Pokémon: 11 Deaths: 0

"Well, aren't you good?"

"She certainly is," Saylee said, patting Wendy on the back of the head as the huge insect buzzed back to her trainer's side, leaving an unconscious Teddiursa in her wake. The Teddiursa's trainer, a curly-haired girl with truly improbable-looking heels, scooped her Pokémon up and tottered over to a healing machine set into a flowery tea table. "Are you Whitney?"

"I am!" Whitney was probably older than Saylee, but dressed in a frilly white shirt and shorts that made her look several years younger, and it looked like wearing her shocking pink hair in pigtails was her preferred style. The Clefairy at her heels was wearing hair accessories that matched her trainer's. "So, you wanna earn a club badge, huh?"

"Anyone who beats Whitney gets a club badge and honorary membership," the girl that Saylee had just beaten said, catching Saylee's confused look. "They don't get handed out often!"

"That's right!" Whitney said smugly. "I might look cute, but don't let that fool you! So, who are you?" She beckoned Saylee through another arched doorway to the largest room yet. This one had no couches, no tea tables, no potted plants, just a vast, clear expanse of pink-and-yellow chequered floor with a large purple flower design on the floor at either end of the room, about twenty metres apart. Whitney turned right and walked towards the flower at that end of the room. Saylee headed for the opposite flower.

"I'm Lyra," Saylee said, "and this is Wendy and Toby. I'm here for a battle!"

"Lee, can I have a go?" Tobias begged. "Watching Wendy fight's been exciting! I want a go! I think I can!" He hopped out of Saylee's arms and ran forward to face Whitney's Clefairy.

"He's so cute!" Whitney squealed. "But that won't stop us beating him! Doubleslap, Courtney!"

"Toby, use Metronome!" Saylee ordered, hoping for the best. Tobias had grown a lot stronger, but that didn't help the unpredictability of metronome. He waved his hands and stood completely still as nothing happened. Courtney slapped him twice across the face. "Toby! Wendy, go take over for—"

"I'm fine!" Tobias yelled. "Just… a bit… NOW!"

Courtney had drawn back her arm to slap him again, but the blow never landed. She was blown backwards by a blast of golden-green energy. "Courtney!" Whitney cried. "What was that?"

"Solarbeam!" Saylee cheered. "Brilliant, Toby! Now finish her off with Extrasensory!"

Tobias' eyes glowed purple. Courtney, struggling to her feet, wailed and keeled over again.

"I did it! I WON!" Tobias cried euphorically, jumping up and down on the spot. "My first big battle all by myself and I WON!"

"We saw," Wendy said, flitting over to him. "Very well done, Tobias." Tobias leapt on the spot again and kept on rising.

"Toby?" Saylee said, running over and trying to catch him in the air. Small wings unfolded, brushing past her fingers as she caught him. Tobias threw back his head to cheer and his neck stretched out. "Toby… I think you just evolved!"

Tobias peered down at himself and yelped in surprise. His whole body was now eggshell white, his shell itself gone. The red and blue patterns had remained as patterns on his fine down, something odd between fur and feathers. His neck was elongated, as were his arms and legs, and when Saylee let him go, two little white wings kept him aloft.

"Check it out!" He yelled excitedly, zooming around. "I can fly!"

"Look at you go!" Wendy said warmly as he flew in circles around her, laughing the whole way.

"How cool!" Whitney said excitedly, jumping up and down on the spot. Courtney had vanished, probably returned to her pokéball. "I wonder if it'll help you beat Maci!" She flung out a Great Ball, revealing her second Pokémon.

Saylee recognized Miltank from the herd she'd seen on Boon Island. They were large and sturdy Pokémon whose milk had extraordinary healing capacities. Maci, however, was clearly a fighter rather than a farmer. She was larger and less fatty than most Miltank that Saylee had seen, and her horns were sharper and more prominent.

"I can take her!" Tobias said excitedly, flying forwards. "Let me go again!"

"No, Toby," Saylee said gently, snatching him out of the air. "You've just evolved. We don't know enough about what you can do yet. Just sit tight and let Wendy have first crack at this one, okay?" Wendy nodded and flew to the front.

