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Sooo, I am putting out this chapter early! :) It is my goal to have another chapter out by mid-August, and then one at the beginning of September (returning to my monthly schedule). This is an attempt to make up for the missed month of May, though if I find I can actually sustain this rate of writing, I will definitely post chapters more often. Don't get your hopes up; I've tried and failed before.

OBR- :D Yup, you guessed it! And yes, it was my birthday- thank you!

ChaosAngel4us- Lol. I loved your reaction. When I first started writing this story, this was supposed to be the main plot twist/OMG moment. That has since changed, but I'm happy it had the intended effect.

I absolutely LOVE my readers and reviewers! I love hearing your thoughts, and it's you guys who keep me writing. THANK YOU!

Also for the record, the Previouslys probably shouldn't be used as a replacement for the actual chapter. And they obviously contain spoilers (that already happened).

Previously on An Apple a Day:

Jamie Arkle (betraying assistant of the Master) goes to Slateport City and speaks with the Master's uncle, only to discover Liam Mendol is the Master! Dun dun dun. Anita runs away in the middle of the night after seeing Liam use the Forced Transformation Device on a Ditto. She pretends Apple is severely burned by a Magmar (really, Fiery mildly burns Apple), tells Erin, and then finds a Lanturn to take her take her to Artemis Town, where the Pokemon healing services will be better than in Vintage Village.

Liam changes the appearance of the Forced Transformation Device so it resembles a vaccine. He tests everyone and their Pokemon in the orphanage, ensuring that none of them are Mew. He also remembers when he found out his beloved cousin, Landon, was dead, his body found washed up by sea several years after the actual Tsunami that also killed his mother and aunt.

Mel is officially adopted by Sparky and says farewell to the gang. Erin, Liam, and Jake depart for Artemis Town.

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Chapter 36: Styx and Stones Can Break My Bones, But Words Can Never…mind

Two nights and a full day of riding on the back of a Lanturn with few breaks left my shins numb, my butt sore, and my appreciation for land at its highest. My legs were swathed in some of my extra clothes to keep blood running through them, and I wore my waterproof winter gloves to keep a grip on the Lanturn's head.

Apple shifted from one of my shoulders to the other about once an hour to keep them from getting sore—it wasn't working. Occasionally, she sat on my head. Though her fur was charred, she wasn't nearly as hurt from Fiery's Flamethrower as she looked. Fiery's attacked had lasted less than a second to keep Apple's injuries to a minimum, though Apple's skin was still very sensitive to the salt water.

{Anita, I can see buildings!} Apple exclaimed. {Finally!}

I looked up. She was right—I could make out the outlines of Artemis Town's few skyscrapers and the famous gym dome against the dark sky. From the stench, I could tell we were currently floating by farmland. Beyond the barn silhouettes, the sky was lightening. I looked at my PokeTech—6:27 a.m. The sun would be rising soon.

{I expect full payment as soon as we reach Artemis,} the Lanturn reminded me for about the hundredth time. I'd agreed to give the Pokemon just about my full supply of status healing supplies along with a thunderbolt from Splash to recover the Lanturn's energy enough for his journey back. Apple thought I should've held out for a better deal.

{You're just lucky I sold all my empty PokeBalls for supplies,} I told the Lanturn.

{Probably not the best idea to threaten our ride,} Apple said.

The Lanturn seemed to have similar thoughts, lowering itself until my waist was under water. I yelped at the cold water's touch. {Sorry, sorry!} The Lanturn lifted itself to the surface once more, but the damage was done. Now I could feel even the slightest cool breeze through my pants. Great.

We were quickly approaching an old empty boating dock. Though there were no boats parked in the dock, there were two figures sitting side by side facing towards Artemis Town, their feet dangling over the water.

As we approached the two people on the dock and the sky lightened, I was able to make out finer details—a girl's long blonde hair pulled into a slick ponytail, a teen boy's bare back—and of course, I couldn't miss the fact that the two teenagers were too involved in a long passionate kiss to hear my approach.

{Let's go to the next dock—} The Lanturn bucked, slapping my back with its tail and causing me to fly face first into the couple.

"Ow," the shirtless guy said. He untangled his limbs from the blonde girl's, grabbed the scruff of my windbreaker, and lifted me up. "Hey, what the hell was that about?"

