Nov 12 20XX

It ended up that Phoenix's maiming of Sparky only lasted about four minutes. Sparky had fainted by then or maybe he did the smart thing and just played dead. Either way Nurse Joy was kind enough to heal him and get him back to me in very short order. In the lobby, I discreetly cleaned the blood off of Phoenix thinking that she might disturb or frighten other trainers and Pokémon if they saw her.

At the entrance to the center I said my goodbyes to Nurse Joy and the professors. Sparky, fine after being healed, was examining everything around the center with curious eyes. Phoenix was back on my shoulder and seemed happier for having vented some of her frustrations on Sparky. To the professors, I bowed and apologized "Again, I'm sorry about Nix's behavior and very grateful for your help."

Professor Oak smiled at me and said "You're welcome, Astoria. I hope you and your Pokémon have a wonderful journey. Oh and before I forget may I see your xtransceiver a moment?"

I nodded and, though confused, I handed it to him. He pressed some buttons for a minute then smiled and handed it back to me. "There. Now if you need help or advice, you have my number and Professor Juniper's as well. I feel like there is something special about you and Nix, Astoria. I know to follow these hunches when I have them. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress."

Juniper chimed in and said "Yes, please do call us if you need someone to help you figure out a Pokémon problem. Also, I remember you saying that you didn't have a place to stay correct? Well, I happen to know this older couple who runs the Pokémon and children's daycare. They always have spare beds. I'm sure they would be happy to let you stay. I'll call ahead for you to let them know you're coming."

I smiled wide and said happily "Wow! Really? Oh thank you both so much! I can't even find the words, I'm so happy. Nix, Sparky and I really appreciate your help even after all the trouble we put you though when you must be so busy with the convention."

I smiled warmly at them when Professor Oak gasped "Oh my, what time is it? Oh darn it! Juniper, we have to go now or we'll be late for our next lecture. I apologize for running like this, but here take this ticket to our lecture for the day after tomorrow. I'm sure you'll find it interesting. It's on the co-existence of Pokémon and humans and the effects of humans and our possible influence on different Pokémon species being found. Goodbye for now, Astoria, Nix and you too Sparky!"

With that Oak and Juniper ran off together, trying to make it to their lecture on time. I, amused, showed Phoenix the ticket. "Think we should go, Nix? I know you're not a fan of huge crowds."

Phoenix shrugged and said plainly "I can't say I'm a fan of them, but this discussion, class, lecture, whatever, does sound interesting. Besides, we need all the information we can get. I'm game if you are, Tori."

The sound of a male voice clearing his throat behind me made me turn and come face to face with a serious surprise. It was Professor Rowan and he looked a little worse for wear thanks to Phoenix's earlier attack. He cleared his throat and said glumly "It's been brought to my attention I have behaved badly. I'm sorry to you both, but especially your Pokémon, Nix."

Phoenix, being her understanding and forgiving self, stuck her tongue out at the professor in response. I replied "No apologies needed, Professor. I'm sorry that Nix hurt you."

He huffed and there was an awkward pause before he finally said "Well, I should be going as well. I have a lecture to speak at. Goodbye Astoria and you as well Nix."

I sighed, relieved beyond belief that he was gone and that there was no more chaos likely to happen at that time. Then I looked down at Sparky to see he was holding something and looking up at me smiling as he held it out to me. I took it from him confused as I discovered it was a wallet. Phoenix looked over my shoulder intrigued and said "Well now, what do we have here? Our little kleptomaniac might not be so irritating after all. Look, he brought you a present." She pondered for a moment before grinning, "I think you've earned the title of Kleptochu."

She listened to him chitter at us and then translated for my benefit. "He says he's very sorry for earlier. I'd also like to add he's refering to and calling me Evil Mistress now; I suppose I earned that, not that I'm complaining. Apparently he also likes his new title." Sparky chattered some more at Phoenix and whatever he said made her laugh hysterically. She laughed so hard she nearly fell off my shoulder. "Tori, open the wallet. This is a riot."

I opened it and gasped at the ID inside. It was Professor Rowan's driver license. "We have to find a way to get this back to him! Oh, Sparky, how could you?" I said with a twinge of despair leaking out into my voice.

Phoenix snorted and said "Oh come on, Tori. We should take the cash. Sparky did us a favor, besides you know we need the money. He said the mean man's white pockets were super easy to pick." She took the wallet out of my hands and cackling with glee said "Come on, you know it'll be good revenge. If he treats everyone like that, not only did he have it coming, but I'd go so far as to call it karma."

I shook my head and said "No Nix, it's not right. I don't want to steal from people. We'll earn poke dollars the way other trainers do, by battling. In the meantime we can find an odd job to make some cash. For now, I'm turning this in to the lost and found here at the center."

She sighed heavily, "Fine, fine. I don't want your conscience weighed down by this."

I nodded and walked over to the information desk, giving it to the helpful receptionist. Phoenix sulked a bit, but I promised her I'd go through the backpack later and find her something sweet, like chocolate. Since our next stop was the library, I called Sparky back into his pokeball. The last thing we needed was to get thrown out because Sparky did something to piss Phoenix off again.

After that, Phoenix and I poured over as many books and magazines in the Pokémon library as we could to get ourselves reacquainted with all the data about this world and the Pokémon. Phoenix particularly focused on images of different Pokémon she liked so I knew she wanted more forms to change into.

She tried to find Mewtwo, but as I reminded her no one had pictures of Mewtwo because he was a secret Pokémon. She pouted, but agreed with my assessment. Really, sometimes her obsession with that Pokémon was a little ridiculous. There was limited data on the legendaries of course, though much to Phoenix's delight we found images of Ho-oh and, more importantly to her, Lugia. I chuckled at Phoenix's delight that she could transform into one of her favorite Pokémon.

After we were tired of researching for the day, we got the information desk to give us directions to the daycare. We made our way there, feeling better about our whole situation ... At least until we got to the daycare center. There, we came to an average sized blue house with two stories and a huge yard enclosed by a solid looking white fence. Inside the yard was lots of play equipment like swings and climbing structures. That wasn't the really interesting thing though. All the children and baby Pokémon running around talking, laughing and screaming was what got my immediate attention.

We would have to go through that gauntlet of tiny tots to reach the front door. I felt Phoenix on my shoulder quivering in fear. "Oh dear gods, why us? There are plague bearers all over the place in there, Tori!" She said, her voice wavering slightly before she ended her statement in a whimper.

I chuckled and said "Oh come on, Nix. I know you don't like munchkins much, but it's not like they can hurt us."

"Famous last words." She muttered.

I ignored her and continued, "And we need a place to stay for now. Juniper said to come here. So here we shall go."

I opened the gate and shut it behind us to keep the little ones from escaping. The baby Pokémon and little humans froze and stared at us for a heartbeat. I spotted kids from every race I could think of and baby Pokémon from Igglybuff, Clefa, and Pichu to a Munchlax not to mention a whole score of other types of Pokémon.

Suddenly a rather mean looking toddler smiled evilly and pointed at us, saying loudly, "Look, new toys!"

The toddlers and Pokémon cheerfully roared and charged us en masse. Phoenix and I martialed our courage, looked at the approaching horde, and screamed in terror like little girls while making a break for it, racing to the front door as if Death himself were hot on our heels.