TEEN: Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey (COMPLETE!)

[Beth Pavell]

Ok. So now I'm ten chapters in, I suppose now is as good a time as any to do a reflection review.

I'm beginning to see themes emerge with the issues that come to mind each chapter. Length is one thing, which I've already covered. The pacing of the story is another. I'm beginning to think the story would benefit from events being arranged into more coherent arcs. There's this recurring theme where action, be it a Gym battle or a villain - appears with all the suddenness of a shotgun blast and tends to come to an end at an awkward point. Part of that is down to your chapters, I think, where you tend to try and fit too much in and end up running the remainder of the events over into a third of the next chapter.

The second thing took me a while to make up my mind on. The story is so, well, melodramatic. By that I mean that the nice characters are really nice, the villains are really villainous, and there's really not a lot in between. It reminds me of that one Harry Potter line: "The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters." I can see that you're trying with Amara, and honestly, because of that I'm inclined to be rather more patient than I otherwise would be. The problem you're having with her is that she's kind of a Yosemite Sam - so angry, so violent, all the time. It's a shame, really, because you end up poking holes in what's otherwise a decent motivation behind her behaviour.

Having said all this I can see that effort is going into the story, and I'll have infinitely more patience for that than a story that just shrugs and says "It's fantasy so it doesn't have to make sense." There's moments of common sense in there that I wish were in more pokémon fan fic - like an actual police service that actually takes witness statements, for a start.

At this point I think the best advice I can give is to read with one eye open, so to speak. Try and look at how your favourite authors do what you like in their stories. Have a go at emulating those tricks.

 

[Juliko]

Yeah. I admit, I'm not the best writer ever, nor will I ever be. I'll definitely try to address your criticisms in the future when I can.

By that I mean that the nice characters are really nice, the villains are really villainous, and there's really not a lot in between.

Guilty as charged. But if it helps you to know, since there's already 32 chapters out, and I have about 60 planned, other people have pointed this out to me as well, and I actually have tried to rectify this as of late. You are on chapter 10, so it may take a while for the in-between to really show up. I guess you could say I just wanted to introduce the characters before really getting into their backgrounds and complexities. At the moment, I am working on a remake of chapter 5 in particular so as to address some issues both you and other reviewers had with it. But then again, I have problems with complexities and nuances in general (Blame my being autistic for that), so forgive me if I don't always get it right, especially the first time. It does take me a REALLY long time to really understand certain concepts and nuances, and I don't always get it right off, either. But I do plan on addressing them, or might have already done so in later chapters.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I ought to mention at this point, that I've dropped popular, published books over the course of fewer words than ten chapter's worth of Marvellous Journey, so please don't think that I hate this

 

[Juliko]

I know. I just wanted to give you some reassurance for what's to come, that's all. You're not the only one who pointed these issues out, and I'm just happy you're being civil and professional about it.

(Also, if you think MarJour is melodramatic, you should have seen my stories from pre-2011, especially this one badly written yaoi story I wrote in high school. It was melodrama at its craziest!)

 

[Juliko]

Chapter 32.5: Infiltration of the Underground Base

By the time Julia, Hikaru, Lucretia, and Saoirse finally reached the first dirt tracks of Route 44, the sky was beginning to smear streaks of orange and pink across its normally pristine blue coat. The sun still hung in the sky, but with it almost going down to another part of the world, it gradually changed from a blinding yellow to a blazing vermillion orange, almost like the red Gyarados’s hide. The small lake near Mahogany Town, gloriously pained by the setting sun, turned into a glimmering canvas of orange and gold. However, this was no time to admire the beauty surrounding them. That red Gyarados was in danger, through no fault of her own, and Julia felt obliged to save her.

They found a thick bush nearby, and ran right inside, taking care not to get pricked by the thistles, thorns, and pine leaves. Already, the quartet saw Team Rocket grunts, dressed in their usual black and red attire, scattering about, running toward a dirt road that led further into the area. One grunt pulled out what appeared to be a remote control and pressed a button. A slight tremor shook Route 44 before the ground in front of the grunts opened like a set of doors, revealing a hole that could very easily lead into another world. Just like the one back in Olivine City.

‘How many of these secret underground bases does Team Rocket have?’ Julia wondered, stupefied. How Team Rocket were able to build these things, let alone find the time to do so and manage it without being spotted, was far beyond her comprehension.

As the entrance down under opened fully, the two grunts leaped right down. Julia could hear their thundering footsteps as they ran across what seemed to be metallic floors. So far, the entrance didn’t close. Thinking the coast was clear, Julia stealthily ran out from the bush like a ninja, or so she hoped, approaching the entrance. Like the one in Olivine City, the entrance went at least eleven feet deep. If she tried to jump from the edge, she could easily be killed. For a moment, reality overtook her. How could she possibly get down there? If only she could float down there like a psychic type, or teleport down there.

Psychic type...psychic moves? That’s it! She pulled out Tokiko’s PokeBall. “Tokiko, help us out, please!” She clung to the PokeBall as the happiness Pokemon came spiraling out from the circular capsule.

“Chokikko!”

“We need to get down there,” Julia pointed to the hideout entrance. Being part flying type, Tokiko simply floated in the air, looking down at the deep hole below, and didn’t need to worry about falling down. “Can you maybe use Extrasensory on us and maybe take us down there?”

“Chokiiiii,” (“I’ve never done that before.”) Tokiko told her.

Julia looked down. She figured as much. Still, Extrasensory didn’t seem much different from other psychic-type moves. She had to try. “Sorry. I know this seems hard, but...can you at least try?” As much as she hated to make her Pokemon do things they weren’t capable of, her resolve to save the red Gyarados was too strong to consider giving up. No, to give up on the red Gyarados would mean the serpent’s blood would be on her hands.

No Pokemon deserved to suffer at Team Rocket’s hand.

The indecision on Tokiko’s face was unmistakable. She never levitated anything or anyone with her powers before. How could she be sure she wouldn’t accidentally hurt her trainer or the other Pokemon with it? Or worse, possibly kill them? True, Tokiko had worked long and hard to temper her abilities, so she was sure she managed to control them by now, not that she had much problems with them before. But to attempt to use them on a human, and not as an attack, was something new to her.

Even so, as reluctant as she was, she could feel the worry and resolve in her trainer’s heart. If they didn’t do something to save this red Gyarados, who would? Sure, Lance was around, and was very strong. He didn’t become the champion by being a slacker, but they were sure he could only do so much. Team Rocket were no slouches either. Tokiko let out a sigh. It doesn’t hurt to try, right?

“Choki!” Tokiko raised her arms high in the air as if she wanted to reach the heavens. Her small eyes glowed in a purple light. Soon, purple auras surrounded Julia and the three other Pokemon. There was no pain, and the psychic energy wasn’t drawing any screams, yelps, cries, or howls out of them. Their bodies were like normal, not afire with pain like Tokiko feared.

“It worked!” Julia cheered.

“Pikapi!”

“Eevui!”

“Snubbull!”

As much as Tokiko wanted to rejoice in her feat, this was not the time for cheering. Slowly and gently, she levitated her friends down to the very bottom of the hole. Once their feet touched the ground, the fairy’s eyes stopped glowing, and the psychic energy surrounding Julia and the three other Pokemon dissipated. Success! Tokiko fluttered down to her trainer’s level and hopped on her shoulder. With a grateful smile, Julia stroke her fairy friend’s white fur gently with one hand.

“Good job, girl. Thanks.”

“Chokki!” Tokiko squeaked, basking in her trainer’s praise, unable to stop smiling. Her white cheeks developed soft pink spots, probably from smiling so much. But she didn’t care. She was just happy her Extrasensory attack didn’t hurt or kill her friends.

Once that was over, the girl and her Pokemon began scurrying through the hideout. So far, there were no other Team Rocket grunts nearby, patrolling or standing guard. Julia couldn’t help but find it strange. She was sure a high profile crime syndicate like Team Rocket would have extremely tight security. Guards and grunts everywhere, standing in front of every door, looking for intruders who would dare infiltrate their hideout. Why weren’t there any guards or grunts here? Or maybe they had some other form of security? At this point, Julia didn’t know what she’d find, but she knew she wasn’t going to let that red Gyarados suffer. She’d save her or die trying.

However, as she walked through the titanium halls, her conscious began to nag at her. ‘What the heck were you thinking?!’ Her conscious shouted from the depths of her mind. ‘You dashed out of the police station and now you’re putting both yourself, the Gyarados, and the entirety of Mahogany Town at risk!! On the off chance you make it out of here alive, the police could arrest you! You’re being so irresponsible right now it’s not even funny!!’

She stopped in the middle of a hall, squeezing her eyes shut and balling a hand into a fist. She knew that. She knew she was being irresponsible and reckless. Already, she could picture awful scenarios of what would happen should Team Rocket do anything like destroy the town. Immediately, she found herself plagued with second thoughts. Why didn’t she just stay? Lance was perfectly capable of dealing with Team Rocket, and so were the police. Why didn’t she be patient? Regret seized her, and she found herself frozen, paralyzed by her rue.

No. She shook her head vigorously. She couldn’t afford to hesitate now. She was here now, so she figured she might as well do what she came to do. The consequences would be unavoidable whether she succeeded or not. Right now, the red Gyarados was her main priority. The girl found herself in titanium hallways, with the walls cold from lack of exposure to basic sunlight. The cold walls made shivers run through her small hands.

“Tokiko,” Julia whispered to her friend. “We’ll split up from here. See if you can find the room where the red Gyarados is.”

“Choki!” Tokiko did a faux sailor salute and flittered down another corridor. Julia did the same, with the other Pokemon following close by. Immediately, flashbacks from when she infiltrated J’s airship ran through her mind. For a moment, she was sure the burning sensation from J’s cigarette ran through her arm, just like it did that day.

What Julia didn’t know was that large orbs dotted the ceiling above her. One would think they were just gaudy decor used to make the hideout more grandiose. Lucretia’s ears twitched, and she stopped in her tracks, as did Hikaru and Saoirse.

“Eevui!” Lucretia yelped, which prompted Julia to stop as well.

“What’s wrong?”

One of the orbs fell off the ceiling, falling right toward them with great speed. “Pikapi!” Hikaru leaped out of the way, evading the large ball.

“Hikaru!” Julia scooped the electric mouse in her arms, partly relieved that her friend was safe, and partly shocked by how that large ball came out of nowhere. “Are you okay?”

“Pikapi…” Hikaru nodded reassuringly, giving her worried trainer a thumb’s up.

“Snubbull!!” Saoirse yelled. The orb that almost crushed Hikaru was only a foot taller and somewhat wider than the other Pokemon. And it moved all on its own. Upon closer inspection, the orb was a sentient being. The top half of its body was red, and the bottom half was snow white, and its only real feature was a set of angry eyes.

“Voltoooorb!” The ball Pokemon screeched in a harsh, robotic voice, prompting Julia to cover her ears. But once it died down, she pulled out her PokeDex to examine it.

“Voltorb, the ball Pokemon. Voltorb was first sighted at a company that manufactures Poké Balls. The link between that sighting and the fact that this Pokémon looks very similar to a Poké Ball remains a mystery. Voltorb is extremely sensitive - it explodes at the slightest of shocks, even bumps on uneven ground, and Voltorb usually roll in order to get around. Because it explodes at the slightest shock, even veteran trainers treat it with caution. It is rumored that it was first created when a Poké Ball was exposed to a powerful pulse of energy. They are usually found in power plants, especially abandoned ones, but they are known to draw power from trolleys and electric trains. Since they’re often mistaken for PokeBalls despite the latter being much smaller than a Voltorb, many people, trainers and non-trainers alike, have been electrocuted by its attacks. There are only 15 known deaths from being electrocuted by a Voltorb in the past 20 years. They are genderless albeit capable of reproduction, and the components its body is made from are not found in nature.”

Already, Hikaru, Lucretia, and Saoirse adopted battle stances, standing right before their trainer as she put her PokeDex away. The Voltorb swirled around to face them, generating sparks of electricity that seemed to crackle and cackle around its body, and the fact that it kept glaring at them didn’t help matters any. “Voltorb!”

“Saoirse, use Fire Fang!” Julia commanded.

“Snubbull!” Saoirse’s large teeth burst into flames as the bulldog leaped toward the sentient ball. Since Voltorb didn’t have legs, this one didn’t have to worry about jumping or tripping on anything. As soon as Saoirse’s flaming teeth came close, the Voltorb rolled to its left, evading the burning bite.

“Use Headbutt, then!” On cue, Saoirse caught up with the red and white ball and rammed her head against it. This time, the Voltorb was unable to dodge and found itself against the titanium wall. All of a sudden, crackling white thunderbolts shot out from Voltorb’s body, striking all over the place wildly. Saoirse managed to run away from a few of them, but one bolt of lightning struck, and electricity surged all throughout her tiny body.

“Snubbuuuuuull!” Saoirse howled, her veins and muscles in excruciating pain.

Julia pulled out her PokeBall. “Saoirse, return!” Right as she held it up to her friend, a red light shot out from the ball, saving the pink bulldog from further electrocution. “Lucretia, use Quick Attack!”

“Eevee!” Voltorb was already attempting to roll right toward them, but Lucretia’s body shone in a harsh white light as she bolted toward the sentient ball. Quick Attack allowed any Pokemon using it to move faster than its opponent, so it was no surprise that Lucretia managed to leave the first hit. Once again, Voltorb was rolling against the wall.

However, as soon as Lucretia attempted another attack, her tiny body suddenly went numb. Her legs gave out and she fell on the cold floor despite having perfect balance. “Eeveeeee!” She croaked, pressing her two front legs in front of her in a futile attempt to stand back up. But it seemed every time she moved, her whole body would burn, and it wouldn’t move as she commanded it to.

“Lucretia, no!” All it took was electricity sparking over Lucretia’s body for Julia to figure it out. Static. Voltorb’s ability. Lucretia must have triggered it when she used Quick Attack just now. Julia’s palm made contact with her forehead, sending a stinging sensation throughout. ‘I knew I should have asked her to use Shadow Ball instead! Stupid Julia! Now your friend’s paralyzed!’ She scolded herself for not thinking this through.

It didn’t help that the Voltorb squeezed its eyes shut before shaking its round body like it was a vibrating object. Soon, everyone’s ear drums were being split open by a strange sound none of them could describe. It sounded like a cackling ghost was gnashing its teeth on a steel power saw, and with Julia’s hypersensitive ears unable to filter out the sound, she fell to her knees, her whole body turning numb from the awful sound. Even Hikaru was at the Voltorb’s mercy, helplessly covering her ears despite knowing it wouldn’t work.

“What the heck is that?!” Julia yelped, feeling the vibrations and impulses throughout her entire body.

“Voltorb, the Ball Pokemon. Special attack: Eerie Impulse,” The PokeDex suddenly commented out of nowhere.

‘WELL, THAT CERTAINLY EXPLAINS A LOT!!’ Julia wanted to scream so bad. Scream louder than the Voltorb’s Eerie Impulse and make it stop. But she knew that wouldn’t work. She had to make that Voltorb stop emitting that Eerie Impulse attack, but how?

The sound was making it nigh impossible to think. One thought popped into her mind, and she didn’t take the time to even consider it before blurting out, “Hikaru!! Use Thunderbolt!!”

“Pika-CHUUUUUU!!” Hikaru wasted no time letting out a pained howl and unleashing thunderous lightning bolts, commanding them to rain down on that pesky Voltorb. Since the Voltorb was still emitting its Eerie Impulse and had its eyes closed, it didn’t see the thunderbolts rain down on it. As a result, it was a sitting Psyduck, and it’s body burned from inside and out. Once Voltorb rolled over in defeat, the Eerie Impulse attack finally ceased.

Julia exhaled a big sigh of relief. “Thank Arceus that awful noise is gone!!” She was quick to pull Lucretia back into her PokeBall, making a mental note to give her a Cheri berry later on.

“Pikapi!” (“Don’t remind me!”) Hikaru retorted, scratching her ear with one hand, too happy to have defeated that Voltorb, especially stopping that Eerie Impulse attack.

If only that was the end of it. Alas, it wasn’t. A horde of Geodude and other Voltorb descended down from the ceiling, surrounding the girl and her Pikachu in a circular pattern. The Geodude all balled their fists, ready for battle, and electricity crackled all around the Voltorb’s bodies as they glared at the frightened intruder. Julia froze, and Hikaru dropped back down on all fours, her ears and tail facing the ceiling, anticipating whatever attacks the horde wanted to throw at them.

All Julia could say was, “We’re so screwed.”

“Pikaaaaaa!!”

***

“Juliaaaaaa!!” The Girafarig from before looked up as he heard voices echoing from afar. His ears twitched. He knew those voices. It was those kids! The police had taken them into custody, and he had run back into the wild. But he couldn’t help but worry about them. Curious, Girafarig pranced in the direction where he heard the voices echo.

There were Perrine and Caiseal, accompanied by policemen and police cars, with hands cupped around their mouths, calling out for their missing friend. Come to think of it, where was that girl? Girafarig tilted his head in bewilderment. Perrine and Caiseal kept repeating Julia’s name over and over. There was no response, even as officers swarmed the area.

“Julia! Where are you?!” Caiseal shouted once more. His voice had grown hoarse from so much yelling, and it almost didn’t sound as though it belonged to him. With a loud grunt, he kicked a rock into the nearby lake. “Dangit! Why’d she have to go and run off like that?!”

“Beats me,” Perrine piped in. “I really hope she’s okay,” She clasped her tiny hands together and prayed. Please let Julia come out alright. She prayed to the Gods that they protect their friend, even though anger was simmering in the far side of her heart. Anger at Julia for being so reckless and putting the investigation at risk. But then again, she could see why she would do that.

Even the police officers canvassing the area didn’t seem too happy about having to look for an eleven-year-old autistic girl while in the midst of this important mission. The fact that some of them witnessed her leave the police station the minute they heard Lance’s report about the satellite location was enough to make some of them grumble. But they knew this was no time for complaining or grumbling. They had to stop Team Rocket and save both Julia and the red Gyarados at any cost.

One officer, the same dark skinned one from before, pulled out a walkie talkie before adjusting the antenna some. When he was finished, he held it up to his mouth. “Lance. This is Officer Stabler. Do you read me? Over,” He could barely make out Lance’s voice from the thick static, but it was audible enough. “I’m afraid we have some bad news. One of the kids you asked us to look after is on the run. We think she’s right in their secret base. Yes. Yes. We understand.”

Another officer, a female one, came running toward him. “What did he say?” She asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity as she pushed her blonde ponytail out of her face.

“He says he can take care of the missing girl,” Officer Stabler told her. “And that we should focus on guarding the base and stopping Team Rocket for now.”

Good thing they were close enough to where both Perrine and Caiseal could overhear their conversation. Perrine’s hands flew to her chest as she exhaled a huge sigh of relief. “Phew. That’s good to hear.”

Caiseal raised an eyebrow, giving her a quizzical look. “Why’s that a good thing?”

“Are you kidding?!” Perrine pumped her fists. “Lance isn’t the champion of two whole regions for nothing! He’s so strong, I’m sure he can wipe Team Rocket off the face of the planet with just one finger!” She exclaimed, her entire being exuding an almost radiant enthusiasm, so blinding that Caiseal had to look away. He was not used to seeing Perrine so enthusiastic and exuberant, and was this really the time for her to be so? “I’m sure Julia will be fine as long as he’s there!”

As much as Caiseal wanted to believe his orange haired friend, all he could offer was a dubious expression and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I thought you’d be way more worried about her. Y’know, like I am!” He had to admit it, but his heart was completely seized with worry. What if a Team Rocket grunt captured his friend and was doing horrible things to her? What if one of their Pokemon attacked her and left her for dead. He wasn’t sure what he’d do should something happen to her. No, he didn’t want to even think about such an awful scenario.

“Fariiiiiig!”

A familiar neighing sound made the kids whip around. Standing before them was a Girafarig. Perrine leaned closer, gazing at the long neck Pokemon with an innate curiosity. That was when the realization hit her like Hikaru’s Thunderbolt attack.

“Hey! You’re the Girafarig who helped us before!” Perrine was so shocked, she couldn’t help but point her index finger at the long neck. True, she knew pointing fingers was impolite, but Perrine wasn’t exactly one to let herself be bound by rules.

“Giraaa!” The Girafarig flashed a smile before neighing once more. All of a sudden, Girafarig inched closer to Perrine before nudging her on her chest with his nose. Perrine couldn’t hold back a laugh as the long neck Pokemon nuzzled her.

“Wow, aren’t you friendly?” Perrine mused aloud. Then...it hit her. “Do you...want to come along with us?”

“Giraaa?” Girafarig tilted his head to one side, as if to ask, “Is that okay?” Then he smiled once more.

That told Perrine all she needed to know. Of course it was okay. She pulled out a PokeBall and gently tapped Girafarig on the head with it. The long neck morphed into a red light before the capsule sucked him right inside. The PokeBall wobbled a little in Perrine’s hand, but it didn’t take long for it to settle, and the red light stopped flashing.

“Welcome to the team,” A name popped up in Perrine’s head like a jack-in-a-box, and it was too perfect to not use. “Marius.”

“Hmph!” Caiseal flashed a smirk before crossing his arms. “You haven’t caught any new Pokemon since Luminita. About time.”

But at this time, Perrine found herself lost in thought, having closed her eyes and ruminating. How could they find the secret base? Julia clearly heard them say it was here in Route 44, but considering how organized they are, there was no way Team Rocket would just leave it out in the open. Perrine’s eyes flicked open. What if it was underground?

“Mushi! Come on out!” The orange haired girl released the mushroom Pokemon from his PokeBall.

Mushi the Paras jumped up and down while waving his pincers, happy to be released from the confines of his PokeBall. “Paras, paras!”

With a smile, Perrine kneeled down to the jovial bug’s level. “Can you do me a favor?” Mushi nodded without hesitation. “Stick your pincers in the ground and see if you can sense anything strange underground. Can you do that?”

The mushroom Pokemon nodded once more. “Paras!” He looked down at the ground beneath his feet before dredging one of his pincers into the dirt. Confused, Caiseal gave Perrine yet another quizzical look.

“Why’d you make him do that?” Caiseal asked.

“I read somewhere that if Paras stick their pincers in the ground, they use them to look for plants and other food that’s buried under ground,” Perrine explained matter-of-factly. “They can also detect stuff that’s not supposed to be there, like steel, aluminum, trash, or even underground bases.”

“You’re pulling my leg!” Caiseal exclaimed, giving her an accusatory expression instead. How could a Pokemon like Paras detect things underground just by sticking their pincers in the dirt? A concept like that seemed completely fictional to him. Such a thing couldn’t possibly happen, right?

“Paras! Paras!” Mushi chirruped, pulling his pincer out from the ground before jumping up and down once more.

“You find something, Mushi?”

“Paras paras!” Mushi kept pointing to the dirt with his pincers.

Perrine cradled the orange bug in her arms, praising him with a smile. “Good job, buddy.”

“Parassssss!” Little Mushi waved his pincers back and forth like he was in heaven, happy to have received praise from his trainer. His jovial gestures warmed Perrine’s heart, but also left room for regret. She barely used him much, and she wished that she could have spent more time with him. Perhaps this was a good time to do so, as Mushi did always like her company. For now, she decided against putting the quirky, joyful little bug back in his PokeBall.

“We found it!” An officer shouted from just a few feet away. Two other officers held some kind of box-shaped machine right above the dirt. The screen displayed blue and white images of what appeared to be a hole that led deeper underground, with some machines such as Team Rocket vans and large capture devices they couldn’t put a name to. “Their base is underground!”

“Alright, team! Let’s move!” Officer Stabler edicted, ready to bring this mission to fruition.

***

“Nidoooooo!” Both Rina and Rino used their sturdy feet to kick a group of Geodude away from their trainer. Their combined kicks were so strong that the hapless Geodudes were all sent rolling across the floor. Some of them screamed before floating away in fear. In the same vein, Hikaru used Volt Tackle on almost all of the Voltorb. Some of them exploded in response, whereas others managed to roll away from the scene.

“Good job, guys!” Julia complimented. “Now let’s get out of here!” She and the Pokemon wasted no time running down a titanium hallway. Partly to get away from the Voltorb and Geodude, and partly to get away from all the loud noises, namely the explosions, the screeching, and the banging noises that echoed thanks to the walls being titanium and having a lot of corners.

Once Julia found that the coast was clear, she stopped to catch her breath. Her lungs burned with every breath she inhaled and exhaled, and her hands clutched her knees. Even Hikaru, Rino, and Rina stopped to catch their breath. It took a few seconds for them to compose themselves, and Julia pulled three Oran berries out, handing each one to Hikaru, Rino, and Rina.

“Thanks, guys. You’re the best,” Julia told them gratefully as they munched on the Oran berries.

“Nyuu nyuuuu!” Both Rina and Rino let out sweet chirps before pressing their lips together, locking themselves in a kiss.

If there was ever a worse time to evolve, the poison pin duo wound up picking now to do so, even though they had no control over it. Nonetheless, the moment their lips made contact, both of them began glowing in blinding white lights. Julia’s hands flew to her chest, clutching a piece of her shirt as she watched them grow in size almost exponentially. Hikaru’s mouth fell agape. Soon, both Rina and Rino grew to the point where they were so big, Julia could almost ride on top of their backs.

The glow around their bodies finally ceased, and the lovebirds found themselves reborn. Their color schemes were in tact, and for the most part, their features didn’t look too different from their pre-evolved forms. But the horn on Rina’s head and her whiskers seemed to disappear entirely. Her muzzle grew bigger, spikes protruded from her ears and her back, and her front forelegs turned into fully functioning arms. She even had a tail growing out from her backside. The green area in her ears turned into a deep teal blue color, blending in more with the rest of her inner ears.

On the other hand, Rino’s horn grew thicker and longer, but barely long enough for Julia to cup her whole hand around it. Like Rina, his legs grew stronger and thicker, but his forelegs remained the same as his back legs. Some teeth grew out from the sides of his upper jaw, and his front teeth seemed to retract. Some of the spikes on his back separated, becoming more spread out. But other than all of these, Rino didn’t look different from when he was a Nidoran. Unlike Rina, he didn’t grow a tail.

“Riiiiiiin!” Rina chirruped.

“Riiiiiiin!” Rino hissed, stomping on the floor to announce his glorious evolution.

“Wow! You both evolved, and at the same time, too!” Julia barely managed to pull her PokeDex out, as she was just too awestruck to pay attention to anything else. But she pulled out her portable electronic encyclopedia anyway.

First, she held it over Rina. “Nidorina, the poison pin Pokemon, and the evolved form of the female Nidoran. Nidorina have a caring, docile, gentle temperament and dislike fighting. If they’re relaxed, the horns on her body retract. While they do have a horn on their heads, since it is so small, it is barely noticeable, and it develops very slowly. As a result, Nidorina prefer to use physical attacks such as biting, kicking, or scratching, and their limbs have developed stronger muscles, although they are averse to fighting as a whole. When she senses danger, she raises all of the barbs on her body. When she is around friends and family, she keeps her barbs tucked away to prevent injuries, and they become nervous if they are separated from others. When feeding their young, they first chew the food in order to tenderize it, then spit it out so their babies can eat.”

“Ewwwww, gross!” Julia groaned, disgusted by that last part. Then again, anyone would be.

“Rin?” The newly evolved Rina tilted her head to one side, looking confused.

Once that was done, Julia held her PokeDex over Rino next. “Nidorino, the poison pin Pokemon, and the evolved form of the male Nidoran. Unlike the more gentle Nidorina, Nidorino are hostile, fierce, aggressive, and independent, with a hot temper that can easily be set off. His horn contains highly potent venom, and if he uses it to puncture an enemy, the impact makes him pump the poison into the wound. Nidorino’s horn is hard like diamond. Because their large ears are hypersensitive, they raise them to check their surroundings, and attack immediately if they so much as sense intruders or predators, as proven when they bristle all of the spikes on its body. They never turn down a challenge, no matter how strong the opponent is. But despite their aggressive nature, they care deeply for their Nidorina, and often contribute to raising their young, such as bringing food back or teaching them how to fight, even little things such as the difference between a violent bite and a playful nibble.”

“Riiiiin!” Rino hoisted his horn up proudly, as if he agreed with the PokeDex’s comments about him never turning down a challenge.

Julia put her PokeDex away, kneeled to their level, and stroke their heads gently, taking care not to touch their horns. Her heart was overflowing with pride. “You two are great.”

“Rin!” Rina chirruped, basking in her trainer’s praise.

“Pikapi!” (“You look awesome!”) Even Hikaru couldn’t help but marvel at their evolution.

It took a high pitched chirp from another Pokemon to make everyone whip their heads toward the corridor. There was Tokiko, fluttering toward them with a big smile on her little white face. “Choki choki!” She waved her stubby arms up and down like they were wings.

“You found it? Awesome!” Julia exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Tokiko pointed down the hall. “Now we can save that red Gyarados!”

“HEY!” Too bad a Team Rocket grunt found them right as she said that. Julia barely had time to turn around before Tokiko decided to take the initiative. With a high pitched chirp, Tokiko’s body glowed in a harsh white light. Julia could tell it wasn’t the light of evolution, but her Dazzling Gleam attack. “Agh! What the heck?!” The light was so blinding that the grunt was unable to stare directly at the happiness Pokemon.

Julia knew why her friend did that: to give them a chance to escape. Julia took the chance and, with Hikaru, Rino, and Rina following behind her, sprinted down the corridor. Once Tokiko was finished, she made the light fade and followed her trainer and friends right down the hall, with intent to escort them to where Team Rocket was keeping the red Gyarados. They could only pray that it was still okay.

***

Obviously, the red Gyarados was not okay. In fact, she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. The red Gyarados was forced to endure an entire half hour’s worth of experiments, many of which involved shooting things at her or injecting things into her system. True, Team Rocket took care to make sure they didn’t kill her, but at this point, the red Gyarados was already wishing for the sweet embrace of death. At least when something died, they didn’t feel any pain. That was all she felt as of right now. Stuck in that giant room, all she could do was gasp for air, breathing loudly as she huddled against a corner.

“Hmph. This red Gyarados is utterly pathetic,” Archer sneered, continuing to glare at the red serpent with an icy expression, one that was devoid of any kind of warmth. “It can’t even withstand even the simplest of experiments. What a waste of time.”

The red Gyarados said nothing. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut, yearning for death to befall her. Anything to get out of here and not have to endure whatever else Team Rocket wanted to do with her. She wished with her whole heart that her parents were here. But alas, they weren’t. They were too far away, and probably could never find Team Rocket’s secret base. What else was she to do but just lie there waiting for the spirit of death to take her away from this awful place? Would this ever end?

At this point, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever come out alive.

But then!

“Commander Archer!! There’s an intruder in the base!!”

The Gyarados kept her eyes closed, and could only hear the disheveled voices of Archer and a few grunts. But from the way they raised their voices, they sounded shocked.

“What?!”

“There’s some girl in the base! She has a Pikachu and a Togetic or something!”

“How did someone like that even get in here?!”

“Someone must have infiltrated the base! The police are on our tail, too!!”

“How could you let this happen?!”

“Don’t just stand there! Get out there and capture them!”

Thundering footsteps raced out of the room. Even the red Gyarados could hear them in spite of being locked in the room. She could only assume that they must have activated some kind of device that allowed them to speak to whoever was in the room. However...Pikachu and Togetic. Were those Pokemon? They weren’t any she had ever seen or heard of before. This was natural for a Pokemon that always lived in a large lake, never venturing beyond the surface, not that she really could or had any reason to. Gradually, the pain in her body began to fade. Although the burning sensations still lingered, they didn’t burn as badly as before, and the red Gyarados found herself able to lift her head up just a few feet.

The first thing she saw was a small yellowish orange Pokemon blowing a solidified kiss at the grunt, which took the form of a pink heart. Once the kiss made contact, the grunt suddenly fell to the floor with a thud, like he slipped on a banana peel. But the red Gyarados could see that he fell unconscious, as she saw his eyes close in spite of her limited view of the window observing her from above. She could also hear an unfamiliar voice from behind a door next to it.

“How do you open this thing?” She didn’t recognize the voice, but it sounded sweeter, younger than all the other voices she heard. It didn’t sound like it belonged to a grunt. “Wow! Thanks, Tokiko!” All of a sudden, the titanium doors retracted. A small girl came down the steel ladder, and accompanying her were a yellowish orange rat and a white fairy-like Pokemon. She wasn’t wearing any black or white clothes like the other adults she saw, but...the red Gyarados couldn’t let her guard down.

She backed into the corner, staring right at the girl, who walked right up to her with a warm, welcoming smile. “Hi there!” The girl raised her hand and waved it. “Don’t worry. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re gonna get you out of here!”

“Pikachu!”

“Chokkiko!”

Get her out? Hearing that was like music to her ears, assuming she had any. To think she had lost all hope of ever getting out. In response to the girl’s offer, she growled. Julia translated it as, “Get me out of here!! I don’t care how you do it! Just please, I can’t stay here anymore!!”

Julia could almost sense everything the Gyarados was feeling. Her pain, her sorrow, her anger, her fear...she inched closer and placed one of her hands on the Gyarados’s hide. “I know. You’re probably really scared. We’ll help you. We promise,” She told her reassuringly.

But as much as she wanted to help get the red serpent out, how they were going to do it was another matter. As it stands, the red Gyarados was just too big, and she was sure Tokiko’s Extrasensory attack wouldn’t be able to carry her. She looked up at the ceiling, pondering for any ideas. The ceiling...that’s it! She pulled out her PokeDex to examine the red Gyarados, searching through her attack list. The list was as follows: Bite, Ice Fang, Aqua Tail, and Dragon Rage.

“Hey, Gyarados! Do you know how to use Dragon Rage?” Julia asked.

The red Gyarados tilted her head to the left, looking flummoxed.

“If you shoot one of your energy beams at the ceiling,” Julia pointed to the steel ceiling right above them. “It might just be strong enough to break right through!”

Gyarados looked up. She had a good point. Then again, it was the only option. Gyarados had no idea if she could use any new attacks at all. True, she saw many of her friends shoot beams out of their mouths the moment they evolved, but...could she really manage to break herself free? She shook her head. No, she couldn’t doubt herself now. She had to try. She opened her mouth wide enough for an energy sphere to form. Then, a purple and blue stream of energy shot right out of her mouth, breaking through the steel roof like it was paper. She could see an orange sky right through the hole, and said hole was big enough for the Gyarados to go right through it.

“Woohoo! You did it, girl!” Julia cheered.

“Pikapi!”

“Chokki chokki!” Even Hikaru and Tokiko couldn’t help but rejoice. They were quick to get on the Gyarados’s back, clinging to one of the white horns on her tail. With a big jump, Gyarados leaped out of the hole, managing to rise right up the ground, landing right next to the lake with a big thud. Some of the lake water came splashing out, and it must be confessed that Perrine and Caiseal were right near it. As a result, they found themselves completely drenched.

“What the heck?!” Caiseal yelped as he found himself almost drowning in water.

“Hey guuuuuys!” Julia called out from the edge of Gyarados’s tail. “Gyarados is safe and sound!”

Perrine fell to her knees in relief. All Caiseal did was yell, “You freaking got me all wet, and you almost put everyone in danger!!” Some of the policemen facepalmed.

Normally something like this would be the end of the whole fiasco. Unfortunately, Team Rocket was not known to just give up. All of a sudden, two helicopters came flying into the area, and a large net suddenly came down, trapping both Julia and the red Gyarados inside. Before anyone could react, the helicopters pulled the Gyarados right off the ground.

“What the?!” Even Julia found herself aghast at this new development. “Hey!! Let us outta here!!”

The helicopters were already en route to Mahogany Town, hovering above a long river that seemed to stretch for miles. Two grunts driving one helicopter were squeezed into one tiny space, with one of them holding onto a huge lever. The lack of space wasn’t exactly helping their temper any.

“You better hold onto that net or else!” A blue haired grunt barked.

“I’m holding it as best I can!” A brown haired grunt snapped back.

It didn’t take long for the red Gyarados to process what was going on. She was trapped again, despite Julia’s efforts to help her. Fear seized her once more. She didn’t want to be taken away. Not again. No way was she going back to those awful experiments. She had to get out, and she needed to get out right now. Losing all control, the red Gyarados let out a roar and began thrashing all about. Julia clung to Gyarados’s fin tightly, with all the strength her body could muster. It didn’t help that Gyarados’s growling was ripping her eardrums apart.

Finally, the ropes on the net suddenly ripped, and both Gyarados and Julia fell into the river with a big splash. How she was able to keep clinging to Gyarados’s fin and not end up drowning, she had no idea. But the water weighed down on her, and she could feel it surging into her ears, filling them right up. She kept her eyes and mouth squeezed shut, and didn’t dare try to use one of her hands to close her nose. She was afraid to let go of Gyarados. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, as Gyarados popped right back out from the water.

Julia took in a big breath, happy to be out of the river. It was at this time that Lance came soaring onto the scene, riding on Mercury’s back. “Julia!! What were you thinking?! I told you not to come back here!!” Lance scolded once he got close. Oddly enough, the red Gyarados didn’t attack or even back away. She could tell the man in the cape was talking to the human on her back.

“Sorry, Mr. Cipris!” Julia bowed apologetically. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble! I just wanted to help, honest!” As much as she wanted to believe this, she knew something like that wouldn’t matter, especially since she knew that by getting involved, she put the investigation at risk, along with the lives of many civilians. There was no getting out of this one. She figured she might as well face the music.

Even so, Lance could tell that she was sincere, so he flashed a sympathetic smile. “I understand. You were probably just as worried about the red Gyarados as I was,” He held a hand out to her. “Now come back onto land.”

Before she could climb down from Gyarados’s back, missiles came firing right at them. They broke apart before sending a barrage of nets raining down onto both Julia, Hikaru, Tokiko, and the red Gyarados. Lance managed to get out of the way just in time, but he found himself shocked. Team Rocket trucks with cannons on top had raced onto the scene. How did he miss them? Julia was quick to put both Hikaru and Tokiko back into their PokeBalls.

“Activate electric shock!” One grunt yelled.

Electric shock. Not again. Gyarados flashed back to the time she was in the room. The Team Rocket grunts electrocuted her with strange machines. No. She was not going to go through that again. Rage built up in her system until it came out in the form of a strong Dragon Rage attack. The raging dragon fire came spiraling out from her mouth, ripping right through the net and almost sending the Team Rocket trucks bursting into flames. Good thing the grunts pulled their trucks away.

Lance, Perrine, and Caiseal barely had time to react before the Gyarados suddenly began swimming down the river, with Julia still on her back. “We have to get them back!” Lance cried. “Hop on, kids!” He gestured for Perrine and Caiseal to hop on Mercury’s back, which they did without hesitation.

As dire as the situation was, Caiseal cringed when he saw Perrine smiling as she rode on Mercury’s back, flapping her hands like she was hyperventilating. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!! I’m actually riding with Lance! On his Dragonite! Yeeeeee!! This is the best day of my life!!” Perrine squealed like a happy fangirl.

Caiseal averted his gaze. “Seriously, girl? Our friend’s in danger and you’re all in a tizzy over this?” He sneered, his voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. He always knew she liked Lance, but in his mind, she could not have picked the absolute worst time to fangirl over him and his Dragonite.

Come to think of it, he didn’t examine Mercury with his PokeDex, did he? On impulse, he found himself pulling his PokeDex out, holding it over Mercury.

“Dragonite, the dragon Pokemon. While they are technically classified as dragon type Pokemon, they are extremely adept at both flying and swimming under the sea, and it is sometimes called the sea guardian. They are extremely intelligent, and are said to be just as smart as the average human being. They can circle the globe in 16 hours, flying faster than any known Pokemon in existence. Their heavily scaled bodies and strong physique allow them to withstand stormy weather and raging seas with no trouble, and have been known to save people from drowning and guide wayward ships to the safety of land. Because of their kind hearted nature, they are frequently used as lifeguards in nearby beaches and lakes, and they are the primary mascots of the Worldwide Water Rescue Brigade. Drowning rates have gone down significantly since people began to use Dragonite over the past one hundred years. In spite of being frequently captured by trainers, they are very rare Pokemon that don’t always appear very often.”

The blonde boy couldn’t help but smile at the PokeDex’s commentary. But as much as he liked what he learned, this was no time for a Pokemon lesson. Julia was in danger, and he, Perrine, and Lance needed to help her.

Speaking of which, as Gyarados swam through the river, she managed to climb to the back of her neck, clutching a big fin. Her hands began to throb from holding on so tightly, and for so long. “Gyarados! Where are you going?!” Julia cried. “You’re not gonna hurt anyone, are you?”

Gyarados said nothing. She just kept swimming and swimming, never looking back even once. But Julia managed to put two and two together. Maybe she wanted to go home, back to the Lake of Rage, where her parents and friends were. But how could they do that? Even though Gyarados was a flying type, as far as she knew, Gyarados couldn’t fly, and she was sure she couldn’t just crawl back to the Lake of Rage without accidentally doing some damage to any houses that were nearby. She was just too big. Obviously, she couldn’t carry her there, either.

