Two lone figures stood on a hilltop at the edge of a forest, gazing down upon a huge, bustling city. One of those figures appeared to be a boy of maybe fifteen, dressed in worn jeans, riding boots, a fringed vest over a blue T-shirt, and a black hat concealing a shock of pale, white-gold hair. Eyes the color of a stormy sky gazed pensively at the huge city sprawling below, finely shaped features lit by the setting sun. One hand reached out to rest upon the back of the stranger’s solitary companion, a Pokemon.

It looked like a Rapidash, by all appearances, except that its fur was pitch black, and its wild mane held the blue-white center of a flame, the very hottest part, at times almost appearing to spark with electrical energy. But it neither burned nor shocked the hand that rested upon its back. The creature’s eyes—which shone a bright, star-shine blue and seemed to hold all the wisdom of the universe—were also fixed on the city, and the light of the sun caught on its long, spiraling horn and caused it to glow like precious silver.

The two companions stood poised on the hill for the longest time, unmoving. Any chance passerby may have mistaken them for well-crafted statues. Then the trainer spoke. "Hmmmm…Viridian City. Looks like the people must be holding some kind of festival though. I can see the crowds from up here! Are you sure you want to go down there?"

Anyone who had happened to pass by would not have realized what was going on, of course. They would not have been able to hear the Rapidash reply, unless it chose to let them, because the simple fact was that—aside from looking so unusual—the creature was also telepathic.

The soft, deep voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, echoing in the still air. "There’s no need to rub it in," the trainer replied wryly, then sighed. "Those two morons who’ve been tailing us are pretty close. Can you sense it? The forest has been too quiet."

The Rapidash snorted his—for the mental "voice" was most definitely male—agreement. <<Perhaps crowds of people are just the place to hide, and distractions are easily come by>> he replied impishly. <<But go in alone, to bring less attention to yourself>>

"Are you sure? I know you don’t like it in there," the trainer said doubtfully. The Rapidash nuzzled his friend fondly, his mane sparking.

The trainer pulled on a silver chain tucked beneath the blue shirt, cupping a small, silver ball in one hand. It was a pokeball, albeit a very unusual pokeball—being only the size of a large marble and crafted of what looked like silver—but it was a pokeball, nonetheless. And it did what a pokeball was supposed to do as the trainer held it out. With a small click, the top popped open, releasing a blue light that arced toward the Rapidash, who began to glow and fade softly into it, before vanishing into the small confines of the ball. It sealed itself with another soft click, and the trainer sighed and tucked it securely beneath the shirt again, then picked up a medium-sized pack to sling it over a shoulder.

"I won’t take too long. Only long enough to find some food, and maybe I can earn some money for us while I’m there, too."

<<Just do what you need to>> came the quiet reply inside the trainer’s mind. <<I can bear it for awhile. It’s safer this way>>

The trainer nodded once, shouldered the pack—which was distressingly light from lack of supplies—and determinedly set off for the glittering city.

"All right!" Ash Ketchem exclaimed, rubbing his hands together gleefully as he and his companions, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu, walked the streets of Viridian City. "I love festivals! Especially ones celebrating Pokemon!"

"You would," Misty snorted, rubbing her eyes. "That’s all you ever think about! I, on the other hand, know that there is more to life than Pokemon!"

"Like what?" Ash challenged.

She smirked. "Like, right now, I think food is far more important than Pokemon are!" she replied triumphantly, crossing her arms smugly.

Brock sighed and shook his head. "Well, I think that getting you two to stop arguing for more than thirty seconds is more important than anything!" he cut in. "So could you please be quiet before my head explodes?"

The two younger teens fell into a sullen silence, glaring at one another, and Brock breathed a sigh of relief. "That’s much…"

"Child!"

"Bigmouth!"

"Ooohhh…you are so immature, Ash Ketchum! Why don’t you learn to grow up?!"

"I’ll learn to grow up when you learn to shut up!"

Brock face-faulted. "Well…at least it lasted longer than thirty seconds," he sighed.

"Chuuu…" Pikachu agreed.

