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/Mantine, FL_???_?:??am_Warm, Sunny

Gyik/Kecleon/

I awoke once more as I had the first time, allowing to recognize the nest I was in on the rooftop. Listening to the music play, I thought to go to sleep once more, but the recollection of memories made me cringe on instinct, and ask the one holding me in that welcoming cloud like embrace, "(Why?)"

At first, I felt it was a dumb question, having caused my new guardian to stop humming, and begin pruning my head scales, noticing a moisture coming from her face when she pressed it against my forehead.

"I am very glad you are awake and speaking, we were worried since last night, but I am afraid I cannot answer," my altaria'n friend cooed sadly, "I don't know why anyone would do 'that'..."

By now, I could tell the moisture was coming from her eyes, and though she had answered one of my questions, I really wanted to know a few more, "(Why did you save me,)" I began with my renewed voice, "(why do you look after those weaker than you, you can take easily leave to a better place with 'you're' strengths, why-)"

"Enough!" She cut me off with a shout, pressing her head harder against mine, "I told you before, 'I' was shown mercy before." At this point she turned me around, shocking me with her disheveled appearance, her cloud fluff seemed more frizzy, and she had dark bags under her red and puffy eyes, then looked away from me as she let me sit down in front of her.

"I had lived with an abusive trainer once," my eyes widened at the prospect of her, already, having been a partner poke'mon, as she continued, "and he never showed anyone mercy, not even his poke'mon."

She got up, revealing the young poke'mon sleeping beneath her, then pulled out the same bag from yesterday, pulling a blanket out and over the sleeping poke'mon as she gestured for me to hop on. I was hesitant at first, but the doubt subsided soon after, since she hasn't given me any reason to fear her anymore, so I jumped on her back and we took off.

We had flown a little higher than yesterday, but we never left the side of the building, circling it at a distance, and after around five minutes of this, altaria spoke, "I was specially bred and hatched to be a topnotch dragon and flying type, never knowing my parents, and being in the breeding center for only a few days before being adopted by that trainer, and his name was, 'Marsh Roswell,'" she said, spitting his name out with venom, "I was still a young swablu at the time, but I found out just that early that as long as he was over me, I would have to work as hard as the rest of his team, most of them being dark or dragon types, and all extremely powerful, and finding out that the only time we would get a name and be allowed to learn to speak, is if he deemed us worthy. I had been with him only four weeks before evolving, though for him, that was way too long, and if any of us displeased him, he would punish us, both physically, and emotionally, knowing this from my first 'group' beating as he made them all attack me."

She stopped for a few moments to wipe some tears into her fluff, then returned back to her tale, "At first, the grueling training regiments and the beatings for punishment were what scared me the most about failing him, but if you lost a fight, he would use his leading enforcers, his two 'leading ladies', Fillet the haxorus, and Venom the hydreigon, as he had them drag us off to a secluded location and, and..."

I felt her shudder through all of her fluff, her voice becoming more strained withe each new sentence as her tears trailed behind her, some landing on my face, "He would have Fillet and Venom beat and hold us down while all three would 'have their way' with us until they were satisfied, whether we lost consciousness or not. My first time damaged my womb, so I couldn't produce children, as he had planned, and one day, I had lost a battle, a one on three battle that he said I should have been able to win against the trainer and his two luxray partners. We were in this city when it happened, he had me fly us to a secluded ally, this not being my first ever loss, I knew what he had planned to do to me as he summoned his leading ladies, they beat and molested me within an inch of my life, before 'Marsh' took me once more, never being used to the sensation, I screamed, earning me a smack from Fillet, and thinking that my plea had been unheard," We had begun to descend, as I could feel and see her crying, holding just enough back to keep speaking.

"As he did so, we heard a voice telling him to stop, a guitar hitting Fillet and Venom in the head to daze them long enough for my savior to grab my poke'ball from my trainer and called me back, allowing me to see through the transparent lid on the poke'ball as he dashed through the streets, and soon after he had been cornered, luckily, the cops had arrived on the seen as my trainer decided to cut his losses and run," she chuckled a bit and continued, "I guess the coward knew 'he' would be in the same position he had the rest of us in if he stayed. After the man had ran for a bit, he made it to a separate ally and released me, spraying the last of his potion on me, and saying I was free from that rapist, and that after I finished healing, I could go wherever I wanted, handing me my poke'ball in the process. I was of course shocked that this man not only was willing to save a perfect stranger, but was i saddened and happy at the first sign of mercy I have been shown since I was born."

She turned her head to me, a smile plastered on the sides of her beak, and now drying tears dissipating from her face, "Ever since then, I had followed Rodger, to not only repay him, but to look after the poke'mon of this city that can't take care of themselves." She said, beginning to slowly circle inward and back towards the building, "It had been five years since then, learning to speak from Rodger and having had these poke'mon for only one year or less. So when I was flying by and I heard your cry last night, seeing you in that situation angered me to no end, and, I kinda, blew the dock to shreds, and had accidentally tossed you in the water before jumping in to get you, pulling the mightyena 'off' of you, and bringing you here."

When her story was finished, we landed on the rooftop, the poke'mon now awake and running up to hug us before I could even jump down. As I stared at their small faces looking back at ours with concern, I knew what I wanted to do, "(I want to stay and help you Fara, if its alright?)" But before altaria could answer, the kids chimed in with cheers and hugs, as she just laughed loudly and flew us off towards the mall.

~o~

/Mantine, FL_Mall District_Three months ago, June/Monday/7:12pm_Warm, Cloudy

I had been with Fara the altaria for about two months, having learned some English from her and Rodger, the mall routine having never changed, but our already small family having shrunk to just altaria, me, the sewaddle twins, and the green and white swablu, due to one hoppip passing away from illness, which we still haven't got over, and the rest leaving with some trainers whom asked to adopt some of us once in awhile, and every time altaria looking them hard in the eye before either accepting their offer or chasing them off, some even battling her for them, but quickly being snuffed out with her powerful attacks.

Whenever I asked why she would say no to some, she would tell me that being with her jackass of an old trainer and with Rodger has taught her to sense the kindness or danger of people by looking in their eyes, that and pheromones.

While we had been in the mall, I had taken up the habit of shoplifting and pick pocketing, hiding it from altaria and Rodger, since they scolded me the first time I did it, but I 'have' been teaching the kids to do it just in case they needed to fend on their own, seeing nothing wrong with the act if the people we took from could just 'buy' more.

