Title: A Pokemon? Master? V3.0
Story is rated pg13 .

Prologue.

One look at Karen told Di something was wrong. Gone was the long red hair and light blue eyes her trainer and friend had always had. They had been replaced with a short black ponytail and dark green eyes that seemed out of place on her. Of course the blue jean shorts and blue tank top that had been her typical wear had also been replaced with a knee length, black skirt and white t-shirt proclaiming dual contests to be cool. All in all Di was disturbed by this new Karen who barely resembled the girl she had known for so long.

“Di, I need you to transform into how I used to look." Karen's words were a command and request, neither of which was something that Di was about to deny.

A white glow surrounded the ditto and a moment later she resembled her trainer's old form. “Karen... isn’t this a bad way to check out before and after fashion decisions?” She even had Karen's voice.

Karen raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I just had to teach you sarcasm... I knew that was a bad idea. Anyway, I’m not checking anything out, I was just making sure your transformation was still good.”

“Still good? There hasn't been anything wrong with them in forever, oh sure I got that stupid Spinda's markings a bit off but pokemon like that are hard to cop-”

“ Relax Di, relax. I wasn't referring to that it's just," Karen paused here , looking as though she was struggling to find the right way to say something. "I need to you be me for a while and I had to make sure you could still do it perfectly.”

Karen was looking at Di with those unfamiliar green eyes. Still there was something in them that asked her to be silent and listen for a moment. Sighing she sat down on Karen's bed and eyed the other girl with suspicion. Di loved her trainer dearly but Karen was well known for her harebrained schemes that got them both into messes. This looked to be the start of another one.

Pacing back and forth over the moss green carpet Karen began to speak “ Look, I know you know I want to do dual coordinating and my parents won't let me. They think it's too dangerous and unproductive. It's too new and there's a lot of people interested in it so my chances of becoming famous and making it profitable are pretty slim.”

Di nodded. The world was a bit more commercial these days and both trainers and coordinators alike often ended up with corporate sponsors if they showed promise. It was however much easier to get sponsorship as a trainer than a coordinator never mind a dual coordinator.

Trainers had more options, there were leagues opening up everywhere, the space program looked promising for anti gravity battles. There was an undersea league being worked on and a few regions once closed off due to policy after wars that were starting to open their borders. The world was getting bigger every day it seemed. Of course as always training was perhaps the biggest and most stable career someone wanting to work with pokemon could have no matter how much the world changed.

Most parents didn't approve of kids going off into the more dangerous and less stable dual circuit. Plus a lot more parents were concerned about having their kids actually spend their youth doing something productive with a real future in it.

Di sighed “ I see where this is going and the answer is no, I'm your friend and your partner but fraud Karen? I can't do that, besides if anything happened to you I'd never forgive myself.” This was insane and while she'd done many things on Karen's behalf before such as taking tests and playing pranks and asking boys out Di had to put her foot down somewhere, while she still had feet to do it with .

Karen frowned “ Di please, this is my only chance. Mom and dad are gone for the weekend and I have a note to leave them saying where I went and you know it will please them. I already signed you up for the Triad Project and I have a bus to catch in an hour so I can meet up with some people and head to the Orange Islands where orientation is. Please I worked so hard to set this up and you're the only piece left to fall into place.”

Di felt guilty and proud at the same time. Guilty because she didn't want to go, she'd been with Karen since she'd oozed out of her egg four years ago on the girl's tenth birthday. They'd been together since then and had always relied on each other. In truth Di was more human that pokemon, having become adept at understanding and duplicating their body language, mannerisms and spoken language. Hence why the Ditto could fool even Karen's best friends and parents at times.

It was obvious that Karen had put a lot of effort into this, thought hard and had made everything work. For that Di was proud, Karen had grown up a lot since they'd first met, they both had. Still she was reluctant to go through with this, it was illegal for one and for two she didn't want to lose her best friend.

They'd been through a lot and they'd always toughed it out together. They had even made a brief stab at both training and coordinating the past three years. The training adventure had gone nowhere since they never even hit the next town over. Their first night camping Karen had needed to use the bathroom and had tripped over a tree root when the battery for her flashlight had mysteriously died.

A sprained ankle and a mild poison ivy rash pick up on the way home had confirmed in their minds that the idea was cursed and not to be tried again. Which was fine with Karen who preferred coordination and had only attempted training first to please her parents.

Not that their coordination journey had gone better. Di was not suited for the sport and she hated being viewed as just a smart Pokemon. A quick succession of fights had lead to the decision to return home which is where they had stayed and soon returned to their normal relationship.

Which lead them to no where Karen was apparently going to replace her and send her off on her own with only a total stranger to depend on . Di was not thrilled with the idea. Still Karen had worked so hard and it didn't feel right for Di to deny her. “ Fine I'll do it but I want calls from you a lot and if anything goes wrong I want to know right away so I can help you.” Karen might be leaving her but Di refused to abandon her best friend.

Karen grinned, her old grin the one Di had loved and leaned down to hug her tightly “ Great, I love you for this. I promise to call and I'll try my hardest to make it worth it and I'll miss you but I know you can do this. You were always smarter than I was” Ending the embrace Karen stood, grabbed a camouflage backpack from beside the bed and was out the bedroom door before Di could change her mind. “I have to go do some last minute stuff, everything you need to know is on the kitchen table. I'll miss you.” The words got faint as Karen moved further away and out of the house.

