Hi! So sorry for the long wait, but Lovedove has a life. She wants me to apologize for any mistakes- most of this was written at 1-2 am. And I apologize for any that I missed. We're not perfect. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Topaz was happy. Not the angry happy or the rude happy, but for once, genuine positive feelings.

She got her first badge. Her Pokémon had leveled up and evolved. She was on the road to being the ultimate Pokémon Trainer. Bitches had better watch out. Topaz didn't even snap at people like she usually did. A perfect sky of sunshine was over her…before Barry ran into her and caused to fall face first into the dirt.

"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK." Topaz rattled off curses rapidly like a gun.

"Whoops!" Barry once again offered a hand to help her up, but Topaz quickly slapped his hand away and got up, fists clenched and fuming. "Topaz! You got the gym badge, huh?"

"FUCK YOU."

"Eterna City is the next place with a gym that gives away badges, right?"

"FUCK YOUR POKÉMON."

"So, yeah, I went to Route 207, but you can't go there without a bicycle. I made my team battle and toughened them up, so it wasn't a waste."

"FUCK YOU BOTH."

"So, I'm going back to Jubilife City. Next stop, the Eterna City Badge! Ten seconds until I dash! Nine…"

Topaz pushed him roughly, making him stumble on his feet. He regained his balance and gave her a grin. "Bah! Who's got time to count?"

"FUCK YOU TO ARCEUS' ASSHOLE."

"See ya!" Barry ran off and disappeared into the cave. Topaz took a few deep breaths, trying to still her anger.

Star was out next to her, watching her with deep, soft eyes. Topaz had made up a system for them to get some time out of their Pokeballs since they had now become too big to hang out in her backpack. And too heavy. She would let one ofh er Pokémon out to walk with her for a little while, then switch for another, rotating through her Pokémon. Topaz wanted them to have a lot of fresh air.

"Wow," Star chirped.

"Why does that little shit have to piss on my sunshine?"

"I thought you were going to kill him."

"I came very close." Topaz finally steadied her breath and buried her rage…for now. "Well, if what Fuckarry says is true, what should we do?"

"Probably go to Floaroma Town and try traveling from there."

"Alright."

Topaz passed through the cave again (she really hated caves) and walked back down the grassy pass to Jubilife City. She saw many past rivals and foes of hers. They now looked at her with a wary eye, though Topaz thought she saw a hint of respect in those looks. This lifted her mood a little better. Rapid walked beside her, trotting along (sniffling of course). Their journey was mostly made in silence. Topaz wanted to think instead of talk. Rapid broke the silence when they were approaching Jubilife.

"Hey, Topaz?"

"Yep?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's kind of personal, though."

Topaz stopped and turned to look at him. A personal question? Typically, when she heard the term "personal question" she thought of questions like "What's your breast size?" or "Have you gone all the way yet?" which she hated to be asked. However, Rapid didn't seem to be the kind of Pokémon to want to ask that question. And why would he? Topaz was curious about the question, though. As much as she hated people asking questions to close to home base, she said, "I'm alright with it. Shoot."

"Do you, uh…y'know…"

"Yeah?" Topaz braced herself.

"Have a father?"

Topaz froze. She stared into space, falling deep into thought. Not saying a word, she thought about the question. When was the last time someone asked her that? It was personal, no lie, but should she answer it? She wondered…

"Sorry! I shouldn't have asked!" Rapid looked down.

Topaz snapped out of her daze. "What? Oh, uh, no! It's okay. I understand why you would ask that. Anyways, yeah, I do have a father."

"Really? Um…" Rapid said nothing after that.

"I'll explain some other time."

"Okay."

Topaz and Rapid entered Jubilife City and turned to go down another path. However, they saw a peculiar sight. Professor Rowan and Lucas were in an extremely heated discussion with two strangely dressed individuals. People were beginning to stop and stare. Topaz walked up to Rowan, pissed at this new obstacle in her path. Rowan turned to her.

