A/N: Hey, guys!

It's been a long time since I've included an author's note in a story on here! I'm gonna go ahead and cut to the chase. This is somewhat of a sequel to my LoveLive!/Pokemon one-shot "Who Was She?". A lot of people wanted me to continue it, so I will. If you haven't read it, yet, then I suggest you go do that right now. It's sort of the prologue to this story. Yes, it's set in the Kalos region with Nico as the main character. Of course, Rin and Hanayo are here, too. I won't reveal all of the pairings that I will include, but I can assure you that there will be NicoMaki.

Are you guys ready?

Let's do it!

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The rays of the morning sun shone down upon the many trees that made up Santalune Forest, brightening up the usually dull green color of the leaves and vegetation while lighting the way for Nico, Rin, and Hanayo as they prepared for their quest to obtain all eight badges across the Kalos region.

Actually, it was more of Nico's quest than it was Rin's or Hanayo's, but being the good friends they both were, they had decided to accompany the raven-haired girl on her journey because they wanted to see their friend succeed.

However, the three girls couldn't complete their quest with just one Pokemon each, so they decided to wake up extra early that morning and go search for more in Santalune Forest. Plus, it would provide Nico with an opportunity to battle trainers and other wild Pokemon with her Poliwag.

And the raven-haired girl had done just that. She had come across a youngster with a Scatterbug and a Fletchling, a lass with a Pikachu, and another lass with a Weedle and a Bunnelby and defeated them all. Needless to say, Nico's head had swelled to the size of a watermelon following those three victories.

"I wouldn't get on my high horse just yet, Nico-chan," Hanayo gently chided as they walked through the lush forest. "Viola is much more stronger than they are. Those three battles were nothing compared to what you're going to be facing in the future."

Rin nodded in agreement. "Kayo-chin's right, nya. It's only going to get tougher from here on out."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Nico says, waving both of them off. "Poliwag and I are gonna be ready for them when the time comes, so I'm not too worried."

Hanayo sighed. She was absolutely sure that if Miss Nishikino were here at this very moment, she would be crawling Nico's ass for saying such a thing. "As much as I adore Poliwag, he is only one Pokemon. He can't help you win eight badges and defeat the Elite Four and the Champion alone. You need more Pokemon, Nico-chan. That's what we came here for after all."

"But there's not really anything here, Hanayo. The only Pokemon that mainly roam this part of the forest are Scatterbug, Weedle, and Caterpie. Nothing that really interests me, you know?"

The conversation between the brunette and the raven-haired girl was suddenly interrupted as Rin abruptly stopped in her tracks and stuck her arm in front of the two girls to prevent them from walking any further.

"Ow! What are you doi-"

"Shhh!" The orange-haired girl shushed her senior as she kept her eyes on the small patch of tall, rustling grass just ahead of them.

"Rin-chan?" Hanayo worriedly asked her childhood friend. "What's wrong?"

Rin kept silent, her chartruese-eyed gaze never wavering from the grassy spot. She watched it rustle a few more times before a yellow, lightning bolt-shaped tail made its presence known by popping up out of the tall grass.

Hanayo and Nico felt the orange-haired girl's arm, which was still holding the two of them back, begin to shake slightly.

"Rin-chan, you're scaring me..." Hanayo whimpered, clasping her hands at her chest.

Nico placed a gloved hand on the still-shaking Rin's shoulder. "Yeah, Rin, cut it out!"

Did they not see what was there? Was she the only one that had noticed? That tail looked awfully familiar...

And then the Pokemon's tail immediately went back down into the grass and was replaced with its head. Its ears twitched adorably and its eyes blinked cutely as it looked around at the trees. "Pika!"

"I-It's so..." Rin's quaking had only gotten worse at the recognition of the mouse Pokemon. "...CUUUUUTTTEEE!" She quickly turned back to Hanayo, grabbed her by the hand, and jerked her forward into a bone-crushing hug. "Look how cute, Kayo-chin!"

Both Hanayo and Nico turned to where Rin was pointing and gasped. It was a Pikachu, which was rare to find in here. The three girls looked on as the electric Pokemon slowly made its way out of the tall grass and into the clearing, sniffing the ground a bit before calling out again. "Pikachu!"

Rin squealed in excitement. "Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen, nyaaaa?!"

