Astra stared into the mirror, squinting. The bathroom’s fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead, their sharp glow banishing all shadows and burning spots into her eyes. The crowd outside rumbled, their cheers dulled by distance.

In the mirror, her reflection stared back. Her verdant green hair was longer, naturally falling into twintails. Her horns had shifted, the two migrating from the front and back of her head to sit on the sides, flatter and more circular.

The newly evolved Kirlia sighed. In any other circumstances, her transformation would have elicited the most joyous of celebrations. She was an adult now! Her powers had increased exponentially, and moreover, she finally had fingers! Only two, but they were small enough to actually do things with. Like pick up cups!

No, the real problem was that she gained an extra head in height. She was pretty sure regular humans didn’t just shoot up randomly, so how was she going to explain that!? If she went out there now, there was no way that May or Roxanne wouldn’t notice! Then the jig would be up, and then...

Then she would be found out as a pokemon, and she would either be caught or be forced to flee back home in failure. In time, her village would be discovered and ransacked by humanity. Everyone she knew and loved would vanish into pokeballs or be scattered to the winds.

She would never talk with May or Brendan again. Trevor would pass on without hearing the song she had promised him. No more sharing roasted fish with the other Ralts by the bonfires. No more bribing the Guard with stolen berries from human trails. No more dancing flames from the Smith. And her Grandpa would never paint again.

Astra shut her eyes and exhaled, banishing the morbid future from her thoughts. “Alright, just calm down,” she said, the corners of the sink digging into her clenched hands. “You’ve made it this far, this isn’t gonna stop you. You can fix this.” But how?

Pretend that nothing was wrong? May would almost certainly call her out, and Roxanne wasn’t likely going to be much better. The gym leader might have been manageable if she were alone. But May would probably never let up until she figured out why Astra was suddenly sporting an extra eight inches.

Hide it? Her power had vastly expanded, so perhaps she could construct a bigger illusion. But that came with its own host of problems. Layering an image of her Ralts form over herself would be worse than nothing if anyone tried to, say, put her in a headlock and grind their knuckles into her scalp. Sometimes she wished that it had been Brendan who had tagged along.

If she could keep anybody from trying to touch her and if she could manage to maintain her false body’s movement relative to her real self, then she could continue on as she had been. That was a tall order, and she wasn’t looking forward to micromanaging eye contact, but it was the best option so far. Were there any others?

Leave? Sneak outside, retrieve Treecko and Slakoth and ditch the Gym as quietly as possible. Make a mad dash back to the hotel to grab her pack and hightail it to a different city. She struggled for a moment, before grudgingly acknowledging that it would almost certainly solve the issue entirely. But the concept of putting it into practice made her heart ache. Abandoning May with no warning, leaving just like everyone else in her life had done...

Astra closed her eyes, lips pressed tightly into a grimace. May would not take it well at all, to put it lightly. But if everything fell apart, then everyone back home would be in danger. If she had to make a choice between the two—

She cut that thought off with a scowl. No. Why should she have to make a choice, here and now? Things could change, and she hadn’t been caught yet. Maybe, if... if things went perfectly, she wouldn’t need to hide at all.

She hoped and dreamed for that day when she could finally discard her robe and feel the sun again. But she couldn’t take that chance. Not now. But she owed it to everyone to try as hard as she could.

She blinked as another roar rang out from the distant crowd. How long had she been in here, anyway? It was strange that the matches had started again so quickly. Or, well, no. May had probably demanded a go right after watching her flee into the bathroom. But surely May would notice her long absence soon, and maybe she already had.

Gritting her teeth, Astra stared into the mirror. The reflection rippled and faded from view. In its place, a black robed, human-faced doppelganger of Astra as she was only a short while ago: shorter, and with a wide fringe of hair that covered her eyes. She tilted her head, watching the facade imitate the movement.

Taking a paper towel from a nearby dispenser, she noticed that her illusion didn’t have the same reach as her ‘real’ arm, leaving the paper towel hovering in the air. An adjustment made it so that her false form was leaning over so the hand could reach. But when she brought it closer, her real arm moved faster than the image and the paper floated into the air again. She slumped. This was completely untenable, there was no way she could adjust her illusion on the fly for the rest of the journey!

She tapped on the sink’s ceramic, glaring at nothing. The tapping slowed as a thought occurred. Did she have to keep it up for the rest of the journey? Out in the stands, she remembered seeing a small group of children, all at or below the height of a Ralts. But May and Brendan had been taller than her Kirlia form was now, and some adults out there had been even taller than the both of them. But her Grandpa had said that humans didn’t evolve. How could their sizes change?

Her eyes widened. Did they grow taller over time? So they were like trees, then: every year they’d grow another layer of bark—or skin, she guessed—and get a bit taller! Maybe. The comparison didn’t seem quite right. Astra briefly lost her train of thought as she pictured May and Brendan as compact masses of ambulatory skin.

She made a face. Eugh.

Back to business. If her theory was right, then she wouldn’t have to mask herself for very long at all. She could simply increase the height of her masque every so often until it matched her real height! Genius! She didn’t really know how fast humans grew, but the seven days May had booked would probably be alright. Studying the illusion, she bumped up the height by an inch. No reason not to get started right away, after all.

