"Yeah, exactly!" Eleyna agreed. "It really is lucky that Brollem was there. He's got a real lifetime of experience, you know? At least you had Pokemon, Naomi. I mean, I had even let him go back then..."<br/><br/>Eleyna peered up at Growlithe who sat up ahead, looking out toward something on the right.<br/><br/>"Honestly... If Brollem hadn't been there, I don't think I'd have been able to make it as a trainer. And its kind of strange. Its sort of like you mean with Tai. Growlithe isn't my Pokemon, not really, not like Scyther of Tentacruel. He's got no Pokeball and if he wanted, I guess he could just leave and there wouldn't be anything I could do about it. He's more like... I don't know. A partner, I guess."<br/><br/>She watched Growlithe for a moment as his ear turned, and his gaze followed, some distant sound catching his attention. "Its not really how I ever thought it would be with a Pokemon. My mom had loads of really strong Pokemon... her strongest was the one she'd had since she was a little girl, a Rapidash.  He and mom were really close. But I never really understood any of it I guess. I watched the televised battles a lot. I still remember seeing Red's championship matches against the old Elite Four. Its kind of what got me excited about Pokemon... the League's theme was just the most exciting sound after school when I would get home..."<br/><br/>Eleyna's smile faltered a little as she stared down at the ground as she navigated the area. "Its probably because I didn't get along with most of the kids. Some of them already had Pokemon, and they would make fun of me because I didn't. 'There's Ele, watches the TV all the time but can't catch a Pokemon!'"<br/><br/>Her lips pursed and her brow furrowed at the unhappy memories. "So... once school was done with, I stole Growlithe from my mom's stuff. Honestly I still don't know where he came from. I'd never seen him before... and my mom set her Pokemon free a long time ago. He was just... there. Hidden away in that old battered Pokeball. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Eleyna tipped her cap up and looked at Growlithe, squinting one eyes closed against the sun filtering through the trees.<br/><br/>"But, without Brollem... Who knows? I'd still be a stupid girl that could tell you every competitor in the last five League brackets, but didn't know the first thing about being a Pokemon trainer."<br/><br/>Eleyna looked back and Naomi and winked, "But you did."<br/><br/>She stretched her arms out and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and feeling her muscles tense and relax. "Aaahhhhh... I'm not a trainer. Hah.... craziest thing I've ever heard."<br/><br/>She lifted her hands to her mouth and hollered, "Growlithe! Do you see the cave?"<br/><br/>He casually looked to the left then right, then shrugged at her nonchalantly. Eleyna glowered at him. "Smartass..."<br/><br/>"Yeah... I think I saw a cave up past all of this earlier," she told Naomi. "So that's where we're going!"<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>