"Togepi!" I called out, watching her walking on her own after escaping her Pokéball all of a sudden "What are you up to?" I followed her wobbling around with her small feet and tiny body.

I haven't gotten the chance to really get to know my hatchlings since what happened. I have no idea what's going on in Togepi's mind, but it's better to see what she's up to instead of getting angry at something so quickly and running into a situation I haven't thought through yet.

Togepi happily wandered around until she made it to an ice cream stand. I picked her up and saw that she was reaching out for the creamy treat.

"You just drank milk. Don't tell me you're hungry" I sweat dropped.

"Toge!" She cheered. Well, babies do like to eat a lot, so what can I say?

"Alright alright" I sighed "but don't tell the others" I looked at Pichu "Do you want one?" She tapped her chin to think before shaking her head and tapping her stomach "That's good. Everyone ate enough, so I'll just buy one" I ordered one and waited for the man to scoop one up in a small cup.

Someone stood beside me, staring at all the ice cream in the stand "Wow! This looks so delicious!" The girl with pink hair and twin tails gasped in awe "I want some too!" She dug in her small pouch and looked inside, getting disappointed after "oh no!" She gasped "I already spend all my money on cute shoes!" I looked at all the shopping bags she had in her arms.

"Will that be all, ma'am?" The man asked me. The girl turned to me and gasped at the Pokémon I had in my arms.

"Oh my goodness! Your Pokémon are so cute!" She looked at Pichu "I never seen a Pichu that looks like this..." she observed before waving her hands "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to stare" I chuckled.

"It's fine" I was about to respond to the man before the girl cut me off.

"Say, I really want some ice cream. Can I offer a trade?"

"Huh?" She dug in her shopping bags and handed me a small plastic wrapped microchip that read 'Radio card'

"It's a radio card you can put into your Pokégear to listen to the radio as much as you want! It's a good deal! I got it for free at a store that told me I was there 1 millionth customer!" She put her hands together "It's all I have! Please?" I blinked confused.

"You're willing to give up something that cool for ice cream?" She nodded quickly. I stared at her begging eyes before laughing at her. She blushed and turned away.

"Well!" She huffed and was about to walk away before I handed her my cup of ice cream "huh?"

"I can always afford my own card, but you're so funny, how can I refuse?" She shyly took the cup and watched me ask for another "Nice to meet you" I smiled at the girl "I'm Valerie" she smiled after.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Whitney Barns!"

"Oh! I didn't think you'd want a last name. Well, I'm Valerie Zoe" she gasped, almost dropping her cup at the same time I took a cone of ice cream and took a bite before handing it to Togepi to eat.

"Zoe?! You're from the Zoe family, the family of Pokémon egg experts?!" She quickly handed me the Radio card "Here, I promised to give this to you!" I took the card and chuckled.

"You go lengths to get yourself some ice cream, huh?" She blushed hard.

"N-No! I-I just like ice cream!"

"It doesn't make what I said any less valid" she pouted.

"Well, you're pretty smart" she smiled "Nothing less than what I expect from a Zoe. I can't believe I'm meeting you in person" so it seems that regular people out there know about the Zoe family, but my own friends doesn't even know me by my last name.

"It's not like I'm a celebrity" I walked away. She followed.

"But you pretty much are! Your family is known to hold a beautiful talent of nursing Pokémon eggs without schooling! It comes natural like a baby knowing how to cry from the moment their born" I looked at how sparkly her eyes are "I bet you've seen a lot of cute babies, huh!" I chuckled.

"You're so cute" She flinched, blushing again "You can say I have, but then again I can't" I stopped walking to face her.

"You're amazing" remembering the name she gave me, I told her what her uncle did for me back in the Pokémon center "so you got to try our farm's famous moomoo milk!"

"Moomoo milk?" She pointed at her cup of ice cream.

"Our farm is famous for producing milk that comes from our family's Miltanks! The brand is family owned and has been for generations! You won't see any kind of dairy around Johto if it isn't made by our milk!"

"What a wonderful company. Do you help out?" I asked, making conversation, even if I know I should be somewhere else. It'll be best to clear my mind for awhile.

