"Sing it for me baby, singing me to sleep.

Singing don't love the bottle but the bottle loves me!"

Taking a bath in a cruise ship as it heads out to sea was extremely unsettling. It made it near impossible to relax. As such, I tried to speed up the amount of time I spent washing my body and hair. It felt… nice to be clean, but I was still uncomfortable being on a boat. The sailor outfit I was given was also sort of ridiculous.

It was completely white, with blue stripes as an accent and a red ribbon tied near the chest. But that wasn't what bothered me. No, it was the fact that it was a short-sleeved top and a matching pair of shorts. As a result, you could see just how far up my burns stretched along my right arm and how truly crooked my left wrist was. Added to that were all the scars that littered my legs and arms, seeing as the socks were ankle-height and didn't reach very high up like my previous ones.

I looked like a mess.

Tying my hair back with the two large blue ribbons that accompanied it, I had hoped it would make me feel slightly better about my appearance. It didn't. In fact, it just made me look worse. I almost debated putting my wet clothes back on, just so I didn't have to walk around looking like a… a…

Gods, I don't even know. Making a face, I took a deep breath and grabbed the handle, carrying my wet clothes and entering the bedroom. Brock and Blue both turned to look at me, and I tried to ignore their stares as I shoved my old outfit in a backpack.

Blue snorted. "You look like shit."

There was no describing the sound Brock made upon hearing our friend swear. When he had recollected himself, he scowled at Blue and stood up straight, hands on his hips as he glared at the boy. "Watch your language! El looks adorable in her sailor outfit!"

Yeah, no. I'm never telling Brock I swore in front of the Team Rocket goon. I made a face. "I'm with Blue. I look stupid."

"You do not!" Brock exclaimed. He frowned, climbing onto the bed opposite to the one Blue was on and scooted back, patting the spot next to him. "Here- let me do your hair. I'll make you look so adorable you won't be able to deny it anymore!"

Eh. I dunno. I look like I got tossed through the blender.

Still, I knew better than to argue with him when he was this determined- so I grabbed the brush from his backpack and handed it to him, and then climbed onto the bed. I turned so my back was facing him. Brock pulled out the ribbons, and my hair came undone.

As he ran the brush through my long hair, Blue pulled Brock's backpack towards him- lazily rummaging through it with Basil still on his lap. Thankfully, Belladonna looked fully healed- and she had joined Ansem up on the bed with Blue and Basil. They were snoozing away quite peacefully.

Feeling Brock run the brush and his fingers through my hair as he got to work braiding it, my anxiety started to ebb away. It was comforting now, having my hair played with like this. It was nice. A far cry from the way it used to be violently pulled and yanked about, constantly used against me.

When Brock was done braiding my hair, he finished it off with the blue ribbon. He then tied the extra ribbon at the top where the braid began. He beamed, pulling back and looking down at me. "What'd you think? Better?"

Sliding off the bed, I spun in a circle- trying to see the braid- before heading to the bathroom to look in the mirror. I still looked like a mess, but Brock's handiwork really did seem to do quite a bit to make me more presentable. I actually… kind of… like it. My face did look a lot healthier too, compared to the last time I looked in the mirror. He's really been taking care of me.

Now, if I could just get taller things would be perfect.

Resisting the urge to huff, I popped back out of the bathroom, awkwardly giving Brock two thumbs up. Though it hurt my face a bit, I even tried to grin. "It's much better."

He's never looked happier. "I told you I'd make you look great! I'm an expert in all things hair-related, so you can count on me. I have plenty of experience, after all. I did my sisters' hair for them nearly every day back home."

"Really?"

I sort of figured that was the case, but I… don't think I really know all that much about Brock outside of his personality. Something about that bothered me. We're friends, right? Friends should… know more about each other than just how they think or behave.

"You… have a lot of siblings, right?" It took me a second to think up a question, unused to…whatever kind of conversation this was. "I met them, but I… don't think I learned any of their names."

I tried to avoid talking to anyone during my first few days of freedom. I was determined to get the gym badge and get out, and then immediately head to the next city. Befriending anyone, agreeing to let anyone travel with me, was the last thing I intended or wanted. If I had had my way at that time, I never would've been here now… with Brock and Blue by my side.

Honestly… failing to say no to Brock was probably the best thing to ever happen to me.

It's because of him… and because of Blue and my pokēmon… that I'm even an ounce of a real person. He's done so much for me without ever really getting anything in return; I have no idea how I'll ever be able to repay him for it.