“We’ll get you back home! We’ll figure this out!” Julia told her reassuringly. “Just don’t fire Dragon Rage anywhere or hurt people!”

This time, the red Gyarados let out a low growl. “I...I just...want to go home!” She swam faster. Julia could feel her red scales vibrating. This wasn’t good.

“Gyarados! Calm down!” Julia cried. But it didn’t work. Gyarados growled even louder. Now she was firing Dragon Rage at the sky, and in different directions. “Come on, Gyarados! Don’t do that! Don’t be mad! We’ll get you home!” She implored, her hands still hurting from clutching the red serpent’s neck fin. If she continued on like this, Mahogany Town would be destroyed, and Julia knew Gyarados’s anger wasn’t her fault at all. Even so, should she kill a bunch of people...Julia squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to even think about the implications.

But what could she do? She was just a small girl, and Gyarados was a gigantic red serpent.

“Cloyster! Use Ice Beam!” The husky, raspy voice of an old man cried out.

“Clooooooyster!” A large, purple bivalve Pokemon with a black, pearl shaped head shot a beam of ice at the water, right in front of Gyarados. The river water in front of her began to freeze from the surface downward. The path was completely blocked now. Gyarados looked at the frozen water before her. How was she going to get to the Lake of Rage now?

“Who did that?!” Julia looked to the side of the river, noticing an old man accompanied by a big, sentient seashell that almost stood as tall as he. His thinning hair was snow white, and his brown eyes were just as icy as they glared right up at the girl riding on Gyarados’s back. His body was draped in a sea blue winter coat, covering a white turtleneck and a maroon vest. He was also wearing beige pants, thick brown shoes, and a white scarf was wrapped around his neck. Resting in his hand was a white cane with a brown orb at the top.

“Little girl!” The old man suddenly called out, crossing his arms. “Have you any sense? What are you trying to do by riding such a dangerous creature?” He asked, his raspy voice stern and uncompromising.

Something about his question made Julia’s blood run cold. Why was he insinuating that Gyarados was on a rampage, or attacking on purpose? “She’s not dangerous!” Julia argued. “I’m just trying to help her, that’s all! She needs a friend!”

The old man raised his eyebrow. “Friend? You are unbelievably naive,” The old man sneered. “Pokemon and humans are not meant to be friends.”

Not meant to be friends? Why was he saying that? Julia’s once cold blood began to simmer. Pokemon and humans have been helping each other since the creation of life itself. It was what she had always been taught. She and her own Pokemon were best friends, and she always treated them as equals. In fact, she loved them.

“Your childish idealism and reckless behavior are putting everyone in danger,” The old man told her sternly, not mincing words. Julia knew that. She knew her actions were reckless. She didn’t need to be told that. “That Gyarados is a menace.”

“No she isn’t!!” Julia yelled.

Now, Gyarados found herself firing a Dragon Rage attack at the Cloyster. “Cloyster, Ice Beam once more!” The bivalve Pokemon fired a freezing beam of light at the Dragon Rage. Once the two energy beams made contact, they burst into an explosion. Julia held on for dear life, whereas the old man didn’t even flinch.

Finally, Mercury descended onto some land, and Lance, Perrine, and Caiseal both hopped off of his back. Lance saw the old man close by. “Pryce! Stop this! Let me handle--”

But the old man, Pryce, ignored him. “Use Icicle Crash!”

“What the?!” Even Caiseal and Perrine couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

The big horn on Cloyster’s head glowed in a white light. Soon, icicles materialized in the air, descending right toward Gyarados and Julia. Some of the icicles managed to strike Gyarados all over the place, from her head to her tail. The red Gyarados roared from the pain. Julia squeezed her eyes shut and froze, not moving even a muscle. She prayed to Arceus that the icicles didn’t hit her.

“Pryce!” Lance grabbed a piece of Pryce’s coat and pulled him to his face. Pryce could almost feel Lance’s breath on his wrinkled face. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?! There’s a child riding on that Gyarados!”

Pryce didn’t flinch, even once. He kept his icy expression. “I’m trying to teach this girl a lesson. Let go of me,” He turned to his Cloyster once more. “Cloyster, use Spike Cannon!”

The large bivalve fired shining white needles at the Gyarados. She tried to fire them away with a Dragon Rage, but some of them managed to strike her neck. Two of them managed to hit both Julia’s left arm and leg. “Owwww!” The spikes managed to go through her skin, and she was sure she could feel blood coming out. Good thing the spikes disappeared right afterward, as those attacks usually did. But she had to help Gyarados somehow. Why was Pryce attacking it? Was he really convinced that she was a bloodthirsty monster out to kill everyone?

No. No, she wasn’t. Julia was sure of that. None of this was Gyarados’s fault. Team Rocket was responsible for everything. She could hear sirens blaring by the river, and opened one of her eyes to see policemen arresting various Team Rocket members. But she was sure some of the TR members would escape, knowing how crafty they could be. She was sure they’d come back for her. She’d rather catch Gyarados herself than let them come anywhere near her.

Wait...catch Gyarados herself...that’s it!

“Apollo! Use Flamethrower!” Caiseal released Apollo from his PokeBall. On cue, Apollo spilled forth a stream of fire that made Cloyster back away. As a result, Cloyster ceased its attacks. Once again, Pryce didn’t say a word.

Julia pulled out one of her empty PokeBalls and held it high in the air. “I know...this may not be what you want...but I want to be friends with you, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you!” She cried, pressing the button on the PokeBall, allowing it to increase in size. “I swear it!!” She pulled her arms down, slamming the PokeBall on Gyarados’s hide.

Everyone’s mouths fell agape, even Pryce and Mercury. The red Gyarados stopped moving, turning into red light that disappeared into thin air. But once Gyarados disappeared, Julia began to fall. Right toward the river.

“NO!!” Having finally come to her senses, Perrine took action. “Chirin! Use Cotton Spore, and hurry!!” She threw Chirin’s PokeBall, allowing the pink sheep to come right out.

“Flaaaaaaffy!” Chirin wasted no time generating a huge, comfy cloud of white cotton that flew right over the river, big enough for the now unconscious Julia to fall onto. Just in the nick of time, the unconscious girl fell right in the middle of the cotton cloud. She was safe. Perrine and Caiseal both exhaled huge sighs of relief.

“Thank Arceus!”

Lance rolled her over to get a better look. There were big holes on both her arm and leg, and already blood was slithering down onto the cotton, melting right into it. But what he saw in Julia’s hand left him frozen with shock. Wobbling back and forth, right in Julia’s hand, was a PokeBall. The circle in the middle was generating a red light that blinked. Soon, it stopped.

‘She caught the red Gyarados...all by herself…’ Lance was too awestruck to mistake it for something else. There was no doubt about it. Julia caught the red Gyarados, even in spite of all the danger.

“Whoa...she actually caught it,” Perrine mused aloud.

“I have to admit, that was pretty durn ballsy, even for her,” Caiseal piped in. “But...is she gonna be okay?”

The caped man smiled as he scooped the girl into his arms. “I’ll take her to the hospital in Mahogany. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” He didn’t try to take the PokeBall out of her hand. In fact, she seemed to cling to it so tightly that even in her sleep, she didn’t seem intent on letting it go. Then he fired a stern glare at Pryce before saying, “We’ll discuss your little stunt here later.”

All Pryce did was cross his arms as he watched Lance put Julia on top of Mercury. Then, the dragon Pokemon flapped his wings, ascending into the air, flying right toward the city. Lance made sure to keep Julia close, taking care not to let her slip off of his friend. He did pull out some gauze and wrapped it around the hole on her arm. As much as he tried to control it, his blood simmered. How could Pryce allow himself to willingly put a child in danger? Even more so than she already was? He made a mental note to give that old man a good scolding later on. Even if her actions were admittedly reckless and dangerous, that was no reason to attack her while she was on Gyarados’s back.

He looked down at the sleeping girl. She looked so content. At least she wasn’t dead. Lance thanked his lucky stars that this whole fiasco was over. True, he was sure some Team Rocket members were still on the run, and although he had faith that the police would get them someday, knowing they were still out there still nagged at him.

“...Geraldine…” Julia murmured in her sleep, just loud enough for Lance to hear it, even as they were soaring through the sky. “...That’ll be...your name…”

Lance smiled as he saw the Mahogany Town hospital come into view.

***

“Curses!” Archer slammed his fist on his car door as Petrel drove through the city. “Those stupid kids! That Cipris! I ought to--”

“Calm yourself, Commander Archer,” Petrel advised in a low, calm voice. He kept his eyes on the road, taking care not to get distracted. They came to some stoplights, and the top light was red, signalling for the car to stop. Petrel gently pressed his foot on the brake, and the car came to a slow stop. “It was no great loss. We managed to get important data.”

Archer crossed his arms and pressed his lips. He had to admit, Petrel had a good point. Not only that, now they knew what they could do to make an even better evolution inducement wave. “I wonder what our plans will be for the future. Surely Hunter J or Giovanni have grand plans they haven’t told us about yet.”

“They sure do,” Petrel said, watching the red light, anxiously waiting for it to turn green. “I’ll radio Giovanni as soon as we make it to our base,” Finally, the red light ceased, and the green light flashed, allowing Petrel to continue onward.

“It’s a good thing we managed to escape,” Archer brushed a hand through his sky blue hair. Today’s harrowing events did a great number on his energy levels. “I can’t handle being thrown in jail. There’s too much to be done.”

“I agree. But don’t worry. Our plan will be realized soon enough,” Petrel said. “I’ve already told the grunts to make some adjustments to the evolution inducement wave,” He added. “Now that we know of its flaws, we can rectify them and make it so that we can control every Pokemon on this planet!”

No plan was impossible for Team Rocket. Even Archer found Petrel’s musings about the plans to be empowering. “Let’s hope so.”

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Helping Hand, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face


Rina (Nidorina, Female, Bold Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite


Rino (Nidorino, Male, Modest Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Jab, Peck, and Horn Attack


Geraldine (Shiny Gyarados, Female, Careful Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Bite, Ice Fang, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rage


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Chirin (Flaaffy, Male, Adamant Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Discharge, Charge, Power Gem, and Signal Beam


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Luminita (Chinchou, Female, Naive Nature)

Ability: Water Absorb

Attacks: Supersonic, Water Gun, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball


Marius (Girafarig, Male, Mild Nature)

Ability: Sap Sipper

Attacks: Stomp, Odor Sleuth, Psychic, and Crunch


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Quilava, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flame Wheel, Flame Charge, Quick Attack, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Acid, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)

Ability: Hyper Cutter

Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Geo (Golem, Male, Brave Nature)

Ability: Sturdy

Attacks: Steamroller, Rock Slide, Heavy Slam, and Magnitude

 

[Juliko]

Chapter 33: I Dream of Geraldine

Images flashed through her mind like a record player, only here, there was no stop button. Team Rocket taking her out of Lake of Rage, right in front of her parents. Being electrocuted and having strange substances injected into her as she lay helpless in that large room. Having nets be thrown on her twice. Being pelted by falling icicles. She found herself thrashing all around, back in that awful room. She needed to get out. Get out! Get out and go back home! She could hear the swishing of her large tail, swaying left and right.

Her large eyes slammed open the moment a lightning bolt almost hit her. She looked around, realizing that she wasn’t in that room, nor was she in the river heading for Mahogany Town. What happened? Then she remembered: she felt something small tap her hide, and she had turned to light before disappearing completely. Everything around her was pitch black, but she could still make out some shapes, such as a bushy tail, some weird thing shaped like a thunder bolt, and human fingers. Human fingers...this was new. She wasn’t outside, so she was sure she was being trapped in some kind of closed space. But oddly enough, she didn’t feel trapped. Whatever was confining her, she felt strangely safe. She thanked her lucky stars that she wasn’t with Team Rocket anymore.

But that begged the question: what happened to that girl who helped her get out? She heard some people say her name was...Julie? Julianne? No, it was Julia. That was it. Boy, was she glad she was nice and nothing like Team Rocket. Sure, she was a human, and many of her friends and family told her to keep away from humans. But she could sense that this girl wasn’t like Team Rocket. But where was she? She wasn’t hurt, was she?

“Urrgh...what happened to me?”

Gyarados looked up. She could make out Julia’s face.

Speaking of whom, the first thing Julia saw upon peeling her eyes open were the worried faces of Hikaru, Lucretia, and Saoirse. As soon as she woke up, all of their ears stood up in the air, and they flashed huge smiles that just screamed relief. Their large eyes almost watered up as soon as they gazed upon their newly awakening trainer. She was okay!

“Pikapi!”

“Eevui!”

“Snubbull!”

Once she got a better look, Julia found herself sitting upright, and the trio of Pokemon leaped into her arms, nuzzling and snuggling against her chest. The three were just so overcome with relief, as was their trainer. Julia could see that Lucretia wasn’t paralyzed anymore. The fact that they stayed by her side, worrying about whether she’d wake up or not, was enough to make tears trickle out from the corners of her eyes. Julia wrapped her arms around her friends.

“Everyone...I’m so glad you’re all okay…” Julia whimpered, her voice overcome with intense relief. More than she had ever experienced before. Truthfully, though, she knew that they were just as worried about her, probably even more so than she was about them. The trio of Pokemon cooed and squealed and snuggled against their trainer, all smiles, like they never wanted to let her go.

But the first thing Julia noticed was that she wasn’t outside anymore. Large, rectangle shaped fluorescent lights shone down on her, and she looked down to see that she was dressed in a blue paper hospital gown, lying underneath a soft, comfy white blanket. Her left arm was completely covered in gauze, from her elbow to her wrist, with her left index finger being wrapped in gauze, along with having a silver, metal object around it. She was surrounded by light green curtains that almost looked turquoise. Seeing all these objects helped Julia piece together where she was: a hospital.

What time was it? Julia looked to her side, finding her backpack slumped against a small chair. It didn’t take much for her to reach toward it and grab it, pulling it to herself as the Pokemon backed away to give her some space. She pulled out her PokeGear and turned it on. The time read 10:16 AM. She remembered seeing the sky turn orange when she was on the red Gyarados’s back.

“Have I...been out this whole time? For the whole night?” Julia asked aloud.

“Eevui!”

“Snub!” Both Lucretia and Saoirse answered yes.

Julia held her uninjured hand up to stroke Saoirse’s hair. Lucretia laid down on her lap, or what was covered by the blanket, curling up in a fluffy ball. Hikaru leaned her back against the metal railings around the hospital bed, watching everyone with a calm, relieved expression on her orange face. When Julia looked down at her injured hand, she noticed she was clutching a PokeBall. It didn’t have a sticker on it like all the others did. Her fingers were a deep red, like Hikaru’s round cheeks.

Then she remembered. She had slammed this PokeBall on the red Gyarados before she passed out from the pain her arm and leg had sustained. That could only mean one thing. “I...I caught the red Gyarados?”

Hikaru crawled closer to sniff the PokeBall. Julia couldn’t help but smile as she watched the orange mouse’s little nose crinkle up and down, twitching as she whiffed the PokeBall. “Pikapika,” Julia translated that as, “Yes you did, Jule.”

Finally, she let go of the PokeBall, letting it sit on her lap, right next to Lucretia. The evolution Pokemon wasn’t bothered by the new PokeBall being right next to her. With her fur being so thick and bushy, she could barely feel a thing, especially since the PokeBall didn’t move, nor was it very close to begin with. Still, the fact that she actually caught the red Gyarados, who was rampaging through Mahogany Town out of fear and sorrow, wasn’t quite sinking in. But she did manage to comprehend one thing: she had made a new friend. Gyarados would be safe from Team Rocket, and they would never even so much as come near her ever again.

To Julia, that was more important than anything.

Still, she knew that the red Gyarados lived at the Lake of Rage, and clearly she wanted to go back home. But now that Julia was in the hospital, questions began hatching in her mind like Pokemon eggs. How long was she going to be in here? Would the doctors make her stay for a few days for observation? She had seen doctors on medical shows advise their patients to stay to check on things, like how their injuries would heal or if certain medicines and procedures worked. She could see from the way the gauze wrapped around her hands that her injuries seemed quite severe, enough to need thick gauze and not a simple band-aid. But would she be advised to just be careful with them for the next few days and just be discharged in a couple hours? Julia let out a grunt. All these questions were making her quite irritated.

Thankfully, someone pulled a curtain back. It was a female doctor with curly black hair and blue eyes, wearing a white lab coat over some blue hospital attire, with her feet covered with what appeared to be paper slippers. Resting in her hand was a brown clipboard with some papers attached to it. As soon as she laid eyes on Julia, she smiled.

“Oh good, you’re awake! Hello there,” The female doctor greeted her warmly, with a kind smile. Julia looked right at the nametag on her coat. It read Dr. Abigail Meyer in bold black text. “I’m Dr. Meyer. Do you know where you’re at?”

“I’m in a hospital,” Julia answered matter-of-factly. “How did I get here?”

“Mr. Lance Cipris brought you here on his Dragonite,” Dr. Meyer explained. Come to think of it, even in her unconscious state, she could feel rough scales on her skin, but it didn’t feel like a Gyarados’s hide. She remembered feeling wind on her face and hair. That seemed to explain it. “He told me about what happened. Your arm and leg needed some stitching, and as you can see,” She pointed to her index finger, the one that was covered with some kind of bent piece of metal. “Your finger got broken. That’s why the splint is there.”

“Splint?” Julia asked, holding her finger up close to get a better look. “Is that what this is called?”

“Yes. If you give it some time to rest, your finger will heal in four to six weeks,” Dr. Meyer explained.

“Are my arm and leg broken, too?”

Dr. Meyer shook her head. “No. That Spike Cannon attack left some holes in your arm and leg, but they’re not broken,” She sat down on a nearby chair and set her clipboard down on her lap. “However, the injuries they sustained are severe in that you can’t exactly move them for about a week and a half.”

“Oh,” Julia remembered icicles and glowing spikes falling down on her and the red Gyarados. Then the old man and his Cloyster. That was it! He had commanded his Cloyster to attack the red Gyarados despite knowing Julia was on her back. Her confusion began to gradually morph into anger. She got severely hurt because of him, and for all she knew she could have died. He said something about wanting to teach her a lesson, but did that really warrant telling his Cloyster to attack them? Boy, was she going to give that old man a piece of her mind once she was well enough to leave.

“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to stay in the hospital for that time,” Dr. Meyer said.

Stay in the hospital? For a week and a half? The old man was pushed out of her mind, and Julia found herself yelling, “What?! For over a week?! Like...I have to stay here? The whole time? And I can’t leave the hospital at all until after that?!” Julia always wanted specific answers for everything, and they had to be set in stone. Nothing vague or cryptic.

“Yes to all of that,” Dr. Meyer answered, keeping her voice low and calm.

As happy as Julia was about having answers, she couldn’t help but groan at the idea of being cooped up in the hospital for over a week. Sure, she knew it was so her injuries could heal, and she appreciated that they were taking precautions to make sure they healed properly. Plus, her Pokemon were here, so perhaps it wouldn’t be all bad, but still. She didn’t know if she could survive being stuck in a hospital room for an entire week. There were still some questions that absolutely required answers.

“Will I at least be able to stand up and at least walk around? Or go to the bathroom? Or take a shower?” Embarrassing to ask, yes, but Julia was not one to miss bathroom breaks or chances of showers.

Dr. Meyer smiled. “Don’t worry. There’s a bathroom with a shower right over there,” She pointed to the end of the long room. Julia pulled one of the curtains back, noticing a grey door with a shiny handle on it, and hanging from that handle was a double-sided sign, with one side showing the word vacant on it. Julia knew that if the bathroom was vacant, it meant that it wasn’t being used at the moment. The sign on the top of the door read “Bathroom.” Well, that’s one question answered.

If there was one thing Julia couldn’t help but be happy about, trivial as it seemed, it was that she managed to wash all her extra clothes before arriving at Mahogany Town. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if there was no washer or dryer. Did hospitals even have those? Still, more questions lingered, and being the curious girl she was, the urge to ask them all seized her.

“What about the Pokemon?” Julia asked again. “They probably don’t wanna be cooped up in a room all day.”

“We have a playroom for Pokemon here in case their trainers get hurt, in surgery, or recovering, and a lot of these procedures take a long time,” The doctor explained once more. Good. Then Dr. Meyer noticed the PokeBall next to Lucretia. “You never let go of that PokeBall even once.”

“Really?”

Dr. Meyer nodded, seeing the confusion on the girl’s face. “You held onto it the entire time you’ve been here, even when you were getting stitches.”

This time, Julia used her uninjured hand to pick the PokeBall back up. It’s round, hard surface was completely warm, like it had been placed near a cozy fireplace. Then again, Julia had held onto it for over a day, and her body heat transferred to it, so of course it would be warm.

“Can I ask what Pokemon is inside?”

Julia wasted no time answering. “It’s a Gyarados!”

Now, it was Dr. Meyer’s turn to look confused. Julia see her tense up and back away a little, like she saw a ghost. Was it fear or confusion? She was sure it had to be either one of the two, or both. Then again, Gyarados were often seen as scary by the public, so it was no surprise, especially with the fiasco from yesterday. Immediately, she thought the worst, holding her PokeBall close like she was clinging to it for dear life.

“Please don’t take her away!” Julia pleaded. “I won’t let her out, I promise!”

“I wasn’t going to,” Dr. Meyer told her reassuringly. She took in a breath before saying, “The TV remote is on that night stand if you want to watch TV,” She pointed to a little night stand with a black TV remote on it. Julia looked up. Hanging from the ceiling was a small TV that was currently off at the moment. “There are some books over there if you want to read them.”

Hikaru leaped off of the hospital bed and walked over to the movable book cart. It was full of books, some big and some small, and they were piled higgledy-piggledy on top of each other. There was one tower of books that leaned over to the left, like one little touch would cause it to completely topple over and scatter all over the place. There were a few books that caught Julia’s eye, all of them pertaining to training a Gyarados.

“Thank you,” Julia said.

“I have to tend to some other patients, but if you need anything, press that button on the wall,” Once again, she pointed to a big red button on the wall. “It’ll let anyone within the vicinity know you need something. There will be some nurses that will bring food to you every now and again, in case you’re hungry.”

As much as Julia liked the notion of eating at the moment, since she hadn’t done so all day yesterday, she was sure that hospital food wasn’t going to be ideal. They certainly wouldn’t have her favorites, such as bananas, blueberry yogurt, chocolate chip cookies, etc. Even if they did serve vegetables such as broccoli, corn, or carrots, she had seen patients receive food trays on TV, and they often didn’t look as though they were cooked all the way, nor taste very good. Then she remembered the food she had bought before the Gyarados fiasco. She still had some stuff saved in her bag.

Right then, Dr. Meyer left the room, leaving Julia alone with her Pokemon. It must be confessed that the Gyarados watched and listened to the entire scene, managing to hear every word. Hearing that she was going to be stuck in here for over a week did not make for happy thoughts. All she wanted to do was go home, be with her parents, be with her friends, and go back to her normal life.

“This stinks!” The Gyarados growled to herself. Even so, her conscious rationalized, it wasn’t all bad. At least she wasn’t with Team Rocket anymore, the PokeBall she was inside didn’t feel oppressive or hindering, and this Julia girl seemed nice enough. Her other Pokemon seemed to adore her, and while staying here wasn’t ideal, at least nobody was getting hurt or causing trouble. Still, she yearned for the sweet embrace of the lake’s cool, soothing waters, and her Gyarados parents welcoming her back home, all smiles, relieved to see that their daughter was alright.

Julia looked down at the PokeBall in her hand. She was sure that the Gyarados she caught must be lonely, being stuck in that ball and not back in Lake of Rage. It would be over a week until she would be discharged, and since Gyarados is a big Pokemon that the hospital obviously couldn’t house without potential property damage or putting the lives of other patients at risk, she couldn’t let her out, even if it was just to stretch herself out for a bit. She wondered if maybe talking to her through the PokeBall would make her feel somewhat better. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be better than nothing.

“Hello!” Julia greeted the PokeBall with a warm, beaming smile, holding it up to her face. “Are you doing okay in there, Gyarados?”

The PokeBall nodded, meaning the Gyarados was responding. “Sorry if I scared you yesterday. I kinda captured you, so that kinda makes me your trainer now,” Julia told it.

Gyarados looked down at her large, red tail, averting Julia’s gaze. “Well, at least it’s better than being in that awful room,” She reassured herself.

“I know you want to go back home, but the doctors say we can’t leave for another week,” Julia told the PokeBall. “But don’t worry! I make sure you at least get back home once we get out of here. Promise!”

Something told the red Gyarados that this girl was not to be feared. She had sensed it when the girl had snuck into the room and helped her get out. She definitely wasn’t working for Team Rocket. The fact that she stuck around and tried to help her even though there was so much happening at once, from TR trying to catch her yet again, to Pryce’s Cloyster attacking them, said a lot about her. Still, she couldn’t let her guard down. Something could easily go wrong, and she didn’t want to take that chance. But the thought of being able to go back home was too alluring.

Against her Gyarados instincts, she believed in the girl’s promise. Julia smiled. “So, uhhh...I hope we can be friends! Oh! I’m Julia, by the way!” She finally introduced herself after so long. Hikaru, Lucretia, and Saoirse all gathered around. “These are my friends! Here’s Hikaru the Pikachu, Lucretia the Eevee, and Saoirse the Snubbull!”

Pikachu, Eevee, and Snubbull. The red Gyarados had never seen those Pokemon before. She had seen some Sentret, Hoothoot, Girafarig, and the occasional new Pokemon that passing trainers would send out for battle, but never had she seen these three in particular. But nonetheless, they seemed friendly and approachable enough. The trio of Pokemon squeaked, greeting the PokeBall warmly. Gyarados wished she could go out and greet them herself, but that was impossible.

“So...would you like to have a name?” Julia asked politely. “All of my Pokemon have names, and if you have one, you’ll feel more like your own Pokemon, not somebody else.”

A name? The red Gyarados had heard many names in her life, namely from seeing Pokemon trainers come by every now and again. Satoshi. Shigeru. Eren. Armin. Abigail. Phine. Jonathan. Tobias. Caitlin. Sally. Holly. Diana. Cordelia. Taranee. Gaspard. Baldomero. They were all so different, yet so strange. But the red Gyarados? Having a name? She wasn’t quite sure about that. However...she began to ruminate. Maybe if she had a name, she could have her own identity, and not just be known as the red Gyarados forever.

The PokeBall nodded.

“Great! I have the perfect name for you: Geraldine!” Julia announced.

The red Gyarados found herself taken aback. Geraldine? That wasn’t a name she had heard before. Even so, it sounded so elegant, like a Gyarados happily swimming through the lake, with its tail swishing back and forth in a perfect rhythm. Elegant, graceful, mature. The red Gyarados liked the sound of that name. She had always wanted to be graceful and elegant, so perhaps a new name like this would do. Once again, the PokeBall nodded.

Julia smiled once more. “Awesome! Welcome to the family, Geraldine!”

For some reason, the red Gyarados--now Geraldine--thought she saw something in her. There was a happy glint in the girl’s eyes, but that was it as far as she knew. Still, she didn’t sense any malice in the girl’s heart, and her other Pokemon seemed to like her. Maybe, in time, she thought she could, too.

Saoirse was kind enough to get some books out of the cart and hand them to Julia. They passed the time by reading together. One book Julia read detailed how beginning trainers could properly care for a Gyarados, from brushing its scales to what to do when it suddenly goes berserk. Geraldine could barely make out some passages from her PokeBall, but since she was a Pokemon and, well, couldn’t read, all she could do was stare at them. Julia especially found the book to be very helpful and informative, making a mental note to buy a copy of it at the nearest bookstore, if Mahogany Town had any.

For now, everything seemed fine. The small Pokemon hung around, keeping each other company, and Julia occupied herself with the books on the cart, along with some of her own she had in her bag. Sometimes she would put on her PokeGear and play the radio function, keeping it at a low volume so she wouldn’t disturb other patients sharing the room with her. The whole time, she talked to Geraldine like she was her own.

“See here, Geraldine? This is an Eevee. That’s what Lucretia is!”

“I like this song. It’s my favorites. I wish the Pokemon Music Channel would play it more often.”

“Have you ever seen shiny Pokemon before, Geraldine?”

“Team Rocket sure are terrible, aren’t they? We’ve had to deal with them before. I wish they’d just go away already.”

“I’m from New Bark Town. It’s very far away. I wonder how Mom and Dad are doing. Did the hospital tell them I’m here?” Julia looked away from Geraldine’s PokeBall, eyeing the book cart. “Though to be honest, I kinda wish they wouldn’t. I don’t want them to get worried or freak out.”

Geraldine couldn’t help but find herself flabbergasted by that comment. She could see where she was coming from, sure, but if it were Geraldine, she’d want to fly back to the Lake of Rage and let her parents know that she was okay. “They’re gonna get worried whether they know you’re hurt or not!” Geraldine growled, not that her new trainer could hear.

Speak of the devil, her PokeGear began blaring the high pitched ring tone. Julia checked the caller ID. It was her mother. As reluctant as she was to answer, she knew she had to. She pressed a button and held the PokeGear up to ear.

“Hello?”

“Julia!! Oh, thank goodness!” Her mother’s voice was almost bordering on hysterical, and since it was so loud, Julia held the phone away from her ear. “I got a call from some hospital in Mahogany saying you had gotten hurt and I’ve been so worried and I just got to work and--”

“Mom! It’s okay!” Julia reassured. “I’m fine! Yeah, I’m in a hospital but I’m okay!”

Finally, she could hear some calming breaths, and that usually meant her mother was trying to compose herself. “I’m glad you’re alright. Can you tell me what happened?”

Julia tensed up. She was sure that if she told her mother everything, including the times she almost got killed while trying to help Geraldine, she would never hear the end of it. At the same time, she didn’t want to lie and make her angry. But it seemed both telling the truth or telling a lie would make her mad, even though everyone else said that being honest was good. Even so, there was no way she was going to elaborate on the details. Any way she’d phrase it would make her mother completely flip out and possibly beg for more details, and she really didn’t want to deal with that. But perhaps withholding some specifics wouldn’t hurt.

“...We were at the Lake of Rage,” Julia began. “And there were some Gyarados battling each other,” She hated lying to her mother. She wished she could tell the truth, but fear of the repercussions seized her. “Perrine, Caiseal, and I wound up getting caught in the middle by accident. That’s all. They’re okay, just so you know!” She reassured once more.

“Goodness!” Kassia exclaimed. So much for not wanting to make her worry or freak out. “You didn’t break any bones, did you? You’re not hurt badly?”

“Well…” Julia especially didn’t want to tell her mother about the injuries she did sustain, or how she got them. She was sure her mother would file a lawsuit against that old man and never let her or anyone else hear the end of it. As much as she wanted to have a word with Pryce, she really didn’t feel like dealing with him or potential lawsuits. “My arm and leg did get kinda bruised, but the doctors said it’s nothing too serious, though they said they want to keep me here overnight for observation.”

One lie after another piled into her heart. She prayed to Arceus that her mother would believe her and leave it at that. Then again, most parents could tell when their kids were lying, no matter how well the kids tried to hide it. But Julia wasn’t trying to be mean or malicious. She just didn’t want her mother to worry, nor did she want to deal with anything as of right now, selfish as that admittedly was.

“I see. That must have been scary,” Kassia sounded calmer this time. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost another one of my precious daughters…” Her voice grew wistful. Julia could tell she was still worried about Amara, and she could detect a subtle tiredness in her mother’s voice. “I wish I could come and visit you. Really, I do. But I can’t get out of work as easily as I used to.”

“It’s okay! You don’t have to do that! I’ll be fine! My friends are with me!”

“That’s good.”

“Have you heard anything about Amara lately?”

Kassia fell silent for just a moment. “...The police said they received some tips, but so far, nothing has come of them.”

“Oh. I did manage to catch an extra Pokemon! I don’t know why she’s not being transferred to the ranch, though.”

“Wonderful!” Kassia rejoiced, her voice going from despondent to jovial within seconds. Julia couldn’t help but wonder how easily that could happen. “I hear that Pokemon transporters emit some kind of energy that allows the extra Pokemon to go to their designated destinations. If the trainer has an extra Pokemon and they’re outside of it’s range, they don’t get transferred until they’re within at least a one mile radius of the Pokemon Center.”

“Ohhhhh!” Julia found herself intrigued by this new information. “So THAT’s how that works!”

“So what Pokemon did you catch?”

Julia winked mischievously. “It’s a secret!”

“Alright then. I have to go now. I have some Pokemon that need care. Call me back when I get this new Pokemon you caught. Okay?”

“Okay!”

With that, mother and daughter said goodbye, and Julia hung up her PokeGear. Julia spent the next hour watching the TV on the ceiling. There wasn’t much on except for a medical documentary about something called Vanishing Twin Syndrome, detailing how some babies, while in utero, could absorb their own twin. Julia barely paid attention, as she kept herself occupied by talking to Lucretia, Saoirse, and Geraldine most of the time while Hikaru sat on the edge of the bed, lost in her thoughts. After seeing that the documentary was over, Julia used the remote to turn off the TV.

“Julia!”

Familiar voices made the girl whip her head toward the door. Perrine, Caiseal, and Lance all came into the room. The first thing Perrine did was run over to her friend and wrap her arms around her, pulling her close. “Thank Arceus you’re okay! We’ve been so worried about you!”

“Sorry about that,” Julia apologized.

“We would have come by earlier, but this hospital doesn’t even allow visitors until after twelve!” Caiseal explained, scratching his scruffy blonde hair with one hand. “Can you believe it? What kind of stupid rule is that anyway? But seriously, are you alright?”

“Sure am! Though the doctor did say I have to stay here for over a week.”

“Ugh. That’s gotta stink,” Caiseal piped in.

“Agreed!”

Perrine let go of Julia to give her some breathing room. “Since we weren’t allowed to come see you until now, Caiseal and I decided to battle the Mahogany gym leader, Pryce,” She explained.

“Awwww! You guys battled the gym leader already?!” Julia whined. She knew she was in no condition to battle any trainers, but she wished she could have seen their battles.

“Yeah we did!” Both Perrine and Caiseal pulled out badges that resembled light blue hexagons made to look like snowflakes. “We got Glacier Badges to prove it!”

“Lucky…” Julia pouted. “Wait, who’s the gym leader?”

“Pryce Snow,” Lance interrupted, crossing his arms, wearing an oddly dark expression on his face. He seemed to spit the name out like it was poison, and Julia could tell from his deep frown and his squinting eyes that he didn’t seem to like even mentioning the name Pryce. “He specializes in ice types. But...you should also know…” He seemed hesitant to continue, as he paused at first, letting the sentence drift away. Soon, he dropped a bombshell. “He was the one who commanded his Cloyster to attack you.”

To say Julia was shocked would be an understatement. She found herself screaming, “WHAT?!” At the top of her lungs. It was so unexpected that everyone backed away a step or two, and nobody even told her to use her inside voice. Her green eyes became wide to the point of resembling saucers, and she couldn’t prevent the ungraceful dropping of her jaw. Pryce Snow was the old man from yesterday? The actual Mahogany Town gym leader, the same one who told her that Pokemon were not meant to be friends, was the man who knowingly attacked Geraldine with full knowledge that Julia was riding on her back.

At first, she couldn’t believe it. How could a gym leader willingly put someone in danger, let alone command their own Pokemon to attack someone? Wasn’t that illegal? Soon, her confusion gradually morphed into anger. He had no right to attack her or Geraldine. Sure, he might have needed to use necessary force to make sure Geraldine didn’t go berserk, but did he really have to command his Cloyster to attack her, knowing that Julia was on her back? Intentional assault on another human, whether a Pokemon was being used or not, was obviously a crime. She had seen enough crime shows to know assaulting someone was wrong unless circumstances dictated otherwise.

“...The gym leader was the one who attacked me and Geraldine?!” Julia yelped, finally letting what happened sink in.

Lance held his head down, averting Julia’s eyes. She could see his bright red eyebrows furrow, and he looked more sad than mad. “Unfortunately, yes. I want to apologize on his behalf. I’m sorry he attacked you and the red Gyarados. He had absolutely no right to do what he did,” Lance apologized profusely while keeping a calm demeanor. “He’s out on errands right now, but I intend on confronting him and reporting this incident to the authorities.”

“You better!” Perrine exclaimed. Julia could hear the anger peppering her voice. “He’s a gym leader, and he’s...what? 70 years old or something?! He should know better than to attack a little kid!”

Julia nodded in full agreement.

“We can be witnesses if you want someone to testify!” Caiseal pounded his hand on his chest to empathize his determination to do so.

“Do you want to press charges, Julia?” Lance asked.

It didn’t take much for Julia to know what pressing charges meant. Watching cop shows can really teach someone a lot about what goes on in the police force and the courtroom. Julia simply answered, “Yes. Sure.”

“We already chewed him out when we whipped his butt earlier this morning,” Caiseal stretched his arms out. “Man, that guy’s a total sourpuss!” He complained. “He kept yapping about how Pokemon and humans aren’t meant to be friends and that we children are too naive to understand how cruel the world is! Yeah right!” Both girls and Lance found themselves fixated on him. They had never seen Caiseal palaver on about this before. “I know how cruel the world can be! I spent two months living on the streets! My own mother hated and abandoned me! I--”

When he realized what he just said, he immediately clammed up. Now the girls and Lance know, and he had been so intent on hiding it, too. Oddly enough, nobody said anything. There was a pause, and the tension in the area was thick. Desperate to not have to elaborate, he quickly changed the subject.

“Well...uhhh...Julia!” Caiseal suddenly exclaimed. “What were you thinking running out of the police station and throwing yourself into that fiasco yesterday?!” He yelled. Julia covered her ears faster than she could comprehend what he was saying. “You put yourself, the red Gyarados, and everyone else in danger, y’know!”

“I’m sorry!!” Julia threw the blanket over herself, using it as a shield. “I just wanted to help, that’s all! I didn’t mean to cause trouble!”

“That doesn’t matter! Even if you didn’t mean it, something bad could have happened and you’d be the one to blame--”

Perrine was quick to pull Caiseal back by the arm. Even she thought he was being a little too harsh, though she did understand where he was coming from and that Julia did need to be scolded. “Alright, Cash! Back up!” He shut up the moment the orange haired girl pulled him back. “She’s autistic, remember? She hates it when you yell.”

‘Autistic?’ Hearing that made Lance’s eyes widen and his eyebrows fly up. While he didn’t exactly know too much about autism, as being the champion of two regions didn’t give him much free time to do research on these things, he did know a little bit about it. So Julia was autistic...that explained a lot in his mind. Better yet, it made a lot of things clearer. Now he had a better idea of how to approach this situation.

“Quit making excuses, Perrine!” Caiseal snapped. “Even if she is autistic, she needs to--”

“I KNOW!” Perrine interrupted. “I get that. But do you really think yelling at her is gonna make her understand?”

Before Caiseal could argue, Lance stepped forward. “If you kids don’t mind, I’ll handle this,” He approached Julia slowly, keeping his voice low and calm. “I understand now. I get that you were worried about the red Gyarados,” He noticed the piles of Gyarados-related books on her bed. This told him that she seemed to be quite a responsible trainer, wanting to know all she could about Pokemon in order to care for them and understand them. “It’s good that you love Pokemon so much, and I must thank you for your help in this situation.”

Slowly, Julia pushed the blanket down, but didn’t dare look Lance in the eyes. People’s eyes were always judging her, thinking things about her, sizing her up, facing her, setting up expectations for her that she was sure she wouldn’t be able to fulfill, making her feel as though she was being stripped all the way down to the deepest, darkest, most private, secret parts of her soul. She fixated her gaze on his red jean jacket. But she did listen, and it must be confessed, she found herself basking in Lance’s praise.

“However,” Lance frowned this time. “While we do appreciate your help, there were better ways to handle the situation, and running out of the police station, disobeying orders, and throwing yourself into the situation without consideration of the consequences aren’t the best ways to do it.”

Julia didn’t protest. She didn’t even try to argue, as she knew deep her heart that he was right. She knew doing what she did had consequences should she have failed, but she did it anyway. She was sure just saying sorry wouldn’t resolve anything. But what else could she do.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Julia apologized ruefully. “I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I got tired of waiting around and just wanted to help.”

“I understand,” Lance kept his voice soft and gentle. Despite his lack of knowledge about autism, he at least knew that sometimes the best way to approach someone was to be as calm, civil, and diplomatic as possible. Some people weren’t always going to understand things right off the bat and do need to be told, sometimes repeatedly, what they had done. Yelling and screaming would only make things worse. “But I want you to understand that every choice you make, good or bad, can have consequences. I’ve seen people get thrown in jail for both grand crimes and even small offenses. I’ve seen people have their Pokemon taken away by the authorities, and I don’t want these things happening to you.”

Again, Julia didn’t protest. He was right about everything. Well, at least he was being nice about it, so Julia didn’t particularly mind.

“So how long did the doctors say you’re gonna be here?” Perrine asked curiously.

“A week and a half.”

“What?!” Both Caiseal and Perrine’s jaws fell wide open. “What a bummer.”

