"Uno," I said, placing a card on an ever-growing pile.

"I got nothing," Lily grumbled, drawing a card. "Fable, stop her!"

The Tricky Fox Pokémon grinned. He raised his paw and slammed it down on the pile, adding a fresh card to the mix. It was a draw four. I glared harshly at Fable. He just grinned cockily at me.

I looked down at the draw four and mentally counted the cards. I pointed at Fable and shouted, "All the Draw Fours have been played, that's an illusion and you're cheating!"

Fable feigned insult, pretending to look hurt. Then he grinned and shrugged. The card changed and I looked at it again. I gasped, realising that it now read 'Accept defeat or Draw 25'

"Hey!" I yelled loudly.

"Will you keep it down!" Wigglytuff shouted from the other room. "Go play outside or something!"

We all laughed and quickly packed up the cards, placing them back on a rickety old shelf.

"I was winning that," I said playfully.

"In truth, we will never know," Lily said. She tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. She cracked up and I laughed right along with her.

After a moment Lily looked at a wall and tilted her head. "It's a shame."

"What's that?" I asked, following her gaze.

I spotted an old black and white photo. It showed a grand house with many Pokémon gathered in front of it, and right in the middle was a much younger Wigglytuff, smiling from ear to ear.

"This place must've looked great back in the day," Lily mused quietly.

Fable looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he closed his eyes and glowed softly. The walls, furniture and floor all transformed becoming a solid house, simple but graceful and safe.

"Well I'll be darned," said a gruff voice.

We all turned, and Fable's illusion faded. Wigglytuff stood in the doorway, gently caressing an old doorframe.

"This place never looked that good, but it sure was something back in the day. There was a time I was proud to call this place home." With a sad smile and a pained sigh Wigglytuff nodded at us before turning and walking from the room.

None of us felt much like doing anything after that. We stood and talked quietly for a while but then the sun started setting and it was time to leave.

"See you at school," I said, waving goodbye to Fable.

"Till tomorrow friend," Lily said, climbing onto my shoulder.

Fable waved at us as we left, and I smiled at him over my shoulder. Lily giggled from my other shoulder and I glared at her.

When we'd left the orphanage behind Lily looked at me. "So, how long have you two been a thing?"

My face scrunched up at that. "What do you mean, a thing?"

"Oh, come on. It's so obvious!"

I sighed. "Okay, look... I don't what we are. I mean sure, I like him, and he likes me, but he's not the best at communicating."

"Ah, testing the waters, are we?"

I groaned. "Sure, whatever."

Lily giggled again. "And are these waters... warm?"

"Ugh!" I groaned angrily.

Lily laughed and was quiet for a short while, but then she spoke again. "It is a shame though," she said in a distant voice.

"Lily, I swear," I said, starting to argue.

"Not talking about Fable! Gees, can you keep your mind off him for one second?"

I looked at her in disbelief. "You were literally just pestering me about him!"

"That was at least a minute ago. Please, try to keep up."

I groaned again and rubbed my forehead. "Alright, I'll bite. What are you talking about?"

"The Orphanage. Wigglytuff seemed sad at what happened to it, and Pokémon like that Wigglytuff don't show emotion."

My brows raised at the sudden topic change and I conceded her point. "Yeah, it is sad, I guess."

Lily went quiet again, seemingly deep in thought. She didn't talk for the rest of the walk. I stopped at where out paths split and poked her gently.

"Uh, Lil?"

Lily's face lit up and she suddenly snapped her fingers. "We're gonna hold a fundraiser! There'll be games and food-stalls and you can tell everyone it was your idea!"

"Wait, wait, wait! What?" I asked, confused as all else.

"Come on, it'll be great!" Lily said, overly excited.

My face was caught in a half smile and I struggled to understand what was happening. "Lily, how are we supposed to organise all that?"

"Oh piffle, I'll take care of everything. And as I said, you can tell everyone it was your idea. That should earn you some brownie points, right?"

"Lily," I said slowly, "I... It's a good idea, but how are we supposed to do it?"

Lily laughed. "Like I said, I'll take care of everything."

She crawled down my arm and jumped to the ground before hurrying away. "Bye, Rose!" She called over her shoulder.

I raised a hand in a half-hearted wave. "Uh... bye?"

******

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, what's... what's all this?" I pointed vaguely, trying to illustrate my point.

"Told you I'd take care of things," she answered, as if it were obvious.

