"So, are you all set?"

"Yeah, but I still don't understand why you're making go live with them."

"It's just to help your condition. However, I don't want you to go alone."

"I know. I'll ask him for a Pokemon."

"Okay. Be safe."

***

"Wow! Look at that!" Bina exclaimed, pointing.

Arriete and Larance turned to see their friend pointing at a pair of Wurmples.

"A perfect first capture," Bina smirked, taking out a pokeball.

"Hey! I'm not going to trail behind!" Larance replied, doing the same.

"Go! Pokeball!" they both shouted as they threw their pokeballs at the Wurmples.

The Wurmples looked up in surprise before each pokeball hit them. The pokeballs wobbled three times before stopping.

"Great job guys," Arriete congratulated. "Now, who's Wurmple is who's?"

"Mine's the female," Bina exclaimed, running over and picking up her pokeball. "I have a ribbon in my bag that I can place around her so we can tell the difference."

"Smart," Larance commented, picking up his pokeball. "And how did you know what gender they were?"

"Daughter of a Pokemon professor, duh," she replied, releasing her Wurmple.

She dug in her bag before taking out a light blue ribbon and tying it around Wurmple's neck.

"There!" she exclaimed as Larance released his Wurmple as well. "Now we can tell the difference."

"Now that we got that settled, onwards to Petalburg City!" Larance dramatically pointed, holding Torchic and Wurmple resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah!" Bina replied, running up to Arriete and linking arms with her. "Is your dad going to be there?"

"I hope not," Arriete mumbled as they began to walk forward.

"Oh, right," Bina muttered, looking down. "How...how did the goodbyes go."

"I couldn't even talk to him. I could still feel his disappointed looks burn in the back of mind from that day."

"I'm sure he'll see that whatever your goal is will make you happy and change his mind."

"Yeah..."

"HEY, YOU!"

The three of them perked up to see three young boy trainers standing in their way, holding out pokeballs.

"We're the Zigzagoon Triplets!" the boy with the shortest hair proudly said. "I'm Zack!"

"I'm Zander!" the boy with the backwards hat announced.

"And I'm Zane!" the boy with the watch said. "And we challenge all three of you to a battle!"

"Challenge accepted!" Larance agreed, putting Torchic down. He turned to his friends. "You two ready?"

"Of course!" Bina replied.

"A battle should clear my head!" Arriete exclaimed with a smile.

"Go, Zigzagoon!" the triplets yelled at once, releasing their Pokemon.

"Go, Pipei!" Arriete commanded, Pipei dropping down from her shoulders.

"Torchic!"

"Mudkip!"

"Scratch!" the triplets commanded.

"Absorb!" Arriete commanded.

"Ember!" Larance commanded.

"Water Gun!" Bina commanded.

The battle raged on for a few more minutes before all three Zizagoon fainted.

"Aw man," Zander muttered as he and his brothers returned their Pokemon. "We lost."

"We did it!" Bina cheered as she hugged Mudkip, Wurmple cheering by her side.

Arriete and Larance laughed as they high fived each other.

"It was a good battle, thanks," Larance thanked the triplets with a smile.

The triplets smiled back and the three friends continued their way to Petalburg City.

***

"Finally!" Bina breathed as they walked into the city.

They were all roped into three other battles on their way to the city, and they finally reached it, exhausted.

"Let's go heal up at the Pokemon Center," Larance suggested, holding his tired Torchic close.

The other two nodded, and soon, they were out of the center and walking towards the gym.

"That was a good battle. Come back again when you train a bit more."

Arriete froze when she heard that voice, Pipei and Paragon walking into her. Bina and Larance stopped, and turned to their friend, worried.

"What's wrong?" Larance asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"My dad's here," Arriete replied with a sigh.

"You're going to have to go into the gym sometime in order to cheer on Larance," Bina said softly.

"You're right," Arriete said, taking a deep breath. "Time to step up and accept that he might never get rid of his disappointment in me."

Bina looked down while Larance's hand tightened its grip on her shoulder. Arriete gave both of them a nod before they walked into the gym.

"Welcome to the-Arriete!" Norman exclaimed as he noticed the three of them. "So, you finally changed your mind after all!"

"Um, no," Arriete whispered. "We're here for Larance."

"Oh," Norman replied, his voice losing its eagerness. "Well, I'm the fourth gym, so he'll have to beat the other three first."

"Of course," Larance nodded.

Norman sighed again before a smile formed on his face.

