The warm orange rays of sunset were streaming in through a window when Julia awoke in an unfamiliar room. Her mind swam with memories of the night previous, swirling together with the remnants of her dreams, and it took her several minutes to properly come to. Eventually, once she was sure she was lucid, she sat up in bed, ignoring the ache that materialized in her lower back, and looked around. The first thing she noticed was the large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall opposite her, currently turned off. The walls were painted, she assumed, to resemble a Poké Ball, with the red upper half of the wall divided from the white lower half with a thick black stripe. To her left was a white curtain divider, like the kind they had in hospitals, and on her right was the window, displaying a cheerful pink-orange sky. The sunset looked so pretty it was almost enough to distract Julia from the fact that she was wearing a white hospital gown and was hooked up to a vitals-monitoring machine next to the curtain by the clip on her index finger.

Suddenly very much awake, she hastened to detach the clip from her finger and found, to her relief, it was only a little padded clip that easily slid off. There weren't any other cords coming out of her body, either, no tube of fluid feeding into her arm. Heaving a relieved sigh, she pulled off her covers and was about to get out of bed when a pink-haired woman clad in the Pokémon Centre uniform emerged from the other side of the curtain, eyebrows raised in mild alarm.

"Oh, you're awake!" she said, hurrying over to Julia's side. "Please remain in bed for now, would you? We'll have to clear you before you're allowed to go."

Julia paused long enough for the nurse to gently pull the covers back over her legs. As she did so, Julia caught a brief glimpse of a bit of bandage peeking out from underneath her gown and a wave of lightheadedness came over her.

"Easy, there." Julia felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You've had a rough night, dearie. Would you like me to go fetch you a glass of water? Wait there, dearie, I'll be right back."

A pair of heels click-clacked their way out of the room. Julia leaned forward and put her head in her hands as she waited for the dizzy sensation to subside. The spell wore off quickly, possibly owing to the fact that Julia was by now used to the feeling, and she leaned back against the headboard and focussed on her breathing until the sound of clacking footsteps signalled the nurse's return.

"Here you are, dearie," the nurse said, offering a plastic cup of water. "Do you need me to help you drink?"

Julia shook her head no and began to drink from the cup on her own, but when her hands started to shake, she was grateful that the nurse quickly shot her own hand forward to help steady it. The bandages encircling her arms creased uncomfortably against the inside of her elbows as she drank.

Once she'd downed the contents of the cup, the nurse took it back and smiled. "How are you feeling, love?"

Julia's first instinct was to say something to the effect of 'Not so great' or 'Whaddaya think?' but as she tested out how it felt to move her limbs and torso, she was surprised at how little pain she could detect.

"Pretty good, actually," she said. Her throat felt a bit sore so she made an attempt to clear it.

"That's excellent to hear!" The nurse picked up the clip dangling from the machine and gave it a quick wipe with a sanitary napkin, then said, "May I see your hand for a moment?"

Julia offered her left hand to the nurse, who placed the clip back on then checked the readings on the machine. A few seconds later, she removed the clip again and turned the machine off.

"Everything looks as it should be," she said brightly. "I'll just need to check your injuries one more time and then you should be free to go!"

"Okay."

Something about this situation wasn't quite clicking with Julia. It was like she'd gone to sleep in her own reality and awoken into another. And as more memories from last night resurfaced, questions began to pile up in her head.

"I'm," she began hesitantly, "in a Pokémon Centre, right?"

The nurse gave another smile and a nod as she began to gently unwrap the bandages around one of Julia's arms. "That's correct! We're currently in the Ecruteak branch Pokémon Centre. You may refer to me as Nurse Joy, dearie."

So this was the same Centre Julia had been staying at for the past half a month. The knowledge that this was just a Pokémon Centre and not some big-time hospital was comforting, at least, if not a bit confusing.

"I thought you only treated pokémon here."

Nurse Joy pulled the last bit of bandage off and tossed it in a bin next to the bed. There were several small, scabbed-over but otherwise healed cuts visible on her forearm.

"While we primarily treat pokémon, every Pokémon Centre employee is a trained doctor or nurse and each facility is equipped with a ward for humans." Nurse Joy motioned for Julia to move her other arm closer. "Normally, we would be considered as a last resort for injured humans, but due to the circumstances of yesterday night, we've seen an influx of patients."

Doctor-talk for 'The hospitals are full thanks to the terrorist attack so now we have to take whoever's left', Julia thought grimly.

"You're very lucky," Joy added. She had already finished removing the wrappings from Julia's right arm, which appeared to have fewer scars but sported a large purple bruise near the wrist. "You were carried in in the early hours of the morning by a young man with red hair; wearing a burgundy hoodie, I believe. Is he a friend of yours?"

This new information surprised Julia so badly she couldn't formulate a response, and Joy seemed to take her silence as an affirmative. "Very lucky," the nurse repeated, now moving on to Julia's legs. "He didn't say much, just brought you in and handed you over and left. Not to worry, dearie, he also brought in your pokémon."

That sounded like Noah, all right, but Julia couldn't imagine him actually doing anything other than leaving her there in the woods to bleed out. But as she dug through her memory, she did indeed vaguely recall being lifted up and carried somewhere, a foreign heartbeat vibrating in her ears as she'd curled up weakly against the warmth of another human being. So that had been Noah, after all? It was a struggle to reconcile the image of the boy who had only weeks ago shoved her to the ground and cussed her out with that of the boy who brought her and all her pokémon to safety when they may have otherwise died at the hands of an out-of-control Team Fury member.

Julia shuddered involuntarily at her last memory of Jerome's face and forced herself to put him out of her mind for now. She hadn't seen what happened to him, but she was sure she'd find out later when she talked to Flame. That is, if Noah had felt nice enough that night to not simply keep what was his. That thought instantly overpowered all others.

"My pokémon!" Julia exclaimed, startling Nurse Joy. "Where are they?!"

