A/N: Sorry for the total lack of updates. Until now. Please enjoy this next chapter. I still don't own Poke'mon -tear-


Alice's return to normalcy was a much bigger affair than she would have liked. Amongst her peers, and secretly amongst the adults, she was regarded as some kind of hero. As it was seen by others, she had put that Bryan in his place! That had been her intention when she accepted his request for battle.

Being a hero was quickly becoming an annoyance.

"Hey Alice!" A boy called out, running happily over to greet the black-haired girl. She inwardly groaned, smiling weakly on the outside.

"What's up, Daryl?" Alice asked politely. Kadabra stared intently at Daryl, as a lip-reader was wont to do. He shared Alice's opinion that the boy was a tad annoying, although it didn't show.

"Oh, nothing much. What are you up to?" The blonde asked pleasantly, his green eyes sparkling with the same pleasure his tone expressed. His clothes, though not as extravagant as Bryan's, were nicer than Alice's. Non-descript jeans and a zipped up black jacket, plain and simple. He was not particularly tall, nor of a stocky build. Daryl was somewhere in the middle, the kind of target a bully like Bryan would look for. Daryl and his Vulpix had been Bryan's prime punching bags for a long time.

"I was going to train Eevee." Alice replied, fingering the poke'ball with her new Poke'mon lovingly. "Out on Route 37, towards Violet City."

Daryl gaped at her. "Can I come?!"

Amanda wanted to kick herself. It wasn't necessarily that Daryl was so awful to be around. He had always idolized her. She suspected he had some sort of crush on her. He often told you just what you wanted to hear, no matter how big of a lie he had to tell. Most people were pleased with this, taking advantage of it and treading all over the boy. That kind of behavior grated heavily on Alice's nerves. While she was polite, she certainly wasn't going to lie if she could help it.

"Well, I guess…it might intimidate Eevee a bit, though…" Alice replied reluctantly, unable to devise an excuse quick enough.

Daryl crumpled a bit. "Oh no, I'm sure I won't be intimidating! Just give me a minute to get to know Eevee, and it'll be okay!" He smiled. Alice faked one back.

They departed for Route 37.


After being regaled with her own stories of Bryan's defeat for the entire ten minute walk to a part of the route containing wild Poke'mon, Alice was no longer in the mood to patiently train the fox-dog Poke'mon. She was no longer in the mood to do anything, for that matter. Something about this kid just bugged her. Besides the fact that he over-exaggerated every little detail of the story, making her seem ten times more the hero than she felt she was.

"And then you dove heroicially in front of Kadabra to protect him, and Bryan's Poke'mon didn't even hesitate to attack you-"

"Here." Alice interrupted sharply, glad to be able to shut the boy up. "And besides," she muttered, "his Poke'mon didn't want to attack me."

"What did you say? Couldn't hear you…" Daryl replied, blinking, a silly smile on his face.

"Nevermind." Alice replied, gripping Eevee's poke'ball. She released the fox-dog Poke'mon, relieved to hear a total lack of Daryl's voice as he watched. After materializing, Eevee padded over to Kadabra, exchanging a quick greeting. The friendly reaction between the two always made Alice smile. She had been concerned that Kadabra might be jealous of the more pet-like position Eevee held in the family. It was easy to see that Kadabra's reassurances that he did not mind were completely true, and Alice was amazed she had ever doubted him.

Eevee next made it's way to her, purring as Amanda stroked the soft fur.

"It's in such good condition!" Daryl muttered, crouching down beside Eevee and Amanda so he too could stroke the Poke'mon. Eevee was momentarily taken aback, but quickly warmed up to the boy, who seemed to know exactly where it wanted to be stroked and how.

That was the only thing about Daryl that Amanda had no choice but to respect. He was very good with Poke'mon. No matter who owned the Poke'mon, they always responded wonderfully to Daryl. As she understood it he wished to be a Poke'mon coordinator and enter contests, or a breeder. Or perhaps both. It didn't matter much to her. But as good as he was with Poke'mon, he was totally useless when it came to training them. His Vulpix was gorgeous, but a horrid fighter. Completely incapable of defending itself.

