Chapter 7

Mipsy slowly held her hands up. "Y-yes?" She stammered. She could hear a shuffling behind her, the sound of footsteps heading in the opposite direction told of Edward and his group's retreat.

The police officer in front motioned with his hand and two of his fellows stepped forward. She flinched when they passed by her, expecting them to grab her arms and use those threatening handcuffs dangling from their belts. That didn't happen. A quick glance over her shoulder showed that they were following into Granite Cave.

"You can relax," she jumped when the man who seemed to be the head policeman spoke up again.

At Dewford Police Station, Chief Johnson—as he introduced himself—sat Mipsy down in front of his desk. He pulled a familiar-looking object from a drawer. "Let's she the one you have," he murmured, placing the red-colored machine on a stack of papers between them.

Mipsy reached into her back pocket and brought out her Pokedex. Placing it next to the other, she could tell that the one she had was larger. Johnson opened them both and—pressing the sequence upside-down—caused the two to chime:

"I am a Pokedex owned by trainer Mipsy Bedazzlement," though one of them added a 'C' for her middle name. Each displayed the same picture of her for a moment, before hers switched to a black screen and the other displayed a black background with white letters that spelled out: Pokemon owned: 5.

"You seen," Johnson continued, tapping the smaller machine. "Someone turned this one in today. It was a good thing it was brought to our attention now, because it's illegal to have two."

The girl had reached over and picked up the other machine, her eyebrows knitted together. "Why?" She questioned.

"Well," he cleared his throat for a second's pause to think. "Because. A Pokedex represents a trainer's account. With two, a single person can get two times the privileges of a truthful trainer, i.e. the ability to carry around twelve Pokemon, two accounts to charge money to, and other things…

"So, we're going to keep one of these, and you can take the other. I suggest you keep the one you're holding, it looks like a newer model," he finished, and his lips turned up into a half smile. It was the first time he'd actually smiled, Mipsy noted.

She pocketed the smaller Pokedex without much thought. "Sounds good," she said. "But…"

"Hmm?"

"How'd you know where to find me?" She spluttered, and felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Chief Johnson took her old Pokedex and tapped its underside. "Tracking device."

"Oh. Okay. Well, uh, thanks," the girl said awkwardly, stepping back towards the door. She would muse over having a tracking device in the machine in her pocket later.

The police station was out of the way of the market, Gym, and Pokemon Center—Mipsy hadn't paid much attention to the building that was not abnormally tall nor colored strangely. After leaving it behind, she didn't have a hard time finding the Center, which was a bright point against the darkening sky. Stormy gray clouds swirled around; they spread out across the horizon, casting an odd darkness to the island while it was still early afternoon.

Mipsy entered the Center accompanied by a gust of wind that set her wavy brown locks into disarray. She was still shaking herself out when she came to the front desk, where the nurse flashed her a fake smile that was little more than a grimace. Perhaps her shift was just about to end. "I'd like to have my Pokemon healed, please," the girl stated to her, placing her three balls on the counter between them.

Tassie would probably be sleeping for a while, after her evolution and flying around on her new wings. She didn't know about Razzle, because how much damage could that Zubat's leech life have done? And as for the—as of yet unnamed—Zubat, she needed to get to know it a little better. There hadn't been enough time to talk to it before dashing out of Granite Cave.

As the nurse turned away, Mipsy headed to the telephones. There was someone she needed to talk to, again. She dialed the number to the lab from memory, and waited for the familiar face of the Professor to show up on the screen. Yet it was just an aide that answered, she didn't recognize him from the limited number of aides she knew. "Here to report that you've made it to Dewford?" He drawled.

"No. I need to speak to Professor Birch, is he there?"

"He isn't here. He's off searching for Pokemon again," the aide said, shaking his head and murmuring something else indistinctly. "Maybe you should try back later."

Mipsy nodded and the screen went blank. "Well darn it," she murmured, frowning. She returned to her room slowly, a throb coming back to her legs in full force now that her attentions were not completely devoted to the shock of being taken into the police station. Rose and the baby Wingull were both asleep with the television still on when she opened the door, though the Roselia was quickly awake by the time her trainer had taken a couple steps in the room.

"Lia, rose?" She muttered, smothering a yawn with one rose.

"I'm back early," the girl said softly, collapsing onto the nearest chair. Rose nodded with a huff, while baby Wingull woke with a trill and his eyes seemed to light up upon seeing his 'daddy.' He cawed happily.

