So......." Ash said, breaking the awkward silence. " What are we doing today, Professor Rowan?"

" Yeah!* Dawn chimed in. " I'm stoked!"

Wisty scoffed and turned. " You have a class to teach, Rowan."

Rowan rolled his eyes. " We can discuss this later, miss."

Wisty rolled her eyes and walked away, Eevee trailing behind her.

Brock leaned in, " sheesh those two need to calm down."

" You can't really blame 'em." Dawn whispered back. " They are rivals, after all."

" Yeah but even me and Gary weren't like this. The only one time-"

" Mind telling the rest of us what you're whispering about, Ketchum."

Ash turned. " Oh. Easy. I'm -"

Before he could reply he heard stomps.

Dangerous stomps.

" Oh no."

Dawn looked at Ash,. panicked. " What do you mean ' oh no'?!"

Before Ash could reply a very very very angry Wisty barged in. She turned to Rowan.

" You." She said in a dangerous voice. " You. You owe me an explanation right now."

Rowan blinked. " Now-"

Wisty grabbed the dude by the collar. " Don't play dumb with me." She whispered. " I might be eight but I'm way smarter than you."

Rowan opened his mouth, but before he could speak the eight year old did the unthinkable.

She yeeted the professor across the room.

Yeeted.

Ash scrambled to his legs. " Wisty what-*

Wisty turned. " Stay out of this."

Ash backed away nervously. " You got it, ma'am."

Dawn raised a brow. " Why'
d you call her ma'am?*

" Because she's angry."

" Where. Is. My. Togepi?"

Rowan looked up. " I have no ide-"

" TELL ME NOW!"

Gary stepped forward. " Now, Wisty. How about we-"

Wisty grabbed Gary's collar and held him up. " Stay outta this Oak. "

" Bu-"

" Might I inform you I have three guns at hand. And I am not afraid to use them. Is that understood?"

Gary nodded with wide eyes, and Wisty dropped him. " You're lucky I'm professor Oak's assistant or you would have been toast."

" Noted." Ash said quickly as he grabbed his best friend and pulled him away.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as Wisty's piercing glare darted around the room. Her Eevee stood at her feet, growling softly, ears flattened against its head.

Professor Rowan adjusted his glasses from his spot on the floor. "Young lady, you cannot—"

"Don't you 'young lady' me!" Wisty interrupted, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You think you can just take my Togepi and not answer for it? Wrong move."

Dawn looked to Ash, whispering frantically. "Is she serious? Guns?! Where would she even—"

Ash shook his head vigorously. "Don't question it. Just... don’t."

Brock, ever the peacekeeper, stepped forward cautiously, hands raised in a calming gesture. "Wisty, let’s take a deep breath and—"

"Don't you start, Breeder Boy!" Wisty snapped, glaring at Brock. "This is between me and Rowan, and I don’t need a lecture about patience right now."

Brock froze, reconsidering his approach. "Got it. No lectures."

Gary, now safely behind Ash, muttered, "She's gone full Primeape mode."

Wisty's sharp ears caught the comment. She spun on her heel, narrowing her eyes. "What was that, Oak?"

Gary gulped. "Nothing! Just saying you’re... uh... passionate!"

Rowan finally stood, dusting himself off and attempting to regain his composure. "Miss Wisty, I assure you I had no involvement in the disappearance of your Togepi."

"Then who did?!" she roared, her hands twitching as though ready to grab him again.

At that moment, a loud ringing broke the tension. Wisty reached into her pocket and pulled out a Pokégear. She answered with a curt, "What?"

A calm, deep voice came from the device. "Wisty, what is going on over there? I’m picking up energy spikes from your location."

"Professor, I don’t have time for this!" Wisty snapped into the Pokégear. "Rowan probably kidnapped my Togepi, and everyone here is useless!"

Gary raised a hand. "Hey, that’s uncalled for."

"Silence, Oak."

Ash leaned toward Gary and whispered, "Stop provoking her."

The voice on the Pokégear sighed. "Wisty, handle this responsibly. The energy spikes are worrying, and I—"

She ended the call mid-sentence, shoving the Pokégear back into her pocket.

Rowan cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Miss Wisty, I have no idea where your Togepi is. Perhaps if we calmly retrace your steps—"

"Calmly?!" she barked. "I woke up, and Togepi was gone! Do you know how long it takes for me to keep that little egg Pokémon out of trouble? I’m not in the mood to ‘calmly’ anything!"

