Candela woke with a tickle in her throat, which was unacceptable. She allowed herself to cough no more than twice to ease the discomfort and sat up in bed. The little vulpix that had balled herself into Candela's blankets whined at the motion.

"Oh, boo-hoo, Cayenne," Candela teased, ruffling the pokémon's russet fur. "No time for sleeping in this morning. It's a big day for the lab, remember? First Starter Day we've had since the storm!"

The tickle returned as she swung her feet out of bed, and she coughed reflexively.

"Must have been dry in here last night," she reasoned, massaging her throat. Cayenne tilted her head, and Candela scooped the undersized vulpix into the air, where she held her at arm's length, the pokémon's hind legs dangling uselessly. "Are you ready, my little poké-pepper?"

Cayenne replied with a lackluster squeak, and yawned. Candela placed Cayenne back on the bed, determined not to have her own enthusiasm tainted by a lazy vulpix.

"Maybe I should have let you run out into that storm, huh? Fine, a few more minutes, but then we hit the road."

Candela dug through what she was pretty sure was her clean laundry pile in search of her favorite jacket and leggings. Her apartment existed in a state of constant chaos, just the way she liked it. Her bed was never made, her laundry spent more time out of her dresser than in, and she had all but lost her desk beneath a sea of papers, many stained with coffee rings or obfuscated by doodles. Candela struggled into her clothes and made her way to her kitchen, tripping over a muddied pair of work boots along the way. She didn't mind. At least she'd know where to find them the next time she needed them.

Using the only clear space on her counter, Candela set up her blender and assembled the kale that hadn't wilted in her overladen fridge yet, a mostly brown banana, some chunks of pineapple, and a healthy portion of almond milk. As she pressed on the lid of the blender and let the ingredients whirl together, she told herself that this was precautionary. Just a little health boost. Just to be safe.

Once she'd bottled her smoothie, she pulled Cayenne out of the covers. Cayenne grumbled a little, but snuggled against Candela anyway as they made their way to the door.

"Here we go, Cayenne," Candela said as she locked up her apartment. "Today is going to be a fantastic day!"

§

"Today's just not a good day for this, Candela."

"What?! Professor, you can't be serious!"

Professor Willow held up an apologetic finger and turned aside to blow his nose, which had turned as red as a pikachu's cheek since Candela had last seen him. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for him to finish trumpeting into his tissue. After what seemed to be an eternity, Willow dropped the tissue into an already overflowing wastebasket by the lab's reception desk.

"We can't invite a group of new trainers into the lab while we're all sick. It would be irresponsible," Willow said in a muted, nasally voice.

"But we're finally ready! Our windows are fixed, most of our equipment is back online, we're set!" Candela argued, splaying her arms to gesture to the whole of the lab.

Since a brutal storm system had torn through the town three weeks previous, the professor and his assistants had spent almost every waking moment putting their laboratory back in order. The beautiful, floor-to-ceiling windows that had filled the open-design foyer with light had been shattered by driving winds, and the force of a tornado touching down half a mile from the lab had rattled the foundation. Equipment had been destroyed by the rain let in by the broken windows. It had taken the first week of work just to get the electrical back in order on the ground level.

"No, we aren't ready. I've already sent out a notice via our email list that we're postponing this month's Starter Day until next week." Willow pulled another tissue from a box that featured cartoonish drawings of butterfrees floating over a garden. "I hate to give everyone such late notice, but this virus came out of nowhere." He sneezed into the tissue and murmured an apology.

"What did you mean when you said 'we're all sick'? I only see you," Candela said.

"Heeeey."

Spark's voice – rough and creaky from coughing – rose from behind the reception desk. Candela leaned over the counter and found Spark sprawled across the desk, a pair of tissues stuffed up his nostrils. His faithful raichu, Rutabaga, slumped in the desk's chair.

Candela bristled. "Is the bug affecting pokémon, too?"

"No," said Spark. "Don't let her fool you. Rutabaga's just a mopey couch potato. She thinks we should be at home, resting."

"Shouldn't you be?" Willow asked.

"Rutabaga always thinks we should be at home, resting," said Spark. "Besides, I have to work on my new hatching experiment today. If I miss a day, I'll screw up my data. It shouldn't take me too long, though. Why are you here, Prof? You look pretty terrible."

"Thanks, Spark," Willow said with a weary brand of sarcasm. He rubbed his temples as he spoke. "I have to work on our budgeting. Fixing up the building and replacing equipment ate through most of our emergency fund. I need to do some rebalancing in my office, then I'll probably retreat to my quarters to rest."

