Baby Firefly's First Day of Work

Baby Firefly's First Day of Work written by Tabby

"Emilio still throws a fuss whenever you're not there to check him over," Thomas commented to Tabby as they walked together to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe after work.

Emilio was Tex's pet tarantula, but he was unusually intelligent for being... well... a tarantula. "If he didn't have such a despicable owner," Tabby said with scorn, "I might consent to give house calls." Tex was known as her arch-enemy.

"If you ever want to come back to work at the vet clinic..." Thomas continued teasingly.

Tabby sniffed. "Hmph! You know full well I wouldn't give up being nurse at the Pokèmon Center for anything, Thomas!"

"And superglue or those potions can fix any Pokèmon ailment?" Thomas prodded. "How does that superglue work?"

"It's a secret known only by--"

"Tabby! Tabby! You're just the pony I want to see!" Firefly came dashing up, cutting Tabby off in mid-sentence.

Tabby frowned. She didn't like being cut off in mid-sentence. "What?" she questioned in annoyance.

"Well, you know tomorrow is Take-Your-Daughter-to-Work Day," Firefly continued.

"Actually, I didn't know that, and--"

"Anyway," Firefly went on, once again cutting Tabby's line short, "my Baby Firefly is so set on being a Pokèmon nurse when she grows up."

"And just what," Tabby said in exasperation, "does that have to do with me?"

"You would take her to work with you tomorrow, wouldn't you?" Firefly implored, smiling winningly. "It would mean the world to my daughter if she could be at the Pokèmon Center for a whole day, working right next to you on all those injured Pokèmon so in need of healing--"

"Cut the description," Tabby snarled. "I don't want any baby pony getting in my way all day."

"Please, Tabby," Firefly pleaded. "She'll be a perfect angel."

"How much does she know about Pokèmon, anyway?" Tabby countered.

"Everything," Firefly assured her. "In fact, she can name all one hundred fifty in one minute."

"Well, anybody can do that easily enough," Tabby sniffed.

"Let's hear you do it," Firefly suggested.

"Hmm... Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur... there's the first three..." Tabby paused. "Meowth, Persian, Pikachu, Raichu, err..."

Firefly smiled snobbishly. "Baby Firefly can do much better than that. But you can hear that for yourself tomorrow."

"What?!" Tabby shrieked. "I'm not allowing that baby pony in the center!"

"It's not against any laws," Firefly said airily.

"Wouldn't she much rather be a veterinarian instead?" Tabby prodded. "I'm sure Thomas would be glad to show her around the clinic tomorrow."

"She's only going to settle for going to the Pokèmon Center," Firefly explained. "Baby Firefly adores Pokèmon so much more than ordinary animals."

"Sorry, Tabby," Thomas chuckled. "You can't get me into it that easily."

Tabby sniffed. How else could she wheedle her way out of it? Hmm...

"Now, what can I bribe you with..." Firefly was pondering. "Tabby, what's the eighties' toy you want most in the world?"

"The plush Proud Heart Cat," Tabby said smugly. It was a rare, proto-type Care Bear Cousin, and there was no way Firefly would be able to get her hooves on one.

Firefly paused for a second. "Plush Proud Heart Cat? I should be able to get that one-- would you take Baby Firefly to the center with you if I got you that?"

Tabby choked back a gasp. What kind of connections did Firefly have, anyway? Well, if Firefly was able to get Proud Heart, she might as well try to get as much out of this deal as possible. "I'd want the poseable version of Proud Heart as well," she continued. "As well as plush and poseable in Loyal Heart Dog."

"Perfect!" Firefly beamed. "Those will be simple enough for me to find. I have a friend that works in the toy business..."

"Of course, if you're really serious about having Baby Firefly at the center all day," Tabby went on, "I'd need both versions of all those rare Care Bear Cousins. If you can do that... I might agree to taking Baby Firefly with me."

"Great!" Firefly exclaimed. "It's a deal. All those toys will be delivered to you by tomorrow evening. My friend has never let me down yet!"

"You can drop Baby Firefly off at the center at eight o' clock tomorrow," Tabby figured. "I'll expect all those Cousins on my doorstep by six o' clock that evening."

"Wonderful! You don't know how much this will mean to Baby Firefly!" Firefly gushed. "I can't wait to let her know-- and to contact my friend in the toy business, that is." She smiled brightly at Tabby and flew off again.

