I went to the bathroom and when I came back I forgot what I was doing.

Well, here I am now, sitting at the Olivine café, and ready to burst into action! Just let me order more sushi for a few more moments...


Chuck took out this weird, petite monkey thingy that had chains on its ankles and wrists. It seemed permanently pissed off. Maybe its blood pressure was too high from sitting at the waterfall all day.

Kitty, on the other hand, was an angelic creature of beautiful ivory white wings, a serene aura of truth and justice about it. It was pretty obvious who was going to win, so nobody but Chuck was foolishly surprised when the monkey creature was gone in a flash of pink light.

What did surprise me, however, was that Lorcan was gone in battle by one hit. One hit. It was a fucking one-hit KO, and it wasn't even a critical hit. I was so shocked, I didn't even notice Kitty successfully winning the entire battle for me.

Once I realized he did, however, I pretended like I knew all about the win and accepted Chuck's Gym Badge.

"Ha! I'd enjoyed battling you!" he said.

I was like, "Uh-huh, uh-huh," nodding much too eagerly. My mind was still wrapped up about my Pokémon. Not just Lorcan, but nearly the whole team. I mean, pretty much everyone but Cinder and Kitty were becoming crappy at battling, and that isn't a pleasant thought.

"But," Chuck continued, "I don't like losing. From now on, I'm gonna train twenty-four hours a day."

OKAY, that was one way to get my attention. I gave Chuck a serious look.

Dude, unless you want Team Plasma to start protesting here too, you'd better shut up with these animal abuse comments.


I left the Gym, frazzled and frowning. So I was pretty tired when a woman suddenly came right at me, saying, "You'd gotten Cianwood's Gym Badge!"

"How do you know?" I said. "I thought I put in my bag." I looked down, making sure that the badge wasn't sticking outside of it.

"It's actually sticking on your sleeve. You were too hasty in putting it in, you didn't notice that it never actually landed inside of your bag. Anyway, I watched through the windows."

"Oh."

I swear, this nation's stalking efforts both intimidate and impress me.

"Anyway, you should take this HM," the woman said, passing me HM 02. This I remembered to put in my bag. I also put my badge in, squishing it between several celebrity magazines that had strangely appeared in my bag.

"Teach your Pokémon the move Fly," she said, "and you'll be able to fly instantly to anywhere you have visited."

"Like my grandmother's house?" I said.

"If your Pokémon has been there before, then yes."

Shit, they haven't. I think my grandmother moved to Kalos now. She enjoys living in Parisian replicas.

Well, anyway, I thanked the woman and started on my merry way to a certain idiotic city called Olivine. Lorcan's treat.

However, I had not gotten too far before randomly glancing to my left. I was then all like, "HOLY SHIT, THAT'S SUICUNE," as my eyes gazed upon the blue furred monster.

Suicune, hearing my feral roar, jumped round before finally landing directly in front of me. His head tilted to mine, his red eyes remembering me, recalling me as the girl who stood before him at the Burned Tower, where I had stood aghast in an eerie stillness, the same way I stood just then, torn away in a blast of misery. Our eyes locked again; I was pleading, he was listening. And he seemed to understand.

Miranda, who stood beside me, cowered to my ankles. I looked down to her, and with my link to Suicune momentarily broken, Suicune leaped off, into the depths of the ocean. Suicune was made to stay free forever, to whisk off in the fury of nature, which housed his own childhood. He was not made to remain contained in a small red and white ball.

I looked back at where he leaped, at the waves that were just beginning to still, and I knew that I didn't have the heart to catch him.

At least, that was what I was thinking.

"Yo, Lyra!"

Where Suicune goes, Eusine follows...'course. I sullenly turned to him, looking upon his vigorous, crazed features.

"Wasn't that Suicune just now?"

"Yeah, that was Suicune just now. Guy doesn't seem to like me much, though. He practically jumped into a lake after seeing my face."

"Well, I thought I saw him running gracefully on the waves."

