As soon as the Tailow began chirping the next morning, Kyara was up, bathed and dressed. Her eyes were extra bright as she wolfed down a large breakfast of pancakes, berries and cream, and she was jiggling up and down in her seat. Her family went about making her last morning as pleasant as possible. Kyara fed and groomed Stormheart until his fur glowed. Everyone could tell Stormheart was excited too, as he bounced around behind Kyara with bright eyes and brushed up against all the members of the household. Then, when the time came, everyone flooded down the ramp to the forest floor, including the Pokémon. The loud group made their way through the gigantic trees to the gym. As they passed, other family friends joined what appeared to be the Lazul parade, with much laughter and joking. When they reached the Gym, Winona was leaning against the doorway, a smile plastered on her calm face.

"Are you ready?" she asked. Kyara nodded, although still feeling very nervous. She hadn't challenged Winona since she was around 10, when she had tried to show her older sister she was just as good and was ready to go out on her own too.. She had ended up running home with a battered Stormheart in her arms, crying and begging so she could stay at home.

The group entered the gym and took seats in the stands, each shouting words of encouragement to both Pokémon trainers. They stood facing each other, with a long stretch of newly flattened earth between them. Winona cleared her voice and held up a pokéball.

"This will be a one on one battle. When your Pokémon is unable to battle, you lose," she said simply. She then glanced into the crowd, and smiled. Kyara followed her gazed and also smiled. Her father, Kane, was in the stands cheering her on! She knew her father would make it, and hadn't worried about it. But now he was there, she had to show him how strong she had become.

"Chose your Pokémon," Winona ordered, although it was a little unnecessary. Never the less, Stormheart waited until he was called, standing by his trainer's side.

"Stormheart, show them what you've learned!" she shouted happily, and watched with pride as her young Absol bounded out into the middle of the hall. There were a couple of cheers from the crowd, but the hall quickly fell silent.

"I choose... Swellow!" Winona called out, throwing the ball she held in the direction of Stormheart. After the flash of the pokéball came a fast moving figure. It stopped above the Absol and spread its wings wide. It was an impressive Swellow, with a large wingspan. Its feathers gleamed meanly, showing both the care and effort that had gone into training this Pokémon. Kyara hadn't had much experience with gym battles, but she knew it was to be a tough fight.

Winona made her move first.

"Swellow, Focus Energy! Then Double Team!"

The Swellow began to glow with a light blue aura, as if each feather was luminescent. The Swellow's talons seemed to lengthen and the wing beats became faster. Then the Swellow suddenly multiplied. The bird Pokémon was moving so fast, there appeared to be seven other Swellow surrounding Kyara's Absol. But instead of trying to look for the real Swellow and become dizzy, he stared hard at Winona. Kyara knew they wouldn't find it easy to find the real one, but it had to be done.

"Stormy, sense it!" she shouted, and everyone took this as the name of a move. But Stormheart didn't move. A split second later, the Swellow became one again and it dove straight at the Absol with a Quick Attack order from Winona. As the Swellow dived, the white trail of Quick Attack blocked the view of Stormheart. The whole crowd gasped as the Absol leaped above the bird just in time to avoid the sharp beak.

"Bite!" Kyara ordered. She said this as the Absol leaped, so as he came down, his jaws were wide open and headed straight for the bird. Winona was however, quick to recover.

"Aerial Ace!" ordered Winona.

At this command, the Swellow suddenly became encircled by white streaks and manoeuvred swiftly out of Stormheart's way, whose sharp teeth clicked shut over thin air. Swellow flew up and flipped over for a second dive, this time with its talons spread. The crowd cheered at the display of skill. Unfortunately, Stormheart was not quick enough to dodge. He was hit on the flank, and he rolled a few meters across the earth before coming to a skidding stop. The crowd held its breath for a moment, but as the Absol began to stand shakily, they cheered. He looked battered and dirty though.

"Stormy! You can do it!" Kyara encouraged, and her Pokémon seemed to stop shaking. He stared at the Swellow, who was still hovering where it had last attacked. Kyara knew they couldn't get hit once more. Focus Energy had given the Swellow enormous power, and Stormheart was seriously hurt by that last attack. She had to finish it quickly, and no holding back.

