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CHAPTER 1

             It was a bright clear crisp morning in Mistralton City. “Today is the day,” I murmured to myself as I stepped out my front door. I had been training for two months to try to raise my Ducklett so that I could have a test battle with Skyla to see if I qualified to become one of her gym trainers.

           Skyla was my icon. She was everything I wished I could be and more. She was smart, talented, strong, not to mention beautiful… with her striking red hair and stylish clothes. Every night I pictured her large boots stepping on me. And that adorable little flower hair clip just made my heart flutter like a Butterfree. The fact that I even had this opportunity to be in the same room with her was enough to make me nervous. But there was a lot riding on today. Everyone in my whole family had been pilots in this small airport town, this was my only chance to be something more.

           I looked down at Ducklett and she looked up at me as if to say “you can do this!” With that, and my bag packed, I set off for her gym.

             The building that housed Skyla’s gym was like a large airplane hangar that had been repurposed. The siding had been painted a bright baby pink and the awning was neon yellow. It was cheerful and energetic, just like Skyla’s personality. When I stepped inside, I felt the blast of three enormous fans generating enough wind to knock a person over. “This is an OSHA violation waiting to happen,” I thought to myself, peering over the edge of the metal walkway to a dark floor far below. I checked to see if there were crash pads to catch any trainers sent flying by the strong winds, and saw none. I gulped.

           Just then, the large fans whirred to a halt and the air became still. A little twinkling laugh reached my ears. I turned around and there she was, giggling at me. “Your hair got a little messy, sorry about that,” she chuckled.

           “N-no! It’s f-fine!” I stammered, caught off guard by her sudden appearance. I had never been this close to her before. She was even cuter up close!

           “Are you Flo? I’m supposed to be doing a test battle with someone today for a gym trainer position.”

           I cleared my throat and tried to sound confident. “Yes, that’s me. It’s going to be a one on one battle, is that correct?”

           “Good! You’ve done your homework!” she beamed. “If you’re ready, follow me to the back and we’ll get started!”

           I followed Skyla through the labyrinthian maze of platforms and chest high walls and small trenches. As we walked through the gym I found myself trying to solve the gym puzzle in my head. “I can’t get distracted…” I shook myself back to reality. But it was hard not to drift off gazing at Skyla’s lovely ponytail bobbing with each bouncy step she took.

             At last the moment I had been dreaming of was before me. As we reached the red platform where she normally battled gym challengers, she looked over her shoulder at me. “It’s okay, don’t be nervous!” she said sweetly. But this only flustered me more. She noticed I was anxious! She probably thought I was such a dweeb.

           From her hip she pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it into the air. “Go, Swoobat!”

           “G-go! Ducklett!” I also called out my Pokemon. “This is it buddy, do your best.”

Ducklett gracefully soared out of its ball and onto the battlefield to meet Swoobat. I was extremely intimidated, but determined to use what I had been learning in my last two months of training. We opened up with a Tailwind, which got the air in the gym moving again, but this time to my advantage. My strategy was all about speed and staying out of her way, because I knew her Swoobat was strong. We had to play smarter, not harder.

           Swoobat let rip with a powerful Energy Ball, but Ducklett was too fast. The tailwind had caught the fans in the back of the gym and they started spinning again, letting loose a torrent of air. This caught Swoobat off guard as the strong gust smacked it into the partition that shields trainers from the fans. It was going well so far, but our luck wouldn’t last long.

           Skyla looked amused and unbothered, as she called out “Swoobat, use Attract!” Suddenly the heart on Swoobat’s nose started glowing and Ducklett stopped in its tracks, transfixed by Swoobat’s attack. She landed and waddled up to Swoobat, looking for affection. But Swoobat only met it with a Psychic attack, sending it tumbling into the same partition that Swoobat had crashed into moments earlier. Ducklett looked rough after just one blow. I was looking rougher. Suddenly my dream was fading before my eyes AND I was being humiliated in front of the cutest girl in all of Mistralton… or maybe even the world.

           “Ducklett! Snap out of it!” I cried! But it was no use. Again and again Ducklett took the abuse and came back to Swoobat as if nothing had happened, totally head over heels in love. The battle was over almost as soon as it had begun, and I knew I had failed.

           “Great job!” Skyla called out to me from across the battle field, calling back her Pokemon. Ducklett immediately snapped back to reality after Swoobat disappeared into a ball of red light and was sucked into its Pokeball. It swiveled its head left to right in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened. I was trying to accept that I had lost, was making plans to return to training and try again next year.

             “I think you’ll be a great trainer here at Mistralton Gym!” Skyla cheered as she held out her hand for me to shake. I nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise. “What!? But I lost!” I said in disbelief.

           “Oh, none of my gym trainers can beat me silly! That’s not what the test battle is about! I only need to see that you’re smart and can think on your toes. You definitely demonstrated that with your little fan trick. I’m excited to have you at the gym.” she explained, smiling at my bewildered expression.

           “Say, you’re pretty cute.” she said as I stood there, hair frizzed out from the wind, mouth agape, unable to speak. “Do you wanna join the gym?” she asked again, reminding me she was holding her hand out.

           Shaking myself into action, I grasped her lovely gloved hand with both of mine and nearly cried “Thank you! I won’t let you down! W-wait, did you say I was c-cute?”