As Thomas and Tabby continued their walk to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe, Tabby was muttering figures to herself. "If there're six different Care Bear Cousins, and two versions each... they're each worth several thousand jangles, I'm sure... that would make their total-- well, a lot-- and that just might make having to put up with Baby Firefly for a day worth it. And then there's..."
* * *
Tabby skipped out her door the next day, with Tarquin running along behind her. "Just one day with Baby Firefly, and I'll have all those Care Bear cousins!" she sighed dreamily to her Meowth.

"Just don't make me show the kid around or anything," Tarquin said promptly.

"If we're lucky, we can just get Baby Firefly to surf the internet all day," Tabby suggested. "A baby pony can't be that interested in being a Pokèmon nurse. She'll be glad to use the computer instead."

"You're about to find out how interested she is, ‘cause she's up ahead waiting outside the center." Tarquin suddenly halted.

"She got here this early?" Tabby said in dismay. "I though Firefly might wait until ten, at least." Up ahead was the Pokèmon Center, and Baby Firefly was patiently waiting at the door. When she saw Tabby, she trotted down the stairs to join up with her instructor for the day.

"It's two minutes past eight," Baby Firefly said critically. "The center ‘sposed to open at eight." She eyed Tabby suspiciously.

Tabby brushed past Baby Firefly. "Two minutes isn't going to make any difference," she said in exasperation. "Now, where's your mother?"

"Mommy let me wait for you all by myself," Baby Firefly said proudly. "She says me a very responsible baby pony. See? I even packed my own lunch!" She held up a brown paper bag.

"Responsible. Yeah, right," Tabby muttered to herself as she unlocked the door and shooed Baby Firefly and Tarquin inside.

"And what if a poor, sick Pokèmon showed up at eight, and you not here?" Baby Firefly demanded sternly. "They be in pain longer than they would need to be! Speakin' of sick ones, that Meowth following you look very, very sick."

Tarquin bristled. "I'm in perfect health," he informed Baby Firefly, rather annoyed.

"All the pictures I've seen of Meowths don't look nothin' like you do," Baby Firefly scoffed. "You a strange one."

"Tarquin is one of the most handsome Meowths of all time," Tabby retorted.

"Just ask Tess," Tarquin countered.

"Where you care for Pokèmon?" Baby Firefly went on, ignoring the past statements. "I must know how to work with them if someone is brought in."

"Hey!" Tabby jumped ahead of Baby Firefly, blocking the entrance to the examination room. "I do the work around here; you can only watch!"

Baby Firefly looked downcast. "Mommy said you let me do things," she said sadly.

"You'd screw it up, and do more harm than good to the poor Pokèmon," Tabby scowled. "Come on, you can just surf the internet." She pushed Baby Firefly towards the computer behind the main counter.

"That ain't what Pokèmon nurses do," Baby Firefly said stubbornly. "They take care of Pokèmon, not use computer."

"You'll have to use it while I check on the overnight patients," Tabby informed the baby pony. "Tarquin, let me know if anyone comes in with a Pokèmon."

"Yep, Tabby," Tarquin said distantly. He was busy writing a letter to Tess.

"Overnight patients?" Baby Firefly's face lit up. "Please let me see, Tabby! I promise to be good!"

"You can... watch," Tabby reluctantly agreed. "Just don't touch anything."

"Won't you let me do anything?" Baby Firefly pleaded. "Mommy did tell me I could do stuff."

Tabby ignored Baby Firefly as she led the way to the overnight room.

"I wanna be just like you when I grow up, only nice," Baby Firefly said exuberantly. "I'll have a Pokèmon Center, and all the Pokèmon in the world will like me, and I'll let baby ponies work there, and I'll have two million Pokèmon of my own, and I'll get paid a lot, and I'll live in a castle--"

"I don't live in a castle," Tabby suddenly interrupted Baby Firefly's prattling as she opened a door in the hallway.

"That's because you don't like baby ponies," Baby Firefly explained. "But I will, so I'll get a castle..." Her eyes opened wide as she walked through the door. "Ooh! Wook at all the sick Pokèmon!"

"And they'll feel a lot better if you don't do anything to them," Tabby said briskly as she lifted the glass dome covering a Psyduck.

Baby Firefly pouted. "You won't let me have any fun today," she sniffed.

Tabby lifted the Psyduck up into the air. "My, you're looking much better this morning, Psyduck!" she exclaimed. "That Diglett certainly did give you a beating, didn't he?"

"Psy," Psyduck agreed, holding his wings up to his head.

"Me make Psyduck feel better!" Baby Firefly called out, and ran over and attempted to grab Psyduck from Tabby's hold. Unfortunately, that made Tabby lose her grip on the poor duck, and Psyduck fell to the floor.