Rose stated something, raising one of her roses. The question was easy enough to guess, she wanted to know what happened. Mipsy felt a surge of guilt as she looked at the Roselia, after all, Rose was the one Pokemon that always seemed… unhappy, and she was being left behind in the Center to take care of the baby Wingull. Rose practically spoke English when expressing her feelings for her trainer, especially when they'd first met, which hadn't been too long ago. The trainer Mipsy had bought the Roselia from had probably been much more experienced in… everything. That's where she was sure Rose got most of her impatience for her trainer's shortcomings. Or maybe she was just naturally an impatient Pokemon, and Mipsy was just imagining the rest.

Thus, she felt a little embarrassed to repeat the story of what happened to the Pokemon, but she had to. If she wanted Rose's trust, she had to tell her the truth, because Razzle or Tassie or the Zubat could slip up and tell her something she had left off. So she told the whole story, everything, to the two Pokemon. Rose remained silent and still, only blinking on occasion. When the story was done, she only nodded silently.

"So I'm going to go check on the rest now," Mipsy said awkwardly, only earning another nod. Her legs throbbed in complaint when she got back up, and she threw a dirty glance at the backpack she'd dumped in one corner. Once she'd used some of the things in there, she wouldn't be replacing them in such bulk.

The baby Wingull cawed and held out his short wings when she passed by him. She grinned, "I'll be right back, little one."

She kissed his forehead and left the room again. As she walked down the narrow hall, someone dressed in dark clothes brushed past her, obviously in a hurry. She glanced over her shoulder, but the person had already disappeared in the shadows.

When she came out into the Center's lobby, it was full of several trainers, most dripping wet. She saw the back of a Ninjask's head above those of the other people, which meant Kirra was here as well. Somehow, that surprised her, though it really shouldn't have. Kirra was just another experienced trainer, who had done her a couple favors. Nothing more.

But Mipsy was still cognizant of being watched as she stepped up to the counter and retrieved her three Pokeballs. "Hey kid," Kirra called when she'd fastened the orbs to her belt. Turning around, she saw that the older trainer was beckoning to her with one hand. As she came closer, what Kirra was holding in the crook of her arm became apparent. It was a baby pokemon, an Azurill. It slept peacefully, belly up, looking adorable in the position. Jitsu raised a claw and waved at Mipsy when she was only a few feet away.

"Hi Kirra. Um, cute Azurill," she stated awkwardly.

Kirra smiled, "This is Aubrey. I'd let you hold him if he wasn't asleep," she said quietly. "So, have you challenged Brawley yet?"

It came as a surprise that she was asking Mipsy about herself, but then again, they hadn't talked much. "No, I haven't. I've been busy getting supplies and staying put, since that egg hatched."

"Was it a Wingull?"

"Yup."

"Ah. Are you having any trouble feeding him?"

"Well…" Mipsy told her about how Rose was feeding him her nectar. As she was talking, the Azurill woke and fixed his eyes on her, eyes that were slowly filling with tears. She looked back into those eyes as Kirra talked to the nurse and surrendered five Pokeballs, all her pokemon excepting Aubrey. The nurse stated that it would be a while, motioning to a pair of Chansey that were double-teaming on the healing machine to get the surplus of Pokeballs through. There were trays stacked up behind one chansey, one tray for each trainer.

"Um… would you like to meet the baby Wingull?" Mipsy asked awkwardly as Kirra turned away. She looked odd without Jitsu perched on her head.

"I'd love to."

Rose was still watching television when the girls entered the room. Mipsy released Razzle, who received an excited caw from the baby bird. "Hey, it's you again," he stated at Kirra.

As she responded to Razzle, she sat on the remaining chair, looking at baby Wingull with a frown on her face. "He's going to need solid food soon," she said to Mipsy. "Already chewed a little and all that good stuff. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Sure," she replied. "I'm only going to do half the feeding, right mommy?"

"Yeah, right. …Huh?" Razzle hadn't caught what she'd said, just agreed on impulse.

Kirra was still frowning as she nodded again. Aubrey squirmed out of the hold she had him in, bouncing neatly on his tail and moving towards the Wingull. He squeaked and baby Wingull cawed back. Soon, the two baby pokemon seemed locked in a friendly conversation. "So, what's his name?"

"Guess," Razzle said, laughing some.

Mipsy groaned, "Razzle! Why can't you just tell us his name?"

"He did," Kirra said. "Guess. It's a nice name. Did you think of it, Ralts?"

