Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Metagross, Meteor Mash the ground, let’s shake things up,” Steven ordered, and I watched in awe as the entire stadium erupted in an explosion of dirt and metal. I had seen earthquakes cause less damage than this, and the challenger looked completely out of his depth as his Blaziken was swept up in the tide. Though instincts did kick in, eventually.

“Holly, if you can find footing, kick off and jump out of there,” And in a feat of incredible acrobatics, Dad’s Blaziken soared into the sky and lands on a large spike of stone jutting out of the ground. Dad raises up his arm, and a gem starts to glow. I lean closer to the screen.

Click. And it all goes black. I turned very slowly to see my sister staring down at me. I pouted.

“You already know it’s way past your bedtime,” she said, setting the remote down on our tiny end table and shooting me a glare.

“But Evvvvveee,” I complained.

Eve shook her head.

“No buts. We’re going to be busy as all hell at the store tomorrow. Besides, you’ve seen that same fight how many times?” she asked.

Not enough.

“But dad’s so awesome in that though. AND it’s my birthday. You’re seriously going to make me work a shift on my birthday?” I asked, my voice sounding whiny, even to my ears.

Eve scowled before tapping the top of the TV.

“Bed. Now. We have to get up early as fuck to finish May’s cake,” Eve said.

I groaned before standing up and started aggressively moving the covers on the couch.

“I’m going to at least get off in time to go to her party, right?” I asked. Eve didn’t say anything. “Right?” I asked a bit more aggressively.

“We need to get everything prepped for the Pokémon Center order the day after tomorrow,” Eve said, looking apologetic.

Fuck, I forgot about that.

“If we bust our asses off, we...” Will probably still be at a minimum, late. “Regardless, bed,” Eve said before crossing her arms.

“Fine,” I grumbled, pissed that I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy my birthday at someone else's birthday party. “You really can’t keep treating me like this. I’m seventeen tomorrow, I’m not a kid anymore and I can make my own choices. You’re not my mom.” And I regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. Eve’s stern frown turned into an angry scowl.

“BED! See if we even celebrate your damned birthday tomorrow. Fucking cursed day that it is.” She mumbled the last part.

I winced. I... that hurt. I turned away from her and rushed out of the room, trying to hide my face.

“Ah, fuc-” I don't hear the rest of what she says and slammed the door to my room behind me.

“Stupid, annoying, pain in the ass.” I started to tear up as I slammed down onto my bed and pulled my Torchic plushie up to me. A bunch of stuffed Pokémon dolls lined my shelves, mostly from my favorite shows, but my favorites were within grabbing distance for bad days. I looked up at the posters of gym leaders I hoped to one day square off against before burying my face in the plushie. “S’not... my fault...” I jumped a bit when I felt a weight pull me towards the left side of the bed. An arm pulled me into a soft embrace. “Go away!” I yelled angrily.

“I’m sorry.” Still shaking, I felt the weight shift and Eve started to get up. “I shouldn’t have-” Eve cut herself off, before frowning and turning toward the door.

“Wait...” I called out. I sucked in a breath, calming down a bit, before sighing. “I’m sorry too.” I sat up and stared at Eve’s face before looking away. Back to being stoic. Legends above, would it kill you to just feel something. Anything. “I was being a brat.”

“Right... well, have a good night,” Eve said. She all but fled the room.

Groaning in frustration, I turned around and punched the pillow. Turning to my alarm clock, I blanched at the time that stared back at me.

“Oh god, I'm going to be a zombie birthday girl tomorrow. Well...” I looked down. “I guess later today would be more appropriate.” I pulled the covers over my head and sighed. “Happy birthday, Lea.”

***

“...and make sure those donuts are out of the oven,” Eve ordered.

I groggily shook my head up and down before walking away from her. I listlessly opened the walk-in freezer doors, hoping the frigid air would wake me up, and grabbed the speed rack.

I idly wondered how many seventeen-year-olds even knew what a speed rack was, before wincing, my skin grabbing the cold gilded bars for the first time this morning. Guess that’ll work for a wakeup call. The damn thing caught on the door drain on the way out again, and I all but shoved it to get it out.

Glancing across the kitchen, I noticed Eve’s busy piping the finishing touches of Norman’s order.

“Wonder what a birthday party for me would be like?” I said to myself, before shaking the jealous thoughts out of my head.

“How the fuck is she so cognizant, she couldn’t have gotten any more sleep than me and that cake looks flawless.” The whole thing just pissed me off. May has a party celebrating the start of her Pokémon journey and I'm still here, two years after the normal starting age.

It wasn’t fucking fair.

I opened the oven and angrily grabbed the rack of donuts before ripping my hands away. I bit back a curse.

‘Grab some mitts, you fucking idiot.’ I thought angrily to myself as I flopped the pan on the table behind me. Thankfully, Eve didn’t notice. The last thing I needed was her riding my ass about not paying attention on the job. I winced at the pain as I slid the cookies into place, and angrily stomped toward the sink.

Stupid oven.

Legends above, that water felt nice.

The bell at the front of the store jingled and I rushed to the counter. Whoever this was was early as all hell, we just opened. Ah... of course.

“Hello, Norman. How are you today?” Speak of the goofball and he’ll appear. Come on Lea, be the face of excellent customer service I know you can be . Fuck, I thought that in Eve’s voice, I needed help. "Eve's putting the finishing touches on your cake now.” I explained.

“Thanks, you girls never disappoint,” he said before pulling up a chair from the table closest to the register. “Honestly, the most repeated complaint from May is that she won’t get to enjoy you guys’ donuts when she’s on the road.”

“I still don’t understand how she keeps her figure,” I grumbled. It honestly wasn’t fair. “When is she leaving?” I asked, dreading the moment it would finally happen. Today really was cursed, wasn’t it? Lost a mom and now a best friend on it.

Fan fucking tastic.

“She’s heading over to Littleroot tomorrow morning.” Norman said.

She’s getting a fucking sponsored starter? From the professor? How is that even fucking fair?

“You... mean she’s not getting a starter from you?” I asked.

Norman winced.

“Apparently, May’s not a fan of the Slakoth line.” Big shocker. “No accounting for taste in the newer generation of trainers,” Norman said with a sigh.

No, you were just a fucking a weirdo. An overwhelmingly competent weirdo, but still a weirdo.

“So she-”

“She passed the sponsorship exam with flying colors,” Norman interrupted me with a proud smile.

Why didn’t she tell me about any of this? Was that why she’d been dodging me for the last few weeks? Was she busy studying?

“Any idea what she’s shooting for?” Mouth, stop talking. This is your brain, stop engaging with the-

“I believe she’s leaning towards Torchic, actually,” Norman said.

I gripped the countertop so hard my knuckles turned white, and it took everything I had not to shout.

“R-really?” I asked. If Norman noticed anything about my sudden shift in demeanor, he doesn’t show it.

“Yup, you left an impression on her. Always raving about how cool your dad’s Blaziken was. She doesn’t really know what she wants to do as a trainer yet, but your stories made her a lot more confident about her journey.”

That’s it.

“Right, then. Uh... listen Norman, I’m going to check on my sister’s progress. Be right back.” I all but sprinted out of the room. "Norman’s here” I quickly shouted to Eve before closing myself off in the walk-in cooler. I punched the wall and yelled for a couple seconds before the pain receptors in my knuckles caught up to my brain. “Fuck!” My knuckles screamed at me as I shook my hand out.

Praise be that walk-in coolers were more or less soundproof.

Of course, May got a Torchic. Just... UGHHH. A sponsorship from the regional professor? Really? She gets to leave when she wants, she gets... she gets...

She gets to go on MY journey.

I finally calmed down enough to feel a few tears run along my cheek. Looking around. All the boxes made me feel small.

Why can’t I leave? I WANT to leave. But...

I can’t...

It’d just be Eve, and no one in Petalburg would work for what I do. Eve wouldn’t be able to afford it.

I already know I wouldn’t get anything for a starter, anyways. Birch doesn’t know me at all, he wouldn’t sponsor me, so I'd end up with Norman getting me a starter.

I’d end up with a worthless fucking Slakoth or a Zigzagoon and be doomed to wander the routes close to home as a nameless footnote in the trainer registry.

A fate worse than death.

I sucked in a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

This wouldn’t be my life forever, I just had to keep reminding myself of that.

“...kind of surprised actually.” I heard Norman say as I opened the door. “I figured Lea as the type to make a run at the gym circuit. She’s so expressive whenever I talk to her about Pokémon.”

“She doesn’t want to leave me alone in the bakery.” Eve sets the cake box in front of Norman before switching her attention to the register. “I know she wants to leave, but... I’m happy she’s still here. Pokémon training has taken enough from this family.”

I winced at the declaration. I always knew I'd never get any support from Eve when I left, but hearing it still stung.

“Is there a story there?” Norman asked. “I’m sorry if me asking that is overstepping, but I think I've already stepped in it once today with your sister. I’d rather avoid making any future mistakes if I can help it.”

Eve is silent for a while. When Norman moves to grab the cake, she places her hand down to stop him.

“You already know Mom died giving birth to Lea, and our dad died on route.” Norman nodded along. “I tell people that Dad was on his way home, that he wanted to be here to see the birth of his second daughter.” Eve paused and swallowed. “Nothing could be further from the truth. That deadbeat prick abandoned us.”

Both me and Norman reeled back as if struck.

“D-deadbeat...” I whispered to myself.

“Dad cared more about battling then he did about his own family.” Eve pushed on. “I-I was the one in the room with mom when she died. She was... so happy to see Lea. Even if it was only for just a few minutes.” Eve started to cry, and Norman started to move behind the counter to give her a hug. This was the most emotion I had seen from Eve in a long time.

“You don’t need to say-”

“Yes, I do.” She pushed Norman away. “I need to get this out. To tell someone. I’m so tired...” She looked up to Norman. “So tired of lying...” She steadied herself. “You’re the closest thing to what a dad should be I’ve ever had. You always stopped by the house, you listened to me complain about Lea’s disgusting bathroom habits, you helped us keep the bakery, you...” she trailed off and looked to the side. “As far as Lea knows, Dad died on the trip home to a group of territorial Gyarados.”

That was what the league report said, it’d be damn impressive if that was a lie.

“The thing is, if he was coming home, he never would have seen them.” My eyes widened. “The conference was more important to him than us, and it got him killed.”

“What the fuck,” I whispered to myself. “This has to be Tauros shit, right?”

“That’s... hard for me to wrap my head around.” Yeah, no fucking duh. How do you figure out which way dad was-

“Dad last called us from the Pacifilog town Pokémon center. They found him dead on Route 130.” That... Where they found him was in the report... “Please, don’t tell Lea any of this.” Too late for that...

“But she really should-”

“I don’t want her to turn into me,” Eve said, voice breaking a bit.

I looked up.

“I don’t want her to hate him like I do. She’s...” Eve trailed off. “Last night, I had to put an abrupt end on a watch party from Dad’s greatest battles. Did you know he got to fight Steven Stone before he became Champion? It was the finals of the conference from the year before. Lea loves that fight, even if Dad loses. I don’t want to take that away from her.”

Eve...

“It’s hard to look at her sometimes. She reminds me so much of Dad. When he... was around....” Eve started breaking down a bit more, and I slowly backed away from the conversation.

My head was swimming as I wandered the back room. Dad abandoning us was just something I couldn’t wrap my head around. That... that was what I aspired to be. My dream was to reach the top like he almost did.

That dream felt a bit hollow now.

My whole body wouldn’t stop shaking... Damnit, I needed to sit down. Where?

Office. Right, there’s a chair in the office. I bumbled through the kitchen, mindful not to make too much noise and found my sister’s private little cubby hole. I sat down before cupping my head in my hands.

I just... what the hell do I even do with what I just heard?

What do I want?

I... I still want to leave. Does that make me a bad person? I still want to go on a journey and see the world and make friends and-

I mentally stopped myself.

My goal hadn’t changed, the reason did. Now it’s just for me. Did that make me selfish?

‘It’s okay to be happy.’ Words that May had once told me bounced around in my head. I wanted to live a life beyond that of a baker. That was my dream.

I mindlessly started to move some papers on the desk around in a way that made some kind of logical sense as I came down from my freak out. Dad being a jack ass didn’t have to change anything about me, hell I'd be a better trainer then he ever was. Screw him.

I started to organize the various order forms for the next few weeks, so we didn’t get surprised when I stopped.

There was something missing, here. Usually by now, I'd have found at least two overdue bill notices. Frowning, I sat the files and order forms down and started searching through some of our older documents. Up to date, up to date, filled, up to date, all up to date. Everything had been processed already. Shifting my gaze to the fossil of a PC my sister used. I groaned as I started the boot process. Loading... more loading... and system update, what do you mean system update this fossil doesn’t need a system update, the only thing we use it for is to track budget and play Electrode sweeper when we’re dead.

Grumbling, I opened the filing cabinet and put away all my sister’s excess files. We didn’t need any of these, but sis was obsessed with keeping a written record of every transaction we’ve done for at least a year. Honestly, if she was going to stick to these archaic tax practices, the least she could do is keep her own space organized.

Bing.

Oh, good, the update’s done. Now then, the budget looks good, labor is close to nonexistent, sales are... good...

I saw white, for a single, clarifying moment. Then the world devolved into various shades of red.

I forced the chair back so hard that it slammed against the wall and ran to the front room.

“We’re. In. THE. BLACK!?” I snarled. “How the fuck long were you planning on keeping this from me, huh? Cause it’s already been way to fucking long! Two months... two fucking months...” I started to tear up, and Eve hesitantly started to reach out. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Eve reared back as if she was burned.

“I... listen, Lea-” Eve started, and her voice just set me off again.

“Answer the fucking question!” I yelled.

Eve looked away.

“I... I don’t know, okay. It was... it wasn’t intentional at first. I wanted to make sure we were solid, and then... the longer it went, the easier it was to just not say anything,” Eve said. She was avoiding looking at me, so I got in her face.

“Right, right, easier to keep me trapped here, your own personal slave, barely paid.” I punctuated each word by getting closer to her, and Eve kept backing up until her back met the wall.

“Lea, that’s not-”

“DON’T PRETEND LIKE YOU CARE ABOUT ME!” I exploded. “I heard you,” I seethed. “I heard your breakdown with Norman, I remind you of dad, right? Is that why you ha-”

“I LOVE YOU, YOU STUPID IDIOT!” Eve screamed back. “I know you won’t believe me... not after everything... you left when I started crying didn’t you?” Eve asked.

I was struggling to find my voice, it’d been... a while, since I heard those three words.

“You... you remind me of the best parts of dad. His unending enthusiasm, his love of Pokémon, his... his kindness. As much as I hated what he did, I still love him. That’s what makes this so hard.” Eve took a deep breath and looked towards the front table, where-

“Oh, uh hi, Norman, uh, listen.” And now my face was red for entirely different reasons. Oh god I'm feeling a bit lightheaded. “We’re so very sorry about all of this, if you-”

“Lea.” Eve said, cutting me off. “You’re fired.”

I'm what!?

Eve went to the till and pulled out a white envelope, already sealed.

“This is your final paycheck, set at what it should’ve been these last two months,” Eve said, her voice shaking slightly as she offered me the money.

I hesitantly reached out and grabbed the envelope. I took a few seconds to steady my hands and opened it. Holy-

“The fuck kind of math were you doing,” I screamed, now mad at her for entirely different reasons. “This is entirely too much money. At minimum wage, the standard rate in Hoenn for two weeks would be-”

“The fact that you think you’re only worth minimum wage makes me hate myself more than you could possibly imagine,” she cut me off. “Starting your own journey with a Pokémon from Birch’s lab is fucking expensive, take the damn money.”

I looked down at the check before sighing.

“I... I don’t want a Pokémon from Birch.” I hesitantly replied. I doubted I’d be able to pass the sponsorship program even if I did. I don’t think Eve knew how getting a Pokémon from Birch worked.

“Bullshit, you’ve dreamed of setting off with a Torchic since you were five years old,”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Norman wince as Eve finished. The fact that he hasn’t taken his cake and hightailed it yet is either a sign of unending bravery or unyielding stupidity.

“Yeah, well... my worldview has shifted rather drastically in the last half hour,” I said. Eve winced. “Look I already know exactly what I want, I don’t even have to go that far to get it! All I need are a few poke balls and some suppl-”

“Absolutely not. You are not stepping one foot out of this town without a Pokémon or a guide!” Eve screamed. Norman was nodding along sagely.

“I’ll take Casey with me...” I said nervously. Norman looked confused, and Eve was channeling a Primape.

“You will, under no circumstances, attack a wild Pokémon with a baseball bat,” Eve grounded out. “Do I make myself clear.” Eve’s face promised death.

“Crystal,” I meeped.

“Umm... ladies,” Norman said.

“What.” We both turned to the new interloper in our argument, who was now rightly terrified.

“I... I’m escorting May to Birch’s lab tomorrow. It really wouldn’t be any trouble to take Lea with me. We can grab whatever Pokémon she wants to catch. It really shouldn’t be too much trouble if she already knows what she wants and it’s a Pokémon in the area.” Norman sounded more confident the longer he talked. “And we can get her registered at Birch’s Lab.” Now Norman looked a bit nervous. “You two could... maybe... even travel together?”

“She would be more than happy to.” Eve interrupted. She shot me a withering glare.

“Fine, but I'm not catching a normal type, and I am NOT taking this whole check. This is an absurd amount of money, and you’ll have to hire someone new after I leave,” I argued, daring her to tell me no.

Eve looked at me. She didn’t say anything, move or even blink for a good thirty seconds. I would not budge on this, fuck your mom stare. Damn it.

“I-”

“You will take eighty percent of this at minimum,” Eve said, her tone brokering no argument.

Score, I got to have some pride.

“That’s still more then I'm comfortable with, but I’ll take it.” I started to mentally budget out my trip to the mart. Here’s hoping they still have that camper special. Food, a sleeping bag, maybe a fishing rod if I have enough money.

“Excellent, then I’ll see both of you ladies tomorrow.” Norman shot us both a smile before grabbing his cake and making his way towards the door.

“Actually,” Eve started. “I have one last request.”

Norman stopped in the doorway.

“Could you take the gremlin with you?” Eve asked, shuffling in place a bit as she nodded her head towards me. “I know she’d be crashing your daughter’s party, but-”

“We’d be happy to have her. You too, honestly. You really didn’t even need to ask,” Norman said. A smile stretched across his face as he cut off Eve’s nervous ramblings.

“Eve, I need to-”

“I have a rather large amount of work I suddenly need to catch up on, and a few new things to take care of,” Eve interrupted. “I don’t have time to argue with you.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Shut up and have fun, Eve said, stopping me before I could.

“But I have to pack, and shop, and plan, and-”

“I said shut up.” Eve shot me a glare as she interrupted me again. “It should not be this hard to get someone to go to a birthday party.”

“It really shouldn’t, which is why you’ll both be there, right at six. That should be more than enough time to get everything taken care of.” Norman’s voice inflected a terrifying degree of insistence that put Eve’s earlier Mom stare to shame.

“...Yes, Norman,” We both muttered.

“Bye girls, see you both tonight.” Norman waved as he walked out.

The room felt heavier once he left.

“You should be heading out too, you have a lot to do in not a lot of time,” Eve said. I frowned as I looked down at my apron.

“This’ll be the last time I wear this, I...” I pulled my strings and turned to face Eve. “I still can’t believe how much has changed. That I finally get to leave home.” She winced at the word finally. “Are you okay? You sure you’re good with this?”

“I don’t understand...” Eh? “I just... you should hate me.”

“The hell you mean? Eve, we’re sisters, I’m not going to-”

“I’ve treated you like crap for the last two months.” Eve interrupted me. AGAIN. “We’ve been turning a full profit. Our debts are paid off in full. This whole time I’ve been lying to you, dreading this, taking all my stress out on you, and you... you’re acting like this is nothing. Like I haven’t been keeping you from going out on your own for the last two years.” Eve looked up to meet my gaze. “I just... I need to know why?”

I don’t talk for a while, mostly because I didn’t really have an answer. I was so mad earlier, but it all just felt... distant. Like I couldn’t connect with the feeling anymore, looking at how my sister looked now.

“You had that envelope ready to go.” I finally settled on. “Me finding out how I did. It hurt. Especially after the dad shock. Which we are not talking about.” I firmly stopped Eve from interrupting again. I didn’t want to think about that can of worms. “But you were ready to say goodbye. I have faith you would’ve told me on your own at some point.” I smiled. “I guess, what I’m trying to say... is I love you too, you fucking idiot.”

Eve doesn’t react, not immediately. She slowly inched towards me, grabbed my hand...

And pulled.

“Ah!” Eve hugged me. Hard.

“I’m sorry. Thank you. That... that means more than you could ever possibly know.” I hesitantly put my arms around Eve and returned the hug.

“You’re forgiven, and your welcome.”

“You leaving scares the crap out of me. You better call me every time you get to a new town,” she threatened.

“This isn’t goodbye yet, so stop acting like it is,” I complained. “We can have a meltdown and traumatize Norman at the town gate tomorrow, and not a second before that.”

Eve’s response to that was something that I hadn’t heard in an exceedingly long time.

She laughed.

***

I took a deep breath and smiled, happy to get outside, away from the noise.

Parties fucking sucked. Glad I knew that now. I appreciated what Eve was trying to do, but I knew none of these people. The local gym leader’s daughter leaving home to start her career as a Pokémon trainer was enough to bring the whole damn town out to party, and I had better things to do with my time than watch May get mooned over.

...I wanted to switch places with her so badly.

Click.

I swiveled my head to make sure the crowd wasn’t swarming the back yard and had to choke back a laugh as the birthday girl herself snuck out of her own party.

“Salud.” I raised up the small glass of punch I was nesting. I couldn’t stop the laugh this time as May did her best Buneary impression and leaped a good three feet in the air.

“Legends, don’t do that,” May said before turning her head my way. “Surprised to see you out of the apron. You look nice.”

“What, this old thing.” It really wasn’t much. Eve wanted me to look nice tonight, but we really didn’t have dress... anything. “Besides you won’t be seeing much of my apron anymore.”

May looked down.

“Right, cause I'm leaving tomorrow.” Why the hell does she sound sad about that? “I’m still nervous about that. I’m going to miss this place, and I'm really going to miss you, but I'm still excited to meet my starter.”

“Well, I guess there’s that too, but that wasn’t what I meant,” I said with a smirk. “I got fired today.”

“Your own sister fired you?!” May said with a scandalized expression that was currently making my night. “That’s terrible, what the hell did you do?” She tilted her head to the side. “And why do you seem so happy about it?”

Legends above, she was so fun to mess with.

“Wellllll. Let’s just say you’ll have a plus one on your trip to Littleroot.” I smiled. “The bakery is making enough money that Eve can hire someone and actually pay them a legal wage, so... in a weird way, this is her birthday present to me?” Honestly, the whole thing sounded a bit weird without context.

“So, you’ll be coming with me to Littleroot? Cool.” May said, looking slightly jittery.

Dream come true and all she says is cool. That’s... not like her.

“Wait, today’s your birthday?” May asked.

I hesitantly nodded.

“We’ve known each other for years. How is it that I'm just now figuring out we share a birthday?” She sounded hurt. Right, I guess it’s weird for other people.

“We... don’t usually celebrate my birthday that much. For personal reasons.” Personal reasons, Mom dying giving birth to me, Dad dying around the same time, Sis shutting out the world for most of my early birthdays, so I don’t get too excited for them... “I guess it never came up as a result.” I finished lamely.

“Right. So, since you’re coming with, does that mean you’re picking one of the starter Pokémon from Birch’s Lab?” She pressed her fingers together and shifted in place as she asked.

“Unfortunately, we can’t afford a sponsorship from the lab, and I doubt very seriously I could pass the exam on such short notice. Plus, Birch doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall, so I very much doubt he’d pass up someone else for that one random baker starting her journey a full two years late.” I sighed. “Nah, I'll just have to settle for a wild catch we find on the road between here and Littleroot. There’s actually a few I really want, but as far as starters go, it looks like you’ll have your favorite fire chicken all to yourself.”

Glomp.

“OHMYGOD. THANK YOU. I’MLOOKINGFORWARDTOITSOMUCH! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRAVEL WITH YOU! EEEE!” Ow. My ears. My back.

“Mercy. Please. Can’t... breathe-” And just as fast as it started. It stopped, and a very red-faced May was back to shuffling awkwardly in place.

“I’m sorry. That was... uncalled for. I was just really REALLY happy.” She looked away. “But are you sure? I know you really like Torchic because of your dad, and I’m sure we could figure out something-” I cut her off with a hug of my own.

“I really don’t deserve you as a friend. I want you to know that. Keep the damn bird.” My green-eyed monster moment in the cooler came to mind, and I did my best to stomp out the feelings of guilt. “Besides, if I can get your dad to agree to a little bit of hunting, my planned starter is going to be way more badass than yours.”

May raised her hand to feel my forehead for about four seconds.

“I’m not-”

Then swiftly slapped me once.

“Ow! What the hell?” I complained, rubbing my face and glaring at her.

“Okay, so you’re not sick, and you’re not a cleverly disguised Zoroark masquerading as my best friend. I don’t really know of an effective way to check if you’re being mind-controlled by a Malamar, do you?” May asked. Rude.

“If I did, and I was, would I tell you?” I asked with a scowl. I also did my best to ignore the fact that I had no clue what either one of those Pokémon were.

“Fair enough, I guess we’ll never know,” she said with a smirk. “Though now I'm curious, what on earth is local that you’re so excited for?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow when I tell your dad.”

“Okay, now you’re just being petty. I know it’s not a Zigzagoon, you hate Zigzagoon. You’re not a dog person so Poocheyena is out. Surskit is cool until it evolves, then it’s generic moth bug type number fifty-five, so that just leaves-”

“Stop overthinking it and be surprised ya big nerd,” I interrupted her.

“Fine, spoil my fun.” She leaned back and just let herself fall onto the grass. “I’m happy, ya know? I was worried I was going to be going on the journey alone. I... To be honest the plan was to use Torchic to catch something cool, smuggle you out of your house in the dead of night, and give you the fire bird...” she trailed off, and I took the opportunity to join her on the grass.

“You do realize that would never work, right? As Birch’s sponsor you’re expected to always keep that Pokémon with you. Besides, I’d still have to get registered, and I would have felt terrible leaving Eve like that.” I smiled at her and grabbed her hand. “It all worked out without you resorting to defrauding Professor Birch and helping me run away from home.”

“Yeah...” May looked away. “I just... really didn’t want to travel without you.”

“Well, you’re stuck with me for the long haul, so get used to it.” I smiled as May looked away. “Besides, someone had to tag along for no other reason than to feed you,” I joked.

“I can cook just fine, thank you very much.” She sniffed in mild protest as I poked her side. “I just won’t have to, now that I have the best baker in Petalburg coming with me.”

“Shameless flattery will not get you free cookies, just an FYI. I can’t exactly cart around a portable easy bake oven.”

May pouted in response.

“Well, what if-”

“Are you two literally ditching your own birthday party.” Eve grouched from the entryway. Busted.

“This is May’s party. I’m just a shameless moocher basking in shared glory,” I said. It didn’t matter that the glory was still being focused on May. I still got to have my moment, dammit.

May elbowed me.

“Quit sharing and take the whole damn limelight. All of dad’s friends are boring as hell,” May complained.

Fat chance of that happening. Legends above that was a depressing thought.

“What do you expect, he’s the ‘Normal’ Gym Leader. I’m fairly sure it’s in his contract to be boring,” I said. May giggled.

“So, neither one of you want presents, then?” Eve asked.

Wait, what? And May’s gone, though I did have a lovely May shaped dust cloud to remember her by.

“That’s what I thought. Hurry your ass up too.” Eve said.

“Why exactly am I hauling ass to watch May open her birthday gifts?” I raised an eyebrow up at Eve as I slowly pushed myself up from the ground.

“Alright, in the spirit of us getting along for longer than one day and you leaving home on a high note, I’m going to just cut the surprise factor short. Here.” She chucked me a small box.

“Really starting to buy into May’s Malamar theory. Really would make the last two days make a lot more sense.” I pulled at the bow.

“Stop being a brat and open it,” Eve grouched.

“And she’s back. Well, what’s behind door number one?” I opened the box. “Knock off jewelry?” I joked as I pulled the bracelet out and started to spin it on my finger. “I’m flattered, but it really doesn’t go with my look.”

“It’s Dad’s mega bracelet, dumbass.”

I stopped, almost dropping the damn thing in shock before landing flat on my face to keep it from hitting the floor.

“What the fucking hell, Eve? This isn’t something you just give out. Do you have any idea how much this thing would sell for?!”

“Enough to buy a small summer home in Alola with about a half dozen scantily clad pool boys to cater to my every whim.”

I blushed bright red and felt bile rise up my throat at the mental imagery.

“The angry part of me kept checking auction sites, but I could never bring myself to make a post. I guess... the loving big sister part of me knew you’d need this one day, and I just... couldn’t ever bring myself to sell it.” She looked away. “So... uh, does this make up for seventeen years of shitty birthdays? The rangers took the keystone, something about the bylaws of his contract with them, so no mega ultra chickens anytime soon, but I think this’ll work with any stone, so-”

“Thank you.” I quickly hugged her to cut off her rambling. “And you don’t have anything to make up for in the birthday department. I kind of hate this time of year too.” I pulled back and threw the bracelet on my right wrist. “I’ll just have to make it work for me. Besides, May’s getting the fire bird, so I wouldn’t have had a use for the stone.” I’ll be keeping an eye out for any kind of stone I can find, though. This bracelet was a massive game changer for my plans. If my starter panned out, I knew exactly what kind of stone I wanted to get.

The only hard part was going to be finding the damn thing.

“Welp,” I popped. “Let’s go see the other birthday girl’s haul. Doubt she got anything as badass as this.”

***

“Why does the universe delight in proving me wrong?” I smiled as May continued to scroll through options.

If I wasn’t in front of her to act as a pseudo guide, she would’ve walked into at least two separate trees.

“Seriously, Rotom Phones haven’t even hit store shelves yet. How did your dad manage to snag you one?” I asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care. This thing is awesome,” May said distractedly. I frowned, before pulling her to the side a bit so she didn’t run into a signpost.

“Isn’t calling it an ‘thing’ a bit rude. There is a living thing in there after all.” I said, giving the phone a cautious glance.

The face that was on the back of the phone shifted up and shot me a wink before moving back into place.

“How does that not feel weird?” I asked.

“What, is the face doing things again?” She turned it around and was disappointed that Rotom had resumed its normal idle phase. “Everyone gets to see the Rotom do stuff but me. At any rate, Rotom is a genderless Pokémon, so, in general pronouns are kind of weird? There’s an option to name it in here, but I wanted to check out a few more options and I have no idea what to call it.”

“How about Alexa?” I suggested cheekily. May pulled a face.

“Ew, no.”

“Siri?”

“NO!”

“Cortana.”

“Stop pulling names from those shitty sci fi shows you watch. This isn’t an AI, it’s a possessed piece of technology, get it right.”

Rude. I grumbled at the slight on what was premium late-night viewing, before realizing that she knew what shows I was talking about. I filed that information away for later and fired off another name from one of my favorite video games.

“What do you think of Sergei?” I asked.

May stopped and thought about it for a second. Good sign.

“Do I get to know the reference?” May asked. “Most of your ideas are references to something dorky.”

I glared.

“You gave me the game!” I shouted.

“Oh! That one. Hmmm... Let’s see...” Bing. “And Rotom likes it. An odd name, but it works,” May said before putting the phone away.

Norman was already waiting for us as we approached the town gate.

“You girls ready to go?” Norman asked before pushing himself up from the gate. He moved to look over our backpacks.

“I made sure I got all the camping essentials and I made sure to limit May to one stuffed animal.” I said before he got the chance.

Norman beamed as May glared at me.

“She’s exaggerating.” May complained.

I sagely shook my head no.

“I really wish I was,” I said.

“Whatever, we’re ready, let’s hit the road.” May raised her arm and started moving towards the big gate.

“Hold it.” Norman’s protest almost caused May to trip.

“What? I’m excited to meet my Torchic,” May whined.

“May, I need to figure out what Pokémon I'm catching for Lea before we dive headfirst into the route,” Norman said.

May’s face morphed from a scowl to a grin as she started hopping up and down.

“YES! Okay, before you say anything Lea, do you mind if I take a guess?” May asked. I hesitantly nodded. “Lea wants a Ralts.”

“I... How? I didn’t give you any hints!” I shouted, feeling annoyed.

She just smiled and turned back to the gate.

“You do realize that training a Ralts from around here is going to be hard, right?” Norman asked. “They’re all young, and most of them only know how to Teleport, which by the way is going to make catching one annoying, and they’re frailer than most of the mons on the route. Don’t get me wrong, I very much get the appeal, once they’re trained the Ralts line is terrifying, but-”

“I know it’s going to be hard at first, it’s why I went ahead and bought a few extra poke balls. There are two mons on this route I want, but I really want Ralts as my starter.” I stared resolutely at Norman. “I know what I'm signing up for.”

Norman sighed.

“Well, can’t argue with that face.” Norman said before chucking out a single poke ball. “Charlie, can you do me a favor and ask around with a few of the local mons to see if a Ralts is eager to leave home?”

The newly revealed Slakoth lazily gave a salute before it made its way out to the tall grass beyond the gate.

“I can’t guarantee anything, but this’ll be easier for you and for me. If your Ralts is a bit adventurous, then you might have a bit of a head start on your training,” Norman said.

“Thanks. That means a lot.” I looked out into the grass. “Is it alright to send Charlie out alone?”

“I’m your sponsor, I’m supposed to do this for you,” Norman said with a smile. “And never do what I'm doing, by the way. I can get away with sending Charlie out on his own cause most of the wild Pokémon in the area are on friendly terms with the gym and know my Pokémon, yours would probably get jumped the moment the wild Pokémon in the area recognized it as an intruder.” Norman went from serious to smug. “Also, Charlie can take care of himself. He’s one of mine, and this is still Route 102.”

“Can we at least start making our way into the route now?” May whined. “Slakoth can find us by scent, and I really want to make it to Littleroot today.”

“Don’t forget we still have to push through Oldale and Route 101,” I said. May just chuckled.

“Oldale is five houses and a Pokémon Center, and 101 is like fifteen minutes long. This is the bulk of the trip, and if we start making inroads now, we can make the whole thing in under a day,” May said. She looked up towards the tree line on the other end of town. “I want to enjoy living indoors as much as possible, cause the trip to Rustboro is going to suuuuuck.”

I winced.

“Yeah, the forest is going to suck.” I turned to Norman. “I’m sure it’ll be fine if we take a slow pace, maybe stop, and take in the route a bit. I motioned for Sergei and started scrolling once I had him. “There’s even a set of ruins we can check out if we want.”

“Let’s save that for the return trip, Lea. I don’t want to hold up dad anymore then we absolutely have to. It’ll be more fun if we both have Pokémon anyway,” May said, taking Sergei back.

Sergei beeped twice.

“Combat ready Pokémon, you know what I meant.”

A few sparks shot out away from May.

“Yes, I know I can use you as a taser.”

I shot Norman a glare.

“You gave May a taser,” I said in disbelief. Norman raised his arms.

“It’s just a mild Thundershock, I swear.” He quickly made his way around me and moved towards the gate.

“Eve wouldn’t let me leave with a baseball bat but May gets a taser,” I grumbled.

“I think that’s less a slight against you and more your sister not wanting people to know she's related to a Team Electabuzz fan,” May said. “I can’t really blame her, honestly.”

“Why is everyone being mean to me today? I hope you know I'm stealing Sergei to watch anime later as payment for you bullying me.”

The nearby grass ruffled a bit as I cried.

“Eh?”

A Ralts walked out and stared up at me.

It blinked.

I blinked back.

The Ralts turned around and walked back into the tall grass.

Sergei started playing dial up internet sounds as I stared at where the Ralts had been for a good solid three seconds.

“Oi, wait up!” Once my brain had caught up to the rest of the world, I quickly ran after the little guy. “I need to ask you something. I’ve got cookies!” I reached forward through the grass, and my hand brushed up against what I hoped was my potential starter. “Listen, I just want to-”

“Lea, don’t-”

“Bad idea-”

Both May and Norman were too late. I had grabbed Ralts, and I now realized how bad of an idea this was as the world around me very quickly started to change. I was now in a beautiful clearing, with massive trees that I didn’t recognize towering overhead. A faint pink haze coated the moist ground beneath me, and I could faintly hear water rushing over rocks in the distance. I slowly pulled myself up and froze as my eyes caught a terrifying sight.

I hitchhiked on a wild Ralts's Teleport to a place I had never seen before, and what was worse...

Is that a single, tall, terrifying Gardevoir was staring down at me.

‘Interloper.’ And it did not look pleased.

“Wait, don’t-” My voice was cut off as the Gardevoir psychically lifted me into the air. She looked beside me, and her glare grew in intensity.

‘You’ve harmed my child,’ she hissed into my mind, and an ear-splitting headache started to form at the base of my skull.

Struggling to move, I shifted to see where she was looking. Much to my horror, I saw the Ralts that had teleported me here had passed out on the ground.

“I-I didn’t do that,” I choked out, desperately trying to think of a way to get the Gardevoir to ease up a bit. I frantically tried to focus on what I had done. “My mind. Just look and see.” And the pain in my head grew to an almost unbearable level as most of the events of the day played out.

Right at the cusp of passing out, it all stopped. Gardevoir dropped me, and I fell onto my knees. My vision swam, but through bleary eyes, I faintly made out a few flecks of red spotting the ground. I raised my hand to my nose as my vision cleared.

Blood.

Shaking slightly, I looked up to see my attacker shift her view from me to the Ralts with an exasperated look.

‘You did not hurt my child intentionally and you didn’t intend to take her against her will.’ The voice was like a thousand nails on chalkboard after what I had just gone through. “Voir.” I saw her slap her hand against her head. My heart stopped as this terrifying creature started to walk towards me.

“S-Stay back.” I stuttered, before falling flat on my ass as I tried to move. There was this weird disconnect between what my brain wanted to do and what my arms and legs were willing to do, and that terrified me.

“Voir.” She leaned down and placed both of her hands on my skull. This was it, wasn’t it. First day out and I was going to die. That must have been some kind of record. Gardevoir’s eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and I clenched mine shut waiting-

For...

‘Oh god that feels so much better.’ I thought. Gardevoir gave me a smile.

My whole body went limp as she worked on fixing my head. The skull splitting pain that was radiating from behind my temples faded to a dull ache before ceasing to be an issue at all.

‘My child isn’t able to teleport another with her yet. I thought the worst.’ The words didn’t hurt anymore. She looked away. ‘I am sorry.’

“I didn’t exactly behave fantastically,” I said. “I just... saw a Ralts and got excited.” Gardevoir pulled my head up and moved it from left to right, as if examining something.

‘There, that’s the worst of the damage fixed. On the bright side, your mind should now be more... accepting of psychic communication. Do you still feel pain when I talk?’

“I... don’t. Huh, that’s neat.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about being more open to psychic energy, but I’ll take living over just about anything at this point.

‘Regardless of how you acted, you are still a child, and I am not.’

I am not a child, I am seventeen. Thank you very much.

‘To me, you are an infant.’

“Oi, you already got the whole story, stay out of my head,” I said.

The Gardevoir looked away again.

‘I... find myself unable too. Your mind is an open book right now, practically screaming its secrets for every psychic to hear. My attack... it forced a door open that I can’t seem to close,’ Gardevoir explained.

My eyes widened in horror.

“Every psychic?!” I’d be an open book to any trainer with something as basic as a Spoink.

“Ralts...” Startled out of my thoughts, I looked down and noticed that Ralts was finally starting to stir.

‘Mommy... I don’t feel so good,’ Ralts sent out through a mental link. A mental link that I could somehow hear. Now Gardevoir’s eyes widened.

‘The feedback is a two-way street.’ Wait, did that mean I was psychic now?

I looked down and watched a very disoriented Ralts hurl on my cleats.

***

Those were my favorite shoes.

‘There’s not a single spec of vomit on them, I was very thorough. Put the damn things on.’ Gardevoir growled in my mind.

“Then why do they still smell like Oran Berries and sadness,” I wailed.

Ralts giggled.

‘I kind of like her, mother. She’s funny.’

Starting to think the little brat did this on purpose.

‘Oi, I am not a brat,’ Ralts complained.

Right... no privacy. That was still a thing.

“So... I’m just an open book to all psychics?” I asked.

Gardevoir looked away, rubbing the back of her head.

‘To be fair, most people are an open book to psychics. Your thoughts are just louder,’ Gardevoir said.

Ralts walked away from the two of us, looking bored.

‘There are a few mental exercises I can teach you to shield your mind. Learning how to do them would take a few days though,’ Gardevoir said, looking apprehensive.

“Yeahhhh, no. I’ve stuck around here for too long as it is.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ralts fishing through my bag. A few random Poke Balls and a jacket were levitating around her as she pulled out a pair of underwear. My cheeks felt hot. “Oi, that’s mine.”

‘I just wanted to see what you were talking about. You said something about cookies...’ The Ralts got a dopey expression on its face as she fished out a box. ‘Ah ha!’

“How on earth can you be hungry, you just barfed all over my shoes,” I chided before looking over at the Gardevoir.

‘I mean, you DID offer her cookies before you got teleported. ’ Gardevoir said.

‘I'm still waiting for that return trip.’ I thought back.

“Ralts.” She nodded once before popping open the small container I had labeled ‘BRIBE’. She inhaled all three cookies in one bite.

