Son of Arceus

A rivalry?

__Emmaly had to put Charmander back in his pokéball while she and Riolu sat on the back of Officer Jenny's motorbike. She had to wear the spare helmet before she very reluctantly wrapped her arms around the officer's stomach. Riolu was sitting in her backpack with his head sticking out. He never did like going into his pokéball. Being separated from Emmaly for too long made him scared and anxious.
__"Okay, hold on tight," Jenny called out over the sound of the engine. "We'll be in Pewter City in no time."
__Emmaly tightened her grip after feeling the scooter jump before they started driving out of town and into Route Two. She had hoped to see new pokémon on this route, but they looked to be the same as the first one. Riolu was still excited. Seeing so many of his kind roaming around freely was so unreal to him.
__It didn't take long for them to arrive in Pewter City. Many people stopped to stare as the two women got off the scooter and removed their helmets. Emmaly then had to crouch down in order for Riolu to hop out of the bag before he promptly zipped it back up. Jenny was waiting as Emmaly stood back up.
__"This town is well secured, so you should be safe to spend the night," she reassured them. "I'll be heading over to talk with my cousin here."
__"Okay, thank you so much," Emmaly said as she and Riolu waved goodbye to the officer. Now, they just needed to head over to the Pokémon Center before they looked for a place to stay.
__Once at the center, Emmaly had given Riolu Charmander's pokéball before he followed Nurse Joy to the back. This time, Emmaly chose a single chair that was secluded from everyone else, and she would keep looking around to make sure no one else was going to approach her. Now, she had another reason to be more wary of strangers.
__Emmaly was already starting to nod off before another person walked into the now almost empty building. He handed all of his pokéballs to the nurse before he looked in Emmaly's direction. "Aw, no way! That you, Emmaly?"
__Emmaly jolted awake when Maxx walked over and crouched down in front of her. "Fancy seeing you here." He was wearing a huge white grin on his face.
__Emmaly was groaning as she straightened up. "As if this day couldn't get any worse," she muttered.
__Maxx's smile went away as he stood up and held his hand just a few inches from her face. "What happened to you? You got cuts and bruises all over."
__Emmaly softly smacked his hand away before turning away. "Some girl called Chelsea attacked us not too long ago."
__Maxx's eyes went wide. "Holy crap. You okay?"
__Emmaly found it hard to nod at him without rolling her eyes. "It's whatever."
__"Why was she after you?"
__Emmaly had to stop and bite her tongue. She would rather snap at him to back off and mind his own business, but she really should talk to someone her own age about this. "She was trying to abduct me, I guess. She even threatened to sell my Riolu."
__Maxx crouched back down. "Man, that's awful. You made it out okay, at least."
__Emmaly couldn't help but smirk. "Well, she and her pokémon were no match for us. My pokémon put her's out of commission, and that Chelsea definitely doesn't fight that often. She immediately ran when Officer Jenny ran in, though."
__Maxx was now grinning again. "How'd she look? Was she worse?"
__Emmaly tittered. "Way worse."
__"Miss Emmaly? Your pokémon and ready for you."
__Riolu barely gave Nurse Joy a chance to call Emmaly as he hopped off the cart while hugging Charmander's pokéball. He ran over to Emmaly and immediately started skidding until he stopped. He promptly glared up at Maxx. "Ew. You're here?"
__Emmaly held out her hand to Riolu and waited for him to put the ball in her palm. "He's just checking on us. We don't need to be mean yet."
__That made Maxx laugh for some reason. "Aw! His pouty face is so adorable!" He gushed as he started patting Riolu on the head.
__"Ew! Hands off!" He started smacking Maxx's hand away before he quickly climbed up onto Emmaly's lap. He then just kept glaring down at Maxx.
__"So, how has your charmander been since this morning?" Maxx asked while turning back to Emmaly. "Did he learn any new moves yet?"
__Emmaly was rubbing her thumbs on the ball when she nodded. "He learned two: Ember and Dragon Breath."
__Maxx's jaw dropped. "Aw, really? My bulbasaur only learned Vine Whip. Then again, we didn't have to fight for our lives today."
