In which there is an awful lot of talking. I'm sorry, I couldn't shut them up.

"God I'm starving."

The walk from Parum Town to the harbour was a day long, and now that the storm had passed and the sun was out, the heat was making it almost unbearable.

"There are berries on the trees," Saxen told Matthew, who was looking very sorry for himself.

"I'm not a Buneary, I want real food," Matthew muttered.

"Well if you're too stubborn to eat the fruit you'll have to go hungry," Saxen replied with a shrug as he pulled an apple from a nearby branch.

"Douche," Matthew said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I'm gonna let that go because you're hot and grumpy."

"At least I'm not gay."

Saxen bristled. "At least I didn't get beat up by a girl." He gestured to the angry purple bruise that still took up half of his face.

"Hey!" Kitty interjected, but nobody heard.

"God, I can't stand this much longer. I don't even have enough money for a stupid sandwich. I don't think I've ever been this poor."

"Find someone to battle for money," Charlie suggested.

"I have money," Elliot said suddenly. Matthew's eyes lit up.

"You have money? How come you still have money? Mine was all sucked up by that restaurant and the hotel."

"All of ours was," Charlie added.

"And from losing battles," Saxen muttered.

"Oi," Matthew said. "I don't lose battles." He turned to Elliot. "Can I have, like, 100AD? I'm pretty sure that'd be enough for some food."

"Sure," Elliot said, fishing around in his pocket for his Nav. Saxen stopped him.

"Wait," he said. "Don't just give him your money when he lost all of his himself."

"Hey," Matthew said sorely.

"At least win it in a battle or something," Saxen said with a frown.

"Are you that upset that I called you gay?" Matthew asked, folding his arms. "Ok, I challenge you to a battle. Winner gets 100AD." He paused. "I'll owe you, if I lose."

"Yeah you will," Saxen said.

"Except I won't lose!" Matthew said, pulling out his pokeball. "Come on out, Candy."

His Sandshrew appeared, doing a front flip and landing on the floor, then looking a bit put out when there was no applause or anything.

"Negi," Elliot said simply. His Farfetch'd waddled over from a nearby pond and took its own battle stance. "You can go first," he said graciously.

"Fine, Swift," Matthew said. Candy chucked some star-shaped balls of energy at the Farfetch'd, who attempted to dodge them in vain. Swift worked like a heat-seeking missile, and caught the duck pokemon square on the head and chest.

"Poison Jab," Elliot said, not looking too fazed.

The Farfetch'd fluttered over – not easy due to its rather dumpy body – and its beak turned purple. It proceeded to jab Candy hard all over a couple of times, before she could think to scramble away. She looked already completely worn out, and Matthew frowned. Poison shouldn't be effective against Ground. She retaliated quickly with her Fury Swipes.

"Good," Matthew said. "Get in a Defence Curl."

Candy rolled up into a ball just in time to lessen the damage of Negi's Peck attack.

"Fury Attack," Elliot ordered.

"Fury Swipes," Matthew commanded at the same time.

The pokemon, panting, stared each other down for a moment before launching their own drawn-out attacks on each other. One of them would have to stop first, giving the other the edge.

Candy was down first, her attack finishing before the Farfetch'd's, and she received a direct hit from the final Fury Attack. They both stood still, cut and bleeding, tongues out from the heat.

"Switch out, Candy," Matthew said, and sent out his Geodude instead. "Rock Throw," he ordered, when the next pokemon solidified on the floor.

"Fury Cutter," Elliot said.

The pokemon launched themselves at each other. Geodude pitched rocks from the floor at the Farfetch'd. He dodged most of them, but the final one struck him right on the top of the head, and he was down and out. Elliot returned him.

"Pidgey, go," he said. The tiny Pidgey hopped about on the floor and chirped questioningly.

"Rock Throw," Matthew ordered, bored. "Why don't you just give up the match now and save yourself the pain?"

Elliot wavered as the Pidgey narrowly avoided the rocks, but Saxen answered for him. "No way."

"Sand Attack," he said. Pidgey kicked up a cloud of sand into the Geodude's eyes, and he stopped moving, tearing up.

"Keep going with Rock Throw."