An hour later, the trio finally agreed on a place to eat (after a huge argument from Ash and Misty, of course). It was a free buffet, which made the guys very happy, of course. Perhaps the food wasn’t the greatest, but for zero dollars a head (for Pokemon trainers, at least) nobody was complaining.

As Brock hungrily delved into his meal—keeping Ash and Misty from killing each other took a lot of energy, after all—a commotion coming from the buffet line caught his attention. He looked toward the cash register, where he saw that the cashier was arguing with a young boy. "I told you, only Pokemon trainers get the meal free! Everyone else has to pay for it!" the cashier snapped.

The boy—who looked rather young and almost delicate in appearance, Brock noticed—sighed wearily. "And I’m telling you that I am a Pokemon trainer!" he replied with forced patience.

"Well, let me see some ID then," the cashier demanded. "Where’re your pokeballs or your Pokedex?"

The boy’s soft voice was tight as he replied, "I only have one Pokemon, and its at the Center right now. My ID is in my other pack, but it got stolen."

"So why aren’t you reporting it to the police?"

"I did already!" The boy’s patience was about to snap, Brock could tell.

"Oh, is that so?" The cashier looked smug as he gestured to someone, and Brock saw with dismay that it was Officer Jenny. Normally, Brock would be more than thrilled to see the lovely Officer Jenny…but now he had the bad feeling that her appearance was not going to bode well for the young trainer.

"Officer, did this boy come in at all today reporting a stolen pack?" the cashier asked smugly. The trainer looked suddenly nervous.

After a long, hard look, Jenny shook her head. "Not that I recall," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because this rascal is trying to get himself a free meal by claiming to be a Pokemon trainer, and he ain’t got no ID on him to prove it!"

Jenny eyed the boy sternly. "Is this true?" she asked. The trainer looked at her helplessly and nodded, and she nodded back at him. "Either pay up or move along," she commanded. "Loitering isn’t allowed."

The trainer looked like he was about to argue some more, but another voice suddenly called out, startling all three of them into silence. "Johnny! There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you!"

Wide-eyed, the trainer turned toward a young man with spiky brown hair and slitted eyes. "A-are you talking to me?"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Brock laughed nervously, locking an arm around the smaller boy’s neck. "Always the joker! Come on, be serious for once!"

Realization dawned in stormy eyes. "Ohhhh…I mean, yeah, just fooling around. Heh heh." He laughed apprehensively.

"You know this boy?" Officer Jenny asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Sure do, and we kind of lost each other in the crowd. Come on, Johnny. Ash and Misty’ll wonder what happened to us. We gotta hurry and eat so we can pick up our Pokemon at the center then." Brock picked up "Johnny’s" tray and handed it to him, almost pushing him back to the table, where Ash and Misty were watching curiously.

"What’s going on, Brock?" Misty asked.

"I’ll tell you later," Brock muttered. Then to the trainer, he added, "Eat fast."

The boy dug into his meal like a starving Growlithe, and as soon as the last plate was scraped clean the four trainers stood up and returned their trays, quickly leaving the building under the suspicious eye of the cashier.

"Thanks," the boy said once they were safely away. "That was nice of you."

"No problem," Brock replied with a smile.

"We trainers have to stick together, after all!" Ash added proudly.

"What’s your name, anyhow?" Misty asked.

The boy shrugged. "Johnny’ll do," he replied. The others face-faulted.

"You mean you don’t have a name?" Misty cried.

"Of course I do!" Johnny looked insulted. "I don’t just go handing it out to complete strangers, you know!"

"But we helped you out!" Ash protested. "Don’t you trust us?"

Johnny snorted. "I don’t trust anybody!" Then, as an afterthought, "Well, except for Shocker Blue."

"Who’s Shocker Blue?" Brock asked.

"My Pokemon, of course!"

"Oh."

"What kind of Pokemon do you have?" Misty asked curiously.

Johnny hesitated, then shrugged. "A Rapidash," he replied. "A beautiful Rapidash."

"Oh, how neat!" Misty exclaimed. "I love Rapidash! They’re so cool!"

"I thought you only liked water Pokemon," Ash teased.

"Well, I like some fire Pokemon, too!" she retorted, sticking out her tongue at him. Then, turning back to Johnny, she asked, "Can I see it?"