Flopping back onto Karen's bed Di sighed. At least she'd been reassured that Karen still really cared and that she thought Di would make a better.. wait what the heck was the Triad Project.. what had Karen signed her up for? "Diara what have you gotten yourself into now?” she murmured before getting to her feet and heading to the kitchen to see wait fate aka Karen had in store.

End notes: Yes Di is young for a pokemon and yes she is smart and wise in the ways of people. However Di has no real solid connection to her pokemon heritage, no experience in what she's about to do and she's very naive about how the world really works. I'm hoping to keep her well rounded but please let me know when she treads the line of sue.

AN: forgive me the double post but I like to put the first chapter right after a prologue but not in the same post.
Chapter 1. Meant to be

The next day found Di as Karen on a bus to Vermilion City where she'd be picking up her new partner at the Triad project center located there. Seated alone at the back she placed her feet up on the seat with her, it was going to be a long three hour ride and Di would prefer to be comfy. With Butterfree dancing in her stomach the masquerading Ditto girl looked out the window and hoped the scenery would help her relax.

However as the bus trundled through down and then sped up as it hit the open road everything merely became blurs of green and blue. Well not exactly, Di could make out trees, fence posts and the sky . She could still see people and Pokemon moving about, it was just all boring and repetitive so to her it was a blur, a sort of vague memory of things seen but not really noticed

Left with only her thoughts to occupy herself Di went over what she knew about the Triad Project in her mind. One could never be too prepared and besides if she thought hard enough perhaps she could ignore the smell of the perfume and colognes the other passengers were wearing. Even with several windows open the the air was still thick with the sickly sweet smell of them mixing together to create a rather potent wave of smell.

Trying not to think of the smell Di dove into her mind and began her review. The Triad Project was the amalgamated league's way of trying to promote harmony between Trainers and Coordinators as well as promote the Dual Coordination. It was also one hell of a challenge. Di had to admit that its set up was complex and that it must have taken a truly massive effort to get the project off the ground. Though it had only been active for almost three months there had been some buzz about it for quite some time that she had apparently missed.

The basic premise of the project was for a single person to work with Pokemon in both traditional training and coordination and later if they qualified dual coordination. Extrapolated it was much more complicated.

First off all participants had to be registered with the project and they would be tracked on the project's website, Pokedex's recording every battle they were in and contest halls recording the results of every contest. Secondly the Pokemon each person worked with were different and were all previously owned but had been donated to the project for usage. The ideas was to take Pokemon from one style and train it fore the other. Therefor a Pokemon that had only ever battled in gyms and other matches would have to learn how to take all it's power and harness it in a beautiful and yet still effective way.

Likewise a Pokemon used only for contests would have to learn the ins and outs of battles. How to make snap attacks and to not always focus on style and flourish in their moves. They'd have to adapt to changing environments and battles lasting much longer than just five minutes.

Di thought it was an interesting project if possibly a cruel one. Sure some Pokemon had been donated out of kindness and so people could see their former partners rise to fame and show their versatility. Some however , she was certain had been all but thrown at the project, branded rejects and left to get over their abandonment as best they could. Even those who'd agreed to it probably felt bad, after all weren't Pokemon and people were supposed to have deep bonds? How could they be expected to just turn around and work with whoever they were assigned to.
Of course the trainers suffered just as much as the Pokemon, no one was assigned just one Pokemon overall. You were issued one which you had to work with and send reports in on. When the person in charge of your case decided you'd made enough progress you got issued a second Pokemon. However there was no guarantee they had the same background as your last one which meant that a person could spend forever running around to do gym battles with some Pokemon and then trekking across the regions to contest with others. Complicated and highly challenging indeed.

Finally if someone was able to have high enough ranking by the end of the first year of the project's end then they and their team would be shipped to the Orange Islands to compete in the dual coordination championships. It was believed that anyone who could successfully rise to the top of the Triad Projects ranking would be able to swiftly adjust to the concept of the dual coordination and make the most of the time they had before the championships to make a good showing.

This intrigued and worried Di. Not that she thought she had a snowflake's chance in hell of getting that far but what if? What if she did and Karen did and they had to fight? Di couldn't imagine pitting herself against Karen and actually being able to give it her all. Sure they had competed before but not like that, besides if on the very very small chance that it happened and she won Di would never forgive herself for getting in the ways of Karen's dream.

Still the possibility was a good nine months off and really it wasn't something she shouldn't worry about too much. For now Di needed to focus on thinking positively about getting started and giving this her all. It wouldn't bode well to get off on the wrong foot.

Di would have continued to stew in her thoughts if someone hadn't ended up sitting down next to her in the other back seat. Well she might have ignored it had that person not had headphones on that didn't quite contain the music inside them. The tune playing that filtered out was an favorite of hers and it attracted her attention right away.

It was the music that got Di's attention but it was the patch sewn onto the navy back pack beside her that kept it. It was a standard pokeball with a small ribbon over the button and in the center of the ribbon the letter T. It was the symbol of the Triad project, one of things given in the registration kit participants were mailed along with an ID card, rule booklet and some other merchandise.