"Ah, Topaz. Impeccable timing as usual."

Topaz pointed an angry finger at the two strangers while the air around Rapid crackled with electricity as he crouched in a threatening pose. "What the hell are they doing?"

"These miscreants are babbling utter nonsense that I just can't stomach. Show them some manners, if you will."

Topaz turned to them. "Get the fuck out of the way."

One of the strangers frowned and turned to Rowan. "Oh, Professor Pokémon, must you be so difficult? We're approaching you strictly as businessmen. All you must do is provide us with all your research findings. In return, we'll refrain from causing massive damage to your assistance." He then looked at Topaz. "And this very rude girl."

Lucas turned to Topaz. "Topaz! I won't let them hurt you!"

"Joy." Topaz crossed her arms crossly. Then she got a closer look at the two men. Her eyes became wide and began to snicker profoundly. She bent down to whisper something in Rapid's ear, who began to snicker as well. Their small chuckles then erupted into full laughter, loud and ringing.

"What's so funny?" One of them demanded.

"It's-It's…just that…" Topaz held her stomach tightly and bent backwards from the force of her laughter. Rapid was upside down on his back on the pavement, tears collecting in the corner of his eyes. "…you both have bowl cuts! Blue bowl cuts!"

"Y-Yeah? So?" The stranger's face became slightly red.

"That's stupid. Pathetic! Did your hairdressers want your asses to get raped on purpose? Oh god, I can't breathe!"

"Shut up!" They both got out their pokeballs and held them menacingly. "We'll get you for this!"

Lucas stepped forwards, taking a pokeball out. "Let's battle together and teach these horrible men a lesson!"

"Yeah, sure." Topaz's laughter slowly faded away. "Okay, Rapid. Let's do this."

The two Galactic Grunts threw their pokeballs. A zubat and a wurmple were posed in front of them, ready to fight.

"Oh wow. I'm shaking." Topaz crossed her arms and casually leaned against a nearby lamppost.

"Go, Piplup!" Lucas commanded his pokémon. "Use pound on that Wurmple!"

"Raps, kill that flying fucker of a zubat with a good Spark."

The battle was short, to say the least. Both their pokémon fainted quickly as they were no match for the younger trainers'. They gawked at their fallen pokémon as if they expected them to rise up for a second round. But they didn't. So they slowly called them back, still dumbfounded.

"How is this madness possible? The two of us, losing to children?"

"This won't do…Time to retreat. This mission is a failure."

"Your pokémon sucked." Topaz said bluntly. "A stripper trying to please herself with the two of you would have done more work than us. A lot more work."

"You!" One of the grunts pointed at her. "You have a nasty mouth on you and no respect! People like you will pa—" Topaz grabbed his finger and bent it back at an obscene angle. The grunt screamed, holding his finger in his other hand and hopping around like his penis was on fire. "AARGGH! Little piece of—"

The other one grabbed his shoulder to calm him. "You leave us no option. We will retreat for now."

"That girl broke my finger!"

"Be quiet!" He hissed at him. Turning to them again while the other continued complaining about his finger, he said, "Because Team Galactic is benevolent to all, we shall leave."

"Benevolent to all except your hair, douche bags."

The grunt narrowed his eyes at her. But he said nothing and turned to the other one still massaging his aching finger. "C'mon, let's go."

"I'll get you good for this! This is my favorite finger!" They both ran off, vanishing behind a turn. Topaz turned her head at a hard angle until she heard and felt a crack in her bones. She scratched Rapid between the ears.

"Topaz, you were the best!" Lucas said, giving her a big smile. "I've never seen such skill in battle and—"

"Yeah, I don't have a dick for you to suck."

Lucas's smile wavered a bit, but was still on his face. Rowan stepped in.

"That lot…they called themselves Team Galactic. When Pokémon evolve, they seem to release some type of energy. However, I believe it's a mystic power far beyond our control. But Team Galactic seems to be trying to use that power for something…"

"To get better hairdos. Or better pokémon. Or bigger dicks."

