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Hello all! I do apologize. I say one month and get you a chapter in two months, I say one week and get you a chapter in two... I'm sensing a rather unfortunate pattern here. This chapter WAS written, but late because I got revisions to my editor late, proceeded to argue with Reece for about a day and a half, and then left the revisions at my editor's apartment.

ANYWAY, I have a question for all you wonderful readers. I am considering writing a separate story containing Styx/Sticky's back story. I'm not sure if it would be a series of one-shots or a short multi-chapter fic, and I would not let it get in the way of updating this story. Would any of you be interested in reading such a story? I'm not even sure I would start it until after this one was complete.

Thank you to all my readers and reviewers and my seriously awesome editor. You guys rock!

mik317- Landon is not Mel. Mel is Professor Hastings' actual son (born when Professor Hastings traveled back in time). When Professor Hastings' thinks Mel dies, Celebi makes a deal with him- Professor Hastings is allowed to go back in time if he raises Landon and writes when he goes back several years. Landon is Professor Hastings' foster son (when Hastings goes back in time) and Liam's cousin. Note, there IS a time period when two Professor Hastings exist. Sorry for the confusion! You can reread the end of last chapter if this really doesn't do a good job of explaining it.

ChaosAngel4us- Thank you! And good assessment :)

StattStatt- :) Yeah, its hard to believe all of this is leading to something. But it is, just might be fifteen chapters or so, lol.

OBR- Glad to hear! And I don't mean to keep leaving you guys with cliffhangers, but pretty much anywhere I end a chapter is a cliffhanger at this point.

Sandy Star- Very nice! None of the non-internet people I know of who read this figured it out (can't speak for internet people who may have followed the clues like you!). Ah, and thanks for pointing out the mistake- I fixed it. It's super helpful when I get mistakes pointed out now (rather than in a year) because it's a lot easier for me to change chapters before the 60 day document loader expires.

Silvermist464- Thanks for adding me! :)

In other news, because of my progressively more hectic life, it is unlikely the next chapter will be out before August 1st. I'll do my best to get it out sooner, but between packing, getting to Australia, and a birthday celebration, It could be a bit. On the other hand, I have a 24 hour plane ride ahead of me and am unable to sleep on planes-so a month from now is possible, but improbable.

Again, I cannot thank you guys enough. Thanks for sticking with this- I promise to not stop writing it until it is complete.

Previously on An Apple a Day:

Reece and Carly were rewarded for helping Jamie Arkle in Nelcorn City. Reece's reward was a Gallade and Carly's reward was to be in a Cereal City catwalk.

While reviewing security footage Tamara Lilac, the psychic gym leader of Zahavah City, discovers a plot created by Jamie Arkle and implemented by Reece.

After traveling back in time and rescuing his cousin, Landon, Liam is forced by Celebi to return to his own time. Liam is determined to find Landon and leaves Artemis Town. He goes to Zahavah City to interrogate Professor Hastings, the man Landon was left with, but is unable to gain any information. Liam decides to return to Drape Town, where he can utilize the resources of Team Glop'emm.

Meanwhile Erin, Dustin, Styx, and Anita have a nice long chat about what exactly Anita is up to. She claims to be "running errands" for Mew. It is discovered that Styx is a Ditto. Dustin receives a psychic call from Tamara- Cereal City is under attack.

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Chapter 44: Fighting the Irr-ash-inal

"If this escapade of yours disrupts the New Blue catwalk planned for tomorrow that I'm starring in, I'll throttle you till your brains pop out," Carly threatened as we walked into Cereal City's town square.

Rather, I walked. Carly did that thing where she sashayed her hips, making her miniskirt bounce teasingly. So impractical for this type of escapade, but that's just how Carly was. In middle school, she wore a sundress on our class skiing trip.

"Reece!" Carly snapped her fingers. She'd stopped walking, standing in front of the Cereal City fountain with a hand on her hip. "Hurry up. I want to go home sometime tonight."

I took just a moment longer to admire her silhouette in the streetlight—it was like one of those Met-I-Pod MP3 player commercials.

"Reece!" I sighed, maneuvering my arms so my bag fell to the ground. I tugged at the drawstring until the hundreds of PokeBalls within rolled out, spilling across the cement between Carly and me.

"Gallade, psychic," I ordered. The stoic as shit psychic Pokemon flickered to my side. Suddenly, the whole fountain gleamed red as the PokeBalls' release buttons were pressed.

"WHAT THE FUCK, REECE!" Carly screeched. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL WE WERE FAR AWAY FROM THESE MONSTERS!"