Brock's existence…

He reminded me how to be human.

"You wanna know about my family?" Brock asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise at my question.

He watched me pick up the incubating red Vulpix egg from the desk and carry it over to the bed where he was still sitting, Blue entertaining himself by going through the joke book Brock had picked out before. Weird. I thought he hated puns? He must be really bored.

Brock went into thought, the boy counting off with his fingers as he began to list off the names of his many siblings. "Well, in order from oldest to youngest… hmm. Let's see, excluding me… there's Forrest, Yolanda, Salvadore, then Tommy, Cindy, Suzie, Timmie… and then Billy and Tilly. Suzie and Timmie- and Billy and Tilly- are twins."

Crossing my legs, I held the incubator in my lap, arms wrapped around it. I rested my chin against the top. The machine was warm. I tried not to feel too awkward having this conversation, especially since I didn't really know how to add to it. "They… seemed to really care about you. From what I saw, anyway."

"Heh, yeah." He scratched his cheek, looking a bit embarrassed. "Our parents were both deadbeats- as you know- so I kinda took it upon myself to raise them. They're all pretty close in age too, save for Forrest, so we're a pretty tight-knit group. I made sure to leave my dad a list of how to care for them while I'm gone, so hopefully things haven't gotten too crazy."

"I remember that." I had freaked out thinking he was going to start yelling at his father, but instead he just took out a needle and thread. "I… don't think I have any siblings, but… I did raise a lot of the kids in Team Rocket. Rich hated nursery duty, so he always pushed it onto me. So… we have that in common, I guess. …Having siblings is probably a lot different than that, though."

Brock sat up a little straighter when I said that, and Blue glanced over at us. "I know you said you tried to tell jokes in the beginning to make the other kids feel better, but I didn't know you raised them."

I blinked, a bit surprised. "Oh. I-I thought I told you that bit."

Brock shook his head.

Well, then. Awkward. Um. I blinked and tightened my hold on the incubator. It almost felt like it was shaking- maybe it was just me? "O-Okay, so… before… well, no. Frick. I don't remember exactly when it was, but it wasn't long after I messed up my left wrist. How old was I…?" I squeezed my eyes shut and furrowed my brows, struggling to remember.

Frustrated, I let out several strange noises.

"I… think I messed up my wrist a yearafter I started living there…? And sometime while it was still healing Rich grabbed me and made me help him with his job- which was taking care of all the babies and toddlers. I- uh, I basically fed them and taught them to walk, and…" I lowered my head, gaze dropping to the incubator I was cradling. My expression darkened. "...tried to nurse them back to health when they fell sick or… got really badly hurt."

Blue had ditched the joke book completely by now, sitting up and actually facing my direction. Brock was frowning deeply, facial features twisted into something unpleasant and disturbed.

Biting down hard on my bottom lip, I hesitated before continuing. "A… lot of the kids didn't make it. But the ones who did I… tried to help- at least before they turned five and started their training with Team Rocket. I'm… I'm particularly protective of one named Adrien-"

"Adrien?" Blue asked, surprised by the name. "They named a kid Adrien, even though they called you Grunt?"

"W-Well, they didn't name him." I stammered, finally getting the courage to look up and meet his gaze. My palms felt sweaty. "I'm the one who named him. His hair is a really curly, fiery red- but his eyes are a really deep blue. So… I went with Adrien. I called him that so often it stuck with the other recruits. I also named a few of the other babies, too, but…"

"But what?" Brock moved closer, resting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing it gently.

I faltered, then blinked. My eyes were starting to sting. "W-Well, Adrien… he was one of the babies that Team Rocket brought in that were really sick. He almost didn't make it. I… I spent most of my time just… trying to keep him alive. B-Because of that, I… I'm a little more… protective of him than with the others. I mean, I'm still protective of the others, just… more so with him. He's four right now, but in the next month or two he'll be-"

"Five." Blue finished, stare hardening. "He'll be five, and he'll start his training."

No longer trusting myself to speak, I gave a small nod. The incubator felt like it was shaking again. "H-Him and… all the other four year olds in the main Hoenn base. Team Rocket… h-has specific dates as to when they consider kids to be a year older, instead of… actually giving them birthdays. So… when that day comes, they'll leave what… little safety they had in the nursery behind."

"Well, that's no good." Brock muttered. "No wonder you've been rushing to beat all the gym leaders."