All of Di's kit stuff was in her own backpack minus her ID card which was in her wallet. Nervously she cleared her throat and smiled at the stranger “ Hi,I um noticed the triad project badge, have you been doing it long.” Di would have loved some thoughts and pointers from people already on the road. She just hope she'd spoken loud enough and that the other girl wasn't mad if she chose to answer.

A hand moved to pause the music and dark orange eyes flicked in Di's direction as the girl's head turned “ Hi, No I'm just starting out, would have gone with the first wave but I broke my leg roller skating and I've been out of commission since. I take it you're just starting as well?”

Di nodded, glad for a friendly reception from the pink haired girl .” Yes, I'm Karen Banks, it's nice meeting you.” Maybe just maybe the girl would be friendly enough to travel with her. She was a stranger yes but she seemed nice enough and Di really didn't want to go about this alone, she'd never been alone in four years except for last night.

The girl slid her headphones down to her neck only briefly disturbing her bangs, the rest of her pink hair being tied back in a ponytail. “ I'm Elena Sassine just Lena for short though, I hate Elena it sounds stuffy. Nice meeting you to, so you wanna make a go at this together? It's gonna be hell traveling hither and yon on foot except when regulations allow other travel. Truth be told I don't fully trust the inspectors and if one of the pokemon I get assigned suddenly turns on me in anger I'd like some backup you know.” Lena grinned the whole time she talked and acted as if her bold and blunt way of speaking was nothing new.

Di blinked a bit surprised “Um sure, I'd like that” It'd make keeping her true nature a secret a bit harder but again she didn't want to be alone and she'd never thought of the possibility of the Pokemon rebelling despite having gone through a screening process. “ Did you have a specific route you wanted to travel depending on what type of Pokemon you received?” Di had figured she'd just go wherever the next location for a battle or contest was and train along the way.

Elena nodded “ There's a few specific stops I want to hit that offer both gyms and contests halls so I've got at least part of the trip planned out. Once we're off my plans you can navigate for a while and then we'll switch off.” A bit of glaze seemed to filter into Lena's eye's “ I'd love the make it into the final part of the project you know. The dual part. Don't know how well I'd do though, I'm not exactly the most agile person around and I'm not quite fond of pain inflicted upon my person.”

Di nodded amazed at how much Lena talked and how swiftly she could change subjects. She had no problem with Lena leading them for a while and as for Lena's dream. Well she wished her the best especially starting late, For herself she was sort of hoping she didn't make it. Partially because of the whole Karen thing and partially because she had no talent as far was she was cornered and the dual system required both Coordinator and Pokemon to appeal and fight together. Di even in Karen's slim and fit body was likely to trip over her own Pokemon rather than dance gracefully around it or something of the like. “ I just want to give it a good effort. If I make it that far I'll be shocked, my previous attempts at both training and coordination didn't exactly end well. I'm just hoping to do better.”

Lena nodded and stretched out on her seat “ I'm sure you'll do fine and if you start faltering I'll let you know. No slacking allowed human or Pokemon.”

Di laughed at that and felt the Butterfree in her stomach settle. Lena was loud and boisterous but she was still nice. Blunt but her truthfulness was as like to heal as it was to hurt. She was perhaps all the things Di wasn't and it felt comforting somehow.

For the rest of the bus ride the girls continued to talk and get to know each other. Di learned that Lena was sixteen and the baby of her family with two older brothers. That the simple jeans and t shirt she was wearing today was not her usual garb but something to placate her mother who'd insisted on walking her into town to the bus. She'd learned that Lena had trained Pokemon since she'd been allowed at age ten but that she'd never won anything big because she'd spent most of those years catching and releasing Pokemon who simply never meshed with her . Di had wondered about that wondered how many people caught and tried to train Pokemon who just weren't meant to work with them.

Di had told her about Karen's life, about her childhood and her parents, though most stuff was Di related, adventures they'd had etc. She'd lamented about having to leave Di behind but that she was sure she'd be ok, commenting that then she wouldn't have to fight her for the t.v. Lena had laughed at that and said the few Pokemon she did have were probably going to use the time to laze about.

All in all the bus ride to Vermilion City was pleasant from that point on. Even if the bus smelled and the road was bumpy. It's easy to forget those kinds of things when you had someone to share them with.

Upon arrival in Vermilion City the girls had stretched for a few moments before walking in the direction of the Triad Project Center. It was early afternoon and the sunlight warmed Di's skin while she breathed in the cool breeze from the sea. The wind not only smelled salty but tasted it as well , it was a strange experience for someone one who'd never been to the sea before.

Wingull and Pelippar floated lazily in sky calling insults to each other that Di found ranged from amusing to crude. On occasion they dived to the ground after a dropped french-fry or piece of pizza. Di had always wondered if bird Pokemon considered it cannibalism to eat the Doduo slices on pizza. Of course she'd never asked them… because she wasn't sure she'd like the answer.


To Di the city was huge, buildings rose high into the sky to be lost among the clouds. The sun gleamed brightly off the metal frames and glass windows. To someone from a rather small down the booming tourist city of Vermilion was a sight to behold. There were malls filled with clothes and Pokemon items, and houses were placed periodically between stores along the streets. There was so much going on Di wasn't sure she could keep track of it all.

Not that she really got a large view of the city since it was only a few blocks from the bus stop to the Triad Project Center. The building was made of red bricks and was in the standard rectangle shape. Over the doors in large black Plexiglas letters read the words Triad project. Through the glass door Di could make out a reception desk and some people moving around inside.

