Noah was relaxing in the Joy mansion garden, sitting in a chair in the garden gazebo. Despite the weather not being the greatest, with the air being cold and a heavy rain pouring from the sky, the man didn't seem to care, casually turning the next page in his book.

As Noah was just about to start reading the next paragraph, he heard a sound that made him look up. It was the sound of rain hitting an umbrella, and Noah watched in slight surprise as Amanda Joy walked towards him, a white umbrella in her hand. Her pink rain boots stormed noisily through the mud, and raindrops ran down her matching rain coat.

"Well, what a pleasant surprise." Noah said, putting his book down. As Amanda entered the gazebo, her boots squelching against the floor, Noah could tell she wasn't in a good mood. Her mouth was twisted into a heavy frown, and her eyes, rather than the usual tiredness, had a focused coldness that made even Noah slightly hesitate. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, the only sound being the rain hitting the roof and distant plants.

"Tough week at work?" Noah finally asked. Amanda turned away from him, looking into the garden. "I received a call today."

"Must have been an unpleasant one. Was it him?"

Amanda shook her head. "No. It was from one of the Joy Nursing School professors I know."

Noah could see where this was going. "What did they say? Is Alice falling behind in her studies?"

Amanda turned to Noah, suspicion in her eyes. "They asked me about the indefinite leave of absence Alice was taking in her studies."

Noah played dumb. "Really? I suppose that explains the trip Alice took with Jack."

Amanda narrowed her eyes. "Trip?"

"Yes. Alice told me she was going on a long trip with Jack. I asked when she'd be back, but she couldn't give me a clear answer."

"And you just let her go!?"

"The girl has been looking quite depressed recently. I thought the trip might cheer her up a bit."

"Whenever she's taken a trip, she's always let me know, and has always told the school how long she's going to take." Amanda argued. "Something isn't right here."

Noah gave a fake thoughtful hum. "So what do you think is going on?"

Amanda frowned. "I think Jack has been putting ideas in her head."

"You think Alice doesn't want to become a Nurse anymore?"

"No, but I think she's prolonging getting her Nursing certification just to spite me."

Noah chuckled. "I see. Well, it's certainly a roundabout way to get at you."

"I'd never put it past that girl."

Noah sat back into the chair, picking up his book. "So what are you going to do now? Can't exactly stop her now that she's been gone for a week."

Amanda shook her head. "I will. It's time she stopped playing around and took the family legacy seriously. I'll drag that girl back here whether she likes it or not."

With that, Amanda unbound her umbrella and walked back into the rain, her boots loudly stomping through the mud as she made her way back to the mansion.


It had been a few hours since Alice and Jack had finally left Jubilife. The sun had set a while ago, which had covered Route 204 in a deep darkness, only slightly illuminated by the moon above. Jack had released Plume so they could make out their surroundings, the flame on the Infernape's head somehow making the forest around the road even scarier.

Rogue had already been out of his ball during the first part of the trip. Alice had released the Houndour to walk alongside them as they walked, heeding Jack's advice that the less time pokemon tended to be in their pokeballs the better chance they had of closely bonding with their trainer. Alice couldn't see that ever happening with Rogue, but she had no problem with letting him out of his ball. She had already done so making her way to Jubilife. The Houndour now walked alongside the Infernape, occasionally mumbling to one another, and every so often Rouge would look up to stare at the pokemon's bellowing flame.

"Alright," Jack said. She was looking at her phone and pointed off the road to the forest. "We're going to camp around there."

"I'm not sleeping in the bushes Jack." Alice said sharply.

"I'm not talking about the bushes, silly. There's a clearing nearby that we're going to use." Jack laughed and took her hand. "Though just a heads up for the future: we might have to."

"I'd rather die." Alice deadpanned. Jack rolled her eyes and tugged Alice towards the plants, carefully navigating through the branches. Infernape followed right behind, dimmed his flame so the tree branches above wouldn't catch fire. Rogue grumbled, as unhappy as Alice was having to push through the thick bushes, but followed closely after Infernape.

Just as Jack said, after a few seconds a clearing appeared past the thick branches, expanding a few meters. There were various logs and fire pits, signifying other travelers had used this area. Thankfully, Alice and Jack seemed to be the only ones here. Right?