A heavy silence hang over the room then, the boys processing everything I had just told them. It was a lot to take in, especially since they didn't grow up subjugated to the true cruelty that was inside Team Rocket. A part of me wondered why I was even letting myself tell them about all this, but then I dismissed that thought. Brock and Blue deserved to know. They were my friends and… were helping to take the organization down.

Besides, it's better they learn from me than… someone else. I don't want the knowledge to backfire on me somehow just because I kept it secret.

"So." Blue suddenly began, sounding a bit stiff. "Do either of you wanna know why Hypno is so energetic?"

Brock and I looked at him in confusion.

"Because he wasn't Drowzee anymore."

I choked. "What?"

That had come out of nowhere. Even Brock seemed to have trouble believing what he just heard. "H-Hold on, I'm sorry, did you just tell a pun? Who are you and what have you done with Blue? Are you a Ditto!?" Brock stood up, making his way over to shake Blue by his shoulders- the boy scowling and trying to push him away. "Ditto, what did you do with Blue!?"

"...Pfft."

The boys froze. I hurriedly turned my head away and covered my mouth, biting down hard on my bottom lip as I tried to suppress whatever weird sensation was trying to force its way out. Blue squinted. "Did you… just laugh?"

I fervently shook my head. My voice sounded a bit nasally. "Nope."

"You totally laughed!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah?" A wicked grin curled up on Blue's lips, and Brock hesitantly released him- unsure of what was happening. "What do you call a pokēmon who can't run very fast?"

Please, no.

"A Slowpoke."

A loud, almost squealing-sort of groan erupted from me then, and I promptly fell back onto the bed and rolled onto my side, facing away from them as I curled my body around the incubator. "Noooo~! I-I'm not gonna laugh!"

"Sounds like you're laughin' to me, squirt."

"Shut up, I am not!"

"Hmm. Okay. Here's a classic one then; why did the Miltank cross the road?"

Curse him. The urge to respond was way too strong, buried memories rising to the surface and making themselves known. Rolling over on my other side, I worried my bottom lip before glancing up at the two boys, hiding part of my face behind the incubator. "...T-To… get to the udder side…?"

Brock was grinning widely, while Blue scrunched up his nose and snapped his fingers, pointing at me. "That's the one. Though it sounds even worse out loud. Who the heck even comes up with these things?"

"Why are you even saying them?" I retorted, sitting up and flashing him an incredulous look. "I thought you hated bad jokes!"

"Trust me, I already regret it." Blue smirked and stood up, grabbing the joke book off the bed and tossing it at me. I struggled to catch it, the incubator rolling off my lap and landing gently on the mattress blankets beside me. "Hurry up and read that so I don't have to. The amount of cringe that exists in that thing is enough to make me wanna throw up. I'm gonna take me a bath- and brush my teeth. I need to get the nasty taste of cheese out of my mouth."

Snatching his fanny pack, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. I blinked. "You didn't eat any cheese, though…"

The bathroom door snapped open, and Blue peered back into the room- glaring at me with a slightly red face. "That was part of the joke!"

He slammed the door shut again.

"Ooooh…"

My bad.

Brock burst out into fits of laughter, hunching over and grabbing onto the nightstand for balance. Blue shouted something indignantly from within the bathroom, but his voice was too muffled to make out what it was he actually said. He was probably telling Brock to shut up, but Brock just continued to laugh, and though it hurt my face I couldn't completely deny the amusement I felt or the stupidly large smile that had spread across my lips.

All my previous anxiety had been completely washed away.

So, with that warm feeling settling deep in my chest, I fell back onto the bed with a contented breath and turned to look at the egg beside me. I felt a bit silly, but no more silly than I did when I used to speak to the little ones before they could actually talk, as I reached over and lightly tapped my fingers against the glass. "What do you think? Wanna hear some more bad puns?"

The egg almost looked like it wiggled.

"I'll take that as a yes."

I should grab their siblings too while I'm at it. Climbing off the bed, I wandered over to the backpacks and struggled to open Brock's, pulling out one incubator at a time. Once again, I questioned how he fit so much in there. Carrying the eggs over to the bed, I set them next to each other and carefully propped them up against the pillows.

"I'm gonna see if they do room service." Brock said once I was done, catching my attention and pointing at the door. "I shouldn't be long."

