They were an hour into their boat trip back to Pallet Town, and Sora still hadn’t been able to tear herself away from the railing on the back of the boat.  She had waved to Aidan as they left, and watched until they couldn’t see Cinnabar anymore.  That was half an hour ago, and still she stood there, looking out over the railing, watching the ocean that had just passed underneath the boat.
 Aoife approached Sora cautiously, leaning on the railing next to her.  For a moment they both just stood there, before Aoife spoke.  “He was like a brother to me.”
 “He was more than that to me,” Sora said, the first words she had spoken since they had left. 
 “Why did I make him promise he’d get together with Maeve?  I know it will make me miserable if he keeps that promise.  Am I trying to be some kind of martyr and pretend I love him selflessly?  Because I don’t.  I want him to be with me, it’s not good enough if it’s someone else.”
A few more moments passed in silence, and Aoife left, sensing Sora needed to be left alone.  Then more silence, and then Ferio’s voice.
“Sora,” she said gently, “I know you loved him, but he’s found someone and he’s happy with that.  I think you’ll just have to forget about him.”
 For the first time, Sora turned around, and for the first time she looked almost angry.  “You don’t understand, Ferio, it’s not that easy.  Maybe it is for you, but I can’t just throw him away just like that, like he’s garbage.  Maybe you treat people like that, but I don’t.”
 “You have no idea…” Ferio said, breaking eye contact with Sora and looking at the waves.  “I’m sorry, Sora, but I think that’s what you’ll eventually have to do.  And don’t worry, you’ll find someone else.”
 “That’s what I’m afraid of.”  Sora looked back over the railing.  “Petra and Ruari are so lucky, because they’re both traveling together.  If I found someone outside of our group…that’s what Aidan is doing, and look at what he did.  I might leave too.  And I don’t want to do that, I love you all and I love traveling too much.”
 Ferio turned to leave.  “You’ll get over him.  Trust me.  This too shall pass.”

***

 On the way over to Pallet Town, it had been every woman out of her humor.  But the mood gradually lightened as they debarked.  Partially because Aoife was so happy to be home again, and partially because it seemed that everyone else in Pallet was unusually cheerful too.
 “Oh, look!” Aoife cried, immediately after they debarked.  She ran over to a small pond surrounded by grass and cattails.  “This is where Eoin and I used to go fishing.  The fishing rods we’d use were really old, so all we could catch were Magikarp, but we pretended like they were the catch of the day.”
 “And you’d throw them back, of course?” Ruari said.
 “Well, yeah, of course,” Aoife said.  “I was only 8 at the time, so I couldn’t catch them.  Oh, and look!”  She pointed to a large brick building, with a smaller house across the street. 
“Oak Laboratories!  And over there”—she pointed at the house across from the laboratories—“the Oak residence.”  She wrinkled her nose.  “Home of Fawn Oak, the Brat Queen, and her cutesy little Eevee…I wonder what she evolved that thing into?  Probably Seleneon.”
“And what exactly is wrong with Seleneon, huh?” Sora asked.
 “Sorry, Sora,” Aoife said.  “No offense to your Eevee, but…it’s PINK.  How are you supposed to take a Pokemon seriously when it’s PINK?”
 “Why are there all those streamers and fairy lights on the Oak house?” Petra asked, observing a detail Aoife had overlooked in her excitement.
 “Oh, yeah,” Ruari said, “and it sounds like they’re having some kind of party over there.  Want to go check it out?”
 “Nah, Fawn will probably…oh, no, she won’t be there!”  Aoife smacked her forehead.  “Fawn’s at the Pokemon League.  The party’s probably in celebration of that.”
 “WHAT?” Petra shouted.  “That brat, at the Pokemon League?  You’re kidding.”
 “I’m not, unfortunately,” Aoife said.  “Mom told me, on the phone last night.”
 “Who’s Fawn?” Ruari asked.
 “Oh, you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Fawn Oak?” Ferio said sarcastically.  “Trust me, it’s just as well you haven’t.”
