Finny!

When I arrived at Tallia's place, all of the girls were there and ready to go. We talked about our plans for the day before deciding where to start catching Pokémon. At first, Nemona wanted to try her luck in the deep sea, but eventually, we decided on the beach since it was a bit closer.

We split up, and I searched for Pokémon all along the shoreline. It was slow going at first, but eventually, after finding some Oran Berries, I found a few small Pokémon like Wingull, Shellder, and Finneon.

The Wingull was gone the moment I got close to it and didn't seem to want anything to do with me. Then Cryo informed me that it was a male, and so were both Shellder. That left me with the Finneon, who was close to the shore, so I tried tossing a berry to it in the water.

It worked, and Finneon looked pleased with the offering. It came up to me with its head bobbing in the water and followed my finger as I ran it in a circle. Then I tossed another berry in, which it ate without hesitation.

"What do you think, Miss Finneon? Would you like to become one of my Pokémon?" I asked, and the Finneon just stared up at me, but this was not the brightest fish in the ocean, it seemed. "Well, let's see if I can get you into the ball."

I summoned a Paradise Ball and then held it just above the water and waited to see what the fish Pokémon would do. I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to communicate with a fish or bond with it, but the food usually was a good place to start with anything.

It took a moment, but to my surprise, the Finneon swam up and pressed her face to the Paradise ball. She burst into white light as the Paradise Ball opened up, and it swallowed her energy and closed without shaking, making a click as it did.

I smiled, feeling good about myself for being able to catch this friendly Finneon. I knew that I had done something right because when I looked back at the beach, I saw both of my friends standing there with wide eyes.

"Landon! You actually caught one!" Nemona said, coming over and giving me a hug. "You were even able to make friends with it! That's crazy!"

"See! I told you that he did it! I know these are weak Pokémon, and it is not the first time hearing someone do this, but seeing it is really cool!" Tallia exclaimed, but then Nemona frowned.

"How come it didn't work with the Wingull? Or why you didn't try on those two Shellder?" Nemona asked, and I frowned back.

"I thought we were splitting up?" I asked, and Nemona giggled.

"We just did that so we could follow you and spy on you! I had to see you in action, but I wanted to see what you did when no one else was around. You know, people can act differently, and your system thing is pretty weird. I just want to make sure that you are as good of a guy as we think you are!" Nemona said plainly, and I chuckled.

The girl was honest, but that was an admiral trait. So many people just told you what you wanted to hear, but sometimes it was good to have a person that could just tell you straight.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said with a smirk, and Nemona just rolled her eyes.

"We are responsible for you, so we have to observe you to make sure it is safe to let you go and roam around on your own," Tallia said, and Nemona just laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. So what are you going to name it? Or do you even have to?" She asked as I looked at the Paradise ball.

Right, I had forgotten about that part! I thought for a moment before deciding on a name that seemed perfect for this energetic little fish.

"Finny," I declared, and both Tallia and Nemona nodded their heads.

"That works. Now, let's go swimming," Tallia suggested, and we all nodded in agreement.

We spent the rest of the morning playing in the water and exploring the beach, but eventually, we decided to go back to Tallia's place to get ready for lunch at her mom's place.

I was nervous, so I started to ramble about Pokémon and began asking. The girls were helpful, but they also laughed at how seriously I was taking things. Little did they know that I was really trying to cover up my nervousness for this lunch with Tallia's mother, but now I was nervous about them joining us.

Thankfully, just before we got to the house, an Air Cab showed up, and the girls got in it.

"Tell my mom I love her and that I will see her tonight!" Tallia called from the window seat, and then Nemona leaned out over her.

"Try not to get into any trouble! You owe me a battle, so you better be at my place tomorrow afternoon!" Nemona called as the cab lifted off, and the girls and Larry all waved goodbye.

Trouble. That was exactly what I was about to get in, and my heart was pounding in my throat as I walked up to the door. This was so crazy, but I would look bad now if I didn't go for lunch, so I reached for the door, feeling my palms starting to sweat.

Maybe I should just text her and tell Tallia's mom that I am not feeling good? That might be the safest route and less likely to get me into trouble, but Cryo was being oddly quiet about this all. I wasn't sure if I should feel relaxed about that or worried.

Before I could react, the door opened, and Tallia's mom was standing there in her apron, but that was all. Again, before I could react, I was pulled inside, my fate was sealed, and the door was closed and locked. Oh boy!