IMPORTANT A/N: Ok, my beloved readers, I need to steal your attention for as long as it takes you to read all of this note. First, I would like to let you know that there is now a poll on my profile page that relates to this story and we would appreciate it if you would participate in it. Secondly, I am sorry to say that we're going to have to move the updates to once every two weeks for a while. There's a lot going on in both my coauthor and my own lives right now. This story is NOT being abandoned! We just need a bit more time to work on chapters right now because of everything else that's happening. Thank you all for your understanding. As always, we own nothing but our OCs and anyone/thing you don't recognize, so please don't sue us.

Nov 17th 20XX

It took a while, but with Phoenix's help, I got the Rattata out of the Ekans throat with no physical damage to the mouse or to the snake. Psychological damage on the other hand, well, that was another story entirely. I looked at the Rattata, noticing that while it was breathing, it seemed like it was just a tiny, wee bit catatonic. I waved my hand in front of it and said "Great; it's basically a vegetable. Nix, how are we gonna explain this? Seriously, any ideas?"

Phoenix, being the oh so empathetic person that she was, poked the Rattata and replied, "Come on, Tori, it's fine. No one will notice the difference. Give it a few hours and I bet this little guy will be just fine."

She poked him again, her ditto arm wiggling slightly due to its gelatinous consistency, causing the mouse to tip over like a toy or a dead body in the throws of rigor mortis; its little legs and tail strait up in the air. I face palmed and replied dryly, "Sure, Nix. No one will notice. Now, come on. We need to free all of these Pokémon and toddlers before they wake up as well as hide the duct tape and any other evidence."

"But Tori, I just finished getting them all tapped up." Phoenix pouted, a slight whine to her voice at the thought of all her hard work going to waste.

I stood up a bit awkwardly, largely due to the egg I was now carrying around in the sling and replied "Yes, you did. And that, my dear Phoenix, is why you are going to help me undo this mess that you created before the teachers wake up."

I was worried what the reaction would be if someone came in and saw all these of babies, who were supposed to be in our care, duct tapped to various surfaces. Thankfully, no one came in and setting the munchkins free did not take long. Destroying the evidence was easy as well; I just had Phoenix hide it in the bag of holding to be disposed of later when we went back to Goldenrod for Professors Juniper and Oak's lecture. The teachers woke up before the kids and baby Pokémon did; looking confused and sleepy, but otherwise unaffected and totally normal. It looked like they wanted to ask what had happened, but just at that second, two kids woke up crying, successfully driving any other thoughts from their minds but quieting them down, with our help, so that they didn't wake any of the others.

Not to terribly long after that, everyone was waking up and looking for snack. Thankfully, after the controlled chaos of another meal with the children, Phoenix and I had a break; so we decided to beat a hasty retreat to take a walk outside by the river that ran parallel to the daycare. I sighed as we strolled along the path and couldn't help but enjoy the view. The tall grasses swayed in the breeze and the sun shone brightly, making the river sparkle and gleam like a ribbon of jewels. As we walked along, enjoying the peace and quiet, the egg bumped against my chest, reminding me it was there. Phoenix, who as usual was perched on my shoulder, was humming 'The Cell Block Tango' again. I touched the egg, feeling it grow warm and, maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed to wiggle.

"Oh, cool! Nix, I think I felt it move!" Phoenix looked down, curious, pausing her humming to give the egg and I her undivided attention. Well, about as undivided as anyone with ADHD could get. "Nix, are you ok with us taking care of this little egg? I know I didn't get a chance to ask you about it. Tom's granddaughter kinda ambushed me with it while we were cleaning up Sparky's mess. Then it was like, well, I got this weird feeling; like it wanted to come with me. I know, I should have asked you first, but I felt like it was meant to come with us. Like it was meant to happen. Does that sound weird?"

She touched the egg gently and said, "Hey! You're right, Tori! It did wiggle a bit. I wonder if that means what it did in the game, that it's getting ready to hatch… Nah."

She shook her head and turned her attention to the question I had asked her. "As for taking the egg Toriori, it's ok. Really, don't worry about it. You getting this egg was actually a good thing, seeing as we need more Pokémon on our team anyway. Sparky, while he does occasionally have his uses, is untried in battle and we have no idea what his stats are, what moves he knows, or how well he can use any of those said moves. Hell, for all we know he's a world-class klutz while fighting. His klepto skills still need some work before he makes up for all the trouble he causes, but with the proper training and, more importantly, incentive, I think he'll become a great asset. As to the statement about us meaning to have the egg sounding weird? Nope. My friend it most certainly does not sound weird. Let us review and take into consideration the following facts. First, I, your friend and mutually proclaimed twin sister, am now a Pokémon. A legendary, granted, but a Pokémon nonetheless whereas a few days ago, I was a very epic, if slightly psychotic and mentally unstable, human. Second, we got sucked into a video game. Although oddly enough, the world of the game, not the exact one we were playing. Third, your biological clock seems to have glitched and gotten stuck on rewind for the equivalent of approximately twelve years worth of de-aging. I think it would be safe to say at this point that my idea of what is and is not weird is in a state of some undestandably and much needed adjustment."

