"Oh~ my love is the killing kind. Nevermore to leave here, nevermore to leave here…

Stirs of whispers trail and linger, you still haunt the corners of my heart…"

It was quiet. Too quiet.

It had been several hours since we ran from the pokēcenter, having taken refuge in a rather large building south of town, near the forest that would lead the way to Vermillion. Blue and I, as well as Ansem, Basil, and Belladonna, were all in the main lobby near the check-in-check-out desk, while Brock had disappeared somewhere in the back with one of the elders who ran the place. Having aspirations to be a pokēmon breeder, Brock was more than intrigued by how the place was run.

Yeah. We were in a pokēmon daycare center.

The walls in the lobby were pink and speckled with little white flowers, and there was an indoor picket fence that blocked off the other half of the room so that any pokémon that were in the daycare couldn't get out. It led to the outside one, but the majority of the pokēmon were inside and relaxing now that it was late.

The Daycare Lady had humored us by playing the most recent news on the tv hanging against the wall, which oddly enough involved the pokēcenter we had just escaped from. It was ridiculous how quickly the media worked… or maybe it just felt that way because I wasn't used to it.

Another thing to the list of stuff that just didn't make any logical sense to me, for reasons unknown to even myself. Blegh.

The chaos from when we had left had apparently grown so much that Nurse Joy kept everyone inside until they had calmed down, and brought Officer Jenny over to interrogate everyone as to what on earth happened. It was really a miracle we got out in time.

If I wasn't constantly scanning new areas for escape routes, we would never have found the window before he caught up.

Survival was the one thing I was good at. I hated that it was Team Rocket who made it happen, but at the very least I can use this one skill against them. I have to.

But… jeez. A pokēmon daycare? It sounded like a total trap- like one of the things the criminal organization would have set up to steal pokēmon. I had no idea how people could entrust their pokēmon to complete strangers. If they were people like Brock or Professor Oak, then maybe… I guess… it would be fine, but there's no way of knowing.

They could be lying.

Worrying my bottom lip and furrowing my brows, I fiddled with my sleeves as I paced around in the nearest corner, Ansem, Basil, and Belladonna at my heels. I tried to ignore all the stares from the pokēmon that were indoors, and instead attempted to think of how long it would take for the Team Rocket goon to go away or give up on this town.

There's no way he would think to check the daycare, right?

If he was smart, which he certainly seemed to be, he would assume that I had already left town with my friends in an attempt to get away. But if not, if he was more clever than that, and he does check here- maybe we can leap over the picket fence and leave through the back?

We'll have to maneuver through the hordes of pokēmon that are being kept in this place, but they seem to like me decently enough so they might listen if I try to get them to move away. I also had my pokémon with me this time, so-

"-l. El. Hey!" A hand latched onto my shoulder and I jumped. If not for the hand, I would have actually left the ground. I whirled my head around to look behind me, startled eyes meeting concerned brown. Blue stared at me, frowning deeply. "You good, kid?"

"H-Huh? Oh, uh… yeah." I glanced at the door. "Fine. I'm fine."

"Cool, 'cause… you were startin' to freak me out there with all that pacing."

"Sorry…"

He sighed, then reached out with a mischievous grin- and a small yelp escaped my lips when he started to fervently ruffle my hair. When I tried to back away, he caught me by putting me in a headlock, and instead of gritting my teeth and remaining quiet like I did the first time this had happened I instead squirmed, letting out several noises of annoyance and complaint as I tried to smack his hand off.

"Sorry, schmorry!" He exclaimed. "Quit freakin' out so easily! We're safe here."

"But-!"

"I said we're safe!" He reinforced. I struggled some more, but didn't have much luck in escaping as I refused to do anything to physically hurt him. I was left to scowl, glaring up at him as he smirked, victorious. "You gonna behave now, kid?"

"...You're the one acting up." I grumbled. "Let go of me."

"You know? Because you asked sooo nicely, my answer is… no."