"Um..."

"Suicune is beautiful and grand. And it races through towns and roads at simply awesome speeds."

He stared dramatically at the ocean, awkwardly reminding me of my middle school plays. I stirred uncomfortably.

"It's wonderful," he said. "I want to see him up close. I want to see the wind rustle the fur on his back, the freedom in his wild...animal...eyes..."

"Okay," I interrupted, beginning to feel my stomach grumble loudly. I made a move to get past him.

But he slid into my way, grinning much too broadly. I looked up irritably.

"Wait, Lyra, I've decided on a plan."

"Good for you." I changed direction but Eusine blocked me again. I stared at him with murder in my eyes.

"It involves you," he added.

"I'm too hungry."

"I've decided to battle you as a Trainer to earn Suicune's respect!"

My first impulse was to laugh, and I did that very well.

Then I said, "I don't want to catch Suicune, and I don't even know you."

He said, "I still want respect."

"Then go beat a Gym Leader."

"But Suicune respects you, so if I beat you, then he'll respect me."

I glared at him. "I'm sorry, Euisne, but look...frankly, I'm starting to get angry at you right now. I need my dinner, and you're blocking my way. If we have a fight, I'll make sure you lose at this rate...besides, I kind of doubt that Suicune is watching this right now. And even if he is, by some unlikely chance, I doubt he even gives a shit whether you win or not. He's a fucking dog."

"Lyra, please!" he said, tears glinting in Eusine's sky blue eyes. "Let us battle! This has always been my dream."

"Um..."

"I always wanted to battle against a chosen hero. That was...that was what I wrote in kindergarten, many, many years ago..."

"You wrote in kindergarten that you wanted to beat a chosen hero, not become one?" I'm supposed to believe that?

"I was an intellectual," he confided.

The pity...was too great. The fact that he actually thought I would believe any of that made me pity him even more, for some reason.

I silently swore, taking out my Cinder.

"We're doing this just to humor him, but we better win," I told Cinder. "If we don't, there shall be...consequences."

I said "consequences" in the scariest voice I can, just so Cinder can make his own interpretations of the word.

Cinder yawned and complained he was hungry.

"That makes it two of us."


You probably want to know the result of that very stupid battle.

Here's Eusine's quote of it: "I hate to admit it, but you won."

Get your clues from that.

"You're amazing, Lyra!" Eusine gushed.

"I'm amazing when I'm hungry," I corrected.

"I'm starting to understand why Suicune was keeping an eye on you."

"I know. I'm too animalistic for this society."

"Well, I'm going to keep searching for Suicune. See you around!"

He walked away.

It was then that I wandered off for Olivine City, for food, for a Badge, and for a Pokémon's life. You know, lofty ideals like that. I doubt I'll get into Harvard because of them, but one can hope, right?


"Lorcan, I know you. I know you snuck celebrity magazines inside my bag."

Lorcan was silent.

"You weirdo."

Olivine's shores showed up on the horizon. Its lighthouse was dark, seemingly stoic, even as darkness began to fall over the land. Lorcan drifted peacefully on the waters as the last of the fishing ships came to pass, coming toward Olivine's shores. There were a few rowboats still roaming about, and in some of them couples sat, romantically lit up by the full moon. Golden lights along the harbor reflected upon the dark, smooth waters. A few winds came past, blissful and tranquil.

It was, overall, the end to a great day. A great day in nature, I mean. My day, personally, was as stupid and strange as they always are, but you probably know all about that.

"Lorcan, take your dumb magazines, and tell somebody else to keep them for you. I can't keep them in my bag. I barely got enough room for my French tea manuals already."

Lorcan scowled at me.

"Look, those manuals are important. Besides, you didn't even ask if you could put magazines inside of my bag. I mean, I probably would've said no, but generally speaking, you have to ask for those kind of things, understand?"

Lorcan asked if we could head to some place called the Dragon's Den (sounds like a bar), and go find him a girlfriend.

