Chapter 6.5: Break It Down Now, Y'all

"You're in luck, m'dear," the contest man with a top hat told me when I finally found him amongst the battlers. It had taken me a good fifteen minutes. "I only managed to-a-find fif-a-teen trainers, 'n without you, it had been four-a-teen. If you'd a been here, there would'a been a bye round for a someone else. But now a that you're here, you can be the one with the bye 'n battle 'n the next round. We'll be done 'n the next few minutes." He nodded to the only two trainers left battling. One was using a Spearow, and the other a Sentret. They both looked really tired so the battle would end shortly.

"Thank you, sir," I replied to the tournament man. He tilted his top hat and turned to chat with one of the winners of the past round. I turned to join Apple and Erin, who were sitting on a small hillside nearby.

"We better feed everyone lunch," I said, sitting down next to Erin. Erin nodded as I reached into my pack and pulled out a bunch of Pokemon food containers. I released my five other Eevees. Erin released Griffy and two other Pokemon I had not known she possessed.

One was a small bird with blue wings. It screeched, "Low- tail-low," which meant, as I heard in its thoughts, {Hello world! I am here!}

I smiled when I saw the other Pokemon. It was, in fact, one of those oddly-shaped wingless ducks that resembles a platypus with its face smashed in (if I remember my description correctly). Like all Whoopers I had ever seen, it had a silly smile plastered on its face.

What was surprising about this Whooper, however, was its initial thought.

{I hate the world.}

{Whoa,} I thought to Apple. {Did you hear that?}

{Duh.}

{You don't seem surprised.}

Apple shrugged. {Don't judge a Pokemon by looks. Pokemon don't always have the same expressions as humans. That Whooper is like a clown. She may smiling on the outside, but that doesn't mean she's happy.}

"Hello! Anita, you're dazing out again!" I snapped my attention back to Erin. "This is Tweal," Erin said as she pointed to the Tailow. "And this is Wella." She gestured the Whooper.

I relayed my name and my Pokemon's names to the newly met Pokemon and added silently to my six, {Please do not tell Erin or her Pokemon of my ability to speak with you. I don't know how she will react, and I don't know how trustworthy she is.}

{Your secret is safe with us!} Allo declared proudly.

{Only if you give us food,} Splash added, eyeing the Pokemon cans.

Fiery glared at everyone, and Wella waddled over to the angry Eevee thinking, {I think we'll get along.}

Erin and I passed out the food, and I turned to watch the last few seconds of the battle between the Sentret and Spearow. I was interrupted when Erin spoke.

"So, miss anger-management, where did you meet your Pokemon? I met Wella in some marshes a month or two ago, and I caught Tweal on the way to this city. Griffy I've known for a while. We've been friends for, like, forever and—"

"You can cut the act, Erin," I snapped. "I know you're faking."

"Faking what?" Erin asked in a sugary voice.

"You being a nitwit!"

A mock frown replaced Erin's sweet smile. "How am I a nitwit?"

"You talk a lot. And annoy the crap out of me."

Erin pouted. "Are you implying that I am faking talking and annoying you? I don't see how that's possible as I'm doing it right now."

I sighed, exasperated. "Ugh, no. That's not what I mean! You're not really a naturally chatty, obnoxious person. You just act that way—"

"If I act that way, then that must be how I am."

"But you arguing like this just proves my point! Ugh! Forget it. It's not worth it!" I retorted. I could feel the anger bubbling in my stomach again so I turned back to the battle and found it had ended, the Spearow the victor. "Erin, watch my Eevees," I ordered curtly as I grabbed Apple around the stomach and stalked away from Erin toward the tournament manager.

{Hey! I wasn't done eating!}

{You have had more than enough food today,} I replied sourly.

{You know, she's right about the anger management thing. You should see someone—} Apple must have seen my thoughts turn violent because she stopped midsentence. {Geeze, I was just kidding. If anything, you should take your anger out in this battle.}

I nodded. We reached the manager, who was already splitting up the seven winners of the previous round into battling pairs.

"Alright. N' you over there," The tournament guy pointed to a small, scrawny kid. "You're with this young-a lady who got a bye 'n the last round."

"But it's not fair! She shouldn't be allowed in—" the kid started to complain, but the tournament manager cut him off.