Geodude didn't obey, instead opting to rub his eyes violently with rocky fists. The pain didn't subside, and he rolled about in the sky, calling out in anger.

"Whirlwind," Elliot ordered. Pidgey started to beat its wings hard, and the Geodude was blown through the air, slamming into its pokeball and was quickly sucked up into it. Matt looked at the ball in confusion for a bit, and then released Candy instead.

"Alright, finish her off," Elliot said. "Quick Attack."

The Pidgey took off, wings spread, beak glinting in the light, and thwacked the unsuspecting Sandshrew as she blinkingly looked around. She careered off and hit the floor, rolling off and collecting dust and dead leaves on her sharp back.

"Return," Matthew said. "That wasn't very nice." Candy was sucked up again.

"Had to be done," Elliot said, as the Geodude reappeared. "Gust."

"Rock Throw."

The rocks flew to the Pidgey from all directions, and she narrowly missed most of them. When the barrage was finished she stood, battered, feathers out of place and wings scraping the ground. Elliot returned her and switched out his Spearow.

"Catch your breath," he said to the pokeball as he repocketed it. "Spearow, Fury Attack."

"You and your fury," Matthew muttered. "Let's mix it up with a Tackle, Geodude."

The pokemon, both airborne, collided, but the Geodude's Tackle landed just first, knocking the Spearow back before it had a chance to attack. It fluttered forwards again, angrier now, and the Geodude moved out of the way at the last minute. Already out of breath, the Spearow slowed, turned shakily, and flew at it again.

"Its stamina's not great," Matthew pointed out. "Rock Throw."

The first rock slammed right into the Spearow's face, knocking it out cold immediately. Elliot shot Matt a look before switching it once again with Pidgey.

"Take it out," he said simply.

"Rock Throw," Matthew said. "I'm too hungry for this."

The pokemon flew in circles around each other, and then Geodude began to pitch rocks at the bird pokemon, who, with a little more energy after the short rest, managed to dodge every one of them. Geodude was looking a little out of breath by now.

"Gust it away," Elliot said. The Pidgey complied and Geodude hurtled into the ground, skidding and making a large dent in the floor before regaining its place in the air. "Quick Attack."

Pidgey darted left and right, slammed headlong into the Geodude, who was still finding its bearings, and then fell back, hovering in wait.

"Rock Throwww," Matthew moaned. "Get it this time."

Pidgey managed to, once again, avoid every rock with its small form, and then pulled back, looking smug.

It started to glow.

"Dammit," Elliot said, as his Pidgey tripled in size. "Alright Pidgeotto, it's gonna be harder to dodge now."

"Mid-battle? There should be rules against that," Matthew said, and then sighed. "Rock Throw."

Geodude chucked rocks, looking bored. Pidgeotto dodged one, two, but then the third slammed into its stomach, and it spiralled to the floor, unconscious. The evolution had taken too much out of it.

"Awesome," Matthew said with a grin. "Money please."

"Look," Elliot said, pointing. Matthew's Geodude had started to glow too.

"It's not strong enough to evolve," Matthew said, fumbling with his Nav. "Why are you evolving?"

"Looks like a sympathy evolution," Sandie piped up. They all looked at her.

"It doesn't happen often, but if a pokemon evolves mid-battle, its foe can get so jealous and worked up that it evolves too. Scientists think it's also got something to do with energy that's released when a pokemon …" She faltered as she realised everyone was listening intently. "Um, when a p-pokemon evolves."

"Cool!" Matthew cried, and went over to inspect his new Graveler. "You look great. Look at you."

"Gravelerrr," the rock pokemon said in a gravely voice, and punched Matthew in the stomach out of excitement.

"Oh, that did it," Matthew wheezed, and keeled over. Elliot stepped over him, and pressed his Nav against his own.

"100AD, well done," he said, and stepped over him again. "Shall we?"

They all carried on walking. Graveler picked up Matthew's ankle and started to helpfully drag him across the dirt, following the rest of the group.

As Kitty walked, she noticed Rocky giving occasional glances at the Pidgeotto who was now flying gracefully overhead, and back towards the Graveler, who was still dragging Matthew along, despite his protests that he was conscious and would rather prefer to walk.

"You want to evolve?" she asked him.