"No!" Johnny almost shouted. Then, blushing a little, he hastily added, "I…I mean…he doesn’t like crowds of people, so he stays in the pokeball ‘till I leave the city."

The other three trainers were giving him strange glances. "He?" Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.

Too late, Johnny realized the mistake. Of course most Pokemon had no known gender; Rapidash included. But Shocker was something special, and Johnny had just given away that fact. "Anyway," he hurried on, trying to change the subject, "thanks for the help. Guess I’ll be on my way now…"

"Wait a minute!" Brock protested. "Do you have a room somewhere?" Johnny looked away, which was answer enough for the older boy. "Look," he continued, "the hotels are probably crammed full ‘cause of this festival, and I doubt you’ll even be able to get a room at the Center, especially without ID. We were lucky to get the rooms we did."

"I can take care of myself!" Johnny replied proudly, crossing his skinny arms.

Brock sighed. "Don’t be stubborn. Look, you can stay with us tonight, okay? There’s an extra bunk for you, if you want it."

Johnny was startled, to say the least. A complete stranger was offering to share rooms? "What do I have to give you in return?" he asked suspiciously.

"Boy, you really are suspicious, aren’t you?" Brock sounded almost hurt. "We don’t want anything, I swear! Just trying to help out a fellow trainer!"

Johnny frowned. As tempting as it sounded, it might get a little awkward. He was about to refuse when Shocker suddenly cut into his thoughts.

<<Shocker! We don’t even know them!>> Johnny silently protested.

<<They are pursuing a single person. A group might throw them off enough to get away, should it come to that. There is safety in numbers>>

Johnny sighed. Shocker did have a point. <<Okay. I’ll go with them, but just remember that this is your idea!>>

"Hey!" Brock cut in. "Are you alive in there?"

Johnny blinked. "Uh…yeah. Okay, I’ll go with you then, if you’re sure you want me," he replied.

Brock grinned. "Positive. Well, let’s go!"

This was not good. Johnny stood in front of a door and tried to think up a way to get out of this mess. When Brock had offered a bunk, Johnny had assumed he meant the extra bunk in Misty’s room…but now it appeared that Johnny would be sleeping in Brock’s room while Ash moved in with Misty.

<<It makes sense>> Shocker said practically when his panicked trainer informed him of the situation. <<Brock is too old to share Misty’s room—and so are you, for that matter—so it’s only logical>>

And boy, did Johnny hate it when Shocker was logical…

<<But what if Brock finds out? He isn’t stupid, and I know he’s bound to notice things!>> the young trainer retorted. <<He’s got those kind of instincts…>> The only reply he got was a highly amused chortle from the Rapidash. <<Hmmph! I’m so glad I could amuse you!>>

"So, are you coming in or are you planning on standing there all night?" Brock’s cheerful voice cut into the silent conversation, and with something akin to dread, Johnny stepped into the room, watching as a less-than-happy Ash rolled up his sleeping bag and gathered his stuff.

"Uh…you know, if Ash doesn’t wanna leave, I’m sure I can go sleep in the lobby or something," Johnny tried one last time.

"Don’t be silly. Ash’s more than happy to leave, right buddy?" Brock replied. "Besides, only trainers with injured Pokemon are allowed to sleep in the lobby."

Ash muttered some reply as he stalked out of the room, making it quite clear that sharing a room with Misty was about as painful as getting teeth pulled.

<<I don’t suppose you’d let me break one of your legs, would you, Shocker?>> Johnny asked hopefully, and barely managed to hold in a laugh at the Rapidash’s rather obscene reply. <<I just thought I’d ask. Where’d you learn to talk like that, anyhow? I never taught you that!>> he teased as he shoved his bag under the cot Ash had vacated.

"Hey, we’re going back out to watch the fireworks. Gonna come with us?" Brock asked.

"Uh…ya know, I’m kinda tired, so I’m just gonna go to bed early. You have fun, though," Johnny replied quickly, seeing his chance.

Brock shrugged. "If you’re sure. Well, I’ll try not to make a lot of noise when I come back in. Sleep well!" He waved and left to join his friends in the hall, and Johnny breathed a sigh of relief.