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A Friend Indeed

_ DISCLAIMER: All characters and properties are copyright their respective owners. All writing and original characters are copyright 2008 Zephyr Paws. The author is in no way associated or affiliated with any third-party. This original fiction was created with no intention of any copyright infringement against any third-party, and is purely for fan enjoyment._

**-~+~-

Chapter 1**

_ Blossoming Affection _

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"So, where should we go exploring today?"

"I don't know..."

Such conversations were commonplace for the two of us. Dew has been my friend for as long as I can remember. My parents were captured by Trainers when I was pretty young, so Dew's family took me in and raised me alongside her. Plus, me being a Treecko living in a family of a Mudkip and two Swamperts helped add diversity to our family.

"Aww, come on! Don't leave it up to me again!" I told my Mudkip friend, laughing.

"Umm, how about we go to the flower fields?" she asked sheepishly. The flower fields? She sure loved that place, but the only things there were a bunch of flowers, a stream, and a lake -- hardly my idea of fun, if you asked me.

"Yawn, boring. Why don't we check out that one cave we came across the other day instead?" I suggested to her, fully knowing what her answer would be.

"Eep! The last cave was too scary!" squealed Dew, holding a paw over her eyes.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her. "There weren't even any Pokemon there. It's not like it was that scary."

"But," she started, "it looked dark and creepy..." The Mudkip took a step forward towards me and looked up at me with endearing eyes. "Please, can't we just go to the flower fields instead?" begged Dew, persuading me with her innocent look.

Aww, how could I resist those eyes? I knew it would happen like that. We had very different ideas of fun. I always pulled her around with me on my adventures and expeditions, even though I knew she would much rather not be gallivanting around. Why she agreed to coming along was beyond me, but then again, I would often compromise and stay with her during those times in the fields or the other nearby locations she enjoyed, boring as they were.

"Alright," I said to her with a smile, "we'll go to the fields."

She gave a look of utmost appreciation in return to my response, jumping forward and giving me a hug. "Thank you, Florel!" she exclaimed, squeezing me tightly and burying her face into my chest. Her hugs always felt so comforting and made agreeing with her so rewarding. Maybe part of the reason I enjoyed scaring her and trying to get her to come along with me was just so I'd soften up, agree with her, and then let her be appreciative and hug me.

***

We told Dew's parents that we'd be going off to the flower fields and they were more than cooperative, just as long as we were back by sunset. Seeing as it was about high noon, that meant we'd be spending a lot of time there. Well, it'd be a good time for me to practice my aim throwing twigs and a good time for her to, uh, laze around or do whatever she does there.

"Why 'ya so quiet?" I shouted back to her, looking back while holding my paws behind my head. True, she wasn't usually all that chatty, but she seemed even quieter and more aloof than usual; it was worrying me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just thinking, that's all," she said back, snapping out of her apparent daze.

"Thinking? About...?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry, it was just, uh, about... I don't know." She was becoming more and more nervous as we continued our steps. Something was really bothering her.

I decided I wanted to get to the bottom of it, because she was acting much more peculiar than usual. Normally, she'd be more than eager to tell me what was on her mind. I thought she enjoyed my asking, as a matter of fact.

Stopping my walking, I turned around and looked back at her with a look of confusion. "What is it, really?" I asked her sternly.

She halted as well, looking up at me nervously and then hanging her head low, seeming to intentionally avoid eye contact with me. That had me worried. Additionally, her silence was also worrying me. Something was definitely up with Dew.

"Well? Come on, you know you can talk to me about anything!" I assured her.

"Florel, do you think... uh, um... I... do you like being around me?" asked Dew in a very shy manner.

"Of course I do! You're my best friend, Dew!" I answered honestly. True, she was my best friend by default, as I, like her, had only one friend, but I wouldn't want to have anyone else as a friend if it meant not having her as my best friend. What Treecko wouldn't like being around her?

"Thanks..." she said in response, smiling slightly, although she still looked like something was on her mind.

"Is that really all that's on your mind, though? Why did you ask me that, anyway? You know I like being around you."