“Oi don’t go so fast or-” My brain stopped working as a single feeling of pure unbridled bliss passed through the mental connection. Ralts stood still for a moment before swallowing and turned to stare at me with a terrifying look of obsession.

‘More please,’ Ralts said.

‘Alright, that’s enough. I’m sending the human back to her friends now, before this gets any weirder.’ Gardevoir raised her arms, and her eyes started to glow.

‘WAIT!’ Ralts frantically puts itself between me and the Gardevoir. ‘I... I want to go with the smelly human,’ Ralts said.

“SMELLY!” I shouted. “I knew it! Three dips in the river and a full powered psychic blow drier still wasn’t-”

‘Silence,’ Gardevoir hissed.

What was I saying? Why was I saying it? I shrunk back but the Ralts in front of me stood firm. ‘A few cookies-’

‘It’s not about that,’ Ralts said.

We both shot her a deadpan look.

‘Okay it’s partially about that, but I can help her. I can help shield her mind. I know all the exercises by heart from when you showed me. And, uh...’ The Ralts floundered, as if it didn’t know what else to say. ‘I... kind of wouldn’t mind leaving the forest.’ Or maybe it was how to say it. Should I be listening in on this? Wait, I can’t help it.

‘No, you shouldn’t be listening to this,’ Gardevoir said with a bit of heat. ‘And you,’ She exerted a bit of pressure on the area as she stared down at Ralts. ‘You aren’t ready-’

‘I’ll never be ready by your standards. Lea is nice, and I want to go with her.’ Ralts interrupted her. Gardevoir started to up the psychic field a bit more and took a single step forward. Screw this.

“Oi, back off,” I growled, completely unsure of where this newfound bravery was coming from. “If the brat wants to come then she can come. I know just how bad being stuck in one place is. It’s her decision.” And now those angry eyes are being sent my way. Fuck.

‘Really then... are you both sure about this?’ She hissed, and a small bit of pain started to creep back into my skull. Scared shitless, I looked back to Ralts. She nodded yes.

“Damn straight.” Gardevoir immediately teleported behind us and grabbed both of us by the shoulder. She glared intently at me before shifting her focus back to Ralts. Oh god I'm going to die. I’m going to die. Why couldn’t I pick now to be a coward? Oh fuck.

‘Don’t die,’ she said to Ralts. ‘Don’t fuck this up,’ she directed at me. Wait- ‘ And brace yourselves.’

No no no no no no!

My whole body felt like it got shoved through a tube of toilet paper. Fuck, put me under the next time I teleport anywhere. Once it was over, a feeling of weightlessness took me.

“Oh, that bitch-” Before gravity pulled me down to the hard ground JUST to the left of the soft grass. “Ow....”

“Ralts....” Ralts agreed.

Wait.

“Ralts!” I exclaimed. She immediately perked up. “I’m not dead! I’m not dead and I’ve got my starter! Oh legends, I’m so happy.”

‘Mom really scared me for a moment there.’ Ralts looked up to me as I gently pulled myself up from the ground.

“Oh my lord, you’re okay!” I heard from a few yards away before almost getting tackled. “We were so worried when you just disappeared.” May all but shouted in my ear.

“Relax, I’m fine,” I said, smile firmly in place.

Ralts shot me a confused look and I very subtly shook my head no.

‘I don’t want to worry her or bring attention to your mom.’

“Never, EVER do that again,” Norman said before walking up behind his daughter. He looked me over before sighing in relief. “In addition to the million and one things that can go wrong with surprise impromptu teleportation, you had no clue where the Ralts was going, what was on the other side, if that Ralts could even handle teleporting with you-”

“Alright, I get it, I fu-”

Norman’s gaze got even sterner.

“Er, messed up. Legends above, if you told May all this crap, no wonder she’s squeezing all the air from my lungs right now,” I said the last bit a bit louder, hoping May would get the hint.

May let go of me as if I’d burned her.

“Sorry,” May muttered quietly.

Great, now I felt bad.

“Look, I'm fine. See? I’ve even made a new friend,” I said, pointing down. Ralts pulled at May’s pant leg. May and Norman both looked down and Ralts waved.

“Oh my god you are precious.” May quickly scooped the Ralts up in a hug.

‘I like this human. She correctly knows how to identify how awesome I am.’ Oh good, my Ralts has an ego.

“May, you shouldn’t just grab Pokémon off the ground without their permission first,” Norman said. He backed off at seeing her daughter's glare.

A dark aura radiated off of May in waves as she dared her father to interrupt.

“Though she seems okay with it... heh heh heh.” Norman backed away from her daughter slowly.

“Yeah, she’s fine with it,” I said.

Norman looked at me in surprise.

“What, she just told me.”

“You... already have a psychic link? How?” Norman asked. “Most Ralts can’t make a mental connection with a human. They usually can’t hold a conversation until they’re a Kirlia. They don’t have the raw psychic power to make up for our lack of any kind of psychic ability.” Norman looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Well, I don't know about that, but we can talk to each other just fine.” I said, nervously glancing from Norman to Ralts. ‘Any idea how to explain this without telling them your mom tried to turn my brain into a fruit smoothie. I really don’t want to spend a month in a hospital with probes on my head.’

‘ It wouldn’t do much good anyway, humans really don’t know how the brain works all that well. You might want to pay attention, the stuffy old human is still trying to talk to you,’ Ralts said.

I looked up and both May and Norman were looking at me funny.

“Sorry, trying to hold an actual conversation and a mental conversation at the same time is... apparently kind of hard,” I explained.

“You’ll adapt the longer you’re together,” Norman explained. “You’ll definitely have plenty of time to practice.”

I nodded along before realizing something.

“Wait, I still need to actually catch the Ralts, don’t I?” I reached down and pulled my bag open. Norman stopped me. “What?” I asked.

“Sorry, it’s a bit of a tradition. Your sponsor gives you your first Poke Ball,” Norman said before pulling out a small white ball. “A Premier Ball for a premier event. Congratulations.”

I took the ball and gently touched it to Ralts’s head. It opened, quickly pulled her in, and dinged. I smiled. After so long, it was finally official.

I was now a Pokémon trainer, and I had caught my first Pokémon.

Chapter Text

I took in the limited sights of the tiny village and smiled. The Center was the biggest building in the whole damn town, all twelve of the houses were tiny, and the mart looked more like a newspaper stand than a proper store.

Oldale was small. Small enough that I could see the gates to Route 101 and 103 from where I was currently standing. Gates that are on the opposite ends of town. This little village wasn’t much to look at, but it was still an amazing milestone. This would be the first town I had ever seen beyond my own.

‘Don’t human settlements usually have more people?’ Ralts said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I glanced around in thought for a second before turning back to Norman.

“So, I know May probably just wants to sprint south as fast as she can to get her Torchic,” I said. May bobbed her head in agreement and I sighed. “But Ralts is a little curious about why this town... exists and isn’t just Route 101.5.”

“Well, this town was used as a port to ship supplies. You can see the dock on the river on the far side of town, though now it’s fallen into disrepair. That river leads out into the ocean, so before Petalburg had a trade route through Dewford and Rustboro, we would get most of our supplies through this little port town,” Norman said, looking a little sad as he took in the area.

“So, when the new trade routes opened up...” I started.

“The whole place dried up like a ghost town,” Norman finished. “Most of the younger generation from around here have moved to Petalburg, but for a lot of people here, this place is part of their identity. A nice, quiet village they can call home.” I looked down at Ralts.

An identity...

This was my starter. Referring to it by its species name just felt... wrong. I wanted something a bit more special.

‘Hey, Ralts? Would you be cool with a nickname?’ I sent over the link.

Ralts stopped and thought for a moment.

‘You wish to bestow upon me a Title?’ Ralts asked. ‘I don’t know that I have earned such a thing, yet.’

‘You’re probably making a bigger deal of this than it is, but I wanted something for us to stand out a bit more,’ I said with a smile. ‘Besides, standing up to a big scary Gardevoir to come with me feels title worthy, even if it was mostly just for cookies.’

‘I meant what I said then. I want to help fix things.’ Ralts paused. ‘I am not opposed to it.’

I thought for a long time.

‘How do you feel about Emilie?’ I asked.

Ralts frowned.

‘I don’t hate the name, but I feel like there’s a meaning behind it that I don’t understand yet. ’ Ralts stared up and into my eyes. ‘Would you be against sharing? I can see the memories in your head, but I don’t quite understand what they mean.’

I chuckled. We’d have to give her a crash course later on modern amenities. How would I explain the concept of a video game to someone who’s probably never even seen a TV?

‘When I was younger, I found a story. It was about a girl that went on a quest to find out more about herself. I identified with that character.’ I chuckled to myself. ‘We even share the same first name. On her travels, the first friend she made, one that stuck with her through the bleakest of trials-’

‘Was named Emilie, ’ Ralts finished. ‘I shall wear this Title with pride.’

“Lea...? Earth to Lea?” I jumped back as May started waving her hand in front of my face. “This is going to be a thing for a while, isn’t it? You and Ralts having private conversations and shutting out the rest of the world?” May poked me in the side as she finished. “Don’t forget you still have a best friend to talk to too.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to confirm something with Emilie.” I smiled at May’s confused expression. “She was okay with it, so that’s Ralts’s new name.” And the confusion is gone.

“Aww, that is adorable. You have a nickname now.” May said in a simpering voice. Emilie scowled.

‘I was wrong. I do not like this human. Lea, tell her I am a strong Titled warrior. Warriors are not adorable.’

Oh, I wish I had a camera right now. Emilie being a chunni was just... so precious.

‘What the hell is a... oh. Screw you.’ Emilie said, glaring at me.

I giggled a bit.

“Emilie says thank you for the compliment.” I smiled down at the little chunni as she shot me a look of pure betrayal.

“But at any rate, chop-chop, we’re burning day light and May wants her Torchic.” May said before running south to catch up with Norman who was waiting by the town gate. Emilie teleported onto my shoulder and made it a point to look away from me as I jogged to catch up.

‘I am not adorable,’ she said, pouting adorably.

‘Of course you’re not, honey. Of course.’

***

“See you both in a little bit, tired of walking, BYE!” May shouted before sprinting off the second we passed the Littleroot gate. I turned to Norman and sighed.

“I’m sure she’ll calm down a bit once she gets her starter.” Norman said.

“You don’t know your daughter at all, do you?” I asked.

Emilie tapped me twice on the shoulder, and I turned to see where she was pointing. My eyes widened a bit as I took in the eclectic collection of Pokémon in the field. I was able to identify a few of the regulars from around here like Swellow, Zigzagoon, and Lotad, but there were others that I had never even seen before. Four different birds were roosting in a tree further back, none of which I recognized, and...

The tree they were resting in was mobile? What the hell?

‘What is this place? I’ve never seen half of these Pokémon,’ Emilie probed.

“Well, this field is part of Professor Birch’s ranch. He sponsors a lot of trainers and I’m guessing this is part of where mons seven through however many they’ve caught go,” I explained.

Norman turned around as I started talking.

“Okay, I thought answering you out loud would make it easier for other people to follow along with the conversation, but now I just look like a crazy person,” I said.

“People usually talk to their Pokémon, Lea,” Norman said.

“Yeah, but usually the Pokémon says something first. Emilie isn’t saying anything and I’m just saying random things at seemingly random intervals. It looks weird.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. Most people will see the Psychic type on your shoulder and connect the dots,” Norman said.

Walking along on the ground would also work. Honestly, my shoulder’s starting to hurt a bit and I'm feeling a bit lopsided.

‘Deal with it, your shoulder’s comfy,’ Emilie said.

I sighed.

‘Privacy is a myth now, isn’t it?’ I asked. Emilie looked away. ‘Sorry, I know it’s not your fault. I’ll just... have to get used to it.’

‘Thanks.’ Emilie said.

“That said, I don’t recognize half of the mons out here either. I really hope May doesn’t mind sharing her Pokedex once she gets it. I need to study.” I looked over to Emilie, and I briefly realized that I had no idea what the best way of training her would be. “A lot,” I said.

“You’d be surprised how little people know about Pokémon when they first start out.” Norman reassured me. “Half my aspiring trainers barely know what Pokémon are local.” Norman looked away and started walking towards the lab. “You’ll be fine. I have faith in you.”

Emilie and I followed along at a slightly subdued pace as I took in more of the area.

This side of the lab was mostly an open field with a few ponds and streams strewn about for water types to enjoy. Once we got closer though, I could see more houses in the distance, all giving the Lab a wide berth. I could even see a small diner further back, right next to the center.

“At least this place is a bit livelier than Oldale.” I smiled as we made it to the walkway. May was still talking with one of the Aides.

“Look, it says it right there. Maple. I have an appointment to see Professor Birch.” I could hear how annoyed May was getting and groaned. This usually didn’t end well. The Aide looked like he hadn’t torn his gaze away from whatever he was-

Ah.

Understandable.

Space Invaders was a bit addictive.

“I’m sorry, but Professor Birch gave me rather strict instructions to not let anyone in the main part of the lab until Norman arrived to-” Honestly him still playing while blowing May off was both impressive and moderately insulting to my best friend.

I aspired to have this energy when I dealt with May in the future.

“Norman is here.” And there’s the hand jerk that has led many a starship captain to an early death. “Now then, I believe we have an appointment to get May her starter.” Norman politely prodded, and I smirked at how quickly the Aide scrambled to get up from behind the desk.

“Of course, sir.” I felt like this guy would’ve been freaking out less if he spent time with Norman for longer than ten minutes. “The professor’s been expecting you.” He pushed a few buttons and the main door slid open.

“Finally.” May rushed in ahead of the Aide.

“Wait, stop.” Who very quickly followed behind.

I stood back with Norman and watched.

“So did you really tell Birch to wait for you or was the aide just being a dick?” I asked.

Norman laughed.

“A little of both. I did tell the professor to hold back a Torchic for me, but most of the staff here knows May. I’ve brought her here on business more than a few times.” Here Norman sighed. “Birch can’t ever seem to keep himself out of trouble.” We started walking through the lab at a leisurely pace.

“I would think that Birch could handle himself,” I said.

Norman shook his head.

“You would think that. He has quite the accomplished team, but he frequently explores the local routes without one of his own. I had to make sure he didn’t wander off today.” He guided me left at the fork. “I only took the one day off, so I need to be back in Petalburg by tonight.”

I frowned.

“It’s already getting dark though,” I said.

“I’ll just teleport from the center. Gym Leader privilege at its finest. You girls will probably want to spend the night. Nurse Joy will help you with any other issues,” Norman said while leading me through the final doorway. The hall opened into a large atrium, and I spotted May holding a familiar orange bird in a very firm hug. A tall man with a full beard stood just a few feet away chuckling.

“I admire your daughter's enthusiasm, Norman.” Birch paused as he saw me. “Oh, I thought I was just getting one person from Petalburg today?” Who, me?

“Don’t worry, you didn’t make a booboo, Lea was a last-minute addition to our trip out here. She got the go ahead from her guardian yesterday,” Norman said. I shuffled in place, feeling a bit awkward being the center of attention.

“Er... Hi. I already have my starter.” I motioned towards Emilie. “I’m just here for May.”

As if broken from a trance, my friend looked over at me as I said her name.

“Lea, my starter is so adorable. Seriously, look at how cute she is,” May gushed, preening down at the small orange bird.

The Torchic dazedly took in the room around her now that May gave her a bit of air. Her head twitched to the side a bit as she looked at me.

“Tor,” it twirped out.

‘I’m assuming hi?’ I probed Emilie.

‘ Yup.’ I don’t know how you can pop the p through a mental connection, but all right then.

“Hello, Torchic. It’s nice to meet you,” I said politely.

May put her down on the ground and she quickly ran up to me.

“Tor Torchic Tor. Chic Tor tor Chic.” I stared down at the bird.

‘Little help here.’ I probed Emilie again. ‘Any chance we can just cut the middleman and just open a three-way link?’

‘Hmm... I think I can as long as it’s with another Pokémon. I’ll translate today and work on splitting the connection tonight. She wanted to know if we’re friends with the overly clingy human, and if we could ask her to tone down the hugs.’ Emilie said.

“Yes, we’re friends with May.” I stressed the name as I answered, before looking up at the friend in question. “Torchic doesn’t like being hugged to death by the way, I don’t think she has anything against regular hugs, but no bear hugs, capiche?”

May winced.

“Sorry, Torchic. I got a little excited,” May said, rubbing the back of her head.

Tochic just nodded once before running back to May’s side.

“Wow, did you say you just got your Ralts today?” Birch asked excitedly. “You already having an open psychic dialogue is quite impressive. You’re not experiencing any pain, are you? Headaches? A bit of nausea, perhaps?”

“No, no, and no.” I answered in quick succession. “I honestly feel fine. I don’t quite get why people are finding that so hard to believe.” I shot Norman a small glare.

“Oi, it’s weird, okay? Even with more advanced psychics, a telepathic link can be difficult to maintain.”

I... really? Huh, maybe what Gardevoir did was a boon, then. Crap ton of pain now, no pain in the future.

‘Until I help you train your mental defenses, any psychic type within a hundred yards can hear your most private thoughts and scramble your brain worse than your sister’s breakfast this morning.’

I barely stopped myself from wincing. Wait, just how much...

‘I’m trying to stop myself from looking too deep into your memories, but... it’s hard.’ Emilie winced as she explained herself.

“Hello? Miss?” What? Oh, dammit I really needed to work on this.

“Sorry, I’m not that great at splitting my focus yet. We’ve only been at this for a day after all.” Birch laughed at my resulting blush.

“Not an issue, I’m honestly just surprised that tunnel vision is the only issue you’re having. You’ll work that out in no time.” He turned around and pulled out a small box. “Regardless, May, I have one last thing for you. As one of my trainers, I expect you to use it frequently. Your own personal Pokedex. This will serve as your ID and trainer card, so make sure you don’t lose it.”

May gently grabbed the device before placing it in the side pouch of her backpack.

“While we’re here, I also need to get Lea registered as a trainer,” Norman said.

Birch looked up in surprise.

“You mean she’s not already registered?" Birch asked.

“I figured I'd just get that knocked out while we’re here. Get it all knocked out at once. I also need to register Ralts as hers,” Norman explained.

Now Birch just looked annoyed.

“So instead of doing the paperwork yourself, you decided to wait, dump it all on me, and make me do double the work,” Birch said, crossing his arms as he stared at Norman.

Norman backed away at Birch’s glare.

“I’m sorry,” I stammered. Birch sighed.

“Don’t, you’ve done nothing wrong. Ah, screw it.” He went behind his desk and started ruffling through his bottom drawer. “Let’s see, ah ha! Here we go. The only current gen Pokedex I had prepared currently rests in Mays backpack, but I do have an older model. Say cheese!”

“I... What?” I stumbled awkwardly as he quickly snapped a photo.

“Great, do me a favor. Just fill out the rest of the personal information in the startup menu. Once you get done, just press the big middle button while the scanner is over Ralts’s poke ball. That’ll register her to you.” He casually tossed the thing my way, and I almost faceplanted grabbing the damn thing. Why did everyone think I had any kind of hand eye coordination? Just hand me crap like a normal person.

“You’re just... giving me a Pokedex. Free of charge?” I asked fearfully, worried he might take this amazing, wonderful, slightly banged up gift away.

“It’s way easier and faster than doing things the old-fashioned way, and that thing was just collecting dust. It’s yours.” Birch said.

I... Holy crap.

“Thank you.” I said earnestly as I started putting in my personal information. No, I don’t want to be an organ donor, and save.

Suddenly my good mood is ruined as I take in my profile picture.

“C-can we retake my profile picture? Please?” I begged.

Birch just smiled.

“Nope.” My head hung low in despair. “Wouldn’t matter much anyway. Everyone hates the photo they take for those things. You’re in the system,” Birch said.

I groaned before reaching for Emilie’s Poke Ball.

“Does she have to be inside?” I asked.

Birch shook his head no.

“And done,” I said, grinning like a loon.

“Congratulations, you’re a fully registered trainer of Hoenn. Love it, live with it, and go be the best like no one ever was.” Birch laughed.

I didn’t get the joke.

“Right, does that mean we’re done here?” May asked. An exceptionally loud growl sounded out from May’s direction. “Sorry, we didn’t eat on the road, and I’m starving.” She turned to her father.

“Yeah, we’re done here. I think I'll enjoy a meal with you girls at the center before heading back. Would you like to join us Professor?” Norman asked.

Birch shook his head.

“Can’t, sorry. Maybe another time,” Birch said distractedly as he started ruffling through his drawer again.

“Just the three of us then.” Norman smiled. “Alright then ladies. Allow me to show you the number one perk of being a trainer. The best free cafeteria food the league can pay for.”

***

Our room at the Pokémon Center is nicer than my room at home. It was about as basic, but the lack of a draft drastically improved my comfort. May was already unconscious, and Torchic was curled up against her dozing as well. I smiled before grabbing Sergei.

“Do me a favor and shove this in a hidden file.” I pulled up the camera feature and snapped a few shots. Sergei beeped twice before displaying a thumbs up icon. I turned around to look at Emilie, who despite being a foot tall, decided to fall asleep in the dead center of my twin size bed. “Same place for this one.” Snap. “Too bad Norman already went home for the night; we could’ve gotten embarrassing photos of a gym leader.”

I sat back down at the little desk we had and started going through Emilie’s pokedex entry. It... really wasn’t all that helpful.

“Most of them read like a weightlifter’s guide. Have the Ralts lift progressively heavier objects to work on power and have it do complicated tasks to improve control. I figured that part out already, surely you can give me something else to work with here.” I leaned back before scrolling through a few random entries on other Pokémon, trying to figure out what else would even work. “I’ve seen so many conference fights. Why am I having so much trouble trying to figure this out?” Dad’s team flashed through my mind, and I scowled.

He had managed a sponsorship position with Birch as well, and he took advantage of every tool that gave him. It felt like he had a Pokémon for every situation. Dozens of rare and powerful Pokémon were available to him and he rotated through his favorites, making him unpredictable. The only true mainstay was Holly.

Something that seemed so incredible and smart to me a few days ago felt wrong and mean now. Did he just grab whatever he could? Were there just a bunch of Pokémon chilling out on Birch’s ranch that had left their home to the promises of a great adventure, only to be put to pasture as soon as something new and shiny came along?

The thought disgusted me.

My team had to be awesome from the word go. I had five slots to fill. Each of them was important, and I refused to treat any of them like an afterthought. I needed a unit, and I needed a plan.

I already had a few ideas circling around in my head. It started as a way to secure my first badge against Roxanne, but it could be so much more than that if it worked. Assuming I could both catch my new teammate and train it up enough to do what I wanted, I’d have the framework for something amazing. The best part was that he was local. I stopped scrolling through dex entries on the picture I wanted.

It all started with a Lotad.

“I wonder... no, I’ve had Emilie for less than a day, and we’ve barely worked on anything yet. I know I'm not going to be able to tango with a Lombre, so we’re going to start from the ground up with a Lotad.” Even at this stage, this little guy just radiated happiness. A jovial Pokémon that liked to dance. Hmm...

“Sergei, could you do me a favor. Don’t play them right now, obviously, but could you make me kind of a varied playlist of music.”

I got another thumbs up.

“Thank you.” With that taken care of, I swept through a few more Pokémon before setting the dex down and putting my head in my hands. This was hopeless. Pokémon three through six would just have to wait.

“It’s just like your first day at the bakery, Lea. Things always get easier.” I told myself.

Sergei pinged again. Curious, I pulled him up and stared down at the screen. He had a Poketube video pulled up.

“Weather Tech, an Idiots Guide to Rain by TheHarshestCritic.” I tossed a glare Sergei’s way. “I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”

The only response I got was : D.

“Thank you, though. This will be helpful.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the description. “Always bring an umbrella.”

I fell asleep at the desk about halfway through the video.

***

“So, the ruins are to the north of Oldale, right?” I asked May as she fiddled with Sergei’s Nav feature. Honestly, Sergei could’ve just done it for us, but I don’t think May was used to having a sentient phone yet, and she seemed happy as navigator.

“Yup, they’re a bit off the beaten path, but they’re supposed to be super easy to spot. I guess a giant door with ancient writing carved into a cliffside is hard to miss. There’s also something in the area I wouldn’t mind catching if it shows up.” May said.

I turned around and started walking backwards, staring at her in idle curiosity.

“Care to share with the class?” I asked.

“Nope.” Stingy! “Think of it as payback for keeping me in the dark on Emilie,” May said.

Emilie perked up from what she was doing as her name got called, and the rocks she had been levitating fell to the ground.

‘Oops,’ She thought.

“Don’t worry about it, Emilie. That’s what practice is for. We’re simultaneously working on endurance, power, and multitasking. Just keep at it and don’t get discouraged,” I said, sending a smile her way. Honestly, considering what I was expecting to deal with, Emilie already knowing confusion was a blessing. My gaze shifted back to May as Emilie goes back to holding about fifteen small rocks in the air. “If you won’t tell me, then I can’t help you find it,” I said.

She just smiled and ignored me. “Fine but do me a favor. Keep an eye out for mobile lily pads. Lotads are a pain in the ass to find,” I said.

May snorted.

“What?” I asked, glaring over at my friend as she started laughing at me.

“I’m sorry. I just... I can’t see you training a Ludicolo,” May said.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean!” I shouted. “Ludicolo are awesome. The whole line is awesome. Have you ever seen a sad Ludicolo trainer? Of course you haven’t because they don’t exist.”

May laughed even harder.

“That’s my point though,” May said. “The Lotad line is a very jovial line, and you’re one guitar lesson away from becoming the lead singer of an emo band.”

Excuse me!?

“The hell do you mean! My wardrobe is the HEIGHT of-”

“If you’re not in uniform, it’s always beat up black jeans with a black shirt, or a white shirt with a black jacket. You always wear those white lace gloves and black combat boots. You have a grand total of two colors in your wardrobe to go along with your blue hair.” May listed off. And with each comment, I shrank in on myself. “And you tend to brood.”

“Ya know what, explore your own damn ruins,” I snapped. “I’m going Lotad hunting. Come on Emilie.” I sprinted away from May towards the small river to the east, and sighed in relief when I felt a familiar weight teleport to my shoulder.

“Wait, Lea, get back her-” Her voice faded out as I got further away. Ah, blissful silence.

‘Running from your problems usually isn’t the best idea,’ Emilie probed.

‘Yeah, well I didn’t want to deal with her or the conversation anymore, and if I stayed, I already know I would have said a bunch of stuff I'd regret later.’ I started to slow down when my legs started to cramp. The river was still a ways off. ‘Add getting into shape on the mental to-do list.’

‘Already done. Should I also plan for a surprise to befoul May’s sleeping bag tonight?’ Emilie’s suggestion brought a smile to my face before I shook my head.

‘Don’t do anything extreme on my account.’ I sighed. ‘She didn’t really mean much by it, we poke fun at each other all the time.’

‘But what she said made you upset.’ Emilie patted me on the head. ‘I don’t like it when you feel sad, I can feel it through our link.’

‘I’m-’

‘Do not apologize. That is another thing we’ll have to work on. You apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong far too frequently.’ I stopped suddenly as my feet brushed up against water. The massive body of water cut Route 103 in half.

I couldn’t go any further.

‘You should tell May why what she said bothered you so much. Letting anger like this fester isn’t healthy.’

‘I thought I captured a Ralts, not a therapist,’ I quipped.

‘I’m an empath. You get both whether you like it or not. Would it help if you talked to me about it?’ she asked. I snorted.

‘Don’t you already know? I thought I was the most open of open books,’ I grumbled as I sat down and stared across the river.

‘That should just make it easier. And before you say anything else, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.’ Emilie paused. ‘I think you’re incredibly strong. Everything I’ve inadvertently pulled from the link has only solidified my belief that I made the right choice in traveling with you.’ She looked out across the river. ‘Even if you haven’t given me any more cookies,’ she grumbled.

‘There’s a box of butterscotch cookies in the left pocket of my backpack. Feel free to grab a couple.’

She tore at my bag with the ferocity of a crack addict.

‘But ONLY a couple.’

She slowed down her pace.

“Ralllts...”

Why did I feel like that was an insult aimed my way? Emilie didn’t comment on it when I thought that, so it was, wasn’t it?

‘Just tell me why it bothered you. Saying things aloud helps,’ Emilie said, looking at me like I was a bit slow.

“Right...” I remained tightlipped for a few more seconds, and Emilie gave me an unimpressed stare. “Fine. All my clothes are hand me downs from when my sister was a teenager. Happy? She was the goth and I just got stuck with the look. I'm so happy she grew out of that phase.” I shivered. “She was extra moody when I was younger. Every little thing pissed her off, and she’d just disappear into her room for hours sometimes. Norman was around a lot more back then.” I hugged my legs closer to my chest.

‘Uh, Lea-’

“It probably would have just been easier for everyone involved if we just moved in, but Eve was and still is incredibly attached to that house. I remember her working odd jobs for people outside of the work she put in at the bakery, and then there was me on top of it. She was angry all the time and yelled a lot. She scared me sometimes. But then, it all just... stopped. Sis disappeared for like an entire day, and when she came back, she just shut out her emotions, gradually changed her wardrobe, and stopped... talking about stuff. I used to like that change, but now I don’t know which is worse.” I noticed Emilie waving her arms.

‘Lea, please stop for-’ She gets cut off as a pair of arms pulled me into a painful hug.

“What the-”

“I’m an ass,” May said into my ear.

Oh, really Emilie.

‘I tried to stop you. I was just expecting you to admit you were poor and you’re wearing your sister’s clothes so we could patch things up and laugh about it. I wasn’t expecting a full trip down memory lane,’ Emilie frantically explained.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-” And May’s still going. Has she been working out? This hug feels more suffocating than usual.

‘ Like, I REALLY wasn’t expecting you to open up that much. You’re kind of standoffish in your memories and I just thought this would be the fast-’

“And please don’t leave because I was looking forward to traveling-”

‘And I-’

“EVERYONE SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. May backed off and I took a few deep, shuddering breaths as I took in the blissful silence.

“Alright, in order of fuck up. May, I know you didn’t mean anything by it, I over-reacted. I forgive you for bullying me. I may or may not put a Wurmple in your sleeping bag later.” The sudden expression of fear was a beautiful sight. “Now for the more prominent fuck up.” I leveled a glare at Emilie. “What the fuck, dude?”

‘I’m a gi-’

“Dude’s gender neutral in my household,” I interrupted. “We also don’t trick the head of house into revealing state secrets. I thought it was just us, and you’ve already peeped at most of it. This was just supposed to be me venting, not me springing all this random crap on May, she doesn’t need that crap on her right now.”

Emilie now looked thoroughly chastised, and I nodded at a job well done.

“The hell do you mean I don’t need that right now,” May said, glaring at me as I turned to look at her. “You listen to me complain about my family all the time. That’s a two-way street. So, spill, because I need to know if I should kick Eve’s ass when we go back through Petalburg for being mean to my best friend.”

I... that’s just...

“Please don’t beat up my sister,” I said before thinking about it more. “Also, thank you. That means a lot.”

May beamed.

“But please don’t, Eve did the best she could. She raised me, kept a floundering bakery afloat, managed most of our finances once she learned how from Norman, ran our household...” I trailed off as I thought about those days. “And she had to do all of that right after Mom and Dad died. I think I can forgive her for slapping-”

“SHE HIT YOU!!!” Ow...

‘I think I have an idea for a new attack...’ Emilie commented in a daze.

“And you’re giving me tinnitus. It happened once, I was being a brat, she looked at her hand like it was a murder weapon afterwards, and after it happened, she went from being the moody goth kid to an emotionally distant but caring guardian,” I hastily explained. “Legends above, calm down.”

May kept opening her mouth and shutting it like a wild Magikarp, before nodding once.

“I won’t beat her up,” May begrudgingly conceded.

I smiled before I thought about how specific she was being.

“You won’t do anything to her.” I stressed the word ‘anything’.

“I won’t beat her up,” May repeated.

“Dammit, May. I-”

‘Excuse me.’ I stopped as Emilie reached out to my mind. ‘I don’t see a Lotad, but I see something else that’s going to be important for the strategy you’re thinking of.’ Emilie pointed to a Wingull flying just above the tree line.

‘Why would I-’

‘That Wingull is special, I can feel it,’ Emilie said, her voice sounding excited in my head.

I blinked twice. I... Did I want a Wingull?

‘Do you want it or not!? It’s flying away.’

You know what, if Emilie thinks it’s good enough, I’ll trust her judgment.

“Knock it out of the sky with Confusion. Bring it down to our level,” I commanded.

Emilie raised both hands into the air before I even finished the command.

“Eh, what’s happening? Lotad don’t fly,” May asked in a daze.

“No, but Emilie has a good feeling about this Wingull and I'm inclined to trust her.” And if the way it’s resisting Emilie’s Confusion was anything to go by, I’m starting to come around to her way of thinking.

‘Quiet. Focus,’ Emilie commanded.

I shushed May and watched as Wingull took a very erratic and confusing flight path towards our location. I prepped a single Poke Ball, and right as it started to get in range, it rapid-fired three high pressured Water Guns at our general area.

“Look out!” May grabbed me and pulled us both to the left out of the way, and Emilie briefly lost focus as the Wingull quickly started to fly away again.

‘Emilie, while it’s close...’

‘Got it.’

Emilie levitated four stones and followed the same motion I had thought of in my head. She brought the stones around her body and slung them forward.

‘Who says you need to be a rock type to learn Rock Throw,’ Emilie shouted.

She launched all four at Wingull. The arc was off a bit, and one went wide of the waterfowl completely, but one stone was right on target, and it forced Wingull to take evasive action. The resulting barrel roll looked incredible, and had that been the only stone, Wingull would’ve gotten away.

“Gull!” But it wasn’t and Wingull had flown out of the path of one rock into another, clipping its left wing. Floundering, Wingull flapped twice as it tried to correct itself.

‘Oh no you don’t.’ Both me and Emilie thought in sync. Emilie reached out with her mind and grabbed the Wingull.

“WING!” And pulled. The bird got dragged into a dive bomb right towards us.

Specifically, the ground in front of me.

The impact was hard, looked painful, and was above all, dusty.

“Cough, cough- maybe next time Emilie, cough- you could throw the wild Pokémon into the ground, hack, cough- a bit further away,” May complained.

Emilie shot her the stink eye.

‘Do you have any idea how hard it is to control living, moving creatures?’ Emilie mentally voiced to the void that was May’s mind. Secondhand thoughts sounded oddly... distant. ‘Nope, still can’t connect. Damn it.’ Hey, I'm teaching Emilie new words.

“Gull!” We all got pulled out of our coughing fit to see a very irate Wingull point a wing at Emilie.

‘What is your quarrel with me, girl? I’ve no business with you, nor do I seek a fight,’ Emilie translated.

“Emilie thought you would make an excellent member of our team, after seeing your skills in the sky, I’m inclined to agree.”

Wingull appraised me briefly before laughing.

‘Lass, I've seen many a trainer come through this route. They’re all about as dimwitted as a Slowpoke and green as the grass beneath my feet. I value my freedom too much to submit to a wet behind the ears rookie. If ye want to be my captain, you’ll have to force me to submit.’ Wingull flapped twice before shooting another Water Gun at Emilie.

‘Teleport behind it, grab three rocks this time, maybe a smaller number will help our aim,’ I ordered.

Giving orders at the speed of thought, as I was quickly realizing, was broken. Before the water even made it halfway across the field, Emilie was primed and loaded with a second volley. Aiming was a lot easier at point blank range.

“Gull!” And Wingull cried out in pain as all three made contact, before I could celebrate though, Wingull disappeared and the air around him cracked.

“What the-” Almost as soon as he disappeared, he slammed, beak first, into Emilie. Emilie was knocked back a solid three feet and tumbled once before grabbing the ground and pulling herself to a stop. “Hell was that!?”

“Aerial ace,” May gasped in awe.

‘Yeah... wheeze... how ya like that... pant... still want more?’ I stared at Emilie in confusion.

‘Is that him crying and carrying on or you?’ I probed.

‘Yes.’ Emilie was clutching a small cut on her chest, and a bruise started to spread. ‘That fucking hurt.’ More new words. I’m such a bad influence, I love it.

‘Are you still good to keep going? ’ I asked.

She squared her shoulders and nodded before wincing.

“Well, in that case, Confusion.” Emilie grinned as she picked up the now exhausted Wingull and slammed him a few times into the ground like a rag doll. Wingull was out of it by the fourth. “That’s enough.” Emilie slammed him into the ground once more before setting him down.

I shot her a stern look.

‘I couldn’t stop in time.’ Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth with how she shuffled in place shyly. ‘Just toss the damn ball.’

“Bossy.” I listened though before something else went wrong. The ball shook once, twice, three times and...

Click.

“And that, takes care of that.” I walked over and picked up the ball before scanning it with my pokedex. “Let’s see here, just press that button, and if I did this right...”

Beep.

“Perfect.” A general bio of my Wingull came up, listing its general health as get to a center soon, but not in mortal peril. It was male and had Hy...dra...tion..

Oh.

‘Yup, go ahead, admit it. I’m the greatest. Maybe I should be the trainer in this relationship. Can I pick a winner or what?’ Emilie gloated.

‘I mean, yeah, this works well with what I'm planning to catch, but I don’t know if Wingull or Pelliper learn anything to take advantage of this. And how did you know what ability it had?’ Emilie tilted her head.

‘You looked up training videos but didn’t check my bio?’ Emilie asked with a smile. ‘I have Trace.’ I stared at her in blank confusion. ‘It lets me copy the abilities of other Pokémon.’

‘Wait, really? Neat,’ I said.

Emilie gaped before stomping her foot.

‘Neat? I find you a one in a million bird that hits like a truck and all you can say is neat,’ Emilie said, exasperated at my blank stare.

I think for a second.

‘Yep.’ I grinned cheekily at her.

“Is everything alright? Emilie seems upset.” May stared down at my now glowering psychic type as she ran up to me. When did we get so far apart during that? “Congrats on the capture. That Wingull looked strong.”

“Thanks. Emilie’s just mad I’m not worshiping the ground beneath her feet for finding me a Wingull with a rare ability.”

Emilie punched me in the leg.

‘Bully.’ Emilie said. I resented that.

“Well, Emilie, I appreciate your talents, so if you find anything else super cool, let me know, okay?” May smirked as Emilie nodded. “Very nice, I’ll sneak you some cookies from Lea’s bag later.”

“So just to be clear, you’re bribing my Pokémon with food that I made to find cool Pokémon for you instead of me?” I asked.

“Yep,” May said.

I could feel a blood vessel throb under my left eye.

“I can’t let you get ahead of me. I need every edge I can find.” Of course you do. You have a starter from a regional professor and your dad’s a gym leader and I’m a nobody baker that’s two years late to the party.

...come to think of it, her thinking she needed the help to keep up with me is kind of flattering.

“At any rate, think we can head back to the center in Oldale before we go hunting for Ruins again?” I asked. “I want to officially meet my new friend.”

***

“And a clean bill of health, thank you and come again.” Nurse Joy handed me back Wingull’s ball.

‘So, does she want us to get hurt again, or...’ Emilie trailed off as she watched Nurse Joy retreat to the back room of the center.

‘Just assume she’s being polite and move on.’ I looked at the ball for a solid five seconds trying to think of the best way to do this. ‘Think we should go outside?’ I asked.

‘It’d probably be wise. May will want to meet our new teammate.’

I nodded before heading back outside.

“Everything check out okay?” May asked.

I nodded before tossing the Poke Ball. Wingull raised his wing in a mock salute.

‘Ahoy,’ Emilie translated.

“That’s it? You seemed pretty against being caught by a ‘Greenhorn’ like me. Just going to say hi and we’re all good?” I asked, more than a bit suspicious.

‘Ya beat me fair and square and I'm a bird of my word.’

‘But are you the word is the more important question. ’ Emilie said with a smile as I ran my hand down my face. Legends above my thoughts were already corrupting my sweet starter Pokémon into something unrecognizable.

“Emilie, I have a second Pokémon now, I can and will release you if you start singing that cursed song,” I threatened. Emilie motioned a zipper sealing her mouth shut.

“What song?” May asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” I hastily said before grinning down at Wingull. “I’m happy to have you aboard. My name is Lea, this is my best friend May, and this little gremlin is Emilie.”

Wingull just nodded along.

‘Aye, I remember now. You’re a lass that likes to name your captures. Suppose you have one already planned for me, eh?’ he asked.

“Hmm...” Do I keep to the theme? Emilie was easy, but he doesn’t really fit most of the characters.

‘Of course, I have a few recommendations if you don’t. Salty Beak, Teach, Cortez, maybe Barbossa,’ Wingull said, sounding more and more excited as he went.

Never mind, He’s a cosplayer through and through.

“I think I like Apollo, if that’s alright with you.”

Wingull fell forward in a heap.

‘Lass, I think you missed the mark a bit. I’m a sea bird, not a space bird. I like my seas to have fish, not stars.’ Apollo rapidly explained.

“Nah, I think Apollo suits you perfectly. You match his personality, even if you’re playing a slightly different role.” I commented and lightly brushed Apollo’s left wing.

‘So, Apollo is another character from your story?’ Emilie asked.

Wingull looked over to Emilie in curiosity.

‘ It was a game from Lea’s childhood.’ Emilie answered the unasked question. ‘She shared a name with the main character and resonated with the plot. ’

I shot Emilie another annoyed look.

‘Open book. Saying ‘Don’t think about the game’ repeatedly makes it harder to ignore, not easier,’ Emilie said.

“I seriously can’t wait for Emilie to evolve. Hearing and understanding a third of the conversation makes it hard to follow along,” May complained.

