We stopped that night to camp on Route 7. Once everyone was settled, I asked, "How would everyone feel if we went off track up to Cerulean? It'll mean fewer Pokemon Centers and probably more battling."

I'd been nervous about proposing this. While I wasn't super excited about roughing it, I didn't have enough money to really do anything in Saffron, including paying the ridiculous fees places charged to lock up your bike. I'd gotten away with keeping it in my room when I'd stayed at the Pokemon Center on my way to Celadon, but even on my bike it would take at least a day to get to the northern edge of the city. I wanted to spend an entire day biking as much as I wanted to go another day without any training before facing Misty, which I didn't. And if I avoided Jared Silph and his buddies by going around, all the better.

As I was about to butter up Dart and Spin, ready to extol the virtues of the great outdoors, it occurred to me that until about a week ago, neither of them had known anything else. While the last few days might've been luxurious as far as food, shelter, etc., I wasn't planning to stay in cities for my whole journey, and it would be good for them to understand that.

Fortunately, both seemed eager to be back in the wild, where there were no ceilings or walls, and holes didn't have to be refilled. Vola needed a little more coaxing, so I asked Spin if he'd be willing to practice giving everyone massages when we made camp each night until we got to Cerulean. He was excited about that, which sweetened the pot for Vola. but she held out. The way she hemmed and hawed convinced me that she was simply looking to see if I'd cave further.

But I knew her games, and I had learned to play them, too.

"Still not sure, huh?" I said, then addressed our teammates, "I know you're excited, but you have to understand that Vola's never really been outdoorsy. She's more of a house Pokemon. She's can battle, but I'm sure she's nervous about so much camping, away from comforts like mattresses and air conditioning. I don't want to force her to do something she isn't comfortable with. And since I'd be relying on her for most fights against wild Pokemon to prepare for our next Badge, it wouldn't be fair to ask so much of her." I was laying it on thick, especially talking about concepts like A/C, which a Pokemon like Dart would have no reference for. But even if she could tell what my angle was (and she could- I saw her eyes narrow and practically heard her swear vengeance), we both knew her pride would be too much here. Especially when I delivered the final blow, "I just wish the egg would get to see some impressive training when it hatched, rather than a bunch of buildings."

A corner of Vola's mouth curled into a smirk despite the glare she was shooting me, an acknowledgment of my clever offer. Then, for our friends' benefits, she made a show of grudgingly accepting, as though she couldn't be so heartless as to deprive our future teammate of something as incredible as watching her train. When they had tucked themselves around the egg, she shot me a covert glare to let me know this wasn't over. I replied with a wink, and she narrowed her eyes, then sniffed, seemingly putting the whole thing behind her.

The next day was uneventful. I headed north after breakfast, and by mid-morning it was too wild to continue on my bike. I let the team out to play while I began repacking my bike to better handle the rough terrain. Things went surprisingly smoothly compared to my journey so far, and I waited for something to go wrong.

But nothing did.

Once I switched to hiking, I kept my team out for company. No-one ran off or caused trouble, which, in Vola's case, just made me more paranoid. She was planning something.

So when we set up camp for the night, I was so on edge I almost forgot to make dinner. Spin started pulling at my duffel, not about to let me forget. Even after I put out food for my Pokemon, I was too wired to be hungry. I sat down in my tent and watched them eat.

Then I woke up, famished, as my old friend, the Sun, stabbed me in the eye. I didn't remember falling asleep, but everyone was curled around the egg and it was certainly morning. I started preparing breakfast, which woke Dart, whose exciting awakening woke Spin and Vola in turn.

By noon, I'd settled down. Vola was probably letting me stew in my paranoia for revenge, and I wasn't going to play that game any more. We did a little training after lunch, and I'd almost convinced myself that Vola had gotten me already when she froze, leaving off chasing Dart and standing stock-still, ears and tail perked up in alarm.

Never mind, this was it. Time to play along until I figured out what she was up to.

"Hold on," I called to Spin, who was still leaping at Dart. Once Dart realized she wasn't being chased, she flew over and settled on my shoulder, curious. "What's up, Vola?" I asked her.

In response, she lowered her tails flat, like she did when she was 'hunting' one of her toys, and stalked forward silently. In the new quiet, I heard a muffled voice and rustling nearby. Maybe this wasn't a prank.

As Vola crept into the underbrush, I whispered to Spin, "Get ready in case we have unfriendly visitors." I set the egg down behind me, where I would be in between it and the noise. I lifted Dart off my shoulder and got ready to launch her at whoever or whatever it was. Then I called, "Who's out there?"

I heard more rustling, louder this time, then a small yelp. A few seconds later, a boy crashed through the bushes, tripping over a root and falling flat. He was followed shortly after by a girl being chased by pelting hail. Vola trotted out behind them looking smug.