"No one else will come here, right?" Alice asked, looking around the clearing anxiously.

"Maybe. People don't tend to travel around this time, but we might get dome visitors." Jack said, slinging off her backpack. "Don't worry, most people keep to themselves."

Alice hoped that was the case. She didn't want to deal with other trainers more than she had to, with Jack encouraging her to battle all the time.

Alice took off her own backpack, and took out the repel can. As she walked towards the edge of the clearing, she heard Jack's voice call out to her from the distance.

"Wait, wait, wait! You don't need to do that! I already got that covered!"

Alice turned around curiously. "What do you mean?" Was there something here that kept wild pokemon away already?

Jack walked to the middle of the clearing and threw a pokeball up into the air. There was a flash of light that illuminated the area, and her Noivern gave out a joyful cry as it was released, doing a flip in the air.

"Tornado can keep wild pokemon away easily. Noivern can emit a special frequency that most pokemon find really uncomfortable. So we don't need to use any repels to sleep."

Alice looked up at the flying dragon. "That sounds really useful. Will he be ok staying up most of the night?"

"It's fine! Tornado is nocturnal anyway, so he's more comfortable being up at night!"

A pokemon that acted like a built in night watcher. Needless to say, Alice looked toward Rogue, who was sniffing one of the firepits. I wonder if Houndour could do something similar.

And so, the two girls began preparing to camp. Jack got out cooking supplies to make dinner, while Alice prepared the tents.

"You know, it'd probably make things easier if we shared a tent~." Jack said, a grin on her face as she stirred a small pot of soup.

Alice sighed. "No thanks. Besides, I think Rogue might be sleeping in mine. There wouldn't be room." Just as she finished setting up her tent, as if right on que, Rogue walked from the edge of the clearing and went inside the canvas.

"He's comfortable sleeping with you? That's honestly a bit surprising." Jack looked from the tent to Alice, a curious expression on her face. "Hmm. I think I might have an explanation for his disobedience."

"Really?" Alice felt her heart start beating in excitement. Finally some progress!

"I think it boils down to Rogue not really respecting you. He sees you as a liability. Something to be protected rather than an equal. Why he doesn't listen to you… well, you wouldn't listen to a kid commanding you around right?"

Alice closed her eyes in thought. It would make the Houndour's protective but rebellious actions make sense. But Alice felt there was a piece missing. There were times where Rogue would look at her with blatant disgust. There was nothing protective about those moments, and it was something the Houndour was willing to ignore at moments. But when she tried to give an order, that same look would appear.

"I think it's too early to say." Alice said. "I feel there's a bit more to the reason behind Rogue's disobedience."

Jack smiled. "You're sounding like a trainer already." She stood up from her position in front of the pot, stretching her arms with a yawn. "In the end, the one in the best position to figure out what's going on with your pokemon is you. If you keep at it, Rogue should tell you what the issue is."

"I really hope so." Alice grumbled, taking out Jack's tent. She didn't want to deal with the odd looks she got while she was battling any longer.


Alice and Jack ate together on one of the logs on the clearing. Alice didn't have high hopes for the traveling food, but the soup tasted surprisingly nice. Then again, Jack had been on the road for a long time, so she probably knew the best tasting food that could be carried on the go. As Alice listened to her friend talk about her first gym battles for what felt like the third time, a loud noise made the both of them jump; Alice hissing as a bit of the hot soup landed on her hand.

It was Alice's phone, the generic ringtone blaring across the clearing from her bag. Alice could hear grumbles of annoyance coming from Jack's Noivern in the sky, the pokemon landing down and glaring at the presumptuous bag that dared disturb its hunt.

"I didn't think there was service out here." Alice muttered, sitting up and walking towards her bag.

"I chose this area because there'd be phone service." Jack said. "There's a tower nearby. It's a good habit when traveling to always try to be in an area with reception. Of course there are other ways, but by phone is the easiest."

Another thing to ask about later. Alice opened her bag and reached for the compartment she kept her phone in. Taking out the device, she grimaced when she saw the name on the screen.

"Your mother?" Jack guessed, seeing the expression on Alice's face. "You should answer. It'll be suspicious if you don't."

