away from the bush.

"Amanda!" Conner exclaimed.

I stood up and looked around. "What was that?" I asked, scanning the clearing.

"Amanda, I think it's behind you," Chespin replied.

I whirled around and saw a Wurmple. "Don't you know it's wrong to attack random Pokemon?" I complained. The Wurmple glared at me. Then charged at me with Tackle. I jumped to the side and the Wurmple raced past me. "Hey, whats the big idea?" I demanded, "I didn't do anything."

The Wurmple glared at Conner, Chespin, and I. "You threw the Bulk Berry at me."

"I threw the Bulk Berry into the bush, not at you," Conner explained, "It was an accident."

"I don't believe you," the Wurmple replied. It shot a flurry of glowing, purple needles a Chespin.

"Look out!" I yelled, tackling Chespin and knocking him to the ground. The needles flew through the air above our heads, missing us by inches.

"What was that?" Chespin asked.

"Poison Sting. It's a Poison type move, and super effective against grass types like you," I explained, standing up, "You might want to stay out of this fight. You're at a disadvantage, and you might get hurt badly."

"But I want to fight, too," Chespin complained.

"No," I insisted, "Conner and I are more than enough for the Wurmple."

I glanced over my shoulder. Conner was waving his tail, currently bright with flames, at the Wurmple. "Scared to fight fire, now aren't you," he noted.

"Stop! Please! Fire burns!" the Wurmple exclaimed. The Wurmple raced into the bush.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed, "Conner never even touched it!"

"Well, I guess he was just a little bit over dramatic," Conner replied.

"I guess so," I sighed, "Then it's back to picking those berries." I started towards the bush.

"Amanda," Chespin stated, "I don't think that the Wurmple ran away because of Conner."

I looked at Chespin. "The why did it run into the bush?" I demanded. Chespin simply pointed up. I looked up into the trees. "Dustox!" I exclaimed, "Five of them!"

Conner looked behind himself. "That's not our only problem," he commented, "Look." I looked behind him and saw swarms of Wurmples.

"This isn't good," I grumbled, backing away from the Wurmples.

"So the Wurmple was just running to get back up," Conner noted.

"What a scared- y Pokemon," Chespin complained, "We never actually did anything."

"Maybe he was too proud to admit defeat?" Conner suggested.

"That does sound like someone we know," I agreed, casting a glance at Chespin.

"Hey!" Chespin exclaimed, "I'm not that bad."

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, let's show these Pokemon that ganging up isn't nice."

"Now you're talking," Chespin agreed.

I started off with a Thunder Shock which struck all the Dustox in the tree. Conner added his Ember into the mix, too. Chespin turned to the Wurmple, then curled into a ball and rolled into the attacking Wurmple. The move was Rollout, a Rock- type move, and was super effective against Bug- type Pokemon like Wurmple.

"Nice move, Chespin," I complemented him.

I raced towards the Dustox in a Quick Attack, and knocked two out of the sky. Conner had turned to the Wurmple and used Ember on them while Chespin continued to attack with Rollout. The Dustox used Gust on me, and knocked me into the attacking Wurmple hoards. I immediately used Thunder Shock, and Conner used Ember again, while Chespin continued Rollout. The Wurmple swarms were overwellemed by the three attacks and fleed.

"That was easy," Chespin commented, coming out of the Rollout attack, "Now all that's left are those five Dustox."

Conner turned towards the Dustox and used Ember, which I quickly followed up with a Thunder Shock attack. Chespin used Vine Whip and knocked one of the Dustox out of the sky.

The Dustoxs' eyes started to glow. "Amanda," Conner asked, "What move is that?"

"I think it's Confusion," I replied, "There's a 10% chance of being confused when it's used on you."

"How do we avoid it?" Conner asked.

"You don't. It has 100% accuracy," I answered, "And you don't know where it's coming from."

Next to us, Chespin let out a yelp. "What is it?" Conner asked.

"Is the world supposed to be spinning?" Chespin asked, stummbling, "I don't think the world's suppposed to spin like that."

"So all five Dustox attacked Chespin?" I questioned, "That's actually really smart. That raises the chance of confusion to 50%."

"Less math, more fighting," Conner stated, "Those Dustox aren't going to take all day."

"I'll help," Chespin said, turning in the direction he believed the Dustox to be. However, he was actually facing away from the Dustox. One of the Dustox slammed him with a super effective Gust attack, and knocked him across the ground. The Dustox try to strike him with another Gust attack, but I coutered it with a Thunder Shock and knocked the Dustox to the ground.

"I wanna fight," Chespin whined, staggering to his feet, "I can still fight."