“Trust me, I’m quickly finding out that understanding your Pokémon is a double-edged sword.” May just tilted her head.

“You mind if I bring out Torchic? I feel a little bit safer doing that with a water-type on deck to put out any accidents. I missed the little guy while we were on the road.” Why are you asking me if... ah whatever.

“Go for it,” I said.

A bright white light filled the area, and Torchic formed right next to Emilie.

“Torchic.” ‘Hi.’

‘So, uhhh... back to my name, lass,’ Apollo said, shuffling in place a bit as we talked. ‘Is this Apollo... handsome?’

“Of course, well, none of the characters look bad, but Apollo has a cool and sleek design, makes his character pop right out of the screen.” Granted, the pop is mostly cause of how loud he is.

‘Strong?’

“He’s the lead rival for the main character for most of the story.” Against her will, but he came through when it counted.

‘...funny?’

“He was responsible for some of the funniest bits in the story.” And it was usually completely unintentional on his part, and at his expense.

Emilie started giggling at my running mental commentary.

‘Then we have an accord. It’s a bit of an odd choice, but It’ll work for this old sea bird. Now then, lass. Where are we off to? I expect this to be a grand adventure, so don’t disappoint, ’ Apollo said.

I turned over to May.

“We have eyes in the sky, let’s go find us some ruins,” I said. May nodded.

***

“Apollo, you’re on scouting duty. Head north, and if you find anything that looks interesting, send word through the mental link with Emilie. We’ll follow behind shortly,” I explained.

‘Aye, Captain. I’ll also keep an eye out for something fun for the other lass,’ Apollo said with a salute.

“That’s nice of you.” I turned to May. “Anything you’re on the hunt for? Apollo’s looking if you’re buying.”

“Just something more interesting than the hordes of Zigzagoon and Poochyena that Torchic has been training on,” May said.

Apollo nodded and took off.

‘Good thing too, all the dogs I've seen so far have been a few planks short of a life raft.’ Apollo thought as he flew off.

“So, I Have a question.” I turned away from my new friend’s shrinking form to give May my full attention. “How come Emilie can form a mental link with Apollo but not me?” I turned to Emilie wondering what the best way to do this would be. Translating for something like this would be annoying, and I didn’t remember to grab scratch pa-

“Can I see Sergei for a sec?” May passes me the possessed smart phone. “Sergei, pull up notepad, please. Can you write stuff using note pad?” I got a thumbs up. “Would you mind translating for Emilie?” Second thumbs up. I turned to Emilie before stopping as another idea popped into my head. “Would you like us to leave notepad up as a default so you can talk to us whenever you want?” There was a decently long pause before words started appearing on the screen.

“I can send messages through messenger from fake lines.” Another pause. “Actually, screw note pad. I have a better idea.” The program closed itself and messenger lit up with two different notifications. I pulled it up and pulled May closer to me so we could read together.

Start of a new Direct Message with Sergei.

Start of a new Direct Message with Emilie.

Start of a new Direct Message with Apollo.

Start of a new Direct Message with May’s Torchic.

Start of a new Direct Message with Lea.

Setting up group chat.

“There we go.” popped up on the screen. “Through the power of messenger, Emilie’s psychic abilities, my own ingenuity, and the somewhat clever idea of a seventeen-year-old girl, I give you the most jerry-rigged Pokémon translator on the face of the earth.” Both May’s and my own eyes widened in pure shock. “Bow down before my brilliance.”

“Holy,” I started.

“Shit,” May finished.

“Wait, couldn’t you also just make a group call?” I asked and got a thumbs down emoji.

“Sadly, I can’t figure out how to translate thought patterns into spoken words that the speaker would register. I could maybe figure out how to translate them using spoken word databases online, but the delay on that would be... rather severe and it would sound terrible.” Frowny face emoji. “So, for now, Pokémon chat room.” I nodded towards Sergei after reading the message. Three dots appeared under Emilie’s name.

“I went ahead and told Apollo about the Direct Link.” Emilie said.

I smiled at the reference.

‘Thought you’d appreciate that,’ Emilie sent privately, shooting me a grin.

“Well blow me down, this is nice. Ahoy there, May. It’s nice to talk to a mate of the captain,” Apollo said.

May just laughed once she finished reading.

“Oh my god, your Wingull is a pirate and you named it Apollo of all things. We really need to work on that.” Three dots appeared under Torchic’s name.

“At least he has a name. Hint hint.” A cute angry face showed up under Torchic’s post.

May’s Torchic’s name has been changed to KFC.

“SERGEI, I WILL USE YOU FOR FUCKING TARGET PRACTICE.”

“Watch your language!” I automatically responded, doing my best to suppress my giggling.

Torchic puffed up and gave me a pointed glare.

“I am NOT putting that in the chat, young lady,” Sergei typed.

“Suzaku,” May said and Torchic stopped trying to grab the phone from my hands. “I wasn’t sure on giving nicknames, but if she wants one, I'm more than happy to oblige. It’s the name of a powerful fire bird spirit from one of Dad’s books. He’d read it to me when I was a kid.”

Torchic nodded once.

“Sounds good to me.” Suzaku replied.

KFC has been changed to Nugget.

“SERGEI!” All four of us yelled in unison.

Nugget has been changed to Suzaku.

“Killjoys,” Sergei responded. Suzaku’s profile picture changed to a picture of orange chicken nuggets. May opened her mouth-

“No, we should let Suzaku be called what she wants to be called. In fact, we should leave her profile exactly the way it is.” I hinted at May with a smile. I wanted to let Sergei have a little bit of fun, at least.

“Now, back to my original question,” May looked down at her phone. Before Emilie could explain though, three dots appeared next to Apollo’s name.

“Uh, Cap? I think I've found what you’re looking for, but... Okay you’re going to want to see this.” Apollo sent back. “There are three guys in blue bandanas guarding the entrance.”

I frowned.

“Come back and show us where they are. I don’t want you getting caught in anything alone.”

Emilie sent the message over.

“Aye aye, cap.” Apollo messaged back.

“Blue bandanas?” May asked as she picked Suzaku up from the ground and held her anxiously.

“They might be researchers.” I argued as I spotted Apollo start to fly closer in. “I want to take a closer look before we tell your dad. It’s probably nothing, It’s Oldale for crying out loud, there’s nothing here worth looting.”

Apollo very quickly made his way back to us and perched himself on my right shoulder.

“Lead the way Apollo, we’ll be quiet. Let us know when we’re close so we can stay hidden,” I ordered.

“Are you sure about this?” May asked before Apollo could take off. She looked between me and the road back.

“I just want to see what’s up. You can hang out here if you want,” I said.

May looked at me for a long bit, and just as I was about to turn and follow Apollo-

“Fine, but we’re not getting close if they look dangerous.” She pushed past me and briskly walked towards Apollo.

I ran up beside her and we started pushing through the foliage.

***

The ruins were a lot less conspicuous than I'd have thought. It wasn’t a building, but a massive stone door etched into the cliffside. Markings were etched into the door that I couldn’t make heads or tails of, and the whole thing gave me the heebie-jeebies.

What was making it worse was that the massive ass stone door had been pushed open.

Something had to open this massive, megalithic structure, and I don’t think it was the three goons standing out in front wearing matching outfits.

‘Can you pull any surface thoughts?’ I mentally asked Emilie.

‘They don’t know why they’re here. They don’t even really know what group they’re a part of beyond name. Their boss just told them to guard the door.’ Emilie said.

I nodded before sighing.

‘Any idea what they’re packing?’ I asked.

Emilie scrunched her face in concentration.

‘Got it.’ Emilie sighed as one of the guards rubbed his head. ‘Sorry, that was... not easy.’

‘ Is our cover blown?’ I asked.

Emilie shook her head.

‘No, he thinks the headache is from a lack of sleep.’ Emilie smiled. ‘I might have... encouraged that line of thought while I was in his head.’

‘You’re terrifying, you know that right?’ I asked.

‘It helps that these three are about as smart as the local Zigzagoon. Speaking of, that’s mostly what they have. The loser in the back has a Mightyena though, so...’

‘Approaching would be a bad idea, got it. Tell Sergei what’s up and have him tell May.’ I frowned. ‘ What is the group’s name?’ I asked.

‘They’re calling themselves Team Aqua.’

Chapter Text

May typed something into Sergei and passed him over to me.

“Can we leave yet? This is both boring and terrifying at the same time.” I fought back a chuckle as I read her message.

“You can leave if you want, I want to get a look at this boss of theirs.” I typed and passed the phone back. I knew I was being an idiot. Norman’s probably going to scream at both of us when we pass back through Petalburg, but my curiosity was killing me, and if we really needed an evac, Emilie could probably teleport us out. I’d eat the loss on whatever she threw up on and it’d probably go better if she was prepared for it.

Emilie shot me a glare, probably not appreciating plan b.

“I want you to know that you are completely and totally insane.” May typed back. She still hadn’t moved from her spot though.

‘She doesn’t want to leave you alone, ’ Emilie supplied.

Well crap, now I felt like an ass. May kept twirling one of Torchic’s head feathers and biting her lower lip as she looked out at the clearing. Ah, screw it.

“We can call it in,” I typed, but before I could pass the phone back, I saw movement from the door.

Four more grunts flanked a tall man with a full beard and goatee. Unlike the rest of them, he was wearing a blue suit with no undershirt. He still wore the same bandana as the rest of the people present, and a large steel suitcase was at his side. He marched confidently, and a proud smile adorned his face.

“Oi, hurry up. I feel exposed out here, and I want to get this home.” He lifted the briefcase up into the air.

A short, stocky, dark-skinned man in a white lab coat, with black hair and a full beard, slowly started to march out of the temple. His body sagged forward, and I noticed a thin shine to his skin that I was assuming was sweat.

“We’re not all hulking muscle heads like you.” The man in the lab coat complained.

The man in the suit said a few words into what I assumed was a head piece. The group of nine started to glow, and in an instant, the entire contingent just disappeared without a trace.

‘Long range teleport?’ I asked.

‘Most likely,’ Emilie said. ‘Ease up on Sergei.’

I relaxed the iron grip that I didn’t even know I was doing.

“Fuck, sorry Sergei,” I said.

“S’all right. That scared the crap outta me too,” Sergei responded.

I quickly passed the phone back to May.

She didn’t grab it right away.

“May?” I asked, a bit of concern creeped into my voice. She shook her head before grabbing Sergei from my hand.

“Sorry.” Now I felt even worse.

“Don’t be. I fucked up this time. Slap some sense into me next time I suggest we do something this stupid. I'm just glad they left without much fanfare.” Just be cool and confident Lea. Cool, confident, and reassuring. May looked down at the unsent message.

“Hmph, little late, but I appreciate it,” May said, smiling at me as her shoulders relaxed.

“I appreciate you keeping an eye on me.” I very slowly started to stand. My whole body felt tense. “At any rate though, the goons are gone. Want to give the ruins a once over before we go tell your dad about them?”

“You are insane. Completely and totally bonkers. What if they come back? What if there’s still someone in there?” May all but screamed at me.

‘There isn’t anyone in the area.’ Emilie supplied me with something to defend myself.

“Emilie says we’re all clear. Come on, I know you were excited about this last night. Just a quick in and out and we can say we’ve braved our first adventure as Pokémon trainers with our heads held high,” I said.

May looked like she wanted to throttle me.

I waggled my eyebrows up in down in the goofiest manner I could think of and waved towards the door until she cracked and started giggling.

“Fine, but we’re keeping our Pokémon at the ready. I don’t want to get jumped.” May conceded.

I beamed and started making my way towards the massive double doors.

“That’s the spirit.” I re-released Apollo. “All clear, we’re heading into the temple.”

‘If all my days with you are this exciting, lass, I made the right call. I’m a bit aggravated you recalled me though,’ he grumbled.

“Sorry,” I said quickly as May caught up.

May held Sergei up to the door and started snapping photos.

“I have no earthly clue what any of this means, but it looks cool. I’ll have Sergei look it up later tonight. Maybe the internet will know more.” She turned to look inside. “That’s... dark,” she said, looking down into the abyss and backing away slightly.

Pitch black in fact.

“Sergei, light her up, would ya?” I asked.

Sergei nodded before floating forwards. The built in flashlight illuminated a staircase down.

“Oh joy, we get to go down,” May grumbled. “I’ll take lead, and I call dibs if we find a cool Pokémon down here. You already have Apollo.”

“Fine, fine. Emilie, Apollo, just hang out on my shoulders. I don’t want us getting separated.” One landed, and the other teleported. Honestly, having one per shoulder balanced me out and made it a bit easier to walk straight. “Well, into the abyss we go.”

And what an abyss it was. I now realized why the bad guys took so long to clear the ruin. They spent a million years on this stupid staircase.

“The trip back up is going to be fun, isn’t it?” I grumbled.

May ignored me. May had actually stopped completely, and I accidentally ran into her, pushing both of us into a large room.

“Fuck, sorry May,” I said.

“This... this is unreal,” she breathed. Confused on why she didn’t take the opportunity to make fun of my clumsiness, I started to take stock of the room we were in. I gasped.

The staircase we had just left opened into a chamber with a single, large stone chest in the middle. The top had been blasted out, and rubble lined both side walls. As Sergei’s light explored the room, I noticed a ton of ancient writing had been scratched out or completely destroyed.

The ruin had been ruined. Whoever that was had gotten what they wanted, and they didn’t want anyone to know what they took.

“Well, this is a bust.” I sighed. “I really am sorry, May. None of today has gone to plan.” I turned to start heading back up, but before I could get too far, a small chittering sound filled the room.

It echoed off the walls, and the cacophony of sounds started to get louder and louder. The ground started to sink, and I grabbed May as she started to get pulled down and yanked her up to the bottom stair.

“Trapinch!” A small orange Pokémon rushed out of the hole it had dug, snapping its jowls as we backed up and fell up the stairs.

“Ow... that was close. You alright May?” I asked.

May stood up and dusted herself off before glaring at the orange bug that had just attacked us.

“That does it,” she grounded out. “Suzaku! Ember. This thing just volunteered itself for stress relief.”

It took her a second to respond, probably not used to the new name yet, but Suzaku nodded her head once and fired several small flames into the pit. For all that this thing could dig, now that it was out and about, it didn’t look like the most mobile thing in the world. It took every fire ball that came its way.

“Pinch.” Was the angry reply. I glanced up at Emilie.

‘What’s it saying?’ I asked.

Emilie snapped out of her daze and blushed a bit.

‘Right, it’s really hard to understand, but it’s mostly upset we stopped it from getting lunch, apparently it thought Suzaku looked...tasty.’

My left eye twitched.

“Kick its ass, May, but be careful. This thing is looking at Suzaku like he’s an order of spicy chicken nuggies,” I warned.

“Got it, Suzaku, keep your distance and keep up an ember volley.”

And just like that, I was privy to a rather... one sided affair. Suzaku was, apparently, significantly faster than I was expecting. I didn’t think Torchic got fast until they evolved into a Combusken. As scary as this thing looked, none of his charges connected. I was moderately surprised the little guy hadn’t tried something new, yet. Every time he missed, he got pelted with fire.

‘I don’t think it’s all that bright, ’ Emilie said.

I nodded once before watching the orange bug dive back underground. Finally, something new. Was he leaving? Did he get tired of chasing us?

‘It’s not giving up,’ Emilie warned.

I opened my mouth to warn May and Suzaku but May beat me to it.

“Suzaku, try and feel for shifts in the ground. Don’t move till the last second,” May ordered.

Suzaku looked about the room randomly before standing still and closing her eyes.

“Tor!” Suzaku jumped backwards.

“Pinch!” The Trapinch exploded from the ground, and while Torchic did get tagged by a bit of the debris, it avoided most of it, and had a premium shot.

“Ember, as strong and as fast as you can.” I’m not even sure May had to give the command.

Torchic had already started pelting the burrower with fire, not giving it a chance to breathe or back off, until finally...

“Pinch...” The Trapinch buckled and fell to the ground with a smokey exhale.

“You’re mine!” May shouted and tossed a poke ball at the downed mon. Wait, this weird orange... thing, was enough to catch May’s interest? Really?

The ball immediately dinged.

She walked over and picked up the ball before shooting me a rather pleased smile.

“Well, at least the trip wasn’t a total wash,” May said.

I nodded slowly, giving her an odd look.

“Congrats. Not sure why you wanted the orange bug thing, but I’m happy for you.” May giggled at my description. “What?”

***

“I hate stairs. I never want to see stairs again. They’re satanic constructs of pain and suffering put here to drain my sanity and reason and I want. Them. GONE!” I half screamed as I finally pushed into the sunlight. I fell forward and hugged the ground.

‘Hey.’

‘You have passengers, you know.’

Both of the weights I had grown accustomed to carrying either flew or teleported away halfway through the fall, but I couldn’t be bothered.

“Oh, real ground, how I've missed you,” I cried.

“You are the biggest drama queen I've ever met,” May bullied. She’s been doing that a lot today. “I’m fine, that means you’re fine too, ya big baby.”

“I’m sorry we can’t all be amazons like you.” I turned and stuck my tongue out at her.

May just sighed.

“You know, you’d probably be handling hikes like that better if you had ventured out from your cave more than once a week,” May prodded.

“Now you’re just being rude for no reason, let’s head back to town and check in at the Oldale center. I’m not sure we’d make it through the route in time to make it back to Petalburg before nightfall, and I don’t want to sleep on the ground until we have too.” My stomach rumbled. “And I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a sec.” May pulled up her dex and scanned Trapinch’s poke ball. “Oooh, arena trap, that’s fun. You’re a guy, so I’ll need to keep that in mind when thinking of a name. We’re definitely going to need to work on a lot to get you up to snuff, though.”

“I still don’t understand the appeal. Why on earth are you so happy to have caught that thing?” I asked.

May giggled again.

“Stop laughing at me and let me in on the joke.”

“The ‘thing’ is a Trapinch,” May explained. “It’s a ground type that’s incredibly rare in this part of Hoenn.”

I nodded.

“Okay, so it’s rare. It’s also... not that bright,” I said.

May muttered something under her breath that I didn’t quite hear before glaring at me.

“It evolves into Vibrava, a Ground and Dragon type.” Any and all confusion I had on why May was happy about this capture died when I heard the type combo. “It evolves again into Flygon, one of the most feared Pokémon in this region.”

Now that was a name I recognized. Dad had one and used it a few times.

“Huh. You’d never think that little guy would turn into a dragon. Also, how does a Ground type get called Flygon?” I asked.

May chuckled.

“He has Levitate as an ability. I honestly don’t understand why he isn’t just classified as a Flying type too, but apparently, he lacks the usual weaknesses of the flying type and lacks an ability, so researchers labeled him as having the levitate ability, even though he has wings.” May giggled. “How they tested that was really funny, actually. They couldn’t do the usual electricity test because Flygon is still a Ground type, so they decided the best course of action was to throw rocks at a wild-”

“This is all incredibly fascinating,” I droned. “I’m hungry, though. Can we hurry up and hustle back to Oldale. You can science talk at me while we eat.”

“How the hell are you two years older than me?” May asked, glaring at me.

I ignored her and started pushing my way through the foliage.

“We need to call your dad once we get to the center, by the way. I want to make sure he knows something’s up and to keep an eye out.” I sighed. “And I still need to catch a Lotad.”

“You do realize there’s such a thing as overpreparing for a gym, right? You already have a good setup for the first two gyms, do you really need another water type?” May needled.

“I did a lot of research last night on what I want and what’s available, and a Lombre in particular would be very helpful for a cool strategy I’m putting together for Emilie,” I explained.

Now May just looked lost.

“How would a Lombre help Emilie? The gym isn’t a doubles battle, Lea,” May said, aggressively shoving a large branch out of the way.

‘I can probably start working on your idea with Apollo. Controlling water is going to be tricky, but I really like your idea,’ Emilie said with a manic grin.

Emilie’s smile scared the crap outta me, but I was a bit worried she’d struggle with what I had in mind.

‘Oh, I will. This is going to be the hardest bit of psychokinesis I've ever done. Doesn’t mean it’s not going to look fucking awesome.’

“Language.” I chastised.

“You and Emilie are having a private conversation again, aren’t you?” May asked before aggressively pushing a rather large branch away. “Fine, keep your secrets. Have the hardest fight against Watson ever. See if I care.”

“Now who’s whining.” And there’s the road.

‘Will helping Emilie be all I'm doing, Cap? ’ Apollo asked nervously.

‘Send this to him, I want to keep our strats a surprise for now.’ Emilie nodded. ‘Helping Emilie will give you a good chance to work on your water attacks. I’ll see if I can find anything else in the dex for you later. Just expect a lot of endurance training, I want you to be able to use Aerial Ace as often as possible, preferably without passing out afterwards.’

Apollo winced.

‘Aye, that was a bit embarrassing.’ Apollo blushed.

“Now then.” I stopped as we pushed past the northern gate. “Bring on the grub!” I all but ran to the center.

***

“Is there a reason you waited to do this through a Pokémon center video phone instead of calling him through Sergei?” May asked as I stared at the phone with a sense of existential dread.

“Us calling him from the center shows that we’re fine and I really wasn’t in a hurry to make this call.”

“You forgot about Sergei, didn’t you?”

I didn’t reply and stared straight at the video phone, doing my best to ignore May’s judgmental glare. May sighed before picking up the transceiver.

“Let’s get this over with,” May muttered.

Ring...

Ring...

Click.

“Maple residence, Caroline speaking.” Oh, right, May’s family doesn’t have a video phone at home. Fuck, we were talking with Caroline.

“Hi, mom, is dad around?”

Why did it have to be Caroline? I was positive that this woman disliked me on principal. All the times she yelled at me for my language, legends above I could taste the soap. Ugh, I...

Felt... significantly less terrified than usual. That was odd. I noticed Emilie looking away as I thought that.

“Oh, May. I’m so happy to hear from you. The house wasn’t the same last night. It was so quiet. I think I got used to your snoring and not having it made it harder to go to sleep.”

May just hung her head down and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Your father isn’t home yet; he’s being held up at the gym. Was there something you needed?” Caroline asked.

“Lea and I found something... worrying, by the Oldale ruins. We wanted to tell him about it.” Nice, be vague. That always puts parents at ease, May.

“Is everything alright? You're not hurt, are you?” Damn it, May. Now she’s in helicopter mode.

“There were some shady people guarding the entrance, when they left, the temple was trashed.” There. Band aid successfully ripped off. “We’re fine, our Pokémon are fine, we didn’t even talk to them, and they didn’t see us. May even caught a Trapinch.” As I mentioned him, a bright light enveloped the area and the little orange monster made himself known to the world.

“Pinch?” Only to be very swiftly recalled.

“He’s... not terribly bright. This is the third time he’s let himself out of his Poke Ball. I don’t think he’s grasped that us saying his name isn’t the same as calling him out.” May rambled, a bit embarrassed.

“Can you describe them for me? I can relay this to your father once he gets home.” Huh, I half figured she’d be more upset. I was also surprised, usually she would have insulted me by now.

“Black pants, white shirts, and a blue bandana with a weird skull pattern on it. Like a circle with two lines so that it kind of looks like an A, and I'm not really explaining it well...” How do you describe made up shapes to someone over the phone? “We didn’t really get close to get a good idea otherwise, but the uniform looked the same. There was one guy who wore a loose-fitting suit, but he still had the bandana. He had a goatee.”

“There was also a dark-skinned man that looked like a researcher. He was tall and had dark hair.” May thought for a second. “He had a full beard and moustache,” May finished.

“I’ll let your father know. Now, I heard May caught a Trapinch, any other additions?” Caroline asked excitedly.

I hesitantly started describing Apollo to her and was surprised to see her engage with me like this.

***

‘So, the first step to protecting your mind is organizing it. This will make it easier to protect your thoughts and memories, because you’ll be able to focus on a single mental construct as opposed to a thousand stray thoughts.’ Emilie explained as I sat cross-legged on my bed.

“How exactly do I organize my mind?” Aren’t minds naturally chaotic? I kind of just thought that psychic types found order in the chaos.

‘I want you to think of a place that you know like the back of your hand. A place that you could remember every nook and cranny of without effort. I want you to close your eyes and visualize that place exactly as you remember it.’

Well, that sounded simple enough. I let my brain wander to the bakery, a place I had worked at for years. I remembered the heat from the ovens to the cold frigid air of the freezer. The crisp smell of freshly made pies, the ding of a register. I remembered my sister's chaotic office and my little cubbyhole.

‘Very good, now keep that memory in your head. I’ll help keep you focused through this next bit. I need you to focus on how the things in this bakery link to the other facets of your life and pull them into something familiar,’ Emilie said calmly.

“Huh?” I asked, confused but still half out of it.

‘For example, you met May at the Bakery. Norman brought her when he picked up some donuts, and you ended up talking in the dining area for hours while Norman and Eve talked in the background.’

I nodded along, thinking of that day so long ago.

‘Now focus on May. All the fun times you’ve shared. All the jokes, the tears, the shared moments of joy and everything in between. Every moment from then to now. Hundreds of little memories, scattered across your mind in a sea of random thoughts and emotions. I’ll help find the more obscure ones.’

I nodded as so many random events that I had forgotten about played across my mind. It was like a highlight reel of my entire friendship with May was playing on fast forward.

‘Now, take those memories, and tie them to this place. Tie them to that first moment here, in the bakery.’

I opened my eyes and was somewhat surprised to find myself sitting on my bed still. I felt something on my face and reached up to feel what it was.

I had shed a single tear during that. I didn’t even notice.

‘Well done, and an excellent start. We’ll have sessions like this every night. They’ll be long at first, cause you need to play a bit of catch up, and I have to help you pull the older thoughts out of the chaos, but you’ll have an organized mind in no time.’ Emilie smiled.

“Wait, that’s it, I don’t feel any different,” I complained.

‘What color did May want to dye your hair on your fourteenth birthday?’

“Black.” I respond without thinking.

‘How many times did May ask you to trade siblings when Max put body glitter in her shampoo?’

I froze for a second, before my brain went to the dining room in the bakery. The memory popped up without any effort.

“Twenty-three.” My eyes opened in awe.

‘What did you loan May when she went with her father to Oldale the first time?’ Same place. A different memory popped up.

“My Pokémon Rangers Manga...” I trailed off before sitting up in annoyance. “She never gave it back!”

‘What I'm helping you make is called a mind palace. It’s the first thing a budding psychic will learn. My mother taught me, and now I will teach you.’ She glanced over my shoulder towards my alarm clock. ‘ We should get some rest. ’

I turned.

An hour and a half had passed in the blink of an eye.

Holy...

“Yeah, that sounds good. I also just realized how incredibly tired I am.” I frowned as I mulled over what Emilie had told me. “So, how many sessions do you think it’ll take for me to fully organize my mind?” I asked.

‘Not that many. Most of your memories revolve around a small group of people that you view as your family. After that, a short meditation session at the end of the day should work to organize your new memories.’ Emilie looked away from me. ‘Earlier today, when I tricked you... I’m sorry. It wasn’t my place...’

“It’s fine. I might’ve come down a little harder on you than I should’ve.” I pulled Emilie into a hug. “I don’t know why telling May about what home was like scared me before. I think I was worried she’d look at me different, like she’d treat me with kid gloves. I hate that.” I smiled. “Nothing’s changed, and now... I just feel lighter. It all worked out, but in the future, just tell me. I don’t like being manipulated.”

‘So...’ Emilie trailed off. ‘If I was doing something else, and it, uh, concerned you. You wouldn’t be mad if I told you.’

My eyes narrowed.

“It would depend on what this something else is.” I felt Emilie tense. “You’re being honest now, so I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise I won’t react if it’s bad. Spill.”

‘Fine. I’m doing this to help, but I'm a bit worried about how it’s affecting you. After my mom... attacked you, do you remember how you felt?’

I frowned. Odd to dredge up this now.

“Well, my head felt like it was going to explode, I couldn’t control my limbs, and-”

‘Emotionally, how did you feel,’ Emilie interrupted. I could faintly see Emilie roll her eyes through her... bangs?

“Scared shitless.” I shivered. “I thought I was going to die.”

‘And yet, you seemed fine once she fixed you up. She just attacked you, and you proceeded to have a normal conversation with her.’ Emilie tilted her head. ‘You didn’t find that odd?’

“Now that you’re pointing it out, I do.” I frowned.

‘Mom manipulated your emotions,’ Emilie explained as plainly as she could.

My eyes went wide.

‘She believed it necessary. To help you fully, she needed you to not act according to your instincts. To flee as soon as you were able. She muted your ability to feel fear, and she put your mind at ease.’ Emilie looked down. ‘When I asked to go with you, she removed those stopgaps. You felt the full scope of your fear for but the briefest of moments when Mother bore down on both of us.’ Emilie shivered.

“I felt like I couldn’t breathe.” I muttered. “It was so intense.”

Emilie nodded.

‘I put in my own solution. Mother can be... cruel, if the situation demands it. So, I gave you back what she took away. I helped you find your courage, by muting your fear.’

“So... it wasn’t just me growing a pair when you needed me.” I felt a bit deflated at that.

‘It was in a sense. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, as accomplished in the mental arts as my mother.’ Emilie smiled at me. ‘Even at my best, I couldn’t entirely suppress the fear you were feeling. You pushed through your fear and stood up to my mother, because you believed it was the right thing to do. I just... helped.’ Emilie tilted her head. ‘Is that not a starter’s job.’

I laughed.

“I suppose it is. I don’t know what you’re worried about, though. You just helped me deal with your mom.” Emilie looked away.

‘I’m still suppressing your fear.’

Huh?

“So... you’ve been, what, blocking my ability to feel fear. All this time.” Emilie nodded. My mind raced to process everything. “Emilie, people need to be able to feel fear. Fear’s kind of an important emotion to have.”

‘After today, I now realize that. You decided to stake out a potentially dangerous group of weirdos that had both a numbers advantage and a skill advantage with no good exit strategy.’

I opened my mouth.

‘Me teleporting us out is not a good exit strategy, considering I barely managed to teleport you and I blacked out afterwards. You then urged May to go down a dark abandoned temple seconds after they left,’ Emilie deadpanned.

‘Okay, when you say it like that...’ I trailed off, feeling heat rush to my face as I looked away.

‘That’s the only way to say it. You’re right, fear serves a very important function.’

“So, just stop suppressing it, and we’ll be good,” I said.

Emilie shook her head.

‘I will not.’

“It’s my head, and I don’t want my actions to put anyone in dan-” I cut myself off as everything rushed in at once. I had almost died. Multiple times I had almost died. Wait, what was that? Nothing, there’s nothing there. Nothing. Nothing.

Would I even know if it was something? I can’t focus.

‘Lea...’ GET OUT OF MY HEAD! OH god I can’t I can’t I can’t I CAN’T-

And then it stops. Emilie shuffled in place and looked away.

‘The attack... it left you with a bit of a phobia. A deep seated fear of anyone or anything being in your head. For any reason.’ Emilie smiled a bitter smile. ‘Makes it rather difficult to protect your head if you have a panic attack while I’m doing it, now doesn’t it. Therefore, I will not undo what I did. Not yet. Once we get your mind up to snuff, when you can not only block but defend yourself against mental attacks, and you feel confident in your own abilities, will I remove what I did.’ Emilie looked down.

“What exactly did you do?” I asked.

‘I basically put a... sponge?’ Sponge? ‘I think that’s the best way to describe it. I put a sponge in your mind. If you feel fear, it will absorb the feeling before it can affect you. It... has its limits. If the fear is powerful enough, the feeling will still shine through, at least a little bit, but... yeah.’

Huh. I had a sponge in my brain. Weird.

‘ I can understand if you don’t want to talk to me for a bit. This whole thing is-’

I cut her off with a hug.

“It’s weird... but thank you.’ I pulled back and shot her the most reassuring smile I could muster. Judging by the look on Emilie’s face, it wasn’t doing a very good job. “I’m gonna guess that you... wrung the sponge out, earlier?” This analogy was really fucking weird.

‘I felt that was the best way to get my point across.’ Emilie looked down again. ‘I am sorry.’

“Well, it got my attention, that’s for damn sure.” I stared off into space as I tried to grapple with... whatever the fuck that was. Fear didn’t seem to do it justice. But still... “I need to tell May.”

Just to be able to have her talk me down if I'm about to do something stupid, and that I'm not altogether with it. It was only fair to her.

Emilie nodded.

‘I can do my best to warn you if you do anything too reckless, but having another person to help would probably be wise.’ Now she looked down. ‘You’ll probably also have to tell her about what mom did.’

Yeah. That was going to suck, wasn’t it?

***

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t handcuff you to a bed in Petalburg till Emilie has your brain guarded better then Fort Lumiose.” Honestly, she’s taking this better than I expected.

“Look, it’s not as bad as it sounds.” She shot me a very exasperated look.

“You were mentally violated so bad that your brain can’t defend itself anymore, and the only reason you’re talking to me right now is Emilie is suppressing the impulse of curling up into a ball and having a panic attack.” She deadpanned.

“Okay, it is as bad as it sounds, but I’m functioning. Emilie is protecting my mind while I work on building my mental defenses, and now that I'm aware of it, if I'm getting ready to do something incredibly reckless and stupid, all you need to do is tell me and I'll stop.”

May wasn’t moved.

“Like I’ll believe you’ll actually listen to me.” May said, before sighing. “You are asking me to be the voice of reason. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!” she yelled.

“I AM THINKING AND THERE’S NO ONE ELSE I WOULD TRUST MORE!” I yelled back before throwing both hands over my mouth. Legends above, I did not just say that.

May opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then groaned.

“You can’t just... Say things like that. How the hell am I supposed to say no now?” May glared at me.

“I meant every word.” And I did. “Emilie won’t let anything bad happen to me, and I’m already making good progress on the first step of protecting my mind, and I trust you. I trust you and Emilie to make sure I don’t do something extra stupid like yesterday.”

May smiled at me. She looked... touched? Happy?

“That still doesn’t answer my question, though.” May stared directly into my eyes. “Why can’t we wait till you’re better? You want me to stop you from doing things that are reckless and stupid, well, here’s the first thing I'm trying to stop.”

I broke eye contact.

“Call me stupid, but I want to travel the region with my best friend, alright,” I said, shifting in place nervously.

May looked insulted.

“If you think for one moment that I’d leave you alone-”

“You’re not putting your journey on hold for me,” I refused. “If we wait, then we’ll probably miss the season. We won’t have time to run the gauntlet. It’d be a full year before we leave.” I shook my head. “I don’t know which thought would piss me off more; that I'm stuck in Petalburg for another year, or that you’d stay put just for me. Please let me travel with you.” I practically begged.

“...that’s not fair.” She pouted.

Score!

“You won’t regret this!” I shouted.

“I already do,” May moaned.

“Err... also, there is something else,” I said nervously.

May glared.

“What on earth could you possibly tell me after this?” she asked.

“Well, as part of the exercise to defend my mind, yesterday Emilie showed me how to organize my mind,” I explained.

May nodded, tilting her head in interest.

“It improved my memory. Like, a lot. And, uh...” I took a deep breath before starting. “You owe me twenty-three lunches, three different manga, a light novel, two pairs of pants, four pairs of shoes, and a bra.” May’s eyes widened as I counted off all the things that had been... misplaced, since the start of our friendship. I never realized how often I paid for lunch until yesterday, and it kind of ticked me off a bit.

“...am I really that bad?” May asked.

I reluctantly nodded.

Chapter Text

May was looking at Trapinch’s Poke Ball as we left the Oldale Center. I stretched my arms as I stared out across the clearing towards the gate to Route 102.

‘Oi, be mindful of your passengers.’ Emilie complained.

‘If you don’t like my stretches, walk. You’ve got working legs,’ I said, shooting her a coy grin.

Silence.

‘That’s what I thought.’ I grabbed Apollo’s ball and let him out as well.

I was very quickly learning that I really liked just... hanging out with my Pokémon. I smiled as he perched on my shoulder.

‘Ahoy, Captain.’

“Good morning, Apollo. I thought you might like a chance to stretch your wings,” I said.

‘Aye, the ball is... surprisingly comfortable, but being in the open air and hanging out with my new mates sounds like fun. Thank ye, lass.’ I nodded, before looking over at May.

“You know you can just call his name and he’ll come out and say hi, right?” I asked.

May jumped a bit. I chuckled before moving to stand closer.

“He seemed pretty chill last night, and he warmed up to you fast once you fed him,” I said.

“I know, I’m just nervous. I want him to like me, not just... tolerate my existence,” May said.

“May, you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. As long as you spend time with the little airhead, I think he’ll love spending time with you as much as I do. Just let the little guy out and say hi. Hell, let Suzaku out too. I miss the little guy.” Gal. Suzaku’s a gal, Lea.

“Probably a good idea, they need to work through... things,” May said as she pulled out a second ball.

That was a fun and exciting way to say that Trapinch thought Suzaku looked tasty.

“Come on out, everyone,” May said.

“Pinch!” Trapinch roared to the world as May let him out of his ball before slamming his mandible into the ground.

Suzaku quickly moved to stand behind May’s leg as the light from their release faded.

“Pinch?” Trapinch asked, tilting his head... mouth... thing to look at us.

I looked towards Emilie, who shook her head.

“What gives?” I complained. She didn’t have any issues translating for Suzaku and Apollo.

‘He... hasn’t really said anything. His thoughts aren’t as easily decipherable as everyone else's, but I can kind of pick out his emotions.’ Emilie frowned. ‘He’s mostly confused, by the way, and a little hungry.’

“I could’ve told you that!” I whined.

May raised her hands and slowly got closer to him.

“Hey there, Trapinch. Do you... know who I am?” May asked.

Trapinch tilted his head. I couldn’t tell if Trapinch was confused, or if that was his default expression.

The answer was probably both.

Suzaku hesitantly poked her head out and gave the Trapinch a curious look.

“Right, well, I’m May, and I uh... caught you yesterday. I’m hoping we can be friends?”

Trapinch hadn’t moved from his spot.

“Here, I’ve got something for you.” May quickly pulled out a box that looked oddly-

“Hey, those were mine!” I shouted.

“Put it on my tab,” May said, grinning cheekily at me.

May opened the box and set it down in front of Trapinch. He put his head down and sniffed.

“PINCH!” He then mercilessly attacked the box of Oran Scones before running up to May and nuzzling her left leg.

“Wow, that was easy! I knew there was a reason I kept you around.” May knelt and gave Trapinch a pat. “I think I’ll call you Samie.”

Suzaku huffed.

‘She’s mad that Samie got a name right away,’ Emilie explained.

I ignored them all as I glowered at the scene in front of me.

“How is it that out of all of us, I’m the only one that hasn’t gotten to enjoy my own cooking.” I stared at my ravaged box blankly before turning to Emilie. “Has the new mooch said anything yet?” I asked.

‘Just emotions. I don’t think he’s spent a lot of time around... anyone. Human or Pokémon. I think he’ll get better the longer he spends with us, but for now... ’ Emilie shook her head. ‘Head empty, captain.’

“Oh, don’t you start that too,” May said, looking up from her phone. “Still, bummer. Sergei, you can go ahead and change the name in the chat room, but Samie’s probably not going to use it for a while,”

Sergei beeped twice in what I’m assuming is confirmation.

‘ I wouldn’t count on it holding a decent conversation any time soon, cap. It’s not just this little guy. Trapinch are about as slow in the head as Slakoth are in body,’ Apollo said.

“How the hell does the stereotypical sea bird know anything about a Pokémon that lives underground?” I asked.

Apollo preened, puffing up his chest as his beak pulled back.

‘I' m always down for an adventure, lass. Me and a few of me mates decided to explore the Unending Beach once upon a time. Terrible place, wouldn’t recommend it, met these things out there by the dozen, and they all were shit for conversation. One of them tried to eat me.’ Apollo shuddered. ‘ Don’t envy what happened to that one. Six water guns on a single ground type.’ Another shudder.

“Right, well, he’s still May’s, so be nice,” I ordered.

May shot me an appreciative smile as Apollo nodded grudgingly.

‘Aye, Captain. I’ll hold my beak,’ he said.

“You three done with your little private conversation now?” May glowered.

I turned to look at both Emilie and Apollo, who just shrugged.

“I think so,” I responded cheekily. “You have Sergei, you can join in if you want.”

“I...” May trailed off as Sergei floated right at eye level. She quickly scanned through the messages.

“How much of that story was Tauros shit, Apollo?” May asked.

Apollo leaned back before giving my best friend a glare. I opened my mouth before he got the chance to start an argument.

“You ready to head out? I want to find a Lotad before we hit Petalburg, though...” I turned to look at Apollo. “We might be able to skip a step and just catch a Lombre now that Apollo’s joined,” I said thoughtfully.

“Denied,” May said.

“Huh?”

“Denied. Even with a type advantage, a Lombre would be above our weight class, and I don’t want to deal with an angry second stage Pokémon plus whatever friends he might call on to help. I’m taking my new role VERY seriously,” May said, staring at me intently.

I winced.

“Right, no Lombre.” Bummer. “Thank you, by the way,” I said.

“Don’t mention it.” May said before walking toward the western gate.

“Apollo, go ahead and take to the skies. Keep a look out for a Lotad with some extra... pep in his step,” I ordered.

Apollo raised his wing in salute.

‘Aye, captain. Leave it to me.’ He took off.

***

“Emilie let’s try working on what we did with Apollo. Use the Confusion on the rocks and lash out with it if he gets too close,” I ordered.

A ring of stones started to rotate around Emilie as she stared down her second Zigzagoon of the day.

“Power through, Lucky.” The big difference this time though, was that this one had a trainer. My first trainer battle, I was so excited!

Lucky charged headfirst toward Emilie. Easy pickings.

