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The next day passed slowly. I was still confused by everything, from what Sara had said on the phone to what Clara had told me that night. I ate the breakfast Sara had left for me much slower than I usually did, and just waited in the kitchen for her to come back from school. I didn't even mess with Opal's food this time.

When Sara finally came home we went to the gym, but this time instead of running off to brawl with another Pokemon I waited beside her and Sonata. I wanted to go challenge the other Pokemon... but that wouldn't be the strong thing for me to do, and that thought was enough to stay by Sara. That seemed to surprise her, but... she didn't seem upset by it. Which just confused me more - I had always thought Sara had been proud of me immediately fighting down any of the other Pokemon that might be a challenge, but... she seemed happier that I was just waiting there with her. And even though I had decided to show my strength this way instead, it was still confusing deep down inside.

I watched the other trainers and Pokemon go about their routines, noticing for the first time that they were all far more focused on their own exercises than on trying to pose a challenge to Sara. Sara watched them too, and I saw a sort of calculation in her expression. She was learningsomething by watching them. I wasn't sure what it was, but I was sure that observing was teaching her something. Something I had missed out on by not watching. Something I had ignored when I had ignored her.

For the hundredth time I realized just how weak I had been.

After about half an hour Clara ran out of the back office and dashed across the gym, right in between a Nidorino fighting a Meowth. She ran to the doors right as they opened and jumped into Flen's arms as he stepped through them. He hugged her and they grew silent for a moment, a variety of expressions passing over their faces as they spoke silently to each other.

But eventually Flen looked across the gym at Sara. No - at me.

Clara hopped down as Flen walked over and greeted Sara. I didn't pay much attention to that, instead wondering what Clara was up to. She had a look on her face, like she was plotting something. In fact, I was so focused on her that it came as a surprise when I heard Flen ask Sara for a battle.

"A battle? You want another rematch between Opal and Clara?"

Flen grinned but shook his head. "Not quite. I was thinking of something a little different. All three of your Pokemon battling against..." He paused as he pulled a Pokeball off his belt, the small orb growing in size. "...Obsidian?"

I whipped around to look at Flen, completely ignoring Clara. I knew that name.

Sara hesitated. I wanted to jump up and down; of course we wanted to fight him! How was this even a question, much less one to think over?!

"I don't know..." She looked down at me and I started to yell up at her... ... ...then I remembered what Clara had said, and I flinched. Of course. This would be an incredibly difficult battle, even three on one. If Sara couldn't trust me to follow her plan, we wouldn't have a chance.

I had to be strong. I had to show her I could do it. That Phoenix would be strong enough to pull off the battle.

I lowered my head and took a step back, trying to force myself to calm down.

"Though... Phoenix has been different today. Maybe he could... okay. Let's do it!" Sara clapped her hands together and pulled out another Pokeball, pointing it between myself and Sonata.

Opal appeared in between us, mouth open in a fearsome snarl and eyes glinting ominously. I started to rush forward and attack in response to his obvious challenge, but the ground shook underneath me as something huge settled onto the gym floor, and it threw off my balance. I climbed back up and looked at Opal as I heard him yawn and saw him close his mouth, only then realizing he hadn't been challenging me.

"Good morning Sara! What are we... oh..." Opal glanced at something behind me and lifted his head up.

And up.

And up.

I turned to look too, and saw the Steelix rising up behind Flen. It was huge, and had to bend down to keep from bumping against the ceiling. It dwarfed all of us and made a slow rumbling noise as it stretched, unwinding over the gym floor.

I grinned. This was going to be fun. I started to move towards the massive Steelix... but paused just in time. No. There were two fights I needed to win here, not just one. I glanced back behind me, towards Sara, and waited.

She looked up at the Steelix before gulping, then looked back down at the three of us. "Okay. Obsidian has a lot of physical defense, so Sonata's going to have the best shot at hurting him. Opal, you keep her safe; Phoenix, try and distract him with Sand Attack and Sand Tomb. Sonata, charge up Solar Beam and hammer him with it; that'll be our strategy to start with. We can do this!" I had the feeling Sara wasn't quite sure we could even though she said that, but I took encouragement anyways. I knew we could!

The two trainers stepped to different sides of the field, and the rest of the Pokemon cleared the floor. I watched the Steelix as his massive head wove back and forth through the air above us, light glinting off the armor that covered every part of him, just waiting for the chance to...

