“Mmm… Good morning…” Ellee sat up and rubbed her eyes. When she saw Ivy, her lips unconsciously turned upwards, forming a smile.

“It’s evening already. You must have been very tired.” Ivy did not know what to say. She turned herself around and looked at the pikachu, whose hair was all over the place, and sighed. She had not expected Ellee to sleep for so long, but she didn’t dare wake the girl since she knew Ellee had probably been losing sleep because of her.

“Mm… I felt like I had a nice dream, too.” Ellee was still groggy, so she didn’t notice the blush forming on Ivy’s cheeks.

“Ahem..” Ivy cleared her throat and turned her head quickly, causing her green hair to flutter lightly. “So, we are still going for bulbasaur?”

“If that is what Ivy wants. It’s up to Ivy to decide what she wants to do. I can only give you suggestions. But I do feel that having a bulbasaur will help.”

“I think so too. I still need to train in my swordsmanship, I also need to train fighting alongside you and the pokemon I get in the future.” Ivy knew just practicing on her own would not be good. She realized this when fighting the spearows and how they worked so well together as a team. If she had fought alongside Ellee, she would not have had to have used her skill. But she also knew that Ellee could easily take out spearows with her lightning.

“That is true. We will do both from now on.” Ellee began crawling to the tent exit when she felt her collar being tugged on.

“Hold it. And sit. I will brush your hair.” Even if there was no one else around, she couldn’t let Ellee walk around with her hair all over the place. Ellee sat with her legs crossed under her and her hands on her ankles as Ivy brushed her hair. This was something she actually enjoyed since Ivy first brushed her hair for her back in the village. It felt relaxing.

“Done. Where are you off to in such a hurry anyway?” Ivy was curious since Ellee had not said anything when she began to leave.

“I was going to go get you a bulbasaur. There is no need for you to go out and capture it when I can just go knock one out. Pretty much until we have to fight pokemon that have evolved, there is no need for you to waste your energy. I will knock it out, and you tap it with a ball.” Ellee decided there was no point in both of them fighting a single bulbasaur. It would just be easier for her to go out, zap it, and bring it back.

Ivy giggled and hugged Ellee from behind. “Then I will get a fire going and roast up some meat.”

“Okay! I will be back soon!” Ellee climbed out of the tent and ran off while Ivy fell back onto the blanket. “If bulbasaur turns into a humanoid too, what should I do? This tent is kind of small… Forget it. We will make it work somehow.” Ivy knew she could always send her pokemon back into the souldex, but if they were humanoid, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it unless she had no choice.

Ivy quickly brushed her hair and climbed out of the tent. She got some of the wood they had gathered before and lit the campfire. The meat they had was wrapped in a cold wrap to keep it preserved. But even the cold wrap would only last a few more days. So they had to eat everything that would spoil as quickly as possible. After that, they would need to hunt again.

Using some of the bellsprout she killed before, she wrapped the meat up in its leaves and shoved a stick through it before setting it near the flames to begin roasting. She had learned this from her mother when she was younger. It made the meat very moist and delicious.

“I’m back!” Ellee was all smiles as she pulled a bulbasaur by its vines, dragging it behind her as she walked over. “That smells good!”

“Ellee, I know you probably did not think of this, but if you drag bulbasaur like that now, after it comes too, it might just try to beat you up.” Ivy sighed and waved her hand. A ghostly ball appeared within it. “Anyway, drop it for now. I will capture it.”
Ellee did as she was told and left bulbasaur a few feet away from Ivy and wanted to stand at Ivy’s side, ready to protect her in case the bulbasaur decided it did not want to be Ivy’s pokemon. She watched as Ivy tossed her ghostly ball at the bulbasaur, and just like before, it was easily sucked into it and returned to Ivy. Since the bulbasaur was knocked out, it had no way to resist being captured.

“I will name this one Nia.” Ivy set the name Nia and waved her hand, causing a ghostly pokeball to appear again. “Now, to see if it will become humanoid.”

Ivy tossed the ball out: “Nia!”

Once more, a bright light flashed, and in front of Ivy was no bulbasaur but a young woman with short bluish-green hair that went down to her neck. She had green eyes, and on her forehead was a blue diamond. She wore a one-piece dress like Ellee, but this one was blue at the top and green at the bottom. She looked just like a human besides the jewel-like diamond on her forehead.

Nia blinked a few times before looking at the two in front of her, and with her hands folded in front of her, she bowed towards Ivy. “Master, I may be lacking but I will be in your care.”