“Sling three stones and teleport if it gets too close.” I... could have just thought that.

“Quick attack, don’t let it teleport away,” my opponent ordered.

Despite the name, the quick attack hit the air where Emilie used to be, and all the extra speed did was make the rocks hit with that much more force.

“Goon!” Lucky cried out in pain. A small gash started to seep a bit of blood out above his right eye.

‘Where-’

‘In the tree on your left. ’ I felt a pull towards a branch high up in one of the nearby trees. ‘I thought I’d hide in his new blind spot. Hard to see through blood, after all. ’

The idea felt a bit morbid, but I liked the strategy.

“Where the hell did she go?” My opponent asked.

“She’s around,” I said. ‘Use confusion on the stones and attack from a distance. No reason to get in close.’ Non-verbal commands would also be something I needed to get used to more.

Emilie crouched down behind the leaves as the trainer looked her way and proceeded to lift a few small stones on Lucky’s right.

“Lucky, Quick Attack to the left, then slam into the tree on your right.” Dammit, we were spotted. The trainer’s command came too late, and Lucky was pelted before he could move. Several more stones levitated into the air as Lucky mewled in pain.

“Damnit, I hate Ralts trainers. Lucky, just keep dodging, and see if you can find an opening.” Rude.

The Zigzagoon quickly darted away from where he was standing with a Quick Attack. Honestly, I was impressed. This was the longest a Zigzagoon had lasted so far.

‘After a throw, focus on Lucky. You probably aren’t strong enough to move him, but you might be able to throw off his balance.’ I didn’t get a reply back, and for a moment, I was worried she didn’t hear me, but a smile stretched across my face as Lucky started accidentally tripping into rocks as opposed to away from them.

“Stop.” Three rather large stones stopped in midair all around Lucky. “I concede.” His voice just... sounded so done.

Was I that bad to fight against? Damn, that’s kind of a sour note to win on.

‘He’s just sad that he lost... again,’ Emilie commented. ‘He ran into another trainer with a Mudkip and... that didn’t go well either. The trainer with the Mudkip was rude as fuck, too.’

‘Huh, probably another of Birch’s sponsors. Well, let’s see if we can go cheer him up.’ I rushed across the clearing.

“Thanks for the battle.” I smiled as a familiar weight teleported to my shoulder. “Your Zigzagoon is a lot tougher than the local mons, I just don’t think there was a lot he could do without ranged options.” I had extended my hand to shake, and the other trainer looked a bit surprised.

“Er... Thanks.” He hesitated for a second before grabbing my hand. “Not really a ton of options for range currently.”

“Yeah, but good match. I look forward to seeing how you improve later. Maybe we could have a two on two.” The trainer blushed before pulling out his wallet and handing me my winnings. “Don’t suppose I could know your name?”

“Uh, it’s Calvin.” He spoke. His voice was a lot more confident, and he seemed happy. Good.

“Great! Mine’s Lea. Hope I see you again someday.” Calvin nodded before turning back towards Oldale. I walked over towards May with a smile on my face.

“You’re terrifying, you know that right?” May called as she walked over. “Congratulations on your win.”

“What do you mean I'm terrifying? I was really nice!” I pouted.

May giggled.

“This is your third day as a Pokémon trainer, and you’re already developing advanced tactics with Emilie. Do you have any idea how many psychic trainers shouted their moves to the heavens in dad’s gym?” May asked.

“Surely-”

“The answer is most of them.” May shut me down. “There are four badge trainers struggling to work out what you’ve pieced together in three days, and hiding in a tree to snipe a close quarters fighter was mean.”

I quickly felt blood rush to my face.

“Uh, that was Emilie’s idea. I lost sight of her for a second, which is something we’ll probably need to work on.” I turned to Emilie. “When you Teleport, kind of shoot me a signal to let me know where you are, okay?” I asked.

Emilie nodded.

“You won, and it wasn’t close, and you’re still picking apart what you did wrong and finding ways to improve. You’re going to be a monster in record time.” My blush got worse. “Seriously, I have the excuse of being the daughter of a gym leader, how are you already this good at battling?” May asked.

“I’m probably getting a lot of mileage out of Emilie just... looking at my ideas as I have them. There’s no guesswork and we can just... go. Psychic attacks are also absurdly flexible. So, combine the fast as thought communication link, Emilie being more advanced than the average Ralts, and my overactive imagination that’s binged anime and my dad’s conference videos enough to make Eve threaten to blow up the TV, and you get... well, that.” I waved my hand out toward the clearing.

“Broken.” May nodded. “When we get to Rustboro, we’re hitting the battle yards and picking on all the other newbie trainers.”

“May, that sounds mean.” I didn’t want to bully people.

“Don’t care. We need income, and I intend to rake in the dough while we’re ahead of everyone else.” May said.

“Really, bakery puns May?”

“That was unintentional. Also, I call dibs on the next trainer.”

***

“Nothing doing, huh?” I frowned as Apollo shook his head.

‘None that would fit what you’re looking for. I assume you want a Lotad that doesn’t just stare blankly into the void as they float atop a pond, right?’ Apollo asked.

“Right.”

‘Then nothing doing, Captain,’ Apollo confirmed.

I sighed.

“Good work all the same.”

“Not interested in a ‘head empty Mon’?” May looked up from Sergei to give me a bit of a glare. “Emilie, your commentary was very rude.” Emilie ignored May and continued to nibble on the cookie I had given her. Suzaku walked toward her and pecked at the cookie, causing it to crumble in Emilie’s hand.

‘ YOU WANNA GO, FEATHER HEAD!’ Emilie screamed.

‘Stop ignoring us. May likes you for some reason, so talk to her when she talks to you.’ Suzaku puffed up her chest, and Emilie groaned.

‘Fine... sorry, May,’ Emilie said.

May nodded after a quick glance at Sergei.

“Has he been cataloguing EVERYTHING we’ve said?” I asked.

May shook her head no.

“Just the highlight reels that Emilie sends his way, so I don’t feel left out. She’s more considerate about that than you are.” May said. She highlighted her point with a glare.

“It’s easier for her to send crap to Sergei than it is for me to translate, and Lotad doesn’t evolve into a fucking dragon, so I kind of want to skip the derpy phase if I can help it.” May raised her hands.

“Meh, I think you’re just picky.”

“Between Emilie and Apollo, I think I have the resources to be a bit picky.” I sighed. “That said, they might be looking for something that doesn’t exist. Lotad usually only become a bit more... active, once they evolve. Guess I have to stop being lazy, huh?” I turned to Apollo. “Just go ahead and take us to the group you found.”

‘Aye, Captain.’

***

“Wow, you were not joking about the thousand-yard stare.” I commented.

Before me floated four Lotad, all of whom hadn’t reacted in the slightest to us entering their habitat. I looked toward Emilie.

‘Anything going on upstairs?’ I asked.

‘They’re hoping we leave without causing a scene. They have a lot more going on up top than Samie, so I don’t think you have to worry about that.’ I stared down at the Lotad as they very slowly raised more of their body out of the pond.

“You sure about that?” I asked.

“Lotad use their leaf as camouflage to protect themselves from predators. They’re probably committed to maintaining the illusion.” May said. I pondered that for a second.

“Alright, look, the jig is up. We know you’re Lotad. You know that we know that you’re Lotad. I just wanted to know if any of you wanted to hang out for an extended period of time. See the world beyond your pond, make new friends, have a steady source of food you don’t have to fight for, that kind of stuff.” Nothing. Not a damn sound. I sighed again.

‘They think you’re a little slow in the head.’ Emilie said with a chuckle.

“Really, I’m the slow one!” I shouted.

Three of the Lotad’s rose a bit higher and fired a moderately weak water gun at my face. Emilie raised her hand, and the water was diverted to the left of us. Fuck these things.

“Emilie, spin cycle,” I said.

Emilie looked in my head in confusion before frowning.

‘I don’t know if I can move that much water. I like the idea though. Maybe... ’ A large bubble formed in the middle of the Lotad before exploding, making a current that pushed them outward. ‘ Huh, that was... easier than I was expecting it to be. Maybe I could have done the spin cycle.’

‘I kind of figured Water would be harder to control than rocks, not easier,’ I said.

Emilie shrugged.

‘It’s malleable. I can push it around a lot easier. Maybe your idea will be easier to put into practice than I thought,’ Emilie said.

I smiled.

‘Good, we’ll need everything we’ve got for Roxanne. Gym leaders are no jo-’

“TAD! Lotad, tad Lotad.” Translation?

‘He thinks we overreacted to his friends’ prank. He also wants a battle for revenge,’ Emilie explained.

“I’d be more than willing to accommodate him, and the only reason it might be an overreaction is the ‘prank’ fucking whiffed,” I said before looking around the pond. “Also, for being your friends, they sure were quick to hightail it out of here and leave you high and dry.”

Lotad halted its glare and looked around the pond.

“Tad?” No response. “TAD!”

‘Yeah, he’s not happy about that,’ Emilie commented.

‘Sometimes your empathy is really helpful, but times like this, I feel like you’re mocking my intelligence by stating the obvious,’ I said.

Emilie didn’t respond.

‘This is the part where you reassure me that’s not the case!’

Still no response.

“TAD!” The Lotad, now refocused on me, rose in challenge.

“So, we’re really doing this, huh? Don’t think I didn’t notice earlier when you said your friends' prank and not our prank. You're the Lotad that didn’t fire.” No response. “I like your moxie, and I'm going to be straight with you. I think you can do WAY better than those losers. If I win our little tussle, I'm liable to throw a poke ball at ya if I win.” I smiled. “You okay with that?” I asked.

More silence, but there was movement. A single nod that brought a smile to my face. Score.

“Apollo, get down here. I think it’s time for your first Pokémon battle,” I shouted.

Apollo dive bombed into the clearing. I smiled as the Lotad didn’t back away in fear at the new arrival.

‘Won’t let ya down, Captain.’ Apollo saluted, and Lotad took that as a signal to lash out with a half dozen small sharp leaves. ‘Oi, watch it,’ Apollo complained.

Apollo rapidly beat his wings to get out of the way. Lotad took this as his chance to dive.

“How good are you underwater?” I asked.

‘Better than most birds. You won’t be able to see to give me commands though,’ Apollo said.

“I trust you to be able to handle yourself. Dive after it and bring it to land,” I ordered.

Apollo sailed across the clearing and dove down. I held my breath for a second before another large water bubble blew up from below the surface. I looked towards Emilie.

‘Don’t look at me. That was all feather head,’ Emilie said.

I nodded before ten more leaves blasted out from the pond. I nervously bit my lip as two more explosions pushed water all over the place until eventually...

Splash.

“TAD!” I spotted my potential teammate get blasted out of the water with an impressive amount of force.

‘Yeah, well screw you and your Kyogre damned leaves.’

I spot Apollo fly out of the pond and winced at the state of his feathers.

“Don’t give it a chance to breathe. Get in close and Peck.” I kicked myself for not working on Aerial Ace before this. That would probably seal the deal right here.

As it was though, this should still hurt like a bitch. Apollo flew towards the dazed Lotad at full speed, and the crack that I heard on impact made me wince in sympathy for the poor little Lotad. I gaped a bit when I saw it struggle back to his feet.

“Lo.” Lotad panted before rearing his head back. He rotated his head and a small seed launched from his lily pad toward Apollo.

‘Really?’ Apollo casually flew over it. ‘I know this looks desperate, but did you really think you could tag me with a Leech Seed of all-Ack.’

I stared confused as vines erupted from a seed that had planted itself into Apollo’s back.

‘I dodged that!’

“Tad!” Lotad said smugly.

I frowned once I realized what had happened. He ricocheted the seed off the tree behind Apollo. The more I watched this Lotad, the more excited I got at the prospect of him being mine.

“We need to wrap this up fast, Apollo. I know you’ll be exhausted after this but Aerial Ace, don’t hold back.” As soon as the words left my mouth, Apollo disappeared and the air around him crackled. Lotad had a split second to look around before my waterfowl slammed into him at full force.

“Taad.” Lotad wheezed and skid a solid ten feet across the ground. He desperately sucked in a few ragged breaths before falling forward, and I jumped at the chance to throw a Poke Ball before Leech seed gave him the strength to stand back up.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Annnnnd...

Click.

My smile probably looked creepy, and I didn’t care.

Said smile slipped off my face rather quickly, though, once I heard a soft thump to my left. Apollo passed out. Again. I sighed before recalling him.

“Nice work. Enjoy your nap.” I spoke into the ball before going over and picking up Lotad’s Poke Ball.

“That looked... way harder than I was expecting,” May commented. “Considering Apollo had a type advantage...”

“Yeah, I really need to work with Apollo more. Granted, half the reason he passed out was because of Aerial Ace. This Lotad really impressed me, that fight was hard.” I turned to smile at May. “Good call about me not hunting for a Lombre. I would’ve gotten my ass kicked.”

“That’s what I’m here for. At any rate, now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, let’s book it back home.”

“Right.”

***

“I think I see the gate,” I shouted, before picking up the pace. “Race ya.”

“Wait!” May whined before sprinting after me. “That’s cheating, you can’t just call for a race and give yourself a head start. Lea, my legs are tired, please slow down.”

May lagged a bit behind, and there were those pesky feelings of guilt again.

“Fine, I’ll-”

“PSYCH. Eat my dust you gullible loser.” And May pushed past in a blistering sprint.

“I...” I sighed. “Ya know what? Fair.” I jogged for a moment before giving up. She can have the win; I don’t feel like running.

‘Giving up that easily?’ Emilie asked.

‘I have added weight I have to deal with,’ I pointed out.

Emilie glared at me.

“...not what I was expecting.” An unfamiliar voice put me on edge, and I rushed forward to see what I assumed was a trainer blocking the gate.

“Excuse me?” Uh-oh, May sounded angry. I needed to defuse this before things escalated. I put myself in between them and stuck my hand out.

“Hi, there. I’m Lea, what’s your name,” I said.

He moved around me and stared at May again.

“I said that you aren’t what I was expecting.” Did he ignore me? This ass hat just ignored me, didn’t he?

‘He did.’ Emilie nodded from my shoulder. The nerve of this man.

“I would have thought that the daughter of a gym leader and one of my fellow sponsors would be a bit more impressive, but you're kind of just... a girl.”

May moved to walk around him, but Ass Hat moved to get in her way. I could see May’s fist start to shake, and before I could say anything.

“Fucking move, you dipshit!” May shoved her fist into Ass Hat’s jaw, and he went flying across the clearing. May brushed her knuckles a bit before glaring down at Ass Hat.

“Look, I just spent all day exploring Route 103 with my best friend. I’m tired, my feet are sore, and I haven’t eaten real food since this morning. Please put whatever dramatic shounen rival bullshit your brain is peddling on the back burner and stay the FUCK DOWN.” May shouted before marching through the gate.

I stared at the scene in awe.

‘That was glorious...’ Emilie said.

I nodded before looking at the kid that was slowly pulling himself up from the ground.

“Well, that didn’t go according to plan.” He rubbed his jaw as he looked towards where May had walked. I turned towards Emilie, who nodded.

He DID say that he was one of Birch’s trainers, after all.

“Oi, Ass Hat.” He finally looked my way, and I had to bite back a laugh at how terrified he was right now. That punch must have really shaken him. His fear slowly shifted to rage once he recognized the insult.

“My name is Brendan. Brendan Birch.” Oh, good. Not only is he an ass hat, but he’s an ass hat with a fancy last name. I think I like Ass Hat better. “Look, I don’t have time to square off against your pack of Zigzagoon, so buzz off.” My eyes widened in realization. This was the prick that bullied Calvin!

“Nah, I think Emilie and I would have more fun giving you an attitude adjustment. I’ll even throw in the witty shounen trash talk that May shut you down on,” I said.

Emilie teleported down and lifted her arm towards Ass Hat in challenge.

“Let’s see, if I’m getting my tropes right, this would be the part where I tell you you’ll never win, and the power of friendship will see me through the day and blah blah-blah blah blah-blah-blah. There, gotten your fix? Can I move on to kicking your Pokémon's ass?” I think I saw a blood vessel twitch above his right eye. Ass hat pulled out a poke ball.

“Background characters really should know their place.” Oh good! He was leaning into the bit.

“Kip.” Mudkip stared up at me, tilted its head, and smiled.

I tried.

I tried really hard.

“Legends above, you are so adorable!” I just couldn’t. “You are the most adorable creature on the face of the earth.” I rushed forward and snatched what was easily a gift to the rest of humanity into a hug.

“What the- Oi, put her down.” Ignoring you right now.

“Kip!”

“You are so precious, how can something so adorable belong to someone so rude? How can he be grumpy when he has a precious little guy like you around? Who’s an adorable little water type? You are, yes you are.”

‘Lea... please... we were so cool... and now we’re not...’ Emilie whined in my head.

“Mud.” A single shot of water blasted my face. “Kip.” I hacked and sputtered a few times as Mudkip jumped out of my grip.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ass hat screamed.

‘So many things.’ Emilie said. Rude. What were we doing? ‘Ass hat.’

‘I have higher standards than that, Emilie.’

‘For fucks sake, get your head in the game. We have a Pokémon battle to win, ’ Emilie complained.

I blushed before staring back towards...

“Who are you again?” I asked.

“That’s it, I'm done. Mudkip, water gun. I don’t care what you aim at, please make her stop talking.” Thankfully, the Mudkip took that as the go ahead to attack Emilie and not me.

‘Emilie, Disengage,’ I ordered.

Emilie teleported and my mind dragged my attention to the top of the gate.

‘Thanks for the heads up, sweetie. Go ahead and start target practice.’ Four stones rose up from the ground and rapidly made their way towards Mudkip. I quickly made my way further back down the path to stay out of the way.

“Mudkip, dodge and keep an eye out. Blast her with a water gun the second you see where she went,” Ass Hat ordered.

Mudkip nodded, took a single stone to the face, and avoided the other three.

‘I have an idea. How well do you think you can stop Mudkip’s attack if it fires at you from range?’ I asked.

Emilie thought for a bit and smiled as she peeped into my head.

‘That’s mean. I approve.’

Emilie pulled three rocks towards herself and ricocheted them out towards Mudkip. Mudkip jumped over two rocks and skidded to avoid the third. Damn, this Mudkip was fast. I smiled as Mudkip followed the latter half of Ass Hat’s older orders. The water gun came out fast, and the pressure was a bit more than I was expecting, but thankfully...

“Ack, Mudkip. Stop.” She didn’t have to divert it by that much.

“Aw, we match. Now we’re both drenched.”

He sputtered a few more times before glaring at me.

“What the hell is with you?! You haven’t given a single order. Do you just let you mon do all the work for you?” Ass Hat asked.

“Oh, I’ve given plenty of orders.” I smirked. ‘Emilie, would it be possible to make my eyes look like they’re glowing?’ I asked.

‘Should be easy enough. You might get a small headache, though. A very mild confusion should give the effect you’re looking for. Intimidation?’ Emilie asked.

‘Intimidation,’ I confirmed.

Ass Hat reeled back.

“Wh- What the hell?” Ass Hat sputtered.

I’m sure the evil smile wasn’t doing anything but sell the look.

“You just can’t hear them,” I said malevolently.

“Mudkip, get in close.” No, I don’t think you... holy shit that’s fast. “Tackle.”

‘Teleport.’ And safe. My mind pulled my field of view to the left. ‘Think you can do a trial run of the gym here?’ Emilie stopped and focused.

‘I... think it’s doable, but he’ll probably need to-’

“Water gun, full power.” Ass Hat ordered. A massive cascade got launched from Mudkip’s mouth, and I idly wondered if my best friend got conned. Suzaku’s Ember was nowhere near this impressive.

‘Do that.’ Emilie finished her earlier thought.

‘Dodge to the left and try and catch the water in the air as it passes. Make it your own.’

And just as I drew it up, things just started to click. The water sailed harmlessly past Emilie before snapping around. Brendan’s eyes widened as he saw it get slung around by Emilie’s confusion.

“Dodge!” There’s nothing to dodge yet, moron. Instead of sending it back, Emilie started molding the water. A see-through liquid vest appeared around Emilie, acting as a shield before Emilie thrust both of her arms out.

Two tentacle appendages shot out of the dome. The armor wasn’t... pretty, but it was functional.

“What the...” Apparently, Brendan didn’t know what to make of Emilie’s battle armor either.

‘Now then, Emilie, make your namesake proud.’

‘Oui, mon cherie.’ Emilie charged forward, carrying the water with her as she went, and raised one of the fists above her head.

“Mudkip, Water gun, rapid fire. Break that... thing, down.” Ass Hat ordered.

Mudkip frantically shot as many streams as it could, but unfortunately for him, the armor slowed the streams down enough so that Emilie could pull the extra water into the shell. The overhead fist got bigger, and the whole beast towered over Mudkip as Emilie got closer.

‘Whoa, that’s a head rush. This is... little hard to control...’

‘Emilie, you alright?’ I asked, worry creeping into my mind for the first time in the fight.

“Get out of there!” Whatever difficulties Emilie was having didn’t translate too much into the attack, at least. The Mudkip darted to the left, but it didn’t matter. The water swept across the ground in a wide, sweeping arc and slammed into the Mudkip with an audible crack. The fist exploded on contact and the poor little Pokémon was sent hurtling towards the tree line. The bark of the tree cracked on impact, and Mudkip slowly skidded down the trunk.

‘Sorry, I had to... really focus... also I'm tired. Please tell me it’s down,’ Emilie said.

Staring across the field, I smirked. Mudkip was out of it, both eyes shut. Ass hat sighed and raised his poke ball.

“Mudkip, return.”

‘Alright, we won.’ Emilie knelt and put a hand on her knee to support herself. ‘Woooo.’ She fell backwards in exhaustion.

“How long have you been a trainer?” Ass hat asked. He didn’t even offer a handshake, legends above this prick was rude.

“Three days.”

“Tauros shit!” I reared back at the amount of anger he threw my way. “There’s no way in hell you’re doing stuff like that after three days on the road. If you think I'm going to cough up any of my money to this little hustle you’ve got going on, you’re out of-”

“Is everything alright here?”

I turned towards the town gate and noticed Norman giving Ass Hat the look of a disappointed parent. I looked around and noticed that May was nowhere to be seen, and I frowned. Guess I took a little longer than I thought.

“He lost, and now he’s being a sore loser,” I said.

Ass hat turned to yell at me, but Norman cut him off.

“I heard the latter half of your tantrum from the road. I took Lea out to get her starter three days ago, so unless you think the gym leader of Petalburg city is out to scam you out of your pocket change, pay the girl her winnings, and move on. I believe the going rate at this level is the price of a poke ball.” Ass hat aggressively grabbed a few notes from his pocket, threw them at me, and stalked off into the city.

‘His name is Brendan,’ Emilie said tiredly.

‘I know, I just don’t think I can bring myself to care.’

Emilie chuckled before lifting her arms up.

‘I wasn’t kidding earlier, either return me or carry me. I’m spent,’ Emilie said.

I walked over and picked her up.

“Everything alright? May said she stalked off from someone at the gate and kind of left you behind. Sorry about that, by the way,” Norman said. I waved him off.

“Don’t be, I challenged him. Guy was a dick and I wanted to teach him a lesson.” I frowned as I looked down the road toward my house. “Should I head back with you or just go home?”

“I think I'd recommend hitting up a Pokémon center, first,” Norman said.

I winced. Yeah, that was probably wise.

“I think we can talk tomorrow.” Norman gave me a look.

Now I was getting the disappointed dad stare. What’d I do?

“And there will be a talk. Specifically, about hanging around an area with dangerous looking men when you’ve been on the road for two days,” Norman said.

I winced. Ah. That’s what I did. Got it.

“Right... guess I'll hang out with Sis, then. Think you could walk me to the center? All three of my teammates are spent.”

Now Norman looked me over with interest.

“Three Pokémon already? I hope you know I can’t take in any extras. Once you hit six, you’re done till you have your carry license.” Norman said. I nodded.

“I know, I know. I only planned on one, but Emilie more or less demanded that I catch Apollo, that’s my Wingull. He fought Lotad to an almost draw and I captured him about...” I looked up at the sun as we walked along the sidewalk, already missing Sergei. “I want to say four hours ago. May got to fight most of the mons that attacked us along the route. I’m sure Suzaku and Samie had a blast.”

“You managed to get May to name her Pokémon.” Norman laughed. “I’m going to assume Suzaku is Torchic, but who’s Samie?”

“That would be telling.” I turned the corner and spotted the center. “She can tell you all about it herself. I’m not going to take that from her,” I said, smiling at the gym leader.

I stopped in front of the center doors and turned to face Norman.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell May that I finished what she started for her. Ass Hat had it coming.”

“How has the road made your language this bad. You’ve been gone for three days. You’re lucky I’m the cool parent, Caroline would be reading you the riot act right now.”

Oh, right. Cursing in front of Norman probably wasn’t a good idea. Why... right. My ability to feel fear is turned off. Moma Caroline literally can’t terrify me as much as she probably should.

‘If I try to curse tomorrow, stop me. I’m being less careful than I should be. I really don’t want the soap treatment again,’ I said.

Emilie nodded.

“I’ll pass the message along, thanks for sticking up for her, I guess.” Norman waved as he left.

Trust me, Norman. She did not need stuck up for. I did that for funsies.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” He walked off. I turned around and went through the double doors.

“Hello, welcome. Would you like a room for the night?” Nurse Joy asked.

I thought about it for a long bit, before shaking my head. I didn’t know if Eve would even be home right now, but I wanted to check in and show off the team. I could let myself in if I had to.

“Nah, just need to fix up the team.” I returned Emilie and placed all three balls on the counter. “I’ve got a place to stay.”

Chapter Text

I twisted the key and slowly slinked my way inside the house, careful not to make too much noise. I had both Apollo and Emilie out, and both were chilling out on my shoulders. There were still a few lights on in the house, so I was hoping that Eve was still awake.

“Hello?” No response.

I walked toward the living room, and gasped at the mess of papers that were thrown all over the table. I spotted Eve on the couch, sleeping, with an open file that looked like an application from... Caroline? Neat. I felt bad for waking her, but sleeping on the couch was always a surefire way to have a grumpy Eve, and not telling her I'm home would probably be a bad idea.

“Eve, wake up.” I patted her twice and she all but fell off the couch.

She pulled herself up, mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t hear, and turned to stare at the pair of Pokémon on my shoulders.

Next thing I know I'm getting crushed in a bear hug.

“I missed you. I didn’t realize how much I was going to miss you until you were gone,” she murmured into my ear.

Apollo hopped down before I got grabbed, and Emilie teleported herself to the couch and leaned back.

“Use May’s phone to call me more, or I might actually go insane. This house is creepy at night if I'm the only one in it,” Eve said as she pulled back from the hug.

I smiled back.

“I’ll call you more, don’t worry. I kind of forgot. The last three days have been...” Hectic, chaotic, “Wonderful. Busy, but Wonderful, and I got caught up in it.”

Eve looked at me expectantly, motioning towards Emilie.

“Oh, right, duh. This is Emilie, my starter, and the scariest Ralts on Route 102, and this is Apollo, the scariest Wingull on route 103.” Both of them preened.

“I’m noticing a trend.” Eve smiled at Emilie as she waved. “Nice to meet you both,” she said.

Emilie cautiously waved back, and I noticed that Eve still hadn’t let go of me.

“I have an as of yet unnamed Lotad, but I just caught him, and I don’t feel comfortable letting him out in the house. I need to figure out how... chill, he’s going to be,” I said, shifting in place awkwardly. I wasn’t used to Eve being this... touchy feely. It was odd.

“Is it normal to have three Pokémon so soon?” Eve asked.

I shrugged.

“I don’t really know, though I'm probably going to be very selective with the next three.” I scowled. “Stupid capture limit. I know why it exists, but it’s still annoying. I see the hunt for a new co-worker goes well.” I tapped Caroline's resume. “Hire her. She’d probably do a better job than me.”

“I know... it’s just. It feels weird hiring someone who’s basically my second mom.” She sighed. “I’ll give her a call after you leave. I know I need help. The last few days have highlighted that.”

I frowned.

“Do I-”

“No.” Eve firmly shut me down. “Now then, you’re probably tired, and I know I'm exhausted. We can talk more tomorrow,” Eve said, finally letting me go from the earlier hug.

Eve got up, and I started moving towards my bedroom. Emilie followed, but Apollo flew towards the window.

‘Think you can open this for me, cap? I think I'd like to sleep under the stars,’ Apollo said.

I nodded before letting him out. Eve looked at me with a perplexed look on her face.

“He likes sleeping outside, don’t ask me. Night,” I said, rushing out of the living room before she could ask another question.

“Feeling up to working on my Mind Bakery?” I asked.

‘Sure. That’s not terribly taxing. It might even go faster now that you’ve gotten a base line.’

I sighed before sitting on the bed.

“Let’s tackle Eve, tonight.”

Emilie groaned before teleporting in front of me.

‘Scratch that going faster part. Alright, you know the drill. Close your eyes...’

***

People can change.

I rubbed the crust out of my eyes and sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror. I had dark circles under both of my eyes, my hair was fucked up to hell and back, and I stunk.

God, I hate mornings. Normal mornings are ass, but after last night? Where I was doing good to get a couple hours after my session with Emilie?

People can change.

I found the fucking downside of organizing my mind. It makes you look at things on a scale, as opposed to in sequence. All the bad memories from when I was a kid just... stacked up. Eve is way better now. Hell, she’s being super supportive of me, despite the fact that she’s not the biggest fan of trainers, and the last few years have been mostly good.

So why does everything feel extra shitty right now?

It’s like the worst parts all happened yesterday, and they’re drowning out the good. They’re silencing the reasonable part of my brain and making me just... feel what I felt back then.

People can change. Eve’s changed. I’ve changed. Just... breathe...

Hopefully a shower will make this easier.

***

Eve made pancakes.

“Now you’re just spoiling me.” I smiled awkwardly and sat down.

“I didn’t really know what to make your Pokémon, so I kind of just... grabbed a bag of Pokémon food from your pack. Hope that was okay.” Eve looked at my Pokémon and bit her lower lip.

I still hadn’t let Lotad out, but he had gotten some grub at the center. That said, with the way Emilie was looking at the plate, he wasn’t missing much. I needed to work on some nutritious recipes for Pokémon. Maybe Caroline would have a few tips.

I’m thinking of going to Caroline for advice. Legends above my emotions are fucked up.

‘Please do. Your cookies make this look and taste like garbage,’ Emilie said.

‘Well, if you ate nothing but my cookies, I wouldn’t be able to carry you on my shoulder anymore. You’d end up rounder than a poke ball,’ I pointed out.

‘I am not countering that point. I am stating that I know you can do better than this.’ Emilie said, shoving a bite into her mouth and making a concerted effort to chew and swallow as fast as possible.

‘I don’t know, lass. S’not that bad. Granted, I'm used to far worse. All fish Pokémon taste the damn same, and after a while out at sea, well, you enjoy it when you’re not forced to eat the same thing every day.’ I smiled at Apollo before taking a bite and legends above these are so good.

“Uh... Lea? You alright? You’ve been kind of quiet.” Eve said, shifting in her seat and looking away. “Are they good?”

“Oh, sorry. I guess I should explain, huh? Emilie and I can talk to each other telepathically, and through her, I get to have conversations with the rest of the Pokémon in our group. It’s helpful, but uh... I kind of forget that other people can’t hear us,” I explained.

Eve looked towards Emilie.

“Well, why can’t she just add me? We can all hang out in your cavernous skull,” Eve said with a grin.

I glared.

“Uh, I mean-”

“Unfortunately, Emilie is somewhat limited in who she can form a connection with. She can talk with other Pokémon if they let her, and I'm a bit of a special case, but other humans are... a bit out of her range. She can pick up surface thoughts, but she can’t talk or establish a dialogue like she can with me,” I explained.

“Huh. Any clue why you’re so special?” She coulda phrased that better. “Uh, not to say that... you know what, forget it,” Eve said, looking down and playing with some of the pancakes on her plate with a frown.

‘Wait, I didn’t say that our loud, did I?’ I asked.

‘You didn’t. Your sister just heard how her question sounded. ’ See, brain? She’s better!

“Don’t worry about it. No, I don’t know why I can talk to Emilie so easily.” Liar. Eve would read you the riot act if she knew how big of a liar you were being right now. It’d be just like...

Shut up. Stop thinking about shit that happened thirteen fucking years ago.

‘Emilie, if I start falling into that trap again, fucking pull me out of it,’ I ordered.

‘Best way to deal with stuff like this is to talk about it, remember?’ Emilie said, choking down another pellet.

‘I am NOT talking to my sister about this. You can fucking forget that,’ I snarled.

Emilie leaned away from me. I winced.

‘Sorry, that was... rude. Eve’s... not the best at emotions.’

‘Neither are you.’ Emilie pointed out. ‘She’s looking at you again, by the way.’

I looked up from my plate and met my sister’s eyes.

“You do that a lot, don’t you? Just stare off into space and talk to Emilie for a bit?” Well, the first half of that was banishing the random thoughts of how shit my childhood was so thanks-

‘Snap out of it,’ Emilie ordered.

Right, right. Calm down.

“Sorry. Norman says I'll get better at avoiding the tunnel vision. It just takes practice. Once Emilie evolves, she’ll be able to reach out to other people, so that’ll also help.”

Eve laughed.

“Speaking of, I got a call from him. He wants you to meet up with him and May at the gym later,” Eve said.

“Any idea what about?” I asked, knowing full well what it was about.

“Nope, just said he wanted to see you.”

I stared down at my plate and bit my lower lip.

“So how annoyed does May get when you zone out on her?” Eve asked.

“Oh, she hates it. We’ve kind of found a workaround for when we’re together though. Emilie can communicate with Sergei, May’s Rotom phone, and Sergei can just... post our thoughts to a group chat.”

“That’s good, at least.” And the conversation died again. I took another bite of pancake.

‘I want you to know that your training sucks.’ I told Emilie. ‘I can’t even have a normal conversation with my sister.’

‘You weren’t complaining when we relived May’s memories,’ Emilie said. ‘Look, I know it’s hard right now, but... your sister loves you. I can feel it, and I know you love her. Just... focus on that feeling. That’ll help.’

I nodded before looking up towards Eve. She was pushing her pancakes around on her plate again. She always played with her food when she was nervous.

Legends above we’re a mess. Fuck this. I’m only going to be in town for a little bit. I want to spend time with my sister, childhood memories be damned.

“Do you want to come with me when I go to the Gym today?” I asked.

Eve winced.

“Can’t, I’m still playing catch up, I can’t afford to have the bakery be closed,” Eve replied.

Nope. You are not hiding out in the bakery all day. We are going to spend time together and you are going to like it.

“Just come for a bit, you can tell Norman that Caroline has the job if she wants it and tell her to show up tomorrow. Two sets of hands can get a lot more done than one.” She was caving, just one more strike. “Pleeeease?” I gave her my best Growlithe eyes.

“Alright fine,” Eve said. Yeah, still got it.

“I’ll even introduce you to Lotad once we’re there.” Hopefully he won’t be too annoyed that I've kept him cooped up in either a center or a poke ball for so long.

***

Lotad was ignoring me.

“Look, I’m sorry, but we just got back into town, and I got busy with family stuff, and I didn’t know how chill you would have been in my house, and you’re not really listening to me.” Lotad was making it a point to turn away from me as I talked, but I kept moving to keep myself in view. “Give me another chance, come on.” I was really starting to feel dizzy.

“...tad...” And so was Lotad apparently. He collapsed in a heap and his eyes were spinning.

‘He’s playing up his ‘anger’ to milk sympathy points,’ Emilie said.

“TAD!”

‘And I accidently said that to the group and not just you.’

“Tad! Tad lo lotad.”

‘I am not a narc,’ Emilie shouted. I stopped to think about the last few days.

‘...you kind of are.’ I said through the link.

Emilie clutched her heart.

‘I’m torn. I usually dislike narcs on principle but being the one getting tattled to feels... kind of nice.’

“You’re doing it again.” Eve poked me. “Don’t forget you need to engage with humans too.”

“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” May commiserated. “It’s even worse when she does it in the middle of a conversation. We’ll just be talking about something random and then she’ll suddenly look away and not say anything for five minutes. That’s just rude.”

I sputtered as I failed to think of a proper defense for my actions.

“Now then, did that conversation get documented?” May pulled up the group chat. “It DID! Lotad, that’s sneaky, but unnecessary, Lea caves to everything. Emilie, don’t suck up to Lea so much. Lea, if you go mad with power, I'm dying your hair green.”

“...bet,” I said.

“Tad.”

‘But she has cookies,’ Emilie complained.

May clicked through the two new pings before staring at me like I was deranged.

“Bet? What do you mean ‘bet’!?” May asked.

“Green hair might look cool. Plus, Emilie and I will match! It’s not like my blue hair is any less out there. Green might be fun!” I said.

“I’m best friends with a fashion disaster,” May complained, shaking her head.

“Was this what you were like on the road?” Eve asked as we walked into the gym.

“What do you mean?” May and I both responded at the same time.

“Never mind." Eve pushed past both of us. May and I looked at each other before chasing after her.

“So, why exactly are we meeting up here?” I asked.

“Dad said he wants our help with something,” May replied.

“We’ve been trainers for three days, how much help can we be?” I asked.

May shrugged and I sighed. I waved at Norman’s receptionist as we walked by.

“Where’s Apollo, by the way?” May asked as we went through the first trainer room.

“He wanted to explore the town while we were here. Take in the many illustrious sights Petalburg has to offer,” I said. May snorted.

“Gonna be a short trip.” May commented. Second trainer room.

“Seriously.” Eve agreed. Third room, God why does Norman have so many of these. “So, why doesn’t Lotad have a name? Your other Pokémon have names.”

“I haven’t really gotten around to it yet.” Fourth trainer room. I really wasn’t looking forward to this gauntlet when we came back. “Lotad.” The little guy looked up from the ground to stare at me. “Would you like a nickname?”

“Lotad. Lo Tad.”

‘He doesn’t care as long as it’s not stupid.’ Emilie said.

“As a heads-up little guy, just think what you want to say at Emilie. I can’t understand you, and it’ll make life easier for May and Sergei,” I said.

Lotad nodded and I thought for a minute.

“Would Joern be an okay name?” I asked.

Lotad nodded once. I smiled before resuming a leisurely walk to the next, and hopefully final, door.

“Alright, Emilie, Apollo and Joern. I have no clue what the theme is supposed to be, but whatever works.” Eve smiled before opening the door to the primary stadium.

The field was basic. No rocks to hide behind, no rivers or streams to swim in, just a massive field with a white border and a poke ball in the middle.

I’m starting to wonder if training nothing but Normal-types for years has screwed up Norman’s ability to be interesting.

Norman was on the other side of the arena, talking to a skinny kid with green- was that Wally?!

“Please, Mr. Maple. I know I don’t look like much, but I... I really want-” Yup, that’s Wally. I’d recognize that coughing fit anywhere. What the hell is he doing here?

‘Who’s Wally?’ Emilie asked.

‘Wally stopped by the bakery often enough that I had a decent rapport with him. He was one of the few people that listened to me when I rambled on about Pokémon. We’d commiserate over our inability to leave home.’ I replied. ‘Guess he wants to strike it out on his own. Good for him.’

‘He sounds like he’s dying.’ Emilie said.

‘He’s got asthma. Really bad.’

“Wally, this is half the reason why your family is so concerned about this,” Norman said as Wally pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath. “This interest in catching a Pokémon seems recent, and your health has been getting worse, not better. I don’t feel comfortable sending you out on your own.”

“But getting out of the city WOULD be helping. Please, Mr. Maple-” Norman raised his hand and Wally stopped talking.

“Calling Petalburg a city has always been a bit of a stretch. The air here isn’t that different to the air on the routes. What if you have an attack while you’re fighting a wild Pokémon?” Norman shook his head. “It’s just too dangerous to send you out on your own. I can’t-”

“Why am I the only one not allowed to make decisions about my life!” Wally shouted. I moved to walk forward and back Wally up but May grabbed my arm and pulled me close enough so that she could whisper in my ear.

“Dad has a plan. Just let this play out for now,” May whispered.

“You sure about that?” I whispered back.

“I’m not saying you can’t leave-”

“You’re just telling me you won’t help me.” Wally interrupted. “I’ll go on the damn route and find myself a partner if I have to.”

"That, however, I can’t allow.” Norman said, his eyes hardened as he stared down at Wally. “It’s far too dangerous to go out there without a Pokémon.”

“Then do your job as the gym leader here and help me get my start-” Wally cut himself off with another coughing fit. He pulled out his inhaler again. Norman got up to help, but Wally backed away.

“Look, Wally... just tell me why you need to go now, alright. You’ve been pounding on our doors for the last three days about this. What brought this on?”

Three days? I... really? Emilie laughed. Wally looked away from Norman.

“I... want to go on a journey,” Wally said.

‘THAT sounds familiar,’ Emilie said.

“I don’t leave the house that often... but I always managed to convince my parents to let me go to the bakery. It’s just a short trip, Mom. I’ll be fine. I just want to grab some muffins for breakfast tomorrow.”

Blueberry, Apple Cinnamon, and Chocolate Chip.

“The clerk there, Lea. She’d always have our order ready for us. We’d always spend a bit of time talking. Sometimes it was about the weather, or something stupid my dad did. She complained about her sister sometimes or talked about a show she was watching. Just mindless stuff, really,” Wally said.

Eve glared at me a bit. I looked away bashfully.

“Sometimes she’d talk about her dad, or Pokémon. I think it varied with her mood, but I always liked talking to her,” Wally finished.