As big of a bummer as it was, Julia still had her Pokemon with her, so she wouldn’t be lonely. Plus, Caiseal and Perrine decided they’d hang around and visit whenever visiting hours were open, and since they already defeated Pryce, they had all the time in the world. Lance said goodbye to the kids and left. It wasn’t difficult to figure out where he was going or what he wanted to do. But for now, the kids were just happy that everyone was alright.

***

Mercury the Dragonite carried Lance across the skies as they headed toward a lone house in the middle of some woods. It was a small, modest looking house with icy blue walls and a grey roof. Some of the paint began to chip off, as there were some white spots that dotted the house. As soon as Lance got off of Mercury’s back, he called him back to his PokeBall before walking on the porch and knocking on the door.

Knock knock knock

No answer as of yet. He didn’t mind, as Pryce was over 70 years old, and he had gotten slower over the past few years. Lance stood before the door, planning what he wanted to say to Pryce and how to say it. Finally, the door knob creaked and the door was pulled open. Pryce came to the entrance, holding his signature cane and wearing his signature scowl, along with his blue coat and white scarf. As soon as he saw Lance, all he did was glare. Lance kept a stern, uncompromising expression on his face, determined to keep his composure. The air around them was as cold as ice.

“I take it you’re aware why I’m here,” Lance began, adopting a firm tone of voice that didn’t allow for funny business.

Without a word, Pryce opened the door wider and backed away, allowing Lance to come inside. The red haired champion received a chilly reception. The walls were painted a dreary shade of grey, and there were barely any decorations. No photos, no frames, no accessories, nothing of the sort. The fireplace was completely empty, having never been used for years. The leather couch was a striking shade of mahogany, and some nests of dust rested on the armrests. Pryce sat down on a smaller chair, but didn’t put his cane down. Even the kitchen, which was right next to the living room, was remarkably dull in that everything, from the dishes to the piles of cookbooks were very neatly organized, arranged in neat piles with nothing even remotely out of place.

Resting on the grey shag carpet were Pryce’s Pokemon. One of them was a Dewgong, the other a Cloyster, and the final one being a little black weasel-like Pokemon with a long pink left ear, piercing eyes, a small yellow sigil on its forehead and chest, and sharp white claws. Protruding out from its ear were three pink feather-like shapes, resembling its long ear, forming three tails. All three Pokemon were huddled together, sleeping with content smiles on their faces. None of them even noticed Lance coming in, nor were they awoken by anything that seemed to happen around them.

“Don’t waste your time with formalities,” Pryce began, his voice adopting a bitter iciness to it. Even Lance could feel how frigid he was.

“Alright, then I won’t,” Lance answered back, crossing his arms. He didn’t sit down anywhere, even on the leather couch. “Why did you command your Cloyster to attack that Gyarados?”

Pryce wasted no time answering. “That Gyarados was causing trouble for my city. Did you really think I’d just stand around doing nothing while it had the chance to wreck the town?” He replied matter-of-factly, not mincing his words one bit.

“You’re right in that Gyarados was out of control. I won’t deny that. But Team Rocket is responsible for its state of mind yesterday,” Lance argued. “Not only that, a child was riding on Gyarados’s back...and you commanded your Cloyster to attack the both of them!”

Now the three Pokemon opened their eyes, becoming rigid at the sight of the man in the cape. Pryce didn’t avert his gaze one bit. His icy eyes fixated on the younger champion, his scowl unchanging.

“That girl was being naive and reckless. I only wanted to teach her a lesson about how her recklessness could hurt those around her,” Pryce answered once more.

Lance’s jaw fell open. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Any attempt to control his anger became futile as the champion raised his voice at his elder. “You willingly put a child’s life in danger! You could have killed her! You should know better than this!”

Pryce didn’t say a word. He let Lance continue on his tirade.

“Do you really think almost killing a little kid would teach them a lesson about recklessness?!” Lance bellowed. Pryce’s three Pokemon backed into the nearest corner, cowed by the red haired man’s fury. They were sure they could see his hair burst into flames, especially since his hair did resemble a burning fire. “I heard you had changed since last year, but to pull something like this is not only very unlike you, but extremely unethical! You’re lucky she only suffered minor injuries, but that’s still assault!”

The old man didn’t even protest. After a brief moment of silence, he said, “I won’t deny that what I did was wrong, and you’re right. It was unethical of me.”

The champion’s blood continued to simmer. The icy old man before him said it with such bitterness in his voice that it didn’t sound like he was truly sorry or feeling any guilt. It definitely didn’t sound genuine. But he knew he couldn’t lose his temper. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was completely blow his top. If he let his anger catch fire now, it’d be cheap. Shallow. A childish tantrum. He had to be somewhat professional. He took a deep breath.

“I’m glad you’re not making any excuses,” Lance hissed, barely managing to keep his still simmering rage in check. His cheeks burned. “I hate to do this, but I have to report your actions to the Pokemon League Board of Directors, and...what happened to you last year doesn’t absolve you of what you did.”

He could see Pryce clenching his teeth. Of course, he struck a nerve. Like Lance, Pryce held down whatever anger was simmering in his heart. Lance hated to even attempt striking at Pryce’s weak point. Even now, he wondered if it was necessary. However, for what it was work, he could see the scowl soften somewhat, morphing into genuine remorse.

“Do what you wish. I have no complaints,” Pryce told him. Lance could hear that the old man’s voice still had fishhooks of bitterness that snagged on his words. It had been there ever since last year, after what happened. Funny how the red haired man always seemed to notice it without really noticing it.

Without another word, Lance pushed his cape back and walked out the door, leaving the old man alone, swimming in the sea of bitterness. But even after he left, his anger gradually began to morph into pity. Pity for the old man sitting alone in that empty house. He was with his Pokemon, yes, but he seemed fairly persistent in his new belief in that Pokemon and humans were not meant to be friends. He could only wonder how his Pokemon were perceiving this change in the trainer whom they served for decades.

***

Spending a whole week and a half in a hospital wasn’t an easy thing to do, especially for a child. Julia had tried to manage most of the time, and she managed to survive. She occupied herself with everything possible: her PokeGear’s radio, the books on the cart, the books she had in her own backpack, talking to every one of her Pokemon including Geraldine who still resided in her PokeBall, and making the most of Perrine and Caiseal’s visits. There was one visit in particular that happened to be the highlight of the whole week.

“Oh! Jule, you’ll never believe this!” Perrine exclaimed.

“Two of our Pokemon evolved during our battles with Pryce!” Caiseal was just too impatient to not tell his friend about it.

Julia found herself starry-eyed. “Really? Who?”

Both Perrine and Caiseal released two Pokemon from their PokeBalls. One of them looked to be Apollo. No, it was Apollo, as he still had his choker on. This time, he seemed to be just two feet taller than Caiseal. His forelegs grew into fully developed arms, complete with functioning fingers. The orange spots were now just on his neck, and there were no spots on his rear.

“Chraaaah!” Apollo screeched.

The next one was a large, blue fish Pokemon with lighter blue pectoral fins, red eyes, and a yellow gourd shaped spot on its face. A Y-shaped antenna with two teardrop shaped yellow orbs at the ends protruded from its head. Its tail was mostly yellow, with a longer blue tip. It seemed to resemble Luminita.

“Laaaaan!” Luminita warbled.

“Wow! Both Apollo and Nita evolved?! That’s great!” Julia cheered.

“Yep! Now they’re Typhlosion and Lanturn!” Perrine exclaimed right as Julia yanked out her PokeDex.

“Typhlosion, the volcano Pokemon, and the evolved form of Quilava,” Julia rolled her eyes. Apollo was not a volcano. He was a flaming badger or gopher. “Typhlosion obscures itself behind a shimmering heat haze that it creates using its intensely hot flames. This Pokémon creates blazing explosive blasts that burn everything to cinders. If its rage peaks, it becomes so hot that anything that touches it will instantly go up in flames. When heat from its body causes the air around it to shimmer, this is a sign that it is ready to battle. It rubs its blazing fur together to cause huge explosions.”

She then held the PokeDex to examine Luminita. “Lanturn, the light Pokemon, and the evolved form of Chinchou. The light it emits is so bright that it can illuminate the sea's surface from a depth of over three miles, penetrating any seam of the water’s surface. This Pokémon uses the bright part of its body, which changed from a dorsal fin, to lure prey. It blinds prey with an intense burst of light, then swallows the immobilized prey in a single gulp. Lanturn is nicknamed "the deep-sea star" for its illuminated antenna. This Pokémon produces light by causing a chemical reaction between bacteria and its bodily fluids inside the antenna. f you peer down into the dark sea from a ship at night, you can sometimes see this Pokémon's light rising from the depths where it swims. It gives the sea an appearance of a starlit night.”

“Graaah!”

“Laaaan!” Both Apollo and Luminita couldn’t help but continue rejoicing in their new evolutions, even after they had long since finished their battle.

But that was the only eventful thing that happened the whole week Julia was in the hospital. Most of the time, Julia was climbing the wall, dying from boredom. She had read all the books in the cart by the seventh day and her own books by the third. Most of the shows on the PokeGear’s radio weren’t very interesting, and since the TV had very few channels, and didn’t list what channels were what numbers, it was hard to find anything good or interesting to watch. It didn’t help that the farthest Julia could go on foot was the bathroom. She was advised not to move her arm and leg much so she wouldn’t exacerbate her injuries or undo the stitches.

By the tenth day, Julia was already mad from boredom. “Uuuuuuugh! If I have to spend one more minute in here I think I’m going to explode!!”

“Snubbull snubbull,” (“You’re already exploding.”) Saoirse joked, and that sent the Pokemon rolling on the floor laughing. Even Julia couldn’t help but laugh.

Thankfully, as good things come to those who wait, after another day, Julia got her stitches removed, and they came out clean. She was discharged the following afternoon, and that meant she was free to leave. Julia couldn’t contain her bubbling joy, as she was already sick and tired of sitting around in that hospital. Fresh air! Gentle breezes! Blue skies! Flowers and soil! But before she left, she pulled out Geraldine’s PokeBall.

“Hey, Geraldine?” Julia said. “I have seven Pokemon with me, you being said seventh Pokemon, and since I have more than six, it’s likely you’ll end up getting teleported to my house later on,” She told her friend. “I just want you to know so if that happens, you don’t think you got lost or abandoned or anything like that. But a lot of my Pokemon friends are there, and my parents will take good care of you! Is that okay?”

The PokeBall nodded. Julia smiled. “I’m so glad you understand!”

Geraldine let out a sigh. Anything was better than being back in that Team Rocket base. Once Julia came within the Pokemon Center’s vicinity, Geraldine’s PokeBall turned into white light before disappearing into thin air. But there was still a lot she wanted to do right now.

“Hey, Jule!” Caiseal cried, with Apollo standing right by his side. “You wanna have a practice battle with us?”

“Sure!!” Julia shouted back before running over to join him. After being cooped up in both their PokeBalls and that hospital, she was sure her Pokemon would love a good practice battle to stretch their muscles and let off some steam. Truth be told, Julia was feeling the same way, bubbling with excitement as she and Caiseal raced toward the battlefield in the back.

***

Unlike Mahogany Town, which was sunny and clear, New Bark Town had an army of thick, dismal grey clouds blocking out the sun at every turn. There wasn’t much rain, which was good as far as the citizens were concerned, but most of them still missed the sun shining her warm, beautiful light on the town, livening everything up.

On the other hand, for Kassia Parisa, the gloomy day matched her mood perfectly. Once again, she slumped onto the couch after being outside most of the day. Her feet throbbed from standing and walking all day, and to not have to stand on any kind of surface was Heaven. Piled higgledy-piggledy next to Kassia’s feet were a pile of missing persons posters, all of them bearing Amara’s picture. Another day of searching, another day of nothing. Kassia laid her head back on the couch, looking right up at the ceiling.

“Azumarill?”

“Fuuuurret?”

“Ledi?”

“Freeee?” Aqua, Neji, Ladybug, and Papillon all gathered around Kassia, eyeing each other with concern. “Eeeee freeeee!” Papillon fluttered her white butterfly wings, hoping to liven the tired woman’s spirits some.

It seemed to work a little bit, as Kassia smiled. “Thanks, everyone,” She stroke Neji and Ladybug’s heads with both hands, using what little energy she had. “I needed that,” She stood back up, as she figured a cup of coffee would take her mind off of things.

Before she could even grab a coffee carton out from the refrigerator, the PokeBall transporter in the dining room suddenly emitted a white light. Aqua, Papillon, Ladybug, and Neji all gathered around, their eyes glimmering with excitement. Kassia stopped what she was doing and ran into the dining room. Soon, the light dissipated, and a lone PokeBall stood in the middle of the transporter. There was a fish shaped sticker on the top, with the name Geraldine scribbled on it in black pen ink.

“Ohh!” Kassia picked up the PokeBall and held it in her arms. It was oddly warm, like someone had held onto it with their bare hands for weeks. “This must be the new Pokemon Julia was telling me about!” She mused.

A new Pokemon. To the group of Pokemon that surrounded Kassia right now, this could only mean one thing: a new friend. Aqua, Ladybug, Papillon, and Neji all trotted out into the meadow, with Kassia slowly following from behind. Whenever the Parisa parents received a new Pokemon, they always released it outside just in case someone caught a big Pokemon. Since Julia didn’t tell her mother exactly what kind of Pokemon she caught, claiming it was a secret, Kassia figured this would be the chance to see just what her daughter caught. She secretly hoped it wasn’t anything large, dangerous, or a Pokemon she wouldn’t be able to handle.

With expectation in her heart, she released whatever Pokemon was in the PokeBall. Kassia wondered if maybe Julia caught a nice little Sandshrew. Or maybe a hardy Corsola? What if she caught a Girafarig or a Hoothoot? Unfortunately for Kassia, those were small Pokemon, and as the light began to materialize into a Pokemon, she was going to wish she had seen a small Pokemon. As its inhabitant emerged, Kassia looked up to meet her eyes.

And up...and up…

Standing before her was a weary looking Gyarados, and a red one, at that. The Gyarados opened its huge maw to let out a tired yawn. Everyone in the ranch, the Pokemon included, found themselves gazing up at the red serpent with wide eyes, and none of them could prevent the ungraceful dropping of their jaws. It was almost half a minute before Kassia was able to reorient herself. Soon, the red Gyarados--Geraldine as the sticker on the PokeBall said--looked down at the surprised woman with a look of curiosity, tilting her head to one side.

Then the red serpent smiled, letting out a low growl. If Julia were here, she’d have translated it as, “Hello! Nice to meet you!”

However, for Kassia it was NOT nice to meet this Gyarados. Her utter shock and confusion gradually morphed into a desire to scream. All of the other Pokemon could sense it. Neji simply tapped Kassia’s arm with one of his fluffy hands.

“Furret furret?” (“Are you okay?”) Neji asked worriedly.

“Ledian lediaaaaan,” (“I think she’s gonna explode!”) Ladybug yelped before fluttering away to find cover.

She was right. The scream they would hear would echo all throughout the meadow. Even the neighbors would hear it, not that Kassia cared at this point. Finally, she screamed to the heavens, “JULIA CAROL PARISAAAAAAAAAA!!”

***

Random fact: Pryce’s last name here is Snow. No explanation there. I thought about giving him the last name Nieves, which also means snow, but Pryce Snow had a better ring to it so I went with that.

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Helping Hand, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face


Rina (Nidorina, Female, Bold Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite


Rino (Nidorino, Male, Modest Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Jab, Peck, and Horn Attack


Geraldine (Shiny Gyarados, Female, Careful Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Bite, Ice Fang, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rage


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Luminita (Lanturn, Female, Naive Nature)

Ability: Water Absorb

Attacks: Supersonic, Discharge, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball


Marius (Girafarig, Male, Mild Nature)

Ability: Sap Sipper

Attacks: Stomp, Odor Sleuth, Psychic, and Crunch


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Typhlosion, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Acid, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)

Ability: Hyper Cutter

Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Geo (Golem, Male, Brave Nature)

Ability: Sturdy

Attacks: Steamroller, Rock Slide, Heavy Slam, and Magnitude

 

[Juliko]

Chapter 34: A Trainer’s Responsibility

“Ohhhhh my lanta!!” Amara let out an overly drawn groan as she slumped in front of a big tree, her long legs burning from toe to thigh from walking for so long. “Finally, I made it to Mahogany Town!” She exclaimed once more. The sun was still shining on the town below, bathing it in golden light. It wasn’t like Goldenrod City, but for the citizens, some nice weather was very much appreciated.

Too bad Amara was not one to appreciate nature’s blessings and beauty. In fact, she didn’t even realize that she was in a heavily populated part of town, and people were running to and fro, too absorbed in their own business to notice her. Just like Amara. She sat down in front of the big tree, staring up at the openings through the leaves, losing herself in her thoughts. All she could think about was how she finally managed to get six badges. Just two more, and she could enter the Pokemon League, like she and Chanel wanted.

Only Chanel wasn’t here. Amara would never be able to share that dream with her.

Still, she wanted to do something. For Chanel’s sake and her own. Sitting around in that house was not going to get her anywhere. But while her mind and heart resolved to continue going forward, the rest of her body had other priorities. Her stomach let out a Gyarados-like growl, begging for anything resembling food.

“Uuugh…” Amara complained, placing a hand on her stomach. “I could really go for some shrimp right now…” She could picture it now. Tasty, scrumptious shrimp laid out on a plate, dipped in some kind of yellow sauce, with those little green leaf fragments sprinkled all over it. How heavenly it would be to taste that beautiful shrimp again.

Once she rested up some, she stood up and began walking around again, hoping to find someplace she could eat without being noticed. But when she happened upon a mirror that was on display, she saw an unfamiliar face stare back at her, noticing every feature she had, even things she didn’t know she had. The blonde dye in her hair was fading, and streaks of her original light brown hair began to resurface. A subtle red pimple began to form on her chin. Not a pretty sight for a growing teenager. Her skin had been tanned from months of walking around in the sun, but not so tan that she’d be completely unrecognizable to those who knew her well.

But to Amara, she had become a different person. No longer was she the girl who used to sit around in the house moping about being forbidden from having Pokemon of her own. However, seeing this new face stare back at her...it was almost surreal. Frightening, even. Where had this new person come from? Her blue eyes were still the pale shade of blue they had always been, but Amara began to notice other things had changed as well. Her chin had grown out some, looking more pronounced than it was before. Her fingernails had grown longer and sharper, even though they hadn’t been manicured for some time. Her face looked like a stretched out oval, and even her chest began to develop. As a result, her brand new tank top had gotten tighter around the chest. But she didn’t mind. She liked tight clothes. One of her eyes was bigger than the other.

In short, Amara was in an ugly state of her life, as most teenagers liked to describe it.

Disgusted by the sight of her rapidly changing body, she marched away from the mirror. Her stomach growled once more, continuing to beg for food.

“Ugh! I look like a freak!” Amara grumbled.

To the ordinary person, Amara looked like every other girl. Average height, scrawny build, developing breasts, light brown hair, light blue eyes. One would have to look closer in order to see how she was changing physically, and Amara was definitely one of those people who could see someone have a pimple on their face and notice if it wasn’t there before. Finally, she stopped at a food stand and grabbed herself a pack of sushi and a meat sandwich. It would suffice for now.

She sat down at an unoccupied bench and satisfied herself with the sandwich. The girl watched as people went to and fro. A boy and a girl were standing in front of a small fountain, kissing with their lips pressed together, their eyes closed. Amara snickered, wondering if they were making out, maybe planning to take it further. Some children younger than herself ran around the park laughing and screaming, with some Pokemon chasing after them. Amara recognized some as Sentret, Rattata, and Mareep. The kids seemed to enjoy their game. Some Pidgey and Pidgeotto fluttered about the area, chirping away or using their beaks to pick food or wrappers off the ground.

“They’re lucky,” Amara mused, glaring at them as she took another bite of her sandwich.

Amara wanted to be lost in her thoughts and plan for her next gym match. Too bad the opportunity was stolen before she could even grasp it.

“Ai-Ai-Ai-Aipom!”

“Yeeek!” Amara backed up to the edge of the bench when she saw a cute, purple and beige monkey Pokemon hop next to her. Its long, oval shaped ears had beige under layers, and it had stubby purple arms and beige feet, and a beige oval shaped belly. Sticking up from its head was a cowlick with three points. A long tail with a beige appendage at the end swished back and forth, and its round, blue eyes fixated on the sandwich in Amara’s hands.

“Aipom!”

“Shoo!” Amara waved her hand at the curious purple monkey. “Go away!”

But the purple monkey Pokemon didn’t go away. Using its long tail, it swiped Amara’s sandwich out of her hands. Flashing a cheeky smile, the monkey smacked its butt in front of her twice before hopping away.

Amara stood up in alarm, her face turning beet red with rage. “HEY! Come back here you little thief!!” With that, Amara chased after the purple monkey Pokemon, who simply ran on the ground on all fours. But even with the sandwich in its tail, the monkey managed to outrun Amara rather quickly. That didn’t mean Amara was going to give up.

“That’s mine!!” Amara cried as she turned a corner. She wasn’t sure how long she had been chasing that purple monkey.

Finally, the purple monkey stopped in its tracks. “Poooom?”

“Aipom! There you are!” When Amara stopped to catch her breath, Aipom’s ears picked up on a familiar voice. Soon, out from some thickets came a girl about Amara’s age, with lightly tanned skin and deep brown hair that went down to her shoulders, with her bangs held back by a turquoise headband. Her eyes matched her skin perfectly.

The girl scooped the purple monkey in her arms, noticing the sandwich in its tail. “I knew it!” She was quick to yank the sandwich out of Aipom’s tail. “You shouldn’t wander off and steal someone’s food! That’s bad!” She scolded in a frank tone, before handing the sandwich back to Amara. “I’m so sorry! He does--”

But Amara was in no mood for apologies. That Aipom was hers, so by association, it’s trainer had to take responsibility. That was what Amara thought, anyway. “Are you kidding me?! That little pest stole my sandwich! Control that little freak, will you?!” She yelled, having no sympathy for the girl or the Aipom.

“Hey, Emily!!” Another voice called out. Both Emily and Amara froze, turning in the other direction.

Amara couldn’t prevent the ungraceful dropping of her jaw. Another girl showed up on the scene, with short black hair arranged in a neat bob cut, with hazel eyes gleaming with relief. Something about these girls made goosebumps dot her arms from her elbows all the way up to her shoulders. It was like she had traveled back in time.

“Oh! Great, you managed to find Aipom!” The hazel eyed girl stroke Aipom’s cowlick with one hand. “Were you causing trouble again, you little prankster?”

“De…” Amara blurted out. Now all three girls made eye contact. It was as though they were frozen in time.

Finally, it hit Amara like the Magnet Train came and run her down. She knew these girls, and they knew her!

“...Debbie?! Emily?!”

Soon, the realization struck the two girls as well. Even they couldn’t hold back the shock that seized them. The two of them gulped before shouting, in perfect unison, “...Amara?!”

“Is...is that really you?” Emily sputtered, barely managing to keep hold of Aipom. This was Amara? Her ex-friend?

“Yeah...yeah, it’s me,” Amara confessed.

Out of all the people Amara didn’t expect to run into, she was sure her ex-friends would be the last people she’d wind up running into. Or back into, in this case. She had cut herself off from them long ago, to the point of not even speaking to them or associating with them in any way. In her mind, there was no need to hang around with them, as they made their priorities in life very clear. Already, she was wishing she could just teleport away from here and go to the gym.

Even now, she didn’t expect a warm reception. As she expected, the atmosphere around her was cold. Emily simply averted Amara’s eyes, focusing on Aipom. On the other hand, Debbie crossed her arms, her look of shock forming a scornful frown. Amara knew that look all too well. Of course she would still be mad. Who wouldn’t be?

“...We never expected to run into you again,” Debbie hissed, like she was spitting out poison. “I see you got a new look. To be honest, you look like you got tan paint poured all over you.”

“Debbie!” Emily interrupted, already not liking where this was going. All she got in response was Debbie holding her hand up, immediately silenced. Talk to the hand, the gesture said.

Normally, Amara would blow her top if someone so much as looked at her the wrong way. Since Chanel’s death, almost everything set her off. Even Emily and Debbie knew it, as they had been on the receiving ends of Amara’s seemingly endless rants about whatever was annoying her. But now, Amara didn’t have it in her to yell or scream. All she could do was avert her eyes and take it.

“Come on,” Emily freed one of her hands to grip Debbie’s left hand. “Let’s just go. It’s not--”

But her friend didn’t listen. Debbie pried her arm out of her friend’s and immediately put Amara on the spot with no hesitation.

“You sure have some nerve showing your face to us!” Debbie exclaimed. “After everything you did!”

“I didn’t know you guys were here!” Amara protested. “What are you even doing here anyway?! I thought you still lived in Cherrygrove.”

Debbie rolled her eyes. “We’ve been on a Pokemon journey together for months now, duh!” She replied in an exasperated tone, like she expected Amara to just know that off the top of her head. “Pretty sure we told you about how we wanted to be trainers.”

The memory came back right then. It was the day Amara first met Chanel. She, Debbie, Emily, and another friend, Maria, had a picnic in Cherrygrove. Debbie went on about how she dreamed of becoming the champion and going to places no trainer had ever gone before. She had been so enthusiastic when she talked about her dream, so much so that her eyes were gleaming. Now, the only thing in her eyes was undiluted scorn.

Emily could feel the tension rising. “S-S-Sorry that Aipom stole your sandwich--”

“Hey!” Debbie suddenly cut her off. “Don’t apologize to her!” She swung her arm aloft to point her index finger at Amara, again putting her on the spot. “She should be the one apologizing to us!”

Apologize to them? For what? Now she was confused. She hadn’t seen them in years, but now they were making it sound like Amara, once their best friend, had done something horrible to them. But as far as Amara knew, she didn’t remember doing anything particularly bad to them. Sure, she knew she had been abusing her own Pokemon, stole one from a lab, and assaulted others. But Emily and Debbie, her old friends? No, she hadn’t done anything to them all year. She had barely interacted with them since the weeks following Chanel’s death.

“Why?” Amara found herself asking aloud. “We haven’t talked in months!” She protested.

The more the girls heard, the more angry Debbie became. “Are you kidding me?!” Debbie roared. Amara found herself stepping back two steps, completely taken aback by her ex-friend’s outburst. “We were friends for years! Years! But the moment you started obsessing over Chanel’s death and hanging out with those high school aged stoners, you completely tossed us aside like trash!” She was quivering with anger. “Like we never even meant anything to you!”

“You’re the ones who didn’t give a crap when Chanel died!” Amara protested, pointing her index finger at her former friend. A question swam through her mind: how did they know about her hanging out with stoners? She didn’t remember anyone seeing her with them.

“It’s not like that!” Emily interrupted. But neither girl heard her.

“You didn’t even want to make sympathy cards with me! You didn’t even tell the school to hold some kind of vigil for her! That shows you never cared!”

With a swipe of her hand, Debbie smacked Amara's hand away. The sting that followed normally wouldn't be much, but to Amara, it was like someone slapped her across the face. Debbie balled her fists as though she were trying really hard to not explode in a rage.

“Newsflash, Amara...we DO care!” Debbie hissed. Any attempt to keep herself calm was futile at this point. “Don’t you dare say that about us!” Her voice rose with every word she spoke. “The school DID hold a vigil for Chanel! Literally the week after what happened!”

Amara froze. She couldn’t believe it. It just had to be a lie. She had heard nothing about a school vigil being held in Chanel’s honor. There was no such thing that had happened...was there?

“In homeroom, the teacher made us make sympathy cards for Chanel’s family the day afterward!” Debbie continued. “After that week, the school held a vigil! We texted you about it that morning! We tried to tell you, we really did!” Her ex-friend’s voice was almost bordering on hysterical now. “But you didn’t even come to school! Not for the next week at that!”

With every word she heard, Amara felt as though her insides had been gouged out. But the worst thing was that Debbie was right. Amara had chosen to stay home from school. She never even bothered to check her phone, she was too busy sitting in bed and mourning Chanel, completely shutting herself off from the outside world. Her phone had been off those past few days.

“We tried to come over to your house a few times before to tell you about it! We even art supplies with us so we could make cards for her together! But you didn’t come out of your room even once! Your mom tried to get you to come down but she said she couldn’t!”

Memories came flashing through her mind. Amara burying herself in her bed, pushing pillows down her head. Hearing the creaking of her door as her mother peeked inside to take a look. Amara wanting the world to just stop. She wanted to be alone in her sorrow.

“Amara? Your friends are here. They brought flowers and candy and art supplies--”

“Tell them to go away!”

“But they’re worried about you, sweetie. They said they want to tell you that--”

“I want to be alone! Make them go away!”

How could she have forgotten about that? Another part of her was regretting turning them away. Maybe if she had accepted them and let them cheer her up somewhat, perhaps...something might have changed. Her heart was awhirl with all kinds of emotions, all of them unimaginable.

Too bad Debbie didn’t know this, and continued on with her tirade. “Ever since then, you just completely ignored us like we never even mattered to you!”

The pain was too much even for the both of them.

(flashback)

Six months after Chanel’s death, she and Emily noticed that Amara had been gone from school more often. At this point, their friendship had long since fallen apart, and they were in different classes, so they hardly spoke. Any time Emily or Debbie attempted to talk to Amara, the latter would always shoot them down. Even when Emily and Debbie wanted to reach out and help, Amara would always yell at them or look at them like they were the most disgusting thing on earth. What happened? Neither Debbie nor Emily had any idea. Changes swept over Amara like a tsunami, and neither Debbie nor Emily liked them one bit.

It was so strange, they thought. Amara was usually cheerful and outgoing, even before Chanel came into the picture. The times they spent together were wonderful, especially when Debbie and Emily warmed up to Chanel and saw why Amara liked her so much. It was like she was one of their own. But now that Chanel was gone, everything seemed to unravel.

“Hey, Amara? There’s grief counselors at school now. Do you want to go to a session with me?” Debbie had asked Amara in the halls one day.

“No way!” Amara snapped. “I’d rather eat dirt than see a freakin’ grief counselor!” She said the word like it was poison and stomped away, leaving a flummoxed Debbie all alone.

“Amara? Would you like to come to my house?” Emily asked her one day. “My mom’s making T-shirts with Chanel’s picture on them, and she gave me a few to give to the students. I thought maybe you could come over and--”

“Yeah right,” Amara sneered. “Why should I listen to anything you have to say?” She acted as though Emily was planning some kind of cruel prank or being a manipulator. Even Emily found herself completely flabbergasted. Amara had never talked to Emily that way before.

If it had to do with Chanel, Amara would jump at anything. Now, turning down a chance to go to Emily’s? That was very unlike Amara. Going to Emily’s house to do anything, even study, was always something the girls liked to do.

At one point, Emily and Debbie found themselves despondent over everything. “Amara’s taking Chanel’s death really hard, isn’t she?,” Emily mused, her voice adopting a twinge of sadness.

“I don’t blame her,” Debbie put both hands on her chin as they sat in front of a tree by the school. This was after school, so they weren’t skipping or playing hooky. “They were best friends. I’d be angry a lot too if I lost my best friends, or even my family.”

“I miss Chanel.”

“Me too.”

“Have you noticed that Amara’s changed? She’s suddenly become...angry. Like, she’s always angry now.”

“I know,” Debbie wished she could do something to help. She and Emily both. They knew nothing they did would bring Chanel back, but they wished they could do something, anything, to help Amara cope with this. “Maybe we should give her some space. She probably wants some time alone. My dad says sometimes being alone can help people who are grieving.”

“Yeah, you might be right. Everyone grieves differently.”

The girls really hoped that Amara would be able to cope in her own way. They weren’t sure how long Amara would do this, but they knew they couldn’t force it. Amara had a right to grieve, too, just like they did. For now, they decided to leave Amara alone for now. They figured they needed to let Amara sort things out. Debbie was sure they’d retain some sense of normalcy after everything that happened.

Then she heard rumors circulating around. People saw Amara hanging out in the park with high schoolers, sitting around and watching the others smoke weed or cocaine. Some even said Amara was doing some of it herself.

That couldn’t be true, Debbie thought to herself. Amara wasn’t the type to do that, right? She just couldn’t be! After school, she slipped over to the park to see if it was true. She had hoped that those were just rumors, nothing more. Rumors were almost always false unless confirmed. She needed to see it for herself. She was only going to wish she hadn’t gone to that park.

The rumors were true. She hid behind a thick bush so nobody would see her. There was Amara, sitting among kids who looked to be 15-17 years old, and Amara was still twelve! Not only that, there were three boys and one girl, all of them dressed in black clothes, with their ears covered from top to bottom with silver piercings. Some of them even had colored streaks in their hair. Light blue, pink, lime green, grey. One boy was leaning over a stump, sticking a glass tube in his nose, using it to suck up some weird, white powdery substance. The others smoked on some white cigarettes. Upon closer inspection, they had green, seven-pointed leaf emblems on them.

A hand flew to Debbie’s mouth. Amara, her former best friend, was hanging out with that kind of crowd? As far as Debbie knew, Amara was never the type to even associate herself with druggies, or even people who were far older than her. She even heard Amara say that she would never smoke or drink alcohol in her life. Just what was Amara of all people doing with them? She could only pray that they weren’t going to hurt her in some way.

But in hindsight, that wasn’t even the worst part about the whole thing.

“I just don’t get why my mom keeps hounding me about my grades, y’know? She’s all like, ‘If you don’t get straight A’s, then you won’t get to go to a good college!’ Like, come on, I don’t even wanna go to college. College is for nerds who don’t have a life outside of school.”

“At least your parents only bug you about one thing. My parents always diss everything I do. They refuse to see me for who I am.”

“You guys don’t have an older brother. My parents always want me to be like him, but I’m supposed to be the evil twin! I’m not some goody-two-shoes!”

All Amara did was listen to her newfound friends vent about their problems, watching the clouds of smoke come out from their mouths. Debbie, still hiding in the bush, was still too dumbfounded to completely take it all in. But even she wasn’t prepared for Amara’s input on the little venting session.

“My friends don’t care about me or Chanel,” Amara told them in the most pitiful voice she could muster. Everyone turned to gaze upon the runt in the odd group. “Especially not Chanel! I suggested they make sympathy cards or hold some vigil, but they looked at me like I was brain dead! They won’t even talk about her anymore!”

Debbie’s mouth fell open. Where did Amara get that idea? Surely that wasn’t true! They had attempted to tell Amara about the vigil numerous times, even going to her house to try and do so, but every attempt failed. Even when they did try to tell her, Amara had always shot them down. Debbie couldn’t remember looking at Amara like she was brain dead.

The three high school aged kids stared off into the distance, watching as the gray clouds above them didn’t budge an inch. There was no sun, so the whole area was given a dismal grey coloration about it.

“Your friends sound like a bunch of heartless idiots,” The older girl mused, holding a cigarette in between her teeth. Amara took care not to let the burning end come close to her, lest she be burned. “They probably completely forgot about her.”

One of the boys shrugged. “That’s just people for you. They never see what’s really important. Life just sucks, and then you die,” What a bleak, cynical thing to say.

“Yeah, they can be kinda stupid,” Amara told them without the slightest hint of hesitation. “Debbie’s kind of a fat slob, and Emily’s so clumsy she can never tell when she’s bumped right into a stop sign.”

Fat slob. Clumsy. Can’t see the stop sign. Debbie’s fist crumpled around a leaf on the shrub. Amara, her once best friend, calling her and Emily stupid, fat, and clumsy? Right in front of people she barely knew? If Debbie’s heart was fabric, it was getting unraveled faster than a sewing machine could fix it.

“Not only that,” Amara continued, not noticing that a set of eyes was watching her from the bushes. “Emily told me that when she was a baby, she tried to eat a Rattata’s poop.”

The reaction was instant on both sides. “Ewwwwww! That is SO gross!” One of the boys bellowed, looking away in disgust.

“Oh, and Debbie likes to dance in the house and pretend she’s married to some gym leader named Grant when she’s alone.”

The whole group found themselves bending over in 90 degree angles, unable to suppress their laughter. “Man, now that is hilarious!! Oh, my ribs!”

On the other hand, Debbie found herself livid. ‘AMARA!! What the freak are you doing?! You can’t just tell random strangers about your friends’ most private secrets!!’ She wanted to yell, scream, pull Amara to the side and tell her what a horrible person she was being right now. Amara was straight up telling people about secrets that she was absolutely forbidden to disclose to anyone. This was a traitorous act that Debbie found herself unable to forgive for as long as she lived. But something inside her told her that Emily needed to know about this. Right now.

Any sympathy, trust, or compassion she had for Amara was completely gone by this point. She sprinted out from the bushes, running as fast as she could. She hoped in her heart of hearts that it was only a dream. Just a terrible, horrible dream, or even a prank that Amara was playing on them. But considering the shift in her behavior over the past few days, Debbie could feel in her gut that this wasn’t a dream. This was real. Amara had taken the trust that Debbie and Emily had given them and thrown it to the side of the road like it was garbage.

Utterly unforgivable.

Debbie was quick to give Emily a call and tell her what she saw. When she mentioned the part about Amara disclosing their secrets, that she was instructed to NOT tell ANYONE no matter what, there was a very eerie silence. For a moment, Debbie thought Emily had hung up on her.

“Emily? Hello? You still there?”

An answer came, but in the form of a sob. Then more sobs, which quickly morphed into a full on bawling session. Debbie scolded herself for not expecting this. Of course Emily would cry if someone would betray her like that. Her best friend, telling some random strangers about an embarrassing secret she wanted to keep hidden? In the girl world, that was considered tantamount to a grade A felony. At least, that was how Debbie saw it.

“...How could she…? How could she do that to us?!” Emily sobbed.

Debbie frowned. She didn’t have an answer for that. Actually, she did, but she was sure it wouldn’t do anything to assuage the mixed feelings they had. Anger. Frustration. Regret. Humiliation. Worst of all...their trust had been completely broken.

(end flashback)

“You saw me with them?!” Amara yelled once Debbie finished. Amara had taken great pains to make sure nobody saw her with them. True, her parents found out in the end, as that didn’t matter. But Debbie? Debbie saw her with them? The humiliation that washed over her was instantaneous, and far too overwhelming to even process at the moment. “And you heard that?!”

“Come on, Debbie,” Emily pleaded. “Just stop--”

“No, Emily! Don’t defend her! She needs to hear this!” She turned right back to Amara. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt us by doing what you did?! We trusted you! You should never have told those stoners our personal secrets!”

There was truth to what they were saying. It shamed Amara. To know that she had said those things about her friends, not realizing that they actually did care. Far more than she realized. The shame was instantaneous, and she found herself unable to protest. No, she didn’t want to protest at this point.

“It really hurt…” Debbie’s voice had softened somewhat, even though it still trembled. Some tears came out from her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. “...to know you betrayed us like that...after all the time we spent together…”

For once, Amara didn’t disagree. In fact, she knew how Debbie felt. If someone were to disclose one of Amara’s most personal secrets to someone, possibly someone who could easily use it as leverage or blackmail, she would definitely feel hurt and betrayed. She was sure Chanel would feel the same way if someone told others about what her father did.

Emily put Aipom back down on the ground, her arms weak and limp from carrying him for so long. “Amara? Listen, we don’t hate you. You have every right to grieve, and for as long as you need to. It’s just…” She kept her voice gentle and calm. Unlike Debbie, Emily did not wish to exacerbate this conflict. But she did feel she needed to be honest. “...Ever since Chanel died, you became all angry and argumentative, and that isn’t you. Normally, you would never tell random strangers our most personal secrets, and...I won’t lie, that’s not what friends do.”

This time, even Debbie fell silent. She didn’t want to interrupt Emily’s attempt at reaching out. She gave a big sniff before wiping her tears. Boy, did it feel good to finally let all those feelings out.

“We’re sure Chanel wouldn’t want you to be sad and mad at the world all the time,” She crooned. “She’d want you to be happy and live life like you always did.”

Something inside Amara snapped. She couldn’t contain it. “...Stop that.”

“Huh?”

“Stop lying!!” Amara screamed. “Stop it! You never cared about her or me!” Debbie and Emily exchanged confused glances. “You don’t know anything about Chanel! You don’t know what she went through!”

“Hey!” Debbie threw herself back into the fray. “Come on, Amara! Sure, we weren’t close to Chanel like you were with her, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t care!”

“Yeah right!” Amara spat venomously, narrowing her blue eyes to slits. “Don’t give me that fake pity crap!”

“Why else would we suggest to Emily’s mom that we make T-shirts with Chanel’s picture on them?!” Debbie argued. Just what was going to convince Amara that they were sincere?

“To make yourselves look good!”

“Stop it, you two!” Emily pleaded. “We can handle this more--”

It was evident from their shaking bodies and loud, disorderly ranting that they were not going to calm down or handle this maturely. The whole thing was unraveling right before her eyes, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop them from arguing once more.

“I hate you two!!” Amara screamed once more. “You get everything handed to you on a silver platter!”

“No we don’t!”

“You get to go on Pokemon journeys and I don’t! You talk like you wanna be friends but really you care more about yourselves! You didn’t even cry when Chanel died!”

“Yes we did!”

“You completely ditched me!”

Debbie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re the one who ditched us first!” She protested. “You know what? Just stop. Seriously, just stop! You don’t want to heal! You just want to wallow in your self-pity and make Chanel’s death all about you!”