I shrugged, fighting a snicker as I watched Carly's tantrum. Sure, we were surrounded by the hundreds of poison Pokemon we'd captured in Globert Town, but they'd all been brainwashed by Gallade's hypnosis. Like, super brainwashed. They wouldn't attack Carly or me—just Cereal City and its inhabitants.

My snicker came out came out; I couldn't help it when Carly tried to stomp her foot in anger, only to realize she'd stepped in a Grimer's slime trail and her pretty black heel was stuck. "REECE, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

{We must complete the next phase,} Gallade said.

Scrunching my nose at the disgusting smell accumulating in the area, I turned to the Pokemon. "What phase?"

The Weezing, Swalot, and two Trubbishes released closest to Gallade were fleeing away from the fountain faster than the other poison Pokemon. He gave off an aura nobody wanted to be anywhere near. Guess we had that in common.

{We are to break Mr. Arkle out of jail. He gave me the signal during your video session.}

"Alright, whatever." Carly had taken off the slime-covered heel and was now using it to swat at a Koffing floating by her head. I smirked. With all the movement, the top of her bra peeked out from under her sleeveless top. Could the woman get any less classy?

"IDIOT, WILL YOU QUIT STARING AT MY BOOBS AND HELP ME ALREADY!" Carly pointed the heel in her hand at me.

"We've got to go get that Arkle guy out of jail, according to Gallade," I said.

"WE? Are you kidding me! I'm not doing any more for that psycho—I'm the one who needs rescuing, not him! And do you see the damage he's done to these shoes—"

I felt a light squeeze on my shoulder and turned my head just in time to see Gallade looming next to me. There was a faint popping noise, and suddenly Carly was no longer standing in front of me.

An alarm was blaring. Red lights blinked.

To my right, Gallade's knees wobbled and he collapsed to the tiled floor. "What the hell's going on?" I asked. "Where are we?"

{Tamara Lilac's house. PokeBalls in kitchen safe, get them to get Arkle…} Gallade's eyes closed.

The alarm was making my head hurt. Man, I was not cut out for this type of crap. Seriously, breaking into the psychic gym leader's house. I'd be caught and then arrested. Hopefully, I wouldn't be put in a cell with Arkle.

Shit, there weren't any women in jail. And I sucked at talking to guys. Maybe there'd be a cute female guard—

{Even at a time like this, still thinking of how to get laid. You truly are a pitiful creature.}

Geeze, I thought he was knocked out. "Eff off. The only way you're ever getting laid is if you bewitch the poor soul with your hypnotism—"

{The kitchen safe, Mr. Dracuta.}

"Do it yourself."

{Too tired… can't move or psychically feel…}

I returned Gallade to his PokeBall. If he was all out of psychic mojo from teleporting us halfway across the country, he'd be useless when security showed up, and I'd rather not hear his nagging in my head.

I scratched my shoulder, looking around. I was in a hallway with windows and one side and three doors on the other. To my right was an open doorway. Through it, I saw a refrigerator. The kitchen.

I paused a moment. Was this really worth it?

Well, the police were coming either way, and in Zahavah City, police were no joke—the city's own psychic Pokemon army, pretty much. I'd only have a way out of this mess if I miraculously found the safe, opened the safe, and the PokeBalls within actually helped release Arkle and get out of here. Sighing, I released the Stunky that wouldn't quit following me in Globert Town from his PokeBall, along with Tangela and Bagon.

"Stunky, cover the door. Bagon and Tangela, with me in the kitchen—"

A Kadabra flickered in front of me, psychically shoving me through the kitchen doorway. I hit the refrigerator door hard, slumping to the ground.

My vision got hazy for a moment, but I saw Stunky leap forward with outstretched claws and take down the Pokemon in one swipe. Useful little stinkball.

I must have blacked out because the next time I opened my eyes there were half a dozen knocked out psychic Pokemon on the kitchen floor. A cabinet had been moved in front of the single entrance, and Tangela's vines whipped wildly about the room. Stunky stood growling under the kitchen table.

When I stood up, I realized I'd been leaning against my newly-evolved Shelgon.

Suddenly, three Ralts teleported into the room. Tangela's vines immediately wrapped around all three psychic Pokemon, holding them still while Stunky slashed across the torsos of two of the Pokemon and Shelgon bit down on the third's arm.

I heard arguing voices outside. The police, probably.

Aw, shit. I still had to find that safe.

I began shuffling through the cabinets nearest to me, letting pots and Tupperware clatter on the kitchen floor. "A little help, Tangela," I said. Several of the wild vines wrapped around every drawer and cabinet door's handle. There was a loud crash as the doors were ripped off their hinges and the kitchenware spilled out all over the place.

I scanned the empty cabinets and the crap all over the kitchen floor. No safe I could see.

