"Heyyy! Hey you! Wake up! Wake up, wake up!"

James groaned and rolled over. "Leave me alone, Marril. I'm trying to sleep." Wait a minute. Marril didn't talk.

With a start, he opened his eyes and sat up quickly to see a boy staring at him with great curiosity. For a minute, James could have swore it was one the twerps, the way the kid was wearing a Pokémon League hat and all, but his hair, although black, stuck out from under the hat in much smaller spikes, and his eyes were blue. He also had a very disheveled appearance, with the way he wore the hat crooked, to the way his purple shirt was too big for him and his jeans too tight. His shoes didn't even match. Did anyone dress this kid?

All this flashed through James mind in only a few seconds before he blurted out, "Who are you?"

"Huh. I could ask you the same question," the boy tossed back folding his arms and giving James an impertinent grin. James lifted an eyebrow. So, the kid had an attitude. Great.

"I'm James," he answered simply, figuring it would be best to just play along.

"James, huh?" the boy repeated, walking around him in circles. "James? I'd rather call ya Jim."

"Oh... um... if you like." James didn't know what was going on, but this kid had his tongue tied up in knots for the moment. Maybe it was the way he kept staring, with those blue eyes that seemed to know entirely too much for such a young person.

It was then that he realized that his surroundings were completely unfamiliar. Marril was still beside him, huddling close as it sometimes seemed shy around strangers, but instead of the single tree he had been resting under, there were quite a few trees around him now, more like a forest. And in the center of a clearing a little ways to his left, there was an old, rundown-looking cottage that looked like it had only one or two rooms, and somehow seemed vaguely familiar to him. In his shock, James jumped to his feet to gape around him in dismay.

"What the... where am I?"

"So many questions," the boy sighed, his expression looking very put-upon. Then he grinned again and unfolded his arms to put his little hands on his hips. "You, Jim, were on the edge of my property. And trespassers aren't allowed here!" he intoned sternly, wagging a finger at the offender.

"Now look here, kid," James began angrily in spite of himself. "I've had just about enough of this, and I have half a mind to--"

"Wh... what are you going to do to me?" the boy blinked in what appeared to be fright.

"Oh, never mind," James sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Just tell me who you are and how I got here, okay? Please?"

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it? If you'd have asked me nicely in the first place, I would've told you." He didn't seem so frightened anymore. James felt a slight twinge of irritation, but pushed it aside. Had he been such a brat as a kid? Thinking about it made his head hurt.

"The name's Jon," the boy announced proudly, hooking a thumb back at himself. "I'm sure you're pleased to meet me."

James smiled sardonically before replying. "Jon? I'd rather call you Jonny."

"Hey! You trying to beat me at my own game? Well, unless you wanna be called 'Jimmy Boy', you'd better call me Jon!"

James tried very hard not to laugh at the face this "Jon" was making. "Alright, alright. Jon. Go on."

With a last suspicious glance, the boy continued. "Like I said, you were on the edge of my property. Me and Riza thought it would be a good idea to bring you back to the base for questioning. Boy, are you ever a heavy sleeper."

Ignoring that last comment, James spoke up with another question. "Riza? Is that your sister or somebody?"

"No! Riza's my Charizard!" Jon yelped indignantly, as though that should have been obvious.

"Uhh... Charizard?"

"Yeah! She's in here now!" the boy answered, holding up a Pokéball he hadn't had a minute ago. James wasn't quite sure where he had been hiding it. "She's the only Pokémon I have, but she's the best there ever was!"

"I see... and you got me here... by..."

"Riza picked you up and carried you here on her back."

"Oh... I see..." Riding on the back of a Charizard? While sleeping? It all sounded very dangerous to James, but Jon was staring at him again.

"Are you okay, Jim? You're not gonna throw up, are ya? I'd rather ya didn't throw up on my grass."

"Uh... no, I won't," James replied shakily. "So... where is your family? Do you live out here?"

"What, are you crazy? I don't have a family."

"Are you sure? Everyone has a family."

"Not me! I don't need a family! People are stupid. I live out here with Riza most of the time. Everyone understands."

"And you're... how old?"

"Nine. And I can take care of myself! I don't need anyone... well, I gotta go back sometimes. For school and junk like that. But it's summertime! I haven't been back home in a month, Riza's really good at finding food for us. Isn't that great?"

James just nodded to make the kid happy, but he had serious doubts as to how "great" it actually was. He couldn't understand why this kid's parents would let him stay out here so long, or what could possibly have made him decide that "people are stupid" in the first place. He could always ask, but...

