Archeops flew down the corridor, keeping a close, wary eye on the Gym Challenger. The Gym Challenger in question looked terrified, eyes darting from Grant to Archeops to the Pokeballs that Grant was carrying. The rush of battle had left Archeops, replaced by watchfulness. That Fearow had been uncontrolled and uncontrollable. Archeops knew at a glance the difference between a Hyper Beam that was controlled to merely injure and one that was uncontrolled. That Fearow's Hyper Beam had most definitely not been controlled.

It could have seriously injured or even killed its Trainer - in fact, it seemed like that had been the Fearow's intention. The fact that it had been done in a fit of anger, the fact that the Fearow in question even seemed quite remorseful, didn't change that. Archeops fixed a glare on the Pokeball that he knew the Fearow was in. Back before the Fossilization, pack-members who committed crimes such as this would be killed themselves, as their survival might bring death to a less deserving individual. In this time, that kind of punishment didn't seem to exist.

But the Fearow's conduct could not stand.

They were moving through the underground passageway that led from the Gym to the Pokemon Center, Grant in the lead, with the Gym Challenger striding between Grant and Archeops. Archeops could see the door at the end, light shining through the cracks, illuminating the passageway before it.

Grant threw open the door and the three of them stepped into the Pokemon Center. "Nurse!" Grant called. "Take these!" He handed the nurse that came running up the Pokeballs containing Chomper, Iceberg, Claw, and the three Pokemon of the Gym Challenger that had participated in the battle preceding the Fearow's involvement.

The nurse rushed off with the Pokeballs, and Grant made a hard right into a hallway. The Gym Challenger followed, Archeops hovering protectively overhead.

"Are you really alright?" Grant asked, opening a door that led into a small room.

"I...I'm fine," said the Gym Challenger. "I'm not hurt."

"Okay." Grant sighed with relief. "Okay." He sat down heavily on a chair, gesturing for the Gym Challenger to do the same. Archeops landed on a table and watched both of them.

Grant fixed the Gym Challenger with a glare. "Where did you get that Fearow?"

"I caught it on Route 5," the Gym Challenger explained. "It attacked my Pokemon, took them all down, but they weakened it enough."

"What did it use?" Grant asked.

"Aerial Ace, Drill Run, Peck, Hyper Beam…"

"Where did the Fearow learn Hyper Beam?" Grant asked.

"I don't know!" the Gym Challenger cried. "The nurses back in Lumiose said it might have had another Trainer before!"

"Did you send it out between Lumiose and here?" Grant asked.

"Once, but it didn't work," said the Gym Challenger. "I wasn't intending to use it during your Gym Battle! I thought it would be three-on-three!"

"It usually is," said Grant, "but I saw you only had four Pokeballs and decided to challenge myself." He sighed. "Marcus, that Fearow is dangerous. You need to go back to Route 5 and release it, immediately."

"I-" Archeops clenched his claws tightly upon seeing the resistance in Marcus's eyes. Why would he want to keep it? Hadn't it done enough damage?

"Marcus, why do you want to train that Fearow?" Grant asked, clearly also seeing the resistance.

"Because it's strong," said Marcus. "Stronger than anyone on my team. Sure, it's got issues, but if it can just get past them-"

"It tried to kill you," Grant pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that goes beyond 'issues'."

"I know," said Marcus, "but I-"

Grant held up a hand, stopping Marcus in mid-speech. "What do you want out of being a Trainer?" Grant asked.

"Why are you asking?" Marcus asked.

"Because I think the answer might help with this situation," said Grant. "So what do you want?"

"I want to become strong enough to win the League," Marcus answered.

"In order to do what?" Grant asked. When Marcus hesitated he continued, "Look, Marcus, that's not an answer. That's what everybody wants. If someone asks you why you're walking, you don't say 'so that I can get to my destination'. You say why you want to go to your destination. So tell me, Marcus, why do you want to win the League?"

Marcus remained silent, adopting an expression that instantly told Archeops that he was deep in thought. At last he said, "I don't know. I just do."

Grant paused for a few moments. "I spoke to Viola yesterday," he said at last. "She told me about a Trainer who came into her Gym with a Skorupi and a Meditite, and barely managed to defeat her. A Trainer who matched the description of the Trainer who walked into my Gym fifteen minutes ago, carrying four Pokeballs. You want to know what that told me about you?"

"What?"

