The Torchic Named Torchyana (The Friend I Fell In Love With) edited version #1

The next day she cracked open her eyes and then shut them again quite abruptly. The light seemed to be targeting her sensitive eyes. Torchyana buried his face in her stomach, hiding from the light, and after a while they both realized that Tailow was the culprit behind the cruel strategy that was being used to wake them both up.

Groaning, Steph stood up and ran across the room, her objective: the light switch. Tailow cried out as if she had just tried to attack his offspring and started to bat at the teenager with his wings.

"Stop! Stop!" she whimpered, leaping sideways away from the bird. "Go, Torchyana!"

The fire/fighting type leapt by the bird type and flicked the light off. "Combusken!" was his victorious crow.

"Tai..." Tailow cooed, flying higher up to the ceiling, just in case his trainer decided that perhaps Torchyana needed a little bit of practice with his attacks.

"Whew." Steph stood from the ground and stretched for a moment. Torchyana started copying her and then so did Tailow. She blinked. "I've heard that pokemon take after their trainers, but that's a little extreme, don't you think, guys?"

They just stared at her calmly, not even phased by her little statement.

"Okay, then." she mumbled. "I'm gonna go take a shower!"

-=-

Within about an hour a brunette girl wearing blue jeans, a red shirt, and a black jacket despite the warm weather, stepped out of the Pokemon Center with a Combusken trailing behind her and a Tailow sitting on her right shoulder. She glanced at Torchyana, Tailow flapped his wings and lifted into the air, and then they were on their way to the docks at a slow jog.

Mr. Briney had already boarded his small boat and was patiently waiting for her arrival. They exchanged a small greeting when she climbed into the boat and she showed him a couple of the little toys that she had acquired for Peeko and her Tailow to play with.

He seemed to approve and before long he began their trek to Slateport with ihs impassioned, "Anchors aweigh! Peeko, We're setting sail, my darling!"

Steph sat beside Torchyana, watching Tailow and Peeko play for a while. The Combusken didn't seem to thrilled to be surrounded by so much water, but there wasn't much that could be done about it, other than returning him to his ball, but Steph desired his company and he wasn't about to argue against that.

After a couple of hours passed Peeko and Tailow landed on the boat to rest and eat with Torchyana. Steph inquired of Mr. Briney how long it would be and got the dreaded: much later.

Sighing, she settled down and figured that at least she could train Tailow on the long sailing trips and let him get some good exercise. It would be useful once they landed in Slateport, just in case she had to go against two people at the same time in a double battle.

So, that is exactly what she did. She made her Tailow get accustomed to using attacks at higher speeds and made him dodge a few of Torchyana's attacks. It wasn't much, but at least they were both getting to do something to occupy the voyage.

-=-

"Ahoy! We've made land in Slateport!" Mr. Briney's hoarse voice cut through the silence and awoke the slumbering trainer.

"Huh?!" she sat up quickly and saw an old man with his little Peeko, staring down at her with a heroic smile on his face. She wasn't quite sure why she perceived his smile as heroic, but in the end she decided that it was because the sailor types were usually also, in a way, heroic. "Oh, well, that's good..."

"I suppose you're going to visit Capt. Stern and deliver the Devon goods in the morning?" he offered her his hand and he helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, I guess so." she glanced over at Slateport and a rather curious feeling of anxiety settled within her. In a way she hated it. The fear of something new, that is. "Are you going to get a room?"

"No, lass. Peeko an I are going to stay in the cabin and restock on supplies in the morning."

She nodded, seeing the logic in that and returned her two sleeping pokemon. "I guess I'll be going?"

"I'll be here waiting for you if you need my assistance, lassie." he smiled at her as he watched her walk away.

The beach was deserted, the only things left standing were a few large umbrellas that specked the almost perfect surface of sand. The sun had set hours ago and all of the tourists had found their way to a hotel room or possibly even the Pokemon Center. Steph scanned her surroundings and zipped her jacket all the way up. She placed her hand on a Pokeball and made her way to the City and then quickly searched for a Pokemon Center.