We left the mall and headed to the beach, the routine growing on me, though I still couldn't get too close to the ocean, and as altaria and Rodger set up, I looked for a place to nap, but was yanked on my tail by none other than the two English speaking sewaddle twin sisters, they now had fresher leaves, since a trainer's partner leavanny had decided to donate a pair of leaf hoodies after a performance, and by now I had realized that they did 'everything' together, ate, slept, pottied, and whatever else you could think of, leading the rest of us to joke of their possible evolving together, and even marrying the same husband, to which they would then shoot a string shot at us, always missing altaria, but nailing the rest of us in our mouths.

"Look what we got from the mall!" They whispered somewhat loudly, holding out a small bag of gold powder, "A trainer had bought this from the guy in the over coat and then slipped it in his shoe, but we got it before he left."

They explained, proud of their first 'unassisted' theft, "(I am glad you weren't caught, but what is it?)" I asked, curious to the white substance, but they just shrugged their shoulders before we were called for dinner and ate, noticing the longing stares that altaria would give Rodger before blushing and looking away, she had often done that when he wasn't looking, but lately, she had been doing so a lot more often, even being caught once but said she had saw something in his hair.

After our meals, we all went to the small grave that Rodger had dug for hoppip, it was a stone placed in the ground under a palm tree by the small park near the beach that had been carved with, 'Hear Lies Cheer, Loved Daughter and Sister,' marked on the front, a pang of sadness hit my heart, remembering us waking up one day, and realizing she wasn't moving, or breathing, Rodger being the one to make the final check, I may not have known her for long, but she always seemed to be the one to cheer us up with her blunt honesty, hence the name we gave her after she was gone, altaria taking her passing harder since she felt helpless once more, not being able to anything about the young hoppip's condition. I looked over to see her staring at the grave with tears running down her cheeks, leaning on Rodger as he cradled the side of her head with his arm, and the twins crying their faces onto either side of swablu's wings, which she was doing to my tail aswell. We where their for about half an hour before we split apart from Rodger and left toward the direction of the nest building.

"(Why doesn't Rodger stay with us in the nest?" We all asked in unison, catching us, and altaria, off guard, "W-w-well, um, you see, I don't live with him since he lives in a neighborhood that would make it harder for me to protect you all, and he doesn't like the idea of living on a roof with only me as the 'elevator', that and," I could tell she was blushing again, "I don't think I would be able to hold myself away from him if we shared the same sleeping space." She said the last part quietly, probably to herself, but we caught on to it, as we all started to tease her about it, but scolding us to a halt, as we apologized, and made it back to the nest to sleep.

~o~

/Mantine, FL_Mall District_Three months ago, June/Tuesday/9:01am_Hot, Clear

We had arrived at the mall to our usual spot, nothing unusual except for Rodger not being here before us. While we all scanned the room, we noticed the trench coat guy who sells the powder walk up to us, causing altaria to take a defensive stance, "Well well well, I see dat you guys have decided ta expand your 'music' business ta powder." He sneered, looking us over as he placed a hand in his coat, "I suggest if you want ta see your bum again, you hand me the powder at this location." He finished, pulling out a piece of paper and dropping it on the ground, turning to walk away, and vanishing in an instant.

"What did you do with Rodger!?" Altaria shouted, earning some glances from the normal shoppers, and frantically grabbing the paper with her beak and handing it to me, looking around for the guy.

She took us back to the nest in almost 10 seconds flat, telling us get off her back, and for me to hold the letter open as she read it, but as she did, she seemed become more sad, and something I have never seen her show, angry.

When she finished reading, in the most frightening tone we have ever heard, she asked, "Which one of you has it?"

All of us huddled in a small group, to scared to speak up, she then grabbed me by my cheek and yelled, "Where is it!?" She screeched, causing me to curl into a ball and try to camouflage, "Mamma wait!" We both looked to the small group, as the sewaddle twins held the small baggie of golden powder in front of them, as they cried into the floor of the nest, muffling small sorry's in between each sob.

Altaria walked over and put the bag in her fluff, then walked to the edge of the building, turning to us with a severely hurt expression, "W-we will speak about this when I get home, but in the meantime, Kecleon, you are in charge, so 'please', be careful." Was all she said before taking off in the direction that was opposite of the mall.

~o~

/Mantine, FL_Mall District_Two months ago, July/Friday/3:12pm_Cool, Hard Rain

It had been almost a month since we had seen altaria or Rodger, we had search everyday for them around the mall, abandoning the nest since swablu could only glide us down one at a time, not strong enough to lift us back up, and had begun living in the malls draining system, fighting the occasional grimer and trubbish to keep our home, but soon abandoning that, when we abandoned each other.

We eventually split up, swablu flying away after an arguement we had, and the sewaddle twins leaving in the middle of the night when they thought I was asleep. I knew they had blamed me for their, 'our' mom leaving and never coming back, I could tell that is what it was since they had stopped stealing ever since that day, leaving it to me to get us food, being the only talents I had was to change color and steal things, nothing like the beautiful music that had once filled the mall.

But it didn't matter after that, since I was all alone, all because I was selfish, and chose to take more than I needed, and tainted the youths under me to do the same.

~o~

/End_Flashback

Arnyek/Shuppet/

/Orlando, FL_City Square_10:13am_Hot, Cloudy

There wasn't a dry eye in the ally, even I was trying to hold back my tears, looking around, Mim was kneeling down and holding kecleon in a death grip, balling his eyes out, zorua hiding her face behind him, kecleon struggling for air, and the kids crying on each others shoulders.

I floated to Mim and asked him what are we gonna do with these kids, and in an instant he stopped crying and stood up straight with his thumb out, letting kecleon go in the process, panting on his knees for more air, "We are going to bring them to Miss Pein!"

We all started yelling at him, even kecleon, as he put on a pout and wiggled his thumb around, "But I put my thumb up to show I had an idea!" he said trying to defend himself, the kids looked unsure, but kecleon calmed them down, knowing that almost anything Mim could offer, was far better than what their current path would.

~o~

We made our way back to the restaurant, Mim having leashed all the kids to his waist, much to their embarrassment and zorua's and my enjoyment, walking them all in, and earning an immediate response from the trainers and poke'mon that had been duped by the group of young thieves, but were soon turned away from their revenge when the Pein's door opened and ordered them all to get back to work, before slamming shut.

Jack was busy balancing two trays of food, while mew took the plates from them and placed them on the table, his umbreon partner was balancing dirty dishes on the tray on her back, all of them with 'please hurry' looks on their faces.

Mim made it to the back and entered through the door, and crammed the young humans and poke'mon into the office, as Miss Pein looked up from her desk, cluttered still, with a huge grin that made me shiver, "I am sooo glad you actually did it, I thought you would probably just leave to the police or something, but I thank." Her grin dissipated a bit then she held her hand out, Mim getting the message as he put the device the kids were using in her hands.

