(It is now Chapter five.

Cursedninetales, exactly what I was thinking!

All credit for Elvina goes to Moonyasha, who let me 'borrow' her. No stealing! Please tell me what you think about this Chapter through a review.)

Peacock City was huge. The next day, after Sara and Drake had eaten and fed their Pokemon, they both went out to explore. It was at this time that Sara explained what had happened yesterday. She didn't expect Drake to believe her, but luckily there had been one eye-witness, Star. She'd seen the bird made of light right before she had vanished.

It took a while to tell the story; Star kept adding in things and exaggerating their flight from the Deckadrill. "So, you're like some Pokemon hero?" Drake asks after they'd finished arguing.

"Yeah. It was really freaky too; she treated me like I'm something incredibly special." Sara responds.

"Ha! You don't know that you are really something special!" Drake teases, and Star chirps in agreement.

"You're almost as bad as me. But I'm the queen of special." She says haughtily.

Drake rolls his eyes after Dorovi had translated what Star had just said. "Yah know, there's a Gym here that we've got to visit."

"A Flying Gym too. Star will be in her prime." Sara says, and the Taillow puffs up proudly on Sara's shoulder.

"Got that right."

Sara and Drake made their way across the crowded city, and in the direction of the tallest building there: Peacock Gym. Two guards stood at the entrance, they looked to be exact copies of the guards at Opal Gym. But someone was already there, a long-haired girl that stood a little over five feet looked to be arguing with the guards. Her hair could be called unusual, it was a medium shade of blue.

"…I'm telling you to step aside!" She was saying as Sara and Drake got within earshot. From their vantage point, they could see that the girl was pale, but not too much so. She's slender, but has a slightly muscled frame.

"Not a chance ma'am." Responded the taller guard, "You can see to the Fearow's health, when he's in the Pokemon Center. Sorry, but you're going to have to step aside. There are people that actually battle here."

"Well I never! You are going to let me in there, even if I have to fight you to get through!" The girl snaps as she turns to see who the guards were talking about. Her sea green eyes darted from Drake to Sara, then to Star, and back to Drake. "You've got to be kidding me. A pair of… rookies like you are going to be battling!" She began to giggle.

That ruffled Sara's feathers very well, "ROOKIES! We are not rookies! Are we Drake?"

"Uh, well… err… no, of course not!" He stammers in reply. The girl just laughs harder.

"Good luck then." She finally says, and turns back to the guards. "I want to watch. Surly you can't deny me that?"

The guards looked edgy, "Well ma'am…" One began, and took a long hard look at the girl before nodding. With a huff, the girl entered Peacock Gym, followed by Drake and Sara after they had informed the guards of who they are and where they're from.

The crowd in Peacock Gym looked to be more civilized then the one at Opal Gym. They didn't boo when the referee announced them, frankly, they cheered. It was the other way around for the Gym leaders too, Mitch and Laura, they got hisses from the crowd.

In the battle that followed, they were all to use two Pokemon. Vulpix and Horsea got exercise as well as Star and Dorovi. But still it wasn't enough. At the end of the battle, they knew why the two Gym leaders were out of favor with the crowd though. Mitch and Laura were merciless, they didn't need to send out any new Pokemon, their Pelipper and Fearow did a wonderful job. The Fearow did look very sick, he was probably the one that girl wanted to get to. But dull feathers didn't stop him from flying in circles around Star, who was definitely out winged by both of the other birds.

Sara and Drake trudged out of the Gym, heads down and neither wanting to talk. Star was back in her Pokeball, as was Dorovi. Neither of them noticed the blue-haired girl fall in behind them, her having been kicked out again by the two guards. The three of them went strait to the Pokemon Center, where Drake and Sara turned in their Pokemon with glum faces and sat side-by-side on the cushioned couch off to the side.

"Hey." The girl says, causing the pair to notice her for the first time since after the battle. "I'm sorry."

"For what? If you mean the 'rookie' thing, you were right." Sara murmurs, looking up at the neon sign of a red needle and sighs. It was still lit; Star, Dorovi, Vulpix, and Horsea were probably all being deposited in the emergency room by now. Star for sure, she'd taken the most damage of the four.

"No, I'm not sorry for that." She replies, "I'm sorry about your Pokemon. But maybe I can help you two."

