And we're back with what is the longest chapter of the story thus far! I actually think it's the longest chapter I've ever written for any story!

WyldClaw: Thanks man. College is a little rough, but so far it hasn't been that bad. Fortunately, in a couple more weeks, my sole Monday and Wednesday class will be over, meaning that I'll have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays off. Which is pretty nice. More time to write.

Nightkat11: Well, sometimes you just have to let things go. Alyssa had to let Henry go. That's just how it happens sometimes. And I did see your OC in the previous review. I was going to PM you about it, but you seem to have that feature disabled. But don't worry, I haven't ignored it. I'll try to use her at one point, but I don't think she'll be more than a cameo.

Magicanus: Ye. Axew was an 'on the moment' kind of decision. Originally, Alyssa's team was going to be my team from my first playthrough, but since I had to start a second playthrough for this story, I thought I might mix it up a little bit. Hence the departure of Herny and the addition of Axew. And yes, we finally finish with Suntouched this chapter. Trust me, I'm as excited as you are! And that's an interesting observation – about the personality of character's and Alyssa's Pokemon. I personally didn't plan that. It just worked out like that.

Chapter Fourteen: Perfection

I was up early the next morning, heading upward to the Suntouched City Gym. Not for another rematch, but for an apology. I didn't think Orion would forgive me, but I still needed to try. After all, what with Little Miss Dream Girl talking about causes and effects and what not I didn't want to risk feeling guilty for the rest of my life.

Or something like that. I mean, I felt like the right thing to do, right?

Martin and Ally were no where to be seen – I hadn't seen them since before the Gym battle yesterday. Seriously, where were they? What were they doing? They better not be getting it on somewhere. I honestly don't think I can put up with that for a whole friggin' journey.

Does that sound a bit harsh? Maybe. All I'm going to say is that I don't want to end up being the third wheel on this thing. It sucks being alone.

I walked into the Gym for the third time in as many days and – jeez, doesn't that guy ever learn not to water Sudowoodo?- and slowly walked up to the battlefield. Orion wasn't there, but the rock was sitting still on the pedestal, looking all… rockish.

I stood there or a few moments, casually looking around. There wasn't much of anything going on. I looked over at the rock, awkwardly smiled at it. Why? I don't know. Maybe it really was alive. Might was well be nice to it.

"So… is Orion in?" I asked the rock. I mean, in the off-chance that it was alive, it might some small talk to break the boredom around here. "How's the weather? Sunny? That's nice." The rock didn't answer. I shrugged. What had I been expecting?

The Gym was quiet and empty this early in the morning. It looked like it was just me and Sudowoodo guy over there, getting blasted by another rock. So I waited patiently. Fifteen minutes passed, and still nothing had changed. No Orion. A few more random people had come in to tend to the many plants, but no one of importance.

"Geez, where is that kid, anyway?" I sighed. This is boring. "Bet you get bored too, just sitting there," I said to the rock, disregarding that my sanity told me not to. I walked up to it and stared down into the near perfect white void of the rock.

It was almost kinda of mesmerizing. The rock was a perfect sphere, a brilliant white, and seemed to be radiating power. Kinda like a crystal ball. It certainly had a mystical feel to it. Maybe that's why Orion likes it so much.

That's when the all-too-human curiosity set in. I slowly reached my finger out and touched the stone. Believe it or not… it felt like a stone. I know – shocker. It was smooth and cool to the touch. "Huh." Again, I didn't know what I had been expecting. "Oh well."

Then a rather hot blue flame flashed where my finger touched. "Holy balls!" I screamed falling flat on my butt. That scared the crap outta me. I stuck my now-burnt finger in my mouth, hoping to soothe the burning sensation.

I looked back at the rock. "The hell?" There was a pair of large blue eyes staring at me from within the depths of the stone. We maintained eye contact for several seconds, before the blue eyes slowly faded away.

Now I'm convinced. That is not an ordinary rock.

"Yeah, he does that from time to time." Orion walked up behind me, wearing a rather smug grin. "He doesn't really like people touching him. He's fine with me, but just me. He kinda just hates everyone else."

"I noticed," I grunted, getting back on my feet. "You should tell him not to play with fire. First my eyes, now my finger, I'm tired of getting burned."

Orion shrugged. "Eh, that's just how he is. No changing that." The kid Leader walked over to the chair next to the pedestal and plopped down. "So… what brings you back here again? Are you seriously looking for another rematch?"

"Not really… I just wanted to come by and apologize for the incident yesterday. I thought I could keep Henry under control, but-"

"But you were completely and totally wrong." Orion finished. He folded his arms, glaring at me. "Which probably isn't something new." Wow. Jerk. He's not wrong. But still. Jerk. "Tell me you at least did something about that thing. There's no way that you'll be able to keep it around much longer."

"I let him go," I replied, pulling out my three PokéBalls. No Great Ball. "It was kinda hard to do, but it had to be done." Orion's face relaxed a little, relieved by the news. I forced a smile. "Like I said, I just wanted to come by and apologize for what happened."

A faint smile appeared on Orion's face. "That's very mature of you."

That's a bold claim coming from the ten-year-old who talks to a rock. But I didn't say that out loud. "Yeah, it is," I nodded. "We all grow up a little bit everyday, and I guess I just needed to grow a little bit more yesterday." There was a bit of a pause, and I looked down, shuffling my feet. "Well, yeah. I just want to say that. I'm glad that you were so understanding... I'm gonna go now."

I turned my back and started walking toward the door.

"Wait." Orion walked up behind me. I stopped and turned around. "You had to learn a pretty hard lesson," said the kid. "You had to learn that you won't always be able to handle every single Pokémon that you capture… and that's a pretty vital lesson for a trainer to learn." He held out a small, shiny object. "Here."

"What… what is it?"

"It's the Thermal Badge," Orion answered, smile creasing the corner of his mouth. "It's the badge you would've obtained if you had actually beat me in battle. Given what's happened recently, I think you've more than earned it."