           She giggled and blushed. “You’re pretty adorable. I’m going flying later if you wanna join me. I’ll even show you the cockpit!”

           “Y-yes! I’d love to!” I turned bright red but nodded enthusiastically. My nerves were going to be a big problem if we were going to work together. It would be good to get used to being around her. Maybe in the cramped quarters of the cockpit there won’t be room for any awkwardness.

           We agreed to meet after lunch and she saw me to the door. “Oh, and make sure you don’t fix your hair. I like it messy.” she said as we parted ways, reaching out and tucking a strand gently behind my ear. Her fingers in my hair sent a jolt of electricity through my body.

             I stumbled back to my house in a daze, still not fully processing what had happened. Me, a real gym trainer just like I dreamed of, AND I was going to hang out with the girl of my dreams later. It seemed too good to be true. “Pinch me Ducklett,” I sighed as we entered the front door. Ducklett gave me a quick peck. Ouch! I was awake alright. And I couldn’t touch my lunch. I was too excited to see her again.

CHAPTER 2

             My family were all pilots. There wasn’t much else in the way of making a living in Mistralton. You could be a pilot, or a mail clerk or commute to Driftveil. But I actually had never set foot in a plane before. I always wanted to be a trainer and go on an adventure, and I thought planes were silly and boring. Who needs to fly when you can get yourself some running shoes and head out into the tall grass?

             But for Skyla, I would do anything. So when she invited me to go flying with her I instantly agreed. The problem was that I was pretty sure she expected me to be able to fly a plane, based on my family. So when we met up again and got ready to board her biplane, I sheepishly had to confess the truth to her.

           “I know this is going to sound really lame,” I began, “but I… don’t know how to fly. I never learned.” I braced myself for her judgement.

           Surprisingly, none came. Instead she just smiled at me and said “It’s never too late to learn something new! I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until this year. Isn’t that funny?”

           She was so sweet, making me feel comfortable instantly. I smiled back. “Does this mean you’re gonna teach me to fly?” And then it dawned on me. “You’re going to teach me to fly YOUR plane!?”

           “Sure!” she said, taking my hand and pulling me up into the plane.

             It was quite small inside, barely big enough to stand up. We crawled up to the cockpit. I hesitated, unsure which seat I should take.

           “Here, you sit in this chair.” She put a hand in the small of my back to guide me to my seat and I jumped in surprise. She giggled again as I blushed and tucked my skirt to my legs to sit down. Skyla took the seat next to me. I noticed both chairs had a set of controls and a steering wheel…

           “I’ve never been in a cockpit before.” I said sheepishly, my face red. “What is the steering wheel called?”

           Skyla grinned, apparently enjoying my embarrassment. “It’s called a yoke! There’s also the tiller, you’ll use that to steer it on the ground before we get into the air.”

           I awkwardly fumbled my hands toward the controls, and then realized I didn’t know which was the yoke and which was the tiller.

           “Oh, let me help you, it’s this one.” Suddenly, Skyla reached over and put her hands on mine, wrapping them around a small device that looked like a bike handle. I was worried she’d notice how sweaty my hands were, but thankfully she was still wearing those big blue gloves. When I looked over at her face, it was very close to mine, and I noticed she looked a little flushed too. She looked over at me and caught me staring. We both quickly looked away, blushing harder.

           She cleared her throat and took her seat next to me. “First, you turn that key there and turn the electronic system on. Then you turn engine one on by flipping this switch here, and then engine two.”

           I followed her instructions up until the moment I had to turn the second engine on. Then I froze, unsure where to find the right switch on this huge panel of switches and dials before me. Skyla stood up and leaned over me, pointing out which switch it was on my far left. Her whole body was stretched over me in this tiny cockpit. I flipped the lever automatically, and then the plane lurched forwards, moving down the runway. Skyla lost her balance and fell into my lap. The plane picked up speed, and the force pushed her down, unable to get up. I went nearly catatonic with surprise. Her shiny smooth red hair was right in my face, and we were barreling down the runway. Her small body fit perfectly against mine as we inadvertently shared a seat.

           We were reaching the end of the runway and Skyla took the controls. We lifted off the ground, soaring through the air.

           “Sorry I gotta do this, but you might not be ready to fly” she chuckled at me. “Safety first!” She took the seatbelt and fastened it around both of us, pinning her against me as she steered the plane.

           “Watch this!” she called as she jerked the controls to the left. The plane took a sharp turn and began spinning in the air. I shrieked in terror and without thinking grabbed onto Skyla and clung there for dear life, shutting my eyes tight. When we pulled out of the spin I opened them, realizing I had accidentally grabbed her in a rather awkward way. “WAH! Sorry!” I yelled as I jerked my hands away. Skyla said nothing, but looked embarrassed. Then she laughed. “Awfully bold for your first time in the air huh?”

           Skyla gently turned the plane around and began lowering it back down onto the tarmac. When we landed, a rush of g-force thrust us forward in the seat. Skyla cheered and hollered, enjoying the ride. The craft lurched forward as it finally came to a halt, and then she relaxed and laughed. She unbuckled the seat and stood up, crawling out the plane. I followed.

             “Not bad for your first flight. I did end up doing most of the work though.” she laughed and teased cheerfully. I wouldn’t mind giving you another lesson. You’re awfully cute when you’re scared.”