Two Kirlia appeared. Tangela was unable to wrap his vines around the Pokemon before they put up psychic barriers. Stunky took down one of the Kirlia, slashing at its face until it blacked out. Tangela and Shelgon took down the other Kirlia, but not before Tangela was knocked out by a psychic.

I opened the oven, feeling the doom seep into my stomach. Without Tangela, the psychic Pokemon couldn't be immediately subdued when they teleported into the kitchen. No safe in the oven.

Stunky had slashed down the picture frames on the walls. No secret compartments behind them. Damn it, if Gallade had waited thirty seconds for me to grab my bag off the ground before teleporting us, I'd have a few hyper potions up my sleeve. Green ass-wiping, headache-causing—

I yanked at the microwave door.

It wouldn't budge.

You gotta be kidding me. The microwave?

Lucky for me, I now had a Pokemon with one of the hardest skins. "Shelgon, headbutt it."

It took three more hits for the microwave door to splinter. The impact also broke two of the PokeBalls within the safe.

A Hypno and Magnemite materialized. Almost immediately, the alarm shut off.

{No way did the pipsqueak here break in on his own,} the Hypno said, projecting her thoughts to me even though she was clearly talking to the Magnemite. {We're in Tamara Lilac's shithole. She's set up some sort of barrier so even teleporting inside this place sucks up a ton of psychic energy.} The Hypno turned her gaze to me, questioning.

"Look, Gallade just brought me here to bust the Team Glop'emm Arkle dude out of jail. I just want out of here. Gallade thought you'd help, so help!"

There were three more flashes of red. A Togekiss, Porygon2, and Yanmega were released.

Hypno caught my eye. The room blurred. Flashes of memories of Arkle and Gallade surfaced for a moment, and then I was suddenly back in the messy kitchen. I stumbled backwards, tripping over a pot. Stunky jumped between me and the Hypno, growling.

{We will break out of the house. You will return all of us but Skampi—the Togekiss—and Yanmega to our PokeBalls. Then you will fly on Skampi to jail and release all of us to break Jamie Arkle out. You will also take the other PokeBalls in the safe with you. Understood?}

"Uh, sure. But how am I going to carry all of those PokeBalls? I've only got six clips."

{If you can't figure out how to transport a dozen PokeBalls while surrounded by hundreds of Tupperware pieces, you don't deserve to make it out of here alive.}

"Err, Roger." I collected the PokeBalls in a plastic piece I found near my feet and climbed onto the Togekiss's back. "So why are you helping Arkle? Are you Team Glop'emm's Pokemon?"

{Don't confuse us with that filth. We belong to Jamie Arkle.}

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ *

Flying in the moonlight was like cuddling with Fiery in front of a fan. My back tingled where the moonlight hit my fur and the wind chilled my neck pleasantly. It was exhilarating.

Which was more than I could say about watching the normal gym leaders plan the rescue of Cereal City from the backs of their puffed-up Pidgeots (Pidg-idiots, I'd call them) and Noctowls (Noct-fouls). The flying Pokemon were arguing about which of the trainers on their backs would be the first to fall victim to the poisonous fumes when they landed. The Pidgeot Anita and I were riding on was adamant Anita would be the first to go.

The bird Pokemon, however, weren't half as incompetent as Dustin and Tali, who'd incidentally forgotten extra gas cloth for Anita and Erin. Tali gave hers to Erin as Tali planned on directing the moronic birds from above, leaving Anita to create a bubble-like barrier around her head before entering the city. The Pidgeot didn't believe Anita was capable of this feat, thus his vote of confidence.

I peered over the Pidgeot's wings at the city we'd been circling, only half listening to Tali's orders of who was being assigned to what and Dustin's arguments with her decisions.

From my sharply improved nocturnal vision, I could see the roads below speckled with hundreds, maybe thousands, of poison Pokemon. Purple fumes clouded the air in various alleys and the large water fountain in the center of the city gleamed a radioactive green. Paradise for a poison Pokemon. Long painful demise for the rest of us… unless of course, you were a steel Pokemon and didn't give a metallic pooh one way or the other.

A shift in the wind bumped my attention back to Dustin and Tali

Dustin was complaining, "C'mon, Tali—"

"You're in a cast," Tali interrupted. "I swear on Arceaus if I see you lay a threatening pinky finger on an enemy poison Pokemon, I will see to it that you're knocked unconscious and flown back to Artemis Town faster than you can say Extremespeed. Understand?"

Wow, point Tali. Dustin looked thoroughly subdued.

"Everyone understand the assignments?" Tali asked.

Well, I hadn't been paying attention, but if I shifted so Anita's hand wasn't rubbing up against my leg I could take a peek into her mind—a very brief peek, that is. Due to the nasty-Celeibi-steals my-psychic-powers-to-time-travel part of my life, the pinnacle of my power at the moment was telepathy. Barrier creation and telekinesis remained elusive.