 “We’re rivals,” Aoife explained.  “And she has this harem of guys, and they’re all color-coded…see, those’re their houses.”  She pointed to a cluster of three houses around the Oak residence: one red, one green, and one blue.
 Sora giggled.  “No way.  That’s just too weird.”
 “Sound like interesting characters,” Ruari remarked.  “Come on, guys, I think the party would be fun!”  She grabbed Petra and Sora’s hand and started dragging them across the street, with Aoife and Ferio trailing behind.
 The location of the party was immediately apparent, from the sight of the people streaming in and out of the Oaks’ backyard and the sounds of “Who Let the Growlithe Out?” coming from in back of the house.
 “Cool!” Aoife said, momentarily forgetting that it was Fawn’s party.  “Sounds like they have a live band.”
 They pushed their way into the Oaks’ backyard amidst thick crowds.  Ferio attempted to fade into the background, Petra and Ruari made their way to the stage, and Aoife and Sora made a beeline for the food.
 “Hey, look!” Ruari said, pointing to the stage, where a group of four girls, all wearing pink, were singing and dancing.  “It’s Pikushi!”
 “No way,” Petra said, peering over the crowd’s heads to get a glimpse of the popular band.  “It IS Pikushi!  God, I’ve had a crush on that girl”—she pointed to the girl in the front, who had light blue hair in pigtails—“since I was ten!”
 “Really?” Ruari said.  “Me too!”
 Ferio sidled up to the couple.  “I see you’re sharing a moment of mutual, er, something.”
 “Hey, Ferio,” Ruari said.  “I didn’t think you liked parties, I mean, by the way you gravitated toward the corner over there.”
 “Yeah, well,” Ferio said.  “I don’t, actually.  I’m looking for Sora.”
 “She went that-a-way,” Ruari said, pointing towards the extensive buffet the Oaks had lined up on the lawn.  “We’ll go with you, though…I’m not sure I like crowds like this.”
 The three girls headed for the buffet table, to find Sora and Aoife standing nearby, their plates threatening to spill any second from the mountain of food they had piled on.  “Hi!” Sora greeted them.  “You guys, guess who that is up on stage?”
 “It’s Pikushi, we know,” Petra said.  “We were just up there.”  She indicated the crowd that had gathered in front of the stage, cheering and singing along with Pikushi.
 “Hmph.”  Aoife turned up her nose at the pop band.  “Leave it to Fawn to get Pikushi to play at her congratulatory party.  She and the girls in Pikushi are so alike: manufactured, snobby, not enough brains to fill an eggcup…too bad she’s off at the Pokemon League and not here to see this.”
 “What do you mean?  I’m right here,” said an only-too-familiar girl’s voice.  Aoife turned around to see Fawn herself, wearing a short pink party dress that Aoife was surprised her parents let her wear.  But, given that Fawn’s mother was a model, it wasn’t all that surprising.  “Of course I wouldn’t miss my own congratulations party!  I’d have to be an idiot to do that.”
 “You already are,” Aoife muttered, but Fawn wasn’t listening.  “So what happened at the Pokemon League?  I mean, for a party this big, you’d think they’d just made you Pokemon Master or something.”
 “No,” Fawn said, looking upset, as if she didn’t want to talk about it.  “I lost in the fourth round, against some girl who was wearing the most ATROCIOUS outfit…and to think, that fashion mishap is going on to the final rounds!  Disgusting, isn’t it?”
 “So, this is Fawn, huh?” Ruari whispered to Petra.  “Superficial little thing, isn’t she?”
 “No kidding,” Petra whispered back.
 Fawn noticed Ruari and Petra, and her eyes gravitated to Petra’s hand on Ruari’s shoulder.  “Speaking of disgusting…looks like Aoife’s queer friend has finally gotten a girlfriend.”
 Petra’s eyes narrowed, but Ruari was the one to confront Fawn (although Petra looked like she wanted to, but that she didn’t want to fight with a girl).  Ruari took a step forward, rolling up her sleeves and clenching her fists.  “Sorry, what was that?” she said, although she looked anything but sorry.