"Rollout!" Whitney cried.

"Rock Smash!" Saylee countered.

Maci curled up and rolled towards Wendy. As she struck, Wendy smashed at her with one of her steel-hard stings. They passed each other, both looking a little worse for wear. Maci turned and rolled back at Wendy, faster this time. When the two clashed again, Maci was hurt again but Wendy was knocked out of the sky.

"Oooh, it doesn't look like she can take another hit!" Whitney giggled. "And it just gets stronger every time!"

"Wendy, get back!" Saylee ordered. "Georgia, take over!" As Georgia materialized, she gasped at the sight of Wendy flying limply back to Saylee for healing. While she was looking at Wendy, the third powerful strike hit Georgia in the side.

Maci bounced off of the sturdy rock-type and barely left a scratch.

"What was that meant t'be, then?" Georgia asked, staring after her.

"Magnitude, now!" Saylee called. Georgia nodded, slamming her fists into the ground hard enough to shake the whole room. A couple of girls shrieked, and there was the sound of china breaking somewhere behind Saylee. Maci, in the middle of her fourth charge, wobbled off-course as the ground rumbled beneath her. She missed Georgia entirely, slamming hard into the wall instead.

"Finish it with Rock Throw!" Saylee commanded. Georgia immediately struck Maci with a vicious barrage of stones, not ceasing until the large Miltank was out cold.

"Brilliant! Well done, Georgia!" Saylee said happily as Georgia floated back over to them.

"'Ow you feelin', moy love?" she said, watching Saylee spray potion onto Wendy's bruises and slightly bent wing.

"Just fine, thank you," Wendy said gratefully. "I am sorry that I couldn't finish her myself."

"Not a trouble, moy love," Georgia said warmly. "An' look at you, Toby! You are Toby, ain't you?"

"I am! Check it out!" Tobias said proudly, spinning in the air in front of her. "Look! I can fly!"

"No, no, no, no, NO!"

Saylee was shocked to see Whitney return Maci and launch into a tantrum. Fat tears were running down her cheeks while the girl stomped her foot and howled like a child.

"You meanie!" Whitney screamed, pointing at Saylee. "I HATE you!"

Saylee was taken aback. "How old are you?"

"Get out, get out, get OUT!" Whitney sobbed, pointing in the direction of the door. "I HATE you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!"

The girls who had hung around to watch were all shaking their heads. One walked over to talk to Saylee. "This is Whitney's club and she's a really good trainer and all…" she sighed, "but she can be a bit of a baby when she loses."

"How do I calm her down?" Saylee asked helplessly.

"We just wait for her to cry herself out, normally," the girl said with a shrug. Whitney was now lying flat out on the floor, pounding it with her heels and fists and howling. "It can take an hour or two sometimes."

"I'd rather not dawdle that long," Saylee said, walking over to Whitney. She reached down to grab Whitney's arm and hauled her to her feet, ignoring the girl's indignant screech.

"Would you wheesht?" Saylee barked at her. Whitney was so startled that she stopped howling, falling into silent tears and hiccups. "Good lass. Okay, how old are you?"

"It's her twentieth soon," the girl from before supplied when Whitney seemed unlikely to speak. "We're throwing a big party!"

"Twenty-year-olds don't get to bawl like babies!" Saylee said sharply. "Grow up! Your Pokémon need to be taken to be healed properly right now, and so do mine, not left to lie while you throw a tantrum!"

"Well sorry," Whitney muttered sullenly. Saylee let her go.

"Tell that to your Pokémon, not me," she said, holding out her hand. "Now, somebody said something about a badge?"

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"Oh, my!" the flower lady said delightedly when Saylee showed her the bright pin. "You beat Whitney!"