"Hey! Why are you so quiet? Come to think of it, why are you the one asking all the questions? You're the one who's supposed to be interrogated!"

This made James realize that he had been staring off into space as he thought, so he quickly turned his attention back to Jon. "I suppose you're right. So ask me."

"Okay, first what were you doing on my property?"

"Doing? I believe I was sleeping."

"Mmhmm. That's what me and Riza thought, too. You were either sleeping or dying, 'cause you kept making these real funny strangling noises. Like this." Jon demonstrated, leaving James gritting his teeth as he tried to smile. Well, he had certainly never snored like that. "But it's okay," the boy continued. "I guess you didn't know you were on my property, after all. At least you'll never make that mistake again."

"Of course I won't... is that all the questions? Just one?"

Jon appeared to be thinking hard before he answered. "Yep. Just one. You can leave now... if... if you want."

James hid a smile, hearing the reluctance in his voice. So maybe the kid was lonely after all? "I have another question first. Why do you want to stay out here by yourself? There must be a reason."

Jon just studied him for a time, those too-knowing eyes seeming to judge him. "I could tell you that... But I think I'll see if you can beat me in a Pokémon battle first. Then I'll tell you. If you win."

"You seem awfully confident..." James commented slowly. Jon grinned happily.

"Of course! Riza's never been beat by anyone! Even though she's only been in two battles..." he finished a little more quietly. "But I'm sure she can beat anything you got! So let's go already, a one-on-one battle!" he cheered, the confidence returning to his voice.

James nodded, finding Jon's enthusiasm to be catching. This could possibly be fun... But which Pokémon to use? He didn't want to be too hard on the kid, so maybe he shouldn't use a water type... the combination of Weezing's gas and fire was potentially dangerous... Dugtrio couldn't possibly do well at all against a Pokémon that could fly... He sighed heavily. So the choice was obvious, then.

"Go, Victreebel!" Although weak against fire, maybe it would have a fighting chance against a lower level Pokémon.

"Wow! That's a cool Pokémon!" Jon cried excitedly. "Can I play with it after the match?"

"We'll see," James answered. If Victreebel behaved itself, that is. It wasn't doing anything upsetting at the moment, just resting and watching the boy's Pokéball as if it was eager to begin. At least, James hoped that was all it was.

"Okay! Go, Riza!" Although he was expecting something formidable-looking, James still jumped at the sight of the Charizard. It was big; possibly bigger than the twerps kid's Charizard. But he swallowed hard, forcing himself to continue.

"Alright, Victreebel! Start off with your Razor Leaf!" The green and yellow Pokémon screamed once before obeying, jumping up and scattering razor sharp leaves straight at it's opponent.

"Riza, burn up that stuff!" Only a few of the leaves managed to hit thier target before the rest blew apart into ash. Not only was it big, it was fairly fast, too. Maybe someone had given it to the boy and trained it beforehand? Or had he trained it himself? James had to remind himself that this was no time to get analytical before he yelled out another command.

"Now use Vine Whip!"

"Riza, ya gotta fly up away from it!" The Charizard might be fairly fast, but it's size still made it a bit slow to get off the ground; yet Victreebel only managed to get it's vines wrapped around the base of the other Pokémon's two broad wings before it lifted off. This resulted in an interesting sight, to say the least: Victreebel dangling from it's vines around the wings of Riza, hanging over the ground as the Charizard swooped up and down.

"Victreebel, just shorten the vines and get as close to it as you can!" James yelled up at his Pokémon, which miraculously obeyed instantly. This was going rather well.

"Oh no! Riza, shake it off!" The Charizard twisted and rolled in it's flight, but was unable to loosen the vines' tight grip.

"Okay now... Sleep Powder, but nice and slow, let it down easy and let go before it lands, then get out of the way." Slowly, the slightly wearied Charizard lowered to the earth as the Sleep Powder took affect, floating down with it's wings more than flapping. Victreebel loosened itself and bounced away at the last second, avoiding a weight that would surely have crushed it. Riza's eyes closed gently and it fell asleep while Victreebel just watched, sitting calmly. Amazing.

"Oh... that was good, Riza," Jon sighed, patting his sleeping Pokémon's nose. He called it back, then looked over at James. Instead of looking depressed that he had lost, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Wow... what a cool Pokémon. That was an awesome battle, Jim."

Blinking in surprise for a moment, James composed himself enough to smile back. "Thanks. That Charizard of yours is really something, too."

"Ya think so?"

"Sure. If you keep training her, someday she'll be unstoppable."

