Ace trainer Bethany is making every effort not to cry. I feel bad for her in a way, in another way I'm jealous. She'd made it all the way to Lance; she'd done every move from Will to Karen correctly. Unfortunately for her, Lance's team of dragons had swept her off her feet. She'd only made it through three of his pokemon. I sweep my hand absentmindedly across my carpeted floor for my notebook. My dream team notebook. I don't know why I have it, why I keep statistics on the elite four teams and Lance as well. I'm well past the age of the average beginning trainer. At eighteen, my time has passed to begin. I'd been taught to groom pokemon, not fight with them.

When my fingers don't set on the notebook, I panic. My mother doesn't know of my habit. She's been rambling every chance she gets about how proud she was I'd decided to walk in her footsteps instead of my father's. He's strolling throughout Unova to catch more pokemon at this very moment. As a groomer, I could stay here, in Cherrygrove while my mother flies to Goldenrod every other day or so, while I very rarely, groom the pokemon Professor Elm has in his lab for research.

He had told me that my work may or may not have an effect on when a pokemon would evolve. I'd been grooming an eevee last time. But it has been a couple of weeks since then.

I move onto my knees, searching under my bed for my notebook. I usually keep it with me when I watch the latest league battles. Finding only an old shoe and dust, I scramble across my royal purple sheets. I look to my beloved pet vulpix, sleeping on my pillow. My mother had a ninetales before I was born and so when I was six, ninetales added a vulpix to the family. The vulpix line had been in my family since my great Grandfather. He had had made it to the league, just like ace trainer Bethany. I'd always heard he won, but chose not to become the residential champion, as they had supposedly begged. I myself, think the story a bit farfetched.

All the women from my mother's side were groomers and breeders. I felt like I would break some kind of code if I decided to be a trainer, especially now. I unceremoniously pick up vulpix, her coat still silky and shimmering from the bath I'd given her earlier. She growls lowly at me and bounces out of my grip to the other end of the bed to curl her warm tails over her head to block out the light. I flip my pillows in and out and search inside the satin pillowcase; I usually hid it inside when I'd be writing half awake at night.

Nothing.

My mother was out today in Goldenrod, so I had at least an hour to locate it, unless trainers were giving slow business. Thunder cracks outside.

Or a storm shows up.

My room's a mess before the realization that the notebook was on the counter downstairs in the kitchen hits me. I fly down the stairs, causing Minnie, Mom's ninetales to look up from her bed in the living room with her red eyes glowing in the darkness. I slide to the kitchen only to find the light on.

My mom is browsing through my book.

I immediately snatch it from her. "Mom! You can't just look through my stuff! It could be private!" I accuse, trying to turn the tables, since I didn't know how far she'd gotten.

My Mom throws her long brown hair up into a messy bun like she always does when she gets home. She opens the cabinet, wagging her butt like a teenager and begins her mockery, "Hey Mom! I'm glad you made it home before the storm started. I already started dinner, so in case the power goes out we won't have to eat something cold."

I frown, "I just gave Minnie and Trixie baths today."

She pulls out a small grill, and the few chicken strips she'd instructed me to thaw out. She sprinkles some seasoning across the chicken and squishes them between the grill. "And after that?"

I'm about to answer when she pulls out a bagged salad from the refrigerator. "The League came on, right? I heard she almost made it."

I shrug, "If you count making it past two of Lance's pokemon almost. He had more than half his team left."

Mom continues to stir various sauces into the green leaves. My nose itches under the various seasonings. The spices overpower the scent of the wonderful green vegetables in the bowl. I have to stick my finger under my nose to keep from sneezing. While watching my mother beat up the salad, I feel very small and the room becomes increasingly hot. "I think you could do better than she did."

My mother avoids my gaze, moving to check the chicken, which isn't quite done. She flows into her room to change into checkered pajamas and a white shirt. I realize we match, with the only difference being my teal blue to her crimson red. I take the chicken off the grill myself and slice the thick strips into smaller ones. I can't look at my Mom. It's not until we sit at the island counter that she speaks again.

"I saw the very last page. The one where you'd figured out the type weaknesses to every pokemon in the League. I'd saw where you'd started creating a team. How do you know where all of these Pokemon are located? How to get them? Where to start?"

I stab a strip of chicken, but I don't eat it. "Why are you asking all these questions, Mom?"

She takes my hand, so I let my fork go. "I know you must think you have to be a groomer just like me. I know, because you've told me many times, you don't want to leave me home alone since your Dad is gone." Mom's eyes are glimmering with unshed tears. My throat is tight. The kitchen is only getting hotter under her melancholy gaze.