"Go!"

Sara's voice set me in motion and I charged forward with a yell. I was dimly aware of Opal and Sonata moving off to the side, away from my advance, but I put them out of my mind for now. I had a goal - distract the Steelix. I closed the distance toward him before suddenly turning sideways, skidding from my momentum and sending up the dust I had gathered with each step into the air in a thin cloud right as my opponent brought its head downwards to slam into me.

I heard an annoyed roar come from the massive serpent as his unprotected eyes were suddenly stung by the dust, and I saw him waiver. It wasn't much, but it was enough for me to skitter out of the way right before the heavy head slammed down where I had been just a second before. I grinned and dashed away, feeling exhilarated. Now I could turn around and return the favor, slam right into him in a Headbutt attack...

I heard Sara call out from the side. "Good job Phoenix! Now Sand Tomb!"

Right! I had something more important to do. I stopped turning and looked over the massive Steelix. How would I even manage to trap something that large in the ground, especially on this hard floor? I frowned, trying to think... then grinned. I didn't have to trap all of it; I just had to slow it down. Distract it. It didn't matter if I caught everything.

I tilted to one side, raising my left side in the air, and paused there. I would have to time this just right...

The Steelix started to move, and I watched... there! His body was all supported by that one bit there, and it was strained from the turn. I slammed my body down into the ground as hard as I could, feeling the shockwave ripple out through the floor until... yes!

The ground rippled under the Steelix and threw him off balance. I heard him roar as he started falling. I glared up at him and roared back defiantly, yelling at the top of my lungs.

I don't think anybody heard me over all the sound the Steelix was making, but I did it anyways.

I saw the Steelix's eyes narrow at me as it fell, and I was suddenly aware that it had twisted in its fall. It was no longer just falling - it was falling on me.

I gulped and tried to move, knowing I wouldn't be fast enough...

I felt the air hum with energy as a ray of intense light came from the side of the gym and rammed the Steelix, shoving it aside and causing a loud screeching sound as the metal armor scraped over the floor.

I was suddenly safe from falling Pokemon, but I was stunned. What had that been?!?

I looked towards where the beam had come from... but only Sonata and Opal were there. Sonata had a faint black glow around her and Opal seemed to be concentrating - Helping Hand? But what...

Sonata beamed a little as Sara called out again. "Great job, Sonata! Charge up for another one, hit it again!"

The Cherubi began to shimmer as light gathered around it, and I blinked again in understanding. Sonata had done that?!

Wow.

My trainer was awesome!

I grinned and turned back towards the Steelix, watching it rise back up. I started to charge it again, getting ready for another Sand Attack... but the Steelix's tail came around in a movement far faster than I would have thought it capable of pulling off, and it slammed square into my side.

I was only aware of pain in my side as I felt strangely light... then I felt another jarring impact as I hit the ground, hard. Ow.

I felt my head still spinning and tried to get it under control. Everything was fuzzy, and I wasn't sure what I was looking at.. oh. Everything was upside down.

I knew that Steelix was strong, but even I didn't think it could flip the entire gym upside down! What kind of craziness was Flen feeding that thing?! And where could Sara get some for me??

Wait, that wasn't right.

I felt a little embarrassed as I realized that the Steelix had just knocked me upside down, instead of flipping the whole gym. Then I just felt angry - a really strong Pokemon wouldn't have had to cheat like that, and would have flipped over the entire gym instead of taking silly shortcuts like that.

I tried to roll over, but didn't manage to with my first try and instead just flailed my skimpy legs uselessly in the air. I saw the Steelix surge across the ceiling - no, the floor - towards Sonata, but Opal dashed in between her and the descending Iron Tail.

The Umbreon didn't budge an inch as the full force of the Steelix's strike hit him. I felt my jaw drop as I watched it. The same force that had sent me flying, and there Opal was just shrugging it off like a gentle breeze.

I realized suddenly that I had never actually seen the Umbreon in a fight before. I knew he looked scary, but he slept most of the time and only prowled around when I was asleep. And he never fought back against me... which... suddenly made me wonder. If he was em>this strong, then why did he always run away when I fought him?

Another ray of blinding light shot from Sonata to slam into the Steelix, driving him back a little.

