Son of Arceus

A new Friend.

__Once Emmaly and Maxx finished packing up all their stuff, they ran for Cerulean City without stopping for anything. They had to return their other pokémon while they held on to their starters. As soon as they finally reached the city, they collapsed onto the first sidewalk they stepped on while panting excessively. They had been so certain that those thugs would come back with reinforcements, but they were proven wrong. Now they were just tired.
__"Dang," Maxx rasped. "I don't think... I've ever been this out of breath before."
__Emmaly had to set Riolu down before she grabbed her water out of her bag and started drinking. She let out a harsh sigh when she was done. "I hate running..."
__The two teenagers had to stand up as people started staring at them. Maxx started dusting off his pants before he started rubbing Emolga, who was sitting in his hair. "So, what do you plan on doing first?"
__Emmaly stood up as well and grabbed Riolu's hand when he reached out. "I need to talk with Officer Jenny, I guess. Don't know what else yet."
__"Don't suppose I can join you?"
__Emmaly huffed and started walking. "We're not traveling together."
__Maxx immediately walked after them. "I mean... 'cause I should be there, too... you know? Because of those thugs that attacked us?"
__Emmaly groaned while rolling her eyes. "Fine, I guess."
__Riolu snorted before reaching out to be picked up. "Gross. Don't let him join."
__Emmaly picked him up and held him to where he rested his chin on her shoulder in order to glare at the boy. "He has a point. Quit being fussy."
__Maxx smiled and waved at Riolu only for the fighting pokémon to stick his tongue out at him.
__They made their way to the police department and talked with Officer Jenny. Once they reported the people who attacked them on Route Three, the officer was relieved and excited. Apparently, she had been after them for a while now. Before Emmaly could even ask about her mystery symbol, Officer Jenny made a mad dash outside. So much for that. The two teens went back outside, not feeling too satisfied.
__"Well, at least she'll take care of them," Maxx muttered. He then shook it off and grinned at Emmaly. "All right, then. I'm gonna go around challenging other trainers. Until next time!"
__He began running, and Emmaly was slightly annoyed. "There is no next time!" She spat.
__"Yeah, right!"
__Emmaly sighed and shook her head. She didn't even realize she was smiling. "That idiot."
__Riolu snorted as he hopped down to the ground. "He just can't take a hint. Anyway, so what now?"
__Emmaly looked around her surroundings and shrugged her shoulders. "We still need to wait for Officer Jenny to come back. Let's just explore for now."
__Riolu looked excited. "Yeah, okay!"
__The two of them started walking around Cerulean City. Staying close together, they got to see all kinds of shops and got to eat a few sweets (they shared with Charmeleon). They ignored everyone who tried to say hello to them, no matter how rude that was. They needed to try and distance themselves from strangers now.
__Eventually, they made it to the bridge and decided to watch the river. Emmaly went to lean on the railing while Riolu climbed up to sit on it. They could see some magikarp and tenticool swimming in the clear, shiny water. It was just so nice and peaceful here. That was until rocks were being chucked into the river, scaring the pokémon away. Emmaly looked over and saw two kids down the river on the town side. They were trying to throw rocks at what looked like a feebas. It was already weird that a feebas was here, but Emmaly didn't think there were kids cruel enough to hurt pokémon like this.
__Emmaly decided to leave the bridge, and Riolu quickly ran after, and went to confront the kids. "Hoi, what do you think you're doing?"
__The little girl waited to throw her rock first before turning to Emmaly. "This feebas is mean! She's always splashing us whenever we want to come to skip stones!"
__The little boy next to her had a stick that he was tapping on the ground. "We're just defending ourselves!"
__Emmaly crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You kids are no better for retaliating against a pokémon with little-to-no damage-worthy attacks. You leave that poor thing alone and run along."
__Riolu walked over to the feebas and waited for her to swim to the shore. "You okay?"
__The feebas huffed and dived into the river. This made the little girl point.
__"See! She's horrible!"
__Emmaly was getting mad. She always had low tolerance when it came to kids acting out like this. "Get out of here and run back to your parents. You ought to be ashamed of the way you're behaving."
__"That young lady is right," said an old man who was slowly walking over with a cane. "Thomas, Britney. Do I need to call your parents again? You leave my granddaughter's feebas alone."
__The little girl turned tail and ran. The little boy looked annoyed as he followed after her. "She's gone! Just get rid of that thing!"
__Emmaly had never been so mad at children before. "The nerve! What kind of trashy parents raised those brats?"
__The old man shook his head. "Parents who didn't even plan to have those kids." He then walked over to the shore and waited for feebas to breach the surface. "You all right, sweety?"
__The water type pokémon nodded. "Feee..."
__Emmaly went to pick up Riolu before turning to the old man. "What's a feebas doing in the wild here?"
__The old man turned and smiled at her. "She used to belong to my granddaughter. She went with her mother to the Hoenn Region two years ago and brought her home."
__Emmaly watched as feebas started sinking into the river a little. "Your granddaughter?"
__The old man nodded. "As fate would have it, my granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer, and we ended up losing her. My daughter-in-law was just so overcome with grief... I thought about giving feebas to a new trainer, but feebas refuses to like other people."
__Riolu was tugging on Emmaly's sleeve. "Feebas is bored and sad."
__"Oh," Emmaly decided to set Riolu back down to let him talk to her while she continued chatting with the old man. "She doesn't really like it there, does she?"
__The old man shook his head. "Feebas, just like my granddaughter, loved to explore. Those two always just wanted to sneak off and battle wild pokémon while collecting shiny rocks. As much as Feebas doesn't want to leave, I know she misses adventuring."
__Emmaly turned to watch as Riolu was conversing with Feebas.
__"I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine how upsetting that is..... That's okay. You were just defending your personal space. I get cranky like that, too..... No problem."
__Emmaly sighed. "I hope she can feel better soon."
__"Grief will always take its time," the old man rasped. "It hurts now, and it always will, but we will learn how to cope with it. I think now Feebas just needs to be left alone after being bullied by those kids."
__Emmaly nodded and went to grab Riolu's hand. "Come on, sweet pea. Let's head back."
__Riolu looked disappointed, but he nodded before waving at the feebas. "Bye."
__Feebas turned away silently. All she did was weakly wave her fin.