She threw herself down on the bed and smiled up at the ceiling, sleep already threatening to consume her, but for the sake of good hygiene she went to the small bathroom and brushed her teeth before she let herself finally collapse. Nurse Joy was in charge of her pokemon that night, so her only companions were a pillow and an alarm clock. Both were quite lacking compared to her warm, purring Combusken and her soft Tailow.

-=-

The alarm clock jolted her awake that morning and her day was started. She retrieved her pokemon, asked Nurse Joy where she could find Captain Stern and then set out in search of his shipyard. The pink haired nurse had informed her that it wasn't far away and that all she had to do was travel south for a few minutes, following the route that she had probably taken on her way to the Pokemon Center. Simple enough.

She made her way through the sparse little crowds of tourists and locals, looking for any sign that might indicate which building was in fact Stern's Shipyard. Her pokemon were still in their balls since she figured that if any trouble was going to arise that she would have enough time to hit a little button on the small spheres. Even with that thought in her mind, she still found the crowds of people and the many little alleys a bit... too much. Steph had grown up in a small town in the country and had never really developed a liking to large, packed in cities. The cities that she had ever found to her liking were the smaller ones that could barely be considered a city, and mostly all that came to her mind was drugs and rape and murder when she thought of the larger ones.

Seth, her older brother, would always shake his head and laugh at her slightly, telling her that it was because she only imagined the slums in the rougher areas.

"Now, where is it?" she muttered slightly, moving out of the way of someone walking in an opposite direction as she tried to examine the buildings around her.

STERN'S SHIPYARD

"Wanted: A sailor capable of sailing in all currents."
'Well, that was easy, wasn't it?' She smiled slightly and approached the building, still scanning her surroundings. She stopped. A short distance away, at what seemed to be a museum, what appeared to be a group of Team Aqua were gathering in a large line leading into the building. Hm. she arched an eyebrow and continued into the Shipyard, figuring that if the police didn't stop them then she couldn't either, but just in case something got out of hand and then traveled over to where she was, she let Torchyana out and asked him to behave while she took care of business.

It was bland inside the building, but what else could she expect. There were blueprints laid out on almost every table while notes and memos lined the walls. She glanced around, looking for someone that would fit the role of 'Captain', but the only living person that she came across was a man that seemed to be middle aged. He was staring at some of the blueprints, muttering to himself incoherently at first.

As she approached him, she was able to make some of the words out, "Um... If this goes here, and that goes over there... Then wear does this thing go? And what about that doohickey?" He seemed to twitch a couple of times. "Aaargh! I can't make heads or tails of this!"

"Uhhhmmm?" but what she meant to ask was: how did you get a job here, building ships, when you don't even understand the anatomy of a boat.

"Combusken?" Torchyana asked, questioning his sanity, wondering if he was going to have a nervous break down.

"Hm?" he looked up at the visitors and rolled the blueprints back up. "Hi."

"Soo, who are you? Captain Stern, maybe?" she smiled, 'I hope not.'

"I'm Dock. Capt. Stern commissioned me to design a ferry." he noticed the package that she currently held in her hands. "Oh! That there..." he pointed at them casually, "Are they Devon goods?"

"Yes." she held a calm expression while she considered what she had just heard. This man, who didn't seem to understand the anatomy of a boat, was supposed to build a ferry that would probably carry hundreds of people.

"But, hmm..." he seemed to think for a moment. "This won’t do. Capt. Stern went off somewhere. He said he had some work to do. Could I get you to go find Capt. Stern and deliver that to him?"

"Okay. I mean, I am supposed to deliver it for Mr. Stone." she shrugged and so did her Combusken.

-=-

Once they had made it outside she noted that the Team Aqua members were nowhere to be found around the museum, so she and her Combusken walked over to where they once been and peeked inside. Yep. There they are. Torchyana just strolled in unnoticed so she ran in after him.

"Excuse me!" one of the museum workers chimed out.

"Oh, sorry!" Steph apologized, pulling out her money and paying the fee.

"Welcome to the Oceanic Museum." the tone that the woman greeted her with made it quite apparent that she had said it a few hundred times too many and really didn't mean it any more.