"Easy there, dearie," Joy said, holding up a hand. "It will be easier to perform the checkup if you remain calm."

Julia swallowed and gripped the front of her gown with both hands. "How many did he bring in? Are they all there?"

Nurse Joy paused in unwrapping the bandage around Julia's thigh and looked up in contemplation. "If I remember correctly, there were three. Typhlosion, Flaaffy, and Ponyta. Are those all your pokémon?"

The nervous energy escaped from Julia's body like a cloud of pidgeys flying out of a tree when they're startled. "Yeah, that's all of them," she replied. "Wait, no, there's also Lanturn but, uh, I'm pretty sure he's in my bag."

It was becoming increasingly clear to Julia that Lanturn was never going to see any use under her care. Maybe, if she'd given him a chance, he would've become an indispensable part of the team. But she kind of had a theme of fire and electric going on and she wasn't sure he'd have really fit in properly. Maybe in the next life.

Nurse Joy went about checking and occasionally cleaning the rest of Julia's wounds, including some on her lower back that twinged every time Julia twisted her abdomen. As she worked, Julia asked more questions about the Team Fury attack and Nurse Joy answered readily, though she used gentler language to describe the events. According to her, and falling in line with Julia's own observations of that night, the attack had been thwarted early on thanks to the actions of a small group who directed a large number of ghost-type pokémon to strike back at Team Fury members. Leading the counterattack was a teenaged trainer named Mike, who was apparently somewhat well-known in Hoenn both for beating the Pokémon League in record time and for his brash, in-your-face persona; and accompanying him was none other than Ecruteak's Gym Leader, Morty himself, who hadn't died or joined Team Fury or whatever the latest speculations had been suggesting. He, along with the channelers who usually trained in his gym, provided the bulk of the ghost-type army and were largely given the majority of the credit publicly.

Then there was the mysterious third pillar of the resistance, a rumoured double-agent masquerading as a member of Team Fury. Nobody seemed to know for sure who they were as there was no footage captured of them, nor would Mike or Morty divulge any information to confirm their existence. Julia had a pretty good guess as to who this mystery double-agent could be, but considering he hadn't come forward about it, she decided it was better not to say anything. If he'd done this much for her, keeping his secret was the least she could do.

Though the Team Fury attack had resulted in millions of Poké's worth of property damage, the quick mobilization of Mike, Morty, and their ghosts resulted in far fewer casualties than what might have been, Joy continued to explain. Throughout the rest of the night and the entirety of that day, riot police and their bulky pokémon had been out in full force, making quick arrests of any Team Fury members they could find. The situation was still bleak, but things were starting to look up.

Julia did her best to look cheered by this, but her mind kept wandering away to the phanpy in the room; or, rather, the flaaffy in the ball. As much as it was great that Team Fury was finally getting busted, it was impossible to forget how Fluffy had suddenly turned on them last night—and then, how she had just as suddenly turned back. Back in Goldenrod, after Jerome attacked her pokémon, Flame had commented how it seemed like he had had a change of heart and thus held back on finishing them off. Back then, they'd figured it was due to mind control and that it had worn off for that brief moment, but even then they hadn't been certain. What if, when Julia released Fluffy from her Poké Ball, she was back to her feral state? Would she ever be the same Fluffy again?

So deep was Julia in her worries that she began to tune Nurse Joy out until she registered her say the word 'mother'. Julia immediately began to pay attention again but now Joy was back to musing to herself about where Morty had been between the time he'd vanished to last night.

"Um, 'scuse me," Julia interrupted, "but what's that you just said?"

Joy, having finished her checkup of Julia's wounds, was jotting something down on a clipboard when Julia spoke up. She paused and lowered her pen.
"Oh, nothing, I was just talking to myself, dearie."

"No, I mean… You said something about someone's mother?"

"Oh!" Joy gave Julia a smile. "I must have rambled on too long for you. I said we called the emergency contact listed under your trainer information and your mother should be arriving shortly!"

Julia felt another wave of light-headedness come over her and she leaned back, almost hoping she'd magically receive a vision of the future so she'd know how to avoid it. Her mother had already sent Jordan to come take care of her when things had gotten bad in Goldenrod, but now that Julia had been injured enough to warrant a stay at a pseudo-hospital, there was no way she'd be permitted to continue her pokémon journey! She wished she could just pull up the covers over her head and pretend she wasn't there.

"I wasn't the one who called her personally," Joy went on, her voice softer this time, "but I'm sure she must be very worried about you. These are uncertain times, and she'll want to know you're safe."

Julia nodded vacantly. There was no point in angsting over it. Whatever would happen would happen. At least her mom cared enough to fly over to see her.

"Well, you've aced your physical," Nurse Joy said, going back to writing on her clipboard. "I can't even begin to imagine all you've been through—your examination showed signs of electrocution, among other things. But due to your typing, it looks as though you haven't suffered the sort of long-term damage the average person may have to contend with."

Julia looked down at her arms, really taking in how well the damage from Jerome's Psycho Cut attacks had healed. She hadn't needed any bandage reapplications, either.

"Is that why I healed faster, too? Because I'm an electric-type?"

Nurse Joy smiled again. "You may be an electric-type, but you're no pokémon, dearie. We used Potions on your wounds."

Julia blinked. "That...works?"
"For small lacerations, yes. Anything deeper than what you received and they would have only aggravated the cuts more. Please don't try using Potions on yourself without the supervision of a health care practitioner."

"I'll try not to," Julia said with the full knowledge that she'd be buying up extra Potions the next time she visited a Poké Mart.

Joy now walked over to the foot of Julia's bed and picked up something from the floor. It was Julia's bag.

"Here you are, dearie," she said as she handed it over. "Your Poké Balls and items are all in there. We tried to salvage the clothes you were wearing when you were brought in, but they're quite badly scorched. We can keep them for you, or we can dispose of them if you'd prefer. Don't worry, your mother should be bringing you a change of clothes."