Candela scratched Cayenne – who was perched on her shoulder – under her chin as she thought. "OK, so maybe you two are out, but what about Blanche?"

"Blanche!" Willow smacked his forehead with his palm, then pulled out his communicator and began frantically typing away. "I forgot to warn them not to come in this morning. They can't stand germs."

Spark craned his head over the reception counter, propping himself up with his elbows. "I think it's a little late for that, Professor."

Blanche stood outside of the lab's glass doors, holding a carrier tray laden with four coffee drinks. Their sharp eyes assessed the lab through the glass and subtly, almost imperceptibly, widened. Willow pointed at his communicator, prompting Blanche to pull out theirs. After a moment of scanning, Blanche nodded curtly, placed all but one of the drinks on the ground, turned on their heel, and began to powerwalk down the hill. They abruptly stopped, having apparently forgotten something, and returned to the door. They pointed at Spark, then turned around and gestured to their back with their thumb, referencing the injury he'd received during the big storm.

Spark plucked the tissues from his nose and dropped them in the trash. "I'm good, Blanche! Go home! Run for your life, before the virus gets you!"

Blanche scowled at him, but hurried back down the hill, faster than Candela thought they could move without breaking into a full-on sprint. Ever since the storm incident, Blanche had been babying Spark. He'd been badly hurt by some debris, sure, but Candela thought Blanche's degree of clinginess was excessive. Since when had they learned how to care about other people? It was weird seeing Blanche treat anyone with such concern.

"Forget Blanche," Candela said. "I can still run Starter Day on my own. I'm not sick."

Spark rolled off the desk and landed on his feet. "You sure about that?" he asked, crossing in front of the desk and leaning far too close into Candela's face.

Candela pushed him back. "Of course I'm sure! I'm fully prepared to manage the new trainers."

"I meant, are you sure you're not sick?" Spark clarified.

Candela crossed her arms. "I don't get sick."

Spark raised his eyebrows. "So, that little glob of snot right there, that's normal for you?"

Candela covered her nose to keep Spark from staring. "It was brisk outside this morning. My nose is probably a little runny due to the cold."

"Due to the cold, huh? Colds sure will do that to you," Spark mused.

He pulled a few tissues from the box and handed them to Candela. She took them with a snap of her wrist and quickly blew her nose. She wondered if she could get away with punching him in front of the professor.

"Obviously, I'm talking about the weather," Candela asserted.

Spark nudged the trashcan toward her with his foot so she could throw away the snotty tissue. "Gotta hate those chilly summer mornings."

Willow, having finally had enough of the bickering, spoke up. "Regardless of whether Candela is or isn't sick, we aren't doing Starter Day today. I don't care what you two do today, but it won't be that. I'll be in my office."

Candela waited until Willow was out of earshot before commenting to Spark, "I guess colds make someone a little cranky."

"He hasn't been in the best mood this morning," Spark agreed.

"How long have you been here? It's weird for you to be on time, much less early," Candela said. She lifted Cayenne from her shoulder and set her on the counter. The vulpix immediately hopped to the desk so she could swipe at Rutabaga's tail, though the raichu didn't seem to notice.

"I've been having trouble sleeping. Probably the cold." He snorted, and Candela gagged at the sound of the mucus being sucked up. Disgusting. "Sorry. So Rutabaga and I have been drawing up ideas for egg-speriments and hanging out here all night. Did you know the professor hides chips in the reception desk? Well, hid. We got a little snackish."

"Egg-speriments?" Candela repeated flatly.

"Experiments with the eggs."

"No, I understood what you meant, you don't have to explain it."

Spark grinned puckishly. "But egg-splaining it always cracks me up."

"One day, the professor will find your charred remains in the hatchery, and I won't even deny having had a hand in your brutal murder," Candela said with the sweetest smile she could manage.

Spark laughed, but took a step back. "Relax, Candela, I was just yolking. Didn't realize I had to walk on eggshells around you. If you need me, I'll be in the hatchery." He started toward the back of the lab and Rutabaga followed. After a few steps, he paused and added, "With a bunch of water pokémon, in case of fires. And also these tissues, since you don't need them." He reached back and grabbed the box, and then was on his way.

"Good, stay back there in the hatchery," Candela muttered.

She knew exactly what she needed to do. Once she was sure Willow and Spark were gone, she slid behind the desk and unlocked the computer. Cayenne pawed at her hand as she started up the lab's email account.

"I know what I'm doing, Cayenne," Candela said as she started typing into a new mass email. "Starter Day is officially back on."