I frowned. But then I smiled. Orion might be a little bit rough around the edge, what with being ten and talking to a rock, but he really knew how to make a gal feel better when she was down. "Thanks, Orion," I said, reaching out for the badge. "It really means-"

"Psyche!" Orion pulled his hand back, yanking the badge out of my reach. "Oh come on! Don't tell me you thought it would be that easy!"

Oh. Wow. Should've seen that one coming. I cursed myself. "Of course not! I was just, you know, playing along." Holy crap, I totally fell for it. But I'm not going to tell him that. So I bit my lip and tried to be cool. "I honestly doubt that Gym Leaders would just give away badges like that."

"Oh stop lying! You totally fell for it and you know it!"

"No I didn't!" Yes, I totally did. "What do you think I am? An idiot?"

"Yes."

I blinked. Okay, I walked into that one. "Okay… fine. I fell for it," I admitted, folding my arms. "Does that make you happy?"

Orion smirked. "Yep." I sighed. Kids today, am I right? "But," he went on, placing his hands on his hips, "if you still really want the badge, how about we go for round three?" His smirk got even larger and even more confident and condescending. "We'll make it nice and simple. One-on-one." Orion held up a single PokéBall. "I don't usually use this guy in my normal Gym battles, and he's been itching for a fight. So, what do you say? Do you accept my challenge?"

"I thought trainers were supposed to challenge the Gym Leader, not the other way around," I frowned, but then shrugged. Eh, who cares? "Well, I accept!" I answered, pulling out Axel's PokéBall. He was my one Pokémon that Orion hadn't seen. "After all, you know what they say: the third time's the charm!"

"Okay, then bring it!" Orion jumped back to his side of the battlefield, and flung his PokéBall onto the ground. "Go Charmeleon!" The evolved form of Charmander appeared on the field, looking a little bit menacing. Not as bad as Damian's Delta Charmeleon – Orion's actually looked, you know, alive – but it was still a little intimidating.

"It's show time, Axel!" I said, releasing my Axew onto the field for the first time.

Axel yawned and stretched, scratching his butt with a tired look in his eyes. He looked around, getting a feel of his surroundings, but instantly froze when his eyes landed on the Charmeleon. The Axew tilted his head. "Zew?"

I nodded. "Yep, that's your first opponent. You think you can take him?"

"Zew."

"Was that a yes or a no?"

"Zew."

"I'm going to take that as a yes." I pointed at the Charmeleon. "Dragon Rage!"

Axel opened his tiny mouth to say something, but then just shrugged. "Zew!" He fired a wave of blue flames toward the Charmeleon.

"Flamethrower!" Orion's Charmeleon reared back blew out a stream of fire. The two attacks collided, and canceled each other out, causing a massive explosion of red and blue flames.

I covered my face with my hands, feeling the heat from the attacks. "Whoo, that's rather warm," I muttered. "Axel, Dual Chop!"

"Zew!" Both of Axel's hands began glowing a bright blue color, and the little Axew rushed through the still hanging cloud of smoke and jumped up. He brought his first fist down on Charmeleon's head, and landed and did a nice uppercut to Charmeleon's gut with his other hand.

"Char!" Charmeleon hissed as he doubled over, hand flying to his stomach. He coughed out a bit of smoke, and then cracked his knuckles as he stood up, ready to get back in the fight.

"Iron Tail!"

The little red dragon Pokémon growled and swirled around, slamming it's steeled tail into Axel. "Zew!" The even smaller drag-green dragon went flying to the side, slamming into the wall. That looked painful…

"Axel… you alright?"

"Zew!" My little dragon jumped up, fury written all over his face. He limped back to my side of the battlefield, puffing little flames of blue fire from his mouth. Oh, please don't let him turn out to be another Henry. Cause I'm done with that shit.

"Okay. Then use Dragon Rage again!"

"Zew!"

"Charmeleon! Flamethrower!"

Once again, the attacks collided and exploded. Apparently Orion had dealt with enough Axews with Dragon Rage that he knew exactly how to counter the completely over-powered move. Lucky me.

Axel didn't even need to wait for my command. He rushed through the smoke and landed another Dual Chop on the Charmeleon. "Zew!" He scrambled back, barely avoiding another Iron Tail.

Orion still had his smug smile, but there was a bit of concern in his eyes. "You think you're doing so well?" the Leader kid asked, putting his hands on his hips. "But it's time to turn up the heat!" Ugh, what a cliché line. "Charmeleon! Fire Blast!"

Charmeleon growled with an evil grin, then jumped up in to the air (adding in a nice ballerina twirl as well), and launched a huge ball of fire at Axel.

The little Axew braced himself for impact, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. The attack hit, causing yet another huge explosion of fire on the battlefield. A charred Axel slid across the ground on his stomach, coming to a rest next to my foot.

It was quiet for a few seconds. A couple of embers from the blast had spread to the grass and flowers kept in the Gym, but the people armed with watering cans made quick work of that. Axel wasn't moving.

Oh balls. That means that we're going to have to try again for that stupid badge. Or… you know… I could just forget about it. I mean, I don't really need -

"Zew..." Axel coughed, slowly getting to his feet. He brushed the ash off of him and rolled his shoulders. "Axew," he muttered, getting ready to get back into the fray.

I blinked, impressed. That's one tough cookie. He's getting some brownie points for this later. Aw… that reminds me… I'm out of brownies… I shook my head. "Geez, get your head in the game girl." I've got to watch that. Stupid thought processes.

"Well well, still in the fight," Orion commented, still acting like he had the upper hand – I mean, he did, but still a little too much arrogance in his tone - "Very few Pokémon ever last this long against Charmeleon here. You must be raising him well."

"Or not at all," I muttered under my breath. I hadn't even had the Axew for a full day yet. "Raising Dragons can be a bit challenging, but it's worth the effort,"I said, this time more audibly. Alright, time to finish this. "Axel, hit him with another Dual Chop!"

"Zew!" Axel's hands began glowing blue with Dragon energy, and he ran forward, preparing to strike the Charmeleon.

But, apparently Orion wasn't going to let that happen. "Charmeleon! Metal Claw!"