Julia looked up from rifling through her bag to ensure all four Poké Balls really were in there and she gave a pained smile. "That's alright, you can just toss 'em."

For my next birthday, the only thing I'm wishing for is fireproof clothing!

"I'll have some dinner brought in for you," Nurse Joy said, taking the cup and making to leave. "You sit tight, there, love. Feel free to let your pokémon out if you'd like, just as long as they're well-behaved and you make sure they don't cause a ruckus."

"One more thing," Julia blurted. Joy turned to look back at her.

"Yes, dearie?"

"Is your name really 'Joy'? Like, do all Nurse Joys have the same name, or…?"

That made the nurse laugh. "Oh, no, of course not! We all just wear the same 'Nurse Joy' uniform and wig. It's a costume, dearie."

Julia stared. "Why."

Nurse Joy smiled back. "Brand recognition."

Then she click-clacked out of the room.

Julia sat silent, contemplating it for a moment, then she turned her attention back to her bag. As the nurse had said, all of her Poké Balls were there. Fluffy's Poké Ball, recently polished by the Pokémon Centre staff, sat enticingly in front of her, inviting her to press the button and see what would come out. Curiosity ate away at her but apprehension kept her from taking it from the bag. She didn't want to do this when a potentially-feral Fluffy might get her chance to run amuck in a Pokémon Centre. Julia briefly considered letting out Sir Majestic Tail instead, but she wasn't sure if a horse in a hospital was any better.

Then there was Flame's Poké Ball, scuffed and worn. She rubbed her thumb over the scratched-up surface and frowned. Last night—or that morning?—Noah had appeared out of nowhere during the fight against Jerome and made Julia give him Flame's Poké Ball. In the heat of the moment, injured and unable to keep fighting, she'd given up and just let him take it without understanding what he wanted with Flame. She guessed she assumed he was taking her back while Julia was down, but here was her ball, right where it belonged. While she was dying to ask Flame what happened back there, she wasn't sure she was ready to hear the answer. What happened to Jerome, and what did Noah do? Did Noah ever find out Team Fury's grand plan? Or was he somehow a triple-agent?

This train of thought was becoming stupid so Julia stopped. What she really needed was time to herself, some quiet time to sort her thoughts out before her mom would arrive and inevitably throw a wrench into all her plans. Speaking of…

She pulled out her PokéGear and checked her messages. Just as expected, there were twelve missed calls from her mom, along with two missed calls from Leo and one missed call from an unknown number. Well, her mom was on her way now, and she'd probably let Leo know her daughter was okay, so there was no point in calling either of them back. As for the unknown caller, she assumed it was probably the same telemarketer who kept trying to sell her insurance against electric-type pokémon causing data corruption on electronic devices. She couldn't imagine a situation where that would happen unless it had something to with a rotom, and to her knowledge only Alola and Galar made rotom-capable devices widely available. The next time she saw Leo, she'd have to ask him to teach her how to block spam calls.

Figuring she had some time to kill before Nurse Joy returned with food, Julia began sorting through her bag and tossing out old receipts and used-up items into the trash bin by her bed. There wasn't too much in here, since this bag was still fairly new, but it was something to keep her busy.

Then she came across an envelope, charred in one corner and creased all over like a spinarak web. She pulled it out and inspected it front and back. It wasn't a mailed envelope and simply bore the words 'Julia: read this!' in loopy writing on the front. The handwriting resembled Professor Elm's.

Now when did I get this? Julia wondered as she began to carefully open it. Inside was a folded letter, creased like the envelope, so she unfolded it and began to read.

To Julia,

How's your pokémon adventure treating you so far? Have you and chikorita made friends? I remember how excited you always were about getting your chikorita when you were just a kid! Remember how you always carried that old plush around?

I've got a huge favour to ask of you: I'm getting one of my aides to send you this letter and the premier ball containing a ponyta. You should be getting this right after you've won your first gym badge? Congrats on that, by the way! I knew you could do it! Okay, I'm getting sidetracked here.

The ponyta in that ball goes by the name Champion and he actually used to be a racehorse! If you've ever watched racing on TV, you might have seen him! But there was one pretty bad incident that happened on the track and just like that he was deemed 'too dangerous' to continue racing. Which is really too bad, because he won almost every race he was in. I was really rooting for him and his rider to compete in the International Everstone Cup!

Don't worry, he's not dangerous! I wouldn't give him to you if I thought it would put you in danger. After the incident he went through a round of behavioural analysis that found no psychological abnormalities. In other words, it was a one-off act of aggression that he has never repeated. Not to get into rumourmongering here (I'm sure you get enough of that from that one friend of yours—you know who I mean!), but my personal theory is that mind control was involved to get him out of the running. Nothing's ever been proved, though, so now that one awful Galar-bred ponyta is the one in the running for the cup. UGH.

So the real hitch here is Champion's a perfectly good pokémon that no one else wants to take in, and since his original trainer is no longer with us, he has nowhere else to go. I don't know what will happen to him if nobody is able to take care of him. He has been approved for league challenge pokémon battling and I've had a little talk with him myself, and he seems like he's ready to reinvent himself as a battling pokémon.

If you agree to care of him, I'm sure he'll make a great addition to your team! It's important to catch lots of pokémon and have a full team that can support each other. And don't forget, you're part of that team, too! I'm sure chikorita and Champion will get along splendidly with each other!

Of course, you can send Champion back at any time if it gets to be too much or he seems to be acting abnormally hostile for whatever reason. I don't want you to feel like you have to play therapist to a ponyta! You are still a kid, after all, and it's not up to you to clean up after the adults, haha. Just DON'T ride Champion and maybe consider changing his name? Or at the very least, try to keep his identity on the down-low until things calm down. And take care of yourself! Come back to New Bark and visit anytime: the doors to my lab are always open to you!