She followed Lena inside content to let the older and more experienced girl lead them even in this. The two walked into the building, and Di was amazed to see so many Pokemon and children milling about As far as the eyes could see, there was an endless sea of them, even when she and Karen had made it to the occasional contest there hadn't been this many people. It was almost unnerving. Di was just glad that the pokedex around her couldn't detect her. Because her genes were so highly rearranged she registered as a human and not a Pokemon. Though psychic type Pokemon wandering through her mind would be able to tell the truth.


As the girls waited in line Di looked around trying to get a feel for the project . On some of the walls of the complex were pictures of trainers and their Pokemon, many had action scenes of them battling or posing to show of strength. Opposite walls showed Coordinators with their Pokemon showing off beauty in grace in what Di thought were amazingly well taken pictures.

The amount of skill showed just on the walls made Di sigh, those Pokemon had worked hard, persevered and had become great. She.. she had given up on battling easily and fought Karen because she disliked contests. She'd been great as friend, a study buddy and maybe even as substitute sibling but as a Pokemon Di could see she had failed miserably.

“It's almost my turn, when I'm done I'm going to head to the rest area and get us a room ok? ”Lena's voice broke Di from her thoughts and she nodded..
That was something she's almost forgot. The triad project buildings functioned a bit like Pokecenters. They had help available from nurses, free food and places to sleep for those who needed or wanted them. It was to take the strain off of Pokemon centers as well as to encourage project members to interact.

When it was finally her turn Di stood in front of the gleaming oak desk and smiled at the receptionist;a young man with corn silk blond hair, eyes bluer than her own and a smile that made Karen's body jittery. She handed him her I.D card and waited a moment while he entered her PIN into a computer.

When he looked up again he returned the smile “ Welcome Karen, to the Vermilion Triad Project Center. I see you're just starting today so if you'll wait a moment I'll retrieve your Pokemon and its file for you.”

Di nodded wondering what sort of Pokemon she'd receive. Part of her thought it would be ironic if it was a Ditto. Although she was certain it would lead to some interesting conversations and explanations if such a thing happened. She also wondered what in Karen found the receptionist interesting much the same as she had wondered this about the boys Karen had asked to ask out on occasion. Di understood many things about human but some of their biological responses to certain things still confused her.

The receptionist returned and placed a pokeball and a beige folder on the desk. “ Alright this is the first Pokemon you've been issued. I've flagged you as active so you're profile will be added to the site soon and you're good to go.”

“ Thank you” With a smile Di took the pokeball and file then turned and headed down the hall in search Lena . She found the other girl just a few rooms down the rest area hall. Already her bed and the surrounding area had papers and clothes scattered about. Lena herself was lounging on the bed deeply engrossed in hr Pokemon's file. Di closed the door and sat down on the unclaimed bed , she placed her pokeball on the nearby nightstand and flipped open her partner's file.

Pokemon name : Solid
Pokemon species : Cubone
Gender: Female:
History:
Solid was formerly trained by Jade Jason and was used for Pokemon contests. Solid participated in multiple contests but often failed to get past the appeal round. On all occasions in which she made it to the next round she was knocked out and therefore never made it to to any final rounds.
It should be noted that when Solid did make it to the semi finals she always had the highest score in the appeal round. Jade Janson attributes this to solid having good days and bad days. Assessors for this project cannot find any evidence otherwise and have noted that in tests done by them Solid showed varying performance levels.

Di's eyes lifted from the page and she eyed the crimson and pearl sphere that held Solid. How unfortunate. It sounded like there wasn't anything wrong with Solid she'd just honestly been doing the wrong thing. Watching battles on T.v with Karen Di had seen plenty of Pokemon have bad days, get bad fields to battle on or have horrid opponents to have to face. Still with the right type of training a bad day could be overcome, enough endurance could allowed Pokemon with a disadvantage to still come out victorious.

With contests though bad days were pretty much a black mark on the whole day. There wasn't time enough to get out of a funk and no near misses or second chances. Hopefully Di could help Solid get over her losing streak and assure her that there was a bright future out there for her. Not that Di could guarantee anything. Not everyone made it in the world of training either. Di had an advantage over many trainers but even she couldn't guarantee success.

With a soft sighed Di returned to her reading. She finished the bio, the reports given by her assessors and ended with a letter written from Jade herself.

Hello there

You've been chosen to work with Solid and I hope that you can love her as much as I do. It was hard letting her go to do this but I think it's for the best. It was really hard watching her struggle with contesting and since I have no real interesting in gym battling i couldn't give her what she needed. I hope you and her make a good team because I'm going to be keeping and eye on the site for you.

At this Di felt a bit apprehensive. Sher was glade Jade hadn't just bailed on her partner but now she had someone else counting in her successes.

I haven't really got a lot else to say just that I'd like if if you could tell solid I'm still thinking of her. Oh and a warning, Solid's a bit skinny right now, not underweight or anything but because of how short her arms are and how thick her bone club is a lot of her appeal techniques kept hitting her body till she lost weight. She's probably going to need to bulk up a bit. Keep her away from milk and milk products though she's lactose intolerant ironic enough.

~ Jade

“I've got a former gym battling Sandshrew named Tank that has a tendency to chew things. Not too bad of a record and he sounds humorous enough in his escapades to make training him for contests interesting. How about you?”