I glared, lips tilting down into what could only be described as a pout. "Jerk."

He laughed. "You know it, shortie."

Suddenly, there was the sound of giggles. We blinked, turning to see the Daycare Lady smiling at us from behind her desk. She was quite old, around the same age as the man Brock disappeared with earlier, with white hair tied back in a bun and dark eyes.

I was still suspicious, but Brock and Blue seemed to trust them enough. I watched as she smiled behind her hand, amused by our antics. "You two are quite close. Are you siblings, perhaps?"

What?

At that question, my mind instantly flashed to Brock. Then, knowing how selfish that was, I pushed that thought away- instead thinking of something else. Someone else. The little kid I had nursed back to health years ago, with his curly mop of red hair, dark skin, and big blue eyes.

Adrien.

His birthday was going to be soon, wasn't it? I have to get back before then. I have to. I don't want him to suffer through the training regimens. Even if it's just for a short while. He doesn't deserve that. I started to ponder just how long it was going to take to get back to Hoenn when so much has been happening before I could even get my second badge, when another face flashed through my mind. The strange woman from my nightmares.

Was… she a sibling of mine? Did I have a sister? Any brothers? If so, how many? How did we know each other? Why did she try to save me in the nightmares? What was her name?

I snapped out of my thoughts when Blue released me, and I stumbled out of his grasp towards Ansem, Basil, and Belladonna. Blue's ribs must be doing a lot better than before, considering how easy it was for him to roughhouse.

I watched the boy in question as he raised his hands up defensively, Blue making a face. "I already have one sister, granny. I don't need another. Besides, this brat and I don't look anything alike. She's clearly from Unova."

"Oh my!" The Daycare Lady gasped, raising a wrinkled hand to her lips. "My apologies. I'm afraid my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be…."

She focused her gaze on me. The old woman seemed to be thinking about something intently.

"Hmm. Unova, you say?" She inquired. "That's so far away; you must have traveled quite a while."

"Uh, y-yeah…" I don't really remember, honestly. I only know what happened after I woke up in Rustboro. "I was… actually in Hoenn before I came to Kanto."

"You must be quite the traveler, then!"

"Sort of…" Not of my own will, though I am trying to get back there. My brows furrowed. "Why?"

She opened her mouth to answer, only to be cut off when the door to the Hatching Hall opened. Brock and the Daycare Man came walking out, the dark-skinned teen speaking excitedly with the elder about all he had been told.

Brock came to a halt, seeing the way we had all frozen, and raised his brows. "Uh, hi. Did something happen?"

"We were just talking." The Daycare Lady explained with a smile. "I was told that the little one came from Unova, and traveled all the way here from Hoenn. Ah, right."

She looked back at me, leaning forward against her desk and lacing her fingers together. Her gaze was intense, dark eyes boring into mine.

"What did you say your name was, little one?"

It was hard to tell what she was thinking. I was still suspicious, but Brock came back unharmed after talking with the old man, so maybe… it really was safe here- like Blue said. Still, I was hesitant to answer.

Taking a deep breath, reminding myself that everything was fine and that everything was going to be fine, I stood up a bit straighter and puffed out my chest. I wasn't a grunt anymore. I was a person. I had, however small it was, an existence. "My… My name is El."

The elderly woman smiled at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she did so. She eyed the three pokēmon near my feet before moving her gaze back to meet mine.

"El," She said warmly, "would you happen to be on the lookout for any new pokēmon?"

Huh?

Steven, for the first time in many years, was left utterly baffled. He had entered the pokēcenter as according to the plan he made with Lorelei, but then he accidentally bumped into a small child and nearly knocked her over as result.

He caught her- just in time to stop her from hitting the floor. And when he saw her face, the entire world just seemed to… stop. She looked just like her . Eyes so big and brown, with long dark hair. She looked like the spitting image of the girl in his memory, but she was too young to be her. The one he remembered had to be thirteen, maybe fourteen or fifteen at best. This girl couldn't have been older than ten.