Take care,

Professor Elm

Julia stared at the letter for a long time after she was done reading it. She'd forgotten about this letter. All this time, it had been sitting forgotten in her old bag until it was transferred to the replacement bag she'd gotten after the fire in Goldenrod, and even after that it had continued to go unnoticed. All this time and she'd never thought to open it.

She wondered what would have happened if she read it right when she got it. Would things have turned out differently for her? How would it have affected the way she viewed her pokémon? How different would her team have been? Or, alternately, would the implications have gone over her head?

But what she didn't do in the past didn't matter. It was the future that would count. Julia folded the letter back up, then looked into her bag. The three relevant Poké Balls sat patiently, invitingly. She wasn't afraid anymore. Steeling herself, she pulled out Fluffy's Poké Ball and let her out.

Fluffy materialized on the floor next to the window, looking dirty and unkempt but unhurt. She blinked in the light, then whipped her head around as she tried to get her bearings.

"Where the hell—?" She looked at Julia and furrowed her brows. "Where is this? Why are we back at the Pokémon Centre? I almost had that fucker Jerome!"

Before Fluffy could get another word out, Julia scrambled out of her sheets and, ignoring the cold floor beneath her bare feet, picked up the flaaffy in a spinning hug. Fluffy bleated her protest and immediately reciprocated with an electric shock. Julia gleefully ignored it.

"You're back!" she cried, nuzzling up against Fluffy's cheek. "You're really back!"

She stopped spinning her and made to set her back down, but now Fluffy was hugging her back tightly as if it was a contest.

"Why wouldn't I be, ya dumb human?" Fluffy pulled away and dropped to the floor, a grin plastered over her face. "Aw, geez, don't tell me you really thought I'd lost it for good."

"Nah," said Julia, sitting back on her bed, "I knew you'd be you."

At that moment, Nurse Joy poked her head in through the doorway and held a finger up to her lips, looking cross.

"Please quiet down in here," she said firmly, pointing meaningfully at the curtain divider. "We have other patients who are recovering from the events of last night and we do not want to disturb them."

"Sorry, ma'am," Julia said, "we'll try to keep it down."

Fluffy hopped up on the bed next to Julia and crossed her paws daintily to demonstrate how well-behaved she could be. Joy gave a strained smile before vanishing down the hall. The second she did, Fluffy sprawled all over the bed like they were gossiping at a sleepover.

"For real, though," she said, "what happened to Jerome? I was almost beating him when I got balled!"

That entire statement came as a surprise to Julia. "Wait, you don't know what happened?"

"Don't you?"

"Flame carried me away right after you unleashed that insane Thunder attack."

Fluffy looked aghast at this. She sat up and put her paws on her hips. "That bitch! So does that mean you didn't get to see any of my battle?!"

Julia shooshed her but shook her head. "No—I mean, I was kinda dazed by that attack. I could barely even hear after it went off."

Fluffy wilted like a sunflora in a desert. "You didn't even hear my speech?"

Julia was having regrets about letting Fluffy out for entirely different reasons than she'd feared she would. "I'm sorry, Fluffy, it's just...it was all so crazy, y'know? I didn't know what was happening for almost the whole thing."

"But I talked about friendship and love and never giving up on yourself and it was so good! Did you at least hear the part where…?"

"I'm sorry."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence until Fluffy suddenly perked up again. "Well, that just means I get to tell you the story!" She reached into Julia's bag without warning and pulled out the Poké Ball and the Premier Ball. "Everyone gets to hear it!"

Julia held her hands up, eyes wide. "Hang on, I don't know if we should really—"

"Hey, what's this?"

Fluffy was eyeing the letter Julia had been reading. Julia started, about to hide it, when she remembered that Fluffy probably couldn't read.

"It's nothing," Julia said, ripping the letter into pieces. "Just some old receipts. I've been meaning to throw it out." And so she did.

Fluffy only looked curious for another moment before shrugging. "If ya say so," she said, and let out both Flame and Sir Majestic Tail.

Like Fluffy, the two emerged looking confused and bewildered. They, too, looked like they'd benefit from a bath or at least a good brushing—Julia was sure if Sir Majestic Tail could see the layer of dust over his fine cream fur, he'd have a fit.

In spite of his scruffier-than-normal look, the ponyta still stood as prim and pompously as ever. Whatever his horrific past transgressions were, it was impossible to see him as anything other than how he'd presented himself the entire time Julia had known him. He wasn't a despicable being any more than Fluffy was.

As soon as Flame laid eyes on Julia, she rushed to her side and grasped both her hands in her paws. "Are you alright, Julia?!" The tips of her claws pressed against the backs of Julia's wrists. "You're not still hurt, are you?"

"It's okay, I'm fine—"

"I'd be more worried about her fashion sense than her health!" Sir Majestic Tail cut in, shuddering in revulsion. "What in Arceus's good name are you wearing? It looks no more fashionable than a dress cut from a newspaper, and even then that would at least be interesting to read over!"

Fluffy, lounging casually on the bed, rolled her eyes. "Great to see you've still got your priorities straight, Fire-Butt."

Sir Majestic Tail gasped, only now appearing to notice Fluffy. "My dear sweet Fluffykins!" he exclaimed, trotting up to the bed but halting right before reaching it. "You are...quite yourself, aren't you?"

When Flame also gave Fluffy a concerned, quizzical look, Fluffy huffed and lashed her tail. "I'm fine, really. I mean, like…" She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. "Just a couple days ago, I was still feeling this sorta brain fog, y'know? I know I told Fire-Butt here already, but I'd been feeling like I was constantly on the edge of just losing my mind, so there was always this thought that I could just snap at any time and do something...something I didn't want to do."

Julia unconsciously squeezed Flame's paws a little tighter at that. She'd picked up on Fluffy acting strangely for the past few weeks, but she had no idea it was that bad. However, when she glanced over Flame and Sir Majestic Tail to see how they were reacting to it, both looked more warily understanding than surprised. Was Julia the only one who hadn't noticed?