There, she said it. She had been dying to say it since she saw Amara change so drastically. She didn’t want to put her friend on the spot like that, or say those things to her. Inhaling and exhaling, the tears came back. God, did it hurt to call Amara out like that. But Amara had to know what she did, and what she was doing now. She had agonized for an answer for so long, just thinking about everything hurt her heart. It hurt all of their hearts. She knew saying that would hurt Amara. But as much as she hated having said it, her mother once said that sometimes it’s better to tell a harsh truth than a kind lie.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Emily yelled, taking Debbie by the arm and pulling her away. Not even Aipom’s extra weight could prevent Emily from pulling her friend back any faster. “You’ve gone too far!”

For once, Debbie said nothing. Even Amara fell silent. Emily recoiled upon seeing the hurt on her ex-friend’s face. While she did agree that Amara wasn’t helping matters by continuing to be stubborn as a Ponyta, she felt Debbie could have said it more delicately. Then she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen before scribbling on it.

“Here,” Emily put the paper in Amara’s hand. “It’s my PokeGear number. You may not think it to be much, but...I wish...I wish we could go back to the good old days. You can call me...if you want to just talk.”

Before the two girls could leave, Amara’s silence faded, and her frustration morphed into a volcano of anger that erupted faster than she could watch them leave. Before that, she slammed the paper on the ground. “You fakers!! You’re just as much bad friends as I am!!” Amara screamed at the top of her voice. “You’re stupid fat slobs who don’t care about anything but saving your own hides!!”

With that, Amara was alone. Alone with her still boiling anger. Now her friends had completely cut her off. Still, the truth was too cruel to face. She didn’t want to face the truth, that Amara was the bad friend and they were right in calling her out on her betrayal. For not realizing that they tried to reach out to her, that she did nothing but sit around and wallow in her sorrow and self-pity. But...making Chanel’s death out to be all about Amara? Where did they get that idea?

That wasn’t the worst thing about that thought. The worst part was the possibility that they were right.

From this day forth, Debbie Strongwell and Emily Flaherty were no longer her friends. For real, this time.

***

By the time Julia had gotten discharged from the hospital, the air was frigid, having adopted a frosty bite to it. Everywhere, the leaves on every tree in the city would change from their summer green to colors that never cease to be amazing. The birches became a luminous yellow, almost blinding in direct sunlight. The oaks and elms would turn a mature, majestic mahogany or bronze. The maples would go from a warm, soft orange to blazing vermilion red which, in Julia’s mind, was like Geraldine’s thick hide.

Even with the cold and the changing of the seasons, trainers always had it in them to battle, no matter the weather. Julia and Caiseal faced each other on the battlefield behind the Pokemon Center, with Viole and Saoirse hopping around, flinging attacks at each other or dodging. Perrine sat on a nearby bench, holding Mushi in her arms.

“Saoirse, use Fire Fang!” Julia commanded.

“Snubbuuuuull!” Saoirse’s sharp teeth burst into flames as she darted across the dirt, ready to fry Viole into a burnt plant.

“Ha! Viole, use Sludge Bomb to hold her off!” Caiseal cried, his smile brimming with confidence.

“Gloom!” Viole fired a sphere of sludge from the flower on his head. Since Saoirse was running, she found herself unable to get away in time as the sludge bomb came flying right toward her. Splat! The icky substance smacked her right in the face, causing her to fall on her rear. Thus, her pink face was covered with sludge.

“Haha! Good one, Viole!” Caiseal ran to his plant friend’s side, holding his hand up for a high five.

Viole flashed a drool filled smile. “Gloom gloom!” He smacked Caiseal’s hand with his short, stubby one.

“Saoirse!” Julia managed to pull out a napkin and used it to wash that stuff off of Saoirse’s face. Thankfully, it came off rather easily. “You okay, girl?”

“Snubbull snub,” Saoirse replied, rubbing her face with her own hands this time, just in case there were any excess spots she missed. Julia found herself glad that Saoirse wasn’t wearing her favorite red dress and matching ribbons.

“You did great,” She told her little friend.

“You were pretty good yourself,” Caiseal suddenly piped in. Julia scooped Saoirse in her arms and stood up to face him.

“Same to you. I guess battling Pryce made you stronger.”

“Yeah, sorta,” Caiseal rubbed his head with one hand.

“But man, does it feel good to be outside again!” Julia stretched her legs out by standing on her tip-toes. “I was worried I might die from boredom!”

Perrine stood up from the bench and walked over to the kids with a bright, friendly smile. “I can relate. When I was little, my dad wouldn’t let me leave the house a lot of the time except for school,” Perrine explained. “He wouldn’t even let me go out into the front yard,” She puffed her chest out and held a fist aloft before presenting an admittedly bad imitation of her father’s voice. “‘Perrine, my child! A proper lady does not frolic in the grass! You’ll get your dresses dirty, and I paid over a thousand dollars for your whole wardrobe! Now you better come back in here and finish your piano lessons, young lady!’ Man, he was such a sourpuss back then!”

Both Julia and Caiseal held their hands over their mouths, attempting to suppress laughter but failing. Perrine’s voice was far too high pitched to imitate her father’s voice, but the attempt was still rather funny and accurate. Then again, kids liked doing silly things like this. It was here that Julia saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked near the bench before running over to it.

“Jule? What’s up?” Caiseal asked.

“Gloom gloom?”

“Paras?” Even Viole and Mushi couldn’t help but wonder what was up.

Once Julia made it to the bench, she kneeled down to get a closer look. Laying in the grass was a grey stone with a green leaf shaped emblem on it. She reached out to pick it up. It didn’t feel very heavy in her hands, but the bottom was covered in dirt that it had been sitting on for a long time. Julia cringed upon feeling the icky dirt on her skin.

“Hey! You found a Leaf Stone! Awesome!” Caiseal bent over to get a closer look. “Gloom use those to evolve into Vileplume!”

“Glooooom!” Viole agreed, flapping his hands up and down.

Julia stood up so she could meet everyone at eye level. “Hey, Cash? Does Viole want to evolve into a Vileplume?”

“Ask him.”

She did just that. Viole nodded. But Julia seemed unsure. “I wonder if Blossom wants to evolve into a Vileplume or a Bellossom? I’ll ask her if I ever get the chance to get Mom to send her over, then we can use the stones. Is that okay?”

Perrine nodded. “Sure.”

“Fine with me,” Caiseal shrugged.

“Gloom gloom gloom.” (“I can wait.”)

Speaking of which, she figured she could ask her mother if she could send Geraldine over. Julia did promise to at least take Geraldine back to Lake of Rage. Her parents were sure to be worried. But who could she send over in the mean time? She pulled out two PokeBalls and released Rino and Rina from their confinement. Rino yawned while Rina simply brushed her large ears.

“Niiiii niiii.”

“Hey guys!” Since the poison pin duo had grown large, Julia didn’t feel the need to kneel down to their level. “You know the red Gyarados, right? Well, I caught her, and she’s at my house right now. I want to have her with me so we can hang out and be friends. But since I have six Pokemon, one of you has to go back home,” She explained in a matter-of-fact, casual tone, like she always did. “Would either one of you like to go home and hang out with our other friends for a while?”

Both Rino and Rina exchanged glances. Julia didn’t see any resentment in them like before. The last time she managed to switch Rina and Rino out, they were angry with her, thinking that she lied to them about liking her. Thankfully, those feelings had completely disappeared. Still, there was hardly a time when Rino and Rina were apart, being the lovebirds that they were. The kids were convinced they could see hearts fluttering out from their bodies the moment they would see each other. Rino and Rina found themselves ruminating.

Then, a couple seconds later, Rina raised her front paw. “Nido nido!” (“I wouldn’t mind going.”) She announced.

“How come?” Julia asked.

“Nido nido?” Rino cocked his head to one side, flummoxed. He figured she’d be the last Pokemon to want to go back to Julia’s house.

Rina let out some huffs and grunts, explaining that although she loves Rino, she figured her lover could stand to have some time to himself and not have Rina constantly hovering over him. Plus, Rina liked some of the food Kassia made, and did find some good friends in Aqua and some of the other Pokemon. Rino nodded in an amicable manner, respecting his lover’s decision.

“Okay then! Return!” Julia called Rina back to her PokeBall, deciding to switch her for Geraldine.

The practice battle session ended, and the kids scurried back into the Pokemon Center, namely because Julia was just too excited to see Geraldine again. She raced to the video phone as soon as she came in, with Caiseal and Perrine standing behind her. Julia held the phone to her cheek, waiting for the static to go away. Finally, the video began to materialize.

“He--”

“JULIA CAROL PARISA!!” Her mother’s loud voice forced Julia to pull the phone away. It almost blew her ears right off of her head. More than that, she hadn’t heard her mother yell like that in a long time. Even Caiseal and Perrine could hear it, flinching at the staticky sound on the phone. This was not what she was expecting. “We need to talk right now, young lady!!”

Julia flinched. The uncontrolled rage in her mother’s voice was enough to make her shiver, and already she could picture bad scenarios playing out in her head. Even looking at her proved to be too much. Her mother’s face was illuminated a bright, angry red.

“I can’t believe you actually caught a Gyarados of all Pokemon!!” Kassia bellowed, not turning her voice down one bit. Of course she would be referring to Geraldine.

Still, Julia found herself confused. Was that what her mother was mad about? “Yeah, I did. Is...that bad?”

On the video, Kassia took some deep breaths before continuing. “You caught a Gyarados, and not just any Gyarados, the red one that’s been wreaking havoc on Mahogany Town! I’ve seen it on the news!” Kassia yelled, once again making no attempt to temper her voice. Again, Julia held the phone away from her ear, as said lack of tempering hurt her ears. “How could you be so reckless?! You know how dangerous Gyarados are!”

“Mom! Calm down!” Julia snapped back. “I only caught her because some Team Rocket goons were hurting her! I just wanted to help her, that’s all!” Kassia was about to go on, but Julia held her finger up, silencing her. “Now, I want to ask if you can send Geraldine to me.”

Kassia raised an eyebrow. “Geraldine?”

“The red Gyarados, Mom! I’m gonna send Rina over. Is that okay?”

Without a word, Kassia complied with her daughter’s request. Julia put Rina’s PokeBall in the transporter, watching it disappear as another PokeBall materialized in its place. There was Geraldine’s name tag, in the exact same place as Julia left it. Perrine and Caiseal exchanged awkward glances.

“This is not going to go well,” Caiseal whispered.

Perrine nodded in agreement, shivering like a leaf. “She’s really mad.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Julia beamed as soon as her hand wrapped around the PokeBall. However, Kassia still looked angry. Julia’s smile faded. Just what was wrong? Was she not allowed to catch a Gyarados? She didn’t remember hearing about any rules like that, and she had seen plenty of large Pokemon at the ranch. Some of those Pokemon were even perceived to be dangerous by the public, but Julia had always known the ones at the ranch to be nice and friendly. “...What’s wrong?”

Kassia shook her head. “I can’t believe you’d do something this stupid. I never should have sent you out on a journey, at least until you turned eighteen…”

“Hey! I heard that!” This was very unlike her mother. Julia had seen her complain about some things before, and be exasperated, but when it came to Pokemon, her mother was always enthusiastic about them. Plus, she would usually be like this when Amara did something stupid or was misbehaving. She hardly ever acted this way with her younger daughter, only when she really deserved it, which was rare.

“...Julia.”

“Hm?”

“I want you to do something for me.”

“Yeah? What?”

The atmosphere between them was tense. Kassia’s stern expression didn’t go away. She narrowed her eyes to odious slits. “...I want you to go back to the Lake of Rage and release that Gyarados.”

Release Geraldine? Julia’s mouth fell open. This mysterious disdain her mother seemed to have for Geraldine was unfeasibly strange. Both Perrine and Caiseal heard it as well. Again, they exchanged confused glances. Sure, Julia had planned to go to Lake of Rage and have Geraldine reunite with her parents, and maybe ask their permission to take Geraldine with her. But release her completely? Why would Kassia ask that? Julia wanted to spend time with her new friend and give her all the love, care, and affection in the world. Her parents always told her that Pokemon deserve love and care, and all Pokemon are important in this world.

All she could ask was, “...Why?”

“You know why.” Julia knew from the tone of her voice that her mother meant business, and was in no mood for jokes or compromise.

“No, I don’t.”

Kassia gripped the phone on her side of the conversation. “Julia, listen to me. I don’t want you keeping that Gyarados.”

Not keep her? That did it for Julia. She could no longer keep an indoor voice. “Why not?! Other trainers can catch Gyarados and raise them just fine!” She didn’t care if her mother was glaring at her for yelling. At this point, Julia wanted to yell. What else could she do? “I’ll take good care of her, I promise!”

“Julia! It’s not about whether you’ll take care of her, it’s about whether you can handle her or not!” Kassia snapped back. “And I absolutely know for sure that you’re completely unable to handle a Pokemon like that!” Julia tried to protest, but her mother continued on. “Gyarados are extremely dangerous, and if anyone does anything to set them off, they can go on rampages and reduce entire towns to rubble! They’re called the atrocious Pokemon for a reason! People have died because of them!”

She knew that. She knew that Chanel had died in a Gyarados rampage. But in her mind, she was making it sound as though all Gyarados were bad. Surely, that wasn’t the case. Nevertheless, Kassia kept going. “They’ve killed millions of people since ancient times. They can generate millions or billions of dollars in property damage. What will you do if Gyarados suddenly goes berserk and begins using Hyper Beam of Mahogany Town?”

“I…” Julia had no answer for that. Then she noticed something really odd: Not once did Kassia refer to Julia’s new friend as Geraldine. Just plain old Gyarados. That was strange. Why wasn’t she calling Geraldine by her new name? Julia could tell that had to mean something.

“Should Gyarados do that, the town could force you to pay the property damage fees, and you know we don’t have that kind of money! They could take Gyarados away and euthanize her if she so much as takes one life, and I don’t want that happening to you!” Julia squeezed her eyes shut. She knew all of that. She knew she wasn’t stupid, and wished her mother wouldn’t remind her of that truth. “You could go to jail, and they could revoke your trainer’s license!”

Unable to take it anymore, Julia found her voice. “But Mom! Geraldine’s not some heartless killer monster! Besides, I’ve seen you raise dangerous Pokemon before, like Ursaring, Pinsir, and Rapidash! You loved them and cared for them like they were your babies, and they came out super nice! I’ll love Geraldine just as much, just like you showed me!”

Again, Kassia shook her head grimly. “Julia. I’ve raised hundreds of Pokemon before I even had you and Amara. But for some, no matter how much care I gave them, it wasn’t enough. Nothing I did could help them with their problems. I either had to put them up for adoption and have them put down--I mean, euthanized.”

Julia always hated it when others would describe putting a sick Pokemon out of their misery as being put down. Why bother sugarcoating it? She knew what euthanize meant. She looked it up on the computer and in her books. It was just a fancy word for killing them with a substance they inject into sick Pokemon with needles and syringes. She didn’t understand why her parents wouldn’t just be honest with her about these things. However, she wished Kassia wasn’t being honest right now.

“I’m already seeing signs that your Gyarados has problems that you’re not going to be able to handle, even if you do give her all the love in your heart,” Her voice quivered somewhat. Whether it was anger or sorrow, Julia wasn’t sure. She couldn’t quite make it out with the phone’s sound quality. “Besides, only experienced trainers who know how to care for Gyarados can handle them. At your level, how can you even begin to try to raise one? I just don’t want you getting into trouble or taking on far more than you can handle.”

“Mom! I’ve read books on how to care for Gyarados!” Julia argued once more. “Can’t I at least try? I know Geraldine’s not some evil monster! She’s a nice Pokemon!”

“JULIA!” Kassia barked, her face curling into a hideous expression of both melancholy and anger. “I’m not giving you a choice here! Get rid of that Gyarados right this instant! I don’t want you keeping that thing!”

Now she was plain distraught. All she could do was stare at the corners of the monitor, looking like she was going to burst into tears. Her grip on the phone strengthened, and her blood began to boil. One side of Julia saw--and knew--that her mother was right. Gyarados were dangerous, and if she couldn’t handle them, people could get seriously hurt or even die. Maybe she herself might get killed. Should a Gyarados destroy a whole town, someone would have to pay for the damages. The Parisas didn’t have that kind of money. They weren’t poor, but they weren’t rich, either. There was no possible way Julia could pay for any property damages beyond what she had saved in her account, and she was told to only use that money for her journey, especially for necessities. Plus, Julia had no experience with especially large Pokemon, and all she really did with the ones her mother owned was play with them and feed them a lot of the time. She hadn’t raised them or taught them manners or disciplined them when they were bad. The rational side of her said to comply with her mother’s demand and spare herself the dangers and the trouble.

Then--sweeping across her mind’s eye, in one swift instant of wishful thinking--she visualized the moments she could spend with Geraldine. There was so much they could do together. Julia could read books to her out loud, just like with her other Pokemon. She would feed her good food, the best her money could buy. She and Geraldine would play with the other Pokemon and become great friends. She and Geraldine could ride the oceans to other regions and see the world, and she wouldn’t have to worry about boats, storms, waves, other water Pokemon, or even paying any fees. Julia could tell her lots of funny jokes that would make anyone, human or Pokemon, laugh out loud. Julia could make Geraldine happy and give her love, love that would help her overcome what Team Rocket had done to her. She would brush her scales every day, keep her company, tell her secrets, and maybe perfect some of her attacks. Why shouldn’t she keep her? Sure, she had gone berserk in Mahogany Town, but that was because Team Rocket had hurt her. It wasn’t like she wanted to hurt anyone. She was scared and upset. Anyone would be if random strangers kidnapped them and did horrible things to them.

Besides, Julia was in Mahogany Town. Her mother was far away, back in New Bark Town. Too far away for her mother to suddenly bark new rules at her. Her blood boiled even hotter, which made her build up her courage. There were too many questions, too many impossible choices swimming in her head, all at war with each other.

One choice began to win everything over: No. She was done being told she couldn’t do one thing she wanted.

“Do you understand me, young lady? I want you to release that--”

A shiver of outrage finally ran through Julia’s being. In the course of a split second, she refused to let her mother finish that command, screaming, “NO!” She didn’t care if people turned to look at her. It wasn’t any of their business anyway. She stood up from the chair. “I’m NOT getting rid of her! I’m GOING to take care of Geraldine, like a good trainer should! I’m GOING to be a good trainer AND THAT’S FINAL!!”

With a grunt, she slammed the phone down in its proper place, and the video suddenly turned black. Soon, she found herself gasping for breath, though she wasn’t running or doing anything that would make her lose breath. Perrine and Caiseal were speechless. They had never seen Julia like this before. The people who stopped to look were also speechless, though they were more confused than shocked, wondering just what was going on. But it didn’t take long for them to go back to what they were doing.

“Uhh…” Only Perrine managed to summon the courage to speak. “Jule? Are...you okay?”

Julia took in a sharp breath before turning to face her friends. “Let’s go to Lake of Rage. Geraldine wants to see her parents.”

Once again, the duo exchanged glances. Talk about changing the subject. Nevertheless, they complied without a word.

***

Lake of Rage wasn’t far from Mahogany Town, only a 30 minute walk on foot. Unlike before, the Lake of Rage was now calm and serene, and nothing stirred. Even the lake’s waters were still as a mannequin. Once Julia got close, she took out her PokeBalls and let all of her Pokemon out, Geraldine included. The red serpent stood before them on a small bit of land right in front of the lake. Julia looked up at her serpentine friend, beaming, unlike before.

“Hi, Geraldine!” Julia warmly greeted her friend like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Guess what? You’re back home now!”

Geraldine turned around. There was the lake. Her home, her beautiful, serene lake, just the way it was when she left. Already, relief washed over her. She was home now, just like Julia promised. She closed her eyes and flashed a big smile, rejoicing in her return. The joy was instantaneous, and Julia could tell that the red serpent was in a state of absolute bliss.

“Sorry it took so long to bring you back here,” Julia apologized. The anger in her voice had vanished completely. The walk probably helped. Nature sometimes does that to people. “Oh! I want to introduce you to my friends! These are Perrine and Caiseal, and all the Pokemon here are my friends!”

The red serpent listened as Julia, her new trainer, introduced the Pokemon one by one. It must be confessed that the Pokemon found themselves huddled together, shaking like leaves. Julia could see the fear in their eyes.

“Don’t worry, guys!” Julia told them reassuringly. “Geraldine’s a nice Gyarados! She’s not gonna hurt you!”

The red serpent looked down at them, despondent. Of course they’d be afraid. She was a giant red serpent known by the public for attacking people and reducing towns to rubble. They were tiny, harmless Pokemon. Still, she wasn’t an angry Pokemon, nor did she want to hurt anyone. She was big and did look intimidating, but she knew this wasn’t her fault. Very slowly, she lowered herself to their level.

“Pikapi…” Hikaru held her hands over her head just in case anything happened. All she felt was a soft, slobbery tongue licking her fur. She looked up, seeing Geraldine smiling at her. Her body relaxed at the gentle but sticky touch. “Pikachu!” Hikaru beamed. So Geraldine wasn’t dangerous after all. The other Pokemon could sense Hikaru’s relaxation, and they followed suit.

Then, Geraldine turned around and let out a growl. “Mom!! Dad!! It’s me!! I’m back!!” She cried. Within a split second, two blue Gyarados sprang up from the ground, growling with relief as they coiled their bodies around their daughter, rejoicing in her return. Julia could hear and translate every word they said.

“Oh! Thank goodness you’re alright! We were so worried!”

“We were afraid those humans had killed you!”

“Sorry for scaring you, Mom, Dad.”

“It’s alright. It’s not your fault. We’re just happy you’re safe and sound.”

“Come meet my new friends!” Geraldine gently escorted her relieved parents to Julia and her Pokemon. The Gyarados parents tilted their heads to one side, looking flummoxed. “This human here is Julia! She and her Pokemon saved me! I couldn’t have gotten out without their help,” Geraldine explained in soft growls. Julia’s cheeks turned a rosy pink.

The two Gyarados exchanged glances. Soon, their faces relaxed and they bowed before the girl in gratitude. “We thank you for saving our daughter,” The Gyarados parents warbled.

“You’re welcome! Hey, Geraldine? Do you want to play?”

Geraldine beamed. After being cooped up in the PokeBall for a week straight, of course she wanted to play. She allowed Julia and the Pokemon to ride on her back as she swam through Lake of Rage, allowing the girl and her Pokemon to take in all the new sights. Julia and the Pokemon were in awe. Everything around them grew smaller as they were high up on Geraldine’s back. They even found themselves among a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto, as the birds flew right past them, flapping their wings and flying to wherever they wanted to go.

“Hey, no fair!” Perrine complained. “I wanna ride a Gyarados, too!”

Caiseal pulled all of his PokeBalls out. “How about we all ride on her?”

Soon, all of their Pokemon found themselves out and about, riding on the backs of many grateful Gyarados, Geraldine included. They had no idea when Pryce was going to come back, so Julia figured they could hang out here for now, that way Geraldine could relax and catch up with her family and friends. She was in no rush to battle him. Basically, the kids and the Pokemon decided to play at the Lake of Rage all day.

At one point, Julia sat down in front of a tree, and Geraldine just plopped down next to her. An opportunity arose. “Hey, Geraldine! Want to listen to me read a book? It’s super good!” Geraldine smiled, keeping her mouth closed. “Look! This is one of my favorites! I’ll read it to you!” Soon, Julia’s other Pokemon gathered around, listening as their trainer’s soft, friendly voice read the words in the book aloud for all to hear.

Caiseal and Perrine sat down just a couple feet away, watching the happy group enjoy themselves. “She’s so good with her Pokemon,” Perrine mused, brushing her hair with a comb she brought with her. “It’s no wonder they like her so much.”

“Yeah, true,” Caiseal stretched his arms out. “But I wonder if she can really handle a Gyarados, though? I mean, they can be pretty rough when they want to be. They’re not called the atrocious Pokemon for nothing.”

Perrine fell silent. Caiseal had a good point. Doubts began to spring forth like a leak in a boat. Julia’s mother did bring up some good points. Every trainer and Pokemon is different, and sometimes a trainer and a Pokemon just aren’t compatible. Sure, Geraldine was being calm and friendly now, but Gyarados were well known for having vicious tempers. Who’s to say something won’t set her off or cause her to go on a rampage? Perrine shook her head.

“Well, if something happens, we’ll do what we can,” Perrine answered. “I mean, we are Pokemon trainers after all.”

By this point, Caiseal pulled out a crossword puzzle. “Let’s just keep an eye out, okay?” He filled out one word in the puzzle before looking up to see Julia still reading to the Pokemon.

“‘You are a princess, and nothing can make you any different,’ said Henriette. ‘You’re still my friend no matter what,’”

Not even Caiseal could deny how warm, accepting and loving Julia was toward Pokemon of all shapes and sizes. But even he knew that that love could only go so far, and just because someone loves their Pokemon, doesn’t mean the recipients would always be willing to accept it. He knew this from experience. For now though, he let them be. They were happy, so he was happy. Everyone else was, too.

***

After a full day of doing nothing but play and have fun, the kids found themselves bushed when the moon rose, and they didn’t feel like going back to the Pokemon Center. Not only that, Julia figured Geraldine would like to spend the night at her home, so they decided to camp out for the night. The sky was draped with an elegant black cloak, bejeweled with a myriad of shining stars, and crowned by a crescent moon. Everyone, even the Gyarados, was deep in sleep, lost in dreamland, enjoying the peaceful nights. The kids slept in tents that they set up--which Perrine and Caiseal had bought long beforehand--and some of the Pokemon stayed outside in case anything happened.

Hikaru was one such Pokemon. She slept right in front of Julia’s tent, her ears tucked back. But oddly enough, she couldn’t sleep. Images of Geraldine being welcomed back by her family kept on lingering in her mind, blocking out everything else. At one point, Hikaru simply woke up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her little fists. She looked up to see Geraldine, also awake, staring right up at the crescent moon with curious, interested eyes. Hikaru frowned, and her stomach lurched. Memories of her old parents barged right in, intruding on the peace she had made with herself.

But worse than that was jealousy. Geraldine was accepted by her parents, and her parents loved her. Hikaru’s...she shook her head. She was over them, and the less she thought about them, the better. Still, the pain lingered, and the despairing thoughts were intruding upon everything else. That wasn’t Geraldine’s fault, and Hikaru mentally scolded herself for being jealous of a Gyarados. Nobody can choose their parents, nor can they choose the color of their fur. Neither Hikaru nor Geraldine chose to become shiny Pokemon, especially since their shiny coats brought them so much unneeded grief and trouble.

Geraldine stirred, turning around to see the small rodent behind her. “Oh? Hi, Hikaru!”

Hikaru’s ears drooped. “Hi.”

“What are you doing up this late?” Geraldine kept her growls low so she wouldn’t wake anyone.

“I should be asking you that.”

“Touche,” Geraldine lowered herself down to Hikaru’s level, placing her chin on the ground. “Want to hop on?”

Without hesitation, Hikaru hopped on Geraldine’s head, holding tight onto one of her horns as the red serpent pulled herself back up. Under the moonlight, Hikaru noticed that Geraldine’s red hide looked somewhat darker, a blazing crimson. Even more strange feelings Hikaru couldn’t put a name to raged in her heart like a whirlpool. Finally, another shiny Pokemon she could relate to. Sure, Geraldine wasn’t born a shiny Pokemon like Hikaru was, but her color had changed, and it was different from other Gyarados. Just like Hikaru’s orange fur was different from regular Pikachu.

“So...you’re a Pikachu, right?” Geraldine asked in a low voice. Since Pikachu had long, pointed ears, which grew longer from evolution, her hearing had become more sensitive. She could hear Geraldine’s low growls. “I’ve never seen a Pikachu before. Are all of them orange like you are?”

Hikaru smiled at the red serpent’s curiosity. “No. They’re yellow. I’m what you call a shiny Pokemon. They have different colors than normal.”

Despite her unfamiliarity with the rodent sized Pokemon, Geraldine could understand Hikaru’s words perfectly. Different colors...Geraldine looked down at her tail. “So...does that make me a shiny Pokemon?”

“Sort of,” Hikaru clarified. “But I was born shiny. You were forced to evolve against your will.”

“Ohhhhh!” Geraldine was awestruck. Finally, she had answers. Did it feel ever so good to receive some answers. “That explains why I look so different!”

However, in her happiness, Geraldine could sense something stirring within the mouse Pokemon. Was she somehow sad? “You don’t sound happy. Did I do something wrong?”

Hikaru’s ears perked up, and her mouth fell open. How could this Gyarados think she had done something wrong? She had been nothing but nice throughout the whole day.

“No. It’s not you. It’s just…” Hikaru replied with a hint of sorrow in her voice. “Your parents...they really love you.”

“Yep, yep, yep! They do!” Geraldine agreed, sounding pleased. “I was so afraid they’d throw me out because of my odd colors, but they didn’t! They still love me!”

‘You’re lucky,’ Hikaru thought to herself. ‘You’re so, so, so lucky,’ Once again, the pang of jealousy sprang up in her heart.

“My parents...they didn’t like me.”

“Huh? Why not?” Geraldine asked, curiosity piqued.

“They thought my shiny coat would attract predators,” Hikaru explained. Talking about her past made her feel drained. The last thing she wanted to think or talk about were those Raichu who disowned her. What good would it do to bring them up again? For reasons that were a mystery even to her, Hikaru continued on. “They said I was bad luck, so they didn’t consider me their child. They said I was a defective, wretched creature.”

Geraldine looked down, flummoxed. “What does defective mean?”

“It means in their minds, I came out wrong, like I was broken,” Hikaru explained. She found herself liking this red Gyarados.

Confusion evaporating, Geraldine found herself appalled. “That’s terrible! Your parents shouldn’t have done that! I think you’re a great Pokemon! You didn’t come out wrong at all!”

“Try telling them that.”

“To think they’d throw you aside like trash like that…” Geraldine kept herself calm, not wanting to wake the others. “If that’s how they’re gonna treat you, then they shouldn’t even be parents at all!”

Hikaru smiled, pleased. “My adopted dad said the same thing.”

The two Pokemon found themselves laughing in agreement. “I...I know this seems insignificant, but...I had a crush on another Magikarp before I evolved,” Geraldine explained once more. “I wanted to tell him how I felt. But when I evolved, he swam away like he saw a ghost.”

“Hmph! He’s not worth it,” Hikaru crossed her paws and sat down. “You’ll find someone better.”

The red serpent liked the idea. “Do you, Julia, and the others travel all over the world?”

“Not the whole world, but we have been traveling,” Hikaru answered. “I’ve been hanging out with Julia, Perrine, and Caiseal for a while. I’ve seen lots of things I would never have seen before. There’s a lot we still haven’t seen.”

“That sounds fun! I’d love to travel with you!” Geraldine beamed. “I mean, I’ll have to ask Mom and Dad if I can, but now that they know I’m safe, I’m sure they won’t be worried.”

It hadn’t occurred to Hikaru that Geraldine felt as though she had to ask her parents for permission to go with her. Then again, different Pokemon had different values and policies. Hikaru looked up. The moon was high in the sky, having reached its zenith.

“The sky sure is pretty, isn’t it?” Geraldine mused.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“I...I’m scared to go to sleep.”

“How come?”

“I...I’m free from Team Rocket. I don’t have to worry about them capturing me again,” Geraldine elaborated, her voice quivering. “I should be happy and feel safe...but I don’t. I...I still see myself in that room, going through those awful things. Sometimes I feel like I’m still back there. I can’t seem to stop thinking about it no matter what.”

Once again, Hikaru could relate. Memories of her parents disowning her still lingered despite wanting to put them behind her. But she could only imagine what Geraldine’s pain must be like. Hikaru hadn’t been subject to Team Rocket’s experiments, but whatever Geraldine went through, they must have been extremely traumatizing. No wonder she didn’t want to go to sleep. She wished she had the answer to the red serpent’s inquiries. Regrettably, she didn’t.

“I wish I could help with that,” Hikaru told her. “Maybe hanging out with Julia can help.”

“You might be right.”

“So, uh...what do you think of her so far?”

Geraldine beamed once more. “I think she’s great! My family and friends were always wary of humans, but she helped me, so I’m sure not all humans are bad. She’s nice, too!”

“I can definitely agree with that. I should probably get back to sleep.”

“I’ll try to sleep, too,” Geraldine lowered herself to the ground, letting Hikaru down safely. “Good night.”

“Night.”

With that, the two Pokemon returned to their slumber. Geraldine laid her head down on the ground, leaving the rest of her body in the water so her family would know she’s still there. If only the rest of the night were peaceful and serene.

***

Before the sun came out from the horizon, as red and purple clouds streaked the sky, a loud, deafening roar roused everyone from their sleep, and rather rudely, at that. Julia and the other Pokemon found themselves shooting upward, awake and alert. Julia barely scrambled to put her hands over her ears.

“What in the world?!” Never had she been awoken in such a manner. Better yet, she had never been woken by a deafening roar in her entire life. Not until now.

She slipped her shoes on--without putting her socks on--and raced out of the tent, as did Perrine and Caiseal. They were all still in their pajamas.

“What the heck was that?” Caiseal yelped, his curly blonde hair still disheveled and in dire need of brushing.

“I...I-I-I-I-I don’t know! But man, I was having such a nice--”

Perrine didn’t get to finish that sentence, as yet another roar cut her off. They all looked toward the Lake of Rage, and their Pokemon followed suit. The source of the roars was right in front of them. In the middle of the lake was Geraldine, roaring and shooting random beams of multicolored light in the air. Some of them almost hit some nearby Pidgey and Pidgeotto. Others managed to knock down several trees, which roused many other forest Pokemon from their sleep.

“Oh no!!” Julia hands almost flew to her mouth. Geraldine was roaring and shooting Dragon Rage all over the place. Just what was going on?

Then Geraldine turned around. Her eyes were squeezed shut, like she was still dreaming. Everyone’s pupils shrunk to the size of dots. They had to do something.

“Geraldine!!” Julia screamed, picturing what would happen if she didn’t try and calm her down. “Geraldine, stop!!”

“Pikapikaaaaaaa!!” Hikaru screamed with her.

Their cries went unheard, as Geraldine fired yet another Dragon Rage attack on another set of trees, sending them falling to the ground. Tremors sent ripples all through the entire lake. More Pidgey and Pidgeotto flew away from the forest, intent to escape with their lives. Julia couldn’t let this go on. She yanked out Geraldine’s PokeBall.

“Geraldine, return!” Julia shouted, attempting to recall the red serpent, but her wild movements caused the red beam to miss somewhat. Finally, the red beam managed to hit Geraldine, pulling her right back into the PokeBall. Overcome with relief, Julia fell to her knees, clutching the PokeBall like her life depended on it.

“Thank goodness!” Perrine let out a huge, relieved sigh. “I thought we were toast for a second there!” All of the Pokemon gathered around with concerned looks on their faces.

“What the heck just happened?” Caiseal asked, scratching his hair.

“I...I don’t know…” Julia immediately released Geraldine from her PokeBall.

The red serpent’s eyes were wide open. This time, she didn’t look like she was in pain. She examined her surroundings, noticing that some trees were knocked down. She let out some confused growls, which Julia translated as, “What just happened? Did I do that?”

“Geraldine!” Her trainer’s voice pulled her out of her reverie. “Are you okay?” The concern in her voice was unmistakable. “You were using Dragon Rage and going a little berserk just now.”

Geraldine stiffened. Did she really? Upon further rumination, that was the only explanation that seemed somewhat plausible, and she could only assume that they saw it happen. Remorse overtook her, and she bowed apologetically. “Sorry!! I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to do that!!” Julia could hear the pain in her serpentine friend’s growls. “I dreamt that Team Rocket was hurting me again!”

Julia smiled, satisfied with the explanation. She walked over to her friend and stroke her yellow hide gently. “It’s okay. You had a nightmare, that’s all. It happens,” She told her friend reassuringly. “We all get them. But don’t use Dragon Rage when you’re sleeping, okay? If someone got hurt, we’d both get in trouble, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

Perrine and Caiseal exchanged glances. They could only assume Julia was trying to take some of what her mother said seriously, or at least try to take the initiative and prevent any trouble. Geraldine smiled, basking in the warmth of her trainer’s touch. For now, everything seemed fine. Julia tried to convince herself that this was just one little incident. Nobody got seriously hurt or killed, and Geraldine didn’t mean it, so she was sure they could try to get past this with a little love and care.

Unfortunately, this would only be a harbinger of terrible events to come, and Julia was going to wish she had listened to her mother’s warnings.

***

Random fact: I thought about giving Marius the Girafarig to Caiseal, but seeing how Perrine hadn’t caught any new Pokemon since Luminita the Chinchou, I decided to give him to her.

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Helping Hand, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face


Rina (Nidorina, Female, Bold Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite


Geraldine (Shiny Gyarados, Female, Careful Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Bite, Ice Fang, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rage


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Luminita (Lanturn, Female, Naive Nature)

Ability: Water Absorb

Attacks: Supersonic, Discharge, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball


Marius (Girafarig, Male, Mild Nature)

Ability: Sap Sipper

Attacks: Stomp, Odor Sleuth, Psychic, and Crunch


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Typhlosion, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Acid, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)

Ability: Hyper Cutter

Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Geo (Golem, Male, Brave Nature)

Ability: Sturdy

Attacks: Steamroller, Rock Slide, Heavy Slam, and Magnitude

 

[TwinklingCupcake]

Hey I have a question.
Are we supposed to side with Amara's former friends?

Because I'm...not.

Amara had every right to be angry and depressed after her best friend in the entire world died, killed horribly in an attack. If her friends came to visit her a few days after Chanel died, Amara had every right to say she wanted to be left alone.
And for her friends to hear her say she wanted to be alone at first and then decide to ditch her, or stop trying to visit, makes them look like horrible friends.

Vigils and memorials are not usually held the day after someone dies in an accident either. People need time to process the death, bodies need to be uncovered and identified, and most people might not know who was killed and who wasn't. This is why most memorial services and vigils are held about a week or so after the fact. And the school would have sent an email to Amara's parents about it, or called them, and they would be the ones responsible for telling her about the vigil.
The fact that no one told her about the vigil outside of text message, and how no one even told her parents or had a teacher come to tell them, just makes the reader think Amara is RIGHT and that her former friends do NOT care.

I'm really disturbed by how everyone yells that Amara is selfish and "whining" about her friend's death and "making it all about her," just because she mourned for longer. Chanel was her BEST FRIEND and the other kids didn't care to get to know her - they gossip about her and call her weird. Of course Amara will be hit the hardest by Chanel's death, of course she'll be the one mourning longer.
She doesn't "choose not to get over" her friend dying, she was never allowed to mourn properly because no one cared enough to tell her about the vigil, no one bothered to tell her "We already made a card" or even think hey, maybe they can make another one with Amara to make her feel better, and no one had Amara talk to the grief counselor at school.
Some people take longer to mourn than others. I mourned my grandmother for six months, and still cried about her passing six months after she was gone. Amara is holding onto it longer because she was close to Chanel and was never allowed to mourn healthily. That's no fault of her own, either, that lies on the parents and her "friends."

So I really can't take Debbie or Emily's side in the first half of this chapter, because Amara wasn't the bad friend in my eyes. They were for not caring about her feelings about her bestie dying, they didn't care enough to make SURE she knew about the vigil, they didn't tell her about the cards, and they didn't consider "Maybe she needs space and we should come back later," they just ditched her as soon as she started showing behavior they didn't agree with and not "getting over" Chanel dying as fast as they wanted.

If we're supposed to be on Amara's side anyway, that's fine, but if we're supposed to be on Emily and Debbie's side, it's just not working.

On the other hand, I do hope we can see more of Debbie and Emily, because I think there's a great potential for them learning about their own mistakes and reaching out to Amara to patch things up. There's good potential for character development and throwing Amara a bone too, with the idea being that yeah, sometimes the people she thinks are being horrible actually are, and they can learn that it wasn't right to abandon their friend.
Maybe they can all three become Pokemon trainers and make their own journey together.

With the ending, implying that Julia made a mistake in not listening to her mother's advice, I feel like you're trying to go for a "not black and white" view of things, like the protagonist goofs up, and in the few instances where Kassia admits she messed up in parenting Amara, but the sentiment is lost when we focus back on Amara. Because Amara is always written as "black" in morality, the narrative is frequently telling us that anything she was angry about is "not justified" and expects us to believe she's the consistent problem. She's the problem and nothing she feels is a problem or obstacle for her actually is, according to narrative, and it just doesn't help the "gray morality."

 

[System Error]

Are we supposed to side with Amara's former friends?

I don't think you were supposed to. I'm not really sure how you came to that conclusion. They're pretty mean-spirited, to put it lightly - particularly given the their earlier appearance in Bonus Chapter 1 where they have similar harsh things to say. They even go as far as to apparently not invite Chanel into their circle of friends when Amara becomes friends with her. On the other hand, Amara did betray their trust in a way. I thought it pretty clear that this is one of gray morality situations where both sides are wrong about things.

And the school would have sent an email to Amara's parents about it, or called them, and they would be the ones responsible for telling her about the vigil.