"Since the journey from Santalune to here is about a day, and you took two days from Viola's Gym Battle to mine, the first thing that told me is that you'd caught those other two Pokemon within a day's time," Grant explained. "Which probably meant that you hadn't had much time to train them. That's the real reason why I allowed you use of all four. And the second thing that told me is that you got cocky."

"I'm sorry?" Marcus asked, sounding marginally affronted.

"You took on Viola's Vivillon with a Meditite, and won," said Grant. "Which, not gonna lie, was pretty impressive. But that made you cocky. I bet that, since you beat Viola with a massive type disadvantage, you expected that with type advantage, you could beat me without needing to train all that much. Heck, I'm even willing to bet that you just caught that Shellder to fill out your team, and maybe get a knockout, because you thought that your Meditite would be able to sweep my team by itself. Do I have that right?"

A long pause. "Yes," Marcus muttered.

"You're not the first Trainer that's done this," said Grant, "and you won't be the last. Please understand that I'm not trying to say you're incompetent. You're just overconfident, to the point of arrogance. And that's the real reason you want to train that Fearow; your pride and your arrogance prevent you from giving up on it, even though it would have killed you."

"How do you know all of this?" Marcus asked.

"Again, you're far from the first Trainer with this problem," said Grant. "Tell you what. Get some sleep. I've got a pretty open schedule tomorrow, so I'll meet you on the beach at 9:00 in the morning, and we can talk this out some more. Do me a favor, though: take some time to think. As a Gym Leader, not as an enemy, I really think you need to consider releasing that Fearow."

"Okay," said Marcus. "But...why help me?"

"Because most Trainers I see with this problem become dropouts," said Grant. "When I look at most of those Trainers, I see people who can't fathom that their perfect strategies could possibly fail them. But when I look at you, I see someone who is capable of change."

Grant stood up, gesturing for Archeops to follow him. "Now get some sleep. It's nearly nighttime."

It was obvious to Meditite that something was wrong the instant she materialized; she was back on the beach, with the sounds of crashing waves and calling Wingull and the feel of sand under her feet, but the atmosphere was filled with tension. The Gym Leader's Binacle and Amaura were clustered in a circle with a Tyrunt that must have been the Gym Leader's third Pokemon. A massive, multicolored bird as big as Kriesh stood nearby, one eye cast on the Fearow that was sitting awkwardly and trying not to look at anyone. Skorupi and Shellder were on either side of Meditite; all three of them had clearly been released at the same time, from the way both of them were blinking at the sudden light the same way Meditite was. Marcus and the Gym Leader he'd been fighting were already lowering themselves into a sitting position some distance away, clustering around some kind of device.

Shellder didn't seem to notice any of the tension. "Wow, that was cool!" he said. "Did you see how I Sonic Blasted that guy in the face? And then he threw me across the room! Wow! Battling is awesome! Why haven't I tried this before?"

Meditite shoved away the memories of Puffball the Furfrou and turned to face Skorupi. "What happened after I was out?"

"The Gym Leader recalled the ice dinosaur and sent in a rock dinosaur," Skorupi explained. "Big guy. Powerful. Nearly broke through mah armor. Then it used some move called Dragon Tail and ah was back in mah Pokeball. Still conscious, though. Must be some effect like Roar. Ah always wondered what Roar did to a trainer's Pokemon. Guess ah found out."

"And Roar switches in another Pokemon," Meditite realized, her heart dropping. She eyed Kriesh, now noticing the guilt on her face. "What did it do?"

"Ah don't know!" said Skorupi.

"What in Distortion did it do to him, Skorupi?" Meditite felt anger taking hold of her mind.

"Um, guys?" Shellder said. "Big bird?"

Meditite and Skorupi turned to see the multicolored bird was standing over them. "It attacked him."

"What?" Meditite asked.

"The Fearow attacked your Trainer," said the multicolored bird. "With intent to harm if not kill. I was forced to act to protect him."

White-hot fury sprang into Meditite's head. She rounded on Kriesh, instantly realizing that the Fearow had heard everything. "How could you?" she cried, clenching her fists in anger.

Kriesh turned her head away. "Just…" she whispered, "stop. Please."

"No!" Meditite shouted. "You listen to me! Marcus may not be a good Trainer, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be murdered!"