"But now that's gone," Fluffy went on, a little more upbeat. "Not entirely, actually—there's, like, a little part of me in the back of my mind telling me I gotta go crush some heads, but—"

At the trio of distressed looks she received, she quickly backpedalled. "Hey, it's just a teeny-tiny part! Like, you know when you have the urge to go break into a fancy store but you know you'd never actually do it?"

Sir Majestic Tail looked doubtful. "As much as I know I'd never do such a thing, I could not in good faith put it entirely past you."

Fluffy blew a raspberry. "Okay, I get it, I'm a menace to society or whatever. I'll just channel that energy into eating grass extra aggressively. Or shocking the hell outta you the next time you say somethin' dumb."

That softened Sir Majestic Tail's expression considerably. "I see you are indeed entirely lucid. Goodness, I've missed you so."

"Gross, how sappy can you get?" Fluffy's exasperated tone of voice clashed with her grin. "It's only been, like, a day. Anyways, gather 'round, kiddos! Since apparently nobody saw how cool I was fighting Jerome, it looks like I hafta fill you all in on the details."

"I saw the fight," Flame said. "Er, most of it, anyways. It was pretty cool."

"I concur!" Sir Majestic Tail added. "You were tremendously brave, sparring with such a dangerous foe all on your own!"

Fluffy did look a little placated by the praise but she still gestured for the two to come over. "I bet ya didn't hear the speech I gave though, right? C'mon, get up on the bed so I can tell you the full story!"

Julia only had a moment to process what Fluffy had just told them to do before Flame, giving a shrug, clambered up onto the hospital bed next to Julia. The bed made a sad creak of protest. Sir Majestic Tail at least had the good sense to look skeptical of this course of action.

"Do you not think we'll be far too heavy for such a bed? And look how small it is! Surely we'll four destroy it with our combined weight!"

"I'm pretty sure the nurses won't be pleased about this, either," Julia piped up, pulling her legs in out of the way and scooching aside to give Flame more room. It was still jarring to her how much bigger Flame was now that she'd evolved into typhlosion. The more she looked at her, however, the easier it was to see her as just a big quilava. But great Arceus above was Flame ever warm. The heat radiating off her body didn't make sitting next to her unbearable or even too uncomfortable, but it did make Julia's skin prickle.

"Come on, you big colt!" Fluffy said, reaching over and grabbing Sir Majestic Tail's forelegs, forcing him to rear up. "Join the friendship bed!"

Inevitably, Sir Majestic Tail caved to Fluffy's wishes and he too hopped onto the bed. It creaked again and tilted sideways for a moment, but the metal frame held firm and he soon settled in next to Fluffy, mumbling something under his breath about Flame being the one who was putting the bed on its diagonal. Flame, graciously, ignored him.

With the four now seated over the entire surface area of the bed, Fluffy spread her paws and began, "So, it all started when I finally decided to give in to the urge to undomesticate myself…"

When Nurse Joy arrived in the room about fifteen minutes later carrying a tray of hot food, it was to see a flaaffy perched on Julia's bed, very enthusiastically bleating to Julia and two other relatively sizeable pokémon—also sitting on the bed—about the horrific acts of violence she had recently committed against a human man. When the nurse loudly cleared her throat, Julia and Flame stopped cheering.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, dearie," Joy said, "but I did ask you to keep quiet. If I have to ask again, I'll need you to return your pokémon to their balls."

Julia's sheepish "Sorry" was drowned out by Fluffy insisting, "You'd be cheering right along with them if you heard my speech, too."

"Yes, I'm sure I would. For now, let's save the rest of your tale for another time, why don't we? As for you, dearie…"

Julia caught Joy looking uncertainly at the bed's unnatural angle before putting on a smile and bringing the tray over.

"Here you are, love," Joy said, handing it off to Julia. "Be careful, it's still quite hot. And be sure to eat slowly so you don't feel sick later."

Julia nodded and began spearing peas with a fork. While she began eating, the nurse circled around the bed, giving Sir Majestic Tail's respectfully-low-burning but still on-fire tail a wide berth, and placed a refilled cup of water on the side table. Julia didn't miss the look of judgement she passed on Flame, who was sitting on her rump with her legs splayed in front of her in imitation of how a human might sit. Flame, in return, gave a soft growl and turned her head away.

"By the way," Joy continued, "your mother and cousin have arrived and are currently waiting in the lobby. Would you like them to come in now or after you've finished eating?"

Julia nearly choked on her mouthful of peas. She swallowed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, then managed, "Um, could you have them come after?"

"Of course, not a problem! I'll let you eat, then, and I'll bring them around in about ten minutes. Does that sound okay to you?"

Julia only nodded.

After Nurse Joy reminded her one last time to keep quiet before exiting the room, Julia groaned and leaned sideways into Flame's shoulder, prompting a surprised squeak out of the typhlosion.

"Hey, you okay?" Flame asked, placing a tentative paw atop Julia's head. "Don't you want to see your family?"

"Yeah, but…" Julia stared down at her plate, no longer feeling all that hungry despite the clawing sensation in her stomach. "...knowing mom, she's gonna send me straight home. She got so freaked out last time I got hurt, but at least that time I didn't land in the hospital."

Fluffy, now lying back against Sir Majestic Tail as though he were a chaise, made a dismissive noise and waved a paw. "Just say no! If she didn't want you getting into danger, she shouldn't've sent you out on a pokémon journey in the first place!"

"I know, it's just…" Julia idly poked the tofu on her plate with her fork. "Me n' Jordan are the only family she has, so she's really protective of me. And I dunno if I really can say no to her."

"Perhaps she's right," Sir Majestic Tail said. "After all, Team Fury has proved itself to be quite the formidable threat, and if Jerome is unchanged in his thinking—"

"Okay, hang on!" Fluffy cut in. "I didn't even get to finish my story! All cuz that stupid nurse lady had to get on our case about bein' too loud or whatever."

