This bites.

Amy hugged her knees, glaring at the wall of her clubhouse. Well, it wasn't really a good clubhouse, it was just a shed Granpa had cleared out so that he didn't have to pay for a human-sized tree house for the two children. She grumbled, blowing a strand of her now considerably shortened hair out of her eyes. After weeks of Gramma being too busy to either give Amy a proper haircut or at least take her to town so someone else could, she and Jun had had the bright idea to have the Scyther that was lazing in the bug pen cut her hair. Pokemon liked getting haircuts from humans, maybe a human could get a haircut from a Pokemon and it'd be okay?

Yeah, not so much.

The Scyther had gotten WAY too excited. Dumb thing nearly took her head off with its X-Scissor, and it had taken Jun, Lee, and Amy's weight combined to pin it to the ground right as their grandfather came out to see what the hell all the yelling was about. She and Jun were then subjected to a severe scolding as Granma worked to make some semblance of a decent haircut on Amy's head. Her long unruly curls were now cropped to a boyish pixie style.

She hated pixie hair.

Not that it mattered, her hair would be grown out quickly. Her head fluff grew almost as fast as a damn Mareep. And it wasn't like anyone of interest was around to see how dumb it looked. Six years since the Hypno incident, four since Granma had found out that Amy had gone to the cathedral behind her back, and two since the Heatmor incident right within the Daycare pens. Amy absentmindedly rubbed the still shiny red burn scars on her arm, trying not to shudder at the memory. Okay, so maybe she was reckless. Maybe she'd gotten in a lot of trouble in the past. But she couldn't help it, she'd been trapped within this damn daycare since her spore high hippie mother dumped her here! She wanted to expand her horizon, see more than the dinky acres of this old daycare!

The ten year old snarled in anger, picking up a branch and throwing it at the wall, the last hour still burning in her memory.

-shortly before this…-

"What do you mean 'no'?!" Amy shrieked, dropping her Whimsicott doll.

"No means no, Amanita. You may not go on a Pokemon Journey." Granma repeated, not looking up from the batch of Poffins she was mixing on the stove.

"But ALL kids go on one! Granma, I want to go out and see the world!" Amy protested, refusing to drop the subject.

"Jun hasn't gone on one, Amy. And your grandfather and I need the extra arms around the daycare. You can survive that, dear." the old woman replied impatiently.

"Jun WANTS to work here! He's happy raising other people's Pokemon when they're lazy! I want MORE out of my life than being a glorified babysitter! And don't give me that Tauros load about needing help, you and Granpa make enough off those Ditto-breeders to hire some other people to help you!" Amy snapped, stamping her foot. Now her grandmother turned to face her, a sharp look on her face.

"Amanita Cordelia Trametes, you are NOT going on a journey, you will stay here where your grandfather and I can keep an eye on you, and that is FINAL. Now stop acting like a spoiled brat and go help outside." she stated with an air of finality, turning back to the stove.

Amy trembled with rage, starting to see blotches of red. She grabbed her doll and stormed out of the house, not bothering to stop the old door from slamming behind her.

-Back to now…-

Amy hugged her worn shiny Whimsicott plushie to herself, willing the rage trembles not to come back. It wasn't fair, she was desperate to leave this boring place! She was ten, she was legally allowed to leave, why was Granma being such a crotchety old-

"Amy?"

The distressed girl looked up, seeing none other than her cousin in the doorway. "Why are you hiding in here? Is everything…Amy, were you crying?" Jun immediately zoomed in on the tear stains on her cheeks, closing the door and moving to sit next to his younger cousin. She scowled, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater.

"I'm fine, Jun." she grumbled stubbornly, hugging her doll tight.

"Did you ask Grams about going on a journey?" Amy's snarling glare spoke volumes. "She said, no, huh?"

"Because she's too damn cheap to just HIRE helpers, she'd rather keep me locked up here like a damn doll!" Amy snapped.

"I hardly think these are 'doll' conditions, Amy. You get to wrestle with the Fighting types every day, you're probably a better fighter than most Karate Girls around the islands. Not to mention the more temperamental Pokemon like that Heatmor…" Jun pointed out, eyeing the uncovered burn scars on Amy's arms as well, along with various scratches and smaller cuts on her hands, legs, and parts of her arms not burned.

