Okay, that last chapter was a bit sentimental toward the end. This one's better.

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"You okay?" Jordan asked. He set a bouquet of flowers on Chira's hospital bed. "Are they treating you okay here?"

Chira nodded. "Yeah. They've been nothing but the most gracious."

"What exactly happened?" Chris asked, carefully sitting down on the foot of her bed.

"Exposure, hypothermia," Chira spit out. "That's what made me so sick."

"Exposure?" Jordan asked. She had been brought in three days ago, and they hadn't been told anything by anyone. This was the first time she was allowed visitors at all.

"I fell into the ocean and couldn't get out before my body temperature was lowered a considerable amount.

"You're looking remarkably healthy now, especially compared to when you showed up at the pokecenter.

"Thanks. They say I should be able to discharge by tomorrow morning." Chira smiled. "By the way, how is Gyarados?"

"It's fine," Jordan said, reaching into his pack. "In fact, I have it right here." He pulled out a pokeball and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She took it and set it on the bedside table. She plucked at the bed sheets. "Listen, I'm sorry about causing us to miss the boat. Did they refund our ticket money?"

Jordan looked at her calculatingly. "They didn't tell you, huh?"

"What?" Chira smiled after a second. "Probably not, whatever it is."

"That boat that came in right before we were split up? That was the ferry we were supposed to take. It was attacked by wild pokemon. The captain swears they didn't provoke them. The harbor master isn't letting any ship sail until this is cleared up. The ferry will probably take several weeks to be repaired."

"Oh," Chira stared at the white sheets. "They did refund the ticket money, though, right?"

Jordan smiled. "Yes, they did."

Chris flopped back on the bed. "But who knows how long it will take to clear this mess up. We could be stuck in Kanto for weeks, if not months!"

Chira smiled at Jordan. "I guess this means I will be getting some more badges before going to the Orange Islands."

Jordan nodded. "Good, use your time wisely. If you write down what you need, I'll get it so we can leave right away after you're discharged."

Chris protested. "But Chira can't be strong enough by then. There's no way!"

Jordan shrugged. "That's why she'll be riding Cami while we travel."

Chira grinned. "Then I hope you're prepared to run between towns. Cami won't hold back, even for you."

"Well, then it's probably a good thing we'll have your battle with Lt. Surge to warm up during."

"Huh?" Chira cocked her head.

"Oh, come on. We're in Vermilion City right now. They do have a Gym you know. We might as well get the badge while we're here."

"Oh, right. Good idea." But first things first, I need to release Gyarados back into the wild.

"I'll meet you guys at the gym; I have something I need to take care of."

Chira stood in the drizzling mist, a jacket pulled tight around her, compliments of the hospital staff. Jordan and Chris had come to pick her up at the hospital, ready to head straight for the gym.

"Are you crazy? You just got out of the hospital! You're not going anywhere without an escort." It seemed Jordan had appointed himself as her guardian, all knowing about what to do or not to do right after being discharged. It was starting to irritate Chira. By the way Chris looked, this was a frequent occurrence.

"Fine, I won't go without an escort." She dug in her pack for a moment, ignoring his smug smile. She pulled out a pokeball and promptly released Insight. "And now I have one." With that trainer and pokemon took off down the street, leaving two very confused friends behind.

Chira's breath was forming a white vapor as the two kept up a very efficient pace through the streets, heading for the docks. Her pack bounced lightly against her back, and her hand curled around the pokeball in her pocket. There weren't many people out this morning, but Chira contributed that to the time and the drizzle. Her hair was forming wet wisps of hair around her face by the time they reached the ocean. A drop of water dripped off her nose, and she had to blink rapidly to keep water out of her eyes. Insight, she noticed wryly, smelled like wet dog.

Chira reached the spot where she had fallen in four days ago, making sure to stand a ways back from the water. She absently looked up the docks, searching for the wrecked ship. She didn't find it and assumed it was in the ship yard, being worked on. Her mind wandered to the cause and she wondered vaguely how long it would be before the ships could sail again.

Insight yipped, bringing her back to the present. Chira carefully pulled the pokeball out of her pocket, wondering how to do this. Shrugging, she threw it into the water, releasing its occupant.