Julia frowned as she recalled her earlier conversation with Fluffy. "Didn't you say you didn't know what happened to Jerome, either?"

"I'll bet I zapped him so good he's never coming after you again!"

"Actually," said Flame, and all eyes turned on her. Sir Majestic Tail raised his brows.

"Do you mean to say you saw the aftermath of the battle?"

Flame nodded, looking almost apprehensive. "It was Noah. He showed up out of nowhere and convinced me to return Fluffy to her Poké Ball, and then…" Flame looked down at her own paws. "...he just snapped his neck."

That elicited a dramatic gasp from Sir Majestic Tail and both Julia and Fluffy stared at Flame incredulously.

"Noah did?" Julia asked, somehow feeling more disconcerted by that than she should.

"Yeah. Snuck up on him from behind, and just kinda…" Flame brought her paws up in front of her, then twisted them to the side in mimicry of the action.

"How terribly uncouth!" Sir Majestic Tail exclaimed, shaking his head. "I knew he was in the habit of being a righteously bad-mannered boy, but I hadn't thought him capable of carrying out a murder!"

"Shh!" Julia hissed. "Remember what the nurse said?"

"We don't need your nattering neighs bringing her back in here with the whipping stick," Fluffy agreed. "Besides, don't you think Jerome kinda deserved that? That's just one less murderer in the world."

"When you kill a murderer, the quantity of murderers remains as it was," Sir Majestic Tail said sagely. "But do you really believe there was no hope for Jerome? Not even after that one incident where he appeared to break free from whatever had come over him?"

That explained why Julia felt so uncomfortable. While it was true that Jerome had said and done some truly unconscionable things, things that Julia would rather wipe from her memory, there was still that one out-of-character moment that she couldn't put from her mind. Even if she hadn't been there to witness it herself, it kept coming back to haunt her.

Fluffy, however, didn't look nearly as perturbed as the others. She wore a skeptical frown as she thought about it. "I dunno, I'm thinking he was already too far gone. Like, when I was dealing with acting all murder-happy, it was like drowning really slowly in quicksand. I got the sense I could either just sit there and let it drag me down, or I could struggle against it and escape." After another moment of thought, she shook her head. "Okay, that's a bad example because quicksand works the total opposite way."

"Wouldn't you drown in quicksand either way?" Flame asked. "How are you supposed to escape from a big swirling sand vortex?"

Fluffy gave her a look. "Quicksand doesn't swirl around, it's just a dumber version of a mud puddle."

"How does that make sense? It's got sand in the name! Of course it's swirling sand!"

Fluffy sneered. "Oh look, Flame's suddenly turned into the quicksand expert. When's the last time you actually stepped in it?"

Flame opened her mouth then closed it again. "I'm sure I did at some point…."

"Yeah, well, I've gotten stuck in quicksand by the banks twice," said Fluffy smugly, "so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about."

"I wouldn't call that something to brag about!" Sir Majestic Tail said. "Oh, heavens, I can only imagine how horribly filthy you must have looked after those incidents."

Julia decided to cut in before the conversation veered too far off track. "Okay, forget the quicksand. So Fluffy, you think Jerome sank down too far to get back out of it?"

"But it's not the quicksand that kills you," Fluffy went on, "it's drowning when the tide rolls in. See, the metaphor still works!"

"I swear it swirls around," Flame grumbled.

"What I'm actually saying here," Fluffy said, "is that Jerome got so okay with all the killing and generally being a gross and awful guy that he didn't even notice the foot of water over his head, so even if he was still alive down there, he sure wasn't breathing anymore."

"This metaphor is getting rather macabre," Sir Majestic Tail said. "Not to mention borderline incomprehensible."

"It's okay, Flame," Julia whispered, leaning in and patting her arm, "I thought quicksand swirled, too."

Flame nodded glumly and stole a piece of tofu off Julia's plate. Julia pushed the entire tray over to her. Better that someone was eating her dinner.

As Sir Majestic Tail and Fluffy began arguing about the logistics of dying to quicksand, a light knock came at the doorframe and a pink-haired head poked in.

"Your mother is here," Nurse Joy let them know. Before Julia had a chance to respond, her mom appeared in the doorway, pale-faced and short of breath, then she dropped both the plastic bags she'd held in each hand and ran to the bed to smother Julia in a hug.

"Oh my girl, oh my Julia," she gasped, stroking Julia's hair and ignoring Joy's recommendation not to hug her too tightly. "I'm so sorry, I should've come sooner, oh my baby girl…"

"Mom!" Julia protested, but her mother's grip was ironclad. Fluffy crossed her arms, looking very much like she wanted to give her a warning zap.

Eventually her mom pulled away, cupping Julia's face in her hands. Her reddened eyes were glossy with fresh tears. "I came as fast as I could, but you know how slowly Jordan's pelippers fly, and I couldn't get in contact with anyone else who had a bird pokémon in the mean time, and—oh, I'm so glad you're okay! You are okay, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm okay." Julia couldn't keep an edge of exasperation out of her voice. At the mention of his name, Jordan had also entered the room, McMister not far behind him. Jordan shot Julia a sympathetic smile and waved.

Julia's mom gave a shaky laugh and took a small step away to give her space. "Of course you are. I'm sure your pokémon protected you?" She turned her head to look at Flame, who had paused in her unsuccessful attempts to pick up rice with a fork and was currently doing her best to look as imposing as a rice-covered typhlosion could be; then Julia's mom's gaze landed on Sir Majestic Tail and Fluffy, who hadn't moved from their couch-and-couch-sittee arrangement.

"Aren't you two just precious! Julia, you should have told me what sweet pokémon you've been catching!" Her mom reached out and began skritching Fluffy under the chin with both hands. Fluffy only recoiled for a moment before leaning into the touch and closing her eyes contentedly.

"Your mom seems pretty cool," she rumbled under her breath.