"Now that you two are acquainted, I'd like to start my training." Alice said, smiling very slightly.

"Oh, of course, go on ahead!" Daryl replied, backing off immediately. "I can't wait to see this! You must be a fantastic trainer after beating Bryan!"

"Uh…whatever. Please stay quiet, I don't want to scare the wild Poke'mon off…" Alice silenced Daryl with a hand motion as he moved as if to apologize for talking. Such a talkative boy…

Alice and Eevee tensed as a Poke'mon popped out of the grass. A pidgey! "Eevee, tail whip!" Amanda commanded. Eevee shook its tail cutely at the pidgey, who looked confusedly back at them. "Tackle!" Eevee leapt forward, colliding head-on with the pidgey. It fluttered backwards, quickly retaliating with a weak gust attack. Eevee fell back a bit, but stood its ground. "Tail whip again!" The pidgey wasn't about to be taken in by that trick again – it lunged in with a peck, hitting Eevee, who hadn't yet developed the ability to dodge quickly. Alice narrowed her eyes in concentration. Clearly that tactic wouldn't work again…there was one more trick up her sleeve.

"Um, Alice? That didn't work." Daryl interrupted. It was all Alice could do not to walk over and strangle him right then and there. He was breaking her concentration!

"Well, this will." She snapped back. Without waiting for a response, she commanded, "Quick attack!" Eevee dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed, hitting the pidgey with enough force that it finally fainted.

"Wow! That was awesome! For a moment I actually thought you'd lose. Psh, silly me. Alice never loses!" Daryl commented, totally unaware of the adverse reaction Alice was having to his comments.

"…whatever." Alice muttered, rolling her eyes. "On to the next battle…"

"Wait wait, don't you want to heal Eevee first? It just went through a battle! Here, I've got just the thing-"

"No, I do not. It was ONE battle. With a PIDGEY. Eevee is perfectly fine to fight again." Alice responded through clenched teeth.

"Oh. If you're sure…" Daryl seemed to deflate a bit, quickly replacing the potion into his backpack.

Rolling her eyes one more time, Alice and Eevee started through the tall grass again, scanning for Poke'mon. A Poke'mon shortly popped out of the tall grass in a battle stance, revealing itself to be-

"A vulpix! Just like mine! You should catch it!" Daryl yelled excitedly, oblivious to the vein pulsing in Alice's neck.

"No, thanks." Alice muttered sourly. "Eevee, this vulpix looks to be raring for a fight. Be ready, and don't hold back." Eevee nodded. "Alright then. Start off with a quick attack!" Eevee darted forward again, and the vulpix was unable to dodge the speedy attack. Pleased with its success, Eevee let its guard down momentarily, and Vulpix took this moment to launch its own attack – ember.

"That's ember." Daryl announced.

"Yes, I know." Alice replied, again through clenched teeth. Eevee flew a few feet from the attack, growling at the vulpix. "Stay on your toes! Practice dodging, and look for an opening!" The vulpix shot another burst of ember Eevee's way. This time Eevee was ready, dodging swiftly to the side and darting forward to hit vulpix with a tackle. Vulpix dodged, retaliating with a scratch attack. Eevee whimpered at the attack, getting weakly to its feet.

Kadabra yelled out some sort of encouragement. Alice followed it with her own. "Don't be discouraged! Try again! Be patient!" Eevee nodded. Vulpix shot forth another ember, easily dodged by Eevee as before. Eevee growled at vulpix mockingly as it did so. Vulpix leapt forward to get another scratch attack on the dog-fox Poke'mon. Eevee dodged this attack, much to vulpix's surprise, and tackled the fire-fox in the side. Vulpix squealed, retreating to a safe distance and attacking with ember some more.

"Why aren't you giving Eevee any commands?" Daryl asked, totally bewildered.