"Nearly got made the new club leader, too," Saylee said, pinning the badge onto her bag strap next to the pass emblems from Falkner and Bugsy. The girls at the club hadn't been able to stop squealing about how "cool" she was for being able to calm Whitney down, and she'd all but had to make Chip throw up a smokescreen to get away. "I'd ask again about the plant formula, but to be honest it's getting pretty dark…"

"I know," the woman sighed, looking outside. "I'm afraid that we're just going to be getting less and less light for the next couple of months. Why don't you stay here tonight? I've got some spare bedding, and…" she smiled at Holly, who was floating happily through the flowers, her own yellow petals brighter than ever. "Your Holly's been telling me all about you, Lyra. My name's Prim."

"Nice to meet you," Saylee said gratefully, shaking her hand. "If it's not a bother…"

"It's not," Prim assured her. "It'll be a boon, actually. Holly seems to love my flowers, and they love her back."

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"Oh, damn… I'm no good at this," Saylee sighed, reaching for an eraser to rub away her drawing. "I'm terrible at this. Red was always better at drawing than me. Professor Oak put some of his drawings of Pokémon in the Pokédex image archive…"

"What're you tryin' to draw?" Chip asked, peering over her arm.

"Toby," Saylee said, pointing her pencil, through the door between the spare room and the shop, at the little white Pokémon flying happily around the room with Holly. Wendy was sipping at a bouquet of daisies while Georgia and Mary chatted about Tobias' evolution. "I want to show his parents what he looks like now… they'll be so proud of him."

"They'll git tae see 'im soon enough, though, aye?" Mary said, looking over. "Soon as you find they Rockets, anyway…"

Saylee's pokégear rang. "It's Mr Pokémon," Saylee said in surprise, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Ah, Saylee! Hope you don't mind my call, my dear, but I've got a piece of news that may be of interest to you."

"Shoot," Saylee said, setting the phone between her shoulder and ear to hold it in place while she continued trying to draw Tobias. "Red or Rockets?"

"I'm afraid there's still no sign of your brother, nor anyone resembling him. His Pokémon are rather distinctive, so unless he's been hiding them…"

"You've said," Saylee sighed. "So, Rockets, then?"

"Possibly, possibly… well, you did ask about anything unusual. Anyway, I don't know if you've heard, but the sickness in the Olivine area is reaching epidemic proportions. It's not natural, whatever it is. On top of that, something odd's going on in the sea around that area… there's a large influx of water Pokémon even as every other type is leaving the area. Might be worth checking into, eh?"

"It might," Saylee agreed. "Thanks a lot. I'm going to try to clear out that copse of Sudowoodo tomorrow, so that road shall be open soon."

"Many thanks, my dear! I shall tell Frederick; it shall be nice for him to know that the path shall be clear before winter arrives. Safe travel!" He hung and Saylee shrugged to let the phone drop onto the bedding.

"So what's goin' on then, moy love?" Georgia asked.

"We're going to Olivine as soon as the path's clear," Saylee said, giving up on the drawing and picking up her pokégear again to read the map. "We'll head west from Ecruteak. It's a few day's travel, but…"

"Ma maw lives in Olivine!" Mary said happily. "Cannae wait tae show 'er I've evolved!"

"I can't wait to show Mummy and Daddy that I can fly," Tobias happily. "Neither of them can fly! I'm like Chaz!"

"I looked up Togepi in the Pokédex," Saylee told him, opening the little red device to show him. "It's only really fairy tales and data it read on you, but it says that the name for flying Togepi is Togetic. Says you bring joy and happiness to good souls and can grant blessings and charms…"

"Cool," Tobias said, flitting around to look at the pictures. Most of them were from old storybooks, pictures of Togetic playing with children and protecting large groups of Togepi. "Mummy taught me some prayers and things, but they're all for guiding the dead…"

"That's very clever," Wendy said. "Of course, I'm sure you shan't need them."

"I certainly hope not," Saylee agreed, digging around to find her dreamcatcher to hang up.

"What is that?" Holly asked. "I saw you putting it away some mornings in the forest…"

"Just… things," Saylee said, straightening the singed pink feather. "Talismans and mementoes. This spoon… it belonged to a Kadabra I trained. The coin was a Hypno, the feather… Pedro…"

"He was a Pidgeot, right?" Tobias said quietly. "Chaz still talks about him. I think he misses him."

"I'm sure he does," Saylee said, running a finger down the soft feather. "I still do."

