Gaby was still flying high above the clouds, trying to find land. Kip had fallen asleep holding onto her, and she was getting tired herself.
"Hey, Kip!" She said, waking him up. "It seems we're a bit farther out then you thought. I've been flying for a day, and I haven't seen anything!"
"Wha-?" Kip said. "How's that possible? That mound we sawâ?"
"Yeah, well, as soon as I got relatively near, this fog came up out of nowhere and it disappeared. We're still in this stupid fog, too!"
Gaby flew down, and Kip thought they were still in a cloud. But he realized it was fog.
"Great." Gaby said. "I need a place to land. I'm am so tired. I could probably fall asleep right now and send us both into the ocean."
Gaby levitated a Pokéball from her bag(Which she had tied to her foot so that her back would be free for Kip) and opened it, releasing her Charizard. Gaby got on, and let go of Kip. Kip once again hugged the back of Gaby, making her very uncomfortable."UhâKipâ!" Gaby said. "Would you mindâ?"
Kip immediately realized what he was doing and let go of Gaby.
"SorryâI'm just not used to flying"
"Right," Gaby said. Her Charizard zoomed forward, making much better time then the very sleepy Gaby. In fact, Gaby was already asleep on her Charizard's neck.
- - - -
Back on the island, Lily was getting slowly better(Bet you were expecting 'slowly worse', with my style of writing! I decided to make something good happen, for a change). Seth had managed to make a brace for the wing, despite Lily's protests. They had been on the island for a day.
"At this rate we'll be off this island in no time!" Seth said, trying to keep the spirits high. Lily smiled.
"You do realize you're going alone," She said, looking at the ground.
"What do you mean?"
"The people in Lilycove might have been nice, but I don't think we'll get so lucky here. I'll just stay here."
"I guess you're right," Seth said. He was sitting away from Lily, leaning up against a tree. She didn't like it if he got too close.
"I wonder how Gaby and Kip are doing" Lily said. "I feel sorry for Gaby. At least I'm not mortally terrified of you."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right!" Seth said, laughing.
They were silent for a while. It was getting on in the afternoon. Seth went to check on Lily's wing. When he took the bandage off, she winced.
"How can you stand it?" Seth asked.
"This? This is nothing compared to other thing's I've endured."
"Other things? Like what?"
"Oh, you know, Team Rocket's experiments, beatings, the whole lot."
"Beatings?"
"Did you really think people accepted me in society? I went to a town right after my escape, and when they found out, it was hell. I managed to get away and get to Lilycove."
"WowâI never thought of how bad people could be" Seth said.
"Hey, wait a second" Lily said, looking Seth over. "I recognise you! You're that guy who actually talked to us! I remember! How did you end up outside bars with no marks?" Seth remained silent.
"Seth, tell me!" Lily said. Seth looked at the ground.
"I'm Dr. Sakio's son, dammit!" Seth said angrily.
"What?! How on Earth can you be that bastard's son?! No-one this nice can come from the likes of him!" Seth looked up at Lily.
"I hate my father. I hate that place. I ran away. I couldn't stand itâHe's evil. He wants to control everything."
"SethâIt's not your fault. You can't chose your heritage," Lily said.
"I know. It's justâI wished I could gotten out of that place sooner."
- - - - -
Gaby woke up. She was still on her Charizard, but Kip was gone. She looked down. Below her was Pacificlog.
"Good job, Sapphire!" Gaby said, patting her Charizard. "Can you see any land?"
Her Charizard nodded and flew towards the southern island.
When she got there, she found Lily and Seth. She jumped off and ran over to them. They stood up.
"Gaby!" They said happily. "You made it! Where's Kip?"
"He found Pacificlog. It's only a few minutes awayâWell, on Sapphire here, that is!"
"Great! Now I can leave!" Seth said. "Gaby, stay here and help Lily while I go to Pacificlog."
"Why? What's wrong?" Gaby asked. Lily undid the bandage and showed her the cut.
"OuchâHere, let me fix it!" Gaby said. She put her hand on the cut. Lily wanted to cry out but stood still. Gaby closed her eyes in concentration. Her hand glowed blue, and before their eyes Lily's cut healed. Gaby's hand stopped glowing, and she fell back, panting.
"T-There" She said. "All fixed. Now I'll wait here with you while you find Kip. And bring some food back with you!"
Seth nodded. He jumped on the Charizard, and was about to take off, when Gaby called,
"You can't be that stupid! Take her ball, unless you intend to tie her up when you get there!"
Seth laughed. Gaby threw him the Pokéball, and he caught it. Then he flew away.
Seth arrived at Pacificlog to find Kip standing outside, waiting for him. He landed, returned the Charizard, and was just about to ask Kip how he knew he was coming when Kip stopped him.
"Gaby sent me a telepathic message telling me you were coming," Kip said before Seth could open him mouth.
"Man, you are getting good at this Telepathy stuff," Seth said. Kip smiled.
"Glad you've noticed. Anyway, I found out some useful information. Apparently it's late August. The Cyclone we were in was a huge one, one of the largest on record." He paused. "You were with Lily, right? Everyone's accounted for?"
"Yup, though Lily came off the worst with a big gash in her wing, but Gaby's taken care of it. Where'd you guys land?"