I shoved him under a bush where I knew the Dustox would have trouble attacking him. "No, you can't, not in the condition you're in right now, so stay out of this one."

I turned to the Dustox behind me and fired another Thunder Shock attack. The Dustox shakily flew back up into the air. "What is with you Dustox?" I heard Conner exclaim, "Give up already!"

The Dustox I was fighting attacked with Gust again. I attempted to counter with Thunder Shock, but was to slow. The attack knocked me under another bush. The disturbance caused a number of berries to fall ontop of me. Annoying berries. Suddenly, a thought hit me. Some berries could cure status conditions like confusion, and even restore health.

I crawled out from under the bush and saw all five Dustox attacking Conner. "Conner, and you give me a cover up?" I yelled to him, "I have an idea that just might defeat these Dustox."

Conner nodded and inhaled like he was going to use Ember, but instead of fire, smoke came out of his mouth when he exhaled. Smoke Screen! Not only would it help me escape, but it also lowered the Dustoxs' accuracy.

Using the smoke for a cover up, I raced around and look for a bush that could help us. It wasn't long until I came upon a bush with blue berries growing on it. I pick three, and I stuffed one into my mouth. Instantly I felt better. I walked around in search of one more berry that I needed. I found the other berry, a brussel sprout looking berry, on a bush near by. I raced I quickly as I could while holding three berries back to the place where Conner and Chespin where.

I watched Conner battle all five Dustox. The Dustox were reluctant to get close to his fire, but I knew it was just a matter of time before he ran out of energy. When that happened, his fire wouldn't be able to help him.

I crawled under the bush that Chespin was in, and heard him complain, "Why won't the world stop spinning? I  could help if the world just stopped spinning."

"I think that this might help," I told him, handing him one of the brussel sprout looking berries. They were called Lum Berries, and could heal any status condition. Chespin ate it gratefully, and after he finished the Lum berry, I handed him one of the blue berries. The Oran Berries could heal Pokemon slightly. I hoped it would heal back most of the damage Chespin had taken from the super effective Gust.

When he had finished the two berries, I asked, "Are you feeling better?"

Chespin hopped up, "You bet. Dustox, here I come!" With that, he raced out from under the bush. I followed him, careful not to hurt the berries. I looked at Conner, who was panting after constantly being attacked by the Dustox. He needed an Oran Berry, but I couldn't give him one while he was being attacked. It wouldn't help at all.

Luckily, Chespin provided a distraction. "Hey, Dustox!" he yelled. When two of the Dustox turned to face him, he leaped into the air above them, then preformed a Rollout from there, striking both down. One slowly flew back into the air, but the other stayed down.

It was the perfect distraction. All the Dustox focused on Chespin. I raced over to Conner. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yah," Conner replied, "So what was your big idea?"

I handed him and Oran Berry. "Here you go!" I answered, "Eat it."

Conner took the berry and tasted it. "That's good," he commented, stuffing the rest in his mouth.

"Ready to fight the Dustox again?" I asked.

Conner eyed the Dustox. "Yep. Chespin can't hold his own out there forever." With that, he raced into the fray, attacking to closest Dustox with Ember. I wasn't far behind, shocking the same Dustox with a Thunder Shock. The Dustox fell to the ground and didn't fly back up.

"Take that Dustox!" Chespin yelled, Vine Whipping one into a tree. The Dustox fell to the ground and laid there. Conner and I used a combo Ember/ Thunder Shock and knocked out the remaining two Dustox.

"Alright!" Chespin exclaimed, "Try that again, Dustox! Hah! You could never defeat Chespin the Great!"

"That was a team effort, Chespin," I replied, "So don't get too cocky."

"Well, we defeated them," Conner pointed out, "So let's hope we don't get bothered by anymore wild Pokemon while we collect more berries."

"We still have to collect berries?" Chespin sighed.

"All the berries we did collect were crushed in the fight," Conner noted, "So it's either collect more berries or go hungry."

"Hey, Chespin," I stated, "I bet I can collect more berries then you."

Chespin perked up. "In you dreams," he replied.

The two of us raced off to the nearest bush and started collecting berries as fast as we could.

---

~ Author's Note

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I reach a Writer's Wall (server case of writer's block). I hope you like this adventure so far. This was primarily just a filler chapter to help you get to know the characters better, but I still had fun writing it. I hope you had just as much fun reading it, too.

So, anyway, let's cut to the chase. Please:

Vote: I really appreciate votes. They tell me whether or not you're enjoying my story.

Comment: If you comment, you can inform me on what I need to improve on. And I'm always welcome to constructive feed back. I could use advise.

THANKS!