"Do you think I don't know that, Fighter?" Kriesh rounded on Meditite. "Do you think I don't regret every second of that decision? I…" Kriesh sighed. "I know you think I'm a monster now. I understand that. What I did-"

"What kind of Trainer did you have?"

"I'm sorry?" Kriesh asked.

"You talk and act as though you used to have a bad Trainer," said Meditite. "And you were willing to try and kill Marcus because he reminded you of that Trainer. Don't deny it, it's obvious. So what kind of Trainer would be monstrous enough to make you do that?"

Kriesh let out an explosive breath. "You really want to know, Fighter?" she asked. "You actually want to know why I hate your Trainer so much?"

"Yes," said Meditite, "I do."

"I'm going to regret this…" Kriesh dug her claws into the dirt. "But fine. Sit down. And I'll tell you about Evan."

"Papa?"

"Yes, Three?"

"Why did One and Two have to leave?" Three asked, casting a glance back at Four and Five as she did. The two younger Spearow were quarreling again, this time over who had taken whose sunny spot. One and Two had always been there to mediate, but now there was no one to settle the dispute, and so Four and Five continued to argue, their voices faintly carried by the wind.

Papa adjusted his footing. "Well, Three, you know Quinn, right?"

"Of course I know Quinn, Papa." How could Three forget the Bird Keeper who gave them their food, their home, had such a strong bond with Mama?

Papa sighed. "Quinn and Mama go away sometimes, don't they?"

Three nodded.

"Well, Quinn is Mama's Trainer," said Papa. "It means, in exchange for what Quinn does for us, Mama goes out with him and challenges other Trainers to battle with their Pokemon."

"Battle?" Three asked. "Does Mama get hurt?"

"Sometimes," said Papa. "But it's never for too long. Quinn makes sure of that. And Quinn's good enough that it's not often Mama gets too hurt."

"But why did One and Two leave?" Three pressed.

Another sigh came from Papa. "Well, Quinn wasn't always like he is," he said. "He was once as young as you are, with his own parents and his own flock. And when he grew old enough to become a Pokemon Trainer, his parents found a young Spearow lost in the forest. And they took her in and offered her a deal. In exchange for a loving home, kindness, all the food she could want, and friendship, she would become Quinn's Pokemon. That Spearow was Mama, Three, and she and Quinn went on a long journey together. Now, you know Jaya, of course."

"Of course, Papa!" Jaya was the other human that always came around, and she was never wanting for a kind word or a finger-rub on Three's left cheek.

"Well, in much the same way you're my daughter, Jaya is Quinn's," said Papa. "She had two older brothers as well. And when they left to go on their journeys, Quinn offered One and Two a chance to go with them, to see the world and meet other Pokemon."

"And that's what happened to them?" Three asked.

"Yes," said Papa. "Three, now's as good a time as any to tell you. Jaya will be going on her own journey soon. And she likes you."

"She'll want me to come with her?" Three asked excitedly.

"Almost certainly," said Papa warmly.

"Papa?"

"Hush, Three."

"What is that noise?"

"Hush, Three."

The sound of heavy boots came from outside, not Quinn's, and a human, clad in a sinister-looking black costume, poked his head around.

"Hey, Jones!" the man called. "Looks like our lucky day! One Fearow and three Spearow, and nobody's home but the girl!"

"Get off me!" That was Jaya's voice.

"Shut up, girlie," came another man's voice, and suddenly Jaya's voice was muffled. "We're not here for you. Just the Pokemon. Stay quiet, and you won't get hurt."

"Man, I thought Ariana was crazy when she said to go all the way to Kalos," said the first man. "But these guys over here are just easy pickings! Giovanni's gonna be so proud."

Papa's wings flared and he let out a challenging screech, stepping in front of Three, Four, and Five.

Two Pokemon suddenly appeared in front of Papa, a gigantic rat and what looked to be a floating purple ball with a face in a perpetual frown.

The rat looked up at the ball. "You give the speech this time."

The purple ball sighed. "Look, Team Rocket will make sure your children find Trainers that fit them," he said. "And you might even be given to one of the higher-ups. Their teams are really cool, you'll like them a lot."

Papa's voice was cold. "And what do those Trainers do?" he asked icily. "Break into people's houses and do this to them?"

"It's not so bad when you think about it," said the purple ball. "Many Trainers mistreat their Pokemon. Team Rocket doesn't do that. We make sure that all Pokemon have homes with our Trainers. And our goal is to ste - help out every Pokemon that needs it."

