Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon!!!

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Yawning, Zeta stretched her sore limbs. She looked to see that Rally had not left, but was making breakfast. Zeta sniffed the air and licked her lips.

"Ahh, that smells good, what is it?" She asked. Rally didn't reply, but instead kept cooking. Zeta stretched once more and stood up. This act earned a small snort of protest from Chaos and Zeta smiled warmly at him. She walked over to Rally and looked over the girl's shoulder. After a few seconds, Rally's eyebrow began to twitch in annoyance.

"Stop it." She growled. Zeta looked at her in shock.

"What did I do?" She asked. Rally poked the fire with a stick.

"You're annoying me."

"No, I'm not."

"Shut up."

"You." Rally narrowed her eyes before muttering something under her breath and zoning out.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Zeta asked, her head perking up. Rally only grunted and poked the fire some more before she heard crunching. Her head shot up and she looked in the general direction, the forest.

"What do you think it is?" Zeta asked as she looked about quickly, her imagination wandering.. Rally stood up slowly and glanced about before narrowing her eyes.

"With my luck a Rocket, with yours... Probably the Boogie Man." She answered.

"Hi!" A voiced shouted from behind the two.

"Kyaaah!" Zeta screamed, tripping forward.

"Gaaah!" Rally replied. Both trainers whirled around and faced the owner of the voice. It was a guy, about thirteen, maybe even fourteen years old. He had shoulder long blonde hair and a red muscle tee with red shorts and red tennis shoes. Snickering, Zeta pointed at Rally.

"You were scared of a guy!" She exclaimed, morning giddiness getting to her. Rally rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"You were too." She muttered out as a comeback. Zeta ignored this and turned to the guy.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Eric. And I challenge you two to a two on two battle!" He cried. Rally and Zeta sweatdropped at his abrupt challenge. Glancing at Zeta, Rally arched an eyebrow.

"This guy doesn't beat around the bush, does he?"

"Guess not." Zeta replied, shrugging.

"Well? Are ya gonna battle me or are you afraid!" Eric shouted out as he pulled two pokeballs from his belt.

"Er..." Zeta said as she motioned for Kurasai to come over. The Quilava quickly bounded over to his trainer and stood before Zeta. Rally remained silent but Luke needed no signal as the silent Umbreon quickly sprang to all fours dashed over to his trainer, taking a fighting stance. Chaos and the others watched from the sidelines. The trainer grinned and pulled two pokeballs from his belt and let them fly. As the red light faded two forms were revealed. A Rhyhorn and a Chansey. The said pokemon took determined stances.

"This is gonna be a tough battle." Zeta commented as she took in the two pokemon before them. Rally smirked slightly and looked over at Zeta.

"That may be," Rally started before she turned her attention back to the fight.

"But I'm not going to lose to some arrogant jerk." She finished.

"Me either!" Zeta declared and threw a fist into the air. And the battle was on.

"Chansey, metronome, Rhyhorn, tackle!" Eric yelled. Chansey began to chant, waving it's hands back and forth as Rhyhorn leapt at Kurasai. Kurasai leapt over Rhyhorn's head and hit the ground behind him.

"Kurasai, ember!" Zeta cried. Kurasai twisted around and flared up his back, releasing a bout of flames into the Rhyhorn's face. The pokemon roared in frustration and charged at Kurasai.

"Look out!" Zeta cried. The Chansey released its metronome on Luke, hitting him with a mound of rocks.

"Ah! Rock Smash!" Rally exclaimed. The rocks were blown backwards with Luke's nightshade. Rally relaxed and crossed her arms. Luke leapt upon the Chansey and began to gnaw on its head. Chansey clenched it's teeth and flipped Luke of her back. Before he could react, Chansey grabbed Luke by the shoulder and began to slap him.

"Kurasai!" Zeta yelled as her pokemon was flung across the campsite by a skull bash. Clenching his teeth, Kurasai pushed himself up, his body shaking with exertion. The Rhyhorn charged him, his horn poised angrily. The exhausted pokemon cried out in pain as he was tossed backwards. Zeta ran over to him and gingerly picked him up. Eric smirked and crossed his arms. Looking over to see how his Chansey was doing, his mouth dropped open and he frowned. Chansey was dancing around in confusion. Luke gave her one final Nightshade before the pokemon collapsed in a dead faint. Dejectedly, Eric returned his pokemon and shook Zeta's hand.

"Great match, let's battle again, sometime. Same to you, Miss Cloak." He said, nodding his head in Rally's direction. The girl grunted in response, her eyes shining with victory. Zeta grinned sheepishly and looked down. Her smile instantly fell when she caught sight of her injured pokemon. She pulled out Kurasai's pokeball and returned him.

"Well, we better get going, see you some other time." She said hurriedly, giving Eric one last wave before jogging off. Rally mimicked her wave before running after Zeta.

"Zeta, why are you running?" Rally cried, catching up to her in a matter of moments.

"I gotta get Kurasai to a pokemon center!" She panted in reply. Rally nodded.

"Then run faster!" She yelled, dashing in front of Zeta, who's face was a mixture of exasperation and shock.

"I'm running as fast as I can!" She yelled. Rally slowed down.

