Somewhat of a short chapter this time. I tried something different, so it'd be great to get some feedback. Just so you know, I've run into some computer trouble so chapters might be a little slow in coming for a while. -Nemesis1807

"You've got to be #$!%&* kidding me!" Sol snarled. "You #$!%&* expect me to #$!%&* attack my #$!%&* partner and #$!%&* join you #$!%&* lot?!"

Eevee had never seen Sol so mad. It was like she had taken Team Skull's offer as a personal insult and was set to tear them limb from limb. Eevee was both elated at Sol's loyalty and appalled by what was coming out of her mouth. He had to mentally filter out the bad language (hence the " #$!%&*").

Skuntank's eyes narrowed at Sol's outburst.

"Guess I was wrong about you. Very well, Koffing and I will just use our noxious gas combo on both of you!"

Skuntank and Koffing stepped forwards and Eevee became extremely nervous. They were going to try something, but Eevee didn't know what. He had to fight down the urge to run, to flee from these bad Pokémon. But he would not abandon his partner to face them alone, not again like back at the guild.

Eevee braced himself for whatever they were about to throw at him, but he was unsure what exactly he should be preparing for. Beside him he could see Sol fiddle with something in the side pocket of her bag, then place something in her mouth.

And then Skuntank's and Koffing's attack came in the form of a thick, noxious cloud that sped towards them. Eevee had just enough time to register that when the world suddenly exploded in a fiery ball of light.

Eevee was lifted off his feet and thrown back by the blast. He landed heavily on the ground and skidded back several feet, dazed and with ears ringing. Feeling bruised and battered but otherwise unhurt, Eevee slowly got back to his feet.

The grass at the site if the explosion was scorched and blackened. It was fortunate that in old forests such as this one the trees were so far apart, otherwise it could have caused a rampant forest fire.

Skuntank and Koffing, having been the closer to the blast, had been thrown back farther and with much greater force and were now unconscious at the foot of the perfect apple tree. Zubat was nowhere to be seen, no doubt having fled and abandoned his team mates when things didn't go as planned. Eevee frantically looked around for his partner.

"Sol!" he cried when he caught sight of her blue and black form crumpled at the base of a tree some distance away.

Eevee rushed over, went to shake her shoulder but though better of it (no sense in repeating the orange paint incident) and settled for yelling at her.

"Sol! Wake up! Are you all right?"

Sol's eyes fluttered open. She tried to sit up, the gasped in pain and grabbed her left arm.

"What's wrong?"

"The blast sent me flying into a tree. I think I might've dislocated my shoulder." She shook her head and chuckled darkly. "I guess chomping down on that blast seed wasn't the smartest of ideas."

"You what?"

"I had a pretty good idea of what they were planning and I did not want a repeat of what happened back at the guild. I thought a blast seed would neutralize their attack before it reached us, but admittedly, I did not think that through very well."

"Can you get up?"

"I should. It's only my shoulder that's hurt, not my legs."

Sol managed to push herself to her feet using her good arm.

"We better get those apples and head out before those two wake up," she said.

With a little help from Sol, Eevee managed to get up the tree and knock some perfect apples down. They gathered up as many as they could and headed back to the guild.

Something Eevee had noticed about Sol was that she liked to complain. When something bugged her, be it Chatot or, as Sol put it, "freakin' tourists", she'd make some sort of snide remark or go off on a rant if it really irked her. Eevee was used to that and knew it was just Sol's way of venting pent up frustration. But when she got quiet and bottled everything up, that was the time to worry.

On the way back, Eevee expected some sort of quib about her injury, a joke about Team Skull, a comment about having to lug back all those apples, but nothing came. That was the tipoff that something was wrong, that something Skuntank had said had gotten to her.

They got back to the guild and dropped off the apples with Chatot.

"That's all?" he squawked. "We're going to need much more than this!"

"If you don't like, maybe you should've sent more than two people," Sol growled. "We can only carry so much. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find someone to stick my shoulder back in its socket."

Sol marched off, not even giving Chatot a backwards glance. Eevee shot him an apologetic smile and followed. Eevee didn't understand Sol's extreme dislike of Chatot. Sure, he could be harsh at times and could be a little greedy, but he did his job well and knew what he was doing. Otherwise, he never would have been made the guild's second in command. Sol could be extremely headstrong at times, and when she had an opinion on something or someone it was near impossible to change. They had gotten off on the wrong foot and Sol wasn't able to get past that. With all the comments she made and the thinly veiled insults, it was no wonder Chatot didn't like her much. Perhaps if Sol gave him another chance, got past the little slights, things would be better between them. Well, that was Eevee's opinion, at any rate.

Chimecho was able to fix Sol's shoulder, but not without Sol cursing and demanding to see a medical licence. Sol's arm was put in a sling and she was given some oran berries to speed up healing along with a sweet smelling draught to numb the pain. What Chimecho failed to mention was that it would also leave her completely out of it.

"Thisss bed is soooooooo soft!" Sol slurred back in their room.

She rolled around on her bed, seemingly in heaven, before rolling off the side and falling on the floor. Eevee tried to help her back up, but she seemed set on making it as difficult as possible, flailing around, trying to push him away and ranting about how she didn't need any help.

"Sol, just calm down and let me help you."

"No! I cun do it!"

After several more failed attempts to stand, she finally relented.

"Ok, you cun 'elp. Just don't tell the sparkly lights o'er there. They're really jealous."

Finally, after much effort, Sol made it back on her bed.

"Yur such a good friend! I looove you! I'm sssooorry I missed yur baseball game."

Eevee had no idea what she was talking about but thought it better not to ask any questions.

"We should go get some ice cream! Tha would be sooooooo great! Vanilla 'cause I don't like chocolate an' I'm borin' tha way."

"Sol, maybe you should just try to sleep it off..."

"But I don't wanna! Five more minutes!"

Eevee sighed and sat down on his own bed. Sol tried to get up, failed, and instead held up her hand and stared at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Hey, Sol?"

"Wha?"

"Has something been bothering you?"

"I dunno."

"Really. I know how to tell when something is wrong. What is it?"

Sol was silent for a long time and Eevee thought she wasn't going to answer, but then she finally spoke up, her words mangled and slurred.

"I don't have no memory of who I was 'fore all this. Skuntank said he could see who I really am, an' it wasn't a good person. What if he's right, an' I'm just 'tendin' to be un 'cause I don't 'member my past?"

"You're a good person, Sol. You help people."

"I dunno. Don't matter anyway. The past don't make us who we are. I can be who I wanna be, an' any who say different can get stuffed."

That had to be the best piece of advice Eevee had ever gotten from a person drugged up on pain killers.

Sol soon fell asleep, despite her protesting that she wasn't tired in the slightest. To be honest, Eevee was more than a little relieved. Sol completely lucid could be a handful, often being extremely immature especially around Loudred, but she was even worse on whatever Chimecho had given her. Eevee was sure Chimecho had given her too much, but at least he had some quiet for the moment.

With nothing better to do, Eevee took out his journal. He had never told Sol that he kept one, mostly because she couldn't stand not knowing something and would no doubt try to read it when he wasn't around. She meant well, but she was just so stubborn sometimes and when she wanted something, she wouldn't stop until she got it.

All in all, Sol had her faults, but so did everyone, and they were greatly outweighed by all of her other qualities. She was the best partner Eevee could have asked for and he wouldn't have traded her for anyone.