I said no.

He said there would be sushi cake.

I said that I would consider it later.

It was not long afterwards that I reached Olivine, jokingly preparing a "perfect" speech to Jasmine as one trainer to another: you suck. With this in mind, I headed to the café to eat and wash up. It was on my way out did I ask causally about the sick Pokémon, and I became horrified when realizing that nobody else had gotten the pharmacy's medicine yet. This whole time I wasn't taking it seriously, because I thought that another Trainer would be handing the medicine to Jasmine any minute now. Fingering the medicine I got from the pharmacy, I asked about Jasmine. The responses I got from the sailors were, in their minds, tragic (in that the Pokémon was sick) yet hopeful (in that Jasmine would surely cure it!) and truth was, none of them seemed to realize that Jasmine's "gift," as they put it, wasn't doing anything at all.

Or maybe that girl's gift is about not doing anything at all. Damn, she's more idiotic than I thought if she ever thought that was an actual gift. My mother, who doesn't consider this to be a gift, can beat her at this game, fair and square. (To my knowledge, she's still staring at her planner at the kitchen table.)

But those Olivine people honestly, really thought, that Jasmine had a special gift that can do anything. She did mention to them about a medicine, but it was mostly in passing.

Their replies to my questions were stuff like: "Really, surely, she can do it on her own! She can heal Amphy without help. She told us that!"

And I was like: "YEAH, RIGHT, PEEPS."

Repulsed by this never-ending stupidity, I ran to the lighthouse, wisely using the elevator at the main room to take me to the light room. Still dainty, adored Jasmine sat next to Amphy, the sick Pokémon, and all I wanted to do was scream at her, asking, "What are you doing? What have you accomplished these past few days? You haven't given him food or anything, haven't asked anyone to do so, just sat next to him and watch him suffer!"

Instead I pursed my lips, trained my composure, and stiffly came to her and the sick Pokémon. Amphy's breathing was slight, it could barely cough. I swallowed, trying to keep my anger towards Jasmine in check. I kneeled down to Amphy and began to open the medicine, not looking at her at all.

"Will that medicine help Amphy?" she asked softly.

"Yes," I replied in a flat tone, and still, I did not look at her. I kept my hands from shaking and used delicate, precise movements, but the rage that filled me couldn't be conquered.

You sat here, rejecting all help.

You watched him suffer, yet gave no instructions. You said that you could handle it, through your so-called "gift," even through you knew you couldn't do anything. You just pretended like you could, to save face.

I opened the medicine. I gestured Amphy to it. Coming closer, it was evident Amphy was in a total mess. His eyes were bloodshot, and his chest seemed to shatter with every wheeze he made...

I couldn't believe it had come to this point. I'm fine with helping itself, but I'm not fine with the stupidity that led me to help. I talked to the sailors, and I realized that this situation has been going on from the time I was still in Azalea Town. It has gotten that long, but nobody else bothered, none of these sailors, none of these bird keepers. None of them thought of going to the pharmacy, or even making a short call.

Because Jasmine has all told them she has a gift. And they believed her, because they loved her, and the love she had for her own Pokémon. They were led on to believe that they couldn't do anything, because they apparently didn't have this gift. This is what has kept Jasmine inside of the Gym, and what kept them out.

"Um, please, don't be offended..." Jasmine said, coming in closer, "but Amphy will not take anything from anyone but me..."

You know what?

I completely ignored her.

I allowed Amphy to be the final judge. If he wouldn't accept it and she was right, fine. I'll give to her. She can apply the medicine. But just this moment, I wanted to test the credibility of her words.

I held out the medicine. And Amphy's head came to me, and he trusted me enough to take something from me. I slowly dripped the medicine down his throat, his consent being all that was really needed.

That was final. I did not need her at all, or her "gift."

I got up from my knees, feeling my heart shaking.

"Amphy," Jasmine said, her voice only an echo in my head, "Amphy, how are you feeling?"

