Dee.

On the Battlefield, Later.

"Cynthia, I told you, I will handle Kirlia!"

"As if your little runt of a pokemon could do it! Gible, use Dragon Claw!

My partner and I...didn't work as well together as Riley and Lee.

Cynthia was a total show-off. Granted, I was, too, but she was worse. She stole all the moments for good attacks. It was as if she wanted to win by herself.

"Snorunt, use Powder Snow on Aipom!" I ordereed, fuming. I wouldn't let that little harlot get the better of me.

Cynthia flared her nostrils at me. "Gible, use Dragon Claw on Kirlia, again."

We won easily enough, although we kept on stumbling over each other's battle plans. How Riley managed to work with an 18 year old when I couldn't play nice with a girl our own age was beyond me.

Our matches were always going to be last of the day, so the tournament let out after we mopped the figurative floor. I met with my sister and the others, and we went to the Pokemon Center.

Amber cradled Astro in her arms as we walked down the street. "My poor baby..." She whimpered.

Riley, always the ladies' man, put a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Hey, Lee said Astro'd be okay. Don't be so upset."

To be honest, he trusted that Lee guy waaaaay too much. A Top Coordinator that just shows up and wants to kidnap a dorky 13 year old every now and then? It was pretty fishy. Not to mention incredibly creepy.

Amber had good reason to worry. Astro had fallen back asleep shortly after we'd left the Hearthome Dome; soon after Lee left us, to be precise. Once again, it smelled fishier than a sorority girl's bedroom on a Sunday morning.

I'll never make a claim to like Astro. He was annoying and twerpy, like my brother. But, he meant the world to Amber, and she was my best friend. If Lee had done something to seriously mess Astro up, he was going to find a size 7 hiking boot shoved up through his ass and into his lungs.

We left Astro, Riolu, Pikachu, and Shinx with Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center to look after, then left to continue exploring the city.

Astro.

Two Hours Later.

I woke up in a small, Riolu sized cot in the back room of the Pokemon Center. Riolu was sitting on the floor next to me, watching.

I rolled on my side. "Ugghhhh..." I felt a sharp pain in my side, and cried out, "Urgh!"

Riolu jumped up. He turned his head. "Hyuhh!" He shouted. "Nurse!"

A big, pink pokemon with a white egg in a pouch on her stomach waddled in. "Chance-eee!" "Coming!"

She waddled up to my bedside, taking the egg out. She held it out to me.

"Chance-ee!" She ordered cheerfully. "Please take a bite!"

I took a bite of the egg, and nearly retched. It tasted bitter and rubbery, and felt chalky when I chewed. The nurse rubbed my back, grinning cheerfully. Then, she put her egg back in her pouch and left the room.

"Ughh." I wiped my mouth with the back of my paw. I wasn't even sitting up yet, but I still felt pain. "That definitely wasn't Nurse Joy."

"Hyaah," Riolu cooed, giggling a little. "Nurse Chansey's been looking after you. He stood up. "Hyunn?" "Do you still feel bad?"

That egg had tasted like crap, but at least the pain in my side had subsided a little. I forced myself to sit, and it came back again, taking my breath away.

"Ughh..." I groaned. "Arceus almighty, Riolu, you did a number to me. I feel like one big bruise."

He frowned. "Hyunn?" He asked, concerned. "Are you mad at me?"

I steadied my breathing, trying to time each breathless gasp so my lungs wouldn't frigging collapse.

"N...no. You were only doing what Riley told you to." I took a breath too deep, and pain shot up my chest. "Gah! And did a good job, too!"

Riolu's blood-red eyes watered, seeing me in pain. "Hyuuh!" He whimpered. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's o-okay. I'll recover just fine. That Shift, though...the shifty bitch practically hit a hole through my spine."

"Umbree." "I beg your pardon."

Shift herself was laying on a cot not far from us, glaring daggers at me.

"Um um umbreon, bree," She lectured me. "Umbree umbreon!" "I didn't get off scot-free, either. Your Force Palm attacks hurt!"

I couldn't help feeling a little proud. I'd actually managed to harm a welled-trained contest veteran. Not every Riolu could hurt an Umbreon.

I laid back down, and the pain subsided a little bit. I thanked my based pokemon god that Amber and Volkner had lost, because I honestly did not feel I would have recovered by the next morning.

Riolu sat on the cot, beside me, keeping a small distance from me. I could sense he was worried for me. Scared I really was angry. Angry at himself for having put me in this situation...

"This ain't the most I've ever been hurt." Even telepathy was putting a strain on me. I had to concentrate to make my mind reverberate the words I wanted.

"Hyuh?" "What?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, Azzy's been through worse. Got half-drowned by a Floatzel the night we left Twinleaf. And before that, another Floatzel tried to eat me, a few years back. Then there's all the times that Sneasel of Tess' tried to claw my eyes out..."

I told Riolu a few tales of the times I made nearly suicidally-stupid decisions before we ever left home, until I couldn't take the strain. I had to stop talking, even honest-to-Arceus pokéspeak. I just couldn't physically do it.

Eventually, I just feel back into a deep dreamless sleep. Meanwhile, the three boys in Hearthome City with the least game tried to hit on Cynthia.