"Psyduck," he sighed.

"Look what you did!" Tabby shrieked angrily at Baby Firefly. "Just look what you did!" She set Psyduck back on the counter.

Baby Firefly cowered. "I didn't mean to," she whimpered. "Please don't be mad."

"I told you not to interfere," Tabby muttered.

"He looked so sad; me just wanted to console him!" Baby Firefly exclaimed, her spunk returning. "It's your fault you dropped him!"

"My fault?" Tabby's eyes swerved to meet Baby Firefly's. "How dare you--"

"Chansey?" One of the center's Chanseys entered the room. "Chansey!"

"Yes, Chansey, I have everything under control here-- pretty much," Tabby informed Chansey. "You say someone just brought a bruised Pokèmon in? You can spray a potion on it. And, take this baby pony back to the main counter-- make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"Chansey!" The pink Pokèmon obediently went over to Baby Firefly, and pointed towards the door. "Chansey!"

"Me can't help you here, Tabby?" A tear rolled down Baby Firefly's face. "I wouldn't mess up again."

"Oh, yes you would!" Tabby exclaimed. "Go now! Shoo!" With Baby Firefly temporarily in Chansey's care, Tabby closed the door of the overnight room. Now she could look over the Pokèmon without an interfering baby pony.

"Psy." Psyduck was getting restless.

"Yes, Psyduck, you're okay." Tabby stroked him gently. "In fact, you'll be able to go back to Starshine today."

"Psy! Psyduck!" Psyduck said excitedly. It obviously put him in better humor.

"I'll just make sure everyone else here is doing okay." Tabby went over to the next case, where a Butterfree was resting.

"Freee..." Butterfree said weakly.

"Still not feeling the best?" Tabby said sympathetically-- she really could be rather kind, to Pokèmon, at least. "No bother; another potion and you'll be fully healed by tomorrow."

Around the room she went, checking on everyone. Starshine's Psyduck and Patch's Vulpix were both in good enough condition to go back to their homes. "Come along, you two!" she called out to the two Pokèmon. "I'll call your trainers now."

"Vulpix!" Vulpix said exuberantly, and bounded after Tabby, back down the hallway. Psyduck waddled behind.

"Psy," he said.

"Tarquin-- Chansey-- Baby Firefly-- did anything happen out here while I was gone?" Tabby inquired upon reaching the main counter.

"Chansey!" Chansey responded.

"Chansey sprayed a potion on someone's Charmander," Tarquin translated. "I made Baby Firefly shut-up and use the computer." He nodded towards the computer desk.

"Good," Tabby said in satisfaction. "Keep an eye on her while I make a few calls, Tarkie--"

"Calls?" Baby Firefly said brightly, pushing her chair away from the computer. "Let me help!"

"You wouldn't know what to say," Tabby said simply and picked up the phone receiver.

"Tell me what to say, and I'll do it right," Baby Firefly pleaded.

"That's what you said last time, and you ended up having Psyduck fall on the floor," Tabby said sharply.

"It was your fault he fell," Baby Firefly explained. "I make phone calls; my Mommy lets me use phone at home."

Tarquin glanced at them both in annoyance. "Tone it down, would you? I'm trying to write a letter."

"I can write, too," Baby Firefly said promptly. "I'll write it for you, silly-lookin' Meowth."

"I am not silly-looking," Tarquin retorted, snatching up his paper and pen. "I'm going back to the emergency room, where this baby pony won't be bugging me." He jumped down from the counter and walked away.

"It's highly unhealthy to make Tarquin mad at you," Tabby informed Baby Firefly. "His claws are extremely sharp."

"He must be a really badly-trained Pokèmon if he'd use his attacks on an innocent baby pony," Baby Firefly commented.

"Stop insulting Tarquin!" Tabby commanded.

"Just statin' facts," Baby Firefly said innocently.

"Psyduck."

"Vulpix."

Tabby looked down at the two bored Pokèmon. "Now you've made me forget about these two," she scolded Baby Firefly. "Get out of my way while I make those calls."

"Wokay," Baby Firefly said, and scurried back to the computer. "Me just sit here like a good baby pony."

Tabby nodded in satisfaction... but she wondered just how long Baby Firefly would stay out of her way.
* * *
Finally, lunch break came along. Tabby breathed a sigh of relief. At least she'd survived this far. Maybe she would make it to the end of the day.

"It's time to go to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe for lunch," Tabby announced to Baby Firefly.