And yet… she was the one who had escaped Team Rocket. The one who blew up their headquarters. She probably held all the answers he was looking for, but now she's slipped out of his grasp.

Because Steven, the foolish prodigy and guilt-ridden man that he was, lost focus in the midst of his shock. Something he was never supposed to do. She had somehow completely convinced herself that he, who only wanted to help, was working with the enemy.

The criminal organization who had, without a doubt, abused her until the very moment of her escape. Who had, if that interview on the television was anything to go by, hurt one of her travel companions.

"What a mess…" Steven sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache form.

He was stuck in the cafeteria listening to the interrogations taking place, and felt quite drained as a result of what happened. After having suffered for so long, he can only imagine how protective the girl was of her new friends- nonetheless how protective Brock was of her.

He must be- after all, why else would he quit being a gym leader so suddenly? Especially to travel with a girl he barely knew?

Pulling out his Pokédex, he flipped through the screen to see if he received any mail from Wallace or Winona. As it turns out, he did- though neither have found out any information about Team Rocket's hideouts. Wallace was also apologizing, for he had duties outside the gym to attend to.

He must be exhausted.

Apart from gym duties, he was also acting as the current Hoenn Champion. Steven had defeated him before, back when he challenged the Elite Four, and had served as Champion for a few years. But now that Steven was back on his search… Wallace agreed to take that mantle up once more, while simultaneously doing his gym duties whenever his master was unable.

As soon as this is sorted out, Steven will battle Wallace once more- and if he wins, he'll remain the Champion again for many more years unless someone else can take the title from him. Winona, meanwhile, had searched through the entirety of Johto from above and only encountered a few grunts- people she almost didn't find worth mentioning with how little information they were able to give her.

Apparently Team Rocket had decided that they were done with kidnapping children, having taken enough to groom for villainy, though Steven had a feeling there was another reason for it. It was a child that they had captured who had destroyed their headquarters in Viridian Forest, after all.

Steven really can't believe he let her get away. Was it because of something he said? Did he seem too suspicious when he mentioned Brock? Or… did she just have trust issues? After all the horrors she must have been through, it was impossible to tell. There were just so many possible reasons why, but he had next to no time to sort through them all.

The young man sighed, leaning over in his seat and draping his arms over his legs. He only lifted his head up when he heard the sound of heels clacking against the floor heading towards his direction, the color red greeting him quite fast as Lorelei stood in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest, one of her eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Explain." She demanded.

"...It's a long story."

"You can tell it on our way to Vermillion." Lorelei stated bluntly. "Neither Brock nor the girl were at the gym. If she had already battled, it's impossible to tell. They had so many trainers come in today that they can't remember who looked like what. The audiences were also full-up. So if Brock was there… no one noticed. They were all focused on Misty and her sisters."

Steven sat up straight, crossed one leg over the other, and ran a hand through his hair. "Lovely. So we're running a wild goose chase at this point."

Lorelei slid in beside him at the table, propping an elbow up on the table with a hand against her chin. "So it seems. Shall we go? I got permission from Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy to collect you, seeing as you are the "great" Steven Stone."

Right. In times like these, it was a good thing he was so well-known. Still, it didn't do him much good if he couldn't locate one little girl or her friends. Actually, now that he thinks of it- she didn't recognize who he was at all.

Steven Stone, heir to the Devon Corporation and the previous Champion of the Hoenn League. At Wallace and little Lisia's insistence, he even participated in Contests.

Just how isolated, how alone, and how kept in the dark did Team Rocket leave that poor girl? It was no wonder why Brock decided to travel with her; she probably knew nothing outside the horrors she had been fed. The thought filled Steven with rage.

He looked at Lorelei, determination following through him once more. "Let's do one more sweep of the town before we leave, okay? I want to be sure."

That girl- maybe she wasn't her . But they did look a lot alike, or so he had convinced himself, and it made Steven seethe to think about how she might have been mistreated. Just what exactly did they do to their victims, to the other children and pokēmon they kept locked up? That little girl he bumped into earlier might know where Team Rocket is hiding all of them, might know just how to save them, and by extension Steven might even learn about what happened to her.