"Wow, you're outta shape, by your figure, I thought you could run a lot faster." She said, indicating how Zeta's tattered jeans hung off her waist. Zeta crossed her arms, her chest heaving.

"Unlike some people, I don't have to eat a lot to gain weight." She growled. Rally raised an eyebrow. She walked over to Zeta and grabbed the loose fabric of her shirt. Walking to Zeta's back, she moved her hand down and grabbed the clothing around her middle. She began twisting it until the figure of Zeta's stomach began to show. Her brow furrowed in slight anger.

"You're skinny, how many meals do you eat?" She asked. Zeta flushed and stepped away from Rally.

"We're wasting time." She huffed before walking off. Rally's gaze followed Zeta's back until she walked up to her.

"Hey, you're not leaving me, my pokemon will get mad for ditching their back scratcher!" She huffed. Zeta averted her gaze and began to run once more, Rally close behind, purposefully keeping her slow pace.

~~~

Upon reaching the pokemon center, Zeta immediately brought Kurasai's pokeball to the front desk.

"Can you heal him?" She asked hesitantly. Nurse Joy smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry, you'll have your pokemon back in top shape." She said warmly. Zeta managed a weak grin before walking into the waiting room where Rally stood impatiently with her cloak drawn. Zeta slapped her on the back.

"I know you were just trying to annoy me about that eating thing, so now it's my turn." She said cheerfully, but then brought a hand to her chin.

"After I call home." She said thoughtfully before walking off in the direction of the phone. Plopping down, she quickly dialed the number. Rally looked over her shoulder and into the blank screen, eager to see how Zeta's family acted. Soon enough, the vid screen switched on and their ears were filled with screams of anger as Zeta's eyes stared into irritated hazel ones of an eleven year old.

"Hi Kodip! Where's mom?" She asked. The boy placed a finger up.

"Hang on." He said, getting up and walking off. Rally poked Zeta on the shoulder.

"What's going on, who's yelling?" She asked. Zeta smirked.

"Nothing, my big brother is practicing with his band. I think right now they're called The Fascist Rule. Corny, huh?" She asked. Rally nodded in slight confusion before someone sat down. Instead of a thin red headed boy, a slightly muscled boy sat there, his brown eyes emotionless.

"Hi Jix! How's the band?" Zeta asked eagerly. The eighteen year old shrugged.

"Mike quit, and we're using your room, okay?" He asked. Before Zeta could reply, he handed the phone over to Kodip, who anxiously sat down.

"Hi! Jix wanted to make sure that it wasn't mom, since he's grounded. Mike quit because mom grounded him, even though he lives on the next street. I think its because they're using your room to practice." He said. Zeta's face grew panicked.

"What about my posters? Or my laptop, what about my TV?" She asked. Kodip sighed.

"They like your Incubi poster, they took down the Gov't Done Thing poster and put it up in the bathroom. Your laptop was such an old model that they stuffed it in the closet, and you TV is the most used object, besides the bed." He replied lazily, his eyes flicking back to the TV that shone images of a familiar cartoon in the background. Zeta rubbed her forehead.

"I gotta go, love you, tell mom and dad I said hi." She mumbled, hanging up. Rally glanced at her.

"That was mean." She commented. Zeta chuckled.

"That was harsh, not just mean, I liked that poster." She replied dryly. Rally shook her head and sat down next to a fidgeting ten year old. Zeta saw the boy jump and grinned. Standing up, she stretched lazily and lounged over to the boy. Sliding into the seat on his other side she smirked.

"I'm Zeta." She said. The boy nodded.

"H... Hi." He squeaked. Leaning forward, Zeta snapped her finger in front of his face, causing the boy to jerk his head back momentarily.

"Look kid, you're a flinch, so Rally and I are gonna give you some pointers, you are a pokemon trainer, right?" She asked. The boy fumbled with his fingers and nodded.

"M..my Clefairy hurt herself again, she used take down on a ghost pokemon. She ran into a tree. I have good pokemon, but I don't know how to really use them. Luna is the only pokemon I own that isn't dark type." He said, blushing the whole way. Rally noticed this and poked him with her elbow.

"Look, the point is, Zeta and I go around making sure that the trainers are in groups if they are young, or look too young to start training. Team Rocket and their stupid elements are recruiting anyone they think that will listen. I'm Rally, you know Zeta. We just want you to be safe, just like all the trainers, so travel with us-"

"We do?" Zeta interrupted. Rally shot her a glare and Zeta grinned sheepishly.

"Genius here hasn't even gotten her first badge." Rally said to the nervous boy, jerking a thumb at Zeta, who scowled back at her. The boy hesitated, but then nodded.

"I'm Troy Black." He piped up, his voice rising when he said his name. Zeta grinned and placed her hand out for him to shake.

"I'm Zeta." She said. Troy took her hand, but released it soon after when a look of realization struck his face.

"Hey, isn't your dad-" Zeta clapped her hand over his mouth and whispered something into his ear before releasing him. Troy's face was slightly flushed, but he remained silent. The duo had become a trio.

~~ ^^ ~~ ^^ ~~ ^^ Tada!!! How was this chapter?!?!?!