"Put me down!" I tried to catch one of his arms, but he easily knocked my hands away. The guy looked a older than me—maybe seventeen or eighteen. He had golden eyes and light brown hair—or was it blond? It was hard to say in this light. His arms were lanky but well muscled and his abs were—just wow.

{Anita, it's rude to stare,} Apple said smugly, digging her claws into my shoulder lightly. My face grew warm and I realized I had forgotten to keep struggling, but the guy didn't seem to be trying to cause me or Apple any harm.

I turned my attention to the girl, whose hand was wrapped around the guy's free hand. She also looked older than me with her angular face, smooth pale skin, and large dark eyes. Though she wore no makeup I could see and didn't do anything special with her hair, she was beautiful enough to be on the cover of Persons Magazine or in a New Blue commercial. The girl was patiently watching the guy holding me, as if waiting for a signal.

Suddenly, there was a sharp jolt through my body. Apple yelped, and the guy immediately dropped me. I turned around.

{My payment, please,} the Lanturn said, sparks dancing across his body as a warning.

"The Lanturn expects some sort of payment," the blonde girl murmured. Surprised, I looked at her over my shoulder. What the—was she a psychic, too?

I released Splash from his PokeBall. "Thundershock the Lanturn." I reached into my pack, pulled out my four last full heals and an awakening, and tossed the medicine at the Lanturn. Rejuvenated from Splash's electricity, the Lanturn leapt into the air, catching the healing items between his teeth.

{A pleasure doing business,} the Lanturn said, splashing me as he dove under water. I returned Splash to his Pokeball when he made like he was going to follow the Lanturn into the sea.

"Are you okay?"

I turned back to the couple. "Yeah, I'm—"

The girl wasn't looking at me; she was watching Apple on my shoulder.

You're a nosy weirdo with straw hair who's only got a boyfriend 'cause of those big boobs, I thought as loudly as I could without transmitting telepathically. And your shoes are ugly, I added as an afterthought.

The girl was still watching Apple with concern. Okay, so she wasn't a psychic.

"Dustin," the girl said. "The Eevee should've been found by one of your Pidgeots or Tali's Noctowls."

"Who are you people?" I asked, jabbing a finger at the girl, forcing her to retract the hand she had been about to touch Apple with.

The guy, apparently named Dustin, smiled. "Aw, look, Styx, this pipsqueak doesn't know who I am. Isn't that cute?"

Weird name, I thought.

"Now's not the time, Dustin," Styx said irritably. "That Eevee needs a Pokemon Center now, no thanks to your Pokemon." She grabbed my arm and pulled me towards Artemis town. I yanked my hand hard, but the girl held fast—she was stronger than she looked.

"Let go," I demanded.

"Don't bother," Dustin said. "She'll bring your Eevee to the Pokemon Center even if she has to drag you by the ankles to do so."

Like they could make me. If this loser thought I was going anywhere without knowing who the hell he and blondie were, he was dead wrong.

In an instant, I made a small barrier appear at Styx's feet, making her trip and enabling me to free my hand from her grasp.

Dustin caught the girl in his arms, chuckling. "Oh ho ho. Guess who we've stumbled upon, Styx? Not just any pipsqueak. No, we've found Anita Parkwood, the psychic pipsqueak from Melonbi Town."

How the heck did he know that?

As if reading my thoughts, Dustin continued, "I'm Dustin Blavoid, gym leader of Artemis Town. I can sense Pokemon and gifted trainers' powers."

I was about to put up a barrier to keep Styx from reaching for me when Dustin snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the air was rushed from my lungs as I was forced to my knees, squished in some sort of invisible container.

"Oh, and I can mimic powers, too." Dustin grinned, patting the top of the barrier box I was apparently being held in. Apple's claws dug into my shoulder hard now. "Believe me, I've had plenty of practice mimicking the psychic powers of the Zahavah City gym leader, Tamara Lilac."

{You okay?} I asked Apple, glaring at Dustin.

{My tail's a bit crushed, but otherwise I'm good.}

I pushed my mind against the psychic walls. {I can't break out,} I growled. {How's he stronger than me?}

{Assuming his ability works like the attack mimic, he copies abilities—not inner strength and experience. Obviously he's a lot more experienced than you and from what we've seen of his gift so far, he seems to have a lot of power.}

{Oh, that's just perfect.}

"Careful, don't hurt the Eevee," Styx said to Dustin, peering at Apple from behind Dustin's shoulder.