"I make the rules 'ere, lil' fellow. You'll be battling this lassie."

My lingering irritation prevented me from fully feeling the gratitude I owed the manager, but I managed to give him a feeble smile. Then I turned to scowl at the scrawny boy, who looked like he was ten (though that couldn't be the case). We walked to an open area and waited for the manager's whistle to begin the battle.

I decided to attempt politeness, despite my mood. "What's your name? I'm Anita."

The boy sneered, "Peter."

Awkward silence.

The whistle sounded before either of us could say another word.

"Go, Apple!"

"Go, Buggy!"

{Ooh. What a creative name,} Apple snickered sarcastically as the boy released a Caterpie from its Pokeball.

{Apple, focus! Remember your training, and remember not to use any attacks that an Eevee shouldn't know. No psychic!}

"Apple, quick attack!" I shouted.

"Buggy, tack—"

Peter shouted too late. Buggy had already fainted and the battle was already over.

Apple stared in surprise for a second and then started celebrating by running around in circles.

{Yippie! We won our first real battle! Oh yeah! Go us!}

{Apple, you realize we only beat a Caterpie.}

Apple stopped and considered a moment. {A win is still a win.} She shrugged and continued her celebration.

I smiled my first genuine smile of the day, shook Peter's hand, and then returned to where Erin was seated to watch the remaining battlers. My other Pokemon were cheering— well, mostly Splash was cheering. The others were smiling, or in Fiery's case, grimacing, as they finished the last of their food. Apple joined them, receiving looks of admiration from the younger Eevees until Fiery snapped, {It was a Caterpie, for goodness sake!}

"I wonder what the boy beat to make it to the second round," Erin remarked.

Probably a Magikarp, I thought but did not answer.

When Erin continued to babble, I was able to ignore her by focusing on the three remaining battles and my upcoming opponents. I watched a Bidoof exchange attacks with an Oddish and a tough looking Quilava knock a female Nidoran to the ground. The Spearow I had seen earlier was easily beating a Rattata by attacking and then taking flight.

I suddenly felt something budge near my leg. I looked down and found Splash staring up at me with wide eyes.

{Can I please battle? Please?} the little Eevee pleaded.

I sighed. {No, Splash. I am going to use Fiery this round, and you are not going to battle until you are fully recovered.}

{But—}

{No.}

I ended the discussion by turning to Fiery. {Ready?}

Fiery nodded.

{What! I don't get to battle?} Apple whined.

{I need to train all of my Pokemon,} I reminded Apple.

Apple scowled.

The three battles finally finished (with the Quilava, Spearow, and Bidoof the victors), and the manager assigned me to battle the girl with the Spearow. It was probably her only Pokemon because she had not used any other creatures in any of her battles thus far.

"Alright, C'mon Fiery!" I shouted as the whistle signaled the start of the battle.

"Let's go, Arrow!" the girl yelled as she sent out her Spearow.

I ordered a quick attack, but the Spearow dodged into the air.

"Arrow, peck!"

The Spearow hit Fiery before I could order a retaliation. Fiery fell down, but quickly got back up snarling.

When Fiery saw the Spearow was already out of reach in the air, he called, {Hey, bird-brain, get your little bird-butt down here and fight me!}

The Spearow responded by taking a dump on Fiery's head.

{Did you just crap on me!} Fiery howled. The Spearow dove in for another peck attack, but I was prepared this time.

"Iron-tail!"

Fiery lit up his tail and flung it over his body just as the Spearow made contact. Both Pokemon were sent flying.

"Fiery, tackle him while he's still on the ground!"

"Arrow, take flight!"

Fiery hit the Spearow before it could take off.

"Alright, finish it Fiery!"

Fiery's tail lit up again, but just as he was about to smash it into the Spearow, the bird-Pokemon managed to flap off of the ground. Fiery's tail slashed uselessly through the air.

My opponent commanded a fury-attack, and I quickly instructed Fiery to try another iron-tail. The Spearow, however, attacked in the second it took for Fiery's tail to light up, and then once again fluttered just beyond Fiery's reach.

{Err, we need to think of a way to get that Pokemon out of the air,} I thought to Fiery. {We'll never win if it keeps up this strike and run tactic. Do you know any long range attacks?}

{No,} Fiery growled bitterly, as he attempted to dodge another peck attack. He was too tired to move quickly and was hit.