He cried out loud in happiness, the medicine I have given already having an effect on him. I backed away to the wall, feeling weak, even as Amphy shone his brilliant light, illuminating the lighthouse again. The darkness around me, at the top of the lighthouse, vanished as an almost blinding light took over.

Jasmine smiled. "Oh, I'm relieved, this is so wonderful..."

To save face. The words made a chill run down my spine.

"Thank you so very, very much," she said. "I will return to the Gym."

She was probably speaking to me, but she didn't even bother looking at me. Gal apparently learned a lot from me in a few measly moments; I should be a teacher. (Lesson number one is about how to make proper cold shoulders.)

Jasmine got up, and very, very, quickly ran off and went down the ladder, as though she couldn't stand being near me (that is to be addressed during the second lesson). And so she went off, to the Gym she clearly didn't deserve, with the Pokémon she deserved even less. The whole time she had been near me I had been avoiding looking at her, but now those restraints automatically became released; I gazed at her as she began to hurriedly descend the ladder, a pained look spreading across my face.

In short, I had just missed my time to give a perfect, "love ya Pokémon" lecture, and I felt ashamed. Amphy needed someone to avenge him.

Well, guess I'll give the lecture to Pikachu Boy, then.


All things considered, I was ready to beat the shit out of that stupid Jasmine lady. I was going to do with dignity, and it involved burning her ego with Cinder's well executed attacks of ember.

At last, that was the damn plan. Whether it worked or not is going to be your personal opinion. Now, take your opinion, and go run with it, but I better come out in a good light. If I don't come out in a good light, you must write me a letter, preferably in legible print, why I didn't. Then I can edit it for the future publication of my memoir.

Well, anyway, I began to head to Jasmine's Gym, pretty damn upset with her. I was just out of the lighthouse when I got a phone call, and I don't know how the hell I always get phone calls when exiting buildings, but it happened again.

This time from Baoba.

"Hey, Lyra...this is the warden, Baoba. Sorry to have kept you waiting. We've finally opened the Safari Zone."

At first I forgot who Baoba was, and stared at my Pokégear's Caller ID in total confusion.

Then I realized who he was—one of the million older man in rugged brown clothing.

"Right, the Safari Zone," I said. "It's in...Cianwood?"

And I just came from there.

"Yes," Baoba said hastily. "Do you know where it is? There's a gate in a cavern..."

He went into a big description of it, but frankly, I kind of forgot what he said. I decided that I'll just go to Cianwood later, check the place around. Couldn't get lost for long. The whole town was practically the size of Goldenrod's department store.

He ended his longwinded interactions with a desperate, "Please come visit," and hanged up.

This was the moment in which I ran to the Gym, noting snootily the sign outside of the Gym which read:

Leader: Jasmine

The Steel-Clad Defense Girl

It made stupid Jasmine sound like a dumb old knight or something, clad in a bulky, hideous layer of thick armor. Honestly, I liked the image. I liked the idea of Jasmine walking around, steel clunking noisily with her, as her opponents stared in bafflement. She would probably barely be able to reach out to reward people with Gym Badges, her armor being so stiff and resolute.

Cackling at my own stupid ideas, I entered the Gym. I gave a nod to the Gym guide, who was positioned awkwardly between the wall and one of the Gym's Charizard statues. It looked like a pretty tight squeeze for him. Maybe he was afraid of coming across Jasmine? Well, I couldn't judge him from that. Who knows what kind of mischief that woman does in her own turf.

I bet she slaps people while wearing huge steel armor, doing both things for absolutely no reason.

So I came to him, willing to be a witness against her in case this ever goes to court.

Unfortunately, he didn't tell me anything that interesting.

"Jasmine uses Steel-type Pokémon," the Gym guide told me with little fanfare in his now bleak sounding voice. "She's trying to hide her tenderness behind her steely coldness."

I gave the guide a weird look, but he only gave me a halfhearted glance instead. Frowning, I came deeper into the Gym.