"So the best way to stop all the poison Pokemon would be to catch them. Do you expect me and Erin to what—break into the PokeMart or something to get that many PokeBalls?" Anita asked. Guess I didn't need to peep into her mind to know what we'd be doing.

"The Artemis Town gym will refund you for any expenses," Tali replied, deadpan.

"I can't tell if she's serious," Anita whispered to me. She suddenly grabbed onto my fur as we plummeted to the ground.

Of course, the Pidgeot we were riding would have kindly forgotten to warn us.

As the Pidgeot dove, Anita pushed me forward slightly so we weren't touching, enabling her to create a barrier air bubble around her head.

{Apple, what about you?} Probing her mind slightly, I found she had tried and failed to put a barrier around my head, having forgotten I was now a dark Pokemon.

{I'll be able to breathe.} Pokemon had a higher tolerance to poison than humans. We didn't always get poisoned after breathing poisonous fumes.

I took a moment to peek into Anita's mind to see what the game plan was. We were on Pokemon cleanup with Erin and her gang. Dustin and Styx were on antidote distribution and medical help for humans and Pokemon. Tali would be directing the flying Pokemon in creating air-paths to disperse the fumes all over the city.

All scenarios considered, I decided we got the best job. Where all the action would be.

Anita and I were abruptly thrown off of the Pidgeot as it performed a barrel spin in midair some nine feet off the ground. I turned in the air, spreading my paws to lessen the impact. Anita created something of a psychic slide barrier, spiraling in a wide arc to prevent a crash landing.

Pride swelled in my chest. She was constantly improving.

The Noctowl Erin was riding, of course, landed and allowed her to dismount before taking off again.

Eh, at least we were dropped by the PokeMart and not directly on poison Pokemon.

"Someone got here before us," Anita said grimly, pointing out the open door and broken windows. A Muk slunk slowly through the doorway, noticing us.

"I don't think a Muk could have broken in like that," Erin said. "The windows look like they were smashed in."

I perked my ears, irked I couldn't count on my psychic powers to perform a task as remedial as counting how many poison Pokemon were headed our direction. Stupid Celebi.

My ears counted nine incoming Pokemon.

Erin and Anita released their Pokemon as the Muk spit sludge at us. Anita threw up a psychic barrier. As Fiery materialized in a flash of red, a piece of the large air bubble surrounding Anita's head broke off to surround his. The same happened to my other teammates as they appeared.

"Why did it attack?" Erin asked, waving Griffy to execute a psychic attack. The Muk was repeated thrown against the ground until it resembled a splattered paintball. "We didn't do anything to—Griffy, I ordered a psychic attack, not a mauling of the poor thing!"

I'm not exactly sure how she could think of a Muk trying to poison us as a 'poor thing.'

{My apologies, Miss. My attention will not slip again.} Griffy said, turning to face the incoming poison Pokemon. What he failed to mention was that his tail had temporarily taken control of the situation. His own attention had been split between the Muk's attack and trapping air psychically some hundred feet above where the air was cleaner so he could safely breathe.

I turned to greet Fiery, who'd been released beside me, but he was busy shaking his head, trying to break the psychic bubble around his head. Beside him, Sunflower and Allo sat facing Anita, waiting for instructions while Splash amused himself by bouncing electricity off of the surface inside his head-bubble. Vanilla looked like she'd already passed out. As she wasn't near any poisonous puddles and the psychic bubble around her head looked intact, she was probably faking in an attempt to be returned to her PokeBall, away from this stinky town.

"So here's the deal," Anita said, looking at Allo and Sunflower, who seemed most likely to listen. Missy floated beside them, mocking their attentiveness with wide eyes. "There're poison Pokemon everywhere. Its up to you guys to hold them off while Erin and I grab PokeBalls from—"

"Are you trying to suffocate me?" Fiery asked, panting. Ah, because he was a fire Pokemon, oxygen around his body burned up quickly. With the barrier around his head, he wouldn't be able to breathe soon.

I grinned. Well, I could help.

I took the opportunity to push my nose through the barrier into the soft fur under Fiery's chin where I knew he was ticklish. Fiery leapt back growling, hackles raised.

"Who the hell are you?" He released a warning ember at my feet, which I sidestepped.

"Guys," Anita said, at a loss of what to do. She couldn't put a barrier up between us that would stop me from attacking.

Splash jumped between Fiery and me before I could retaliate. "Stop it! It's Apple—she evolved."

"Doesn't smell like Apple," Fiery snarled. Seriously, who could smell anything here but the nasty Grimers and Trubbishes? "I've never met this Pokemon—"

{You're the one who figured out I wasn't what I appeared,} I said to Fiery, raising an eyebrow at him over Splash's spiky back.

