“Morning, Aoife,” Sora, or maybe Raven, greeted Aoife as she woke up and came downstairs in her pajamas.  “Ready for our big battle today?”
 “Who am I battling?” Aoife asked.
 The other twin peeked out of the kitchen, where she was making pancakes.  “We could flip a coin to see who you get to battle, couldn’t we?”
 “Good idea,” the first twin said.
 “Whoa, hold on.”  Aoife held up her hands.  “First, which is which twin and how can I tell you apart?”
 “I’m Raven,” the one in the kitchen said.  She turned away from the stove a minute to talk.  “See this ring?”  Raven held out her hand so that Aoife could see a silver ring shaped like a bird.  “My parents gave that to me and they gave a gold one to Sora.”
 “Yep,” Sora confirmed this information by showing Aoife her ring, exactly the same except in gold.  “So Raven’s is like a Lugia, and mine is like a Houou.”
 “Are those legendary birds?” queried Aoife.  “I heard that they found some new ones…are those their names?”
 “Yeah,” Raven said, turning back to the oven.  “I hope you like chocolate chip pancakes, Aoife, ‘cause that’s what I’m making.”
 Aoife’s eyes lit up.  “Ch-chocolate chip?  Chocolate chip pancakes?”  She scrambled for a plate next to the stove where the pancakes were cooling to try to grab one.  “Lemme at them!”
 “Not yet!”  Sora had to hold Aoife back to keep her from eating the whole batch.  “Wait until Petra comes down and everything’s ready, okay?”
 “Okay,” Aoife said, then cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled towards the bedrooms, “PETRA COME EAT BREAKFAST NOOOOOW!”
 “Don’t have to yell,” Petra said, coming down the hallway with Chu-Chu.  “I’m not deaf…hey, what’re you making for breakfast?”
 “Pancakes!” Aoife squealed, jumping around excitedly.  “With chocolate chips!  My favorite!  Are they ready yet Raven, are they are they are they?”
 “Hold your Horseas,” Raven brought the pancakes to the table.  “Yes, they’re ready.  And I have some pineapple and peach slices for Chu-Chu, if she wants any—”
 “PIKA!” Chu-Chu yelled out, jumping on the table and eagerly lapping up the juice that the fruit was in.  “Chaa.”
 “Don’t mention the word ‘pineapple’ around Chu-Chu,” Petra advised.  “Or the word ‘chocolate’ around Aoife, apparently,” she added, seeing Aoife stuffing a huge bite of pancake into her mouth.
 “These are great, Raven,” Aoife said with her mouth full.  “Petra, you should make me these more often.  Hey, got any whipped cream?”
 Petra shook her head vigorously and mouthed “NO” exaggeratedly to Raven.  “She’ll just be more hyper if she drowns the pancakes in whipped cream.”
 “Um, I think we’re out,” Raven said, taking the hint.
 “No problem,” Aoife said, still scarfing down the pancakes, probably on her fourth by this time.  “They’re good enough without the whipped cream.”
 “Leave some for us, will you?” Sora suggested, reaching for the pancake plate with her fork and spearing one.
 
 

 After breakfast, the twins, Petra, Chu-Chu, and a very hyper Aoife gathered in the gym.  It was like no gym Aoife had ever seen before.  It was outdoors, with platforms for the trainers and the non-flying Pokemon to stand on, and perches for the flying-types.  They were standing on the ground in the middle of the arena, waiting for Petra to flip the coin.
 “If it lands heads,” Petra explained, “it’s Raven, right?  And if it lands tails it’s Sora.”
 “Yep,” Raven confirmed.
 “Just hurry up and flip it!” Aoife fidgeted impatiently.
 “Okay, okay,” Petra said, flipping the coin, catching it, then slapping it on to her wrist.  “Tails,” she said.  “So it’s Aoife versus Sora.”
 “Yes!” Sora cheered, pumping her fist and heading for the gym leader’s platform.
 “Be prepared to looooooose!” Aoife said in a singsong voice, springing off towards the other platform.  “Flying is weak against electric!”
 “We’ll see,” Sora said.  “Remember Treagle?  Electric is weak against plant, Aif.”
 Aoife climbed the ladder going up the platform three rungs at a time.  “Be careful you don’t fall, Aoife,” Petra warned, as she and Raven climbed up to observe the match from a separate spectator’s platform.
 “Yeah, yeah,” Aoife said.  “How many Pokemon can we use?  Of course, I’ll only need Chu-Chu and Pele, but how many will you use?”
 “Four,” Sora said, taking out a Pokeball.  “First I’ll use Fearow!  Go!”  She threw her first Pokeball and a rather ugly-looking bird of prey Pokemon flew out.
