The Goldenrod skyline at night is like no other city in Johto- where the rest of the region is subdued color and timeworn shrines, Goldenrod City is nothing but light and energy. In the streets, a plethora of people move about, chatting idly about who knows what (probably the latest trends or something equally vapid). Of course, I know how to maneuver through them now, but I usually looked for the best way to get around people the first time I did this. Making my way through the masses of human beings is somewhat cumbersome but I whisper a few "sorry"s beneath my breath and dash on past.

Eventually, I burst into the flower shop. Luckily, it appears all of my Pokemon are still right behind me, including Rose, who chirps happily from her new tote. I feel myself lighten up with her as I step in- the entire shop smells like flowers and springtime. Several hanging baskets adorn the ceilings, and not a single square inch of space has gone to waste. There's hardly room to fit through between the extravagant displays.

I look towards the counter only to find it empty. "Hello?"

An Oddish pops up to the stand. "We gotta 'nother one!" it calls, and a woman, possibly alerted by its cry, runs in from the back room.

"Oh! Hello! I'm so sorry! We were just about to pack up for today. Rutabaga, you weren't giving our guests any trouble, were you?"

The Oddish shakes its head with a small smile, its red eyes fixed on the woman above me. She's quite attractive, her blond hair tied back in a ponytail and her hands neatly slipped into gardening gloves.

"I just need some pots and one of those watering can... things."

"Hey, Annie? We have some guests looking for the Squirtbottles." she calls to the back.

"On it!" calls who I can only assume must be Annie, walking into the room with a huge crate from storage. Heaven knows how she's able to lift it all, but she drops it to the ground with a thud and wipes her hands off. "Thanks, Evelyn." She turns to me with a satisfied smile. "You're up late." Noticing my confusion she adds, "Let me get one of those out for you. Squirtbottles are about 1000P if you're interested."

"It's been a long day." I admit as she hands me a Squirtle-themed watering can. "Tough week, actually."

"And here are your pots!" Evelyn gives me several plant pots, each of them with a large dome with a single hole overhead so that the plant is properly protected. They're surprisingly small, and upon picking them up I see that they're so light that it barely feels like holding anything at all.

I unscrew one of the lids and then place the pot back on the table.

"There you go, Fabian." Reginae carefully places his own plant inside the pot with his mouth and then futilely attempts to lift the more circular pot off the table.

"Fabian?" asks the Oddish. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Shut up." Reginae tries to lift it in his mouth and the pot, which has a somewhat circular bottom, spins away. Luckily for us, it doesn't fall off the table, and I pick it up immediately, screw the lid back on, and place it in the bag. I take out a large sum of P next and place it on the table. "That should cover it, right?"

Annie nods, then adds, "Wait, I recognize you. Aren't you the one who defeated Whitney the other day?"

I nod shyly.

She pushes the money back. "Here, you can have these on the house."

"Oh- uh..." I withdraw the cash and deposit back in the bag. "Thank you so much."

"No problem. Evelyn and I have both lost to her. She killed my Dratini, actually... Don't listen to anything people tell you about her. Her Miltank is savage and she's a huge bitch."

"I know, right?!" I say. "Well, I should get going. Thank you... and I'm sorry."

With that, I shut the door, Reginae sniffing at my bag and Ten waving to the ladies behind the door.

"Reginae, you need to chill." I move my bag away swiftly and he frowns, rearing back as he attempts to cover up for the behavior.

"Oh yeah! Uh... sorry. I was just- I thought I smelled food. Aren't you all hungry?" he asks. The rest of the team looks at each other but no one seems terribly interested in getting a bit to eat.

"I say we get to Ecruteak before morning." I clench my hand into a fist and slam it against the other before setting my sights on the cute little gateways they have between routes.

"We'll be up all night! There are a thousand trainers on the route between Goldenrod and Ecruteak." Luna objects.

"There are?" I ask, moving through the gate, "Thank goodness we've already beaten them. First one to Ecruteak gets to sleep on the sofa in the hotel room!"

"No one's stupid enough to sprint from here to Ecruteak!" Reginae snorts.

Luna dashes by, her stubby legs clearly no hindrance to brute determination. "No one's stupid enough to pass up a spot on the couch, either. You coming, plant boy?"

"Plant boy?!" Reginae's nostrils flare outwards.