The slip of the tongue had not escaped Papa's notice. "Quinn and Jaya have never shown us anything but kindness," he said. "I don't want your help."

The rat let out a snarl. "You and your flock are coming with us whether you like it or not," he said. "We don't want to hurt any of you, but if you fight us, you'll have no choice. Do you really want your children to get hurt because of your arrogance? Hm?"

Papa's eyes narrowed. "Get. Out."

"Eh, your loss," said the rat. Then he raised his tail.

It was clearly some kind of signal to the Trainer. "Weezing, Poison Gas! Raticate, backup, Hyper Fang!"

"Choking Gas." The purple ball suddenly twisted, firing off a cloud of green-grey smog at Papa. Papa lunged sideways, away from the smog, and the rat lunged with a cry of "Hyper Fang!", its gigantic teeth glowing white.

"Sky Impact!" Papa twirled in midair and lunged, wings glowing brightly, and slammed into the rat, knocking it backwards.

"Weezing, Sludge Bomb!" cried the Trainer.

"Choking Sludge." The Weezing hurled more poison, this one purple and ball-shaped. Papa was struck on the wing and snarled in pain. The Raticate got to his feet and - "Quick Fang!" - charged so fast that the flailing Papa was struck head on and flew backwards.

"Papa!" Three shrieked.

Papa snarled in rage - "Earth Impact!" and lunged again, this time at the Weezing. The Raticate attempted to intercede, but a swift stab of Papa's beak sent it staggering.

"Explosive Gas."

Papa was streaking for the Weezing, and then all at once the Weezing exploded, hurling Papa backwards. The Raticate stumbled but kept its footing.

Papa landed with a nasty crunch and didn't get back up.

Three scrambled over, crying her Papa's name. Four and Five were clearly in shock and didn't move. Five burst into tears.

Papa wasn't moving, his beak spread out in a last silent battle cry, his wings and body limp.

"Crap," said the Trainer. "Jones, I think I killed the Fearow."

A renewed muffled shriek from Jaya's mouth. "Eh, it's fine," said the other man. "As long as we don't mention it to the boss, no one has to know."

The Raticate stood up. "You see what your father made us do?" he asked. "This could have all been avoided if he'd just been smart. But no. He's dead because of his own decision. Don't make the same mistake."

Three trembled in place, but didn't move a muscle as the Raticate's Trainer pulled out three Pokeballs and grinned.

"Congratulations to the Kalos branch of operations," said a red-haired female Trainer standing on a balcony, looking down upon the sea of Team Rocket Grunts. "They managed to steal fifty Pokemon, which should prove handy to replace our losses from the Mount Moon operation."

Three looked around with wide eyes, hoping desperately to see Four and Five in the pile of cages. But she was alone, with only the dim, terrified murmurs of the other imprisoned Pokemon for company, and wherever Four and Five were she could not see them.

The terrible scene continued; each Grunt, one at a time, headed to the pile of cages and chose one Pokemon for themselves. Little by little, they emptied out; the Grimer three cages down, the Mankey just above Three's cage, the Golbat that lay two cages below Three's, all disappeared one by one into Pokeballs.

"I'll take this one." Three looked up to see a red-haired Grunt eyeing her. "She looks fierce. Should be good."

In the next moment, the Grunt's Pokeball took her, and she was truly alone.

"Here's the thing," said the Grunt. "I'm Evan, and I'm your Trainer. Which means you do what I say. If you don't, Onyph here will have to make you, and neither of us want to do that."

The Drowzee nodded and smiled. There was no warmth in that gaze. Three nodded, still unable to stop herself from trembling.

"Oh, stop shivering," Evan ordered. "We're shipping out for our first assignment tomorrow. I expect you to be ready."

Three crashed to the ground, her body aching all over. She groaned, raising her head to see Onyph's form not moving, and the young Trainer's clearly exhausted Pidgey gasping with exertion.

"Get up!"

Three staggered to her feet, forcing herself to ignore the pain, and fixed her gaze on the Pidgey. The opposing Flying-type Pokemon twisted to face her. "You should have stayed down."

"I can't," Three muttered.

"Take it down! Peck!"

"Beak Impact!" Three pushed, lunging for the Pidgey, slamming into it with all her strength. The Pidgey finally collapsed, unable to resist the blow.

"No!"