"Anyway, Topaz, well done! You battle quite capably. The sight of you Trainers and pokémon battling together…I made the right decision in entrusting you with a Pokedex!"

Lucas stepped forward. "Topaz, did you hear? The professor studies the evolution of pokémon too. According to his research, ninety percent of pokémon are somehow tied to evolution! I guess that means some Pokémon must undergo startling evolutions!"

"Yes, I know. Listen, are we going to just stand here and talk about the wonders of pokémon or can I get on with my life?"

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, I ramble." Lucas rubbed the back of his head and blushed while giving a soft smile.

"Yes. Yes you do."

"So, Topaz…Let's keep working on our Pokedex project for the professor!"

"Get the hell out of my way."

Rowan and Lucas finally stopped talking and walked off, leaving Topaz alone and free to walk down the path to Floaroma.

"Dammit, thought they would never shut their mouths."

"Are we going now?"

"I hope so."

Just as Topaz began to walk away, thinking of how she would get her second badge, another man walked up to her.

"Wait, young miss!"

"Can't you people leave me the fuck alone?!"

"Oh, that was very good! Nicely done! Truly excellent!"

"Go away. I'm sick of you people."

"Oh, I beg your pardon, I'm from Jubilife TV! I'd like you to have something for letting me see that smashing battle!"

The man handed Topaz a frilly pink case with the word FASHION written in big and obnoxious letters on the front. She stared at it for a few moments before looking up at the man.

"What the hell is this crap?"

"Contained within that Fashion Case…"

If it's equally pink and frilly tampons, I will devour the flesh off his face, Topaz thought bitterly.

"You will find a whole spectrum of chic accessories and tasteful backdrops!"

"Look pal, I don't wear—"

"Dress up your pokémon and watch their appeal glow!"

An image of her pokémon prancing around in disgusting pink frilly dresses came into Topaz's mind. He can't be fucking serious.

"And, right now the TV station is offering its facilities so visitors can dress up their Pokémon! There are also prize giveaways, too! Please do visit our TV station!"

HE'S FUCKING SERIOUS.

The man walked away and Rapid stuck a tongue out at the Fashion Case. "Ew. Am I gonna have to wear that stuff?"

"No. Not ever." Topaz stuffed it in the darkest and deepest corner of her backpack, hoping to never see it again. "Let's go. I don't want any more distractions."

Topaz continued her adventure on Route 204, with Supreme by her side. There were two large ponds on each side of the path, separated by white picket fences. Up ahead, Topaz could see a small field of tall grass. The rustling confirmed that wild pokémon were making their home in it. Various trainers, of course, dotted the path to battle passing people. Topaz considered fishing (her mother packed her a fishing rod in her backpack. Topaz didn't know why, nor how it fit in there. But those were questions you usually didn't ask. She considered it, but decided against it. She didn't feel like sitting in front of a fishing rod and a pond all day and catching idiotic magikarp. Topaz didn't want to lug around a dumb fish for a gyarados. She didn't have the patience.

After battling the trainers and crossing the grass field, she saw the entrance to the cave. Ravaged Path.

"Another cave? Dammit," Topaz said, reading the sign.

"Do you still have that HM?"

"Rock Smash?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Star told me it was needed in order to go through the cave."

"DAMMIT."

Eventually, Topaz got through the cave. She was forced to take out a bidoof she had caught a while before in order to teach it Rock Smash, since she didn't want to use it on her other Pokémon. After a few encounters with wild pokémon that she putdown and stuffing the Bidoof back in its Pokeball, she exited the cave to be greeted by another weak and naïve trainer that demanded a battle. Topaz saw that the town was only a little bit away. She thanked Arceus for that fact.