"Please don't hurt us!" the girl begged, her voice barely more than a whisper.

She looked familiar. "Tell me why you're sneaking up on me in the middle of nowhere, and maybe I won't," I threatened. She looked too pathetic to even consider hurting, but I couldn't think of a harmless reason two people would follow me all the way out here.

The boy pushed himself off his face, saying, "I told you we should have just asked, Lila!"

"Asked what, Lila?" I said. She looked panicked, and glanced back at the boy. Now that I saw his face, I recognized them. "Wait, you're the ones from the Gym. You asked about my training. What are you doing here? Did you get lost or something?"

"I, um," Lila said, barely audible and looking at the ground. She brought her hands up to cover her face as if to fend off an attack. She mumbled something else, but I had no idea what.

"What was that?" I asked, and she flinched.

Her brother(?) answered for her, "She wants to watch you train. We've challenged three Gyms, and even though I could we started at the same time and I managed to beat Erika, she still hasn't won yet."

She mumble-whispered something else, and he translated, "She says the way I train doesn't work for her. I think she just needs to push herself harder, but she insisted we talk to you. I'm Jory, by the way. Lila's my sister."

I didn't understand. "What do you mean, 'it doesn't work for you?'" I asked her. "How does training not work?"

I still couldn't understand her when she replied, and Jory just shrugged. Sheesh, these two were beyond harmless.

"Okay then," I said, "I'm Katie. I'm sorry I sicced Vola on you; maybe avoid sneaking around like you're up to no-good in the future. You can stay and watch us train if you want, just don't get in the way."

Lila was peeking out from between her fingers now, and she nodded hurriedly. Now that she was somewhat looking at me, I could actually barely understand her when she asked, "Can we let our Pokemon out?"

"As long as they don't get in the way. I don't want any of you getting hurt." I said.

Lila nodded again, then took a Pokeball off her belt and released a Squirtle. Jory, who had sat back against the tree he'd tripped over, released a Charmander and a Shellder.

It felt weird having an audience, but it's not like I could just send them packing back into the wilderness. Self-consciously, I told my Pokemon, "Dart's spent enough time as the target. Vola, your turn."

Vola gave a wicked grin and turned to the others. She drooped a tail down toward them, then lazily curled it back in an insolent gesture of challenge.

Dart took the bait, of course, launching right at her. Vola fanned her tails, blocking her body from view, and just as Dart would have hit them, they split, revealing Vola slightly to one side. Dart pulled up at the last second, avoiding plowing into the dirt. Meanwhile, Spin didn't fall for Vola's ploy, instead steadily advancing on her. As Dart swung around for another pass, Vola sprang, putting herself neatly out of the way. Spin leaped at the same time, and though he barely kept even with her, she was too focused on Dart. He managed to leap again, and grazed her tail as she noticed the threat and dodged.

"Great job, Spin!" I called. He'd learned from his first attempt that Rollout was too predictable to work on Vola. On the other hand, "Dart, you need to try something besides just diving in, especially if your opponent has time to get ready for you. Try it again, Vola as the target. And Spin, this time I only want you to use Rollout. See if you can outsmart our little trickster."

"Saaaaand," Spin sighed exaggeratedly, looking very put-upon.

"Yes, yes, poor Spin, constantly being asked to push himself," I said, returning his sarcasm full-force. "Listen, I'm really proud of you for paying attention to what works and what doesn't. I'm not expecting you to get her immediately with it. Just try some other tactics with it. This is just training, after all, prize or no."

He gave a petulant pout, but turned back towards Vola, who was standing there with her tails drifting gently.

"Um," I heard behind me, and nearly jumped out of my skin. Once we'd gotten into training, I'd forgotten our visitors. I turned around, and Lila squeaked. She ducked slightly, as if her first reaction was to hide behind the Squirtle on her lap. What was up with this girl? She peeked up over Squirtle to ask, "Is it actually training? It just looks like they're playing a game."

I shrugged. "They basically are," I agreed, "It's just a specific one. Spin and Dart- that's Sandshrew and Pidgey, respectively- are really just trying to tag Vola, my Vulpix. They're taking turns being it, and whoever lets the taggers the closest without actually getting touched either gets a treat with dinner, or they can pick tomorrow's training."

Lila looked thoughtful at that. Jory just looked bored.

"You can't really call it training if you never actually practice battling," he said skeptically.

I rolled my eyes. "Feel free to call it whatever you want, kid. I didn't ask you to follow me up here and evaluate my training methods. I have fun with it, my Pokemon have fun with it, and it works. That's all I need."

