(Oh, there once was a trainer who had a Growlithe and Fuego was its name-o. F, u, e, g, o...) Emily had been singing songs since we had walked off the beach a few minutes ago. We were on our way to the Pokemon Center to meet up with Zach and possibly Professor Rowan. Realizing I knew a few things about Jigglypuffs that I couldn't account for, a question came to mind.

"Emily, how come your singing isn't putting me to sleep?"

(And Fuego was its name-o!) She finished the song before she answered me. (That's because it's all in the pitch. I said I was a good singer.) She said folding her arms smiling.

(So who are we meeting with again?) she asked me walking backwards.

"Zachary; we met on the way to Sandgem. I suppose we're going to talk about what happens next."

(Are you and Zachary friends?)

"Um... well... uh... we get along alright. I'd say we are."

Emily giggled at my stuttering. She went to turn back around but hadn't realized the block had ended and we were at the curb. What resulted was a Jigglypuff face planting into the street.

"Are you alright?!" I had hurried to her side and began to help her up.

(Ouchie, that hurt my nose!) She was touching a scrape just below the middle of her eyes.

"Wait, you have a nose?"

(Of course I do!) She was trying to be angry but the injury was subtracting from the effect.

"Here, I'll carry you the rest of the way and we'll get you fixed up at the Pokemon Center. I can see it up ahead."

(Don't worry, I'm fine.)

"Come on, we need to look out for each other." She finally gave in and I held her lightly to my chest. The backpack against me was slightly uncomfortable but not enough for me to bring it up. We were off the side street now and a minute later we were through the doors of the Pokemon Center. I took a few steps in as to not block the door and I scanned the lobby for Zach. In the back left I spotted him through a small group of people lined up at the counter.

"Excuse me," I said moving through the group making sure Emily didn't bump into anyone. Zach had heard my voice and turned in his seat to face me.

"Hey Luster," he said then noticed the Jigglypuff I was carrying, "where did you get... wait did you get in a battle?" pointing towards the mark on Emily's face.

"Yeah we did but..."

(Don't tell him I got this by tripping!)

"Huh?" Zach asked unable to understand her.

"Let me start over. This is Emily. She was in the pokeball Rowan handed me. While we were out we kind of had a battle." I said to Zach.

"I leave you alone for an hour and this is what happens?"

"I didn't want to fight, it was..." Smiling, Zach held his hand up to stop me.

"Come on, we'll get Emily taken care of and head up to our room. It's getting late and Rowan is going to talk to us in the morning to straighten things out."

Once again excusing ourselves through the group standing near us, we headed for the front counter. There was no one in sight so I rang the bell on the counter. A few seconds later a Chansey with a first aid cap came out from a back room.

"Alright Luster, just return Emily to the pokeball and hand it to the Chansey." Zach said.

"Have a good night Emily."

(You too.) And with a smile she returned to the pokeball.

I handed the pokeball to the Chansey.

"What about Rachis?" I asked Zach.

He motioned the Chansey away and it proceeded to the back room again.

"I've already taken care of her. Come on, let's head to the room."

We made our way to the back right of the lobby which had a staircase up to the private rooms. We proceeded up the flight of stairs to where our room was located. It was then that I realized my own issues as my stomach let forth an audible growl. Zachary could hear it from where he was a few feet in front of me and chuckled.

"I have a meal waiting for us in the room. I picked up before I came here."

The second floor of the Pokemon Center was like a hotel in its design with a couple hallways worth of doors visible. We passed by the doors of other occupants hearing different people and pokemon, some of which sounded like destroying their rooms. We stopped in front of a door in the main hallway with a gold, metallic '17' emblazoned on the front.

"Seventeen types of Pokemon…" I muttered to myself. Walking through the door my nostrils were greeted with a delicious scent. The lights were already on, and were needed as darkness had taken over outside. I might have noticed the room's décor if I hadn't been so hungry. All I saw was a small dining table on the left side of the room with two plates of fish and rice as I walked hastily towards it. I took a large sniff of the food before me.

"Magikarp from Slateport." I said offhand.

"You have a taste for seafood I take it?" Zach asked me.

"I guess so." I couldn't explain my desire to pick the fish up with my bare hands and tear into it. I attributed it to hunger.

"You can go ahead and eat. I'm going to make a phone call home." he said as he walked into the bathroom for privacy. The door clicking shut was like a gun signaling me to chow down and before I knew it my plate was empty. With my stomach taken care of, I took my first good look at the room. Two separated twin beds, which took up most of the room, were adorned in sheets decorated in an artist's rendition of Arceus. An end table sat between the beds and upon it sat the lamp that was lighting the room. The room itself was painted in a subtle rainbow but none too bright. It was fairly spacious, containing a counter with small appliances by the table, a full sink, and even a dishwasher.

I stood from the table with my empty plate and silverware in hand and rinsed them off in the sink. As I was placing them in the dishwasher, Zach emerged from the bathroom snapping his Pokedex shut.

"Did you chew or simply inhale the food?" Zach asked chuckling.

"I at least remembered that food goes to the stomach and not the lungs." I motioned to the Pokedex still in his hand. "If you can use that to make calls, why did you send Rachis out ahead of us to inform the professor when you could have called?"

"You hadn't met her yet and the professor's number is kept private. I simply don't have it."

"I wish I had an answer for everything." I said with a sigh. Zach came over and patted me on the back.

"Sleep on it. Who knows; by tomorrow morning you could be fine. Here," he motioned to the end drawer under the counter, "The clothes are in this drawer here, feel free to change and get comfortable. I'm going to eat then check the weather for tomorrow. You just try to get some rest and we'll talk tomorrow. Alright?"

"Sounds like a plan." I said. I took an outfit from the drawer and proceeded to the bathroom to change. There was enough room for me to hang my current clothes on the towel rack and change into the pajamas. The softness of the fabric struck a chord with some part of me but I couldn't place it. I shrugged it off and exited the bathroom to find Zach having eaten already and him kicked back on his bed watching the nightly news.

"--pect partly cloudy skies filtering through sunshine tomorrow, a high of 78." The weather report finished and Zach clicked the television off as I climbed into my bed.

"Well, at least we have good weather for tomorrow. Goodnight Luster." Zach said.

"Night Zach." I said as I drifted off, tired from the days events.