“What is wrong with you?!” Brass shrieked, waving his arms at Galvin, who stared back him with a rather bored expression. “You lectured me about this nearly a month ago! And yet, here you are doing the same exact thing, you can’t play the hero either!”

“I realize this.” Galvin dully noted. In retrospect sneaking into the base of a crime syndicate was a dumb idea, this could very well be his punishment for his stupidity. He let Brass continue his rant until the heart monitor screamed a flat line beat making Brass jump. Galvin rolled his eyes and pounded on his chest to get the machine to stop finding that didn’t stop he called for a nurse.

The woman sighed, unhooking Galvin from the machine and roll it out. Brass watched the nurse wheel in a new detector, hook him up and leave the room.

“W…what just happened?” Galvin shrugged.

“They just have shoty hospital equipment for some rather rich city. That was the sixth monitor they gave me, they’ve all been acting up, kinda makes me worry about everyone whose native to the city.”

“Y-yeah… I don’t want to stay in a hospital with equipment that acts up….”

“Where’s Steel? Hopefully not crying…”

“She doesn’t know you’re here.”

“She doesn’t?”

“Nope. She was out when Nurse Joy reported the call to me.”

“Well, I’m not as banged up as you were so she probably wouldn’t cry anyway, or that much.” Brass responded with a slap to Galvin’s chest, unfortunately this was an injured area, making him wince.

Steel let out a content sigh as she pulled the hot ceramic cup from her lips. The Eevee in her lap sighed contently with her and the rest of her Pokémon, even Seaa who was in a fish bowl on the table, who were lying around. The old woman across from her chuckled.

“It’s so nice to have a guest and one that is so fond of my tea.” Steel smiled. She couldn’t help it, she really had no business being in the apartments but when she heard someone talk about how they had tea with an old lady she had to try it out.

“I love all kinds of tea,” Steel admitted “you really know how to make a cup that can hit the spot!”

“Oh ho ho ho,” the woman chuckled “you’re just trying to sweet talk me to get yourself some more missy.”

“Not really….” She stretched her cup across the table. “But I would like more please!”

“Of course dearie.” Was the woman’s reply as she poured more into Steel’s cup. Steel finished it off in no time; she glanced to a clock on the wall and gasped. It was nearly two pm! Wow, time flew by so fast. Steel jumped to her feet, startling her Pokémon out of their calm vibe. “Something wrong dearie?”

“Aaaaah, I was out for so long my friends must be worried!” Suddenly the kettle began to wail. Steel faced it with absolute horror. “Oh no! Now all that perfectly good tea will go to waste! That’s just terrible!”

“Why don’t I pack it up in a thermos for you and you take it with you since you just love it so much.” Steel cracked a smile.

“Really? That would be so nice of you!” The elderly woman shuffled to the kitchen, her aged Glaceon following behind her. Steel returned her pokemon to their pokeballs although as she did so she did it with a frown. Leaving now meant she probably wouldn’t see that cute baby Eevee for a long time to come.

Man that thing was adorable.

Steel had to wince at the big adorable but heartbreaking eyes the fox was giving her. Sure it was cute and she did want to take the little critter with her but the problem that stood was that it just wasn’t her Pokémon to take! It was the kind old lady’s. She could steal it, which was wrong! Just as wrong as Team Rocket or Team Rune stealing it!

But oh Arceus, those eyes.

To save her from her evil thoughts the old woman waddled back into the room with a thermos. The design made Steel squeal, baby blue with a shell and bubble design. It was like the old lady knew she loved water Pokémon! Steel gladly accepted the metal cylinder just as the Eevee rubbed against her leg and all those evil thoughts returned in a heartbeat. Steel cursed at the Eevee.

“I can’t take you, I’m not your trainer! It would be wrong to take you.”

“Would you like little Star then?”

“What…?”

“Would you like to take him with you?” Steel blinked. Wait… what?! This old lady was willing to give up a rare Pokémon to her?! This must be some dream! “Star is so young, he only hatched a few months ago, and he must be so sad trapped in this apartment. There’s so little he can do while here, why, he can’t run or jump without knocking things over and I’m sure he wants to participate in battles but me and Glaceon are too old for that. I think he’s better fit to go out with you, a nice young and energetic young lady, what hat do you say? Take Star with you?”

