The day started off way too early for my liking. I had barely opened my eyes when I felt a hand—no, a very thin hand, gripping my arm and pulling me up. I moaned groggily, still half-asleep, and mumbled, “Five more minutes, Mommy,” even though I wasn’t sure who the ‘mommy’ was.

But then I felt myself being tugged forward, and I slammed into a wall.

“Ow,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead as a familiar voice whispered, “Saur…”

I squinted through my tiredness, looking up at Bulby. “What’s going on? Where am I?” I asked, still confused.

Before Bulby could reply, I turned around and froze mid-step.

"WHY ARE THERE GYM LEADERS IN MY ROOOOOOM?!" I shrieked, my voice piercing the quiet atmosphere.

“Pika pi!”

I stared at Pikachu, still in shock. “What do you mean this isn’t my room?!”

Brock cleared his throat, and before I could panic more, he said, “Well, Mia, you see... you're actually in my gym.”

My brain stalled for a moment, then I blinked, trying to process what he’d said. “Then what are the others doing here?” I asked, pointing at the group.

Erica giggled softly. “We’re here for the meeting.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. A meeting. Right…”

“Char, Charmander!” Charmander chimed in, looking at me with a bit of concern.

I groaned. “Okay, so I sleepwalked all the way here. How was I able to—?” My words trailed off as I felt a familiar jingle in my pockets.

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh…”

Blue crossed his arms, looking slightly annoyed. “Are you done, or can we continue with our meeting?”

I rolled my eyes and was about to reply, but then I tripped over my own feet and stumbled back, my arms flailing for balance.

“Yeesh, what’s with me these days?” I muttered, feeling ridiculous.

Misty helped me up with a small smile. “Well, coincidentally, we came here to discuss your... habits.”

I blinked at her. “What habits?”

Lieutenant Surge cleared his throat. “Well, young miss, it so happens the other day we found out you were taking pills.”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, so? Becoming champion is difficult, realize it or not.”

“Squirtle!” Squirtle exclaimed from a high ledge.

I shot a look at him. “Get down from there, you!”

“Squirtle…” He reluctantly climbed down.

I groaned. “Okay, okay. Stay where you are. I’m coming.”

Turning to Bulby, I grumbled, “What now?”

He pointed to my nose.

“I can smell just fine, thank you,” I replied with a frown.

Koga shook his head. “He means you’ve been scrunching your nose up more.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve always done that.”

Then I moved toward the rock wall, where Squirtle was perched. “Don’t move, okay?” I called.

“Squirtle!” Squirtle nodded obediently.

I turned to Pikachu. “Stay down here, okay?”

“Chu!”

I took a deep breath, gripped the wall, and carefully began climbing. “Okay, let’s do this.”

It took a while, but when I finally reached Squirtle, I grabbed his Poké Ball. “Squirtle, return now!” I said, just before I lost my balance.

“IVYSAUR, GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAY!” I screamed, hoping my Pokémon would help.

“Saur?” Ivysaur barely reacted, but I managed to grab the wall just in time before I fell.

Then I went crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

“Ow…” I groaned, laying there for a moment, barely aware of the gasps from the gym leaders.

Pikachu came running to my side, worried. “Pika Pika piiiii?!”

I sat up slowly, patting Pikachu’s head to reassure her. “Oh, I’m fine.”

Then I looked up at the gym leaders. “Okay, end of discussion. My habits are mine to deal with. This meeting is concluded. Good day!”

“Wait, hold on a—” Brock started, but I cut him off sharply.

“I said good day. May I remind you that I beat every single one of you? Thank you. Now bye.” With that, I briskly walked out of the room, Pokémon trailing behind me.

“Habits… I can have habits if I want, thank you.” I muttered under my breath as I walked away.

“Saur.”

I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’re right… but they were being annoying. I had nothing else to do. What did you want me to do, tell them I surrendered? Make them champion? No thanks. I beat them, and it took hard work to get here. I’m not just going to give up my spot like that.”

I didn’t know why they were all so concerned. I had a lot on my plate, sure, but I didn’t need their help to deal with it.