"No, I'm a Gym leader!" I nodded, knowing that from Milton "I don't do much in the farm except see the Miltank and take care of them. I have my own that I take care of! Hey, you're a trainer! How about a battle at my gym? Oh wait... You need the requirement badges to participate" she frowned.

"You mean these?" I moved to the side to show her the badges I pinned on my bag.

"Y-Yeah!" She gasped "That's it! That's it! You must be strong to have beaten the others!" I never beat Bugsy, but what can I say? "That settles it!" She pointed at me "I'll be waiting at the gym tonight for yah!"

"Thanks, but my friend is expecting you now" She cupped her mouth.

"They are?!"

"Yes. I would like a battle though. Will tomorrow work?" She smiled big and nodded.

"Totally! I look forward to it!" she handed me a piece of paper "If I'm not in the gym, give me a call!" She bowed again "Thanks again for the ice cream!"

"Thanks for the radio card" she got back up and hurried off and waved.

"See yah!" I smiled and waved back, finding her quite young, but very adorable for a gym leader.

"Looks are deceiving. I look forward to see her battle style" a great amount of motion was hurrying towards me. Pichu yelled out at something behind me. I quickly turned around, seeing a grunt running towards me! Before I got the chance to react, the cone Togepi was holding fell. She jumped at the sight of the grunt and screamed while waving her arms everywhere.

"T-Togepi!" I panicked, unable to control her! The grunt rushing towards us started running in place without moving anywhere. Him and I slowly noticed that he was levitating... Huh?

"W-Wha- Hey!" He raced his legs to run, but failed "Put me down!" I looked at Togepi's arms and gasped, seeing them glowing pink! She cried out and threw him into a large fountain a few feet away from us. I gasped and hurried to leave before he got the chance to see where we ran off to.

I turned a corner to catch my breath. Togepi was whining over her ice cream. I could tell by seeing her licking her lips over and over. I lifted her in the air to look at her looking at me confused.

"T-That was amazing!" I laughed. She looked surprised and laughed, waving her arms to make them glow pink again. My feet slowly lifted from the ground "Y-You're using Psychic!" I cheered "Awesome! You can use Psychic!" She cheered with me, releasing me back to the ground. I laughed and hugged her "You're going to be a awesome part of our team!"

"Pe!" Pichu cheered. I huffed in confidence and went off to find the radio tower, but not before my Pokégear went off.

"Huh? What now?" I got a text message from Sabrina "Sabrina?" I opened the message "Let's see... Sometimes it's better to have an open mind instead of open eyes" I blinked confused "h-huh..?" I read the rest of the message "What you may see will keep you from having an open mind. Don't rush to where your rage leads you" thinking of what she said, I took out the poster Bayleef had before and looked at it carefully, getting pass the spots that was wet before and saw that the day was missing, but the month it was broadcasting was actually a few months from now.

"O-Oh..." I frowned "I see" I stuffed the poster back in my bag and sat at a near by bench "Look at me, jumping to the first scene without a proper plan. I won't get to beat Team Rocket today, but at least I'll have time to train my hatchlings" I send out Cleffa to sit with me and the other baby Pokémon and also send out Bayleef to stand in front of me "Looks like we won't be battling Team Rocket. I'm sorry for freaking out, dear. I didn't mean to scare you" she shook her head and cried out. I smiled and pet everyone's head.

"We're going to be a strong enough to take on those fools. I'll be expecting my aunt soon, so when I get my medicine, I'll be much calmer" I looked around the street I was by "Let's go" I carried my two new Pokémon in my arms and walked away with Bayleef having Pichu on her back.

"Let's find the train station... It'll be better to stay there then in the streets. That grunt won't find me there"

"Clee?" Cleffa questioned. I made it to the train station, which was across the street from the radio tower.

"Looks like I won't have to look far" I entered the station and sat down, using the time I used for waiting on my aunt to tell my Pokémon stories about our future plans and our future vacations once everything was over. They seemed excited and confident about the whole thing, which I'm grateful for.