After a little more traveling and battling, Topaz made it to Floaroma Town. It was a small town without a gym, but it had a Pokémon Center and a Pokemart. Topaz quickly went into the Pokémon Center and put all her Pokeballs on the counter. Except the one that contained the Bidoof. The nurse behind the counter, who was chewing a large amount of bubble gum obnoxiously, put them in the healer without a word while Topaz put her Bidoof back into the PC. Gathering her pokémon again, she went to the Pokemart to stock up on potions and other goods. She walked outside again. A young woman was there by the entrance, greeting her with a smile.

"Hello, traveler! When you plant berries in the ground—"

"Get the hell away from me." Topaz grabbed the watering can and walked off, leaving the woman bewildered.

At the side of the town, Topaz noticed a large building with some windmills. Craning her neck, Topaz said to Star, "Hey, check out that building. Looks cooler than this town. We might find some good shit in there." Topaz held out an arm and Star fluttered to land on it. "Let's go."

"Oh, be careful," Star warned, her feathers becoming ruffled.

"Why?"

"I see those Galactic people."

Topaz's jaw muscles became clenched. "You're kidding."

"Sadly, no."

"Fuck. Let's hope they won't cause me trouble."

Topaz walked down the road from Floaroma to the windmill building, which was by a large river. Route 205 it was called, when she looked at it on her map. According to her map as well, the windmill building was the Valley Windworks. As she walked down the road, she felt a tugging at her pants. She turned around to see a very young kid.

"Help, help, Trainer!" She hopped up and down, tears in her eyes.

To be frank, Topaz hated little kids (even though many would consider her a kid. Those people got her hatred.). But she decided to listen anyways. "What do you want, kid?"

"Please, can you get my papa for me? He works at Valley Windworks. But the people dressed like spacemen are mean and won't let me in."

People dressed like spacemen? Team Galactic. Shit. These guys again. Topaz flinched at the thought of having to deal with one of those idiots again. "Uh, I'll see what I can do." Topaz quickly walked off. At the entrance of the Windworks was a Galactic grunt. Topaz sucked in a deep breath and approached him.

"Move outta the way, dicksack. If you value your testicles," Topaz said in a menacing tone.

"Don't you dare go into the Valley Windworks." He said back, frowning at her. "I got ordered to keep everyone out if they're not part of Team Galactic. You're giving me a look that makes me think you're gonna try to get in."

Topaz lifted up a fist and extended her middle finger at him.

He took out a pokeball. "Ok, then. You'll have to battle me for it!"

"This'll be a very short battle, I'm sure. Let's go, Star."

Star gave a sharp squawk before flying down.

The grunt let out a glameow, which purred and gave Star a mildly annoyed look.

"Quick Attack," Topaz said, tying her shoelaces as she commanded her Pokémon. Star attacked quickly in a blur, striking at the glameow. It recoiled at the attack, but recovered self-control and was now visibly agitated; its fur was erect and it stood in full combat stance.

"Glameow, use scratch!" The grunt squeaked. The glameow came forward and raked its claws across Star. Topaz couldn't help but wince; she always winced when a mildly strong attack hit her pokémon.

"Wing Attack that motherfucker." Star slapped the cat pokémon with a powerful swipe of her wing, causing the glameow to reel backwards, stunned.

"Use growl, Glameow!" The glameow obeyed by mustering up a petty meow that somehow counted as a growl. Star's attack went down by a bit.

Growl? Yeah, this one's a real winner. "Star, Quick Attack should pulverize that thing and keep it on the ground."

Star again attacked in a lightning fast strike, hitting the glameow dead on. It let out a shriek before fainting on the ground. The grunt called it back. Topaz waited for him to send out his second pokémon, but he simply grumbled and said, "Yeah, like I'm really supposed to win with a pokémon like this…"

"What? That was your only Pokémon?" Topaz asked, holding out her arm again for Star to flutter down on. "You're in charge of guarding an important place and they give you one shitty Pokémon to help you do your job? Your hair and your fucking pokémon?"

"Well…well…you can't do anything if I lock myself in with the Works Key!"