"It is nice to see you kids with your very own Pokemon," he said before turning to his daughter. "I'm proud of you, Arriete, for starting your own team."

"Thank you, dad," Arriete mumbled, a small smile forming on her face.

"E-excuse me?"

The four of them turned to see a boy their age standing there, nervously twiddling his fingers. His icy-blue eyes showed timidness, while his green hair was messily made. He wore a purple jacket, a white shirt, lime green pants, white shoes, a dark blue backpack, and a golden necklace that seemed to be missing something. His skin was a sickly pale color, and he let out a little cough.

"Well, hello there," Norman greeted with a grin as he approached the boy. "You must be Wally, right?"

"Yes sir," Wally replied with a nod. "I came to ask if I could borrow a Pokemon so I can catch my own."

"Of course," Norman replied, handing him a pokeball. "Take this Zigzagoon, and good luck."

"Thank you sir!" Wally exclaimed before running out.

"Who was that?" Bina asked, jabbing the air with her thumb over her shoulder.

"That's Wally," Norman explained. "His parents are sending him to Verdanturf so his condition can get better."

"'Condition'?" Larance repeated.

"Asthma."

"Oh."

"Let's go see if he needs any help," Arriete stated as she walked out the doors.

Bina followed after her, and Larance was about to do the same, but Norman stopped him.

"Larance, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Arriete. I know that she's upset with me, but she's still my daughter, and I don't know what I would do if she got harmed."

"You can count on me, sir."

"Thank you, Larance. And don't forget to make sure that the three of you stay out of the way of Team Magma and Team Aqua."

"Of course."

***

"Wally, right?"

Wally let out a little shriek and turned around to see Bina running towards him.

"Uh, y-yes," he replied. "Weren't you in the gym earlier?"

"Yup!" Bina stuck out her hand. "I'm Bina! On my head is Mudkip, and on my shoulder is Wurmple!"

"Nice to meet you," Wally smiled, shaking Bina's hand. "And who are the others?"

"I'm Arriete," Arriete introduced, a little surprised that Bina beat her here. "On my shoulder is Pipei, and by my feet is Paragon."

"I'm Larance," Larance smiled. "In my arms is Torchic, and on my shoulder is Wurmple."

"Wow!" Wally breathed, staring at Larance. "Your eyes are so golden! How is that even possible?"

"I was just born this way," Larance shrugged. "So, anyway, we heard that you're trying to catch a Pokemon, and we thought that we could help you out."

"I would really appreciate it, thank you," Wally sighed in relief.

"Okay, so first, we need to look for a Pokemon to catch," Bina said as she began to drag Wally towards an open area.

"Hey, Arriete," Larance began, causing his friend to stop. "Your dad told me something."

"What did he say?" Arriete asked, folding her arms.

"He asked me to watch after you. He said that he still cares about you."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"Arriete-"

The two were cut off by a cheer, and they turned around to see Bina and an excited looking Wally run towards them.

"I did it!" Wally cheered. "I caught a Ralts!"

"Good job, Wally!" Arriete congratulated, ignoring Larance.

"Thanks!" Wally laughed. He then looked down with a sheepish smile. "If you guys don't mind, after I return the Zigzagoon back to Mr. Norman, can I join you? Well, until I reach Verdanturf."

"The more the merrier!" Larance replied, slinging an arm around Wally's shoulders. "It will be nice to have another guy in the group."

"What, we aren't good company?" Bina asked defensively folding her arms.

"I...uh...l-let's go return that Pokemon, Wally!" Larance replied as he ran towards Petalburg, dragging the boy behind him.

Rolling their eyes, Bina and Arriete ran after them.

***

"Another one has joined them."

"Describe them."

"A boy. Sickly looking and with green hair."

"Pay no heed to him. Just focus on the other three."

"Yes sir."

***

A dark figure peered from behind a tree, watching the four friends re enter the city. He was about to take a step forward before his Pokenav rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Why, it's nice to talk to you again, old friend."

"Same here. Listen, I got the information from Joy. Besides the tracking device from Magma, there have been multiple attacks around the region by both them and Aqua. It's becoming really dangerous out there."

"I'm keeping an eye on the kids. However, another one has joined them. He seems to be the weakest, so if anything bad happens, I'll have to intervene."

"As long as the golden eyed one doesn't find out the truth about his dad, then fine."

"I promised Birch that I wouldn't let that happen."

"Of course. Good luck, my friend."