__"Your scrawny arms couldn't handle it," Riolu grumbled.
__This made Emmaly rub the top of his head. "You be nice. Like I said, another time."
__"I don't like his nasty hair."
__"I figured you didn't, but mind your manners."
__Maxx was smiling as he eyed the two talking to each other. "It's like you can understand him."
__Emmaly stiffened up. "Ah, shit. Um... Well, technically, I can understand Riolu. He and I have been able to speak to each other since he hatched. I'm not making it up!"
__"No, no, I get what you mean," Maxx reassured her. "Me and my emolga are the same. We've just always been able to talk to each other and say what we mean, even if we can't understand word for word."
__Emmaly let the back of her head hit the wall. She was just going to let him think that. It would be better than trying to explain it again. "Yep, sure."
__The front doors opened as a little girl ran in. She saw Emmaly and immediately ran over, pushing past Maxx in order to give her and Riolu a hug. "Ate Emmaly! I knew it was you!"
__Emmaly smiled and hugged her back. "Hoy, Mia! You say sorry to Maxx right now. You're supposed to say excuse me and wait."
__Little Mia let go and bowed her head to Maxx. "I'm sorry. I'll ask next time."
__"Yeah, thanks." Maxx grunted as he stood up.
__Mia turned back to the door and started running. "Lola! Lola! I told you it was Emmaly!"
__Emmaly nearly forgotten that Ella was supposed to be here. She stood up after Riolu slid off of her and waited patiently as the old woman made her way towards them.
__"Dear, what happened to your pretty face?" Ella asked as she began fondling with Emmaly's face. "Even far away from home, you're still getting into trouble, like Ben."
__That actually made Emmaly happy. "It was self-defense, Ate, I promise. Some buang picked a fight with us, and we scared her off. Simple as that." There was no way she was going to tell Ella what she found out. She needed to know more about her situation before she could share more details.
__Ella looked down as Riolu tugged on her gown before she scratched the top of his head. "You've been protecting her like I asked?"
__Riolu was leaning into her touch. "Yep! Of course I did!"
__Emmaly's ball slipped out of her hands and fell on the floor. The button was triggered, making Charmander come out of his pokéball. Charmander looked around in confusion before he saw Riolu and went to join him and Ella.
__"Oh my," Ella rasped joyfully as she began rubbing the top of Charmander's head. "You made a new friend. What a fearsome fellow. No doubt you'll be fine then."
__Charmander was now looking at Riolu with a smug look, making Riolu growl and turn away.
__"Now, who's this?" Ella turned to Maxx.
__Maxx straightened up as he began scratching the back of his head nervously. "Oh! Hi, I'm Maxx. I'm Emmaly's friend and new rival!"
__Emmaly rolled her eyes. "More like acquaintances. We met this morning in Pallet Town, where we got our new pokémon."
__"Ah, finally a human friend." Ella didn't seem to be listening. She was only looking at Maxx. "You know, that girl never tried making any friends while she was in school. She only had love for her family and pokémon. I'm so happy to know she's met someone like you."
__Maxx seemed bashful. "Heh. Thanks."
__"Ate!" Emmaly barked. "We hardly know each other, and we've only had one battle. You could hardly call us rivals."
__Maxx scooted over to Emmaly immediately and got all excited. "Let's battle again then! This time, we can 2V2!"
__Emmaly brought up her hand and shook her head. "I got no energy left today, and our pokémon are just recovering themselves."
__Maxx took a couple of steps back before he started laughing in embarrassment. "Ah... right."
__"It's starting to get dark," Ella butted in. "You kids have a place to stay?"
__Maxx nodded with a big grin. "As soon as I get my pokémon back, we're camping out in the woods. It's part of our training."
__Ella turned back to Emmaly and smiled. "You're free to stay with us for the night, sweetheart. Especially after today."
__"Yeah! Sleepover, Ate!" Mia begged happily.
__Emmaly let out a quiet sigh of relief. After almost getting abducted, she really needed to be with familiar people to sleep peacefully.