Jon smiled up at him in gratitude for a moment before he dropped to sit on the ground, sighing. "Well. Guess I gotta tell ya the answers to your questions now."

"Only if you want," James replied carefully, seating himself next to the boy. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Victreebel had scooted over so that it was rather close to the two of them, but he decided to pay it no mind for the moment.

"I said I'd tell ya if ya won, so I will." Jon seemed to be thinking for a moment, looking at the ground in front of his feet. "See... I think people are stupid 'cause... well, they just are. We had to move to this stupid city two years ago, and I hadta leave all my old friends behind. I don't want any friends here, 'cause I know it won't be the same... and it was my parents' stupid fault we had to move. I don't wanna be around anybody anymore."

James could detect the bitterness in his voice. It was obvious that he meant those things. "I see... Well, you know, I used to feel the same way."

"Really? You did, Jim?"

"Yes. Everyone at my house was tough on me when I was a kid, and I ran away a long time ago. I didn't think anyone would ever be my friend, but when I made some at last... well, I felt better. I still can't go back to my old home... but tell me, is your family tough on you?"

"N... no... not really."

"You shouldn't blame them for moving, it might have just been something that had to be done. And if they're not mean to you... I'm sure they miss you a lot since you decided you didn't want to be around them. And as for having new friends... new friends can be just as good as old friends. Sometimes better. Trust me."

Jon continued to look into James' eyes after he had finished, as if trying to read sincerity there. A few minutes of silence later, he nodded. "I think you're right. I'm gonna go home soon and see my mom and dad... I do miss them. Maybe I should stay with them more..."

"Maybe that would be good."

"Yeah," Jon nodded, suddenly smiling again. "I just can't believe you ran away from home."

"Hm? Why's that?"

"You don't strike me as the independent type."

"You know something?" James sighed, reaching over to tug the boy's hat further over his eyes. "There's a word for kids like you."

"Yeah, what?" Jon asked, tilting his head back to see out from under the hat's edge.

"Precocious."

"I dunno what that means, but it better be good," the boy scoffed. He jumped to his feet then and looked down at James. "I think I'm gonna go sleep in my own bed at home tonight, but I thought of something else to ask ya first."

"Ask away."

"Okay. What are ya doing out here, anyway? Sleeping under a tree when you should be sleeping in a house or something."

"Oh, that's simple. I'm on a Pokémon journey."

"Really?! Oh wow, that's so cool! How many badges do you have? Do you sleep under trees every night? Do you have the badge from Vermilion yet? Isn't Lt. Surge a jerk? What other Pokémon do you have?"

James just laughed, and tried to remember to answer all those questions in order, then showed Jon the badges he had won, which the boy gawked at in awe.

"Wow..." was all he could seem to say once James had finished explaining everything. "I only asked 'cause I wanna go on a Pokémon journey too... well, when I'm old enough. I better go... but will ya stay here overnight and say goodbye to me in the morning? I'd like ya to..." He trailed off there, just noticing Victreebel by his side. "Oh... ya didn't call your Victreebel back yet..."

He began to move in closer to it, slowly, and put out a hand to gently rub the smooth surface of it's body. It didn't move beyond darting it's eyes from James to the boy and back again, but it made a contented sound deep in it's throat, one that James had never heard it make before.

"You know... I think it likes you," he commented in wonder.

"Me too," Jon said happily. "It's so cool..."

Victreebel, cool? Hyperactive, unpredictable, and uncontrollable at times, maybe, but "cool" would take some getting used to. Not giving voice to those thoughts, James just smiled and returned the plant Pokémon to it's ball.

"It's getting dark... I'll see ya in the morning, right?"

"Sure. I'll be here."

"Okay. Say, Jim... I got one more question."

"Another question? I thought there was only supposed to be one."

"I know... but this is a... personal question," Jon continued with a grin that somehow made James feel uncomfortable. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Um... is it important that I do?"

"Just answer the question already!"

"Well... not... exactly..."

"Jaaaaaaames! There you are, I found you! It's about time, I said around Vermilion, not one mile out!"

There was only one person who could squeeze the breath out of him in that way, and that person was Myrea. "And you said two weeks, not one," he squeaked.

"I said two weeks tops," the green-haired girl emphasized, letting go of him at last, only to sit looking at him with her hands clasped in front of her. "Oh, you look so well! You're not sick and you haven't broken any limbs... it's so good to see you again! Unless you haven't been training... James, don't tell me you haven't been training."