Di looked up from her file and smiled over at Lena “ Cubone named Solid, former contester with no major wins and history of bad and good days. I'm actually looking forward to working with her, I think we'll do pretty well together.”

Lena laughed and grinned “ Tank and solid hmm? Unstoppable force and immovable object. Clearly fate planned for us to be partners.”

Di could't help but laugh as well it was a strange coincidence indeed but somehow it made Di feel better. Perhaps it was fate, some sign that she'd chosen a good companion and that things would work out. Then again an unstoppable force and an immovable object also got nowhere so it could be a sign of endless futile struggles. Di shook her head, she had to stay positive.

She was one step closer to starting the biggest journey of her life but she was really no more assured that she had made the right choice. Still looking over at Lena who'd just released Tank only to have him try and eat his file, she couldn't help but think that if this was a mistake then it was surely one worth making.



End notes: Here's Lena in her typical clothes http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...=ladyumbra.png
Next chapter: Pound you to the ground.
Can Lena and Di keep Solid and Tank from killing each other at first meeting? Will the girls give in to lucrative sponsorships deals and can a single incident stop their journey before it starts? Find out in Chapter Two.

AN: This chapter picks up pretty much where we left off last time and contains both Lena and Di's POVs.

This chapter is dedicated to Tezza and DarkPersian479 for all their help and general awesomeness.


Chapter 2: Pound you to the ground

Lena snatched Tank's file from his mouth , sighing as the corners of the papers and folder tore off and were left in Tank's mouth. Even as she glared at him, the Sandshrew looked back at her unabashedly and proceeded to disappear the paper into his mouth by chewing it. While he did so he seemed content to use his claws to scratch lazily at his creamy white underbelly.

Lena raised her hand higher, to hold the folder and files remaining out of Tank's reach. “I've already read all the things you've done, you little terror, eating the papers now won't change what I know.” Lena noted that Tank's eyes had become small and beady at her words. He was staring at her but alas his eyes were inky black and revealed nothing about what he was thinking. It unnerved her a little but still for all that Tank appeared to have been a handful he had never been particularly aggressive according to his past trainer and the evaluators for the project.

Still, not quite willing to tear her eyes from his, Lena called over to Karen. “Hey Karen, you wanna release Solid? I figure we could all use some food, armies march on their stomach and all that.” Plus food was a good thing to socialize over, and they had no clue how of ten they'd manage to find a Pokemon center or Triad Project building. The next meal or two could be the last they had that was cooked for them in a while.

“We're an army?” Karen's tone was curious and perhaps a bit nervous.

Lena wished she could see the look on her face but she was busy staring down Tank. Sandshrew were omnivores but not really predators. As far as Lena was concerned Tank should retain instincts enough to back down or look away from the gaze of an actual predator. Clearly he didn't think that she was one.

“We are a formidable force at the very least, perhaps we're a bit small to be an army yet.” Tch hadn't Karen heard of moral boosting? You had to get pumped up and in the right mood before you could really set yourself up for success. If they viewed themselves as something strong and determined like an army marching forward they were bound to be harder to dishearten.

Karen laughed “ I suppose”. Lena could hear the other girl reach out for her Pokeball and in her peripheral vision she caught sight of a flash of white then red . She listed as the Cubone began to tap her bone on the floor and growl in it's language. All the while she stared at Tank who showed no inclination of backing down.

That was not a good sign, Lena needed to establish herself as in charge, sure she would never harm Tank or demand ridiculous things but she would demand respect and an understanding of authority. There was no option of release if they didn't get along, they had to work together if they were going to make progress so she had to take charge. They needed to establish a working relationship and yes there would be partnership but there would also be chain of command. It was simply how Lena worked and she wasn't about to change for Tank just because he was stubborn.

Lena's orange eyes widened as Tank suddenly bolted to the left and lunged at Solid. The Cubone had no time to react before Tank had firmly clamped his jaw around the thick length of bone that it held. From inside it's bony helmet Solid looked none to impressed by this. Arm and back muscles tensed under a mud brown hide as she tried to yank her weapon from Tank's mouth. “Cu bone”
****

“ Cu bone” Let go, the words were very clear to Di and she was more than a little concerned about the situation. Solid was not happy about the situation and Di didn't blame her at all. The bone's her kind wore and wielded were special to them. To have another touch them when not in battle wasn't normal, to have them chewed on was a sacrilege.

Di was not surprised when just as she was opening her mouth to object Solid smacked her head down onto Tank's. Gleaming white bone met lemon yellow scales with a soft thud. Unfortunately Tank lived up to his name and was not phased by the attack. Di mentally groaned, he 'd been battle trained, a single headbutt wouldn't hurt him much.

Uncertain what to do Di looked at Lena who seemed to be almost studying the situation. Sure her body language said she too was surprised but it was still relaxed and her eyes were calm while focused on the fight. “ Lena, what do we do?” Di had prepared herself for a lot of situations but not for this and with the other girl in the room she couldn't very well speak to the Pokemon and demand that they respect each other. Curiously she wondered if Cubone and Sandshrew naturally had an enmity. Human raised Di knew some about her fellow Pokemon but not all, most of her cultural knowledge was limited to things published by Professors.

Lena looked over at her, orange eyes calm and just smiled “ Now we wait, they need to establish hierarchy or they'll fight every time they're out together.”

