"Well, this isn't what I expected." Phil laughed shakily and squirmed away from the taller boy. "Sorry, but I don't think I can help you."

"Oh, you can, trust me!" Dan smirked. "I'm not just here to see Rowan about Umbreon. He called me here to help him."

Waves lapped lazily against the golden sand of the shore. The sun was still high in the sky, as radiant as ever. Growlithe had stopped curiously pawing at grains of sand and had bounced over to Phil, sitting directly on one of his shoes, whining and yapping for attention.

"Growlithe!" She looked up at her trainer with large, brown eyes, flickers of crimson dancing behind her irises; Phil never could deny his little puppy pokémon. He promptly scooped her up, into his arms, and cradled her to his chest. She mewled happily.

"Why are you here, then?" Phil asked, narrowing his icy eyes.

"This is going to sound so melodramatic, but I was called in from abroad to help Rowan and other members of the ROS to shut down an organisation known as Team Galactic. I'm sure you've heard of them, right?" Dan folded his arms and clicked his tongue, signalling for Umbreon to stand by his side. The black pokémon growled a response, though it didn't seem to be threatening the boy at all, and sat at his heels.

"Team Galactic," Phil mused. "I've heard of them. They've been stealing pokémon, haven't they?"

"Yeah. They've also be forcing evolution on a number of different species, stealing research from scientists and robbing companies in the energy production sector of the energy they have harnessed." The boy's beautiful eyes seemed to darken as he spoke. "ROS stands for the Resistance Of Sinnoh. I'm not from this region. A lot of our members aren't, but we're all here and we're all fighting for one purpose."

Phil nodded in understanding and acknowledgement. "So, it's really this bad, then?"

"It's literally a national crisis. Who knows what could happen if they conquer Sinnoh?" Dan bit down on his bottom lip, frustrated.

"That doesn't explain why you need me." Phil muttered bluntly. "I'm not involved in this. I'm a weak trainer. I'd rather just stay out of it."

"You can't!" The taller boy hissed through his teeth. "You're already involved! Do you think that Gastly attacked you for no reason?"

"What?" Phil raised an eyebrow, confused.

"You're involved. It's too late to back out now." Stated Dan, in a tone that had Phil recoiling, intimidated. "From now on, you're my partner. We have to train together, travel together and help put a stop to Team Galactic's efforts together."

A vice-like hand wrapped around Phil's wrist, and he was unceremoniously dragged from the sandy beach of Sandgem and through the town itself.

"Hey!" He yelled in protest. "Isn't this kidnapping of some sort? Abuse? I don't want to help you!"

"Do I have to bring out my Gardevoir?" Dan asked rhetorically. "She's pretty good with hypnosis."

"This must be illegal!" Phil exclaimed, a little too loudly. A few townsfolk had turned their heads and people had started to stare. "What is with you?"

The taller boy shrugged nonchalantly and continued to drag Phil through the town. "Well, I would go and ramble and say that you're 'the chosen one', but that's too cliché and I hate clichés, so I'm just going to say that, for some, strange reason, Team Galactic have targeted you, which means there must be something about you which makes them uneasy." Dan rattled on.

"This is crazy." Phil held his temple with his free hand. "You're crazy."

"I know." Dan bluntly replied. "I'm well aware of that fact."

"I'm going to die." Phil exaggerated.

"You will if Team Galactic get their hands on you." Dan warned.