Astra made one last check to make sure everything was anchored properly before she started to leave—and wasn’t that a change. Utilizing her abilities in such a complex way would have knocked her out not even twenty minutes ago! All this new power coursing through her... she’d have to make a trip to the woods and let loose, see what she could really do.

She opened the door and took a deep breath as the roars of the audience amplified. No more hesitation. Head up, back straight, feet planted square, and one eye on her illusion. Watch out, Hoenn; a brand new Kirlia was about to play the greatest trick of the century!

The sound of rock scraping against rock rang in her ears as she left the bathroom, only growing lowder in the few seconds it took to reach the stands. The arena came into view, and Astra stopped to take it in. May and Roxanne were staring each other down. May’s Poochyena was facing off against one of Roxanne’s Geodudes. It was the one that could use lightning, judging by the rather puffy state of Poochyena’s fur. Where had her Lotad gone? Had it already fallen?

Sensing Treecko and Slakoth on the opposite side of the arena, Astra started to make her way across the foot of the bleachers. “Kick her butt, May!” Astra called out as she passed.

May took a brief reprieve from scowling to shoot Astra a surprised blink, then smirked. May opened her mouth—

“Thunder Punch!”

“Motherfuck!” May swore, turning back to the battle at hand. Astra let out a sigh of relief. May hadn’t noticed anything off at a glance, so her illusion wasn’t obviously wrong. She’d have to see if it would hold up under closer scrutiny later, though. Now, where were her lost pokemon? Looking around, she spotted them sitting—or, in Slakoth’s case, sleeping—on a large mat nearby.

There was a woman standing over them, spraying Treecko’s injuries with potion and wrapping the larger cuts with bandages. She was wearing a familiar white dress and sported pink hair wrapped in two giant, circular bows with a white cap to top it off. Astra tilted her head, perplexed at the sight. What in the world was the receptionist from the Petalburg Pokecenter doing here? Or at least someone who looked very much like her.

“Hello?” Astra asked as she drew near. The woman looked up, staring directly at Astra’s collarbone. It took Astra a confused glance downwards to realize that the woman was looking into her illusory eyes.

“Oh, you’re the trainer for these pokemon, are you?” the woman asked, standing up and smoothing the wrinkles from her dress. “I’m the Rustboro Gym’s Nurse Joy. I’ve patched up your Treecko, but it was irresponsible of you to just leave him lying under those rocks like that.”

She paused, frowning. “Are you feeling alright, dear? You seem rather pale. Really pale, in fact—oh dear. Do you feel dizzy at all?”

“I’m fine!” Astra took a hurried step back as the nurse reached for her neck—forehead, that was her forehead. This situation already could not pass fast enough. “I, uh, I’m always this pale. Albinism,” she explained.

The nurse’s eyes widened. “Oh. I’m sorry, I’ve never... forgive me.” She coughed, looking away. “Well then! Um. Make sure you visit a proper Pokecenter to heal your pokemon fully. Alright?” Joy grinned awkwardly.

“I will,” Astra said. She hesitated a moment, looking over Joy’s appearance again. “Say, do you have a sister in Petalburg? I met a Nurse Joy there too, and she looks just like you.”

Joy blinked, then let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, no, no. All Pokemon nurses adopt the identity of ‘Nurse Joy’ when we graduate from med school. The hair is a wig, see?”

She lifted the edge of her hair, revealing black locks under what looked like a net. Huh. So there was more than one ‘Nurse Joy’? Maybe a lot of them. Weird, why would they do something like that? Maybe ease of identification?

“I’m surprised you didn’t know, Miss Badge Winner,” Joy said, raising an eyebrow. “Woulda thought someone who beat Roxanne would know about that kinda thing.”

Astra scratched the back of her head, letting out a small laugh. “Aheh, yeah, I haven’t had much reason to visit pokecenters until recently.” The sound of thunder echoed from the arena, and Astra glanced backward as the crowd gasped. “I should get back. Thanks for taking care of Treecko!”

“Anytime!”

Recalling Treecko and Slakoth, Astra walked over to the stands and claimed the seat May vacated. The battle had progressed swiftly while she was distracted; Roxanne’s Geodude was covered in bite marks and May’s Poochyena was swaying, tiny jolts of static arcing between his newly poofy spikes of charred fur.

Now that she wasn’t focused on finding her missing companions or worrying over how she looked, Astra took a moment to appraise the scene. Was May winning? The lack of a scowl on her face led Astra to believe that she wasn’t losing, but where had Lotad gone? Had the water pokemon fallen? She could tell that this was Roxanne's second Geodude, and Poochyena had done a remarkable job of weakening it. Would it be enough? Astra hoped it wouldn’t come down to the wire like it had for her, but she had no doubt that May would never allow herself to lose.

“Rock Throw!”

“Dodge it and Bite!”

“Woo, that’s how you do it!” Astra yelled as Poochyena skidded around the projectile and sunk his teeth into Geodude. She took a moment to wonder how the hound hadn’t broken his teeth on Geodudes rocky exterior. Was it softer than it looked, or were Poochyena’s teeth that good? Her musings vanished as Geodude grabbed Poochyena and slammed him against the floor. The hound fell limp, and the crowd erupted once more.

“Boo! Boo I say!” Astra jeered. “You can do better than that! Boo!”