"Eevee," he replied, looking up at her. His four kits scampered along behind him, tackling each other and rolling about.

"I guess I just don't know which evolution you want," Kitty said. "If you find a way to let me know …" But she trailed off. "And you, missy," she addressed the squirming Happiny in her arms. "You evolve with happiness, if I recall correctly."

"Actually," a voice beside her corrected, "Happiny evolve with Oval Stones. It's Chansey that evolve through happiness."

"Oh," Kitty said, as Joe matched his pace to hers. "Yeah, I remember now."

"Your Ponyta is awesome, by the way," Joe said, jerking a thumb towards Freya, who was cantering about with the Eevee kits, blue flames trailing behind her. "Where'd you find it?"

"Oh, around," Kitty said dismissively. "What are your pokemon?"

"A Seviper," Joe said. "She's my only pokemon with me. I left the rest in Kanto after all my friends died … they reminded me of them too much."

"Right," Kitty said, wondering if she was supposed to feel sorry for him. "Good." She paused. "Well, not good, but-"

Joe laughed. "You're a lot like her, you know."

"Who? Alternate universe Kitty?"

"Yeah," he said. "Except she dyed her hair black. I forgot she was naturally blonde." He nodded at her hair, and she looked at it, as if to check he was telling the truth.

"Oh," she said. "Why would she do that?"

"She said it suited her."

"It wouldn't," Kitty mumbled, but Joe didn't hear.

"What are you going to evolve all your Eevee into?" he asked. "My favourite is Jolteon."

"I don't really know," she said. "I want to know what they want to be. It seems a little strange to make the decision for them."

"They're pokemon," Joe said simply. "You're their trainer. You decide which evolutions will be the most useful."

"That's not a very nice way to look at it," Kitty said. "Whatever I pick, they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives. If I choose Glaceon, I won't be able to let them out on hot days; Flareon won't be allowed to go swimming anymore, and Umbreon will be miserable whenever the sun's out. You know?"

"Whatever," Joe shrugged. "I'd just pick the ones that would fill out my team nicely."

And that's why I think you're a douche, Kitty thought, folding her arms.

"Jesus, that thing's grip is so tight I can't walk properly anymore," Matthew gasped, hobbling up to them. "I finally managed to return it."

"Look, it's Matt!" Kitty said, unsure if she had ever been so relieved to see him.

"Matt, what's your favourite Eeveelution?" Joe asked.

"They're all rubbish," he said thoughtfully. "I like powerhouses."

"Umbreon has pretty good defence stats," Kitty said. "And Vaporeon's HP would make it a pretty good tank in the right hands."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Joe said. They ignored him, and carried on talking like gamers instead of trainers.

"Glaceon and Espeon have fantastic special attack," Kitty said thoughtfully. "While Jolteon's got some sexy speed. I dunno."

"I think my favourite one is probably Leafeon," Matthew said with a shrug. "It looks like a gargoyle but it still manages to be kind of cute."

"It also manages to be useless," Joe said.

"It's not that bad," Kitty said. "Just not that good …"

"Do you want to battle?" Joe asked. "It sounds like you kind of know your stuff, and I want to see that in action." He pointed over to Freya again.

"That," Kitty replied pointedly, "is a she, and she's called Freya."

"Really? Why?" Matthew asked. She jabbed him with her elbow.

"Yeah, cool, but do you want to battle my Seviper?"

"Not really," Kitty said. "I'd rather save our energy for the boat battles."

"Oh yeah," Matthew said happily. "What do you think that'll be like?"

"Battly," Kitty said.

"I took part in it once." Sandie overheard the last part of their conversation and moved to walk with them. She had been walking alone. "It was fun."

"Hard?" Kitty asked.

"Not right now," Matthew replied, and then giggled.

Sandie looked confused.

"Ignore," Kitty said simply.

"Um, well, yeah it was a bit hard."

"Whoah, overload of information there," Matthew said, flinging up his arms. "Give us a moment to process all that."

Sandie looked even more confused, glancing over to Kitty for help. Kitty shrugged.

"So what kind of pokemon do you have?" Matthew asked. "Charlie will have a spaz attack if they're cool."

"Why?"

"His favourite type is Water," Kitty explained.