There were thunderheads forming in her eyes at the very thought. With a grimace, James pulled the Thunder Badge back out of his pocket and showed it to her, after which she was all smiles again. "That's so great, I'm sure you mauled Surge... what did you use?" When he told her about Dugtrio, she was even more excited. "That's great, too! James, you're finally proving you can do things on your own! You should be proud!"

Unfortunately, Jon decided to take that moment to make his presence known. "Ohhh... so this is your girlfriend. Yep, I could tell that you're the kind of guy who needs a girl to take care of you," he announced slyly.

"Oh! And who is this charming and intelligent young man? I was so excited to find James, I guess I must have missed you." James wanted to groan. Just what he needed. Two of them.

"I'm Jon! And I caught James on my property, so I brought him back here and we had a Pokémon battle. James won with his really cool Victreebel. It was fun!"

"Oh, I see," Myrea smiled. "He's a pretty nice guy, huh?"

"Yeah, he's great. Oh... I really better go home. I'll see you and your... girlfriend tomorrow morning, okay, Jim?" Jon called over his shoulder, waving back as he ran off through the trees.

"She's not my--" James started to yell back at him, but found himself cut off when Myrea clapped a hand over his mouth.

"You be quiet. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," she added, taking her hand away. "I'd expect a little better of you, really, you are older than he is. Think of the example you're setting." Her expression softened a little. "I really did miss you a lot... You know, I even missed the cute way you squirm when I scold you."

This made him frown hard at the ground. He never squirmed, how ridiculous.

"Not to mention the way you pout when you're denying something you know is true," Myrea grinned. James scowled harder. Pouting? Of course not. Still... Myrea seemed to know him so well... only his partners knew things like that about him. Former partners. His scowl slipped into a much smaller frown. Obviously sensing his changing mood, Myrea spoke again.

"Hey, so what really happened today with that little boy? Tell me all about it." So he did, and by the time he was finished, she looked amazed. "James... I take it all back. You set a perfect example. I'm not sure I could have done as good."

He just nodded, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. She seemed to understand this. "Well, why don't we get some sleep? Looks like we'll have a roof over our heads tonight, huh?"

"Looks that way," he answered shortly, helping her carry everything inside. He didn't really mind the worried glances she kept casting his way, especially not when he realized why the cottage seemed so familiar: it had been an old hideout a long time ago. Too many memories under that roof.

He spent most of the night trying to keep those memories away.

Just as they were finishing breakfast, Jon returned to his "base", running so fast he almost tripped over Marril.

"Great, you're still here! Not like I thought you'd leave without saying goodbye to me... But I brought someone to meet ya!"

Startled, James stood up in time to see a pleasant-looking couple emerge from the trees in the same direction Jon had come running from. "This is my mom and dad! They wanted to meet you!" Smiling at the boy's enthusiasm, James greeted them as politely as he could.

"Jon has told us about what happened..." his mother began. "We're so grateful to you for doing what no one else has managed to do. We were afraid we'd never get our little boy back again."

"You've done so much for us. How can we repay you?" Jon's father spoke up next.

"Oh... it wasn't anything. I just wanted to help him, that's all. I don't need anything in return for that."

After several minutes more of idle conversation, Jon's mother began talking a bit hesitantly, as if unsure of James' reaction. "There was one more thing..."

"Yeah! I wanted to ask you, Jim, if I could travel with ya for awhile! My mom and dad said it was okay if you said yes, just until the summer's over, I could learn a lot from you, please say yes, pleeeaaase?"

"Feel free to say no," his father laughed. "He was just so insistent that we agreed to it. It would be a good learning experience for him... He's seemed to learn so much from you already."

"Well, I..." James looked back over at Myrea; she shrugged and smiled, seeming to indicate the decision was up to him. "Well, why not?"

*****

Later, James wondered why two people he had just met would possibly trust him enough to let him look after their son for two months. Maybe they really were that trusting... or maybe Yume had a hand in their decision. He just hoped he had made the right decision himself by saying "yes".

God, James. Look at you. Now you're a babysitter, of all things.

"Hey, Jim! Pay attention to where you're walking! Where are we going next, anyway? You gonna go get another badge? Huh? Can we sleep under a tree tonight?"

James just rolled his eyes at the sarcastic tone Jon's voice had taken on that last question. Then he was just opening his mouth to respond with a smart remark of his own, when Myrea suddenly jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow. Closing his mouth, he wondered how she knew that.

Wondering how he had gotten himself into this wouldn't help, so he decided to just forget about it. There would be plenty of time to think on that later.

Okay, this is the part of the story where you all send me your comments. C'mon... I know you can do it. :p

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