We could hear the yelling before we even got to the main room of the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy was letting Mom and Randall have it.

"Do you know how dangerous it is for a child to wander alone outside of a town or village? What sort of parents are you that you let her wander alone! This is one reason ten year olds become trainers in the first place, to cope with irresponsible parents who would sooner let their children wander off to their death for the sake of doing what exactly?!"

"Well, Joy, you see, I'm not actually her fa—"

"That's MISS NURSE JOY to you!"

With Clark on my shoulders and hugging my head, I went to the main room. My mom was rubbing her temples. "We were out. Eating lunch. We let her play on her own all the time back home and she's fine. How were we supposed to know she was going to get attacked by a Pokémon? We were in the mall."

"In the mall. Which is on Route Nine. Which is filled with Pokémon. And she was stalked by a Ghost Pokémon who isn't even from around these parts! How did you not notice? Don't you pay her any attention at all?"

"Of course I pay attention to her," my mom said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't know she wanted to be a trainer. We turned her down so she didn't get into this sort of trouble in the first place."

"Let me get this straight," Joy said, her hands on her hips. "You didn't let your daughter become a Pokémon trainer because you didn't want her to get into this sort of trouble, but then she ended up getting in that sort of trouble anyway, and when she asked for help, you let her come here all on her own?"

"She's mature enough to know the way here."

"She had her life energy sucked out of her by a Litwick!" Audino punctuated Nurse Joy's point with an Audino! "What were you so busy doing that you couldn't save a Pokemon, no less your own daughter?"

"We were eating lunch. She knew the way here obviously or she'd be dead, wouldn't she? My daughter isn't stupid."

Any swelling of pride in my chest from my mother's vote of confidence was quickly knocked out of me by Nurse Joy. "She's a child, she could have died. An adult could have died from that sort of attack. That her or the Elgyem accompanying her lived is a miracle as it is, and that your daughter lived long enough to even have it happen I'm starting to see was also a miracle!"

My mother's face flushed furiously in fury. "Do you want to repeat that?"

Randall looked between my mom and Nurse Joy who were having a stare down, panic evident on his face and his movements which made the shopping bags he held rustle. My mom and Randall weren't the best parents. Randall was only my parent through legality, kind of. He was married to my mom and all. I came over. "I am okay, though." That broke their stare down. "Nurse Joy and Audino both took very good care of me and my friend."

"Olivia Riches, you cannot intend to keep that Pokémon, you're not a trainer."

"I'm not a trainer. He's not my Pokémon." My mother calmed at my words, only to tense up when I continued, "He's my friend and I'd like him to be around me all the time, but that's his choice, not just mine."

Before my mother could get a word in, Nurse Joy gave an unusual laugh, nearly haughty. "Ohoho! Is that how she's managed to survive so long? The Riches family fortune? How lucky it is she didn't turn out like the rest of you."

"Eh?" I looked up at Nurse Joy in confusion.

"Susan," Randall said to my mom. "It's best we just take Olivia and go. It's not right to fight or argue."

"Susan? THE Susan Riches? Have you told your daughter how wonderful you were to your Ursaring?" Nurse Joy said, a nearly malicious smile on her face.

"What? Ursaring? My mom never had an Ursaring. Only a Teddiursa." I said, eyes glued onto the nurse in confusion.

"All the nurses know what happened to that Ursaring, Susan Riches."

My mom grabbed my wrist and began to drag me. "We're going to the airport and going home," she said simply. "Come, Randall."

"Randall? At least you were a decent trainer. I hope your Roggenrola is doing well," Nurse Joy commented as my mom pulled on me.

"Randall doesn't have a Roggenrola or any Pokémon," I said as my mom pulled me out and Randall followed closely after. The last thing I saw of the Pokémon Center was the look of confusion and perhaps horror on Nurse Joy's face. I managed to get my wrist from my mom's hand. Everything felt off. "Mom. You never had an Ursaring. Randall. You don't own any Pokémon and never have."

"That's right, Olivia," my mom said.

"One hundred percent correct," Randall agreed.

"So then why are you acting weird?"

They were silent. Elgy Elgyem. Clark sounded scared, even in his speaking to me, "They have scary thoughts right now. I don't like it."

"What did it say?" Randall asked briskly.

"He. Clark. His name is Clark. And I don't know what he said, do you?"

"No," Randall responded. "Clark is a pretty bad name for a Pokémon, especially an Elgyem." I could feel Clark slump against my head at Randall's comment.

"It's a fine name," my mom said. "More important than Pokémon or names is getting to the airport. We're done shopping, may we never return to this twisted city."

Elgy? "Why did you lie?"

I lied because I was scared. Because I didn't understand what that Nurse Joy was talking about. Was Nurse Joy crazy? I knew everything about my mom and she never mentioned an Ursaring. And Randall owning a Pokémon? He didn't even have friends, I couldn't see him managing to have a Pokémon as a friend or as anything, at least not if that Pokémon had a choice.

"I think that you learning at the lab will be good for you, Olivia. It will be good for you to have a chance to get to know your dad better and for you two to bond. You must be very excited about working with science and technology, and getting the chance to meet extinct Pokémon," my mom said offhandedly.

"Um… yeah… I'm looking forward to it," I said. I was before. I wasn't so sure anymore. But I knew it was too late to change my mind.