Though she was keeping up her cheerful face plastered on while out in public, Chloe was becoming increasingly frustrated with her lack of progress in her mission. She had captured four pokemon since her arrival here, but that wasn't enough. It wasn't even the goal. She had to recruit new members and, more importantly, find a suitable place to start up a base of operations. The pokemon that she had captured would be helpful of course, but so far that was all she had managed.

"Any luck today, Trouble?" She asked as her Murkrow flew overhead and then fluttered down beside her, He shook his head and Chloe let out a sigh, "Oh well, we'll get there eventually."

"Whoa, a Murkrow!"

Chloe glanced up to see a young girl only a few yards away, staring at Trouble with a light in her eyes. She wasn't particularly in the mood for company right now, but she had to keep up her ruse.

"Oh, hello there." She ran a hand along Trouble's back a few times and he nuzzled her hand.

"I've never seen one up close before." She gasped, "Is it... Is it ok if I touch his feathers?"

Without waiting for Chloe to give him the go ahead, Trouble hopped over to the girl and looked up at her expectantly. Chloe resisted the urge to shoot him a dirty look.

"Wow, this is so cool." She giggled, crouching down and gently petting Trouble the way Chloe had. "My name is Alison." She said with a friendly smile as she stood back up, "You're so lucky to have a pokemon of your own, I've always wanted one."

"I'm Chloe." She nodded, "And yes, I do feel lucky to be able to have such good friends. It's a shame how everyone treats pokemon sometimes." She frowned, "Trouble is my friend, and so are my other pokemon, I don't keep them in their pokeballs unless I really need to." She raised an eyebrow at Trouble and he fluttered back over to her. "They wouldn't have pokeballs at all if I had my way, but that's the only way to keep them from being taken by a trainer who wouldn't treat them right."


"Wow, I never thought about it like that before." Alison tilted her head, "That's such a nice way of thinking. I'm sure your friends are very happy." She grinned, "I know that if I ever catch a pokemon I'll treat them the same way. They are friends, not tools."

Well now, this one appeared to show some promise. "Do you feel like proving it?" She pulled out a plain pokeball from her pocket and held it gently in her hand. "I caught this guy just the other day, he's still a little skittish, so I've been keeping him close until he learns to trust me, but maybe someone like you would be able to earn his trust.


Alison gasped and stared at the pokeball, "Really? You would give me one of your pokemon? I've always wanted to have one as a friend."

Chloe nodded, "Of course. You have a good heart, Alison. I'm afraid I can't just give him to you though, I need to be absolutely sure you'll look out for his best interests. Have you ever heard of an organization called Team Plasma?"


Alison nodded, "Yeah, that's where I got the idea, actually." She smiled, "I don't think they are in Zatao though. It's a shame that everyone can't see pokemon the way they do."

Perfect. "Well I have a surprise for you, Alison." She smiled and handed her the pokeball, "Team Plasma is here. I'm a member myself, and if you accept this pokemon as your friend, I'll make you a member too."

((To be finished later <3))