The life of a shrine brat was one of simple pleasures, and this was in no small part due to the fact that shrines weren't exactly lucrative. Kagome had grown up on home-grown vegetables, home-made noodles, and her clothes had all been home-made from old clothes that had belonged to someone else first – sometimes clothes that had belonged to someone else a century ago.

This had impacted on Kagome's travelling practices in several ways, most prominently in her making sure that her 'mon all continued to forage for food, only supplementing their diets with chow mix – whether that was Brock's chow mix, or her own, much more recently developed mix that was ultimately made largely from things that her 'mon had found when foraging.

Another way Kagome's upbringing had impacted her travelling style was this: she spent money minimally, always saving what she got (when she got anything) in case she was faced with an emergency that required she empty those savings. If Kagome didn't have to spend money on something, if she could find an alternative, then she avoided spending that money, she found that alternative.

So when the 'fastest' way to Sunny Town was to cross a ten-mile-long bridge that wasn't quite finished yet (only the bike path was completely constructed), Kagome didn't even consider buying a bike to cross with. After all, bikes were expensive, and her savings wouldn't quite cover the purchase. It wasn't like Kagome could really justify it either. She liked walking, and rode on the backs of her 'mon when she wasn't walking. Sure, a bike would have its uses, but when she wasn't using it? At those times it would just be something else to carry, and she really had enough as it was.

That left Kagome considering alternatives. She could go the long way around, which really didn't bother her at all. She wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere right now, and letting Sesshoumaru show off how fast he could go had actually gotten them to this side of the bridge a lot faster than Kagome had anticipated. She could just fly across with river with Spearow, always an option, and he would doubtless enjoy stretching his wings. She could cross on Lapras's back for that matter, which Lapras would probably love. Heck, Kagome could probably even ride Ponyta on the bike path, if she asked nicely, and if she did that, then she'd be able to let out her other 'mon to swim and run and fly right along side her.

Kagome nodded to herself as she settled on that decision. Yes, she'd see if she would be allowed to ride her Ponyta on the bike path.

"Well sure," agreed the guard with a smile. "If you were crossing it on foot I'd say you wouldn't make it, the bridge is ten miles long after all, but riding a Ponyta? You'll probably outpace a lot of the folks riding their bicycles. There's a rest-spot every couple of miles too, if you need it. You go right ahead."

Kagome thanked the man and released her 'mon. Ponyta was fairly recently captured from the Safari Zone, but Kagome had already put in some training time with the equine 'mon. She made a makeshift bridle out of the sturdy climbing rope she'd tucked in her bag when she left home (never knew when rope would come in handy, and climbing rope was better than the standard stuff), and hopped onto Ponyta's back.

Lapras, Seel, Squirtle and Golduck were also let out of their pokeballs and challenged to a race – first to reach the first rest stop would get a treat when they stopped for the night. All four of Kagome's water-type 'mon would, naturally, be swimming while Kagome and Ponyta ran on the bike path. Kagome would have liked to let Dratini join in the fun too, but didn't dare while they were still in clear view of so many people. When they'd reached the first rest-stop, Kagome would change up who was still racing, depending on who had come first and who had come last.

At the third rest-stop, Kagome was changing out her 'mon again (Dratini wasn't used to swimming long distances at high speeds yet, and Lapras was feeling the heat, even if it was a fairly mild day), when a bunch of older kids showed up on fancied-up bicycles, yelling, laughing, waving a flag around and wearing punk-fashion.

Kagome recalled the rest of her 'mon, including Ponyta, as the apparent bicycle gang surrounded her. If she needed to make a quick getaway from this situation, then Spearow would be the one for that. Ponyta had been running all morning already after all.

"Eh, I don't think I've seen you before," observed one guy (with no shirt on under his leather vest, and lots of red hair standing straight up from his white bandanna), as he pulled off his sunglasses and leant on his handlebars, just behind the fake Zapdos head.

"I've never been here before," Kagome countered, keeping calm.

"Well, we can't let the pretty lady pass through without an introduction," a girl with green hair and a black mini-skirt said as she stepped off her own bike, smirking slightly. "Of course, when we say 'introduction' we mean 'battle'."

"Okay," Kagome agreed. "Well, I'm Kagome, and this -" she said, and picked a pokeball, "- is my Cubone."

"That's a big Cubone, but size won't help ya! Golem, go!" the guy with the mostly-red hair countered, and unleashed the massive rock-type 'mon.

Kagome was almost tempted to recall Cubone and send out Spearow, just to see how he'd go against the 'mon now, so many months after beating the Golem at the Pewter City Gym. But no, she'd sent out Cubone, and she was going to stick by that choice.

"Golem, tackle attack!"

"Batter up!" Kagome called out.