May glanced at her, then rolled her eyes and flipped her off. Recalling Poochyena, May threw a new pokeball and Lotad reappeared, scratched up but ready to go. Astra grinned at the sight; so May had recalled him when Roxanne's Electric-wielding Geodude wielder had emerged!

“Water gun!” May shouted, and Astra cheered as the Geodude was promptly sprayed into oblivion.

Roxanne recalled her fallen comrade. Light shone, and her last pokemon, Nosepass, reappeared. Astra’s hands clenched the railing in front of her, memories of gigantic, levitating stones fresh in her mind. “Come on, May! Show that big nosed boulder who’s boss!”

“Rock Tomb!” Roxanne commanded.

“Move right and use Water Gun, Lotad!” May yelled in return, and the battle raged on.

The roars of the crowd shook the stands, and Astra was all too happy to join them. Lotad didn’t move much, preferring to simply batter rocks out of the way with sheer water pressure and scuttle out of any Rock Tombs before they struck. Nosepass acted much the same as before, flinging boulders with pinpoint accuracy and shooting pillars of stone from the floor.

The gigantic arena-destroying shield Roxanne had used in Astra’s fight was conspicuously absent. Maybe it was too strenuous to use twice a day, even with healing? The fight didn’t have quite the same pizzazz without it. Astra still enjoyed it even so, and the crowd echoed her excitement.

The earth quaked, rocks were shot out of the air with jets of cutting water, and spikes of rock scraped at- but never caught- the surprisingly nimble Lotad. It was a rather aggressive strategy, Astra noted. May never stopped attacking, or setting Lotad up to attack. Every rock that was knocked off course left his water gun to hit Nosepass unimpeded, and every dodge was accompanied by a cutting stream.

Finally, May pulled off a rather familiar maneuver and had Lotad shoot himself through the air to blast his foe from above. Nosepass faltered, then fell to the floor, unconscious.

“It seems I’ve been defeated yet again,” Roxanne stated, smiling. “Well done! The Stone Badge is yours.”

May took the emblem from the gym leader, raising it high into the air amidst the roar of the crowd. Astra joined in with their applause gleefully. The outcome had never been in doubt, but she was still happy to see it. Even if the finale had been a blatant ripoff!

May basked in the attention for a moment, before a brief shadow of uncertainty and confusion crossed her face. She lowered her arm, frowning at the badge in her hand.

With the show concluded for the day, the stands began to empty, the gathered trainers dispersing. Roanne shouted at her interns and they jumped to attention, clearing stray debris from the field and fiddling with the cameras and lights.

Astra ran onto the field, a silly grin on her face. “You dirty copycat!” she shouted, skidding to a halt next to May. “That was the thing I did with Treecko at the end!”

May blinked, shaking herself out of her fugue. She turned, and levied a smirk at Astra. “Well look who it is!” she said, recalling Lotad and pocketing the badge. “You missed half of my battle, jerk. I had to help dig your Treecko out of the rubble, you know. And so what if I copied your little stunt?” she challenged. “Maybe I saw your sad attempt and had to show you how it was done!”

“Well sorry for having bathroom problems.” Astra huffed, rolling her eyes. “Thanks, though.” Her gaze turned sharp. “And what do you mean sad attempt, it worked perfectly fine!”

“Well as you can see,” May drawled, motioning to the battlefield, “when you did it, Treecko got smashed by a rock. When I did it, I won.” She grinned. “Seems like a bit of an improvement, if you ask me.”

Astra glared. “S-so what!? You only got the idea because I did it in the first place!”

“And I thank you,” May said, bowing theatrically, “for thoroughly showing me how not to do it.”

“Oh you-!”

“Ahem.” A cough interrupted them.

Both trainers blinked, only now noticing that Roxanne had reappeared next to them with a weary yet amused smile. The two shot each other one last look, one peeved and one smug, before turning to face Roxanne fully.

“By all means,” Roxanne sighed, “Feel free to debate which of you two did better later. We even have the tapes, if you wish to review them. But please consider when and where you do so, hm?”

Having appropriately chastised them, Roxanne continued. “Now, I do have one last prize to the two of you. In addition to the Stone Badge, I will be giving you each a copy of my favorite Rock-type technique: Rock Tomb.”

She held out two discs similar to the one Astra had received in the flower shop earlier that day. Pausing to make sure the illusion moved right, Astra took one of the discs and stashed it in her bag. “Thank you!” she said, smiling. “I don’t know if any of the pokemon I have can use this, but maybe I’ll catch one in the future!”

“Yeah,” May said, examining her own. “I don’t have any Rock types either. Might have to pick one up, actually.”

“As the case so happens, both of you do, in fact, possess pokemon that can learn the move,” Roxanne informed them. “Astra, your Treecko and Slakoth could both learn it. May, your Torchic has the potential as well.” She paused. “Keep in mind that non-Rock-type pokemon will have more difficulty using the move than a Rock type. Additionally, TMs are single use, so be certain of your decision. In any case, it is your choice on what strategies to employ in the future.”

“Hm.” May tapped her chin, considering the prospect. “... Eh. Nah. It doesn’t really fit Torchic’s style. I’ll save it for a Rock type. What about you, Astra?”