Smirking, Dustin bent over and heaved the psychic box on to his shoulder. I shifted my body forward, trying to tip the box.

"I'd keep balance if I were you," Dustin said. "I have no qualms about letting you fall."

"And I'll have no qualms about punching your face until your girlfriend can't tell your lips from your ears the moment I'm outta here," I replied.

Styx looked from Dustin to me, her shoulders tense and eyes somewhat detached. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from threatening my boyfriend," she said. "I have no qualms about killing you."

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

"Griffy's getting tired. Let's stop for lunch," I said, snapping my book shut and giving Griffy a brief pat on the neck. Behind me, Liam grunted in agreement.

"Already?"

I turned around to give Jake an annoyed look. "Griffy can only carry three people for so long, and after all of yesterday's riding, Griffy's pretty exhausted." I wasn't sure Jake heard me; he was pretty into whatever he was looking at on his PokeTech.

We dismounted and I handed Liam my pack after pulling out a few potions, indicating he should get lunch ready while I tended to Griffy. I bent over to look at Griffy's front legs. They were trembling, not that it was much of a surprise after all that riding. "Why didn't you tell me how tired you were sooner?"

{I apologize, Miss. With that dark one on my back, I cannot psychically communicate.}

I sprayed the potions on Griffy's legs. "That's no excuse. We've already discussed that your signal for needing rest is nipping me or Liam or Jake."

{Unfortunately, my tail seems unable to grasp the concept of these signals. I believe that is why Mr. Veneer sat as far up as possible—to avoid the nipping.}

{I nip for bubblegum popsicles,} Griffy's tail said. {And to devour the time stream of recycled bicycles.}

"Well, you could've nipped me." I stood up and ran a hand through Griffy's fur. "Make sure you and your tail have a good meal." I gestured to the large bowl of PokeBlocks Liam had set up next to a blue blanket. Jake, I noted, was sitting next to the blanket, still zoned into his PokeTech. I asked Liam, "Did you find the silverware? There wasn't room in the food shrinker so I put it nest to my hair drier in the—."

Liam held up a fork in response.

I sat down between Jake and Liam, on the edge of the blanket. "You know, it's way weird." Jake said, finally turning towards the food in front of us. "In half these shows, if there's a character that walks the line between good and evil, chances are it's because of the influence of an evil older sibling. Characters are especially prone to this if they can shoot fire—"

"Oh, so that's what you've been doing? Watching television shows on your PokeTech!"

"What do you expect me to do? Sit like a piece of cardboard like this dreary kid." Jake waved at Liam. Liam glared. Under his breath, Jake added, "Though if I got to sit behind Erin, maybe I wouldn't need to amuse myself with petty shows."

Okay, I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. "Hm, what to expect of Jake Veneer?" I mockingly tapped a finger to my lips. My eyes widened and I lifted the finger in the air. "I know. How about thinking of a way to get your lazy ass off of Griffy so Griffy won't be hurt and tired and we can get to Artemis faster." I grabbed a piece of celery from a plate and bit into it.

"Whoa. This is coming from the girl who was reading poetry the entire trip. If you want a plan, you come up with it," said Jake. Liam glanced at my poetry book, lying near my legs.

"Why don't you ride your bicycle?" I said sarcastically. "Wait, that's right. You had to sell it for money after you lost like a little baby to Artemis Town's gym leader. You were forced to come crying to Anita—your rival—for help. Pathetic."

"And look who's dragging me along."

"You invited yourself." I looked at Liam, my face quickly becoming serious. At least I could pretend to keep my emotions in check. Thank you, drama club. "He has a point. We would be quicker if we left Jake behind and probably happier, too."

Liam had closed his eyes. He bit into a sandwich, ignoring me.

Jake pulled out a PokeBall, threateningly. "I will not be left behind!"

Liam's eyebrow twitched.

I pulled out Wella's Pokeball, knowing Jake didn't have a good counter against water Pokemon. "I can take you."

"Enough," Liam said. There was a flash of red. For a moment, I thought Jake had released a Pokemon. Then I saw that the Pokemon in the grass before us was a Ditto.

"I thought you don't use your Pokemon unless there's an emergency," I said.

"It's not my Pokemon. Professor Teal sent me the Ditto to assist me with the medicine I left in Vintage Village. Hardly necessary, of course."

So he'd had a Ditto the whole time? "Why didn't you say anything?" Griffy wouldn't be in nearly so much pain if there were another Pokemon to share the load.