Fiery relaxed from his attacking stance, pointedly looking away from me. Maybe he was embarrassed he'd forgotten I wasn't an Eevee. Or maybe he hadn't forgotten at all. Maybe he'd never actually believed his own accusations.

"I know this is Apple—I even helped her evolve," Splash earnestly told Fiery. "C'mon, brother, everyone knows Eevees evolve into Umbreons when electrocuted!" That drew everyone's attention. Even Vanilla 'awoke' from the unconsciousness to give Splash an incredulous look.

{My child, I fear for your sanity,} Griffy's tail said. The tail then proceeded to repeatedly bang the psychic air bubble encompassing its head that Griffy had provided on a poison coated rock in an attempt to lick the toxic substance.

"I think the fumes are interfering with your sense of smell," I said aloud, walking around Fiery until he was facing me. "I'm Apple."

Allo and a few of the other Pokemon murmured in agreement.

Suddenly, Fiery and his siblings all winced, and turned their attention to Anita. I blinked, realizing Anita wasn't the only one forgetting I was a dark-typed Pokemon now. I had to consciously remember to open my mind, or I wouldn't hear Anita's thoughts. Anita pointed past us.

I looked over my shoulder. There were four Arboks, a Muk, and six Trubbishes coming out of the shrubbery towards us. Clearly, my ears had miscounted.

"Maybe they're not here to attack?" Sunflower whispered nervously. The Muk sent a sludge bomb at us and we dispersed, leaping into motion.

My tail alight, I went after an Arbok, battering away the poisonous barbs it shot at me with my tail. I felt for the Arbok's thoughts, trying to sense why the poison Pokemon were attacking, but the Arbok's mind was oddly blank. "Hey, snake-face. You brain-dead?"

The Arbok's response was to lunge at me, jaws wide.

I spun, knocking the snake's two front teeth out with my tail. I followed up with a tackle from behind, and once the Arbok was down, I bounced on the Pokemon until I knew he was out cold.

I turned to face another opponent, but found most of the poison Pokemon around us were already down. Two Arboks lied tangled at Griffy's hooves, and another near Allo and Sunflower was literally tied in a knot. From their burnt exterior, it looked as if the Trubbishes had been taken down by Fiery and Splash. Splash stood over one of the Trubbishes with a paw on its stomach. "Looks like we took out the trash," he proudly declared. Vanilla put a paw over her face.

The only attacking Pokemon still up and kicking—or rather, spurting sludge—was the Muk, who was now encased in a psychic prison. Anita squatted next to the Pokemon, a hand in her mess of hair.

"I can't read its mind," she said. "It's like nothing's in there."

{It was the same with the Arbok I battled,} I said, padding over to Anita. {Where'd Missy go? See if she can get into—}

"Zombie!" Splash squealed. There was a sharp crackle as he electrocuted one of the Trubbishes.

Fiery tackled Splash. "What are you doing? I've taught you better than to attack an unconscious Poke—"

"Look, he's not unconscious," Splash said, struggling to get out from under Fiery. We all looked. Said Trubbish was getting up again, despite its burnt feet and bruised body. The other Trubbishes were also rising. Fiery got off of Splash, firing a flamethrower at the lot of them.

The stench was horrible, like burning garbage. Well, I guess that's what it actually was.

For a moment, the Trubbishes were still. Then one's arm twitched. It started to get up again. Guess Splash's zombie assessment was accurate.

"Shit," Anita said. "And there are more coming. Does anyone know what's wrong with these Pokemon?"

{Oven-roasted rabies,} Griffy's tail offered.

"I would guess hypnosis, Miss, but this appears to be something deeper. As you said, their minds are completely blank," Griffy said, eyeing the Trubbishes warily.

"More like mind control," I said. I paced over to Sunflower, who was gingerly sniffing one of the two tangled Arboks. "When Pokemon become exhausted, they faint. The fainting mechanism in their brain has been shut off or something—at this rate, they'll kill themselves." The Arbok opened its eyes. I hit it with an iron tail, temporarily knocking it out again.

Vanilla jumped behind Allo when the knotted Arbok started to squirm.

This was ridiculous. It was as if we were in one of those scary movies Anita and I used to sneak downstairs to watch after her mother went to bed on the weekends. Only a lot stinkier.

Suddenly, Erin ran out of the PokeMart with Missy floating behind her, their arms full of PokeBalls. Tweal followed, but faced the PokeMart, as if something might attack at any time. "Sorry," she gasped, dropping the PokeBalls at Anita's feet. "We ran into poison Pokemon inside—they poisoned Wella pretty bad. I couldn't find any antidotes. From the look of it, someone already broke in and took them."