Baby Firefly stared at her. "Why not eat lunch here?"

"Because," Tabby said impatiently, "it is easier to go to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe."

"And just what if someone brings in a Pokèmon while you're gone?" Baby Firefly demanded.

"They'll know that I'll be back in a little while," Tabby sighed.

"That's not a good way of looking at it," Baby Firefly said in disapproval. "Me stayin' right here. I did pack a lunch, you know."

"Then you stay here, and I'll go to the Sweet Shoppe," Tabby snarled.

"If you like it that way," Baby Firefly said simply, and pulled out her brown paper bag.

"No one will come while I'm out, anyway," Tabby retorted. "You'll be bored stiff." After finding Tarquin, she trotted defiantly out of the center with her Meowth behind her. Baby Firefly was left at the center alone-- besides the Chanseys.
* * *
"And did Firefly come to pick up Baby Firefly already?" Sugarberry questioned Tabby at the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe. "I see she's not with you."

"Oh, Baby Firefly." Tabby waved her hoof in dismissal. "She wanted to stay at the center, so I just let her. She has a lunch with her."

"Tabby!" Sugarberry looked shocked. "It's not good leaving a baby pony on her own!"

"She has the Chanseys to look after her," Tabby said simply.

"It is impossible to write letters with that baby pony around," Tarquin sighed. "I could hear you two arguing even in the back room. I wish Merry Treat had volunteered today."

Sugarberry still looked disapprovingly at Tabby. "I'm sure Firefly won't be pleased about it."

"Hmph!" Tabby stuck her nose in the air and refused further comment.
* * *
Returning back to the center, Tabby didn't notice anything amiss... until she realized that Baby Firefly wasn't at the computer, where Tabby had left her when she went out.

"Perhaps she ran home," Tarquin suggested.

"We can always hope," Tabby agreed. "Let's question the Chanseys." She peered into the examination room. "Uh-oh," she groaned.

There, a Squirtle lay on the table. Chansey was attending to the Squirtle's wounds, but Baby Firefly was there as well.

"You'll let me spray the potion, won't you?" Baby Firefly pleaded to the Chansey. "I'm sure you're nicer about it than Tabby."

"Chansey!" Chansey paused for several seconds, but handed the potion bottle over to the baby pony.

"You're a very nice Pokèmon," Baby Firefly said. "I like you." She began to spray the potion, but not in the right direction. It squirted Tabby, who was still standing in the doorway, directly in the face.

Tabby shrieked, wiping away the liquid solution. "How dare you do that to me?! That's why I didn't want you to do anything!"

Tarquin scurried away again. He didn't want any part in this "Take-Your-Daughter-to-Work Day" thing.

"I'm sorry, Tabby," Baby Firefly said earnestly. "Me didn't mean to. I'll put it on the Squirtle this time." She posed the bottle over the Squirtle.

"Oh, no you don't!" Tabby ran over and grabbed the bottle from Baby Firefly. "I'm taking care of it this time!"

"Chansey, chansey." Chansey looked undecided.

Tabby handled the potion with ease, and within minutes, the Squirtle was looking much happier. "That's how you do it," Tabby said sharply to Baby Firefly.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped up on his hind legs on the table. "Squirtle squirtle!"

"Oh, he's so cute!" Baby Firefly squealed. "Mr. Squirtle, I almost got to be the one to heal you!"

"Squirtle." Squirtle looked up at Tabby imploringly.

"He wants to get back to his trainer now," Tabby explained, picking Squirtle up. "Chansey, who brought him in? When are they coming back?"

"Chansey. Chansey." Chansey nodded vigorously.

"Soon, you say?" Tabby questioned. "Well, Squirtle, you'll just wait at the front desk until they come back."

"I still didn't get to do anything," Baby Firefly whined, running along beside Tabby up to the main counter.

"You got to hold a potion in your hoof; that should be enough," Tabby declared.

"No, no!" Baby Firefly shook her head. "I should--"

Just then, the doors opened. In walked Surprise... behind her trotted Baby Surprise. "Hello!" Surprise called out merrily.

"Does Squirtle here belong to you?" Tabby questioned.

"Yes, indeed!" Surprise giggled. "Is he alright now?"

"Uh-huh," Tabby confirmed. "Ready to take home."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle happily ran over to Surprise, who embraced him.

"You're so sweet, Squirtle," Surprise said affectionately before turning her attention back to Tabby. "Did you hear the latest gossip, Tabby?"