"Quick Attack!" she cried out. Stormheart raced forward, blazing a white energy trail behind him. He zigzagged and came upon the bird quickly, but Winona was ready.

"Fly up!"

The Swellow flew high into the air, nearing the high gym roof. Kyara smiled.

"Aerial Ace!" Kyara ordered. Stormheart, not slowing from his quick attack, used the momentum and leaped into the air. The trail of Quick Attack blended with the streaks of Aerial Ace as the Absol shot towards the Swellow, claws out.

"Roll!" Winona countered. Stormheart came dangerously close to Swellow, but the bird rolled sideways and the attack just missed.

"Now, Stormy! Razor Wind!"

Stormheart's horn suddenly began to glow. He reached the roof and used it to propel himself back down at the Swellow. His horn grew flash-bright before he flicked his head at his opponent, sending a crescent of silver wind flying at the bird Pokémon. Swellow was spreading its wings, trying to regain its sense of balance from its roll and was caught off guard. The crescent collided straight into the Swellow's body, sending it careening towards the ground.

"Finish it with Bite!" Kyara crowed. Because Stormheart was travelling at a much higher speed than the hurt Swellow, he reached it before it hit the floor. He delivered the powerful bite and landed agilely on his four paws and dropped the very large, limp bird to the floor. The Swellow struggled feebly for a few moments before it fell unconscious.

The hall was silent. Then, Kyara's family began cheering as loud as they could. The whole assembly of people applauded as Winona declared Kyara the winner. She picked up her injured Pokémon in her arms very gently and congratulated Kyara.

"That was impressive. The whole thing was over in less than two minutes," she praised. She returned the Pokémon to its pokéball and retrieved something from a pocket. She held out her hand, and Kyara took the badge that glistened there.

"Here is your Feather Badge. You earned it."

Kyara was brimming with pride as she took the badge and held it up into the air. Her aim was not to defeat all the gym leaders and get badges, but it felt good to be presented with one anyway. Stormheart returned to Kyara's side and looked at the shiny metallic symbol of his strength. Kyara thought about looping it onto his bangle, but figured it would just get annoying.

"I'm very proud of you Stormy," she cooed, giving his mane a good ruffle.

"And I you," a deep voice said. Kyara turned to see her father walking towards her with his partner Noctowl on his shoulder. She ran up and gave him a big hug. He looked a little worn out, but he still had enough energy to praise his daughter's Pokémon enthusiastically.

"So, you managed to beat the gym leader. Now you are going to travel on your own. We can see now that Stormheart is more than strong enough to protect you," he said with a smile. He held out an opaque greatball. "This is for you." Kyara thanked him and put the greatball in her bag. The rest of Kyara's family came over and fussed over the badge. When everyone had held it, Kyara pinned it to the collar of her denim vest. Her mother thought it looked good on her. It "brought out her eyes".

"Well, I better be off," she said with a laugh. The group migrated from the stands and to the foyer of the gym. Winona joined the group on its march to the edge of the city near Route 120. Before leaving the cover of the trees, Sasha walked up to Kyara with her Nincada in her head.

"Good luck Kyara. I bet I can get gym badges faster than you!" she challenged. Kyara grinned and ruffled her younger sister's hair.

"No way, short stuff," she laughed, then added with a gentle smile, "I'm sure we'll meet up again soon."

There were many hugs and tears as her family and friends all said goodbye and waved Kyara off on her adventure. Stormheart and Kyara walked briskly, both waving back to the people and Pokémon they had been around for most of their lives. The sky was crystal clear and the sun was shining especially warm that day. Dark, heavy clouds could be seen in the sky behind the travellers as they walked across grassy plains. There was a tail wind, as if nature herself was sending them on their way. Kyara was excited and knew there was to be much more excitement in the future.

Kyara crept through the long grass, Stormheart indicating the direction of the hidden opponent with his horn. There were a couple of wispy clouds covering the sun, so it was much easier for Kyara to hide her red hair. She heard the grass rustle and her eyes caught sight of a shadow creeping through the grass to flank her and Stormheart. She pretended not to notice until it jumped out, and swiftly turned around with Stormheart growling, ready for battle. The Poochyena was surprised, but quickly recovered and took up its familiar fighting stance. The two Pokémon stared at each other a moment. Then the Poochyena howled long and strong. It finished its battle cry and leaped at the Absol with bared fangs.