While the two childhood friends were gushing over the cuteness of the small Pokemon, Nico instinctively reached for her belt and plucked a Pokeball from it. Poliwag was a lot more stronger than he was before, so maybe, just maybe, he could hold his own against that Pikachu. Plus, it would be a great addition to her team and a new friend for Poliwag.

But as the raven-haired girl's crimson gaze moved from her Pokeball to the cat-like grin etched on the face of her overly-excited friend, Nico felt a slight tug in her heart. She had seen the way Rin had looked at the Pikachu that belonged to the lass she had battled earlier, which was the exact same look Rin had now. Pure adoration.

"What are you waiting for, Nico-chan?" The orange-haired girl smiled at her. "Catch it!"

Nico watched the expecting and cheerful faces of Rin and Hanayo before looking down at her reflection in the red part of the ball. And in that moment, Nico knew that this wasn't just about her. Her friends had chosen to go with her on this journey. No, they didn't have to, but they wanted to. Nico's never had anyone do that for her. And because of that, she wanted them to enjoy the ride as well. So, she did what she felt was right:

She placed the Pokeball back on her belt. "No."

Both girls' turned to look at each other in confusion before Rin released her hold on Hanayo and braved a step towards the twin-tailed trainer. "What? But why?"

Nico quickly turned away and crossed her arms. She hated the way Rin sounded right now, even more so the way she looked at the moment. Disappointment wasn't something Nico liked to see in any of her friends - like looking at a wounded puppy. However, she was sure what she was about to say next would change that. She had to swallow a little bit of her pride, though, because that's just the kind of person Nico was.

"You saw it first, right? It's only fair."

"Nico-chan," Rin stepped closer. "Are you trying to say what I think you're trying to say?"

The raven-haired girl flipped one of her twintails arrogantly. "Poliwag and I can handle Viola alone. He's gotten a lot stronger since yesterday." Then she turned her head to the side a bit - not to look at Rin directly, but enough to look at her out of her peripheral vision. "Besides...I think you'll do a better job of taking care of it than I ever could."

There was a small silence between the three of them until Rin ran to Nico and tackled her into a bone-crushing hug from behind. "Oh, Nico-chan, thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Nico only grunted. "You'd better go before it gets away, idiot!"

"Oh, right!" Rin exclaimed, quickly releasing Nico and drawing a Pokeball out of her backpack. As much as it hurt her to know she would have to weaken the Pikachu before she could attempt to catch it, she thought it would be for the best to go through with it instead of taking a risk and throwing a Pokeball at it while it had full health. "Go, Bagon!"

"You saw the way she looked at it, didn't you?" While Rin began her battle with the wild Pikachu in the background, Hanayo stood beside the raven-haired trainer.

Nico had turned back around to witness the battle that was going on in front of her, not even daring to look Hanayo in the eyes. It didn't matter if their gazes met or not, though, because Nico knew that Hanayo could see right through her, regardless. So, there wasn't even any point in answering the brunette's question.

"Rin's really great with Pokemon, you know. Bagon absolutely adores her, and she adores him. I'm absolutely certain she'll love Pikachu just as much, if not already." She continued.

That took Nico back to her confrontation with Miss Nishikino. Her passion for her Pokemon and for battling had awakened something inside Nico. Something that made her see the passion inside everyone else. Like Hanayo said, Rin was great with Pokemon. Well, not as great as Miss Nishikino seemed to be, but with Nico's bias aside, Rin loved and respected her Pokemon, which was more than enough to become a great trainer.

"Pokeball!" Nico's thoughts were interrupted by Rin's voice. She watched as the weakened Pikachu was pulled into the Pokeball the orange-haired girl had thrown and instinctively balled her hands into fists at her sides - sort of a habit she had picked up ever since she had caught Poliwag.

The three girls and the Bagon could only look on in silence as the Pokeball shook, and the tension in the air became so thick it could've been cut with a knife.

Then finally...

Click!

Rin stood stock-still, her jaw gaping open in shock at the now-unmoving Pokeball lying on the ground. The fact that she'd just caught her second Pokemon hadn't even registered in her brain yet.

"You did it, Rin-chan!" Hanayo cheered from the side, snapping Rin out of her daze and breaking the small silence. "That was amazing!"

"Bagon!" Rin's Pokemon seemed to agree.

