I stepped back a few paces, staring straight down at the brown Pokémon in front of me. He was staring back at me, making no move to attack but keeping its round ears perked. Hoppip let out a low hum, shuddering slightly. I pursed my lips. Was he trying to send me some kind of warning?

I didn't have time to think about it. The small Pokémon had jumped slightly and started to run off. That was my chance to do something.

"Go, Hoppip!" I shouted! "Jump up and use Splash!"

So I had to make use of Hoppip in some way. I figured aimlessly flopping around had to be of some use since it involved movement. I was actually right, too. Hoppip took action right away and flew into the air, landing straight onto the wild Pokémon and making its knees buckle. Hoppip wasn't very light at all, so I could only infer that its physical attacks were complete crap. But, I had make use of what I had.

The wild Pokémon let out a slight cry under Hoppip's weight, but tumbled away from Hoppip after jerking him off of its back. Hoppip jumped up once he hit the ground and landed on his opponent once again, flopping around on top of its struggling body.

I took that opportunity to take Hoppip's Pokéball and toss it in their direction. Hoppip jumped out of the way just as the Pokéball hit the target and lured it inside with a bright red flash. I watched tensely with clenched hands as the Pokéball shook once, twice…

And opened back up.

I let out a loud groan as the wild Pokéball stuck its tongue out at me and ran off, disappearing into the tall grass. I didn't even pause to think about it; I started to run to run after it, picking up the broken Pokéball in the process. I'm sure I could fix it with duct tape, or something.

Hoppip followed close behind as I followed the brown creature through the tall stalks of greenery, with much difficulty. The farther we went into the grass the harder it was for me to track it down. It wasn't until we passed a clearing in the grass that I got a good view of the Pokémon and dived for it. Hoppip jumped on the Pokémon's head as I struggled to pin its squirming body down. For such a small thing, it sure was strong. I stayed on top of the thing until it calmed down and accepted defeat. I smirked smugly to myself and picked up the Pokémon, holding it tightly in my arms. Without missing a beat, I shot Hoppip a look and he hopped back onto his usual spot on my head, and we made our way through the flowery green road just as the sunlight began to dim.

I was pretty sure I broke a bunch of training rules after that little scene. But hey, I was slowly beginning to realize there were no rules when it came to training.

Or at least, there were no restrictions.

"Eeek! WRUMPLE!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at the river to my left to see a little girl wailing on her knees, covering her face. A woman crossed her arms above her, shaking her head.

"Ah, you'll get over it, Polly," she said coldly, and took her arm. "Let's go. Now."

"N-no!" Polly wailed, "YOU HAVE TO GET MY WRUMPLE!"

I winced slightly and kept walking, hoping to get away before they noticed me. I walked past them quickly but the girl noticed me and started to cry even harder.

"Hey, l-l-lad!" she shouted frantically, "Please, can you help me fetch my Wrumple from the river? I-I, can't swim, and if he stays in there to long he could… WAAAH!" She burst into tears again, and I sighed loudly.

"Tell your mom to get him, all right?" I said impatiently, beginning to walk again. "I'm busy. Can't help you, anyways."

"She's not my mommy!" she said quickly, ignoring the woman's glare. "She-she threw my Pokémon into the river and won't leave me alone!"

The woman let out a low chuckle. "Oh, don't mind my daughter," the woman told me with an eerily bright smile, "She's quite a feisty girl, you know?" she then turned to Polly and took her arm, pulling her off of her knees.

"Now, Polly, let's go," she said through clenched teeth. "We'll get you a new Pokémon."

"My name's NOT Polly!" the girl shouted. "Leave m-me alone!"

"I stared at them with wide eyes, unable to go anywhere. The woman shot me a dark glare and waved me away.

"Well, what are you still doing here?" she asked harshly, "Go away, nothing to see here."

I backed away a few steps before walking back to the main path.

I knew I would regret not doing anything about it later on, but it wasn't like I could do anything. It was strictly none of my business. With a shake of my head, I cleared my mind of all worries and ran back to town as the sky began to darken completely.

._._.

About an hour later I was back at the Pokémon Center and walking up to Nurse Joy, who watched me with pursed lips as I approached her. I only smiled sheepishly as I handed her the sleeping Pokémon in my arms. She chuckled slightly and took it from me, promising to give my new teammate a Pokéball by the time I picked it up. She then told me that the Pokémon I had caught was a Bidoof; a female that was relatively young. She also handed me – much to my surprise – a Key Card.

"You look tired beyond words," the pink-haired woman said with a wink, "You go ahead and rest up; we'll have Bidoof ready for you in the morning. Rest well!"

I thanked her with a slight nod and went to the room indicated on the Key Card. As I walked there, I thought about my newly captured Bidoof. It was too soon to say so, but I hoped we would get along well. After she forgot about today, of course. Truthfully, though, I didn't care. As long as the thing could win the battle I had tomorrow I was okay. Once I got to my room and unlocked the door I set Hoppip down on the small couch near the television and went right to bed, clothes and all.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.