"Oh, so's mine," Sandie said. They nodded encouragingly. "Well I have the ones I use in battle, and I also have a Swampert and a Milotic."

"Wow," Matthew said, raising his eyebrows. "Why don't you use them in battle?"

"Oh, I can't bring myself to," Sandie said. "I live so close to the professor that it's mostly brand new trainers I face. And to earn a badge I have to vouch for a display of skill that I won't be able to see if I knock them out in one hit."

"What if you get a really strong trainer?" Kitty asked curiously. "Would you use them then?"

"Probably," Sandie shrugged. "I don't really care anymore though. Battling's lost all of its appeal."

"Why?" all three of them asked her in shock.

"I dunno, it's just boring to me now."

"What would you rather do?" Kitty asked.

"I guess in an ideal world I'd be a breeder. I love babies." She nodded at the baby Eevee playing in front of them. "I'd probably run an aquarium or something too. Take in abandoned water pokemon." Her eyes glazed over as she looked at the sky, as if imagining all of the things she could do if she weren't bound by the league.

"Do it then," Kitty said. "Why not?"

"Contractual obligation for one," Sandie replied, eyes lowering to the floor. "I'm legally bound to be a Gym Leader for at least another year."

"Sucks for you," Matthew said. Kitty jabbed him again. "Oww, stop that," he moaned.

"You could do it part-time though," Joe pointed out. "I thought Gym Leaders only ever actually got challenged once every two weeks or so."

"That's true," Sandie said, "but we have other responsibilities. Helping other people train, writing reports and doing mountains of paperwork, mostly." She looked at the other three, whose eyes were all on her. "W-what would you guys do, if you could do anything?"

They all went silent, thinking about it.

"Be the world's greatest Poison type trainer," Joe said after a moment. "I'd like to be in the Elite Four."

"The Elite Four would be cool," Matthew agreed. "But I'd settle for Gym Leader."

"You think small," Kitty said. "I'd be Champion."

"You all want to battle for jobs?" Sandie asked. "Take it from me … d-don't ever turn your hobby into a profession. It makes it suck." She pouted.

"Well there are other things I want." Kitty kicked a rock and it skittered to the right. Scott, for one thing.

"Yeah," Matthew agreed. She caught his eye and they both went pink and looked away. Joe, oblivious, shook his head.

"Nope, I just want to be in the Elite Four."

The sun was, thankfully, beginning to set, and a breeze rolled past. Kitty spread out her arms and welcomed it. They were nearly there, but it was so hot. She almost preferred the storm to this. Immediately after thinking this, she felt enormously guilty, and looked to the floor instead. Joe drifted off to talk to Adam again, but Matthew stayed with Kitty.

"I think I'm going to talk to your friend," Sandie said after a moment, looking around, "th-the one that beat me."

"Adam?" Kitty asked. "How come?"

"Because I want to congratulate him, I suppose," she said. "See you later."

And Kitty and Matthew were alone, walking in a pair. Looking at the rest of them, Kitty realised that there had never been division in their friendship group before. They had always walked in one big group, eaten at one big table, taken part in one conversation. What had changed? There was her and Matthew; Charlie and Fred; Adam, Joe and Sandie, and slightly behind was Saxen and Elliot.

"Are you that worried about walking alone with me," Matthew said. It didn't sound like a question.

"I'm just … realising how divided we are," she said truthfully.

"Well we're bound to be," he shrugged.

"Why?"

"Well since Scott, you know … you haven't exactly been easy to be around," he said, but before she could respond he carried on. "Fred doesn't want to be around Joe, and Elliot and Saxen are so excited about how much we're all changing that they can't stop psychoanalysing everything together."

Kitty opened and shut her mouth a few times, trying to focus on one thing to answer. "Have I changed?" she asked finally.

"Well, not really," he said, looking thoughtful. "You've sort of gone back to who you used to be. Before Scott."

"What was I like then?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable for the first time in a long time inside her own skin.

"Dark," he said simply. "Afflicted. You wouldn't know what a smile was if it pinned you down and shoved its-"

"Yeah, stop there," she said quickly. "Is that true?"