Clenching his fists, Steven stood- taking the lead as Lorelei stared after him before following. Her heels clacking against the floor, she raised a hand to her chin, other arm wrapped around her waist. She frowned, eyes full of concern.

"Steven…"

He's gone beyond compassionate at this point. What Team Rocket was doing was beyond morbid, beyond evil- and the story Steven had told her before… made it clear that, truly, all of this, all of his actions that he had taken up to this moment, was because it had become personal a long time ago. He was the calm before the storm, steaming and broiling with anger and hate and concern.

Lorelei could tell- Steven blamed himself, and pushed himself too hard because of it.

The prodigy, the Hoenn Champion, the Devon Corp. CEO's heir. He's done so much in just nine years, had so many expectations placed upon him, was made to be perfect in so many ways towards the public, and raised his pokēmon to the same extent, but one thing was clear.

He could never live up to the expectations he had placed upon himself.

"Oh, one more thing." Steven spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts as they came to a halt outside the pokēcenter's main doors. He placed a hand in one of his pockets, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her, blue eyes as hard as steel. "The rumors were true."

Lorelei furrowed her brows. "Excuse me? Which rumors?"

"The ones about Team Rocket's headquarters exploding, and the child who had escaped. I met her, just before all the chaos happened." Steven clenched the dawn stone in his pocket, before turning his gaze towards the sky- jaw tightening in frustration. "She's small, no older than ten. Her legs were covered in scars and bandages."

Lorelei's red eyes widened. "No…"

"Yeah. She's the trainer Brock mentioned in that interview. The one whose pokēmon he borrowed." He raised a hand up to his face, hiding the bitter smile forming on his lips. "The look in her eyes- all those scars- I can only imagine what she went through."

The woman took a deep breath and stepped forward, reaching over and resting a hand firmly on his shoulder. Their gazes met, and Lorelei spoke with a ice cold matter-of-fact voice. "We will find her. Team Rocket won't get away with this. I promise you, Steven. Now… can you tell me what she looks like, so I know who to look for?"

Recollecting his composure, Steven did as told- informing her of the long dark chocolate braids and big brown eyes. From there, they split up, agreeing to meet at the fountain once they did one last round about the town in search of the girl, the former gym leader, and the friend they had saved.

The Daycare Lady walked out from behind her desk and asked us all to follow her, opening the door to the Hatching Hall. If not for that, I would have thought I had heard her wrong. I wondered what made her think I was looking for more team members, and why I would even agree to whatever she was about to suggest, but instead of speaking these thoughts aloud I remained silent, following her through the building.

The first thing I noticed when we entered the Hatching Hall were the shelves on the walls. They were lined full with portable incubators, and there were several doors that were painted different colors with a symbol on each one to represent the type of pokémon eggs they were for.

Ansem sitting on my shoulders with his paws on my head, and Basil and Belladonna at my heels, we entered a room with an ice blue door adorned with a snowflake design. I've… honestly never seen the eggs before they hatched. It was almost surreal, seeing just how many there were in one chilly room and all the different patterns each egg had. It was so cold that frost had formed along the furniture, icicles hanging from the ceiling and shelves precariously- yet not at all proving a danger to the carefully protected eggs that were buried in what appeared to be snow.

"Over here, sweetie." The Daycare Lady instructed, and Blue raised a brow as we followed her deeper into the room. "Despite our best efforts, the one I'm about to show you hasn't hatched. We've been wondering what we should do, and thought that…"

Deeper into the frozen abyss of a room, we finally came to a stop. She carefully opened a curtain that revealed a very pale colored egg, dotted with what looked to be indigo and ice blue flowers. Thin fingers a bit red from the sheer cold of the room, and even more so from the specific spot this egg was sitting, she picked it up and turned towards me.