"The name's Razzle. No, unfortunately not, Tassie did. Tassie is Mipsy's Beautifly."

"Oh, she evolved," the teen grinned.

Mipsy was about to say something when she felt a soft brush on her pant leg. Aubrey tilted his head to one side, squeaking at her. Apparently, he was done talking to Guess. She held her hands out to him, which he took as an invitation to bounce up to her. Unfortunately, since she was bent over, he didn't bounce into her lap, rather he managed to spring onto the top of her head. He giggled, kicking his little feet.

After Mipsy had plucked him off of her head and he settled in her lap, she and Kirra began to talk about the weather. The teen didn't mention Guess anymore, though her gaze would sometimes wander towards him, and she was always frowning when Mipsy noticed this. Kirra eventually glanced at her watch and said, "I'd better be getting my pokemon. Can I trust you with Aubrey for a few minutes?" since the Azurill was fast asleep in her lap, Mipsy nodded, though she felt a little nervous when Kirra left the room. A trainer that left her pokemon with another trainer was either trusting or foolish, perhaps both. But this act of trust left her with a bad feeling.

"There's something wrong," Razzle stated.

"How so?"

"Kirra never said ten words to you at one time. Now she's chatting like you two are old friends," he replied. "I don't like it, Mipsy…" Rose was nodding as well.

Aubrey chose that time to stir, blinking up at her innocently. "C'mon Razzle," she said as she rubbed the Azurill between his ears. "If she makes you feel like that, we'll go give her Aubrey back, so—"

"Okay sounds good let's go!" Razzle had jumped to his feet and was shuffling towards the door. Sighing, Mipsy picked up Kirra's Azurill and followed.

Right before they turned into the center's main room, they heard the teen's voice, very quiet, mumbling, "Right, right, I know… I understand, Nathan… Tomorrow. Got it… bye," a slight click, and she nearly ran straight into Mipsy coming around the corner, a cell phone in one hand. Jitsu had claimed his place again on her head.

"Um," Mipsy paused for a few seconds, her eyes rolled up to the left. "I forgot to get something at the forum. It's important, so here's Aubrey back—" the Azurill was very upset to be handed back to Kirra, he tried to squirm back into the girl's arms, "—I'll see you around."

Kirra gave a half-smile, "Alright kid. See you."

To finish the lie, she had to leave. But there was a problem—it was still raining. She hadn't broken out her umbrella. She hesitated for a second, and then turned back towards the hallway, just to see that Kirra had already disappeared. "Did you see where Kirra went?" she asked Razzle.

"Nope," he replied. Neither of them checked the shadows, where two gray eyes followed their path until they went back into the room.

Mipsy searched her backpack, then the closet and chest. She had unearthed a small umbrella and a navy jacket with an attachable hood. The umbrella was useless, when she opened it, it had a couple of holes. How something so beaten up had made in into her pack, Mipsy didn't know, but she tossed it into the trash and placed the hooded jacket on the bed. Afterwards, she turned the television back off—it'd been turned off when Kirra had entered, then Rose had turned it on again—and released Tassie from her Pokeball. The white mass of light settled on the floor before it solidified to reveal the Beautifly with her wings fanned out. "Oou?"

"Nice name for Guess," she said, grinning. Tassie squeaked happily. "I'm going to release our new teammate soon, the Zubat. Will you guys be nice to each other for now, please…?"

"Aren't we always nice?" Razzle asked, genuinely confused. She had been addressing Tassie and Rose, who weren't on the fondest of terms. The two female pokemon exchanged glares at that point, before Tassie fluttered over to the top of the wooden chest.

The Zubat, when it materialized, was fast asleep. For a few awkward moments, Mipsy and her pokemon just stared at the bat. Razzle was, of course, the one to break the silence. "Um… hellooo? Wake up…"

It uncurled its wings, pausing in that position. Mipsy hesitantly walked towards the bat, saying, "I'm going to pick you up. Please don't bite me…" her hands closed around its middle. It didn't bite her at all; it did something worse than that. Opening its mouth wide, the bat emitted an awful screeching, flapping its wings wildly, enough to slip out of the trainer's grasp. It flew around in circles, still screeching. Guess was wailing, even with Rose covering his ears as best as she could with her roses. Razzle was talking in Ralts tongue, while Mipsy frantically thought of what to do. Leaning back and enjoying the show, Tassie just remained where she was.

