Doggone it, it took about three months to update again! Maybe that's just how fast I work. Uh, but don't hold me to that. ;)

So here, finally, is the long-awaited next chapter! Is Lessien going to be okay?

Thanks to WildCroconaw and Teraunce for reviewing! Especial thanks to my loyal reviewers Foxyjosh and Felix the Eeveetrainer! I love having my work acknowledged. Tasty Pokeblocks for you all!

These next few months are going to be hectic for me, but I'll try to keep working on this whenever I can.


Chapter 7: Eevee Dreams and Troubling Things

Recap: Merenwen and Yuina are waiting in Oldale's Pokémon Center after a fierce battle with Team Rocket! Most of their Pokémon seem fine, but why won't Lessien wake up?!

Merenwen fretted in the Pokémon Center waiting room, alternately sitting edgily in a chair, checking the PC to see if Professor Birch was in his lab yet, and pacing around nervously upon finding he wasn't. Yuina watched her and eventually made her sit and told her to calm down. "Stressing out won't help your Pokémon," she said sternly.

"I know," Merenwen said, wringing her hands. "I just need to talk to Professor Birch. Team Rocket found us already..."

"Already? Why is Team Rocket looking for you?"

Merenwen started, realizing she hadn't had time to tell her new friend the whole story. She calmed down long enough to relate how she came across Lessien and Professor Birch's analysis of the Eevee's condition.

"...so I knew they would find us some time. I just hoped it would be when we were stronger," she finished worriedly.

"That Team Rocket!" Yuina scowled. "They've been operating much too openly lately! I thought they disbanded years ago."

Merenwen shrugged. "Well, I heard their boss never was captured."

The two sat in silence for a while, until Merenwen's antsyness got the better of her. "I'm going to go check on the Pokémon," she said, leaving Yuina to wait.

She found Shiori and the Ralts resting together in a room full of medical equipment. They were chatting, despite the Chansey nurse's efforts to get them to quiet down and rest. The two seemed fine; Shiori had a small patch on its side, and the Ralts' arm was wrapped in bandages, but they were otherwise healthy. Merenwen sat down near them and was soon praising Shiori's efforts in the battle. "I think that last attack you used was Energy Ball. You finally managed it!" Shiori barked cheerfully and ran around on its table in happy circles. The Ralts watched their conversation shyly. "And Ralts," Merenwen addressed it, causing it to jump and fidget nervously. "I'm sorry you got injured. We didn't mean to involve you in our fight."

"R-ra, ra ralts!" it stuttered, waving its arms as if trying to say 'don't worry about it!' It winced when it stretched its bad arm too far.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Merenwen asked concernedly, taking its arm and gently putting her hand over the bandage. The Ralts blushed, looking embarrassed.

"Merenwen!" Yuina rushed into the room. "You were trying to get Professor Birch on the phone, right? He's back in his lab now and he got your message! He's on now!"

"What!" Merenwen yelped, startling both Pokémon and earning a glare from the Chansey. "Thanks, I'll be right there! You two take it easy!" she directed this last bit at the injured Pokémon as she raced from the room.

She flew to the PC. "Professor Birch!"

"Merenwen, whatever is the matter? Your messages seemed very urgent."

"We were attacked by Team Rocket!" she told him immediately.

The professor's normally smiling face grew serious. "So soon? Oh my...are you all right?"

"Yes. Yuina helped me out," Merenwen gestured to her friend, now giving her own Pokémon to a Chansey.

"I see. That's very lucky, then. I was going to tell you next time you called that it might be a good idea for you to find a more experienced Trainer with whom to travel until you're strong enough to withstand Team Rocket's attacks on your own."

"Someone to travel with?" Merenwen had heard of Trainers traveling in groups, but she hadn't really considered it before. Given her situation, though, it would definitely be a good idea. "Hmm...that would be good, I'll have to ask her. Yuina's really strong! You should've seen how she handled Team Rocket..." She proceeded to tell the professor the details of the battle and the close call with Lessien's kidnapping.

"...and oh yeah! At the end, Shiori, my Vulpix that I got from this nice old lady a while ago, used a Grass-type move. But Vulpix are Fire-types. Do you know how it might be possible for it to use a Grass-type move, Professor?"

"Ah, well," the professor said, startled by the sudden question, "generally speaking, there are Technical Machines that can be used to teach Pokémon moves...I'm not an expert in that area, but it may be that your Vulpix's previous owner taught it a Grass-type move that it wouldn't have ordinarily learned."