Anita grabbed a PokeBall and threw it at a fried Trubbish.

The ball bounced off harmlessly. She frowned and threw another PokeBall at a different Trubbish. Another failure.

She tried once more, this time aiming at an Arbok. The same result. Fiery and I exchanged looks of horror.

"Why…?" Erin asked.

Anita closed her eyes and grimaced. "If we can't catch them it means only one thing. They've already been caught."

A moment of silence. We could all hear the bushes rustling as more poison Pokemon approached.

"I hate doing chores twice," Splash said grimly. Nobody laughed.

I ducked a glob of sludge and rushed towards the bushes to meet my opponent.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o

I sensed a Grimer approaching from behind me and put a barrier through it, not bothering to look. This seemed to be the most effective way of dealing with Grimers and Muks—it stopped them for as long as it took to meld their bodies back together. Crouching down, I dodged the poisonous fangs of an Arbok with a particularly gruesome looking face on its neck.

The second Arbok I'd been battling took the opportunity to lunge at me, but I managed to put up a barrier between us before I took a hit.

Getting to my feet, I realized I'd rolled through a sludge puddle and now had a gaping hole on the back of my shirt. The skin on my back felt tender, but I had no time to worry about it as gruesome Arbok was coiling, preparing to spring at me.

I felt tired. My limbs were sore and I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to hold up all of the air bubble barriers. The air in my bubble already tasted stale so maybe it didn't matter.

The Arbok struck out at me fast, but not as fast as Liam could kick. I dodged, putting an elbow in his gut and knocking him out. Yay, he'd stay down for all of four seconds.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sunflower battling two Grimers, backed up against a brick apartment building. She was the only one of my Pokemon I'd been able to keep track of. Sunflower went the only direction she could go—down. She dug underground and popped up underneath the Grimer to her left, hitting it with my protective psychic air bubble. For quite some time now, she'd been using this technique—it proved very effective because of poison's weakness to ground moves.

Arbok number two had recovered from ramming into my barrier and tried to grab me with its tail. I trapped the poison Pokemon in a dome shaped barrier before it could strike and pressed into its mind.

Blank as usual.

I sensed Sunflower in pain and snapped back into my body. I leapt over a Gulpin and thrust a barrier between Sunflower and the second Grimer she'd been fighting. A Muk slithered towards Sunflower, approaching my barrier where the Grimer was now spitting sludge in a feeble attempt to break through. She shot a shadow ball through my barrier, hitting the Grimer while the Muk ducked. The Grimer collapsed, but the Muk moved faster towards the barrier.

I sprinted forward, my stomach twisting even though I couldn't read the Muk's blank mind.

The Muk made a fist and punched right through my barrier. Brick break.

I was faster than the Muk. Fast enough to run by the poison Pokemon, grab Sunflower by the scruff of her neck, and pound my legs into the cement road, putting as much distance between us and the poison Pokemon as possible.

I could feel Sunflower shaking in my arms, even as she was jostled by my uneven steps. Poisoned. {You okay?} I asked. I sensed sludge shooting at me from two directions and couldn't dodge both. Poisonous droplets hit the back of my leg and sizzled.

My breath was raspy. I would run out of air soon. A short break. That was what I needed. I could heal Sunflower and check up on Erin and my Pokemon—I swiveled into an empty-feeling alley, panting. Quickly, I pulled out the last of my antidotes and fed Sunflower.

I reached my mind out. Fiery and Allo were still battling. Splash was knocked out. Vanilla had pulled Splash into some brush and stood over him, covered in grime and snarling at the Trubbishes attacking the two of them. I vaguely sensed Erin, but she was too far away to know how she was doing. I couldn't feel Apple at all. My chest squeezed.

Sunflower stopped shaking. {I'm fine,} she said. I fished in my bag for a potion anyway.

This was bad. We needed a plan—a plan better than this attack-run-recover-repeat plan. Damn it, if Liam were here…

Liam couldn't do anything against these guys either. Punching Grimers just didn't do much. I guess he'd be able to see the poison Pokemon in the dark, but sensing them with my gift had just about the same effect.

Liam would have a plan, though, another part of my mind argued. He'd review the facts, come up with something.

I found a potion and fed it to Sunflower. My hands were shaking.

And what facts did I know? The poison Pokemon were brainwashed. They belonged to someone. Somewhere, they had to have PokeBalls.

Why attack a city with poison Pokemon? Poison was dangerous, but not as immediately destructive as say, fire or a barrage of fighting Pokemon.

Poison Pokemon tend to be attracted to poison, I remembered from middle school. That was why there were very few poison Pokemon found outside of Globert City in Acceber—they were all drawn to the polluting factories in Globert as well as the other poison Pokemon…

An idea dawned on me.