Sir Majestic Tail, looking jealous about the doting, gave a snort. This diverted Julia's mom's attention and she gave Sir Majestic Tail an affectionate pat on the muzzle before drawing away again, leaving both him and Fluffy disappointed.

"And don't think I've forgotten you, Flame," her mom added, reaching over Julia to stroke Flame's muzzle. "You've gotten a lot bigger from when you were a quilava, haven't you?"

"And you...look the same as last time," Flame responded awkwardly. She studied the woman's appearance, eyes flicking up and down. "Like if Julia evolved."

Julia was pretty used to being told she and her mom looked the same, but it bothered her that Flame thought so, too. Both humans sported the same bright orange hair and vivid blue eyes, and their facial structure mirrored each other. The only real difference was in their fashion sense; Julia had no interest in inheriting her mom's closet of high-waisted jeans and black leggings, nor her countless frilly tops or whatever this t-shirt-suit-jacket combo was supposed to be. When even Sir Majestic Tail was giving your outfit a reproachful look, you knew you were doing something wrong.

Or, Julia reconsidered, if you were doing the sensible thing of taking his judgement with a grain of salt, you at least knew that a horse who considers himself fancy thinks you're doing something wrong.

Julia's mom chuckled and folded her arms. "What do you think of that, dear? Will you evolve into mom someday?"

I hope not, Julia thought, but said, "Who knows?"

"Well, then," her mom said, tone shifting back into the serious, "Jordan's already cleared all the stuff from the Poké Centre room you were staying in and I've got a change of clothes for you right here. Once you're ready, we can head home."

Julia shouldn't have been surprised to hear this, but somehow she'd thought that if she complained about the matter enough it would have somehow preemptively changed her mother's mind. What could she say to change it now? Don't worry, mom, the bad man who really wanted me and all my pokémon dead is now a corpse thanks to some other guy who's also bad but probably less so! Also, did I mention the second guy has my real starter pokémon? I'm sure he's keeping him perfectly safe!

"Oh honey." Julia's mother stroked her cheek and Julia realized her indecision must have shown on her face. "I know it's hard to go back home, now that you're a big-shot trainer, but you have your whole life to battle pokémon and win the league!" She looked back at Jordan, whose hands shot up like he was trying to ward her off. "Isn't that right, Jo?"

"I don't want to get involved here," he said, trying to grin but only achieving a grimace.

Julia directed her attention at him as well. "Well, why can't I just keep adventuring but have Jordan stick along like we've been doing? He's a ranger and everything!"

"Not fully-fledged yet," Jordan corrected with a wince. "I'm a member of the Ranger Union, but I'm still training. Besides, I'm trained to deal with natural disasters and exploration, not crazy murder cults!"

When Julia continued to glare at him stubbornly, he sighed and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. "Look, I wasn't even supposed to be hanging out with you this long. One day turned into two turned into twelve. Even I'm kinda freaked out over this shit!"

"Hey," Julia's mom scolded and he gave a little gasp like a child in trouble.

"Sorry, crap," he corrected, bringing a hand over his mouth.

Not that his use of language around Julia was really that egregious. She'd heard much, much worse.

"But didn't you see the news?" Julia said. "Ecruteak fought back! There's good people working inside Team Fury and they're gonna stop them!"

"I have seen the news," said her mother tersely, "and most members of the gang escaped. Nobody knows when or where they'll regroup. The police union is advising all trainers to return home for the time being." Her voice softened and she placed a hand on Julia's shoulder, tightening her grip when Julia attempted to brush it away. "Honey, you'll be safer at home. They're targeting big cities, not little towns like New Bark. You can have all your pokémon with you, and Jordan will be there, too."

Angry tears bloomed in Julia's eyes, but she didn't want them to spill over so she turned her face up towards the ceiling light above. Somewhere she'd heard that looking up at a light would stop you from crying. It was only making her eyes sting more.

Her pokémon remained uncharacteristically quiet. When she gave up on the ceiling light, she saw Fluffy and Sir Majestic Tail glance awkwardly at each other, and Flame was gazing out in the general direction of McMister, frowning as though she was trying to think of something to say. Julia didn't blame them; though none of them knew the stubbornness of her mother like she did, her mom was making some strong points. How could anyone argue against her reasoning?

"Well…" Julia began, wracking her brain for any kind of valid counterpoint. "What about...the mystery dungeons?"

That only appeared to disconcert her mother further. "Yes, there's that as well, isn't there? Route 29 and Ilex Forest both are now these—these 'mystery dungeons'. It's really not a safe time to be exploring out in the wild when another one could spring up at any time."

"But I want to explore them!" Julia moved her legs off the bed and her mother took a step back as she got off. The bed, thrown off its tentative equilibrium, made an awful cracking noise, prompting Flame to skedaddle off as well while Fluffy gripped the sheets like it was a boat about to toss her to the waves. From the doorway, Nurse Joy choked on air.

"Everyone's going home, right?" Julia went on. "There's all that Team Fury stuff on top of mystery dungeons popping up all over the place—who's gonna go out and document them? If everyone hides away and they just keep showing up and nobody knows how they work, people could get in danger! It should be our job to learn everything about them!"

Julia's mom huffed, exasperated but not angry. "Leave that job for the rangers. This is what they're trained for. Isn't that right, Jordan?"

Jordan had been petting McMister and whispering to him soothingly as if anything about this situation could have upset the quagsire, and he seemed startled to be called upon again. Julia made direct eye contact with him, staring meaningfully. He could be Julia's ticket out of here.

Tell her they don't know what to do, she tried to say to him with just her expression. Tell her they don't have orders to go out and explore. Lie about it!

Jordan withered under her gaze and closed his eyes, breaking the connection. "Yeah, it's right," he said, sighing. "Me n' McMister have already taken some exploration requests." He opened his eyes again and shot Julia a lopsided smile. "Don't worry about it, Jules, the Ranger Union's got it handled."

Julia shot him back with a line of nonverbal FUCK YOUs.