"I just... uh... well, it... I just don't want you to be bored... like, with going to the fields. I mean, if you want to do something else, you can..."

"Nah, why would I want to do that? Exploring caves and stuff just wouldn't be fun without you," I said to her. It was actually true; I think knowing that I was there to help reassure her if she got scared made it even more fun.

There was a pause as she looked back up at me after I said that. She had a look of appreciation in her eyes. "Thank you, Florel... um, let's go, okay?"

"Yeah, let's!"

Rather than let her fall behind like I had been doing, I was walking right beside her, and we both seemed to be much happier. We talked a bit about how nice the weather has been recently as we continued our walk towards the flower fields.

***

When we arrived at the flower fields, Dew was quick to dash ahead of me and enter the fragrant fields of flowers, frolicking about in them cheerily. Her attitude sure changed quickly. I walked over to the entrance of the magnificent garden of flowers and took in their delightful scent. It was rather soothing. Maybe it was because I'm a grass Pokemon or maybe it was just the scent. Either way, spending the day here might not be so bad after all...

We spent the next few hours chasing each other around the flower-filled fields, racing about in the stream, and relaxing alongside the lake. It really was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be, I had to admit.

"That was actually pretty fun, even if it wasn't a cave," I said.

Dew giggled. "Yeah, I told you it'd be fun," the now-cheery Mudkip said with a smile.

"You know," I started, "you seem a lot cheerier than earlier. What were you all, uh, 'weird' about then anyway? You didn't seem like yourself."

"Oh, that... it had to do with, uh... something kind of silly, I think..." she answered, looking a bit embarrassed. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up?

"Oh?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, it was just-" Before she was able to finish her speech, I noticed the fin on her head wiggle along with her tail, stopping her mid-sentence. During the pause, I listened carefully and thought I heard something. It was faint, but still sounded like it was fairly close.

"You hear that, too?" I asked her a few seconds after the pause. She nodded cautiously in response. "Where's it coming from?" I asked her, causing her to turn her head to her left -- my right -- in response. We both looked at each other, nodded, then headed in that direction to see what the noise was.

As we drew closer to the source of the indiscernible noise, the muffled sounds became clearer and clearer. They sounded like weird moans with very subtle hints of squishing noises, growing in volume as we approached the source, which seemed to be located behind some of the nearby bushes at the edge of the forest.

We both nervously peered behind the bushes to see two Poochyena playing, one of them on top of the other, shaking and gyrating their bodies in rhythm. The one on top was nipping at the bottom one's neck. After several seconds of staring, I think we both realized exactly what it was that they were doing.

Confused and in disbelief, we both looked away from the bushes and turned back to each other. "Are they...?" asked Dew in a shy, yet dazzled tone.

"I think so," I answered, unsure myself, but believing that it was what we both suspected. The two Poochyena were mating!

Without saying another word, we both cautiously resumed watching the two from behind the bushes. I knew that it was wrong and we shouldn't be watching them like we were, but I just couldn't help it, and it seemed Dew -- who I thought would be against my snooping -- was just as curious.

"Ooooh babe, you're so tight," said the Poochyena on top, through clenching her scruff.

"Oh, deeper, harder! Keep going, you beast!" screamed the bottom Poochyena, clearly at this point a female.

Watching their display of affection and sexual lust was really sparking my curiosities to a whole new level. "So that's how it's really done, wow," I whispered over to Dew. However, I noticed that she was no longer right beside me and was instead walking along the bushes, perhaps trying to get another viewpoint of the mating couple. "Dew?" I asked her, "What are you-"

"I'm just..." she interrupted. "I just wanted to, um, see it from... over here..." she whispered back to me in an embarrassed tone.

I caught up to her and then peered back into the bushes to see what she was talking about: a much more interesting view. Rather than just seeing the two from the side, we were now staring at their rears. The sight of the male thrusting his red member deep into the female was incredibly intriguing and I found myself highly fascinated by the act.