Astra thought about it. The main point of the move, as far as she could see, was to hold opponents in place. The damage of the stone spikes was secondary. While it might be useful for Treecko, he was so fast that he didn’t need it. On the other hand...

“I might give it to Slakoth,” she mused. “I haven’t trained with him much, but I think actually getting him into close range is going to be an issue. Having something to lock down opponents would be handy.”

“Well reasoned!” Roxanne clasped her hands together, looking pleased. “I’m glad to see you both thinking about this seriously.”

Astra tilted her head. “Do people not?”

“I do recall one trainer who, upon receiving his prize, immediately taught it to his Sharpedo.” Roxanne replied, dryly. “He thought it would help pin down opponents in open water so its melee attacks would connect.”

There was a lengthy pause.

“But there’s... no ground in the ocean.” Astra said, slowly.

To her side, May stifled a snort. “What a fuckin’ moron.” she muttered.

“In all fairness, thinking that one can use any move anywhere is a common mistake to make,” Roxanne said, failing to hide her own quirk of the lips. “But only a well trained Rock type or an extremely dedicated non-Rock type would be able to use Rock Tomb somewhere like the ocean.”

“Hn.” May folded her arms, looking disinterested. She paused, then sent a grin at Astra. “Well, I guess not everyone can be as good as us, right Astra?”

Astra ignored the question, running over Roxanne's words again. “Wait, how would they be able to do that if there’s no rock around?”

“Oh, well it’s very simple. Experienced pokemon can develop the ability to create the physical materials for certain techniques ex-nihilo,” Roxanne explained, eyes bright. “It’s actually fascinating how they can transform physical energy into solid stone or ice-”

“Aaand I think I’m done here.” May rolled her eyes, abruptly about-facing and walking away. “Thanks for the TM and the badge, but I’m starving. I think I saw a burger place on the way here...”

“Wh- May!” Astra protested. That had been interesting!

May looked back, eyebrow raised. “Hm? What? You coming?”

Astra made several aborted motions toward Roxanne, then slumped in defeat. “Just give me a minute.”

“Sure. I wanted to look at some of those displays anyway. I’ll be in the lobby!”

Astra sighed, turning back to Roxanne. She was staring at May’s retreating form with pursed lips.

“Your friend is not the most... sociable person, is she?” the gym leader noted.

“Yeah, thats...that’s May for you.” Astra chuckled awkwardly. “I’ve been trying to get her to be better, but it’s...a work in progress.”

Roxanne hummed in assent. “Well, you may have your work cut out for you.” She folded her arms. “Now then, I don’t want to keep you for long. Did you want to talk to me about something else?”

“Just one or two things. You offered to have me sit in one of your classes. When are those, exactly?”

“Hmm. You’re only staying the week, correct? Then my nearest one would be...Monday, a little after noon,” Roxanne said. “It’s a lecture on Pokemon typings and how that affects Pokemon psychologically and biologically, such as how Ghost types tend to linger around areas of spiritual or emotional significance.”

Astra nodded along, then froze. She stared at Roxanne with eyes wide open.

Ghost type?

Ghost type?

Ghosts were REAL?

There were so many ghosts such that they were an entire pokemon type!?

Her breathing quickened, suddenly recalling dozens upon dozens of nights spent around the bonfires, passing the time with tall tales, and jumping at shadows. Were all those stories true? Was the Hollow-eyed Gnasher going to carve the horn out of her head in the dead of night? Oh stars, what about the Hag in the Cauldron? She didn’t want to end up as the broth in her stew! Astra wanted to eat new foods, not become them!

Roxanne looked at Astra uncertainly. “Um,” she stated. “Are you alright? You’re looking a little—”

“FINE!“ Astra screeched manically. A few interns turned to look. She flushed. “I mean,” she said, much more quietly. “I’m fine. I just—nevermind.” She coughed and looked away.

She made a note to scrub her hands and feet very thoroughly the next time she took a bath. If she was going to be made into soup then it would damn well taste like soap. Silently, Astra shook an imaginary fist at that lumpy bar in her hotel bathroom that had only smelled like berries.

“I see.” Roxanne was still looking at Astra strangely. “Does...Monday not work?”

“Wha—? Oh, oh Monday does work, thank you. I will definitely be there.” And the more she could learn about these ghosts the better. Preferably how to make them go away. Would throwing a rock work? She could probably throw a lot of rocks now.

“Oh! If you’re sure. Very well then, I look forward to seeing you there. I wish you a good weekend, Astra.” Roxanne smiled and turned to leave.

“Ah, wait,” Astra said, stopping the gym leader. “Just one last thing. Do you...” She hesitated, biting her lip. Ever since she had gotten her mission, she had been pondering a question. When she became champion, she would be able to stop humanity from ransacking the village once it was discovered. And it would be discovered, eventually. But what about after that?

There would be a village full of her people in the forest, and an entire world filled with humans everywhere else. Would that be... it? Was that the end goal for forever? Or could there be something else?

Astra breathed out, squared her shoulders, and looked Roxanne in the eye. “Do you think that Pokemon could ever live like humans do?”

Roxanne blinked. “What an odd question. Why ask me?”

“Well...” Astra looked away for a moment, still uneasy. Because the gym leader seemed important to people, to Hoenn. Because she was a step above. Because every trainer had to pass through her. Because at her word, an entire generation of trainers would leap to obey.

