The clear skies above Fuschia City welcomed our heroes as they wearily navigated the dimly lit streets of Fuschia City. Though it was a thriving city, they had a certain respect from nature. This was made especially evident by a magnificent evergreen tree heavily laden with Illumise and Volbeat.

However, the real curiosity was the older man checking under the tree on his hands and knees, disturbing the otherwise peaceful pokemon.

"I wonder what he's doing," Dawn mumbled, cocking her head in unison with Empoleon.

Pikachu's tail drooped as he and Ash looked over before the trainer walked on. "I don't want to know," Ash clarified, thoroughly put out with old men for the day. They were hassles. "Let him do whatever the heck he's doing."

Deciding that Ash was right, Dawn and Empoleon quickly caught up with him and Pikachu, strolling into the Pokemon Center.

"Good evening," the nurse greeted from behind the counter. A small collection of trainers were settled in various parts of the lounge, nibbling over trays of food. The lounge was mostly devoid of pokemon, oddly enough. "Want to have your pokemon healed?"

Both of the humans nodded, quickly putting all of their party pokeballs on the trays readily waiting on the counter.

"We're serving pokechow in the back. May I take your Pikachu and Empoleon, as well?" she double checked.

Dawn and Ash exchanged curious looks before coming to a quick agreement. "Sure."

Pikachu hopped onto the counter while Empoleon moved to follow the nurse.

"I'll tend to them! You two make yourselves at home. There's a buffet around the corner, near the video phones. You actually came just in time! We were about to make last call for seconds and clean up." With that, Nurse Joy walked away with the pokemon.

Ash didn't waste any time walking towards the buffet. "That could have been bad," he said, only half-joking. He quickly grabbed a plate as he and Dawn, trailing after him, reached the buffet table. He filled his plate high, almost daring to topple over.

Dawn ate as well, but nearly so ravenously as Ash. Though her calorie requirements were high these days with all of the traveling they did and how active she was now, the amount Ash ate was almost inhuman. "I guess you were hungry, huh?" she teased.

The duo sat down at a little two top table, chowing down.

"Oh, man," Ash muttered in between bites. "I just realized, I gotta re-plan my team. I was planning to challenge Koga with. Koga's was the gym leader that I battled," he clarified, for Dawn's sake. "But, when me and Bertha were talking - I think you zoned out? - she reminded me that he's been promoted to Elite Four status. I dunno who the gym leader is," he confessed.

"You have no idea?" Dawn asked, a bit surprised. Ash was usually pretty good at looking into who he was challenging! "I know you said something about poison types. It's still a poison gym, right?"

"Oh yeah," he agreed. "The place is on a ninja compound. It's kept within the family, I think." Ash shook his head. "I remember reading while I was hanging out at Mom's about it a little. He's got a daughter a little younger than us, Janine. Except, the li'l news special was saying Koga hasn't approved her taking over the gym quite yet, so there's someone leading in her stead until she's ready."

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" she prompted.

Ash chewed for a moment, thinking it over. "Well… He and Aya were really close. She's probably the most likely to be acting as stand in," he reasoned.

Giggling in pride at his quick solution to the dilemma, the coordinator put her fork down as Ash cleared the top half of his abundant meal. "Well, the only real way to find out is to go challenge her! But, you oughta train plenty before then," she said with a wink.

"You know it," he agreed, biting into a carrot with zeal. "Ninjas are tricky… I'm gonna do some heavy practice with everyone's aim."

"Oh, speaking of practice, can I borrow Rosa tomorrow? She's gonna have that contest debut sooner or later, but I don't want her going in blind."

The trainer nodded. "I won't be using her tomorrow. That's fine."

By then, Ash had eaten all of his food. He and Dawn stood up, gathering their dishes to put in the disposal area before headed to the desk. They'd pick up their pokemon and then go to bed.