"Let's finish with a whirlwind!"

The Spearow started to flap its wings rapidly and the wind picked up. I suddenly had an idea.

"Fiery, stand still!"

Fiery narrowed his eyes at me but did nothing, as I had requested. The wind swirled around him.

{Hold onto the ground until I tell you to let go,} I requested. {Then, launch yourself into the air toward the Sparrow using an iron tail to push off the ground.}

Fiery nodded. The winds picked up. Dust twirled in the whirlwind.

{Now!}

Fiery slammed his lit-up tail into the ground and went flying up the whirlwind. The wind increased his velocity as he shot toward the Spearow. The Spearow stopped flapping, unsure of how to respond. Just before Fiery hit, the Pokemon uttered its first words of the battle, {Fiddle-Farfetch'd-sticks.}

Both Pokemon plummeted toward the ground, but Fiery used a quick attack against the Spearow to decrease his own speed and increase the Spearow's just before hitting the ground. The Spearow did not get up again.

"Anita n' her Eevee are de' victors!" announced the tournament manager. I looked around and realized that everyone had been watching our battle. The fight between the boy with the Quilava and the other kid with the Bidoof must not have lasted long.

I ran over to Fiery and scooped him into a hug. {You were amazing!}

Fiery tried to look angry at me, but a small smirk gave away his satisfaction.

I shook hands with the girl I had just battled and started walking toward Erin and my other Pokemon. Then it dawned on me that I did not get a break this time because my battle had taken longer than the other one. I hurried to Erin, and plopped a tired Fiery down in her lap. The younger Eevees ran to congratulate their brother, who was nearly falling asleep, and I silently cursed myself for not buying potions.

Erin gave me a thumbs up and winked at me when I yelled a frantic, "Thank you!" I gathered Apple in my arms and hurried back to the open battling area.

As I rushed back to the field, I studied Apple a moment. She had not said a word to me since the battle. I was surprised to see she was frowning slightly and had a gloomy look in her eyes. When I reached out with my mind to hear her thoughts, I was even more surprised to be forcefully shoved out.

"Apple, are you ok?" I whispered as I reached the grass clearing. Several spectators had gathered and were chatting excitedly.

Apple only nodded.

"Right-y-o folks!" the tournament manager proclaimed. Apparently, he decided that there were enough people watching and this final battle was important enough for him to announce into a microphone. "Here we have a 'lil lady named Anita Parkwood n' one o her Eevees. N' she's against this blond lad called Jake Veneer n' his Quilava. I think we're in for a good battle! Now, let's get this battle started before the sun starts a-settin'!"

I looked up and realized that the sun was no longer beating down with midafternoon intensity. I refocused my attention on my opponent and was startled to find his face quite striking. He had a sharp jaw, brilliant blue eyes, and had arranged his sun-bleached dirty-blond hair into small spikes that stuck up in random directions.

A whistle blew.

Oh, right, I had a battle to win.

I tried to talk to Apple psychically as she leapt out of my arms to the battle field, but she was still blocking me. I was starting to get nervous. I had never battled with Apple without being able to communicate with her silently. A flicker of irritation crossed my mind as I wondered what her reasoning was.

"Quill, go!" Jake yelled as he released his Quilava in a flash of red.

"Apple, c'mon!" I half yelled, half pleaded.

Apple picked up on the double meaning of the phrase.

She shook her head.

And for the first time since I had met Apple, I felt disconnected. Alone.

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Emotional.

A word I would never use to describe myself.

Except that was exactly what I was at the moment.

I winced and nodded as Anita asked me if I was okay, but I continued to block her out. She could not see me like this! I had never lost my cool with her! I was always her playful, friendly, kick-butt Pokemon! I was observant and knowledgeable; I didn't waste my time on petty feelings!

But now, now I was feeling more than I ever had in my life and each feeling seemed to create another and all the feelings were all jumbled around and overwhelming me and—

I took a deep breath. Okay, maybe if I could sort out the feelings I could control them.

The first feeling was the pang I felt when I watched Fiery battle and be hugged by Anita. It was… what do humans call it? Jealousy. I was jealous of Fiery for being stronger than me, for beating me, and for defeating a tough Spearow that I don't think I could have overcome. I was jealous of the attention and care Anita gave him.