Finally, the Zubat calmed down, though it took both Razzle and Mipsy's coaxing to start talking to them. The Zubat words that Razzle could translate were unlike the screeches, they were high-pitched, but seemed much like Azurill squeaks. Through Razzle, she knew some things, mainly: the Zubat's name was Zyair and she didn't understand what being 'captured' really meant. She was also sleepy and irritable at being woken. When she fell back asleep while Mipsy was in mid-question, she was returned. "Well…" she sighed. "We're going to wake her up every time she needs to battle."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Razzle raced to the door and fumbled with the knob. Mipsy was halfway to the door when he got it open, and said, "He—oh, it's you again."

"You don't sound enthusiastic," Kirra said, shaking her head. She smiled at Mipsy, "Sorry to bother you, but I heard the racket. Is everything okay…?"

"Yeah," Mipsy nodded. Something tackled her leg, it was Aubrey, giggling.

The teen was smiling sheepishly, "Sorry, that wasn't the reason why I came… Aubrey really wanted to see you again."

Mipsy didn't comment that, maybe, thirty minutes had passed since she last saw the Azurill. "Oh. Come in, then," she said. Kirra pushed on the door, but Razzle wouldn't budge. "Razzle… it would help if you opened the door…"

"Right," he gave in and let her pass. Mipsy scooped up Aubrey and smiled when he giggled happily. Guess was asleep when Kirra sat down in the spare chair again, looking at him with her thoughtful frown.

"Mipsy, I trained a female Pelipper when I was eleven," she said. "Her name is Pelican. I still have her," the girl nodded, a little perplexed that Kirra was mentioning this. "She has some experience with rearing young Wingull. So, I'd like to ask, would you be interested in a trade? Aubrey for your Guess. Aubrey is already eating solid food, so feeding him won't trouble you."

"No, Guess is just fine with us," Razzle said quickly for his trainer.

"Wait Razzle," the Ralts glanced at her, his eyes shining, just faintly. "Will you trade Guess back to me when he's fully grown?"

"I'd give him back to you," Kirra answered, shrugging. "Aubrey would be happier with you. I can see that."

"Mipsy…" Razzle's voice was pleading. "Please…"

Mipsy glanced down at Aubrey who she had cradled against her chest. His eyes were just as pleading as Razzle's voice. Rose was waving one rose to catch the girl's attention, and she nodded, just slightly, when the trainer glanced at her. She swallowed hard. "O-okay. It'll only be for a couple months…"

Razzle gasped and turned away from her. The whole time, Guess had been asleep, unaware that he was about to pass to a different trainer. "But will you give us some time to say goodbye?" Mipsy asked.

"Sure," the teen got to her feet and took out a Pokeball, returning Aubrey. "I'll be waiting in the lobby."

As the door clicked behind Kirra, Razzle turned on her. "Why'd you accept? Why?"

Mipsy opened her mouth to speak, but it was Rose that saved her. The Roselia spoke in quick, sharp words, gesturing at Guess and him and shaking her head. Razzle had deflated visibly by the time she was done. "What'd she say?"

He shot her a distasteful look and didn't answer. A word from Rose prompted him to say, rather grudgingly, "Rose says that Guess was beginning to refuse her nectar. It was time for him to find a real mother—not a Ralts," she felt a sudden pang of guilt at his unhappiness. It was best for Guess, but he'd grown attached to the little birdie.

"Razzle, we're going to see him again," she said. "Just after he's done growing. He'll be the same Guess."

Guess, by that time, was awake, and looking from Rose to Razzle to Mipsy with confusion. The Roselia began to gently speak to him as the trainer hugged Razzle, who was sniffling helplessly. They had him hopping towards them, cawing, by then.

Trading Guess was not a very popular idea to any of them, even Rose, but eventually Mipsy walked out to the lobby followed by the rest of her pokemon except Zyair. Kirra was waiting near the trading machine with Aubrey's Pokeball in hand, and a smile passed over her lips for a few seconds. "Just place Guess's Pokeball here," she said, pointing towards a chamber to the side of the machine. A similar chamber was on her side as well, connected to a tube that bent at the center before joining the second tube connected to the other chamber. At the simple click of a button, the Pokeballs were sucked up into the tubes, and after the brief whirr of machinery, spat out at the other end.

"I don't see the point of that," Mipsy said as she took Aubrey's Pokeball from the chamber.