Should they have? In a world where everything is right, where everything is sunshines and rainbows, arguably yes. Would they have? Given my and others' experiences with schools handling things like this...not necessarily. :/

I'm really disturbed by how everyone yells that Amara is selfish and "whining" about her friend's death and "making it all about her," just because she mourned for longer. Chanel was her BEST FRIEND and the other kids didn't care to get to know her - they gossip about her and call her weird.

I dunno about you, but that sounds like typical teenage girls to me. Although that said, it actually isn't completely like that. They do show signs of sympathy and said they tried to make friends with her in Bonus Chapter 1 at one point...however, given the context that they didn't when Amara actually did become friends as I mentioned, it was more than likely lip service.

Same goes for their ditching Amara as a friend. I've seen something very similar to this unfold before me in school, in fact. It's a shame, but people are like that sometimes...

Maybe they can all three become Pokemon trainers and make their own journey together.

You...you do know what kind of person Amara is and how far she's fallen since then, right? I uh, don't think think they'll be going on a journey together anytime soon.

With the ending, implying that Julia made a mistake in not listening to her mother's advice, I feel like you're trying to go for a "not black and white" view of things...

Well, I do agree with you that Amara being presented as "black" is bad, albeit for a different reason...the part about Julia, can simply be taken as Julia getting confidence in her ability to raise Pokemon and biting off more than she can chew. Or something that's going to take more effort than she expected. Nothing "black", nothing "white", nothing right or wrong about it.

All right another summarized/what we have so far review.

Let's start with characters, and briefly go over Amara since I was mentioning her. The one sentence summary for the record here is, there should really be something to explain why she is the way she is. It's really hard to feel sympathetic for her at times.

Julia, as I alluded to, is getting an interesting developmental direction. She wants to do right so much, it's causing her to place herself into dangerous situations. Which actually isn't a bad thing - it does a lot to explain why someone would want to become involved in such plots, and this arc also highlighted the risks and consequences of doing so. She's also gaining quite a lot of confidence from it...perhaps overconfidence. This is going places that will be interesting to see. Her power level was advancing questionably fast for a while, but an apparent looming reality check is in the works. And the fact that she has a Gyarados now is going to make for a fun confrontation whenever she next meets up with Amara.

Not much to say about Perrine and Caiseal since then. Seeing the former's old friend was neat, even though she's a one-off at present. The latter is still one of my favorites, and hope you hit a home run on his storyline when you get to Blackthorn. On other characters...beginning to like Harriet in particular. Really looking forward to seeing where her character goes. Super likable, and probably actually my second if not third favorite character outright. I do like Petrel's portrayal as sort of a mentor figure. Lance...mmm, I do prefer the slightly egotistical one from RBY, but this is fitting and true to his appearance in Gen 2 era Johto.

Pokemon characters are getting a bit more well-rounded. Like the Red Gyarados and Amara's Umbreon (in its brief appearance). You can go even further than this, but it suffices for now.

I do like the current arc. It's taken what's essentially an afterthought in the games, a small cool element intended to showcase a new feature made possible by the 8-bit color mode power of Nintendo Gameboy Color, into a full-fledged storyline. By contrast, it kind of shoved the actual plot in this part of the game into the background, and made it more about the Gyarados rather than the radio signal itself. Meanwhile, the expansion made to the radio signal itself was neat.

This arc also did quite a lot to (re)establish Team Rocket as a credible threat, after they were kind of stomped on in the Olivine Arc. They've also been shown to be extremely screwed up, to the point of where even Margeaux is becoming likable. The jury is still out on J, but now it is clear that they serve her instead of Giovanni. You've been handling their arcs well, and I'm interested in seeing how the Radio Tower arc goes. Their primary motivation in finding Giovanni isn't there. And in regards to the games, it's just a long-winded parade through grunts. So how will it turn out...?

Battles are still improving, and it's good that you've recently shown that the cast isn't necessarily invincible. Also, good job for example, only talking about Perrine and Caiseal's battles against Pryce to cut back on the triplet of battles, or reducing the Julia vs Jasmine one from a 6v6 situation. I say this even though I am a strong advocate of being unafraid to have too many battles, heh. That said, it might be something to sort out in the design ahead of time for the planned sequels? So you don't need to scramble and tweak like this.

What else...the Adventures influences are nice. Small bits here and there add to things, like setting things up so Julia's Pokemon aren't fully evolved for this arc, or handless Pokemon being unable to cover their ears. And the unique musical recital thing bears mentioning or the super anime exposure to Psychic Pokemon rays thing, no shortage in the creativity department. That said, man. Some things make me think your Pokemon world is not a very ideal one in some ways, heh. Like euthanizing Pokemon that do not fit in with the ideal standard for trainer owned Pokemon in this chapter, or giving away eggs without the trainer's consent in daycare facilities mentioned a while back.

Not much else to catch up and comment on that comes to mind at the moment. I really need to do a better job of keeping track of my overall thoughts as this goes along so I'm better organized for these, heh.

 

[TwinklingCupcake]

I don't think you were supposed to. I'm not really sure how you came to that conclusion. They're pretty mean-spirited, to put it lightly - particularly given the their earlier appearance in Bonus Chapter 1 where they have similar harsh things to say. They even go as far as to apparently not invite Chanel into their circle of friends when Amara becomes friends with her. On the other hand, Amara did betray their trust in a way. I thought it pretty clear that this is one of gray morality situations where both sides are wrong about things.

That is true, but here's how I came to that conclusion:

Everyone and everything in this story is against Amara.
To me, it is being built up like we're not supposed to side with Amara in anything.
Even the narrative says "Amara was the bad friend," and while I'm not sure if we're supposed to read that as an omniscient narrator or her own internal thoughts, it can look pretty bad if you look at it with everything else.

Yes, Amara has fallen quite a lot. But at the same time, she's a thirteen-year-old child who is filthy, starving, cold, homeless, has no contact with loved ones...and believes she can never go back home. Regardless of one's idea of Amara as a person, that's really harsh, especially to put a thirteen-year-old through. I'm not saying Amara shouldn't suffer hardship, but it feels like it's seriously disproportionate. And yes, yes, she attacked Julia in the beginning of the story, but I still feel it's unfair to a child to go through this. Especially when you look at previous chapters and realize the Parisas were not doing a good job in parenting her or helping her so she never once found a different outlet.

Everyone is against her: Whitney yells that she's a terrible trainer who doesn't deserve a badge even though in canon worse people have gotten them, police issue a "manhunt" for a her, her mother only goes on TV to tell her to "turn herself in" and 'do the right thing," Julia and her friends think Amara deserves prison, her Pokemon all despise her...
And yes, in the case of the latter, it's due to her abusing them but... How do I word this? With all this combined, it feels like the narrative itself is setting us up to hate Amara and side against her in everything, so even when her friends yell at her it feels we're supposed to agree. The TVTropes page backs this up. Which feels really mean-spirited towards a child, and seriously uncomfortable.

...Also, yeah, teen girls are petty, but for them to immediately comment on her appearance (which is gained from being homeless and constantly exposed to the elements) and call attention to her skin color of all things, feels really off to me in a way I can't put my finger on. Like, yeah, teens are jerks, but there's a line, you know?

My goodness, that was long!

 

[Beth Pavell]

What! You got a TV Tropes page?! This is an outrage!!

Ok, I'm being silly. Anyway, I'm going to get rid of the usual format, since I think otherwise I'll be repeating myself. So. regarding Perrine's chapter at home. I had to sit and think about this for a while, to marshal my thoughts. I think on the whole it's half-way there - another example of how you start with some perfectly good ideas, but get carried away with the drama.

I had hoped that Eduardo would be the well-meaning parent. And he kinda is, at the heart of it. Scared because of a childhood training incident? Sure. Overzealous in his reaction because of his guilt? Nothing wrong with that. The problem is that I don't feel his reactions are quite as logical as they need to be. See, at the heart of it all of his concern is about keeping his daughter safe, which doesn't really marry up to his insistence on the Victorian-style débutante training. I think it would have rung truer if he had, for instance, tried to have her battle in the safety of the Eduardo estate, or tried to channel her apparent tomboyishness into some other sport. Perrine could still have resented it for being a poor imitation of being a real trainer, and you wouldn't have had the roaring, bellowing tyrant father distracting from the fact that he really does mean well.

The other problem is that I think it was a mistake for Team Rocket, especially Proton, to be the foes to convince Eduardo that he can afford to loosen the reins. Look at it from his point of view. His whole fear is that Perrine will be injured or killed on her journey, and that stems from an encounter he had with a wild pokémon. And now it's not only Team Rocket that breaks into his house, but a Rocket executive. A man's house is his castle, and all that, and in that instant not even his own home is safe for his daughter. And in that same breath he learns that Perrine deliberately looked for him to battle him once before. To me, that's ample evidence to convince him that the world is more dangerous than he thought.

Food for thought, there.

 

[Juliko]

@Beth Pavell Ohhhh. I see. Yeah, I still have a lot to work on, don't I? Thanks. You've given me a lot to think about. Do you have any suggestions on how I can rectify this? Although I do want to make clear that what I intended was for Eduardo to realize that even though the world is dangerous, he can't exactly try to hide Perrine from the world, and that he should let her fulfill her dreams, and that he shouldn't try to let his grievances control his life and way of raising his family. Sometimes, kids need to be exposed to danger in order to learn what to do and how to survive, and kids are stronger and smarter than people give them credit for, even their parents. Eduardo saw Perrine handle herself very well, and that was what convinced him that even in the face of danger, she can take care of herself. Though I guess I kinda goofed on that, didn't I? Hehehe.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Yeah, I see what you were going for, it's just the context that didn't fit. Part of it is down to how far you can push the suspension of disbelief. Often in the journeyfic there's already some suspension just from the age of the protagonists. In my opinion, a story has to be careful with how far it pushes the independence of kids on top of that

So the question I'm asking myself is, does the idea of parents learning to let go work in the face of what convinces them to let go? In this case I would say no, because, well, it's Team Rocket. If it were me, I think I would scrap the Team Rocket angle in this chapter and go for something less overwhelming. Off the top of my head ... perhaps Perrine soundly beats one of her father's security staff. If she's better than the person he pays to keep trouble at bay, that seems to be a strong enough argument for letting go a bit

 

[Juliko]

That sounds like a good idea. When I finish this arc, I'll see if I can redo that chapter like that. Thanks! *hugs*

 

[Juliko]

Chapter 35: Geraldine’s Goodbye

In life, there are some truths that people are going to have to accept no matter how much they try to prove otherwise. Reality can be a cruel beast, and denying it can only lead to trouble, both small and grand. In the grand scheme of things, however, accepting those unpleasant truths can actually benefit those involved if they’re willing to accept that reality and take steps to ensure a better future. Julia was one of those people who experienced it firsthand, and it would change her life forever.

Morning had come, with the sun once again shining down on Mahogany Town, it's light strong enough to illuminate one whole side of the world. Everyone was wide awake and ready to go about their day. Geraldine was the first to wake, but her sleep was not in any way serene or peaceful. Bags hung from her eyes, dragging them down like someone had put cinder blocks in them. Everything seemed blurry, and since she had no hands, she couldn’t rub her eyes and make them adjust to the light.

“Hi, Geraldine!” Julia greeted her red serpent friend warmly, like she usually did. Geraldine smiled and growled softly. “I brought breakfast for you!” Julia put down a big bowl and poured a bag of large Pokemon food into it.

She had bought them yesterday, before they went to Lake of Rage to take Geraldine back to her parents. The normal Pokemon food she usually carried around was too small, so she had to make do and buy something for Geraldine. Once she finished pouring them into the big bowl, she backed away to let Geraldine sniff them. After a couple whiffs, Geraldine took some bites out of them. Soft, chewy, and scrumptious they were, and they melted right in her mouth, disappearing the moment she chewed on them twice. These weren’t like the lake water plants she would always eat, but they were good regardless.

“You like it?”

“Grrrr.”

“That’s great!” Julia clasped her hands together. “If you want, after breakfast, I can brush your scales with this new brush I bought. How about that?”

Geraldine nodded in agreement, and the kids found themselves making breakfast for both themselves and the Pokemon. Well, not making breakfast, merely providing the Pokemon the food they bought and eating food they already bought for themselves. The Pokemon in particular were enjoying themselves, not noticing anything around them except the food in front of them. After breakfast, Julia pulled out a brush and brushed Geraldine’s red scales. The red serpent closed her eyes and laid down on the ground, basking in the morning sunlight. Julia didn’t brush too hard, and didn’t need to as Geraldine could barely feel the bristles since her scales were so thick. Nevertheless, both of them enjoyed the activity.

“Do you like this, Geraldine?”

“Grrrrrr…” Geraldine let out soft hums as she sat underneath the sun’s rays.

Julia smiled. “I’m glad.”

However, as happy as Perrine and Caiseal were about seeing Julia lavish all her love onto the red serpent, the events of last night were still strong in their minds. Perrine tried to take her mind off it by listening to the radio on her PokeGear. Romantic, sentimental pop music streamed out from the PokeGear, and Baloo found herself dancing and singing to it.

“Jiggly jiggly jigglypuff~!” (“You are the only one I need~!”) Baloo spun around on her tiptoes like she was a ballerina, completely lost in the cheesy music.

Perrine could barely hold back a chuckle. “You’d make a pretty good singer some day, Baloo,” She mused, finding the sight endearing. Baloo barely noticed, not that her trainer minded. Good thing Baloo wasn’t using the attack Sing, so nobody was falling asleep. Better yet, she had heard of something called Pokemon Musicals, where Pokemon would dress up in costumes, sing, and dance on stage. What region were they in, again? Baloo would probably love doing something like that.

“Aw man!” Caiseal groaned, rummaging through his bags. “I only have one empty PokeBall left!”

The girls all turned to look. “Really?” Julia asked.

“We can go into town and buy some more,” Perrine suggested with a smile. “There’s a whole variety of different PokeBalls available.”

Caiseal beamed, standing right up. “Great idea! I really wanna buy some Ultra Balls!” He balled a hand into a fist.

“Alrighty, then! Let’s go!” Julia was quick to put everyone in their PokeBalls. Everyone else followed suit.

When they got into Mahogany Town, the whole place was swarming with people going to and fro. Now that Team Rocket was gone, for now anyways, the citizens found it safe to go back out again. It helped that the PokeMart was close by, so the kids had no trouble finding it. But the moment they got in, it was as though they had been sucked into a whirlpool of people, barely managing to just get to the PokeBall isle. Thankfully, once the crowd dispersed, it was easier to navigate.

Julia bent over, examining every kind of PokeBall they had. She recognized most of them: Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Heal Balls, Quick Balls, Timer Balls, there were just so many. There were others she didn’t recognize, such as a PokeBall that was blue on top and orange on the bottom, and a normal PokeBall that had fake jewels all over it. One kind caught Julia’s eyes, coated in shiny black paint, with streaks of gold and red going across it horizontally.

“I wonder what this PokeBall is?” Julia asked aloud.

“That one?” A voice made Julia whirl around. Standing behind her was a large, plump man wearing a red and white baseball cap. “That’s called a Luxury Ball.”

“Luxury ball?”

“Yeah. If you catch a Pokemon, this PokeBall makes it easier to be friends with it.”

Easier to be friends with it? The sound of those words was like music to Julia’s ears, and she was all about making friends with every Pokemon she caught. “Okay, I’m buying these for sure!” Julia pulled ten Luxury Balls off the shelf. Caiseal had several green PokeBalls in his hands. Perrine had picked up a couple things, such as plastic bags, fruits such as apples and bananas, and some new socks. Some of her old socks had become dirty or had holes in them, so she was in dire need of new ones.

Having stocked up on PokeBalls, the kids found themselves about to leave. But exactly what was there to do now? Pryce still wasn’t back yet, and none of them knew where he’d be. Julia still wanted to battle him, partly to win the badge and partly to beat him as payback for what he tried to do to her when she caught Geraldine. Thankfully, some neighborhood gossip gave them the answers they needed.

“Hey! Did you hear? Pryce is coming back to the gym tomorrow!”

“Really? Isn’t he in the detention center?”

“He was, but he got released today. One of my friends told me.”

Pryce was coming back? Tomorrow? The kids all exchanged excited glances. That was quick. They were sure he wouldn’t come back until much later, or maybe not even come back at all. Julia couldn’t wait for tomorrow. Now was a good time to go back to the Pokemon Center and maybe train her Pokemon for battle with him. She had done her research. Pryce commanded ice types, and her friends filled her in on their battles with him from when she was in the hospital.

The kids returned to the Pokemon Center, back to the battlefield where they had their practice battles. “Alright, everyone! Come on out!” Every one of Julia’s Pokemon came forth. Hikaru, Tokiko, Lucretia, Saoirse, Rino, and Geraldine.

The red serpent stood out starkly amongst the smaller Pokemon. She was a giant, hulking sea dragon that towered over every single one of them combined, whereas the Pokemon and even the children were diminutive to the point where they looked more like pebbles in comparison to a big boulder. Even so, the Pokemon gathered around, fixating their gazes on Julia with their eyes glimmering with curiosity and anticipation.

“Okay, guys!” Julia began with a clap. “Listen up! Tomorrow we’re going to battle the Mahogany Town gym leader. Since he’s going to come back, we should take some time to train for the match. Would you guys like that?”

Everyone nodded, Geraldine included. While she didn’t have any gym experience, she managed to figure out that Pokemon battles might be involved, and she had battled several other Magikarp before she evolved. Some battles she lost, and others she won. She had even seen other Gyarados partake in battle. Her parents said that battling was not only a healthy part of a Pokemon’s development, it was also a necessary tool for survival. Perhaps battling new Pokemon would be a good experience, she thought.

“Now, these are the Pokemon he’ll be using,” Julia pulled out a book, showing them the pages that had Pryce and his Pokemon on them. Pryce’s listed Pokemon were the following: Dewgong, Sneasel, and Cloyster. “They’re all ice types, but most of you know attacks that can easily work against them.”

Julia first turned to Saoirse. “Saoirse, you’re a fairy type, and Sneasel is a dark and ice type, so your Fire Fang can be useful in that situation.”

“Snubbull,” Saoirse nodded in agreement.

“Hikaru and Tokiko. You two know electric and grass attacks, giving you the advantage over Dewgong and Cloyster, and they’re still part water types. But Tokiko, you need to be careful, as you’re part flying, and ice is super effective against flying.”

“Chokki!” Tokiko did a sailor salute, keeping that information in mind.

Geraldine cocked her head to one side, taking everything in. ‘Wow. Pokemon battles sure do have a lot of rules,’ She thought to herself. It didn’t occur to her that battles actually had all these type matchups and underlying complexities. Most of the battles she witnessed were Magikarp ramming into each other or Gyarados firing beams or smashing their tails at one another. Granted, she had never seen other Pokemon, nor the battles they usually had.

“Geraldine!” Her trainer’s voice pulled her back to reality, and the red serpent looked down. “Even though you’re part flying type, you’re still a water type, so ice attacks won’t do much damage on you. Plus, your scales are really thick, so you might be able to withstand some attacks, and your own attacks are pretty strong.”

“Strong enough to reduce a whole town to rubble,” Caiseal retorted. He barely got a chance to be lost in his thoughts before a blow struck his forearm, sending throbbing pain right up his arm. “Owwww!” He yelped, backing away from Perrine’s elbow. Her blue eyes were narrowed as she shot a glare that could make anyone shut up and listen. It worked like magic.

Not many knew that although Gyarados typically have vicious tempers, they have become calmer and gentler over the years. Geraldine didn’t necessarily mind Caiseal’s comment. He was just sarcastic in general. Many Magikarp she met were exactly like that. Julia continued on with the discussion. Since Rino knew Double Kick, he could land some hits, but his poison type moves could help increase their chances should Pryce’s Pokemon get poisoned, and Lucretia could use her attacks to chip away at their defenses.

“Alright! Let’s start training! Hmmm…” Julia looked over every single one of her Pokemon friends. “Geraldine and Lucretia! You guys can battle each other!”

“Graah?”

“Eevui?” The red serpent and the evolution Pokemon exchanged glances.

Something prickled at Geraldine’s senses. Lucretia’s ears rose upward as the evolution Pokemon squeaked her concerns. But at this point, the Eevee’s voice had become white noise to the red serpent. The icy air began to burn her lungs, and flashes of herself in the room flickered in her mind. Lightning, syringes, people in black and white clothes watching…

“Don’t worry! It’ll just be practice!” Julia reassured her furry friend. “Okay, ready?”

Geraldine shook her body. No, she was safe now. Team Rocket wasn’t going to go after her anymore. But why were those memories bombarding her? That was the question she thought she could answer easily. However, it turned out to be the hardest. Still, unease took hold. She thought she could feel safe. Why wasn’t she feeling safe. It seemed every scale on her body was preparing itself for something, like an apocalypse. Why?

“Alright, Lucretia! Use Shadow Ball, and Geraldine, blow it away with Dragon Rage!”

The small, brown and tan Pokemon fired a black sphere at the red serpent. Calmly, Geraldine opened her maw and fired a stream of purple and blue light at the sphere. The attacks collided, heralding a small explosion that made the battlefield tremble beneath everyone’s feet. Good thing everyone managed to keep their balance. Lucretia squeezed her eyes shut, her eyelids forming a barrier against any dust that was being carried by the autumn winds.

“Good! Geraldine, use Dragon Rage again, and Lucretia, dodge it every way you can!”

“Eevui!” Lucretia nodded, her ears up and alert.

This was practice, Geraldine told herself. Only practice. Nobody was going to get hurt. Once again, Geraldine fired her Dragon Rage, allowing multiple beams to fire, one after another. She kept them small so they wouldn’t be too powerful. She didn’t want her new friend to get hurt. Thankfully, the tiny Eevee dodged every single attack with ease. Being light on her feet, Lucretia leaped away from every Dragon Rage attack, be it by rolling, doing back flips, or constantly jumping all over without taking time to even breathe.

Perrine’s ears were the first to catch a wave of whispers and murmurs. She tapped Caiseal’s shoulder, taking his attention away from the practice battle. They looked around the battlefield. Small crowds of people gathered around, their eyes wide with curiosity, fixated completely on Geraldine. Some Pokemon were among them as well. None of them could take their eyes off of the red Gyarados. Such an alien creature they had never seen before.

“Wow! Is that a red Gyarados?! So cool!”

“Isn’t that the same one that tried to destroy Mahogany Town last week?”

“Can that kid trainer even handle it?”

“Man, I wish I caught it!”

“You gotta admit, it does look kinda cool.”

“Pryce is really gonna be in for it if she uses that in a battle with him!”

The flood of voices finally caught Geraldine’s ears as she turned around, noticing the growing crowd. When did all these people get here? How long had they been there? Geraldine froze. Her vision instantly blurred, and flashes of Archer and his goons flickered over them. The titanium walls came right back. The pain from whatever was being injected into her veins returned. Any attempt to remain calm and collected failed as Geraldine’s pupils shrunk dramatically.

Even Julia could see it. “Geraldine? What’s wrong?”

Terror seized her. She knew that look. It was the same look Geraldine had when she had that nightmare last night.

Fear. Anger. Frustration. Everything Geraldine had felt suddenly spilled forth in full force as she let out a roar in aggravation. Most of the people watching immediately dispersed. Perrine and Caiseal stood up in alarm. People were still running, even as Geraldine fired Dragon Rage outside the battlefield, sending flames and light spiraling around the area. But that wasn’t the end of it. Geraldine roared two more times, and both roars sent tremors through the Earth.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Next, the red Gyarados--now completely consumed by the awful memories of Team Rocket--was dragging herself out from behind the Pokemon Center, heading right in the middle of town. Her body was big, so she left large trenches as she dragged herself across the dirt. It didn’t necessarily help that as she squirmed into the center of town, she began firing random Dragon Rage attacks in a frenzy. Some of them ripped through someone’s roof, sending roof tiles flying. One attack split a tree in two, knocking it to the ground and sending tremors throughout the Earth.

‘No!! This can’t be happening!’ Julia thought in horror as she and the others ran after the red serpent. She had no idea Gyarados could even be mobile on land. But that wasn’t important right now. Geraldine was on a rampage, just like last night.

“Oh man! What’s going on?!” Caiseal yelped, running his hands through his hair.

People screamed the moment they saw the red serpent drag herself through the dirt, charging right at the crowds. Another Dragon Rage ripped through the concrete road before her, plowing a huge trench going at least three feet deep.

That did it for Julia. She covered one ear with one hand and scrambled to yank her PokeBall out with the other. “Geraldine, return!!” The red beam shot at Geraldine multiple times. However, her erratic movements and refusal to keep still made the red light miss every time. One would think that since she was so large and heavy, she would be slow, and on land for what matter, being half water type. It didn’t occur to everyone that not only could Gyarados actually survive on land, but actually have enough mobility to actually traverse on land despite having no visible limbs.

Julia’s pupils shrunk in horror. “Why isn’t she going back in the PokeBall?!”

“Why is she even going berserk?!” Caiseal couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Geraldine!!” Julia hollered, chasing after the red serpent. “You have to calm down! Please, listen to me!” She cried desperately. Her pleas went unheard as Geraldine found herself firing another Dragon Rage at a smaller building. The shimmering flames consumed the entire wooden house. Julia’s stomach churned at the sight. She could only pray that no one was inside.

“Chokkiiiiiii!!” Tokiko flew right in front of Geraldine. Despite her small size, she spread her arms out, staring the red serpent right in the eye. “Choki chokki chokkiiiii!” (“Please, Geraldine! Snap out of it! You don’t have to do this!”)

All the fairy Pokemon got in response was a Dragon Rage to the face. Tokiko didn’t even feel it. Being a fairy type, she was immune to dragon attacks.

“Ugh! I can’t just stand here!” Perrine exclaimed, pulling out a PokeBall. “Marius! Use Psychic on Geraldine and make sure she doesn’t move even an inch!”

With a swift throw, Marius came galloping out from the PokeBall. The moment he slid in front of the red serpent, his eyes glowed in an eerie purple light, as did Tokiko’s. Both of them made a purple light consume Geraldine from the tail up. The red serpent attempted to thrash around, howling and roaring like she was trapped, to no avail.

Julia looked up. Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach as Geraldine roared and thrashed around. Finally, Geraldine broke through the psychic attacks, knocking both Marius and Tokiko to the ground by headbutting them both. Tokiko barely managed to keep herself aloft, but the long neck Pokemon fell feet first on the ground before losing his balance. This was bad. Really bad. Geraldine was thrashing around, attacking other people, going on a rampage, her eyes full of a kind of crazed fury she was unable to describe. What could she possibly do?

Her mother’s warning played back in her head.

“What will you do if Gyarados suddenly goes berserk?”

“They could take Gyarados away and euthanize her if she so much as takes one life!”

“You could go to jail, and they could revoke your trainer’s license!”

Julia gritted her teeth.

“Pika!! Pikapika!! Pikachuuuuu!” Hikaru pleaded as Geraldine used her teeth to rip a tree out from the ground, roots and all. As usual, the red serpent didn’t listen.

There was no other choice now. She didn’t want to resort to this, but people could die if she didn’t take action. Spurred by Hikaru’s cries, she yelled, “Hikaru! Tokiko! Do all you can to stop Geraldine! Make her immobile!!”

Both Hikaru and Tokiko nodded before returning their gazes on the red serpent. Hikaru unleashed a strong Thunderbolt attack. Reluctantly, she fired the thunderbolt straight at Geraldine, closing her eyes to spare herself the pain of watching her friend writhe and howl. Tokiko simply encased herself in light, blinding the red Gyarados enough to make her close her eyes. Even Lucretia stepped in to help by firing several Shadow Balls at her.

“Eeveeeee!” (“Now’s your chance!”) She cried in Julia’s direction.

Julia took that chance without hesitation. “Geraldine, return this time!!” The red beam shot right at Geraldine this time, turning her to light and pulling her back into her PokeBall. It worked! Julia fell to her knees, clutching the PokeBall in her hands.

“Thank Arceus...thank Arceus…” Tears came running right out.

Even more so when she observed the damage. Several buildings were either reduced to rubble or had their roofs burned straight through. Several trees blocked the roads, preventing any cars or vehicles from passing. Cars that were already there were forced to sit in front of the barricade, with the drivers angrily blaring their horns loud enough for the whole town to hear, along with shouting expletives Julia didn’t dare repeat. Mothers and fathers held onto their crying children, observing the destruction with utmost horror. Others cried upon returning to their destroyed homes.

“How…?” Julia was completely lost in her thoughts, looking down to avoid seeing what Geraldine caused. “How did this happen…?”

Perrine recalled Marius before kneeling down to her friend’s level. “Are you okay, Jule?” She felt it needless and redundant to ask. Julia was obviously not okay, and neither was everyone else. Still, Geraldine’s sudden rampage would probably send anyone into a nervous wreck. All she could do was stroke her catatonic friend’s shoulder gently, reassuring her that she was here. Hikaru and Julia’s other Pokemon gathered around her, their gazes brimming with worry and concern.

“Okay. Now that was crazy!” Caiseal exclaimed. “What the heck just happened?!”

“I...I don’t know…” Julia whimpered. “Something must have set Geraldine off, but…” One word crashed into the other. “I...I don’t know what!”

“HEY!” The three kids whipped their heads up. A large, beefy man stomped right over to them, his face scrunched up in a blazing scowl. Once he got close, he grabbed Julia’s shirt sleeve and yanked her right off the ground, dragging her to her feet.

“What the--?!” Perrine and Caiseal were flabbergasted. Who was this guy, and where did he just come from? More than that, why did he pull her up like that?” “Let her go!” Perrine put a hand on his large, hairy arm, attempting to pry it off, to no avail.

“Was that Gyarados your Pokemon?!” The man roared, making Julia’s pupils shrink even further. The man’s bellowing voice exploded in her eardrums, and since both hands were occupied, she couldn’t cover her ears. The man’s face peered in so close, their noses could almost touch, and she could smell a strange grape scent in his warm breath.

It was too much. The yelling, his getting too close, his rough, calloused hand squeezing her shoulder so tight that she was sure he could break it if he wanted...Extremely loud, incredibly close. Why didn’t he back off? She couldn’t answer his question. His very presence stripped her of any attempt at communication. Then again, he didn’t want an answer, as her silence only made him angrier.

“Your freakin’ Pokemon nearly destroyed the durn town! You even destroyed my business!” The man hollered, forcing the girl to squeeze her eyes shut. Too bad his other arm mercilessly grabbed her chin and forced it up so hard, Julia thought it was a wonder it didn’t break. His rough fingers dug into her skin. It was like she was being stabbed with knives. “Look at me, girl! How are you gonna pay for all this?!”

“Put her down! Come on!” Caiseal threw his hands on the man’s hand, pulling on his fingers to force him off of his overwhelmed friend. Again, the man was too strong.

Pay for all of this? Julia knew that businesses cost money, and a lot of it. The money she had was only to be used for her journey, nothing else. How could she possibly pay for the man’s business, and whatever else Geraldine destroyed? She could only think they must have cost a million dollars, and Julia didn’t have that kind of money. Not that much. But more than that, she just wanted this freaky man to get out of her face, stop touching her, and put her down.

“I...I…” Finally, she found her voice. “I...don’t...know…”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” The man barked, louder this time.

“I’m sorry!! Geraldine didn’t mean it!!” She finally shouted defensively, against her better judgment. She needed to convince his man that Geraldine didn’t do this out of malice. But by Arceus, why didn’t this man be quiet? Everything about him was making Julia lose her mind. “I had no idea any of this would happen, and I don’t know what caused it!

Her apology went completely ignored, and she knew it. No amount of saying sorry would magically fix everything. Words couldn’t magically fix anything that Geraldine destroyed. But by Arceus, she wished they could!

“Well, yer not knowin’ resulted in this here mess, and you’re gonna have to pay for it!” The man roared once more, his voice rising with everything that came out of Julia’s mouth. “You can’t even control your own Pokemon!”

“GET OFF!” Finally, Julia found her strength and pried the man off of her shoulder, returning to the ground.

She knew it all along. Of course he’d get mad. Of course the townspeople would be mad at her. Geraldine was her Pokemon, and because her friend went berserk and destroyed people’s property, she was also guilty by association. She would have to take responsibility. Anything she thought of saying and doing wouldn’t fix anything, so of course they’d ignore her and tell her that she couldn’t control Geraldine. That she would have to pay for everything. Regret and woe completely consumed the girl from head to toe. Why did this happen? Worst of all, her mother warned her about this, and Julia didn’t even listen. She found herself wishing she had, and that she would disappear. Away from the man, away from all the destruction, away from the yelling, the angry eyes judging her and vilifying her.

“Stop! Stop yelling, please!” Not even Caiseal and Perrine’s attempts to help managed to smooth things over.

The angry voices didn’t stop either.

“My house is gone! My children and I are homeless now!”

“How are you gonna take responsibility for this, huh?!”

“Your Gyarados could have killed us all!”

“We ought to call the cops for what you did!”

Julia covered her ears, but not even that could help. Not only could she not block out the noise, she couldn’t block out the reality of the situation. Everything became white noise. Anger, hatred, rage, fury...the world completely swallowed her up. Nothing they said made sense anymore. Everything seemed to merge together and trap her in a suffocating hold. Pulling her downward. Down, down, down…

“Stop.”

One clear voice stopped everything. Julia whipped her head up. Standing before her was a long, trailing cape, capped with spiky, carmine red hair. A cape? Spiky red hair? Julia looked up, her eyes widening with surprise.

“...Lance?!” The large man yelped.

There he was, Lance Cipris, standing before the man and Julia with a cool, calm expression on his face. “Mr. Giesenhagen. There’s no need to yell,” Lance told him, keeping his voice low. Despite his calm voice, he looked dead serious.

Even Perrine and Caiseal found themselves flabbergasted once more. Lance? What was he doing here? The spiky haired man rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, many of which were hundred dollar bills. He didn’t hesitate in handing them to Mr. Giesenhagen.

“These should cover all your expenses for now,” Lance reassured.

Julia’s mouth fell open. Did he just pay for all the damages? He was rich? Julia couldn’t believe her eyes and ears. He was actually defending her, doing what she couldn’t. Fear began to be knocked out of the way, being replaced by sheer gratitude. But why? It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful for Lance’s generosity. But they had only met a few times, and not under the best circumstances either. They weren’t close friends, and Julia only saw him as some famous guy whom Perrine obsesses over.

“Oh…” Mr. Giesenhagen’s anger morphed into joy. “Thank you so much, Lance! You’re a generous soul indeed!”

Lance turned to the others. “I’ll help with your expenses as well,” He handed money to others’ whose houses were destroyed. “I’ll handle everything from here. Everything is fine.”

With that, everyone dispersed, sans Lance, Julia, Perrine, and Caiseal. Everything gradually returned to normal. At least, for Julia. There was no noise, no yelling, no strange hands touching her or forcing her up on her feet without permission. Still, the PokeBall felt heavy in her hand. Even Perrine and Caiseal were silent.

The caped champion kneeled down to the girl’s level. “Are you alright?”

“No…” Julia whimpered in the most pitiful voice she had. She hated lying, and she figured she might as well be honest. “...Th-Th-Thanks...for helping me...you didn’t...need to--”

Lance held a hand up, silencing her. “It’s fine. There’s no way you can pay for the damages. They can’t expect a child to be able to do that, and since I’m the champion, they have no qualms about allowing me to pay whatever compensation they need.”

“I…”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry...I know it won’t fix anything, but...I never meant for this to happen! I really didn’t, honest! I don’t know what made Geraldine do what she did!” She cried, her face turning red from both the embarrassment and everything that happened piling up on her all at once.

“I know,” Lance adopted a softer voice this time. “Let’s go inside the Pokemon Center. We can talk in private there.”

***

Julia was in no mood for talking. Not right now, anyway. Lance respected this and let the girl have about an hour or two to herself so she could calm down. She needed it. Perrine knew about Autism and figured that Julia liked being in quiet places and having time to calm down so she could process what happened and de-stress. She had long since accepted it as her coping mechanism. She had seen her aunt do strange things to calm herself down multiple times, but Perrine was never bothered. After all, her aunt wasn’t hurting anyone by doing what she liked, and Perrine often liked having time to herself and a quiet place to get away from all the overwhelming things, so she could destress.

After going through something like that, of course Julia would want to go somewhere and destress. Better yet, she wasn’t merely stressed, she was pretty much overloaded, like a machine’s power level reaching critical mass and about to explode. Nobody dared disturb her during that time. She needed her space, and it wouldn’t do anyone any good to force her to do anything right now.

The girl took about an hour and ten minutes to have a good cry, then composed herself before coming back out. She didn’t dare look at him, or anyone, not even Perrine and Caiseal. She didn’t want to see any faces right now. Faces judging her, sizing her up, making assumptions about her...She knew Perrine and Caiseal would be there for her, but she knew that could only go so far.

“Hello, Julia,” Lance greeted her warmly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like for us to go on a walk and talk in private. What do you say?”

She nodded without hesitation, and walked behind the caped man as they went back outside. Julia could only assume that Lance was probably hiding his anger, taking her to a private place where he could scold her harshly. Julia braced herself. She knew she had to face the music. There was no running away from this one. Plus, she owed him a great deal. He got her out of trouble, and he didn’t even need to.

Oddly enough, Lance didn’t look the least bit angry. Sure, his eyebrows were furrowed, but he didn’t look stern or angry. “How’s your finger?”

Julia pulled her hand up, noticing the splint still wrapped around her finger. “It’s doing fine, but I hate this thing. It itches really bad, and my finger can’t breathe!”

Lance found himself smiling at the comment. “I can relate. I saw you and your friends at the Lake of Rage yesterday.”

“Really?”

“I stopped by for a bit to see how things were going. You and the red Gyarados were laughing. It really seems to like you.”

“She,” Julia corrected. “She’s a girl, and I named her Geraldine.”

“Geraldine…” Lance mused. “That’s a pretty name.”

Unable to stand it any longer, Julia had to get rid of that nagging feeling in her stomach. “...Aren’t you gonna yell at me?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that why you’re taking me out here?” Julia asked inquisitively. “To tell me I’m a horrible trainer and what a bad person I am for letting Geraldine go out of control? That big guy who yelled at me earlier did just that.”

Lance turned around, crossing his arms. “No. That’s not why, and you’re not a horrible trainer or a bad person,” His voice had an earnest, sincere swing to it that even left Julia speechless. “The fact that you even caught Geraldine and managed to bond with her at all tells me that you possess a lot of good qualities befitting of a good Pokemon trainer. The love you have for your Pokemon tells me that you had no malice in your heart when you sent Geraldine out.”

Hearing this was like music to her ears. Julia found herself on the verge of crying again. He understood, and she didn’t even need to explain anything to him. Just like Jasmine, in a way. “I...I don’t know what to say. Most people either think I’m a bad kid if I so much as say or do something, even when I’m trying to be nice, or yell at me or my parents.”

“Can I ask exactly what happened?” Lance inquired. “I’d like to know all the details, please.”

Julia nodded and explained everything as best she could. “I was training for my upcoming battle with Mr. Snow. I wanted to have Geraldine and my other Pokemon have practice battles with each other so we could prepare. Then we saw a crowd around us and...that’s when she freaked out. But that wasn’t the first time, either. Last night, she woke me and my friends up howling and screaming. I found out she was having a nightmare.”

She was sure he wouldn’t listen, but he did. Not once did he interrupt her or even try to discourage her from talking. To Julia, that allowed her the chance to continue on. “I’m starting to notice other things as well. If I try to talk to her, she looks at me like...like...like she was under attack by something. She...she also told me that she always seems to think about what Team Rocket did to her, and no matter what she tries, it won’t leave her mind.”

“Wait,” Lance paused. “She told you? How can a Gyarados do that?”

Julia’s hands flew to her mouth. ‘OH NO!! Not again!!’ Once again, she let slip that she could talk to Pokemon. Seeing that there was no way around this, she told him how she can understand what Pokemon are saying. Oddly enough, again, Lance listened without interruption or discouragement.

“I see…”

Julia pulled Geraldine’s PokeBall out. “I don’t get it. She’s usually really nice, but...I don’t know what caused her to…”

“If you don’t mind, would you let me see Geraldine?” Lance asked as politely as he could muster.

For a brief moment, she almost handed the PokeBall to him. But something seized her, and she found herself glaring at him, holding Geraldine’s PokeBall close like she was intent on protecting it with her life. “No! No way!”

The red haired man’s pupils shrunk a little bit. Why the sudden mood change? He could see the anger and fear in her whole being. “I just want to see her? I’m not going to do anything.”

Julia didn’t stop glaring at him. “How do I know you’re not gonna secretly take her without my permission, give her over to some facility, and tell them to euthanize her?!” She insinuated, her voice adopting a frantic swing to it.

To say Lance was surprised would be an understatement. He was downright baffled. How could an eleven-year-old girl possibly know of those things, let alone accuse someone of attempting to do so? He could come to a few conclusions, the most plausible one being that Julia did research on what happens to Pokemon if they’re deemed aggressive or volatile by society. Perhaps she was scared the same would happen to Geraldine. Then again, considering what happened, she had every right to be.