My point was punctuated a moment later. Vola easily sidestepped a Rollout from Spin and a dive from Dart (apparently I'd have to work a little harder to get her to think outside the box) with a single movement, but she hadn't accounted for some earth Spin had torn up with a previous pass. It gave him a nice, clear path for a fast loop, and he accelerated out of it, coming back at Vola faster than she'd expected for a heavy hit, and she yelped.

"Just like that, Spin!" I told him, and he puffed up a little.

Vola turned to him, indignant. "Vul! Pix pix, pix!" He just turned his nose up at her and strutted away.

Unwilling to let him get too big a head, I continued, "Why don't you be the target next?"

After a few more rounds, I'd completely forgotten my audience again. Vola was still winning, but Spin had pulled off some close calls by utilizing tunnels. By the time I was ready to call a break for dinner, even Dart was occasionally landing and trying explosive launches to dodge, rather than just trying to fly juuuuust out of reach of the others' jumps. She couldn't time them right, but it looked like she was learning.

Lila surprised me again with a soft, "Katie?"

I twitched in surprise, then composed myself and turned to her. "Yeah?"

"Do you think, maybe, could Bubbles play, er, join in the game? Training?" She was looking at my shoes, but she wasn't hiding behind her Pokemon, so maybe that was progress? "Just to try it, I mean."

I shifted the egg before the arm holding it fell asleep, and considered. Finally, I said, "Maybe. I mean, we're pretty much done for today." I turned to my team, who were all taking a rest. They were all pretty beat, but when I asked, "Are you all up for one last round? Spin can have one more try to slip by Vola's lead," they all nodded eagerly. I turned back to Lila. "I guess so, if you want."

She looked down at Bubbles, who was looking up at her pleadingly. She nodded with a smile, and the tiny turtle bounced off her lap and waddled toward my team. It's speed didn't give me high hopes for its chances, but I didn't think it could hurt.

I was, mostly, right. The Squirtle spent most of the round just chasing after Spin, who was utilizing a mix of tunnels, bounces, and Rollout to maneuver around the field. After a little while, though, it squirted some water by Dart. I was about to call Lila out for it, but something about how it just stood there waiting for my Pidgey gave me pause.

Dart flew down, and the two had a quiet conversation. When it was over, Dart chirped eagerly and flew off, while Bubbles pulled everything but its tail into its shell. Spin spent another minute or so keeping ahead of Vola, until one Rollout passed relatively close to the Squirtle, and Bubbles pushed down with its tail, popping slightly into the air. Dart streaked down, and Spin uncurled and sprang off the ground to avoid her.

But Dart wasn't aiming at Spin. She struck one edge of Bubbles' shell, sending the Squirtle spinning through the air. It didn't hit anywhere near Spin, but the effort was there. Vola took the opportunity to hit Spin while he was in midair and unable to dodge, but it was more of an afterthought.

Lila exploded into cheers as her Pokemon went flying towards mine, and "aww"ed dejectedly when it bounced off the ground. Still, she ran out and hugged it when Vola landed her hit, cooing over how clever it- he, apparently- was. Bubbles looked happier at the praise than Vola looked smug at her victory. I stood back, but I couldn't help but feel impressed. That young Squirtle, after only a few minutes of training, came up with, communicated, and performed a complex team maneuver with a strange Pokemon? And she hadn't won a Badge yet? Something was definitely up there.

"Lila," I said, interrupting her exuberance, "let's talk during dinner. Why don't you try coming up with tomorrow's training?"

Lila froze, her face paling as she turned to me. "Me?" she squeaked, the quiet, mousey behavior crashing back in.

"Unless you want to try your brother's training tomorrow instead," I said, hooking a finger towards the young man trying very hard to look too cool for it all. He stiffened when I called him out, but didn't say anything.

She looked down at Bubbles, then softly muttered, "I'm not sure. I don't really understand what this game- training, sorry- is for. It definitely looked like they had fun, but how is this battle training?"

Jory piped in, "Besides, battles are always one-on-one, so Bubbles' idea wouldn't have even been possible. And it takes a lot more than a touch to win a battle. How is this even fair, anyways? Your Vulpix is obviously going to be faster and more nimble than a Sandshrew or a Squirtle, so of course it would win a game like this."

I saw what little wind was left in Lila's sails blow out, and she sighed in resignation. I felt like sighing at how narrow-minded he was being, but seeing its effect on her just made me mad.

"I'll tell you what," I said, "why don't we put it to the test? We can have a battle tomorrow morning. Vola's my most experienced Pokemon, but was going to decide on tomorrow's training anyway, so she can lead Lila and Bubbles through something in the morning. Meanwhile, your Charmander and Shellder against my Pidgey and Sandshrew. I'll even play by Gym Leader rules, and won't switch out once I've sent someone in."

His answering grin was predatory, and I hoped my ego hadn't made a mistake.