"How?" Drake asks suddenly, looking up into her sea green eyes.

The girl took over the remaining spot on the couch next to Drake and sighs. "I'm a Pokemon trainer too. My Pokemon can help, practice battles are their specialty."

"But will our Pokemon get any experience from practice battles."

"Of course! Even the most powerful trainers have to admit they've used this method to train their Pokemon!"

Sara finally nods, "Sounds good, thanks." And after that, they three of them sat in silence for a long while. Over that time, Nurse Joy came out and informed them that Star had been taken into intensive care. She didn't scold Sara for getting her Pokemon in that condition, but did look sorry when Sara informed her that it was a Gym battle that had injured her Pokemon.

After Nurse Joy left, the blue-haired girl yawns. "So, are you two just going to stay down in the dumps?" Sara nods. "Then we'll have to do something about that, won't we?"

She draws a Pokeball off her belt and lets the Pokemon inside of it out on Sara's lap. A small, very fluffy Eevee sat and gave Sara a wide eyed look. "Eeev?" He asks the girl, who nods.

"This is Huan." She says as the Eevee made himself comfy on Sara's lap.

"And you are?" Drake prompted as Sara gently began to stroke Huan across his back. His warmth helped her dreadful mood.

"And I'm Elvina." The girl responds, and Huan nods. Drake stated his name and Elvina grins at him. "Drake's a nice name."

She turned to Sara, who at that moment burst into tears. "It's all my fault!" She wailed. Huan paws at her gently, mewing softly to calm her. Elvina frowned, and Drake hugged Sara briefly. It took a while, but Sara finally mutters her name to Elvina before breaking out into uncontrollable sobs again.

Dinner time came then, Drake and Elvina found a challenge in getting Sara to eat some of the steaming beef stew that Nurse Joy served them. She wouldn't have any, and pushed it away no matter what was said to her.

Huan fell asleep in Sara's lap, but Elvina made no move to wake him. By nine Sara had cried herself to sleep. Drake fell asleep soon after, as did Elvina.

Sara didn't have a very good night's rest. She kept waking up to look back at the neon sign, which still glowed brightly. She didn't sob much though, she'd had enough of that. Huan's light snoring kept her company through the long night.

The neon sign finally turned off right before the sun rose. Sara was, of course, already awake and she carefully moved Juan to sleep on the couch as she tiptoes over to Nurse Joy, who had appeared from behind one of the doors.

"Your Taillow will be perfectly fine." The Nurse informed Sara quietly as she saw the blonde's anxious look. "Would you like to visit her?" Sara nods quickly, and follows Nurse Joy into the recovery room. Star, looking quite ruffled, had bandages over both her wings. She was sitting on her own personal bed, which was white and looked quite comfy. She shot a passing Chansey a sleepy glare as Sara slowly approached her.

"Hi Star." Sara says quietly, and the Taillow turned her drowsy eyes on her. She feared the worst, Star was probably going to give Sara a piece and a half of her mind. But to Sara's surprise, Star twittered happily to her.

"Sara! You wouldn't believe the fights I've been having with these Chansey! They wouldn't let me out to visit you…" Star chirps out quickly, her eyelids drooping. "They say I'm too hurt." She motions to another Chansey with one of her wings, and lets out a squawk of pain.

"Oh Star, Star don't do that!" Sara exclaims, causing her Taillow to jump.

"Chansey!" One of the Chansey exclaims as she tugs on Sara's shirt collar.

"In a minute…" She says, trying to brush the Chansey away. It wasn't happening.

"Chan-seeeyyy!" The Chansey roars and Sara found herself being slapped across the face a couple of times.

"Bye Star…" Sara mumbles as she was dragged out of the room, Star watched her go with sad eyes.

Over then next week; Sara, Drake, and Elvina spent most of their time in the recovery room with Star, and later Dorovi. They were being spoiled by all the attention, many townspeople came and wished all of their Pokemon a good recovery. And after a week of care, recover they did. Star was back in 'prime form' and stuck to Sara's shoulder without bandages.

As promised, Elvina led them out to the same clearing they'd entered Peacock City with, and paired the Pokemon up accordingly. She only had three Pokemon, so Horsea got to sit out.