The next day, the duo headed out to see about Ash's training. The boy thought he remembered a particular empty lot in the town not too far from the train station there. As they walked, Rosa clung to Dawn's shoulder, trying to bond with her more. Empoleon walked between Ash as Pikachu sat on the boy's shoulder.

~Dawn's a little shorter~ Rosa noted, looking over at the boys.

"Well, Ash finally hit his growth spurt I think, so that's why. Girls usually grow first, but not as much," Dawn explained.

Still pleased with his growth after all this time, Ash stuck his chest out. "I'm gonna be taller than even Empoleon, soon enough!"

"Empo," the water type indignantly tutted, throwing a look of shock at Ash. As if! He'd just acquired this height. It'd be a mighty fine day when Ash was taller than him again. What would be the point if he was neither the tallest nor small enough to carry?

In the midst of Ash and Empoleon posturing as the most impressive specimen, Dawn noted that the same man from the night before was out and about, looking around the bushes.

"... I've gotta check on him," Dawn finally muttered.

Ash looked over to where she was looking and frowned. "He just looks lost, Dawn. He's probably trying to find a shop."

"Well… What about this: you go train and I'll see about it."

"Alright. Contact me through Rosa if anything gets hairy," Ash dismissed.

"No need to worry," Dawn tutted.

Rolling his eyes, Ash walked away, leaving Empoleon, Rosa, and Dawn behind. "You know that's when I worry the most."

Touched that he'd answered her little catch phrase, Dawn watched him walk off for a moment. Then, she walked over to the old man.

"What's wrong?" she asked once, giving him a bit of a berth. "Sir?" she asked again, this time getting closer. "Hey, excuse me?"

The man whirled around. "Have you seen a pair of gold dentures?!"

Shocked to have the man so suddenly in her face, Dawn backed up. "No?! Why are you even looking for… Golden dentures…?"

Empoleon looked off in the direction Ash had gone. Maybe they should just leave, too.

The man teared up, finally dropping down to his knees and howling in distress. "No! They were my father's! His precious teeth! They were so crisp, so pure! He said he never tasted food so purely as he had when he wore them! The precious golden teeth of the first owner and warden of the Safari Zone, lost! Oh, nooo," the man moaned, absolutely sobbing.

"Why… Did you hang on to your father's teeth?" Dawn asked, still very confused over it all. Did this guy plan on using them?!

Sniffling still, he answered. "They made people smile. Furthermore, they were the first thing my father bought with the money he earned rehabilitating and reintroducing endangered species of pokemon back to Kanto. I would ask our old family friends in the ninja clan to help, but I've only got dear Koga's number and he's only in town for the holidays. Besides, it's such a trifling thing… I'm sure it'd be a bother to ask for help."

"It's not that small of a problem if it's bothering you this much," Dawn asserted, somehow pitying the man. "How'd you even lose them?"

"I left them for safekeeping in a secret house within the Safari Zone. My younger brother, Kaiser the warden, was supposed to keep it safe along with the Safari Zone itself. But, apparently, he became obsessed with this Dragonair," the man lamented.

He calmed and stood. "Oh, pardon my rudeness! My name is Baoba. I am the owner of the Kanto Safari Zone, future owner of the in-progtess Johto Safari Zone, and the genius behind the ambition that is the Pal Park."

While Baoba seemed very confident in himself just then, Dawn felt very confused. "What's a Safari Zone?"

"Hm… Well, it's a difficult thing to explain… For starters, the pokemon are not to be freely captured. You must use safari-balls, a special pokeball that only works here." Baoba stalled. He was better at the business side of it all.

Dawn tilted her head. "Oh, like the Great Marsh in Pastoria City!"

"Yes, just like that!" he agreed, recalling some of the discussions he'd had there.

"Well, if the teeth were in the Safari Zone, wouldn't they still be there?" Dawn inquired.

Baoba paused. "I hadn't thought of that. I supposed some human had stolen them. I guess a pokemon could have run off with them."

"My Houndour knows Odor Sleuth. We can go looking for it if you'll let us into the Safari Zone," Dawn offered.