{Anita,} Sunflower warned, shifting in my arms. Something smelled like death roasted in acid. I turned to find a giant Garbodor looming over Sunflower and me, blocking the exit from the alley. I was sure I would die of the smell—

I could smell. Shit, that meant I'd released my air bubble when I hadn't been focusing. It wasn't just mine—I'd released the others, too.

I threw up a barrier in front of the Garbodor.

Sunflower attacked with a shadow ball, trying to drive back the poisonous monster from afar. It didn't work.

The Garbodor pounded on the barrier. I gulped, my heartbeat racing, and searched for doors in the narrow alley—any way to escape. There were none. A wall blocked the end of the alley. Maybe I could climb onto the dumpster in front of the dead end and toss Sunflower over the wall. Then at least one of us would be saved.

Sunflower jumped out of my arms in front of me, growling at the monstrous Pokemon. In a movie it would have looked hilarious—a small, adorable Eevee trying to intimidate this mass of garbage.

The Garbodor pounded its dripping fists on the barrier again. {Garbage! Garbage!}

I froze. "I can hear his thoughts," I said in utter surprise. I could sense he was a he. {Hello?} I asked. I felt his intense hunger, his yearning for the dumpster at the end of the alley.

{Garbage!}

"Sunflower, move here." We backed up against the side of the alley and I released the barrier. Quickly, I created a new one that sandwiched Sunflower and me against the alley wall. The barrier was so tight, my nose brushed up against it.

The Garbodor ignored us, squeezing past the barrier to wolf down the garbage at the back of the alley.

As soon as the Garbodor had passed, Sunflower and I bolted from the alley. {What was different about that Garbodor?} I asked Sunflower.

She couldn't think of anything. I stopped running. "Keep on guard," I said, backing up to a tree that hadn't yet been covered in sludge. I sent my mind to the Garbodor, shuffling through his memories as he shuffled through the trash.

Oddly, he didn't have much of a recollection of the past couple of hours—some blurry movements, and one particularly delicious smelling group of Muks that were firing toxic into a broken pipe.

I could feel my energy seeping away. With all the barriers I'd been creating and a lack of bond with the Garbodor, I'd be done for soon.

I found a clearer memory. Being woken up by surprise. Caught. A Gallade's purple eyes.

Like mind control, I could hear Apple saying. What if Griffy's hypnosis theory was on the right track—if this was a psychic attack…

"Sunflower, have the Pokemon you've been battling been rising again?" I asked, too tired to ask her telepathically. The raw skin on my legs stung when a gust of wind blew past us.

At my feet, Sunflower shrugged.

"We could go check…" I looked over my shoulder, squinting from behind the tree down the street. There were definitely more poison Pokemon than we could handle if we ran in the open.

A stray Grimer sat near us in the middle of the street, exuding a purple gas and looking very constipated. The Grimer looked up and spotted me, and immediately spouted sludge. Sunflower and I ducked back behind the flimsy tree.

Well, this could work.

"Shadow ball it 'till it's down," I ordered.

Sunflower's attacks went through the tree, and the Grimer couldn't retaliate from the other side. Three attacks later, the Grimer appeared to be out cold.

We waited. No movement.

Abruptly, I felt Griffy's presence in my mind. {Excuse me, Miss Anita, for intruding. I bring news of utmost importance—you see, Missy is able to dispel the mindlessness—}

{Save it,} I said, looking pointedly at the Grimer. Griffy found my memory of Sunflower attacking.

{Ah, well pardon my intrusion—}

{Wait, Griffy. There's something I need you to show Erin and Apple—or if you can't reach Apple, then Fiery.}

Griffy shuffled through my mental images the way a child flips through a picture book: harshly, tearing out pages. I winced.

{A good plan. I will relay it immediately,} Griffy said promptly. As I turned my focus back to Sunflower, who was pawing at my shoelaces in concern, the tiniest echo of Griffy's tail telepathically bounced through my mind, a voice mocking Griffy's formal manner of speech. {Panic not, young sprout. Soon arrives the shrub of doom.}

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ *

"So do you get paid by the hour to babysit me?" the Master lookalike said. He sat under the office window, leaning his head against the wall.

Already leaning towards the laptop on the Master's desk, I lifted my hands to my scalp, lightly pinching my hair roots. The boy was infuriating. No, I wanted to snap. I'm getting paid to run a detailed DNA scan on the sample automatically taken when you pressed your grubby finger to the scanner on this office's door. I ran a hand through my hair, briefly examining the blue tips before glancing past the laptop once again.