Di really didn't see the need for that, as far as she was concerned every thing thing would be much better if they all just got along or at least restrained themselves from fighting upon first meeting.

Besides, Tank was clearly in the wrong and Solid wasn't well enough trained to fight back. It was like expecting Butterfree to fight Houndoom and hope to win. With enough experience it was possible to use the right combinations of powders and attacks to immobilize then enemy but not if they were pinned to the ground before they had a chance to start. Without her club Solid was pretty much defenseless.

With a sigh Di moved forward on the bed to reach between the two Pokemon who were still head to head and fighting over the bone. Well, Solid was fighting, Tank just seemed determined not to let go and his jaw strength showed no signs of failing.

“Karen, no. Let them work it out. Unless they get violent enough to start breaking the room it won't do anyone any good to interfere.” Di could hear wisdom in Lena's words and she knew the other girl had more experience with things like this but Solid was hers to protect and help. She couldn't just let her suffer.

Lena might not be able to see or hear it it but she saw the Solid's muscles twitch with effort and heard the low growl that was not of anger so much as of suffering. Solid didn't just want , she needed to make Tank let go of that bone. It was important, more important that some stupid hierarchy.

“I'm sorry but no” She said as she reached out to see if her strength could stop Tank from using the club as a chewtoy.

Faster that she could see Tanks claws flashed out at her and a trio of tiny lines appeared across the top of her hand. Blood began to well up from the cuts and once again Di was in shock. She'd been attacked! Another Pokemon had attacked her and she was bleeding and .. and .. and this wasn't supposed to happen.

Confused and upset Di scuttled back on her bed until she hit the wall. She clutched her injured hand and resisting the urge to bolt out of the room , call Karen and tell her she was sorry but that she could not do this. She was just lucky that like all her transformed forms this body needed to take significant damage before she reverted to her true form.

“Cu cu cu bone” I hate you, the worlds were growled at Tank and something in Di's heart broke when Solid released her bone and hopped up onto the bed to approach her slowly looking concerned. Apparently her act of stupid bravery had earned her Solid's respect but cost the Cubone some pride. She was pathetic, she didn't deserve to be a trainer, she should just go home before someone got hurt worse.

Di looked away from Solid too ashamed to face her, it was just in time to see Lena get up and smack Tank on the snout forcing him to drop the the bone. The sought over object clattered to the floor loudly in the following silence.

Di wasn't sure if she was proud of Lena or outraged, on the one hand she'd done something. On the other she' d just hit her Pokemon and that was wrong. Di was torn on what to think. “Lena?”

The pink haired girl shot her a swift grin before wrapping her hands around Tank and lifting him so they were at eye level.“There are rules here buddy, I don't care what you got away with before, with me there are rules and rule number One is you never ever hurt a human. I don't care if the infamous Team Rocket suddenly reappears and kidnaps me , you never touch a human with intent to harm. Do you understand?" Di was shocked as Lena growled at Tank and held him tight her thumbs digging into his soft underbelly a bit more than was needed

Still, it was something of a surprise to her when Tank looked down and muttered a sorry. Lena though she did not speak Pokemon seemed to get the gist of what he'd said and placed him back down on the ground “ Rule number Two. People are always higher in the chain of command than Pokemon. If Karen says leave Solid alone than leave her alone, understand?” Tank gave a swift nod.

Di relaxed a bit glad the conflict was over, however without adrenaline pumping through her body she felt overwhelmed by the emotions all vying for her attention. Excusing herself , Di left the room and headed for somewhere quiet and private to think.

***
An hour later the quartet was seated comfortably at a booth in the restaurant section of the building. Solid and Tank were tolerating each other, Tank seemed genuinely trying to apologize and Solid though still wary was accepting him for the moment.

Di was glad that they at least were in better spirits. She was still confused and nervous and oh but she longed for home, or at least a call from Karen. Something comforting and normal would be more than welcome right now.

On top of it all Lena , her traveling companion to be, still confused Di . She was a good person , Di had seen her make a short call home to reassure her mom and Pokemon that all was well. Her Pokemon had seemed genuinely pleased to see her aside from a Golduck who had complained about missing his favorite show and why couldn't she have called on a commercial.

So yes Di thought Lena was a good person and a decent trainer but still she'd smacked Tank and been willing to let their Pokemon fight and she just seemed.. well rough. More rough than one should be in her opinion, you caught more flies with honey than vinegar as far as she was concerned.

Spearing her salad with a fork Di dragged the leaves through the dressing and lifted it to her mouth as she continued to wonder how exactly this trip would turn out. She was positive that she and Lena would argue from time to time and that given a chance Solid and Tank would probably revert to old ways but what about their actual goal?.

Lena had so much more experience and she was working with equally experienced Pokemon. She'd debated challenging Lt. Surge with Tank to get a feel for him in action as well as to deal with some unfinished business the two apparently had.

It had only been a few sponsor crews hanging around the gym that had kept Lena away, well that and her desire for food.

Eating another forkful of salad Di thought about sponsorship. It came with a lot of responsibilities, contracts and obligations that were hard to fulfill. It also usually made either the trainer or Pokemon the star, which had resulted in more than one formerly successful pair breaking down or being at each other all the time.