"I have my reasons."

Cryptic answer, as usual. This would be Anita's cue to blow up at him—threaten to tear off his toes one by one if she was in a good mood, charge at him if she was in a bad mood. I tried to not take Liam's unwillingness to share information personally. Anita figured he was up to something bad—I remember she'd theorized criminal activity back in Tinted Town. I couldn't imagine Liam as a member of Team Glop'emm or the likes; he was probably just doing some top-secret research for Professor Teal.

The Ditto shifted, beginning to transform. Its body grew and—was that a human arm?

"Sticky, stop," Liam demanded. He was frowning.

Hm, maybe this was the secret research. I glanced at Jake. Now that getting left behind was no longer a threat, he was occupying himself with the chips and salsa, not even sparing the Ditto a glance.

"I want to help," the Ditto said.

I stared. Jake dropped the chip he was holding up to his mouth.

Though the Ditto was still a shapeless pink blob, it appeared to have formed human lips.

Liam sighed. "Sticky, just transform into a Rapidash."

"You have a Ditto that can speak?" I asked as the Ditto transformed.

"Yes. Professor Teal has been helping Sticky learn—I would appreciate it if you kept quiet about this."

I knew it. He was working on some top-secret awesome research project. Lucky. Was he studying Ditto's transformation? No wait, why would he have to keep something like that a secret? When he originally started traveling with us, he had taken a particular interest in Eevee, the evolution Pokemon. Maybe he was working on linking transformation to evolution? If he and Professor Teal were near a breakthrough, she wouldn't want anyone stealing her work. That'd be reason enough to keep Ditto all hush-hush.

But then why send Ditto to Liam? Unless maybe the Professor wanted to see how a transformed Ditto would interact with humans. What if Liam introduced us to a human transformed Ditto? What would the Ditto be like? I almost squealed aloud. Ah, I wanted to meet it!

"Sometimes, your trainer has such a creepy smile," Jake muttered, looking at Griffy. I flashed my teeth at Jake mockingly, before doing my best imitation of Liam's stoic expression.

{All the better to eat you with!} Griffy's tail yelled, struggling for a moment to reach towards Jake. With the tail's small attention span, it was only seconds before the tail became more preoccupied with finding a way to communicate with the newly transformed Rapidash's tail.

"Where did you get that poetry book?" Liam asked as I reached for more celery. He was still watching the Ditto as it trotted over to Griffy to share food.

"See, Jake, Liam understands that poetry is interesting and thought-provoking." I smirked at Jake before continuing. "It was a favorite of mine back when I worked with Professor Blubber in his lab. He had two copies so I figured he wouldn't mind if I took one."

"So it holds only sentimental value?"

"Well, I don't know. There's something about this guy's poems that's intriguing, you know? They're mostly vague and abstract, and honestly, there's not much vivid imagery." I picked up the book from beside me, sweeping a hand over the cover to brush off stray dead grass. "Plus, the author, Professor Hastings, was a researcher."

Secretly, I thought that Professor Hastings had recorded research in this book. But I wasn't about to embarrass myself by telling Liam that. I knew the idea was a bit out there, but seriously, why would a Professor devote so much time to creating a thick book of poems? And not even good poems!

"Have you met Professor Hastings?" Liam asked. "Professor Blubber said they'd been acquainted."

"Nope. I never even heard Professor Blubber talk about him."

Liam's eyes lingered a little too long on the swirl through two chains on the book's cover. My book, I thought possessively. He wasn't going to steal my thunder by figuring out Professor Hastings's poems before I did.

"Tch. Poetry's just a means by which amateur men draw in women," Jake said.

Grateful for the distraction, I said, "Oh? Then why don't I see you scrambling to write on scraps of paper with a rhyming thesaurus in hand? Trying to get girls is all you do."

"I attract women with my looks alone—"

"Right. With that hair looking like mess of chick feathers. You look like a canary that's been bashed over the head—you think like one, too."

"Well you look like a Purugly with rabies. And think like one, too."

"What the hell does a Purugly with rabies think—"

"You both look like obnoxious morons to me," Liam interjected. "Now shut it and eat so we can keep moving."

And so we did.

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

"Professor Hastings, Professor Hastings." I knocked on the door again, louder this time. "You must be home—there's smoke coming out of your chimney."