The boy smirked at me. The urge to strangle the kid simmered in my chest, but I calmed myself by shifting my gaze to the partially completed DNA scan results flickering across the computer screen. No complete matches found in Acceber.

Irritated, I exhaled through my nose. It would be hours before the scan of other regions was complete. And the scan only covered about twenty percent of the population—only citizens who'd had maternity or paternity tests, who'd been tested for diseases—and of those only the systems Team Glop'emm could hack into—

"I'm surprised you haven't snapped yet. Like a twig."

Calm, Rita. Calm. Although the boy had not answered a single one of my questions and this test was unlikely to yield positive results, I'd at least gained some information. DNA testing proved that this lookalike was related to the Master—a cousin or brother. The only reason I hadn't thrown this halfwit in a cell yet was because he had a blood relation to the Master.

I could just rip the walkie talkie from his hands. Rip his hands.

My hands went back up to my scalp. Something was wrong with me. Or wrong with him.

I had to get out of this office, get away from this kid to clear my head. No, I couldn't leave. I couldn't leave him alone in the Master's office.

The kid started to laugh.

A pressure I hadn't realized was gripping my stomach loosened its hold. I looked at the boy again. Really looked. He was skinny—much too skinny for a teenager his age. The cloak he'd taken when he first entered the base seemed to engulf him, pooling around his arms and legs on the floor. His hair was shaggy, maybe shoulder length. And his eyes. Well, his eyes could be mistaken for the Master's. I guess I'd already made that mistake.

The boy was shaking with laughter. "Hilarious—the first person I've encountered in years able to resist works for Team Glop'em. Some irony."

"Enough of this," I said, interrupting his laughter and bringing my hands back to the Master's desk. "I will ask you again to please hand over the walkie talkie." It was strange, I thought, how my attention had been diverted for so long. I needed to tell the Master of this intruder. I moved my hand to my lab coat's pocket, where my PokeBalls were stored. I'd have Jilly or Spud restrain and question the boy—

I gasped. Doubling over in my chair and digging my fingernails against my palms to keep myself from lashing out. Don't hurt the brat. Don't dig those fingernails into his throat—

I squeezed my eyes shut, recalling the tune I'd made to remember the family names of RNA viruses in med school… Sequiviridae, Marnavidae, Iflaviridaeeeee. Picornaviridae includes the common cold, don't you saaaay. Caliciviridae—

The pressure dissipated once again. I opened my eyes and found the kid had walked across the room, examining the scripture that had hung in this office for as long as I worked here—before the current Master became Master.

Who exactly was this kid? And that strange, malignant pressure. Was he the cause? Or perhaps some strange drug was slipped into my meal earlier—it wouldn't be the first time something so underhanded occurred within the ranks of Team Glop'emm.

"The realm of irony has no limits," the kid murmured. He caught me squinting past him at the scripture, trying to read the words. He smiled. "Curious?"

No, I was more curious about where this kid came from, why he was sitting with me in his office, how he was related to the Master, why I couldn't seem to rid myself of these violent urges—

"Let me read it to you. It was one of my foster Father's favorites." Fury rose in my chest again. Blind, senseless fury. I was digging my fingernails into my hand so hard my palms were bleeding. I couldn't stop it any more, couldn't—shoving the rolling chair aside, I lunged towards the kid.

He ducked my arm swipe. "From Dust to Ash," the boy began, twisting away from another swipe. "Floating, beaming, perhaps unwoken." He slid under my arm, behind me.

"A legend of which is hardly spoken."

I spun around.

"Waiting to combust."

Swipe.

"Turn to dust."

Punch.

"Remain a cycle unbroken."

The boy easily evaded my attacks. Some part of me, whispering in the back of my head was thankful. I lunged again. This time, the boy jumped back and hefted his body up onto the desk. He held an arm outstretched, his palm facing me.

"However halt instead—" The pressure suddenly drained as quickly as it had come. I felt nauseous. "—with darkness through head." Exhausted, I slumped against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor. The boy jumped down from the desk towards me.

"Cut and slash. Darken ash." He crouched down in front of me—so close I could reach out and touch the bags under his eyes. The boy tilted his head. "Who weeps for the dead?"

"A quality performance," I muttered. Maybe, just maybe, I saw the flicker of a small smile. I drew my lab coat around my body tightly, trying to alleviate the nausea.

There was a soft buzzing on my computer. The boy glanced at it.

I sighed, relieved. "The Master's home," I said.

"When did you call him?"

"I didn't." It was luck. I abruptly remembered he still didn't know about the broken tracking device. Perhaps it was misfortune.

The boy rose.

"Be careful when he confronts you," I said, leaning my head back against the wall. "Doing this…" I waved at my head. "…trick… to him… Well, I wouldn't want him to snap you… like a twig."