She leaves, coming back from her room again with a small beat up album. She hands it to me, gesturing for me to look through it alone. The first picture is of a young girl with a French braid down her back, wearing a crimson trainer outfit. She's holding a vulpix tight against her chest. I know it's my mother with Minnie, before she evolved. They're out at the coast of Cherrygrove. I flip to the next picture. It's Mom and Minnie with a pidgeotto, which I can only trust to be Talon, the pidgeot my mother has to fly on to Goldenrod.

A few pages later, Mom is at the lake of rage with an ampharos, staryu, stantler, ninetales, and pidgeot. I flip the page again to see a picture of my mother sitting on a couch in a pokemon center, beside a dark haired young man with bright green eyes. My father, he hasn't changed much.

"I met him in Mahogany Town. I never could beat Pryce. I don't know why, but by then I knew being a trainer wasn't really my thing, either. I followed your father to Blackthorn and to the league. He really almost won, but not quite. He tried a few more times, but he realized being the champion just wasn't in his deck of cards. He came back here and the rest of the story is pretty boring and you know most of it."

I flip through the pictures, looking at the young trainer that was actually my mother. "What happened to your pokemon?"

My mother hums, gazing over my arm to look into the old pictures. I know she looks at them often. The beat up state of the album was enough to tell me so. "I released them when I found out I was pregnant with you. I knew I wasn't going on any more journeys with you on the way. I didn't want to keep them when I'd have my hands full. I just couldn't part with Minnie or Talon. Minnie had been a part of my life since I was little. Talon was the first pokemon I'd ever caught myself; I couldn't bear to see him go."

I close the book, looking at Minnie who is watching us with glowing red eyes like usual. I look at the stairs, knowing Trixie is still fast asleep on my pillow. She sleeps among the dead after a bath.

We eat dinner in silence while the power continues to flicker until it finally goes out as expected. Minnie graciously sparks a flame on a candle. We move to the couch, surrounded by the glow of burning candle wicks. "I wonder how Dad's doing…" I murmur. He hadn't called since he left whatever city had a normal type gym leader. I can't remember its name. I didn't think I needed to; I'd never go to Unova. Well, unless Mom decided to move anyway, which she'd already expressed her disinterest.

Trixie finally hops down the stairs and right onto the back of the couch, half sliding and half falling onto the back of my neck to curl into a ball. She's warm, I welcome the comfort she offers. She's good for keeping my head warm in the winter months.

"Sweetie, do you want to go out and be a trainer?"

Typical Mom, she doesn't beat around the bush for long.

I play with the tail that's tickling my collarbone, twirling the almost burning vulpix tail around my index finger. Trixie responds by swatting it in my face before moving it to rest with the rest down my shoulder. "I'm too old now and Trixie wouldn't know what to do. I always incorporate her into my team in the books... Which would be my first mistake; the elite four hardly has any pokemon that would be weak against fire types."

Mom waves her hand viciously, causing the tiny flames on the candles behind us to tremble. "That's where you are wrong, honey. Statistically, you're right. It would be a lot harder to use her, but not impossible! Minnie was my best pokemon. When I started training her, I realized I didn't even need a starter pokemon from New Bark Town. Minnie and I grew up together, just like you and Trixie. Your bond with her will be stronger than anything. Yes, you will lose. But you'll win a lot more, especially here in Johto. A lot of the gyms can be a breeze if you train her right. Remember, Trixie was specially bred. She'll have more moves than your everyday vulpix!"

I dig my bare toes into the carpet, stinging my skin with burns. I pop my fingers nervously, while reality sets in. Was my mother encouraging me to become a trainer? Did I really just find out my mother had once been a trainer herself, while all these years I'd only heard her speak of grooming, breeding and the lot? The fruity, flowery aroma of the candles lightens the air, burning a permanent memory in my head. I'll never forget a single detail of this night.

"I'm not giving you a choice. You need to get out, realize if it's really what you want. Your grandmother did the same thing to me. I never really had much doubt I wanted to be a groomer, but you… Sweetie, I think this is what your calling is. I'll call Professor Elm in the morning to ask him for that totodile I saw on your team. Okay?"

I watch her for several minutes, her face is smooth and her eyes are a beautiful bright blue even in the dark. "But Mom..."

She huffs, "Don't argue with me. You may be eighteen, but you still live here with me. I'll just go to work more often. After all, once you get to Goldenrod you'll be able to see me. You know the rules your father has; you have to call me when you reach a city. Now go to bed! The power will be out for a few hours at least."

Hesitantly I rise from the couch, making sure Trixie is balanced on my neck. With a candle I ghost up the stairs and onto my bed. I lie awake for hours, hugging Trixie close and day dreaming of my future until I fall asleep.

Something isn't right. I can't place it. Tense? I have a problem with tense. Boring information? That I'm pretty sure about. I don't know why I can't put my writing expertise into fanfiction. I'm a horrible human being. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, well… Why did you read this far?