"They all bit it?" Mary said, looking at the objects. "I'm sorry. That's a sin an' a half."

"It happens," Saylee said, wrapping her arms around Chip and Tobias as they leaned against her for support. But not to you. Never to you.

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"Oi! Wake up!" Mary shouted. When the Sudowoodo didn't move or respond, she looked at Saylee and shook her head. "Nothin' doin'. I had tae try."

"Looks like we have to do this the hard way, then," Saylee said, handing the watering can that Prim had given to them over to Tobias. "Just sprinkle them lightly. We don't want to piss them off too much, just get them to move. But, well, if they do get pissed off…" she looked at Holly, Wendy and Georgia. "You three are the front line, got it?"

"Roight you are, moy love," Georgia said, cracking her knuckles. Tobias flew up into the air and over the copse of Sudowoodo, sprinkling plant mix in his wake.

The effect was immediate. The Sudowoodo began to shudder, wailing and shaking at the touch of the mixture. Most of them began to move out of the way of the mix, wandering in among the thick, real trees that hemmed in the path, but the biggest would not move. Instead, it began to fling the bulbous green rocks that were masquerading as bunches of leaves at Tobias, trying to knock him and the watering can out of the sky.

"Toby!" Saylee shouted. "Holly, use Bullet Seed on the big one! Wendy, back her up with Rock Smash! Georgia, keep the rest moving with Magnitude!"

Georgia dodged around the big Sudowoodo, slamming her fists into the ground. Holly opened fire. The big Sudowoodo shook.

"Go away!" he shouted, flinging rocks at her instead of Tobias. "Let us hibernate in peace!"

"We will once you hibernate somewhere else!" Saylee shouted. "You're cutting off half the continent! People need to get through! Please just move!"

"Hell no! You attacked me!" he shouted, flinging rocks at Wendy and Holly as they attacked him again.

"No, we woke you up," Wendy corrected him. "You attacked us—AAH!"

"Wendy!" Saylee shouted as a rock knocked Wendy down. Her heart nearly stopped as the rock slammed into the ground, pinning Wendy's wing.

"WENDY!" Georgia shouted, turning away from the fleeing copse of Sudowoodo and assaulting the leader. "You ain't gettin' away with that!" She grabbed the large Sudowoodo hard enough to wrench it right out of the ground and flung it away into the trees. She didn't look to see where it had gone, but instead went straight over to Wendy to wrench the boulder off of her wing. "You alroight, moy dear?"

"I am sorry," Wendy muttered as Saylee checked over her wing. "That's the second time in as many days that you've come to my rescue…"

"Always will, moy dear," Georgia said warmly. "T'ain't nothin'."

"Yes it is," Wendy murmured weakly. "Thank you…"

"I'll return you until we can get you to a clinic, Wendy," Saylee said, holding out her pokéball. Wendy nodded, slumping over in Georgia's arms just before vanishing.

"You got to be more careful with her, moy love," Georgia said sternly to Saylee. "Bugs ain't very tough."

"Wendy is," Saylee said, "but you're right. She'll be at her best against psychics or grass types. I'll probably start keeping her in reserve for that."

"Lee?" Chip called from between the trees. "I don't think Wendy's the only one needin' medical help…"

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How in the name of Thor did I get past That Miltank without death? It was damn close with Wendy, but then Georgia rolled in and it was all over. Georgia's generally the one I call in to cover for Wendy when unexpected rock moves happen or Rock Smash doesn't work as well as I'd hoped. Actually, Georgia rescues Wendy a lot. It's pretty awesome.

Also, since s/he reviewed as a guest, I'd like to take this space to thank the enthusiastic Alex for all of your reviews. I'm sorry for absorbing your finals week XD But thank you for enjoying these fics so much (especially the comment about being excited as a five-year-old; that's still a feeling that Pokémon has given me my whole life. It's something I love and something that I hope will always bring this much fun to my life. I'm glad I can bring up that feeling in others :) ) In general, I'd like to heartily thank everyone who reviews. It really does make my day to see that people enjoy reading these. Thank you!