Chapter 7: Meeting Mike

Alex awoke in the middle of the night. She had a pounding headache. She looked around in the darkness, and realized she was in a tent. She sat up and let the blanket fall off her. Her clothes were still damp. She felt around in the darkness until she felt her shoes. She went to put her feet into them, but they were stopped by something cold and metal in the toes. She reached her fingers into her shoe and pulled out her two small Pokeballs. She smiled with relief, and pulled the shoes on.

Alex stepped out of the tent and saw only one source of light. A small flame swinging slowly back and forth. Making long shadows dance across the grass. She saw the flame was attached to a bright orange tail! Alex zipped the tent closed, and stood up. The man and the Pokemon turned at the same time to look at her. The bright orange lizard gave a happy, high pitched growl. It waddled over to where Alex was standing. Alex wouldn't have admitted it, but she was a little bit terrified of the lizard with a fire on its butt. The man walked over to her as well, and extended his hand.

"My name's Mike. Are you okay?" His voice was deep, but soft. Alex apprehensively took his hand, and shook. He had a very tight grip. Alex almost yelped in pain, but she was starting to develop a sense of pride, and wanted to look tough in front of this Pokemon trainer.

"I feel fine." She replied. "I'm Alex." She smiled meekly at him. She tried to look into his eyes, but quickly felt embarrassed, and let her eyes fall to her white shoes. Mike was also visibly uncomfortable. They both stood in an awkward silence for what felt like a long time. The small orange lizard looked at the two shy trainers as they avoided eye contact. He shook his head, and gave another loud growl. Alex was startled and twitched slightly. Mike seemed to be unaffected, as if he was used to it. "What Pokemon is this?" she asked Mike, rubbing her arms. They still burned when she flexed her muscles, but they were starting to feel better.

"It's a Charmander. A friend gave it to me as a gift." Mike stated. Alex nodded, and the pair feel into another uncomfortable silence.

That night, Alex slept in the tent, and Mike and Charmander slept outside. Mike seemed to fall asleep rather quickly. His snores sounded more like a deep roar. Alex had a much harder time falling asleep. She was scared. She had been on her own for less than a week and it seemed like she was always almost dying. How long would she have to rely on others for her own survival? When would she become an independent woman, who others could rely on? She felt guilty of her own weakness. Alex began to sob silently. She felt even more ashamed than before. As she cried, there was a quick flash of red light and Ralts appeared before her in the darkness. Alex could see his silhouette. Alex began to cry harder. She felt like she would always let her Pokemon down, no matter what happened. Ralts just stood infront of her, watching his trainer in the depths of despair. Ralts began to feel useless himself. After all, he was a Pokemon. He was supposed to be powerful enough for his trainer to rely on. They were supposed to be able to work together, and overcome any obstacle. But Ralts hadn't done anything except simply exist. Ralts could feel how distressed and upset Alex was. Ralts began to let out his own soft little wails. He scuttled over to Alex, and threw himself into her arms. That night, they lied together, comforting one another.

The next morning, Alex awoke slowly. She hadn't even realized she had fell asleep while she was crying. Ralts was still in her arms, bring cuddled like an old teddy bear. She whispered a silent apology to her companion, and gently woke him. He gave a small squeak, but woke nonetheless. "I can't just sit here feeling sorry for myself." she muttered. Alex stood up and left the tent.

Outside, the sun was still low in the sky. It had to be really early. Alex picked the Pokedex out of her back pocket, and pushed the green button on the bottom of the console. The screen lit up and a soft jingle was emitted from the device. The screen was black, with a small white line across the top. Suddenly, the words "Please enter your name" jumped onto the screen. A small keyboard appeared on the lower portion of the screen. Alex touched the buttons and keyed in her own name. The Pokedex gave another small jungle, and a menu screen appeared. On the top left corner, it said "6:24 AM" Alex pushed the green button on the bottom of the device, and it shut down quickly. Alex pocketed the device, and after motioning to Ralts, they walked towards the tall grass nearby. It was already shaking with the activity of the creatures held within.

Alex and Ralts entered the grass and suddenly, all the shaking around them stopped. Alex raised her hands in front of her. She knew what was coming. A small brown Bidoof jumped at her. She used her hands and stopped it's attack. It fell to her feet, where it scurried away. "Ralts! Use confusion!" Alex shouted! Ralts' raised his stubby white arms to his head, and the air around his green helmet began to shimmer. The Bidoof began to charge towards Alex, but it suddenly tripped over its own feet and tumbled along the ground. "Ralts, again!" Ralts continued to pelt it was its psychic power. The Bidoof finally realized who was causing it harm. He began to charge for the Ralts. Ralts gave out a terrified squeak before using confusion again. Unfortunately, Ralts was too late, and the Bidoof collided with him. Ralts was thrown from where he stood, but quickly got back up. "Ralts! Attack!" Alex shouted desperately. Ralts was scared, but he knew that if there was ever a time to man up, and show what he could do, this would be it. He used his psychic powers to pick up a rock, and hurled it at the charging Bidoof. The Bidoof fell over it's own feet, and lay motionless at his feet. Alex and Ralts panted, and looked at each other. Alex's face broke out into a smile and they both jumped, cheering for their victory!

So fanfiction hates me. I've been trying to upload this chapter for 2 weeks. But everytime I tried to update my story, I just came to an error screen. I sent 3 emails to fanfiction support, but they never responded. Oh well... it's working now.