After about ten minutes of waiting, I gave up and left. I went instead to the Pokemon Mart to stock up on everything imaginable, though mostly healing items and food. I was still sick of berries and grasses. Des and Carlita both came out of their pokeballs to help me pick out which kind of Pokemon food they liked, since this was the first time I had to buy any for Carlita and the first time I actually had enough foresight to ask Pedestal.

We wandered around the store for a little bit, my two Pokemon excitedly chewing on things, knocking things over, and generally behaving very badly. Carlita seemed to be a bad influence on Des; he was slowly brightening up when they got into trouble, and grinned and twitched his ears more often. Or maybe I was just noticing it more. I wasn't sure.

For my part, I was still busy mentally working myself into a panic over Gardenia. By then, I was absolute convinced (yes, in the same way that I was convinced my team was awesome) she had a water Pokemon somehow. I wasn't sure Carlita could help, since I was still a little unsure about her, and she preferred to dodge and dance instead of use actual grass moves.

There was a shady-looking man in green standing next to the counter, but I skirted around him and didn't make eye contact. I also picked Carlita up and kept myself between him and Des as I passed him. I wasn't taking any chances.

It finally came home when I was exiting the Mart. Des was carrying a bag pack-mule style, and Carlita was pretending to help by hopping around him energetically, twirling and pirouetting. They both seemed happy enough, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

I'll just have to try my best with Carlita if she has a water Pokemon. Switch out fast with Des so he doesn't go down, hopefully, I thought, planning my strategy. Then, it was like I ran into a brick wall. It suddenly hit me, rather violently, how paranoid I had become.

In addition to idolizing the unknown, I was second-guessing any givens handed to me.

My two Pokemon turned and stared at me curiously as I promptly OTL'd.

-.-.-

That afternoon, as the shadows were stretching and the light was turning golden, I marched back to the Gym.

I marched back to the Gym only to find that it closed at five, so I marched right back to the Pokemon Center, trying not to cry for all of my wasted steeling-of-nerves and other preparations. I was in the right mindset (finally) to fight Gardenia, and then the Gym had to go and close. I skipped dinner and stalked right up to my room on the second floor and laid in bed and sulked. For the rest of the night.

Actually, it was probably only for a half hour or so. Then I decided to watch Carlita try to teach Des to dance.

I fell asleep sometime after that. I wasn't sure exactly when. I woke up around five, though, and was unable to get back to bed, much to my annoyance. I vaguely remembered some dream-about eating cereal?-and decided to blame my sudden insomnia on that. I rolled out of bed and immediately tripped over Des.

He sluggishly rose his head, yawning once he saw it was just his trainer. "Nuu…" he mumbled.

"Go back to sleep, Des," I whispered, rubbing my elbow where I hit it. I needed to keep a better eye on him. Mostly to prevent me tripping over him almost constantly. Though how I neglected to see a yellow, knee-high camel, I don't know.

After using the bathroom, trying to at least look like I had combed my hair, and rubbing more of the sleep out of my eyes, I decided to go downstairs and see if I could find some breakfast. I could eat ahead of the rush, and then bring up some food for my Pokemon; wouldn't they like breakfast in bed? Nevermind the fact that they were both sleeping on the floor.

"Oh! Awake already?" Nurse Joy seemed to have taken a special liking to me, possibly because of my arms, or possibly in some sort of apology for scarring me for life. She always seemed to greet me with a smile, though more than once I caught her inspecting the bandages from afar to make sure I hadn't been scratching them. (I had.)

"Couldn't sleep… Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Not quite yet. We're just mixing up the batter now. It's pancakes," she chirped with a beam.

"Need any help?" It would be better than waiting awkwardly out in the silent, lonely lobby. Plus, the pre-dawn light that was trying to trickle in through the windows and glass doors gave me the creeps. It was way too grey. It was like the light in a zombie movie I had once seen.

"Oh… Well, we can always use help around the Center, especially the kitchens…" Nurse Joy seemed a little embarrassed, which made me get the feeling that she didn't get offers for help that often. The pink-haired woman led me into the kitchen. It was already pretty busy, with two Chansey and three of her aides bustling around, trying to get breakfast ready for a Center full of trainers and their Pokemon. The Chansey looked to be in charge of the Pokemon food, which I decided they could handle; I was more comfortable cooking pancakes. "Go wash your hands thoroughly and then you can help Nick cook."

Spending the next two hours flipping (and burning some) pancakes wasn't as boring or stressful as I would've thought. It was actually pretty fun. Nick turned out to be another trainer like me, who woke up early and decided to help. He had been training for several years, and had a full team of six. He told me that they got along well, at least when battling, though his Gabite and Mothim bickered often. I had no idea what either of those two were, but they sounded cool enough.

"So, what Pokemon do you have?" he asked between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"'oomuff mnrd 'oomirsh," I replied, not quite as tactful as he. I paused to swallow, and repeated, "Numel and Shroomish."

"Really… Just those two? Gardenia's going to be your first badge, right?"

"Uh-huh." I felt nervous again just thinking about her. I fidgeted, covering the movement with another bite of pancake. Nick didn't seem to notice.

"You'll do fine. With your Numel, she should be a pushover. You might have a bit of trouble with her third Pokemon, though, but just a bit I'm sure." He grinned, meaning to be reassuring. I suddenly felt cold, however.

"Sh-She has three Pokemon…?" I probably knew that already, somewhere deep in my mind, but now I was forced to confront the fact that we were outnumbered for the first time. I had never been outnumbered before, not really. Wild Pokemon only came singularly, and in the few double battles I'd been in, I could rely on both Des and Carlita. But both of them-against three Pokemon? Three Gym Pokemon?

"Of course. I don't think any of the Gym leaders have less than that…" He paused to think, chewing thoughtfully. "…Nope, don't think so. A couple have four, and a couple have five, but none have just two. Oh-but you'll be fine! You have the advantage, after all! And even if your Numel goes down, it'll be hard for her to take down your Shroomish, because of the grass type. Just keep hammering away at her Pokemon with physical attacks if it comes down to that, okay?"

I could only nod, suddenly having lost my appetite. I bade Nick farewell and grabbed a couple of plates of Pokemon food to take up to my room. When I got there, both Pedestal and Carlita were awake, and squabbling, of course. He was holding her down with both stubby little front paws, licking the top of her head. Carlita, for her part, was screaming and wiggling, her frown as pronounced as ever.

"…Yeah, we aren't ready to take on Gardenia."