I chucked amused at her commentary and replied "Yeah, I think we are both going to have to adjust what we see as weird considering our current state."

Our conversation was interrupted by an obnoxious shout. "Hey, babe! You there, with the Pokémon. You're a trainer right?"

I paused and looked across the road for the source of the voice. There was a guy riding towards us on a bike and I got a better look at him as he got closer. He had bronzed skin and brown dreadlocks pulled back into a pony tail. He was dressed in a bright yellow tank top with green shorts a helmet on his head, a backpack dangling from his shoulder and sunglasses covering his eyes. Even from a distance, it looked like he was super muscular. As in built illegally with massive amounts of steroids muscular.

I turned to face him as he pulled over in front of us and said "My name isn't babe. it's Astoria. But, yes, I'm a Pokémon trainer. This is my partner, as you can see she is a Ditto and her name is Nix."

He smiled and replied "Well, sweet cheeks, my name is Manny. I was riding along, working out these sweet muscles of mine and saw you. Thought to myself, I got this beautiful body working out then I should do the same for awesome Pokémon and give them a workout too. So what do you say lil lady? Wanna battle an impressive and handsome stud like me? I promise I'll go easy on a cute chick like you."

I had already lost my polite smile and, by the time the nicknames of sweet cheeks, lil lady and chick came out, I was outright frowning. I so did not like this muscle bound meathead. I so wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but a battle might show him even better. To Phoenix, I whispered quietly and quickly "You up for your first battle, Nix? I know we didn't plan it, but seriously, this guy is such a pain I wanna teach him a lesson."

Phoenix replied with a low growl, her left eye twitching, "Screw the damn Pokémon battle! Just give me five minutes alone with him and I swear to all that's holy, he'll never look at a female of any species the same way again. He's an annoying asshole and thus deserves to suffer. Preferably at my hand."

I smiled and said "But this is a good chance for us to improve our battling skills as well as teach this jerk a lesson."

Nix chuckled evilly as her eye twitch slowed to a stop and replied "Ok, Tori. Since maiming, mauling, mutilation and death have been taken off the table, let's teach this jackass a lesson he won't soon forget. Oh! And don't forget the money!"

I nodded and turned to the lughead. "Ok Manny, we will battle you. How about a one on one Pokémon battle; prize to the winner will be 500 poke dollars?"

Manny nodded and got off of his bike, leaning it against a tree as he said "Sounds good to me, darling. Choose your Pokémon, lil missy."

I smiled and said "Nix of course, she is my partner."

I set Phoenix down on the ground in front of me. I scanned the terrain while Manny pulled out one of his pokeballs. Seeing as we were near the water and a lot of soft, wet dirt, it would make this a bad area for Phoenix if she transformed into a fire type; although it would be extra helpful if she changed to a water or grass type. I filed my mental notes about the terrain away for later, should we end up needing to use the area to our advantage.

Manny smiled at me in a condescending way and threw his pokeball in Phoenix's direction. "Ok, Machop, let's do this. Get us another victory!"

The Machop came out and started flexing and showing off his muscles in a way that matched the personality of his trainer to a T. He took one look at Phoenix and foolishly started laughing. I smiled in what could be considered my own evil, Phoenix style as I saw Phoenix's shoulder twitch at the Machops laughter. I knew the perfect Pokémon that could counter Manny's macho Machop.

"Nix, change to an Abra, if you please." I said ignoring the Machop's laughing.

Phoenix nodded, the twitch in her shoulder stopped and I rightly assumed that her left eye was twitching again in a slightly deranged manner. I watched as her shape blurred and she changed to an Abra. Seeing as her eyes were closed, I couldn't tell if her pink eye coloration had transferred over into this form as well.

I grinned and said "Nix, you're looking awesome! Ok now let's start this fight!" I glanced at the pokedex to remind myself of Abra's moves and grinned even wider at the attacks I saw. "Alright, Nix! Quick, use teleport! Get behind that Machop!"

Phoenix nodded her little Abra head and she blurred, then disappeared entirely right before my eyes. It was so cool seeing her disappear like that, then watching her popping back into existence behind the Machop. Manny tried to alert his Machop with a shout "Behind you, Machop!"