"The machine is supposed to keep a record of the trade, just incase there needs to be proof that, for example, I didn't originally capture Guess," Kirra said. She probably could've told Mipsy a lot more, but the girl let the subject drop.

The teenaged girl hesitated for a second before asking, "Are you planning on staying in Dewford, Mipsy?"

The next day, right after lunch, Mipsy found herself standing in line with Kirra, waiting to get onto a ship that would take them to Slateport City. She held Aubrey with both hands, since Kirra had volunteered to hold her ticket for her. The only other pokemon she had out, Razzle, shuffled next to her. He hadn't forgiven her yet, and was completely silent the whole wait. Kirra kept glancing at the girl with an unreadable expression on her face. Something was on her mind. Something had beenon her mind the entire time she'd been around Mipsy for those two days.

The rain had stopped, but by the look of the clouds above, it might start again at any time, so Mipsy wore her navy jacket. It was well past noon when they made it aboard the ship, but it was chilly enough outside for her to zip up her coat. The first thing she and Kirra did was find their cabin—they were sharing it for the trip. While Mipsy collapsed on the single chair that stood in the corner of the room, Kirra disappeared again. The room that they'd rented was snug, with walls covered in burgundy wallpaper trimmed with gold. A double-bunk bed took up most of the space in the room. It was tacked down firmly to the floor, like the bureau and small bedside table. The lamp didn't appear to be secured, yet when she tried to lift it, it wouldn't budge.

The only outside light came from a window that faced the pier. The cabin was on the second level, so Mipsy hoped that she would be able to see marine pokemon on her trip. "So, what do you think?" she finally asked Razzle when she was done inspecting the place. She sighed when he nodded, silent. Aubrey bubbled with delight, however, at being able to bounce on the top bunk and almost reach the ceiling. Mipsy called him down when he got close to doing so and bumping his head, and had to catch him when he bounced into her arms.

They were heading back to the deck when a man came over the loudspeaker, announcing that the ship was about to set sail. Mipsy held onto the rail next to the stairs firmly while the ship jarred into motion. Dewford was already a ways behind when she reached the deck and started to look for Kirra.

Kirra wasn't hard to spot with Jitsu on her head. She was with another teen Mipsy recalled seeing on Isle Rockola, the boy with black hair and a bandana. "As soon as Dewford is out of sight," he was saying as Mipsy approached.

Aubrey, who had been in a great mood, suddenly was squirming and squeaking unhappily. It caught attention from the two teens, and Kirra gave her half-smile, "You should probably go back to our cabin," she said. "Nothing is going to happen on deck…"

"Yes, but I want to be up here, for the fresh air."

"It might rain," she pointed out. Mipsy was aware of a pleading tone that had seeped into the teen's voice.

"Alright. I'll go back down," she said. She got herself lost in a crowd and watched Kirra and the boy from a distance.

"Something's not right," Razzle surprised her by speaking. He was watching them just as intently as Mipsy was. "Aubrey, why don't you like Kirra?"

It was a question she wanted to know as well, but had forgotten to ask. The Azurill hesitantly started saying something when the first Pokeballs were thrown. Kirra and her friend were at separate ends of the boat; she was standing next to a Kadabra, while the boy had a Grumpig. Razzle exclaimed in his native tongue and his form glowed purple. "A psychic barrier," he said to Mipsy, forgetting his anger for the moment.

"Why are they—"

"Listen up all of you!" an unfamiliar voice came over the loudspeaker. A pause, in which confused murmurs raised up from the passengers. "This ship is now the property of Team Aqua, and—" Shouts drowned out whatever the voice was going to say. Many Pokeballs were thrown and the deck was filled with a myriad of different pokemon. Confusion followed, as many of the pokemon started attacking each other and mostly missed the true enemy.

Mipsy was watching Kirra intently as she unbuttoned her jacket to reveal a black-and-white striped shirt and tied a blue bandana around her forehead. She felt numb. "So, that's what you're afraid of Aubrey…" she managed only a whisper since her mouth had gone dry.

The Azurill was curled up as close to her as possibly, squeaking quietly. She returned him to his Pokeball. "What's the plan, Mipsy?" Razzle asked.

She looked towards Kirra's friend and saw his Grumpig raise his paws, glowing with a thick blue aura. A Swellow crumpled to the deck, fast asleep. Several others followed the bird, until the trainers were beginning to fall asleep as well. Mipsy's eyes widened when the sleep waves were close to her, then felt paralysis in her limbs and collapsed, not about to wake for a long time.