"Very well! I'll get you the clearance!" Baoba chimed, already walking towards the place.

Dawn followed after him, Empoleon toddling after her. "Sorry, big buddy. You're gonna have to go in your ball for a bit." With the ban on battling inside zone, after all, Empoleon getting rowdy was always a risk.

After putting away the pouting penguin, Dawn whispered up to Rosa. "Hey, will you translate what the pokemon here are saying so we can work quicker? Houndour's nose is good, but talking will help."

~Sure!~ Rosa agreed.

With that, Dawn released Houndour, smiling in anticipation. It'd been a while since he'd worked his magic.


The entrance to the Safari Zone was rather meager. A counter and a small lounge area which sat before the door leading to the Safari Zone itself were really all there was to it. All of that, and a man polishing an ancient relic of a weapon were all that stood between them and the Safari Zone.

At the moment, the gun toting elder was arguing with his more peaceful brother.

"I ain't lettin her in," Kaiser snapped. "No one is gonna go disturbin' the pokemon in the Safari Zone."

Baoba frowned, weary with the conversation. "Kaiser, both as your older brother and the actual owner of the Safari Zone, I demand that you fulfill your duties as warden and let this innocent girl in, especially since she's doing me a favor."

"... Fine. But, if she hurts any of the pokemon…" Kaiser cocked his gun, earning a frightened flinch from Dawn and Rosa as well as a growl from Houndour.

"Oh, stuff it, brother." Baoba snatched the rifle, quickly emptying the chambers and unloading it. "You know you're not supposed walk around with that loaded." The owner turned to Dawn, speaking kindly. "Now, are you ready to embark on your journey?"

Still nervous, Dawn thought about it briefly. "Well, if Houndour could get a scent lead, that'd be nice."

Wasting no time, Baoba hurried around the counter and returned, producing a box which looked as if it had been beaten in and pecked thoroughly. "Here. This is what we kept the teeth in, before."

Houndour sniffed at the box, memorizing the scent. Feathers, a certain masculine trail, and two similar beak odors… He knew what he was looking for.

Dawn opened the exit door, Rosa clinging to her shoulder. "Alright, Houndour! Odor Sleuth!"

"Hou!" he bayed, rushing off into the Safari Zone with Rosa and Dawn on his trail. With that, the hound, the jackal, and the coordinator disappeared into the wild, beyond Baoba or Kaiser's view.


Houndour soon led them through thick underbrush and the occasional thicket of tree. Eventually, they reached a magnificently huge nest. Within it, two Doduo sat. One had a pair of necks as dark as the night and the other had a neck that was a delicate shade of sandy pink.

Houndour reared his head back upon reaching them, barking loudly to let Dawn know he'd found his aim.

"Good boy," Dawn praised, patting his back. "Rosa, can you ask them if they've seen the gold dentures?"

~Sure!~ the pup agreed, standing up on Dawn's shoulder. ~Hey! Doduo!~

"Do?" the male Doduo asked, quickly mimicked by the female.

~Have you seen a pair of golden teeth?~ Rosa inquired.

The two looked amongst themselves before looking down at something around the female's necks.

The male then spoke up. "Do do do! Duo…"

~Oh… Okay.~ Sitting back down on Dawn's shoulders, Rosa translated for the coordinator. ~He said he had it yesterday, but he traded it last night to a Seaking in exchange for a mystic water necklace so he could give it to his lady friend as a gift.~

Dawn sighed. She couldn't really blame the Doduo. He didn't know how important it was. "How are we gonna find the Seaking, though?" Frowning, she put a hand to her chin. Oh! We can follow the Doduo's trail! But… Let's make sure. Doduo, did you get the necklace from an abandoned house?"

"Duo," the male answered.

~He says he did,~ Rosa supplied.

"Alright. Houndour, get a fresh whiff of Doduo's scent so we can find that Seaking!" Dawn ordered.