I tensed at that. Alarmed, I went to speak- ready to say I'd go with him- only to hesitate. Furrowing my brows, I squeezed my eyes shut… then took a deep breath and looked up at him again. "Be… Be safe, okay?"

He stared, then smiled softly- realizing fully well what I was trying to do. "Of course. I'll be back in no time. Who knows, I might even bring Misty with me!"

Misty…

She did say she'd be here on the ship, and… two people together are safer than one. Watching as he left, I turned back towards the eggs and climbed onto the bed, trying to calm my nerves as I opened up the joke book. "O-Okay… now… which one to start with?"

There were so many to choose from.

…I spent the next half hour reading aloud jokes from the book to the eggs.

Sometime during that, I found myself beginning to doze off. The incubators were quite warm, even with one's temperature set to freezing, and now that all the stress that had built up after encountering the Team Rocket goon had mostly faded the exhaustion was starting to settle in. I ended up laying on my side, curled up next to the incubators, the joke book held loosely in my hands as I yawned and tried to stay awake.

I was vaguely aware of the bathroom door opening when my eyes slid shut, the world vanishing around me as I drifted into the land of sleep.

Even though Brock was not beside me this time, there was no nightmare.

Instead, I dreamed about a memory from long ago- one I held dear to my heart, even if I couldn't remember much about it anymore outside of the promise. A hand so kind and warm, and eyes so blue they shone like the light reflected off of a dawn stone. A smile… so welcoming.

"Wh-What if I forget who you are?"

"You won't." A finger gently tapped the stone I had resting in my palms. His voice sounded so confident. "This'll remind you!"

"And… i-if I lose it?"

"Then just say-"

"El?"

"-the next time we meet! I'll recognize you instantly! Then I can scold you for losing it. So you better not lose it, okay?"

"El, hey…" A large hand rested on my shoulder, shaking me lightly. Something fuzzy and warm tickled my face. "You… might wanna wake up."

I grimaced and scrunched up my nose, weakly batting at the hand. "Nooo…"

The familiar voice laughed. "This is a first. But, seriously- you should wake up. We have a new friend."

"Hah?" I groggily opened my eyes at that, not quite understanding what he was talking about. My body felt so sluggish. Blinking a few times, I stared in confusion at the furry white tail resting in front of my face, something cold and feeling akin to an animal nose pressed against my neck. I sniffled, fighting a yawn as I pushed myself up onto my elbows and rubbed at my face. "What is…? Oh."

Brock grinned at my reaction, while Blue snorted in the background. There was also a feminine-sounding giggle in the background, which I quickly realized was coming from Misty, who was now apparently in the room as well. The Vulpix I was staring at gazed up at me with bright red eyes, rather calm despite being rudely jostled from its position. Even more startling, though, was that the Vulpix wasn't alone.

The other eggs had hatched, too.

"They're so cuuuute!" Brock squealed, pressing his hands to either side of his face. Tears welled up in his eyes. "I can't believe I didn't get to see them hatch! The world is truly so cruel…"

"Wait, h-hold on." I'm so confused. Sitting up on my knees, I looked at the trio of trainers and then at the trio of pokēmon. I pointed at them, dumbfounded, and flinched when the ice-blue Vulpix reached over and bit my finger. Its teeny tiny fangs didn't cause any harm, but the inside of its mouth was super cold. "Did they hatch all at once?"

Blue was the one who answered, now looking fresh and clean as he sat on the extra bed. "Kind of. The first one hatched a couple seconds after I walked out of the bathroom. A few minutes later, the blue one hatched too- and then the last one hatched about ten minutes before Brock showed up with Misty."

Oh. "I… I don't know how to react to that."

"Vul!"

"Pix?"

"Vulpix!"

Brock wasted no time in moving over to the bed the pokēmon and I were on, squatting down and clinging to the edge, gazing at the three Vulpixes with stars in his eyes. "Have you ever seen a cuter baby pokēmon!? Aw, I'm so jealous you get two of them, El!"

I blinked again, my sleepy brain still trying to process that the eggs all hatched. "I do get to keep two of them… don't I? Sorry…"

Blue gave me a weird look. "Did you seriously forget?"

"W-Well, no, but… I-I didn't think they would all hatch at the same time."

"The jokes you told them were so bad they just couldn't bear being in their eggs anymore." Blue said. He sighed, shaking his head dramatically. "Buying that book was a mistake."

Misty rolled her eyes at the teen and moved over, eying the baby pokēmon. She clasped her hands together, cooing. "They're so cute! So, which ones are yours, El?"