 “You heard,” Fawn replied.
 “Look, FAWN,” Ruari said, spitting out Fawn’s name, “nobody expresses such prejudiced, old-fashioned sentiments around me and gets away with it, okay, dear?”
 “Uh, Ruari,” Sora said, taking Ruari’s arm and guiding her back.  “Now is not the time, okay?”
 Ruari backed away reluctantly, still shooting a death glare at Fawn’s smug expression.  “Insult us again, and you’ll REALLY get it next time.”
 “Whatever,” Fawn said, taking a strawberry from the buffet table as she watched the group leave.
 “God, what nerve,” Ruari muttered.  “Who taught her to hate lesbians like that, her parents?”
 “Who knows,” Aoife said distractedly, looking through the crowds.
 “Looking for someone, Aoife?” Ferio asked.
 “Yeah, my parents,” Aoife said.  “Fawn’s parents and mine aren’t the greatest of friends, but it looks like everyone in Pallet is here.”  She looked around at the crowd again.  “No, everyone in Pallet PLUS a few people from neighboring towns.”
 They strolled through the crowds for a while, Aoife and Sora munching on the shishkebobs they had picked up at the buffet.  Then, Aoife saw someone, someone she had almost missed seeing.  A woman with long red hair, standing and talking with another woman, who had long brown hair and wore a fashionable dress.  Aoife took off running and pushing through the crowds, yelling, “Mom!  Mom!”
 The rest of the girls ran off after her.  “Wow, that’s Aoife’s mom?” Petra said.  “But she looks so young…”
 The redheaded woman noticed Aoife, and her mouth dropped open in a delighted smile.  “Aoife!” she cried, spreading her arms wide to welcome Aoife into a hug.
 “I’m home,” Aoife said.
 “And I’m so glad you are,” Misty said, not letting go of Aoife until Aoife pulled away herself. 
“Hi, Mrs. Oak,” Aoife said to the brunette woman.
 “Oh, hello, Aoife dear,” Mrs. Oak said.  “So I gather you’ve heard about our Fawn’s performance at the Pokemon League?”
 “Fawn told me about it herself,” Aoife said.
 “Didn’t she do brilliantly?” Mrs. Oak said, clasping her hands together.  “I’m so proud of her…well, I’d better go now, though, don’t want to keep Fawn waiting.”
 “Bye, Mrs. Oak,” Aoife called after Fawn’s mother as she dashed away.  “That’s Fawn’s mom, Giselle Oak,” Aoife explained to the other four.
 “That’s Giselle Oak?” Sora said, gaping at Aoife.  “The supermodel?  Wow.  I thought I’d recognized her from somewhere.”  She poked Aoife.  “Why didn’t you tell us you were friends with the daughter of a world-famous supermodel, huh?”
Misty smiled at the four girls with Aoife.  “And these are the traveling companions I’ve heard so much about?”
 “Yeah,” Aoife said.  “This is Petra, from the Pewter City Gym…”
 “Oh, so you must be Brock’s daughter!” Misty said.  “I haven’t seen him in a while.  How’s he doing?”
 Petra shrugged.  “I haven’t seen him since I left Pewter City, either.  But from what I’ve heard he and my mom are okay.”
 “And this is Sora, from Azure City,” Aoife said, “and Ferio, from Saffron City, Sora’s cousin.”  Sora and Ferio both said their “how do you do, nice to meet you” to Aoife’s mother.
 “This is Ruari, remember that girl I told you about who can turn into a Dratini?” Aoife said.
 “Oh, yes!” Misty said.  “Good to meet you, Ruari.  Dratini has always been one of my favorite Pokemon, you know, and I finally caught one just a few years ago.”  To Aoife she said, “But where’s that boy you were telling me about, Duplica’s son?”
 “Oh, Aidan,” Aoife said, looking downcast.  “Yeah, he left.  Now he’s working with Bill on Cinnabar Island in the laboratories.”