My jaw dropped and I looked at the fair before me. The large green playing fields were covered in market stalls, food stands and games. There were even Jumping Castles and other rides that I've never seen before. Pokémon performed various tricks and impressive moves, magic shows and jokes. I passed a Feraligatr who had log tied on a rope, he kept saying 'it's time to walk the plank' and laughing. I think it's a pirate joke, but I don't get it.

At the entrance to the fair was a large white banner covered in bold black writing. It read 'Lone Oak Fundraiser.'

I looked at Lily blankly. "I don't... Okay, one more time. What's happening?"

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes, trying not to look too pleased with herself. "My Father's the Mayor. I told him about your idea, and he loved it. He maybe even went a bit overboard."

"The Mayor? Of course, why wouldn't he be the Mayor?" I asked rhetorically.

Lily shrugged, grinning.

I rubbed my temples, trying to quell an oncoming headache. "Okay, Father equal Mayor? Check. Awesome Fundraiser? Check. My idea? No check. This was all you."

Lily laughed again. "I already told everyone it was you, so..."

"What? Why?" I shouted.

"To get you brownie points with Fable. Why else would I do it?"

I face-palmed and groaned. "This isn't happening," I whispered.

Lily smiled and clambered up, perching on my shoulder. "Come on, time for your speech."

"What!?" I yelped.

She pinned her little feet on tight and leaned heavily to one side, forcing me to walk in the direction she wanted.

"Are you kidding me?" I hissed.

Lily giggled and jumped from my shoulder onto a small stage. She walked over to an Inteleon and started talking to him. A moment later she pointed at me and he smiled. I waved nervously and gulped.

Inteleon nodded to Lily and turned to face the large crowd which were milling through the fairgrounds. He raised his hand, pointing skywards with a single finger. His finger glowed gently, and a blue bolt blasted upwards, exploding with a bang. Slowly the noise died, and every Pokémon stopped, gathering in front of the stage.

Inteleon smiled at crowd. "One and all, welcome! We gather here today to unite as a community and to fund the remodelling of the Lone Oak Orphanage!" He paused as the crowd cheered. When they quietened, he continued. "I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it makes me proud to know that the next generation are as thoughtful as this. Ms Rose, will you come up here please."

I gulped again and slowly walked up onto the stage. I moved across until I stood nervously beside Inteleon. I waved awkwardly at the crowd and tried to make myself as small as possible, wishing I could disappear.

"Rose, perhaps you would like to say a few words," Inteleon urged, nudging me towards centre stage.

I gulped again and looked through the crowd, trying to buy time. What was I supposed to say? Thanks for nothing, Lily! If I could, I would glare at her right now, but instead I'm stuck, staring at... strangers... Dad was there. I could see him. Right in the middle of the crowd, with a proud, beaming smile on his face.

"You got this, Rose!" Someone shouted.

I recognised Mr Ludicolo's voice and I laughed. I searched the crowd and spotted him near the back, a huge grin on his stupid face. Though, it wasn't just Ludicolo I saw. My classmates were there. All my friends. Even a grumpy old Wigglytuff was there, and he was smiling! That was when I saw him. Fable, standing by the edge of the crowd, grinning like an idiot.

I laughed, looked directly at him and the words started flowing. "Earlier this year, I visited Lone Oak Orphanage for the first time. Everything was old, and falling apart, and it made me sad. The Pokémon there deserve better, and I don't see why we can't give it to them. That's all I really want for those Pokémon, and for this town... better."

I'm not sure why, but the crowd pretty much went wild after that. There was cheering, whistling, applause, and I think I even heard some woops. Like I said, I don't know.

I smiled awkwardly, waved and walked off stage. I stumbled into the crowd. Pokémon called out compliments and patted me on the back. I struggled past them all, waving and thanking them. Then, all of a sudden, I was face to face with Fable.

The tricky fox Pokémon smiled and nodded his affirmation. I don't know why, but just that simple gesture sent Butterfree's cartwheeling in my stomach and I hugged him tightly. I got a warm feeling in my chest and I was at peace.

After a moment I broke the hug and looked at him. He was still smiling, when he handed me a piece of paper. I looked and read the single word printed upon the otherwise blank canvas.

Date?

My face flushed and I fell backwards.

"Rose!" Dad shouted as he raced through the crowd, joy in his voice. "Ah, Rose! Rose?"

He held me in his arms, and I smiled dizzily up at him. "Too much for excitement for one day."