She smiled, holding it out. "Maybe a good trainer to love and care for it is all it needs?"

"Those patterns…" Brock murmured, raising a hand to his chin as I awkwardly reached out to take the egg. He must have missed this egg during the tour, what with how hidden it was. "I don't recognize it. What region is it from?"

"It's an Alolan breed. A trainer came by a month ago and tried breeding it with a Kanto Vulpix hoping to get a shinier, more colorful version of the pokēmon…" She lowered her head, shivering a little as she brought her arms up to hug herself. "In the end, he left without a single one, and abandoned the last few eggs here."

What? Why on earth would a person do that?

My expression hardened and I looked down at the ice cold egg I was holding, cradling it just a bit closer to my chest without hurting it. A wave of protectiveness washed over me, as if I was holding a child from the Team Rocket nursery.

Whoever that trainer was… they would never be forgiven. Pokémon weren't tools.

"There's more?" Blue blinked, alarmed by the old woman's words. "How many?"

"The others have all hatched, but…" She started to walk out of the room. She picked up a portable incubator along the way, and after having the Daycare Man help her she opened it. "Oh, here, dearie. Let me put that child in here for you."

I handed her the egg, no longer conflicted about the offer. I was going to take care of it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. That egg needed someone, and I was going to be there for it. Maybe it was a bit quick to form an attachment, but to me it felt no different than the babies and toddlers I took care of before.

Carefully securing the egg in the incubator, setting the temperature levels to freezing, she closed it and handed it back to me. The Daycare Man took that chance to walk off, disappearing through a red door with a flame symbol.

"There are two more Vulpix eggs, both fire-types." The Daycare Lady explained, redirecting my attention back to her. "I'm sure you already have your hands full, but if you could find it in your hearts…"

Her eyes were pleading.

"They're good pokēmon. Many trainers seek Vulpix for their teams. If you raise and train them with love, then I'm sure-"

"Of course!" Brock answered right as I stepped forward, my mouth opening to speak only to close in surprise when I looked up at him. "El and I will both take one."

He grinned down at me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"That's okay with you, right? Basil and Belladonna are both really strong, but it can be dangerous to have a team made solely of one type unless you're determined to be a type-specialist."

Brock was… a rock specialist, wasn't he? At least, he was back when he worked as a gym leader. Between his Zubat and this new fire-type egg, he seemed to be branching out.

Blue tilted his head, crossing his arms and humming thoughtfully. "Grass is especially difficult to master; there are so many types they're weak to. Bug, ice, fire… it'll be smart to have an ice-type and a fire-type to try balancing it out. Ansem is an Eevee, so in the worst case scenario you can evolve him into something that compliments the rest. Umbreon and Espeon are always a good choice. Sylveon, too, I guess, if you're into fairies- but they're especially hard to get."

Ansem growled, reminding the boy of his presence and showing his distaste towards his words. Blue jumped. The teen then leaned back, holding his hands up to try and placate the pokémon.

"Okay, okay! It was just a suggestion; calm down!"

"Veeva!" Ansem was not a happy pokēmon. He barked at the boy, baring his fangs, and let out one more bark before resting his chin against my head. "Vee!"

Brock chuckled, amused by the argument. "Ansem doesn't have to evolve if he doesn't want to."

"Va!" The pokémon agreed.

Ugh, he's so cute. I'm with Brock on this, too- I could care less about a balanced team. My pokémon are strong as is. They don't have to evolve if they don't wish for it. They can do whatever, and be whatever, they want. I'll love them no matter what.

I looked down at the incubating egg in my arms, brushing my thumb against the glass. My words will hold true for this one as well. I wonder… just what kind of personality this Vulpix and it's siblings will have? Docile, serious, jolly? Calm, careful, bold? There were so many. It's impossible to guess.

Still… I think… I'm excited about it. It's like watching the little ones in the nursery learn how to walk or say their first words. It's worrying, but exciting at the same time. I can't wait to meet them.