"Honey, it's not your place to take on such a risky task," her mom said, going in for the shoulder again. Julia dodged the hand.

"But this is what I was born for!" Julia blurted, balling her fists. She'd failed at not crying and she got the feeling the tears were going to make her look more petulant than she already was, but now that that was out she wasn't going to stop. "You know those dreams I've had, like, my entire life? Those mazes and forests and caves—those were mystery dungeons, I'm sure of it!"

Nurse Joy, seeming to sense that Julia was beyond being shushed at this point, pulled closed the room's sliding door. Julia had the sneaking suspicion there was no other patient behind that curtain divider.

"Honey," Julia's mom began, only to be interrupted.

"Why would I be having these dreams if they're not telling me my purpose?" Julia sniffled and rubbed her bare arm over her eyes. "They were a premonition or—or a vision of the future! And it's not just me—Flame gets those same dreams, too! And she's always wanted to explore!"

Flame stopped wringing her paws and circled around the probably permanently-lopsided bed to stand next to Julia. Julia gripped her paw and nodded to her, and Flame gave a firm nod in return. Nobody else in the room seemed to know what to make of this.

"I want to explore with Julia," Flame insisted. "Even if it's dangerous, I swear I'll protect her with my life!"

A burst of flames shot from her neck spouts to punctuate her growled promise; fortunately, they were too brief to set anything around her on fire, but everyone jumped in shock, including Julia. Flame, with her fangs gritted and bared, and her strong paw firmly closed around Julia's hand, looked the very picture of a beast and Julia was finally forced to confront the fact that yes, Flame was kind of scary. But she'd also come to the realization that this wasn't a bad thing. Not when her rage wasn't directed at Julia.

"Honey, this isn't negotiable," her mom tried again, pleading now. "We're going to take you home where you won't even need to be protected!"

Julia jabbed a thumb at her own chest. "Then I'll run away!"

From behind her bewildered mom, Jordan was shaking his head no at Julia, wide-eyed. Sir Majestic Tail looked similarly aghast, but Fluffy was grinning broadly. This was how she'd win the debate, Julia decided—not with the facts or logic she didn't have, but with a very real threat of nonsense.

"But…" her mom was saying, looking faint. "You've never wanted to run away before. Why would you…?"

"Because this is something I have to do. And if anyone tries to stop me, I have Flame on my side."

Julia didn't even need to attempt her stare of compelling on Flame. One glance at the typhlosion was all it took.

"Of course you do!" Flame grinned, showing off her teeth. "I'll even carry you out on my back if that's what it comes to."

"Pretty sure it goes without saying," Fluffy chimed in, "but I'm in on this, too. Anyone gets in the way and they get a taste of my lightning." She elbowed Sir Majestic Tail in the rib. "You're on our side here, too, right?"

Sir Majestic Tail's panicked gaze flicked between the belligerent Julia and her distraught mother. "I, er, well…"

"I think that's, mmm, quite enough, hmm?"

At McMister's timely intervention, Sir Majestic Tail let out a relieved sigh. Julia looked around her mother at the quagsire, whose expression remained completely placid.

"Finally got somethin' to say on the matter, you ol' bloke?" Jordan teased. McMister didn't even glance at him.

"All of this, hmm, hasty discussion about throwing yourselves into, mmm, undue danger will get us nowhere."

"It's not—" Julia began, but McMister's listless smile shut her up. Actually, she wasn't prepared to argue against McMister. For one thing, all of her pokémon—including herself—would be completely ineffectual against his ground and water typing. And for another thing, McMister could be absolutely terrifying when he wanted to be. A distant memory of the 'punishment time' that ensued for the wild sentret that attacked a seven-year-old Julia threatened to resurface and she quickly repressed it again.

"I propose a peaceful compromise, hmm?" McMister slowly turned his head to look at Julia's mother. "This will not be the only time your daughter faces, mmm, adversity. There will, hmm, always be another problem she will have to overcome. If you want her to, hmm, grow and develop, you will need to let her face these challenges without your incessant, mmm, coddling."

Julia's mother took in a deep breath, then released it slowly. "I understand. But surely you see that she's being unreasonable about this?"

McMister now dragged his gaze over to Julia, who felt Flame flinch beside her. "Beyond unreasonable," he replied.

Julia's heart sank at the verdict but she stayed quiet. He did at least agree about the coddling. She'd wait for what he had to say.

"You are still a child. What you do not know can, hmm, hurt you. Whether or not your, mmm, destiny is to explore the mystery dungeons, you must not be rash, hmm? Let your injuries heal, and return home. If after, hmm, a week or so, your drive to escape persists, then I see no reason to, hmm, hold you hostage."

He looked back at Julia's mom and was silent for several long moments. The room held its breath.

"Do you, mmm, agree to these conditions?"

Julia's mom looked like she wanted to argue, but even Julia could see the energy had drained out of her. "I suppose I would be holding you hostage, wouldn't I? Now that you've had a taste of freedom and being out in the big world, I couldn't chain you to the house again." Her pleading eyes met Julia's. "But please, give it a week. We'll keep an eye on the news, see how things are developing. And if you have to go back out, don't go looking for trouble. Can we do that?"

Julia glanced at Flame, who nodded encouragingly. What was one week? If it would make her mother happy, it wasn't all that horrible.

"We've got a deal," Julia said, smiling. Her mother also broke into a smile and rushed forwards to embrace her. This time, Julia hugged her back.

Originally, Chapters 43 and 44 were supposed to be the last two chapters of EotP, but on top of exceeding my word count on both and getting the order all scrambled, I also sliiiiightly changed the trajectory of the ending I had planned five years ago, partly because it made no sense and partly because I'm no longer doing an EotP trilogy. I'm still going to make a proper rewrite-sequel in a couple years from now (or longer, who knows), but some of the planning I'd set up in this fic needs to be redirected towards a different conclusion.

Anyways, drop a review if you so desire! I so desire. I always desire. I hunger.