The young Trainer's outburst wrenched at Three's heart.

Evan grinned. "Now," he said, "about that Pidgey…"

It hadn't been the first. Nor would it be the last.

Six months. Six long months of battling, stealing, and hurting.

She'd tried resisting at first, and learned that Onpyh was proficient in what Evan called 'mental alteration'. After three days of battling entirely under the Drowzee's control, helpless to stop her own body from hurting other Pokemon, she finally began fighting herself. At least that way she could pull her blows a little, ease the pain if only slightly.

"Good work, Spearow," Evan said with his accursed grin. "You've done just as well as I thought you would. Because of our success, I convinced Ariana to give you a gift."

He held up a blue, circular object that looked oddly tasty. "How would you like to become much stronger?"

Three glanced at it. It looked so good, much better than the dried, stale pellets she was usually fed. But becoming stronger would mean hurting Pokemon more.

"Eat," Evan ordered.

Three looked back at Onyph, who had opened one eye and was glaring lazily at Three.

Slowly, Three bent her head and gulped the object down.

It happened all at once. Her entire body screamed in protest as she seemed to double in size, her beak lengthening to a long, sharp point, her wings increasing width and length. She screeched in pain, and then it was done, and she gasped, looking down at Drowzee.

Down?

"Welcome to the team, Fearow," Evan said. "But now that you're a Fearow, I think you need a name. Something fierce, something that strikes fear into the hearts of anyone that hears it."

Evan put a hand to his chin. "I'll call you Kriesh," he said.

More Trainers came, fought, and lost. A girl with a Tentacool, a boy with a pair of bug-types, an old man's Growlithe that had been his companion for thirty years.

At some point, Evan gave her what he called a TM that allowed Kriesh to use a move called Hyper Beam. More often than not, it would end battles in one shot.

Kriesh hated it. But she knew if she disobeyed, Onyph, who had just evolved into Hypno, would force her to. And so she did.

And then had come the day where everything changed.

It started as routine; Evan strolling into the hideout, Kriesh and Onyph in their balls, carrying a Bulbasaur that they'd taken from a just-starting Trainer. By now, Kriesh was quite good at blocking out their reactions, but even so, the Trainer's tears as she ran away stuck within her mind.

"Check it out!" Evan cried. "I got a Starter!"

There were impressed whistles from the half-dozen Grunts around.

"Good work." That was Ariana, the Admin in charge of this Team Rocket branch. "Keep this up and you'll make Executive within a month."

Evan grinned at the praise. "Thank you, Admin Ariana!"

"Now," said Ariana, turning to the rest of the room, "I know that there are rumors that Team Rocket is falling. That for the last several years, a single boy has been rampaging through our bases, defeating all in his path. Those are just rumors. There is no such thing as Red. A boy defeating our Leader, Giovanni, three times by himself? Preposterous."

Murmurs of agreement came from the Grunts.

"We will proceed with the Evolution System," said Ariana. "As you all know, we tested a prototype in Johto, which gained favorable results before former Champion Lance destabilized our operation there. Evan, your latest capture will be the first test subject. With any luck, we'll have a Venusaur ready to sell within the hour."

Kriesh forced her attention away, not wanting to hear any more of the Admin's speech. And so, while everybody else was focused on Ariana, she was the only one that heard the faint sound of an explosion.

She strained her ears, but picked nothing more up.

"-and in other news," Ariana continued, "we're sending an operation to Galar for…what is that racket?"

The Grunts turned. Kriesh, watching from within the Pokeball, saw a single Pokemon come skidding around the corner.

It was small, yellow, spurting electricity everywhere, and glowering at the room.

A Pikachu.

Kriesh felt a measure of pity for the small, wayward yellow mouse Pokemon. And then she saw that for some reason, every single Grunt in the room was staring at the Pikachu as if it were their worst nightmare.

"Could it be?" "It's the Pikachu!" "He's here!" "I thought he wasn't real!"

Ariana sent out all six of her Pokemon. This served as a trigger; Kriesh found herself being released along with the rest of the Grunts' Pokemon.

Twenty-two Pokemon in all, most of them evolved, against a single Pikachu.

The Pikachu smirked. "All this for me?"

The Grunts all stiffened as a Trainer stepped around the corner. The Trainer was dark-haired, wearing blue jeans, a red jacket, and a bright red cap. His face betrayed no emotion, but his clenched fists gave away his anger. His brown eyes glared around the room.