‘Because you could be an enemy’, Astra didn’t say. ‘But would you be one, Roxanne? If you saw a wild pokemon talk in front of you, would you throw a pokeball?’

‘Or would you say hello?’

“You work with pokemon for a living,” Astra said, instead. “I thought you might have some insight.”

Roxanne considered the request, then nodded. “Well, alright,” she began, “I’m not sure how much closer we could get to Pokemon at this point. From law enforcement to medicinal research to simple lifelong companionship, we’ve developed quite the coexistence. I’d say that pokemon already live with humanity pretty well.”

Astra shook her head. “No no, I mean like”—she paused, trying to figure out how to word it—“if they could ever be equal.”

“Oh!” Roxanne’s eyes lit up in recognition. “You mean like those books and games where they can talk and own shops, yes?”

Astra had no idea what she was talking about. Books and games? “Sure,” she lied.

The gym leader nodded to herself. “I see. Well, as things stand, I’m sorry to say that I don’t see that sort of thing ever becoming reality.”

That was not the answer Astra had been hoping for. “O-oh,” she mumbled, feeling as though a heavy weight had settled in her heart. “Are you sure? Why not?” she asked, plaintively.

“Well for one thing, unlike in fiction there’s no species of pokemon that can naturally speak a human language,” Roxanne explained, causing Astra to blink. “Individual exceptions do exist, but they were either the product of years of training or the result of extraordinary circumstances. Why, I remember reading an article about a Meowth over in Kanto...” She shook her head. “I digress. In the end, close as we may be, pokemon are still animals. I’m afraid that fiction will remain just that.”

Astra stared at Roxanne. “And... if someone did teach a bunch of pokemon to speak?” she managed.

Roxanne thought about it. “Well, maybe,” she admitted. “But such an endeavor would take generations to happen. There was only one study I can remember where a speaking pokemon had children, and they only had a marginal improvement in learning the skill. It would take a concentrated effort across tens, if not hundreds of years to make the language acquisition self-sustaining. I don’t think anybody would want to commit that much time to such a thing.”

“But if they did... I don’t think it would be impossible,” she finished, smiling. “Perhaps in the future such an existence wouldn’t be so far fetched. I think I might like to see it. Who knows? Maybe you could be the one to help that dream come true.”

A small twitch of the lips stole across Astra’s face, and she had to turn away for a moment, rubbing at her eyes. “Heh... I half expected you to just say that it was impossible,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice level. “I know a lot of people back home would. So, thank you.” She looked back, ruby eyes shining brightly. “I hope to see that future too!”

Roxanne’s smile widened. “Well, I suppose you’d better work hard then, eh? Now, I believe you have a friend waiting for you. Take care, Astra.”

Astra nodded, giving the gym leader one last wave as she sped off.

May was, as promised, waiting in the lobby, examining one of the displays. “Hey!” Astra called, drawing her attention. “Hope I didn’t take too long.”

“Eh.” May shrugged. “It was only a couple minutes. I’ve just been here reading about”—she peered at the plaque again—“Helix fossils. They’re from some ancient pokemon called Omanyte. Apparently they were worshipped by some cult in Kanto for a couple hundred years before they got into a fight with a different fossil fan club and killed each other off.” May turned to Astra with a shit-eating grin on her face. “What a bunch of boneheads, am I right?”

It was the awful pun that finally set her off. An abrupt snort escaped from Astra’s mouth, and then she found herself breaking out into hysterical giggling. She doubled over, trying, and failing, to keep her bottled laughter in check.

“Wow, uh.” May scratches her head, chuckling. “Didn’t know you were a pun fanatic. I didn’t think it was that good.”

“N-no.” Astra managed to gasp out. Her eyes were wet again, but her face was hidden and she couldn’t bring herself to care. “It was awful. It’s just Roxanne said something amazing back there, and I’ve had to keep a straight face.”

May tilted her head. “Ah? What was it?”

Astra exhaled slowly, shaking her head as she brought her giggle fit under control. “You wouldn’t...you’d’ve had to have been there,” she said, shooting May a smile.

“Hmfh. Well damn, I’m almost sorry I left if it made you bust a gut that hard.” May brushed a hand through one of her long side bangs, looking put out. Then she shrugged, strolling toward the exit. “Well, whatever. Let’s blow this joint.”

“By the way,” Astra started as they left the building. The warmth of the sun washed over them, clouds forming myriad shapes and whorls in the otherwise clear blue sky. “Where are we going now? We have a whole week, after all.”

“Right now? The nearest fast food junkhouse. I’ve eaten nothing but stew and trail mix for the past couple days!” May rubbed her hands together, a wide grin spreading across her face. “Your soups have been tasty and all but there’s no replacing a good ol’ cheeseburger.”

“And don’t worry,” she added, slapping a hand on Astra’s shoulder. “I’ll help your poor, ignorant mind through the hurdles of navigating the menu.”

Astra stared at May’s hand, which had landed on her real shoulder, several inches above her fake one. She hurriedly batted it aside before May noticed anything amiss. “I don’t need help looking at a menu!” she scowled, only partially faking her outrage because wow, she could read perfectly fine as of a week ago, thank you!

