Krystal looked up at the sun. Her stomach rumbled loudly. It had been quite a while since that wonderful breakfast. Hmm! She could almost smell it. In fact, she did smell something. True, it wasn't breakfast, but MAN DID IT SMELL GOOD! She sprinted past some small buildings and looked across the street. On the outskirts of the Pallet Town border sat what looked like a quaint cafe. It presented a huge neon sign in shades of green that said: "The Rocket Restaurant." Under it was a smaller one that read: "Blast in for a BITE today!"

"Look Buddy FOOD!!!!" Buddy looked at her strangely and unable to resist any longer she dashed towards the building blindly, craving food and sustenance! She didn't see the boy walking sadly away.

"BULBA!!!" he shouted running after her, "BUL-BA!"

SMACK!!!!!! They fell down in a lump on the ground. Buddy rushed over and tugged on her sleeve. They got up and brushed themselves off. Krystal gasped, "Oh my gosh! I'm so SORRY! Here let me help you up- NO WAIT! You're already up! Um-I-uh-"

"That's fine, just as long as you're not going to get mad and hit me or something."

"Why would I do that? After all, I did run into you," she chuckled.

He was taken away with her politeness, "You mean you're not mad at me?"

"Off course not SILLY!" she gave him a friendly smack on the back. He toppled over, "Oh-oh!! I'm sorry." she helped him up, "Guess I got carried away..."

"Hey, it's not the first time I've been knocked down today," he sighed, "And most likely it won't be the last..."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing. In fact it's kind of embarrassing..."

"Really!-I mean uh... That's too bad. What happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it..."

"You should be happy! Look at all the money you got!" she pointed to the bill hanging out of his pocket.

"Well, it's not really mine..."

"But it's in YOUR pocket!"

"I know, but I have to buy something for my sister, she's-"

"Sick? OH! How terrible! I'm so sorry!"

"Sick? No, not exactly, anyway. I have to go get her some face cream."

"For what?"

"To clean her face, what else?"

"How old is she?"

"Twelve."

"And she needs face cream?"

He paused a second, thinking it over, "I'm-not-sure."

Krystal looked at him, puzzled, and looked at Buddy, they shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm Krystal. Krystal Ketchum! What's your name?"

"Jacen. Jacen McScanty."

"Hey Jacen, have you ever eaten there?" she pointed towards the restaurant.

"Yeah, my parents sorta own it."

"OWN IT! That's so COOL! (Does that mean you get a discount?)"

He stared at her blankly, "Um, I'll have to check on that."

"I'm as hungry as a Victreebel!"

"Wow. You are hungry. My dad has one of those... ewww!"

"Okay...whatever. Want to go get a snack?"

"No, I gotta buy the stuff for my sister."

"All right! But maybe we can do a battle or something later!"

"Well, I don't really want to battle, but-"

"YOU DON'T WANT TO BATTLE!!! I mean, well, what trainer doesn't battle? It kinda defeats the purpose of-"

"I just don't want to, okay Krystal?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way..."

"I don't want Arfie* (* Author's Note: pronounced "ARF-EE") to get hurt."

"What's an Arfie?"

"It's not a what, it's a who. Arfie is an Arcanine!" Buddy backed into Krystal. She looked down at him.

"Buddy? What's a matter with you?"

"BUL-ba, ba, ba, ba, ba-" he stammered.

"Your not scared of ol' Arrfie, are ya?" Jacen leaned down towards Buddy.

"Bul...ba," he nodded.

"You are?" Krystal said.

"Well, I am a fire type trainer."

"Cool! I'm a normal type!" She said, proud of her type.

"But you have a bulbasaur for your mascot."

There was a pause.

"I know that," she said calmly, trying to contain her anger, "What's wrong with that?"

"Well, nothing..."

"I have OTHER Pokémon, you know," she got into his face, "Why do people always tell me that?"

"I didn't know!"

"Well, I'm going to eat now. You go buy that... stuff. I'm going to satisfy MY-SELF!" she pointed to herself and jerked away from the conversation.

"See you later then... I guess," he called after her.

"Ya! SURE!"

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bulba."

"See ya Buddy," Jacen called as he walked down the road.

Krystal headed towards the restaurant and barged in the door. Jacen turned and slowly continued down the road, looking up in the sky, perhaps thinking hard about something, or someone.

End of Chapter Three
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