Which leads me to the next feeling: shame. I was ashamed for feeling jealous of the attention Anita gave Fiery because I knew that she cared about me just as much as she cared about Fiery. It's just that I had never had to share Anita with anyone before.

This whole situation was completely embarrassing. I was embarrassed for feeling jealous, for feeling this petty emotion when I was supposed to be the one who always kept her cool. I was embarrassed to be a legend in hiding, a legend experiencing stupid feelings.

A weak legend.

Most of all, I was feeling sorry for myself. Sorry that I was a weak Pokemon. Sorry that Anita got stuck with pitiful me— a legendary Pokemon who couldn't hold her own against a crappy wet Charizard or a dumb, average Eevee. Sorry that I had to hide from the world I was so weak. Sorry that my weakness caused me to experience stupid emotions that made me even weaker. Sorry that I was a disappointment.

I felt Anita try to reach my mind again, momentarily distracting me from the downward spiral of my thoughts. My organization of emotions technique was failing. I still had so many feelings.

I couldn't deal with it. I had to distract myself. I looked around desperately and spotted Erin. I opened my mind to listen to her thoughts. She was thinking about how attractive a human male with blond spiky hair was for a moment, but then she reconsidered. She was suddenly contemplating the uselessness of males in general and how it was pointless to imagine any of them attractive. The distraction was a sufficient one, for I started wondering why she thought that way and who the boy was.

Then I noticed she was staring at someone. That someone was the boy she was trying not to think about, and he was standing across from me and Anita in a stance that suggested he was ready for a battle.

A whistle blew.

That's it!

The battle!

The perfect solution and the perfect distraction. I had to win this battle! If I won, I would prove to myself and everyone that I was not weak! I would prove there was no need for me to be jealous of Fiery! Not only that, but for the time being, the battle would distract me from my emotions.

But I could not let Anita into my head yet. Not until I was sufficiently engrossed in the battle.

I leapt from Anita's arms and blocked Anita from my head again. A wave of shame swept over me. I felt awful for keeping Anita from reading my thoughts. We had shared our thoughts and feelings for so long that not being connected felt like we were missing part of ourselves.

However, I still could not allow Anita to see my thoughts and feelings in such a weak state. It would only cause her more worry and me more shame. No, I would wait.

The spiky boy sent out his Quilava.

"C'mon, Apple," Anita said in a voice that probably sounded like a normal way to start the battle to most people. To me however, it sounded like she was asking me to let her into my mind. I shook my head "no". I was not yet ready.

The battle began.

The Quilava grinned at me with razor sharp teeth. "Hey, little kitty," he taunted just before racing at me in a quick attack.

Kitty? Excuse me; I was most certainly not a kitty! Did the long ears mean anything to anyone?

"Use your quick attack too, Apple!" I heard Anita command.

I was faster than the Quilava. I dodged around him, and then hit him from behind. The Quilava swiftly turned to tackle me, but I was already speeding away.

A pattern began. Anita was using the hit and run tactic the Spearow had used against us. I hit the Quilava when I could, but made it my priority to dodge his attacks. I felt something was not right though. The Quilava continued to smirk at me the whole time, even when I managed to hit him. It was like he and his trainer were just waiting for something. I was tempted to read his mind, but I knew Anita would not approve.

As the battle wore on, I grew more confident. Even though the Quilava's smirk unnerved me, I felt that if the Pokemon was able to beat me, he would have already done so. Finally, I felt good enough to reconnect with Anita.

{Apple! What happened? Are you ok?} Anita's thoughts were so loud I nearly jumped.

I did not allow myself to think about the questions she asked. I concentrated on the battle. {Anita, focus on the battle. I think they might be up to something,} I relayed while dodging another tackle.

{Me too. That boy has just been smiling the whole time at me.}

{What I think is really weird is that he hasn't used a single fire attack yet.} I narrowed my eyes at my opponent. {Can I please read his mind?}

{No. We cannot risk discovery. You have to act like a normal Eevee, and plus isn't that kind of like cheating?}

I snorted and tackled Quilava again. {Using what you have isn't cheating.}

Before Anita could retort, black smoke filled the area. I automatically used to my psychic powers to locate the Quilava and give him a bite attack.