When nobody answered, I looked down at my Glaceon. "Whisper, use—"

The door opened. In the doorway stood a disheveled man with large round bifocal glasses. He was wearing a bathrobe and one worn slipper.

"Professor Hastings, I have a few questions for you."

When the professor just stared at me with wide, watery eyes, not inviting me in, I pushed past him through the front door.

The professor lived in a small three-room house. A house that appeared as if a herd of Tauros had trampled through it. There were papers everywhere: all over his desk, sticking our from under the bathroom door, crumpled behind his bed pillow, even in his kitchen sink.

"Niomi Shivicle, gym leader of this accursed city," the professor muttered.

It was a relief that he recognized me; I wasn't going to be questioning a complete lunatic. I turned to face the professor. "I'll get straight to the point. Have you recently seen an adolescent with black hair and green eyes? More specifically, did you see him three days ago—Thursday, July twenty-fifth?"

The professor walked away from the door, leaving it wide open. He passed me as if I wasn't in the room and pulled out a wooden stool from under his desk, tearing papers on the ground in the process.

"She didn't warn me this would happen," the professor murmured.

"Who?"

The professor stared blankly ahead. I frowned. Perhaps the rumors were true, and he was indeed mentally unstable.

"Professor, I'm asking if you've seen a teenager with black hair on July twenty-fifth. Please, answer me."

"No, I didn't see."

"Thank you." As I turned to leave, a silver glint caught my eye amongst the mess of papers on the floor. I narrowed my eyes. There were two silver chains hooked into the wall; at the end of each chain was a manacle. Whisper sensed my sudden suspicion and trotted over to the chains, her nose twitching.

"Professor Hastings, why do you have chains on your wall?"

"Hmm? Oh, research. Research, of course."

Of course. Because he had to chain his papers to the wall to keep them from escaping.

Abruptly, Whisper whirled around, releasing an ice beam to lock Professor's arms and legs together. She growled.

The last time Whisper had reacted in this manner, she had prevented an angry trainer from slamming his Pichu's head against a PokeMart wall.

Whisper pointed her tail at the chains. I was already in motion, moving to crouch beside Whisper to inspect the chains. There was dried blood on the inside of each manacle.

I glanced up at Whisper, watching her tail. We'd developed a sort of primitive sign language—a means of communication in situations a psychic Pokemon was unavailable. Whisper twisted her tail into the shapes of letters. B-L-O-O-D O-F C-H-I-L-D. Whisper paused for a moment, then continued. M-A-Y-B-E M-E-N-D-O-L.

Quickly, I straightened, looking sharply at the wide-eyed Professor. "Professor Hastings, as gym leader of Winsk City, I hereby arrest you on the charges of suspected child abuse and withholding information. You have the right to remain silent."

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

I watched the steel box covered in flashing lights apprehensively as Styx typed commands into a computer that was apparently linked to this strange machine. The machine resembled a flashy airport baggage check machine, complete with conveyer belt and plastic bins. Apple sat in one such bin, waiting for Styx to input the correct settings before her bin was drawn into the machine.

"Chance. Chancey chanc chancey cha chance cha. Chancey chance chance cha." Translation: {Why the hell aren't you moving faster? I need to finish this quickly; there's a Charmander with broken legs in waiting room four.} The Chancey spoke to Styx, and Styx appeared to understand, signaling the Chancey to put her hands on a screen attached to the flashing machine.

"So you're sure this machine will completely heal Apple?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes, I built the Auto-Restorer myself."

"Have you even test—"

"This machine's been successfully functioning for six months," Styx said. "It's recommended that Apple stay a day at the Pokemon Center to ensure there are no complications, but in a matter of seconds, Apple should be feeling one hundred percent."

Complications? {Yell if anything feels weird,} I told Apple. {I'll break this Auto-Restorer myself.}

This Auto-Restorer was supposedly some sort of miracle healing machine she'd created—currently, healing machines throughout the world took several minutes or hours to function. Styx said the Auto-Restorer only affected skin-deep afflictions, but even so, if the hunk of metal actually worked, it was a major breakthrough in Pokemon healing.

I didn't know what to make of Styx. Though she wasn't psychic, she clearly understood Pokemon. Apparently, she worked part time in the Pokemon Center as a translator/mechanic/nurse—basically, whatever needed to be done. In the time she wasn't at the Pokemon Center, she was studying at Artemis University, double majoring in Pokemon Linguistics and Biomechanical Engineering.