"I suppose this is the device that you little tykes have been using to rob trainers that came to my restaurant," She looked the kids over as they nodded, "and you hid it behind your pichu friend to avoid suspicion, but I must ask, how does this work and where did you get it?" She looked at the small skitty, I guess this lady could tell she was their leader, I knew only because ghosts could sense that aura around a person, that and pheromones.

The skitty seemed hesitant at first, but soon complied, speaking in an Asian accent, "It sends out a signal to a single poke'dex nearby, then sends a signal back to let us know our target, afterward, the device needs to be at least eight inches away to pull the money out," She looked at her bound friends, and back at Miss. Pein, before continuing her explanation, "But I will not say more, I know that if I do, we will have to defend ourselves against those who gave us that."

Miss. Pein's smirk had left by now, and she seemed to be staring at every one of their souls, then spoke, "I understand, and that is why I am hiring you to be my theme employees." Everyone cocked a brow or their head at that.

"What do you mean?" The skitty replied, causing Miss. Pein to look at Mim then back to the skitty, "I am willing to let you all live on my estate, all expenses paid, as long as you want, and for you to work in this restaurant until I am back above the red."

All of us had looked at her dumbstruck, except for Mim, making me think that he knew about this from the beginning, but though against it due to him jumping her desk and hugging her tightly, and after kicking him off her, regained her composure, but not before the skitty spoke back up, "How do we know we can trust you?"

We all waited for an answer as Pein picked the last of her papers off the floor, "Because I am giving 'you' the option of telling me who gave you this device, and if you accept the deal, if not, the door is right behind you."

As cold as her words were, she gave off no negative intentions, not that anyone but I could tell.

After 5 minutes of silence, the skitty asked if they could discuss it in private, to which Pein agreed, but told them that they would still need a supervisor, telling her to leave Mim, I guess they figured they could outsmart or over power him if they needed, much to their ignorance. We waited before Mim exited the room, almost causing Miss Pein to run into the office, "They accept, and are willing to tell you everything." Mim said as we all reentered the office.

It took a few minutes for them to tell us that the device was given to them from an opposing restaurant with a similar theme style and were told that as long as they did the job continually, they would be given some cred, but if they decided to skip out of town or tell anyone, the city would have a few less street-rattata to deal with.

Miss Pein knew the restaurant well, having thwarted a few vandalism attempts by them, but never really did anything to them, choosing to change that now, "Tell everyone they can go home, and that I will send them the digital 'paper'work, they are all FIRED!" Pein said, making us flinch as she yelled, and motion for Mim and us to leave, as she stayed behind to untie the kids with her cactuar at the ready, and telling Mim to return tomorrow to receive his reward.

Though, I think the massive restaurant wide group hug as everyone thanked us for their freedom, as Jack and his team worked their way outside and waited for us as we made our way through the exit that seemed far too small for the amount of people leaving at the same time, 'Well, that soft moment lasted about as long as an oddish fighting a charizard,' I mused as I began feeling the negative emotions well from the frustrations of the trainers as they struggled to leave.

~o~

/Orlando, FL_Poke'mon Center_12:12pm

Mim/

After having solved our first case, thanks to my genius, and I guess the others helped too, we made it the poke'mon center located in the 'center' of town. This was the second poke'mon center I had ever been in, and all the same, it was a sight to behold, being the center for where trainers meet up or do other trainer related business, these places had gotten pretty big in the last few years. This particular building had thirteen floors, though they marked the thirteenth one as fourteen for some odd reason, 'guess they may have miscounted', I thought, looking over the room we were currently in, being a light pink color with red, yellow, and green lines leading to separate hallways and doors, the receptionists dark red desk directly across from the entrance, the receptionist had pink hair that went around the back of her head in a loop on each side, her blue audino partner tapping something on her poke'pad while speaking to a random trainer nearby.

We walked up to the lady whose name tag was marked Joy, which caught me by surprise as I had remembered the one in the Mantine poke'center looked exactly like her AND carried the same name. Jack, the pirate who had decided to travel together with our team to the gym, had been walking next to me as we reached the desk together.

"How may I help you?" Joy asked as she greeted us with a smile, "Weren't you in Mantine, how'd you get here?" I asked, though she seemed to be used to the question as her smile never wavered and she answered my question.

"You see, the poke'mon center around the United States are a family business, and we have a 'large' family, but even so, we 'do' have hired hands, and paws," she giggled, pointing to her audino partner that was arguing with an axew patient that was trying to leave early, still in a near full body cast, "that are on staff in the cities where my family isn't located."

When she finished explaining the 'wonders' of poke'centers, though I had hoped to hear a cloning story with aliens, we handed her all of our poke'mon, which she took to a room close by, Jack's for their routine check up, and mine for their first, minus zorua who had told me she was always in a check up, and that she didn't need one, so she stayed with us as we waited on some red couches on the side, with Jack, in a seated position, taking a nap across from me and zorua, in deep thought, to my left side.

"(Mim, can we, can we talk?)" zorua asked me, as I joked that she just did, "(No, I mean, can we go somewhere private to talk?)" I was a bit confused, until I remembered that crazy train ride, but before I could reply, she gestured me to follow her by shrugging her head in the direction of a closet with no door. I was hesitant the whole way, but I kept thinking about the possibility that she may just want to ask what we are eating later or something like that, as I chose to stay in that river in Egypt.

As we made it into the closet, zorua moved a bucket into the hallway, causing a trainer who had been running to step in the bucket, and roll until we heard a loud thud, as zorua took a seat, and waited for me to take one too.

She must not have factored our size into this equation, as it became apparent of how cramped it was for me when I sat somewhat crossed legged with mops and broom now resting on me. "(Mim, I wanted to...)" She started, looking at the floor then back up to meet my eyes before blushing and staring at the ground again, "I wanted to apologize!" She yelped in English, nearly making hit my head against the wall, but a broom was in the way, "What are 'you' apologizing for?" I asked, confused as to why she felt guilty when 'I' was the one who ran out mid-event.

"I didn't think of how it would effect you when I thought of giving you a tongue bathe, considering I know that humans don't do that kind of thing unless they're... Intimate." She looked me in my now flushed face, and finished the rest of her confession, "So I am sorry, and I will 'try' to take it slow, OK?" she said as she placed a paw on my shin, "OK!" I blurted out, not really thinking, but wanting to get out of this extremely awkward situation, as she yipped in excitement, licked my cheek, and ran out of the closet with a spring in her step as she hopped on the couch, looking at me expectantly. Finally, I realized I was still sitting in the closet and stumbled out of it, as the same trainer from before, now running in the opposite direction, tripped over me, and rolled out of the exit.