He nodded with a shrug, then looked at her sideways. "They're still your friends, obviously. I mean, we were before you changed. It'll just take a while for everyone to get used to the new – old – you."

Kitty swallowed a lump that had appeared in her throat. "Why do you still talk to me then? Is it not too difficult for you to be around me?"

He laughed, and she glared. "Kitty, to me …" he started, but then chewed on his lip for a bit. "To me, you never changed in the first place."

"So I was always a moody bitch to you?"

"That's not what I meant," he said. "To my mind, though, you're always going to be the twelve-year-old who beat me at arm wrestling and then told me to 'suck it'."

"I don't remember that," she said, frowning.

"I do." He grinned, and then flexed at her. "It's the day I started working out."

"Put it away," she said, shoving his arm. He stumbled a step to the right and then looked at her in alarm.

"How the fuck are you still stronger than me?"

Kitty laughed, for the first time in a while. "I will always be stronger than you."

Matthew was silent for a while, and then frowned deeply. He couldn't think of a response. "I'm stronger than Scott now, though," he said after a while.

Kitty's smile dissolved again. "How do you know? Did you beat him at a weight-lifting competition while he was comatose?"

Matthew snorted. "No, but I can tell. I'm bigger than him now."

"He's always going to overpower you, you know," she said, knowing that would drive him mad. "He's about a foot taller than you."

"Three inches," he corrected automatically.

"Whatever." She sighed. "When are you going to get over your thing about who wins out of you two? Surely you win now. You're fully conscious."

He chuckled under his breath. "I bet I'm, you know, bigger than him. He wouldn't tell me. And that means I am." He grinned at her, and she glared back. "Inappropriate to talk about your unconscious boyfriend in that way?" he asked innocently. "Tell me, how was he in bed?"

"I'll beat you up again if you're not careful," she warned. He laughed indignantly.

"Come on then, little girl," he said, gesturing to her.

"Oh, put the testosterone away for a bit," she snapped. "No one's impressed by you."

He puffed out his chest, and then breathed out. "I'm not trying to impress anyone," he said.

She was saved from having to respond when her Nav started vibrating in her pocket. "I'm vibrating," she squealed, pulling it out and answering it while Matthew snickered beside her. "Hello?"

"Hello, Katherine."

The voice was distorted by some kind of technology. It sounded robotic, but she could still tell it was human.

"Um, who's this?" she asked, pulling it away from her ear to look at the screen. Out of area. She quickly pressed it back to her ear. "Hello?"

"I just wanted to hear your voice," it said, breathing rhythmically in and out. She realised her mouth had suddenly gone very dry. "I told myself I could wait, but I had to."

"Who is this?" she asked again, shooting the uncaring Matthew a confused look.

"Doesn't matter," the voice said, the breathing rattling against her ear. "I can't believe it's … your voice is just the way I thought it would be."

"What?"

"While I'm talking to you," the robotic voice said, getting lower. "I guess I should warn you."

"What?" Kitty said again. "Who-"

"The boat. SS Lyra. Don't get on it."

"How did you-"

"Stop asking questions," the voice chuckled. "I know you'll do it anyway, but … I thought I'd try. It was so good to finally hear your voice. Bye."

Kitty stared at the device for a moment before putting it back in her pocket.

"Who was that?" Matthew asked, but the tone of his voice indicated that he didn't really care.

"I don't know," she said slowly, then, "Do we really need the money?"

"The money from the boat challenge?" he asked. "Yeah, we really do … if we're going to be able to keep travelling, anyway. We need to eat." His stomach growled. "I need to eat really bad."

"Uh huh," Kitty said distractedly.

"Almost there!" Charlie called from the front of their group. In the distance she could see ships dotting the horizon.

"You alright?" Matthew asked after a moment of deep silence.

"Uh huh," she said again, not sure why she didn't want to tell him what had just happened.

Oh, Matt … she thought, looking up at his smiling brown eyes. Someone's watching me …

To welcome in the rest of this nail-biting adventure I might might might be accepting OCs: a couple of pokemon and a couple of trainers. I need some Gym Leaders too … my imagination died in a freak scuba-diving accident. So submit them! They might find their way into Aerei.

Hope you enjoy what I've got planned for you! It'll be interesting, to say the least. ;)