I suddenly began to feel outclassed as I watched the fight unfold upside down before me. Was I really strong enough to fight alongside Olal and Sonata, when they could do that to the gargantuan Steelix?

You bet I was. I was Phoenix. And Sara had brought me into this fight too.

I rolled over again as the Steelix hit the ground. I was sure I would have managed without it, but the shockwave rolling through the ground helped push me up. I started to grin, getting ready to charge back into the fight and make that Steelix regret ignoring me...

I felt my body suddenly grow warm, as if a wave of heat was suddenly running through me. I couldn't move, and everything suddenly went dim, as if half the lights had just been shut off. A hum reached my ears... which... suddenly seemed to shift. My whole body felt like it was suddenly stretching, growing longer, narrower, lighter. Two narrow lengths grew right in the center of my vision as I watched, and my vision itself seemed to change. Colors suddenly became richer, deeper, until a green tint suddenly slid over everything. I felt like a thin blanket had been drawn over the world and I was looking through it as it waved oddly with every slight motion of my head.

Then all at once the feeling was gone. The world still had the same green tint, and my body felt... different, but the hum was gone and everything was as bright as before.

I paused, trying to understand what that had been, before I heard Sara call out over the sound of the Steelix lifting back up. "Phoenix!! Dragon Breath!"

Images sprang into my head to go with the words. A strange winged Pokemon I had never seen before taking in a deep breath, then exhaling a strange breath of... it wasn't fire, really, but there was some of that in it too. Power, sheer power that made the air tremble and combust as it passed through to a target.

I grinned, the instinctive movement somehow feeling odd, as if the muscles involved had moved... and then I skittered forward, finding myself surprised by how quickly I was moving. I was on the Steelix in no time, it's huge form dwarfing me as it rose up to the ceiling once more. I inhaled, feeling power gathering in my lungs, feeling it build until it was ready to explode out of me...

And then I exhaled it right up at the Steelix's face.

The air shimmered and exploded as the wave of energy passed through, wind whipping around in a vortex that stretched between my mouth and the Steelix. I felt myself getting pulled into it and had to dig my feet into the ground to stand firm, but I didn't let up. I continued exhaling, the seconds stretching onwards as I hurled destruction up at the Steelix!

It didn't do much against the thick metallic armor covering every inch of him, but it felt good.

I was dimly aware of Sara talking behind me, and the gym leader answering.

"I don't believe it!"

"It's not exactly common, but Pokemon are known to evolve in the middle of a battle sometimes. Not all of them are polite enough to wait until everything has calmed down."

"Not that! I mean, that's neat and all, but... he's actually listening to me! Way to go, Phoenix! Sonata, one more should do it!"

I grinned with pride and leaned into the attack a bit more, seeing a shiver run through the Steelix as it tried to move but found it couldn't. My attack had paralyzed it, leaving it immobile as more and more power pummelled against the unyielding armor. My attack wasn't going to defeat it, not on its own... but then, that wasn't what I was fighting for this time.

Light flared off to the side - was I able to see further to the side now? - as another ray of sunlight hurled from the Cherubi sheltered behind Opal. It crossed the gym in a second and struck the Steelix's side, piercing the armor and causing whisps of smoke to curl up into the air. The massive serpent shuddered and roared out in anger and hurt, and for a moment I thought it was going to surge after Sonata one more time... but it sagged in place, giving one final wobble before it started to fall towards the ground.

Towards me.

I jumped backwards on instinct, not even knowing how I had done it. I had never been able to jump very high before, and certainly not backwards; my jaw was much too heavy to do anything like that. But I did it this time all the same, springing backwards into the air.

I watched dust fly into the air as the Steelix landed heavily on the ground... and didn't get up. Yes! "Booyah! That's what you get when you mess with the Phoenix!"

I grinned again and looked down... and only then did I realize that I had never landed after jumping into the air. I had gone up, but not down. And... what was that odd humming sound?

I looked behind me, out of the corner of my eyes, and gasped in surprise. Wings! There were wings, beating rapidly at the air. And I wasn't brown anymore, I was green! Even through the greenish tint I could still tell I had changed color, and had a tail now, and wings!