We followed the lady to the heat room, but before we could enter the Daycare Man appeared from the red door, two incubating eggs in his hands. He grinned. "I brought the kiddos. Family always sticks together."

Unlike the ice egg, these two eggs were an identical brown color with a light beige… tail design circling around the bottom. Carefully balancing the ice incubator in one arm, I grabbed the other. It was a little hard due to my short arms, but my messed up wrist made it possible. I could feel the heat radiating from the thick glass.

This one was definitely set to warm. Fire-type pokémon indeed.

Brock grabbed the last egg, eying it with awe. "I can't believe I'm getting my very own Vulpix…! I love them already!" He sniffled, hugging the incubator.

Blue scrunched up his nose. "I really can't with you two. Jeez."

This, admittedly, wasn't the way I imagined getting two new members for my team, but I'll happily oblige just this once since there was no violence involved. With Ansem, Belladonna, Basil, and these two… that makes five. I wonder who the sixth is going to be?

Well, that's assuming I ever get a sixth pokémon.

I need to focus on hatching these babies first, and dealing with the current situation at hand. It's too late to go to the gym now, but we can't head back to the pokēcenter either. Which means staying here or heading back to Bill's for the night.

That was when we heard it- a knock on the door. I whirled my head around in alarm, and Brock and Blue looked at each other.

Before I could say anything, Blue whispered something to the Daycare Man and then had a hand on my upper back, forcing me to follow Brock. There we all leaned against the wall, flattening ourselves as best as we could as the two elders hurried out to greet the newcomer- the door not quite closing all the way and leaving just enough room for me to see who it was.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice called, and I tensed as the quickly flash of steel blue hair. "Have you seen a group of pokémon trainers? One of them is a small girl, no older than ten? Dark hair, big eyes- distinctly Unovan features?"

I tried to steady my breathing, protectively holding the incubators to me, fearing what would happen if he got his hands on these eggs. Team Rocket would use them, abuse them even, for their evil. I can't let that happen.

A shoulder bumped into mine and I inhaled sharply, looking up to see Brock. It was hard to tell in this darkness, but I think he was trying to calm me down. To tell me it would be okay. He had his free arm hovering in front of Blue's chest, as if to keep him from recklessly running out and challenging the goon to a battle.

Focusing on Brock's warmth, I did my best to clear my mind. Everything was going to be okay. I have my friends and all of our pokémon. We can defend this place if necessary. It's okay.

"Ah, that's… hm." The Daycare Lady pretended to think about it. "I'm afraid I can't remember. We get so many customers…"

"There was that one girl with dark hair, but she didn't look Unovan." The Daycare Man mused.

The Team Rocket goon gave an awkward chuckle at the nickname. "I see. Well, I apologize for taking up your…"

What? Why did he trail off? I could feel my heart pick up, and before I knew what was happening Brock had pushed me partially behind him with his elbow, though whether that was to protect me or to stop me from doing something stupid like he was thinking Blue would, I wasn't sure. Oh, Arceus. I don't like this. The Team Rocket goon wasn't smart; he was clever.

He's probably already…

"Pardon me for being rude, but is that door supposed to be open?"

…figured out where we were hiding.

I could hear them. The footsteps. He was heading towards us. We can't run away carrying the incubators like this; we'd risk dropping the eggs. It's too dangerous.

But we can't just let ourselves get caught either.

Oh, frick; they're so close now. I can't breathe. It's so cold, but I don't know if I'm shivering because of the temperature or the fear. It's over. It's all over.

Brock and Blue and all these eggs are going to get hurt and it's all my-

"Bulba!"

Basil, no! I let out a panicked gasp and lunged forward, but with Brock in the way all I could do was watch on in horror as he poked his head out the door, a pair of pale and calloused hands reaching out and picking him up, the goon's voice sounding quite surprised. "Oh my. You're not supposed to be in there, are you?"

Click.

Huh? I blinked, alarmed to see the door had closed completely- blocking out all light from the hallway. It was harder to hear now, but if I strained my ears I could listen.