"Uh…" I looked down at the three Vulpix, not really sure. One looked relaxed, the other calm, and the third seemed quite bashful. The relaxed and calm ones were standing close together, and as a result were closest to me. "I guess… these two?"

"Which would make this absolutely precious baby my Vulpix!" Brock cheered, reaching over and holding his hand out to the bashful red Vulpix. It hesitantly sniffed his hand before nuzzling it, and the boy looked like he had ascended to cloud nine. "Yes you are, my cute wittle Vulpix~!"

He carefully scooped the pokēmon up into his arms, kissing the top of its head.

"My name's Brock and I'm gonna take such good care of you from now! I'll make you all the delicious food and treats you could ever eat, and I'll brush you every day, and everyone's gonna be so jealous~!"

Misty giggled. "Someone's happy."

"I'm ecstatic!"

"Eva?" Ansem's call caught my attention and I jolted, realizing that he and the others were probably just as curious about the new members of the team. Ansem jumped up onto the bed, and Belladonna and Basil wasted no time in following after. Ansem slowly made his way over to the blue and red Vulpix duo, sniffing them and approaching cautiously. He narrowed his eyes. "Va?"

The blue Vulpix tilted its head. "Pix?"

"Eva!"

"Vulpi!"

"Saur!" Basil grinned widely. "Ivysaur!"

"Vul…" The red Vulpix rubbed a paw against its sleepy eyes and looked at Belladonna. "Vulpix?"

"Weepin!"

Hmm. I watched them interact for a few more seconds before reaching over to my bag and pulling out my pokēdex. I held it up to the red Vulpix first.

"Vulpix. Also known as the Fox Pokēmon. At the time of its birth, Vulpix has one white tail. The tail changes color and separates into six if it receives plenty of love. During the daytime, when the temperature rises, this pokēmon releases a flame from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot. Inside its body burns a never-ending flame."

Oh wow. Onto the blue one.

"In hot weather, this pokēmon makes ice shards with its six tails and sprays them around to cool itself off. This pokēmon also exhales breath that is negative fifty-eight degrees fahrenheit. If you observe its fur through a microscope, you can see ice particles sticking up."

I'm going to have to be careful not to overheat the blue one- but holy crap no wonder it's mouth was so cold. I'm amazed my finger didn't get frostbite from when it nibbled me.

"What should I name you guys…?" Scanning them one more time, the pokēdex informed me that all three Vulpix were female- something quite common for their species. Reaching out, a bit worried I would accidentally hurt their tiny bodies, I carefully pet the top of their heads with my index and middle fingers. They both blinked at me, their brilliant red and blue eyes gazing up at me with wonder. "You guys are seriously pretty…"

Their eyes are as bright as gemstones.

That was when it hit me- the perfect names for them. I leaned down closer to their height, expression lighting up considerably now that I was more awake. "Ruby and Sapphire!"

The two baby pokēmon blinked. "Vulpi?"

"Pix?"

"Ruby." I pointed at the red Vulpix, then at the blue one. "Sapphire."

I was grinning so wide my face hurt. The two baby pokēmon looked at each other, then back up at me. The next thing I knew, they were both trying to crawl into my lap- cooing and meowing happily. "Vulpi! Vul!"

"Vulpix!"

I carefully grabbed them and hoisted them up closer to my chest, that way they wouldn't fall. A tiny giggle escaped my lips, and as weird as it felt to do that I couldn't deny the joy I felt as these tiny little pokēmon nuzzled my face with their equally tiny noses. "I'm guessing you two like your names?"

"Vulpi!"

"Vul!"

"I figured they'd like you since they were curled up asleep against you right after hatching," Misty said, amused, hand to her chin. "But they already seem to love you."

I paused at that, feeling my face start to warm. I looked down at the two baby Vulpix, before turning back to Misty. "Y-You… really think so?"

Blue snorted. He leaned back against the pillows on the bed, folding his arms over his chest. "You act like this is something new. Pokēmon adore you; we've been over this."

"I- okay, well, I just… I don't think-"

"Eva!"

"Saur!"

"Weepin!"

Not giving me a chance to finish my argument, Ansem, Belladonna, and Basil all wandered over and climbed up on me, surrounding me and trapping me in a pile of pokēmon. Basil, despite his large size, had taken claim to my lap, leaving Belladonna to hug my hips and Ansem to jump up the pillows to reach the top of my head. I made a face. Brock and Misty just laughed. Blue smirked.