I made my way to the couch, but about halfway, got stopped from the Joy from before, now wearing an angered expression as she told me to follow her into a back room, her tone making me comply, while zorua attempted to follow us, but was stopped by the same blue audino, concern etched in both their faces.

'What did I do now?' were my last words before entering the check up room that they took our poke'mon into.

~o~

I had no idea what was going on, the check up room was fairly large, two examining 'tables' on each side one had Jack's team, all giving me dirty looks, and my team, that were now sedated, except for shuppet, who was in a trance like state, knowing ghost's sleep only to heal, or to pass time, I could see she was fighting whatever drug they gave her, I was about demand an explanation to what was going on, but when I turned around my face was met with a resounding slap, making me fall to the ground, "Ouch, and why, and what!?" I stammered out of my mouth, pressing my hand against a now aching cheek. "In this city, the citizens often like to take matters into our own hands." I looked at Joy in worry and a tinge of fear, as she had begun placing brass knuckles on her fists, before she continued speaking, "So when a punk like you mistreats their poke'mon and expects 'us' to ignore evidence of abuse and neglect, like those on your kecleon, you can understand how I would want to give the poke'mon a chance to vent their frustrations on the trainer before I do, now all I have to do is wait for the medication to wear off your soon to be former poke'mon, and then we'll be leaving your crumpled hide on the steps of the OPD(Orlando Police Department)." She threatened, punching me in the gut as I was on the ground.

However, when I tried to respond, I couldn't seem to speak, or get up, as 'Joy', who so far was anything but, continued her rant, "I've had these knuckles specially crafted to have hundreds of fine needles laced in paralysis spores, this way we can deal with 'your kind' before we get rid of you." kicking me in my side as to prove a point.

While on the floor, I could tell the drugs were wearing off as my team, now counting zorua, who was being wheeled in on a stretcher, most likely sedated, by the blue audino, Jack's poke'mon watching in silence as they watched in disgust, not at Joy, but at me. I was soooo confused, I had no idea I was a bad trainer, I thought I was freaking awesome, but I guess I may have slipped up once or twice, and as I mused on the situation in my head, Joy felt like adding a tidbit of information that may very well be saving my, "Oh, by the way, the poke'mon have been able to hear everything that happened, so they know they have a fighting chance against you now."

If I could move my face I would grin, but settled for lying in a puddle of my own drool, waiting for my poke'mon to regain their complete senses, "Good, you guys are coming to, now I know this man has hurt you, but now- hey, whats going on?" Was all Joy let out before being lifted in the air by shadows, with shuppet floating in front of her face and staring at the frightened nurses hair, kecleon having jumped off of the bed and pulling my limp body under it and out of the way, zorua having already knocked out the audino, "(Know this, Mim has never abused 'any' of us.)" shuppet seethed, with a face of severe annoyance, as zorua chimed in, "(Yeah, he was even willing to jump off of a building to save me, though I didn't need the help... And could have avoided a painful belly flop if he didn't.)" We all looked at her with 'really' expressions upon my teams face, "My pain happen before Mim!" kecleon shouted, as he changed into a deep crimson, all of Jack's poke'mon staring in bewilderment at the fact that they had been wrong in their assumptions.

"B-but, I thought, the signs are only a few weeks old!" Joy stammered as I felt the spore wearing off, "(We have all only been with him for a few days, and none of us had lived plush live... cept for Solstice.)" Shuppet said smugly, as she looked over to a fuming zorua, "(I'll have you know I had my share of trouble, but none with Mim!)" she argued, shifting the conversation back on topic.

~o~

After a few minutes of apologies from Joy, the blue audino, and Jack's poke'mon, they finished our check ups, and let me leave, letting me keep the wheel chair for a few hours until I could walk again. When Jack asked what had happened, everyone looked to me, and I just told him, "Uh, don't leave the seat up?" I questioned, as they sighed at my answer, in either relief or frustration, and left it at that while we made our way out of the poke'mon center and to the Orlando Gym only two blocks away, having recalled all of our teammates before we arrived. When we got to the front, we immediately saw the contrast from the rest of the buildings around it as it had no windows, and looked like a giant concrete box with a large poke'ball symbol on the front of the building a few feet above the door, though its colors were that of an olive green and white, giving a little hint as to what element or elements this gym leader would be using, bugs coming to mind.

"S-so, wh-who is going t-to fight f-first?" I looked up at Jack, as he offered to be my wheel chair pusher for the afternoon, "I think you should go," I stated, knowing that in my position I could be creamed, "that way I can think of a strategy after your match." Jack gave me a deadpanned reaction, but sighed in defeat, knowing that I wouldn't take no for an answer as we made our way inside.

Upon entering, we were greeted with a a sudden burst of fresh air and the sounds of insects in the forest ahead of us.

As we admired the giant indoor enclosure, we noticed a small path leading deeper into the forests, following the winding dirt road that lead us to a man standing at a fork in the path. The man, presumably 18, was dressed in baggy white pants held up by a brown belt, wore a black tank top, and had a hoodie made of... 'leaves' that was opened down the front, revealing his undershirt, our poke'dex making a small whirring noise and letting us know he was the gym leader. He was leaning in a stick, letting him sleep while standing up, and giving me a wonderful idea, "Lets take the badges in his sleep, no fight necessary!" Jack looked at me funny, about to protest, but that moment passed when we were interrupted by the tired young man.

"*Yawn!* I see I have company, are you here to challenge the gym?" He groggily asked, as we nodded, "Oh good, are you going to be competing together, and if so, would you prefer to take the gym leaders challenge, or fight me head on, either way, if I deem you acceptable, I will give you a badge." We looked at each other, wondering if we 'should' fight together, we haven't really seen how we work together, so I asked the gym leader what the 'challenge' entailed, to which he said, "You would have to choose it to know."

After a few minute of discussing it with Jack, we decided to do the challenge together, seeing as I couldn't walk yet, and therefore couldn't fight head on, and with the challenge, there was a possibility that legs wouldn't be as much of an issue. We told the gym leader our option, he soon revealed himself to be Relssar Gub, a bug poke'mon expert, and told us to follow him down the right path to were the challenge was going to be held. Walking, or in my case rolling, for what seemed like a half hour, we lost Relssar when we arrived deep in the forest, having followed him off the path, and in a very dark part of the forest, making it look like the sun was setting, but the light shining through small spaces in between the tree leaves giving us knowledge of it still being day. We called out for our missing guide, but soon heard feedback from a loud speaker, followed by Relssar's voice, that had boomed from the ceiling.

