Johto

Alex was whistling a very merry tune as he walked down the old dirt road with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The day was sunny and bordering between mostly comfortable and almost too hot. He was still feeling the lingering effects of the last gym battle he had won against Jasmine in Olivine City. It had been a tough battle but his dedicated pokemon had come through for him in the end, like they always did.

That made 6 gym badges. The thought brought a cheshire grin to his face. He only needed two more before he could challenge the Elite Four and prove that he was the champion--the greatest trainer alive.

It had been Alex's dream since before he could walk to be a trainer. There was never any question. He had to be the best! Of course as a little kid it seemed so easy to be the champion. He had never imagined the sort of obstacles that would get in his way. It had been such a long journey just to get here.

Alex came over the crest of the hill and had to stop. Below him lay Mahogany town. It was home of Pryce, the seventh gym leader.

"I'm coming for you Pryce." Alex mumbled to himself as he began to descent into to the town.

People were busy hustling and bustling about as they went through their routines. Alex's stomach was grumbling but first he had to get to the Pokecenter to make sure that his pokemon were taken care of first. He entered through the sliding doors and caught a whiff of conversation off to the side between two trainers.

"...I swear!" the smaller boy had eyes the size of dinner plates. "The gyrados was red!"

"Oh sure, and the sky is purple." The older boy rolled his eyes at the antics of the younger one.

"No! It really is! I saw it with my two eyes..." he fell quiet. "I thought I was looking at a monster." He whispered.

"You're crazy! There hasn't been a gyrados in that lake for a hundred years, let alone one that's red."

"It's there!" the younger boy was getting frustrated. "I swear! I'll prove it!"

The two boys wandered off and Alex turned to go check in with Nurse Joy.

A red gyrados eh? he thought mildly to himself. If there was a red gyrados it would be an impressive pokemon to have and would surely show case his skill as a trainer. Maybe I'll go check it out later.

"Welcome to Mahogany town!" Nurse Joy gave her prize winning smile and Alex grinned back as he pulled his pokeballs off one by one and handed them over.

"I need a little TLC for my team." He said and watched as each ball was taken carefully.

---

---

---

---

---

---

Samara was sitting in the shade of the souvenir shop, her eyes closed. The level of irritation she felt was rather high and she was trying to find some sort of calm between her agitated and angry emotions. She had been reassigned to Mahogany town to investigate rumors of a red gyrados in Lake of Rage. She wouldn't mind so much to be in the small and low key town, except for one problem.

Alistair.

She felt her blood begin to simmer just thinking about him. He was everything she hated wrapped up in a nicely packaged body. His arrogance and sense of importance were nails on a chalkboard to her. He got under her skin so easily and that irritated her the most. He knew where all of her buttons were and knew that he could push them.

Samara let out a frustrated sound as she picked up a rock and flung it across the road.

"You are to report to Mahogany town and wait for your partner to show up."

"Who's my partner?"

"Alistair."

She gritted her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose. For all the time she had spent in Rocket, she never actually had to work with him side by side. They bumped into each other plenty of times, and it happened more than once they had botched the others mission, but never had they put the two together.

Oil and water.

There was nothing between them but rivalry. They couldn't mix. They had nothing in common, or that's what she convinced herself of. She didn't want to relate to the horrible man in any way.

Samara opened her eyes as she felt something soft rub up against her shoulder. She managed a weak smile and scratched her faithful espeon's ears.

"I'm sorry Pixie," she murmured gently. "I know I shouldn't brood to much. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can break away from him."

Pixie purred in contentment as Samara was scratching her chin. Pixie had been with Samara since before every trouble that had began in her life. While she loved her other pokemon and would do anything for them, there was a very special connection between her and espeon.

"Now if only the prick would show up." The irritation had filtered back into her voice. They were supposed to meet up that morning and already the afternoon was late. Where was he, and what was keeping him?

Alex heard his name, a familiar voice calling it, and turned around. The lazy grin sprang to his face as he saw Sariah standing in front of him. He was rather pleased to see her because things always got more interesting when she was around. One thing that he loved was to get under her skin.

"Kicked out? Not particularly," he pulled out the thin metal case that housed his badges. He popped it open and held it out to her feeling the pride swell inside for his accomplishments. "I've already beat their gym, so the next logical step is to come here and challenge Pryce." He shut the case and slid it back into his bag. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised to see you here, you've always been my shadow." He couldn't resist the jab at her.

Sariah was a rather accomplished trainer even though they both knew that her heart wasn't really into fighting. Alex could remember a time when they had been close as very young children. He had liked her a great deal when they were kids, but he hadn't known the best way to express it. Unfortunately she had taken his teasing and pranks the wrong way and they had drifted apart. He had been so frustrated to find out she was becoming a trainer because being the champion had always been his dreams.

He felt a small pang but pushed it away. He was a very happy sort of guy and did not like dwelling on unpleasant thoughts.

"I've heard some rumors about a red gyrados though, I think I might go check it out before I challenge Pryce." He said as he looped his thumbs through his belt loops. "Maybe-" he cleared his throat. "Maybe you want to go check it out with me?"

He felt the back of his neck get hot. What in the world was he doing? Why did he always feel so awkward around her. He hated that.