"I'll not underestimate you again," she said, then shouted, "Razor Wind!"

Stormheart's horn glowed and he flung the white crescent at the smaller Bite Pokémon. The Poochyena had no time to dodge, and copped the attack full in the face. It fell and lay panting on the ground, its eyes shut. Kyara retrieved a pokéball and threw it at the Pokémon with a grunt. The ball bounced on Poochyena and engulfed the entire Pokémon in a flash, but a second later, the Poochyena broke out. The broken pieces of the ball fell from his coat as he struggled to his feet. Kyara gasped. She may have to weaken it further, but Stormheart was still tired from his gym battle. Then she remembered her father's gift. She dug around in her bag as the Poochyena panted and prepared for a Tackle attack. She pulled out the greatball and threw it with perfect accuracy. But instead of engulfing the Pokémon, it bounced painfully off its head and opened. A bright flash heralded the arrival of a Pokémon, which hovered in the air. Kyara gasped as she realised her father had given her a Pokémon, and not just an empty ball. And the Pokémon was some kind of bird Pokémon. It was pretty small, brown, and had a few pale tufts above its triangular eyes. Kyara thought she had seen one like this before, but couldn't remember the name. She just knew it wasn't a Hoenn Pokémon, and it was not very well trained. It flapped its wings and landed on the ground near the Poochyena, seemingly oblivious to it. It just looked happy to be out of its ball.

"Um, bird Pokémon?" she said, trying to get its attention. It just looked around at the long grass with curious eyes. Kyara knew she would have to be more specific and exert authority.

"Hey!" she shouted. The bird Pokémon finally noticed the trainer and flew over. It stopped in front of Kyara and looked up with wide eyes.

"Um, Peck!" she ordered, pointing at the injured Poochyena. The bird Pokémon instantly turned and dove at the opponent Pokémon and knocked it over. Poochyena fell heavily and didn't get up. Kyara threw a second pokéball and this time the Pokémon didn't escape. Kyara picked up the new Pokémon and hooked it onto her belt. She also picked up the greatball and looked at the bird Pokémon. Only then did she notice there was a small roll of paper attached to one of its legs. She picked up the docile Pokémon and pulled the paper off. The Pokémon just cooed and climbed onto Kyara's head. She unrolled the paper and read the message scribbled there.

-Kyara

This is a Pokémon called Pidgey, but you should already know that. On a mission not long ago, I had to rescue a flock of Pidgeotto from a misguided group of trainers. This one was left behind by the flock as it escaped, but she wanted to stay with us Rangers. Her nickname is Zephyr, and she needs a lot of training. But I know you can do it. We are so proud that you defeated Winona.

See you soon, and good luck! – Dad

Kyara's eyes brimmed with tears as she felt the trust her Dad had for her. She nearly kicked herself for not noticing the greatball held a Pokémon, but was proud she had managed to guess one of Zephyr's attacks. And she was excited she had two more Pokémon on her team. She walked with Zephyr on her head to a tree and sat down. Kyara let the Poochyena out of his ball and gave them all berries to eat and recover their strength, carefully waking the Poochyena and tending to its wounds. Soon, it was able to sit up and look around.

"Stormheart, meet Zephyr and Wolfshadow, our newest friends," she introduced, letting the three Pokémon inspect each other slowly. Stormheart gave them a sniff and grinned in his funny way. The Poochyena, who had been named Wolfshadow, gave a happy bark-like sound and scratched his ear with a hind leg. Zephyr stood with her chest out and cooed happily.

The sun was at its highest point when Kyara decided to set off again. She returned all of her Pokémon to their pokéballs and clipped them to her pokéball belt. It felt weird to have Stormheart in a ball, but he needed a rest and she had to continue travelling. She had decided a week before that she would travel to Lilycove first to pick up supplies, and catch a ferry across to Mossdeep to get the gym badge. She really wanted to get stronger, so gym badges were the way to go.

As she travelled alone through the beautiful grasslands, forests and crossed the rivers, she started to regret not going with her sister. Then she reasoned her Pokémon would be able to travel with her soon enough. Kyara crossed another bridge and admired all the fish in the water below. She could see a Wingull circling in the sky above and the trees were swaying in the light breeze. It was such a beautiful day...