"Never thought I would be this happy to see a Pokémon center." Damien groaned, the two travelers finally made it out of the mountains, and were stepping onto actual paved stone.

"Gotta agree with you on that one." They had been awake for more than 24 hours, after a huge thunderstorm moved into the mountain range, not only drenching them and all the possible firewood, but it riled up the wild pokémon living on the mountain. The wild pokémon took out their annoyance of the storm on Everest and Damien. Which then prompted the travelers to have to hike out as quickly as possible.

The familiar orange-red roof was one of the first buildings within the town. It was a cozy town, small, and clearly connected. Although, admiring the square was the last thing on her mind, seeing as rain was still coming down in sheets.

Running for cover, out of breath, Everest slipped in the mud just outside of the pokémon center, and fell onto Damien, who fell, face first onto the tile floor of the center. Thankfully, she noted that he fell onto Forage, who didn't seem all that bothered by it.

The artificial florescent lights of the center shined in her eyes as Everest looked up to the ceiling, a welcome change from the the stormy rainclouds. Rolling off of Damien, she laughed at the ridiculous amount of mud he was covered in, no doubt she was in just as rough shape.

Pink flats walked into her peripheral, and a Nurse Joy looked over the two of them, a mix between worry and uncertainty filled her eyes. Scrambling to her feet, Everest had to wince at the sight of all the mud they tracked in.

"Um, sorry Nurse Joy. We can help you clean it up." Bowing slightly, Everest straightened up, and Damien rushed o her side, his shoes squeaking on the tile.

"Oh, it's alright. It's been pretty quiet around here with the storm." It was true, there was no one else in the lobby of the center surprisingly. "Now, I assume you would like a room?"

"Yes please, and, could you check over our pokémon as well?" She looked delighted to finally have a couple of patients, and gladly accepted their pokémon. "Come on Spence, let Nurse Joy take care of you. Hop over the counter." With a sigh, Spencer jumped over the counter, along with Forage, and Icee.

"Thanks." Damien took the key Joy offered, "for the room, and your help. Could you just send them to the room when they're feeling better?"

"Of course. You two definitely need a shower and a laundry machine. Dryer and washer are on the second floor." Thanking her again, Everest and Damien chose the hallway that led to the rooms.

**ESIBSS**

When they had the chance, sleeping in a bed was wonderful. Sun was streaming in the windows, the rain had finally let up. Last night, there wasn't much happening, they ate dinner, cleaned up, and went to bed as soon as their pokémon returned to the room.

It was a huge room, it would probably fit four people well. Instead, Everest and Damien each took a queen bed, their own pokémon surrounded them. Making up one wall was a huge aquarium, and Splash swam around inside.

Everest awoke to find her own pokémon sleeping, and it was kinda cute. Burn was curled up into her side, and Shawn was sleeping under the Flareon's paw. Spencer, per usual acted as a pillow, while Icee slept at her feet.

Across the room, she grinned, as Damien was nearly falling off of the bed. His own friends were splayed around the bed, and he was clearly exhausted.

"Alright Damien. I'll see you later." Carefully getting out of the bed, she tried not to wake her own friends, only being slightly successful. Shawn and Spencer's eyes opened, no doubt wondering why on earth she was already up. "Hey, I'm gonna go for a walk. Anyone wanna come along?"

"Eee. Vee." Shawn struggled to get away from Burn, while Spencer closed her eyes again, going back to sleep.

"Let's go Shawn." Throwing on her clothes, making sure to put a key in her pocket, Everest slowly opened the door. "Ready?" Shawn hopped up to her shoulder, and licked her cheek. "Alright, let's go explore." Once the door closed, she took off running.

"Veee. Eevee." Shawn brushed her cheek with his tail, excitedly yipping as they wandered around the city.

"What do you think we'll find out here?" People were outside, now that the rain had cleared up. Fresh bread was baking just down the street, a pair of Bunneary were digging in the garden square. "Hey, let's go eat, I'm sure they've got some amazing berries."

Shawn cooed in agreement, pawing at her shoulder. Moving closer to the bakery, she gently took Shawn off her shoulder, in favor of holding him.

"Hi, could I have a table please?" The waiter of the bakery smiled, and grabbed a menu.

"Course. This way please, miss." The seating was mostly outside, which certainly was lovely in the early morning sunlight. Shawn jumped out of her arms, laying on the table. "My name is Elias. I'll be back in a few with water." Pulling the chair out, Everest fumbled with her pokédex.

"Alrighty, Shawn. I know that you don't like fighting. At least, you don't love it. But, I was wondering, if you want to evolve. If you want to, into what exactly." She pulled up one of her most visited pages. "So, Flareon, like Burn, or Vaporeon, or Jolteon. They need evolution stones. If you want to be any of them, we can locate the stone, whenever you want." The three aforementioned evolutions were on the screen.

Eevee were curious. Everest was impressed with all the different evolutions that they could become. Jolteon were fast, Vaporeon had a crazy amount of health. Flareon had high attack damage. Any would be amazing, even if she got another Flareon.

"Or, like Icee, we could go on an adventure to find another ice rock, or go deep into forests, that's normally where Leafeon come from." Their evolution method wasn't as solid as with the evolution stones, but whatever Shawn wanted to do, they could figure it out. Leafeon had great defense, while Glaceon had special attack.

Shawn didn't say or do anything, just watched calmly, listening. Before the trainer could speak up again, the waiter came around again, with water for both of them.

"What can I get you?" The sun was rising higher, and Everest finally noticed she actually was hungry.

"Um, could I have oatmeal, and two sides of berries?" Shawn perked up at the mention of the fruit, and after the waiter wrote down their orders, she handed n the menu, before turning back to Shawn. "Then, there's Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon. They all evolve on their own time. You don't have to evolve Shawn, but if you do, I want to help you." Shawn didn't say anything, just continued to look at the screen. "Okay, if you need my help, let me know, okay?"

**DEDRF**

"Everest!" After paying for her meal, Shawn and Everest had decided on walking the plaza, visiting the small shops for trainers and tourists alike. Glancing up, she had expected to find Damien, instead, a blonde waved happily, thick glasses in front of his eyes.

"Clemont? What are you doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be in Lumiose, building a huge flashlight or something?" He stood in front of a lamppost, a gadget in hand, although Everest had no idea what its purpose was. Walking to greet him, he surprised her with a hug, which she gladly returned.

"I heard about route 19. I'm really sorry." he paused, the air filled with an awkward tension. "But, that's not why I'm here. There have been a lot of power surges here, and thy needed an expert to come out and take readings, and fix it before it becomes a problem." In fact, that made sense, she remembered late last night, when she had been cooking, the lights flickered like some cheesy horror movie. "I've even got Emolga with me. It's here somewhere, helping me take readings from the sky."

"That makes sense. Do you have any idea what is causing the power surges?" As they spoke, the street lamp began buzzing before the bulb exploded. "Woah." Both trainers took a couple steps backwards, warily watching for more damage to come.

"Not sure yet. But, it's something strong. It's devouring the power before it can reliably feed the town's power grid. Then, it'll stop for a few minutes, then it will fizzle all over again." Clemont began typing something into his hand held, occupied for a few moments.

"Could it be a bunch of wild electric types? I've heard of that happening in other regions." Blue eyes narrowed carefully, he was clearly trying to figure out what the readings were saying.

"No, it's not natural. Has to be something man-made, the timing between surges is always exactly 14 minutes. Nothing organic." Looking around, Everest could spot a few other busted lights, each at different states of sparking. "You and Damien should keep moving! You're half way to the league. I'll see you soon." Taking that as her cue to leave, she did so, with Shawn following.