Alice really didn't want to. Maybe she could get away with not answering the first call. She was sleeping and didn't notice. Or maybe she could say she lost her phone itself-

"Alice." Jack warned, interrupting her thoughts. Jack was right. Things would be worse if she ignored her. Taking a deep breath, Alice tapped her phone and held it up to her ear.

There was a brief silence on the other end. For a moment Alice thought she accidentally declined the call. When she was about to put the phone down, a familiar, haunting voice reached her ear.

"Greetings, Alice."

"Good evening, Mother. I hope work has gone well."

Alice responded to her mother's words without thinking, a response drilled into her over the years. While Alice had been trying to break away from the over-polite, almost customer service-like speech drilled into her, when she was in front of her mother she fell immediately back into old habits.

"It was the same- no, a bit worse than usual. But nothing unexpected."

"I'm glad to hear that."

There was another silence, a tense atmosphere that was building by the moment. With each second Alice could feel her heart beating faster. Did she know? Was she angry that she left without telling her?

"You know Alice," Alice jumped at her name being spoken. Her mother continued speaking. "I received a very odd call recently."

An odd call? Alice didn't Know what to say to that. "Really? What was it about?"

"It was from one of your professors at Nursing School." Uh-oh. "She's a friend of mine, and she called to ask me about an 'extended leave of absence' you said you would be taking."

Alice had known Mother would find out about the absence from Nursing School sooner or later, but she hadn't expected a confrontation about it to happen so soon. A month or two at least, not at the end of the first week!

"I trust you have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, right Alice?" Her Mother's icy tone made her skin scrawl. Alice doubted the truth would make her mood any better. But what lie would buy her time. Alice could feel herself panicking, startling to drip from her forehead.

"Alice?"

The regular trip was out of the question. She had never made a leave of absence for that. But what else would even work? An internship? A hiking trip? As Alice's befuddled mind raced, she felt herself blurt out a sentence without realizing it. A sentence that broke through the wall of politeness between her and her mother. A sentence she regretted immediately afterwards. A sentence she didn't even even know whether it was a lie or not.

"I-I needed a damn break!"

After those words were said, there was a full minute of silence. Alice swore the forest itself went quiet. Rogue slowly peaked his head out of her tent, and even Jack seemed to tense up from the atmosphere. Alice herself felt numb. Even though her heart was beating the fastest it ever had, she couldn't feel anything from it, let alone anything.

Then, she heard a single sentence that made her regret ever opening her mouth.

"What was that?"

Alice immediately hung up the phone. Fumbling with the device, she turned it off and flung it back into her bag, breathing heavily as if she had just run a marathon. She felt her knees buckle, and she stumbled into the dirt. Suddenly, the world around her seemed to come back to life, the wind stirring through the trees and the sounds of insects in the bushes. Alice heard Jack racing over to her, sneaker crunching on the ground, and she looked up at her friend. Jack's face was clouded with worry, and she knelt down next to Alice, rubbing her back. "You alright?"

Alice took a shaky breath. "Physically at least."

"Think you can stand?"

"I-I think so?"

"Let's try to get you to the tent at least."

Jack gently put her arm around Alice's back and lifted, grunting as she supported Alice's body. The two of them slowly made their way to Alice's tent, Rogue curiously watching them the entire time. Once they made it, the Houndour quietly slipped out the tent and sat down, content to keep watch outside. Jack lay her friend on the sleeping bag, gently setting her down. At this point Alice could feel herself calming down, her breathing gradually slowing down.

"So," Jack said, a smile on her face. "I didn't expect that."

Alice felt her heart drop. "Ugh. Please don't remind me. I want to think about anything else right now."

"Alright, alright. But for what it's worth I'm proud of you. At the very least she should leave us alone for a while."

No she won't. Alice thought, gripping the sheet below her. She never gives up that easily.


Amanda Joy sat in her office, still staring in shock at what happened. What had shocked her wasn't Alice's words, but the fact she had the gall to hang up afterwards without a word of apology. What infuriated her even more was when she attended to contact Alice again, the valley failed to go through, meaning the girl had turned off her phone.