The clock had passed a few hours in a blink of an eye and the train I was expecting finally arrived. I set everyone down on the bench and got up to wait for the passengers to get off one by one.

A few dozen people came off and I was finally able to see my aunt walking out with only a small bag. I waved so she can notice me.

"Auntie!" I yelled out. She looked towards me and cupped her mouth like she was so amazed to see me "Took you long enough!" I joked, laughing.

"Valerie!" Auntie ran up to me for a hug and squeezed tightly "You look so much better than you did when I saw you off on this exact train!" She let go "How you been?" I turned to show her my team sitting patiently on the bench.

"I've been collecting Pokémon for a team" I smiled "They're pretty great"

"Oh my goodness!" She hurried over to pick up Cleffa and pet Togepi's head "What adorable Pokémon!" She pet Bayleef's head "I'm so happy you got yourself some Pokémon! The more Pokémon, the better!" She lifted up Cleffa to observe "Hm... Did something happen?" I took Cleffa from her.

"I'll tell you about it later. Come on. Want to eat something?" She smiled and took back Cleffa and picked up Togepi to hug.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" I giggled and picked up Pichu so we can start walking to the nearest restaurant. Bayleef was staring at the radio tower as we walked out the train station. I just pet her head to give her a assuring smile and continued on walking with everyone until we sat at a restaurant that was deep enough to avoid the grunt looking for me.

"I see" I just told Auntie everything that happened with Cleffa and even Togepi as an egg "You've must've been through a lot to get Cleffa the help it needed" Auntie said, petting Cleffa sleeping in her scarf on her lap while Togepi was in my bag with Pichu napping.

"Taking care of eggs is something our family takes pride in" I told her. She nodded and leaned on the table.

"Yes, I would had been the same way. It's heartbreaking to find out that an egg won't make it, even if you've tried everything" she sighed.

"Have you lost an egg before?" She sad smiled.

"Yeah... Plenty of times. But it doesn't compare to how many I've saved. Our name gives us the skill to know how to handle any egg situation. There's no scientific proof that that's true, but we're living proof" she winked. I agreed "We might be able to help an egg more than an actual doctor can, but the only thing that sucks about this gift is that we are more emotionally invested. Just like what you told me about the operation, you can only imagine how many times it can happen and how many times your heart will shatter" I looked down "We're too passionate to give up what we're good at, even if we want to walk away from a heart break, we go back because we love Pokémon eggs even more" she smiled at Cleffa "This little one might have been born without the other horn, but it doesn't mean it's any less perfect than one with both horns"

"Yes. I don't mind how Cleffa looks. She is going to be a part of my team. If she can't be a fighter, I'll find something for her" I said. Auntie smiled and called over a waiter to take our order. As we waited, I told her everything I've been through during my journey, especially my mental break downs.

"I have the prescriptions you asked for, by the way" she handed me a bag that had the biggest prescription bottle I've ever seen with a ton of pills inside "that should be a 2 month's supply" I bit my lips.

"I... I thought you would had brought more" she looked up from petting Cleffa and looked at me like I said something crazy.

"Valerie, you can't become dependent on these things. I understand that you struggle with aggression and rage, but aside from needing these pills SOMETIMES, you need to work on them on your own. You've never been able to do so, you know" I never been able to because I was enslaved. I knew what she meant "Therapy is the best option for you, but because you have something you have to do, that's not an option right now. I, nor the doctor, would recommend you using those all the time. If you keep taking them all the time, the effects won't work later on" I squeezed the bottle in my hand.

"I understand..." I put the bottle away when the food arrived "It's just been really hard on me. With Team Rocket wandering around all the time, I can't help but get my head in the game"

"Anger will only just hurt your soul. You may want to seek revenge on what those people did to you and your parents, but you still have room to grow and understand that holding in anger you can only release in something you truly hate won't do you any good. You're on this journey to grow, but when you want to do the same old thing, nothing is going to change" I watch her starting to eat "Things are better off being taken care of patiently and peacefully. However you decided on how that goes, you'll be the judge on how you handle everything that haunts you"