Cubone took his stance, readied his bone club, and didn't flinch as Golem rolled at him. Instead, when the Golem was close enough, Cubone swung his club like a baseball bat. They connected solidly, two forces determined to continue on, and there was a tense moment as everybody waited to see which 'mon would be forced to give way to the other.

Then Golem started to move backwards, just a touch at first, and then Cubone's swing followed through completely, and sent Golem flying – over the side of the bridge and into the water.

"Golem!" the guy cried, distressed, and ran to the side of the bridge to try and spot his 'mon so that he could recall Golem before it was too late.

"Foul ball!" Kagome snapped, and released Seel to dive and fetch Golem back to the surface.

"Cu!?" Cubone asked, turning sharply.

Kagome giggled and stepped up to pat him on his skull helmet. "I'll book you some time at a practice range, but that was definitely a foul ball," she said plainly. "You sent Golem out that way," she continued, and pointed. "You should have kept him within this range," she finished, and stretched her arms at ninety degree angles, with Cubone's immediate forward being at forty-five degrees.

"Cu, bone bone," Cubone answered and gave a nod.

Kagome nodded back, kissed the skull-helmet's nose fondly, and recalled him.

"Golem!" the guy's relieved call came then, Seel having rescued the rock-type from drowning. "Return!"

"My turn," the green-haired girl said, stepping up. "And don't think I'll go easy on you just because you helped get Chopper's Golem back."

Kagome shrugged and recalled Seel. "I wouldn't want you to," she answered. "Besides, it's kind of my fault Golem was in the water."

"I choose you, Cloyster. Crush this wimp!" the green-haired girl said as she flung out her pokeball.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Wimp?" she repeated coldly. "Golduck," she called, not even reaching for the pokeball. She knew that Golduck was perfectly aware of everything she said – it was a skill that came with being a psychic-type 'mon (even if Golduck was generally classified as being a water-type). "I've been called a wimp."

Golduck released himself from his pokeball and appeared at Kagome's side. He looked over at the bicycle gang, then back to Kagome. "Gol golduck..." he started, pointing at the gang.

Kagome nodded.

"Duck, golduck golduck?" he asked, pointing back to her.

Kagome nodded again.

Golduck promptly burst out laughing, and quickly had his arms around his stomach before he was on the ground, rolling from side to side, kicking his feet and hitting the ground, like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Kagome's frame shuddered once in a moment of silent laughter. She agreed. It was funny.

"What's wrong with your 'mon?" the green-haired girl demanded. "Is it as useless as the Psyduck my Cloyster put the squeeze on last week? Just because you've somehow made your 'mon super-sized, that doesn't clearly doesn't mean they automatically have talent! Cloyster! Spike canon!"

Golduck sat up sharply from where he was rolling around on the ground and raised one webbed hand at the spikes that were rushing him.

"Huh?!" the gang all exclaimed as the spikes halted in mid-air.

"Confusion," Kagome commanded softly.

The spikes did an abrupt about-face and raced back at Cloyster.

"Cloyster, withdraw!"

"Cloyster," Cloyster agreed, and clamped his shell shut before his own returning spikes could hit.

"Halt," Kagome ordered.

Golduck held the spikes in the air with his psychic powers. The array of spikes just floating there.

"Ready," Kagome intoned.

Golduck came to attention, salute and all.

"Aim," Kagome continued.

The spikes, still held aloft by Golduck's confusion attack, lined up neatly, each spike with its point an inch away from the seam of Cloyster's shell.

"Fire."

"Golduck!"

"Cloy... ster..." Cloyster moaned as his shell was forced wide open again – and by his own spikes, what was worse.

"Golduck," Kagome said.

"Gol!" Golduck answered, started walking towards the Cloyster. With the shell wedged open the way it was Cloyster's soft inside was vulnerable to attack.

"Don't let that Golduck close Cloyster! Use your aurora beam!"

Golduck employed his confusion attack again, sending the aurora beam right back at Cloyster, and kept walking, closing the distance between them, until he'd reached the unfortunate 'mon that was suffering from having had not one but two attacks returned to sender in unpleasant ways. When Golduck stood over Cloyster, he reached in and scratched his claws across Cloyster's face – the final blow.

"Cloy... ster..." Cloyster moaned again, and fainted.

"She beat Tyra's Cloyster..." the shocked whisper went around.
"And Chopper's Golem..."

Golduck nodded to himself, satisfied with his win, and went back to Kagome's side for a kiss on his cheek before he vanished back into his pokeball.

"Are you done? It's just that I'd like to be off this bridge before sundown," Kagome requested, and reached for Spearow's ball. Her good mood – inspired by the lovely day and the chance to let her 'mon out and exercise on the water – was completely crashed, even with two victories under her belt. The reason for the battles was stupid, and right now all she wanted to do was go to Sunny Town, stop by their little gym for a Smile Badge, bunk down in the 'Mon Centre over night, and then get back out on the open road again.