"You are now ready for your challenge, please choose three poke'mon each, and remember, you may not switch in between, they must remain outside of their ball, recalling them will lead to instant disqualification, whether they are unconscious or not." Jack and I looked at each other wide eyed, "This being said, the challenge will be a game of manhunt, I have also chosen three poke'mon that will be hunting your team down, the game is over when three poke'mon, or both trainers, are knocked out, your team wins if three members find the way out or defeat two out of three poke'mon hunting you." I summoned all three of my partners as Jack summoned umbreon, mienshao, and skarmory, and looking at our partners, we knew we had numbers on our side, but that could count against us with most of our team being either weak against or not very effective towards the bug-types he is most likely to have.

"I advise that we sync poke'dex so that you two can communicate if we split up." Pooki said as she wirelessly connected to Lassy, to work as a two-way radio.

Once we were all set, Jack took towards the sky on skarmory in order to get a birds eye view of the forest, but was immediately knocked out of the sky by an invisible wall as he was slung back towards the ground after flying only a few feet above the treeline, causing the intercom to blare with laughter.

"Mwa ha ho, *snort!* This gym is designed with 'bug' poke'mon in mind, and what do nearly all bug types produce?" Relssar questioned in a haughty voice as Jack and skarmory grunted, picking themselves up from the fall, "Poop?" I sincerely asked, hearing a thud come through the unseen speakers and causing everyone on our team to laugh, "Whats so funny?" I asked, feeling a bit insulted at their laughing.

"THREAD! Oh, I will be 'sure' to enjoy this game, Yin, Yang, use Signal Beam, then follow up with GrassWhistle while staying hidden!" Was all that was shouted almost manically over the intercom as we were assaulted by a flashing, sinister looking beam from both sides through the tree line, alerting us to our hunters, "Gyik, use color change, follow up with Substitute, Solstice, use Torment, and Arnyek, use Will-O-Wisp!"

"Ren p-please u-u-use Mean Look a-and Assurance, G-Gary, Cut down the surrounding trees, and Trinity Meditate until you're ready!" We managed to shout out, though off guard at being found so soon, the poke'mon reacted instantly.

As the beams hit us, our poke'dexes gave Jack and I a small defense boost while kecleon became a grass type and used substitute, revealing two green kecleons, umbreon using mean look in the direction of each beam at a time before sending a dark aura after shuppet used sent out blue flame, causing two female shrieks, zorua had sent out a wave of some sort before jumping on my lap defensively, and skarmory, who was also hit with the beam, used cut, but due to being confused by the previous attack, kept trying to cut 'everything' down, including us, causing the mienshao to cancel its meditation and use an Aura Sphere on the skarmory, causing him to regain his senses but weakening him to near unconsciousness. Even with the set back, the toppled trees revealed two identical leavanny, both burned slightly, with their iconic leaf hoods catching the worst of it, as they stood symmetrically in a defensive stance, with huge scowls on their face as they charged towards both kecleon and his clone.

"(Mim, I don't know why, but for some reason these two poke'mon our very upset with Gyik!)" Shuppet shouted in my ear, materializing next to my head, and causing me to fall out of my wheel chair and land on zorua, as Jack was immediately pulled into the forest behind us, along with the wheel chair,"Crap! Arnyek go after him, Solstice," I said rolling onto my back as she did her best to shake off what just happened, "Lean me against that tree and back Gyik up!"

"(On it!)" she said as she managed to pull me to a nearby, half cut, tree and bolted to the the now lone kecleon that was fighting with the two leavanny, mienshao and umbreon having left for their trainer the moment they saw him get dragged into the forest, leaving me a few feet away from skarmory, who was also trying to get up, and no doubt run after his partners.

"Mim, I know the probability of what I am about to say is extremely low," my poke'dex chimed in its stoic feminine voice, "but I believe those two leavanny, Yin and Yang, may very well be the same from Gyik's past."

"What would make you say that?" I asked, watching as kecleon used lick on one leavanny, knocking it out, and zorua attempting a shadow ball on the other one, but having it grab its downed twin, and retreat back into the forest, umbreon's mean look having no affect this far from the battle. "Think about it, as hard as that is for you, but Arnyek, a ghost type able to read and consume negative emotions, said that they harbored ill will to our little kecleon friend, and what other poke'mon could he know that are bug-grass types, twins, sisters, and possibly blame him for ruining their family unit?" I went wide eyed, realizing that my usually dumb poke'dex, was right, "With this in mind, I advise we keep this information classified, until we finish this match."

I looked down at my poke'dex, about to argue, but then looked over to kecleon and zorua who were making their way over to me, both with triumphant grins on their faces, making me feel a bit guilty about choosing not to tell them, knowing Pooki was right, as kecleon would probably hesitate in his moves, and end up getting hurt.

"Um, is Master OK?" Kecleon asked me, guilt grinding my heart as I smiled and nodded, both embracing me in a short hug before we all heard a voice we haven't heard before, "(Your reunion is touching, but would you happen to have any potions on your person?)" We looked over toward the injured skarmory, hitting myself in the head for forgetting about Jack and shuppet, "(Whats in it for us if we help you?)" Zorua asked, but before I could scold her, skarmory answred, "(If you help me, I will be your legs until we find my trainer, *grunt!* deal?)" He said, standing up, and holding a wing out in a somewhat awkward stance, "Deal!" Kecleon answered, lifting me up, and with zorua's help, placing me on the down skarmory as they asked me for the spray, "Hey, just because I can't use my legs yet, doesn't mean I need help in making deals, got it?" I scolded, handing them the spray as they said quick sorry's before spraying the potion on the metallic bird, and as soon as he felt strong, he stood up, and took off in the direction of where Jack was pulled, and my wheel chair, as zorua and kecleon chased us down.

"Hey Jack, you alright~?" I called to Jack, via my poke'dex, "A b-bit busy h-here/*zszszhs!*/" Was Jack's only response before hearing static.

We ran for a few minutes before coming across an explosion. When we got to the treeline that was dividing us from the sounds of battle, I shouted for us to stop, causing me to fly forward, but being grabbed by a metal beak before being placed back on his back. "Alright Gyik, Solstice, I want you two to cloak and wait here for my orders, and watch from the forest while Mister Unhuggable here and I get a handle on the situation." I said in a low, cautious tone as my two partners nodded and vanished before my eyes, "(What did you mean by 'unhuggable'?)" Skarmory asked with a cocked head, looking somewhat hurt, "Uh, Jack may need us, lets go!" I said in order to avoid the question, and apparently said enough for the metal bird to push through some trees, and into an opening just in time to see Jack standing in a tree as umbreon, mienshao, and shuppet went to town on a green Genesect that was firing its cannon in various directions, causing explosions to occur, and force nearby bug poke'mon to run away, wherever it hit.