Jasmine's Gym (May be slightly biased against)

Safety: 10/10

No risk here...surprisingly.

I swear, I shall find other faults in her Gym.

Design: 7/10

It reminds me of cupcakes. Which is not good, because then I got hungry.

Gym Trainers/Gym leader: 5/10

Good...Gym Trainers. There, I've said it.

Average: 7.3/10

...


"I knew you'd come here," said one of the Gym Trainers, an older man in a strangely familiar brown suit. "Thank for helping the Gym leader, but battle is a separate matter."

"I know," I said, bracing for battle against this man, Cinder coming closer to my side...

"Go for it!"

Then he smiled encouragingly and turned away, dismissing me. Um...'kay?

I went on and was approached by a second Gym trainer, a young girl in a strangely familiar miniskirt. She giggled.

"I know how capable you are from the lighthouse," she said. "It's time you showed that side of yourself to Jasmine. Good luck!"

She stepped backward, not seeming to be intent on battling me either. I gave her and the guy a suspicious look, but neither of them did anything but look forward and do nothing. It made me even more suspicious, especially since the two of them seem to know all about me from the lighthouse. It was probably all that time speaking with Baoba that got Jasmine so ahead of me.

I walked to Jasmine, frowned. She regarded me cooly before saying in a chilly voice:

"Thank you for your help at the lighthouse...but this is different. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Jasmine, a Gym leader. I use the...clang! Steel type!"

Her terrible joke rendered no laughter from me, only a hard look. She swallowed.

"Um, okay...do you know about the Steel-type?"

"Yes," I said coldly.

"They are very hard, cold, sharp, and really strong."

I gave her a sharp look.

"Um...I'm not lying," she said nervously.

"I didn't say you were," I said strongly.

"Um...let's just fight."

"Yeah, we probably should," I said cooly, directing Cinder towards the Magnemite Jasmine tossed out.

Once that Pokémon was out, all my remaining dignity was promptly shredded.

"Burn it!" I screamed to Cinder, indicating him to use ember. "Burn it to the fucking ground!"

"Hey, that's not nice," Jasmine protested. She ordered Magnemite to paralyze Cinder.

Cinder got paralyzed.

"Now make him get crazy," Jasmine commanded.

Cinder hit himself because he turned crazy from Magnemite's supersonic move. I'm pretty sure that move was against the law. (Now that's something I can use against her in court.)

"I have enough of this shit," I complained. "Cinder, snap out of it. Burn the Magnemite, that was fun."

Cinder did snap out of it, but not before he was caught by a wave of lightening from Magnemite. Still, the Magnemite ended up fainting from a flame attack Cinder followed the lightening by. I withdrew Cinder and took out Lorcan. Jasmine released her Steelix from its Poké Ball, giving me a look akin to extreme confusion. I'm probably the first Trainer since last week's Pikachu Boy who hasn't given the impression of worshipping the dirt she walks on.

"Lorcan, use surf," I said.

Lorcan did so, but his damage was minimal. It was the Steelix, with its long, iron tail, that made a critical hit. I stared, then glared.

Honestly, I should have trained them sometime between Chuck and Jasmine. I had known something was up, but in the end? I was having a near loss all over again.

Gritting my teeth, I took out Kitty. Kitty too fell after only a few shots, and I was near panic. After Kitty, I watched, bewildered, as one by one my Pokémon fell. The evil Steelix bared its teeth, its loosely connected body of stones glinting horridly in the bright lights.

Eventually, I lost.

I tossed random money Jasmine's way, my head beginning to feel strange. Spots showed up in my now grainy vision as I began to walk away from Jasmine.

"You need to train your Pokémon more—" Jasmine was saying, but I didn't care for what she had to say—I was already falling. My spotted vision danced before my eyes.

I wanted to win against her so badly, but in the end, it didn't matter.

I blacked out.


Author's Note

Do you think that Lyra's perception of Jasmine was too harsh? Comment!