Then there was her threat to kill me if I hurt Dustin. She pretended it didn't happen, ignoring the awkward tension in the air on our trip to the Pokemon Center. Styx also acted as if it was perfectly normal for her boyfriend to be carrying a trainer contained in a psychic box over his shoulder while she held his free hand, smiling at the Pidgeys that seemed to cover every inch of Artemis Town. I found her change in emotion extremely unnerving and fairly obnoxious.

She and Dustin had discussed an organization called the PRAHA—the Pokemon Retrieve and Heal Association. It was basically an organization my two captors had set up with Dustin's sister, Tali, to find and help injured Pokemon. I had muttered something along the lines of how there was clearly a need for a less abusive retrieval system to which Styx replied stone-facedly that Artemis had the lowest Pokemon mortality rate of any city in the world.

Artemis Town's Pokemon Center was the hugest, most modern I'd seen yet. There seemed to be a constant flow of trainers up and down the concrete stairs that led to the Pokemon Center's glass doors. Chanceys greeted the trainers near the doors, pointing them to the necessary waiting room or escorting them to a particular facility.

The Chancey in front of me now, with her hands on the Auto-Restorer, had greeted us at the Pokemon Center doors. She was rather large for a Chancey and waddled like she owned the place. The Chancey had taken one look at me and Apple hoisted over Dustin's shoulder, and jumped towards Dustin, slapping his face and chest until he released the psychic barrier.

Strangely, Styx hadn't objected. I was soon informed that the Chancey was Dustin's Pokemon.

The Chancey had rushed us to this room, told us to wait here, and left. From her thoughts, I'd picked up that we'd be here a while.

There was a small television screen in the corner of the room, which buzzed with Acceber's latest news updates. "While some trainers continue their search for the Drape Town gym leader, others are protesting in front of the Drape Town gym. Acceber's gym leaders continue to defend this unusual prelim—" I turned the TV on mute and spent our waiting time practicing making psychic barriers, annoyed Dustin had been able to out-psychic me.

Apple spent the time contemplating how to deal with Liam.

After three hours, the Chancey returned, tailed by Styx. Now, Apple was sitting in a grey plastic bin, twitching impatiently—

BUZZ

The conveyer started moving. I touched my mind to Apple's, ensuring I'd know immediately if something went wrong. Apple felt a pleasant warmth as she entered the flashing machine. The Chancey's hands glowed for a moment.

Then it was over. On the other side of the flashing machine, Apple appeared—

Or rather, what looked like a humungous hairball with Apple-colored fur appeared.

"What the HELL did you do to Apple?" I turned to Styx.

Styx's eyes widened. "Shit, your eyes," she said.

{Anita, I'm okay. I just need a haircut. No need for any psychic outbursts,} Apple said. She grinned. {Look, if I move my legs like this, I might actually be able to roll off the conveyer—} With that Apple did roll out of the grey bin, her fur acting as a cushion as she landed on the floor. {Hehe.}

I breathed. Apple was okay, and she did look pretty funny.

"Strange," Styx murmured, walking towards Apple. "This hasn't happened since Slowpoke…" Styx bent over, turning Apple so she could se Apple's face. "Hm, purple eyes. Does she have psychic relatives?"

Ignoring her question, I said, "I thought you said this machine's been working fine for months!"

"Yeah, its worked on every normal-typed Pokemon put through it," Styx replied.

"And how many Pokemon have you killed testing it?"

"Arceus! I haven't killed any Pokemon! Look, your Eevee made a full recovery—the machine just accelerated Apple's fur growth."

"Injured, then. You've had to test the Pokemon somehow; you're abusing—"

"I don't even test it on Pokemon!"

I folded my arms. "Then how would you know it works?" I said coldly. I pushed into her mind, looking for evidence. I saw shifting shapes, a warmth—

"Am I interrupting something, ladies?" Dustin entered the room. An Eevee sat on his shoulder. He approached Styx and kissed her cheek. "Ray and I just had a chat with my Pidgeot about getting his flock up and flying earlier for the PRAHA. We can't have our retrieval system failing at sunrise." He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. "Then we wouldn't have the pleasure of helping out pipsqueak trainers and their—" Dustin glanced down at Apple. "…giant balls of fur that once resembled Pokemon?"

Styx turned around, putting around Dustin's neck. "I love you."