“Sounds like a good friendship,” Norman commented.

“It was close enough, I guess.” Wally said. “I noticed she was really depressed the last couple of weeks. Our conversations got shorter.”

Now Eve looked away.

“I asked her about it, and she said her birthday was coming up. She was turning seventeen soon. I was confused at first, usually people are pretty happy about birthdays.” I winced. “She told me not to worry about it and handed me my muffins,” Wally said, looking down.

Norman laughed.

“Yeah, that sounds like Lea.” What the hell was that supposed to mean, Norman?

‘Nothing, hon, calm down,’ Emilie said.

“Three days ago, I went into the bakery, and for the first time in a long while, I talked to Eve.” Wally looked down. “Lea left home with you and May, right?”

Norman nodded.

“She was quite excited. Are you trying to follow her?” Norman asked.

Wally shook his head no.

“She just inspired me to leave. It was a wakeup call.” Wally looked up at Norman. “I’ve wanted to leave home for a long time. I just always told myself I couldn’t. I think I've had every fear you’ve shouted at me at least once. When I left the bakery three days ago, I realized I was more afraid of spending the rest of my life in this town. I will be leaving. One way or another.”

Norman sighed.

“Guess I can’t really argue with that, now can I.” Yes!

‘Don’t think so loud,’ Emilie complained. ‘Are you crying?’

‘Shut up! I’m not used to stuff like this!’

“I know I'm not physically fit to go on a full journey right now, but I can be. My uncle’s been trying to get me to come down to Verdunturf for months. I know it’s not quite the full trainer experience, but... it’s something.” Wally said.

“Verdunturf Town, huh?” Norman asked.

“Yes, sir.” Wally nodded. “The air around Verdunturf is much better. They say the fields give the air an almost healing quality, thanks to the Roselia that live nearby. Maybe they’ll help me get well enough to make a proper run of Hoenn, maybe they won’t, but I... please, sir.”

Norman peered down at Wally.

“The journey to Verdunturf isn’t easy. Petalburg Woods is a rather daunting task, and Rustboro will not be kind to you. I don’t think you can tackle that on your own as a new trainer.” Wally shrunk down more and more as Norman continued to talk. “Furthermore, I will not be able to take time off from work to help you catch a starter. I’ve got a large amount of work to catch up on, and more than a few challengers to face in the days to come. I can’t get away from the gym.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“I understa-”

“However, I do have something else lined up, if you’re willing.” Norman smiled before lifting his head up and smiling our way. “Assuming they agree to it, I’m sure May and Lea would be happy to help you. Say hello girls.”

Wally whipped around and stared at the two of us in a mix of fear, happiness, and embarrassment. He opened and closed his mouth several times before blushing bright red and looking away.

“Hi Wally.” I waved awkwardly. “I guess we’re helping you catch your starter.”

May sighed.

***

“We’re on Route 102. Again,” I deadpanned.

“I really am grateful for this.” Wally simpered.

I didn’t care. I was busy giving May a glare that would make Eve proud.

“We’re on Route 102, for the third time in three days. Why couldn’t we find him something on Route 104?”

May ignored me. This was payback for spacing out with Emilie so much, wasn’t it?

“I’m tired of this Route, May. It’s boring, long, and filled with obnoxious Zigzagoon,” I complained, and May continued to ignore me with a smile on her face.

As if to prove my point, two of the little bastards hopped out of the bush and growled at us.

“For fucks sake. Apollo, Joern, Water Gun. Emilie, Confusion,” I ordered.

All three of them looked about as done with the species as I was. The two Water Guns ran parallel to each other at first, but the Confusion melded the attacks into a massive water ball that moved about twice as fast. The attack impacted the ground in front of the Zigzagoon and a massive water shockwave blasted them into the tree line. All four of us stared, mouths agape, at the carnage we had just unleashed.

“They did not deserve that,” May commented.

I didn’t even respond. I just whipped out a notepad and wrote down the combo attack as something to work on later. It wasn’t something I could ever use in a gym battle, but that was still too cool to not make a note of. Hmm... but what to name it...

“That was SO COOL!” Wally practically shouted. Almost right in my ear too. Why is everyone trying to give me hearing damage? “I’ve never seen a water attack do that before.”

“I’m pretty sure the water explosion was Emilie’s confusion reacting weirdly with the water guns,” I said aloud. “I wonder how something like that would stack up to a stronger water attack.”

“So, your Ralts caused that?” Wally gave Emilie an awed look before looking at the route with a renewed sense of purpose. “I think I know what I want to catch. Er... well, have you catch. If you don’t mind, that is...”

Huh, I think Emilie just got a fan boy.

‘I like him.’ Emilie said.

‘Of course you like him,’ I replied.

‘I will not have you bad mouthing my fan base.’ Emilie glared at me.

‘You don’t have a fan base. You have a fan. Singular.’ I complained.

‘For now.’ Emilie said, a cocky grin on her face. I sighed before turning back to Wally.

“Well, at least you have good taste. Granted, that’s going to make finding your starter a pain in the ass.” I sighed before telling Apollo to scout the area. “Also, I got lucky. Emilie is probably a bit stronger than the average Ralts around here. You might have to work at it a bit to get your starter up to snuff.”

‘Is it really luck when you consider what all you had to go through to get me?’ Emilie probed. I smiled.

‘It’s closer, but I’d still say yes,’ I replied. Emilie blushed and turned away.

“I don’t mind,” Wally confirmed.

‘Apollo found something.’ Emilie said after Wally’s confirmation.

‘Wow, that was quick. I thought you all were supposed to be rare finds out here.’ I said, eyebrow raised.

‘W e are. I’m surprised he found... oh, not that idiot. I’m telling Apollo to keep looking. Wally can do better than this goofball.’ A sour look crossed Emilie’s features.

‘No, we’re catching this Ralts and we’re blazing a path through Petalburg Woods. I want to get this done and over with so I can square off against a gym leader. Oh, that fight is going to be so cool!’ I paused. ‘After saying goodbye to Eve, of course.’

‘Of course,’ Emilie sarcastically barbed. ‘Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

“Alright, Apollo’s found something. Let’s go get Wally his starter.” I ran into the field.

“Hey, wait for me,” May screamed.

“Wait, oh god, I hate running.”

I Ignored them both and sprinted to the area Apollo was circling.

‘What do ya think, Joern. Up for your first battle?’ No response, I looked down and noticed my new teammate was nowhere to be seen. ‘What the?’

‘Joern didn’t feel the need to rush. He also says sure,’ Emilie said.

I slowed down to a brisk walk.

‘Don’t suppose you could just teleport him to us, huh?’ I asked. Emilie scrunched her face up in disgust.

‘I’m not even going to attempt group teleportation again until I've evolved. You can be patient for once in your life,’ Emilie said.

‘But I don’t want to, ’ I whined.

‘Hark, do mine eyes deceive me, or has my noble maiden graced me with her presence once more.’ This new voice was rather different from the voice I was used to, and that fact immediately made me scan the area.

‘Trust me, it’s not by choice, you deranged whack job,’ Emilie shouted. It took me a second to realize that I was getting secondhand telepathy again.

‘Nay, I believe it to be divine providence. The gods saw fit to let us meet once more.’

Ah, so they knew each other, and this new guy was hammy enough to give Apollo’s sailor routine a run for his money.

‘But what’s this. You appear to have gained a new company since I’ve last had the good fortune to gaze upon your breathtaking visage. Hello, my lady. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Sir Gawain, a knight of the realm, at your service. ’

I couldn’t hold it in anymore and I just started laughing.

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I needed that. I’m Lea, I see you already know Emilie, the Wingull flying overhead is Apollo, and...’ Joern slowly walked into the clearing, followed by two very irate trainers. ‘This is Joern, the Lotad, May, my best friend, and Wally, my charge.’

‘Please don’t encourage him,’ Emilie begged

‘How the hell can I not?’ I asked. ‘I have been tasked with finding a partner for my charge. Though his body has failed him, his spirit remains unbroken, and he seeks adventure beyond his humble hamlet. He stood before his liege lord’s judgment and was found to have the drive to venture forth. I believe you to be an excellent choice.’ Oh, this was fun.

‘Please stop,’ Emilie begged.

‘Never.’ I replied.

‘Hmm... I see the boy’s heart is in the right place, but there is a sliver of doubt. I am unsure if this is the liege lord I have sought. You say this squire is your charge?’ Sir Gawain asked, staring down in thought. ‘Might I see this lad’s resolve for myself. Nothing dangerous, just a test of valor. I’m sure anyone who has earned Lady Emilie’s loyalty is someone that I can trust, but as a knight of the realm, I must be sure that my liege lord is someone of impeccable virtue.’

I turned towards Joern.

‘I don’t mind not fighting the Chunni,’ Joern said.

‘Emilie, stop teaching the new captures human insults,’ I ordered. Emilie looked anywhere but my face and I turned back to Sir Gawain.

‘Stop saying Sir in your head. This whack job is not a knight. He has never been a knight. He’s probably never going to be a knight,’ Emilie seethed.

“Hope you weren’t set on a name, cause this one comes with one. Sir Gawain would like to test you, Wally. Nothing dangerous but pass muster and he’ll be your partner,” I explained.

“Oh, uh... sure. I’ll give it a shot,” Wally said.

May looked up from Sergei and gave me a look. I smiled back and waved, and she just pinched the bridge of her nose.

‘Hmm... let’s see. Ah, your charge isn’t as adept as you in the mind arts. That makes this a bit difficult, but still doable.’

Adept?

‘I’m doing my job and shielding your mind. He’s only picking up what you want him to hear. To the wannabe knight, you look like a budding psychic. Considering the fact that I'm training you in the psychic arts, he’s not actually that far off,’ Emilie explained. Huh, neat.

Gawain disappeared in a flash, before reforming on Wally’s shoulder.

“What the-” Wally cut himself off as Gawain put his hand on Wally’s head.

‘Now then, Lady Lea, would you mind translating for me?’ Gawain asked. I hesitantly nodded.

“Do you, Wally, swear to stand by a code of honor befitting a knight?” I repeated. I couldn’t help but smile as May face-palmed.

“You cannot be serious. Why can we not find a normal Pokémon?” May groaned. It took Wally a second, but he raised his hand above his head and smiled.

“I swear.”

“Do you swear to fight for those that can’t fight for themselves, to travel the realms and provide aid to any who might need it.” Oh, this was so cute. All this crap coming from a tiny little Ralts was adorable.

“I swear.”

“Do you, and this is the most important oath, swear to get me an everstone once I evolve until you find a dawn stone.” I couldn’t help it at this point. The second I finished, I burst out laughing.

“I swear.”

‘His words hold true. I can accept this boy as my trainer.’ Gawain shouted.

“Then, by the power vested in me by the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, I now pronounce you trainer and starter.” I chucked an empty Poke Ball at Wally, who floundered a bit before catching it. “You may throw the Poke Ball,” I said.

“Right.” Wally tapped the poke ball against Sir Gawain’s head. The ball clicked instantly.

‘It was a brilliant service, Lea. Truly.’ Emilie mock wiped her eyes. ‘Almost brought me to tears.’

“If the whole trainer thing doesn’t work out, you have a bright future as a Minister,” May tacked on.

“Fuck you and Emilie. That was funny. Now then, let’s get off this stupid Zigzagoon infested route.” I all but dragged Wally and May back towards Petalburg. “Go, go, go!”

***

“That was fast.” Norman looked at Sir Gawain’s poke ball. “You went out and caught a Ralts in under an hour?”

“Yup.” I grinned. “To be fair, this Ralts is a bit of an oddball, and he knew Emilie, so he was fairly chill from the start.”

‘I do not know him. I occasionally tolerate his presence. Usually against my will,’ Emilie corrected.

“Well, you have your starter. I’ll go get the rest of your paperwork signed, get you your trainer’s license, and send you on your way. It might take me a sec, because I honestly thought that would take longer.” Norman left through the back of the arena.

“So, uh... look, I know this all got foisted on you last second, but really, I can’t thank you two enough.” Wally looked away from us as he finished.

“Thank Lea, I really didn’t do anything.” May tossed out and shot me a small glare.

“You provided moral support?” May’s glare got more intense. “You do realize this doesn’t work anymore, right?”

May turned away from me and swore. Wally chuckled nervously.

“At any rate though, I know you’ve already done a lot, but I have one more favor to ask. Would you two mind if I tagged along with you through Petalburg Woods?” Wally asked.

“Honestly, another set of hands for that would just be very helpful.” May latched on to the idea before I could even say anything. “That forest is going to be a nightmare.”

“Are they that bad? I just figured it’d be like 102,” I said. May shook her head.

“The woods are probably going to be extra rough for you, Lea. Bugs screw with psychics something fierce, and although both of your water types are uniquely qualified to handle grass types, Apollo’s the only one with good offensive options. The dense trees are also going to make it hard for Apollo to do any worthwhile scouting. We’re really going to have to pay attention to what we’re doing, or we’ll walk face first into a swarm of Dustox.” May shivered. “Add in the fact that the trip through takes about two days, and-”

“Happy to have you aboard, Wally.” I looked down at my three poke balls before palming Apollo’s ball. I’d been using him to scout since I got him, but I realized now that I hadn’t really done much to help him grow as my partner. I think I've been focusing on Emilie too much. It made sense. I leaned on her a lot right now.

If the woods were going to be as rough as May said, I needed to work on Apollo’s endurance as much as I could before we dived in. A one and done Aerial Ace wouldn’t help much in a gauntlet.

“While I'm thinking of it, we should probably add Wally and Gawain to the group chat," May said.

“Group chat? Are there going to be more than just us going into the forest?” Wally tilted his head as May pulled out Sergei. “And how are you adding a Pokémon to a group chat? I’m not sure if Gawain can even read.” Oh, you sweet summer child.

“The joys of haunted technology. Make sure he’s put in as SIR Gawain. He probably worked hard for that title,” I said, grinning at the homicidal glare Emilie was sending my way.

‘Hmmm... what’s that you say? You trust Gawain enough that I can lower the mental shield?’ Emilie said malevolently.

‘I think we should give it a few more days to make sure he’s on the up and up, but after that I don’t see a problem with it,’ I said, looking forward to the knightly dialogue.

‘...I seriously just threatened someone that can’t feel fear.’ Emilie sighed.

‘Yup. Not your brightest moment.’ I said with a grin.

***

“Do you have everything?” Eve asked.

“For the fifth time, yes.” I groaned. “What gives? You weren’t this worried a couple days ago.”

“A couple days ago, you were leaving for a couple days. Now you’re leaving for probably months. I’m going to mother hen you right now and you can’t stop me. Now shut up and give me a hug,” Eve said, her arms open.

I leaned in for a quick hug and was pulled into a vice grip.

“Air...” No response. “Eve...” She let’s go.

“Don’t forget to call and stay safe. Love you,” Eve said, her eyes slightly misty.

For a second, I felt emotions that weren’t mine. Worry, regret, pain...

Love.

“I... love you too,” I forced out. A smile briefly spread across my face. I made tracks for the door and frowned as a familiar weight teleported onto my shoulder.

‘Ready to go?’ Emilie asked. She frowned at my glare. ‘What’s up? I haven’t done anything for you to be mad at me yet.’

“What was that in there?” I asked.

Emilie tilted her head, looking lost.

‘What was what?’ Emilie asked.

‘That thing with my sister. We were trading goodbyes, and right when she said I love you... it was like I felt what she was feeling. I assumed that was you,’ I said.

Emilie shook her head.

‘Nope. I can’t feel another psychic in the general area either.’

My eyes trailed toward the ground as I mulled that loaded statement around in my head. Did I just imagine it?

‘Nah, you’re just enjoying the passive benefits of being partnered with an empath. I’m almost constantly in your head, your brain is... picking up a few new tricks.’

“What?!”

‘My mom told me about this. When she traveled with her trainer, they formed a bond like the one we share. That trainer could eventually feel the emotions of the people and Pokémon around him.’ Emilie frowned. ‘It took a lot longer for him to manifest that ability though. Maybe your... incident... is speeding things up?’

I had started walking towards the western gate about halfway through Emilie’s explanation.

“So, what you’re saying is you’re giving me superpowers?” I asked aloud. “I’ll take it. Ya know, for all the issues your mom attacking me has caused, it’s certainly made a lot of things a hell of a lot easier.” I thought for a bit. “So, those were Eve’s emotions, then?”

Emilie nodded.

“They... were fairly intense,” I said, my voice sounding far away to my own ears.

‘They are.’ Emilie said. ‘Your sister’s emotions are potent. She doesn’t show it often, but...’

‘She really does love me, huh? ’ I whispered. Most of the horrible thoughts I had been dealing with earlier started to fade, and I felt a bit lighter as I walked. ‘I take back what I said, Emilie. What I'm learning from you... it really is amazing.’

Emilie smiled.

‘Thanks. I’m happy you think that,’ Emilie said.

Wally and May were already at the gate, and I waved as I got closer. “You guys ready?”

“Should we really be leaving now? It’s already pretty late into the afternoon.” Wally looked between the two of us nervously.

May and I just nodded.

“We’re sure,” May said. “Assuming you’re ready to go? We are leaving right after catching your starter. I’d understand if you wanted-”

“I’ve been packed for the last two days. I’m a bit nervous about leaving home, but it’s probably better to leave now and not give my family time to rethink this.” Wally turned and started walking, leading the charge out the gate.

Route 104, here we come.

Chapter Text

“Apollo, stay close by,” I shouted as I released him. I turned towards May, who already had Sergei up. “How far out is the stupid forest?”

“We’ll be at the routed entrance by the end of the day. There’s a rest stop and port near the entrance that we can stay at. I figure we can crash there for the night and tackle the forest tomorrow,” May said. “Sergei, I’ll let you navigate this time.”

The phone started levitating out of May’s hands and took the lead.

“Sweet, in that case. Apollo, Emilie, I’ve got an idea for a joint training session,” I said with a grin.

My smile brokered different reactions from both of my Pokémon. Emilie was smiling back, and Apollo was shrinking away from the both of us.

'I’m being fixed up to walk the plank, aren’t I? Alright lass, what do you got for me?’ Apollo asked.

“Well, since your primary issue right now is stamina, I thought I’d have you fly while fighting through a low-level confusion.”

Apollo looked at me like I belonged in a mental ward.

‘I’ll keep it weak and amp it up as needed, Apollo. Manipulating living creatures at my level is... almost impossible. I was trying my best to pull you to us when we caught you, and you still almost got away,’ Emilie explained.

Apollo hesitantly nodded.

“If you really don’t want to do this, Apollo. I can think of something else. This just felt like the fastest way to work on Emilie’s power and your endurance at the same time.”

‘...It’s fine, Cap. I’m just not used to training... really at all,’ Apollo said. ‘I ain’t never shied away from a challenge, though. Hit me, lass.’

Emilie’s eyes glowed and Apollo sunk for a brief second before righting himself.

‘Wow, that’s a bit of a head rush,’ Emilie said.

May looked at us nervously.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to be training like this on route? We could still get jumped by wild Pokémon, you know?” I smiled at May.

“That’s what I have you for!” I said. “And Wally too, I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess?” Wally asked.

May just sighed and grabbed her Poke Balls. Samie and Suzaku appeared in a blinding flash of light.

“I mean May knew what to do with minimal prompting. Get your head in the game and let Sir Gawain out to play,” I said, grinning at May cheekily.

May glared at me.

“You’re lucky I’m enjoying the battling experience you’re giving me,” May said.

“Right, uh... Go, Gawain!” I put my hand on my face and looked away as Wally fumbled with the ball. He finally released Gawain, who took a brief look around before dropping to a kneeling position in front of Wally.

‘My liege.’ He teleported to Wally’s shoulder shortly thereafter.

“So, as a heads up.” I cut in before Gawain could say anything else. “Call outs on release are always lame.”

“Yup!” May agreed. “It also doesn’t really do anything. Pokémon are aware of what goes on outside of the Poke Ball. It was a trend in Kanto for a bit because that region let ten-year-olds go off on their own into the field.”

“Nerd,” I said.

May smiled malevolently at me as Samie suddenly decided to stop in front of me. I tripped and took a nose dive into the ground.

“Thank you, Samie,” May said, her smile turning genuine as she stared down at me.

“No call outs, got it,” Wally said, disregarding us entirely.

‘Captain, out of idle curiosity, how long are we doing this? ’ Apollo asked.

“Till one of you is too tired to do it anymore.” I replied, slowly pulling myself up from the ground.

‘You’re a slave driver, captain.’ Apollo sighed.

‘I’m just going to focus on this, Lea. This... is a lot harder than I thought,’ Emilie said.

I nodded. Wally looked between us nervously as he looked out across the field.

“I’m... really not sure about training in the field like this, Lea. I kind of agree with May,” Wally said. “What if we’re attacked?”

“Meh, May kicks butt too. It’s fine. I still have Joern as well. Speaking of...” I released Joern, picked him up, and rested him on my head. “Joern, I have a special training regimen for you as well. I call it target practice. Fire a low powered water gun at Apollo whenever the notion strikes you. Apollo, we’ll work on your dodging while we’re doing this.”

Joern shouted once in glee and Apollo almost crashed into the ground.

“Fine, I guess I’ll handle route cleanup for today. Again.” May sighed. “Suzaku, Samie, stay close and keep an eye out for trouble.”

Suzaku nodded once and started looking along the sides of the road for movement. Samie... blankly stared forward as he walked. Don’t know what I was expecting, really.

Joern fired and Apollo barely flew to the left of the stream.

‘So... what all are you doing to this poor bird?’ Gawain asked.

‘Torture. She’s torturing the poor bird,’ Apollo complained.

Joern took the opportunity to fire a shot that rang true.

‘Sink me, that water is cold.’

“Physical conditioning,” I pointed at Apollo. “Mental conditioning,” I pointed at Emilie. “and aim and vindication.” I pointed up at Joern. “Also, Wally, get your phone out, you’re missing most of the conversation.”

“Right! Uh... sorry.” Wally started checking his pockets.

‘Lady Lea is a harsh taskmaster indeed,’ Gawain muttered.

“There we go.” Wally grinned as he thumbed through the chat room. “Yeah, Lea’s training looks a bit... insane, huh?”

“Look, I figured this would be a good way to boost endurance. Emilie and Apollo can already do awesome stuff, they just don’t have the stamina to do it more than once a fight.” I looked over Apollo as he veered to the left of another water gun. “Like I said, if you want to do something else, Apollo-”

‘Nah, this is about as fun as the crow's nest, but I'll take it if it lets me tough out multiple Arial Aces.’

‘Pushing confusion like this is something I've never done before.’ Emilie sounded strained over the link. ‘I’ll adapt.’

Another jet of water hit its mark.

‘That said, enough with the damn barrel shooting!’ Apollo shouted.

“Fine, Joern, no more target practice.” I ordered.

‘Aww...’ I felt Joern sag in sadness.

“So... is it normal to fill out your team this fast?” Wally asked. “It’s only been three days, and Lea has half her team ironed out.”

“It’s not uncommon for people to be at two Pokémon for their first badge. Lea wanted a Lotad, and Emilie wanted a Wingull,” May explained. “Don’t feel pressured to catch something just because Lea’s trigger happy.”

“Oy, all three of my Pokémon are awesome, so buzz off. Joern here almost managed to take down Apollo, and that’s with a disadvantage. Apollo knows Aerial Ace and is amazing at finding stuff for us. Emilie... is Emilie.” I beamed as I thought about how lucky I was to find these three.

“Still not as cool as Samie,” May cut in.

“Samie can’t talk,” I dryly pointed out.

“I found a rare Pokémon not native to our area at the bottom of an ancient, abandoned ruin. I win,” May smugly declared.

I glared at her before staring at our newest addition.

“Nah, Wally won. He found the second best Ralts on the route in under an hour,” I said.

‘Sir Gawain is second to none.’ Oh god he’s talking about himself in the third person. Make it stop.

‘I tried to warn you,’ Emilie said. Apollo quickly gained a bit of altitude as Emilie’s focus wavered.

“Second be-” Wally ended up cutting himself off as he started coughing. Violently. We waited a couple of seconds, and eventually, Wally pulled out an inhaler.

“You alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine. It’s getting better the further out from the city we get.”

Wally shoved his inhaler back into his pocket. I wasn’t sure how much I believed him.

“Really, don’t worry about it.” Wally waved off my unvoiced worry.

“If you’re sure...” May trailed off.

“Positive. Now than, what the heck do you mean second best?” Wally shot a cocky glare my way. Oh, you sweet summer child.

“I mean that Emilie could wipe the floor with Gawain eight ways to Sunday, blindfolded, with both arms tied behind her back,” I bragged, easing back into the more fun banter.

‘Accurate, but it doesn’t count cause technically she lives on Route 110. I’m the champion of Route 102,’ Gawain said.

“I’m sorry, you teleported us how far when we first met?” I said, turning to stare at Emilie in shock.

Emilie blushed and looked away, and I had to fight back a laugh as Apollo rapidly gained altitude again into a low hanging tree branch.

‘Oi. You scared me, okay?’ Emilie played with the hem of her... skirt? Was that a skirt or part of her skin? ‘Please stop thinking such embarrassing questions,’ Emilie begged, her face bright red.

“You want to prove that claim?” Wally asked. Ooh he wanted a fight; this’ll be so much fun!

“I’d be happy-”

“Nope,” May denied. “Gawain is your only Pokémon right now, Wally. Win or lose, Gawain will get hurt. Then we’ll have to go back to Petalburg, and then it really will be too late for us to leave.”

“Aww... I wanted to have my first battle,” Wally whined.

“Tell you what, I’ll kick Gawain’s butt once we get to Rustboro,” I said.

“Sweet!” Wally responded, before suddenly frowning. “Wait...”

“Though speaking of Gawain being your only mon, do you have any idea who you’d want for a second?” I asked.

May glared at me.

“Don’t pressure the newbie!” May chastised.

“We’ve been training for three days, May. I’d hardly call us veterans either. I was just curious if any Pokémon caught Wally’s fancy,” I said.

“You make it sound like I’m looking for a girlfriend,” Wally joked. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I just thought I’d wing it and catch whatever caught my interest and wanted to come along.” Wally looked around the route. “Though I am a bit surprised nothing’s tried to attack us. We’ve been-”

“ZIGZAGOON!” I groaned. Three Zigzagoon launched themselves at us from the tree line to a shared war cry.

“You had to say something. Joern use...” I stopped mid-sentence as the ground began to shake. The earth cracked outward from Samie’s mouth as trees started to sway and crack. The offending Zigzagoon swayed briefly, unable to move, before getting swallowed up by the ground as it split beneath them.

“Pinch.”

“Good job Samie. Excellent work, I didn’t even have to say anything,” May gushed.

“PINCH!” Samie ran up to May and nuzzled her leg again.

“Like you would even know to order... that. What the hell was that, even?” I asked.

“GOON!” Another Zigzagoon rushed out of the bush and bull rushed May.

“Gawain-”

‘Already on it, my liege.’ I heard a bit of creaking and turned to see a branch being pulled back. Gawain released his hold on it, the branch swung, and-

“GOON.”

Homerun! The Zigzagoon was sent flying across the field, rolled a few times, and slammed into a tree. He slowly pulled himself to his feet. Suzaku was already on him before he could rise to full height.

‘You. Will. Not. Hurt. May. You. Stupid. Dog!’ Each word was punctuated with an attack.

I shot Emilie an amused glance.

‘Translating is slowly becoming an automated process for my brain,’ Emilie explained.

‘Riiiight,’ I thought.

“Ena.” An angry looking Poochyena launched from the bushes and bit Suzaku. Hard. A loud chirp echoed in my ears.

“Suzaku!” May cried out. “Ember, get that thing off you anyway you can.” Suzaku continued to chirp in pain and didn’t react. “Samie, make the ground shake!”

“Pinch!” Samie complied and slammed his mouth into the ground again. The earth once again came to heel and moved, though this time it wasn’t as severe. Poochyena braced his legs on the ground before letting go of Suzaku and backing away from us.

“Gawain, teleport in and get Suzaku away from that mutt,” Wally shouted.

“Joern, rapid fire Razor Leaf. Give Gawain some covering fire,” I ordered.

‘At once.’ Gawain said before disappearing.

Gawain teleported in right next to Suzaku as Joern pelted the area between them with leaves. Gawain teleported Suzaku to May.

“Lea-”

“Here,” I said, tossing her a potion that I had already pulled from my bag.

May sprayed down Suzaku’s bite wound. It didn’t look that deep, and a sigh of relief left my lips as Suzaku opened her eyes and quickly looked around the area.

‘Let me at him! The bastard got off a cheap shot!’ Suzaku rambled.

“I think Suzaku’s picking up your mouth, May,” I said. May grabbed Suzaku and held her close.

“Don’t put yourself out in the open like that again, alright?” May said.

Suzaku nodded hesitantly. I looked back to where the Poochyena was and groaned. He hightailed it.

“Uh, guys? What happened to all the Zigzagoon?” Wally said, pointing towards the now empty clearing.

“Eh?” I frowned. “Wow, I thought those things were down for the count.” I thought for a second. “Hey, May, is it just me, or did that feel more... coordinated than usual?”

“I think you might be a bit paranoid, Lea. The Zigzagoon had to get the drop on us at some point.” May shoved the spray bottle into her bag and held Suzaku close as she stood up.

“But that felt planned. The first few Zigzagoon were bait, then another one shows up and bulrushes you, and the second one of our Pokémon separated themselves from the rest of the group, it gets mauled.” I waved my hands toward the clearing. “And they all just vanish once we regroup. I feel like we got ambushed,” I said.

‘Uh, Lea?’ I heard Emilie’s voice ring in my head, her voice sounding a tinge strained.

“What’s up, Emilie?” I turned toward Emilie, who had at some point teleported down to the ground.

‘They didn’t all get away.’ Emilie dragged a single Zigzagoon from beyond the tree line. ‘He tried to tear your pack open while you were focusing on the others.’

‘No fair. Want stuff. Boss said get stuff.’ I heard.

“I’m guessing that’s what he’s thinking?” I asked Emilie.

‘Yup. This one wasn’t a part of the advanced party. I think it was trying to take stuff in the confusion.’

“So, we almost got mugged by Pokémon. Weird,” May said, looking away from Sergei.

“What do we do with this guy then?” Wally asked. “I don’t really want to catch him, but I don’t really want to let him go back to his gang either.”

“There’s a Ranger Station by the forest, we could just take him with us, and drop him off. We should probably let them know about this, too,” May reasoned.

“What are they going to do? Yell at the wild Pokémon for attacking humans on the road?” I asked.

“Better than nothing,” May shrugged.

‘Lea, he’s...’ Emilie got cut off as Zigzagoon broke free of her confusion, headbutted her, and scrambled into the forest. ‘Ow.’

I rushed over to look at her head before wincing.

“That’ll leave a bruise,” I said. I reached into my bag for another potion.

‘ Save the spray, I’ll be fine. Only thing hurt is my pride.’ Emilie mumbled.

“Zu?” Everyone looked toward the new noise. A small blue Pokémon was bouncing on its tail out of the bushes. “Azurill.”

I looked down towards Emilie, a bit surprised and worried she didn’t automatically translate. I pulled my potion out and sprayed Emilie’s head, chuckling as she waved her hands in front of her.

“Are you feeling up to translating?” I asked Emilie.

‘She said hi and asked if we’re okay,’ Emilie grouched.

“We’re a little banged up, but we’ll live. Thanks though,” I responded.

“Zu...” The Azurill whined. “Zu ril Azurill.”

‘She’s worried about what that pack’s planning,’ Emilie said, rubbing her forehead.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I frowned. Her just translating like this and not making a mental dialogue was a bit of a red flag.

‘ I’m FINE!’ Her stressing the word fine didn’t really reassure me. ‘I’m just having trouble focusing like I usually do, okay. It’s making it hard to multitask,’ Emilie said.

“Well, if you’re sure...” I trailed off before focusing on the Azurill. “Do those guys cause a lot of trouble on the route?”

“Zu rill Zu rill. Azu azu rill.” She nodded her head yes as she said that.

‘They’re part of a larger pack that’s been causing trouble in the area. Something about a new pack leader?’

That didn’t sound good. That implied a repeat performance of what we just dealt with.

“Azurill Azu. Ril rill rill.”

‘She’s also saying the pack’s been making it difficult for other Pokémon to move freely on the route. She hasn’t been able to get back to the ocean, ’ Emilie translated.

‘Is this her way of subtly tugging on our heart strings for us to escort her there?’ I asked Emilie. She nodded, and I sighed.

‘Nay, we would be happy to come to your aid, young one. These scoundrels shan't lay a paw on you, rest assured.’ Well, Gawain’s down. Azurill giggled at his pledge and bounced a few times on her tail.

“The ocean’s next to the forest, right?” I asked May.

“Yup. Let me guess, she wants to tag along?” May smiled down at the little gal. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

“Ditto,” Wally confirmed.

Though Emilie, you are getting a full dose of potion.” May said, Sergei floating just in view. “No tough girl routine.”

‘Fine.’ Emilie groaned.

“Alright, everyone. Be ready for another ambush though. Azurill said that was only part of the pack, so be ready. I dunno about you, but I am not losing to a bunch of Zigzagoon and Poochyena,” I said. Everyone in the clearing nodded.

We pushed on.

***

“Girls, I’m really starting to get sick of Zigzagoon,” Wally said. Vindication.

“See, May? My feelings toward the species are completely justified. I don’t have a problem,” I said, smiling at Wally.

“There’s a difference, Wally formed this completely rational disdain after beating back four different ambushes in under an hour. You started looking up the best uses for Zigzagoon fur on Sergei after the second day on the road.” May said in a deadpan tone. “These two things are not the same!” Her voice rose in pitch as she finished.

“Sound the same to me,” I said.

“You need help,” May argued.

“My therapist agrees with me.” I waved a hand towards Emilie.

‘Zigzagoon are the enemy,’ Emilie muttered.

“See!” I yelled.

May just rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands.

“Whatever, we’ve almost reached the beach. There’s a ranger station by the entrance to the woods. We can tell them about this. For now, grit your teeth, square your shoulders, and march,” May said. “And for all that is good in the world, Samie, stop playing with the damn Poochyena and use Magnitude. I can deal with the shaking ground, just knock that thing out.”

“Pinch!” Samie raised its jaw and slammed it into the ground. That was one good thing that came of this, Samie figured out how to make the ground shake and do it consistently.

That was a good thing, right?

Emilie swiveled her hand from side to side, I was inclined to agree as I braced myself against a tree.

The Poochyena was a fair bit less fortunate, as the ground directly below it opened, trapping it in a small pit and knocking the poor bastard out.

‘You needn’t worry yourself, my lady. We’re almost to the ocean. You can leave this whole mess behind.’ Gawain had taken to staying close to Azurill and fending off any attacks that may have strayed too close.

‘Thanks Mr. Knight. I can’t wait to tell mommy about our adventure together!’ He also soaked up praise and compliments from the small child like a sponge at a pool party.

I groaned as three more Poochyena hopped out from behind the bushes. Fucking Dark types.

“Screw this. Joern, Apollo, Emilie, I know we haven’t practiced this yet, but Water Bullet. Send those mutts packing,” I ordered.

Apollo flew down low and lined the shot up with Joern, and Emilie raised her hands as the water guns flew toward the mutts. It wasn’t as devastating as our first accidental success, but the resulting shockwave sent all three flying.

The second we got to Rustboro I was hitting their training fields hard. I had so much I wanted to work on.

Once everything settled, the clearing was silent, and I counted about five Zigzagoon and four Poochyena down for the count.

“We good?” May asked worriedly.

Suzaku and Samie both looked exhausted, and May wasn’t looking much better. Her skirt was slightly torn at the hem from where she dived to avoid an earlier attack, and her right arm had gotten a bit scraped up.

“I think so.” I eased up a bit and Apollo landed on my shoulder and relaxed.

‘These raiding parties are a workout. This sailor needs a break,” Apollo said.

“No kidding. We’re almost home free though, so-”

A single, loud bark rang in the clearing, and my heart plummeted into my stomach as I looked up to see a large, black dog standing in the middle of the path. This thing was massive, easily three times the size of all the things we had fought so far, and it was growling as it approached.

The alpha had come out to play.

“Fuck, May-”

“On it, Samie, Magnitude, get it off balance. Suzaku, Ember, rapid fire and stay the hell away from it.” Both Pokémon groaned but obeyed.

“Apollo, take to the sky and take pot shots when you can, I do not want you getting close to that thing. Emilie, the damn things a Dark-Type, so direct psychic attacks won’t work, but you can still send stones. Joern, I need you to be on watch. If that thing gets close to the squishy humans, we’re probably screwed, so pelt its path with razor leaf, fire off water gun, do whatever you can to keep it off us.” I gritted my teeth as both Emilie and Apollo took off.

“Gawain, try and keep everyone out of harm's way if you can. Teleport someone out if they’re in trouble.” Wally ordered.

All at once the Mightyena moved at a speed that I could barely track, and it made a bee line for the weakest links.

The squishy humans.

Samie’s claw impacted the ground, and the Mightyena had to stop about two thirds of the way to us to hold its balance. Unfortunately, so did I, and my stumble threw off Joern’s aim a bit. Thankfully, Gawain took note, and course corrected half of the leaves with confusion. The mutt barely even flinched, but it was still holding its ground as Sammie slammed the ground again. This time, the tremors felt worse, and the Mightyenna knelt briefly as it got pelted on all sides. I know they weren’t doing much, but the sheer number of attacks had to be doing something to the hell hound.

Our luck finally crapped out when Samie’s third slam barely did anything. The Mightyena seized its chance and closed the rest of the distance between me and it.

‘Get down!’ Gawain teleported to me and I felt a familiar pull as the world shifted around me. I almost threw up as I had a front row seat to see Mightyena bite into the open air as it jumped through the area I had been. It cast a hateful gaze towards Gawain’s collapsed form.

Wally scrambled for his Poke Ball and recalled the downed knight as Joern fired off a single seed while the Mightyena was distracted. Brilliant little lily pad.

The seed bloomed immediately on contact, and the vines very quickly started to grow into Mightyena’s skin. They glowed a faint red, and Mightyena turned toward me at a much slower rate than it had before, the vines pulling at his legs. Its eyes pierced into mine in a look that promised death and pain.

I had the sudden desire to tell the dog to fuck off. Emilie quickly said through the link that this would be a bad idea.

Samie’s claw struck the ground for a fourth time, and this one felt worse than any of the previous crashes. The ground in front of me violently ruptured and I struggled to back away in time. The Mightyena was at the center of this massive explosion of earth and rock, and for the first time in the fight, I heard it whine out in pain as it lost footing and fell through the ground.

This was our chance.

“Joern, Apollo, Emilie, let’s do this one more time. Water bullet,” I ordered.

We didn’t get the chance to fire while it was trapped. Mightyena leapt from the crater and made a mad dash for Samie before either of my water types could get into position. It was slower than before, but neither Samie nor May had a chance to react before the mutt bit into Trapinch and threw it across the clearing.

May recalled him. The Mightyena winced as the Leech seed dug deeper into its skin, and my Pokémon capitalized. The combo attack screamed across the clearing with the weight of a freight train, slamming into Mightyena before exploding outwards, sending it careening towards a tree.

The impact cracked the fucking tree.

The damn thing got back up, how the fuck did it get back up.

It was panting hard, it made a point to not put any weight on one of its back legs, and there was a gash in its side, but the damn thing still got up.

Using its good legs, the beast jumped toward me.

“Aerial Ace, now!” I shouted, already pulling out Apollo’s ball. He’d be spent after this, not a doubt in my mind. My brave sailor disappeared, before slamming into Mightyena mid-jump. The dog opened its mouth and gave a raspy whine as it tried to suck in a breath, and both Pokémon free falled back toward the ground. I returned Apollo before he made contact, hoping to avoid a major injury, and sighed in relief as the beam made contact mid fall. The beast hadn’t gotten back up yet, but I couldn’t relax yet. This thing was... absurd.

A single ball got thrown out and sucked the Mightyena inside.

It shook once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Ding.

All the tension left my shoulders as Wally ran towards the ball, hastily picked it up, and locked it.

“Just to be safe.” Wally breathed out.

I looked out across the battlefield. Emile and Suzaku were leaning against each other to stay upright. Of the six Pokémon we all had, the only one that could still potentially fight if we needed it was probably Joern, and I was worried about how fast he was breathing. The most frightening thing we had out right now was probably the Azurill we were escorting, who was now cowering behind May in abject fear.

“You’re turning that... thing, into the Rangers the first chance we get.” May walked toward Wally.

“Without question. No way in hell am I keeping this monster,” Wally said, his voice shaky as he cautiously put the Poke Ball on his belt.

“Let’s book it. I’m not sure how well we deal with anything right now, and the Ranger Station is closer than Petalburg,” May said.

May and I both reached down to pick up our respective starters, Wally picked up Azurill, and all three of us ran from the clearing.

***

The Ranger station was a fucking shack. The smell of the ocean filled my nostrils as I took a second to stare at the tiny ass building. The tree line had been getting denser as we walked down the trail, and I noticed a gate further down that pushed into the tree line. Further in the distance I noticed a small beach house on the coast, complete with a dock and a small ferry.

“May are you sure this is a Ranger Station?” I asked.

“That’s what the map on Sergei says it is. I was expecting something a bit more than... this.” May sighed. “No wonder that pack had free reign of the route.”

“Let’s just go in,” I said.

Wally led the charge through the screen door. A single beat-up, unmanned, desk was one of the few fixtures of this tiny little reception area, along with a PC. Another was a stand with pamphlets describing poisons we’d find in the woods, and tips for traveling through. I noticed a transfer machine behind the desk, but what drew my eyes the most was the fucking sign.