"Just quiet down and watch!" Alice responded, smiling despite herself. Eevee was doing very well. After some more dodging around, Eevee got in another few hits, effectively knocking out vulpix. Kadabra politely applauded, much to Eevee's embarrassment.

"That was great, Eevee!" Alice said, scooping up the tired Poke'mon in her arms. She scratched its head, much to Eevee's great pleasure. "Why don't we go get you healed at the Poke'mon center, hm? You deserve a rest. Right, Kadabra?"

Kadabra started to say something, but was interrupted by Daryl.

"That was super awesome! You're such an amazing trainer, seriously! I don't know how you do it!" He moved in as if to get a hug.

Alice's mouth twitched towards a scowl. "I didn't do anything, as you pointed out earlier. It was all Eevee." Kadabra was clearly exerting some sort of Calm Mind attack on the both of them through their bond – she felt far calmer than she had mere moments ago, although all the anger was still intact. This boy knew absolutely nothing! Couldn't he just leave her alone? "Let's go, Kadabra." The Poke'mon nodded, while Eevee looked confusedly between the two humans, not quite understanding that Alice was irritated. It was still young, after all.

Daryl trotted after the girl and her Poke'mon, quickly stopping his hasty apologies as Kadabra shot him a glare. Though a bit discouraged, he was determined to turn her into a friend. Today he'd made a mistake, but tomorrow he'd make sure to do better…


After a few more days of training, the majority of which she was (thankfully) alone with her Poke'mon, Alice felt that Eevee was ready to attempt to fight the Kimono girls. It was the opinion of the Kimono girls that if a non-evolved Eevee could defeat one of their evolved Poke'mon, or at least come close to it, then that Eevee deserved an elemental stone to reach its dreams. This stemmed from the belief that strength didn't come from evolution, but from the heart, and a strong bond between trainer and Poke'mon, as much of Ecruteak lore suggested.

Alice entered the Ecruteak Dancing Hall, where she knew the Kimono girls spent their time. She was pleased to see that all of them were there, but also nervous. Had they been absent, she might have postponed this battle for more training…she still could, of course. But she thought that Eevee was ready. And Eevee had expressed a great interest, according to translator Kadabra, when Alice mentioned the evolution idea.

"Welcome, Alice." One of the girls, Naoko, said, smiling. She was the owner of a gorgeous Flareon, which sat by her side.

"Have you come to have your Eevee challenge one of us?" Miki, the owner of a Jolteon, added, noticing the excited Poke'mon walking beside Alice.

Alice nodded. "Most definitely. I have faith that Eevee will do a great job."

"It is good to see such trust!" Sayo replied, her Espeon cooing in agreement.

"Which of us do you intend to challenge?" Zuki inquired sweetly, her Umbreon eyeing them from nearby with an equally curious gaze.

"Well, I was going to let Eevee choose." Alice admitted, shrugging. "I figure he knows best, after all."

"What exquisite trust!" Kuni squealed, her Vaporeon nodding enthusiastically in agreement. The other girls let out squeals of delight as well. "Of course that is beyond acceptable, that is fantastic, dear. Go ahead, little Eevee. Choose."

Eevee seemed to give a doggish grin, eyeing the evolutions curiously. Flareon, with its regal flame-like fur, Espeon with its psychic powers and regal stance, and Umbreon, a beautiful creature of the night. Vaporeon, adapted to express the glory of the ocean, and Jolteon, electricity pulsing through its needle-like fur. Each of the evolutions took as dignified a pose as they good, hoping to encourage the young Eevee to join their evolutionary path. Each was equally good, and Eevee seemed unable to decide.

After what seemed an eternal pause, Eevee moved forward, making its choice.

"We look forward to this battle, Alice and Eevee." Miki announced with a smile. Eevee had chosen Jolteon.


A/N: As per usual, I did not edit this in the slightest. And there will be some actual plot stuff going on later. Not that this isn't relevant to the overall plot - of course it is. More so than you know. Oh yes, I have a plan. Anyway, please review and let me know what you liked/didn't like. Thanks! : )