The fire-dragon rasied one of its large claws over its head, and it took on a shiny steel hue as he swiped straight down at my incoming Axew. With a loud slashing sound, Axel stopped cold, and fell backward. He landed face up, eyes close, still as a corpse.

This time the colorful swear words left my mouth. I honestly thought Axel could do it… maybe a little more training could do it. Or we could just blow this place off until I have a freakin' Blastoise or something like that.

"Well, you tried," Orion said, his so-much-more-holier-than-thou tone ramped up to eleven. "And it was a good effort – I'll admit that. Charmeleon here might just be the strongest Pokémon in my team. Isn't that right, Charmeleon?" The Pokémon didn't reply. "Charmeleon?"

Charmeleon was staring at the fallen Axew, with a slight tilt in his head. I frowned. Was something wrong? I get a sinking feeling that Charmeleon knows something we don't. Orion's Pokémon slowly leaned over, getting his face within a few inches of Axel's. He sniffed, scowl on his face. And then…

Axel's eyes snapped open. "Zew!" Charmeleon got a nice blast of Dragon Rage to the face at close range. The blast was enough to knock the howling Charmeleon off his feet, and crashing to the ground a couple of yards away. In other words, it was a really freakin' powerful blast.

"Axel, were you… were you playing dead?" I asked, looking down at my little dragon. He replied with a smile and a nod. Wow. Gotta give him some credit. That was a pretty gutsy move. "Well, I think it worked." I crouched down and rubbed his head and broke out into a full smile. "That was awesome!"

"Zew!"

Charmeleon hadn't gotten up – it looked it he was out for the count. Orion ran over and check. The instant fade of his smirk confirmed that Charmeleon had been knocked out. The kid just stood there, trying to think of something to say. He whirled around, facing me. "I… but he… that was… I just…" And he folded his arms and stamped his foot. "That's cheating!"

Was it? I don't recall seeing anything against it in the Pokémon League Rulebook. Then again, I don't really remember whether or not I actually read the rulebook. Heck, I didn't know if there even was a rulebook. So I just shrugged. "Maybe." Okay, not much of an answer, but I didn't really have one.

"You're disqualified!" The Leader kid shouted. "I'm not giving you the Thermal Badge!" He opened his mouth to shout something else, but stopped and looked over to his rock. "What? But… but she cheated! You saw it!"

Dead silence.

"No! I'm the leader here! I'm making the call!"

Still silence.

"I don't care what you think! It was not fair and square!"

I picked up a pretty confused Axel and took a step backward, looking for a way to get out unnoticed. Trust me, I am not going to get caught in them middle of this fight. Boy vs Rock. Who would win? I'm not about to find out.

Orion turned on his heel and glared at the stone. "No! This is my Gym! I'm running this place, and I decided who gets the badge and who doesn't! And she doesn't!"

"Orion!" a deep, angry voice growled from within the rock. "Give to it her! She earned it! Stop being childish!"

And the dead silence was back.

At first, I thought it was just like before, where I had heard it in my head. But then I noticed that literally everyone in the Gym was looking right toward Orion and that stone. I let out a breath. That stone must've been pissed to actually shout.

Orion stood there, looking around at everyone looking back at him. And I kinda felt bad for him. A rock had just called this Gym Leader childish in front of everyone in the Gym. That's gotta hurt. He slowly lowered his head, and stepped over to me. "Here," he said lamely, handing the badge to me. "You've earned this."

"Well, I… thanks." I nodded, giving a sympathetic smile.

"And… and I'm sorry that I acted the way I did…" he went on, with a tone of annoyance and resignation, "and I'm sorry that I called you a cheater.. and I hope that you forgive me." It was pretty obvious that the rock was telling him what to say.

"Orion… it's okay. I forgive you." I paused. "And it was very mature of you to apologize like that. That was a very grown up thing to do." Did I know that the rock forced him to apologize? Yes. But sometimes, you've got to give pretend to be a little ignorant in some situations. To give someone a bit of a respect helps a ton.

The red-haired kid perked up, a weak smile forming on his lips. "Yeah… I guess it was..." he looked back over to the rock, before turning back to me. "I'm glad that you were so understanding." He stuck his hands in his pockets, and looked down at his feet. "I guess… I guess we all grow up a little bit each day..."

I smiled. "I guess we do."

"… and then I popped my eyes wide open and shouted surprise, and blasted him in the face with the full force of the good old Dragon Rage!" Axel finished retelling the story of the Gym battle, and plopped down on the pillow on the couch in Alyssa's Pokémon Center room.

Alyssa was in the other room with the blonde girl, apparently getting ready for a celebratory lunch. In the mean time, the trainer had let Alice and Prescott get better acquainted with their new teammate.

"Um… no offense," said a bored Prescott, draped over the opposite pillow. "That was a pretty long story… and I don't think I believe any of it."

Axel scoffed. "I'm telling you, yellow dude. It's all true. Every single word." He looked over at the Delta Ivysaur snuggled up next to Prescott's pillow. "Come on, Pinkie. You believe me, right?"

Alice shrugged. "Well, I don't want to be rude… but I am kinda with Prescott on this one. It was a well-told story, but I think you might've exaggerated a little bit."

The Pikachu snorted a laugh. "A little bit? Alice, he said he fought three Charizards – two of which had Mega Evolved – by himself! With his bare hands! And don't even get me started about the part where he saved the princess from the evil Blastoise!"

"Heh heh," Axel chuckled, leaning back on his pillow. "Okay, so I might've made up some parts to it. There might've been only one Charizard, and it might've only been a Charmeleon, but my point still stands."

"...There was a point to all that?" Alice asked, glaring at him. "What was the point?"

Axel smirked. "That point was that I'm awesome."

Alice and Prescott shot each other an irritated look. "Yeah, that's good to know," the pink Ivysaur said. "It might've been a little too..." she trailed off, tilting her head to the side. "Well, it's been nice talking to you guys," Alice said, standing up and jumping down to the floor, "but I gotta go. Alyssa's mentally threatening to kill that other girl over something called a skirt. I need to go alleviate the situation. Peace." She went out the half-closed door.