Dawn, trying her luck, offered gently, "Maybe Togepi just wandered off?"

Wisty’s head snapped toward Dawn. "Wandered off? Togepi doesn’t ‘wander off.’ It’s practically glued to my side!"

Ash took a cautious step forward. "Wisty, what if we all split up and searched for Togepi? We’ll cover more ground that way."

Wisty stared at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Finally, she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fine. But if you find anything, anything, you call me immediately. Got it?"

Everyone nodded quickly.

"Eevee," Wisty said, kneeling down. "Let’s find our Togepi."

"Eevee!" her partner responded enthusiastically.

As the group dispersed to search, Dawn whispered to Brock, "She’s scarier than Team Rocket on a bad day."

Brock nodded solemnly. "And way more unpredictable."

Meanwhile, Wisty stormed off with Eevee, her determination burning brighter than ever. "Hang in there, Togepi," she muttered. "I’ll find you, no matter what."

The moment Wisty barged into the lab, the sight before her froze everyone in their tracks.

Togepi, her beloved Pokémon, was strapped onto a series of machines, wires snaking around its tiny body. Its usually cheerful face was contorted in confusion and mild fear. The soft "Toge..." it whimpered sent Wisty's fury skyrocketing.

Rowan, trailing behind her, paled at the sight. "What... how did this happen?!" he stammered.

Wisty didn't even turn to look at him. She marched straight to Togepi, ripping the wires away with zero hesitation. Togepi let out a small cry of relief, hopping into Wisty's arms and snuggling close.

"You," Wisty growled, her voice lower and more menacing than anyone had ever heard it. She turned to Rowan, her eyes blazing with fury. "How dare you let this happen?"

"I swear," Rowan stammered, backing up. "I had no idea—"

"Save it!" Wisty snapped, stepping toward him. "You're supposed to be a professor. You're supposed to protect Pokémon, not let them get used as science experiments!"

"Wisty, maybe we should—" Brock began, only to be cut off by a sharp glare.

"Don’t." Wisty pointed at him, silencing him on the spot. "You’re all complicit in this. You were in this lab before me. How did none of you notice this?!"

Ash raised his hands defensively. "We didn’t see anything! Honest!"

"Then maybe you should open your eyes for once, Ketchum!"

Gary, attempting to lighten the mood, chuckled nervously. "Wisty, c’mon. It’s not like Togepi’s hurt—"

Before he could finish, Wisty grabbed the nearest clipboard and chucked it at his head. "Don’t you dare try to downplay this, Oak!"

Gary ducked, the clipboard narrowly missing him. "Okay, okay! My bad!"

Dawn whispered to Ash, "We need to get out of here before she kills someone."

Ash shook his head. "Nope. Too late for that."

Rowan, finally finding his voice, stepped forward. "Wisty, I will personally investigate how this happened. But you need to calm down."

Wisty’s laugh was cold and humorless. "Calm down? Calm down?! You strapped my Togepi to a machine, and you expect me to calm down?"

Rowan’s attempt to explain was cut short as Wisty shoved him back against the lab table. The professor looked genuinely terrified now.

"Let me make one thing clear," Wisty said, her voice low and deadly. "If I ever see something like this happen again, I’ll make sure you regret it. Understand?"

Rowan nodded rapidly, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"And that goes for all of you!" she snapped, glaring at Brock, Ash, Gary, and Dawn in turn.

Brock raised his hands. "Understood. Loud and clear."

Dawn nodded quickly. "Absolutely. Won’t happen again."

Gary didn’t even try to argue. "Got it. 100%."

Satisfied, Wisty stormed out of the lab, Togepi held protectively in her arms and Eevee trotting beside her.

As the door slammed shut behind her, Ash exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. "We survived," he muttered.

Gary rubbed the back of his neck. "Barely. I think she’s scarier than my grandpa."

Rowan collapsed into a chair, wiping his forehead. "That girl... she’s something else."

Brock chuckled nervously. "Remind me to never get on her bad side."

Dawn glanced at the wrecked lab. "Pretty sure this was her good side."

The group shared a nervous laugh, knowing full well they’d just witnessed Wisty’s wrath firsthand—and they’d do anything to avoid being in her crosshairs again.