"Wait, what?"

"That's right! The other Works Key is not here! My cohorts in the flower patch have the other one!" He threw his head back and let out an irritating laugh. "Hahaha! In that sense, I'm no longer the loser!" The grunt then proceeded to dash into the building and lock the door behind him. Topaz and Star stared at the door for a few moments before Topaz finally registered what had happened.

"Wait, what? What? That dick sucking god damn motherfucking cunt! I battled that fucking asshole for nothing? What the fuck? Damn fucking—"

"Well, "Star interrupted Topaz's cursing rant. "Like most Galactic grunts we have seen, he isn't very smart."

"Well, he outsmarted me. God, I feel horrible."

"He blabbered a bit, which wasn't very smart. He said his other cohorts had the other key. He also told us they're in the flower patch."

Topaz was silent for a few moments before finally getting the point. "Yeah! I'll just beat those two and get the key."

Star nodded. "Yes. Does this mean you don't feel so horrible?"

"Uh, sure. Yeah."

Topaz jogged back to Floaroma Town, ignoring the people praising flowers for whatever reason. At the north-northeastern part of the town was a small section filled with tall, colorful flowers. Topaz ran through them, ignoring the confused looks of one guy who happened to be chilling in them. At the end of the flowers was a line of trees, there was a small opening between two of them. The entrance to the meadow. Topaz quickly entered it, intending to kick some ass. She saw two grunts crowding a terrified looking man clutching a jar of something to his chest. The grunts towered over him. All around them, the aroma and sight of many flowers surrounded them made them a strange sight.

One of them yelled, "Enough arguing! Hand over that sweet honey!"

Topaz stopped in her tracks. What?

"Do as we say!" The second one joined in. "Team Galactic will have that honey!"

Uh… Topaz felt a little awkward listening to this conversation.

"We must have it to attract—" The first one began again.

"Um," Topaz spoke and the three men turned to stare intensely at her. "Are you two sexually harassing him?"

"What?!"One of them yelped. "This kid's a witness! What'll we do?"

"Look man, I understand it's hard to get laid. Especially if you're…y'know…like you guys. But hey, there's no reason to stoop so low."

"Well, we can't have her running off for help…and we'll need to teach her a lesson about manners!"

"Alright, shitheads, I'll come clean. I want that fucking key."

"And what makes you think we'll give it to you?"

"Well, either way you do it, you'll still have those horrific hairstyles."

The first grunt stepped forward, clearly angered by Topaz's venomous words. His hand clenched his pokeball tightly as he spoke to her, "I'll make you pay for those words!"

"Take it like a man, bitch."

He threw his pokeball and Topaz watched as a feeble little wurmple came out. "Go, Wurmple."

"Oh my. A wurmple. Star, Wing Attack the little shit."

The wurmple went down in one hit. The grunt recalled it quickly. "Hah, but that was only my first Pokémon! Here comes my second one!" He threw out his second pokémon which happened to be a silcoon.

Holy shit, I almost feel sorry for these guys. "Haha, okay, Star. You know what to do."

Star did. She attacked with another Wing Attack, downing this Pokémon in just one hit. The Silcoon rattled a bit, and then fainted. The grunt slumped while mutter, "This is why I'm gonna be a grunt forever…"

It's also why you're gonna be virgin forever. Topaz grinned as she watched the first one start whining about his pay. They were getting paid? It must've not been a lot. The second one stepped up.

"Let me handle this! Go, Zubat!"

Topaz recalled Star and threw out another pokeball. "Raps, spark."

Raps gave a fanged grin and began to glow a yellow light. He dashed towards the zubat, colliding with it and giving it a good shock. The zubat stumbled in the air before obeying its master's command, which happened to be, "Astonish!"

The zubat rushed towards Rapid, yelling and shrieking. Raps couldn't help but jump at the attack. The zubat collided with him, causing him damage. At Topaz's next command, Raps did another spark. He lashed at the Zubat again, shocking it with his electricity. The Zubat fell to the ground, defeated. The second grunt recovered his pokémon, grumbling about that his pokémon weren't decent.