Di had no desire for something like that to happen, she was already in over her head and currently Solid had become standoffish. Possibly due to her rejection earlier when Di had been too concerned with her own worries to accept any comfort for her before fleeing the room. It was her mistake and one she intended to correct as soon as she knew what to say.

Mind wandering back to sponsorship she thought it might be nice, to have extra funding and support, people cheering you on and believing in you. You'd never feel alone and maybe you could inspire someone or do something good. That would be worth all the hassle right?

“No” Dragged from her thoughts Di looked at Lena who was staring at her intensely, ginger eyes narrowed and focused directly on her.

“No?” Had she said something while thinking, she didn't remember her mouth doing anything other than chewing her salad.

“You had a look in your eyes, I've seen it before. It's that look everyone gets when they think of the wonders of sponsorship these days. Your eyes go glazed and you get this smallest smile. I'm telling you now it's a bad idea , plus you've got little chance of catching a sponsors attention right now project participant or no. Solid's cute and got some neat tricks but she's missing the build she needs to handle a lot of attacks and Surge goes for physical and electric attacks. You might avoid a shocking but a mega punch or body slam would send her into a world of pain.” Lena paused to sip at her lemonade before continuing. "Losers rarely get any interest unless they came close to winning or they lost in a spectacular way. I'm not saying you couldn't or shouldn't try for sponsorship just that I'm not inclined to travel around with someone who'd only be pulling half the weight they should be, especially someone who hasn't learned to stand properly yet.”

Di had been Ok up until this point , really she had. Lena had good points and even Solid had looked a bit embarrassed at her lack of perceived power. But to say she couldn't stand? What did that mean? And what did she think she was saying, about not pulling her weight. Blue eyes snapping Di stood and grabbed her tray “Come on So-”

“Sit down” Lena ordered her tone firm though holding no anger.

Di wasn't sure why but her legs seemed to almost crumple beneath her and she found herself sitting and then flushing. What was she a common household pet? Some tamed Pokemon that did as it was told without resisting or thinking for herself?

“ See” Lena sighed “That's exactly what I mean, you can't stand on your own two feet yet , you haven't got any independence. As soon as someone asserts their will against yours your break. You're a good kid b-”

“Your only two years older than me” Di interjected, feeling that at least on Karen's behalf she ought to defend her form. Age wise for a Ditto Di was aware that she was still quite young. Though either way she didn't appreciate being attacked by what should have been a friend

Lena rolled her eyes and slid some fries to Tank who had been eyeing his empty tray as if it might provide him with some source of nutrition. “ Psychical age and mental age are two different things trust me. I've got this cousin she's like 11, fricken university level genius that annoys the hell out of me. But she's smart and independent, able to take teasing from the older kids in he class in stride and hold real conversations with people thrice her age. She's mature despite being young. “

“Like you?” Di was annoyed, she had come here to forget about the previous fighting not get into another one and she was still unsure of herself as trainer she didn't need to be berated by the person she was looking up to right now.

Lena shook her head ignoring it as her bangs fell into her eyes. “ I'm experienced, not mature, I win my arguments because I've tasted what the world has to offer, decided how I like things and I don't let anyone change my mind. You've done a little training and coordination. Given up on both and resolved to do nothing until now. You need to see the world and test yourself before you can stand up on your own.”

It was here Lena's own orange eyes went a bit glassy “The first week I was out on my first journey we had a nasty thunder storm. I had set my tent up under a tree to help keep the rain off it. It was just my luck lightning hit a branch on the tree, it snapped off and and tore the canvas of my tent in two. If it weren't for the fact that I sleep curled like a Caterpie I'd have been in for a world of pain.

As it was it was rude awakening and I was on my way home the next morning, or I would have been if Dodger had let me. You haven't seen strange until you see a Machop carrying his trainer over it's shoulder while she kicks and screams and curses his great great grand eggs.” Finished Lena blew at her bangs and gave a soft sigh.

Di was confused, it was an interesting story but it made no sense. Though she had to admit that from the stories on the bus ride Lena had shown that she'd tasted the world as she'd put it. And she and Karen hadn't really. However, she was still confused “Um? So Dodger made you continue? How is that good?”

“Cuuuuu bone bone cu'” Even I know that Solid muttered before burying her head back into her bowl of pokechow.

"Shrew" indeed, Tank agreed before finishing the fries and tucking himself into a ball.

Di mentally groaned , great even the other Pokemon knew more than she did than she did. Some great trainer she was going to be. Only her superior knowledge of pokemon and ability to talk to her kin was going to help her get through this.

Lena sighed softly “He made me face my journey, dragged me all the way to my first gym match and maybe it was sheer dumb luck or maybe it was hauling my heavy *** around but we won and I felt better. I still thought training was a conspiracy created by parents to get rid of their kids so they could enjoy the last of their youth but I was willing to continue at least for a bit. Every time something made me balk afterwards Dodger was there. Eventually even when stuff happened that made me want to run I had learned to stand my ground and while I appreciated Dodger having my back I knew I could get by on my own."

Di nodded understanding now. She and Karen had been each other's support but neither of them had ever really been independent until now. Disturbed Di wondered if Karen had felt that she was holding her back. That it was her fault Karen had never gotten anywhere especially in coordinating because she disliked it. The idea hurt and Di frowned a bit, she was letting Karen have her dream now though so that made up for it if she'd been holding her back.