“Girl, I bet you can’t even see over the counter!” May cackled, smirking gleefully. But she then paused, brows furrowing. “Huh.”

Astra blinked at her friend’s puzzled expression, wrath forgotten. “What?”

May rubbed at her eyes and peered at Astra again. May shook her head. “Nah, it’s probably nothing. It’s just... fuck, I can’t put my finger on it. You look different.”

Astra very carefully didn’t let any alarm show on her face. Different? Different!? What did she get wrong? She’d been checking and re-checking her illusion at least twice a minute; was it falling apart already? How!?

Astra, repressing the desire to scream incoherently, instead asked, “O-oh? How do you mean?”

“I dunno, “ May said, looking Astra up and down. May stroked her chin contemplatively. “You just seem... taller?”

Oh. That. Astra let out the tiniest of breaths. She had been hoping May would only notice a few days later, or not at all in the best case. She hadn’t expected May to spot it immediately. May was more perceptive than she let on. Or maybe Astra had misjudged her previous height and made herself too tall by mistake.

“Oh! Do you think so?” Astra made a show of looking herself over, voice deliberately cheerful. “I haven’t noticed anything.”

May was nodding before Astra had even finished speaking. “Yeah, yeah that’s definitely it. I almost didn’t even see it. Man, hasn’t it only been like a week? I guess all this fighting must’ve knocked your hormones loose, or something.”

“Right, right that’s, probably it.” Astra agreed, having no idea what May was talking about again. “I wonder how tall I’ll get?”

May shrugged. “Who knows, maybe you’ll be as tall as me someday.” Her tone took on a teasing lilt. “Nah, that’s a lie. We both know you’re doomed to be a pipsqueak forever!”

Astra grinned. She had been right after all, humans were like trees! “Pah,” she scoffed, waving a hand to batter May’s words from the air. “I’ll settle for nothing less than being an entire head taller!”

“Pff.” May brushed a bang from her face, nose turned up. “In your dreams, squirt. Ain’t no way puberty’s gonna be that nice to a brat like you.”

“I am not a brat!” Astra said, pouting. She paused. “Uh, what’s puberty?”

May rolled her eyes. “Ha ha, very funny.”

Astra looked at May, confused. “What’s funny?”

“Your... joke?” May returned Astra’s confused look. After a moment it was joined by a hint of panic. “Wait, do you seriously not know what puberty is!?”

Astra glanced around, fidgeting with her hands. She was starting to feel like she had asked the wrong question. “Should... I?”

“Really?” May pleaded, sounding faintly desperate. “Your grandpa or whoever didn’t tell you anything? Hormones, getting taller, hair growth, any of that? At least tell me you know where babies come from!”

“Oh, is that all?” Astra said, relieved. She didn’t know what a hormone was, but the rest she was more familiar with. “Of course I know where babies come from!”

May visibly sagged with relief. “Oh thank fuck, at least you know that.”

“Well duh! Everyone knows that babies come from eggs!” Astra shook her head. “Honestly, how ignorant do you think I am?”

There was a considerable silence.

“Eggs?” May asked.

“Yeah, eggs. You know, about yea high, white with green spots. They break open and have a baby inside?”

“Eggs,” May echoed. “You think babies... come from eggs.”

“Well, of course they do!” Astra threw her arms up, exasperated. “I’ve seen it happen!”

“Did these eggs happen to come from a pokemon?”

Astra hesitated. “Um.”

May’s hands slid over her face, and a long, deep sigh escaped through her fingers as she dragged them down. A moment passed. “Alright,” she said, clapping her hands together. “I’m so not fucking doing this, so the next time you see Brendan, you’re going to ask him what puberty is, alright?”

Astra blinked. “What? Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Because the day I have to explain to someone where kids actually come from,” May replied, “is the day I actually throw myself off a lighthouse.”

Astra tilted her head. “What’s a lightho— wait, people don’t come from eggs!?” she gasped. But everything came from an egg! “Wait, then where—”

“Not gonna talk about it,” May interrupted. ”Ask Brendan.”

Astra sputtered at the deflection. “Wh— you can’t just tell me something like that and—”

“Shh,” May whispered, holding a finger to her own lips. “Ask Brendan.”

A moment passed.

“But—”

“Ask,” May started, then motioned to Astra.

“... Brendan,” Astra muttered, looking away.

May smiled brightly. “Glad we’ve got that settled!”

Astra glared at May, but, in the end, had to admit it wasn’t a bad suggestion. Brendan was pretty smart, so he might be able to explain it better. Besides, May very obviously didn’t want to discuss it, and pushing seemed like a bad idea. Astra nodded, accepting the delay in answers. “Alright, I’ll do that, then.”

Still, that left brand new questions burning in her mind. Namely, did humans really not come from eggs? If not, then from where? Acorns? Astra had a brief vision of May plucking a seed off of her hair and dunking it into a hole in the ground, out of which sprouted a half dozen mini-Mays. Maybe her tree theory merited a closer investigation.

“Do you think he’s in Rustboro yet?” Astra queried. Brendan had said he would meet them here, and his bicycle would have made the trip much faster, supposedly.

May made a noncommittal grunt. “He still hasn’t called or left a message.” She checked her pokedex again to be sure, then put it away with a sigh. “Nada. Maybe tomorrow.”

“... so, burgers?” Astra offered.