Skarmory didn't wait to long as he flew towards the giant metal bug, me holding on for dear life, and used Air Slash, super-effectively knocking it down on it's back as everyone else looked towards us, Jack jumping down from his tree and running towards us with our poke'mon partners when we landed, shuppet tackling me in my face, as she rubbed against it affectionately. As we were recounting the recent events of both halves of our team, the intercom screeched back on, "I see that you have defeated one poke'mon, but it has a surprise for you~!" The gym leader taunted with his smug comment, "(What do you mean 'one,')" umbreon started, "(we defeated a leavanny before this genesect fell!)"

"Oh, you merely dazed Yang before Yin took her to safety, and only downed Gene, who is going to use one of my least favorite techniques..."

We stared to the genesect after those unsettling words, noticing the fallen genesect glow, Pooki and Lassi chiming in to let us know that the attack that takes poke'mon weeks to heal outside of a poke'mon center, was about to blow us out of this challange, "(We have to escape the blast radius, or Mim might get hurt!)" Shuppet said, as she looked around for a clear exit.

"(Thanks for your concern for the rest of us Arnyek...)" Umbreon rebutted, rolling her eyes as she pointed to a new path that the genesect must have created from some stray shots that lead straght to the exit. We ran toward the opening, well I was carried on skarmory's back seeing as Jack had lost my wheel chair, letting it get stuck stuck in under genesect's foot, but before we made it to the treeline, we were stopped by the two leavanny from before, both looking ready for another fight, though still wearing their burnt leaf hoods. "We'll take care of this Capt. Jack, just get your crew to safety so we can win!" I shouted, jumping off of skarmory and falling flat on my face, but being able to stand up, albeit wobbly.

"I-I-I'm n-not a p-p-pir-" "(We don't have time for this, lets go!)" Jack was interrupted by umbreon as she pushed him into running towards the exit, and thanked us before running off herself with their half of our team, while shuppet floated next to me as we took up defensive stances.

Luckily for us, I guess, the leavanny were more interested in where my kecleon was, as they ignored our fleeing comrades, "So where is your little kecleon friend-"

"Girls, they are getting away, stop them-"

"QUIET RELLY!" The leavanny screamed to the now silent intercom, before giving us their undivided, divided attention, "So where is he?"

I looked at shuppet, just to see her be in an odd state of bliss as her horn glowed a faint, dark purple. That was a mistake as I took my eyes off the enemy and was struck hard in my jaw, snapping shuppet out of her trance, but before she could attack, I called out and told her to hold her attacks as I deflected some of the knife like swings that were coming to me by the duet, getting a few cuts and bruises from the double assault, and when they jumped back to use an attack, I took a chance, "Now Gyik, use attract!" I ordered, causing the two leavanny to go wide-eyed before being assaulted by hearts from their front, as kecleon appeared in front of them, both about to attack, but being immobilized by love.

"We may find it hard to 'attack' you, but we will never 'forgive' you for what you caused us to do!" The leavanny cried in unison as they dropped to their knees, crying on each others shoulders as they embraced, kecleon looked a bit confused, but before I let him ask any questions, I interrupted, "I heard about your time with the altaria, but I am telling you now, that this little guy," By that time I had picked up kecleon, who was still looking a bit confused, "has already suffered plenty." I told zorua to help me out with the speech, being that I would most likely cause them to go blind with rage rather than with love, to which she obliged by materializing next to me and speaking in a stern voice, as one would scold a child for doing wrong after knowing to do better.

"(Gyik regrets what he did, and he even knew that you abandoned him for what he taught you, but to take no responsibility for taking that item yourself, you disgrace your mother-)"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" They shouted in sync as they broke from their embrace, with tears still leaving their eyes as they swung at us, but were knocked back into a tree with a Slash attack by a now crying kecleon, who I could only assume realized who they were by now, as shuppet continued where zorua left off, "(As Solstice was trying to say, by the way your mother sounded, Fara had already told you 'not' to steal like Gyik had, and regardless of this warning, you 'chose' to disobey her wishes and once you were hit, hard might I add, by the consequences you blamed it all on him, someone who was in both your situations, but from what I heard, you had not once declined his teachings, now have you?)"

The two leavanny had gone silent, tears still staining their faces, then looked up with pleading eyes as they held their arms out to get a hug, I was about to jump into it, but was held back by shuppet and zorua as kecleon jumped in their arms, crying together, as the leavanny repeatedly voiced their apologies, and asked for forgiveness, and at that moment, the intercom blared once more.

"Mim and Jack, I deem you two as victors in this challenge, regardless of meeting the physical requirements." Relssar said over the intercomm, as we heard a whirring noise and looked up to see him zip-lining on one of the threads he had mentioned earlier, then dropping down in front of us, revealing him to be wearing a bulky looking headset, and a matching antennae-like device strapped to his back. "Here, you've earned this!" He said enthusiastically, holding a badge that resembled a small green cockroach.

Taking the badge in my hand, I looked at in the air, a bit of pride welling inside for me and my poke'mon partners, then looking back down, to see Relssar kneeling in front of the downed leavanny that where holding kecleon, and sprayed a potion on them, healing their wounds, "But, you said we didn't meet the requirement, why hand this to me, didn't Jack make it to the exit?" I asked, earning a loud chuckle from the gym leader as he finished spraying and turned to me, "That reminds me, your friends stepped in one of Ying and Yang's string traps, they may take a while to get down on their own, so hand this to Jack when you see him." He said, handing me a second badge, I couldn't help but snatch up shuppet and zorua in a hug, kecleon jumping out of his previous one and joining ours.

~o~

The gym leader had left with the leavanny after pointing us towards the exit, most likely to wait at the fork in the road, and hearing a loud resounding explosion, reminded us of the genesect that was defeated earlier, 'man that's gotta hurt', I thought feeling the sudden rush of wind nearly push me off my feat, and making me grab my three partners as they flew past me. Walking a bit further down the, literally, beaten path, we saw Jack and company, covered in webs and struggling to get down, "S-so, I take it w-we w-w-won?" Jack said, his face partially stuck to a blushing umbreon's butt, "You know it!" I excitedly shouted, shoving our badges in the air, "Th-th-that's g-great, but c-c-could you get us d-d-d-d-down?"