Star was 'fighting' Elvina's Seel, Foam, and wasn't doing so well. Foam on the other hand, was having great fun, bouncing Star playfully on his tail.

Dorovi and Huan were a pair, Dorovi shot water at Huan, he dodged it easily. Fact is, all of Elvina's Pokemon were stronger then Drake and Sara's Pokemon. This really showed in the pairing of Vulpix and Elvina's Growlithe, Blaze. The two of them shot jets of flame at each other, Blaze being far more accurate then Vulpix.

After about an hour of this; Vulpix, Star, and Dorovi all collapsed in defeat. Over the cheers of her Pokemon, Elvina yells, "Alright, now onward into the forest! Endurance is a test here too!" She made them all, trainers and Pokemon alike, jog or fly around the forest a long while.

This was the training schedule Elvina put all of them on. While Sara and Drake returned with sore legs, their Pokemon returned, normally with sore muscles all around. Elvina and her Pokemon were quite used to this schedule; they'd been doing it like this since Elvina became a trainer, three years!

After five days of this, Elvina called a rest day. A 'rest day' means that all they have to do is stroll around Forest Path for a while. Star was looking glossier feathered, even though she didn't want to admit it, these practice battles were helping her. She rested on Sara's wrist, as far away from Foam as possible, who was actually in his Pokeball. Drake and Dorovi walked ahead, both limping slightly from all the running they'd been doing, and Elvina next to Sara, carrying Huan.

"Why aren't there ever any Pokemon here?" Sara asks thoughtfully, noticing that Forest Path looked very uninhabited.

"You just don't know where to look." Elvina responds, and stops at one of the bushes. She pulls it apart to reveal a Spearow. He cocked his head at Sara and Elvina once, then turned and disappeared into the undergrowth. "Most Pokemon here are very shy."

"That's true." Vulpix says from behind Sara, she'd been bringing up the rear with her new friend, Blaze. Blaze made no move to translate that to his trainer.

"There's another one up in that tree." Elvina whispers, pointing up. Sara peaked over to look at it, gasps loudly, and pulls away like she'd been slapped. Up in that tree was a Spearow, wearing a black band and glaring at her through red eyes.

Elvina blinks at Sara, and parted the tree branches to get a good look at the Spearow and laughs. "Don't worry Sara, that's just a red-eyed Spearow. They're quite common around here."

Sara swallows hard and glances at Star, who looked uneasy, and sighs. "That's not good." She states, and right at that moment, the red-eyed Spearow let out a loud, raucous call and swooped down to attack Sara. Star reached quickly, and had wrestled the Spearow to the ground in seconds. When he was lying flat, Star stopped attacking and looked back at her shaking trainer.

You, Lady, have the touch. The light bird's words rang in her ears as Sara reached out a tapped the black band, watching it turn into a thin grey dust that was easily carried away by the wind.

Elvina watched all this wordlessly, as Drake came running back. "Run!" He yells as he and Dorovi nearly trample the Spearow on their way past. Sara and Star exchange glances, before hearing what Drake was running from. A flock of innumerable red-eyed Spearow were cawing and squawking as they followed Drake through the forest.

They turned tail and ran as well, Sara holding the still knocked out Spearow. Unlike the Beedrill swarm that had followed them once before, the Spearow are faster, and they had begun to peck at them all as they arrived in the clearing. Drake and Dorovi had stopped; they were staring at a tall man wearing a black top-hat. On his shoulder sat a very large red-eyed Fearow, one of those black bands around her neck.

The Spearow didn't touch the man and his Fearow; they wouldn't fly past him to get to Sara, Drake, Elvina, and their Pokemon. The man turned to them and grinned, flashing a very pointed smile. His greasy black hair was very short cropped; most of it didn't show under his top-hat. He wore long clothes, decorated in a black and white color swirl, and looked very hot. "So, my Spearow have found you huh?" He asks in a voice as smooth and cold as ice.

"You own these Spearow?"

"Did I stutter? Yes little lady, I do own them." The Fearow on his shoulder crooned to the huge flock of Spearow, which answered in a joint screech.

Sara eyed the man uneasily, "And who might you be?"

"I, little girl, am the Lord of the red-eyes. Keep that in mind, shall you?" He answers, then snaps his fingers lazily. The Spearow swooped on them then, sharp beaks and claws aimed to cut and score.