Houndour walked up, sniffing the nest of the two flying types before barking loudly and tearing off into the underbrush again. Dawn ran after him.


As the trio was making their way through the underbrush, a loud crying reached their ears. Before them appeared a sobbing old Kangaskhan, her pouch empty.

"Oh no… Rosa, can you see if she's okay?" Dawn asked, all three of them slowing to a walk. The Safari Zone had emptied into a grassy meadow centered around a pond. It would be the perfect place for a Kangaskhan to frolick, so why was she so sad?

Rosa hopped off Dawn's shoulders, walking over to the poor sobbing normal type.

~K-kangaskhan? Are you okay?~

The Kangaskhan looked up from her sniffling, seeing Rosa. "Kanga…" she lamented. "Kangaskhaaan!"

~... We'll definitely keep an eye out for him! We're out and about today, so don't you worry!~

Encouraged by Rosa's gently encouraging words, Kangaskhan smiled and dried her cheeks. "Kanga." With that, she mosied on, looking to and fro as she went.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked.

~Her son is missing. I told her we'd keep an eye out,~ Rosa explained before climbing back onto Dawn's shoulder.

Just then, a head popped up out of the lake. Or, rather, the head of a Seaking, still attached to the body of course. A dust-yellow crown sat on his head. "Seaki?" he inquired. "Seaking king sea."

Houndour walked over, talking with the Seaking. "Hou hou! Houndour!"

Dawn looked over her shoulder to Rosa. "Can you tell me what they're saying?"

~Seaking was moved by us listening to Kangaskhan's story. He asked what we're looking for. Houndour and Seaking are talking about the golden teeth, now.~ Rosa cocked her head. ~Seaking said he got his king's rock from a Slowpoke. Houndour's got the scent!~

On cue, Houndour gave Seaking a thankful lick before walking back over.

~Houndour can't track water,~ Rosa explained, ~But, Seaking told him where Slowpoke lives.~

"Well, let's go!" Dawn encouraged. Soon, their chase would be over.


The path soon grew dense, thick mangroves lingering over a shallow slew of warm water. The small swamp centered around a single large, gray stone. Upon the stole basked a Slowpoke, mouth wide in a yawn that had lasted minutes.

Dawn leaned over the shore as much as she could manage, mindful not to dirty her teal boots in the slime. "That must be the one Seaking was talking about!" She beamed. "Hey, Slowpoke! We've got a favor to ask you."

Dawn's query was only answered by silence. The open maw no longer projected sound, unmoving.

A bead of sweat dripped down Dawn's forehead. "...Is it even awake?"

Much to the girl's dismay, the following silence confirmed her suspicions.

Dawn sighed. "Guess we'll have to wake it up first… Heyyy! Slowpoke! C'mon, we really need your help right now!" She cupped her hands around her mouth, doing her best to be loud enough to wake the slothish pokemon.

~C'mon, c'mon! Wake up!~ The Riolu accompanying Dawn shouted through telepathy, doing her best to imprint her thoughts on the pokemon's mind… However incapable it might be.

Houndour barked along, doing his best to chip in.

Whether it was Dawn's shouting, Houndour's barking, or Rosa's influence, the Slowpoke began to stir… At a painfully slow pace. Its mouth fell shut one inch at a time, open eyes slowly coasting between the three sights before the lazy pokemon. "Slowww…" It trailed off, quite unsure why it seemed to be getting so much attention. Not like it cared to question the matter.

"Oh, great! He's awake!" Dawn beamed. "Slowpoke… You wouldn't happen to have a set of gold teeth, would you? We talked to your friend Seaking, and well, we really need them.

The girl's face fell at the extended time it was taking the pokemon to process her request.

"Slow…. Poke…" He drawled on, not bothering to stand upon his little stony throne.

At this, the Riolu's ears perked up. ~H-he has them! He got them from Seaking!~

"Alright~!" Dawn cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "Now we can get them back to Baoba!"