Wait. How was I moving them? Was I-

I suddenly dropped to the ground as I stopped flapping, the instinctive motion melting away as I thought about it. I landed softly - I hadn't been that far up - but I swelled with pride anyways. I knew what this meant - I had evolved. I wasn't a Trapinch anymore, but something else! Not a Flygon - I had seen pictures on Sara's phone, and I didn't look like that - but not a Trapinch either. The word suddenly popped into my head: Vibrava.

I was a Vibrava now.

And I could fly!

I grinned as I glanced back at my wings, moving them cautiously and jumping in excitement as I felt them move. Yes! Now I could get up those stairs, too! Ha! That meant Opal couldn't hide anymore; I could follow him and fight him even in the-

"You're going to do WHAT?!"

I gulped as I heard Clara's voice ring in my head, and saw the Espeon glaring at me from the seats off to the side of the gym. I had the sudden feeling I was about to be in trouble.

I just grinned and levitated up into the air, enjoying the thrill of hovering just off the ground. Whatever - let the trouble come. I could handle it.

I was Phoenix.

---

John grinned wildly as he walked towards the train station. Sara couldn't blame him - but she was busy thinking ahead.

"We did it, Sara! We beat the gym, we're going to be in the Championship this summer!"

Sara smiled back. "Don't get too far ahead; we still have one more gym to beat."

The other trainer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but it's the gym most trainers start at! We started backwards, with the middle difficulty gyms, and you beat the toughest gyms with just Opal and Sonata. This gym was a breeze - your ground type won against a water-type Marril; the next gym is even easier than this one!"

Sara blushed, remembering how nervous she had been at sending Phoenix in. She had promised he would get to fight the leader, since he had been doing so well lately, but that had been before she had learned it was entirely a water type. She had considered just using Sonata and apologizing later... but he had shown a lot of improvement, and he would be insufferable if she hadn't let him fight. In many ways he had gotten worse after evolving, even as he somehow got better. The little terror was a flying contradiction.

Which brought her to her current thoughts. "Maybe... okay, probably... but I'm not going to go to the gym. At least not right away."

"What? The championship starts a month after school lets out; you can't waste time! You have to register and get everything sorted with placements and stuff." The other trainer's grin vanished as he stared at her. "What are you going to be doing instead of getting the last gym badge you need to compete with?"

"Getting another Pokemon."

"You?! You're going to catch a Pokemon? A wild one?"

"I know, I know. I'm thinking of it more as a recruitment, but... yeah."

"Why? You've got a solid team already."

"I know, it's just..." She hesitated, looking down at the bag at her side. "It's Opal."

"Opal? What about him?"

"I just... feel kind of bad for him, I guess."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well... Sonata and Phoenix keep each other company, and are awake when we're awake. Sonata tries to be friends with Opal but they don't have many similar interests, and she's up with this sun working on berries and other flowers. Phoenix still terrorizes him every chance he gets, and he spends most of his time awake when we're all asleep. I know he spends time with Clara and a few other Pokemon from the gym when we're home, like Tule and that Honchkrow... but when we're away from town... I don't think the few hours we're both awake is really enough for him. I want to try and get another nocturnal Pokemon to keep him company."

"Aahhh... this wouldn't be an excuse to get a Vulpix, would it? Like that one in that poster on your wall?" John looked back at her with a teasing grin.

"H-hey! That's a Ninetales, but how do you know about that - when were you in my room!" Sara glared back at him, but he just laughed.

"Relax... your mom told me about it. While we were waiting for the train to leave Jyrrian City, actually; about how you have always liked Vulpixes, and had that cute little Vulpix doll when you were younger."

"I am going to kill her for that." Sara grumbled and looked down at the ground before shaking her head. "No... I'm not really sure where to find a Vulpix. I was thinking of a Ledyba actually - there's supposed to be some yearly swarm thing near the end of May, where they all come together and then split off into new families. The year's newborns that don't find a new home to go to end up joining up with trainers, so it's not like I'll be nabbing a Pokemon from its family or anything. I can spend a few days at the swarm site and find somebody Opal likes. Even if I spend a week or so there I should be able to get to the last gym, beat it, and get registered for the Championship."

"Heh. Sounds like a plan." They kept walking for a bit more towards the train station before John grinned back at her. "You're going to ask Flen to pull strings and let you start registering with just seven badges, aren't you?"

Sara blushed and looked away, but not before John caught her embarrassment and started laughing again.

Sara sighed. Just a few more weeks of school... then it would finally be summer again.