 “With Bill?” Misty said.  “I remember meeting Bill.  Must be a fun job for Aidan.  So,” she said, noticing the sudden change in the girls’ moods, “why don’t you come over for lunch?  I’m actually getting quite bored of this party myself.”
 “Sure!” Aoife agreed.  “How about it, guys?”
 “That would be great,” Sora said.
 “Okay,” Aoife said.  “Lead the way, Mom—I’m afraid I’ve been away from Pallet for so long, I might get lost.”

***

 “So, Aoife,” Misty said, as she brought out some tea for the girls (with Petra’s help; Petra had insisted upon helping her).  “Have you heard the news?”
 “Uh, there’s been a lot of news lately, Mom,” Aoife said.  “What news?”
 “About the gym,” Misty said.  “A gym is being built in Pallet, and it’s expected to be finished before the end of the year.  That’s why they’re holding a competition next month.”
 This announcement piqued Aoife’s interest, to say the least.  “A gym?  Really?  When did you hear about it?  Why didn’t you tell me about this on the phone?  I’d think this was more important than Fawn going to the Pokemon League.”
 “There’s been a lot of excitement around here, dear.  It must have slipped my mind.  I’m sorry.”  Misty looked apologetic, then continued.  “Anyway, on March 31st there will be a competition, and it will be judged by Pokemon League officials and high-ranking gym leaders.  Petra, I’m surprised your father didn’t say anything about it—he’s rumored to be one of the judges.”
 “He is?” Petra and Ruari cried in unison.
 “Maybe now I can meet him!” Ruari said, enthralled at this prospect.
 “Why didn’t he tell me that?” Petra said.
 “Of course, it’s just a rumor,” Misty continued.  “The competition will determine who the leader of the Pallet Gym will be.”
 “Wooooow!” Aoife cried, her eyes shining.  “Forget about the Pokemon League, this sounds like it’s more up my alley.  A gym leader!  That’s what I want to be!”
 “Now wait a second, Aif, don’t get your hopes up,” Ferio said, interrupting Aoife’s daydream about being a gym leader and handing out her own badge.  “Becoming a gym leader is tough—Sora, Ruari, or Petra would tell you the same.  Gym leader hopefuls will come from everywhere at the announcement of Pallet Town—not a major city, but still a pretty big one—getting a gym.  You’ll be up against people much older than you, who’ve been training for a lot longer.  Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
 “If I train I will be!” Aoife said, not letting Ferio’s warning burst her bubble.  “And I’ll start in Viridian City.  For the next six weeks, I’ll do nothing but train, and getting my last badge will be part of that training.”
 “But you know who else is liable to be competing for that gym leader’s position against you?” Petra said.  “Fawn.  You know she’ll want to, especially if she finds out you’re competing.  Anything to one-up you.”
 “Fawn schmawn,” Aoife said, waving the topic aside.  “I can beat Fawn.”
 “How do you know, though?” Ruari said.  “I mean, I don’t mean to be pessimistic or anything, but you’ve never really battled her before, have you?”
 “Well, no…” Aoife admitted.  “But I’m POSITIVE I could do it!  Really!”
 “Maybe you could…” Petra said.  “But you’re going to need a lot of training first.”
 “And we’ll all help you every step of the way!” Ruari said.  “Right, guys?”
 “Yeah,” Sora agreed.  “So what do you guys say, shall we head off for Viridian tomorrow?”
 “Right,” Aoife said.  “With my last badge in my hand, I’ll be able to do anything.”
 

Author's Notes
So, I guess life is continuing on even though the group is now short one.  Pikushi, by the way, is derived from Pikushii, the Japanese name for Clefable.  Which explains why they all wear pink.  They're not supposed to be a parody of the Spice Girls, they're more like one of those boy bands...except with all girls.  Think of it like this: if Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore all started a band together, it would be Pikushi.  As for the gym leader competition...I'm not going to say any more about that.  ^_~ You'll just have to wait and see, but don't worry, it's only a couple episodes more.

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