The tea's still there in the morning, and the fragrance of the petals fills the air with a sweet, welcoming scent. I drink it in as I pour myself a glass. It might not be steaming but it retains enough warmth that my insides tingle after a few sips. In retrospect, it might be how good this tea is that makes me feel so comfortable, but whatever the reason, I find myself smiling from ear to ear upon finishing my cup.

The house is cute as the Pewter City cafes, with everything organized neatly and various cooking supplies scattered around. That and the half-finished paintings in the den give the place the feeling of being lived in. As I walk around, waiting for Daisy to get up, I notice a few coordinator team pictures, which feature Daisy Oak herself in full get-out at the center. Her brother's certificates and trophies for his League victory are set on the highest shelf in the living room.

"Good morning," Daisy says. "I see you've helped yourself to some tea already. Would you be interested in some waffles and fresh fruit to accompany it? I haven't kicked out the old waffle press in months."

"If it's no trouble," I say, "Thank you-"

"I won't hear another word of that. It's my pleasure, I insist." she says. "Now, where are you from?"

"New Bark."

She nods as she gets out the waffle press and several bowls. Before I know it, she's got all her ingredients out and is mixing like a professional chef. "You wouldn't happen to be Elm's new step-daughter, would you?" she asks over the clatter. "The one who missed the wedding?"

"I was-" I start, though a flushed heat is beginning to rise into my cheeks. I don't have a good excuse that won't make me sound insane and to be honest, I don't want to be kicked out of the house before I get a chance to sample those waffles. She has syrup, whipped cream, and everything.

"On a journey. Don't sweat it, who knows what my brother missed while he was out on his adventure. Let's not even get started on his friend from across the street. You've heard of Red, right? Former champion? Missing a few years?"

Have I ever heard of him. "I guess so," I say.

Daisy pours the newly formed mix into the press.

"Have you talked to Elm lately?"

"No." That would be difficult. For a variety of reasons.

"Ah, I feel you. Regional divide, right? I want to talk to Grandad, since he's out in Alola doing field work with his cousin, but it appears cross-region communications are experiencing some weird interference. Most civilian calls can't get through."

"Oh. Y-yeah." I say.

Daisy heaps a large serving of waffle onto my plate and I top it off and sink my teeth in. It's divine. Each bite is light as a cloud and seeping with sweetness from the syrup. I resist the urge to thank Daisy again.

"You'll be going for the Viridian gym soon?" she asks.

"Within the next few weeks," I estimate.

"Tell my brother I said 'hi' and that he needs to visit more. We live half an hour away on foot, he's just a lazy ass." She smiles, "Don't tell him that part. I don't want him to beat you up too badly."

***

My team is upset with how long it takes us to get going, and even more upset when they learn I'll be taking Ethan across the waters alone, but I promise them it'll be a long time before they have to endure this kind of Poke Ball time again.

I'm upset when I actually get on Ethan's back and we get going. The second we get out past the shoreline, I'm hit by a spray of brackish water. Clinging onto Ethan's spines provides little comfort, and my mind replays every water-related incident I've dealt with in the past two journeys. Ethan, who hasn't said a word, shudders beneath me. I can sense the urge to dive floating near the back of his mind, as if the water is trying to drag him under with every wake that crashes against his side. We remember the flood of adrenaline and now I'm restraining both of us from taking the plunge.

"It's not far now," I tell him. "Don't give in."

Ethan responds by looking back, which causes him to hit a Tentacruel. The poor jelly faints before it knows what hit it, and I jolt forwards. My knuckles are white from grabbing the spikes and the moist air is making me even colder. The Lugia slows as we approach an island, which shows no signs of life nor vegetation. The entire surface is a dark brown, like an overcooked potato.

"That can't be it." I say.

Ethan lurches upwards and I forget my grip just long enough to fall. He catches me in one massive hand as we come ashore, concern in his dark eyes, and sets me down on the baked earth.

The air here smells of ash, with a delightful hint of sulfur. The only buildings are a gym perched high up on a hill and a Pokemon Center near the base of it. A sign next to the Pokemon Center, singed around the edges, reads: "Welcome to Cinnabar Island, Population: 7".

"I'll give them this, seven is a pretty good population for this place." I say. "What do you think happened?"

"Volcano," replies Ethan, his neck angled skywards. He has that far-away look in his eyes, the one he gets when he's thinking. It makes him look so much older than he is, or at least how old I know him to be. "Sorry for dropping you."

Now there's my Ethan.

I release my other Pokemon, who look just as shocked and disappointed as I am to be in the middle of seemingly nowhere on an island more boring than New Bark town.

"This is it?" Minerva asks.

"Well, she's a bit of a fixer upper, that much is for sure." Fang says. "We can go straight to the gym and leave, right? I want to go back to Viridian. I've heard they have the best hotel mattresses there."

"...I'm not entirely sure. I was going to wait for Suicune. Of course, at the time, I thought we'd at least be getting some training in while we waited..." I say, steepling my hands.

