[b][u][color=f49ac2][h3][center]~Melody Hemlock~[/center][/h3][/color][/u][/b]
[color=662d91]“Friend? Don’t make me laugh.” [/color]Abigail snapped. [color=662d91]“I don’t know why you’re being so friendly, Melody, but I’m not an idiot. I’m not really a nice person, I get that, and I really don’t care. Those morons can all get eaten by a wild Mightyena for all I care.”[/color] She stopped and turned to face Melody.

[color=662d91]“So. Why are you being so nice to me, hmm? Not like we’re friends. We’ve known each other for barely even half of a day. So why--”[/color] she sighed, and put her purse on the ground. [color=662d91]“--don't you leave me alone.”[/color]

Melody blinked. [color=f49ac2]“Why am I… [i]really[/i] being nice to you?”[/color] she echoed, caught off guard.

Well, okay. She wasn’t kidding herself: Abigail probably didn’t consider Melody a friend. But that was okay, wasn’t it? All Melody wanted was to be able to stand by the other girl’s side, and help her achieve her dreams. She just wanted a best friend: was that really so wrong?

[color=f49ac2]“Well, uh… I guess you could say that… no one’s ever, you know, helped me out for no reason before,”[/color] she said honestly. It was true: most of the time, when someone was being nice to her, it was because they wanted to win brownie points with her parents. But Abigail had helped her without even knowing her name. [color=f49ac2]“And… I admire you? You helped me when I was lost and couldn't read my map, and you were nice to me when your Nidoran attacked Tesla.”[/color]

She hesitated, embarrassed despite herself, and then forged on. [color=f49ac2]“I don’t expect you to be nice to me, or even to consider me your friend! But to me, you’re, uh… I consider you [i]my[/i] friend, and… I want to help you! I want to help you become the best trainer in the region. Wait, no! I want to help you become the best trainer in the whole world!”
[/color]

Oh Arceus, oh Arceus, what was she [i]saying?![/i] She hadn’t meant to be so honest…

Melody covered her face in her hands to hide the pinkness in her cheeks, and said awkwardly, [color=f49ac2]“And… that’s all. I, uh. Yeah. I’m going to just… put my stuff down. Be back soon.”[/color]

She started shuffling off, and just in time, too. Alex was striding up to Abigail, and it looked like he meant business. She tensed.

[color=blue]"I'm sorry for my comment about your hair earlier, it was uncalled for,”[/color] he said. [color=blue]“And I think you realise that what you said to Peggy was uncalled for aswell so please, for the sake of the group, would you want to appologise about earlier to her? Maybe she would then appologise to you swell."[/color]

Or maybe he didn’t mean business. Maybe there was hope for them after all?   Alex’s apology certainly went far in easing Melody’s as-of-yet-suppressed anger towards him, but… she still didn’t feel like talking to him, or Peggy and Blake and Jackson.

Still, she actually felt a lot better now. Much less… murderous.

Melody kept walking, determined to find somewhere that she could put her stuff down and hide her embarrassment from Abigail for a little while. She therefore completely missed Abigail’s retort.

And then the ground shook, a brief tremor nearly knocking her to the ground. An earthquake? 

She heard a loud noise overhead. Melody stopped, and looked up. There was a swarm of… were those Zubats? And they were flying right over the main path, too. Melody hadn't even taken a step off the road.

But… that didn’t make any sense. You couldn’t find Zubats on Route 29, everyone knew that!

She wasn’t going to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, though. Melody fumbled in her pocket for Tesla’s pokeball and summoned him in a flash of red light.[color=f49ac2] “Tesla, get one of them with a Thunder Wave!” [/color]she whispered. [color=f49ac2]“Just one. Quick!”
[/color]

Tesla gave her a look that said he didn’t need to be told twice. It looked like his dislike of flying types extended to Zubats as well. The flash of his Thunder Wave lit up the darkening sky, and one of the Zubats gave a harsh squawk as it plummeted to the ground.

[color=f49ac2]“Now, tackle it!” [/color]she said, and off Tesla went. The Zubat went in to bite him for a Leech Life, but that didn’t stop Tesla, who tackled it right in the mouth.

Ouch. That had to hurt.

Melody didn’t waste a second. She threw the pokeball, hitting the Zubat square on the head. It screeched as it was sucked inside.

The pokeball quivered. Once… twice… three times! And then it clicked shut, and Melody hurried over to pick it up.

She’d… she’d caught her first Pokemon! Okay, granted, it was a Zubat (a Pokemon that she honestly didn't like too much, and had only sort of wanted in order to impress Abigail), and Tesla had done most of the work, but... 

[color=f49ac2]“Great job, Tesla!”[/color] she said, bending down to pat the Mareep on the head. But Tesla didn’t seem very pleased.

In fact, he seemed downright agitated, butting her gently on the shin. He [i]baa’d [/i]urgently.

Melody looked up… and found herself face to face with an enormous, battle-scarred Onix. It was blocking off the path to Blackthorn with its stony body, and it looked hungry.

And of course, it was looking right at her.

So that was why the Zubats had been flying away. They must have been scared out of the cave by this Onix, she dimly registered. Melody took a step backwards.

[color=f49ac2]"Um, guys?"[/color] she said, trying to mask her fear. [color=f49ac2]"I… I think we have a situation."[/color]