Amanda grit her teeth. Her thoughts lingered on Alice's last words through the phone. What was that girl thinking? Taking a break from schooling now of all times? Amanda had allowed small trips before, but without clear knowledge of when she'd be back and able to continue her studies. Amanda had hoped she would grow out of it, especially once she got her official certification. But something had changed. But what? Amanda groaned and ran her fingers through her pink hair. The rest of the family wouldn't like this. She could already hear their snide comments and subtle insinuations. But she could ignore those for now. They were nothing new.

In the end. Alice was her daughter. And it was her responsibility to make Alice the best Joy she could be, no matter what the cost. If she had to drag her back kicking and screaming, if her daughter ended up despising her, so be it. It would be nothing compared to the lives she would save.


Over the course of the next day Alice tried to distract herself as much as possible. She hadn't turned on her phone since last night and decided to busy herself with pokemon training instead. She had wanted to work on strategies, but Jack suggested a bit more fundamentals first. Recently, Paragon had shown signs of learning Wing Attack. This would be his first flying type move, so with Jack's help they began to practice. Learning moves naturally apparently was just a matter of repetition and practice, but the most important thing was to practice the right way. This usually involved placing some sort of target down and having Paragon hit it while flying through the air. Sure enough, after a while he seemed to be able to summon that glowing Flying type energy in his wings more often than not, but it seemed to flicker away rather quickly.

Rogue seemed to be up for training as well. Alice guessed the loss against Miyubi's Prinplup had bothered the pokemon, because he was up and at attention the moment the word "training" was said. The other thing that caught his attention was Jack's Infernape. Whenever the older pokemon would pass by, Rogue would straighten his posture, eyes glowing in admiration. The Houndour seemed to hold a lot of respect for the older fire type. When Jack told Plume to teach Rogue a bit of battle movement, Alice swore the Houndour's little tail was going to break with how much it was wagging.

However, it seems their training hadn't gone unnoticed. Alice saw a boy walking down the road, coming from the opposite direction they were traveling to. He stopped to gawk at Plume and Rogue going through their training, the Infernape going for a mixture of light punches and feints, forcing Rogue to dodge. Whenever Rogue got hit, Plume would stop and motion how the Houndour could have dodged or mitigate the damage. Once Rogue could demonstrate the appropriate movement, they would start again.

"Looks like we have a spectator." Jack said, walking over with Paragon's target in her hand. The Starly fluttered down from above, attempting to land in Alice's hair. Tilting her head to the side, Alice instead gently caught the flying type in her arms. She wasn't in the mood to have to pick feathers out of her hair. "I guess we do."

Jack clapped her hands, making Alice and her pokemon jump. "Let's ask him for a battle."

"We don't even know if he's a trainer, let alone around my level." Alice grumbled.

"It's fine, I'm pretty confident when it comes to judging a trainer's strength. And if I'm wrong, it'll be a nice learning experience!"

It was pretty easy to say that when you weren't the one taking the risk. Alice looked down at Paragon. "What do you think?"

The Starly gave a confident chirp. Right, Paragon wasn't one to back down from a stronger opponent. If anything, he would jump at the chance to prove himself. Alice turned back to Jack. "If he gets hurt badly against a way stronger opponent, I won't forgive you."

"You worry too much!"

"You don't worry enough. Pokemon are tough, but bad injuries can happen easier than you think. You should know this."

Jack nodded, but Alice didn't think she was listening that closely. You'd think after seeing Alice battle so much to novelty would wear off, but Jack seemed as happy as ever, to the point Alice was beginning to wonder if the battle was only part of what she was excited about.

"Hey there!" The boy jumped at Jack's loud voice, startled from his trance. "You're a trainer, right?"

The boy shyly nodded. "Um, I just think the Infernape is cool, the Houndour too. I don't think I could take them on. "

Jack smiled. "New trainer?"

He nodded. "I-I don't have any badges yet, so-"

"That's perfect! My friend here was looking for an opponent, and she's in the same boat!" Jack pointed at Alice, at which Alice found herself clutching Paragon tighter. "Do you think you'd be interested?"

The boy seemed to straighten a bit upon hearing Alice was at a similar level. "Ok! I've been wanting to train my Zubat, so a Starly is perfect practice!"

As the boy took out his pokeball, Jack turned to Alice, a smile on her face. "What did I say? My trainer senses have never let me down!"

Alice just gave a sigh in response.