The Axew sat up, watching her go. He frowned. "I didn't hear anyone calling her..." Axel looked back over to Prescott. "She was just trying to get away from us, wasn't she?" The little dragon shrugged. "Eh, who cares? I don't like Fairies anyway."

Prescott shook his head. "Nah, she's also got some Psychic capabilities. They're not as strong as an actual Psychic Pokémon's, she can still feel other people's feelings. Especially those who she's known for a while."

"Oh. That's kinda creepy." Axel leaned back again, closing his eyes. "That's very creepy."

"I know," Prescott agreed. "Just watch what you think and you'll be okay."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Axel. He paused for a minute. "You two banging?"

"What?"

"You know, dancing the horizontal tango?"

All he got was a long and confused stare from Prescott.

"You know, party under the sheets?"

"I usually sleep on the floor...

Axel sighed. "You are completely hopeless, you know."

Prescott flicked his tail. "I honestly don't even know what you're asking."

"You know, are you and that pink Ivysaur doing it?"

"Doing what?"

"Each other."

"Huh?"

Axel groaned. "You know what, just forget I asked. The fact that you don't even know probably means that you haven't." He rubbed his eyes, then looked over at Prescott. "Are there any other girls on the team besides the pink Ivysaur? Like I said, Fairy ain't my type."

"Nope."

"Ugh… this adventure is gonna suck."

The door then swung open. Alice walked in, followed by a rather flustered looking Alyssa, holding down the edges of her pink skirt. "Hey guys..." said the artificially brown-haired girl, "I guess it's time we head on out."

Our celebratory lunch was nothing spectacular. We went to a rather mediocre All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet (yes, that was actually the name of it) and had a relatively normal meal. Ally and Martin pretty much had their own conversation – something about the science behind love – while I just sat there in the corner of the booth, hiding as much of myself under the table as I could while still looking normal.

This damn skirt. I hate it. That dumb genius forced me to wear it. I don't like the feeling of "openness and freedom" that Ally said skirts provided – I just felt like the whole damn world could look straight up there, if you know what I mean. I miss my pants.

"...and that should sum up why people feel these strange feelings of attachment to other people," Ally wrapped up her long-winded explanation that I certainly didn't listen to. We were walking back to the Pokémon Center, and my two fellow travelers still hadn't finished talking. It was kind of annoying. Especially since I had no one to talk to.

I paused in mid stride. Why does it feel cold? I know it feels a whole lot colder than before… "Um, guys… Does it feel a little bit chilly?" Seriously… it's summer and the sun is directly overhead. I was sweating on my way to the restaurant. Why do I feel so cold now?

Ally frowned, rubbing her chin and looking around. "Well… maybe a little, now that you mention it. But I wouldn't concern yourself with it. Temperatures typically do drop as the day goes on – after all, the sun doesn't stay in the sky all day long."

Martin just shrugged. "It feels a little bit colder, but not that bad."

Hm. Maybe it's just me. I am wearing a tank top and a skirt, after all. "Yeah, I guess it isn't." Why do I get the feeling that something bad is about to happen? And why do I get the feeling that I'm about to walk right into it?

I heard someone shout "Excuse me!" and then felt the full impact of someone running into me. I fell flat on my butt, but reacted quickly to make sure my skirt was still fully covering me. If I were still wearing my pants, it wouldn't have been a concern. Thanks Ally. "Hey, you okay?" I asked, looking to the other girl.

"I'm-I'm fine." She was wearing a yellow tank top with a brown skirt. On her brown-hair was a blue-green hat with a yellow ribbon tied around it. She looked kinda important. At least more so than the rest of the bland inhabitants of this town. "Sorry… but I really need to get the Gym," she apologized, standing up and taking off.

"Well, that was interesting," Ally commented, watching the girl run off, her eyes distant, thinking. "She seemed… familiar." She rubbed her chin in that way she did. "Eh, whatever. You really need to watch where you're going, Alyssa. You just ran into her."

"What?" protested Martin. "She ran into Alyssa!"

Ally shook her head. "Actually, the girl was running this direction," Ally pointed down the path, "and Alyssa was walking in the adjacent direction. The point of contact was on Alyssa's front and the girl's side."

"No, the point of contact was Alyssa's side and the girl's front!" Martin said defensively. "I saw the whole thing!"

Ally scoffed. "Yeah, so did I! I was right here, one step closer to her than you were!"

"Yeah, well… my glasses are better!"

I sighed, folding my arms, still sitting on the ground. These two. They're like this more often than you think. Remember when I said they really hit it off? They did, but they still can fight about anything. "Are you two seriously going to argue about this? How about helping me up? That would be great."

"Oh, you're a big girl. You can stand up on your own," Ally snapped rather quickly.

I groaned and stood up, brushing the dirt off my legs. "Somehow, I knew that I was going to walk into trouble. I just didn't think it would be that literal."

"Ha!" Ally looked over at Martin, victorious grin on her face. "Alyssa admitted it! I was right!"

"Oh shut up."

"Both of you shut up," I said. "Now come on, let's get back to the Center and plan our next move." I turned back to the path and started walking, and -

"Hey! Look out!"

- once again collided with a person running. Yup. Double whammy. Except this time, I was knocked flat on my back, with the other person landing on top of me. Like, perfectly on top of me. Perfectly awkwardly on top of me. I sighed with exasperation. "Ugh, remind me to never walk again. This is getting ridiculous."

"Sorry…" apologized the girl on top of me. If I were a guy, then the implications of that previous sentence would've made me a little less ticked off about the situation. "I should've watched where I was… Oh, hey Alyssa!"

I sighed. "Hey Nora."

The green-haired girl smiled. "I didn't think I'd run into you here!" she said, with an all-too-cheery smile. She paused, apparently trying to let the joke land. She frowned when it didn't. "Too obvious a joke, then?"

"It's kinda old at this point," I replied, even though Martin and Ally were cracking up in the background. That cheered Nora up a little bit.

