"Kotosei, do you have the fabric I asked for?" Blossom called through the gym.

"I'm coming!" I called back, running with the huge thing of fabric I was told to get to the warp panel that took me to the bathroom, and then to the sewing room. Blossom was waiting for me. "Here you go."

She looked at the fabric. "Dear, I asked for the dark pink. This is the hot pink."

I groaned inwardly. "I'm sorry. Let me go get the right one."

"No, no, you have other errands to run. Remember Valerie asked you to go to the Poke Mart and get some antidotes and super potions."

"Right. Sorry." I took the warp panel to the entrance hall, and quickly left for the Pokemon Center.

I straightened my furisode. I had made it myself, making it almost sleeveless, with a bit of fabric attached that flowed down and attached to my wrist, still giving it the look of a furisode.

I hurried inside and went to the Poke Mart. "Hey, can I ten antidotes and ten super potions. They're going on Valerie's tab."

"Sure thing." He ducked under the counter to get the items.

Someone in a wheelchair rolled up next to me. "Excuse me, do you have any dusk balls here?"

"We do not," the clerk said.

I was surprised he hadn't reacted to the person. I was staring at her in surprise. She looked at me. "Can I help you?"

My mouth opened, but no sound came out. I was too stunned. The person in the wheelchair wasn't a person at all, but a gardevoir. I didn't know what was weirder: the fact she was in a wheelchair or the fact that she talked.

I finally pulled myself together. "I'm sorry. It's just that I work at the gym here, so I'm very interested in fairy types."
"Oh really? Would you mind taking me there? I've always been curious about the fairy gym."

I nodded. "Sure. Do you need any help?"

"No," She backed up without touching the wheels, and she started rolling towards the door. "Coming?"

I nodded, grabbing my items then leading the way to the gym. I was a little curious about her. Why was she in a wheelchair? And if she could move the wheelchair psychically, why didn't she just float around using the same power?

I walked in the front door. "Blossom! We have a guest!"

Blossom appeared in one of the warp tiles. "Who is it?"

"This is...um..." I realized I didn't know the gardevoir's name.

"I'm Samantha."

Blossom was thrown off by her as well. "Uh, nice to meet you. What brings you to this gym?"

"I simply wish to take a look at the gym."

"Blossom, who's at the door?" one of the other girls, Kali, called from somewhere in the gym.

"A guest named Samantha. She's taking a tour of the gym." She led us to a warp panel. "Well, let's get started, shall we?"

We toured the gym, Blossom guiding us through all the rooms. It was a good thing she was doing it. The warp panels really confused me. Soon we were in the battle room, Valerie standing with the other furisode girls: Kali, Linnea, and Katherine.

Valerie lit up when she saw Samantha. "Oh, what a pleasant surprise! A pokemon without a trainer."

Samantha scowled. "Don't get any ideas, fairy freak. I don't plan on being captured."

She frowned. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I guess I didn't word it very well." This surprised me. Valerie was great with words. "I meant that you are a pokemon who doesn't need a trainer. What brings you to Laverre City?"

"I'm on my way to Santalune City, where I'm meeting a friend of mine, and I thought I would visit the gym."

Katherine couldn't hold back her question. "Why are you in a wheelchair?"

Blossom scowled at her, but Samantha answered. "My legs are paralyzed, and not from a pokemon attack. So I'm confined to a wheelchair. Though don't underestimate me: I am a fierce fighter."

"Really?" Valerie said. "Would you mind having a battle with one of us?"

Samantha shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Katherine had her pokeball out in a flash. "I'll battle! I've been training hard with Slurpuff, and am ready for some action!"

Valerie nodded. "Then it'll be a one on one battle. Are you sure you'll be okay, Samantha?"

She smiled wickedly. "You have no idea."

She went to the other side of the battlefield, facing Katherine. The rest of us went to the sidelines. Blossom was going to be the referee.

"Alright, Slurpuff, let' do this!" Katherine let out her pokemon. I was rather interested in seeing how this went. They had been training really hard.

Katherine made the first move. "Use draining kiss!"

Slurpuff darted forward, trying to get close to Samantha. She sped away, her wheelchair moving at an increadible speed, drifting like a racecar. Blue flames formed around her. "Go, will-o-wisp!" She swiped her hand through the air, and the flames rained down on Slurpuff. He was burned.

"Hang in there!" Katherine called. "Use thunderbolt!"

Electricity flew from Slurpuff, but Samantha flew into the air, somehow managing to jump with her wheelchair. She held her hands out. "Go, psychic!" Slurpuff flew into the wall, and then was dragged a ways across the floor.

"Play rough!" Kathrine called.

Slurpuff, despite his great injuries, flew forward, managing to make it on top of Samantha. Dust swirled around them from Slurpuff's fast movements. This was good. Gardevoir's didn't have very good defense.

There was an explosion, and Slurpuff flew out from the cloud of dust. Samantha was breathing heavily. "Time to finish this." She held her hand up. A faded image of the moon appeared behind her, and an orb of pink energy appeared in her hand. "Moonblast!"

She fired the attack at Slurpuff, who couldn't move out of the way. It was a direct hit, and he went down. "Slurpuff is unable to battle," Blossom declared. "Samantha is the winner!"

"Good job, Slurpuff," Katherine said. "Return."

"That was awesome!" Kali said. "Where did you learn to fight in a wheelchair?"

"You learn how when you have to," Samantha said, rolling over. "It was fun, but I do need to go."

"May I ask a favor of you?" Valerie said.

"What is it?"

"I know it's a bit strange, but would you mind taking Kotosei with you?"

I blushed. "Oh, she doesn't need to drag me along."

"Nonsense," Valerie said. "You are always so nervous around the gym. A change of scenery will do you good. Go on an adventure. Whenever you are back in town, we will battle to see how much you have improved."

"Not a bad idea," Linnea said. "She always has been the adventurous type."

"I'm okay with her coming," Samantha said. She smiled at me. "Come on. We should be able to reach Lumiose by tonight." I nodded, following her out of the gym, secretly excited to be going. I was ready for adventure, and was going to be ready to battle Valerie when we got back.