Serena wiped the sweat from her brow. There wasn't a whole lot of shade to be found, and the sun was beating down mercilessly upon her. It was at the point it was beginning to interfere with her training. She was almost out of drinking water, and soon, she would have to run back to the pokemon centre for more supplies.

None of that was putting a damper on Fen's spirits though. She'd perched on her trainer's shoulders to enjoy the fresh air, and refused to let anything interfere with her pseudo-vacation. Not even battling. Odd, in Serena's opinion, she'd always seemed to enjoy that. At least some of her other pokemon were getting a chance to shine.

Bubbles had swept in a lot of her matches, although that was probably due to the fact most of the animals around here were fighting-types. Starman, and oddly enough, Rolo, hadn't been anywhere near as successful. The little combee hadn't been able to take a single hit without being knocked out. She understood why her zigzagoon would have trouble, but a flying type? She hoped he'd evolve soon. Maybe then he'd be a decent battler.

She sighed. Was she being too hard on him? Most bug-types weren't exactly known for their combat prowess, at least, not at first. She supposed she could leave him at a daycare. Some gentle training might help him build up some stamina

Or was that being lazy?

Frustrated, she stomped down the trail, searching for another battle. She felt certain victory was at hand: with all the experience her pokemon had gained, someone had to evolve soon. All they needed was one last good fight. And what should come sauntering out of the bushes but that?

It was another eevee, or so she thought, and it seemed like he wanted a fight. Having no intention of wasting an opportunity like this, she sent out Starman.

The fight was quick. Before she could even open her mouth to give an order, her zigzagoon had tackled eevee to the ground. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn't seem to knock Starman off. All the while, the raccoon was biting and scratching.

By the time eevee finally managed to strike back, he was bleeding. Zigzagoon leapt away, cradling his paw. The wild pokemon lashed his tail back and forth, clearly livid. He tried to approach Serena, but every time, Starman blocked his path.

With a growl, the fox pokemon charged, preparing to strike with an iron tail. Zigzagoon met him head on, knocking him off balance.

Hissing, eevee hit the ground. Not that he was there for long; the moment he got to his feet, he was charging back into the undergrowth.

Starman stood proudly, practically glowing. In fact, you could say literally glowing. His fur was quickly lightening, becoming blinding white in a matter of seconds. It was so intense, Serena had to close her eyes. And when she opened them, she realized things weren't ever going to be the same again.

Her zigzagoon wasn't there anymore, at least, not in a form she recognized. He had evolved, literally. Taking out her holocaster, she scanned Starman.

"Linoone, the rushing pokemon, and the evolved form of Zigzagoon. When it spots its prey, it runs after it in a straight line. Though able to run over sixty miles per hour, it is unable to turn."

Kneeling down, she scratched her newly-evolved pokemons ears, a grin spreading across her face. "Congratulations, Starman."

He barked excitedly, waving his now-lengthy tail back and forth. Jumping into her arms, Serena was amazed by how fluffy he'd become. In his last form, his fur had been a little prickly. Now, it was like he was trying to compete with Fen.

Unlike her fennekin, however, Starman had become rather hefty, so she couldn't hold him for long. Trilling, the raccoon hopped off of her lap, as if to say, "Let's go!"

Calling him back, she continued her training regimen. While technically she had met her evolution quota, she still didn't feel anywhere near ready to battle Grant.

For a while, she hunted the eevee. It annoyed her that he'd ran, and worried her that he was out here alone and hurt. She'd done this to him, surely it was her responsibility to at least give him a potion? Still, she wasn't a bloodhound. She saw no signs of him after a few feet off of the trail.

With little that she could do, she went in search of other trainers once more. They were, by far, the fights she learnt the most from. It didn't matter if she beat them or not, but every trainer gave her more and more insight on battles and strategy. Sometimes, however, rarely, they gave her insight into her own pokemon. Serena was really hoping that would happen with her next fight.

"Come on Fen!" The trainer hissed softly. "What's wrong with you?"

The fox had latched onto her shoulder, obstinately refusing to lift a single claw to fight. Any attempt to pick her up or pull her off was met with a sharp nip to Serena's ear. It was bleeding by now, she was sure of it.

It was only a hawlucha, but Fen wouldn't go near it. Since the fox hadn't battled anything in hours, Serena had been insistent. A little too insistent. And her ear had suffered for it. Words couldn't express just how grateful she was that there wasn't another trainer nearby witnessing this... tantrum. The pitying gaze of a wild pokemon was bad enough.

What was even happening? Fen had always obeyed her in the past... was she sick today? Glancing at the pokemon, Serena couldn't see any obvious signs of trouble. Maybe it was something she ate? But then, it was the same stuff the rest of her pokemon ate, and none of them developed a random vendetta against her ears.

It was earlier than she'd wanted, but the trainer decided to return to the pokemon centre. With all the experience she had with pokemon, Nurse Joy must have some idea what was happening.

When she wasn't trying to get her into the ring, Fen went back to her normal self. Serena could understand not wanting to battle, but wasn't this a little extreme?

Walking back into the pokemon centre, she thankfully noted that there was no line to see the doctor. Cyllage city was surprisingly quiet, especially when you considered the fact there was a gym barely a block or two away.

Serena approached the front desk. The nurse there forced a large, cheesy grin and asked. "Hello, how can I help you?"

The girl bit her lip. She wasn't quite sure what to say. It wasn't like Fen showed any signs of disobedience before today. "I think my Fennekin is sick." She said uncertainly. "She usually loves fighting, but today... well, she hasn't left my shoulder."

"Anything else?"

"Well... she's been a little aggressive today." Serena pulled her hair back, revealing her chewed up ear. "She really wanted to stay on my shoulder."

The woman glanced warily at Fen. "Could you pass her to me?"

Apprehensively, Serena reached up, and put her hand under the pokemon. She didn't seem to mind... so she picked up her up and put her on the counter.

"There's a first-aid kit in the bathroom, if you want to use it. In the mean time, we'll take a look at your pokemon."

"Thank you." Serena dipped her head. She hoped that it wasn't anything serious.

As it turned out, her ear wasn't all that battered. A little hydrogen peroxide, and she was back to normal. Now all she had to do was wait.

She'd tried to check on Fen, but had been turned away by the nurses. That had made her quite worried, no matter how much the nurse had said not to. Apparently,there were rules here, and one of them was no trainers in the clinic. Something about there not being enough space back there.

They'd said Fen was fine, though, so there was that. Instead, she'd wandered into the common room, and struck up a conversation with anybody who'd respond. Calem and Bonnie were nowhere to be found, so she didn't actually know anybody here. From varying conversations, she'd found out that Bonnie had gone to visit the gym leader. No one had seen Calem for a while, but it seemed like he'd gone out to train.

And so, she waited. Somehow, it would feel... wrong to train without Fen. The nurses assured her that she was fine, but she'd been back there for a while now, maybe an hour? Serena was beginning to suspect there was some kind of pokemon smuggling ring back there...

Thankfully, her concern was quickly assuaged when a nurse brought back her pokemon. "We ran a few tests..." She remarked, "But we couldn't find anything wrong with her."

The girl sighed slightly. "Do you have any idea why she'd suddenly stop wanting to battle, then?"

For a moment, she thought. "Well, there were a few suggestions thrown about..."

A/N: Had some personal buisness, so I'm a little late... Did you know hydrogen peroxide isn't an effective disinfectant?