Ariana glowered. "I don't care how many of us you've taken down, Red," she said, her voice devoid of anything but anger. "But your little crusade ends here."

Red cocked his head slightly. Then five more Pokeballs opened at his waist at their own accord, revealing an Espeon, a Snorlax, a Venusaur, a Blastoise, and a Charizard to stand alongside the Pikachu.

Red slowly raised a single hand and pointed at Ariana.

At that signal, Espeon closed its eyes. "Psychic Conquest." The red gem on its forehead emitted a wave of Psychic energy that struck Kriesh hard enough to stagger. She heard screaming and glanced around to see every Poison-type Pokemon that the Grunts had - two Arbok, two Muk, and a Weezing - collapse, howling in pain, and even Ariana's Vileplume and Arbok flinched, snarling in agony. Every other Team Rocket Pokemon in the room stumbled under the blow, even Ariana's Honchkrow and Weavile, which from what Kriesh knew about type matchups shouldn't even have been affected.

"Light Ball: Electrical Discharge!" The Pikachu leaped into the air. Now Kriesh saw a small spherical object, looking not unlike the thing that had made her evolve, clutched in one paw. It rippled with power, and a positively ludicrous amount of Electric energy lashed out in all directions.

"Block it with Drill Run!" Evan cried. Kriesh poured Ground energy into her beak as a bolt of lightning arced towards her. It dissipated against her beak, but other Pokemon weren't so lucky; many fell, some knocked out and others paralyzed, and Ariana's Honchkrow plunged to the ground, completely out cold.

In two moves, the number of Team Rocket Pokemon in the room had been reduced by half.

Ariana scowled. "Attack!"

Her remaining team surged forwards. The Vileplume and Arbok spat globs of poison at the Pikachu; the Weavile lunged for the Espeon, claws glowing with Dark-type energy; the Raticate charged the Snorlax, teeth glowing in readiness for a brutal bite; the Lickilicky hung back, tossing an Ice Beam at the Venusaur.

But none of the attacks landed.

"Iron Tail!" The Pikachu twisted, tail glowing with Steel energy, and batted the Poison attacks away.

"Aura Blast." The Espeon tossed a burst of energy Kriesh didn't even recognize at the Weavile, sending it flying backwards, unconscious.

"Uuuuuugggghhhhh." The Snorlax casually stomped one foot on the ground. In an instant, the Espeon twisted, throwing up psychic barriers that shielded the rest of Red's team from the powerful Earthquake that ripped through the ground. The Raticate's foot caught in one of the newly created cracks in the floor and it stumbled.

"Blaze Blast!"

"Torrent Blast!"

The Blastoise and Charizard fired off streams of Water and Fire energy at the same time. The Blaze Blast intercepted the Lickilicky's Ice Beam in midair, melting it and continuing on to burst against the hideout's roof. The Torrent Blast struck the downed Raticate, knocking it unconscious as well.

Hope, for the first time in six months, flared in Kriesh's heart. More than half of Team Rocket's Pokemon were down, including half of Ariana's team, and none of Red's team had even taken any damage.

"Hyper Beam!" Evan commanded Kriesh. Kriesh hesitated, and Evan saw the hesitation for what it truly was. "Onyph!" he commanded, and at once Kriesh felt the Hypno's presence seep into her mind.

Onyph opened Kriesh's beak and fired a Hyper Beam straight at the Espeon.

Espeon raised another psychic barrier; much to Kriesh's relief, the barrier blocked the Hyper Beam completely and sent it flying uselessly into a wall. The rest of the Team Rocket Pokemon finally surged into action, firing Poison and Normal attacks at various members of Red's team.

"Venusaur, you're up!" Pikachu cried.

"On it." Red's Venusaur stomped on the ground in a manner just like Snorlax. "Overgrow: Unyielding Forest."

Before Kriesh's eyes, a barrier of thorny vines burst from the floor, forming a solid wall before the barrage of attacks. The attacks clearly damaged it, but even as vines withered under poison or simply broke under powerful Normal attacks, more vines grew to take their place.

"Overgrow: Frenzy Plant."

The vines lashed out, half a dozen massive plants lunging for the Pokemon that were still up. Onyph cried out in alarm as one of them wrapped around his waist and bore him struggling into the air. Kriesh felt her mind come back to her; she looked around, watching in wonder as the vines began crushing the Team Rocket Pokemon.