Gyarados looked Chira up and down. "Thank-you," it said. "I most appreciate the service you have done me. Not many would release me again after healing me."

"It was nothing," Chira told him, cocking her head to the side. "Now you watch out for ships, you hear? I don't want to be told you ran into another one, or vice versa. Watch out for wild pokemon as well, okay?" Her eyes reflected her genuine concern, shocking Gyarados. "Some recently attacked a ship in this area."

"I understand," it said, bobbing its head. It paused, then said, "I don't know about some attacking a ship, but a ship did get in the way when a group of Seadra were attacking me. It got pretty banged up."

"Oh, that might have been the same one!" Chira put her hand to her mouth.

"I think it was. I defeated the Seadra, then helped it into this port."

"Oh, wow."

Gyarados paused, examining her. Finally, it sighed and bent down until it was on an even eye level. "I might as well ask. If I accompany you, will you view me as a means to an end? Or will you treat me like you would treat another human?"

Chira stared at it, confused. Insight was who finally responded. "She'll treat you better than another human," she barked. "Chira understands pokemon. She views them as individuals. Trust me, I know. So are you going to come with us? That would be great!"

Gyarados bobbed his head. "If you are willing to have me along. I would do my part; carry my share of the load."

"Of course you can come! The more the merrier!" Insight told him. Then in a whisper, "Don't mind Chira, she just has a habit of zoning out every so often." She smiled at Gyarados. "Now you wouldn't happen to have a name, would you?"

Gyarados stared at her for a moment, unbelieving that a creature so little could speak to him so freely. "Morrie, I guess."

"Great! Welcome to the family, Morrie!"

Chira finally got over her shock. "Thank-you. What do you ask in return though?"

"That you help me become as strong as I possibly can and that you treat me well."

Chira smiled at him. "Neither of those things will be a problem. But after a while, you might wish to take back that first condition."

Morrie grinned back at her. "I highly doubt that."

"We'll see." Chira remembered something. "Oh, no! We have to meet Jordan and Chris. I totally forgot." She grabbed her bag, and pulled out the pokeball. "We'll finish this conversation later. Return!" A red light shot out of the red and white ball, merging with Morrie and pulling him back into his accommodations.

Chira raced through the city, Insight hot on her heels. She vaguely remembered Jordan's directions to the gym, weaving in and out of the growing crowd. Insight almost lost her several times, barely managing to keep up and not stepped on. By the time they reached the gym, both were panting and red in the face. Well, Chira was anyway. Insight was just panting.

They met Jordan and Chris outside.

"It's about time you got here. What took you so long?"

"I had to release Morrie, only he wanted to come along, so now I have three pokemon." At their blank stares she added, "Gyarados."

"Oh."

Chris was excited. "Lt. Surge isn't real tough, Chira. You should be able to beat him easily enough."

"Remember, Chris," Jordan told him. "You battled him after getting three other badges. Chira only has one. This could be harder for her."

"But Cami is at a higher level than any of my pokemon were," Chris told his cousin. "She shouldn't have that much trouble."

"But Lt. Surge uses electric type pokemon, right? Cami and Morrie both are weak against that type. Insight will be the one battling."

Insight barked beside her. "I'm up for the challenge," she told Chira.

Chira grinned and nodded. "Right, we're up for anything," she told her friends.

They entered, and Chira was struck with how light it was inside. It was so light, in fact, that Chira and her friends were blinded and could only stand just inside the door for several seconds.

"What do you want?" A figure dropped in front of them, surprising Chira and Insight. Chris and Jordan knew what to expect.

"We're here to challenge Lt. Surge for the Thunder Badge," Jordan said, stepping forward.

"Oh, really? All of you?" The figure was sneering at them. Chira blinked several times, finally becoming able to distinguish individual objects.

"No, just me." She said, lowering her hand from shielding her face. "My friends were here not too long ago."

"I recognize the little one," another voice joined in, deep and masculine.

"Who you calling 'little?'" Chris challenged. "And where are you?"

"Relax," the voice said. "I'm up here."

Everyone looked up to see the owner of the voice standing on a balcony.

"You're looking for a gym battle? I accept."