Steel looked to the Eevee and back to the old woman. She found herself smiling as she took him into her arms.

“Don’t you worry! I’ll take care of Star! I’ll make him the best Eevee ever!”

“That’s wonderful, now take care dearie.” Steel waved a goodbye to the old lady and bolted down the halls with glee. She couldn’t wait to show Star to Galvin and Brass!

“Why do you guys keep going to the hospital! Geez!”

It wasn’t really the greatest way to greet her friends but it was something she wanted to know. Brass and Galvin returned her questioning look with ones of unamusement.

“You have no reason to ask that, Brass went twice and you yourself went once.” Galvin sighed.

“Well, why are you here now?”

“I fell down some stairs while focusing on my book.” Galvin lied. Brass looked at him like he was crazy. Steel simply sighed and shook her head.

“This is why I tell you not to read while walking! It’s just not safe! You’re very lucky you didn’t break any bones or your neck!”

“Yes, yes, I know Steel.”

“That’s what you said last time and now look at you! You’re in the hospital, oh Daisy won’t like this at all!”

“Don’t tell her.” Was Galvin’s deadpan response. “I don’t need three, or even four, lectures in one day about reading and walking at the same time.” Steel puffed up her cheeks but then smiled.

“What’s with the smile…?”

“I got a brand new teammate! So quiver in his wake! The one and only Star!” Steel threw her Eevee’s pokeball, the fox cried out in glee. He whipped his head around looking for his opponent, ready to battle to only find there wasn’t any one to fight. Steel lifted him up and placed him on Galvin’s bed. The two boys stared at it in wonder and with impeccable timing the heart detector did another flat line beep. Steel recoiled in horror.

“Oh no! Star was too much for Galvin, he’s entered cardiac arrest!” Galvin shook his head.

“It’s been like that all day.” He grumbled calling for the nurse again for the seventh time in the last twenty-four hours. “But, an Eevee? Where did you get him from?”

“A nice old lady I was drinking tea with all day.” Steel grinned

“I got Lanna from a little girl who was watching her grandpa’s house.” Brass decided to chime in, since he never did tell them where he got Lanna from anyway.

“How come you two are given rare Pokémon while I gotta be the one on my knees searching for them?” Galvin glared. They both shrugged. Brass turned to Steel and dragged her to the chair next to Glavin’s bedside.

“I’m going to the gym, why don’t you keep him some company now?”

“Okay.” She smiled, taking a seat next to Galvin’s bedside and Star decided to bat at Steel’s hair.

“You know you have a pervert in front of you Gym right?” Brass asked pushing garlands of roses and other flowers out of his face. The woman sitting on her knees in the grass smiled. He blinked. She was dressed rather fancy compared to the other gym leaders he’s seen so far. She looked as if she was in her early twenties, dressed in an elegant yellow-brown furisode with an orange-red maple leaf print lining the bottom half and accompanied with a red obi that was drawn tightly between her waist and bust.

“Yes, we have him under control so none of our visitors have anything to worry about.” She carefully got to her feet, probably to make sure not to step onto the long swinging sleeves of her furisode. Her wooden sandals barely made sounds as she walked closer to Brass.

“You’re here for a badge right?”

“Yeah…”

“Wonderful, now let us begin!” Erika quickly pulled out a pokeball from her sleeves and threw it down on the grass. “Come out Tangela!” from the light a mass of light blue vines curled into an untidy ball with what appeared to be red shoes attached to it took field. Brass grinned, this would be too easy.

Flamin’ Billy took the his place on field and without waiting for instructions he ran up to the walking vine ball and spewed fire. Although hit the Tangela was not going down.

“Although you are using fire, rest assured we will not go down easily!” the Gym leader pointed to her target and commanded a sleeping powder. Tangela shook it’s body around making a green dust fly towards Flamin’ Billy, the salamander yawned with droopy eyes.

“H-hey! Don’t fall asleep on me Billy!” regardless of its trainer’s words the pokémon was out like a light, curled up on the grassy battle field. Erika smiled oh so kindly.