"Oh, sorry. I was just chasing after this other girl," Nora explained. "She mentioned something about the Suntouched Gym and the-"

"Hey Nora?" I interrupted. "I hate to break up your explanation, but can I ask a question?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Can you do the explanation when you're not lying on top of me in an extremely awkward position? Please?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She climbed off of me, and I stood up for the second time in as many minutes. "As I was saying, that girl mentioned something about the Suntouched Gym and the Cult of Perfection. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Ally visibly tensed at the mention of the Cult. "P-Perfection?"

"Yeah, a bunch of those weirdos that keep trying to tear the world apart and rebuild it their way," said Nora. "They're a bunch of know-it-all scientists who want to - "

"I know who they are," Ally spat out. "I just didn't know they'd be here."

"You'd be surprised. Cults around here have the tendency to pop up where you least expect them," the green-haired girl went on. "They're probably hiding in every dark corner on Earth."

"I think she's right," I added in, trying to stay relevant and helpful in the conversation. After all, this is all about me. "I met their leader in Telnor Town. At Sylvan's lab." Ally snapped her head to me, about to say something, then stopped.

"And, from my experience," Nora stepped up, placing her hands on her hips. "Cults are just good for nothing assholes that need to be stopped! That's why I'm making sure everything at the Gym is okay!" She took off running in the same direction that the other girl had went. "See ya later!"

"I'm… I'm going too," Ally said, after a second, and ran after her.

Martin and I stood there for a moment. "Well, that was interesting," I said, finally breaking the silence.

"The past five minutes were interesting."

I smiled at the kid. "Dude, the past couple of weeks have been interesting." I let out a breath. "Well, I hope everything is okay." Deep down inside, I desperately hoped everything was okay. As a girl on the run from a Cult, the last thing I wanted was a Cult in the same town where I slept. I don't know what Ally's interest with the Cult of Perfection is… maybe it's a science thing? "Come on," I patted Martin on the shoulder. "Let's find out where we're going next."

"We're not going after them?" Martin asked, frown on his face.

"Martin… why should we?" I asked, looking down at him. "The cultist have killed people – do you really want to meet some up close and personal?" Trust me, I've had some personal experience with cultists. They're not friendly. But I didn't say that out loud.

"But..." he stared off into the distance, pushing up his glasses. "But Ally… she's our friend, right? Shouldn't we, you know, have her back?"

I bit my lip. Ooh, well-played Martin. "Well, yeah. But -"

"Then come on!" Martin shouted, breaking into a run toward the big-ass fan. "We can still catch up to her!"

"But I..." I groaned. "I'm totally going to regret this." And so I, making sure that this damned skirt kept everything covered that should be covered, ran after them.

If you think that riding a huge, completely illogical fan up to the second floor of a city sounds hard, trying doing that while being a completely self-conscious girl in a skirt. It was a nightmare, but somehow I managed.

I entered the Suntouched Gym for the fourth time in the past couple of days. There wasn't anything exciting going on. No cults, no guns, no nothing. Everyone was just going about the regular business as usual. There was that one guy cowering behind a potted plant as the Sudowoodo was stomping on a watering can. But that's normal as well.

I guess we got here before all of the excitement.

Martin, Ally, and Nora were standing by the door. "So… what's up, guys?" I asked, joining them. "We prepping to fight some baddies?"

"Well, actually, we're just waiting here, out of her way," Nora said, nodding to the girl in the blue-green hat.

The girl was pacing all over the Gym. "Orion? Orion!" she shouted. "Get out here right now! It's important!" There was no response, and the kid leader didn't show. "Argh! Orion! Where in the hell are you?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, she seems a little pissed."

Then Orion came bolting out of a side door and into the Gym. "What's wrong?" he asked, panicked look on his face. "Did someone hurt my friend?" He ran over to his rock, looking over it over. "No..." He sighed in relief. "He seems okay."

The girl grabbed Orion's wrist, pulling him to the door. "Come on! We need to go! Now!"

Orion pulled free of her grasp. "I can't just up and leave, Harmony. I have several challengers coming in today – I am Gym Leader. I have duties to these people." He noticed us, and a smile grew on his face. "And there's some challengers now. Come on over, guys. I'm ready for a challenge!"

The four of us walked over – okay, it's not me. It's definitely gotten colder – and Orion's smile grew bigger. "Hey, it's Heatmor Girl and company! Nice of you all to stop by!" He pulled one of his PokéBalls out of his pocket. "So, who's up first?"

Harmony, apparently the girl's name, grabbed him by the shoulders. "We don't have time, Orion! The Cult of Perfection is after you! We need to leave!"

That certainly seemed to get his attention. "A cult? Here?" His smile vanished fast. "And they want me?"

"That's what I heard," Harmony said. "I overheard some guys talking, and they mentioned that they were coming to take you… or something here. I don't know. But I know they're coming here." She motioned to the door. "So come on, let's get out of here."

"Yeah, that's why we're here too," I added, rubbing my arms. Holy Helix, it's gotten so cold. Did someone turn off the sun or something? Everyone else in the Gym seemed to notice the change in weather now. Martin pulled his jacket closer, while Ally shivered. Nora, Harmony, and Orion were just shrugging it off. "We're here to help you."

Orion seemed to think for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Yeah, you're right." He looked up at Harmony. "Okay, let's go! But help me with this!" The kid ran over to the pedestal with his rock and tried to lift it up. "He's a bit heavy, so I might need a second person to-"

"No, Orion!" Harmony snapped. "We don't have the time for that stupid thing! Leave it!"

"I'm not leaving my friend!"

"How cute," echoed a deep voice. A man stood on the bleachers off to the side of the Gym's battlefield. Somehow, his voice just seemed to carry across the whole building. "Seeing such devotion toward an object from a child… it's heartwarming, isn't it? Especially in these cold times."

"Who… who are you?" snarled Harmony, balling her fists and stepping in between the man the Orion. "You're a cultist, are you?"

The man chuckled, walking out onto the battlefield. "Why yes, my dear, I am. My name is Taen, and I am a leading member of the Cult of Perfection." He did a theatrical bow. "Now, let's put these pleasantries aside and get down to business, shall we?"