The man flashed a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I assure you none of that will happen. I don’t know what she’s like, so if I just took her without a word and sent her off to be put down, it’d reflect badly on me, and I’d be stripped of my title,” He explained. “Plus, that only happens under absolutely extreme circumstances. Anyway, just release her from her PokeBall. I want to just see what she’s like.”

As much as she wanted to believe that, she still kept a guarded stance. She could never be absolutely sure of whether anyone was lying or telling the truth. There were times when she believed that some things were true, only to have something bad happen and then realize they lied and she was tricked. By Arceus, that always made her angrier than anything, but worst of all, never being able to tell what’s true and what’s not. How could she be sure that Lance wasn’t going to just go back on his word and take Geraldine away?

But another side of her pleaded with her to listen to him. He was the champion. A professional. He knew what he was doing. She was sure Lance wouldn’t just steal her Pokemon and hand her to some facility. But how would Geraldine react to seeing a stranger? Julia was one of the few people she trusted. But...if she didn’t do this now, she might not get any answers. Finally, Julia relented.

“Fine. But you better not be lying,” She made sure to stare right at him, her eyes gleaming with a look that said, ‘If you lie to me, I won’t show any mercy.’ “Come on out, Geraldine.”

Julia expected Lance to be alert, or to have a PokeBall ready should something go wrong. Oddly enough, it was the opposite. He still wore a warm, gentle smile, watching as the red serpent took shape. Geraldine looked down at Julia with a confused look on her face. She gave a soft growl, which Julia translated as, “What just happened?”

“Hi, Geraldine,” Julia greeted her. “How are you?”

The red Gyarados smiled.

“I want you to meet a friend. This is Mr. Cipris,” She pointed in Lance’s direction. As soon as Geraldine met his eyes, she tensed up. “Don’t worry. He’s nice. He won’t hurt you.”

True to his word, Lance slowly approached the red Gyarados. “Hello, Geraldine. I’m Lance.”

Geraldine bent downward so she could look at the caped man at eye level. She sniffed him inquisitively, taking in his features, examining him thoroughly. She didn’t sense anything malicious or skeevy in this man. Then, she flashed a smile...before dragging her large tongue across Lance’s entire being, giving him a good saliva bath.

“Geraldiiiiine!” Julia whined. “You got him all dirty!”

Oddly enough, Lance found himself laughing. “Well, you certainly are friendly.”

The happy red Gyarados turned to Julia before growling, “He’s cool. He smells like a dragon.”

“I’m glad you like him, but it’s rude to say he smells!”

“Like what?” Lance asked.

Julia’s palm met her face. “She says you smell like a dragon.”

Lance didn’t look fazed by being covered in Gyarados drool. “Well, I am surrounded by dragon type Pokemon on a daily basis, so that’s a pretty accurate statement,” Julia had to wonder if Lance considered that a compliment. He didn’t look offended, so she dropped the subject.

What Julia didn’t know was that the wooded area they were in was reasonably close to the areas that Geraldine had damaged. When Geraldine opened her eyes, overlooking the trees, her pupils shrunk again. This time, not out of fury. She could make out piles of rubble with some smoke still billowing out. Huge trenches ran across the road, with people cleaning up all the debris leftover. Trees had been ripped right out of the ground, roots and all, with the roads being completely blocked.

The memories came rushing back. She let out a low, sad growl. “Is this...my fault? Did...did I do all this?” She had known that Gyarados had somewhat of a bad reputation, going on since ancient times. Gyarados were known to be set off if someone so much as invaded their territory, and they could reduce entire towns to rubble. Geraldine had heard the stories, but she didn’t want to be a fearsome monster. She just wanted to settle down and have a family, like most of her friends.

None of this was what she wanted.

Julia looked up, noticing Geraldine’s despondent, guilty expression. Her heart went out to the sad red serpent. She knew it. Geraldine wasn’t vicious, nor did she do it on purpose. Still, she knew that even if she didn’t mean to, there would still be consequences. All she could do was put a hand on her friend’s red scales.

“Geraldine...I want to know. What happened?” Julia asked. “What made you...freak out like that?”

The red serpent explained that for a moment, she felt as though she were back at Team Rocket’s other lair. Vivid memories of the cruel experiments had completely consumed her, and before long, she was sure she was re-experiencing everything all over again. The more Julia translated, the more Lance listened, and the more intense he grew. Not once did he comment on Julia’s ability to talk to Pokemon, and she was sure he would, as others did, sometimes kindly, sometimes nonchalantly, and sometimes cruelly. Lance displayed little to no reaction. Or if he did, maybe he was hiding it.

“Hmm...I need to observe her a little more to come to a solid conclusion about this,” Lance put a hand on his chin. “But it doesn’t seem like Geraldine herself is the problem. There could be something else going on.”

“Like what?” Julia asked this time.

“I have several theories, but I’ll need solid proof,” Lance turned back to the girl. This time, Julia found it safe to look directly at him. “Would it be okay if I observed you and Geraldine for the next day or two? I have some idea of what might be wrong, but I want to see how you two interact to be sure.”

That was not the answer Julia expected. Then again, it proved to be a relief. At least Lance wasn’t doing anything drastic. Julia could feel her body relaxing. But there was one question she was dying to have answered.

“Ummm...I know this sounds weird to ask, but...nobody got hurt, right? Nobody got killed?”

Lance smiled. “You’re lucky. There were no deaths, and nobody was hurt too seriously,” Julia exhaled a big sigh of relief. Thank goodness. “Mahogany Town has lots of experience with dealing with Gyarados, so they’re always prepared. I’m honestly glad you didn’t have deaths of both Pokemon or people on your hands,” A stern look returned. “That would most certainly result in a permanent confiscation of your Pokemon trainer license, and you’d be on the blacklist forever in no time flat. No amount of intervention could save you from that.”

As happy as she was to hear about no deaths or serious injuries, the thought of losing her trainer’s license and being on the blacklist forever was enough to completely push any positive thoughts away. Once more, her mother’s warning echoed in her head. Julia knew in her heart of hearts that her mother only wanted to help her, as mothers usually knew what was best for their children, Kassia being no different, even if she didn’t always get things right. But the anger in her mother’s voice was the strongest thing about that memory, the one that would always nag at her.

Maybe...did she know this might happen?

With that, the discussion was over, and the kids were back to doing what they usually did: train their Pokemon, chat amongst themselves, and have fun. But for Geraldine’s sake, they went back to Lake of Rage so Geraldine could be back with her own kind. Julia knew that Geraldine’s problems wouldn’t go away in one day, or even the snap of a finger. She had seen too many medical shows to believe otherwise.

Still, she made sure to shower Geraldine with all of her love. Feeding her lunch, brushing her scales, reading books to her Pokemon out loud, etc. Lance made sure not to get in the way of their activities, but seeing Julia treat her Pokemon so well, and watching them return her affections...it made his heart stir. All of the Pokemon responded so well to their trainer, and not once did she ever get angry at them for anything. The fact that Geraldine, a Gyarados, normally feared and called the atrocious Pokemon, liked her a lot said a lot about Julia as a trainer.

But the signs were there. At one point, when Julia and Perrine were having a practice battle, Geraldine found herself numbing up before returning to the lake, hiding, like she was being attacked. Or if she didn’t hide, she watched with a strangely anxious look on her face. Trembling, watching with wide eyes, like she expected something horrible to happen.

When the sun began to set, Geraldine was in the lake by herself, enjoying some alone time, while the kids were having their own dinner. All of a sudden, Geraldine started thrashing and growling in the water, then proceeding to use her tail to smack herself across the face multiple times.

“Geraldine! Stop!” Julia pleaded.

She didn’t stop. “I don’t think she can hear you,” Perrine told her.

“Geraldine!!” Julia shouted louder this time. “Don’t do that to yourself!” Again, her pleas went unheard.

It was when she began firing random Dragon Rages at the sky that Julia realized it. She couldn’t handle Geraldine. There was nothing she could do to stop Geraldine from freaking out. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. But not before she finally shouted once more, “STOOOOOP!!”

For once, Julia’s voice finally reached Geraldine. Several other Gyarados, including her parents, had risen up from the waters to try and restrain her. Luckily, the red Gyarados stopped before she gave them any reason to try and do so. She opened her eyes, seeing her family and friends surrounding her. Guilt weighed down on her scaly body.

“Oh no...I did it again, didn’t I?” She growled softly, retreating to the water. “Sorry…”

The other Gyarados joined her, wrapping themselves around her as though they were trying to hug her.

“Man...you’re in a real pickle, Jule,” Caiseal told his friend. “I wonder if you can really handle her like this.”

“I hate to say this…” Perrine agreed. “But I think your mom was right about Geraldine.”

In desperation, Julia scurried to the library to find every book on Gyarados she could find. She went back to the lake with at least ten small books in hand, all of them about raising Gyarados. But Lance already found his answer. The sky began to adopt an orange hue, being painted by the brush of incoming night. When he returned to the lake, Julia was sitting on the grass, hastily flipping the pages of a book with a look of desperation on her face, and said face was beaded with sweat.

“No. No! No! No no no no no!” Julia scrambled through every book she had rented. Lance’s mouth admittedly fell agape. “What am I doing wrong?! There must be something I’m missing!” She didn’t even take the time to really read any passages. She wanted answers. Answers regarding Geraldine’s outbursts.

“Julia…” Lance could hear his heart break.

“Ugh! There’s nothing here!” Julia slammed the book on the pile and stood up. “I tried everything!” She shouted, running her hands through her disheveled hair. “I read so many books on how to raise a Gyarados! I made sure to buy big food, I brush her scales, I make sure she’s included in everything, I shower her with love and care, I give her baths, I make sure she gets her exercise...but nothing I do is working! I must have done something wrong because I’m pretty sure Geraldine wouldn’t be having these outbursts if I had raised her right!”

One word crashed into the other, and the more Julia talked, the faster and more incoherent her sentences became. Lance grimaced as he saw the pain and desperation in the girl’s face, her green eyes looking as though they’re about to produce tears at any moment. It didn’t necessarily help that her voice was almost bordering on hysterical.

“What’s wrong with Geraldine?! I have to figure out what it is and try to understand or else I’m a bad trainer!” Julia cried.

“Julia…” It hurt Lance’s heart to see her like this. But he knew it would hurt even more if he told her the answer. He had to, though. There was no denying it now. “It’s not you.”

“It has to be! Geraldine’s suffering and I can’t help her and I have to because I’m her trainer and if I can’t help her than she’s gonna--”

A firm hand touching her shoulder silenced her. “Julia. It’s not you. You’re not the problem, and it’s nothing you did.”

“Well, what is it?!” She shouted.

Lance adopted a stern look. Here goes nothing. “I think...Geraldine’s problems are in here,” He pointed to his head, where is brain would be.

“In her brain?”

“I’m sure of it. After watching you two the whole day, I’m sure that...what Team Rocket put Geraldine through may have traumatized her far more than we realized,” Lance explained calmly. “I think...I think those experiences keep playing in her head over and over again, and like a broken tape recorder, she can’t turn them off. Have you ever had that happen to you?”

The girl stopped to ruminate. There were some times when bad experiences would just suddenly appear in her mind, and even if she tried to put them in the back of her mind, they’d always sneak back in and torment her for short spans of time. There was the Amoretto incident. Julia wished she could just forget about that already. There were a few bullies who always tried to make Julia’s school life miserable. But that was it as far as she could pull out of her memories.

“I’ve had…a couple of those,” She answered.

“But they probably don’t make you constantly scared of everything or make you want to attack someone.”

“No,” Julia shook her head. “They don’t.”

Lance had to tell her the truth, even if it would hurt her. He had to do it. There was no sugarcoating it. “You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re actually doing everything right. But I think Geraldine’s problems need to be addressed by professionals.”

Already, Julia could see the truth being laid out before her. With every word Lance said, a piece of her heart would fall, then many more would follow. ‘Please, Arceus. Don’t let this be true. Make this just a dream. Don’t make this true...make this not be true…’ She begged and begged, but her prayers went unheard.

“There’s a facility out in Blackthorn City,” Lance began. His words were saturated with truths Julia didn’t want to hear, but there was no escaping them. “They specialize in taking care of abused, exploited, or mistreated Pokemon that have problems like Geraldine is having. Experienced professionals, therapists, and psychologists that have helped numerous Pokemon over the years, one of mine included.”

Every hope Julia had was being destroyed. Every hope she ever had of being able to take care of Geraldine without problems. But her mother’s warnings and Lance’s words made cracks in her emotional paralysis, allowing sadness and horror to seep right through.

“Geral…” Julia attempted, the first sounds of Geraldine’s name coming out, but never making it to the end. Her voice didn’t work.

“What I’m saying is...Geraldine needs more support than you’re capable of giving her.”

There, he said it. Julia figured he would say something like that. She tried to tell herself this was better than being euthanized. She tried to see the positives of it. Geraldine would be cared for. Experienced professionals, far older and smarter and more capable than she, could help Geraldine. But that was just it. She wouldn’t be the one caring for Geraldine. The full impact of Lance’s words finally struck her, and she found herself weeping openly.

She made no attempt to control her sobs. Her hands flew to her face as her tears melted into her palms. She stood still, unmoving, but her passionate cries were as loud as Geraldine’s growls. Great, shuddering sobs escaped her tiny body until she was gasping for breath. All Lance did was stand there, watching as the small girl cried every tear she had. In fact, she was still crying. He couldn’t blame her. He offered a solution, but of course it would involve the trainer giving up a Pokemon she tried to hard to raise with love and care.

“I...I...I...I can’t give her up…” Julia wailed through her sobs. “How can you...expect me to give her to strangers whom she doesn’t know?!”

Lance kneeled to her level to meet her covered face. “I know it’s a hard decision. Believe me, I’ve been in your shoes. But...I feel this is the best option we can take. The staff there are excellent at what they do, and I’ve seen them help thousands of Pokemon. My Dragonite, Mercury, was exactly like Geraldine at one point,” He explained. “He displayed the same symptoms Geraldine is showing, and when he had his outbursts, he was uncontrollable. My parents handed him over to them, and I visited every day. Now, he’s been completely rehabilitated. I have faith that they can help Geraldine in the same way.”

“I...I want to believe you. I really want to…” Julia was faced with a tough decision. Keep Geraldine and risk her having an outburst, then having her trainer’s license revoked and put on the blacklist, or give Geraldine up and be possibly told that the red Gyarados was beyond help, then euthanized without her consent. She wished she didn’t have to make this choice. It was all too hard, too overwhelming for her heart to handle. “But...I want to know for sure...that they’ll really help her, and not just...claim she’s bad and not even try to--”

“They will,” Lance reassured, keeping his voice firm. “I wouldn’t be recommending this to you if I didn’t believe in them.”

“And even if I do give her to you...you’re someone she doesn’t know, a stranger...what if Geraldine thinks I don’t love her?!” She ripped her hands from her face. Red cheeks inflamed from exposure to tears met his eyes, and Lance didn’t dare look away. “What if she thinks I hate her or abandoned her?! I can’t bear for her to think I don’t love her! I do! I really do! I don’t want her to spend her life in some place she doesn’t know thinking that...that I never loved her…”

“I’m sure she’ll understand. She likes you enough already, and I know you love her,” Lance told her once more. This wasn’t an easy decision for anyone, be it an adult or a child. “But sometimes, being a good trainer means making hard decisions. It’s about doing the right thing.”

She knew what he meant. Her mother tried to warn her, but she didn’t listen. The destruction Geraldine caused flashed through her mind. That basically told her everything she didn’t want to admit was true. Keeping Geraldine and not being able to handle her outbursts...she couldn’t do that to Geraldine. No, she wouldn’t let Geraldine be taken away by whoever was in charge. Julia stopped crying for a moment to think. Lance was right. She needed to do the right thing. Geraldine needed help, and it would be wrong of Julia to not let her have this chance. No, this was the only solution. It would be better than being euthanized, than having her be taken away, or being deemed aggressive or beyond help.

“She can get better,” Lance said. “I know she can. But that depends on whether you want to do the right thing for her.”

Julia wiped her tears with one arm. She knew what she had to do now. No more denying it. She had to do the right thing.

“Alright. I’ll...give her to you. But...can I be the one to tell her?” She asked, still whimpering. “I don’t want to just hand her to some stranger she doesn’t know.”

Lance smiled. “Take all the time you need.”

Julia didn’t need all the time in the world. In her mind, she needed to do this now, or else both she and Geraldine would pay the price.

***

The sun was almost setting, and the Lake of Rage had become a magnificent, shining pool of liquid orange and amber. But Julia was in no mood for appreciating its beauty. She couldn’t even look at it, as it was far too bright for her eyes to see, and exposure to the sun could easily make her go blind. With a frown, Julia released Geraldine from her PokeBall. The red serpent looked down at her trainer, noticing that her face was red, just like her scales.

“Geraldine?” Julia began, her voice quivering. “I...I have something I want to say to you.”

Geraldine said nothing, allowing Julia to go on. “I...I want you to know that...that I love you very much. You’re one of my best friends, and no matter what, we’ll always be friends, and I’ll always love you. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true, and nothing will ever change that.”

Perrine looked away. Caiseal simply stroke her shoulder with one hand, even though he knew it wouldn’t do much to help. Again, Geraldine was silent.

“But...there’s something I need to tell you,” She found herself saying it again, scolding herself for being so redundant. Then she realized she was stalling for time. She couldn’t stall. She had to say it. She gulped. Here goes everything. “Even though I love you and want to travel the world with you...I can’t take care of you. I know you don’t mean to, and it’s not your fault, but your nightmares and outbursts...there isn’t much I can do to stop you, and even when I try, people and Pokemon get hurt, and if you wind up killing someone, people could take you away and do things to you. I don’t...I don’t want that happening to you.”

The air around them was tense. So tense that one could easily cut it with a knife. Lance could hear Julia’s harsh sniffing as she desperately tried to hold back tears. But Julia persevered and continued on. “Lance says...that there’s a place you can go...a place where people can help you with your nightmares. They can help you deal with what happened. I don’t know who they are or what they do, but Lance trusts them, and he knows more about them than we do. They can...they can take care of you...in ways that I’m not capable.”

Geraldine closed her mouth, listening attentively. No growls, no roars, nothing. She was silent and still, like a statue.

“I can’t go with you though,” Julia said. “You might have to stay there for a long time. Weeks, months, maybe years. I know your problems won’t go away in the blink of an eye, and...no matter how hard I try, I can’t help you when you really need it. That’s why...that’s why…” She had to say it. She had to. “For your sake and mine...I think you should go!”

Perrine and Caiseal exchanged glances.

“But...but you don’t have to if you don’t want to!” Julia waved her hands back and forth. “I know it’s probably scary to be surrounded by strangers, and I know the feeling! I want you to have a choice in this. You can stay with me, or go with Mr. Cipis and go to that place. Don’t feel like you have to--”

Before she could continue, Geraldine’s tail popped out from the water, gently pushing Julia toward her beige underbelly. Julia’s face made contact with the wet underbelly, inflaming her tear stained cheeks even more. Low growls escaped Geraldine’s mouth, but they were soft and calm. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Even Perrine, Caiseal, and Lance looked baffled.

“What’s she saying?” Caiseal asked.

“Yeah! Translation?” Perrine inquired.

Julia said nothing. She couldn’t say anything. The gesture and Geraldine’s words deprived her of communication for a brief moment. Finally, she found her voice. “...She said…she said…” The first attempt didn’t work, as her voice caught in her throat. “‘...I’ll go. Let me go with him. I’m sorry I put you through this. I want to get better. I don’t want to cause you trouble. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.’ That’s what she says.”

She had completely expected Geraldine to take it differently. Going berserk, growling like crazy, firing Dragon Rage everywhere...but she was calm. Calm and collected. Julia finally realized it now. Geraldine was hugging her, and she had already made her decision. Unable to hold it in any longer, Julia cried into her friend’s underbelly. She cried and cried, wishing she didn’t have to do this.

“I’m sorry, Geraldine...I’m sorry I have to do this...please, please don’t hate me,” She begged. “This is...the only option for you...I wish I could take you with me…”

“I know. I know,” Geraldine gurgled.

Two other Gyarados popped up from the lake. Geraldine turned around, freeing Julia from her hug before swimming over to them. The two Gyarados wrapped themselves around their child.

“Mom. Dad. I have to go. I won’t be back for a while, but...I’ll get better. I want to.”

“It makes us sad to see you go...but we accept your decision.”

“No matter what, you’ll always have a home here.”

With that done, Geraldine turned back around, facing Julia. She had finally stopped crying, and wiped her tears to no avail. “Okay. Geraldine? I’ll try to visit when I can. Okay? I can’t do it often, but you know I’ll always be thinking about you,” Reluctantly, she pulled out her friend’s PokeBall. “Please be good and do everything Mr. Cipris tells you. Okay?”

Geraldine nodded.

Julia sniffed. “Goodbye, girl,” With that, the red beam fired at Geraldine, turning her into light and sucking her right in. Julia marched over to Lance and held her PokeBall out. “Here. Take her. She deserves to have a good future.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” Julia shouted, her voice bordering on angry. “Why do you think I did this?! Now take her, and hurry before I change my mind!”

“Julia…” Perrine approached slowly, putting both hands on her friend’s shoulders. She wished there was something she could do to help, to ease her friend’s pain.

Without hesitation, Lance took the PokeBall from her hand. “I promise that Geraldine will receive the best care. Here,” Lance handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s some information on the facility, the phone number, and everything.”

Paper. Phone number. Julia rummaged through her bag, pulled out a pencil and paper, and scribbled something down before handing it to Lance. “This is my PokeGear number. Feel free to give it to someone there so they can call me...if Geraldine is doing well or not.”

Lance smiled sadly before taking it. “Thank you.”

“But...but know this!” Julia growled, glaring at him through her tears. “...If I find that you’re lying...and that Geraldine’s been euthanized...I’ll never forgive you, even if you are the champion!”

This time, Lance said nothing. He couldn’t blame her. She was sad and needed to get her feelings out. It was nothing he wasn’t used to. Still, he liked how honest and cautious she was. He wished more trainers would be as considerate and earnest as she. All of a sudden, Julia whirled around and darted away.

“Hey! Julia, come back!” Perrine gave chase, leaving Caiseal alone. Lance got on Mercury’s back and flew away without another word.

Julia tried to tell herself that this was for the best. She was doing what was best for Geraldine. Geraldine needs professional help and care, and now she had the chance to get it. She wasn’t being euthanized or taken away, and she would still be Julia’s Pokemon. Julia could go and visit when she wanted to, and Geraldine would be cared for by people who knew how to deal with Pokemon like her. This was for the best. She did the right thing. Geraldine deserved all the love and care in the world, and even though Julia wouldn’t be there, Geraldine would be cared for. That would be best for her.

Why was she still so sad?

She knew the answer to that. This wasn’t what she wanted. Julia wanted to be with Geraldine, to take her with her across Johto, to fulfill their dreams together, to travel the world, meet new friends, make wonderful memories, and do whatever they wanted. Julia wanted so, so, so badly to keep Geraldine. Julia wanted this...but it wouldn’t be good for Geraldine, for her, or for anyone. Julia couldn’t help Geraldine with her problems, nor could she handle her when she had her nightmares or outbursts. If Julia kept Geraldine, they could take her away, revoke her trainer’s license, and put her on the blacklist permanently if Geraldine so much as killed one person.

No. Julia wanted this, but it wasn’t what Geraldine needed. She needed help. She needed professional care. Julia wanted so badly to keep Geraldine, but giving her to Lance was the best thing she could do for her. Nothing she could do would help Geraldine.

Finding herself at an empty clearing, she was alone. Alone with her sadness. She tried to see the positives of her decision, but her sorrow took hold over everything. Here she was in an empty clearing. Good, she could scream and cry as loud as she wanted, let all her feelings out, and nobody would be around to be annoyed or tell her to shut up or get over it or look at her weird.

Once again, Julia cried until she could cry no more, pouring out all the sadness her heart had accumulated.

“Goodbye, Geraldine...I’ll miss you…”

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Helping Hand, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face



Rino (Nidorino, Male, Modest Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Jab, Peck, and Horn Attack


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Luminita (Lanturn, Female, Naive Nature)

Ability: Water Absorb

Attacks: Supersonic, Discharge, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball


Marius (Girafarig, Male, Mild Nature)

Ability: Sap Sipper

Attacks: Stomp, Odor Sleuth, Psychic, and Crunch


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Typhlosion, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)

Ability: Hyper Cutter

Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Geo (Golem, Male, Brave Nature)

Ability: Sturdy

Attacks: Steamroller, Rock Slide, Heavy Slam, and Magnitude

 

[Beth Pavell]

Ok, so for Chapter Twelve. Now I read this about a week ago, so my thoughts may well be a bit jumbled here. Right, so what have I got in my notes ... oh yes, the "night sky cut in a square" description was a nice little turn of phrase, I liked that one. Here comes Hunter J - I wondered when her name would first show up. I suppose I might as well say now that I'm probably not going to like her very much, and it's probably not going to be your fault. Long story short, I don't like her canon appearances.

But anyway, I'm beginning to think that you've kind of written yourself into a corner as far as togepi is concerned. I didn't really buy it's agility during the battle, given that togepi are basically eggs with a pair of stubby feet sticking out of the bottom. Admittedly there's not an awful lot you can do about that, given that it's a pokémon pretty much designed to waddle around comically ... I think you would be better served by downplaying it's role in the battles. I mean, you have a huge cast of other pokémon to use anyway.

Er, what else ... ah, yes. Unown teleporting Team Rocket away rather than pulling out some kind of combined Hidden Power blast was unexpected. A sensible choice, I think, given how the alternative would probably have rung too much of the anime by a different name

 

[Juliko]

But anyway, I'm beginning to think that you've kind of written yourself into a corner as far as togepi is concerned. I didn't really buy it's agility during the battle, given that togepi are basically eggs with a pair of stubby feet sticking out of the bottom. Admittedly there's not an awful lot you can do about that, given that it's a pokémon pretty much designed to waddle around comically ... I think you would be better served by downplaying it's role in the battles. I mean, you have a huge cast of other pokémon to use anyway.

Yeah...I kinda wanted to write Julia's Togepi as being...well, not useless compared to Misty's Togepi, considering how much people hate Misty's Togepi for not doing anything throughout its entire existence. Hehe.

 

[Juliko]

Chapter 36: The Frozen Heart Thaws

When the dawn began to adorn its blue and crimson blush, Julia was already awake in her room in the Pokemon Center. She always was an early riser, sometimes waking up before 6:00 AM. She didn’t mind this at all, as she found it to be great time to do whatever she wanted. Now, however, her eyes were still weary and blurry, adjusting to her surroundings. Hikaru, Saoirse, and Lucretia slept on her bed, curled up against the wall. Rina and Tokiko were on the other side of the room, sleeping contentedly. Julia smiled, noticing the PokeBalls on the desk. But something about them was off. Julia rubbed her eyes, thinking she must be seeing things. She wasn’t, as one PokeBall was missing.

Geraldine’s PokeBall.

For a brief moment, the first rush of adrenaline came coursing through her veins. Where was Geraldine? Did someone take her? Then she remembered, stopping herself from thinking the worst: Geraldine was gone. She had handed her over to Lance so he could take her to get help for her problems. Only now did it finally sink in.

No longer would she see the adorable red serpent smile at her when she’d see her in the morning. No more seeing her bright, shiny red scales. Neither she nor the Pokemon would get to ride on her back across great lakes and grand oceans. Geraldine would never experience the joy of traveling to new places, seeing new people and Pokemon, battling other Pokemon for the thrill of the competition, or anything else Julia had planned. She would never brush her scales, give her good food, or shower her with all the love and affection she could give ever again.

Actually, that was a bit of an exaggeration.

‘Stop thinking like that, Julia,’ She scolded herself for her selfishness. ‘This is what’s best for Geraldine. She needs help. At least she’s not dead or being taken away by bad people. They can help her and handle her better than you can,’ She tried to see the positives of the situation. She really tried. But the negative thoughts completely overpowered everything.

She thought about her mother’s yelling and warnings from the days before. Kassia had been absolutely right. As much as Julia hated to admit it, Kassia predicted things would go wrong, and they did. Julia could have lost everything, and she couldn’t handle Geraldine when she went berserk and almost destroyed Mahogany Town. It was good that Geraldine didn’t take any lives, but what if she had? Julia had no intention of even thinking about what could have happened. Just that Geraldine was in better hands.

Even so, the anger still simmered. Anger at herself for being so careless, for not being able to take care of her Pokemon. Anger at her mother for being right, even though Julia knew it was wrong to be angry at her mother for that. Still, she was sure that if she were to call her mother again, Kassia would ask about it, and if Julia told the truth, she would probably say, “I told you so,” and rub it in her face. By Arceus, she hated it when people told her things she already knew, usually in an angry, condescending manner, like she hardly ever understood what she did wrong.

Growling echoed from the pits of her stomach, pushing thoughts of Kassia out of her mind. “Does the PC still have bananas?” Julia asked herself out loud.

Not wanting to disturb her Pokemon, she changed into her clothes, left a note, grabbed some money, and went into the lobby to see if she could grab some breakfast. Much to her relief, there were bananas, blueberries, and other assorted breakfast foods being served. Not only that, she was the only customer, so everything could be prepared quickly. Julia smiled so big, her mouth stretched past her cheeks. Getting up early definitely had its perks, indeed. She still had a hefty amount of money, so she splurged and ordered bananas, buttered toast on white bread, a bowl of steamed white rice, and water. In some parts of Johto, rice is often served for breakfast, and is an important part of every meal.

It was absolutely perfect. Never before did Julia have such a perfect morning. A good, fulfilling meal, soft music playing on the restaurant speakers at a low, gentle volume, the morning sun painting the sky in different shades of red and purple, everything coming and going without delay, no noise, no crowds, no shouting or yelling, no crying babies. Julia had to wonder why she hadn’t done this before.

Too bad her perfect morning ended the moment she left the little restaurant in the lobby.

Ring ring ring ring!

“What in the world?” Julia could hear her PokeGear blaring from her pocket. She took it with her just in case Perrine or Caiseal wanted to know where she was. Thinking it was them, she opened it up. The icons didn’t display neither Caiseal or Perrine’s images. The phone number itself was one that Julia recognized all too well...and one she didn’t want to see.

On impulse, she answered the call despite not wanting to. “Hello?”

“Hi, Julia. It’s your mom.”

Of course. Julia let out an exasperated sigh. What a surprise. “Hi, Mom,” Normally, Julia would greet her mother with enthusiasm and cheer. But she was in no mood for being cheery and happy right at the moment. “It’s really early. What are you doing up?”

“You know why. The Pokemon need my attention.”

“Oh. I forgot. Whoops,” She mused. ‘Come on, Mom. Just say it. Say I told you so. I know you want to,’ Her mother was sure to mention Geraldine soon. Probably ask whether Julia released her or not. There was no escaping it, so Julia figured her mother might as well just ask.

“How are you doing?”

Julia squinted. “Fine. Everything’s juuuuust dandy,” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, something Julia didn’t think she would even use. This time, she couldn’t resist.

“I take it you--”

Finally, she was going to say it. However, Julia was quick to cut her off. “Released Geraldine? No. I handed her off to a rehabilitation facility. She needed help, and someone offered to give her the help she needs. So yes and no, I both did and didn’t release her.”

Something unfamiliar began rising in her heart. Her voice had adopted a strangely stern tone to it, one that her parents usually used when they were being firm in scolding their daughters when they did something wrong. Boy, did it feel good to use it on her mother for once.

“What?!” Kassia shouted, completely flabbergasted. The exact reaction Julia predicted. Predictably, she pulled the phone away to keep her mother’s voice from blowing her ears off of her head. The fact that her mother was so easily set off finally sunk in. “Julia! Why didn’t you release it?!”

It. Her mother called Geraldine an it, like she didn’t even care that Geraldine was a Pokemon with feelings, wishes, or dreams. Immediately scolding herself for thinking such a thought, Julia tried to think of an answer. Instead of an answer, she found bubbling fury simmering in the depths of her heart. Fury at her mother for acting as though Geraldine was some monster, not even bothering to understand why she was the way she was. Then again, even if Julia did try to tell her, her mother was known for being stubborn as a Ponyta, and wouldn’t listen even if she was given answers.

She had to at least try. What else could she do at this point?

Containing her true fury to the best of her abilities, Julia sighed before replying, “Releasing her wasn’t going to make her problems go away. This was the best alternative,” For once, she found herself surprised. She didn’t expect to sound so composed and professional.

Too bad even that answer didn’t satiate Kassia’s anger. Of course. “Julia! You have to listen to me! I gave you an order, and it is your responsibility to--”

Order? The fury she tried hard to contain found cracks in the barriers, and was now leaking right out like a trash bag popped open. Julia narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew her mother wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter, but the deed had already been done. Julia was already still struggling with her decision, even now. She didn’t need her mother exacerbating it and getting all in a tizzy about it.

“Mom! Do you hear yourself right now?!” There was no stopping her now. Julia was in Mahogany Town, and her mother was still in New Bark Town. She didn’t need to hear this. Better yet, she didn’t need to just take this. “I just told you why I didn’t release her, and you still get mad?! I stand by my decision and I’m sticking with it! Besides, who was it that told me that all Pokemon are important and that it’s important to understand them?! You did!”

It was something she had always been taught from day one. Whenever she would see the Pokemon do something she didn’t understand, like Meganium banging its head against the wall, Ampharos hitting itself across the face, or others just sitting around crying, she would always ask her parents about it. They always had answers, and told her that Pokemon can feel pain too. It’s a good trainer’s job to understand them and do whatever they could to at least try to help them out. It wouldn’t make their problems go away, but knowing their trainers were there to understand and help them always made Pokemon happy.

It wasn’t any different from how her parents raised both their daughters.

“Don’t you get nasty with me, young lady--”

“See?! This is what I mean!” Julia shouted this time. Both she and Amara always hated it when their mother said things like that. “You always want us to listen to you, but then you say and do stuff that goes against what you taught us before and act like we’re the ones being brats when all we’re trying to do is tell you stuff and point out when you’re wrong! Heck, you still get mad even if we do what you ask!”

“Please don’t start with this attitude--”

“Mom! Releasing Geraldine back into Lake of Rage wasn’t going to solve anything! I just told you that! Why are you acting like I murdered someone?!” If there was anything Julia hated most in the world, it was not being taken seriously, or being told she was being a brat. Why did adults always have to be so...hypocritical? Saying and doing one thing and then saying and doing the opposite when no one’s looking. Julia wasn’t stupid. She was going to tell her mother how she felt, and nothing was going to stop her this time.

Not this time.

“I hate it when you’re like this! You want everything to go your way and then get all stubborn and angry when someone tells you something you don’t want to hear, like Dad wanting to take you out to dinner or Amara wanting to go to some rock concert with Debbie and Emily and the others! Or even when I wanted to go to that kid’s house back when I was in 5th grade!”

For once, her mother didn’t say anything. At this point, Julia didn’t want to hear anything else.

“I’m done. I have to go. I want to battle the Mahogany gym leader. Bye,” She hung up before her mother could say anything else.

She stomped back to her room in the PC without another word. This time, her Pokemon were wide awake, occupying themselves with conversations or silly jokes. Julia flopped onto the bed, looking right up at the ceiling. She hardly ever talked to her mother like that, and never found the need to before now. But being told to “not start with the attitude” or that she was getting nasty really made her fury come right out. True, in her heart, she knew her mother was just worried about her and Amara. Both of her daughters were gone, under different circumstances, and for all she knew, Kassia might have gone through days and days of fruitlessly searching for Amara. That might have contributed to her recent snippiness. Still, she hated being told she was being a brat or displaying attitude, when all she was trying to do was either call someone out for their garbage or stick up for herself. Was that so wrong?

Julia had to wonder...was this what Amara had been feeling lately? Was this what drove her to become so argumentative and confrontational about everything?

“Eevui?”

“Snubbull?”

The sweet voices of two of her small friends pulled Julia out of her reverie. Seeing the sad, concerned eyes of her friends melted her heart. With a despondent smile, Julia pulled Lucretia and Saoirse close, with their fur touching her chest. Lucretia inched closer to lick Julia’s cheek. She had to admit, Lucretia’s tongue was pretty wet with saliva, and the cool sensation made her giggle some.

“Thank you, girls. You’re both sweet,” Julia told them in a soft, grateful whisper. “But...hugs and kisses aren’t going to make everything better this time,” She hated having to admit this. As much as she wished that life was easy and not complicated, that wasn’t the case. Geraldine was gone, and the red serpent needed help that may go on for possibly months, even years. Hugs and kisses certainly weren’t going to satiate Kassia’s anger.

Oh well. Julia didn’t want to let her mother’s moods ruin the rest of her day.

After she put everyone back in their PokeBalls, she met back up with Perrine and Caiseal. They didn’t even need to exchange words. They could see that Julia’s eyes were red and heavy from a combination of both sleep and crying a lot. The events of last night still lingered in their minds.

“Morning, Jule,” Caiseal greeted her gently this time. Nobody expected him to be so calm and discreet, and he was usually very blunt. “How you doing?”

“Fine,” That was the only answer Julia felt like giving. Going into details took too much energy out of her a lot of the time.

Thankfully, both of her friends found her response satisfactory. Perrine put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and said, “If there’s any way we can help, don’t be afraid to tell us. I know...this may not mean much, but…” Perrine paused for a brief moment before continuing. “Lance is famous for advocating for Pokemon’s rights, and he donates a lot of money to places like these, so Pokemon with problems can be given the care they need. Plus, he works hard to fight the bad reputation that Gyarados have received over the past few years. I don’t doubt that he’ll be able to give Geraldine all the love and special care in the world.”

Julia wanted to believe Perrine so badly. She really did. Perrine was a big fan of Lance, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. Lance did tell them that one of his own Pokemon had similar problems and now was completely rehabilitated. That eased some of her worries. Still, Julia wished she could just go there and make sure Lance was true to his word. Having all these empty reassurances from people wasn’t going to make all her worries go away. Julia wanted to be absolutely sure that her decision was the right one, and if something terrible were to happen to Geraldine while she was gone...she wasn’t sure if she could ever live with herself.

She had already made her decision. There was no turning back or giving up on it.

“Thanks, guys. You’re the best,” Julia hugged both of her friends. “I’m gonna go battle Pryce. I’m sure you guys want to go to Blackthorn City already, and I don’t want to drag you down.”

“You’re not dragging us down,” Caiseal told her without the slightest hint of hesitation. “And we’re in no rush to go anywhere. Take all the time you need.”

“Yeah, what Caiseal said!” Perrine clasped her hands together. “Plus, there’s some stuff I still want to do here anyway, so it’ll be perfect!”

Once again, Julia smiled. Where had these two been in the early years of her life?

***

After that, Julia made her way to the Mahogany gym without difficulty. The actual gym wasn’t particularly noteworthy in terms of its design. It just looked like a regular white building with a round red roof on it and triangular windows going across the front horizontally. Resting just above the triangular windows was a large, light blue emblem shaped like a snowflake. Obviously the standout feature of the entire gym. Julia went inside without hesitation. Since she had on a light purple jacket, she wasn’t bothered by the steady decrease in temperature.

Standing before her was a battlefield completely covered in ice, with some large, frozen rocks dotting the arena. In the very center of it was a round cavity filled to the brim with water. Julia’s mouth fell agape, in awe of its beauty. She had never seen an icy battlefield before. She was so mesmerized by the arena that she didn’t notice an old man approaching her from her left side.

“Are you here for a battle, miss?”

The familiar, raspy voice made Julia jump up at least a foot. She whirled around to find the old man, Pryce, staring right back at her with the same icy scowl. Once again, simmering fury began to take hold. This was the man who almost killed her and Geraldine. She knew the police were likely still investigating the situation, but the fact that he was right in front of her was enough to completely sour her mood. But she reminded herself that she was not here to relive that memory.

“Umm...hello, Mr. Snow!” Julia greeted. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to have a battle with you.”

Pryce tapped his cane onto the ground once. “I have some business to take care of, so I only have time for a one-on-one battle. Is that alright?”

“Yes, sir!”

One on one. Julia had expected a three on three battle, since he had three Pokemon. Oh well. It was better than nothing, so Julia had to make do. Then again, if she won this single battle, she could win a badge easy. But she reminded herself not to get overconfident. Pryce was far older than she was, and he probably had much more battling experience under his belt. Once they took their positions on their sides of the battlefield, they took out their PokeBalls.

“Go, Hikaru! Let’s win this together!” As Hikaru materialized from white light, her whole body sparkled as her tiny paws landed on the battlefield.

“Pikachuuu!”

Pryce scowled at the electric mouse. “Dewgong. Teach this girl a lesson,” Out from the PokeBall came a large, snow white sea lion, with a tiny horn protruding from its head. The Dewgong held itself up in a proud stance, and the ice beneath its body and fins didn’t bother it one bit.

“Deeeewgong!”