“Now, ancient power!” the Tangela’s eyes suddenly glowed blue, hunks of compressed dirt and grass ripped from the ground and propelled itself to Flamin’ Billy. Brass cringed at the impact, even more so as his pokemon wasn’t waking up at all. Erika giggled lightly. Commanding the attack once more, after watching his pokemon get pelted again Brass pulled and awaking from his bag and threw it at Flamin’ Billy’s head, the spray bottle of blue liquid rolled to Erika’s feet. She blinked.

Well, it wasn’t the proper way to use the healing elixir, but it worked.

Flamin’ Billy looked up and blinked. It took the pokemon a few seconds to realize it had fallen asleep mid-battle, embarrassed it hopped into a battle stance. Brass hasn’t noticed that a crowd had gathered until one of the girls questioned the validity of his actions.

“Well, healing items are allowed, but the official rules never did specify how it may be used. So I suppose throwing an awaking counts if it awakens the Pokémon.”

Flamin’ Billy looked at Brass like he was an idiot. He seriously threw something at him when he was sleeping? How the hell did that even begin to look like a good idea? Brass laughed nervously and commanded an ember, Billy complied but not before shooting flames at Brass’s feet. The salamander pounced it’s pray and shot flames at point blank range. The Tangela toppled over, unconscious. Brass smiled proudly.

“Oh come now, the war isn’t over.” Erika smiled, returning her Pokémon. “Not until my sweet Vileplume brings the end of you!” Brass cringed at the over powering smell this Pokémon had. Oh sure it looked innocent, a small dark blue body with a flower attached to its head, but it gave of this over powering odor that smelled like rotting flesh.

Why would you want such an awful smelling Pokémon on your team?!

Oh man he would have to finish this battle before he barfed.

“Alright! Flamin’ Billy, attack it with Ember!” The orange Pokemon ran forth, fire filling up its mouth. When it got close enough, it launched several small balls of fire at the dual type. The flower Pokemon jumped to the side, managing to dodge most. One fireball grazed its arm and caused it to squeak with pain.

“Vileplume, Stun Spore, let’s go!” Vileplume’s flower shook, and the middle contracted. A second later, yellow spores blasted out, showering the Charmeleon in the golden colored toxins. His movements slowed to a halt and its eyes widened in fear. “Alright. Mega Drain, Vileplume!” The middle of the flower contracted once more, and then shot out a seed. It slammed into the orange Pokemon’s head, and opened up, releasing thick vines covered in thorns that spread out over Flamin’ Billy’s body. One vine still connected the seed to the Poison and Grass type, letting it slowly absorb energy from the salamander.

After a moment, the burn mark on Vileplume’s arm disappeared, and it looked as good as new. Charmeleon stumbled back, the vines slowly dying and falling off. The Fire type breathed heavily. Brass fidgeted a bit, worried for his Pokemon. “Okay! Smokescreen!” Flamin’ Billy’s stomach tightened and his mouth suddenly started pouring out smoke. After letting it build up he pushed it out, filling the entire room with blackness. “Awesome! Now! Metal Claw!” The Charmeleon dashed forward, knowing exactly how to navigate to get to Vileplume, and slashed with its claws.

The Grass type squealed, and stumbled back as Charmeleon followed it and continued slashing with its claws. “Vileplume, Sweet Scent!” Before Flamin’ Billy could land another hit, its movements slowed down as, instead of the horrid smell that had been assaulting his nose before, a sweeter smell came over him. “Now! Sleep Powder, once more!” The middle of the plant contracted, and shot out green spores, that attached themselves to the salamander. The Pokemon’s eyes drooped, and it fell to the ground, snoring loudly.

“Use Acid!” The Vileplume spun on its feet, and a purple ooze gushed from the center of its plant, hitting Charmeleon on the stomach. On impact, a loud sizzling sound was heard and Charmeleon immediately leapt to its feet, growling in pain. Vileplume leapt forward, tackling into the orange Pokemon. More sizzling was heard as the poison remnants made contact with skin. Flamin’ Billy yelped, and scrambled backwards.

“Flamin’ Billy! Dragon Rage!” At that, a sparking was heard, and in the smoke a red light could be seen. Giving a roar, the salamander leapt at Erika’s Pokemon and sank its teeth into the plant. Then, it started ripping at the Poison type with its claws, kicking with its feet at well. Vileplume screeched, swatting at Charmeleon to no avail. At one point, the red light dimmed, and then got brighter, sending out a shock wave. The blast knocked Vileplume down, and Charmeleon jumped off it.