"No, we're not done," the next punk in the gang answered, stepping up.

One by one, in one-on-one battles, Kagome's 'mon defeated those of the gang until she'd defeated each and every one of them.

"Let's go Spearow," Kagome said as she released him and hopped up onto his back when no one else stepped up to challenge her.

"Spear!" Spearow agreed, and took off.

"We won't forget you!" the green-haired girl, Tyra apparently, yelled after Kagome. "You will be forever known as Kick-Arse Kagome!"

"Well, that's flattering," Kagome said to herself with a touch of surprise. She looked back and waved to them, but she didn't ask Spearow to go back down.

While Kagome was waving, Tyra threw something to her, something small and wrapped in brown paper.

Kagome caught it and unfolded the paper, curious. "Official League Badge: Bridge Badge, only given to those trainers who beat the entire Bridge Bike Gang without assistance," she read, and blinked in surprise. That gang was sanctioned to give out badges? Huh. Well, there was always somewhere to earn a badge if there was a 'Mon Centre around. Some of them were just harder to find than others.

~oOo~

It was open grassland as far as the eye could see, well, a few trees here and there, the occasional bush, but generally not a whole lot to get in the way. Kagome had the Sunny Town Gym's Smile Badge in her growing collection, and lots of open space for her 'mon to run around, have fun, and train in.

Having lots of space was good for Kagome right now too. While she'd been at the Sunny Town 'Mon Centre, she'd checked in with Professor Oak, and it seemed that Eevee and Ditto had been getting very friendly when they were together at the lab. Eevee had produced three eggs to prove it.

Naturally, Professor Oak was very excited about the discovery – Eevees laid eggs. This was new and exciting information. It was also completely unexpected. Eevees were a very mammalian 'mon, so giving birth to live young would be expected, but no it seemed. Eggs.

It was proof that Sesshoumaru wasn't the only 'mon with fur that started life by sticking his nose out of a shell.

Kagome wanted to see the eggs before they hatched, to compare them to the egg Sesshoumaru had come from mostly, but presently Professor Oak couldn't get anywhere near them. Eevee was being protective. So protective that she wouldn't even let Ditto near them, or her.

Kagome didn't want to risk her Eevee's reaction if she was forcibly removed from her eggs by being swapped out for training, but on the other hand, she was fairly sure that she needed to talk to her 'mon to get Eevee to calm down. In person.

Well, uncertain times called for uncertain measures.

"Abra," Kagome said, and sat down to that she was eye-to-eye with her 'mon once she'd released him from his pokeball. "How far can you teleport?"

"Ab, abra," Abra answered with an unsure shrug. "Abra?"

"Because I need to go to Professor Oak's lab, and quickly, but I should only need to be there for an hour at most. I don't really want to have to take a week-sized detour to do something that shouldn't take even a whole day," Kagome answered.

"Ab, abra ab?"

"Yes," Kagome replied simply. "It's to do with how Eevee has been behaving."

"Abra."

Kagome smiled. "Thank you," she said, and wrapped her arms around Abra's neck. "Trying is all I can ask."

"Abra... ab... Kadabra!" Kagome's 'mon announced when they vanished from the open plains and reappeared in Professor Oak's lab. The teleportation across the great distance causing Abra to evolve.

"Kagome? What are you doing here?" Professor Oak asked, clearly surprised to see her. "For that matter, how did you get here? You were just in Sunny Town the other day, weren't you?"

Kagome nodded. "That's right Professor," she agreed. "But you said that Eevee was acting out, so I asked my Abra to teleport me back here," Kagome explained, and gestured to Kadabra. "The trip tipped the scales and he's evolved now."

"So I see," Professor Oak noted. "Well, if you came to see your Eevee, I'll show you where she's built her nest," he offered.

"Thank you," Kagome said with a polite bow, and followed the old man out of the building and to the expansive property attached to Professor Oak's lab – making note along the way of the recently painted wall (and only slightly-less recently re-built) that she could only assume had been destroyed by the initial arrival of Dragonite Ancestor.

"There she is," Professor Oak said, and pointed to where Eevee was guarding a ground-level hollow in one of the larger trees. They were a good ten metres from where Eevee herself was, and it was quite clear that the professor had no intention of getting any closer. "Good luck," he bid, and ducked down behind another large tree to watch.

"Vee," Eevee growled as Kagome approached, hackles raised and teeth bared.

Kagome put her hands on her hips. "Stop that," she ordered simply. "I'm not going to take your eggs from you. No one is going to take your eggs from you," she stated.

"Vee?" Eevee asked, surprised and still a little suspicious.

Kagome rolled her eyes and knelt down. "Really," she answered. "I'd like to see them, Professor Oak would like to see them, but we aren't going to take them from you and then not give them back. They're your eggs, your babies, and I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother."