As the road seemed to be currently unoccupied, Jack suggested they stage the battle there. battles directly on the road was a trainer faux pas, but because there didn't seem to be much foot traffic and the battle would be between two flying types, Jack said it would be fine. Alice had her doubts, but didn't feel like arguing over something pointless.

Jack decided to referee (as always) and soon both trainers tossed their pokeballs into the air, the two flying types taking off into the sky.

Paragon was smaller and faster. Both factors would be important in an air battle. Alice would have to use every advantage she could.

"Quick Attack!" Alice yelled. Paragon took off like a rocket, setting the Zubat in his sights.

"Supersonic!" The boy yelled. Zubat attempted to start firing sonic waves, but it was too late. Paragon slammed into the Zubat with a dull thud. Cringing in pain, the poison/flying type flapped its wings furiously to keep itself airborne.

"Fly into the trees for cover!" The boy yelled. Alice looked on curiously as the Zubat dived for the trees. What was he trying to do? How did the trees give Zubay an advantage? She didn't want to take out her Pokedex now, so she would play things safe.

"Fly near the trees Paragon! Keep your guard up!"

The Starly gave a chirp affirmative, circling above the trees. He looked down, trying to make out where the Zubat had gone.

"Don't fly too far!" Jack yelled. "If one pokemon goes too far, I'll disqualify you for going out of bounds!"

Oh yeah, that would be a problem. Just as Alice was going to tell Paragon to get closer…

"Now! Supersonic!" Alice looked in surprise as a Supersonic wave blasted through the trees. Paragon gave a startled cry, trying to turn away, but the wave managed to hit the Starly's body.

Shit. Alice thought.

Sure enough, Paragon began to wobble slightly in the air. The confusion had taken effect. Confusion was a nasty condition. It disoriented the affected pokemon, making it hard to stay steady. It also clouded a pokemon's thoughts, making them see what wasn't there. A pokemon could even hurt itself or unintentionally hurt trainers trying to help them. Most of the time the effects would fade overtime or disappear upon being returned to a pokeball. Alice still disliked even compared to most conditions inflicted on each other by pokemon, as some pokemon could unintentionally hurt themselves badly, especially if they had claws or blades.

"Now! Bite it!" The Zubat darted out of the leaves, its sharp fangs extended as it flew towards Paragon.

"DODGE PARAGON. PLEASE!" Alice yelled, raising her voice even further, hopeful trying to get her orders through to the befuddled Starly's mind. Paragon did a sloppy barrel roll through the air, managing to dodge Zubat's bite. Even in a confused state, the training done with Jack's Noivern still stuck in his mind. Alice felt a bit of pride at that.

"Don't let up! Keep trying to use Bite!" The boy shouted. The Zubat dived in for another bite, this time flying towards Paragon's side.

"Fly away! Quick Attack!" But this time the Starly didn't heed her words, simply wobbling through the air. As the Zubat's Bite landed, Paragon let out a pained cry that made Alice's heart lurch.

"Now use Leech Life!" Zubat's teeth began to glow a sickly green, and Paragon began to twist and turn through the air, trying to get the bat to let go. Alice was starting to get nervous. A confused flying type barely keeping itself airborne seemed like a recipe for disaster.

Finally, with one angry chirp, Paragon flung the Zubat off of his back, doing another impressive air maneuver. As the Starly gained some distance from his opponent, his flying didn't seem as unstable as before. The confusion had ended.

Had the pain snapped him back to his senses? Whatever the case, Alice was glad her pokemon was back to his senses. "Alright, Paragon, try-huh?"

Oddly, Paragon wasn't flying at the Zubat anymore. In fact, he was flying in her direction. Alice felt herself get nervous again. Had she been wrong? Was the confusion still in effect? Alice looked on, confused herself as Paragon landed on the ground and began chirping frantically, hopping in place and flapping his wings.

Is he trying to tell me something? Alice thought. She tried to concentrate on the Starly's body language. The bird seemed to be awkwardly pointing at himself with his wing and then the Zubat circling above.

Paragon wanted to do something, but in regards to what it was Alice still didn't have the faintest clue. Alice looked over to Jack, but her friend smiled and shook her head. She wouldn't be lending any advice during the battle.

