To make a long story short, they don't have pancakes.

The sushi was pretty good though.

I settle back into the Pokemon Center, blankly watching the ceiling and the reflected light of the gizmos behind the service bar shimmering on it. All of the Nurse Joys have to be proficient in a few thousand languages of code to operate those things, I'm sure of it. It's funny how quick service and that preppy nurse uniform hides the amount of work they must have to do.

As usual, I'm about to drift off when a Pokemon crawls up onto my stomach and tries to catch my attention. "Can this wait?" I groan.

"Well..." Ten says bashfully. "I just wanted to ask- if- golly, this is awkward-"

"It is ten o'clock right now." I mutter. "Please just spit it out."

"Ten o'clock isn't that late. Aren't you fourteen? I'm pretty sure you were fourteen when we met."

I sigh. "Currently I'm thirteen years old, and I guess that's an acceptable bedtime for my demographic. In two years I'll be seventeen mentally and fifteen physically, so I plan on taking the best of both worlds and just never sleeping at all."

"That sounds inconvenient." he tilts his head.

"Not at all. I have plenty of things to do at night."

"Such as..."
"Reading fanfiction," I offer, "Probably screaming internally. Look, what do you want?"

He hops onto his other foot. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything. From... them."

"If you mean all of the team, they're all erased from existence." I try to bury my head into the couch cushion to show my extreme lack of interest in the conversation.

"They aren't," Ten says. "They can't be."

"Yes they can." Tears are welling up in my eyes and I can't choke them down. "The world can be that cruel. Ten, just leave me alone and-"

"What if... it's only this existence?"

I sit up in the darkness, facing towards him so that he can't see the tears in my eyes. Even his own face is obscured by my shadows. "Ten, g-go to sleep. I don't know what you're on about."

"Other worlds. Other dimensions. Entire planes of existence where they could have been transferred. Just think about it Ashley, we could be-"

"Go to sleep." I choke back a sob. "Please."

"They were my family too."

"You barely knew them."

I don't have to see every contour of his expression to know he's hurting. I see him hop away and hear the faint click of a Pokeball as he withdraws himself.

A machine beeps in the distance, possibly signifying some period of time or that some medical device is ready to function. A subtle whirring starts up and brightens the room slightly, revealing Reginae's red eyes glistening in the darkness.

***

Morningtime. I'm woken up by the glare of sunlight and a door slamming open. Some rookie trainer clamors in clutching at least five Pokeballs.
Nurse Joy sits cheerily behind the counter. "Welcome to the Pokemon Center. How may I help you?"

The trainer sighs, practically throwing all five onto the counter. "Almost wiped to Falkner. If you can save any of them I- I-"

Nurse Joy frowns and scoops them all up. She gives him a reassuring smile, but her eyes are sad. "I'll do my best."

I stretch out and get up, throwing my bag over my back and walking towards the girl's room to change into some suitable clothes for the day (namingly the same outfit I wear everyday, for continuity's sake).

As I turn to open the door, the trainer puts a hand over my shoulder. "Are you going to challenge the Violet City Gym?"

"Yes, I was planning on it." I say. "Why?"

"He's an absolute madman. You have to watch out for the-"

"Level thirteen Pidgeotto. Terrifying." I say. "Can I go now?"

He takes his arm off my shoulder. "Sorry. Just trying to look out for a fellow trainer."

I withdraw a little bit. "Yeah. Thanks. I... I hope your team is okay." I swing open the door and it slams far louder than I intended it to. When I come back out, he's nowhere to be seen. I walk back to Nurse Joy. "Did his team make it?"

"All but one." she says, shaking her head. "It was so strange. The only one that hardly seemed hurt at all... just a Hoothoot."

My eyes narrow a bit and I struggle to compose myself. "Thank you."

"You're... welcome?" She hesitates. "Have a nice day!"

I wake up the rest of the team and head out. Everyone still looks drowsy, save for D'spinas, who is hitchhiking on the newcomer's back.

"Morning." I say. "Welcome to the team, um,"

"Chiaroscuro." The Rattata replies. "Don't question it. Both parents were contest Pokemon. They were being bred for a competitive child and all I got was a lousy name before I was kicked to the curb."

"Oh." I say. "If it makes you feel better, competitive breeding followed by the release of a substantial amount of young Pokemon is technically illegal in most parts of Johto. Hopefully they'll get bought to justice."

"Eh, doesn't matter. Ratatas reproduce like the plague in any environment."

"Well that's just lovely! Ashley, what are we going to do today?" Sunny chirps.