We nodded as shuppet used Will-O-Wisp on the threads and caused them to disintegrate, and forced everyone to fall down, Jack falling in a very compromising position with umbreon on his face, moaning before jumping off and tapping her poke'ball to hide in. I helped Jack up and handed him his badge, so we could make our way out of the forest.

When we reached the exit, we saw another trainer heading in through the very same entrance we used, causing us to laugh out loud, except for me, due to my vocal condition when laughing, yet once again were interrupted by the two leavanny once more, and by instinct we made defensive positions, albeit tired and worn down. "*Giggle!* We have only come to say thank you, for not only showing us the truth, but for taking care of, 'Gyik.'" They pulled out a brown turtleneck, very similar to my own. "We made this out of our silk after our bout." They said, handing me the shirt as I started undressing on the spot, "DON'T CHANGE HERE!" everyone yelled at me, even Jack, who didn't stutter this time, as I decided to just change later when I shower, which I definitely needed. We thanked them as we headed outside, and on our way to the poke'mon center, before Jack spoke up, "W-well Mim, it seems th-that after tod-day w-w-we will b-b-be sssplitting up."

I looked at him a bit disheartened, but I did expect it sooner or later.

"(But you best believe we will see you again, whether you like it or not!)" His umbreon popped out of her poke'ball and chimed with a bit of forced enthusiasm. "I guess you're right, face sitter!" I said loudly before running ahead with my team, looking back only to notice the ferocious umbreon chasing us with Jack hot on her heels, having already recalled his other partners before giving chase.

~o~

/Orlando, FL_Poke'mon Center_2:41pm

When we entered the poke'center, we were greeted by, the now 'very' polite, Doctor Joy, finding that she was in fact a doctor and not just the receptionist as we asked for a room for the night, handing us a card. She had greeted our team alone, seeing as Jack was busy calming his crew mate down outside from my previous remark, but who would've thought that an infuriated umbreon could run that fast, she had almost tackled me on our short trip back to the poke'center, though lucky for me, zorua had made an illusion, which umbreon then mauled swiftly to pieces before Capt. Jack had managed to get to her.

"Maybe I should appologi-"

"(NO!)" I started to say before my entire team interrupted me, "(Mim, as much as an apology is the 'right' thing to do, 'you' shouldn't be the one to do it.)" Shuppet stated as a matter of fact, as the other two nodded in agreement, "And why do you say that, I am great at calming people and poke'mon down!" I said loudly, feeling offended that they could even consider 'me' some sort of instigator, but before they could rebuttal, my chance at being proven right walked into the door, as Jack and umbreon appeared, Jack looking a bit worried, while umbreon holding a stoic face, though with a tint of red, whether from anger or embarrassment, I didn't know.

As they walked over to where we were, I looked at my teammates and told them to to watch me, as I made proud march over to the two. I was about a foot away before saying hi again, earning a small reply from Jack, but his partner glaring daggers at me in return.

I looked over my shoulder to see my poke'mon shaking their heads, and waving their arms or fore paws, in overly exaggerated no's. Seeing that I had my teams 'full' confidence, I thought of how to start off my apology, and opened my mouth.

~o~

After regaining consciousness in what I presumed to be my room, which was light blue all over, with a queen-sized bed and a small circle-shaped window on one side, a small light blue dresser and a door leading to a bathroom on the other, with a small flat-screen in the corner near the bed. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed I was laying on, and upon feeling a bit of a breeze, I realized I was naked. After pulling the blankets to cover my large frame of lean muscle, though there were a few scratches that seemed to be healing over, some with band-aids on them.

I looked around for my missing clothes and noticed that on the small dresser my bag, poke'dex, and my poke'balls, one dusk ball, the grey and brown one, and 13 regular ones, all which were meant to carry my poke'mon, which as if on Que, came running in through the door with my clothes neatly folded on zorua's back, that soon didn't matter as they all tackled me into a group 'hug', that I was more than happy to return, but as soon as I did, I had dropped the blanket, causing everyone but kecleon to jump back off and turn around with deep blushes.

"(Uh, m-maybe you should put some clothes on.)" Shuppet stated, sneaking a few glances at me as I tried hiding behind kecleon, much to his confusion.

After grabbing my clothes and quickly getting dressed, I asked them what had happened while I sat down on the bed, but of course, they all tried to tell me at the same time. Shuppet seemed to sense my confusion as she silenced the group before they each took turns in explaining what happened to me.

According to the story, I had tried to apologize to the umbreon by saying to Jack, and they quote, "I just wanted to apologize to Ren for watching her ride your face like a rodeo cowgirl, or whatever the analogy would be for pirates, and for not being sensitive enough to not make fun of your public eroticism fetishes." Was all they said I managed to get out before the then furious umbreon unleashed a barrage of scratches, with Jack pulling her back after she got a few good hits on me, yet it wasn't over as I stumbled backwards, into the blue audino from before, that was at the time holding urine samples as they all flew at me, covering me with the vile fluid, then forcing me to slip on the wet floor and hit my head, hard.

They continued to tell me that Dr. Joy had to undress me and do a series of tests based off of hitting my head and being drenched in untested pee, then having my clothes in the wash for me as she cleaned my cuts dressed some of the newer ones with band-aids, before giving me a clean bill of health and having me put in my room to rest while she got them somthing to eat, and afterword, they stayed in the room until they woke up and went to get my clothes this morning.

"Hm, I thought that would go better." I said to no one in particular, earning some grunts of irritation before they all jumped on me again, this time forcing me to lay back in the bed, "(We're just glad you're okay.)" Zorua stated as they all cuddled into me, I was going to cuddle back and let them rest, but unfortunately my stomach had other plans, as it growled for the need to feed.

After grabbing all my belongings, and recalled zorua and keclein as I mad my way outside. I was going to ask what time it was before Pooki stepped in, "You seem to full of energy and ready to go, for someone who was unconscious for sixteen hours and three minutes." It said in a somewhat humored voice, as I looked on her holo-screen to see the time showing '6:46am' September, 'Sunday', I couldn't believe it, "I was out for a whole month!?" I asked out loud, earning a digital sigh from Pooki, "(Don't worry, it was only since yesterday afternoon, the month just so happened to start on this same day as well,)" Shuppet interjected, then flew close to my face with worry written all over her face, "(But 'are' you feeling up to going out today, I mean, we can stay for a while if you need to rest.)"