"How long's that going to be?" asks Ten.

"One week."

"One week?" the cry from my team is unanimous. Even Ten's got some ruffled feathers.

"You heard Suicune." I shrug. "Are we really going to fight a Fire-type gym without our Water-type?"

"We could just do it without Suicune. We have Hyacinth and Ethan, that's more than enough." Minerva reasons.

"That's risky."

"We have to. I refuse to dawdle around on this rock for a week, doing jack, while we creep closer and closer to the end of the world. Speaking of 'risks', we should be prepared for Red to stall us even after the gyms. Not saving time for that is the biggest risk we can take."

I nod. After the Pikachu and the Snorlax, there's no telling what Red's going to throw at us next. It's well within his capabilities to do whatever he wants, up to and including throwing his whole team at us before we even make it up the mountain. We might be an elite force, but we're an elite force with seven members up against the fabric of reality itself. "You know what? Sure. We haven't had trouble with many Kanto gyms, so no big deal. In fact, we can throw in the Viridian gym while we're at it."

"Did I hear Viridian gym?" asks a man's voice. I turn to look up the hill and see a spiky-haired trainer with his hands in his pockets and a dark jacket with messy lapels. "You must be a contender. How many badges do you have, kid?"

"Kanto or Johto?" I yell back, opening my badge case to flash fourteen shiny badges at him.

"Nice. You look like a contender." He jumps the last few steps down to my level, down near the beach, and extends a hand. He's three inches taller than the kid I saw in the pictures earlier today, but the cocky grin and awful, awful hair make him recognizable at once. It's Blue, former Champion and Viridian gym leader. "Nice to meet you, Ms..."

"Hart," I say, shaking his right hand with my left. "I'm Ashley Hart." He looks somewhat confused by the gesture, but his gaze shifts back to mine quickly.

"Pleasure to meet you. You wouldn't happen to be the Ashley Hart who's been taking out all the Kanto gyms, would you? All the gym leaders are complaining about how you swept their teams or how quiet you are during most of your battles, like Red. Speaking of your Pokemon, they're a tough bunch, especially that Ninetales- geez, what are you feeding her, raw meat?"

Well, that's a little better than being known as Elm's stepdaughter. Scratch that, a lot.

(On the downside, I can see Minerva swelling with pride. Arceus knows she doesn't need the ego boost.)

"They think I fight like Red?" I ask, not sure if this is an insult or a compliment. Red and Blue were childhood friends, right? Does that count for anything?

"Yep. You Johtonians might not have heard of him, but he was kind of a big deal. Almost as much as yours truly." Blue says, flashing finger guns and that same, winning smile.

"No, I've heard of him. He... he hasn't been seen recently, has he?" I ask. "Err, that wouldn't have anything to do with the the recent disturbances around Mount Silver, right?"

"No." Blue responds. "Kind of a weird association there. Do you know anything about where he is...?"

"No." I laugh nervously.

Blue picks it up, putting on a much more convincing display, but there's still a sharp look in his eyes that makes me uneasy. "Silly question, I know. No one's seen him for years. It was a pleasure to meet you, but of course, we'll do the real talking on the battlefield. I want to wrestle that Lugia. Personally." He snaps. "See ya later."

As I stand, somewhat dumbfounded, on the beach, he withdraws his Pidgeot and hops on. The long-haired bird Pokemon looks just as cocky as its trainer, and when it spreads its wings wide and flaps, it takes off at a speed that would make Red's Pikachu blush. Blue seems to have no problems holding on.

I won't actually have to wrestle him, right? asks Ethan, the legitimate concern in his voice unmistakable.

"No," I say, "Now let's go get that gym."

The inside of the gym resembles the inside of a volcano, with red flooring and torches everywhere. It's built onto the inside of a cave, likely in the aftermath of the explosion of the actual volcano, and I can see five of the seven inhabitants reside inside the gym. Heaven knows where they stay at night. The trainers surprisingly seem reluctant to fight me, as most of them step right out of the way. One of them tries to aggress me with a bad knock-knock joke about fruit, which is an attack on my ears, but we make it to Blaine in record time regardless.

The gym leader is a bald man wearing a red-ribboned hat and dark, round glasses. He leans on a cane and bares a winning smile underneath his tufted white mustache. "Pleased to meet you," Blaine says. "Welcome to my gym. Carved right out of the mountain in the aftermath of a volcano eruption. If you hope to stand a chance against my Pokemon, I'd better hope you bought burn heals."

"We'll see about that." Reginae says. His knee and neck wounds still look gaunt against his green skin, which makes me relieved he won't be fighting today. "Minerva, you mentioned having a strategy, right?"

"Since when?" I ask. "I was never informed about this."

"Do you think you're the only one we use telepathy with?" Minerva chuckles. "No way."