"Alright, first order of business," Harmony said, stepping up to him. "You're going to leave my friend alone. Second order of business," she jerked her thumb toward the door. "That's the door. I want you to walking through it and never come back. Got it?"

Taen's twisted smile grew ever-so-slightly. "It's always more fun when they try to fight back," he muttered. "Well, I regret to inform you that things aren't going to happen that way. No, things are going to go much differently."

Whelp. Time to be brave. Brave but stupid. I stepped forward, still shivering in the cold. "Y-you're going t-t leave us a-alone. G-got I-it?" Stammering. Way to sound heroic.

"Ah, are we scared? Or are we just cold?" Taen asked. He took a step over to me, and looked down. "You know… you're not that bad, girl. Brave but stupid. My favorite kind of person." His smirk grew. "And that skirt makes you look absolutely gorgeous."

Oh that little…

I slapped him. Across the face. As hard as I could.

Taen stepped back in recoil, holding a hand to his cheek. The cultist promptly burst out into laughter. "I must say, I deserved that! And I do like them feisty! We must get together sometime." He reached into his jacket and held out a small slip of paper. "Here. Call me."

I glared at him.

"No?" Taen shrugged, tucking the card back in his jacket. "Your loss."

"Why are you here, Taen?" Ally spit out the name, as if cursing it. The blonde genius stepped to my side. "I assume that the sole purpose of this visit isn't to hook up with minors?"

The Perfection Cultists looked right back at her. "Snarky, are we?" He laughed to himself, as if it were an inside joke. "No, I am merely here for the rock." Taen turned to the pedestal, and the stone sitting on top of it. "Once I have it and am away… you all can go back to your normal, miserable, pathetic lives. If I don't kill you, that is."

"No!" Orion shouted, jumping between the rock and Taen. "You are not taking my friend! I won't let you!"

Taen was completely unamused. "Oh, I'm not bothered by whether you'll let me take it or not. I'm going to take it regardless." He folded his arms. "Now, I'm losing my patience. Please step aside."

"No!"

Harmony stood at the kid leader's side. "You're not taking the stone on our watch!" She looked over at the rest of us, apparently a call for action.

Nora was the first to react. "Yeah! We can fight you! And we will!" The green-haired girl went to their side. "Come on, Alyssa! Stand up to this cultists!"

I internally sighed. Did I want to stand up to him? No, I didn't. I want nothing to do with the cults. But did I want to look like a complete and total ass-hat and ditch them? Nope. Ergo, conflict. You know what? Screw it. I'm too cold for this stuff. "Come on, guys. Let's go." Ally, Martin and I went over to their side.

It was now a six-on-one fight. And against a cultist, too. That means we didn't have to play by the League's rules. So yeah, I feel pretty confident about our odds.

"Standing up for your friend?" Taen asked, with a nod of approval. "Admirable. But hopeless." He cleared his throat. "Now, for the last time, step aside. I'm taking the stone."

"Oh yeah?" said Harmony. "You and what army?"

Taen's smile came back. "I don't need an army." He raised a hand into the air. "But, since you asked..." he snapped his fingers together. "… why not give you the full demonstration?"

And that's when it got cold. Like, really cold. Freezing almost. I shivered hard, and then noticed the snow. It was snowing? In the middle of a summer mid-day? I looked up through the Gym's open ceiling and – what the hell is that?

A big – no, huge – Pokémon was descending from the gray clouds. With an earth-shaking roar it lowered itself into the Gym, flying several feet off the ground. It had a mostly gray body, with large, jagged blue wings and faceplate. Cold just seemed to emanate from the beast.

"Meet my army – Kyurem," Taen said, with an elegant arm motion to the dragon. "One of the Legendary Tao Trio from Unova. As the old legends go, Kyurem can generate such cold temperatures that it can freeze fire and electricity." He chuckled again. "So, to sum it up, I am taking the stone, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

We all stood there, glaring up at the Legendary. Snow seemed to form in the air around it. Frost puffed from cracks in the icy wings, creating faint clouds that encircled the Pokémon. This thing just seemed to represent power.

Okay, I take it back. I'm no longer confident about our odds.

Harmony was the first to snap out of the awe of the Legendary Pokémon. "We… we're still not going to back down! Right?" None of us answered her. I don't think we needed to. We all knew where this was going. She paused, looking at the rest of us. "...right?"

"That's too bad… now isn't it? If you're not going to move, then I'll have to move you myself." Taen pointed a condemning finger at us. "Kyurem, Blizzard!"

The large dragon roared out, shaking the whole Gym. Kyurem reared its mighty head back, and shot out a huge wave of ice and snow and wind.

"Look out!" Harmony wrapped her arms around Ally and Martin, the two closest to her, and pulled them to the ground with her. Nora, Orion, and I weren't so fortunate.

The freezing wind knocked the three of us back several feet, pelting with with sharp, jagged shards of ice. Which wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. I could feel the ice tearing at my skin, and balls of hail hitting me all over. This was definitely going to leave a mark.

I was on my back, looking up through the open roof into the dark clouds above the Gym. My arms stung, and I could feel small trickles of warm blood oozing from cuts. Great. I managed to sit up on my knees, and crawled over to Nora. She had some cuts and scrapes, but was otherwise okay.

Orion on the other hand…

The kid jumped up, and limp-ran toward Taen as the cultist approached the stone. There was a splatter of blood on the front of his white shirt. "Get away from my friend!" he shouted, reaching for one of his PokéBalls.

Taen smiled, shaking his head. "Sorry kid. It's a shame that the two of you have to part like this, but what's that old saying? If you love something, let it go?" He shrugged, rubbing his chin. "Something like that. You might as well let go. It's mine now." The cultist looked up at the dragon. "Kyurem."

The dragon blasted out another wave of its Blizzard attack. This one much more powerful. Dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. Harmony was hit by a large chuck of ice, knocking her off her feet and throwing her down off the battlefield. Martin and Ally were flung against the Gym's far wall.