Dustin was still peering over Styx's shoulder at Apple. "What happened here?"

"Accelerated fur growth."

"Ah."

I pointed at Styx and looked at Dustin. "Is this what you let your city come to? This woman experimenting on Pokemon—"

"Styx would never hurt a Pokemon," Dustin said vehemently. He smirked. "Pipsqueak trainers, on the other hand…"

I looked at Styx, sizing her up. She was four or five inches taller than me. Bustier. I could totally take her, with or without my gift.

Styx rolled her ideas. "Don't give her ideas, Dustin."

The Eevee on Dustin's shoulder jumped to the ground, gave Apple a small nudge, and watched as she rolled until she lightly hit the wall. Her fur bristled, which of course didn't help her… roundness.

"Play nice, Ray," Dustin said. He turned to me, Styx still in his arms. "Now, what's this about Styx abusing Pokemon?"

"Well, she said this machine's been running perfectly for months." I gestured to Apple. "Then this happened, which has apparently also happened with Slowpokes, and I can only imagine what happened when other non-normal types of Pokemon were put through it, but it probably wasn't good. And it's illegal to put Pokemon through the machine when the effects could seriously injure—"

Dustin held up a hand. "So you are basically upset because you believe that Styx is experimenting on Pokemon?"

Yes, dumbass, that's what I said to begin with. I nodded.

"What if I told you Styx was experimenting on voluntary Pokemon?"

"Even if the Pokemon knew the risks, when there's already an effective healing system in place—"

"What if I told you Styx tested this machine on cells in Petri dishes taken from Pokemon?"

I hesitated and then nodded once. "I suppose, that'd be okay."

"Well then that's what she's been doing." Dustin turned his attention back to Styx, playing with her ponytail. "Now that that's dealt with, I was thinking—"

That jerk. I'd find out one way or another what was going on. I pushed my mind into Dustin's and was immediately shoved out. I couldn't even get near Styx's mind.

"Ah, ah. No mind reading for you, Anita." He bent over to whisper in Styx's ear. "Looks like you'll be forced to stick close to me while the pipsqueak's here," he said in mock sadness. "Keep her out of your beautiful mind."

I gagged.

{ANITA!}

I looked down at Apple, who appeared to be powerless to stop Dustin's Eevee from rolling her around the Auto-Restorer.

{Finally, I got your attention. Now can you please get me a haircut?}

"So where's the best haircut place around here?" I asked, giving Styx my best this-is-all-your-fault glare.

"Oh, hmm." There was a flash of red as Dustin released a Zangoose from a Pokeball. "Zangoose, the Eevee's hair."

The Zangoose lifted a claw. No way—I was not about to let a Zangoose slash away Apple's fur. I put up a barrier as Zangoose's claw began descending.

"I'm not going to let your rabid Zangoose tear Apple to bits."

"He was reaching for the scissors on the table," Dustin said.

"Oh." I released the barrier.

"Zangoose is one of the best barbers in town. 'Course, he only works when he's not needed at the gym."

As the Zangoose grinned manically holding the scissors above his head, I felt slightly doubtful. However, a quick probe of the mind revealed that the Zangoose was imagining various fur styles, extremely pleased that he had so much fur to work with.

I scratched my head. "Well, I guess I'm sorry, Dust—"

Dustin was already talking to Styx. "So I was thinking that we go on a lunch date at Tangala's Salad—you know, the restaurant by—" Dustin's phone rang. "Sorry, give me a sec." He stepped out of the room.

Styx and I looked at each other. Zangoose looked at Apple. Ray looked at Zangoose's scissors. Chansey looked at all of us, snorted, and left the room. Awkward.

"Styx, I'll be back to pick you up in forty minutes!" Dustin called, running across the room. He took no notice of his leg hitting the Auto-Restorer, or the dirty look Styx gave him after. Dustin opened a window and jumped into a crouch on the windowsill. "Ray, come on." The Eevee gave Apple a final roll before bounding onto Dustin's shoulder. Then the pair leapt out the window.

"His Pidgeot will catch him," Styx said before I could scramble to the window ledge. She started typing things into the Auto-Restorer again, and Zangoose picked Apple up, set her on top of the Auto-Restorer, and began her haircut.

I took a deep breath. Time to change strategies. "Styx, I'm sorry for accusing you of Pokemon abuse, and I'm really thankful you helped Apple."

"Apology accepted," Styx answered, not bothering to look up at me.