"Rio! Rio!" "Houn!" The two pokemon accompanying her jumped for joy, as well.

...Perhaps a moment too soon.

"Poke…" Slowpoke added in.

~Aw, no…~ Rosa's shoulders slumped, her face and nerve bundles falling with them.

"Huh? What's the problem now?" Dawn turned to the Riolu, a bad feeling building in her gut.

~Slowpoke says they were stolen! A-an eggsy… Esecu…~

"Exeggcute," Dawn corrected.

~Exeggcute! He said one o' those stole the gold teeth.~

"This would be our luck…" Dawn's shoulders were the next to slump. "...Alright! I guess we've gotta find that Exeggcute, then!" Dawn pointed… In no direction in particular. "...Oh, right. Houndour, do you think you could find its scent and track it now, too?"

"Hou!" The canine affirmed, lowering its nose to the slimy ground… Much to his displeasure. Amidst unpleasant, possibly even toxic odors, he searched for the scent of a foreign pokemon among the swampy surroundings.

"Dour! Houndour!" He finally yipped, taking off away from the swamp once more.

"Alright! He's hot on the trail." Dawn started, pausing only to turn back to their messenger. "...Oh, right! Thanks, Slowpoke! I'm really sorry it was taken, but you were a big help!"

Guilty as she may have felt though, hardly anything was amiss in the pokemon's head. Its only concern was curling into its round, plushy body, basking in the warm sun. "Slow…"


They left the swampy grotto that served as Slowpoke's home and happened upon a small valley, dry and dusty as a desert. Dead, sun-bleached trees had fallen around the edge of where the earth had cracked for want of water. Dawn and company halted at the edge of the expanse, peering around a tree which desperately clung to the still fertile edge-grounds. From there they saw a peculiar scene: a baby Kangaskhan whose skin was still so young and supple that it remained purple was talking to an Exeggcute. The Kangaskhan clutched something green in his hands. Dawn squinted her eyes and realized it was a leaf stone. The Exeggcute, on the other hand…

"The golden dentures!" she exclaimed in a strained whisper. Finally, their search was over. "Rosa, what're they up to?"

The Riolu's ears and aura sensors tipped forward, desperately trying to catch wind of the conversation in the distance. After a brief interlude where the only sound was Houndour scratching behind his ear, she spoke up. ~T-the Exeggcute won't hand over the gold teeth unless Kangaskhan gives it his Leaf Stone! He's afraid the Exeggcute won't make good on its promise. He says his mother needs the teeth.~

"Why would his…? Oh." This was the old Kangaskhan's son. Was she toothless?! She'd have a word with the warden when this was all over with. For now, Dawn had to get back those dentures no matter what! Furthermore, she wouldn't allow the Exeggcute to exploit that poor Kangaskhan!

Dawn dropped down to one knee. "Houndour, do you still remember Smog? Good… Rosa, I'll need you to use Force Palm, too," she trailed off, explaining her plan. Houndour and Rosa listened intently.

Meanwhile, the Exeggcute eggs were growing impatient. They needed that leaf stone to evolve into an Exeggutor! However, if they could keep the teeth, that wouldn't be a bad deal. If they were going to rule over the Safari Zone as the strongest pokemon, it wouldn't be so bad to have a bit of treasure, would it?

"Spotlight, Houndour, Rosa!"

Just then, a burst of Smog followed by a flash of aura-light caught both the numerous eggs' and Kangaskhan's attention. A bright flash revealed a Riolu standing in front of a girl, and a houndour menacingly posing behind her.

The girl pointed at the Exeggcute eggs, her other hand on her hip. "In defense of the pure love between a mother and a child, I'll show you that revenge is best served cold, Sinnoh style!" Truly, this was the entrance worthy of a superb superhero…! Or, perhaps, just a very vain but very stylish coordinator and the pokemon willing to indulge her.

"Exeggcute…" "Exegg?" "Cute."

~They think our entrance is weird,~ Rosa supplied.

