Steven groans and pinches his nose. Somehow, despite the berry drugs that are still in his system, he doesn't feel so relaxed anymore.

"Fine," he says. "Fine. I'll do it for you, Lydia. But when you just pop up in the Goldenrod pokecenter after this, I'm going to tell you I told you so. Hold still, okay?"

And so he'll just fit his hands around her throat the way Jack taught him to—the practical kind of strangling, not the fun for the other person kind (because honestly both kinds are fun if you're the one strangling)—and he'll start to squeeze.