The first henchmen backed away at their defeat. "This brat's tough! Like, really, really tough!"

"I'm not tough, you two just suck," Topaz said, smirking while petting Rapid.

"Tougher than I can put into words, and I know a lot of words!"

"Thirty is not a lot when you're talking about words you know."

"We're done for here…" The second one turned to the other. "Let's get back to the Valley Windworks." They ran off, trying hard to not look back at their enemy. A young girl with a bad mouth and an even worse attitude. The man walked over and picked something off the ground.

"Oh, what's this thing? They seem to have forgotten it…" He examined it further. "It's a Works key…It must be for the Valley Windworks!"

Topaz grabbed it out of his pudgy hand, admiring it in the sunlight. "This is what I've been looking for. Now to shove my foot so far up those fuckers' asses that they cough out my laces." She gave an evil laugh and walked off. The man shivered and wondered if she was possessed.

When Topaz finally entered the building, she saw the guy who was guarding the door from the inside. His eyes went wide when he set his eyes on her. "Oh crap! It's you!" He quickly ran off behind a corner.

"Bitch."Topaz walked down the brightly lit hallway. Lights dotted the wall near the ceiling and reflected off the peach tiles, causing Topaz to squint until her sight got used to the brightness. Up ahead at a corner, she saw a grunt smoking a cigarette. Inhaling the bitter smoke, his jaw dropped open at Topaz, smoke tumbling out of his mouth.

"What in the…! Hey, you're not supposed to be here, kid!" He threw his cigarette in a trashcan near him and ran towards her while throwing his pokeball. Topaz made quick work of his relatively weak pokémon and walked off as she left him fumbling for another cigarette. Taking a turn into a generator room, she battled more grunts rather quickly and took their money. At the end of the room she spotted another smaller one. In it was a red haired woman overseeing a balding man working. Topaz swiftly healed her pokémon before entering the room.

"Hmph, you work slow." The woman turned away from him and realized Topaz was standing there. "Oh, I've heard of you."

"Fuck you."

The woman made a goaded face. "I am one of Team Galactic's three commanders. We've been trying to create a world that's better than this one…"

"I'm guessing it's not working."

"People have shown little understanding about what we do. You're a fine example."

Topaz clutched her pokeball tighter. "Cunt."

"You don't understand either, do you? It's a little saddening…"

"I think it's saddening you're trying to make a better world. As in the whole world? You're outta your damn mind."

The Galactic commander gave a small huff and pulled out a pokeball. "So, let's have a battle to decide what we should do next. If I win, you leave. If you win, we, Team Galactic, will leave!"

Topaz balanced a pokeball skillfully on a thin finger. "Well, let's fucking battle!"

[GALACTICBATTLE: TOPAZ VS. COMMANDER MARS]

Both of them sent out their Pokémon. Mars sent out a zubat…which was a lot stronger than the other zubat Topaz had seen. She sent out Supreme, but quickly switched him out. "Raps, you're up!"

"Zubat, use Toxic." Mars commanded. The Zubat surrounded Raps with a sickly purple cloud. When it vanished, Raps had taken on a purple hue.

Poisoned. Shit! "Raps, spark the flying fucker!"Raps responded by dashing towards the Zubat and electrocuting it. Mars retaliated by telling the zubat to bite. It bit down on Raps with sharp fangs. Afterwards, Raps shivered as his health was whittled away by the poison. Topaz started to bite at her fingers; a bad habit she thought she thought she had dropped. This was the toughest battle she had been in yet. She commanded Raps to use Spark again and downed the zubat's health almost to zero. Mars commanded it to use Leech life in an attempt to regain some health but it only succeeded in getting a few points. Another spark from Raps and the Zubat was finally down.