Merenwen considered Miss Watson's level of involvement with her Pokémon, and shook her head. "I doubt she would have taken the time to teach it any moves..."

The Professor considered. "Well, I suppose it could always be an Egg Move."

"Egg Move?" Merenwen repeated.

"When a male and female Pokémon breed, if the male has certain moves, the offspring may know them automatically. That is, they are born knowing the move. For some Pokémon, that's the only way for them to learn a given move."

"Huh," Merenwen said.

"But back to Team Rocket. So in the end they ran off?"

"Yeah, but they said they'd be back," Merenwen fretted.

"I've no doubt they will be," Professor Birch said grimly. "Just keep your eyes open, stay around other people whenever possible, and maybe eventually they'll get tired of chasing you."

"Okay..." Merenwen sighed. She didn't like the idea of just running, maybe for her whole life. Wasn't there something she could do to get them off her tail?

"Ack!"

Merenwen looked up to see a disturbance on the screen. A large purple Pokémon with big round ears was stomping around and making a racket. "Professor Birch, what's wrong?"

"Oh, a Trainer sent - whoa! - their Loudred here, and - nono don't throw that - I think it's a little - no, not that it's very delica-aagh! - upset!" he finished. "Merenwen, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to go - no don't use Uproar - " The screen went suddenly blank.

Merenwen stared at the PC in bemusement for a while, then turned her mind back to the problem at hand. She looked around for Yuina, and spotting her waiting on a couch, walked over. She walked slowly, thinking carefully about what she wanted to say. She didn't want Yuina to feel obliged to go with her, and she didn't want to seem like a weakling in need of protection, but she knew that she could really use the help of a more experienced trainer, and she would appreciate it. She just had to find the right words to explain.

Yuina looked up as she approached and smiled, putting away the magazine she'd been reading. Merenwen smiled back. She sat down next to Yuina and took a deep breath, deciding to just go for it. "Say, Yuina, we - "

"I've been thinking," Yuina cut her off. "If those Team Rockets are after you, you're going to need help. I mean, I sure wouldn't want to be facing those guys all on my own," Yuina smiled at her. "So, what do you say? Would you like to travel together?"

Merenwen stared at her for a second, and then her face broke into a smile. "I'd love to." She couldn't express how grateful she was that this relative stranger would take time out of her own journey to help her.

Yuina glanced at her watch. "It's getting late. Why don't we ask Nurse Joy for a room? We can continue our journey tomorrow when our Pokémon are well rested."

Merenwen grinned. "Okay!"

Later that night the two were getting ready for bed when Merenwen thought of something. "Hey, maybe that Ralts we helped will want to travel with us! So you'll have found the Pokémon you were looking for!"

Yuina smiled. "That would be nice." She removed her glasses and lay down. "Goodnight, Merenwen."

"G'night," Merenwen replied. She lay in bed for a long time, thinking about their close call today. I have to protect Lessien better. We'll train even more seriously from now on, she vowed.

Eventually her thoughts wound down, and the exhausted young Trainer dropped off to sleep.

-.-.-.-.-

Cold. A cold table. I can feel it through my fur.

Light. Too bright! It hurts my eyes.

Voices. I can't move. Something holding me down. The voices are closer.

Light. It flashes. What is that? What is he holding?

I squirm. I have to get away. It's going to hurt. No. Go away! No!

In the Pokémon Center observation room, Lessien twitched and mewled in its sleep, making small, pawing movements. The night-shift Chansey glanced worriedly it, then looked back at the screen and shook its head. Nothing appeared to be wrong with the little fox, but for some reason it just wouldn't wake up.

Merenwen awoke suddenly in the middle of the night, breathing hard. At first she didn't know where she was, but as she looked around and recognized the Pokémon Center room, she slowly began to calm down. She raised her hand to her head, frowning. Was I just...in a lab of some kind? Was that a dream? She shook her head, trying to clear the confusing thoughts. It felt like...I was tied down to a lab table... She couldn't think of any explanation for the odd feelings and...memories? floating around her mind. After a moment she lay down again, and quickly fell asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she had no recollection of the strange dream.


Dun dun dunnn!

Oops, we didn't actually find out if Lessien's going to be okay. ^_^' I promise you'll know next chapter. Also next, the Rocket grunts get in trouble for failing! You could almost feel sorry for them...not.