"Told ya. Accept your fate, squirt."

I remained silent for a moment, then proceeded to childishly blow a raspberry in Blue's direction. He just scrunched his nose up and stuck his tongue out at me in response. He was grinning. Turning my attention away from him, I looked up at Misty. "So… uh… hi. You're… here. Like you said. D-Did Brock find you?"

"More like I found Brock." She stated, sending the taller and slightly older teen a sour look. Misty placed her hands on her hips. "Honestly, here I was hoping you'd started to learn how to control yourself around women, yet the first thing you do when separated from the group is flirt with every pretty girl on the boat!"

"I'm just trying to find my one true love, Misty." Brock defended, snuggling up to his new baby Vulpix. "She could be anywhere."

"Ha! In another region maybe. Or universe."

"Anything is possible! Who knows- maybe I'll find her in Hoenn while El is searching for her prince charming."

I choked. "My what?"

Blue burst out into laughter, snickering and snorting as he fell onto his side, cackling up a storm. Misty looked so confused. Coughing a bit with a hand to his abdomen, the boy wincing only slightly as he sat back up, Blue pointed at me with mirth-filled eyes. "The guy who gave you that stone! He's your so-called prince charming!"

"Wait, what stone?" Misty looked back-and-forth between us and I groaned, burying my face in the fur of the two baby pokēmon I was holding. "Hold on, can one of you please explain this to me? Does El have a boyfriend?"

"Y-Yes and no." Blue snickered.

"It's a long story." Brock supplied. "You might wanna sit down for it."

I swear to the god of all pokēmon, I'm going to throw a pillow at them. "We've been through this- I do not have a boyfriend, the person who gave me the stone is not a… a prince o-or whatever, a-and why do we need to tell Misty about everything? I-It'll just put her in danger, too! We're fine on our own. We don't need anyone else!"

The more I spoke, the more panicked I started to become, and before I could control myself the words began to rattle off my tongue.

"A-As long as we stay together, we'll be fine! T-Team Rocket can't- they won't- we're… we're…" I couldn't finish. My lips curled back and I choked, and I looked down at the pokēmon curled up against me, eyes stinging with the familiar sensation of tears. "I-I don't… want to… to d-drag her… into this, too…"

"El…" Brock's voice was soft as he called my name, and then he sat down next to me- opposite of Belladonna. He rested a hand against my cheek, brushing away a tear right as it fell. "El, hey. It's okay. You fought Misty; you know how strong she is. She's a gym leader for a reason. We can trust her, and she's more than capable of protecting herself. If we tell her everything, she might even be able to help."

"But…"

Misty frowned, stepping forward and climbing onto the end of the bed. Her green eyes were gazing at me intensely. "This is about Team Rocket, right? I don't really get what's going on with you guys or… the "stone" or… why Team Rocket is following you, but Brock is right. You can trust me, El."

I furrowed my brows and looked away, at a complete loss. "You… won't like what you hear."

"It's Team Rocket." She stated bluntly. "They've committed tons of crimes already. How much worse can it possibly be?"

Silence.

"Oh." She watched as Brock and Blue shared a look, the two boys then turning to look at me with solemn expressions. Misty began to look nervous. "Wait, how bad is it?"

"Well…" I shifted uncomfortably, having a hard time meeting anyone's eyes as the dreaded conversation began. "...d-do you remember… when we met at the pokēcenter in Viridian City?"

"Yeah, of course! Why?"

"...Do you… r-remember when you said… no one would… kidnap me from the pokēcenter?"

Her confusion was growing, and it was clear on her face for all to see. "Yeah…?"

I cleared my throat. "W-Well, uh… that… did happen. Actually. Nine years ago… by Team Rocket. In Hoenn. At the Rustboro City pokēcenter."

"...What!?"

I flinched at the loud rise of her voice. Misty looked horrified.

"You're joking, right?"

Neither Brock, Blue, nor I said anything to answer- yet that alone told the girl everything she needed to know. Her hands flew up to her mouth, highly disturbed and shocked by what she just learned. I felt guilty telling her this, and I felt even more guilty knowing that these tiny baby pokēmon who had just hatched were being subjected to such negative emotions, but there was no turning back now.

"Oh my god. A-And I said- to you- El, I am so sorry." Tears started to form in her eyes. "I had no idea. H-How did you get out of there? How did… How did you escape from Team Rocket?"