"Alyssa! Run!" Nora shouted, grabbing my arm and yanking me to my feet. She took off toward the fallen form of Harmony, quickly grabbing the girl and pulling her off to safety. It would've been nice if Nora had doubled checked that I was with her before she took off, cause things had kinda gone south over here.

"Krrr..." bellowed Kyurem as it swung its head toward me. All I could do was stare at it. The dragon's cold, judging eyes offered a small look of sympathy, before it let out another huge wave of wind and ice and hail directly at me.

"Aw shit." The cold wind caused me to stumble for balance, which was pretty hard thanks to the hail. It was the small chunks at first, but the larger ones came soon after. "Ow!" I staggered backward as a golf ball sized piece of hail hit my shoulder. "Ow!" a baseball sized piece of hail hit my leg, knocking it out from under me. "Son of a bitch!" I cried, hitting the frozen ground. With the last of my strength, I struggled back to my legs, fighting the wind and hail as I struggled to find some cover.

Then I felt the pain in my side. It was a large stinging pain that radiated out across the whole left side of my body. I could feel it in my left arm and leg. It then dulled, becoming more a powerful throbbing pain. I could feel the blood.

That was good. I dropped to my knees as Kyurem stopped the Blizzard. With one final "ow" I fell face-first into the cold snow. Weakly rolled onto my back and looked toward the battlefield, where Kyurem was blast poor Orion again. The kid was on the ground, clinging to the pedestal for dear life.

When the howling cold winds of the attack died down, Orion slowly stood back up, throwing himself over the rock, "I… I won't let you… let you take my friend..." he weakly said, obviously hurt from the Blizzard. "I… I won't let you..."

"Then you have chosen your fate," Taen said grimly. "Kyurem, Glaciate."

This guy… he was about to kill Orion. He was about to kill a kid! My body hurt from being hit by all the large chucks of hail and there were several cuts from shards of ice. I felt numb all over, but I struggled to stand up, fumbling for my PokéBalls. I couldn't stand by and let this happen... Dragons… they're weak to Fairy, right? Alice might… Alice might… I collapsed to the ground.

Kyurem had formed a massive ball of ice above it's head, and fired it straight down at Orion. "Orion..." I muttered weakly, only able to watch as the ball of ice got closer and closer and closer and…

… and was completely destroyed by the huge eruption of fire from the rock. Orion, who was collapsed over the rock, seemed completely unharmed by it. The ice ball melted into water, harmlessly hitting the ground.

Taen only laughed. He seems to do that a lot. "So… I was right, then. I knew I was all along." The cultist smirked with pride. "It worked – hook, line, and sinker. Now, to reel it in. Kyurem, finish off the boy. Immediately."

The ice dragon growled with reluctant obedience, and fired off another ice ball.

And once again, the rock destroyed it with a ball of fire.

But this time, the stone began rising up off the pedestal. Orion slid off, landing on the ground in a motionless heap with a crunch of the snow beneath him.

That didn't look good.

The rock was now spinning rapidly in mid air, before a bright firey-red aura covered it, rapidly expanding outward. With a loud, powerful cry of an unknown Pokémon, the aura burst apart, revealing a large white dragon in place of the stone.

Reshiram.

The white dragon rose up into the air, and launched a huge sphere of fire at Kyurem. The attack connected, and with a loud screech, the ice dragon dropped to its feet on the ground, preparing a retaliation.

The other dragon wasn't going to give Kyurem that chance. Reshiram's tail burned red, and the Legendary dragon shot off into the sky like a rocket leaving a trail of smoke and embers behind.

Taen growled out. "Don't let him get away!" he shouted to his dragon, jumping onto its back. "Get after it! Now!" Kyurem roared one last time, before launching off into the sky with the cultist on its back.

And all was quiet in the Gym.

Snow and ice covered most surfaces – I'm pretty sure those plants might not make it another day. Fortunately, it looked as if most of the other people in the Gym had already fled. I guess that's good. Maybe they went to get help. I could use it, and so could Orion by the looks of it.

Orion! He still hadn't gotten up…

"Son of a bitch," I muttered, rising to my feet. I still hurt all over, but I couldn't lay around and wait anymore. Snow crunched and ice cracked under my feet as I walked toward the crumpled form of Orion. "Please be okay… please be okay… please be okay..." I kept muttering. And then I collapsed again, hitting the cold snow.

"Alyssa!"

It's Martin. I push myself back up to my knees. Martin is running over, looking almost completely untouched, save for the slightly crooked glasses. "You lucky bastard..." Martin wordlessly pulls me up to my feet again, holding me up. "Orion..." I croaked. Orion… please be okay…

"I know, Martin replied. "Ally! Check on Orion!" he shouts, as he starts helping me toward the fallen boy. "Don't worry, Alyssa… I'm… I'm sure he's fine." But he's lacking confidence in his voice.

Martin lowered me down to the ground on the nice soft grass of the battlefield. Reshiram's fire must have melted the snow and ice here – and it's really warm. I closed my eyes for a moment, just basking in the heat. It felt so good.

But then I really started to feel the pain again. I don't think I'm okay… I can't be okay. "Ugh..." I look down at myself, assessing the damage. And it was a lot of damage. My arms were covered in cuts and bruises. My left arm had a rather large gash in it, and blood was running down my arm. My legs fared a bit better, but were still pretty cut up, no thanks to the stupid skirt. My left side, though. There was a huge cut in it, with blood seeping out, staining the light blue tank top around it.

Oh… that doesn't look good. And the fact that it doesn't hurt is even worse.

I placed my hand over the wound, trying to ignore the warm liquid coming from it, and looked up. Martin and Ally were crouching over Orion. The kid still hadn't moved. "How… how is he?" I managed to ask, though it was getting harder and harder to speak. "Is he… okay?"

"Just relax, Alyssa," Ally said, looking over her shoulder at me. "He's alive… barely. We need to get him help."

"Then go!" Nora walked over, supporting a beat up and bleeding Harmony on her shoulder. At least Harmony was up. "I'll stay here with them – you two go find help. Both of you!" Nora was in pretty good condition as well, not a scratch on her. "I can stay here with them! Just go!"