“Finish it! Ember!” Brass called out. Flamin’ Billy launched a volley of fireballs at the downed Pokemon. It gave a final squeak before falling silent. After a minute, Brass realized he had won and proceeded to flop over. Erika blinked.

“Oh dear, this will never do…”

While these events occurred, in a nearby region a young boy was about to receive a well awaited gift from his pen pal. Well, soon he would that is. In this small homely town a young bucktooth girl approached a house with a bag strapped to her back. She reached a two floor house and checked the number of the house with the number on a slip of paper in her hands. Finding that it was a match she smiled, hopping off the Miltank she was riding on, handed her bag to the pokemon and knocked on the door. She didn’t even have to wait a minute before she was greeted by a pretty young woman.

“Yes’em and hello ma’am,” the young blond greeted in a Sothern accent when the door opened up. The woman blinked, this little girl had to be no older than her sons and they were nine years old. “I’m a representative of Miller Ranch and I am here to deliver the goods yew ordered.” The young girl glanced back to her Miltank,who offered her bag back to her. The girl quickly reached into it and pulled out a bag of fresh and ripe red and green apples. The woman smiled and accepted the fruits.

“Why thank you. You know, you’re quite young how did you get a job as a representative?”

“By bein’ a member of the family.” The girl dug around some more in the bag strapped to the cow pokémon. Finding a pile of letters she handed those to the woman and smiled a bucktooth grin. “Goodbye ma’am, please enjoy yer apples and we hope that yew make further purchases with Miller Ranch.” The cow pokémon got back on all fours, the little girl hopped on and the two departed for home.

The woman closed the door with a smile. She sifted through the letters when she came across a familiar handwriting. The writing of that one girl that wrote to her boy…

“Simon! There’s a letter here for you!” seconds later she could hear the boy’s footsteps as he sprinted from his room and down the stairs. He stumbled down the steps to excitedly grab the letter from his mother.

“Thanks mom!” he shouted as he sprinted back upstairs. The woman took a seat on the couch, taking a sip from her mug of hot coffee, and flipped through the mail once more looking for this month’s bills. As for her sweet child he excitedly read his letter with the tail of his partner pokémon, a Sentret, wrapped around his neck. Once he finished it a frown he was about to place it back in the envelope when he found a boat ticket inside.

A grin crossed his face. With this he could visit Steel!

“Moooom!” he called, running down the stairs. The boy’s mother looked to the stairs as her child bounded over to her with something in hand. She took the item from his hands that were in her face. “She sent me a ticket! She wants to meet me!” the woman glanced over the ticket, flipping it back and forth. It looked legit but she wasn’t so sure about sending her son overseas to another region.

“Kanto is far away,”

Not really.

“I’ll have to think about this dear.” The boy pouted as she ruffled his black locks. Regardless of the distance she couldn’t help but worry a little, her boy was nine years old and to go to Kanto at that age, alone none the less, didn’t come off as an appealing idea but she could always look into this pen pal of his…

“I did it you guys…” Brass said shakily as he approached Galvin’s bedside with Erika behind him with a thermos in her hands. Galvin raised a brow at his friend. He looked like he was about to puke and his knees were shaking. Steel blinked.

“Brass… what’s wrong?”

“I got my badge….”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re gonna puke,” Galvin grunted

“I’m not going to puke…”

“Your face says otherwise.” A moment of silence passed. Erika smiled and handed over the thermos to Brass’s friends along with his gym badge.

“Just give him some herb tea and he’ll be fi-” Erika stopped mid-sentence, a hand on her cheek with a grim face as Brass suddenly vomited, lucky for everyone Steel grabbed a trash can when Galvin mentioned puke and held it close to her friend’s face for him to throw up. “My… he’s a sensitive one, I’m surprised he didn’t faint until after the final blow in our battle.”

“…Yeah… Thanks Erika…” she waved.

“Well, I best get going. Take care, especially you Brass.” she turned to Brass and rubbed his backside for a minute of two before departing.

“Gee, what a nice lady.” Steel smiled fondly as Brass puked once more. Galvin cringed at the sounds.