Dawn and Houndour both pouted.

"Kangas…!" the little boy enthused, sticking his leaf stone in his pouch to clap for the arriving heroes.

Rosa perked up. ~He thinks it's cool!~

Dawn smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Naturally! And, his opinion is the one who matters, since we're here to defend him!"

Houndour barked in agreement.

Growing serious once more, Dawn raised a fist. "Exeggcute, you should know better than to take advantage of the innocent family bond between these Kangaskhan!" Then, she turned to the boy. "Kangaskhan… you should have asked the warden for help."

"Kanga!" he whined back.

~He says the warden only cares about the Dragonair in the spring and her baby.~

Dawn crossed her arms. "Don't worry about that. I'll have lots of words with the warden." An eyebrow ticked with annoyance. "For now, I must retrieve the golden teeth!"

The baby grew desperate. "Khan?!"

Tired of translating, Rosa finally grew bold enough to act without instruction. ~Don't worry! We're on your side! Your mother will get help even without those teeth!~

Seeing the honesty in Rosa's eyes, the Kangaskhan kid's eyes welled up, nearly on the verge of grateful tears. "Gaskhan…"

Growing weary of the theatrics, the numerous eggs spoke up. "Ex ex ex ex?" one taunted, a smirk on his face. However was Dawn expecting to make good on those promises when she and her friends were going to be knocked out?! "Exeggcute!" they shouted in unison, sending out a cloud of Sleeping Powder.

Quickly recalling what Ash had done in the Celadon Gym, Dawn tried to grab ahold of Rosa to backpedal. "Houndour, use Fire Fang!"

"Houn-dour!" he snarled, rolling waves of heat neutralizing whatever effect the powder might have had.

However, the cloud was massive. Dawn was unable to snatch Rosa back in time. When the coordinator scooped the little Riolu up in her arms, she was already asleep. Wasting no time, Dawn circled around to stand before the clearly frightened Kangaskhan baby, gently cradling the sleeping Riolu in her arms.

"Houndour…!" the little dark/fire type threatened. He was normally quite placid and content to let things go as they were, but threatening his alpha, his precious trainer, was another thing entirely! He'd make breakfast bites out of these Exeggcute if they kept it up!

"Exegg?" one of the eggs teased. Could the puppy put his money where his mouth was? In unison, all of the eyes of the Exeggcute eggs lit up a brilliant blue. They used Extrasensory on Houndour, waiting eagerly to see the massive damage that caused him to…

Sneeze. Houndour shook his head before returning to his defensive stance.

"Kanto doesn't have that many dark types, I guess," Dawn cockily surmised. "Otherwise, they'd know psychic type moves won't work on Houndour! Now, Houndour, use Bite!"

Lunging forward, Houndour wrapped his jaw around one of the eggs, making it squeal in pain.

The rest quickly backed away, circling around their opponent. They boiled in rage. They'd been tricked, but they were the true tricksters around here! They'd show these interlopers! With that, they each used Bullet Seed.

Houndour backed off, yelping in pain.

"We don't need to waste time… Houndour, use Odor Sleuth!" Even if they could roll away and stir up dust, Houndour would be right on their trail! "Fire Fang!"

Clever as Dawn's strategy was, Houndour's biting moves could only hit one egg at a time. Though two were down, four remained!

The Exeggcute seemed aware that they could not win this battle through brute force. So, each cast for a Leech Seed onto Houndour. They'd outlast him! Strength in numbers and strategy through exploitation; surely they would win!

"Houndour, use Smog to give yourself some cover!" Dawn advised.

Houndour obeyed, obscuring himself momentarily from the Exeggcute. While it helped some of the Bullet Seeds they now fired at him not hit their mark, he still yelped in pain again. He kept spewing smog, closing his eyes tightly as a warm wonderful light overtook him.

Dawn, meanwhile, held Rosa close to her chest as the Kangaskhan baby watched in silence. The Exeggcute eggs were not giving up! They rained down more and more Bullet Seeds upon her poor Houndour.