Hand-written in half illegible chicken scratch, a note was scrawled below a bell, instructing us to ring it for assistance.

“I know we live in the back woods of Hoenn, but this is a bit absurd,” May commented.

“Aren’t we in front of one of the scarier parts of Hoenn?” I asked.

May nodded.

“There’s stronger Pokémon on other Routes, but the woods have a dense population of bug and grass types. It’s easy to get hurt and overwhelmed if you aren’t ready for it,” May said before ringing the bell. A single chime echoed through the empty building.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe everyone’s out on assignment?” Wally suggested.

We both sent him a look and he shrunk back as I started walking toward the back room.

“These stations are supposed to be constantly staffed. It’s how the league secures the Routes, so trainers have a place to go if something bad happens and they need help,” May explained.

“Yeah, no. This place is empty,” I called back, glaring at the empty room.

The back room had a few chairs and a table. A small white board had a few things written on it that looked suspiciously like a shopping list. It took me a second, but I also realized that the inside was warmer than the outside.

This place didn’t even have working AC.

“May, call your dad. He should probably know about something like this,” I said.

May already had Sergei pulled up.

The front door opened, and a scruffy older trainer walked in. His face was pulled into a scowl, though it was a bit hard to tell with the facial hair, and his uniform was tattered and worn.

“Don’t worry, I heard ya brats.” He pulled out a really dated looking transceiver. “Bells linked to this little number. Damn shack gets hotter than Mt. Chimney in the summer, so I make it a point to do frequent walks along the beach.” His eyes ran over us before he walked behind the desk and took a seat. “What does Norman’s brat want with me.”

“We ran into a bit of trouble on the road. A bunch of-”

“The Zigzagoon and Poochyena have formed a gang under a newly evolved Mightyena again, haven’t they?” The man sighed and rubbed his eyes as he leaned forward against the desk.

I almost wanted to reach out and throttle the man.

“You were aware.” May’s voice is very level. She sounded calm, but I could tell she was pissed.

“I am now, happens at least once a month. The locals fight for dominance almost constantly around here. The Linoone don’t care about it once they evolve, but every once in a while, a Poochyena takes the reins that’s extra violent. They start challenging the older mons, and eventually-”

“They evolve,” I said.

“Yup. I’ll head out later to break it up and catch the damn thing. Send it up north to have it released up near Fortree. I’m glad you kids managed to get away okay though,” The ranger said, leaning back in his chair.

Wally walked forward and sat a ball down on the desk.

“We already caught it,” he said.

The Ranger’s eyes bugged out a bit.

“The three of you, caught, a fully evolved, angry, Alpha Mightyena.” The man looked at the ball like he couldn’t believe it existed. He picked the ball up, put it under the scanner, picked it up again and just stared for a solid five seconds. “How?” the ranger asked.

“Teamwork, spite, and luck,” I quipped. “Also, I don’t suppose you have anything to help with the fact that our Pokémon are either too tired to move or passed out, do you?”

The still unnamed ranger started typing something into his transceiver, and I heard a somewhat familiar voice on the other end.

“Rustboro Pokémon Center, how may I be of assistance?”

“Hey Joy, this is Roger. I’m going to be sending you-” He looked toward us and waved his hand a bit, urging us to talk.

“Oh, uh... six,” May said.

“Okay, that makes a bit more sense, six Pokémon from a group of trainers that had a rather tough go of it. Took down a Mightyena as rookies if you can believe it.” He motioned for us to put out poke balls on the desk. “I’ll be sending ‘em over to ya shortly. It’s from the Petalburg Ranger Station.”

“I’ll clear the firewall.”

“Thanks.” he said before hanging up.

I had already returned Emilie and set all three balls down. Wally and May followed suit. Roger held up the Mightyena’s poke ball.

“Please don’t tell me you’re crazy enough to try and train this at your level.” Roger said.

“Nope, take it. Keep it. Release it somewhere. I don’t care, just keep it away from me.” Wally frantically waved his arms as he talked.

“Smart boy.” He looked toward the small ball of blue in Wally’s arms. “Is she fine?”

“She’s actually not ours. A wild Azurill wanted help getting to the beach, so we let her tag along,” Wally explained.

“Careful when handling wild Fae, they can’t lie, but they’re con artists through and through.” Roger looked the Azurill over. “She looks really young though. Probably just wanted to get back to her mama.”

“Azurill.”

“God they’re cute when they aren’t being tiny little murder machines.” Roger loaded up the transfer machine and sent our mons through. “They’ll be back in a bit. So, get comfy. I got some chairs in the back.”

Roger leaned back in the deck chair, put his hands behind his head, and put his feet up. I sighed before grabbing a chair and groaned as a single thought pervaded my mind.

This place being ass meant we’d have to camp tonight, wouldn’t it?

***

‘Although our path may have been filled with great personal peril, it was truly a joy to travel with you, young one.’ Gawain said to a somewhat teary eyed Azurill.

‘I’ll miss you guys.’ Azurill said through hiccups. ‘You’re all weird, but fun to be around.’ Rude.

The Azurill hopped down to the beach, and I smiled as a group of Marill came out to greet it.

“Have we sufficiently shown our knightly valor, Sir Gawain.” I smiled down as the young knight preened.

‘Indeed, Lady Lea. We nobly guided a young maiden through a perilous path gripped by villainous thugs. Truly a quest many a knight would be proud of.’ Gawain smiled back.

“Alright, enough joking around you two.” Wally looked up from the translated group chat and smiled. “Much as I'd like to celebrate our first successful quest, we need to start getting stuff set up for camp. I’ll set up tents.”

“Damn it, I wanted to set up tents. That leaves me with collecting firewood,” May complained.

“Wait, what am I doing?” I asked a bit confused.

“Dinner,” Both May and Wally chimed.

“Right... course that’s what I'm doing.” I think they’ve both grossly overestimated my ability to make things that aren’t baked goods. Meh, they’ll find out later.

‘We still have Oran Cookies, right?’ Emilie probed.

‘Yup, you’re lucky I was able to find some decent healthy Pokémon recipes on Sergei, or I’d be taking much larger strides to curb your addiction,’ I said.

‘Stop picking on me. I’m a young growing Ralts.’ Emilie said back with a pout.

‘Just make sure you don’t grow in the wrong direction. Speaking of, I think it’s time we worked on your physical fitness a bit. I feel like we lean on Teleport a little too much,’ I said. Emilie frowned at me.

‘But teleporting is cool, and running isn’t.’ Emilie whined.

“Earth to Lea?” May waved her hand in front of my face. Dammit I did it again.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’m starting to get used to it. Just watch out for Wally while I'm grabbing stuff for a campfire,” May said, her voice slightly exasperated.

I nodded and watched her walk towards the tree line. She made a point to steer clear of wandering too far in, and I relaxed a bit.

“Huh, what’s up Azurill?” I turned to look toward Wally and smiled as the little blue blob ran back towards Wally and almost tackled him to the ground.

‘ Wanna stay, wanna play, and mom said it was okay.’ she said jovially as she bounced on her tail. She nudged a poke ball on Wally’s belt, and I couldn’t help but laugh as it opened, sucked up Azurill, immediately dinged, and fell to the ground. Wally just stared for a good solid five seconds.

“Congrats on your second capture,” I joked. “I’m starting to notice a theme, you’ve yet to win a Pokémon over by battle.”

“Oi, this isn’t funny!” Wally protested and my laughter dried up as a very serious Marill approached us. It bowed.

‘Thank you for showing Gwen such kindness. The next time I see her, I expect her to be a strong, kind, Azumarill,’ she said.

“And you’re... good with sending your daughter out with strangers you just met?” Wally asked, looking up from his phone.

I was moderately jealous of Wally right now. It did not go anywhere near this well when I did this. I half felt like telling him to just roll with it and not ask stupid questions. The Marill looked away.

‘Gwen isn’t mine. I watch over Azurill that wash ashore. They’re too weak to resist the current when they’re young, so Azurill get separated from their families quite often.’ Marill nodded resolutely. ‘I find them nice trainers to travel with. You all took Gwen in and helped her back. You are the right sort of trainer.’ she said.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. We’ll take good care of her,” I said.

Marill nodded one last time before walking back towards the beach. I turned to Wally.

“I guess that’s another trend. You have yet to pick your own Pokémon's name,” I said.

“Meh, Gwen’s a good name. Though if the next Pokémon I catch comes pre-equipped with the name Lancelot, I’m going to start taking issue with the universe screwing with me,” Wally complained.

I snorted.

“I don't know, anything packing a name like that is probably going to be bad ass. Complain later. Celebrate now. You've doubled your roster. Be happy.” I slapped him on the back a couple times, and he jumped. “And after that, make up my tent.”

Chapter Text

The gate to Petalburg Woods felt a lot more ominous up close and personal. The path noticeably darkened, and I can hear the faint chittering of bug types. Everyone had their full team out, ready to take on anything this place could throw at us.

“You go in first.” May said before gently nudging me forward. She quickly huddled up behind me.

“May, the forest isn’t some big scary monster that’s going to eat us whole. We're going to be fine.” I walked with purpose and smiled back at her. “Don’t worry so much, okay?”

‘I’m... having trouble focusing.’ Emilie commented. ‘ It’s like I'm hearing the same voice hundreds of times in different places. I hate hive minds,’ Emilie said. I frowned.

‘It is a rather unpleasant feeling, isn’t it?’ Gawain agreed.

‘Can you just focus your sense on us? May said you guys would have trouble picking bugs out of a crowd in here. Leave the recon to Apollo and Sa-’

‘Three Wurmple, on your left,’ Apollo barked out, cutting me off.

I subtly kept an eye on them as we walked by and sighed once we got past them.

‘And... clear,’ Apollo said, looking back the way we came before scanning the tree line again.

“Honestly, Apollo, I don’t know if we’re going to run into hostile bug types until we get further in,” I said aloud, and both Wally and May perked up and looked nervously at the trees. “It’s just some Wurmple, guys. Calm down. I’ll say something if Apollo finds something that’s actually terrifying.”

May huddled closer towards me and held my arm as she looked around. I chuckled a bit.

“May, of the three of us, you have the least to worry about in this forest. Suzaku can probably deal with anything this place throws at us, why are you so freaked?” I asked.

“I don’t like bugs, alright. They freak me out,” May said.

I felt a bit of heat brushing my pant leg and looked down to see Suzaku nuzzling herself up against May’s pant leg, not all that different from what Samie usually did.

“I honestly just feel a bit exposed cause of my team,” Wally said. Fair. I honestly don’t think Wally would have had a fun time if we didn’t agree to travel with him.

‘Aye, I agree that Wurmple ain’t anything to worry about and we’re still on the beaten path, but I ain’t takin’ any chances, lass. We thought the road trip from Petalburg to here would be a light afternoon jog and look how that turned out. Better to be safe than sorry. Be mindful of the Cascoon on the left here. They’re not a problem, but there might be a guardian close by.’ Apollo said.

I looked up and met the gaze of dozens of cocoons as we slowly walked through the clearing. Was this what they meant when they said the trees have eyes? I picked up the pace a bit, all but dragging May forward, and Wally stepped in line to keep up.

‘Uhh... is the path supposed to cut off like that?’ Suzaku asked.

I tore my gaze away from the Cascoon and looked ahead.

“May, please tell me I’m not hallucinating, and that the road doesn’t end in about fifteen feet.” Wally’s voice wavered a bit as he pointed towards the dead end. May groaned.

“Unfortunately, it is.” May pulled up the map on Sergei. “It’s almost impossible to maintain a functional path through the forest. There are markers, and between Sergei and Apollo, we should be able to do a decent job of navigating the woods,” May said.

I felt her relax a bit once she started spouting her trivia. I turned towards Apollo.

“You up for doing some quick recon?” I asked. May shook her head.

“I don’t think we need to do that yet. Sergei has us covered for the moment.” May nervously pointed through the bushes and pulled me close again. “That way.”

“You could just take point. It’d probably be easier,” I said cheekily. May shook her head so fast I thought it would fall off.

“Counter point, you take Sergei, and I'll point Suzaku at any angry bugs.” May said, holding up the fire bird.

Suzaku shot an angry glare back at her trainer as I grabbed Sergei.

“Deal,” I said.

As I looked at the screen, Apollo took off from my shoulder and Emilie raised a hand. A Poison Sting stopped in midair a few inches away from my face.

‘Incoming, there’s a few Spinarak above us that aren’t too happy we’re cutting through. Three of them are in the tree to your left,’ Apollo said.

“Got it. Think you can deal with it on your own, or do you need help?” I asked.

Apollo looked offended.

‘Help? Dealing with lunch? What am I, a baby? Thanks for the concern, Cap, but this won’t take that long,’ Apollo said before taking off.

I felt a bit queasy at the idea of Apollo eating the insects as he flew up into the tree. A few chitters sounded out from above before going silent. Apollo flew back down looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

‘Please don’t tell me you actually ate those things?’ Emilie sounded disgusted, and Apollo started laughing.

‘Nah, I’m still full from breakfast. They can sleep off their egos in peace.’ Apollo said before landing on my shoulder, and we pressed on through the bushes toward the next path.

A single green pinecone descended from the tree in front of us, and I felt May tense.

“What?” I asked.

May said nothing, and Wally was very quietly shuffling back from the little guy.

“Pine,” he said menacingly.

“Guys, it’s a pinecone. What-”

“Shush!” May whispered into my ear as she pulled me away from the Pokémon. I reached down and pulled out my pokedex, hoping it would tell me why my friends were freaking out so bad. Emilie’s voice echoed in my head before I could press the button.

'Pineco like to... explode, when startled,’ Emilie explained. Oh.

“Easy now,” Wally said slowly as he carefully moved around the Pineco. I followed.

“We don’t want any trouble,” I said, before stepping on a branch.

It broke. The Pineco glowed white.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!” I shouted as I dragged May behind a bush and crouched down.

Wally dove behind a tree as a massive explosion racked the clearing, sending leaves, twigs, and branches out in a violent hail of pain and suffering.

“Why do I have a feeling that’s going to happen more?” Wally asked.

“Easy, because nothing can go right on this trip,” May commented.

“It’d be boring if things went smoothly,” I said. A smile pulled at my lips as I looked up at the trees again.

This was going to be fun.

***

“Alright, so according to Sergei, we should be coming up on a creek... here.” I looked up and smiled at the still pool of water. “Score one for the ghost at the helm. We haven’t gotten lost yet. This looks like a great spot for a break,” I said.

May walked away from my side and leaned against a tree close to the lake. She slid down to the ground.

“Oh, thank you, my feet are killing me.” May complained before pulling out a bag of... my cookies. Dammit.

“Would you stop raiding my backpack while I'm sleeping! At least share!” I yelled.

May looked up like she was pondering it then shrugged and offered some to Wally.

“With me, you idiot!” I yelled.

I felt a weight disappear from my shoulder and watched as Emilie landed on May’s shoulder. May jumped briefly before relaxing as she saw who her new passenger was and handed Emilie a cookie. Euphoria passed through the mental connection.

“Hmm. These are delicious,” Wally moaned.

“If you want some come get some. I’m not getting up.” She held one in her palm for Suzaku to peck at. “Besides, you have like fifty of these little bags in that pack of yours. I’m honestly wondering what kind of voodoo magic you used to get everything to fit,” May said, waving the bag around towards my backpack.

I stomped over and pulled a few cookies out of the bag.

“You didn’t take any of the labeled bags, did you?” I asked. May waved me off.

“Nah, I wasn’t sure how well something made for Emilie would taste. Your customized Pokémon food is safe from my hungry fingers,” May replied.

“Eve gave them to me, actually.” I countered with a smile. “So, that means you’re just stealing my cookies, then. See if I protect you from the big bad bugs.” May looked up at me with a pout. Dammit. “Don’t worry, I will...”

“Good,” May said.

‘Twelve o’clock, Cap.’ Apollo said. I looked up toward the pond and saw a single Pokémon stare back.

“Skit!”

Of course, we can’t get a single moment of peace in this forest.

“Let me guess, you would also like to steal my cookies,” I said.

“Skit.”

“Will you leave us alone if I give you a few?” I asked.

“Skit, sur skit.” The Surskit nodded.

“Well, alright then.” I grabbed out three cookies and tossed them out to the water strider. “Enjoy,” I said with a grin.

The Surskit cautiously hopped out of the water and took a cautious nibble of the cookie before ravenously chowing down on my treats. “Skit...”

‘She says thank you,’ Emilie said. Hmm... honestly, she seemed kind of chill.

“Wanna hang out for a bit Surskit? Maybe trade a few stories?” I probed. The bug type looked up at me before talking.

“Surskit.”

‘She’s curious how you can talk to her. I can’t really reach her mind, it’s as screwy as the rest of the bugs in here, but I can translate if you want,’ Emilie said.

‘How did one word say all of that?’ I asked. Emilie shrugged.

‘Not my problem your language is horribly inefficient,’ Emilie replied. Rude.

“Emilie can translate for me, and Sergei can translate for everyone else.” I turned to look at my rather confused friends. “You guys mind hanging out with Surskit?”

Wally shook his head as he chewed through another cookie. May looked a bit worried but slowly nodded her ascent.

“Have a seat, I'm sure you’ve got all kinds of stories about the forest,” May reluctantly said.

‘Alright, you guys seem nice, though I don’t know that I have any interesting stories. The forest is kind of boring, honestly.’ Surskit said as she walked closer to us. May tensed for a second before relaxing as I sat a few more cookies out for the water strider. Wally and May both pulled out their phones.

“Doesn’t feel boring.” Wally said.

“I think terrifying would be a better word for it.” May tacked on.

“You’re both babies, honestly.” I shrunk back from their glare and sighed.

‘Meh, a lot of the bugs here can be a bit territorial, but mostly they just like to have some fun with the new trainers. I have seen a lot more humans come into the jungle recently, though. That’s been kind of exciting.’ Surskit looked down. ‘People hadn’t been coming as often, and it’s gotten kind of quiet.’

“Huh? I wonder who else is traveling through the forest right now,” Wally commented as he looked up from the group chat.

I looked over and chuckled a bit at Sergei’s name choice. Mooching Strider seemed apt.

“Probably that prick that tried to pick a fight with me when we got back to Petalburg. He probably left before us. I know we’re not the only newbie trainers leaving Petalburg right now. The conference run did just start after all.” May commented. Surskit nodded along.

‘Yeah, a lot of them looked like new trainers. You should’ve seen how badly spooked this one girl got when a Wurmple fell out of a tree onto her shoulder. Funniest crap I've ever seen. I didn’t know a human’s voice could go that high,’ Surskit said, chuckling at the memory. May blanched a bit and ate another cookie.

I took a second and imagined how May would react to that. I could already feel the tinnitus just imagining it.

‘There was also a man in a suit that came through here with a Shroomish. He looked a bit nervous, but his Shroomish looked more than strong enough to deal with most of the guys around here,’ Surskit said.

“Huh, why would you wear a suit into a forest?” I asked aloud.

‘Maybe he was in a hurry and didn’t have time to change?’ Suzaku said. ‘Is a human wearing a suit into a forest weird? I never really understood the differences between human clothes.’

‘He did look like he was in a hurry, but if you want to talk about weird clothes, let me tell you about this one weirdo. He had a blue and white striped shirt with a black bandana. The whole getup just looked really weird.’ Both May and I froze at Surskit’s description.

“Uh, Surskit, did the bandana have a weird symbol on it?” May asked hesitantly.

‘Huh, yeah, it did. There was a big circle with three lines coming out of the sides.’ Great, that sounded familiar. ‘Did you know that prick? He was really rude. The coven didn’t like him much at all,’ Surskit said.

Coven? Did we have witches in this forest?

“No, but we saw some of his friends on an earlier route.” May said. I sighed. Wally looked between the two of us confused.

“Is this someone we need to be worried about?” Wally asked.

Right, he doesn’t know anything about our little temple adventure.

“That depends, how long ago did this guy come through here?” I asked the Surskit.

‘Oh, about a week ago,’ Surskit replied.

“Nah, we don’t have to worry about him. He’s probably long gone by now. Keep an eye out, though,” I said. Fuck, I just got done dealing with a fucking Mightyena, I don’t want to deal with a trained one.

“We saw a group like that on Route 103. They looked like bad news, so we steered clear of them. There was at least one Mightyena with them,” May explained.

Wally froze once he heard that.

‘Nah, this guy didn’t have a Mightyena,’ Surskit commented. I saw Wally relax a bit. ‘He did have a Poochyena though.’

“Well, that’s good. I don’t want to deal with another Mightyena. The first one scared the crap outta me,” Wally exclaimed as he reached into an empty cookie bag. “Huh? Aww...”

“Well, that’s probably a good indicator that we should get moving. You good to go May?” I asked. May groaned.

“I don’t want to get up, but I want to get out of this forest more, and it’s too early to set up camp. Let’s get this over with.” May got up to her feet and sighed. “Let’s go, Suzaku.”

‘Right,’ Suzaku said.

“It was nice hanging out with you Surskit. Thanks for not attacking us like all the Spinarak and Pineco have so far.” I said, before turning toward May and motioning for Sergei.

‘Wait.’ I turned toward Emilie who pointed me back towards the Surskit. ‘Do you have any more cookies?’ Surskit asked. Greedy little thing.

“Depends,” I said. “What would you be willing to do for more cookies?”

‘I could be... persuaded to help guide you guys through the forest,’ Surskit said. Fucking deal.

“Then I... might have another bag of cookies in my backpack.” I shifted a glare towards May. “Assuming someone else hasn’t stolen them,” I said, glaring at my best friend.

May looked away guiltily before pulling her bag around and pulling out more of my baked goods.

“I need to figure out a way to put a lock on my bag,” I grumbled before tossing some more goodies Surskit’s way.

‘Onwards, my new friends. I’m assuming you want to get to the far side of the forest?’ I nodded. ‘Well don’t worry. I’ll cut your travel time in half,’ Surskit said, grinning from ear to ear as she chewed.

***

‘Don’t go that way. There’s a Spinarak den through that clearing. I think one of them evolved recently,’ Surskit said.

I about faced and started walking the other way around the clearing to get to where Sergei pointed me. May and Wally followed suit.

“I hate this forest,” May grumbled.

‘A bunch of Silcoon in the tree on your right. Careful not to bother any, Cap,’ Apollo said.

‘You don’t have to worry too much about them. The Beautifly in the area are a bit more hands off with keeping track of their friends once they evolve,’ Surskit said. ‘Dustox are very defensive of the Cascoon though.’

“Good to know. Still not going to touch either,” I said.

‘PINECO.’ Apollo screamed as he dived towards the ground.

“Hit the deck!” Surskit looked at all of us rather oddly as we all scrambled away from the bagworm Pokémon that had fallen from the tree. She looked over the new arrival and smiled.

‘Are you going to blow up?’ she asked.

‘Not sure yet. Have you been captured?’ Pineco asked.

‘Nope.’

‘Then no.’ Pineco replied, and Surskit blushed a bit.

‘Don’t worry guys, he’s cool.’ Surskit beckoned us out with a smile. I was the only one that actually came out to say hi.

“LEA! Veto! VETO!” May shout whispered. Huh? OH. Right. I had Sergei. May couldn’t follow along with the conversation.

“Surskit says he’s fine.” May and Wally both stayed put. “Look, I’m fine. Surskit’s fine. The Pineco’s fine. We’re good.” Still no response. May was glaring at me. “Fine. Be that way. Hi, I’m Lea. This is Emilie.” Emilie waved from my shoulder. “Nice to meet you.” No response from the Pineco.

“Lea, I won’t ever steal from your backpack again if you get back here right now,” May hissed.

“We both know that’s a lie,” I shouted back.

‘Are they always like this?’ The Pineco asked. I think he was ignoring me.

‘He is,’ Emilie said.

‘Rude,’ I said. Emilie nodded.

‘The trainer in front of you makes really good food. I’d offer you some, but you’re...’ Surskit lifted a leg and gestured at the Pineco.

‘I’ll take your word for it. Have fun. Don’t get caught,’ The Pineco said before disappearing into the tree.

“He seems nice. Bit quiet though.” I voiced aloud.

A sudden pain struck me as I felt something hit the back of my head.

“Idiot! Never do that to me again. I’m taking extra cookies next time for all the heart attacks you just gave me!” May shouted.

“Owie...” I rubbed the back of my head. “Sorry for worrying you, I guess?” I said fearfully.

May nodded, a satisfied look on her face.

“Though if you’re already having heart attacks, you probably shouldn’t-” I felt an ominous presence emanate from my best friend and wisely decided to stop talking. “Shutting up, now,” I said.

“Smart girl.”

***

The number of aggressive encounters we had after that went down rather drastically after that. I mean, sure, Spinarak still tried to attack us if we got too close to a den, and a lot of the bugs in the area were rather... eager, to try my food, but all in all, considering how it started...

Today was a good day.

I leaned back into my sleeping bag and focused my mind on everything that had happened and started organizing the memories to the appropriate place in my mental bakery. The fact that I didn’t even need Emilie for this anymore made me positively giddy. A good thing too, because she was out. Like, thin line of drool, out.

I was torn on that. On one hand, she’s adorable right now. On the other hand, ew.

I grabbed Sergei and snapped another photo.

“Same place as the May photo, okay Sergei.” Sergei sent me a thumbs up. “Thank you. Now then, go ahead and take me back to that video series you showed me earlier.”

***

“Pinsir!” Of all the things to find, why was it a Pinsir? Why couldn’t it be Spinarak horde number twenty-seven? May was strangling me with how tightly she was holding on to me right now, and her mouth was right in my ear.

“BURN IT! BURN IT NOW! FLAME CHARGE, PLEASE JUST MAKE IT GO AWAY!” May screamed.

Fuck, that hurt. May never really was the same after we watched It Came from Viridian Forest two Halloween's ago. Or Parasite the Halloween before that... Or Head Crawlers the one before that...

Huh, I’m responsible for my own case of tinnitus right now. Go figure.

Suzaku’s feathers ignited, and she charged toward Pinsir with a higher-than-average amount of speed, probably to shut her trainer up. I never knew it was possible to learn a new move on the fly like that, but honestly, May shouting burn it over and over again when we ran into a very aggressive Spinarak earlier today left a lot of room for innovation on Suzaku’s part.

“STOP GAWKING AND HELP!” May shouted at me as Suzaku charged another Flame Charge and rammed into the dazed Pinsir.

“Nah, May, you’re doing fine! Suzaku’s got this handled.” I said, waving towards the battle with a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, May. We’re just in awe of your exceptional battlefield prowess. We’d just get in the way,” Wally replied from the safety of a fucking tree branch. I don’t know what he was hiding from, May or the bug.

“SCREW THE BOTH OF YOU!” May yelled.

“TOR!” Suzaku shouted as the third Flame Charge made contact.

“Pin...” The Pinsir collapsed in a heap.

“Oh, good, it passed out.” May sighed before turning a glare our way. “Why am I the one dealing with all the wild Pokémon attacks in this area!? Why did I have to deal with this horror show reject!?” May shivered. “What fucked up quirk of evolution made Pinsir anyway. Nothing about this abomination makes sense.”

‘I feel like I should stick up for my insect brethren, but honestly, I agree.’ Surskit came out from her hiding spot under the leaves. ‘No living being should have a mouth that looks like that. Now then, let’s push on. I don’t want to run the risk of that thing having friends. I’m pretty sure there’s a fork up here. The left path leads to where you guys want to go, and the right path takes us into the deep wood.’ Surskit shivered. ‘As a heads up, we’re not going into the deep wood.’

“Help!” I heard a scream and quickly turned my head in the direction of the voice. My legs were moving before my brain even processed that I didn’t recognize the voice, and I was running into the foliage.

“Lea! Stop!” I heard May shout.

I ignored her and pushed through to a clearing just in time to see a man in a suit get stabbed in the stomach. He was shoved down into the ground and the attacker, a tall man in a red hoodie, grabbed a suitcase and an unconscious Shroomish.

“Dammit, of course there are brats nearby. Fuck this.” The attacker bolted further into the woods as I rushed to the businessman’s side. I put my hand on the knife wound and pressed down as hard as I could.

“Can you help him at all?” I asked. Emilie looked down at the wound and blanched.

‘I... don’t know. I don’t exactly know what the inside of a human body looks like,’ Emilie said.

“Please... help my partner... I...” He passed out before he could finish. Fuck.

“Lea!” I heard Wally shout behind me. I turned just in time to see my friends rush forwards.

“I need a bit of help. He got stabbed, and I don’t know what to do,” I said, wincing as blood seeped from between my fingers.

Wally looked down at my blood-soaked hands and blanched.

“Uhh...”

“Move!” May shoved Wally out of the way and pulled her backpack off before fishing out a first aid kit. May’s hands were shaking as she pulled out a weird looking bandage. She ripped his shirt open, pulled my hands out of the way, and put the bandage directly on the wound.

It melted into the cut and the wound stopped bleeding.

“That should hold till we get him to a hospital. We need to get him to Rustboro, fast,” May said.

I quickly got up and May grabbed my arm.

“Together. We’re taking him to Rustboro together.” May’s voice was firm, and her eyes dared me to challenge her on this.

“The ass hat that did this to him is still in the forest. He took his Shroomish. We have to rescue him!” I argued, not backing down.

“We HAVE to get this man to a hospital,” May countered. I opened my mouth to argue, but Wally got between us.

“We have to do both,” Wally said. “We can split up.”

“We aren’t-”

“The longer we sit here talking about this, the more likely it is that the mugger gets away. We need to move!” I interrupted May.

“Surskit?” Our guide made herself known and all three of us turned to look at her.

‘Uh... guys? Do you know which way the mugger went.’ she asked, pointing to a... fork in the path?

“What the...?” I pulled my arm out of May’s grasp and ran forward. “That wasn’t there before. It was just a straight path,” I said. Surskit winced.

‘That’s what I was afraid of. That human has angered the forest.’ Surskit turned and looked back at us. ‘He’ll be taken care of. You needn’t concern yourself with him.’

“What do you mean by ‘Taken care of’?” I asked. “How the hell can you piss off a forest!?”

May walked up beside me, Sergei in hand.

‘They came to the woods a few years ago. The coven found our forest and claimed a part of it for themselves. The trees bent themselves to their will, and the forest changed to suit their whims.’ Surskit shivered. ‘The human will not leave the deep wood. Of that, you can be certain.’

“There, mugger taken care of, let’s go,” May said. She grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back towards the businessman.

“What about the Pokémon?” I asked. Surskit looked away.

‘Few who enter the deep wood ever return. They’re usually lost to the shifting branches, never to be seen again,’ Surskit explained. I turned towards May and scowled.

“I’m going,” I said.

“The hell you are! ‘No one’ includes you too, dumb ass. We’re getting out of this cursed forest and getting this man to a hospital, end of discussion!” May said, glaring at me.

“You two can do that if you want. I don’t blame you. I’m going after the Shroomish.” May opened her mouth. “What if it was Suzaku that was taken?” I asked. May promptly closed her mouth. “I keep thinking about what if it was Emilie or Apollo. This is someone’s best friend. Their partner.” I looked towards the man on the ground. “That was the word he used.” May opened her mouth, closed it again, then let loose a single, unintelligible scream.

“Wally,” May said. “Get this man to Rustboro, quick as you can.” She turned to look at me. “I have to go with this IDIOT!” She stressed the word. “To make sure she doesn’t get herself killed!”

“No no no no no no, you are not coming with me,” I said quickly. “Wally can’t go through the woods on his own. Hell, he probably can’t even lift the man.”

“Try and stop me. Gawain can help with transport,” May argued. Gawain nodded.

‘I can think of no nobler a cause. I’ll do my duty,’ Gawain said.

‘And I can guide him out,’ Surskit said. I whipped around to look at her. ‘I want to help. I was already guiding you out of the forest. I can stay with Wally.’

‘And I can protect them, if need be, captain,’ Apollo said. I had almost forgotten he was out and about he had been so quiet. ‘I’ll keep them safe.’

“But...” I said, before sagging down and sighing. “Guess I’m outvoted, huh.”

May nodded.

“Where you go, I go. That’s how it’s been since the start of this journey, and it’s going to stay that way.” May said. She looked over towards Wally, who was working with Gawain to get the businessman up and over his shoulder. His body was glowing blue.

“Here’s hoping my body cooperates. We’re running to Rustboro, quick as we can, let’s move.” Wally said before he started running. Surskit took the lead and darted ahead of them.

“Stay safe!” I shouted after them, before turning to look at the path in front of us.

“Let’s go.”

May turned and ran into the heart of the forest, leading for the first time since we entered. I kept alert and shifted my eyes to keep a closer look at the trees as we moved, and a pink haze started to radiate out from them.

‘This part of the forest... It’s weird,’ Emilie commented as we pushed further in. ‘The incessant chittering, it’s quieter here. Muted.’

Huh, did that mean fewer bugs?

‘More than likely. I don’t know how to describe it, but...’ I stopped listening to Emilie as I saw them.

Two Pokémon descended from the tree line that I didn’t recognize. They looked like puffballs floating in the air.

“Cottonee, the fairy-grass Pokémon.” May had beaten me to pulling out her dex, and she started reading off the entry. “A strong wind can blow it halfway across the planet.”

“You didn’t know what they were?” I asked, flabbergasted. May knew everything about everything. How did she not know what these were?

“They aren’t native to Hoenn. I’m a bit worried by the fairy typing, but they seem harmless enough.” A memory from yesterday popped into my head.

Careful when handling wild Fae, they can’t lie, but they’re con artists through and through.

‘Oh,’ said one.

‘A sister,’ said the other.

‘How nice, ’ said both. They floated back into the trees without any further fanfare.

‘I think I understand what coven means, now.’ Emilie breathed out as a set of three mushrooms hopped by us without even acknowledging our presence.

“Morelull, the Fairy Grass Pokémon.” May brought her Pokedex up and read the entry, unknowingly interrupting Emilie’s thoughts.

‘This place, it feels like a home away from home,’ Emilie finished.

“Cutiefly, the Bug Fairy Pokémon.” May read off as a fly buzzed past us deeper into the woods. “Another Fairy type.”

‘Sister. They keep saying it,’ Emilie said. ‘It’s all I can hear. Like they’re calling to me.’ Emilie paused. ‘That, and interloper. There’s someone here that they’re not happy about.’

I watched as another Morelull walked by.

‘Well, I don’t think they’re angry at us yet. If they are, they’re being really passive aggressive about it,’ I said. Emilie nodded and urged us further in.

“Emilie thinks they like us because of her, but we probably need to move. There’s someone here they don’t like. Any guesses on who that might be?” I asked.

May nodded once, before ducking under a low hanging branch.

“The mugger,” May said.

“Ding ding ding, I’ll buy you a prize once we get to Rustboro. Let’s help them deal with it before they label us as interlopers, whatever that means,” I said.

We ran through the weird foggy hallway of trees. More fae started to appear in my peripherals, and May read off each one as we went through the forest. Whimsicott, Shiinotic, Ribombee...

All of them evolved forms of what we had already seen.

We could not fight these things. We wouldn’t have a chance.

Emilie stared forward nervously, gripping my shoulder tightly as we moved further in. It felt like the forest was shifting around us. Vines cleared themselves from our path. Trees shifted in place. The pink fog got denser, to the point where it was getting harder to see, till finally, the ground I stood on all but became invisible. Eyes trailed around us as we walked, watching.

May stopped.

I almost ran into her. I moved to ask what was wrong, but stopped as I followed her line of sight.

“Beautiful...” I muttered.

Breathtakingly so even. A massive tree took center stage, towering over everything else in the forest. I struggled to think of how I didn’t see this thing from further back. Vines fell between the branches and glowed with an ethereal light. Small glowing orbs illuminated the clearing in a vibrant mix of colors, from red, to green, to white, to blue, all casting a faint echo of light into the pink haze below.

The whole area radiated with the energy of the Fae. All but a single, terrified man, holding an unconscious Shroomish to his chest with a knife drawn.

“S-Stay back. Don’t come any closer,” he said, pacing underneath the massive tree.

We hadn’t moved since entering the clearing, but a few of the fae that had run with us backed away.

“Fuck this whole damn mess. Why the hell did I think I could do this,” The mugger muttered frantically to himself as he paced back and forth under the tree, doing his best to keep an eye on every new Fae that wandered into the clearing. “I SAID STAY, THE FUCK, BACK! You don’t want this Shroomish to bite it, I don’t know why but you care, or I wouldn’t be alive right now, so don’t even try anything. BACK THOSE VINES UP!” He screamed as he brought the knife closer to Shroomish’s chest.

The forest itself seemed to shift around him. The pink mist shifted to a more purple color, and the branches seemed to move on their own.

‘Don’t talk and shush May.’ Emilie said.

I tapped May once on the shoulder. She tore her eyes away from the scene and looked at me as I raised my finger to my mouth in a shushing fashion.

‘The coven wants us to translate. Say what I say, word for word, in the most dead inside voice you can think of,’ Emilie said.

I nodded.

“You tally up a rather harsh debt to the forest, interloper.” I said in my best monotone. “What do you hope to accomplish here?”

“Fuck you. I don’t know what kind of weird fucked up trainers of the corn bull shit this is, but you are going to clear a path for me. NOW!” he screamed.

‘Don’t move,’ Emilie said. ‘His thoughts are erratic. I don't want him lashing out at you if you get too close. The idiot thinks you and May are fairies too. I don’t think I've ever heard of humans having a type.’

‘Psychics, aura users, martial arts masters-’ I rambled.

‘Alright, so maybe his half insane ramblings have merit. Whatever, repeat this,’ Emilie said.

“We will not. You have invaded our home and threatened the life of a brother. Your debt can still be paid, it is not too late. Surrender yourself to the judgment of my kind, and we may yet grant you mercy.” I took note of the word may. “Should harm fall upon our brother, you will not leave this clearing alive,” I translated.

May walked closer to me and grabbed my hand as she looked around the glade at all the fairy types. She was shaking slightly.

The thief frantically shifted his gaze around the glade. More Fae had filed into the clearing, and now he was completely surrounded. I think at this point he finally figured out he wasn’t leaving this clearing, regardless of what he did. He fell to his knees.

“Fuck this and fuck you.” He raised the knife into the air and-

Stopped.

A faint purple glow held his arms in place for a brief second.

That one second was all it took for a thousand vines to wrap themselves around the thief and restrain him to the tree. A single, muffled shout was cut off as the vines fully encased him and gagged him. The Shroomish landed a few feet away, and it looked like it was finally starting to stir.

“Shrooo...” I heard it groan. “Shro.” It pulled itself to its feet and took in the area, before jumping away from the tree. “Shroomish!”

A Shiinotic came up and patted the Shroomish on its shoulder, in what I assumed was supposed to be a reassuring manner, before turning to us.

‘Much like the interloper has incurred a debt from us, we have incurred a debt from you. Though his fate was always a foregone conclusion, you came to the aid of a brother and your actions may have stayed the hand of tragedy. What would you seek from us to balance the scales,’ The Shiinotic said.

‘Don’t respond yet. We need to word this carefully.’ Emilie doesn’t say anything for a while. ‘Repeat what I say, word for word. I don’t want to give him any room to twist our words,’ Emilie said, never breaking eye contact from the Shiinotic in front of us.

“We’ve entered your grove to take back what was stolen. The thief attacked this Shroomish’s trainer and stole some important documents from him. We simply wish to return what was stolen and reunite Shroomish with his dear friend,” I said.

The Shiinotic tilted its head and stared intently at Emilie. She closed her eyes and focused.

“Allow us a safe passage out with both of those in hand and the scale will be even,” I repeated.

‘Is that truly what you desire? Surely you can think of something else?’ The Shiinotic asked.

“That is the only thing that will balance the scales, nothing more or less is necessary,” I responded.

The Shiinotic started to laugh.

‘Truly, you are a worthy sister, young Ralts. For you have guided your trainer well. Fine then,’ he said, his voice echoing in my mind.

The Shiinotic retracted a vine from the writhing mass, revealing a small disc, and a Poke Ball. The briefcase was nowhere to be seen.

‘These items lack the interloper's essence. I can only assume he acquired them recently. These trinkets and a safe passage home for a fellow fungus.’ The Shiinotic shifted his vines toward us, and May hesitantly grabbed the offering.

“Thank you.” May said, smiling nervously toward the mushroom man.

‘You are most welcome.’ The Shiinotic nudged the Shroomish our way before turning and giving his full attention to the captured thief. ‘Now then, what to do with you?’

‘I don’t want to know. Please stop translating,’ I hastily begged Emilie.

‘Trust me, you really don’t.’ Emilie said, looking a bit greener than she usually did.

‘If you hurl, point the other way,’ I said.

‘You throw up on someone one time, and they never let you hear the end of it.’

May pulled me out of my conversation with a tap on the shoulder. Both May and Suzaku kept shifting their gaze around, trying their best to keep as many of the fairy types in view as possible.

“Grab Shroomish and let’s get out of here,” May said frantically.

I nodded, and very slowly crouched down.

‘Do- Do you know if Martin is okay?’ Shroomish asked. Gonna guess that’s the suit’s name.

“He was pretty banged up when we found him. We had a third person traveling with us, and he went on ahead with Martin to Rustboro. They can help him more in the city, which is where we’re going. I’ll carry you so we can move faster,” I explained.

The Shroomish looked up at me with a blank expression.

“Assuming you’re okay with that?” I asked. No response for a bit.

‘Fine,’ The Shroomish grumbled. I grabbed him and followed May at an almost sprinting pace out of the clearing.