I thought about her question and gave her hug, "I don't think I'ma let a little pee on me stop me from completing my goals, man that sounded cooler in my head!" I finished with a fist pump, gaining a giggle from shuppet before we headed towards the door. When we made it to lobby, Dr. Joy wasn't there, but in her usual spot a blissey seemed to be doing paperwork, and after handing her my key, we made our way to the exit, with Jack waiting outside as I stopped dead in my tracks, "(Don't worry Mim, I can sense her negative emotions, and they aren't present.)" Shuppet consoled, as she lightly bumped my head with her before going ahead of me to greet Jack.

"Hey M-M-im, I w-wasn't s-s-sure about meeting l-l-like this, b-but I want-t-ted to truly say th-th-thanks, for help-ping me out i-in that r-r-restaurant and in th-the gym." Jack said, shaking my hand before pressing a poke'ball, and revealing the umbreon from before, though I could be wrong as it wasn't wearing a death glare, and actually seemed to look at 'me' with some concern.

Jack looked at her before continuing, "Sh-she felt v-v-very s-sorry about last n-n-night, and she would l-like to say s-s-something." Umbreon looked at him then back at me, "(I wanted to say I am sorry, I shouldn't have let my emotions get ahead of me, even though you 'do' push some buttons, and I also wanted to say thank you, for your assistance yesterday, in both the restaurant and the gym, and after speaking it over with Jack, I decided to use some of my spending money to buy you lunch.)"

By the umbreon had finished, her face was beet red, and as I was about to accept the psycho pooches answer, but before I could, my poke'balls flashed open with zorua and kecleon, kecleon wrapping his tongue around my head while zorua said that I would be happy in accepting that offer before kecleon released me head again.

"You know, I was going to say the same thing!" I seethed, wiping the saliva off of my face, "But we're gonna have to do it at that theme restaurant."

They all looked at me like I had just killed a baby, then ate it, but seeing as none of them had any arguments, I told them to lets go, running ahead of them as I did so.

~o~

/Orlando, FL_Theme Restaurant_September, Sunday_7:02am_Hot, Cloudy

Shuppet/Arnyek/

I couldn't figure out 'why' Mim decided to come back to this establishment, but when we did, we all stared up at the visage in disbelief. Apparently, when Miss. Pein said that those kids were gonna work, she meant it, as the sign outside now read, 'Young Plush'.

We went inside only, and were immediately greeted by the yellow haired girl, no longer wearing the hat, but was now wearing a full-body pichu costume, tail and ears included, as she smiled and said in an overly childish voice, "Welcome back, Missh. Pwein had resherved a table for you big bwudda, pwease fowwow Pilopilo to your seats, ash Missh. Pwein will be ouwt shortwy, thank you!"

The actual pichu from before came up to us and motioned us to our seats. We sat down in a larger table in the back that was separated by a white veil, we took the same positions as before, though this time with a bit more elbow room, as we began surveying the current waiting staff. Aside from a few new adult faces and poke'mon, the humans dressed in full-body costumes as well, though theirs seemed to be the evolved forms of their child counterparts, with the new poke'mon dressed in ribbons, which wasn't as disturbing as seeing the six young girls, and boy, dressed in their get ups, all catering to their patrons, which consisted mostly of school girls and a few geeks, as they called them names ranging from big brother or sister to onichan, much to their customers delight, though some liked it even more than others as they gave off some eerie pedo-vibes, and oddly enough, most were from schoolgirls.

A minute had passed since we had been seated, and they had a few scenes playing out around the restaurant that heavily suggested incest and age difference relations, though Mim was lost on the idea as he kept trying to hug everyone in a costume as they walked by, us having to lightly restrain him after his fifth hug assault. One skit in particular had a young girl from the ex-orphan group dressed as an azurill, as she 'tripped' and 'hurt' her knee, just as her 'secret crush' from a nearby high school was walking by after classes, he was a sophomore azumarill while she was a junior in middle, yeah, they had monologue from some new overhead speakers we couldn't see, "Are you okay, you look hurt!" He said in a very forced worried voice, "Waah, I think I hurt my knee!" She cried, actually sounding convincing, as he offered to piggyback her back home, which he sorta did by taking her to the back, earning cheers from the rest of the restaurateurs and Mim.

After fifteen minutes, and a few short skits later, with two including audience participation as we held Mim down before he could raise his hands to volunteer, much to his disappointment, Miss. Pein had came to our table, she scanned Mim's poke'dex, indicating payment, and then offered us a meal, on the house before heading back to her office. Jack's team ordering omelettes all around, while Mim, kecleon, and I had ordered a giant bowl of parfait, zorua ordering a breakfast burrito, something she said she only heard of but never saw or tasted.

It all seemed that we would have a normal meal this time, but when the food arrived, so did the 'five' bottles of ketchup. I was able to hold my odd urges the previous time with 'one' on the table, and just barely, but this time there were 'five'. As everyone began to dig in, I attempted to loose myself in eating, but in doing so I finished in no more than twelve seconds, leaving me with time to watch, to watch those taunting bottles of ketchup that were left untouched, just standing, staring, waitin-

"Are you alright Arnyek?" I was shaken from my inner-monologue and looked over to see Mim look at me worried, I nodded, then floated to rest my now throbbing head on Mim's lap, my fear of what he would think of me if I were to do 'that' outweighing the need to do so, Though Mim seemed to shift uncomfortably as I did so, as something in his pants poked my head, but I was annoyed at the availability of the ketchup, but the location of where I was, and who was with me to bother moving whatever the warm object was before closing my eyes, and falling asleep.

~o~

When I woke up, it was about an hour later, I floated from Mim's lap to see that Jack and his team had already left, and turned around to see a tired kecleon sleeping on Mim's shoulders, who was also sleeping, as zorua sat in front of him, and stared at me, and even though she kept that smirk, her eyes and emotions showed she was frustrated with me, but before I could press her on the matter, Mim had begun to stir.

"*Yawn!* Wow, how long was I out?" Mim asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"(You had been asleep for half an hour, with a nice little lap warmer, and Jack had left after you fell asleep, asking me to say thanks again and that he was heading for Texas for his next badge, seeing that he already has the one from Taillowhasse.)" Zorua spoke, never taking her eyes off of me, as she told Mim of Jack's message. I knew that zorua was upset with me for whatever reason, but I also knew it would be something to talk about when Mim wasn't close by. Afterward, Mim had recalled the sleeping kecleon before quickly glomping everyone in a costume on the way out before finally making his way outside, and after a few minutes of walking, we made it to the garage Mim had parked in and jumped in the hummer, as Mim cranked the engine.

"Next stop, Taillowhasse!" Mim shouted before hitting the gas and speeding towards the highway.