{NO! Apple, you can't use your psychic like that! What if—} I ignored my trainer and held onto the Quilava as tight as I could.

I had finally taken the stupid smirk off the Quilava's face.

"Quill, shake it off!" I heard the Quilava's trainer yell.

The Quilava thrashed, and I was finally thrown off.

To my amusement, Anita was frantically thinking of ways to stop me from using my psychic powers.

"Apple, use dig!"

I grimaced for less than a moment. I hated that attack. However, I wouldn't disobey Anita. I dug underground, and then realized that Anita had indeed stopped me from using my psychic powers. Pokemon performing a dig attack used the vibrations in the ground to figure out where an opposing Pokemon was located. Of course, I could use my psychic powers anyway, but the point is nobody would know either way.

I located the Quilava, and attacked him from underneath. "Hey, little weasel," I snickered. The Quilava went flying, as the attack was super effective.

"Finally!" the opposing trainer exclaimed. "Quill, finish it! Flame wheel!"

Even though the Quilava was weak from my attacks, he was grinning madly. The flames around his body were so hot they glowed blue.

My eyes widened as I my mind pieced together what our opponent's strategy was. The Quilava had been conserving his fire, slowly making it hotter and hotter within his body. He waited until he was weakest to release it because his ability, blaze, made his fire attacks strongest when he was weakest.

The heat he had been building up combined with his blaze ability would wipe out almost anything.

Shit.

The blue flames raced toward me.

{Apple, jump in the hole!}

It was too late.

The flames engulfed me, just like they did when I had fought the Charizard.

Once again, I failed.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"How's she doing?" Erin asked as she walked in the room.

I looked to the Eevee sleeping on my lap. Immediately after the battle I had rushed to the Pokemon center to get her and Fiery healed. Nurse Joy had said they would both be fine, but had requested I let Apple sleep for a bit. I was now sitting in Erin's room with all of my Pokemon except Apple in their Pokeballs. The younger Eevees needed their rest too, but they seemed unable to get it outside their balls.

"She's fine," I told Erin, "The nurse just requested that she rest."

Erin paused a moment.

"I have a note for you." Erin took a piece of paper out of her pocket, and handed it to me.

I looked at the crumpled paper suspiciously and then read it.

Dear Challenger,

Though you may not have known it, by being in the final four of the tournament you have the opportunity to attempt a battle against me, the gym leader of Azul City. If you can find my gym by noon tomorrow, I will accept your challenge. My gym is located no more than half of a mile away from the spot you battled on today. Being in the final four and finding my gym by noon are the only conditions you must meet in order to challenge me. If you cannot find my gym by noon tomorrow, do not bother looking further. You will have another opportunity to find my gym if you make it to the final four when the next tournament is held.

I hope to see you soon.

Best Regards,
Abalina Sycamore

I looked at Erin again and said, "Thanks." Then I went back to watching Apple sleep in my lap.

Erin seemed to not know what to do. "Umm," she started awkwardly. "Well, I wanted to let you know a few things. First of all, I guess I don't have to show you where the gym is because you already found it. Or rather, you found where to start. Most people don't know it, but the tournaments held in this park are what the gym leader uses to stop weak trainers from battling her every other second. She changes the location of her gym door before every tournament to stop such nuisances from bothering her. "

Erin opened her mouth to say more, but then abruptly closed it. She played with her hair nervously, and then seemed to make a decision.

"Secondly," she continued. "I think you're a really great trainer. I know this is corny, but you shouldn't let a loss like this get to you. And I want to ask you… no, I demand that you allow me to travel with you, at least until you reach Cape Caution. You owe me, remember?"

I said nothing and then nodded. As much as I really did not want to travel with her, I did owe her for finding my Eevees and for helping me thus far.

"Thirdly." Erin grinned. "What kind of pizza do you like?"

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / /

After an hour, Erin left to pick up the mushroom pizza she had ordered for us. I was left to stare out the bedroom window and contemplate the battle against the Quilava.

Strangely enough, the fact that I had lost did not bother me. From the start of this journey (was it only two days ago?), I knew that there would be times that I lost battles, and I had made a pact with myself to not become too upset after losing. Instead, I would try to learn from my mistakes and then move on.

