“How did you guys meet?” asked Rob, another one of the boys.
    “Us?” Ri answered.  “Hmm, I guess it was about two years ago…”
[Flashback]
    “We were both eight years old.  It was before I even had Aqua.  I remember going to school together with Billy.  My parents said they still rather I got a public education then home schooling.  My dad was home a lot more then too.  Me and Billy rode the same bus together.
    ‘Hey Billy,’ I said to him.  But he didn’t ever say anything back…”
    “Huh…  Oh, well, I was shy…” Billy said.
    “Yea, I guess you were…”
    “We were in a lot of the same classes.  In our school, they did not teach about pokémon.  For some odd reason, the public schools were not allowed to teach that.  The only way to learn about them was to attend classes at an official gym or learn from actual trainers.
    One day, while we were on the bus to school, I sat down next to Billy.  I guess I kinda had a crush on you early on…  Again, he didn’t say anything.  I peeked closer at him and finally he said something.
    ‘What?  Why are you always bothering me?  I just want to be by myself please…’ he said.  I was heartbroken.  I had believed up until then that Billy only ignored my cause he was shy, but now I knew why.”
    “Ri, I’m sorry…”
    “It’s ok Billy…  I know you didn’t mean it.”
    “As the days past, I hardly ate or slept.  When they said love hurts, they meant it.  I was so sad.  My friends started worrying about me along with my teachers.  Me and Billy never spoke again that year.”
    “This is such a sad story Ri…” Travis said.  She could almost spot a tear in his eye.
    “Sorry Travis.  It’ll get better.”
    “So, a year passed.  I had moved on.  I didn’t go the school anymore now.  My dad had to travel a lot for his work so my mom really needed someone to help out with the store.  That was when I first learned about pokémon.”
    “Cool.  So your mom taught you about pokémon?” Travis asked.
    “Yes.  Every day we would tend the shop together and take care of the pokémon in it.  Sometimes, we’d venture out along the coast to see if there were any lost or abandoned pokémon.”
    “Abandoned?!?  Why would anyone just abandon their pokémon?  That’s just too cruel.”
    “Yeah.  But one day, while we were walking along the shore, I spotted a small blue thing floating on the water near the beach.  My mom wasn’t there so I ran over to see what it was.  When I got closer, I saw that it was a small Horsea that had been abandoned and was badly injured.  ‘Oh no.  What do I do, what do I do?’ I said.  My mom had shown me some different healing techniques to use on injured pokémon.  I approached the hurt Horsea.  It didn’t look like it was moving at all.  For a moment, I thought, I thought that it might be dead.”
    “{sniff}Hey, Ri… {sob}, you said this would get happier, not sadder,” Travis said with a tear in his eye.  Everyone else was really sad too.
    “Ok, well…  I picked up the Horsea and placed in softly on the sand.  I felt it for a pulse.  ‘Please don’t be dead little pokémon.  Please…’  I could feel its heart beating very softly.  ‘Of thank Goddish.’  I was so relieved.  I quickly opened a first aid kit I had with me and began nursing it back to health.
    I held it in my arms for a while.  ‘Oh please wake up.  Oh no, I must have done something wrong… whaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaaa…’  I began crying.  I remember falling to my knees still gently holding the Horsea in my hands looking at its still body.  ‘No… please wake up… please little pokémon… please don’t die.’”
    “I remember that day,” Billy said suddenly.
    “You do?  I don’t remember seeing you that day.”
    “No.  I remember hearing someone crying.  I went towards the beach and saw you.  ‘Oh, it’s just that silly girl how always picked on me last year.  Humph, musta stubbed her toe or something.’  I didn’t think about going down to see you because I guess I didn’t want to know anyone then…
    Later that evening, I couldn’t concentrate.  I just kept thinking about you.  At first, I guess I hadn’t noticed the pokémon in your hands.  I still never even knew what pokémon were.  While I was working on my homework, it all hit me.  I realized why you were crying and suddenly felt really bad for not helping you.”
    “Oh…  Well…  I remember not being able to wake the pokémon.  ‘NOOOO!!!!  WHY???  WHY WON’T YOU LIVE???’ I shouted.”  Her tears flew from her eyes, many falling on the Horsea.  “I guess that’s when I must have fallen asleep…”  In the flashback, she continued crying until she simply exhausted herself.
    “No…” she said before falling asleep.  She just laid there in the sand, semi curled up, and with the pokémon in her hand.  A few minutes after she had fallen asleep, the pokémon moved.  The motion woke Ri.  Her eyes searched up her hand til they met the slightly opened eyes of the Horsea.  “You… you… you’re alive…”  She couldn’t move.  On her face however, she began to smile.
    “I looked at the pokémon as it slowly woke up.  I didn’t know what to do.  I was so happy I just couldn’t even move.  I think I started crying again because it was the last I could remember doing.  The pokémon opened its eyes all the way and looked at me.  I guess it was confused that I was lying on the ground holding it and crying.
    Horsea looked at me and said its name.  That’s how I found out what type of pokémon it was.  ‘H… H… Horsea?’ I asked.  It nodded.  Then, it hopped out of my hands and moved closer.  Now I was a little scared.  It looked all cute and cuddly, but I didn’t know what it might do next.  I closed my eyes tightly.  The next thing I remembered was felling a very cold object against my cheek.  When I opened my eyes, I saw the pokémon was resting up against me.  I picked it up and got up.”