Mars recalled her pokémon. "That was only one of my Pokémon. Wait until you face my second Pokémon. Go… Purugly!"

Topaz watched the fat cat lumber from the red light it came from. Topaz looked at Raps. He wasn't looking too good; his health had gone below half. The purple tint in his skin was still strong and eating at his health. His movements were sluggish and he had troubling concentrating. "Raps, come back."

"What?"Raps looked back at her. Topaz said nothing as she called him back. I need to heal him as soon as I can. I don't want him getting a nosebleed in that condition. "Supreme, go get 'em." The grotle materialized from the crimson light and walked forward, bushes rustling.

"Hah! Purugly, use Fake out!" The cat pokémon quickly hit Supreme, causing him to flinch. He couldn't move or attack.

"Dammit!" Topaz spat at seeing the move. Purugly went again, this time scratching Supreme fiercely. Supreme summoned a barrage of leaves to slice at the enemy pokémon. Purugly used Faint Attack and Topaz watched Supreme get pummeled by the attack. Shit! Supreme used another Razor Leaf attack, hitting the purugly. It responded with a scratch. The last hit came when Supreme hit it with another Razor Leaf, critically damaging the purugly. With a deep hiss, it fell on the floor with a loud plop.

"What?!" Mars exclaimed after collecting her Purugly. "Beaten? By a brat with a potty mouth?!" She groaned and rubbed her forehead.

"Well, remember the deal we had?" Topaz smirked at the commander.

"Well, I messed up." But surprisingly, Mars smiled. "That's all right, though. I quite enjoyed our battle. I guess it's time to say goodbye and leave for the time being!" She called her grunts and yelled, "Alright, we're dismissed from this post! Let's go!"

The grunts, with much grumbling and complaining, followed Mars and exited the building. The man working under the commander's eye got up from his seat and shakily walked towards Topaz.

"Team Galactic…" He said in a dazed manner. "They said they had to gather Pokémon and energy no matter what. It was for creating a new universe, or so they claimed."

"A new universe? Who the fuck tries to create a new universe other than Arceus?" Topaz crossed her arms.

The man shrugged. "Nothing they said made any sort of sense to me." Then he bowed his head and smiled. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for saving me. I can finally see my little daughter again!"

"Yeah yeah, go knock yourself out." Topaz pushed him away. The man walked off and out of the building to greet his daughter.

Star popped out of her pokeball and looked up at Topaz. "What's wrong?"

Topaz's gaze was downcast and her expression was that of deep thinking. "Nothing. I'm just…wondering."

Star pressed on Supreme's pokeball, letting him out. Supreme blinked and looked at the two. Star asked, "About what?"

"About…what that guy said. These Galactic people…they're trying to make a new universe? Why? And why would you even attempt it unless you were Arceus?" Topaz shook her head. "Maybe they're all fucking crack heads."

"Maybe—" Supreme began, but he accidently stepped on Star's tail, causing her to squawk in surprise and flap into the air. Star landed clumsily on the computer keyboard and crashed to the floor. Supreme scurried up to her. "Oh, crap! I'm so sorry, Star!"

Star let out a feeble call. "It's alright…I'm okay…"

"Hey, what the fuck is that?" Topaz pointed. After Star landed on the keyboard, a door Topaz hadn't taken great note of opened. Curious, Topaz walked through it and looked at the new room. It looked like the rest of the building but it was small and has no windows. There was nothing in it except for…a shellos sleeping on the floor.

"Holy shit!" Topaz walked forward and the shellos woke up promptly. It looked at the human and her pokémon with big curious eyes.

"Hey, is it time to fight again?" The shellos, a female, stretched its neck and moved over to them. "Can I fight a weaker enemy this time?"

"Who—What—Are—"Topaz shook her head and quickly thought of a question. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for my next fight." The shellos responded casually. "Hey, I'm hungry."

Star hopped forward. "We're not with Team Galactic."

"Huh? What? What's happened? Are they on break?" The shellos tried to look behind them to see.