She fiddled with the straw in her drink clinking the slowly melting ice cubes together. “Do you, still get bothered by things? Do you still make mistakes?” Di liked Lena she really did, already she was learning form her and she could tell that Lena wouldn't let her get away with backing down but she wasn't sure she could stand to be around someone who was always right? Someone who always knew what to do. She already doubted her skills, having to compare herself to Lena more than she already did wouldn't help much.

Lena laughed “Are you kidding? I mess up all the time. I am stubborn and picky and my training and battle style are not always that great for getting Pokemon to like me and put effort in. Plus I'm about to start training a pokemon for coordination. I know what it is, I've seen a few contests but you can bet I'll be picking up the idiots guide for it at a bookstore because I haven't got a clue how to go about doing it right.” The other girl drummed her fingers on the table and smiled “ I still get scared and I still doubt myself and for the first time in six years I haven't got Dodger to back me up if something goes horribly wrong.”

Orange eyes slid over to the inert Tank “My newest Pokemon is as stubborn as I am and I'm pretty sure you hate me. All in all I don't exactly have the best outlook right now but I'm bound and determined to try..”

Di should have been ashamed, should of looked away , maybe even got up and left because dammit Lena was still better than her. Better and smarter and heck she was the one here that deserved the name tank, nothing seemed to stop her. Nevertheless Di stayed still, moving only enough to smile. Lena was concerned that she might hate her? She who could probably have her pick of companions, most of which probably didn't have Pokemon likely to break out into fights with hers.

Lena was, confusing, she was so, so, so confusing. Di just didn't know what to make of her. "I don't hate you.” What more could she say, her feelings about her traveling companion were still all up in the air but she didn't hate her, she just wished she could understand her.

*******

“I don't hate you”

Well that much was good, though Lena doubted it would last. She Reached over and used the flat of her hand to roll Tank back and forth on the seat. It wouldn't surprise Lena if she and Karen parted ways after only a few days. Karen was just so gentle and she , well she was that ***** next door and damn proud of it. She didn't like being hated though and a knot of cold unpleasantness often settled in her stomach when things started to go sour. After six years Lena had learned that she was not the easiest person to be friend with. People and Pokemon alike tended to clash with her a lot and it left her lonely aside from her team.

She was the was she was for a reason though, and she was tough on others so that they would feel free to be tough on her. She hadn't exactly been born independent, like Karen she'd been loath to do things alone and had only changed and grown because she'd had to. Backsliding had been a problem up until about a year ago. If Lena allowed herself to associate with those who wouldn't push themselves then she couldn't rely on them to push her if she started to relapse.

She scooped up Tank and tossed him into the air , as she caught him and and placed the slowly unfurling Pokemon back onto the seat she smiled at Karen then turned her head to mock glare at Tank “ Sleeping after eating is bad for digestion and compressing yourself like that cannot be good for a full stomach either.”

Out of the corner of her eye Lena could see Karen tense then relax if she still looked slightly disturbed. That was Ok, as long as she trusted her, Lena could deal with the occasional odd looks or confusion she caused with her strange lesson methods. Perhaps, just perhaps they'd get along after all.

***

It was a strange tentative truce that Lena and Di had formed by the end of the evening. More talking during dessert had lead to them coming to some understandings as well as finishing discussing sponsorship and how it made it's users reliant. Di had given up on it deciding that even if she could have gotten sponsored it wouldn't do her much good.

She was still feeling a bit low but wasn't moping anymore. The quartet had gone to the beach for the evening and everyone had relaxed. They'd made sand castles of which Di's was the best and Tank's was the worse. Unable to retract his claws the Sandshrew had left gouges all over his castle when compressing his sand and was unable to get solid walls , the gouges also left it prone to cracking and crumbling as it dried.

Lena had found skipping stones stoned across the water to be something she had been much better at, though her castle had been fine if in Di's opinion a bit bland. She had a good wrist for the stone skipping though, claimed it came from years of Pokeball throwing. “You learn though, oh man you learn after a while just to hit the release button because the first time your sprain your wrist and then have to keep focus to call battle commands you will swear you're going to die before the battle ends.” Di though that was bit dramatic but having never really hurt Karen's body that badly she wouldn't know.


Solid had given up half way through making her sand castle having found that the salt water needed to make the sand sticky, make her fur smell and her skin itch. Di wished she could have responded to her grumbling. It was hard, not to talk to other Pokemon and Di was sure it would only get harder. Still in a way it was for the best since she still had no clue who she was going to explain to her Pokemon that a Pokemon herself was following a Human's orders in enslaving and ordering them about.

Indeed, Di was still confused and bit upset but she was persevering. The world was still very big to her and she'd taken but a few steps out into it. Where the next steps would take her was unknown but she could only go forward and face that uncertainty.


End notes: Chapters like this want to make me smack my own characters at times. I love Lena but at the same timeher tough love way of doing things would so not work well with me.
I figure the average 16 year old in decent shape can lift a near thirty pound Pokemon without much trouble but if it seems unrealistic let me know.
Also I was sort of happy but sort of not with Lena's cousin I couldn't think of a good example of maturity so I hope that worked. I also hope I correctly defined the difference between experience and mature. Of the two Di is actually the more mature but at the moment it does her little good.
Chapter 3 will actually give Di a chance to converse with Solid and we'll hopefully see some more fleshing out of Solid since she'll be better understandable.
C& C alwways welcome.