Kriesh, another Grunt's Raticate, and Ariana's Arbok, Vileplume, and Lickilicky were the only Team Rocket Pokemon still up. Ariana scowled. "Lickilicky, Flamethrower and Ice Beam! Don't let up!"

Lickilicky clenched its fists and fired off the attacks. Two of the vines broke, one burnt to a crisp and one frozen solid, releasing a Sandslash and Onyph.

Then Pikachu lunged over the top of the wall. "Let's do this! Light Ball: Thunderous Blast!"

A single bolt of Electric energy, grossly oversized, slammed into Ariana's Lickilicky. The Lickilicky howled as it collapsed, driven to unconsciousness.

Ariana's face twisted into shock. "Retreat!" she ordered. "Let's get out of here! Arbok, cover me!"

The Rocket Admin turned and ran, Evan and the rest of the Grunts following her. Ariana's Vileplume disappeared from the field; the Grunts didn't even bother recalling their Pokemon, clearly more concerned with getting out as fast as possible. Kriesh was only vaguely aware of the Pikachu slamming the Sandslash over the head with Iron Tail even as it pumped more electricity into the Raticate. For she beheld Onyph, stumbling to his feet.

"Sky Impact!" Kriesh lunged for Onyph, slamming into the Hypno's stomach and ramming him into the barrier of vines. Onyph howled as the thorns dug into his back. "How dare you?" the Hypno cried.

"This," Kriesh snarled, "is for six months of being forced to be a monster. Beam Impact."

Onyph screamed as the point-blank Hyper Beam slammed into him and sent him right through the vines. His body flew ungainly straight into the Snorlax.

"Huuuuuuuhhhh?" The Snorlax picked up Onyph's body inquisitively.

"Well, that one's new."

Kriesh turned to see the Pikachu, the smoking bodies of the remaining Team Rocket Pokemon twitching on the floor behind him.

"Let me guess." The Pikachu frowned. "You were stolen and forced to become one of their Pokemon?"

"Yeah," said Kriesh.

"Where are you from?"

"Kalos," Kriesh answered.

"That far?" Pikachu asked. "Wow, that's quite a long ways away. I'd say welcome to Kanto…but I think our time would be better served getting out of here, wouldn't you say?"

Kriesh nodded her agreement.

The next few days passed in a blur. Red absconded with his team as if he'd never been there, leaving Kriesh with a group of locals who at once began making preparations to take her back home. Eventually, teleportation with a friendly Alakazam was arranged, and ten gut-churning seconds later, Kriesh was standing outside Quinn's house.

"Good luck," the Alakazam droned, and then with a flash it was gone.

Kriesh turned to the house. "Quinn?" she called as soon as the Alakazam disappeared. "Mama?"

There was no answer to the first word. But on the second, she beheld a lithe, brown body slip over the edge of the roof.

Mama looked down upon Kriesh, her eyes wide. "Three?"

"I'm home, Mama," said Kriesh, smiling for the first time in six months.

The house had changed dramatically. Jaya had begun her journey two months ago. Quinn had left for Unova to help out with something known as the 'Plasma Crisis', working with a Gym Leader named Skyla. Another Fearow had come, charmed Mama into leaving Quinn to stay with him, birthed a flock with her, and then left, leaving Mama with seven chicks to feed.

And Mama was dying.

"I'm old," Mama explained. "Far too old to take care of a flock. It's…it's my fault. I shouldn't have-"

"Mama," said Kriesh, "you don't need to worry. I'll take care of the flock."

Mama sighed. "Three…" she whispered, "I can't put that on you. It's not your flock."

"It's what I want, Mama," said Kriesh. "I just…I just want to settle down. Raise the flock. Have no more adventures."

Mama began to cry. Kriesh put a comforting wing on Mama's back and steadied her.

"I love you, Three."

"I love you too, Mama."

"Mama died two weeks later," Kriesh finished. "And I took care of the flock for a year. It…it was hard. But they were worth it. They were too young to remember Mama, so I became their mother, and…" Kriesh sighed. "Two days ago, they went out on some kind of dare, and I followed them, heard them start to scream…and I guess that's where you came in."

Meditite bowed her head. "If I'd known…"

"You didn't," said Kriesh. "It's not your fault, Fighter. It's your Trainer's."