Although she had seen Dewgong before, Julia pulled out her PokeDex to get better information on it. “Dewgong, the sea lion Pokemon. Dewgong loves to snooze on bitterly cold ice. The sight of this Pokémon sleeping on a glacier was mistakenly thought to be a mermaid by a mariner long ago. Dewgong can store thermal energy inside their pure white, fur covered bodies, and can swim in frigid water at eight knots, using their tails to change direction quickly. During winter, its body can blend in with the white snow, obscuring it from predators. However, long ago, hunters would hunt Dewgong for their pelts, almost driving them to extinction within the past century. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated Pokemon conservationists, Dewgong have since repopulated and are off the endangered Pokemon list.”

“Pika!” At one point, Hikaru almost slipped on the ice. She managed to regain her footing and stay on all fours, but the ice bit at every single toe and finger in her body, sending chills all throughout.

“You okay, Hikaru?” Julia asked.

“Pikapi!” Hikaru nodded reassuringly.

“Alrighty then!” At this point, both parties considered the battle to have begun. There was no referee, so they began without one. “Hikaru, use Thunderbolt!”

“Pikachuuuuuu!” Hikaru began by unleashing a barrage of thunderbolts, sending them sparking all over the battlefield.

Pryce kept his arms crossed, scowling at the attack. “Dewgong, slide on the ice to dodge, then use Headbutt,” He told it in a low but firm voice.

True to its ice typing, Dewgong used its body to slide across the ice. Steadily building momentum with every move, Dewgong slid all across the field, going from one frozen rock to the other, with no intention to stop. Hikaru tried to drop some thunderbolts on the sea lion, but its erratic movements prevented any of them from striking. Then, Dewgong slid right toward Hikaru, with its horn ready to attack.

“Hikaru, dodge it!” Julia commanded.

It would have been easy to dodge. However, the ice beneath Hikaru’s feet was too cold and slippery. Hikaru stood up to jump, but one of her feet slipped, and she fell face first on the ice, rendering her immobile for just a moment. Just enough time for Dewgong’s horn to meet its target. “Pikapiiiii!” The horn managed to slam right into Hikaru’s fur, sending her skidding across the ice. Since the ice was so cold and slippery, nothing that Hikaru could grip was enough to stop herself from sliding. Thankfully, she did slow down and got back on her feet.

“You okay, girl?”

“Pikachu!” Hikaru gave another reassuring nod.

“Aurora Beam,” Pryce commanded.

Swishing its fins upward, the sea lion Pokemon opened its big mouth, firing a thin, rainbow hued beam of light heading right toward Hikaru. Julia ordered another Thunderbolt, and the electric mouse blocked it with the electricity, managing to keep it from striking her. Rainbow colored lights spread all over from the point of impact. Some of them managed to break some of the frozen rocks into smithereens.

Pryce followed up with, “Ice Beam this time.”

Dewgong didn’t even give Hikaru time to dodge before firing a much stronger, light blue ray at the electric mouse. Hikaru staggered in a futile attempt to slide away from the situation, but the beam came too fast. Hikaru’s whole body turned numb, and she found herself completely unable to move. The scenery in front of her turned blue.

“Hikaru!!” Julia’s hands almost flew to her mouth.

Frozen on her side of the battlefield was a helpless Hikaru, completely encased in a block of ice. Hikaru’s mouth and eyes were wide open with fright, as were Julia’s.

“Headbutt again.”

“Deeeeeeewgooong!” Not stopping to rest, Dewgong slid across the battlefield on its stomach, ramming right into the frozen mouse. Despite its small horn, Dewgong managed to slam right into the block of ice, smashing it to pieces, freeing Hikaru from her icy prison.

“Pika!” Hikaru bounced on the ice, only stopping in front of another small rock.

“Hikaru! Are you okay?”

Again, Hikaru got back on her feet. But Julia could tell from the way Hikaru’s legs were shaking and her weakening gait that she wasn’t going to last much longer. Still, they couldn’t give up.

“Use Disarming Voice!”

“Pikaaaaaaaa!” A wave of pink circular shapes fired right at the sea lion Pokemon.

“Ice Beam!” Pryce commanded.

Much to Julia and Hikaru’s horror, the beam went right through the attack, managing to strike Hikaru once more. It came so fast, neither of them could think of dodging. This time, Hikaru wasn’t imprisoned in a block of ice. However, Hikaru fell down to the ground, unable to pick herself back up. Her tiny body was numb and limp.

“Hikaru!” Julia ran over to the field, taking care not to slip and fall on the ice, and scooped her fallen friend in her arms.

“Pikapi…”

Julia smiled. Hikaru was still okay. “Don’t worry. You did great. I’ll take you to the PokeCenter right after this.”

But the scene unfolding before Pryce did not thaw his frozen heart. He kept his icy scowl as he recalled Dewgong. “You lost because of your childish naivete and idealism,” Pryce’s voice had a subtle venom to it. “Friendship and kindness do not ensure victory in battle, and it’s useless to rely on such childish sentiments to get through life.”

The trainer clutched Hikaru in her arms. It wasn’t childish or useless. None of it was. As much as she wanted to keep her mouth shut, as he was far older than she was, her body didn’t listen to her heart.

“You’re wrong,” Julia told him, keeping her voice cool and calm. “I don’t know what made you think that, but...that’s not true. My Pokemon and I have been through a lot together, and it’s because of them that I’m the person that I am...and how I managed to survive up to this point.”

For a brief moment, Pryce found himself speechless. He had expected something like that from an old timer like himself, only less jaded. But a young child? One who had yet to experience life’s difficulties? Pryce had no words. Still, he averted his gaze, not once laying eyes on the girl. With that, Julia left the building.

***

“Man. You lost? On a one-on-one battle?” Caiseal was the first to ask about Julia’s gym battle once she handed Hikaru to Nurse Joy. She wasted no time telling him and Perrine all about it. “Jeez, that sucks.”

“I’m kinda surprised you guys had a one-on-one battle,” Perrine noted as she brushed her orange hair. “We had three-on-three battles with him.”

Lucretia sat on Julia’s lap, curled into a Q shape. Julia stroke her furry friend’s brown and cream fur with one hand, keeping it at a steady, unchanging rhythm. “He said he only had time for one-on-one, and you guys are right. He is a sourpuss!” Julia exclaimed. “After the battle, he yammered on about how Pokemon and humans aren’t meant to be friends.”

“Told ya,” Caiseal said. “You gonna try and battle him again?”

“Of course! I’m not gonna give up now.”

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Hikaru to get healed, and the two friends were reunited at the counter moments later. After that, Julia spent the whole day training with her friends for the next battle with Pryce. She figured maybe she could battle him again the next day. He said he only had time for one battle, which meant that he would probably be busy all day. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t going to be another battle.

“What?!” The first thing Julia did upon finishing breakfast the next morning was go to the gym. However, it was completely closed. There was a sign on it that said, ‘Closed until further notice,’ Julia groaned. “Awww, man! I want to get a badge already!”

“Eevui…” Lucretia agreed, her ears arching backward.

“Oh well. Guess we better try again later,” Julia scooped Lucretia in her arms and decided to leave.

....Or she was about to, but rumbling underneath her feet made her freeze dead in her tracks. The ground was trembling, stopping and then starting again every second. Everything around her seemed to be jumping up and down, and the shock jolted her whole being from the toes up. What was going on?

“Yeeek!” Julia yelped.

Lucretia’s ears twitched. Since her ears were longer, she could make out the source of the noise. Large feet stamping against the ground, coming from the left. “Eevui!” Lucretia relayed her information to her trainer. Gradually, the stomping sounds grew louder with every step. Julia turned to her left, scared out of her wits, but more out of not knowing what was making that noise than the actual event.

Gradually, a brown shape came into view. As it hopped closer, Julia could make out a big hump of brown fur, a pink nose, and white tusks. With every step the creature took, its large feet made the ground tremble, prompting it’s floppy ears flying in erratic circular motions in tune with every movement. Julia tried to get herself to move, but she found herself frozen. Everything around her froze her in place, and now she was imprisoned by fear, namely her mind coming up with scenarios for her potential death.

Thankfully, Lucretia wasn’t paralyzed by fear. The little brown feline leaped out of Julia’s arms with a determined expression. “Eevee eevee!” She let out some shrill cries, hoping to get the creature’s attention. But the big hunk of fur paid no heed as it came closer and closer, about to stomp right over them. However, as soon as it got close, it ran right past them before stopping right in front of the gym’s doors.

Her body finally relaxed, and Julia turned around to see what was coming right at them. There it was, a large Pokemon rubbing its large feet across the door, making deep whining noises. The Pokemon was just a foot taller than she, and it kept looking up at the door, whining, “Muuuuuu!”

“Whoa! Where the heck did this Piloswine come from?” Julia asked out loud, pulling her PokeDex out on impulse.

“Piloswine, the swine Pokemon. Piloswine's entire body is covered with fur, which makes it hard to see, so it uses its nose to sense its environment instead. If it charges at an enemy, the hairs on its back stand up straight. It is very sensitive to sound. Piloswine’s furry coat allows it to endure even the harshest of blizzards and freezing cold. It uses its tusks and it's very sensitive sense of smell to dig up food that has been buried under ice. Although its legs are short, its rugged hooves prevent it from slipping, even on icy ground. If it charges at an enemy, the hairs on its back stand up straight. Because its ears are long and floppy, it is very sensitive to sound,” A male sign appeared in the bottom left hand corner of the PokeDex.

“Muuuuu!” Piloswine released a drawn out moan, as if he was looking for something...or someone.

Lucretia looked up at her trainer. “Eevee eevuiiii?” (“What the heck just happened?”)

“Beats me,” Julia was just as confused as Lucretia was.

“Piloswine!” A womanly voice thick with a Southern drawl made both trainer and Pokemon whip their heads around. Charging toward them was a large woman with a head full of curly chocolate brown hair that bounced with every step, and her matching eyes were overcome with surprise. The woman was wearing a pair of blue overalls over a yellow shirt, brown cowboy boots, and a purple cardigan. “There you are!” She stopped right next to Piloswine, putting both hands on her hips and giving it a stern glare. “You shouldn’t go runnin’ off like that! You had me worried!”

The Piloswine ignored her, continuing to claw at the door.

“Ummm…” Julia raised one of her hands up to get the woman’s attention. “Is this your Piloswine?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, miss!” The woman apologized. “He didn’t run you over, did he?”

“Nope.”

The woman crossed her arms. “Sorry he scared you. This is the first time he’s behaved like this. I’m just here on business, but the moment I told him we were going to Mahogany Town, he just went nuts. Oh! I’m Bess, by the way.”

“Julia,” She looked over at Piloswine. From the way he kept moaning and clawing at the gym’s front doors, Julia was sure there was a reason he wanted to go in there. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? “Umm...if you don’t mind, I can find out why he’s doing this.”

Bess’s eyes widened. “You can? How? You’re just a trainer, right?”

Ignoring the woman’s concerns, Julia walked right up to the Piloswine. “Excuse me, Piloswine? Can I ask why you want to go in there?”

Finally, Piloswine stopped clawing at the doors. He got back on all fours and began moaning, “Muuuuu muuuuu!” Julia kept nodding with every drawn out “Muuuu!” sound. Bess found herself scratching her head. The two were very deep in conversation, like they were old pals. But the thing that stuck out to her the most was that Piloswine was smiling the whole time, like he was happy to have someone to talk to. Perhaps he was happy he was being heard. Whatever was going on, Bess wondered if any good would come out of this.

“WHAT?!” A sudden yelp from Julia pulled Bess out of her reverie. “Pryce Snow is your trainer?!”

Not even Bess could prevent her jaw from dropping. Piloswine nodded vigorously, his floppy ears swaying with every nod. “Muuuu!” Bess’s hand flew to her mouth. How did this girl come to that conclusion? But from the way Piloswine was nodding, he behaved as though Julia was right. How she figured that out was beyond her. All of a sudden, Piloswine lowered himself to the ground, using his snout to sniff at the ground.

“Mumuu!” Piloswine gestured for both Bess and Julia to follow him. Keeping a slow, steady pace, Piloswine began walking away from the gym.

“He wants us to follow him,” Julia told Bess.

“My oh my,” Bess didn’t protest and followed, but the whole situation was still so baffling. “I haven’t seen Piloswine act this way at all. But he probably has his reasons.”

Piloswine led the way as he followed Pryce’s scent, keeping his nose up and alert, refusing to let that aroma escape his nostrils. Julia and Bess stayed quiet, wondering just what was going on. Everything happened so fast, neither girl had much time to really let it all sink in. They found themselves away from the gym and heading into some woods. The trees were spaced out, so sunlight came down onto the area. Some Hoothoot and Pidgey flew across the sky above them.

“So, uhh…” Julia began, wondering where to start with this. “...I take it Piloswine isn’t really your Pokemon?”

“Sort of,” Bess told her. “Last year I found him in a forest injured and near death. I took him to the Pokemon Center in my area and they nursed him back to health,” She explained. “Nobody could find his trainer, or even confirm he had one, so I took him in,” She flashed a smile. “He’s a mighty sweet Pokemon. Always helpful and considerate, and never causes any trouble. He’s always helpin’ me with my work. But he doesn’t always know his own strength. He loves people but tends to almost squish them when he tries to hug them or kiss them.”

Julia averted her eyes. ‘I can imagine,’ She wondered if maybe Piloswine caught Pryce’s scent and ran to the gym to find him. That was the only plausible explanation she could think of for Piloswine almost running her over before.

“You’re a Pokemon trainer, right?” Bess asked.

“Yeah. I wanted to battle Mr. Snow again, but he wasn’t at the gym.”

“I see. Sorry Piloswine almost ran you over.”

“It’s okay! So...you say you don’t live here?”

“Naw. I’m just here for a job, but I have some free time on my hands. I live in Olivine City, and I work for a furniture company. I help gather materials for furniture and ship them out to places all over Johto.”

“Like leather and velvet?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Sounds cool.”

“By the way...I don’t mean to be rude, but...how’d you come to the conclusion that Pryce Snow is this Piloswine’s trainer?”

As much as she wanted to explain, telling people she could talk to Pokemon didn’t always go well sometimes. How could she explain it without coming off as either a deluded freak or a little liar? She tensed up, but she kept a steady pace. She had no other way of explaining, and she figured she wasn’t going to see Bess again after this, so whether she believed her or not wouldn’t matter. Plus, Piloswine knew who his trainer was, so why not?

“I know this sounds hard to believe, but...I can understand what Pokemon are saying,” She told her. “He told me Pryce is his trainer.”

There was no initial reaction from Bess. She just continued to walk, looking up at the sky like she was thinking about something. “That is hard to believe…” She muttered.

“Muumuuu!” Piloswine suddenly moaned before dashing off.

“Wait, Piloswine!” Julia was the first to chase after him. “Slow down!” Bess followed suit.

Finally, after a long walk, they made it to a house that was completely isolated from everything else. The thick trees surrounding it could easily obscure it from an aerial perspective. But that didn’t matter to Piloswine. He just kept jumping up and down, his floppy ears flying in circular motions with every leap. As Julia finally caught up, she noticed something hanging from one of Piloswine’s tusks. It appeared to be an old, silver locket on a chain, with the front having an intricate, snowflake design carved into it. Julia couldn’t believe she never noticed it before.

“Is this...Mr. Snow’s house?”

“Mumuuu!” Piloswine nodded affirmatively.

“Boy howdy…” Bess panted and put both hands on her knees once she caught up. “You sure can move fast, Piloswine!”

Julia knocked on Pryce’s door eight times, hoping the sound would get his attention. For a moment, there was no response. Then the door creaked open, and Pryce stayed inside his house, glaring at the two women on his porch.

“What do you want?” He asked in a venomous tone. “How did you find my house?”

“Uhhh...I think this is your Piloswine,” Julia extended her hand in Piloswine’s direction. Pryce met the hidden eyes of the swine Pokemon before him.

All Piloswine did was let out a “Muuuuuu!”

“What makes you think this Pokemon belongs to me?” Pryce asked, not convinced.

Piloswine was prepared. He lifted one of his paws to pull the locket off of his tusk, then holding it out for Pryce. The old man took the locket out of his hands and opened it. For the first time, Julia saw a drastic change in his expression, as his pupils shrunk and his mouth fell open. Pryce was flabbergasted. Inside the locket was a small, faded picture of a lovely woman with curly grey hair and brown eyes obscured by round, coke-bottle glasses. Her smile was warm and welcoming.

“...Clida…” Pryce muttered, his normally gruff voice suddenly turning soft, trembling. “...This is my wife…”

“Oh!” Bess’s hands flew to her cheeks. “That’s your wife?! No wonder Piloswine kept holding onto that locket!”

“Has he always had it?” Julia asked.

Bess replied, “Piloswine’s hung onto it before I rescued him.”

“...Piloswine?” Pryce’s voice caught in his throat. “...Is that really you?”

The swine Pokemon nodded without a grunt or a moan.

“My stars...I thought you abandoned me…where have you been all this time…?” This time, the tears finally flowed.

“Wait!” Julia exclaimed. “Abandoned you? What happened?”

Pryce took it on himself to explain everything. He and Piloswine had been together since they were children. They battled trainers everywhere, spending many years together training, becoming stronger, and strengthening their bond, whether it be going through harsh blizzards or raging oceans. The two had always loved each other and had gone undefeated for years. However, two years ago, Pryce had lost a battle against a trainer, and he and Piloswine wound up getting injured as a result. It wasn’t completely serious, but he couldn’t battle for a while, nor leave his house. Then, two weeks later, his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she died later on, very suddenly, too.

After the funeral, Pryce lost the locket she bought for him the year before. He looked everywhere for it, but it never turned up. Then, one night, when a harsh blizzard made him and Piloswine stay inside his house, the latter suddenly up and went out the front door. No reason at all, and without a word. Piloswine just left the house, and never came back. Pryce couldn’t believe it. First he lost a battle, then Clida died, and now his Piloswine left. He was too distraught to ask why, as his mind came to one conclusion at that very moment.

Piloswine abandoned him.

To this day, Pryce could still remember the last words he spoke.

“Piloswine! You’re abandoning me?! Leaving me here?! After all we’ve gone through and everything we’ve shared?! I...I can’t believe...you’d betray me like thiiiiiiiis!”

“Oh wow,” Julia mused when Pryce finished telling his story. Not even Bess could hold back tears.

“Everything happening back to back to back all at once really destroyed me,” Pryce continued on, making no attempt to hold back his tears. “It was then I tried to make myself as stiff, cold, and unfeeling as possible. I just wanted to just get through the rest of my life, and I wound up becoming bitter.”

“Muuumuuuuu!” Piloswine groaned.

“Piloswine didn’t abandon you, Mr. Snow,” Julia explained. “He left so he could search for your locket. He used his sensitive nose to find it. But when he found it, the cliff underneath him broke and he fell so far down that he almost died. Bess here saved him,” She pointed to the woman next to her.

Once again, Pryce was flabbergasted. That was what happened? He convinced himself that Piloswine, his first Pokemon and best friend for decades, had abandoned him...and all this time, he was just with Bess, and had gone to look for his locket. Piloswine must have known how important Clida was to him, and he might have gone out to search, knowing that he needed something to remind him of the happy life they shared. To think that was what happened...Pryce couldn’t contain himself. The ice around his frozen heart finally thawed, and everything was soft and warm now. He didn’t even ask how Julia managed to come to that conclusion.

The happiness that swept over him was so strong, not even he could stand up to it. Actually, his cup of happiness finally burst, overflowing in every direction...By Arceus, did it feel good to finally smile again.

“Piloswine...Piloswine!” He wrapped his arms around the swine Pokemon’s thick coat, smiling for the first time in a whole year. “You’re back! You’re alright! I missed you so much!”

“I’m mighty sorry, Pryce,” Bess apologized. “I had no idea Piloswine here was yours. I looked everywhere for a trainer but I had no luck. I can’t understand Pokemon talk, so of course I didn’t know,” A realization struck her like a lightning bolt. Piloswine was anxious to come to Mahogany Town because this was his home, and where his precious trainer was. Bess thanked her lucky stars that she decided to come here, even if it was on business. She didn’t want to imagine what might have happened had she said no to going.

All they could do now was smile. Pryce and Piloswine were back together again. Julia had never seen Pryce look so happy. She wondered if maybe...this was what Pryce was really like. Just a nice old man that was squashed by the hardship he had to go through, who resorted to being bitter and callous just to survive future tragedies in whatever was left of his possibly short life. Now, his frozen heart was warmed by Piloswine’s return. True, Julia wasn’t going to let him off the hook for commanding his Cloyster to attack her, but she kept quiet. They didn’t need someone ruining their happy reunion.

Julia turned around to leave, but stopped when Pryce called her. “Wait!” He stood up and approached her. Julia turned back around to face him, but again, she didn’t meet his eyes. “Now that you’re here...I...I want to say I’m sorry...for what I did to you before. You know, commanding my Cloyster to attack you. That was wrong of me, and I should never have...put you and the Gyarados in danger like that.”

“Hmph!” Julia crossed her arms, unable to resist poking at him some. “Yes, you shouldn’t have!” Even if he was reunited with his friend, she figured she could do this much. But she could hear the remorse in his voice, probably from the crying he did just now. Well, at least he was honest about it. “But...I am glad you’re owning up to it, so I guess I can forgive you.”

“I also...want to apologize for the things I said to you. About Pokemon and humans not being meant to be friends. I...I never believed it. I grew up with Pokemon, like you did. But I was so sad and bitter that I convinced myself to never be friendly toward another Pokemon again,” Pryce explained. “Still...that doesn’t excuse anything. You...reminded me of why I shouldn’t behave the way I have been.”

His voice caught in his throat again. Julia uncrossed her arms, smiling at Piloswine, who looked absolutely radiant. “I won’t be here in the next month, because I have to spend thirty days in jail for what I did to you. But I’ll come back to the gym, and we can battle again if you wish.”

Even though she forgave Pryce, Julia couldn’t resist the allure of defeating him in battle. She pumped her fist, smiled, and shouted, “Great! I accept your challenge!”

She had to admit, Pryce was far different from Amara. Even though he was sad and made bad decisions because of it, Pryce owned up to them, choosing to heal and atone for his actions, knowing it was the right thing to do, for both himself and the people and Pokemon around him. Julia had to wonder if Amara would ever do the same in the future. She wished she would, as she didn’t like seeing Amara become the person she had become. However, considering how stubborn she could be, Julia had some doubts.

She still had some hope for her sister. In her heart, she hoped Amara would be safe, and that she would see the error of her ways.

***

“You don’t want to heal! You just want to wallow in your self-pity and make Chanel’s death all about you!”

Debbie’s razor sharp words continued to rip through Amara’s heart, and no matter what she tried, they refused to stop echoing in her ears. Not even a nice, refreshing shower in the Pokemon Center helped. Buying new clothes with the money she won from Pokemon battles didn’t help, and walking around the premises wearing a thick orange hoodie didn’t help either. Frigid air bit at every skin cell in her body, and even with her new, thick clothes protecting her against the autumn breeze, the anger in her heart continued to simmer, and as of now, all of the rage and fury was dying to come right out.

She had to admit, she had no idea she had this much anger in her. Where did all this anger come from? Actually, she knew the answer for that. She cultivated it herself, spending so much time in her room, grieving so much that her grief morphed into a kind of crazed anger that colored her view of everything. She tried to get over Chanel’s death. She really tried. But in her mind, moving on meant forgetting about Chanel. Wouldn’t moving on with her life mean that Chanel meant nothing to her? Chanel didn’t deserve to get killed by a random Gyarados.

In her mind, everyone in the world was her enemy. Even her family, who tried so hard to help her through this in every way they could. No, she refused to accept their so-called “help.” In her mind, they were more concerned about appearances and doing everything for convenience than anything. There was no one to tell her otherwise, and even if someone did, Amara would rather eat needles than listen to that garbage. However, that wasn’t what hurt the most.

The worst thing about this...everything Debbie said was absolutely right.

Amara knew that Debbie was always honest to a fault, sometimes bordering on confrontational and argumentative when she wanted to be. Debbie was the type of girl who didn’t want anyone walking all over her, and would gladly call someone out on their garbage if she saw fit, her friends being no exception. In Debbie’s mind, it was better to tell a harsh truth than a kind lie. That was just how she was. Sure, Debbie and Chanel weren’t exactly besties, like she and Amara were, but they usually got along just fine, and Amara knew Debbie had nothing against Chanel. Chanel was Amara’s friend, and as far as she knew, Debbie didn’t mind.

But everything else...it was too much. Once she was done with her shower, Amara went on the computers in the Pokemon Center. She was sure her school didn’t hold a vigil for Chanel. If they had, they would have let her know about it. The minute she pulled up an article about her death, everything Amara thought she knew fell to pieces.

The first picture she saw was a gathering of people on the school’s football field, all holding lit candles, standing before a small, framed picture of Chanel. Amara’s mouth fell open. Debbie was right. How could she not have known about this? Actually, she knew the answer to that. All she wanted to do was stay in her room and cry. She did exactly that, and for a while, too. Even as her parents tried to gently coax her out, she would always yell at them. In fact...they tried to tell her about it. Multiple times.

“Amara? The vigil is today. Do you want to come pay your respects?”

“Go away, Mom! I want to be alone!”

“I know you’re sad. We all are. But won’t you think about coming with us? If just for a little while? I honestly think this might be good for--”

“Just shut up! You’re so freakin’ annoying!”

“Amara! Don’t get all--”

“Kassia. If she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t want to. Let’s leave her be. She can pay her respects in her own way on her own time.”

She had no idea she had blocked that memory out, and for so long for that matter. It was here that everything hit Amara like a freight train. She finally realized it. Just like Debbie said, she didn’t want to heal at all. She wanted to spend her life blaming someone for Chanel’s death. Someone, anyone, anything...basically everyone around her. Her parents for not thinking about Chanel 24/7. Julia for always having everything handed to her while they could have done things for Chanel and Amara. Her friends for moving on from the tragedy and not catering to Amara’s whims. All Pokemon for being the very things that killed Chanel in the first place.

“Excuse me?” A little boy gently pulled at the bottom of Amara’s new hoodie. “Can I use the computer please?”

Hearing the child’s voice made something in Amara snap. She whipped around and smacked the boy’s hand so hard she left a scratch on his skin. The boy froze when he met Amara’s eyes. They were full of uncontained rage. Not even small children were spared Amara’s wrath.

Amara’s only response was, “Get your filthy hands off my hoodie! I paid twenty bucks for this, you spoiled brat!! Get outta my sight!”

Only it was Amara getting out of the boy’s sight. She didn’t even bother to stop and think about her actions, even as she heard the boy crying as she left the Pokemon Center. Her subconscious scolded her quite severely. ‘Amara! How could you say that to a little kid? He wasn’t even doing anything to you! That was completely rude and unnecessary!’ Her rational side exclaimed.

‘Shut up!’ Her irrational side snapped. ‘I hate everyone and everything, and I wish everyone would just die! My pain is the only thing that matters!’

Amara let all of her Pokemon out of their PokeBalls as she stopped in a clearing. She sat down on a stump to snack on some food she bought. Not much in the way of healthy stuff, just some cans of soda, convenience store subs, and a bag of potato chips. As she gulped down her soda, the sound of steel clashing against rock caught her ears. She turned around, watching as Umbreon slammed against a big rock with his tail. Just watching the black feline do that sent pangs of irritation all throughout her being.

In fact, ever since she caught Umbreon, that was all he had done: slam his tail against a rock. True, Umbreon was only minding his business, but even that seemed to make Amara perturbed. Each time Umbreon’s tail made contact with the rocks, Amara tensed up, even as she finished her soda. Couldn’t that black feline do something that didn’t annoy her? All he was doing was training by himself. Then again, it was very easy for Amara to be annoyed by just about everything, even her own Pokemon playing amongst themselves. This didn’t annoy her before.

Just as she took a bite out of her sandwich...CRASH! Cold steel penetrated the big rock nearby, smashing it to pieces. The impact made the clearing around them tremble, and the sub slipped right out of Amara’s hands.

“Awwwww nooooo!” Amara wailed as the salad, meat, bread, and condiments fell right onto the dirt, becoming permanently contaminated. Her short moment of grief immediately morphed right back into anger as she whirled around to find the culprit.

Umbreon smiled as his tail glowed in a silver sheen, just like iron. The black feline’s fur was soaked to the roots with sweat, but he didn’t mind. He was just happy that he finally managed to master that one attack. Beedrill simply clapped his stingers together, rejoicing in Umbreon’s victory. Too bad they were the only ones celebrating. All the other Pokemon hid in the bushes as Amara stomped right over to them.

“You piece of garbage!!” Amara yelled. “You made me drop a whole sandwich!!”

“Umbreon bree,” Umbreon told her in a sharp, deadpan tone. It was a good thing that Amara didn’t understand Pokemon speech like Julia did, as she would have learned that Umbreon said, “So what? It’s just food. Just eat it off the floor, human scum.”

“Bzzzzzt!” (“Stop! Don’t make her mad!”) Beedrill buzzed frantically, waving his stingers around in an erratic fashion.

“Umbreon umbreon breee!” (“I don’t see why I can’t!”)

It didn’t take much for Amara to construe that as a display of defiance. She raised her hand upward, intent on beating some sense into that annoying little black feline. “This is your fault, you little--”

She didn’t get to finish, as Umbreon beat her to the punch. Or rather, ram. Umbreon leaped off the ground, ramming himself right into Amara’s abdomen as though he were using a headbutt attack, sending her rolling across the dirt. Beedrill covered his eyes with his stingers, as did Weepinbell with his leafy arms. For a moment, Amara found herself unable to breathe, and a strange burning sensation didn’t help matters.

Wait...burning? She looked down. A strange liquid was eating away at her hoodie, exposing the yellow shirt underneath.

“What?! What the freak?!” Amara yelled even louder this time. She fixated her hateful gaze onto the black feline, who sent the same glare right back at her. “I spent twenty bucks on this hoodie, you trash!!”

Umbreon’s ears pointed to his tail, and his back arched upward as he let out a screeching hiss. This dark Pokemon was not going to be a slave to this human. He was done with her. Too bad Amara wasn’t done with him just yet.

“You’re gonna regret ever attacking me--”

Once again, Umbreon took the initiative. The slender dark type suddenly leaped into the air, sinking his teeth into Amara’s wrist. “Owww!” Not once had she ever been bitten by a Pokemon before, and Umbreon’s teeth were sharper and more slender than human teeth, so the bite left a far deeper, more painful wound. Once he rendered Amara helpless, Umbreon rummaged through the bag and pulled out a PokeBall.

His PokeBall.

Even though she was hardly ever the brightest light in the room, she figured it out immediately. Umbreon sat the PokeBall down in front of himself, as though he were daring Amara to come after him.

“Don’t you dare do this to me!”

Umbreon’s tail glowed once more, boldly ignoring her empty threats.

“I’m gonna kill you if you do that!”

Umbreon kicked the PokeBall into the air.

“I’m warning you!!”

Umbreon leaped after it. A glowing tail of cold steel came flying down.

Slash!

The PokeBall was cut to ribbons. To be more specific, it was smashed to pieces. Metallic shards, white and red, scattered along the dirt. Amara’s blue eyes were wide like saucers, and even she couldn’t prevent the ungraceful dropping of her jaw. Even the other Pokemon found themselves frozen in silence. Umbreon glared at the human, making his decision very clear.

Amara loved Pokemon at one point, and her favorite was Umbreon. She had one...and now that Umbreon completely tossed her aside. Then again, it was justified from Umbreon’s view, and definitely would be in society’s eyes. Amara wished this whole thing was a dream, a cruel prank in which she was the victim.

Once again, anger took hold.

“FINE! Leave then! Go away!!” Amara screamed, helplessly picking balls of dirt out from the ground and throwing them at Umbreon. “You’re nothing but trash!! I always hated your guts anyway!! You’re the reason Chanel’s dead and nobody cares about meeeeeeee!!”

Umbreon grunted. Then took his leave, disappearing into the bushes. Boy, was he glad to be free of that colossal brat they called a human. The human who always reacted disproportionately to just about everything, even polite kids kindly asking her to do something. Always blaming Pokemon for any bad thing that happened to her, refusing to acknowledge that she brought most of this on herself. He had prepared for this escape for months, and it was a roaring success. He was free. Free to roam around wherever he pleased.

He didn’t look back even as he leaped into the night.

All of the other Pokemon could only watch as Amara banged her fist on the dirt. Bam! Bam! Bam! She didn’t care if her fist would end up getting hurt. She was too angry to care about anything else around her. It seemed to be all she felt as of now. Nothing else mattered.

‘You brought this on yourself, you know,’ Her consciousness told her without any hint of mercy. ‘You wonder why your Pokemon hate you, because you use them as punching bags. None of them deserve what you do to them. They did nothing to you,’ Amara’s rational side was right. None of her own Pokemon did anything to deserve her beatings, her anger, her wrath. But for Amara, just the fact that they were even there, existing, flaunting their innocence and happiness while she was in pain, was tantamount to committing a crime worthy of the death sentence.

Why should they be happy? The thought of everyone around her being happy was too much for Amara to handle. In fact, nobody around her deserved to be happy. Nobody but her and her alone. Why couldn’t Amara be allowed to be happy? She hated seeing everyone happy. They were happy and she wasn’t. By Arceus, she wanted to rip those callous smiles off of everyone’s faces and make them pay for having lives that didn’t revolve around Chanel or Amara. Why couldn’t anyone pay attention to Amara and her pain and suffering?

“Bzzzt?” (“You okay?”) Cautiously, Beedrill came buzzing toward Amara, offering one of his stingers out. Amara held her head up, glaring at the concerned bee. Beedrill buzzed and recoiled. Even looking at Amara was too much for the little bee. “Bzzzzzzz…” (“Do...Do you need a hug?”)

“Go kill yourself, you trash!” Amara roared before sending a fist flying into Beedrill’s thorax. The blow was enough to send the poor Beedrill flying backward. Haunter flew right toward Beedrill, using his detached hands to catch the bee in the nick of time. But Beedrill bent over, clutching his thorax with his stingers, unable to breathe.

All of Amara’s Pokemon had become used to having insults and threats thrown at them so flippantly. But what could they do? Even if Amara could understand them, she would never listen to their pleas anyway. What was the point? Weepinbell found himself crying in Feraligatr’s chest, and Granbull and Fearow didn’t make any kind of eye contact with her. The fury in Amara’s eyes was always too much for them to deal with.

‘Amara. You can’t continue on like this,’ Her consciousness told her once more. ‘Just go home. Mom and Dad are worried sick about you. They want their daughter back.’

“No they don’t!” She screamed. “They only care about themselves!”

‘If they only cared about themselves, why would there be milk cartons with your picture on them all over Johto? Why would they put missing posters everywhere? Why would they even tell the police to go find you in the first place?’

“They want to send me to jail!”

‘Considering you’ve abused Pokemon, stole one of them, and used them to assault people on the street, and assaulting random people yourself, that’s kind of a given. You can’t deny that. But that’s not the real reason why they want you to go back home.’

“I’m not going back! I have to fulfill my dream...Chanel’s dream…”

‘You’re not doing Chanel any favors by hurting your Pokemon and lashing out at everyone around you.’

Alas, Amara didn’t listen to her heart. No, she was going to fulfill the promise she made to Chanel or die trying. It was what Chanel wanted.

Right?

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Trump Card, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face


Rina (Nidorina, Female, Bold Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Luminita (Lanturn, Female, Naive Nature)

Ability: Water Absorb

Attacks: Supersonic, Discharge, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball


Marius (Girafarig, Male, Mild Nature)

Ability: Sap Sipper

Attacks: Stomp, Odor Sleuth, Psychic, and Crunch


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Typhlosion, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)

Ability: Hyper Cutter

Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Geo (Golem, Male, Brave Nature)

Ability: Sturdy

Attacks: Steamroller, Rock Slide, Heavy Slam, and Magnitude


Amara’s Party:

Feraligatr (Male, Lonely Nature)

Ability: Torrent

Attacks: Hydro Pump, Crunch, Ice Fang, and Superpower


Weepinbell (Male, Modest Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Slam, and Sleep Powder


Beedrill (Male, Hasty Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Poison Jab, Fury Attack, Fell Stinger, and Pin Missile


Granbull (Female, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Run Away

Attacks: Fire Fang, Play Rough, Lick, and Thunderbolt


Fearow (Male, Timid Nature)

Ability: Sniper

Attacks: Drill Peck, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, and Leer


Haunter (Male, Impish Nature)

Ability: Levitate

Attacks: Shadow Punch, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, and Poison Jab

 

[Beth Pavell]

Ok, review for. Uh. My notes say that it was the chapter thirteen arc, but I was a little drunk when I read some of it, so I'm just going to have to trust them this time.

As usual, I'm not going to repeat anything that's already been brought up before, so there's not a huge amount I can really say about the Amara angle in this arc. The theme of a parent not really knowing what to do with their child resurfaces here, and that's something that does have a certain amount of truth to it. I mean, ironically all Amara really does is get a sentret wet and she gets a right earful for it, which is probably not the best decision on Kassia's part.

I had an amusing little imagine spot wondering how Josh would react to the talk of whether mushrooms are poisonous or not. Just don't try and cook Amanita, Perrine, it'll still kill you.

You could make some good use of using specific nouns in your descriptions. The thought occurred to me when you were doing Tin Tower - using the word "pagoda" would have saved you a lot of trouble, there, I think

 

[Juliko]

I mean, ironically all Amara really does is get a sentret wet and she gets a right earful for it, which is probably not the best decision on Kassia's part.

I knew I should have gone with something else! Yeah, looking back, that scene was stupid.

Anyway...chapter 37 is finally here!

***

Chapter 37: My Little Ponyta

Thirty days in jail would seem like a long time for some. For Julia, Caiseal, and Perrine, it certainly would be a long time. Thankfully, there was a lot to do in Mahogany Town, so they weren’t completely bored. Plus, the Pokemon League was still a long ways away, so they had all the time in the world. Time tends to go by rather fast when people are having fun, so sticking around wouldn’t be a waste of time. A lot could happen in thirty days. Perrine swapped Marius and Luminita for Fuwari and Chirin, and Caiseal swapped Geo and Stacey for Ravenclaw and Flippy. Seeing their old friends immediately brightened their day, and Julia found herself happy for them.

But that morning, there wasn’t time to be made for happy reunions. This was a time for practice battling, and Julia and Caiseal were already piling on the heat.

“Saoirse, use Ice Fang!” Julia cried.

Saoirse, the little pink bulldog, opened her large maw, commanding her teeth to be consumed by ice as she raced toward the black raven Pokemon. Her stubby legs, short as they were, were still strong enough to help her run swiftly.

“Ravenclaw, dodge and use Steel Wing!” Caiseal commanded. Right as Saoirse leaped toward Ravenclaw, the darkness Pokemon flapped her wings once, ascending to the sky and avoiding the attack. Once Saoirse landed on the ground, Ravenclaw let out a cawing noise before her wings glowed in a bright, silvery sheen, turning into steel.

“Murkroooooow!” With a resolve to win stronger than steel, Ravenclaw descended to Saoirse’s level, slamming her with her steel wings. The force was strong enough that Saoirse was sent rolling across the battlefield, right into Julia’s arms. It was a good thing Saoirse wasn’t wearing her pretty dress and ribbons, as that would have gotten both her and her dress dirty.

“Saoirse!” Julia managed to catch the pink bulldog in the nick of time. “You okay, girl?” She could tell from Saoirse’s sad expression and the marks on her body that she was in no condition to battle any further.

“Snubbull snubbull…” Saoirse croaked.

Julia smiled, holding the small Pokemon close to her heart. “It’s okay! You did your best, and that’s all that matters.”

“Good job, girl!” Caiseal praised as the proud, victorious Ravenclaw perched on his arm.

“Murkrow murkrow!” (“It feels so good to learn new moves!”) The darkness Pokemon boasted, striking a pose as she relished in her victory. “Murkrow kroooow!” (“I oughta use Steel Wing more often!”)

Julia wasted no time handing Saoirse an Oran berry. It must be confessed that Saoirse didn’t quite take kindly to the Oran berry’s hard, dry taste. It had almost no flavor to it, like any taste it had was sucked out of it by a vacuum cleaner. But she knew they were good for getting her strength back, so she ate the berry without complaint, like she always did.

“Hey, Jule!” Caiseal ran over to his friend, prompting Julia to stand back up. “Sorry about that defeat. Is Saoirse okay?”

“She’s fine,” Julia told him reassuringly.

Even Ravenclaw couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about having defeated someone as sweet as Saoirse in a battle. Ravenclaw flew over to the pink bulldog and cawed, “Murkrow kroww?”

Good thing Saoirse got her strength back, as she simply smiled and flashed a thumb’s up. “Snubbull snub snubbull!” Ravenclaw smiled and returned to perching on Caiseal’s shoulder, happy that the battle didn’t completely knock the wind out of her. Still, the taste of victory was oh so delicious, especially after spending a long while at Caiseal’s house.

“You guys are doing great,” Perrine complimented as she set Baloo down to play with the other Pokemon. Ravenclaw and Saoirse wasted no time following their friend and engaging in play. “Hey Jule, you’re so ready to battle Pryce. It’s a shame he’s not here, though.”

“That’s alright! I’ve done some research over the past week, and I think we have a good strategy for how we can beat him,” Julia explained.