"Vee!" Eevee agreed, and puffed her chest out proudly. "Eevee, vee, eve eevee!"

"Yes, but you don't need to protect them from your friends, do you?" Kagome asked sensibly. "I know that Ditto would no more hurt your babies than you would. I'm sure all of us on the team would love to help you keep them safe, and if you'll let me, I'll help train them up to be just as strong as their momma. What do you say?"

Eevee visibly thought about that, ears down and a frown on her cute, fuzzy face. Finally, she looked up at Kagome and chirped out a positive, happy "Vee!"

Kagome smiled back at her 'mon. "I'm glad to hear it," she said. "And if you could maybe let Professor Oak have a look at your eggs? He won't hurt them, he just wants to look. You don't have to let them out of your sight," Kagome quickly assured her 'mon.

Eevee peered around Kagome to where the professor was hiding, watching the interaction, then looked back up at her trainer. "Vee, eevee eevee, vee eve vee eevee."

Kagome giggled. "I agree," she whispered back with a cheeky smile. "But thank you. You can come over Professor Oak," Kagome called out. "Eevee has agreed to let you look at her eggs on the condition that they don't leave her sight."

"Oh thank you Eevee!" Professor Oak said happily as he hurried over.

Kagome gave Eevee a quick kiss on her brow and then stood. "Alright," she said. "As soon as your eggs hatch, you and they will start back on training rotation, no arguments. Take care, and let Ditto and the others help you, alright?"

"Vee."

"Good. Well, I'm off again then. Bye Eevee, bye Professor Oak," Kagome bid, and went to find Kadabra.

"Goodbye Kagome, and thank you," Professor Oak called after her before turning back to Eevee and her eggs.

"Kadabra?" Kadabra asked when Kagome found him again.

Kagome nodded. "Yep," she answered. "All sorted out. Eevee might still snap at unfamiliar 'mon, but she's agreed to let the rest of the team see her eggs and help her out."

"Kadabra," Kadabra said with a relieved smile, then took one of Kagome's hands and teleported her back to the open plains area that they'd left not long before.

"Thanks Kadabra," Kagome said sincerely. "You're brilliant."

"Kadabra," he answered with a blush and a smile, pleased if mildly embarrassed by the praise.

~oOo~

It had been a couple of weeks on the road since Kadabra had obligingly teleported Kagome to Professor Oak's lab and she'd had words with Eevee, and Kagome got updates on how the expectant mother and her eggs were faring each time she switched out her 'mon for training. Things were going much better now that Eevee was letting Kagome's other 'mon help, whether that help was the other 'mon finding and bringing her food while she stayed with her eggs, or Ditto transforming into another Eevee and staying with the eggs while Eevee herself went looking for food – or got in some training with Kagome.

She was less than a day out from Stone Town when Kadabra teleported to her side from where he'd been on watch over Eevee and her eggs back in Pallet Town, all excited and waving his arms about as he babbled.

Kagome's eyes went wide. There was really only one thing that could mean: Eevee's eggs were hatching.

"Let's go," Kagome said, and held out her hand.

Kadabra took it in one of his own and they vanished.

"Ah, Kagome, good timing," Professor Oak greeted as Kagome appeared beside him and knelt down next to Eevee's nest with him. "Eevee has been agitated for the past hour, and the eggs have just started, well, jiggling, for lack of a better word. They really could hatch any -"

"Vee!" Eevee exclaimed loudly, joyfully, interrupting the professor.

The first cracks had appeared in the shells of her eggs.

Slowly, a small hole was punched out of one egg, and a nose stuck out. Another egg gave way to a kicking back paw. The third egg gave a mighty heave and fell over, breaking open completely all at once.

"Hmm, they hatch fully grown," Professor Oak observed. "Or, at the normal full size of their breed," he corrected himself at Kagome's raised eyebrow. When Kagome's second eyebrow joined the first, the old man smiled sheepishly. "Or that could be an anomaly to your 'mon," he allowed. "Until I get another Eevee egg to study, I won't know for sure."

Kagome nodded in acceptance and turned back to her Eevee and the hatching eggs.

"Congratulations Eevee," Kagome said when all three eggs had hatched. "They're all as beautiful as their momma."

"Vee!" Eevee said with a proudly puffed out chest, and then nudged her babies up to Kagome. "Vee vee eevee?"

"I'd be honoured to make them officially my 'mon as well," Kagome answered, and pulled out three pokeballs. "We'll spend the next week training them," Kagome promised Eevee as she watched her babies disappear into the red-and-white balls. "You, me, Sesshoumaru, and we'll rotate the others through, okay?"

"Vee," Eevee agreed with a nod.

Kagome nodded back. "Okay. Well, let's go Eevee, Kadabra. We were almost at Stone Town," she said, and stood.

"Kadabra!"

"Vee!"