The man's Fearow took flight and soared above them. Star broke out of the cloud of Spearow and followed her. Sara shouted above the clatter of caws at Star to be careful, as she attempted to break some of the black bands on the Spearows. She'd succeeded in destroying a couple, in turn the freed Spearows attacked back at the ones still with red eyes.

Above, the Fearow and Star had begun to battle. The 'Lord of the red-eyes' had turned away from the flock of Spearow to order his Fearow in the battle. "Fury Attack." He called, and she responded by landing an onslaught of pecks on Star. She, in turn, whacked the Fearow across the head a couple of times with her wings.

"Give it up little bird! There's no way you can win this battle!" The man yells, laughing coldly as Star was knocked to the ground.

"NO!" Star squawks loudly, "I will not lose! I will not give in!" Sara gasps as she saw what was happening to Star. There was a bright, blinding flash of white light, and then a blur had taken flight again.

There was a loud, warbling cry, and the blur had tackled Fearow and sent her plummeting to the ground. In the Fearow's place flew a large bird, which had beautifully slick and shimmering feathers. She was a- "Swellow." Sara gasps, pausing to stare at Star.

Another of the Spearow began to pull tufts of Sara's hair out, waking her out of her trance. She shatters his band and then, wielding her backpack to slap at any other Spearow, Sara fights her way out of the cloud of Spearow and to the unmoving Fearow. "Star!" Sara exclaims, as the larger (and heavier) bird came to a slightly awkward rest on her shoulder.

"The Fearow, if you will." Star responds, her voice had deepened and become less shrill. Sara nods, and bends carefully to shatter the band on the Fearow's neck. All at once, the rest of the Spearow stopped battling, their bands falling off.

"You get the leader, you get her cronies." The man says with a fake sigh, "Too bad this was just a test for you three. Congrats, you failed with flying colors!" He cackles evilly, turns, and walks into the underbrush quickly, out of sight.

All of the Spearow, except for the first one, which was nowhere to be seen, took flight again and, heaving one last joint cry, they split up and scattered into the forest. The man had left his Fearow, which also took off into the forest after shooting Star a very weary glance.

"You… were… awesome!" Sara finally exclaims, plucking her Swellow off her shoulder, and hugging her gently.

"Murrr, yeah, you're right." Star responds, absorbing all the attention like a sponge.

Drake joined Sara, and Star had let them pet her silky feathers. Elvina didn't join them though, she stood with her Pokemon looking back into Forest Path, muttering to herself. After a while, the rest of them joined her, just to hear her say, "…Pain. They were all in pain. Begging for mercy, begging for help."

Sara clears her throat and Elvina whirls around. "This is not good." Elvina states. "And why in the world Sara, you of all people, could you break those things and we couldn't?"

"Well Elvina… it's a long story and…"

"We've got time." She responds stubbornly. So Sara –and Star- told her the whole story about their adventures, from the beginning. Elvina listened, nodding occasionally, but her Pokemon never translating what Star was saying. Finally, when they were done, Elvina was looking very thoughtful. "And this bird kept calling you 'Lady'? Don't you think that maybe there could be some connection with that and something else?"

"Maybe…" Sara mumbles.

"Or maybe Sara's just a lady. It sounds like you don't believe she is one. You wouldn't know anyways…"

Elvina's Pokemon still didn't translate, "I'll have you know that I am sixteen! A lady I don't doubt Sara is, but my goodness! What a cheeky bird you are!" She exclaims, and it wasn't just Star that was staring at her.

"She understood you!" Vulpix says to Star, whose glossy feathers had ruffled in shock.

"Oh boy…" Elvina mumbles, "Yeah, I did understand her. I understand all Pokemon…"

"Oh my gosh! Why didn't you tell us?" Drake asks.

"Well, not many people can warm up to a HAP." Elvina mumbles.

"HAP?"

"Stands for Hears All Pokemon. It's a trait in my family. A lot of people are jealous of me…"

"Well you're our friend. We won't cast you aside just because I can't talk about you without you knowing it." Star finally says firmly.

Elvina blinks at her, "My you are a cheeky bird. Uh… do you two mind if I come with you?" She says slowly.

Sara smiles, "Sure! Now come on, we've got badges to win!"