"I'm going to end up you Slowpoke too, aren't I? After all, the speed stat fits!" Luna stops to call out to him before jumping in the water and swimming her way around the massive fork in the road where a small lake lies.

Reginae, although klutzy as a Spinda on eggnog, runs steadily after her. Rose is already toddling along after Luna and Ten is bringing up the rear with her. I just walk along, whistling the theme to My Little Ponyta to myself and enjoying the chaos. The grass is long and the trainers flash me friendly smiles. Someone whispers 'Whitney' and I know my reputation precedes me. Then again, what's wrong with that? if I'm going to be known for anything, beating Whitney's Miltank would definitely be up there among the better things.

Passing another gate, I move swiftly past several people who are probably selling something and into the night, the sky fully illuminated above us. It burns a million different shades of color, a full spectrum starting with red closest to the setting sun and ending with the purple that turns to black as it nears the starry sky. Scattered starlight and the sporadic clusters of streetlights both serve to brighten the path before us, where Luna and Reginae are both walking, thoroughly destroyed by the run. They glare over at each other with smug faces. Upon seeing me, Reginae stares away, his eyes tracing the ground.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I tell them, breathing in the thick night air. The chillness of it makes my whole body tingle.

Ten stares up, nodding, which shakes his entire stubby body. Rose toddles over to Luna and falls asleep on her. "Sunneeee," she begs.

"Sunny.... uh, Sunny can't be here right now. You can get on my back if ya want, kid." Luna says, quick to avert the toddler's attention.
Gratefully Rose clamors onto her back and falls asleep, resting herself deep into Luna's larger spines. Luna snorts. "Well, that's going to slow me down. Guess you win by default." she tells Reginae.

"I'll take it." Reginae tells her.

"You should. It's the only way you're ever going to win."
"Hey!" Reginae yells.

"Shhh. Don't want to wake Rose, do you?" Luna grins maliciously.

"Both of you need to calm down. I don't have time for this." I say, calculating in my head the minutes between Morty and I. There is an embrace lodged into the back of my mind already, a thick hug where someone who shouldn't exist meets someone who doesn't and they hold each other until the stars disappear from the sky.

The only problem with this is that my intuition tells me that there is no universe where this happens (despite quite a few showing outcomes where I make it to Ecruteak at a reasonable hour) and something even deeper and more pained tells me that the Morty I meet is going to be someone new. He will see a thirteen year old girl who he can mentor and boss around instead of a young teenager whose scars run deep as his do.

I keep my moist eyes squinted and fixed on the forest before us as I lead the team away from the park. Only Ten looks back- he, too, remembers a few things that no longer exist.

In a dead timeline, an owl snatches a stick and a banana and steals away into nowhere.

They find his corpse in the morning.

The next route is unfortunately full to the brim with trainers. Even Clay comes out for a few battles before disappearing back into his Pokeball with a resigned grunt. Several Vulpixes and the odd Abra lay defeated at his feet, although he keeps giving me increasingly aggravated looks as I continue to draw him out to fight the odd wild Pokemon Regardless, it was nice to battle with him, if only for a while.

Of course at this juncture, everyone is getting tired, so the glares may not be him as much as they are a side effect of the time of day, though he has spent most of his day in the Pokeball doing nothing. Does being in a Pokeball feel like sleeping?

"Hey, when you're in a Pokeball, do you get tired?" I ask.

"No," is the resounding answer from the whole team.

So it's just Clay. Somehow that's not terribly surprising.

Ten nudges the leg of my pants. "Ashley, we're here."

I look up. The imposing buildings that make Ecruteak such a popular tourist destination shine bright above us, all of them glistening with old fashioned lanterns. Tenderly, I step into the city I used to know, gazing all the while at the pure beauty of it all. "I can't believe I'm back."

"Me neither," says a familiar voice behind me.

"Morty?" I ask, spinning around to find no one at all.

"Close." The world disappears around me and a child no larger than I appears by my side, a hand on my shoulder. His cap is a bright, vibrant red and his clothes are slightly tattered. "It's been too long, Ashley." 

(Wow it's been too long. You guys like cliffhangers? Promise I'll be back in two days instead of half a month this time. Funny how two field trips going THROUGH THURSDAY TO SATURDAY and standardized testing both kind of throw a wrench in your writing schedule. Now just top that off with a liiiiittle bit of burn out (did I mean a little? I meant a lot. I meant all the burn out) and voila. 

Well this chapter is here now. Hopefully all is well)