"Depends on what it is," Tabby said absent-mindedly.

"It's the most interesting thing!" Surprise raved, forgetting about her daughter. "Buttons told me that Tiffany was seen..."

Tabby glanced at the clock, not really listening to Surprise. She hoped this day would get over with quickly, and there would be no more Baby Firefly to worry about.

"...I've got to find out if it's true or not," Surprise finished, after about five minutes. "I should be going now. Baby Surprise, come here! Time to leave!"

Tabby gasped at a sudden realization. "Baby Firefly's gone! I hope she isn't messing around with anything, because if she is--"

"Baby Surprise has gone off, too," Surprise said. "They must have wandered off together to play." She laughed. "Always playing, Baby Surprise is."

Tabby marched resolutely down the hallway. She heard giggling coming from the overnight room. Throwing open the door and standing in the doorway, she made a foreboding sight to the two baby ponies.

Baby Surprise had been hiding under one of the beds. Baby Firefly had pulled the sheet off one and had it draped over her head, obviously pretending to be a ghost. She stumbled blindly around; but when she heard the sudden gasp from Baby Surprise, she stumbled over, nearly knocking over the table with the resting Butterfree inside.

"What are you two doing in here?" Tabby said menacingly.

Surprise looked over Tabby's shoulder. "Tee hee!" she giggled. "Just look at the fun they were having."

"You've made an awful mess," Tabby scolded, pulling the sheet off of Baby Firefly. "Shoo! Out of here! Both of you!"

"Let's go home, Baby Surprise," Surprise said, and mother and daughter merrily trotted out the main doors.

"Baby Firefly," Tabby growled, after they got back to the main counter, "you have been nothing but a nuisance all day."

"I'm sorry," Baby Firefly whimpered.

"You have disrupted the lives of many Pokèmon," Tabby continued.

"Me didn't mean to..."

"Go back to the computer," Tabby ordered. "You're not to get out of that seat until your mother comes back for you."

Baby Firefly sniffled a bit as she sat back down in the chair, but she was soon ready to put Tabby down again. "I'll be a much better nurse than you are," she declared cheerfully.

"Why, you little..." Tabby muttered under her breath. How was she going to endure these last few hours of having to deal with this baby pony?
* * *
Tabby could hardly contain her joy when Firefly entered the Pokèmon Center. "Here's Baby Firefly for you," she said gleefully, pushing Baby Firefly forward.

"Thank you so much for doing this with her," Firefly gushed. "I'm sure it meant a lot to her."

"Tabby didn't let me do anything," Baby Firefly complained.

Firefly laughed. "Now, now, don't say that!" Turning to Tabby, she continued, "Oh, and about those Care Bear Cousin toys--"

"Yes, they'll be waiting for me when I get home, won't they?" Tabby said eagerly.

"Of course," Firefly said, smiling winningly. "They should have been delivered this afternoon."

"She don't deserve nothin'," Baby Firefly scoffed. "Tabby no fun."

"Thanks again!" Firefly said cheerfully. "It's so honorable of you to do this for just getting a few toys in return."

"Buh-bye!" Tabby waved happily as Firefly and Baby Firefly walked out of the center.

"That baby pony's gone?" Tarquin walked up to Tabby. "Is it time to go home? Will Tess be at the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe later?"

"Yes, let's get home, Tarkie." Tabby quickly shooed Tarquin out the door. "Hurry! Hurry! We have to get there as soon as possible!"

"Is Tess visiting?" Tarquin asked eagerly.

"No, but it's just as good," Tabby continued. "Those Care Bear Cousin toys will be waiting for me!"

"Oh," Tarquin said distractedly as he stared at the display in the window of the floral shop. "Do you think Tess would like that bouquet?"

"No time for that now!" Tabby said briskly.

"I suppose," Tarquin said reluctantly.

"Keep walking!" Tabby urged. "I simply cannot wait to get those Care Bear Cousins!"
* * *
"There's no box on the porch!" Tabby exclaimed in alarm.

"Perhaps Tamara was home and took it inside," Tarquin said, coming out of Tess-land and returning to the real world.

"Wait, there's something taped to the door!" Tabby bounded up the porch steps. "The delivery man probably stuck it in the shed out back."

"Let me read it." Tarquin jumped ahead of Tabby and managed to grab the paper off the door. " ‘Dear Tabby,' " he read aloud, " ‘I am so sorry, but I just found out I'm not able to get those Care Bear Cousins after all. Thank you again for having--' "

"What in the world does that say?" Tabby shrieked, snatching the note from Tarquin's paws.