Just as she was about to return him, a burst of light cleared the smog. Where her Houndour had once been now stood a mighty Houndoom. He clacked his teeth angrily, looking down at the shocked audience of little psychic/grass types who had been antagonizing him.

Dawn reached into her backpack, still taking in the noble visage of her freshly evolved hound. Her PokeDex rattled off new information once she retrieved it: "Houndoom has learned Flamethrower."

"... That's it! Let me make sure his ability is the same… It is!" she cheered. Her mind drifted back even further to when Ash had Crawdaunt use Alakazam's Charge Beam against himself by powering up Aqua Jet with it. Seeing that the Exeggcute were getting ready to fire up another Bullet Seed barrage, she wasted no time. "Houndoom, use Flamethrower on those seeds!"

"Doom!" he snarled, coating the oncoming attacks in fire. Though some burned up, most uselessly beat against his pelt. However, a certain surging fire in his eye told Dawn that his Flash Fire ability had been activated due to being touched by the flames.

She nodded. "Let's end it. Houndoom, use Flamethrower on the Exeggcute!"

Throwing his head back before circling to bathe them all in fire, Houndoom cried out victoriously. "Houndoooom!

When the move ended, the last four eggs were knocked out.

Dawn rushed forward, relieved. Kangaskhan followed her, admiring his hero. Dawn, likewise, praised Houndoom, scratching him behind the ears.

"Who's a good boy, huh? You are! Very good job, Houndoom!"

The fire type wagged his new, longer, more devilish tail, leaning into Dawn's touch and soaking in her praise.

Just then, however, a crunching sound got all of their attentions. There was the mother Kangaskhan! She must have heard all the noise and come to investigate.

"Kanga…" she tearfully muttered.

"Khan," the boy returned before running over to his mother.

They hugged, crying briefly before she picked her child back up and put him in her pouch. She walked the rest of the way over to Dawn, muttering down to the boy, likely chiding him for running off.

As Kangaskhan arrived, Dawn got out an awakening to use on Rosa. "Gonna need you to translate for me again, girly… Sorry to ruin your nap."

Awaking with a jolt and jumping out of Dawn's arms in a frenzy, it took a moment for Rosa to realize the fight was over. ~... Did we win?~

"Doom," the fire type supplied, looking proud of himself.

The mother spoke up then. "Kanga… Kangaskhan."

~It wasn't any trouble!~ Rosa answered, knowing Dawn and Houndoom's feelings.

"You know, he only ran off to get you some teeth. I guess he was worried you weren't eating well." Dawn did note she was rather slender for a Kangaskhan. Considering how old she was, perhaps she had no mother teeth of her own? "He was trying to trade the leaf stone for your sake."

The mother Kangaskhan started crying all over again, picking up her boy out of her pouch to hug him again. "Kangas…! Khan khan khan!"

Letting them hug it out, Dawn couldn't help but smile. "Listen… The true owner of the Safari Zone has returned. If you'll come with us, we'll make sure you're taken care of, okay?"

Mother and son nodded.

With that settled, Dawn picked up Rosa while Houndoom walked at her side. The family trailed behind the trio. Not without the golden teeth, though, of course!


A trek later and they arrived just outside the office of the Safari Zone. Their greeting party kicked open the door, giving them a resounding "hello" with the business end of a rifle.

"I told you no battling!" Kaiser snarled. "Your Houndour evolved! You battled!"

Patience weary and fear driving her to hysterics, Dawn shouted back. "If you'd take care of your darn preserve, I wouldn't have had to! Get that gun out of my face!" She still wasn't comfortable around them after the Viridian Forest incident with Team Rocket and that'd been a month or two ago at the most. It was fresh on her mind.

Pushing the barrel of his brother's gun down towards the ground, Baoba made his presence known after casting a dirty look at his brother. He came out five seconds late and Kaiser was trying to shoot people. Tsk. Back to the matter at hand, though. "Whatever do you mean?"