"Can you explain what happened?" Star prompted.

"Well, gee. It's a bit of a weird long story. These weird people caught me and then started making me fight their pokémon. Apparently they wanted me to evolve so they could get energy or something. It's weird. I had to fight that lady's Purugly. It sucked." The shellos looked up at them. "Hey, does this mean I'm free?"

"They had you…fight pokémon?" Topaz repeated, shocked.

"Yep. Daily. Kind of like…uh…ancient people? Or something. Ancient people did that, right?"

"Oh my god." Topaz gently picked the shellos up and held her pink body close to her chest.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

Topaz then noticed the faint scar under its left eye. Inflicted by one of the fights she had to endure. Topaz lightly traced a finger over it while the Shellos was still, not sure what was going on. Topaz's expression turned dark as she thought about Team Galactic and their actions.

"Team Galactic." Topaz hissed. Star and Supreme slowly backed away while the shellos watched with awe. Topaz stood there, angry thoughts running through her head. This shellos showed that Team Galactic was only making the world better for their needs. The way they treated this pokémon…it made Topaz want to skin them all alive and boil them. She would bring down anything they ever tried to do. Topaz couldn't let them do this. How many other pokémon were like this Shellos? Team Galactic…

They would know the rage of Topaz.

"Um." The shellos said timidly.

Topaz slowly pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Do you have an owner?"

"Uh, no."

"Would you like to have one?"

"Will I fight?"

"Yes…but not like this. Never like this."

The shellos considered it. "Do I get a nickname?"

"Yes."

"Really? Of course, then!" The shellos did a small little dance in her arms. "I wanna see the world! I wanna do cool stuff! I wanna…uh…fight, I guess?"

"Yes." Topaz once again looked at the small scar underneath her eye. The skin was a faint dark pink color and shaped like a thin line. "I shall call you…Anora."

"Anora? Anora. Anora." She repeated it numerous times before grinning and bouncing excitedly."I like it!"

"Yes, let's go check out a room at the Pokémon Center and stay there for the rest of the day. We need some rest. And I need to heal up Raps."

Star and Supreme nodded. Topaz walked away with the newest addition of their team, Anora.

It was late at night in the Pokémon Center room. Topaz's pokémon were settling in on the floor of the room. Supreme simply laid his body down on the floor and went to sleep. Star ruffled and preened her feathers a bit before tucking her head in her wing and nodding off. Anora was at first a little too excited to go to sleep, but within a few moments she curled up next to Star's soft feathers and went to sleep. Rapid, now healed and in pristine condition, laid his head on his paws to go to sleep but spotted Topaz sitting on the bed, staring out the window. Presumably, she was deep in thought.

"Um…" Rapid said nervously. Topaz turned her head slowly to look at him. "Can I ask you another question before I go to sleep?"

"Sure." Topaz leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. In the faint light of the lamp by the bed, Rapid could see the radiance reflect in her dark eyes.

"Is your…father alive?"

Topaz blinked slowly before giving a soft chuckle. "Of course he is."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm not one of those weird orphan or half-orphan people. My dad's alive. Doing fine, I'm pretty sure."

Rapid's ears perked up at the news. "Wow, really? Where is he? Will we meet him?"

Topaz's smiled and put a finger to her lips. Her voice took on a soft, almost motherly tone he'd never believe she could use. "Sleep now, Rapid. We'll talk about this some other time." Her voice was so gentle; it was like a supple honey flowing through his ears, making him sleepy. It was different from her usual hard tone she often talked with. Rapid couldn't help but relax and eventually drift into dreams at it.

Topaz smiled and looked out the window some more. She thought a little bit about her father. It was a topic she hadn't discussed in quite some time. Not since…

Topaz leaned over, turned off the light, and went to bed.

...

Not aware that outside her window, three beings were watching her with great curiosity. After observing her talking to her pokemon before going to bed, they all scurried off and disappeared in the night.