I saw confusion on the Machops face as he started to turn and I shouted to Phoenix "Ok! Now use telekinesis, Nix!"

Her body started to glow with a light blue aura and I could see streaks of the light coming off her to swirl around the Machop. The light latched onto him covering him in the blue light as well. Then Phoenix used her powers to fling the Machop into the air and slam him down into the ground. The poor Machop cried out in pain making me feel a little bad for it, after all, it wasn't the Machop's fault his trainer was a dumb jerk standing there slack jawed like an idiot; not knowing how to beat me or Phoenix.

Phoenix didn't have to use the move again as the Machop went limp and I could see its eyes close as it lost consciousness. I was surprised by this, I mean I knew Phoenix was a legendary and therefore would be more powerful than an average Pokémon, but this was a little ridiculous. Pointing the pokedex at the Machop, I was not surprised to see that it was only level 15 while Phoenix was, according to the pokedex, level 25.

Seeing the maniacal grin on her face, I quickly called out to her to keep her from continuing to injure the unconscious Machop."Done, Nix. Enough, we win."

Nix stopped what would have been her next attack with a small frown and let the poor Machop drop.

"It's ok Machop, you tried. Time for you to return and rest. We'll get them next time." Manny held out his pokeball and Machop returned. He glared at me and started to walk back to his bike, saying "Fine, you and your stupid ditto win! I'd better get my Machop to the Pokémon center."

I threw up my hand and shouted indignantly "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Manny stopped walking and looked back at Phoenix and me. "We won. That means you have to pay up, Manny baby." I said sweetly with a light drawl, mocking him a little.

"Screw it! You must have cheated somehow! There's no way a tiny Pokémon like that could have beaten my awesome Machop without cheating!" He looked seriously angry and continued shouting, "No way am I giving any poke dollars to you cheaters!"

He turned to go once more, but was frozen in his tracks by an enraged Phoenix, courtesy of her telekinesis move. "You dared to call us cheaters. You refused to pay what you owe us for a rightful victory. Those things, perhaps, I could forgive. But not only did you call me tiny, you insulted Astoria. You are so far down on my shit list Manny boy, that you're beyond saving."

A nearby rock and large branch floated into view, I knew Phoenix was controlling them with her Abra forms psychic abilities. She then proceeded to bludgeon Manny with the rock and large stick, cackling with malicious glee as she did so. Manny eventually cried uncle and finally gave up his wallet right before he fell over in what was probably a fair amount of pain. Phoenix took the money he owed us and changed back to her Ditto form.

She asked to see the bag for a minute and I said ok, admittedly a bit confused as to why she wanted it, but curious to say the least. Out of the bag she pulled, to my surprise, a camera and a red flag. To me she said, "When I tell you to, snap a picture if you would be so kind, Astoria, my dear." She said happily handing me the camera.

Still confused, but amused nonetheless, I nodded as she went over to Manny, climbed up his badly bruised body and planted the flag on him like she was a successful mountain climber making a claim. "Now, Tori, take the picture if you please."

I did still curious as to where this was going and Phoenix, seeing my confused expression, grinned. "Ok. Now tell our friend Manny that if he tells anyone what happened here, especially Officer Jenny, we will post this picture on the interwebs and title it 'Macho jerk Manny beat up by small but mighty and epic female Pokémon'." Phoenix laughed a little evilly at her own statement. Clearly, she amused herself, but this was nothing that I was unaware of or new.

I couldn't help but laugh with her. It was such an elegant, but hilarious solution to the Manny problem. I told Manny what Phoenix had said and the groan he made in reply I took to be compliance. We took off after that. Phoenix, back on my shoulder looked at the photo as we walked along, her face slowly contorting with the malicious glee that I knew so well. "Hmm… Hey, Tori? What would you say to my idea of taking up scrap-booking? It suddenly seems like a very appealing hobby."

I chucked and replied "I think that all the jerks in Poke Earth should be very, very afraid of you."

And so Phoenix and I spent the rest of our break talking about the battle and her new hobby before heading back to the daycare.

Ok, I know that this is another A/N and you're probably tired of hearing from us this chapter, but this needed to be said as well. As I'm sure you've noticed, it isn't Saturday and we're still updating the story. By know, I'm sure you've realized that that means that I will not be around to post on Saturday so am posting early instead.

Also, we would like to thank Mew'smeow and our anonymous reviewer for reviewing. Reviews make our day!

Ans thanks as well to all others who have favorited, followed, or just simply read our story. If you've read this far, we're glad that you seem to enjoy reading this as much as we enjoy writing it!