My eyes were beginning to grow heavy as Martin and Ally shot each other a look. "Well, come on!" Martin shouted to the genius. "What are you waiting for?" The duo stood up and ran out the door.

I flopped over onto my side – the non hurt side. It was beginning to hurt to sit up. I closed my eyes… wait. Isn't it bad to close your eyes… in a situation like… like this? Ergh. I forced them open again.

Nora was leaning over me, with a dopey comforting smile on her face. "Don't worry, Alyssa. You're going to be alright. All of you are. I have a plan."

My eyes drooped again. "Oh… that's… that's good," I murmured. The world was fading away. My eyes shut completely. I couldn't force them back open. "…that's good..." and I drifted off into darkness.

I cracked an eye open, and they were instantly flooded by a bright light. Oh shit… I went into the light didn't I? Both eyes snapped open, and when I recovered from the bright light… "This isn't heaven," I groaned, sitting up in my bed. This is my room in the Pokémon Center.

I shook of the groggy feeling of sleep, and looked around. Things seemed… normal. Was that all a dream? I looked down at my arms – I saw the faint scars from the ice shards all along my arms. "What?" I was still wearing the tank top – still with the hole and still coated in blood.

But the wound was gone. Just a small pink line across my side.

"Okay… that's good. I think." What happened?

Crawling out of bed, I realized that I wasn't weak anymore. I was able to move around perfectly fine. No pain. A quick glance in the mirror showed the burns around my eyes from Henry's fire was gone as well. Aside from the small pink scars… I looked pretty hot. Okay… that might be a biased opinion, but if Beckett were here, he would've confirmed it.

Long story short… some doctor somewhere is getting a huge medal for this. I was pretty tore up before – but now I'm fine. That's a plus.

I quickly changed into some blood-free clothes – my old jumpsuit, from the Cult of Darkrai. It still had some holes on the shoulders and knees, but it was clean. I had washed it myself. I took a deep inhale of the sleeve. I had no idea what it smelled like, but it smelled familiar, and that's what counts.

Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I went out into the Pokémon Center lobby – which turned out to be completely empty save for one person. Nora was sitting on the nurse's desk, swinging her legs as she stared down at her phone.

"Um… hi?"

Nora looked up. "Well, it's about time you got up," she said, giving me a warm smile. "Even Orion was up before you were, and he was a lot worse off." The green-haired girl shoved her phone into her pocket as she jumped off the desk. "You feeling okay? You look a lot better."

"I feel a lot better," I answered. "I feel fine. Where is everyone?"

"They're all at the Gym. The place is still a wreck. It's been a long time since something this exciting has happened in Suntouched City." Nora grabbed my wrist, turning my arms over and inspecting the scars. "Hm… they seemed to heal nicely. Especially for a few hours..."

"A few hours?" I blinked. That looked like too much damage for a few hours rest. "That's all it took?"

"Yup… well, five minutes, really," she replied. "The few hours of sleep you got afterward was an added bonus."

"What happened?" That's the million-dollar question right there. "The Gym… Kyurem, Reshiram… I remember blacking out… Orion. Is Orion okay? He looked pretty bad..."

"Relax, Alyssa. He's fine," Nora said. "Like I said, I had a plan."

"And that was?"

"I had Celebi use her Healing Wish on you guys," explained Nora, lowering her voice. "It was the first time that I've actually tried it on human beings, well, a human other than myself, but it seemed to work. That's why I wanted your friends out of there – I didn't want them to see Celebi."

I slowly nodded. I guess that's a plausible story… right? I don't even care, really. I feel great after almost getting the stuffing killed out of me. She could've told me she rode a golden Donphan into space to find a magic rainbow carrot to heal us, and I would've gone with it.

… okay, maybe not that particular story, but you get what I mean.

"So… everything went off without a hitch? Everyone's okay?"

Nora thought for a moment. "Well, not without a hitch. Everyone's okay – Harmony and Orion are at the Gym, trying to sort things out – Reshiram came back, by the way – but the healing process took longer than I thought… so your friends came back in the middle of it." She let out a breath. "I had to tell them about me and Celebi. But I didn't tell them about you and Mew. I swear."

"… you think they can be trusted?"

"You trust them, Alyssa. So I'll trust them."

I think that was the moment that I began to realize just how much faith Nora was putting into me. She was trusting two people she didn't even know, simply because she thought I trusted them. And I do… to an extent. I just don't really fully trust anyone anymore. But I didn't tell Nora that. "They're trustworthy… they won't betray you."

"I know they won't." Nora nodded slowly. "But let's not dwell on this subject any longer. What happened happened. Everyone walked away alive, Orion still has his friend, all's good. And we… we still have a long journey ahead of us, right?"

"Right."

"And it's best that we leave now. There's going to be a lot of questions about what happened here, and I don't think you want to be around for that." Nora stuck her hands in her pockets. "I'm leaving now. You get your friends. We'll meet up again later." She smirked. "And I want a rematch!" Nora waved and ran out the door. "See ya later!"

"See ya..." I weakly waved back.

Saying that today had been interesting would be an understatement. But, all in all, it was a good day. The Thermal Badge was pinned to my backpack's strap, and I didn't die. No one did. That's good. And, that also means that I can finally leave Suntouched City. Don't get me wrong – it's a nice place and I could stay to train a little bit more…

...but I really just want to get the hell outta this place.

Oh look! Two chapters in the same month? That's pretty rare. Like I said, I'm trying to do better. I want to fall into weekly Saturday updates, so we'll see how that goes.

I know I'm not the only one to say this, but I'm finally glad that we're out of Suntouched City. That stuff had dragged on for way too long. Statistically the Suntouched Arc (Chapters 11-14 have been some of the longest chapters to date. While I'm proud I can make such long stories out of that… that's just way too long for one city. I'm going to try to do better.

Coming next chapter: Alyssa and the gang finally get back on the road, heading onto Route 3 where Martin gets a new, rather cool Pokemon, and then head into Metchi Town, where Alyssa gets in a rather untimely battle.

Whelp, that's all she wrote. Until next chapter!