"It's not the same as being able to travel! I am SICK of this place! I want to see Pokemon out in their natural habitats, not in our stupid penned areas! I want to travel, I want to see what's off this island! Granma's kept me barricaded in this dump even before the Hypno incident, I'm ready to face the outside islands now, I can handle it!" Amy ranted, rolling her sleeves down to cover her scars.

"Amy, you haven't even picked a Pokemon." Jun reminded her.

"I'll find one! I don't want a Bidoof or any of those girly weak ones that people NATURALLY don't want! Excuse me, I want my starter to kick butt, not be a pansy Purrloin or a dumb Rattata…" Amy muttered.

"Amy, beggars can't really be choosers."

"You got a Houndor AND a Tyrogue for your starters!"

"Hercules wandered onto the farm, and Lee was abandoned because he had the wrong Hidden Ability. Ace Trainers are stupidly picky about that, on the rare occasions we have one." Jun stated.

"Yeah, then it's a disgusting Ditto-humping fest. I wish Gram would do what other breeder daycares have started and outlaw that." Amy griped.

"You and me both…" Jun agreed.

—Three years pass…—

Amy ducked a punch, landing a retaliation on the Sawk's stomach. The Fighting type grunted, raising a kick, but Amy was ready for that. Her hands shot out and grabbed his ankle, throwing the blue fighter over her back. Nearby a Pancham punched a bucket made into a bell, signaling the end of the round.

"Nice work Sawk, keep working on that speed." Amy recommended, helping the Pokemon back onto his feet.

"Saw…" he grunted in reply, going back over to the berry area.

Amy sighed, stretching her shoulders before climbing out of the pen. More wrestling, more bruises, more of the same damn thing. More being bored and taking it out by training with the resident Pokemon. Two years ago she should've been allowed to go training, if Grandma didn't have such a giant stick up her ass. Grandpa didn't ever try to argue with her, not even for his own granddaughter. Well, at least her hair had grown out from that stupid pixie cut...

"Sir, they're just as capable as any other-"

"Their natures and stats are friggin' GARBAGE you hack!"

Amy blinked, sharply looking to the normal pen. Jun was standing there arguing with an Ace trainer. In the newborn nest area, Amy could clearly see two fuzzy newborn Pokemon, but she couldn't distinguish from here what they were. However, what she DID know was that she did not like how that trainer was talking to her cousin. Frowning, she made her way over, one hand on her hip.

"Is there a problem here?" She asked pleasantly, though anyone who knew her could hear the dangerous undertones.

"Uh, yeah, Charetard!" This Ace trainer obviously missed it. "Are you guys incompetent or something?! I left my two best Eevees here to breed, and the results are worthless!" he snapped, towering over Amy. The red head was unimpressed, glancing into the nest. Two fluffy newborn Eevees were curled up in it, one glaring at the three humans that woke him up, the other eyeing the redheaded girl with curiosity.

"Well, for one we don't control how newborn Pokemon turn out. And for another, if all you care about is stats and natures of Pokemon and not the Pokemon itself, then you shouldn't be a trainer! There's more to training Pokemon then just winning battles, and if that's all that matters than you can take your Ace trainer status, shove it up your ass, and take a hike! If you don't want the Eevees, I'LL take them and find them owners that WILL take care of them! Now take your Eeveelutions and get the hell out of our daycare! Don't let the gate hit your ass on the way out!" Amy shouted as her ire rose with her voice, shoving the trainer in the chest. Jun could only watch in horror as the Ace trainer gaped like a Magikarp out of water before going red as a Darumaka and shoving some money at him before recalling his Espeon and Jolteon and storming out.

"Amy, you were a DICK…" Jun uttered, looking at her in shock.

"Yep. Hopefully that's the last we see of that prick. And come on, he was trash-talking you, what'd you expect me to do?" Amy retorted, walking over to the nesting area to meet the Eevee babies. The curious one promptly jumped up to meet her, while the other merely growled and slinked off to the shaded part of the nest.

"I didn't say that was a bad thing…Grandma's gonna be pissed that you chased off a high-business customer though." Jun remarked, smiling slightly as his cousin scooped up the brighter Eevee.

"Grandma can suck it." was Amy's only response, and she directed her attention to the adorable fluffball in her arms. "Can't wait to start training you, buddy…how do you like the name Tethys?"

"Eevee!" the baby Eevee cheered.

"Eev…" the other one grumbled reluctantly.

"Relax Groucho, I'll name you later." Amy joked. The grump hissed in reply from his shaded hideaway.