"Okay, we didn't use it with each other, but Minerva wouldn't shut up. After a few weeks of 'Hey! I know you can hear me, pansy!' you tend to wear out." Reginae says, with a high whine to his voice as he imitates Minerva. "Anyhow, I know you're thinking Hycanith and Ethan can handle this, but it turns out that Blaine's primary strategy is to use overpowering fire-type moves. He's taken out Pokemon with type advantages on him without breaking a sweat. There's all this footage online of him destroying Water- and Ground- types... there's a really bad one where someone's Nidoking got one shotted. That was ugly."

"Duly noted." I say. "Alright. Ethan, you're up first."

"But-" Minerva complains.

"Trust me." I tell her.

"Etna, you're up." Blaine says, throwing forth a Magcargo. On its entrance onto the field, the room seems to fill with heat. Ethan, who seems to have heeded Minerva's warning, takes a cautious step onto the field. It's almost comical to see how sheepish such a large, imposing Pokemon is acting, but he needs to get his head in the game.

"Why don't we warm our guests up? Overheat." Blaine says, pointing towards Ethan.

A torrent of fire bursts through the air, more powerful than Minerva's Fire Blast. The heat is so overwhelming that it dries out my eyes and Reginae has to turn away from the light even though he's standing far from the battlefield. The bright light emanating from the Magcargo burns my eyes and sends an awful sensation across my skin, like all my hair is being burned off at once.

Ethan exhales smoke from his nostrils. There's a gray smattering of ash along his side, as well as numerous burn markings but he's still alive and kicking.

"Hydro Pump." I tell him.

If the air was dry before, now it's unbearable. I don't know where he's pulling all this moisture from, but he manages to channel it all into a ring, which condenses into an orb and then fires into a long spray of water. The Magcargo hardens and thickens, its molten body going gray and sickly, and with a final sizzle, it stands still. Its eyes still dart about and lava begins to seep back through the new coat of hardened rock, but its clear that the four-times weakness has gotten the job done.

Blaine withdraws his Pokemon and sends out a Magmar. Its duck beak twists in a half-smile, exhaling smoke, and Minerva tenses up, ready to go it.

It hurts, Ethan says, with the same desperation as his voice as his in pre-Red days. I withdraw him just as another blinding explosion of light fills the field.

Minerva jumps in to replace him and takes the entire Overheat head on. She emerges from the flames looking weary. Something is off here- I can't place what yet, but watching Minerva act like this is bizarre. She hasn't sustained any injuries nor have I ever seen her give in in the middle of a battle... she's not even attacking. She stakes a few steps to the side and almost falls right at the Magmar's feet. The Pokemon just grins and another explosion rakes the field.

"You call this strategy?" I ask Reginae.

"Watch," he says, still guarding himself against the blaze.

Through the flames, Minerva stands up. Her fur gleams and her eyes are alight with new, vicious energy.

"What's this?" asks Blaine.

"Flash fire," I realize. "She was playing him."

"Thanks for the fuel, but I'm taking it from here." Minerva informs the whole battlefield, with a single backwards throw of her mane. She leaps a good meter into the air and lands on the other side of the Magmar to slam him around with her tails. She exhales bright blue flames, hot and potent, onto her foe, and even the Fire-type is useless against her. The Magmar braces itself against the blast, but I can still see the horror in its eyes. It's legs give out as Minerva's flames flare out, wider and further, and the blue inferno rakes the cieling. The whole battlefield is covered in singed marks from her blaze.

The Magmar falls, defeated, and Blaine shakes his head before withdrawing it.

Is... his strategy seriously just to spam Overheat? I ask.

"Strategy? His strategy seems to be powering me up." Minerva says. Her intensity is high as Pisces's, and once again, I stand on the edge of giving into the power. Minerva has always been a little hot to handle, but seeing her like this is something else entirely.

Blaine's final Pokemon is a Rapidash, whose mane of flame pales before Minerva's fires, which now light up the back of her tails. She breathes smoke from either side of her mouth, so that she looks like Suicune, a trail of silver dotted with red embers flaring out behind her.

The Rapidash does not seem afraid of her in the slightest. It charges her, horn down around her head level, and Minerva swings out of the way, tails swinging. She turns around, slamming all of them against the Rapidash's side, and the elegant horse crumbles to the ground. Minerva pounces, claws cloaked in flame, and a fire blazes in the Rapidash's eyes.

"Minerva, it has Flash Fire too!" I warn her.

She looks back to me, reckless abandon scrawled across her face, and murmurs, "So what?" A dark purple energy cloaks her paws, the Payback I recognize from who knows how long ago, and when the Rapidash tries to get to its hooves and use Fire Blast, her fire meets its in midair. The two blasts collide and Minerva jumps right through, landing on the Rapidash and hitting both paws right into its neck. She jumps off as the Rapidash, too, falls to the ground, flames extinguished.

Blaine looks over his Pokemon and nods, "Not bad. I suppose it was I who was burned." He tilts his glasses. "It was a fiery battle. Both sides did their best."

"I told you it would work out," Minerva boasts. There's a knowing gleam in her eyes, an unspoken game of connect-the-dots between us. It's a silent vy for power, a warning: Keep up.