The cat-like girl broke into a run and scooped said Bagon up off the ground and into her arms. "We caught a Pikachu, Bagon!" She twirled around with the Pokemon, both of them in the midst of celebrating their first (and certainly not last) achievement in the world of Pokemon.

As she watched her friend finish her celebration with her Pokemon and quickly walk over to pick the Pokeball up from the grassy floor, Bagon still in her arms, Nico found herself smiling. It was a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless.

And again, she couldn't help but think about the fiery words of Miss Nishikino.

After finding their way back out of Santalune Forest, Nico, Rin, and Hanayo stopped to take a break at a small pond just outside the mouth of the forest's entrance. Nico and Hanayo sat in the grass just under a shade tree and watched as Poliwag played in the water, while Rin was just on the other side of the path playing with her Bagon and her newly acquired Pikachu.

The raven-haired trainer sat with her back against the trunk of the tree - her arms crossed with a solemn look on her face. To some passersby, it looked as though she was solely focused on her Poliwag splashing cutely around in the water, but in actuality it was quite the opposite.

She was thinking about Santalune City Gym and its leader Viola. Nico was certain that Poliwag was strong enough to take her on alone, but like Hanayo said earlier, Poliwag is only one Pokemon. It probably wouldn't be smart on Nico's part to take only one Pokemon and challenge a gym leader.

"It's warmed up to her quickly, hasn't it?" Nico was snapped out of her thoughts by the gentle voice of the brunette, who was currently petting the Espurr curled up in her lap while watching Rin and her two Pokemon.

Both Nico and Hanayo had helped the orange-haired trainer doctor up the electric Pokemon barely ten minutes ago by spraying a potion or two onto the wounds that the Bagon had inflicted, and afterwards, all three girls were grateful that they didn't get shocked by the Pikachu.

"That's what it looks like," Nico says. "I don't know why she just couldn't wait until we got back to Santalune City and take it to the Pokemon Center."

Hanayo giggled. "You know how impatient Rin can be when she's excited."

"Unfortunately." The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes and leaned further back into the tree, crossing one foot over the other. She didn't mean to sound like a sourpuss, but she'd had a lot of thoughts on her mind at the moment. A lot of conflicting ones. And of course, Hanayo seemed to notice.

"I thought you weren't worried about Viola, Nico-chan?"

Nico sighed. "I'm not, Hanayo. It's just that I need to win that Bug Badge, along with the other seven badges. I've never battled a gym leader before, so I have no idea what to expect. I have faith in Poliwag, but I know he won't be enough to battle Viola. Like you said earlier, Poliwag can't go this whole journey alone, but I at least want him to be capable of doing so if something were to happen. Does that make sense to you?"

There was a small pause before Hanayo spoke. "Actually, it does. You're nervous because you'll be facing a strong and experienced trainer, and although you believe Poliwag can hold his own against her, you don't think he'll be enough to be successful. But at the same time, you want him to be strong enough to where you can call upon him in battle and expect him to give it his all. Is that it, Nico-chan?"

"Exactly," Nico relents. "It feels like I'm doubting him, but I want us both to succeed more than anything. I want him to grow strong, and I want to grow with him, you know?"

"This is just the beginning of our journey, Nico-chan. You're overthinking this, and overthinking is a very deadly thing to do. In my honest opinion, I think we all need a mind like Rin-chan. She just goes with the flow. In her mind, whatever happens, happens." Both girls turned to the girl in question, watching as she withdrew Bagon and Pikachu back into their respective Pokeballs before stuffing them into her backpack.

Nico hummed in thought. Maybe the brunette was right. Maybe she is taking this too seriously. Worrying about things won't change the outcome, regardless. If she and Poliwag failed, then they'd just have to go back to square one and try again. Besides, that was all a part of learning, wasn't it? Making mistakes? They'd be fine. She'd find more Pokemon soon.

"Are you guys ready to go, nya?" Rin had made her way across the path and was standing above the two girls, hand on hip.

Poliwag and Espurr were immediately returned into their Pokeballs before the three girls hoisted their bags onto their backs and resumed their walk down the dirt path.

A/N: Alright, show of hands. How many of you called it that Rin would have a Pikachu?

You guys like it so far? Tell me what you think! Whether it be a private message or a review. Favorites and follows are appreciated! Thanks!

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