"He didn't know either," said Meditite.

"I know," Kriesh murmured. She let out a soft laugh, one filled with sadness. "And yet I would have killed him. I've become just the Pokemon Evan wanted-"

"Don't say that," Meditite ordered. "Look. Just…stay here, okay?"

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Meditite sighed. "We'll talk about it later."

Kriesh made no more motion as Meditite turned and walked over to Marcus.

"Marcus, I know you probably don't understand me," she said. "But Kriesh...Fearow...she needs to be returned to her flock. I'm not blaming you entirely, but you did take her from her nest."

Marcus cocked his head, his expression twisted in incomprehension.

Meditite sighed. "You," she indicated Marcus with one hand, "need to take Kriesh," she pointed to the Fearow, "back to her flock." She pointed past Marcus, towards the forests visible beyond the hills they stood upon.

Marcus seemed to mull it over. "You want me to bring her over to look at it?" he asked.

Meditite sighed and shook her head, pointing more fervently to the forests.

"No, not look at the forest. Go into the forest?" Then his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh."

Despite Meditite's joy that she'd gotten Marcus to understand a basic form of what she wanted to communicate, she still felt somewhat hollow at the surprisingly unenthusiastic response.

"You know, Meditite," said Marcus, sitting down cross-legged, "it just doesn't feel right. I mean, she did try to kill me. And I should feel so much more terrified. By all rights I should already have released her. But...if I give up now, what kind of poor Trainer would I be? A Trainer who can't even control his own Pokemon? I don't want to become that. I...I have to believe that I can control Fearow."

A disgusted sigh alerted both Meditite and Marcus to Kriesh's presence. "You see, Fighter?" the Fearow growled. "He doesn't care."

"I care," said Meditite. With that, she turned back to Marcus. Shook her head. Pointed more fervently to Kriesh. Pointed at Marcus, lifted her hand, and drew it across her neck.

"I know," said Marcus. "But-"

Meditite shook her head again. She pointed to herself, then moved in front of Marcus as if protectively.

Marcus sighed, shaking his own head. "I know you're trying to protect me," he said, though it was clear doubt was crossing his gaze. "I'm confident that I can handle Fearow."

Meditite looked around exasperatedly. She saw Kriesh with head lowered, saw Skorupi and Shellder watching the exchange, saw Grant, watching Marcus carefully but betraying no emotion. Then she looked back to Marcus, who seemed to be muttering to himself.

"Confident...overconfident..."

Meditite turned her head away. "Why am I even trying?" she asked herself. "Why am I still trying to fool myself?" She looked up at Archeops. "Kriesh is right. I can't just keep ignoring the facts. Marcus took me from my home, my friends, my life. And I thought he might be a good enough Trainer that I could forgive that. But I can't." Remembering Kriesh's advice, she continued. "Archeops, do you know a Psychic Pokemon that can get into contact with Grant, tell him-"

"All right."

Meditite stopped short and looked back at Marcus. So did everyone else.

"You want to go home, don't you?" Marcus asked Kriesh. "Well, come on then. It's not a short journey, and I'd like to be done before nightfall."

Kriesh looked positively staggered as Marcus turned his head towards the rest of his Pokemon. "Come on, guys. Back in the Pokeballs."

Shellder and Skorupi had been watching the entire exchange mutely, but at Marcus's words they relaxed and allowed the beams to consume them. Meditite followed, the rest of her words having disappeared with Marcus's proclamation.

And so Kriesh was left alone with Marcus, Grant, and the Gym Leader's Archeops. The multicolored bird was standing ready, its gaze locked on Kriesh. Kriesh snorted, but she knew from their bout that Archeops could and would take her down. The multicolored flier was far too strong for her.

Grant, meanwhile, was smiling.

Marcus turned to Grant. "Thanks," he said. "For the advice, and..."

"No problem," said Grant. "Archeops will stick with you until the Fearow's back where it belongs. I've got to go back to Cyllage. Something about some group of Trainers calling themselves 'Team Flare'." He grinned. "Don't hurt Archeops too much. He's a gift, you see. And Skyla will freak if Archeops gets injured."

"I'll try not to," said Marcus. "See you for the rematch."

Grant chuckled. "See you too."

Marcus turned and began to walk towards the forest. Kriesh followed, and for the first time since her capture, as she stared at Marcus's back, she felt something other than hatred and sorrow cross her mind.