“May, hold up. I can’t run that fast and I'm carrying twice as many Pokémon as you,” I complained.

May groaned before slowing down to a light jog.

“Sorry, I just really want to get out of this forest. This whole... situation freaked me out, okay? I’m kind of jealous of your little handicap right now. Would’ve made this whole thing a lot less terrifying.” May said, getting quieter as she went.

“Thanks for backing me up,” I said, doing my best to smile at her.

May winced.

“Yeah... didn’t really do that great of a job. I didn’t do anything other than gawk at all the fairies. You and Emilie didn’t need me at all,” May said, a frown etched on her face as she ran through the shifting glade.

“May, we didn’t exactly do much either. Emilie held the ass hats arms in place for a second and I grabbed the Shroomish and ran,” I countered. “The only reason we’re alive right now is that Emilie knows how to talk to high level sociopathic fairy Pokémon. Something we’re probably going to talk about later.”

I focused on Emilie who looked away.

‘ I don’t wanna,’ Emilie said petulantly. I sighed.

“Anyway, you braved the unknown to save a Pokémon you had never met, faced insurmountable odds, and stuck it out, for no other reason than you wanted to help me do the right thing. That’s-”

“Stupid,” May interrupted.

“-One of the most amazing things I've ever heard, and I am incredibly lucky to have someone as awesome as you as my best friend.” I ignored her outburst and powered through, and I smiled as I saw her cheeks turn a vibrant shade of red.

“We got exceedingly lucky-”

“Oh, without question,” I interrupted her. “When we get to Rustboro I'm putting everyone through the ringer. I never want to be in a situation like that again. But we did it, we’re all okay, and that” I shifted Shroomish so I could hold him with one arm and pulled May into a sideways hug. “Makes us big damn heroes.”

Emilie tensed at my declaration.

‘Now when you say ringer-’ Emilie started.

“Ya know what. Fine, we’re big damn heroes,” May cut her off. I smiled.

“Damn straight,” I agreed.

***

“The sun... I had forgotten how it felt.” I basked in the warmth for a few moments before May whacked me on the back of the head.

“Stop being such a drama queen. We were in there for two days, and the branches didn’t block out all the sunlight,” May said.

“See the abuse I have to put up with,” I whispered, pulling the Shroomish closer.

The Shroomish nodded. Good. Someone else I can commiserate with.

‘She’s right though, you are a drama queen,’ Emilie said.

“I get more compassion from a stranger's Pokémon than I do my own,” I cried.

“Stop messing around. It’s still a half-day walk to Rustboro from here, and I really want to make sure Wally got into town alright,” May said.

“Fine, they’re probably good though. We didn’t run into them in the forest, so that means they got out,” I argued.

“I’ll still feel better once we’ve checked in with Rustboro General. Double time, let’s go troops. I want us there before sundown,” May ordered, clapping her hands together twice.

May walked ahead of me as I lamented the fact that I couldn’t really snap to a salute in response.

Easy jokes lost due to an over encumbrance of Pokémon passengers. The tragedy of it all.

‘Stop being a weirdo and move,’ Emilie ordered.

‘Yes, master. I obey you, master. All for you, master,’ I thought sarcastically.

‘Drop the sarcasm and the fake limp, Igor, and we’ll be talking. I-’ Emilie stopped mid thought and I turned to look further down the road.

A small girl was standing in the road, dressed in the same red hoodie the thief was wearing. She was holding a small Whismur. She didn’t really look like much, outside of her striking red eyes. May kept walking, doing her absolute best to ignore the girl. I decided to follow suit.

She ignored us as we walked by.

Don’t really know what I was expecting. For all intents and purposes, we’re normal trainers getting out of Petalburg Woods.

Nothing suspicious here.

Please don’t realize we’re the reason your partner is probably dead.

Once we walked over a small bridge and the girl was out of view, I watched May slowly breathe out of her mouth.

“Oh, I'm so glad she didn’t attack us. I don’t want to deal with anything else right now. Just let us get to Rustboro in peace,” May said.

I froze as I realized a very important fact about the road to Rustboro.

“Hey, May?” I asked shakily. “This is the primary path to Rustboro, right? Mostly a straight shot, not a lot of ways to go?”

“Huh, yeah. Why?” May said. Fuck.

“Doesn’t that mean that chick was there when Wally got out of the forest with the guy in the suit?” I asked, my voice strained.

All the color drained from May’s face as she came to the same realization I did.

“Triple time?” I asked.

“Triple time.” May nodded. We sprinted as fast as we could to Rustboro.

Chapter Text

Rustboro was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Granted, I didn’t really leave Petalburg, but still, nothing could’ve prepared me for the massive shift.

As we pushed past the last bits of the route, and the dirt road slowly started to shift over to cobblestone, I could see the massive skyline of skyscrapers in the distance. Buildings that seemed big from far away eclipsed the sky as we closed in on the main gate, which had no less than five different guard stations monitoring the road.

The second we made it into the city, a huge map made up the centerpiece for the welcoming plaza, showing us where some of the hallmark buildings were. There were highlights like the Trainers' School, Devon HQ, the gym, and a contest hall, but smaller, important buildings were also labeled. At least half a dozen Pokémon centers were all highlighted as important landmarks, but beyond that, there were dozens of small shops and a crap ton of battle lounges just chilling on every street. The most important place we needed right now though, was Rustboro Hospital.

“It’s close. Down this road here and to the left here. Wait.” May pulled out Sergei and held him up to the map. She pressed a button, and a light flashed.

Map Updated.

“Huh, guess I shoulda just pulled up the nav function.” May blushed a bit. “Whatever let’s get going. It’s almost sundown, and we’ll probably need to book a room at a center after we check in,” May said.

“Assuming, we can even find him,” I grumbled.

“How many kids with green hair are running into a hospital with a half dead businessman?” May asked.

Fair.

“Lead the way.” I took in more of the sights as we made our way down the street. In addition to the shops, there were a ton of street vendors, selling pretzels, hot dogs, ramen...

All of them had a line of people and Pokémon alike. Honestly, seeing the one guy with the Machoke out made me feel a lot less worried about freaking people out with Emilie, Suzaku, and Shroomish. Off to the side, I saw three different Pidgey hanging around a man on a park bench, tossing out seeds for them to eat.

There was a Torkoal eating ice cream out of his trainer's bowl, and I barely stopped myself from laughing at the resulting explosion of steam.

Turning the corner, I noticed a specialty shop. They had a few TMs on display and the price tags made me almost cry out in pain. What kind of psycho would pay that much for a Rain Dance... TM.

Legends above, buying that was going to SUCK.

‘Keep walking, you’re losing May,’ Emilie said. I shifted my head and realized that May kept moving while I was gaping at all the things in the city.

“Shit, May. Wait up!” I shouted. A few people gave me a bit of extra space as I ran past them to catch up.

“Gawk later. The hospital’s at the end of the street,” May said.

Our destination towered over the other buildings in the area, and that made it easy to spot. We rushed through the front door and made a beeline for the reception desk.

“Excuse me, my name’s May Maple and we were wondering if someone was admitted here earlier today?”

The receptionist gave May a rather deadpan look. “Care to narrow it down a bit?” she asked.

May blushed. “Right, sorry, it’s been a bit of a day. Martin’s the person that was banged up, he was attacked in the forest and was wearing a suit. Wally’s a trainer about our age. He has green hair, and he would’ve come in with a Ralts.”

The nurse's eyes widened a bit. “Ah, you’re friends with that group. I’m sorry, but I can’t currently let you in to see them. That said, I do need to ask if you would be willing to stay here for a moment? I need to make a page. One of the officers on this case will probably have some questions for you.”

Wait, what?

“Officer?” I asked.

The receptionist smiled at me. “He’ll just want to take a witness testimony, try and get an idea of what happened.” Her voice was soothing and calm.

“Didn’t Wally give them the run down?” I asked, slightly confused.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t answer any of your questions right now. Please, just wait one second.” The receptionist picked up the phone and put out a page for Officer Bishop.

I decided to take a seat in one of the chairs off to the side, and I urged May to sit as well.

She hesitated and looked around the hallways.

“You worry too much. We’ll clear things up, get Wally, and book a room at the center within the hour,” I said.

“I can’t help it, alright. Today’s been hell.” May said. She grabbed the chair next to me and Suzaku jumped up and chirped a few times.

‘She’s trying to reassure May.’ Emilie said.

May pulled Suzaku into a hug as she looked around the room.

Jingling keys and the sound of plastic bouncing around pulled my attention away from May to see a tall, somewhat stocky man in a police uniform coming up to the front desk. “Everything alright, Miss?” he asked.

“Those two,” She pointed our way. “Are friends of the boy that came in earlier.”

“Ah.” He turned around and made his way over. “Sorry if that little game of telephone scared you girls. This whole thing has been a bit of a mess. My name’s Officer Bishop. I’m running security for Mr. Kingsley. I believe you know him as Martin. I’m also running point on the investigation.”

“Is Wally okay?” May asked as soon as he stopped talking.

The officer laughed. “The boy’s fine. Well, now he is at least. Poor thing collapsed almost as soon as he got into the city. A few trainers brought them in. I just got done taking his statement, I just want to make sure his statement lines up with yours.”

I sagged in relief that Wally was okay, but the fact that he passed out worried me.

“You mind if I take your statements separately? Just protocol,” the officer explained.

I nodded. The officer motioned for May to follow him, and I leaned back into the chair. Shroomish looked around the hospital worriedly.

‘How’s Martin?’ Shroomish asked.

“Er, before you go, Shroomish was wanting to know how Martin was doing?” I asked.

The officer looked back at me, a curious look on his face. “He’s doing better, that’s all I can say for now,” he said.

‘That’s enough for now.’ Shroomish said, relaxing in my arms.

“Mighty impressive you can talk that easily with someone else's Pokémon,” Officer Bishop said.

I pointed at Emilie. “Perks of being this little lady’s trainer,” I explained.

The officer nodded and escorted May into an office behind the reception area.

I put both feet up. “Well, everyone, get comfy. We might be here for a bit,” I said. I felt a weight lean up against the side of my head and smiled.

***

“So, if I'm understanding everything correctly. You three stumbled upon Martin in the forest, had the kid with breathing problems run him to Rustboro, went deeper into a dangerous forest after a dangerous assailant, brokered the release of a hostage, and argued for safe passage back out of the forest with a coven of fairy Pokémon.” Officer Bishop nodded once as he ran through the power point that was our afternoon. “You’ve all been trainers for less than a week.”

“I mean, when you outline it like that, it sounds bad, but everything worked out alright in the end?” I asked, chuckling a bit nervously as I did so.

The officer just groaned. “I heard the same damn story three different times, and I’m still having trouble believing this.” The officer pulled out a poke ball. “Are you alright with me returning you, Shroomish? I’ll take you up to Martin’s room after I finish up here.”

Shroomish nodded once, and Officer Bishop returned him.

“Now then, I’m not going to yell at you too much. You three did a good thing. But please, use your head a bit more. I get too many trainers in my morgue because they thought they could handle something they couldn’t,” Officer Bishop said, giving me a severe look.

That statement was a bit sobering.

“I’ll try and be a bit more careful,” I said.

Officer Bishop nodded.

“Good girl. Your friend’s in room 304. His breathing treatment should be done by now, so you can probably pick him up. The nearest center is down a block. It was nice meeting you three.” Officer Bishop got up and escorted me out the door. “They’re good, nurse. You can go ahead and let them up to see their friend.”

“Come on, May. Wally’s in room 304.” May jolted awake when I said that. I felt that, honestly. I needed a bed.

“Right.” May groggily walked up to me, before half collapsing into my shoulder.

“Hey, support yourself, I'm tired too,” I complained.

“Don’t wanna.” May said.

I sighed.

“Just lead us to the elevator. Not awake yet,” May said.

“Ugh... fine.” Thankfully, the elevator wasn’t that far away. “Come on, May. Get up, walking like this is hard.” I grumbled as we got off the elevator. “Help me look for Wally’s room.”

“It’s down that hall.” May grumbled as she stood up. “I can see the sign.”

“Well, let’s go get him. I want to crash so bad,” I said.

May nodded in agreement, and we slowly made our way to the room, I looked out the window and noticed it was solidly night outside now. That was going to make finding the center fun. I pulled open the door and frowned to see Wally out like a light in the hospital bed. A nurse was off to the side looking over a chart.

“Oh, you two are the friends Nurse Jane told me about. I’m sorry, but I don’t think Wally’s up to going anywhere today.” She sat the chart down and looked our way.

Gawain and Apollo were both passed out on either side of him. I sagged in relief, happy to see everyone was mostly fine with my own eyes.

“You’ll probably join him soon, you two look like your about to pass out on your feet,” the nurse said.

“Yeah,” May said dazedly.

“Listen, I’m just going to have a nurse help me bring a cot down. You two can spend the night here.” she said.

I frowned.

“I’m not sure we can afford-”

“President Stone has covered the costs of Wally’s room and treatment,” she interrupted. “He was quite relieved to hear that Martin was back in the city.”

“The cot would be lovely then, thanks,” I said.

May just started leaning on me again.

“Maybe hurry, not sure how much more night my friend’s got in them,” I said.

The nurse nodded and left.

‘Don’t forget to meditate. There’s a lot we need to unpack today.’ Emilie prodded.

‘Can’t we do that tomorrow,’ I moaned.

‘It needs to be habitual,’ she said.

‘Fine.’ I sighed. ‘I know I've probably already said this, but great job today. You’re an awesome partner.’

‘Stop it.’ Emilie looked away from me, though I did catch a bit of pink dusting her cheeks. ‘Blind praise won’t get you out of meditation.’ She stayed quiet for a second. ‘Thanks though. For trusting in me in the clearing.’

“Here we go.” The nurse brought back a full-sized cot and just laid it down on the floor next to Wally’s bed.

May immediately dived into it before scooching herself over to one side and passed out.

“I can bring another in a minute, though it might be a bit crowded.” she said.

I waved her off.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’ll be like the sleepovers we used to have at my place,” I said. I carefully sat down on the cot and shifted myself so I wouldn’t lean up against May.

Emilie sat next to me as I put my hands behind my head and leaned back.

“This is fine,” I said, feeling comfy.

“If you’re sure...” The nurse hesitated before leaving the room and turning off the light.

‘In ball or out of ball?’ I asked Emilie.

‘Out, if you’re alright with that,’ Emilie replied.

‘As long as you don’t mind getting bumped in your sleep,’ I countered.

Emilie shrugged. ‘Meh, it’s fine. I kind of don’t like being in the poke ball, honestly. Being outside is more fun,’ Emilie said.

‘I’ll keep you out as often as possible then. Now then, deep breath, and let’s go ahead and sort out today-’

All of my thoughts stopped as May, still asleep, turned around in the bed, threw her arm around me, and held me like a teddy bear.

‘Guess that’s one way to empty your mind.’

I... uh, yeah. Huh?

‘Tell you what. We can do this tomorrow. I don’t think you’ll be able to focus right now.’ Emilie said before laughing in my mind.

My heart and stomach were doing flips with each other, and I had no earthly clue why.

‘Idiot.’ Emilie muttered before leaning against me. She was out in under a minute, her head resting against my thigh.

It took a bit, but eventually exhaustion won out, and I passed out as well.

***

As much as I wanted to sleep till noon, the blinds in the room had other plans. Soon as the damn sun came up it hit me right in my damn eyes. Kinda hard to sleep through that. I raised my arm to shield my eyes.

Well, I tried to, at least. I was met with a rather large amount of resistance. Glancing down, I flushed bright red.

May was still using me as a teddy bear.

How the hell am I up before her!? She always wakes up super-

Oh shit.

“Mmm-” May groaned.

Fuck. Did I wake her up?

“Huh?” May looked up and our eyes met.

I blinked once.

She blinked twice.

She shouted, right in my ear, and scrambled away from me and the cot.

Maybe I should get my ears checked while we’re here.

“I-you-why-what-I" Apparently, May couldn’t quite... process what she had done while sleeping. Her face was as red as her shirt.

“Huh? What’s going on?” And now Wally’s awake.

“Morning everyone.” Screw it. Maybe if I try and brush past this, we can forget it ever happened. It takes me a second to realize, but out of the corner of my eye I see Sergei hop back into May’s bag. Oh, fuck, that little bastard-

“I am so sorry,” May all but shouted before disappearing into the bathroom.

“Uh, did I miss something?” Wally asked.

“Nope.” I got up and fished Sergei out of the bag and started flipping through folders. Not there, not there, not there-

Hold up, this looks new.

“If you think I'm leaving that anywhere you can find it you’re dumber than Samie.” It was a text file, created by Sergei.

Huh. Rude.

“So, I’m happy you girls made it out of the forest alright,” Wally said hesitantly.

Oh, right. Yesterday. I had forgotten all about that. Apollo groggily flew up from his spot on Wally’s bed and claimed his perch on my shoulder.

“Wing.” he said. I chuckled.

“Emilie somehow slept through that, Apollo. I can’t understand you. Good morning, though. I’m happy you made it out okay,” I said.

Apollo nodded once.

I turned to look at Wally again. “It was rough, but we got out okay. We didn’t really do much, we just... helped the Pokémon in the area deal with the mugger. They weren’t too happy with him either.”

Wally nodded.

“Why did you end up in here?” I asked.

“Yeah, my lungs really didn’t like the fact that I ran for that long towards one of the most densely populated cities in Hoenn. I needed a stronger breathing treatment than my usual inhaler.” Wally explained.

I frowned. “You didn’t-”

“I really didn’t like how much blood he was losing. May’s bandage gave up the ghost about the same time I got out of the forest,” Wally said. “The officer from last night told me that if he had received care much later, he wouldn’t have made it.”

“Well, you somehow had a more perilous journey than we did, and you didn’t stare down a full coven of fairy types,” I said.

“Fairy types? How scary can that be?” Wally asked.

“You’d be surprised. They... did weird things to the forest. If May ever stops hiding in the bathroom, we can talk about it over breakfast.” I half-shouted.

No response.

“Come on, May, I’m hungry,” I complained.

“Go away.” May shouted through the door.

“No, neither one of us has eaten since yesterday afternoon, and I don’t care that you-”

In the blink of an eye, May all but teleported out of the bathroom and covered my mouth with both hands. Tackling me back into the cot, and finally waking Emilie up. Apollo flew towards the window sill and glared at May.

‘Whazzat? Are we under attack? Why’s the bed shaking?’ Emilie asked, before looking over at the two of us. ‘Am I interrupting something? Would you two like a moment alone, because I can go someplace else.’

‘Not helping,’ I thought. May breathed in, before letting out a calming breath.

“This entire morning never happened. Got it?” she asked, a manic look in her eye.

She still had both hands over my mouth as she asked, so all I could do was nod.

“Good.” May clapped both hands together and led the charge towards the door. “Let’s get Wally discharged and make our way to the center. No way am I eating hospital food.” May dragged me up before bolting out of the room.

“Right. Wally, stay here. May and I are going to find a nurse. May slow down!”

Wally nodded, his eyes vacant and dazed as he watched me shuffle after my best friend. May was making it a point to walk ahead of me and made sure her eyes never looked back toward me. This was getting ridiculous.

“Look, May, I don’t really understand why you’re freaking out about this. We were both tired and the entire day was one big nightmare. I really don’t think you... cuddling with me while your unconscious is the end of the world you’re making it out to be,” I argued.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” May said, her voice clipped.

For fucks sake, how am I only two years older than you?

“Then stop sprinting away from the nurses’ station and look at me.” Honestly the fact that we were going the wrong way just made this whole thing kind of sad.

May stopped, leaned against the wall, and banged it a couple of times.

“I can’t get a W today, can I?” May complained.

“I mean, you probably got to second base with me at some point in the night. Some people might think of that as a W,” I joked.

“STOP. TALKING,” May ground out.

Tough crowd.

“I’m sorry.” May muttered. “Why were we sleeping in the same bed, anyway?”

“I didn’t think we could fit a third cot in that hospital room. Would you rather me cozy up to Wally, it probably would’ve been better for my back,” I said.

“No, that... ugh... fine. You’re right, I’m being an idiot about this.” May turned and really looked at me for the first time since she woke up. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t get why you apologized the first time; you were an adequate little spoon.” And the blush is back.

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” May groaned.

“If the teasing bothers you, I’ll stop,” I said earnestly.

“Really?” Her tone of voice was more suspicious than surprised.

Rude.

“Really,” I replied.

“I would prefer no teasing, please,” May finally whispered after staring down at the floor for a minute.

“Fine, I’ll be good.” I nodded once. “Now let’s actually go to the nurses’ station. I saw a sign that said it was on the other side of the elevator. By the way, we need to work on your sense of direction, because we may or may not have to murder your phone.”

“What!?” May asked.

“Don’t worry about why.” I rushed out before grabbing May’s hand and dragging her back. “Just trust that it needs to happen.”

“Lea, that really doesn’t assuage my worries. I like Sergei. I don’t want to kill him,” May said.

“Pictures,” I deadpanned.

May froze. “Meh, he’s lived a good life.”

***

“Alright, Sergei, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’re not leaving us a lot of options here,” I threatened.

He chuckled. “Waterproof, titanium, welded shut case.” Sergei sent via messenger.

“Okay, fine, you’re not leaving me any options,” I groaned.

The damn phone laughed as I shoved a massive bite of pancakes in my mouth and moaned around my fork.

“You weren’t seriously going to try and dunk Sergei in a water pitcher, right?” Wally asked.

“Sergei’s a Rotom, he woulda been fine. I wanted to fry the phone so Sergei couldn’t post embarrassing photos of me on Vinewhip,” I said, glaring at the phone.

May came up for air to a... mostly clean plate, damn.

“She had my blessing. Excuse me, I’m going to grab another plate.” May wiped her mouth before getting up.

Wally nodded before going into another coughing fit.

“Are you... sure you’re going to be alright?” I asked.

Wally took a deep breath from his inhaler before answering. “The nurse gave me a portable respirator to use, I’ll put it on once we get done here. This city doesn’t have the cleanest air in the world,” he forced out.

“Well, hurry up and finish, then,” I grumbled.

“I’m fine, really,” Wally said.

I glared at him.

“Mostly,” Wally said before shoving the last of his hashbrowns into his mouth. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mechanical face mask.

May came back with a bowl of rice and some pork cutlets just in time for the audio test.

“There. Much better.” Wally said, his voice far deeper than it was a moment ago.

Wait...

“Uh, Wally?” May said.

Dammit May, don’t tell him.

“Yeah?” Wally asked.

“Could you please say, ‘I find your lack of faith disturbing.’ for me please,” May said, a grin pulling at her lips.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing. “Maybe throw in a bold declaration of your role as a parental figure,” I tacked on.

“I feel like there’s a reference I'm not getting here,” he said.

Both May and I froze before looking at one another.

“Movie marathon?” May asked.

“Later tonight. This isn’t his fault; it’s how he was raised,” I responded.

“I feel like I'm being made fun of. Is it really that bad?” He asked.

“It’s fine, May and I are just terrible people. At any rate, what’s the plan for today? Are we sticking together or striking it out on our own?” I asked.

May shoveled some rice into her mouth and grabbed Sergei from me.

“Well, we all need to go down to the gym and book a match with Roxanne, probably as soon as we leave here. That place is going to be packed this time of year, so the sooner the better.” May swiped down a few times. “We also need money, so we should probably hit up a battle lounge. We can also hit up the contest hall if either of you are interested.” May smiled wide at that thought. “Once we get some spending money, we can also go shopping. I know I promised to get Lea a whole new wardrobe once we got here.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” I mumbled as I looked away.

May grinned at me. “Yes, yes I do,” she said.

“I really need to train before we hit up the gym. Gawain’s great but the other two members of the squad aren’t ready,” Wally explained.

Wait.

“Two?” I asked.

“Oh, right, I forgot to mention. Surskit wanted to tag along. Haven’t had a chance to give her a nickname yet, though knowing my luck she already has one,” Wally explained.

“Neat, I recommend Nimue if you want to keep the theme,” I joked.

“You’ll have plenty of time to train. Even if we go down today, our battles won’t be for a while.” May explained. “We’re at the start of the season, and every aspiring trainer in the city is trying to snag a badge for the fun of it. We can hit up the lounge after we put our names in the gym registry. That’ll give Wally a chance to get some extra battle experience.”

“Err... won’t me losing hurt our finances?” Wally asked.

“Honey, whatever you lose is going to be offset by the massive amounts of money Lea’s going to win,” May said.

I blushed bright red. “May, I'm sure It won’t-”

“You’re currently a zero-badge trainer.” May cuts me off. “YOU DO NOT FIGHT, LIKE A ZERO-BADGE TRAINER! Normal trainers don’t use your hit and hide tactics with Emilie. Normal trainers don’t curate their captures like you do. Most zero-badge trainers are rocking the arena with your public enemy number one, Zigzagoon.”

“They must be punished,” I muttered. Okay, maybe I do have a problem.

‘Hatred is only a problem if it’s irrational. Our shared distaste of those things is entirely rational. Therefore, we do not have a problem,’ Emilie supplied.

‘I don’t think that’s how that works,’ I thought back.

“Like I said, don’t worry about our finances. Getting Gwen and Nimue up to speed is worth a few bumps to our wallet,” May supplied while Emilie and I commiserated in our shared disdain.

“Oi, I haven’t named her yet,” Wally complained.

“Well bring her out and we can talk, then,” I nagged. “Come on, I want to see our guide again.”

“Fine.” Wally unlatched a ball and tossed it out.

Surskit formed on the table and smiled once she saw me.

‘Oh, thank the legends the baker didn’t die,’ Surskit said.

“Thanks for getting Wally to the city safely. We worried about him. You’ll get your own personal bag of cookies later.” I’d need to see if the center would let me use their kitchen later. Maybe find a recipe or two for bug types.

Granted, the look I was getting for offering that probably meant that she was good with whatever, as long as I made it.

“Since you’re a part of our team, how would you like a name. Lea and I suggested Nimue, but-” A loud chittering cut May off.

‘YES! Oh, I love that name. Being named for the lady of the lake is a very clever idea,’ she said, bouncing up and down as she talked.

I nodded along but stopped as I thought about her words. Wally glared at me as he looked up from his phone.

“Thanks, Lea,” Wally said sarcastically.

“Wait, why does a formerly wild Surskit know about a predominantly human folk tale. Come to think of it, why does Gawain, or the Pokémon that named Gawain?” I thought aloud.

‘Nay, the stories of old are passed down through many of the more knowledgeable bug types in the forest. The tales speak of a great many Pokémon of valor, and of the humans that helped them in their quests,’ Nimue said.

Wally sighed as he read through the dialogue.

“Oh god there’s two of them,” Wally groaned. “I’m never going to get a chance to nickname my own Pokémon, am I? This entire theme was forced on me!”

“Aww, I’m sorry. Here, have a cookie.” I pulled out a bag, and suddenly I had two VERY attentive Pokémon at my beck and call. “You guys are starting to make me feel like a drug dealer. I don’t like this feeling.”

‘Sorry,’ Came the echoed reply as both Pokémon got down from the table.

“I’m good, thanks,” Wally said.

‘Blasphemy,’ Emilie hissed.

“Well, I'm stuffed and you’re both done already, let’s go wait in a line for half an hour.” May clapped her hands together and smiled.

“Yay.”

***

“May, I think you’re getting special treatment,” I complained.

“You’re just mad you’re going last.” May said before sticking her tongue out at me.

“I’m sorry, but I agree with Lea. You get your match a full day ahead of us.” Wally complained.

“Yeah, I don’t know how great that is,” May said. “You two get to train for longer, and all things considered, I’m going to have the hardest time with Roxanne.” May bit her lower lip before looking at her poke balls.

“If Suzaku evolves, you’ll probably be fine. Doesn’t knowing Flame Charge mean that she’s close?” I asked.

“Not really? It’s a step in the right direction, but according to the dex, I need to work on building up the muscles in Suzaku’s legs. Flame Charge just helps with that. I also wouldn’t mind catching a third. I’m now the only member of our group with two.” May sighed. “Regardless, let’s hit the lounge. I want to watch Lea bully the locals.”

“Just remember to do your own bullying. We all need the practice,” I urged.

“I know, I know. Quit your worrying,” May said. “I doubt YOU need practice for this badge, anyway. Your entire team bullies Roxanne.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” I said.

Wally nodded before looking away shyly. “Er... actually, I think we’ll split here. I really think I need to do some private training before I try going into an actual fight. Gwen hasn’t really done any training and I don’t even know what Nimue can do yet.” Wally pulled out his phone. “I know you wanted to stick together, but I'd really feel better doing my own thing today. We’ll meet up at the center later.”

“Fine. I guess Lea and I will earn our keep alone,” May said, not sounding overly bothered.

I waved good bye to Wally as we split up at the crosswalk.

“The lounge is a few blocks away, so we’ll have a bit of a walk. Shout if you see something interesting though.” May said, before pulling out Sergei.

I nodded, hoping she had an eye on a nav function.

‘So, finally got some alone time with May?’ I don’t like that I can hear a smirk in her thoughts.

‘Please stop being weird about this,’ I begged. ‘Besides, you’re here, and you never shut up.’

‘I’m just saying...’

‘Stop saying. We’re friends.’ I put extra emphasis on the last word and awkwardly looked over at May, who was typing away on Sergei.

‘Friends don’t react the way you did when May snuggled into your shoulder. Friends also don’t debate if holding hands with their best friend in the city is weird.’

I blushed a bit. I was really hoping she wouldn’t catch that thought. Emilie giggled.

‘Shut. UP.’ I spat both words with as much vitriol as I could muster.

‘Fine. I still think you’re being stupid. The ONLY person you’re lying to is yourself.’ I hated how smug she sounded through the link. ‘I want to work on some stuff with you while we’re in the city by the way.’

‘What the hell am I going to practice? I thought I was the trainer in this relationship,’ I complained.

‘You’d think that, wouldn’t you? ’ Emilie shook her head as she said that.

I glared.

‘I want to work on improving your empathy. That will be a lot easier with more people around, so doing it in the city is ideal.’ Emilie said.

‘Isn’t that... kind of rude? ’ I asked.

‘How?’ Emilie asked back.

‘I don’t want to intrude on strangers feelings. That feels... wrong,’ I said, looking down towards the ground.

‘They won’t even know you’re doing it! They-’ Emilie stopped suddenly.

‘They what?’ I asked.

‘Nothing. You’re right. I guess it is kind of rude. I’m sorry.’ Emilie looked away. Odd.

‘We’ll figure something else out, okay? Maybe Wally will be down to help. I won’t feel bad if I have permission,’ I compromised.

Emilie nodded, a small frown on her face.

‘While we’re on the subject of training, I want to hit up the fields tomorrow. I want to work with Apollo and Joern a bit, and I kind of want to work on physical conditioning with you.’

‘What.’ Emilie did not look amused.

‘We teleport you all over the place, but you’re slow as all hell on your own two feet. And running will help build up your endurance. You haven’t really taken a solid hit yet, but I'm kind of worried that I'm turning you into a glass cannon.’ I winced as my back yelled at me. ‘I’ve also noticed a bit of extra... heft, when you teleport to my shoulder,’ I said cautiously.

‘WHAT!’ Ow. Ow. Oh, that one gave me a headache. Ow. ‘Sorry.’ Emilie muttered begrudgingly.

“You alright?” May asked, her eyes running over me in worry as I stopped to rub my temples.

“Fine, just a bit of a headache. Are we there yet?” I asked.

“Actually, yes.” May said as she waved toward the rather large building. “You didn’t notice?”

“I was talking to Emilie. I just paid enough attention to follow you and assumed you knew where you were going,” I said.

“You really trust in my sense of direction that much after this morning?” May asked.

“Well-”

“YOU!” Oh, not this idiot again. I turned to see Brendan Birch walking out the double doors of the training facility. At least he was pointing at me this time instead of May. Guess I made an Impression.

“Hey, Ass Hat, long time no see. Glad to see you made it through the forest okay,” I said, somewhat serious. That forest wasn’t fun, and he probably went through it alone.

“My name is Brendan, and I want a rematch,” he snarled.

“Are you sure? Cause I remember calling you ass hat in my head a lot. It’s going to be kind of hard to think of you as anything else,” I said.

May looked between the two of us in confusion.

“Have we met before?” May asked. Ass hat jumped and put a decent amount of distance between himself and May. Oh, that’s funny.

“We met in Petalburg three days ago,” Ass Hat said.

“Not really ringing a bell,” May said.

I swear the vein on his forehead is getting bigger.

“That’s funny, because you rang his bell. He’s the idiot you punched out at the gate,” I explained.

“Oh!” May said, before turning and giving Ass Hat a malevolent grin. Ass hat backed away slowly.

“At any rate, if you’re down for another beatdown, I'm more than happy to take your money a second time. May, you get to watch this time. I’m about to beat up one of your fellow field researchers,” I said, copying May’s grin.

May’s glare shifted to a look of interest.

“Oh, you were also sponsored by Professor Birch. That’s neat. The online exam was brutal, wasn’t it?” May asked. Ass hat looked a bit confused and more than a little nervous.

“Er, yeah, it wasn’t that bad,” Ass hat said.

I imagined it wouldn’t be for you, considering Birch is your dad.

“Really, I thought that one question going over all of Eevee’s evolution methods was going to sink me. Like, how are you supposed to know ALL the methods off the top of your head?” May asked, slipping into full nerd mode.

“Er...” Ass hat looked so lost, and actually looked towards ME with pleading eyes.

“And the trick questions with Pokémon anatomy were especially mean. I got them, somehow, but most of them were guesswork. Like seriously, how the fuck are you supposed to figure out the Pokémon from a black silhouette of a sphere,” May still hadn’t come up for air. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it get this bad before.

“Uh...” Fine, I’ll help you.

“And-”

“May.” I raised my hand to get her to stop. “Stop being a nerd,” I said.

“Rude,” May said with a pout. Adorable.

Not adorable, brain stop being fucking weird.

“Yeah, a few of the questions tripped me up, but honestly, being around the old man for so long, I kind of breezed through most of it.” What the... “Last name is Birch by the way. I’m the professor’s kid.”

Is he trying to show off or something? Why...

“That’s so cool! You must have all kinds of fun stories about the professor!” May gushed.

Oh.

“Well, there was that one-time last year when-” Hell no.

“We battling or what!? I have other things to do today.” I shouted, glaring at Ass Hat. If he thinks I'm going to let him flirt with May, he’s got another thing fucking coming.

‘For the love of God, refer to him by name.’ Emilie sent a rather strong feeling of exasperation through the mental link. Killjoy.

“Let’s book an arena. No where for you to hide behind on an open field,” Brendan said with a glare.

Brendan went through the screen doors ahead of me, and May shot me a look.

“What?” I asked. May didn’t say anything and just walked inside. “WHAT?!” No response.

‘Idiot.’

Chapter Text

I glared out across the stage as Brendan took his position. The idiot was waving out to the crowd like a damn show Ponyta. Quite a few spectators had filled the stands and all any of them could do was stroke ass hat’s already inflated ego.

I needed to make sure they were cheering my name by the time we left the arena. No way in hell was I losing round two.

“Kick his ass, Lea!” May shouted.

At least I had one fan. The ref raised both flags into the air, and the crowd quieted down.

“This will be a one-on-one match with no time limit. Are both trainers ready?”

I nodded, and Brendan gave the ref a thumbs up.

“On the count of three, then. One.” I took a second to look over the arena. It was as plain and barren as could be, Emilie didn’t have much to work with. “Two.” He’d probably send out Mudkip again. I pulled up Joern’s ball. I had been neglecting him a bit. “Three.” I released Joern and smiled at the familiar shade of blue that appeared on the other side.

“Marsh.”

Any and all joy I had at being right faded after taking in how much bigger that shade of blue had gotten.

“Marshtomp, Mud Shot.” And he’s trying to take the initiative.

Fine with me.

“Joern, just tank it and tag it with a Leech Seed,” I ordered.

I smiled at the swear I heard from the other end of the arena. Joern rotated his leaf and launched the attack under Marshtomp’s Mud Shot. Joern skidded backwards from the force of the mud as the seed bounced along the ground. It implanted itself in Marshtomp’s thigh as his own attack ended.

“You good, Joern?” I asked.

“Tad!” An enthusiastic cry met my call as Joern rose to full height. The fact that his full height was less than a foot made the scene more adorable than anything, but I was happy my Pokémon was feeling good.

“Then use Razor Leaf,” I ordered.

“Use Water Gun on the ground and slide out of the way. Get close and Tackle them,” Ass Hat ordered.

Fuck, that’s a fast frog. The leaves impacted the ground where Marshtomp had been, and I had to think fast.

“Jump and Water gun to propel yourself backwards. Tag the overgrown frog if you can,” I said.

Joern opened his mouth, jumped, and fired. I had to fight back a laugh as Marshtomp ran, headfirst, into the stream. I knew it wouldn’t do much damage, but damn that was funny.

“Don’t get up, just go deeper. Dig.” And just like that, he disappeared.

“Joern, can you sense where your Leech Seed is?”

Joern shook his head.

Well, that sucked. Honestly, kind of impressed the Marshtomp dug down so quickly with how muddy the field... was... getting. “Joern, Water Gun the field, rapid fire. Make the whole damn thing a marsh.” Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the referee groan.

“TAD!” Joern obliged me and coated the field with water. The dirt very quickly started to shift and cake together into a big mud filled mess.

“Marshtomp, come up now while it’s distracted.”

The mud directly beneath Joern bulged, and Marshtomp shot out from the ground and slammed into Joern with way more force than I was expecting. Joern got shot into the air.

“Joern!” I shouted.

“Tad.” Joern fired a water gun in the air to right himself, and the mud softened his landing. He looked tired, but not that bad off. He was sporting a bruise on his underside, but as the vines around Marshtomp pulsed, Joern’s bruise started to fade.

“Marshtomp, close the distance and finish this with Bite.” I smirked when the Marshtomp started to sink as he tried to move. “Marshtomp?” The Marshtomp flailed as he sunk further back underground, the mud falling into the hole he had made when he emerged from the ground. The whole arena was an uneven, muck filled mess, thanks to his tunneling and Joern’s water volley.

He was a sitting duck.

“Joern, let him have it. Razor Leaf, full blast.” Checkmate.

“Water Gun, deflect them,” Brendan shouted.

The leaves shredded through the water as if it was paper and struck true. Marshtomp held firm, and for a second, I half thought it’d survive the onslaught, only for it to lean back and pass out half a second before the end of the volley. The referee raised his flag toward me.

“Marshtomp is unable to battle, Lea and Joern are the winners.” I smiled as I heard a faint sound of clapping. Really, you were all so vocal before. I recalled Joern and rushed over to the stands.

“Did I do good?” I asked.

“You’re terrifying, you know that right?” May quipped, shaking her head.

“Stop, you’re making me blush. I couldn’t lose in front of my adoring fans, after all,” I said with a smile.

“Fan. I think everyone else was here to watch the professor’s son battle.” May sighed. “Bet my rounds are gonna be fun.”

I winced. “Meh, if anyone gets rowdy, send them my way. I’ll beat them up for you.” I puffed myself up as I finished making my promise, and May laughed.

“My hero,” May said sarcastically. “I recorded your match by the way. Figured you’d want video proof of beating your eternal rival.”

“Please don’t call him that,” I begged.

“Just shut up and be happy. That whole bout was great.”

“It was.” I heard from behind me. Great, now I have to deal with his post battle trash talk. Turning around, I leaned back at the offered hand.

“Wasn’t expecting a Lotad. I really wasn’t expecting Leech Seed. How has that thing not evolved yet?” he asked.

Humility and blind praise? From a rival brained chunni?

“Joern probably isn’t that far off. I know I had a massive type advantage here, but that was still a second stage and Joern did fantastically. A bit more experience and training and he’ll be good to go. I just didn’t get to fight with him much in the forest.” I smirked. “This is a much better post-game talk than last time.” I couldn’t help but jab.

Brendan winced. “Sorry about before. Dad... really let me have it for being an idiot, and I was being an idiot.”

Ah, that explained it.

“The woods were also a bit of a humbling experience. Pineco suck.” Brendan explained.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah. They do.” I agreed.

May clapped her hands together.

“Good, we’re all friends now. Don’t forget to give us our winnings.” May’s eyes practically turned into dollar signs when she saw how much we wagered.

Brendan looked like he was in physical pain.

“You’re still good, right?” I asked, surprised at how worried I sounded.

“I’m fine, just sad,” Brendan cried. “I’ll just have to come back tomorrow and grind. Again.”

I shrugged, unsure how to respond to that. It kind of struck me as odd that he didn’t want to battle more. He was probably better than a lot of the people here.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, but I want to get some matches in, and I know Lea wants to go a few more rounds,” May said.

I did? May’s eyes trailed over to me, and I swallowed as the dollar signs hadn’t left.

“Sure thing, May...” I turned to look at Joern. I felt bad for how little action he got while we were in the forest. “You still up for more?”

He nodded once. Joern really wasn’t much for talking, was he?

“Fine, let’s queue up against randos then. Later Brendan.” Damn, I even called him by name. That whole thing was a lot less fun. I missed the trash talk, dammit.

“Take it easy, you two,” Stop being polite, you ass hat!

***

None of the rest of my matches even came close to the level of challenge Brendan brought to the table. May was right, most zero-badge trainers really did suck.

“Apollo, Aerial Ace. Just put it out of its misery,” I ordered, bored out of my mind.

I smirked as Apollo disappeared and slammed into the Poochyena at max speed and pulled up to take to the skies once more as the he went down. Endurance training really had paid off.

‘I feel kind of bad picking on cannon fodder like this, Cap,’ Apollo said.