"Is something wrong?" Her opponent asked. The boy looked concerned and confused. "Is the battle over?"

"No, no. Just give me a moment." Alice looked over to Jack again. "Can we have a five minute break?" She needed time if she was going to figure out what Paragon wanted to tell her.

Jack looked over to the boy. "As long as there are no objections from the opposition."

Her opponent shrugged. "Um, sure? I didn't know you could do that."

Alice didn't know either, but since this wasn't any kind of official match, she thought it would be fine. The Zubat fluttered back to the boy, and Alice turned her attention to Paragon once again.

"Alright, what are you trying to tell me?"

"Star!" Paragon chirped. Okay, time for process of elimination.

"Is it about the Zubat?" Paragon shook his head.

"Is it about you?" Paragon jumped and nodded furiously.

OK, so it was something about Paragon, not her or the Zubat.

"Do you…" Alice grit her teeth in thought. "Want to do something?" Paragon jumped and chirped again. Alright, she was getting somewhere. But what did he want to do? As Alice continued to think, a loud chirp interrupted her thoughts. Looking down, she saw Paragon pointing to himself and puffing out his chest. Pride? Not quite… Then it clicked.

"Do you want permission to do something on your own?" Paragon chirped excitedly, nodded his head. So that was the issue. Compared to Rogue, Paragon followed orders diligently. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen the Starly do any sort of aggressive action without her say. Should she encourage Paragon to do things like that? What if he did something that was the exact opposite of what she wanted? Would she get another Rogue on her hands? Looking at the little Starly, she saw patience and excitement in his eyes.

"Alright," Alice said. "You have my permission. If you want to do something in battle, go for it. But if I say stop, you have to stop immediately, alright?" She didn't know if she was making a big mistake or not. But Paragon knew his own abilities, and if he wanted to do something, Alice was willing to trust him. Her thoughts drifted to her disobedient Houndour. Should she say the same to him? In the end. Alice didn't see the dark/fire type listening to anything she said yet.

"Alright, we're ready!" Alice yelled. Paragon hopped forward, and the Zubat fluttered off the boy's head. Jack nodded. "Alright, let the battle resume!" At Jack's voice, both flying types flew into the air again.

"Go for Supersonic!" The boy yelled. He seemed to be going for a more aggressive approach this time. Alice anxiously looked on, unconsciously gripping her shirt. Calm down, Paragon can do this. Zubat unleashed the Supersonic wave, but Paragon was ready this time, using Quick Attack to dodge the wave gracefully.

The boy gave Alice an odd look, seeing she wasn't saying anything, but decided to continue onwards. "Keep using Supersonic! Corner it!" The Zubat kept unleashing Supersonic, slowly but surely driving Paragon towards the forest. Alice had thought the Zubat would stop once both pokemon were flying amongst the branches, the boy yelled at his Zubat to keep going, branches creeking as the Supersonic passed through them. With Paragon not going on the offensive, the Zubat was free to position itself as it pleased, and wait for an opportunity. And as Paragon barely avoided colliding with a tree(Alice felt her heart jump at that), they saw their chance.

"Now, Bite!"

As the Zubat rushed in for a Bite, Alice saw Paragon's body glow. Quick Attack. But with the Zubat's positioning, it wouldn't be possible to get away in time. So Paragon didn't.

Alice looked on surprise as the Starly did an odd twist in the air, turning around to fly directly at the Zubat. The Zubat was caught off guard at the sudden offense, trying to turn away but it was far too late. The two pokemon collided into each other, with Paragon quickly shaking off the impact. Despite being larger, the Zubat was left reeling from the impact, finding itself again desperately trying to stay airborne. It was the same thing Mr. Lewis's Buneary had done to him. This time however, Paragon wasn't done.

Alice saw her Starly's wings light up with white energy. It was the very thing they had been practicing all day. Wing Attack. But would it work? She could see the energy flickering already, the move already beginning to fail. Come on, work!

Paragon flew forward, the small Starly flying as he could without the use of Quick Attack. The Zubat tried to desperately fly to avoid the hit, but after the collision it still didn't have enough momentum. There was an audible impact as Paragon's wing slammed into the Zubat, the Wing Attack flickering out the second after the move connected. The Zubat made a pained screech as it hit the ground, making Alice wince. Paragon let out a joyful cry, doing a quick celebratory spin in the air after successfully landing the move he had practicing for so long. The Zubat twitched on the ground, trying to lift itself up, but finally slumped down. The battle was over.