The teenager nodded and scanned the room, making sure that the Aqua thugs were doing nothing to cause trouble. In truth they seemed to be all just standing around, some were talking quietly, other were looking at some of the exhibits, so she went up stairs to make sure nothing was going on up there either. She wasn't stupid. Criminals don't just gather together in such numbers to talk in a little museum.

She looked about with Torchyana and found that only one person was upstairs. He was examining something that resembled a small model of a boat, so, she shrugged and asked him, "Do you know where Captain Stern is? My name's Steph Fire and I was asked to deliver something for Mr. Stone."

He turned around and regarded her, "Yes? If you're looking for Stern, that would be me." He looked at the package that Torchyana was carrying. "Ah! That must be the part I ordered from Mr. Stone of Devon." Torchyana gave the package to the obviously cheerful man, "Thank you! That's great! We can prepare for our expedition now."

The sound of footsteps coming quickly up the stairs caught their attention and before long two Team Aqua members were coming at them from across the room.

One of them chuckled out, "Hold it! We'll take those parts!"

"Wh-what?! Who are you people?!" Capt. Stern demanded, shock written across his face.

"We're team Aqua and our boss wants those parts! Shut your mouth and fork them over!" he took a threatening step toward the Captain, but Steph and Torchyana moved in front of him.

"I don't care how drunk you are on the little bit of power you think you control, you're not coming any closer to this man, you pathetic little grunt of a thief." the somewhat angry girl snarled.

As expected that really made the man angry, so he called out a Carvanha and the battle was on when Torchyana leapt in front of his mistress.

"Double kick!"

Torchyana obeyed, landing two blows and sending the fish colliding into a wall. She frowned when she noticed that the Carvanha's rough skin hurt her Torchyana's foot a little, but it was nothing more than a small scratch. Nothing worth worrying about.

The grunt stepped back and whined something to his partner, "Oh man, what a disaster. The boss is going to be furious..."

"Humph, sniveling wimp!" the second grunt spat and stepped up. "Let me take care of this!"

He sent out a Zubat and Torchyana purred slightly.

"Ember!"

"Astonish!"

Torchyana spat the fire at the Zubat and connected a direct hit, leaving the Zubat badly injured. It was able to let out a screech that made Steph, Torchyana, the two grunts, and Capt. Stern cover their ears. Torchyana shook his head and fired another ember, this time knocking it out.

The grunt growled and sent out a Carvanha. It was a repeat of what happened to the first Carvanha.

"What?! I lost, too!" the second grunt muttered in disbelief.

They both put more distance between them and the teenager and had a small conversation that, even though they attempted to prevent it, she heard every word.

"Now what? If we don’t get the parts, we're in for it!" the first whispered loudly. "I didn't count on being attacked by some annoyingly meddling kid!"

The brunette and Torchyana snickered at the word meddle. Someone else entered the room and made his way calmly over to the grunts. He regarded them and then the girls as a large frown formed on his face.

"I came to see what was taking so long to snatch some parts, and you simps are held up by some child?" Obviously irritated, he approached Steph.

"I am Team Aqua's Archie. Tell me, why do you meddle in the noble affairs of Team Aqua?" she openly scoffed. "Pokemon, people, all life depends on the sea. So, Team Aqua is dedicated to the expansion of the sea. Don't you agree? What we are doing is a magnificent undertaking."

"It's moronic!" she replied and Torchyana growled at him, not taking pleasure in the lack of distance from the criminal. "You're just a pack of fanatic idealists that are so wrapped up in your fantasy that you can't see how disastrous it would truly be to everyone living, including those you are trying to help."

"Ah, fine..." he disregarded her words. "You're still too young. It can't be helped that you do not understand our ideals." he turned, motioning for his grunts to leave. "But, if you ever oppose us again, there will be consequences! Heed my warning! Farewell!" she watched as he left, a bad taste in her mouth.

"Steph... that was a tense situation! Thank you for saving us!" he picked up the parts that he had dropped at some point. "I almost forgot that you even brought the parts from Devon!"

"It was no problem." she smiled at him.

He looked at a clock and gasped slightly, "Whoops! There's no time to lose! We have to set out on our ocean floor expedition really soon. Thanks and excuse me!"