"This Kangaskhan here can't eat anymore. But, Kaiser never helped her. I had to keep her baby from getting exploited while he was trying to look out for his mom. That's why I had to battle." The coordinator edged away from Kaiser, arms crossed.

Baoba was taken back at Dawn's words. "I see I'll have to stay longer. You must be the Kangaskhan in question… Stay around here for a while. I'll get you taken care of," he offered.

The mother nodded graciously, happy to finally know there was going to be order in the Safari Zone once more.

"Anyway," Dawn trailed off, "here's the teeth." Reaching into her bag once more, this time Dawn presented Baoba with a dusty and slightly mud covered pair of golden teeth, wrapped neatly in a sleeping shirt that Dawn was going to wash as soon as she got back to a Pokemon Center. This whole ordeal had been rather gross.

"Father's teeth…! Thank you, Miss… My. I never got your name!"

"Dawn," she supplied, grinning.

"Well, yes. Thank you, Miss Dawn. If there's ever a good favor I could turn you or a friend, just say the word."

"Well, for now, I just need to get going. I've got a contest soon, and I think I've got an appeal in mind I want to practice!" she said with a laugh. Houndoom had certainly shown her a dazzling display with his fire today.

Waving goodbye, the trio made their way out of the Safari Zone and back onto the streets of Fuschia City.

"Say, Rosa, how good are you with your Detect?"

~Good enough to beat Buneary,~ came her surprisingly sassy reply.

There was a pause before Dawn rolled her eyes. "Man, you can tell Ash raised you." Regardless of Rosa's newfound cheekiness, Dawn had some ideas she wanted to try out that she'd need the Riolu and her Houndoom to work together for.


It was many hours later - almost dinner time, actually - before Ash returned to the Pokemon Center suite that the traveling party was staying in. The surprisingly frigid room boasted a very bored looking Empoleon making frost art on the windows despite it no longer being cold enough to do such. He must have used a very weak Ice Beam to achieve the effect.

Yet, despite the chilliness of Empoleon's activities, Ash and Pikachu both noted the scent of burnt hair and smoke in the air. Following their noses, they saw Dawn and Rosa in a soot covered heap on Dawn's bed.

"Looks like Dawn gave up on that guy and did some contest training," Ash assumed.

"Pikaka pi," the electric type agreed. It smelled like Houndour's fire… But, stronger. "Chu?"

"Hm? Smells funny, buddy? Hm… Maybe one of Dawn's fire types evolved! I bet it was Houndour! Those evolve pretty quickly. So, if he's a Houndour, maybe…"

His eyes drifted from the slumbering bluenette to the pup in her arms.

"…Maybe with Dawn's help, Rosa's close to being a Lucario!"

The last of Ash's words were haggard, hampered by the teen choking back what he would certainly deny being tears. Face and stubborn and sour-looking as could be, he reached to wipe his eyes. There was a certain paternal instinct tugging at Ash's chest at the thought of his little hatchling growing up into a big, bad Lucario. It felt like he'd just welcomed her into the world yesterday!

"Pikapi…" Pikachu teased, wiping away the tears of his trainer with his tail all the same. Everyone grew up eventually; pokemon and their trainers alike. If Piplup had accepted that and become Prinplup and now Empoleon, then Ash could deal with his daughter of sorts growing into her final form too, couldn't he?

"Empo?" the big water type inquired, checking on Ash. He put a flipper on his other favorite human's shoulder.

"Thanks, guys. I'm fine." He swallowed, flashing a grin, and a thumbs-up with it in his typical bravado. "Let's wake the girls up and get some dinner, huh?

"Pika!"

"Leon!"

There was always time later to get emotional over how everyone was growing up. For now, Ash had a need to feed and he wouldn't be denied! Besides… If he was going to grow up strong enough to pursue his dreams, he had to eat, too. While a lot of things were changing, his endless appetite wasn't.