"Unless you guys want to be mauled by the world's angriest Pidgeotto, probably grind all day." I say. "Luckily, Route 32 is full of wild Pokemon. I'm saying teams would be the best strategy. Any volunteers?"
D'spinas locks her talons around Chiaroscuro, who rolls his eyes. "I'm with the bug."

Sunny hops over to Reginae. "I've got Reginae!"

Reginae sighs. "If that makes you happy, fine. I'll be dealing with most of this on my own anyhow."

Clay grabs Ten's wing and lifts it up. "We're a team. Alright, let's rollout."

"That was a terrible pun." I say, but they're already gone. For such small Pokemon which such limited mobility, they're oddly fast.

A while away, I see grass fly and Sunny comes flying back in my face. She smiles. "That was a Mareep."

"You need help?" I ask.

"Oh no!" she chirps. "Reginae's got it."

Reginae emerges from the grass covered in static sparks. Sunny hops down to meet him. "Thank you sooooo much! You saved my life right there!"

"It barely hit you-"

MY LIFE, REGINAE. YOU ARE SO HELPFUL." She presses uncomfortably against him.

He heads back into the grass. "Fine. Next time, don't get hit!"

"Alright! Whatever you say!" she chirps.

I watch after them, mildly confused. Sunny's clearly into him... or is she trying to boost his confidence? It could be either. It's so early for relationships.

I scan the vicinity, noticing Clay steamrolling several bird Pokemon. Later, a ding from my Pokedex indicates that he's already leveled up three times within the last hour. I take on a sort of passive role, slipping them Potions and watching their progress through the Pokedex. I should have looked up more often, but in all honesty they're hardly in any danger. A sense of pride fills me watching how efficient they are. We might not be able to work together, but we can fight together.

Does watching them through a Pokedex count as teamwork? I remember the awe with which I once watched my team work, back on the first time I moved through this route. There was a childish wonder that's long been lost to me. The faint gold bonds seem to reaffirm this statement.

I turn off the Pokedex and look up in time to see a Beedrill burst from the grass with stingers rotating, slashing through wildlife left and right. She turns to me and there's no doubt in my mind that this is D'spinas.

Her wings beat around her, a single drop of amber honey around her throat. The oddity seems to be a distinguishing marking, placed in the position I'd expect from a Dragonair's pearl.

"Evolution." she says, "It is nice to speak again, but it was more interesting the first time."

I crack a grin. "That's great! Even if you won't be fighting much tomorrow, you're going to be ready to take on Bugsy for sure."

"Oh yes. Flying types." her tinted eyes narrow. "Well, it's funny. As I was saying about evolution... the second time around, there are significantly less visions of your trainer and their grand destiny."

"Right. About that..." I bite my lip. I had forgotten that we flashed during that last battle.

"I know what I saw, Ashley." D'spinas says. Even though she has her stingers down by her sides, the sharpness of them still intimidates me. Just one slice from them could probably either fatally poison me or slice through most of my internal organs.

It's funny how little I noticed how dangerous my Pokemon were back in the old days. What changed?

Taking my eyes off her stingers, I stare back at her with the air of authority I've been working on. It's hard to keep it up when even my own thirteen year old body is so underwhelming I want to either cry or break down laughing (possibly both), but I can at least hold her gaze at this point. "Well, what do you expect me to say? I can't fully explain what I am or what I've seen. The best I can do is to show all of you one by one."
"You're quite the mystery, aren't you?" she asks, her many-lensed eyes holding my reflection a thousand times over. "I think you could tell most of them if you wanted to. Regardless, my ancestors did hail from the Ilex Forest. I am at your service, Celebi." she dips her head. Her antenna click a few times. "Regardless, you should talk to the Hoothoot. He's terribly distressed."

"Ten..." I say. "Do you know where he is?"

She nods towards the forest. "Past the first few trees."

I walk through the grass, the team turning my way as I pass through. Luckily, not a single feral Pokemon nears me as I the grass parts way into the forest. I clench a tree, calling, "Ten?"

There's a muffled scratching in the distance.

"Ten?"

I move through the forest to see him standing over a Pidgey. His beak is tinged red with blood. He turns a full 180, his face scratched, and stares me straight in the eyes. "Hullo!" he says. "Did you need me?" The Pidgey flies away and he smiles. "Don't worry. I'm working on keeping my casualty rate low."

I resist the urge to facepalm. What a nerd. "We were going to go in." I'm clutching my own arm guiltily. He notices before I can say anything.

"You were just tired," he says, "That was all. You didn't mean it."

"I did. That's why I'm sorry." I tell him. "I've been treating all of you terribly because I miss them. We're on the same side... but we're all on the same side. Even Reginae, grumpy as he is." I stretch out my hand. "You ready to kick Falkner's ass?"

He puts out his wing. "For the team."

I smile. "Always."