Alice felt herself relax, letting go of a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Paragon flew over to her, puffing out his chest proudly. Chuckling, Alice scratched the Starly's head. "Good job. I'm really proud of you." Paragon puffed himself up even more, and gave a happy chirp.

As the boy was about to call back his Zubat, Alice felt herself blurt out: "Wait!" The boy gave her a confused look as she walked over to the passed out Zubat. She gently looked over the pokemon, looking at the wounds he had sustained in the fight.

"Jack, can you get my bag?" Alice said, looking at one particular nasty bruise. Her friend nodded, and walked to their supplies.

The boy nervously looked over her shoulder. "Is Flappy ok? Is she hurt badly?"

Alice gave a reassuring smile, feeling herself already falling back into her "Nurse Mode" from work. "Your Zubat is fine. I'm going to treat her now so she can heal quicker, but try to let her rest for about a day before any battling, ok?"

The boy nodded. "Ok. I thought you looked like a Joy! I didn't want to assume though."

Alice wasn't quite sure how she should feel about that.


After she treated Zubat and Paragon, the boy went on his way, thanking her for both the treatment and the battle. Treating the Zubat was one thing, but Alice felt a bit weird that the kid had basically thanked her for beating up his Zubat as well.

As Alice started putting away her first aid kit, she noticed Jack staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Something wrong?" Alice asked. If Jack was thinking about something, she usually said it, so it must have been quite the serious topic.

Jack shook her head. "Just thinking that more trainers should know how to treat pokemon injuries like you do."

Alice blinked. "They don't?"

"The older ones usually know how to wrap up bruises and the like, but most just return their pokemon to their pokeball and hope for the best."

Alice shrugged. "Not the worst idea. Pokeballs stabilize wounds well. There are only a few cases in which it doesn't work."

Jack smiled bitterly. "I'm saying that trainers don't know those exceptions. Hell, a good chunk don't even go to a trainer school."

Alice grimaced. That definitely was a problem. "Not like there's much we can do about it. Besides, most trainer schools cost money right? People would be pissed if there were even more barriers for becoming a trainer."

Jack looked away. "I guess so."


An hour passed with nothing much happening. Alice let Rogue out to walk with them as they continued their way up north. In the distance Alice could make out Ravaged Path, a small outcropping on a cliff Jack said would lead them straight to Floaroma Town. Alice wasn't keen on traveling through a cave, but they couldn't exactly turn around now.

As they gradually made their way there, Alice could see a bit of a commotion happening at the entrance. There seemed to be some kind of performance happening, and a handful of people were watching: clapping and cheering every few seconds. In the middle of the circle of people, a Roserade was blowing colorful leaves up into the air. It seemed to be controlling them somehow, the leaves floating in an eerily coordinated fashion. The Roserade spun and the leaves followed suit, becoming colorful blurs as the pokemon spun faster and faster. When the Roserade stopped, it fired another volley of leaves, which when sent into the still spinning wall of colorful ones resulted in a very colorful explosion of sparkles. The Roserade bowed, and a man walked beside it, seemingly coming out of nowhere. He wore a suit that looked like a rainbow had vomited on it, colors splattered all over it with no pattern. There was a white cloak draped on his shoulders, and his black curly hair was tied into a ponytail.

"Thank you for watching!" The man said with an almost blinding smile on his face, waving into the crowd.

"Guess some coordinators like to perform when they're not competing, huh?" Alice said.

"They just like the attention." Jack said, a bit of venom on her tone that caught Alice off guard. "C'mon, let's hurry and get a move on-"

"Are you ok-"

"Oh my!" Alice heard the man yell. She turned around, and sure enough he and his Roserade were approaching, almost playfully skipping towards them. With each step they took, Alice saw Jack's expression darken further. Once he reached them, the man did an extravagant bow, his Roserade doing the same. "Archibald Grove, at your service. It's been a while, Madam Jack."


I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thank you to the Guest who left a review! I'm glad you've been enjoying the story so far, and I hope you'll continue to keep reading this little story of mine.