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"We're leaving!" Zinnia said. "I won't let you cut--" She was suddenly distracted when a bright purple aura surrounded her. She found herself lifted through the air and placed gently on the far side of the room. She was turned around forcibly, with her nose in the corner. "Shadow--!" she exclaimed. The mew did not release her.

Shadow Mew moved out of Walpurgis's way. she said tersely. She moved over to Zinnia's side. she commanded, The normally silent mew's patience had clearly worn thin.

Shadow Mew released Zinnia at Walpurgis's word, and the girl immediately ran to the zubat. She picked him up, saw that he was not hurt, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said with new tears running down her cheeks.

Shadow said nothing, but her opinion of Walpurgis had certainly changed. She knew that they were now indebted to him.

Finally, it seemed, they could relax. A few seconds, pregnant with relief, plodded by. Then, Zyk began to glow brightly. Zinnia held him out at arm's length and squinted against the white light that had once been her zubat.



Zyk opened his eyes for an instant before he was forced to close them again. His head was spinning. That fraction of a second-- he had seen. There was so much! Too much! There was... Light. Color. And... someone important. He opened his eyes again, but more slowly this time. He adjusted to the brightness inside the cabin, and slowly took in all the new information through eyes that he'd never had before.

"(You are beautiful,)" he said to Zinnia.

"You look amazing!" Zinnia exclaimed. Zyk was a very small golbat. His days on her shoulder were over, but she was able to hold him on her forearm as he was currently perched without too much difficulty. "Wow! You're a golbat now! I thought you would never evolve! Congratulations! You're going to be so strong!"

Zyk still felt a little queasy, but Zinnia's excitement was infectious; he quickly forgot his discomfort and examined his new body. He was bigger... stronger. And best of all, he could see. The curse that left him permanently a zubat-- and a liability-- was over. He would be a real asset... he could be the best.

He slowly looked in Walpurgis's direction. So that was the face of his... enemy? He was no longer certain. He would consider a truce, for now. His eyes soon strayed back to Zinnia's face. He couldn't believe that he had once thought that he had known her. For years, he had known her only as how his voice sounded when reflected off her body. Everything was different now. It was overwhelming. She was so colorful. She was perfect.

"Yes, please! Thank you!" Zinnia said gratefully. It would probably be healthier for Zyk to sleep indoors until he was completely recovered. "Shadow... do you think you could get the others, too? Will you be able to teleport them all?"

Shadow nodded. She wasn't certain that it would be a good idea to leave Zinnia and a weakened Zyk alone with Walpurgis, but he had done nothing but help them so far. She vanished.

"Should... should we pay you?" Zinnia asked, feeling a little awkward. She no longer knew where she stood with Walpurgis. She had never really thought of him as a friend, exactly, but they had been teammates. Then they had been enemies. If his mission to capture Shadow really had been given to someone else, where did that leave them now? Zinnia was technically a traitor; that meant that Walpurgis had risked his own status in Team Rocket to help her. That made him a good person in her book.

"Of course," Zinnia said. The thought of revealing him hadn't even crossed her mind. She waited until Walpurgis hung up before asking tentatively, "Do... do you know who is supposed to capture Shadow now?" She wasn't sure how friendly Walpurgis was feeling, now that Zyk was safe. It might not be safe to wheedle him for information. Still, she couldn't help but try.

Zyk squeaked a soft warning. He'd rather they left as quickly as they could to that Hartmann's place.

"Dr. Lothar?" Zinnia said with a smirk. "Okay, I won't forget."

Shadow Mew suddenly reappeared with the rest of the team below her.

"Oh! Thank you! I'm really sorry, guys. Look, Zyk is all better now! And he evolved!" The young trainer grinned happily.

Zebo, Dreydonna, and Zarya were all a bit wary. They felt like they had missed something important, but they were also distracted and impressed by their little zubat friend's evolution. The pokemon started chatting, and Zyk explained what had happened while they were stranded in the forest. He made a good case for Zinnia; Zebo and Zarya quickly forgave her, and Dreydonna seemed to feel indifferent about the whole situation. It was good to see that the team was yet unbroken.

Once the babble settled down, Zinnia said reluctantly, "I'm really sorry about this, guys, but it might be best if you all hide in your pokeballs for tonight. We'll leave Motterossa tomorrow morning, but tonight we're staying at Ms. Hartmann's place, and we don't want to scare her... Um, Zyk will have to stay out of his pokeball for a while, though; I want to make sure that he's all healed now... Is that all right? It's just for tonight."

Her pokemon nodded in assent, and Zinnia got out their pokeballs one by one. Finally, she held up the masterball that belonged to Shadow. "Thank you for everything, Shadow," she said softly. "Do you want to stay out tonight?"

The mew said nothing. She drifted toward the ball, poked the button in the center with her nose, and was sucked inside in a beam of red light.

"Now it's just us," Zinnia said to Zyk, pocketing the last ball. "You really look great. Maybe Ms. Hartmann has a mirror so you can see yourself better!"

Zyk was cheered by the prospect, and Zinnia looked back to Walpurgis.

"Umm," Zinnia said, eyes wider than usual. She pointed with her free hand toward poor Walpurgis by the door.

She hadn't expected Miss Hartmann to be quite so... boisterous. It didn't seem to fit a police officer.

Zyk blinked and tried to adjust to the sudden loud noises. He was still trying to get the hang of "seeing" double, using both his vision and excellent hearing.

"Ummmm, okay?" Zinnia said, looking to Walpurgis for help. She didn't think that she'd be staying with a drunkard. What kind of officer was this Ms. Hartmann?

Still, she was comforted by the knowledge that she had the entire Z Team with her if she ran into trouble. She doubted she'd find any trouble beyond awkwardness, however-- but that was bad enough.

"Thank you, Dr. Lothar," she said to Walpurgis. She'd said it a lot, but she didn't think the words would ever properly convey her gratitude.