    “Finally, the happy part,” Travis said wiping the tears from his eyes.
    “‘So, you are a Horsea.  Why were you floating in the water?  Where is your trainer?’  The Horsea looked at me.  I guess it understood what I was saying.  It looked sad.  Then, Horsea tried to tell me what had happened.  I’m still not sure about the details, but I think I know what she said.
    She and her trainer were on a boat.  One day, pirates hunting Lapras decided to seize their vessel.  The captain, Horsea’s trainer, fought hard but in the end, the pirates were too much.  They sent her and Horsea away on a small rowboat with no food.  The trainer didn’t know what would happen to her so she left Horsea behind in the water.  I guess she had good intentions but I still don’t think it was right.”
    “So the Horsea wasn’t really abandoned.  Those pirates are really cruel.  I’m glad that the police have finally started cracking down on them…”
    “Shhh, let Ri continue her story.”
    “Well, I’m not so sure about what else happened.  I think Horsea got into a fight with another bigger pokémon and ended up escaping just barely.  I started to cry again when Horsea finished.  It shed a few tears as well.  Hey wait a sec, then I remember seeing you Billy.  You were standing at the entrance to the beach.  But when I called out to you, you had disappeared.”
    “I, I know.  I finally gathered the strength to come down, but then I couldn’t do it.  I don’t know why.”
    “Oh.  Well.  I took Horsea home with me.  My mom was so worried.  ‘Oh my gosh, honey where have you been all day.  I’ve been worried sick about you.  Oh…  What’s this you have?  Ah, another stray pokémon.’  I remember her reaching for it and me backing away.  ‘Huh, what’s wrong Ri?’
    ‘I don’t want to give up Horsea.  I spent all day healing it and then listening to its tale mommy.  I want to help it and raise it as my own.’
    ‘But sweetie, you have to be ten before you can have a pokémon.  That’s the law.’
    ‘NO!’ I said and ran up to my room with the pokémon.  My mom didn’t follow.  She didn’t do anything else.  I guess she understood how I could become attached to a pokémon I was healing.  Later that night, she told me all about her experiences when she was little.  She told me about the first pokémon she healed and the bond they formed.  But I didn’t want to give Horsea up.  The bond between us was too powerful to break.  I guess my mom understood because she allowed me to keep Horsea and care for it as my own.  I was so happy that night.
    ‘If you are going to take care of this pokémon as your own Ri, you should give it a name.’
    ‘A name?  Hmm.  Aqua.  That’s a good name.  It means water.’
    ‘That’s a fine name Ri.  Now, please don’t stay up too much past your bedtime.’  I remember playing with Aqua for hours before I just had to sleep.  The next day, me and Aqua helped my mom around the store and during the afternoon, we played on the beach.  That’s when I saw Billy again.
    We were building a sand castle together when I noticed Billy standing by the entrance again.  I looked up at him but then went back to playing.  He must have come down because the next thing I knew, he was standing close by me.
    ‘Uh, hi Ri.’
    ‘Hello Billy.’
    ‘Was that you on the beach yesterday crying?’
    ‘Yes…’
    ‘Why?  Are you ok?’
    ‘I am now.  I found this pokémon here lying on the beach.  Its name is Aqua.  When I found her, she wasn’t awake and I thought that she might be dead.  That’s why I was crying…’
    ‘Oh…  Listen, Ri…  I’m…  I’m sorry about being really mean to you last year.  I… I didn’t know that you really cared so much about me… no one ever has…’
    That’s where it all started.  From that day on, me and Billy would meet after his classes were over on the beach and get to know each other.  Billy was usually shy and I did most of the talking.  But he seemed to like it anyways.”
    “That is so romantic.”
    “Wow.  You guys sure must be close.  I hope I meet a girl as cool as you Ri.”
    “Well, I dunno the odds of that…  I like to consider myself a one-of-a-kind type of person.”
    “Hehehe…  Well, maybe there’s someone close.”
    “You’ll know it when she comes.”
    “Woo, look at the time.  Well, I’ll see ya guys,” Sam said.  He and Jen left waving goodbye.
    “We should all get going.  Ri, that was a very touching story.  Maybe we can all meet again tomorrow.  I heard that they are holding a pokémon match and show in here during the day.  Billy, I could help you get Nidoran trained to do some battles.”
    “Well, maybe a few.  But I don’t want Nidoran to get hurt a lot.”
    “Don’t worry.  I’ll help you out in training him.  He’ll be able to defend himself from getting hurt badly.”
    “Ok.”
    “Well, cya tomorrow then.”
    “Ok, bye Travis.”  With that, Ri and Billy also departed the dining hall and returned to their room.
    “You’ve never told anyone that story before Ri.”
    “I know…”
    “It was good.  Just like the time you first told it to me.”  Billy smiled.  Ri blushed.
    “Thanks Billy.  You’re sweet…”  She yawned.  “Oh…  I’m so tired…  Let’s get some sleep so we can see that pokémon show tomorrow.”
    “Yeah.  Good night Ri.”
    “Good night Billy.”
    “Sweet dreams,” they said together.  Then, they fell asleep…