 “And I’ll use Chu-Chu, of course,” Aoife said as Chu-Chu leaped out on to a platform.
 “Fearow, fury attack!” Sora ordered.  The Fearow pointed its wings towards Chu-Chu and fired away.
 “Chuu!” Chu-Chu squeaked, as the pointy feathers nearly knocked it off the platform.  It was barely hanging on to the edge. 
 “Uh-oh,” Aoife panicked.  “Um, try…try to do Thundershock from where you are, Chu-Chu!  See if you can get up onto the platform first, though.”
 “Pi…pika,” Chu-Chu said, struggling but finally hoisting itself up onto the platform.  Fearow dove in to do another attack, but Chu-Chu reacted quickly and used a thunder shock to put Fearow temporarily out of commission.  The flying Pokemon had a little over half its HP left, and it perched for a while to rest.
 “No mercy, Chu-Chu,” Aoife said.  “Go now!  Do another thunder shock!”
 “Pi?” Chu-Chu asked, turning back to Aoife to question her orders.  “Pika, pikachu?”
 “Yes, Sora is our friend,” Aoife explained, “but this is a battle now.  We’ll still be friends with her afterwards, and we still are right now, but the rules of the battle still apply.  Go ahead.”
 “Pika,” Chu-Chu agreed.  “CHAAAA!”  It shocked Fearow again, this time making it faint completely.  It would have fallen off its perch had Sora not recalled it in time.
 “It seems easy,” Sora said, “but that might not last forever.  Pidgeotto, I choose you!”
 “Oh, a Pidgeotto,” Aoife said.  “Dad had one, I think…and then he released it when it evolved.  I don’t know why either.”  She shrugged.  “Oh well.  Go, Chu-Chu!  Do a Thunderbolt!”
 “Pika,” Chu-Chu leaped ahead, and then, “CHUUUUU!” it did a Thunderbolt, making the Pidgeotto faint in one hit.
 “Wow,” Sora said, recalling Pidgeotto.  “That was quick.  Impressive.  Apparently Chu-Chu is at a higher level than my Pidgeotto.”  She took out another Pokeball and threw it, but this time when she threw she was aiming for one of the platforms that the non-flying Pokemon were supposed to stand on.  “Go, Doduo!”
 “Dooooo,” the two-headed bird Pokemon said as it materialized on the platform.
 “Doduo?” Aoife asked, taking out her Pokedex.
 “Doduo.  This Pokemon has two heads.”
 “Obviously,” Aoife rolled her eyes.
 “Sometimes the heads fight, especially when it evolves into Dodrio and grows a third head.”
 “See, Doduo doesn’t fly,” Sora explained.  “Most flying Pokemon are weak against electric because they’re not grounded.  But Doduo is, so it might be harder to beat.”
 “That’s okay,” Aoife said.
 “Aoife!” Petra yelled from the stands.  “Do any of your Pokemon have a confusing attack?”
 “Confusing?” Aoife asked.  “What do you mean?”
 “One that will confuse her Doduo’s heads into fighting with each other,” Petra elaborated.  
 “I don’t think so,” Aoife said glumly.
 “Oh,” Petra said.  “Hey, wait, I have an idea!”
 “What?” Aoife asked.
 “Use Shellder,” Petra suggested.  “Ice is strong against flying too.”
 “Okay!” Aoife brightened up immediately, throwing Shellder’s Pokeball.  “Go, Shellder!”
 The clam stuck its tongue out at Doduo, squealing “Shellder!”  Doduo just laughed in response.
 “It’s not funny,” Aoife huffed at the Doduo.  “Chu-Chu, tell them it’s not funny and that Shellder is going to wipe the floor with them!”
 “Pikapika!” Chu-Chu yelled angrily at the bird Pokemon.  “Pikapi, pikachu pika!”
 “Do, doduo,” the bird said.
 “Pika,” Chu-Chu said warningly, before sprinting back to Aoife’s platform.
 “Okay, Shellder,” Aoife said, “use Ice Beam, now!”
 “Shell, shell!” it obliged, a beam shooting out of its open shell.  The beam hit Doduo, who froze and went down like a load of bricks (or rather, ice).
 “This is really easy so far,” Aoife gloated.  “Only one Pokemon left, and I bet it’s an easy one.”
 “She’s acting just like Fawn,” Petra muttered.
 “Who’s Fawn?” Raven, who was sitting next to Petra, asked.
 “Aoife and Fawn are apparently rivals,” Petra explained.  “Fawn’s really arrogant and snobbish, and she always brags about her Pokemon.”
 “Ew,” Raven wrinkled her nose.  “I wouldn’t like to have someone like that as a rival.”