What really bothered me was that Apple had blocked me out of her head. I tried not to focus on it during the battle because it would distract me, but now I wanted to know why Apple had hindered our communication.

Apple stirred in my lap, ruffling the bedcovers. I immediately reached to her mind. {Apple?}

Apple stiffened.

{Apple, are—} Apple shoved me out of her mind again. She started shaking.

"Apple what's wrong!" I held her up so I could see if she was physically hurt.

Apple shook and whimpered.

I didn't know what to do.

Apple was still blocking me so I couldn't get to her mind, and she wouldn't reach out to mine. I panicked.

With all my strength and willpower I drove myself into my Pokemon's mind. Suddenly I was flooded with so many confusing emotions, it was overwhelming.

Whoa. Is this what Apple was feeling?

To my shock, the strongest feeling was one of self-worthlessness. How could Apple think she was so insignificant? At first, all I could do was share the pain and emotions with the Mew. I had never delved so deep into someone's mind before. I had never even gone further than listen to what a Pokemon wanted to communicate, which isn't even the full extent of a being's thoughts. Occasionally, I sensed an emotion from Apple, but it had to be particularly strong for me to "hear" it.

Eventually, I figured I should try communicating with my mind as Apple had showed me to do. The only problem was that it felt like I was actually in Apple's mind so I didn't know if it would work the same way.

{APPLE!} I tried to get Apple's attention, but her mind was so chaotic there was no way to tell if she heard me.

Well, I had gotten this far into Apple's mind. Could I go farther? Was there even more than this? I pushed my way inward and suddenly found myself surrounded by fire. The orange flames licked at my feet but had no affect.

Where in the world was I? I saw a pink blob in the fire resembling Apple as I had found her when she was beaten by the Charizard.

{Apple?}

The pink blob looked at me with wild, frightened eyes. Then there was a flicker of recognition, and suddenly the flames got higher. The pink blob shivered.

{APPLE! Stop this! It's all in your head!}

The words did not seem to affect the pink blob.

I searched her emotions for more clues.

Self-loathing. Shame. Embarrassment. Weakness. Jealousy.

All building upon each other. I searched for the stimulant of such emotions. These emotions were what Apple was hiding from me before the battle so it could not have been the battle that solely caused this flood of emotion.

I almost laughed when I found the main instigator. It was a jealousy of Fiery. Of course, years of hiding from the world, the battle, and feeling weak all added fuel, but jealousy was the spark.

{APPLE! THIS IS NONSENSE! YOU ARE NOT WEAK!}

Nothing changed.

{APPLE, I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR JEALOUSY OF FIERY. IT'S A NORMAL PART OF LIFE, AND AT SOME POINT WE ALL GET THAT FEELING. IT IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OR EMBARRASSED ABOUT!}

Nothing. I got desperate and turned to bullshitting sentiments that never work.

{YOU ARE TAKING THIS JEALOUSY THE WRONG WAY. MAKE IT A DRIVE TO BETTER YOURSELF!}

Still nothing. Oh crap, what if she was dying?

{APPLE, YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND! WE'VE BEEN THROUGH EVERYTHING TOGETHER SO DON'T YOU DARE ABANDON ME NOW! I NEED YOU!}

I spoke from my heart, and the last three words seemed to get through. The flames melted into the ground and the pink blob seemed to evaporate. I was left alone in empty space.

{Thank you, Anita.}

I sighed in relief, and pulled myself into my own body.

Apple squirmed in my lap and began to cry. I joined her.

When we were finally reduced to just sniffles, Apple looked into my eyes and whimpered, {I'm sorry… for everything.}

I just hugged her.

The room was darkened as the evening light faded.

Apple giggled weakly. {I suppose I owe you an explanation, and you still owe me a lesson. What do you say we combine the two?}

{Sure, but I already understand why you shut me out. You were hiding your feelings. Still, no matter what you are feeling, don't ever do that again! Look what it has driven us to!}

Apple shifted uncomfortably from my lap to the bedcovers. {Aren't you upset and disappointed in me for having these feelings?}

{Apple, where did you get that silly notion! Of course I'm not disappointed! Everyone has feelings, and we can't control them sometimes.} I thought back to all the times I had lost my temper. {I know that better than anyone.}

Apple threw a halfhearted grin at me when she saw what I was thinking. {I happen to disagree with that, but I don't want to argue about it now. Anyway, why I blocked you is not the explanation I was talking about. It is how I blocked you out and how you got into my mind that I need to explain to you.}

I sighed as I finally realized what Apple meant by giving me a lesson. Well, it was bound to happen sometime.