"This is where I come in." Blue piped up, moving to face us, crossing his legs as he sat up. He draped his hands in his lap, brown eyes grim. "Team Rocket had apparently created a super secret and powerful pokēmon, one with psychic abilities so strong it can talk, and… somehow, El managed to convince the big bad boss to show it to her. She freed it, and the pokēmon blew up the headquarters."

"The explosion in Viridian Forest…" Misty realized.

Blue snapped his fingers. "That's the one."

"Wait, but what does that have to do with a stone?" She looked confused again. "I don't get it."

Brock sat up straight, grinning. He seemed happy to shine some light on an otherwise overwhelmingly dark conversation. "My turn! The day before El got kidnapped, she met someone. He gave her a dawn stone as a promise that they would one day meet again! She's kept it safe ever since, waiting to give it back to him."

"Aw, that's…" She blinked, then smiled- lacing her fingers together. "That's really cute actually."

"Right? I thought so!"

I made a face, cheeks oddly warm. "C-Can we get back on track, please?"

"Anyway," Brock continued, "the day after that promise was made she was taken away by Team Rocket. Then she was brought here to Kanto, where she met the powerful talking pokēmon and escaped Team Rocket. Professor Oak was the one who found El, and that's how she met Blue."

"...And that's when Blue started traveling with her?"

"Eh, not quite." Blue said, scrunching his nose up. "Brock joined up first."

"Yeah. She came to my gym and got the Boulder Badge, and when I went to talk to her my deadbeat dad showed up after all these years claiming he wanted to be a father again." Brock looked displeased talking about his old man, but brightened shortly after. "Thanks to that, I was able to convince El to let me join her so I could help her with whatever her mission was and fulfill my dream of becoming the world's best pokēmon breeder! Although…"

He frowned, looking down at the Vulpix he was holding and gently scratching behind its ear.

"I'm… starting to think about becoming a pokēmon doctor instead."

Misty raised a brow at that. "Okay... Whatever you want, Brock. You do you. Now- when did Blue join up? And when did El change her name?"

"Blue joined…" I made a face, thinking about it. "...three days ago? Four?"

"Six." Brock informed. "We were at the hospital for two-and-a-half days, remember? Same with Bill. We spent the sixth night at the Daycare Center."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." My sense of time was awful. "Blue did a dumb and tried going after the talking pokēmon. He got caught by Team Rocket."

Blue sent me a glare. "I was trying to help you."

I glared right back. "And I told you Mewtwo was dangerous! He hates humanity!"

"He spared you."

"That's because I-"

"Pokēmon like you for some reason, El." Blue stated firmly, cutting me off mid-sentence and staring me down from across the room. "Whatever that reason is, I'm sure it applies to him too. Besides, isn't Team Rocket the cause of his hate? If you told him you were trying to take the organization down, I bet you he'd help."

I made to argue, only to stammer and struggle to come up with a response. In the end, I turned my head away with a scowl, not at all pleased that I kept losing in arguments like this. "...I don't understand you."

"Heh," Blue smirked, "that makes two of us."

Misty stood up from the bed, clapping her hands in the air. "Okay, okay, okay! Hold on! Let me see if I've got this straight; several years ago El made a really cute promise to some boy she met involving a stone, and ended up as one of the kids Team Rocket kidnapped. She was moved here to Kanto, released a scary powerful pokēmon that can talk, and it exploded the Team Rocket headquarters in Viridian Forest. She escaped, met Blue, became a pokēmon trainer despite never going to a pokēmon trainer school, and then got her first badge from Brock. Brock joined her team, then later- six days ago- they discovered that you, Blue, were being held captive by Team Rocket? And they rescued you?"

"Basically, though I'm gettin' kinda tired of everyone constantly reminding me that I needed rescued." The boy grimaced. "Team Rocket got the jump on me. Tch."

"Okay." The ten-year-old girl took in a deep breath and sighed, trying to process all this information. Misty held her hands out in front of her. She still looked so lost, gazing at us for more answers. "But what does all this have to do with El's name change?"

"Oh, that one's easy." Brock said. "El's her real name. Part of it, anyway. Grunt was the title Team Rocket gave her since she had no memory of her real name."

Misty blinked. Her expression twisted into one of rage. "WHAT!?

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you all think in the comments, and have a wonderful day/night wherever you are! Stay safe! 💕