"We wouldn't have landed at all if Gaby hadn't been able to remain conscious. We landed smack in open water, and Gaby levitated andâyeah"
"I seeâWell, we might as well go get some supplies. I think the girls are getting hungry." Seth paused, clutching his stomach. "Not to mention me!"
"Alright then, there's a Pokémart not too far from here, only about a minute away. Come on, we'll get some food for you and the girls." Kip suddenly stopped, noticing something through a window in one of the houses.
"What is it?" Seth asked.
"HeheâIt's my birthday. I completely forgot. I just looked over there and spotted the calendar. I'm 16 today."
"Really? We better hurry back to the girls, then. We have to throw you a party!"
"You don't have to"
"Of course we do! Now come on!" Seth said, grabbing Kip by the collar and dragging him to the Mart.
--------
Back on the island, the girls were talking casually when the boys reappeared, both on Sapphire. They both had a new backpack each, as well as two for others. They jumped off the Pokémon and Seth tossed the Pokéball back to Gaby, who caught it and put it in her old bag.
"What's all this?" Lily asked, looking at the four over-stuffed bags.
"It's Kip's birthday. He's 16," Seth said, making Kip look down with his face pink at all the attention.
"Really? Cool!" Lily said, accepting the new backpack from Seth. When Seth tried to give Gaby hers, she shook her head.
"Sorry, but I'm faithful to this old thing. I've had it 8 years and I don't plan to get rid of it anytime soon."
"Suit yourself!" Seth said, setting the backpack on the ground.
"Anyway, we need to throw a party for Kip," Lily said, smiling over at the still pink Kip.
"You shouldn't"
"Yes we should! Don't try to worm your way out of it!" Lily said forcefully. "This is YOUR birthday and your turning the same age as most of the rest of us. Well, at least your turning the same age as Seth, since we don't know how old Gaby is and I'm 17"
"Ok" Kip said slowly, trying to take in the rush that Lily had just said.
"Let's get started!" Lily said, and with that she started making the small island into a party.
3 hours later, Lily had finally finished and it was getting late. The shore had been turned into a sparkling area with a bonfire in the center, lighting everything up. It looked beautiful.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you'd done this before," Gaby said, looking around the place.
"That would be because I have. I had to through a couple parties on Lilycove, and I can make even the worst place look half decent. But this was pretty easy to work with. And Gaby's managed to do something as well" Gaby smiled guiltily.
"YeahâKip I know how much you love berries, and because this island is so full of them" Gaby walked over to a bush and pulled out a small cake made almost entirely of berries.
"YAY!!!" Kip cheered as he saw the cake. Gaby smiled.
"Everyone take a piece quick before Kip gets to it!" Gaby said, handing out pieces to everyone. It tasted wonderful.
"GabyâThis is really good," Seth said, taking a bite and then hurriedly taking another. "I thought you said you'd been on the run! How did you learn to make this?"
"WellâIt's one of the only things I can make, to tell you the truth. Honestly, I don't even remember how to use a stove. And besides, cooking's not really my thingâ I can just make stuff with berries. I don't think Kip will complain about that, though!" Gaby said, laughing as Kip started his third piece(everyone else was on their first).
"Ok! Presents!" Lily said when everyone was done(Which took a long time because Kip needed to finish the cake before he would be happy). "Here!" She handed Kip a small yellow pouch. He opened it, revealing its contents to be small glowing stones.
"They're stones from different volcanoes I've been to," Lily said.
"Cool!" Kip said, taking them out. They were slightly warm, and were many different colours: Blue, yellow, green, purple, black, orange, white, red, and pink. He put them back in their bag and putting them in his backpack.
"Me next!" Seth said. He handed Kip some strange device. "It's a locator, kinda like a Pokénav, only much smaller and much more precise. Check it out!" Kip hit a button on the little thing and it showed a picture of the globe. Then it zoomed in on the little island he was on, and finally the exact spot he was sitting in. It also showed Seth, Gaby, Lily, and their Pokémon.
"This'll come in handy!" Kip said, also putting it away.
"Gaby! Your turn!"
"Uh" Gaby said. Should she? She'd been saving it for later, but maybe now was the right time.
"KipâI'm not sure if you can handle thisâI don't know if you're ready for this reasonability"
"What is it, Gaby?" Kip asked, concerned.
"I guess you areâI mean, you're 16 now, right?" Gaby was still hesitating. What if she rejected him?
"Gaby, tell me!"
"Kip, I'm not sure"
"Come on! I can handle it!"
"Once you go in, there's no getting out!"
"TELL ME!!"
"Alright!" Gaby shouted. She reached into her bag and pulled out a large, blue and white speckled egg. She shoved it into Kip's hands.
"There! Happy now?!" Gaby said.
"GabyâIs that-?" Lily asked, her eyes wide at the sight of the egg. Seth's had the same expression.
"Yes it is. Kip, I'm so happy. She's accepted you!" Gaby said. The egg had started to glow blue in Kip's hands and a large crack was opening in it. A brilliant white light was escaping through the crack, and more cracks were appearing on the surface. All at once, the egg exploded and light flooded the area.
When it cleared, Kip was no longer holding and egg. He was holding
"Kip, I'm pleased to say you've been accepted, and that fact that you're the new master of your very own baby Lugia!"