 “Aoife doesn’t like it, that’s for sure,” Petra said.  “She’s on some kind of sugar high from the pancakes this morning, though, so maybe that’s what’s making her all cocky.”
 “My last Pokemon is…” Sora held up the Pokeball, then threw it.  “Treagle!”
 “Treagle, huh?” Aoife observed.  “So ice is good against grass.  But water, Shellder’s main type, is weak against grass.  So many types to worry about, what will I choose?”  She ended up recalling Shellder, and took out another Pokeball.  “I think I better use Pele.”  She threw Pele’s Pokeball out, and it popped out with a “Pele pele!”
 “What’s that?” Sora gasped.  “I’ve never seen one before.”
 “You know Magmar?” said Aoife.  “It’s a baby Magmar.  It’s called Pele.”
 “Oh, how cute!” Sora gushed, then pulled herself together again.  “But cuteness doesn’t matter.  Treagle, vine whip!”
 Treagle lashed its vine tail out at Pele, who jumped over it like it was a skipping rope.  Then, when Aoife commanded it to, Pele used an Ember attack, singing Treagle’s feathers.
 “Keep trying, Treagle!” Sora said.  “Do Petal Dance!”
 “Petal Dance?” Petra repeated.  “But I thought only Vileplume and Gloom could do that!”
 “Nope,” Raven said, winking.  “Treagle knows it too.  See?”  She pointed out to the battlefield, where petals were flying around and Treagle was getting ready to attack Pele.
 “Hurry up, Pele!” Aoife urged.  “Dodge it when it comes to attack you, all right?”
 “Le,” the tiny spitfire Pokemon nodded.  Treagle came barreling towards it, ready to do a tackle attack, and Pele jumped out of the way just in time.
 “Treagle!” Sora yelled at it again.  “Use Fury Thorn!”
 “Fury Thorn…” Aoife said.  “That’s the attack that only Treagle has been known to do…Pele! Better try not to get caught in that!”
 Treagle stretched its wings, then pointed them at Pele in much the same way Fearow had towards Chu-Chu.  Then, it fired a round of thorns at Pele, who although it tried to dodge them, some of them still hit her.
 “Watch out, Pele!” Aoife said.  “If you can, do Fire Spin!”
 Pele, despite its wounds from the thorns, turned back to Treagle and with a cry of “Pe-LEEEEEEEE!” it blew a tornado of fire at the bird, scorching it into submission.
 “Treagle!” Sora cried.  “Return, Treagle!”
 “Is that your last Pokemon?” Aoife asked, returning Pele as well.
 “Yep,” Sora said.  “And you know what that means…”
 “YEEEEAAAAY!” Aoife cried, climbing back down the stairs as fast as she could with Chu-Chu almost keeping up with her.  “I got my…uh, what’s the badge called?”
 “The Stratos Badge,” Sora prompted.
 “Okay,” Aoife said, clearing her throat. “I GOT MY STRATOS BAAAAAAADGE!”
 “Good for you,” Petra muttered, having to cover her ears at that last exclamation.  She and Raven had descended from the spectator platforms to the ground.
 “Hey, um, Sora?” Aoife spoke up.  “You know, it’s just me and Petra traveling out here and well…you told me you wanted to see the legendary birds, right?”  She pointed to herself.  “Here’s your method of transportation.”
 “Oh, really?” Sora asked.  “I’ve always wanted to travel…but Raven…”  She turned regretfully to her sister.
 “It’s okay,” Raven said.  “I think it’s about time we became independent of each other, and Mom and Dad think we should too.  We can’t stay together forever.  And I’ll write you all the time, I promise,” she added, winking.
 “Thanks,” Sora said, hugging her sister for the last time before she left.  “I’ll miss you a ton, Raven.”
 “Me too,” Raven replied.  “Good luck, sister.  And if you meet the birds, tell them I said hi, okay?”
 Sora laughed a little.  “Okay.  Bye for now, Raven.”
 “This is goodnight and not goodbye,” Raven said, waving as Sora and her two new companions walked off to their next destination…which they didn’t even know themselves, but it was sure to be an adventure.
 
 
Author's Notes
So there you have it, Aoife got a new traveling companion (and you get to see how scary she is when she's on a sugar high).  I've been waiting for this for a while because just Aoife and Petra was getting boring.  After this Sora's gonna fly them to the Power Plant, then they're going to Vermillion, then soon after that they get a new companion when they meet Aidan!  There are actually three more episodes before they meet Aidan, all three involving electric Pokemon (I didn' t plan three electric Pokemon episodes in a row like that on purpose, it just...happened.  I guess it's 'cause they're in the Vermillion area with the power plant).  Oddish, isn't it?
 
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