She moved aside so that he could exit and then she looked down at her Combusken. "We've gotten ourselves into a lot today, haven't we?"

"Busken." he pointed over his shoulder at two people tiptoeing down the stairs. One was carrying a camera and the other a microphone.

Within an hour they had it on the air, broadcasting it to Hoenn. Apparently Team Aqua and Team Magma had started becoming an even greater nuisance to society and any news of their violent actions was what people wanted to hear and see.

-=-

The silver haired teen walked by a TV in a store that he had visited and noticed that the girl that he had spoken to only a day ago, Steph, was talking down to a Team Aqua member as if he didn't even deserve the respect that a dog did. Of course that goaded him into a battle that she won with a great amount of ease. The next battle was over very quickly as well.

The people in the store seemed to be extremely interested, especially when Archie, the leader of Team Aqua entered the scene. He spoke to Steph for a while, her reply almost making Steven nod his agreement, but the threat that followed from the criminal brought him back to reality.

That teenage girl, a rookie trainer, had gotten the attention of Team Aqua's leader and had earned a personal threat. He played with the fire stone she had given him as he weighed the possibilities of what could happen if things got too... serious.

-=-

What seemed to be a comet slowly streaked across the sky above Saffron City. Couples watched it as they sat in parks together while children pointed up and watched with awe.

But, if they truly knew that it was in fact Seth Fire and Moltres, then it would have held far more significance to them.

He looked down at the fire bird and smiled, trying not to think of Team Rocket. Every time he did, a feeling of utter frustration filled his soul at the knowledge that even though he had reported to the Elite Four and all the officials of both Kanto and Johto that Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, they denied to do anything. They behaved as if they couldn't believe that one of their own would be so corrupt.

Seth begged to differ. Corruption comes from power. Power comes from authority. Authority in the pokemon world comes from being a powerful trainer. Giovanni had accomplished that.

Moltres let out a long, shrill cry that echoed through the streets of the city and made every legend fanatic wake and jolt from their beds.

Seth took in a long breath, "What do you think about visiting my family in a week or two?"

It looked back at him with a soft glint in its sapphire blue eyes.

"It only be for a little while. Gotta see ma, pa, and lil sis every once in a while!"

It seemed to nod its head slightly and then turned around so that it could watch where it was going.

-=-

Another challenger called back his mangled pokemon, the blood draining from his face. Zack fire pet his Salamence's neck and watched as the gym trainers started to clean up the blood and debris covering the arena. He called the dragon back and made his way to the room.

He glanced at the little phone and thought for a moment before picking it up and dialing a number.

"Hello?"

"How are you, Olivia?" he chuckled slightly.

"I'm fine, Zack." she replied.

"And how is Steph, do you know?" he asked, even though he already knew she was gone on her journey.

"I don't know. She hasn’t been here in days."

"Oh." his eyes scanned the colorful room.

It was simple. A bed, a desk, orange walls, red carpet, a small bookshelf, and a computer. He let his gaze stay on the picture of himself after he beat the Indigo Plateau in Kanto.

It showed him standing in the middle with Salamance directly behind him, a Blaziken standing on Salamence's right, Flygon on Salamence's left, Charizard laying on his stomach in front of Flygon, Ninetales sitting in front of him, and a Dragonite laying down in front of Blaziken.

"Bye."

He blinked his light green eyes, realizing that he had just blocked out most of what she had been saying. "Bye, Olivia. I should be able to visit soon." he put the phone down.

He ran his hand through his hair and left the room, checking for another challenger.

-=-

She put the phone back on the hook and returned to unpacking an old dusty box. She smiled softly when she saw what was inside of it. The picture of when she beat the Orange Islands.

Her Dragonair was wrapped around her, Envy was sitting in front of her, Gyarados was behind her on her right, Shelgon was on her right, on her left was Rapidash, and behind her-on the left was Flareon.

Memories of when Zack had given her a Dratini went through her mind and then the thought of her having lighter hair entered her mind.

Envy barked roughly and the woman answered with a playful glare. Seemingly grinning the dark type rubbed against her.