"That's what's written," Tarquin said, bracing himself for one of Tabby's rages.

Tabby finished reading. " ‘--Thank you again for having Baby Firefly at the center; since I'm sure she wasn't a problem for you, you won't mind no getting anything in return. Baby Firefly enjoyed the day, but has decided she wants to be a vet instead of a Pokèmon nurse. Bye! Firefly.' "

Tabby viciously crumpled the note. "The nerve of that pony," she said menacingly. "How dare she not follow through on getting me those toys?! Ha! ‘I'm sure she wasn't a problem.' She's right! Baby Firefly was worse than a ‘problem'! She was-- she was--"

"You should get something for watching that brat," Tarquin muttered. "I didn't have any peace the whole day."

"Those two ponies shall fear my wrath!" Tabby declared. "I'm going to-- I'm going to-- well--"

"What is all this screaming about, Tabby?" Tamara demanded, suddenly opening the door with a feather-duster in her hoof.

"Do you know what I had to live through today?!" Tabby shrieked. "I had to watch over a-- a--"

"And you've let the living room get terribly dusty," Tamara went on, ignoring her cousin. "What are these strange knick-knacks, anyway? I was just about the throw them away."

"She was-- she was--" Tabby suddenly stood still and forgot about describing Baby Firefly as she saw what Tamara was holding in her other front hoof: two small red-and-white balls. "Why, they're my--"

"PokèBalls!" Tarquin said indignantly. "Those are PokèBalls, not knick-knacks, Tamara!"

"I wondered where they'd went!" Tabby exclaimed gleefully, grabbing the two balls from Tamara. "I couldn't find them for the longest time. I hope Jigglypuff and Oddish are still okay."

A look of realization suddenly dawned on Tamara's face. "Oh! That's what those look like!" she giggled. "Clever Clover gave me a PokeBall for my Persian, but I never even thought of using it. Funny, I entirely forgot what they looked like."

Tabby pressed the white button on one of the PokèBalls, and a round, pink creature with large eyes appeared on the porch-- her Jigglypuff!

"Puff!" Jigglypuff turned to Tarquin. "Puff! Jigglypuff!"

"Jigglypuff wants to know why you forgot about her," Tarquin translated to Tabby.

Tamara looked down at Jigglypuff in disdain. "Be sure those creatures of yours aren't running around the house tonight, Tabby," she said. "I've invited Tex over for dinner, and the house must look positively nice."

"I didn't mean to forget you," Tabby was explaining to Jigglypuff. "I just-- well, I lost your PokeBall, actually... but don't tell anyone, would you?" Tabby suddenly perked her head up at her cousin's last statement. "What did you just say?" she hissed. "You've invited Tex over?!"

"I don't see why you don't like him," Tamara said in annoyance. "I'd invite you to join us, but I know you'd ruin the evening."

"Hmph!" Tabby clenched the other PokeBall tightly in her hoof. "Don't worry about having me ruin it! I'm going to be in my room with my Pokèmon until it's time to go to the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe!"

Tarquin looked over at Jigglypuff and sighed. It was rather boring having to listen to another argument between these two.

"I'm glad," Tamara retorted. "I can't stand the way you insult Tex all the time."

"Tarquin, Jigglypuff, come with me," Tabby directed, and brushed past Tamara into the house. This was turning out to be a rather bad day. First, having to put up with Baby Firefly... and then having Tex in her house! She shuddered at the thought. At least she'd found her PokèBalls, after all this time.

Tabby flounced up the stairs, with Jigglypuff and Tarquin following her. Seating herself in the chair in front of the computer in her room, Tabby squealed. "Now for Oddish! Come on out!"

In a beam of reddish light, Tabby's second PokeBall opened, and there was Oddish: a small blue Pokèmon with bright green leaves on her head. "Oddish?" The Pokèmon looked questioningly up at Tabby.

"Yes, I'm sorry I lost your PokèBalls," Tabby apologized again. "I'll be sure not to do it again."

"Jigglypuff!"

"Oddish!"

Tabby's last statement was obviously met with approval. All three of her Pokèmon looked cheerful and healthy. They were wonderful friends, and Tabby deeply regretting losing Oddish and Jigglypuff.

The three fellow Pokèmon appeared to have gotten into a lengthy discussion. "That's right", "Puff", and "Oddish" were frequently heard by Tabby.

Tabby sighed contentedly as she set to work playing the latest computer game programmed by Friendly. Perhaps the day hadn't turned out that bad, after all!

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