“Burgers.” May confirmed.

They ended up at a squat building down a side road named ‘Turbo Tauros’. Inside, its walls were covered with cartoonish iconography of a horned creature smiling and delivering sandwiches to joyful children, and the floor was covered with tables, benches and chairs occupied by groups of chattering customers, most of them families accompanied by small children.

Every minute or so, someone would bring out a tray of food, handing it to whoever ordered it. Astra stared at the massive trays, wondering how the chefs had managed to make all of these so quickly.

There was a counter staffed by three humans in uniform, all of whom had a small line of humans in front of them. The sounds of cookery were audible, but the cooks were hidden behind a wall, similarly to the sushi place back in Petalburg.

Astra and May got to the head of the queue, and the cashier gave them a joyless smile, asking for their order. Not actually knowing anything about what was on the menu, Astra ended up just copying what May ordered after all, much to May’s amusement.

The cashier dismissed them to the side, and May and Astra stood among others who awaited their order. Astra frowned, shuffling in place. The cashier had seemed... tired. They had barely said anything at all, and what they did had been apathetic and snappy.

She was again reminded of the sushi restaurant. The waitress there had been filled with a gentle warmth, and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy. Here though, while there was still joy and laughter, it was all buried under a small layer of... detachment?

Astra’s musing was cut short when the cashier called out their order. Taking the tray, Astra and May found an unoccupied table in the back corner. The burger itself was a thick patty of meat with an odd yellow coating along the top between two slices of toasted bread. This was the first time Astra had eaten meat that wasn’t from a fish, and as she took a bite she found it was pleasantly savoury, and very juicy. It was good, delicious even.

But it also tasted... empty. It lacked the spark that made good food excellent. There was no love put into this burger. No care. No... life.

Astra looked at the cashiers, mindlessly taking order after order with no time to breathe. She imagined the cooks in the back, making the same greasy meals again and again for people they’d never see. She looked at the customers, chattering underneath posters bearing big, plastic smiles.

That wasn’t right, Astra thought. Food was supposed to be full of joy! It was one of the ultimate expressions of camaraderie she knew. A good meal was supposed to bring everyone together, to show love to all those who partook!

This was... hollow.

Hollow food from hollow people wearing hollow smiles.

If someone came here too often, she wondered if they’d become hollow, too.

May snapped her fingers in Astra’s face, breaking her out of her fugue. “The hell are you zoning out for?” May asked, eyebrow raised. “What, does the great soup master have something against burgers now?”

Astra blinked, then looked back down at the burger, still dripping onto the wrapping paper.

She shrugged, and took another bite. Loved or not, food was still food. Would she come back here if she had the choice? If she was in a hurry... maybe. Maybe not. The food wasn’t bad.

She still could’ve done without all the grease, though. Getting the stains out of her cloak would be a pain.

Back in the Rustboro Gym, Roxanne was conversing with the Gym’s resident Nurse Joy as her pokemon healed. She didn’t necessarily need to be present, but she liked to be there when they woke up. Her conversation with Joy was warm and in good cheer—Roxanne was enjoying the afterglow of a good battle and Joy was just happy to have something to occupy her mind while she went through the motions of her job.

A knock on the infirmary door halted their talk. One of the interns poked his head in, looking hesitant.

“Ah, ma’am? We’re having a problem with today's battle recordings.”

“The recordings?” Roxanne asked, surprised. It was rare that the interns had issues that they couldn’t solve themselves, and most of those were due to stray attacks breaking through the protections around the cameras. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s, uh. An issue with the audio, kind of? Parts of it aren’t, uh. There?” The intern hesitated. “It’d be easier if you saw it yourself, ma’am. Or, uh, heard. Um.” He shrugged awkwardly.

Roxanne hummed in assent, standing up. She nodded at Joy, who waved her out. Following the intern, she arrived at the small editing studio she’d had installed near her office. The room was filled with spare A/V equipment and a set of computers against the wall. Another intern was sitting at one of the machines, holding one headphone speaker to her ear and repetitively rewinding a video. She looked deeply confused.

“I’m back!” the first intern announced, causing the other to look up. A wave of relief crossed her features.

“Oh good. Sorry to bother you, Roxanne, but the sound on this recording is all wack,” she said, standing up and waving to the chair. “Come listen, maybe you can find out what’s wrong.”

“Alright, let’s take a look.” Taking the intern’s place, Roxanne retrieved the headphones and held one of the speakers to her head. “Now, what seems to be so ‘wack’?”

The female intern giggled at Roxanne’s use of slang, then took hold of the mouse. “It’s pretty obvious,” she said, restarting the video. “Just give it a moment.”

Roxanne watched the screen, listening intently. The video was of her fight with Astra just earlier today. “Oh, does it have to do with her violin?” she questioned, looking at the interns to her side.

“Just keep watching.”

Curious, Roxanne settled back to watch. The video opened with her doing her big intro. The two of them were in the arena, and both her recorded self and the crowd were audible. She finished her introduction, and then motioned for the robed girl to speak. Roxanne waited for the accompanying challenge.

And waited.

And waited.