{As you discovered today, the mind is like an onion; there are several layers. Telepathy penetrates the outermost level. Actually, not even that. Telepathy is more like the area around the onion, the tiny particles of the onion that are most concentrated around the onion and form a scent. Telepathy is receiving thoughts that someone is trying to project. That is why you can understand all Pokemon; when they speak, they are also projecting their thoughts.

{The next layer you can penetrate is emotion. This is why you can see exactly what others are feeling, and this is why I chose to block you. I knew you would see all of my disgusting emotions.} Apple looked down sadly.

{Err, Apple, you're wrong there. I barely have ever gone past the first level. Occasionally I'll feel what you are feeling, but only if it's really strong, and I only feel it for a second or two. I probably wouldn't have known your feelings even if you weren't blocking me out.}

Apple looked at me in surprise. {Really? I assumed… Well, it's just one more thing we'll have to practice. Anyway, underneath emotions are thoughts you do not wish to speak, and beneath that are memories. Deeper than memories, well it's hard to say exactly what is there, but it sure is something. That is where you were in me today.

{Now to the whole blocking business. It's possible to make barriers in your mind to keep people out, and it's actually rather simple. You just imagine a strong protective bubble around your mind to keep everything else out. It would be like putting an onion in a plastic bag. Its scent stays in the bag and all the other scents stay out. You got into my mind today by drilling a hole through my bag right to the center of my onion.

{There is one type of barrier, you should know, that cannot be broken through. You know how I explained gifts before, right? Well, if you have a dark type gift, everything psychic does not affect you. Thus, psychics cannot get into their actual mind. It is like their onions are always encased in diamonds—}

I cut Apple off. {Back up a bit. I think I understand the idea of picking up other's thoughts, but then how am I able to project my own. If my thoughts are just wafting around my mind, how can I direct them at you or my other Pokemon?}

{Well, unlike normal people and Pokemon, you can control where your thoughts go. Let's go back to pretending your thoughts are an onion's scent. If you put a fan in front of the onion, you can direct where the scent goes. That is what you can do. You can direct your thoughts to where thoughts of non-psychics are located so even non-psychics can see your thoughts. You're really good at this part because you've been doing this for years!}

I was taken aback. {Years? You just taught me!}

{Na, you've been doing it to me since we met. Its how I knew you were a psychic!}

{I always knew that purple eye stuff was a bunch of bologna,} I thought to myself.

{Hey! I heard that! And anyway, I wasn't done explaining so shush up!} She paused to make sure I wasn't going to say anything. I complied. {Of course, the first time we talked psychically, I was the one reaching my mind out. After that though, you may have assumed I was always listening to your thoughts, but really, you reached your mind out to me. You never tried it with anyone else because you never believed they would hear you.}

{And you didn't tell me this before because…}

Apple shrugged. {You didn't need to know.}

{But now I do?} I asked doubtfully.

{Now you do,} Apple confirmed. {Wow, all this talking has made me feel better.}

{Oh yes,} I said sarcastically. {Discussing the intricate details of powers I don't want to believe in always cheers me up!} I decided to change the subject before Apple could force me into another lesson. {So are you up for a gym battle tomorrow?} I reached my mind out to Apple, and felt what she was feeling. I felt her uncertainty, her self-worthlessness, and her shame. It was not as strong as before, her self doubt lingered, as it must have for years past.

Apple locked eyes with me, and I knew that she knew that I could feel what she was feeling.

Apple smiled wickedly, and then scoffed sarcastically, {Of course! What in the world would give you the impression that I wasn't ready?}

I snorted.

We sat there grinning at each other, and at that moment, we understood each other better than ever before.

Apple's grin widened and so did mine.

I knew exactly what Apple was thinking without reading her mind.

Apple knew exactly what I was thinking without reading my mind.

So it was no surprise when at the same time, we bellowed,

{WHERE IS OUR PIZZA?}