"I think one of your Bulbasaurs escaped the fence." The man informed, tone light and almost… amused sounding? What? "Shall I put him back for you?"

"O-Oh, yes." The Daycare Man stammered, equally surprised. "Thank you, sir."

"Of course." Footsteps, Basil making a sound, and then a small hum. "What is it?"

"Saur! Bulbasaur! Bulba!"

"I see. You really don't like being behind the fence, huh? Quite stubborn. Your trainer must be as well, what with having raised such a strong Bulbasaur as yourself."

"Bulba!" Basil, sweetie, please stop talking to him. He's the enemy. "Bulbasaur!"

I leaned down and peaked through the keyhole, trying to get a look at what was going on. The goon was squatting down near the fence, and Basil… seemed to be smiling at him. He didn't fear him at all.

Why?

My heart jolted in fear when the man reached a hand out, and I was soon filled with confusion when I saw that he had pet Basil on the head instead of hurting him.

"Steel pokēmon are my preference, but… you are quite the handsome little fellow. Your trainer must be so proud of you."

"Saur!" Basil beamed.

The man chuckled. Standing, he fixed his suit and faced the Daycare Man and Lady, flashing them a charming smile. "Thank you for your time. I'll leave you be. Take care- and keep up the great work!"

"Y-Yes, sir. You as well."

"Have a nice day!"

He left, the door closing behind him, and Blue moved over to open the door. I wasted no time in darting into the lobby, carefully setting the incubators down and picking up Basil and holding him to my chest.

"Sweetie, are you okay!?" I buried my face in his neck, terrified of letting him go. "He didn't do anything, right?"

"Bulba!"

Okay. Okay, good. I loosened my hold and held him up in front of me, Ansem leaning down to get a good look at the Bulbasaur to be safe. Flashing a grin, Basil let out a happy squeal, and then… he began to glow. I yelped, completely startled, and almost dropped him- but a pair of vines reached out and wrapped around my shoulders before I could, pulling me in for another hug. The sudden increase of weight had me lose balance and I fell, crashing hard onto my rear, as an Ivysaur sat on my torso- nuzzling my face.

"Ivy!" He cheered.

Basil's voice had deepened considerably, but his gentle crimson eyes remained the same. My sweet baby Bulbsaur just… evolved. So suddenly, too. I can't believe it. I mean, I'm proud of him, but… wow. I wasn't expecting that.

They were there. It was quite obvious with the backpacks sitting out in the open like that. They were hiding from him, so determinedly, so desperately, that they made such a huge mistake. When Steven saw that Bulbasaur poking his head out, he just knew they were hiding in the hallway, but…

For her to be so scared of him…

He stopped outside the Daycare, taking a deep breath and running his fingers through his hair. Walking around the building as quietly as he could, he peered in through the window- eyes widening in surprise when he saw that the Bulbasaur he had just placed inside the gate was suddenly sitting atop the girl as an Ivysaur. It was nuzzling her face so adoringly, like they had known each other all their lives.

Alright. As frustrating as this was, Steven sees how it is.

He closed his eyes, making his way to the fountain plaza, working on formulating a new plan in his mind. If he can't talk to the girl without scaring her away, then he needs to figure out a way to prove he can be trusted. Then, finally then, they'll be able to talk. She won't so much as listen to an explanation otherwise.

But if he tries to approach her now, after everything that happened, she'd be likely to try and kick him in the knees again. He doesn't want to just protect her and her friends from the shadows, either. He has to figure out where exactly they're going.

That'll give them a clue towards finding Team Rocket and all the captured children. Maybe… no. If she's distrusting of adults in general or of authority figures, she might run from Lorelei as well. They have to prove their goodwill- unless they can manage to get Brock alone to talk to him. It was irritating, but he needed to keep a cool head. So many lives were at stake, but he can't just demand answers from an abused child. That would be cruel, and it would make him no better than her abusers.

Steven let out another sigh. Just why did this have to get so complicated?