"But seriously, how'd you test the machine?"

Styx stopped working. "Have you been checked for OCD? How about just OD—obsessive disorder? The Pokemon Center's attached to the hospital if you want to see someone about your inability to let something petty go."

"If it's so petty, why won't you tell me?" When Styx didn't answer, I said, "Come on, I'm just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Cats have nine lives," I shot back.

"That's why curiosity's so dangerous."

I folded my arms across my chest. "I'm being nice, you know. I could read your mind."

Styx smiled. "Dustin's not the only one with a few tricks. I could stop you if I needed to. However, I don't think there's a need. I have a proposition."

"You couldn't stop me—you wouldn't even know I was in your mind." With that I sent a small strand of energy to her head. It wasn't deflected.

{I know you're in my head now. And I know you were touching my mind just as Dustin entered the room. Now if you'll kindly leave so we can discuss my proposition,} Styx thought. I tried to dig deeper into her head, but she made it extremely difficult by concentrating entirely on Dustin—the way he smelled, his arms around her, his lips—

I left her mind immediately. "That was a low blow and way too much information."

Styx smiled. "Now my proposition. There's something you need."

"Of course—money, a new bike, a hundred Masterballs, lifelong happiness—"

"My terms are you stop trying to get into my head, and stop asking about my testing methods—" Styx suddenly stared past my shoulder, frowning. "Turn the TV off of mute," she demanded.

I looked over my shoulder. On the screen, there was a Pokemon battle in the sky above a ship. A Pidgeot and Togekiss clashed, flew apart, and crashed together again. I squinted at the Pokemon's riders. "Is that Dustin?"

Zangoose stopped cutting Apple's fur. Apple's partially cut coat made her resemble a lion… or one of those fancy poodles with a bizarre hair cut.

"Unmute it."

I quickly found the remote on a nearby chair and pressed the mute button.

"Just moments ago, gym leader Dustin Blavoid attacked a passenger on the S.S. Hoopla, a seven year old international cruiser. The cause of the attack is unknown. Passengers are being escorted…"

"What's Dustin doing?" I asked Styx.

"I don't know."

There was a flash of red as a Magnemite, Yanmega, Hypno, and Porygon2 appeared. The Hypno began to fall, but quickly stabilized itself with a psychic attack. Dustin and his Pidgeot were surrounded. The camera zoomed in.

"Shit. Who is that?" Dustin's opponent was thin and balding. He wore a black coat that flapped around his Togekiss in the wind. His glasses were crooked on his hooked nose, and his smile gave me the chills.

"Shh," Styx said.

On the screen, Dustin was smirking.

Suddenly, all of the opponent's Pokemon were returned to their Pokeballs, including the Togekiss he was riding. The Pidgeot swooped down. Dustin caught his opponent by the arm, pulling him onto his Pidgeot, and locking his hands behind his back.

Styx sighed in relief. "How'd he do that?" I asked.

"Dustin can mimic any nearby Pokemon's attack. The moment the Hypno used psychic to keep itself in the air, that man with the Togekiss was done for."

"So Dustin mimicked psychic, using his stolen ability to press the buttons on that man's PokeBalls and return the Pokemon…" I muttered. This gym leader might be tricky to beat.

Dustin landed in front of the camera. "Jamie Arkle, as gym leader of Artemis Town I, Dustin Blavoid, am placing you under arrest. You have been charged with manslaughter, breaking and entering, and theft among other crimes. Most notably, you are being charged with being the leader—the Master—of the notorious crime organization, Team Glop'emm."

As Dustin led the man toward a group of Officer Jennys, I put the television back on mute. "That's the guy in charge of Team Glop'emm?"

"Apparently," Styx replied.

I looked at Styx slyly. Now would be the perfect time— "Don't even think about entering my mind," Styx said. "The proposition."

I let out a half chuckle. What the heck was with this girl? She didn't know a thing about me, she was clearly obsessed with Dustin, she could understand Pokemon, and she wanted to make some kind of whacked deal to keep me from bugging her. Maybe she was a less powerful psychic and could only detect when I was in her mind? But reading thoughts of Pokemon would take a little more power than that.

"In exchange for my terms stated earlier and no further investigations on your part into my life, I'll discuss Liam Mendol's Forced Transformation Device with you."

What. The. Hell. Apple and I looked at each other and then back at Styx.

"I'll even help you destroy it."