“I’m gonna go get some new shoes,” Perrine showed her friends the brown shoes she had worn since she first met Julia. To say they were in tatters would be an understatement. The soles had grown completely grey from exposure to the elements. The front of Perrine’s left shoe had a huge hole in it, resulting in her big toe sticking right out, even if it was covered by her white tights. Her right shoe still bore dirt and water marks, and one part of the soles had been ripped right off. “These have clearly seen better days.”

“So true,” Caiseal mused, looking down at his own sneakers. Similar to Perrine’s, his white ones had turned greyish brown, also from exposure to the elements and the earth beneath his feet. But they weren’t in terrible condition like Perrine’s were. With that in mind, they let Perrine run to the local shoe store to get some new ones.

Although the autumn air around them was frigid and had an icy, biting taste to it, Caiseal and Julia found some time to buy jackets and dress warmly, and for the most part, it was still nice out, so it wasn’t so bad. Caiseal sat down on a big tree stump to brush Mallow’s hide. Julia was close by, keeping an eye on the Pokemon, making sure they weren’t causing trouble or fighting amongst themselves. Being the restless girl she was, however, standing around in the cold was not something Julia liked doing, and the breeze’s barbed caress was enough to make her wish she had stayed inside.

In that moment, she turned toward Caiseal, who gingerly brushed his bonekeeper friend’s fur with a smile on his face. A memory popped right back into her head: When he and Perrine first visited her at the hospital, Caiseal had mentioned that his mother hated and abandoned him. He had let it slip out, and nobody dared to bring it up since then. But it had probed at Julia’s mind for quite a while. That was when she realized she hardly knew anything about Caiseal. Well, she knew what he liked and didn’t like, his overall personality, and that he had changed since they first met. His family life, on the other hand, was something he always seemed intent on keeping secret. Sure, she knew he had adoptive parents, which was good.

Spurred by an innate curiosity, Julia found herself walking toward the stump he sat on. As much as Julia wanted to respect his wishes and privacy, however, the thirst for knowledge seized her.

“Hey, Caiseal?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Ummm…” Julia found herself pausing as both Caiseal and Mallow turned her way. How could she ask it, and in a way that wouldn’t make her come off as weird, intrusive, or creepy? She wished asking questions wouldn’t be so hard. But she had to try. He knew her enough to know that she never meant any harm or had malicious intent for just about anything. Surely, he would understand. “Do you remember when you and Perrine first visited me in the hospital?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“I…I…I know...you don’t like talking about this, and I completely understand…” Already, Julia found herself shifting around, keeping her hands in a tight hold. “But...you had mentioned that your...your real mother...abandoned you. Is...is that true?”

It took only seconds for a dark look to come down on Caiseal’s face. Not so dark that he looked dead serious, but enough to make Julia immediately regret asking it. Did she unknowingly push a button she shouldn’t have? The last thing she wanted to do was make anyone mad, especially her friends. “S-S-Sorry! I just--”

“It’s alright,” Strangely, Caiseal’s voice was calm. “I get it. You’re just curious, right?”

“Marowak?” Mallow put in his two cents also.

“Yeah,” Julia took in a deep breath before exhaling. Relax. Calm down. He understands. Steeling herself to go on, Julia continued. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I get it, and I know...I should always respect people’s privacy and not pry into their lives, but...I just...I kind of want to understand you better. I mean...we are friends after all, and...I recently realized that even though we’ve been traveling together since we met at Goldenrod...I don’t really know much of anything about you, but you know a lot about Perrine and I and where we came from.”

Not once did Caiseal get angry, lose himself in his emotions, or interrupt Julia as she talked. He just kept a calm silence about him and listened as his shy friend expressed herself. In a way, she was right. He never told either girl about his life before meeting them. It wasn’t their business, and all he wanted was to put it all behind him, never to take it back out again. Too bad once Julia battled Pryce, they’d have to go to Blackthorn City, his hometown. Plus, what good would it do for them to know about his past? They didn’t know anything, and telling them wouldn’t do anything in the long run.

“Marowak?” Mallow put a hand on Caiseal’s, giving a reassuring nod, as if he was telling him it was okay to open up. She was his friend, and she only wanted to understand him better. Caiseal smiled, grateful for his faithful friend’s reassurance. This gave him the nudge he needed to finally answer her.

“Yeah. It’s true. Before I met you guys, my life...wasn’t exactly ideal,” Caiseal began. Julia sat down next to him, staying quiet so she could listen. “I don’t feel like boring you with all the details. But...let’s just say...my real mom...never liked me.”

Julia cringed. She couldn’t imagine a mother not loving her child. Growing up, her parents always showered her and Amara with all the love in the world. She remembered one time when an old lady was talking bad about her and Amara, and her mother told her off rather spectacularly. How old was she when that happened? Seven or eight? She wasn’t sure. She made a mental note to ask Kassia about it later. Not only that, she had seen plenty of documentaries and movies about kids who didn’t have ideal home lives. Chanel’s own father frequently beat her. Good thing Kassia and Amara helped her out and called the police on him back then.

“My adoptive mother, Yvette, was actually my elementary school teacher,” Caiseal explained. “She just seemed to know that something was up with me, and always treated me like I was her own…”

“That’s nice,” Julia piped in. “What’s she like?”

Caiseal cracked a smile. “You’d like her. She’s super nice. She loves Pokemon and taught me everything I know about them. She’s more of a mother to me than my real one ever was. For one, she cared about whether I was happy, upset, or angry, and never acted like me or my feelings didn’t matter, and she didn’t treat me like--”

“Hm?”

“...like…” Caiseal suddenly found himself unable to continue. His voice steadily grew lower, but Julia’s hypersensitive ears could still make out some words. One of them was, “...a monster.”

“What?”

All of a sudden, Caiseal stood up. “You know what? Just forget it. This isn’t worth it--”

Before he could finish, a loud, piercing scream pulled everyone out of their reveries. Off into the distance, Caiseal and Julia could make out a small figure and a light blue elephant shaped Pokemon running across a meadow. Upon closer inspection, it was a boy, and he was shouting, “Heeeeeelp!! It’s trying to kill meeeeeee!”

“Phanpyyyyyy!” The little light blue Pokemon raced to keep up, but its short legs could barely carry it any longer.

It didn’t take much for them to figure out that the boy was in danger. But what was trying to kill him? The answer galloped right out of a thicket, in hot pursuit of the frightened child. A cream colored horse with dark, raging eyes and a flaming red mane and tail sprinted across the meadow, letting out harsh neighs as its hooves stomped the grass beneath it. Flaming red embers shot out from its mouth, almost hitting the boy, had he not managed to dodge them all in the nick of time.

“Hey! It’s a Ponyta!” Caiseal exclaimed, pulling out his PokeDex.

“Ponyta, the fire horse Pokemon. About an hour after birth, its fiery mane and tail grow out, giving it an impressive appearance. When it is first born, it is very weak, can barely stand, and cannot run. It gradually becomes faster and its legs grow stronger through chasing its parents and jumping over grass every day. Because it constantly trains by jumping over obstacles, it has become known as a world-class jumper, so much so that it can jump over the Kalos Prism Tower in a single leap, and its hooves are ten times harder than diamond, sturdy enough to absorb the impact of landing, and its body is light enough to withstand any fall. They can kick anything, and can trample over anything, making it flat in no time at all,” A female sign appeared in the corner of the screen.

Both trainers had seen Ponyta before. But never before had they seen one actually chase someone before, and looking like they were about to murder someone for that matter. This Ponyta kept on chasing the young boy with every ounce of strength its legs had in her. It didn’t necessarily help that the Ponyta didn’t even give the boy time to escape, let alone stop and take a break. All Julia and Caiseal knew was that the boy was in danger, and they needed to do something.

This Ponyta was intent to kill that boy by any means necessary.

Julia, Caiseal, and the Pokemon were in hot pursuit of the Ponyta. The first thing they needed to do was make sure it didn’t hurt the boy. Could they distract it? They had many options, and if they went with that idea, the boy could stop and hide somewhere. But on impulse, Julia found herself pulling out one of the Luxury Balls she bought earlier in the month. Now proved to be a good time to use them. Without a word, she threw that black PokeBall at the Ponyta with a great throw. The ball bounced off of the fire horse’s back, turning her into red light before sucking her right into the PokeBall.

“Whoa! Nice one!” For once, Caiseal was impressed. Finally, the boy and his Pokemon stopped to take a breath.

At first, she had no idea why she suddenly threw that Luxury Ball at Ponyta. Upon further reflection, maybe she figured that would be the fastest way to distract it. The Luxury Ball wobbled back and forth, back and forth. Caiseal ran over to the kid and his Phanpy, both of whom were on their knees, gasping for breath like they had been running a marathon.

“Hey there. Are you okay?” Caiseal asked.

“Yeah...I think...oh lord...everything hurts…” The boy, slightly younger than they, panted with every word he spoke. “Thanks...name’s...Mikey…”

Just when relief was about to wash over little Mikey, the Luxury Ball was forced open, and a white light came spiraling out from the ball, materializing back into the Ponyta. Once the fire horse was out of the PokeBall, she turned right toward Julia, shooting a glare right in her direction. If looks could kill, Julia would certainly be dead upon seeing the sheer hate in the fire horse’s eyes. How dare this random human attempt to capture it!

“Saoirse, use Headbutt!” Julia commanded.

“Snubbull!” Her original tiredness having faded, Saoirse raced toward the horse and rammed her head on Ponyta’s body. She would have sent the horse rolling to the ground, had Ponyta not managed to dig her hooves into the ground and keep herself from falling over. All of a sudden, the horse let out a neigh before her body was suddenly trapped in a ball of fire. It didn’t bother her one bit, and Ponyta charged right at the pink bulldog.

“Dodge and use Scary Face!”

Saoirse attempted to dodge, but the fire horse was just too fast. The Flame Wheel attack struck Saoirse once more, sending her flying. Julia quickly called the bulldog back to her PokeBall within seconds, not wanting to risk her friend getting hurt again.

“Come on!” Caiseal took Mikey by the arm and hoisted him up. “This way. It’s safe here,” He escorted the boy and his Phanpy away from the battle.

“Lucretia, use Shadow Ball!” Julia commanded again.

“Eevui!” The furry feline bounded down onto the scene, firing a black sphere of energy right at Ponyta. Even though the sphere exploded upon contact, the Ponyta was barely fazed. Before long, the enraged fire horse began stomping her hooves down onto the ground with clear intent on squashing Lucretia like a bug. Good thing Lucretia dodged every single Stomp attack, being the agile little feline that she was.

All of a sudden, the flaming mare’s eyes began to glow in an eerie purple light. Then, with a mighty neigh, she stomped her hooves down into the ground and fired purple beams of light at Lucretia. “Eevui!” Lucretia did a quick backflip, dodging every attack the angry mare fired at her. But what was that attack?

“What the--?!” Even Caiseal and Mikey found themselves completely dumbfounded. Never before had they seen a Ponyta display that attack before. “What attack was that?!”

When in doubt, consult the PokeDex. Julia pulled hers out to check the Ponyta’s attacks. “Flame Wheel, Stomp…” Her pupils shrunk upon reading the last two attacks. “Solarbeam?! And Hypnosis?!”

Caiseal heard her even though he was ten feet away. All the color seemed to seep out of his face. “It’s kidding, right?!”

“Look out!” Mikey suddenly cried.

“Eevuuuuuuui!” One of Ponyta’s hooves struck Lucretia across her abdomen, sending her to the ground. Not so hard that she broke any bones or was unable to battle, but both trainers could tell that this Ponyta was clearly out for blood.

“Don’t give up, Lulu! Knock it out with Quick Attack!” Julia cried, hoping to get things back in her favor. Shaking off the pain of that Stomp, Lucretia’s body glowed white as she sprinted toward the flaming mare. This time, she was the one that landed the hit. Ponyta fell to the ground, surprised at the mighty strength the tiny ball of fur suddenly displayed.

Julia pulled out another Luxury Ball and threw it right at the fallen mare. Caiseal’s pupils shrunk as the red light pulled Ponyta into the ball. “Julia, are you crazy?! Don’t try to catch it anymore! You’ll get yourself hurt or even killed!” His fear was justified. Usually, Julia was a lot smarter than this. Maybe she had some kind of plan she didn’t want to tell him about. Ignoring him, Julia crossed her fingers, watching the Luxury Ball wobble back and forth, the light on the ball blinking, until…

Crack! Went the capsule as it popped open once more, and Ponyta let out a piercing neigh upon its materialization. Thundering hooves crashed onto the ground, and the flames on her mane and back danced with rage, blazing so much that the air around it shimmered.

“Come on, Julia! Let’s get out of here!” Caiseal screamed, wishing she’d listen to him this time. This Ponyta was out for blood.

Ignoring him, Julia kept her eyes focused on the mare. Something inside her was stirring, some kind of crazed energy that she was determined to let erupt. Seeing this Ponyta break out of the Luxury Ball twice told her that this flaming mare was quite strong. Stronger than any other Ponyta she had seen or met. Normally, she would be smart enough to know that she and most of her other Pokemon facing off against this fierce, dangerous Pokemon was not a favorable matchup.

Oddly enough, the vibe coming from this Ponyta did not deter her from catching it, nor was it bad. In fact, she found herself liking this horse’s ferocity and obstinate personality. Plus, she realized she hadn’t caught a fire type as of yet. Now was her chance to try and make a new friend.

“Eevui?” Lucretia got back on her feet, giving her trainer a grin full of courage, like she seemed to sense Julia’s feelings. The Soothe Bell around her neck gave off a gentle ring.

“Think you can go on?”

“Vee!” Lucretia nodded.

Seeing that her opponents weren’t going to give up, the Ponyta neighed once more, surrounding herself in flames. Lucretia’s ears twitched as the ball of fire came charging right at her. On Julia’s command, the evolution Pokemon leaped backward, firing a Shadow Ball right at Ponyta’s face, managing to dispel the flames. All of a sudden, white rectangles of energy suddenly materialized, surrounding Lucretia before flying right onto Ponyta’s body.

“Whoa! What was that attack?!” Julia yanked her PokeDex out for a third time, looking over Lucretia’s attacks. One of them she didn’t recognize. “...Trump Card?”

“Pikapi!” (“Now’s your chance!”) Hikaru suddenly piped in, pointing at both Lucretia and the flaming Ponyta.

Julia understood, nodding in Hikaru’s direction before shouting, “Lucretia! Use Trump Card again!”

“Veeeee!” Once again, Lucretia fired shining, card-shaped rectangles at the Ponyta. The mare valiantly attempted another Flame Wheel, but she couldn’t call forth her flames in time. Soon, she was on the ground.

“Luxury Ball, go! And catch her this time!” Julia threw yet another Luxury Ball, watching as Ponyta was sucked in a third time. Everyone held their breath, even Mikey, as they watched the ball wobble back and forth, with the light blinking.

Then...click! The Luxury Ball became dormant, and the light stopped blinking. “Wow! You actually caught it!” Mikey shouted out of the blue, relieved that the mare would no longer pursue him.

“Eevui!” Lucretia came bounding down the meadow, snuggling up against Julia’s leg as soon as her trainer picked up the ball.

“Good job, girl. You were awesome,” Julia returned the gesture by stroking her furry friend’s head.

Finally, Caiseal and Mikey breathed sighs of relief. “Thanks for saving me back there,” Mikey told them. Once they were calm, the two older kids got a better look at Mikey. Sweat poured down his dark skin, dampening his bright red shirt, and his blue jean pants had brown muddy spots all over them. His bushy black hair also had a lot of grass and dirt in it.

“You’re welcome!” Caiseal exclaimed. “What happened, anyway?”

Mikey scratched his bushy black hair, laughing ruefully. “It was kinda my fault. Phanpy and I were trying to catch a Pokemon we saw.”

“Phanpy phan!” The light blue long nose Pokemon chirruped with a big smile.

“I was trying to get through a bush but I stepped on something hard, and it turned out to be that Ponyta’s leg,” He explained further. “I had no idea it was even there. Phanpy was no match for it, and it just kept chasing us and firing Ember at us like it wanted to turn us into roast beef!”

“Glad we found you when we did, then!” Julia piped in, looking down at the Luxury Ball in her hand, smiling proudly. She saved a kid from getting seriously hurt and made a new friend at the same time. Her heart grew warm, and the excitement still lingered. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Mikey looked all around himself. He could see a couple scabs on his elbows, but nothing that would require going to a hospital. “Doesn’t look like it. Aww, I gotta go! My mom’ll flip out if I’m not back by lunch! Thanks again!”

“Phanpyyy!” With that, little Mikey and his faithful Phanpy bounded away, racing toward town.

It was right then that he happened to run past a confused Perrine. “What was that all about? You make a new friend?” She asked as soon as she approached them.

The kids wasted no time telling her what happened. By the end, Perrine’s mouth had fallen wide open. “WHAT?! You’re kidding, right?! I leave to get new shoes for a few minutes and you almost get yourselves killed by a freaking Ponyta?!” Her shock was justified, though she sounded more worried and concerned than angry.

“Don’t worry!” Julia exclaimed. “Everything worked out fine in the end! We saved that kid and I caught a new Pokemon!” She showed Perrine the Luxury Ball containing Ponyta. “Wanna see?”

Perrine raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You’re still recovering from sending Geraldine away, and from what you’ve told me, it sounds like this Ponyta is pretty wild,” By wild, she meant dangerous, explosive, and quick to attack. “Are you gonna be able to handle her?”

Julia grimaced. She hated being reminded of that. She knew Perrine was right, though. Geraldine and the memory of sending her away still weighed heavy on her mind. But this was not the time to wallow over her friend. She felt this would be a good way to move on. Plus, that man said that Luxury Balls make it easier for Pokemon and trainers to become friends. She had to take a chance, right?

“If I can’t, then I can’t,” Julia answered. “But I want to see what she’s like first. I don’t want to give up before I even tried to connect with her. Go, Ponyta!” She threw the Luxury Ball into the air, releasing Ponyta from the capsule.

The first thing the mare did was neigh and shake her head upon being released from the ball. As soon as she laid eyes on the three children, two of which were the ones who tried to attack her with their Pokemon, she immediately glared and adopted a battle stance. All three of them shivered. They had never seen a Ponyta look so angry.

“It’s okay! Don’t be afraid!” Julia told her in a calm, dulcet voice. “We’re not here to hurt you. We want to be friends with you,” Julia didn’t dare approach the flaming mare. Many Pokemon books she read told her that a Ponyta’s mane was red hot, and if she touched them, she would suffer severe second or third degree burns. They wouldn’t do so if they actually became friends, but Julia could tell that this mare didn’t seem intent on becoming friends.

“Hreeeeee!” (“I have no intention of being friends with anyone, especially not you!”) Ponyta let out a harsh, indignant neigh. She couldn’t believe it. How could this weak little girl manage to capture her? But just because she did, Ponyta thought that didn’t give this girl any right to just claim her as her own. As far as Ponyta knew, she was a free, feral Pokemon, and the last thing she wanted to do was obey a stupid human’s orders.

“She...doesn’t look too happy,” Perrine mused.

Julia turned to face Perrine. “I can see that,” Turning back to face the angry mare, Julia continued on. “I’m sorry for startling you back there...and for commanding my Pokemon to attack you. You were chasing that little boy. He didn’t mean to step on your foot. It was an accident,” She explained as calmly and coolly as possible.

Too bad the mare still wasn’t convinced. “Hreeeeehhh!” (“Don’t try to trick me! They all do that to me on purpose! You humans are always out to get me!”) All of a sudden, she fired small red flames right at the kids. With a yelp, all three of them managed to leap out of the way, evading the tiny flames.

“Hey! Don’t do that!” Perrine scolded, waving her fist up and down.

It was here that Caiseal finally saw it. “Whoa! Girls, look at that!” He pointed to one of Ponyta’s legs.

The girls looked where he was pointing, and their mouths fell open. Ponyta’s front right leg...was completely artificial. Gauze covered the mare’s leg just above her knee, with a black metallic prosthesis covering what was left of it from the stump to just below the knee. Protruding from the bottom of the black splint was a silver metal rod with a flat, round circle at the end, serving as her hoof.

To say the kids were flabbergasted would be a colossal understatement. Julia and Caiseal, especially. This Ponyta, the same one who gave them and Mikey a hard time, broke out of a Luxury Ball twice, completely wiped the floor with some of Julia’s Pokemon, and wouldn’t give anyone a break with her wild temper and strong attacks, had a prosthetic leg. Yet, she went into battle, putting herself and her prosthetic leg in danger. Julia had never seen a Pokemon with a prosthetic limb before. She had heard some stories, like on the internet or on the news, but none of them said anything about a Ponyta having an artificial leg. That was almost unheard of.

Oddly enough, Julia found herself even more impressed upon learning this. Ponyta was strong, there was no denying that. But knowing that this Ponyta didn’t let this handicap stop her from battling only made Julia see a different kind of strength in that flaming mare.

“Hrrrgh!” The Ponyta grunted before neighing once more. Julia translated it as, “Of course you’re looking at my leg. You humans are responsible for this!”

“You...really don’t like humans, do you?” Julia asked.

Ponyta gave her another glare that she could read as saying, “Do you even need to ask?!”

“Ponytaaaaaaa!!” A female voice suddenly called out in the distance, echoing. Ponyta looked over her back, pointing her long face in the direction of the Pokemon Center. “Ponyta, where are you?!” Out came a Nurse Joy, dressed in her normal nurse attire. As soon as she turned around, Nurse Joy finally met eyes with the Ponyta. “Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” The kids could hear the relief and worry in her voice.

Wait a minute...did this Nurse Joy and Ponyta know each other?

Ponyta’s face softened, but she didn’t try to come close to Nurse Joy. All of a sudden, Nurse Joy turned around, meeting eyes with the three children. “Oh. I didn’t see you three there,” She mused. “Thanks for finding her for me.”

The kids exchanged confused looks. How were they going to explain this to her?

Julia spoke. “...You know this Ponyta? Because...I caught her.”

As with Perrine and Caiseal, Nurse Joy yelped, “What?! You did?!”

***

Since the Pokemon Center was close by, Nurse Joy decided to take the kids back there so they could explain everything in detail in a more private place. At first, Nurse Joy couldn’t quite comprehend that a child caught one of the most stubborn and uncooperative Pokemon she had in her care. But seeing Julia put the fire horse in the Luxury Ball confirmed it, so she found herself able to accept it. She escorted them to a fenced off part of the Pokemon Center very few had access to.

A large piece of meadow was trapped within sturdy white picket fences, and Pokemon of all shapes and sizes frolicked to and fro. The kids were able to recognize many of them: Pikachu, Flaaffy, Phanpy, Chikorita, Houndour, Nidoran, Beedrill, Bellossom, Meowth, Marill, Pidgey, etc. There were also a few that the kids didn’t recognize, such as a purplish pink flying scorpion that kept flying from tree to tree.

“What’s this?” Perrine asked.

“This is where I place orphaned or abandoned Pokemon,” Nurse Joy explained. “Pokemon Centers can also function as orphanages for Pokemon who were either abandoned by their trainers or unable to live out in the wild. This is where Ponyta is from.”

“Wait, what?!” Julia suddenly yelped. She actually caught a Pokemon from Nurse Joy’s makeshift orphanage. Something about it didn’t make sense. “Does that mean...Ponyta is yours?!”

“No, not exactly,” Nurse Joy clarified. “Even though these Pokemon are under my care, by law, they’re technically classified as wild Pokemon, so trainers can still catch them.”

Julia watched as the Pokemon played to their heart’s content. She had no idea Ponyta lived here. Had she known, she might have considered taking her back. Then again, considering what happened, Ponyta might have either refused to go back or gave the kids a hard time in doing so. She could tell Nurse Joy knew the fire horse Pokemon better than she did, and perhaps she could provide some answers.

“So...what exactly happened?” Caiseal asked. “We saw her chasing this little kid like she wanted to murder him.”

The kids explained what happened in detail, about how Mikey stepped on one of her good legs by accident, and how Ponyta construed the act as deliberate. They ended at the point where Julia managed to successfully catch her. Julia looked down at the Luxury Ball where Ponyta resided. Nurse Joy watched and listened with a solemn yet sympathetic expression. Julia kept her eyes focused on her round, dark pink hair, wondering how she could possibly keep those pigtails in a circular shape. She assumed that maybe she made hair bands that kept them perfectly in place.

“So that’s what happened,” Nurse Joy mused. “This morning, she had wandered off to do some training by herself. She must have gone past the fence.”

They could feel Ponyta’s heated, fierce gaze sizing them all up from a distance. They were sure they could feel flames heating them from the toes up the moment the fire horse turned her head in their direction. As Julia looked back, once again, she took notice of Ponyta’s artificial limb. A perfect conversation starter.

“What happened to her leg?” Julia didn’t mean to be rude when asking this. Innocent curiosity seized her, and a need to consume knowledge of the origins behind Ponyta’s disability took hold before her subconscious could scold her otherwise.

Nurse Joy began the tale by explaining that at first, she had heard from her relatives that trainers they came across were being cruel to a Ponyta. The fire horse had been passed around from trainer to trainer, but none of them treated the horse kindly. It was all word of mouth, and Nurse Joy wasn’t sure if their stories were true or not. Still, the stories always gnawed at her mind. One day, Nurse Joy found a Ponyta drenched in blood and near death, with her leg having almost been ripped off, hanging on by a stretch of skin. There had been reports of Ursaring attacks in the wild, and Nurse Joy was quick to take the mare to safety.

Unfortunately, even though Nurse Joy saved the horse from death, her leg was beyond help. It had become infected from days of a combination of exposure, blood loss, and other factors. It was shredded to the point that repair was absolutely impossible, so Nurse Joy had to amputate it. Her relatives told her to euthanize it, but Nurse Joy refused. Over the course of a few weeks, she saw that that stubborn Ponyta had a strong desire to survive. Ponyta would run around the meadow on three legs, managing to run despite stumbling along the way, always getting back on her hooves. Nothing would keep her down, not even wild Pokemon breaking into the premises and attacking them.

Eventually, Nurse Joy found someone who specialized in making prosthetic limbs, and paid them to make one for Ponyta. At first, the doctor was reluctant, as making an artificial leg for a Pokemon like Ponyta wasn’t a common practice. But seeing the fire horse bleat and gallop and act as though the loss of a leg was merely a blight on her skin convinced him to go through with it. It wasn’t without trial and error: Ponyta was, for the most part, uncooperative. She would sometimes fire Ember at anyone who attempted to so much as go near her, and would often kick and bite. They were lucky she didn’t bite someone’s fingers off or break a few bones with her hooves.

Still, they managed to get the prosthetic leg on her. Ponyta had adjusted to it rather quickly, like she had never lost a leg. But this gesture didn’t endear her to humans much, even though she did eventually learn to let them take care of her, especially when it came to making sure she didn’t get any infections on what was left of her leg.

“Oh wow. That’s some story,” Perrine mused once Nurse Joy finished.

Hearing Ponyta’s tale of woe only deepened the girl’s respect for the fire horse. Even though she was subjected to cruelty and lost a part of her, Ponyta was still so determined to live and be as strong as she could be. Julia respected that kind of determination, and in a way, a pang of envy shot through her. She wished she could be as strong, fierce, stubborn, brave, and determined as the fire horse. Even without her leg, she was still a Ponyta, through and through. The battle they had only cemented that fact.

But Ponyta’s hatred of humans...that was another thing entirely.

‘What can I do?’ Julia asked herself. Considering what happened to Ponyta, she had every right to hate humans. Who wouldn’t hate people after going through what she did? But she caught Ponyta before learning this piece of information. She could plainly see that Ponyta had no desire to interact with any human. How could she possibly be friends with her.

Or maybe...they were not meant to be friends?

Julia shook her head. ‘No! I’m sure she just needs to be shown a little kindness. Maybe she’ll understand in due time!’ Julia told herself. She had seen her mother tame even wild beasts like Ursaring and Pinsir. Julia herself managed to bond with a Gyarados. It didn’t quite work out, but surely it could work with a Ponyta, right?

The kids decided to hang out at the Pokemon Center for the time being. Their Pokemon needed some TLC. Julia and her Pokemon stayed in the fenced off area, watching the orphaned Pokemon frolic and play...but her eyes still fixated on the lonely mare, who stood by herself, grazing and chomping on grass. A flame burned in Julia’s heart. Mustering her courage, she walked right up to the fire horse.

“Umm...hello!” Julia greeted her warmly. Ponyta looked up, giving her a heated glare that made her freeze in place.

“Pfffft!” Ponyta neighed. Julia translated it as, “What do you want, human? Can’t you see I’m replenishing my strength?!”

“I...I’m sorry to bother you…”

“Well, you ARE bothering me!” Ponyta neighed in a harsh tone. Julia could feel the metaphorical arrow pierce right through her heart. Wow, this Ponyta was harsh. A little too harsh. Julia figured Ponyta’s experiences hardened her and she felt the need to become harsh and volatile just to survive.

Still, she felt like she needed to reach out. Somehow. “Nurse Joy told me about what happened to you.”

“Pfffft!” (“I figured. She always does that. Why bother? There’s no point in constantly bringing it up.”)

“Those people who caught you before...they had no right to treat you the way they did. You deserve better than that,” Julia told the mare, her heart aching from recalling Nurse Joy’s story of her past.

For a brief moment, Ponyta fell silent, turning her attention to this girl. She was downright speechless. No human had ever said that to her, and in such a kind tone and manner, for that matter. Could this girl be...different? She shook her head. No. It had to be a trick, she convinced herself. For all she knew, this girl might be planning something devious, like using her for her own ends. She was not going to be used by anyone. Not anymore.

“Pffffft!” (“Yeah. I don’t deserve that. Isn’t it obvious?”)

“Ummm...I brought some food for you!” Julia rummaged through her bag to pull out some Pokemon treats she had bought. “They’re really good! Would you like some?”

Ponyta’s immediate response was to shoot an ember at her. With a yelp, Julia leaped out of the way by two feet, and the flame disappeared in the air. “Hey!” Julia screamed once she comprehended what happened. “I was just trying to be nice!”

“No you weren’t!” Ponyta neighed indignantly. “You’re trying to poison me with that crap, aren’t you?! You humans always put weird stuff in food to make me do your bidding!”

As hurt as she was about the mare constantly comparing her to Pokemon abusers, she didn’t want to let her emotions get the better of her. If she did something stupid, everything would be ruined. “This isn’t poisoned. I don’t even know how to poison stuff, and it’s not right to put weird stuff in food. Even I know that.” She answered.

“Eevui!” Lucretia picked a piece of food out of Julia’s hand and threw it in her mouth. She flashed a big smile the moment she swallowed it. Ponyta raised an eyebrow, giving the evolution Pokemon a quizzical look. Her poison theory was immediately debunked.

“I’ll just leave this here for you,” Julia slowly crouched down to place the food in front of her. “Feel free to have some if you’re hungry. I’ll...see you later,” She figured Ponyta needed her space, so the girl left with her Pokemon by her side. She decided against putting her back in the Luxury Ball. Something inside her told her that Ponyta might not want to spend time with her at the moment, that she needed time to adjust to her new situation.

However, the mare saw this situation differently. Just because that human caught her, in Ponyta’s mind, that didn’t give her any right to claim Ponyta as her own. As far as Ponyta was concerned, she was her own horse with her own dreams and ambitions. No way was she going to let yet another stupid human use, abuse, and break her for their own convenience and amusement. There was no room for making friends in her heart. She had hardened it long ago.

But even hardened hearts, trapped in ice, can thaw with enough warmth.

Julia and her friends stayed at the Pokemon Center sometimes, or would camp out when needed, over the next couple weeks. However, Julia always visited the fenced off area where the orphaned Pokemon played, always coming to visit Ponyta. Sure, Ponyta was legally hers, and she could easily force her back into the Luxury Ball, but Julia wanted to respect the horse’s wishes. One of them, however, would completely throw her a curveball.

About fifteen days after Julia caught Ponyta, the former had visited her first thing in the morning, once again. The moment Ponyta saw the girl come through the gate, she groaned to herself. Why did this girl keep visiting her? Ponyta was sure the girl only had malice and ulterior motive swirling in her heart. In all her life, no humans ever wanted anything to do with her unless they were using her for their own ends. What was this girl trying to pull? Ponyta had enough. She was going to set the girl straight and finally stand on her own four feet. No more horsing around.

“Hi there!” Once again, Julia greeted the horse warmly. “I bought this stuff called PokePuffs,” She opened a grey box, revealing six round treats in varying colors. “My PokeDex says you like spicy stuff, so they’re all perfectly hot and spicy.”

“Hreeeeh!” Ponyta neighed, once again indignantly, getting the girl’s attention. Julia closed the box, seeing that the horse was in no mood for food. Her smile faded instantly.

The mare tapped the ground beneath her with one hoof. “I am going to explain three simple things to you,” Ponyta whinnied, tapping the ground once more. “One: I refuse to be friends with you. I know what you humans are like. You put up these elaborate facades and then turn vicious and cruel when we Pokemon don’t listen to you. I’m not falling for it,” After that, she tapped the ground twice. “Two: You may have caught me, but you have no right to call yourself my trainer. I don’t intend to listen to a word you say to me. I’m solely using you to make myself stronger. There will be no relationship between us but that.”

Everything seemed to stop the moment Julia heard that. She knew Ponyta was stubborn and cynical, considering her past, but...using her? Using a trainer for her own ends? Assuming the absolute worst in her without even getting to know her? Julia couldn’t believe it. She had met people who had done these things. None of the Pokemon she met were like this. No Pokemon she ever met hated humans so much that they’d use them for their own purposes. To say it completely destroyed her view of Pokemon would be an understatement.

By Arceus, she had spent most of her life with Pokemon because most people she met couldn’t or didn’t want to understand her. How could Pokemon be the same way?

“And three, most importantly of all,” Ponyta whinnied, striking the ground with her hoof three times. “I. Don’t. Like. You.”

Julia gnashed her teeth. She had heard enough. She yanked out the Luxury Ball and recalled Ponyta without a word. Her heart had been shattered once again, and by a Pokemon, no less, the being that she always loved, relied on, and worshipped with her heart, soul, and life. Immediately, Geraldine flashed through her mind again. How was she doing now? Was she happy? Was she doing well? Julia didn’t know. She couldn’t handle her.

Already, she was regretting having caught Ponyta.

“Hey, Jule!” Caiseal bounded to where she was. “The PokeCenter has a basketball court! Perrine and I are gonna shoot some hoops in there. Do you want to join us?”

His voice had come so suddenly that Julia yelped, jumping backward just a bit. Caiseal’s merry smile immediately morphed into a surprise frown. “Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No no. It’s okay,” Julia apologized sheepishly, her cheeks turning red from the cold. “And no thanks. I kind of want some time to myself for a while.”

Caiseal raised an eyebrow. That was new. Usually, Julia would never let go of an opportunity to hang out with him and Perrine, especially now that he and Julia were getting along so well now. But he figured she had her reasons and didn’t want to press further. He just smiled and said, “Sure. That’s fine. If anything’s bothering you, don’t be afraid to tell me or Perrine about it. Okay?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

With that, Caiseal left the girl alone. Julia looked down at the Luxury Ball in her hands, wondering and agonizing over what to do.

***

It was a tough decision, but one that Julia managed to come to rather quickly. When the sun began to slowly set, painting the sky with a beautiful orange hue, Julia returned to the spot where she had first met Ponyta, still holding the ball in her hands. She looked down, ruminating. All she ever wanted in life were true friends. Friends who would understand her, play with her, hang out with her, listen to her, comfort her when she was sad, celebrate when she was happy, and never ignore her, be mean to her, tell her to shut up, etc. Pokemon had fulfilled those wishes tenfold, but meeting Perrine and Caiseal only multiplied them.

Ponyta was nothing like that. Just from a few short days, Julia learned that Ponyta absolutely hated humans, and refused to be friends with her. That was fine. But...Ponyta’s second decree was the thing that really made her blood boil. Julia had been used by many people. Mrs. Amoretto used her as a scapegoat for her anger and scoldings because she couldn’t handle her nor understand her. The bullies she met in fourth and fifth grade used her to make themselves feel superior or make Julia feel as though she was a terrible person for not being like them, as most bullies usually did. Now the fire horse she caught wanted to use her for her own ends.

She couldn’t forgive that. At the same time, however, she wanted to respect Ponyta’s wishes. If she hated humans, then why force her to travel with a human? Plus, should she try to, she was sure Ponyta would lash out in ways that she wouldn’t be able to handle on her own.

She already made that mistake with Geraldine. No way was she going to go through that again. For both her sake and Ponyta’s. A good trainer would respect her Pokemon’s wishes and do what’s best for them.

Julia pulled out her PokeDex, pressing some buttons.

“Do you wish to release this Pokemon?” The PokeDex asked in a robotic voice. Before it could elaborate, Julia pressed a large button. The Luxury Ball in her hand glowed in a faint blue light for just a brief moment. “This Pokemon is no longer registered in your name.”

In that instant, Julia let Ponyta out. Instead of a white light coming out of the ball, a blue light had appeared before materializing into Ponyta. As soon as the mare turned to face the human behind her, she immediately noticed the extremely dark look on the human’s face. It was enough to render her speechless. Dark, yet vulnerable, like she was trying really hard to keep herself from crying.

“Ponyta...I’m sorry I caught you,” Julia began, her small voice trembling. “I didn’t realize you hated humans until recently, so...you’re free now. I’m no longer your trainer.”

Did she hear that right? For a moment, Ponyta thought her ears were playing tricks on her. Could this be another facade or a trick? It had to be. But somehow...something inside her told her what Julia was saying was genuine. Not only that, no longer did she feel bound to this human. It was like...she had been freed.

She continued on. “You made it very clear that you hate humans, so I won’t force you to come along with me. That would be cruel. But...I want you to know…” Ponyta could hear the girl’s voice trembling louder. “Not all humans are cruel. All I wanted was to be your friend and shower you with love, something I’m sure your other trainers didn’t give you.”

This new bit of information did nothing to assuage the surprise that completely overtook the mare. Stunned, incredulous silence came right along with it. She was right. The other trainers who caught her didn’t show her any love or affection. They all wanted to use her either as a scapegoat or just something they could show off to their friends, like some kind of museum exhibit.

“I also want you to know this!” Julia suddenly exclaimed, her once small voice rising an octave. “All I want are true friends! I cannot accept your rules, and I refuse to be involved in a fake friendship all based on lies and hatred and...and disrespect! Like you, I don’t want to be used by other people for their own personal gain!” Tears surfaced.

Finally, she took a breath and calmed down. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted. Basically, you’re free now. I’m sorry for not respecting your wishes and decisions. I hope that...you live a happy life. But...Nurse Joy cares for you. She really does. It’s okay to hate humans, me, life, or whatever, she’s done a lot for you. Will you at least...be good to her? If she didn’t care for you, she wouldn’t have helped you the way she did.”

Ponyta could barely neigh. She made a good point.

“So...goodbye!” With that, Julia ran from the clearing, leaving the still stunned Ponyta all alone.

***

A/N: Man, I haven’t updated for a long time. I feel kinda bad for leaving you all in the dust like that. I was originally intending to post this on my birthday (June 25th. I’m 23 now, though I think I’m still going on 12 in my mind…), but lack of motivation and inspiration stopped me from doing so. Also...three words: Story of Seasons. I freaking love this game. Where has Harvest Moon been all my life?!

And...this chapter got long, so expect another 0.5 chapter soon. Hopefully the next update won’t take nearly as long...but that’ll depend on whether my body wants to write or not. Sorry, guys! I know you’re eagerly waiting for the battle with Pryce, but it’ll come soon! Promise!

***

Spoiler: Pokemon Parties

Julia’s Party:

Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Quick Attack, Volt Tackle


Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)

Ability: Anticipation

Attacks: Quick Attack, Trump Card, Bite, and Shadow Ball


Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Serene Grace

Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf


Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Intimidate

Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face


Rina (Nidorina, Female, Bold Nature)

Ability: Poison Point

Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite


Perrine’s Party:

Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)

Ability: Flash Fire

Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack


Florian (Meganium, Male, Gentle Nature)

Ability: Overgrow

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Vine Whip, Body Slam, and Grassy Terrain


Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)

Ability: Cute Charm

Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Body Slam


Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Effect Spore

Attacks: X-Scissor, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain


Fuwari (Skiploom, Female, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Leaf Guard

Attacks: Bounce, Giga Drain, Fairy Wind, and Energy Ball


Chirin (Flaaffy, Male, Adamant Nature)

Ability: Static

Attacks: Discharge, Cotton Guard, Power Gem, Signal Beam


Caiseal’s Party:

Mallow (Marowak, Male, Lax Nature)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash


Apollo (Typhlosion, Male, Bold Nature)

Ability: Blaze

Attacks: Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Rollout, and Smokescreen


Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)

Ability: Chlorophyll

Attacks: Petal Blizzard, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent


Ravenclaw (Murkrow, Female, Hardy Nature)

Ability: Super Luck

Attacks: Wing Attack, Steel Wing, Dark Pulse, and Roost


Heracles (Heracross, Male, Relaxed Nature)

Ability: Moxie

Attacks: Brick Break, Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Endure


Flippy (Quagsire, Female, Jolly Nature)

Ability: Damp

Attacks: Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Mud Slap, and Slam