‘Would you rather face May’s wrath if we don’t feed her avarice?’ I asked.

‘I no longer feel bad about bullying the cannon fodder,’ Apollo replied.

‘Just be happy our endurance training has been paying off.’

“Winner, Lea and Apollo.” The ref raised my flag.

That marked seven wins in a row. At some point this place had to have some kind of slaughter rule, right? Where if I win too many in a row, they’d throw me into a harder bracket or give me something stronger. This was... kind of boring, and probably not helping my Pokémon that much either. Joern got bored after four rounds, and I think Apollo was getting close.

“Um... Excuse me?” Huh? Why was the Ref flagging me? Did I do something wrong?

“What’s up?” I asked nervously.

“Well, you seemed kind of bored, so... alright, there’s a hidden challenge you can get here at the Battle Factory. After seven wins in a row, you’re allowed to challenge a... special trainer that runs the facility. If you think you’re up for it, of course,” he said.

Score, there is a slaughter rule. “Sign me up! My team could use a workout after that warm-up.”

The ref looked me up and down before tapping on his earpiece.

“Alright, I’ve got a challenger.” A pause. “Who am-? This is the Ref for the zero-badge bracket.” Another pause. “What do you mean you’re not sure? She beat seven trainers in a row, and before that she faced off against a friend of hers with a rather impressive looking Marshtomp.”

Well, I wouldn’t really call us... friends.

The Ref looked my way. “You have three battle-fit Pokémon, right?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, she’s good to go.” One final pause. “Noland will be down in a moment.”

“Should I just...” I pointed back to the other side of the arena and the ref nodded. I hurried back to my spot. The double doors behind the other side of the arena opened, and a tall man in a white, sleeveless coat walked through. He wore a red beanie, and just... looked exceedingly unimpressed.

“Alright, so... fair warning here. I don’t usually fight at this level. Most of the people in the zero-badge arena kind of...” Noland trailed off.

“Suck?” I supplied. I knew my friends and I were slight outliers.

“I was going to be nicer about it, but yeah. I’m not really sure if the mons I picked out for this are... of an appropriate level of strength. You still sure you wanna go?” he asked.

“Well, I’m down for a challenge, but the ref never really explained what was at stake here,” I said.

Noland turned and gave the ref a bit of an unimpressed stare.

“Well, I didn’t know how you wanted to handle prizing for something like this. You usually don’t come to my arena.” The ref hastily explained.

“Fair enough. Alright, a win here gets you a clean five thousand credits, a bronze symbol, and a TM of your choice available in the specialty shop we have in back. Oh, and I guess you’ll gain access to the specialty shop.”

That sounded better than what I'd get if I took down the gym. I started salivating at the prospect of getting a TM for free. Especially a reusable one. Those things were stupidly expensive.

“Anything happen if I lose?” I asked.

“Well, a trainer battle is a trainer battle, isn’t it. The factory will claim your winnings from the sanctioned battles you took part in today.” Wait, why did he specify sanctioned? Oh.

“So, my first battle against my friend...”

“Would not be included,” Noland confirmed.

Well, that made this super easy.

“Bring it. My team and I will beat anything you throw at us.” I shouted in glee. Oh, this was going to be so much fun. “Three on three, right?”

“Yup, but first.” Noland pulled something from his coat and threw it across the arena.

It slipped through my fingers as I tried to catch it and I fell backwards, landing on my ass. I could hear Emilie chuckling in my mind as she levitated the envelope to me.

“Why does everyone think I'm coordinated?” I complained as I opened the envelope and pulled out a set of six cards, each with a different Pokémon on it. “What the hell are these?”

“An added layer of difficulty for me. You, my dear, get to pick two of my Pokémon. Choose wisely.” Noland explained.

I stared down at the cards and thought for a second. I recognized four Pokémon on these cards. Duskull was a recurring character on Mystery Dungeon, and I definitely wanted to fight one, for no other reason than to see a ghost type. They were so cool.

Elektrike and Ralts were out, though. I’d probably still end up facing the damn Elektrike. Noland still got to pick one of his teammates, after all. I knew what a well-trained Ralts could do. I did not want to deal with that.

The last Pokémon I recognized was a Zigzagoon.

I looked at the last two cards and took in the features of the Pokémon staring back at me. The first was a weird, purple, gremlin looking thing with diamonds for eyes. He looked like the type to start some trouble, and that probably meant he was really annoying to fight. The second was a yellow furred girl with an absolutely massive mouth coming out of the top of her head. I know the mouth was probably supposed to be intimidating, but honestly, the whole Pokémon looked kind of goofy to me. A single written word on the cards distinguished both of them as Sableye and Mawile.

I tapped both Mawile’s and Duskull’s card, and Emilie levitated them both back over to Noland. He smiled.

“Interesting choices, Ref, you want to sound us off?”

“Sure thing, boss. This will be a three-on-three fight with one allowed substitution. Both trainers will release their Pokémon on three. One.” Alright, I’d need to set the stage a bit for Emilie to be at her best, plus she’s fresh, so she’ll probably be last. “Two.” I think Apollo would be the best bet to start, just cause he’s fast and can dodge stupid crap if he has to. I can switch if I need to. “Three.” I released Apollo and Mawile formed on the opposite side. Alright, good. If Noland was releasing her first, it couldn’t be that strong, right?

“Mawile.” The rather intimidating Pokémon looked across the field at Apollo, before turning around, yelling at her trainer with her hand on her hip.

“Look, she beat seven in a row, and apparently, she impressed the ref enough to give her a chance. She can’t be that bad,” Noland placated.

I took this as a perfect opportunity to pull out my poke dex and scan the thing.

“Mawile, Fairy and Steel type, horrifyingly strong up close. Known as the carnivorous Pokémon. Well, that’s all sufficiently terrifying. Apollo we’re going to be using hit and run tactics. Do NOT get close to her mouth thing. Keep moving and rapid-fire water gun,” I ordered.

Noland smirked. “Not a bad strategy. Simple, but fairly limiting for me to deal with.”

The Mawile wasn’t even attempting to dodge the water guns.

“Ancient Power, knock it out of the sky,” Noland said, sounding bored.

My mouth gaped as eight boulders rose from the ground and outward in every direction. Not enough time to dodge.

“Aerial Ace to get out of the way, don’t stay close for a follow through,” I ordered.

Noland leaned back at the order. Apollo disappeared from in front of the rocks and slammed, beak first into Mawile. She skidded back a good solid five feet from the force, and Apollo took that time to veer to the right and gain altitude again. He fired a few water guns as he retreated for good measure. Good bird.

“Aerial Ace at your level, this might be fun after all. Mawile, return.” Noland called his teammate back. “I’m not going to waste my time chasing your Wingull around the stadium. I think I have just the thing...” Noland chucked out a poke ball, and an Electrike formed on the other side.

“Yeah, we’re not doing that. Apollo, return. Joern, center stage.” I half knew he wanted to force my switch with his, but it was still better than letting Apollo get zapped, and he’d have a chance to catch his breath. “Kick this off with water gun. Like earlier today.” I hoped he got my meaning. I couldn’t just shout what I wanted here. I smirked as the water guns angled down slightly, soaking the area Electrike dodged from. “Keep firing, just like that.”

“Charge a Thunderbolt while you dodge, Electrike.” The green dog started to crackle.

“Jump when you fire next to dodge,” I ordered.

The little guy propelled himself away as soon as the bolt was let loose. Though Joern dodged the worst of it, the current followed its way through the water, and Joern winced as it took the volts. Electrike dashed forward.

“Now, Thunder Fang.” So fast. Wait. It was close.

“Brace yourself and take it Joern. Leech Seed when it gets close.” Joern stood firm and his leaf glowed a bit as a familiar seed started to form.

“Abort mission, Quick Attack to create distance,” Noland ordered.

The seed impacted the open air where the Electrike used to be, and I sighed. This thing was way too fucking fast. Fuck it, enough with being subtle, this was taking too long.

“Full power Water Gun. Target the field.”

Noland smirked. “Discharge.” Faster than before, Electrike sent out a pulse of electricity. Joern didn’t seem to mind too much, but his Water Gun vaporized before touching the ground.

“Fine, you want to play with spread moves, we’ll play with spread moves. Razor leaf.” I was starting to get worried. Joern was a tanky little guy, but I couldn’t set up seed, and this fight was going for way longer than I was used to.

“Counter with Swift. Don’t let up,” Noland ordered.

Dammit all, do you have an answer for everything? “Don’t stop. Keep up the pressure.”

The leaves and stars met in the air and a dozen little mini explosions filled the sky. Smoke started to fill the battlefield, and I could faintly smell burning leaves.

“Joern!” I shouted.

A stream of water shot out from above and started to rain down and coat the arena. I breathed a sigh, relieved as Joern shot out of the smoke cloud.

The relief was short lived as his body started to convulse with electricity. He was paralyzed.

“Tad.” He barked at me, angry that I was reaching for his ball.

“He’s got spirit, I’ll give him that,” Noland said, grinning at my Pokémon.

The smoke started to clear and Electrike was still standing strong. With one key alteration. A single seed had started to sprout vines that enveloped his person.

“Damn, he was also a busy little plant in that smoke cloud. We need to end this fast Electrike, Quick Attack into Thunder Fang, end him while he can’t move.”

The Electrike boosted its speed and fell flat on its face, his feet falling into the muck that the field was slowly turning into.

“Oh, come on,” Noland complained.

Not so fun not being in control of the fight, is it, ya prick.

“Bring it home, Joern. Razor Leaf.”

No immediate response. Joern was still struggling to move through the paralysis.

“Just keep trying. You got this,” I encouraged.

“Fine, if we can’t move, charge up your best Thunderbolt. Hit it with every volt you’ve got.”

My eyes widened as the Electrike practically glowed yellow. Oh, this was going to hurt.

“Joern, you can do this, just push through it.” Suddenly, Joern stopped moving. I turned to look at him confused. But my fears were put to bed as a faint white light enveloped Joern, and his form started to stand up and grow larger.

“LOMBRE!” Joern shouted to the sky before jumping away, narrowly avoiding a massive bolt of lightning.”

“Now that, was impressive.” Noland smiled. “Win or lose you’re getting something amazing out of this. But don’t think this fight is over.”

My jaw seemed to refuse to work as I stared at Joern in awe. Deciding he didn’t want to wait for either of us to keep up the assault, Joern took this moment to raise both of his arms and a ring of water pushed out from his being, enveloping the stage.

“W-Was that Water Pulse?” I asked, mind ablaze with the possibilities.

“Discharge again, don’t let him bully you.” Noland shouted, and once again most of the water vaporized before it could do much damage, but a small ring still pushed through, and slammed into the Elektrike, knocking it back a good four feet.

“Trike...” He slowly got back to his feet.

“Elektrike, we have one last card to play. Watch your footing and Wild Charge.” Electrike’s entire body glowed yellow.

“Dodge and Razor Leaf, finish it.”

Lombre’s body pulsed as electricity gripped its body.

“Dammit, not now!” I shouted.

Electrike dove into Joern, and the area exploded in a haze of electricity. Once the smoke cleared, neither Pokémon was on his feet.

“Both Pokémon are unable to battle.” The ref declared. “Trainers, send out your next Pokémon.” The ref shouted. I grabbed Apollo’s ball, released him, and hoped... honestly, I didn’t know what I hoped for with the ghost.

A single chill ran up my spine as a shadowy figure started to form on the other side of the field. A large skull stared vacantly at me.

“Duskull.”

“Oh, that is so cool,” I said.

Noland blinked twice. “You’re... not scared?” He asked.

I laughed. “Why would I be? Oh, it looks so wicked. Oh, you have got to tell me where you got him, I want a ghost type. The whole shadowy vibe he’s got going on, he looks bad ass as all hell.” Was... was the skull face blushing. It WAS. “Oh, that blush is so ADORABLE. It’s like a chibi grim reaper.” The white mask got redder as Duskull looked away.

Emilie nudged my head with her fist. ‘We’re in a battle, focus.’

Oh, right.

“Apollo, Water Gun. Keep your distance like before, we don’t know what Duskull’s capable of.”

Apollo nodded, and a few low powered jets of water started pelting Duskull. Well, the area around Duskull, at least. Duskull casually moved between the shots as it floated closer to Apollo.

“Let’s just cripple it from the get-go, Will o’ Wisp. Clip this bird's wings.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. Four blue flames formed around Duskull and started to expand out toward Apollo.

“Douse the fire and gain altitude. Hide in the rafters if you have too, just don’t get hit.”

Apollo easily outpaced the fire, but they lingered, despite getting soaked. Right, ghost flame. Probably different from regular fire. Well, that was going to be annoying.

“I really am getting tired of all this water. Disable.”

And there goes my ranged option. I really needed to expand Apollo’s move pool when I got a chance.

“Fine, hit him hard and fast. Aerial Ace.” I knew I was pushing my luck a bit with this, considering he had already flown away from two of these today, but Apollo was a lot hardier than he had been before Petalburg Woods. I just had to keep faith.

Apollo disappeared and slammed, full force into Duskull.

Something that Duskull seemed moderately okay with, unfortunately. Apollo screamed out in pain as a blue fire finally made contact. Well, that wasn’t good.

“While you’re in close, Wing Attack. Don’t let it get away with doing that to you for free.”

Apollo screeched as it took off, ramming his glowing wings into Duskull as it gained altitude again. Noland grinned.

“Pain Split.”

Every nice thing I said about this Duskull was a fucking lie. Ghost types fucking sucked. Both of our Pokémon glowed with an ethereal haze and Apollo cried out again in pain, as Duskull glowed brighter.

“Now, finish it with Night Shade.”

Tendrils rose from Duskull’s shadow and lashed out toward Apollo.

“Quick Attack to dodge and get in close, then use Wing Attack on the fly by,” I shouted.

Apollo barely dashed around the Night Shade before tagging Duskull again. Even if he did heal off some of it, I knew the Duskull had to still be feeling some damage from those previous hits. This thing couldn’t last forever.

At least, I hoped not.

“Fine, Shadow Sneak, Duskull. Match their speed with yours.”

Duskull’s shadow expanded out and he teleported. From one end of the shadow to the other, he slammed into Apollo with a dark, shadowy aura. Apollo was launched a solid four feet into the air before landing in a heap.

“Apollo!” I shouted.

Apollo slowly dragged itself to its short stubby feet. He was breathing heavily, but he was standing.

“You got one last trick in you?” I asked.

Apollo nodded and kicked off from the ground.

“Let’s make it count then. Aerial Ace, one last time.”

Apollo disappeared.

“Destiny Bond,” Noland shouted.

Honestly, probably unnecessary. I doubted Apollo was getting back up from this regardless. Both Pokémon glowed black as Apollo slammed into Duskull.

Another double knock out.

“So, at the rate we’re going, what happens in the case of a draw?” I asked cheekily.

“Kid, if you fight Mary to a draw with a single Pokémon, I'm treating that as a loss,” Noland quipped as he pulled out a familiar poke ball.

Oh, this thing had a nickname. Goody. “Yeah, well Emilie’s my best, so don’t think you’ll be able to take her down.” I relaxed a bit as the weight I had gotten used to disappeared from my shoulder.

Mawile formed on the opposite side of the arena. She still did not look impressed.

“Wile.”

“Don’t give me that, you’re the last one on the docket. This trainer’s a lot tougher than we thought.”

I blushed a bit at the praise. Damn, I kind of wanted this thing to underestimate us.

‘Is the ground soft enough to work with?’ I quietly asked Emilie.

‘Yeah, I can manipulate this. Won’t be as easy as water, but It’ll work.’

‘Then start pulling it up. Make an improvised Mud Shot and start pulling some back for a mud golem.’

‘D’ accord,’ she agreed.

I smiled. For as much crap as she gave Gawain and Apollo, she was leaning into her name as much as they were.

“Whoa, what the... Mawile, Iron defense, then counter with Ancient Power.” The mud impacted the Mawile with a splat, and although it probably didn’t really do much, she did not look terribly amused when she raised the stones and launched them.

‘Teleport,’ I ordered.

‘Got it, behind and to the left of Mawile.’ Emilie disappeared and the stones harmlessly slipped past her.

‘Keep pulling up mud and stay ahead of her. I don’t want any attacks to connect while we get setup.’ I thought.

“Okay, the fact that you have a mental link this impressive at your stage is terri- are your eyes glowing?!” What?

“Are they?” I asked, slightly puzzled.

“YES!”

“Wile!”

Fuck, I wanted to distract him a little bit longer.

“Right, talk later. Battle now. Jump up and Iron Head. Run it over.”

Mawile jumped and hurtled toward Emilie with the force of a freight train.

‘Catch her,’ I ordered.

Emilie lifted her hands and Mawile rammed face first into a wall of mud that caked around her.

‘Now send her back.’

Emilie flexed and the mud violently shot Mawile backwards. She rolled a couple of times before correcting herself.

Emilie started pulling the mud back toward her, and some of the floating gunk started to shift into something solid. Emilie brought her hands up in front of her and jabbed. The mud fist followed suit.

“Okay, now I’ve seen everything. Mawile, show that wannabe kickboxer what a real punch looks like. Mega Punch.” Mawile pulled back and her fist glowed as she clenched It. The mud fist exploded on contact with the attack. Emilie pulled the mud out of the air, and it started circling her protectively.

‘Oh, if we get hit by one of those, we are just done,’ I fretted.

‘Don’t worry, I'm fine. She hits like a truck but she’s slow. I think that’s why he called her back against Apollo.’

I nodded along. ‘Makes sense. That said, defense isn’t really going to be that helpful here, so don’t worry about making the Emilienator. Just focus on dodging and fire pot shots when you can.’

‘We are not calling it that.’ Emilie said, her voice sounding done with me through the link.

‘But Emili- teleport.’

Emilie disappeared. Mawile slammed a fist into the ground, and mud splashed back into her face. The mud that had been floating around where Emilie condensed and slammed into the Mawile. I smiled as she finally cried out in pain.

‘Finally getting somewhere,’ I chanted.

‘No more jokes, focus on the fight,’ Emilie chastised.

“Damn, I was hoping we could catch you off guard. You psychics always get caught in your own head. It’s like one of the few chances us normal humans can get a drop on you. I’m a bit curious though, you didn’t do this trick with your other two Pokémon, is it something unique to Emilie.”

Wait, he thinks I have psychic abilities?

“Emilie’s doing all the work here. I’m just a normal girl, honest,” I explained.

Noland laughed.

“Honey, I’ve never met a Ralts that can form a mental link this impressive. Most of them are doing good to pick up surface thoughts. No way is Emilie doing ALL of the work. You either have latent mental skills you don’t know about, or you’ve been exposed to an absurd amount of psychic energy and your body’s adapted to it exceedingly well.”

The second one, definitely the second one. I needed to stop the conversation. NOW!

“You want to fight or do you want to talk!” I shouted.

Noland sighed. “Fight. Mawile, Ancient Power.”

‘I hate this attack,’ Emilie complained as she teleported out of the way again.

‘How are you doing?’ I asked. ‘You’ve been teleporting all over the place. That has to be taxing.’

‘I’ll live. Your ‘Endurance training’ was effective.’ Emilie said as she teleported away from another Mega Punch.

I thought about the fight as Mawile’s fists started to glow yet again. Our attacks weren’t doing enough, and Mawile barely looked winded. I needed something bigger. Emilie teleported away again.

“You know, for a fight, you seem to be doing a lot of running,” Noland jeered.

I ignored him, and my gaze shifted to the stones Mawile had sent out with ancient power.

‘Wanna play catch with an angry Mawile?’ I asked.

‘No. I don’t. I don’t think I have much of a choice, though.’ I felt Emilie strain through the connection as she grabbed a rock much larger than any we had lifted before and launched it at the charging Pokémon. Mawile was almost on her...

“Mawile, back step.”

Too late. The large stone slammed into Mawile and sent her tumbling to the left of Emilie.

‘Grab her. Before she can get her bearings,’ I ordered.

Mawile glowed purple and was lifted several meters into the air.

‘Now, slam her down,’ I finished.

The earth splintered with the force Emilie put into that. I gaped as I saw Mawile start to get up.

“How...?”

The Mawile knelt almost immediately and leaned against her knee, panting hard.

‘Yeah... She’s... not... the only one.’ Emilie rasped. ‘I’m spent.’

Mawile shakily started to stand, and I sighed.

‘Okay, screw you. Steel types are so stupid.’ Emilie complained.

‘Say’s the psychic type,’ I mused. ‘What do you think you can do?’

‘I can probably manipulate the mud still. Teleporting is probably also fine. Large stones, and directly grabbing that thing are definitely beyond me, though,’ Emilie said.

‘Well, let’s make us look scarier than we are right now. Grab as much mud as you can and have it float around you. I want to be ready for whatever they have left.’

Emilie’s eyes glowed. ‘Just so you know, after this fight, I’m passing out for a bit.’ Emilie said.

‘I kind of assumed. ’

A significantly smaller ring of mud formed around Emilie.

“Alright, that’s enough, I’m willing to call this a draw.” Noland shouted over the arena.

Emilie’s mud ring fell to the floor and Mawile turned and looked at her trainer in disbelief.

“WILE!”

“I don’t want to hear it. The two of you are doing good to stand, you’re in no condition to fight. You'll have the world’s lamest showdown as the two of you hit each other with an attack that would put a Magikarp’s splash to shame, and then you’ll both pass out.” Noland deadpanned. Mawile tapped her wrist, hinting at something.

“We are not going to do that against a zero-badge trainer, are you out of your mind?! We are going to double down on your training, though. Clearly, I’ve been way too lax,” Mawile grumbled.

“So... That’s it then?” I hesitantly asked.

“If you’re good with it?”

I nodded enthusiastically, not eager to push Emilie any harder.

“Good, Ref?” Noland asked.

“Er... right. By mutual agreement, this match between Lea and Noland has ended in a draw.”

I rushed out into the arena and carefully picked Emilie up.

‘ Great work.’ I sent that with as much pride as I could. Emilie smiled.

It might not have been a win, but I was still proud of my team. I stared across the arena as Noland recalled Mawile, and chuckled nervously when he fixed me with a smirk.

“Let’s have a chat,” he said.

I hesitantly nodded.

Chapter Text

Noland took me back through the back halls of the Battle Factory at a leisurely pace. This was something I was grateful for, because it gave me a chance to look in on some of the other arenas. It was quickly becoming apparent that this place catered to trainers of all skill levels, if the battles I spied on were anything to go by. Salamence, Lucario, Swampert, Charizard, and many more high level Pokémon that I didn’t even recognize were fighting it out in specialized arenas. There were more than a few trainers here that I recognized as conference regulars, and it only felt like the deeper in we went, the more terrifying the trainers got.

“Legends above, I’ve got a long way to go...” I muttered to myself.

Noland smiled as he stopped in front of a large set of mechanical doors. “Yeah, the eight badge arenas are a sight, aren’t they? It’s always a joy to bring newer trainers through the facility. They get a glimpse of their futures if they keep at it.” Noland pressed a few buttons and the doors started to slide open. “Though this is probably the first time I’m bringing back a trainer this green. Roxanne’s gonna have her hands full with you.”

“So... out of idle curiosity, how strong are you compared to Roxanne?” I asked.

Noland laughed hard at that one. I leaned in, eager to see what kind of answer would bring out this response.

"I have no earthly clue!” Noland said.

I fell forward a bit and Noland only laughed harder.

‘He’s nothing, if not honest, ’ Emilie said with a sigh.

‘Painfully so, apparently,’ I agreed.

“Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I actually threw down against Roxy. Neither one of us really ever has time,” he explained. “I honestly don’t know where the Pokémon I threw out against you are at either, I just grabbed the six weakest Pokémon I had on hand. Well, five weakest and Mary, but Mary’s only really scary if we Mega Evolve, so-”

“YOU HAVE A MEGA STONE!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Noland smiled. “A few. Mary’s probably going to be mad at me for a while, honestly. It’s been a while since I’ve fought with her without Mega Evolution. Today kind of showed me that I really need to work with her more in her base form. I’ve been slacking.” Noland sighed as the door opened. “My boss is gonna give me hell for losing to a kid like you, I want you to know that.”

“Who’s your boss? Is he a big name?” I asked.

“Nah, Scott likes to keep to himself. Likes his privacy. Though, for all the trouble he went through to design our little challenge, he could stand to advertise it more. Be warned, he might give you a call once I tell him you beat me,” Noland said.

“We drew,” I hastily corrected.

“Someone like me drawing with a zero-badge trainer is as good as a loss. Our private shop is back this way. Can I see your phone really quick?”

Er... well this is embarrassing... I hesitantly reached into my pocket and pulled out my ancient Devon Corp Poke Nav.

Noland didn’t even bother reaching for it. “Please tell me you have something else.”

“Uh... I have my Pokedex.” I hesitantly pulled out my dex and he snatched it from me before I could even see him move.

“I didn’t know you were one of Birch’s. That’s awesome!” He pulled it open and pressed a few buttons. “Damn, this thing is old. How long have you been a trainer.”

“...about a week,” I muttered, more than a bit embarrassed.

Noland stopped and just looked at me. “I don’t believe you,” he deadpanned. “You’re, what, eighteen? Nineteen, maybe?”

“Seventeen.” I corrected with a bit of heat. “I had a late start cause of some home stuff.” I blushed and looked away.

“So, you’ve been a trainer for a week, and you fight like that?”

I heard my dex beep and Noland looked down at the screen.

“Alright, a week. I was beaten by someone that hasn’t even had their Pokémon for a full week. I am never going to live this down. I can already hear Lucy...”

I half wanted to offer my support, but I was a bit offended that he was taking a draw with me this badly.

“At any rate, I’ve gone ahead and marked the other battle facilities on your navigation function. It’s not as clean as some of the newer models, or the smartphones that literally every other trainer in existence has nowadays.” Noland glanced up and glared at me.

I glared back.

“But it will do,” he finished.

“I’m traveling with a friend that has a nice one, I’ll just transfer it over to hers later.” I muttered before walking into the... shop? This didn’t look like a shop. This looked like a supply closet with a teleporter.

“Well, if you want to run the gauntlet while you’re picking up badges, look us up. We offer decent prizes for winning, and you get something really special if you beat all seven of us.” He sounded like he was making a sales pitch.

“Which is...?”

“Can’t tell ya. It’s a surprise,” Noland said, giving me a coy grin.

“Right, and this is a shop. Not a supply closet.” I pushed a little further in and saw an incredibly bored man behind a register. “I stand corrected, it’s a supply closet that was very lazily converted into a shop.”

“Your words hurt. Pick out a TM. Here’s your knowledge symbol. I’ve already transferred the credits to your account. Hurry it up, I want to learn how someone who’s been a trainer for seven days has budding psychic abilities and a mental link with a Ralts.”

Like hell I'm going to tell you, and I don’t have psychic abilities! Well, besides empathy, I guess.

‘Uh... well...’ My brain stopped as Emilie interrupted my thoughts. She pressed her hands together and looked anywhere but my eyes.

‘Alright, you’re going to be explaining that later. I'm too tired to worry about it now,’ I complained.

‘Good, because I’m too tired to explain,’ Emilie said.

“What makes you think I'm going to share?” I tossed back at Noland. “Especially since I don’t have psychic powers.”

Noland gave me a look.

“Besides empathy, that I barely know how to use,” I admitted.

“That last part I believe. Ralts can’t talk to people without some kind of help, though. They aren’t strong enough. Which means you’re helping the process along. Which means you’re also a telepath, at minimum. Now spill. You haven’t been a trainer long enough for your brain to learn your Ralts’s tricks. Were you a natural born psychic?” Noland asked.

“It’s none of your business, so buzz off.” I replied.

Noland stared at me for a bit, then sighed. “Fine. You’re right. I can’t force you. Just do me a favor and be careful, alright? I’ve seen many psychic trainers get lost in their own head or go mad. Everyone looks up to Sabrina in Kanto, but honestly, she’s the poster child for psychics going off their rocker.” He looked at me with a very serious expression on his face. “Find an anchor to pull you back when needed, and always have a friend close by to pull you out of your head. I want to see you go far, kid. You can’t do that if you’re catatonic in a mental institution.”

I winced at the suggestion. “Emilie wouldn’t ever let me lose myself, and I’m traveling in a group. I’ll be fine.”

Emilie nodded along to my statement, and Noland reluctantly smiled.

“Fine. TMs are over there by the way.” He pointed toward the back wall where a giant rack had them sorted by number.

Going over, my heart soared as I saw the number I had memorized from my guidebook. “TM Eighteen. Rain dance. Oh, you have made my day.” I grabbed the small CD case and pocketed it.

***

“So, to clarify, there’s a secret organization in the back of the Battle Lounge-”

“Factory. Noland called it the Battle Factory,” I corrected.

May glared at me. “Then they should update their registry, and their signage. Continuing, there’s a secret organization in the back of the Battle Factory, where if you beat a certain number of trainers in a row, you face off against a big scary man in a white sleeveless overcoat that has absurdly strong Pokémon. I know they’re absurdly strong because you fought him to a draw. You’ve now been inducted into this secret society, where you get to run a fake gym challenge for fabulous prizes, the best of which you don’t even know what it is, and during all of that, you got enough money to cover your supplies for a long ass time and a TM you’ve been salivating over for the last two days. Does that about cover it?”

I thought for a couple of seconds. “Joern also evolved, but yeah, that’s about everything.” I smiled. “Pretty cool, huh?”

May slammed her head into the table. “Can you please, just... have a normal day.”

I patted May on the head and took a sip of my smoothie. “That sounds boring, so no.” I said without shame.

“Fine, tomorrow we’re shopping though. We have the funds for a whole new wardrobe, so no more hand me downs for this up-and-coming super star.” I blushed at May’s praise.

“Yeah, you two have fun with that.” Oh, so it’ll just be May and I on our shopping trip and why the fuck does that make me so happy?

“You mean you don’t want to offer your bag carrying services, Sir Wally?” May badgered in an attempt to be lazy.

“Pass. I’ll probably hit up the lounge-”

“Factory,” I corrected.

“Whatever. All three of my Pokémon need battle experience. That said, what do you two want to do tonight? It’s still early,” Wally said.

“Hmm... are they doing anything at the contest hall? We could watch a show.” I threw out.

May started swiping up on Sergei. “They host a contest every night at seven.” May said.

“How much are tickets?” Wally asked, leaning forward in his chair.

May winced. “Four hundred. Each.”

Wally sank back down into his chair. “Damn, this place is way pricier than the place in Verdunturf,” Wally complained. “Can’t afford that right now.”

“I mean, it makes sense. Way more people here than in Verdunturf. I can pay for everyone if you guys want to go,” I suggested.

“This humble knight graciously accepts your good will.” Wally smiled.

Well, I assumed it was a smile. It was kind of hard to tell with the mask.

“I haven’t been to a contest since I was a kid. I can’t wait to see what it’s like here,” Wally said.

“Thanks for the offer, but... I think I'll pass,” May said.

What?

“You sure?” Wally asked. “You’re turning down a chance to mooch off Lea? You feeling okay?”

“...I kind of don’t like that we’ve been traveling together for four days, and you already believe her lies.” May was doing her best to look as devastated as possible.

“Gawain and Emilie backed her stories up. Fairys literally cannot lie,” Wally countered.

“Rude. I’m just going to head back to the center and work on training routines for Suzy and Samie. Maybe do some light training with them. You two go and have fun without me,” May said.

I wanted to have fun with you too, though. That’s half the reason I said I'd treat!

“Fine, be a responsible Pokémon trainer. Come on, Wally, we need to head out now if we want to get tickets.” I forced myself to stay as upbeat as possible as I got up, more than a bit unhappy that I couldn’t renig on something I suggested.

“Er... coming. Have a good night, May. See you later.” Wally said as I dragged him away from the table. “Lea, slow down. I can’t run that fast.”

I stopped as a crushing realization sunk in.

“Where’s the contest hall again?”

Wally groaned as he pulled out his phone.

***

“...and our seats should be, ah! Right here,” Wally said.

I was only half paying attention as I took in the massive auditorium. Not sure if Wally really needed to be super concerned about us being in exactly the right spot, we weren’t all that close to max capacity. At least I’d get to enjoy the extra clearance for my arms. Hell, Emilie could have her own seat.

‘Your shoulder is plenty comfortable, thanks.’

Damn.

“I figured this place would be more filled. The Verdunturf Hall was always packed,” Wally commented.

“I mean, it's early in the season and there’s more to do in the city than there is in Verdunturf. I can’t imagine the price of entry endears it to most of the trainers here for their first badge.” I still couldn’t believe that vendor tried to have me buy Emilie a ticket. “You apparently love contests, and you didn’t want to come because of how pricy the tickets were. Imagine how all the trainers without sugar mamas feel.” I explained.

Wally shot me an amused look. “Did these tickets come with strings attached? Do I have to do a sultry dance later?”

“Depends on my mood. You might just be consigned to bringing me breakfast tomorrow morning.” I said, doing my best to sound as ambivalent as possible.

Wally chuckled lightly through his mask.

“Out of idle curiosity, what’s doing it for you? The oxygen mask, the spindly arms, or the exotic hair color?” Wally asked.

I couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling up at that. “Alright, your banter skills are up to snuff.” I said with a smile.

“You mean this isn’t casual flirting?” Wally lazily asked.

I suddenly felt very nervous about how to respond. “I, uh... hope this won’t crush your fragile heart, but uh... you’re not my type,” I said.

Wally heaved a sigh of relief and I suddenly felt slightly insulted.

“Oi, I’m a catch,” I complained. I felt Emilie start to shake on my shoulder, and a very faint laughter filled my left ear.

“No offense, Lea, but you scare the crap out of me.” Wally said.

The laughter got louder as Emilie stopped trying to hold in.

“Excuse me!?” I shouted. I got a few shushes from other people in the hall.

“It’s not anything bad, it’s... you can be a little intense. It’s intimidating,” Wally explained. The auditorium started to dim. “Oh, shush. It’s starting.”

Am I scary? I don’t think I'm scary. I’m a god damn delight!

‘Of course you are, honey,’ Emilie said.

“Hello everyone, we’re so happy to have you join us today! We have a host of twenty coordinator’s today at this rookie level event, so thank you-” Yup. Rookie level. Ugh. Why did I do this to myself? I idly wondered how many of these appeal rounds were just going to be Zigzagoon trainers trying to wow us with a tail chasing act and trying to appeal to the cuteness factor.

Gag.

‘Hey Emilie? I’m going to meditate for a bit, could you pull me out if anything interesting happens or Wally needs me?’ I asked.

‘This was your idea, you know. I don’t care what the motive was, the least you could do is pretend to watch for Wally’s sake.’

I scrunched up my nose as the first trainer sent out a Zigzagoon.

‘I... suppose I could watch for you,’ Emilie said.

'Thanks, just... play the highlight reels for me later in my head so I can share it with May.’ I suggested.

Emilie nodded before turning and sending me a suggestive smirk. ‘You do realize-’

‘YES! I GET IT! YOU’VE MADE YOUR OPINION KNOWN! PLEASE STOP BRINGING UP SOMETHING THAT’S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!’

Emilie winced.

I didn’t know I could yell through the mental link.

‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice was quiet as she looked away.

‘Don’t- you didn’t do anything wrong. I just... let me meditate in peace, alright? We can talk in a bit,’ I said, feeling guilty for reacting like that.

I glanced up at the stage and they had moved on to a Poochyena. Yeah, I wasn’t missing much. I closed my eyes and let my mind take me back to the bakery. Nothing had changed.

I needed to fix that.

Meeting the suit and our adventure into the forest came to mind. I did that with May, so let’s just take a seat at her table and... let’s make some cupcakes that are decorated like mushrooms. That’ll work.

Then there was the incident this morning. I could feel my cheeks heat up just thinking about it. How embarrassed we both were. How... nice... it was.

A stuffed Tediursa doll formed on the table.

Moving on. We have an appointment. I looked over to the calendar hanging off the wall behind the register, and the seventeenth got marked down for a gym battle.

Next was my fight with Brendan.

After he flirted with May.

The dick. He was less of an ass this time, but I still can’t stand him. A Mudkip voodoo doll formed on the dart board next to the entrance.

It suddenly occurred to me that I still hadn’t gotten up from the table May was sitting at. An urge struck me.

The point of having a memory palace like this was to remember things. I could finish this later. I smiled as the contents of the table changed. There was a cupcake with a candle, a braid, and a brownie.

I grabbed the braid.

The room shifted and my mind recreated the scene. May and I were hanging out in her room. She had somehow managed to convince me that I would look fantastic with braids.

I think I was just trying to get a break from Eve and jumped at the chance to get out of the house. Oh, legends, I looked so young. This was an earlier memory than I thought.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Young me asked.

“Duh, braids are easy. I’ll show you how to do mine after,” Mini May offered. “Your hair is so long. I'm surprised you don’t have someone in your family do this for you. I imagine your job would be easier if you had your hair done up.” A ponytail and a hair net’s all you need. “What twelve-year-old has a part time job, anyway?”

Damn, she was a bit of a brat back then.

“I doubt Eve would take the time out of her day to braid my hair,” Mini-me grumbled.

Fuck I was stupid. Eve didn’t HAVE time in her day.

“And it’s a fulltime job, thank you very much.”

“What about your mom?” I winced at the shout of pain from Mini-me. Yeah, I remembered that wince. I pulled away from May and she ended up pulling my hair. “Hey, careful.” Mini May said.

“I... my parents... Eve’s all I have.” Little Lea explained.

Mini May blanched. “I'm sorry, I didn’t-”

“It’s fine.” They didn’t say anything for a while.

Fuck, why was this in the happy memories bundle, this was-

“You can share mine if you want,” Mini May offered. “Dad’s like, never home, but I know Mom would adore another daughter.”

“That’s... that’s not how it works,” Little Lea said sadly.

“Why not? Look, I’ll bug dad about it later. Of course, you’re going to have to come over more. You can’t be part of the family if you’re camped out in your room reading manga all the time,” Mini May said.

“What if I camp out in YOUR room and read manga all the time?” Little Lea asked.

“Final offer, WE camp out in MY room and read manga all the time,” May smiled.

“Deal.” They smiled at each other, and the memory faded.

Fuck, was I crying?

As much as May poked fun at my dork side, she was an avid participant when she wanted to be. I remembered dozens of read parties, and later watch parties happening in that room.

I remembered dinners with the whole Maple family.

I remembered so much.

That conversation happened years ago, but it felt like it had happened yesterday. This... this was half the problem I was having. Over the years, May had done so many random, amazing, wonderful things that didn’t seem like much at the time. But now... an entire relationship spanned out in front of me. Hell, it was literally sitting right across from me. I wanted to reach out, but... I couldn’t.

Emilie suppressed my ability to feel fear, but I wasn’t sure how well it worked here. I was terrified to reach across the table. To even say it. But I knew I needed to. I had to be brave.

“I... I’m in love with my best friend, and I have no idea how to deal with that.”

“What?!”

The world shifted as a foreign voice pulled me from my thoughts. The bakery disappeared in an instant, and I stared, wide eyed, at a very surprised Wally.

“D-did that come through out here?” I asked, my eyes wide as they darted around the auditorium before resting on Wally’s surprised face. “You didn’t hear anything,” I commanded.

“The hell I didn’t,” Wally whispered loudly.

“SHH.” Wally turned and glared at the random spectator.

“Screw you, this contest blows. Look, we’re going to get out of here. What you just said is WAY more important than this.” Wally got up and urged me to follow him.

“I didn’t say anything.” Deny. Deny everything.

‘He’s not buying it.’ Emilie commented.

I slumped down in my seat, defeated, before getting up and following him out of the building. We stopped in front of a secluded oak tree, and Wally turned to me.

“Alright, so... I’m guessing you didn’t think you were just going to blurt that out. What were you doing?” Wally asked. At least he’s starting with an easy question.

“I meditate. It helps me organize my thoughts. Emilie showed me how, and it makes remembering things way easier. Ever heard of a mind palace?” I asked.

Wally shook his head.

“It’s a mental construct. You make a place in your mind that has significance to you, and you organize your memories into objects in the palace. I was sitting across a table from May, and I was... trying to process something. I admitted that aloud to try and reconcile my feelings. I didn’t... I didn’t know I’d say it out here too.” I chuckled. “Now I know.” I shot a glare up toward Emilie, who was doing her best to avoid looking at me.

“Well, I don’t get why you shut down in the hall when I heard you. This is great! Right?”

I slumped down.

“Right?” he asked again, looking less sure.

“Wally, this is how friendships get RUINED. I can’t lose what May and I already have!” I started pacing around the tree as I talked. “She’s... we’ve done everything together. I’ve known her for forever. She’s...” I stopped. “If I say anything that goes away.”

“You’re scared.” Wally stated.

“I’m not.” I literally couldn’t be.

‘Actually, you’re terrified,’ Emilie quipped. ‘The thought of losing May is overpowering the mental block I put into place.’ Emilie chuckled. ‘Considering it’s blocking the trauma from my mom’s attack just fine, that’s saying something.’

“I’m fucking terrified.” I corrected myself.

Wally raised both of his arms up placatingly. “Look, you’re thinking of all the ways things can go wrong here. But what if things go right? I’d think things would point more toward that if this morning was anything to go by.”

I don’t say anything. I just look towards the ground and bite my lip.

“Look, you don’t have to decide on anything right now, but I think you should go for it,” Wally said.

“Wally, I don’t even know if May likes girls!” I half shouted before covering my mouth with both hands, looking up and down the street.

“...I think I know what you need,” Wally said with conviction.

“A lobotomy?” I posited.

Wally shook his head. “A wing man.”

***

May’s POV