And... waited? On screen, Astra’s violin case hit the rock of the arena with an audible thunk, and Astra held out a pokeball, without any of the vocal proclamations Roxanne remembered. The video continued in the same manner. Whenever it passed a moment where she clearly remembered Astra speaking, there was only silence. But the audio didn’t seem corrupted at all—the crowd and Roxanne herself were still clearly audible even as the robed girl went through the motions of speaking.

Roxanne halted the video and leaned back, thoroughly baffled. She had never seen anything like this before. She turned to her interns. “Is the entire recording like this?”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, the girl doesn’t seem to make a peep the whole way through.”

“It happens even when you’re standing next to her,” The other intern added, “The audio only picks you up.”

Roxanne hummed. “Is it the same with the next one?”

“That’s the first thing I checked next, actually.” The girl said, “That one’s fine. The May girl comes in loud and clear.”

The boy raised a finger. “It does show back up when Astra returns after the battle’s over.”

“Yeah,” The girl shrugged. “We’ve run checks on the equipment, but we couldn’t find anything wrong.”

“I see.” Roxanne murmured, glancing at the computer contemplatively. “Well, I will try my hand at it and see if I can find something. In the meantime, you two can help out the other interns until it’s time to go.” Judging by their relieved faces, they were extremely grateful to not have to deal with the problem.

“Thank you, Ma’am!” the boy said, heading out the editing studio door.

“Good luck!” the girl added, waving farewell as she followed her partner.

After they left, Roxanne sighed and turned her attention back to the screens. Cracking her fingers, she set to work.

Approximately three hours later, she gave up.

She had run every test she knew of, checked, double checked, and triple checked every microphone in the arena, and had even searched three pages deep on four distinct internet queries, all to no avail. As far as the entire setup was concerned, Astra—and only Astra—had never uttered a single word. Short of calling in a true expert, this was as far as her attempt could go.

It was baffling. Infuriating! One of the best amateur battles she had experienced and the recording was marred by some impossible error. Roxanne stared at the screen with furrowed brows, sipping on a large thermos of coffee she had acquired forty minutes in.

Whatever had gone wrong still confounded her, and she just knew it was going to niggle at the back of her mind for the next week and more. But it wasn’t crippling, in the end. The fight itself was still intact, as well as Astra’s wonderful violin music. The one-sided conversation was a bit awkward but could be worked past.

Roxanne set down the thermos and reset the video. She might as well analyze the fight itself and brainstorm a lesson while she had it up. The figures on screen sent out their pokemon, and she smiled as violin strings began to sing. Most trainers who used instruments couldn’t play nearly as well while battling, though the ones that passed through her gym tended to put them away for a badge fight. She took another sip of coffee, then idly attempted to figure out which notes corresponded to which maneuvers.

A few minutes later she reset the video, eyes narrowed. The fight played out again and Roxanne focused on the song, eyes tracking every move Astra’s pokemon made. A third re-watch confirmed her suspicions.

There was absolutely no pattern between what Astra played and the actions her pokemon took. It was thematically appropriate—uplifting when she was in the lead, despondent when she fell behind. But it wasn’t directionary.

“That little trickster...” Roxanne murmured. If she were of a more petulant temper, she might’ve decried the trickery as cheating. As it was, she was impressed by the double deception. Anyone looking to analyze Astra’s music for patterns would find themselves spinning in circles.

That said, she did wonder what trick Astra was using. It was amazing that the girl had mastered both whatever it was and her violin at such a young age.

Roxanne frowned again, struck by a thought. How long had Astra been a trainer, anyway? This had supposedly been her first gym battle, but she already had such a formidable technique?

Roxanne minimized the remaining windows on the screen, then opened the trainer registry and started typing.

Roxanne stared at the result. Astra’s date of registration had occurred not even a week prior. “A week?” she exclaimed, dumbfounded. “She caught and trained her pokemon how to—no, that’s impossible, even Steven wouldn’t be able to—am I missing something?” She muttered to herself, pulling up the video again.

Watch the trainer, ignore the music. What was the scenario, from the top? A young girl who could command her pokemon by methods other than speech, and who doesn’t need much time to train them to do so. Roxanne tapped her fingers, something familiar buzzing at the edge of her mind.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing as her past self’s Geodudes were taken out one by one. It had been a fun battle in the moment, but the memory of it was being soured by these conundrums. Trying to puzzle out how Astra would respond to her assaults without an audible cue had been just as frustrating as when she’d sparred... with...

Roxanne’s eyes shot open. She looked at the video, with its numerous audio problems. Problems all centered around one girl. The girl who could give orders without speaking.

And suddenly, it all seemed so obvious.

Roxanne picked up her phone and dialed a number. It rang twice before someone answered.

“Roxanne!” A duo of voices echoed each other across the line, both childish and pitched high.

“It’s been—” the boy exclaimed.

“So long!” the girl finished, sharing in the boy’s eagerness.

“What’s up?” they chorused.

“Hello Tate, Liza,” Roxanne greeted, a little awkwardly. She knew how to deal with children, of course. But it was different when those children were also your co-workers. “I’m afraid this isn’t a social call. I have a rather pressing question about your... area of expertise.”

“Oh?” The leaders of Mossdeep City’s Psychic Gym answered in unison. “Do tell! Do tell!”

Roxanne looked at her computer. On the screen, a robed girl accepted her badge and celebrated without a sound.

“What can you tell me about telepathy?”