As Laria stood on a hilltop, she felt the gentle breeze caress her dark, wavy hair. Hmm, I wonder where we should go next? she thought. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Without seeing him, she knew who it was. "What are you doing here? I thought you were back at the camp, packing. What's your excuse this time, mister?" She put on a pretend pout. "Nothing of the kind," the 17-year old boy replied. "Actually, I came up here to see how you were doing." "Well, Adrian, since you wanted to know, I'm doing fine. And I picked out a good spot that we could move to for the week. It's over in that valley. Our map shows that if we went there, we'd be a lot closer to Floral Village and Articuno's cave." Adrian nodded in agreement. "Why don't we go back to camp, since you've picked a spot already. Then we can eat lunch before we finish packing." "O-kay!"

One hour later, the two trainers were ready to set off when Adrian's Raichu saw something move in the bushes nearby. He eagerly sniffed the air, hoping it was a Pokemon he could battle. Then he scampered to the spot, but there was nothing. The mouse-like creature dismissed it as a trick of the light and went back to his master.

As Laria walked with Adrian, she felt a sense of comfort in his presence. She remembered the first time they had met, a long time ago in middle school. She had been studying, and she had asked him if he could help her by reading off questions from an earlier quiz. Laria smiled. After that, we hung out together at school. The first year, we always felt kind of awkward when we talked together, she recalled. Now when she looked at Adrian, he seemed so confident and strong and...and... so different. In a few years he'd gone from being an eighth grade shorty to one of the most popular guys around. The reason they had met together for this trip was because Laria had gotten a sudden urge to see Articuno, the legendary bird of ice. Adrian had volunteered to go with her, just like that, and so they'd packed and set off.

By now they had gotten halfway to their new campsite and the group was resting. "The group" consisted of Laria, Adrian, his Raichu, Rhydon, Alakazam, Psyduck, Combusken; and her Salamence, Charmeleon, Dragonair, Pidgeot, Flygon, and her newly acquired Noctowl. (Poke experts, analyze these Pokemon. What are Laria's favorite types of Pokemon? Tick, tock, tick, tock. The answer is: Dragon and Flying! Charmeleon's gonna be able to fly soon.) The only Pokemon out of its Pokeball, though, was Raichu. (How would YOU like 6 giant Pokemon walking with you in the middle of the woods?) Suddenly, Raichu spotted something again, but the object was not moving. It was a shiny piece of metal, coiled around and around. Raichu didn't know it, but it was a spring left from the previous intruder. He sniffed it cautiously, like it was a bomb. Then he took it in his mouth and trotted to where Adrian was sitting. There, he set it down and nudged Adrian to focus his attention. His master, of course, had been thinking about Laria again. The electric Pokemon rolled its eyes. "Young love. Augh. Cupid stabs you straight in the heart, making you get feelings for an old friend. Later, you get sick and tired of them. I hope these two don't break apart, like me and Cassandra. Ah, Cassandra. Everybody had tried to win her heart, since she had been the prettiest Pikachu around. Raichu, then a Pikachu himself, was the only one who had ever succeeded. He would probably never know why she had chosen him, but he suspected it had something to do with all the treats he'd given her. Anyway, one day they had a big fight, and when it was over, the two had vowed never to speak to the other again.

Ah, Adrian was finally waking from his daydream. He petted Raichu. "What've you got there, you little pack rat?" He picked up the spring and examined it curiously. "Where did this come from?" Raichu pointed his right forepaw at the bushes. "Hmm. I wonder how this could've gotten there? Maybe someone's watch broke and the spring came out. Might as well keep it." He tucked it away, so no trinket-seeking Pokemon would see it and come for it.

Something came anyway.