As the two Pokemon continued to mate, their pace began increasing and the squishing sound picked up. I briefly looked down at Dew to see her staring intently at the two Pokemon, mesmerized and blushing red. Additionally, I could smell a very pleasant, almost powerful scent in the nearby air. I caught whiff of it and it made me feel a bit lightheaded.

The two Poochyena both barked and howled loudly, catching my attention and causing me to look back at them. I saw the male thrust more rapidly into her than he had before, appearing to be stuck inside of her somehow. He kept thrusting and shifting his hips back and forth until he finally let loose a loud howl and ceased his rapid thrusting. A gush of an unknown fluid poured out of the female while the male was still conjoined with her, spilling on their fur and on the ground beneath them.

The male Poochyena remained on top of her, although panting and looking highly relaxed. The female beneath him appeared to be quite pleased as well, though she collapsed onto her belly shortly after the loud howl. They stayed like that for at least half a minute before eventually dozing off.

"Florel... wow..." whispered Dew, still staring at the sleeping couple.

"Heh, that was pretty cool," I answered back to her, still amused that she was still watching them so intently. "When your parents gave us 'the talk,' it didn't seem quite as... interesting, for some reason." A few weeks back, Dew's parents told us the basics of mating and how eggs are created. They said that the male sticks his member into the female's slit in order to mate and a bunch of other stuff that seemed more embarrassing than interesting.

Dew nodded her head in response, then finally turned her head back to look at me, although with that same mesmerized look on her face. As she did so, she gasped as she stared at the lower part of my body.

"What?" I asked obliviously.

"Your, uh, it's, umm..." She was blushing and turning her head away, highly embarrassed at whatever it was she was talking about.

I looked down to see the source of her discomfort -- my member, fully erect and unsheathed, standing proudly in the open air. Reactively, I placed my two paws over it, trying to cover it up. I didn't think she'd seen it quite like that before.

"I'm sorry..." I said, apologizing and feeling pretty embarrassed over that little incident. Not that I really could have prevented it, but it did make Dew uncomfortable, which in turn made me feel bad.

Nervously, the little Mudkip turned back to me and smiled, cocking her head slightly. "It's okay, I'm sorry, I just kind of... wasn't expecting it, that's all. You were just excited, too." After saying that, she blushed even more, nervously hanging her head once again.

"Well, at least I wasn't the only one," I assured her, removing one of my paws from guarding my groin and petting her head playfully. I noticed that it was starting to get late out; the sun had already set behind the trees, so it would only be a matter of minutes before it was sunset and the day would come to a close. "We should get going if we want to make it back home before dark, okay?"

Dew nodded her head, wagged her tail, and gave a cheerful, "Alright!" in response. We left the Poochyena couple to rest and both traveled back home together, each of us being able to share that rather interesting encounter together. We both decided that it'd be best not to tell her parents about what we saw, though.

***

We made it home before sunset, had a nice dinner of berries, then promptly went to bed. Thoughts of the day were still fresh on my mind, though, keeping me awake and rendering me unable to sleep.

I sat up and let the memories and thoughts of the day flow through my mind. There wasn't a chance I'd be able to sleep after everything that happened, at least, not until I ran it all through my mind.

The most memorable scene was of those two Poochyena mating. Dew's parents did tell me that I'd begin to feel changes and begin getting urges to mate soon, telling me that it was perfectly normal, but also warning me that mating is something very important and shouldn't be done irresponsibly. It is how Pokemon are created, after all. Those two Poochyena must have been wanting to start a family.

"It must be pretty interesting starting a family..." I quietly said to myself, still unable to sleep. "Watching them mate looked so strange... It just seemed so weird seeing his penis slide right inside of her like that. I wonder if it hurt much? For either of them?"

My thoughts drifted back to before that whole encounter, how there was something else rather peculiar about the day: Dew's attitude as we were heading to the flower fields. She seemed a lot more skittish than usual, almost as if she was hiding something from me.

"It's not like her to hide things from me, though," I said, again taking caution to be quiet and unnoticed. " 'Do you like being around me?' Why would she ask that? She knows I do..." She didn't even finish what she was going to say it was, either, immediately before we saw those Poochyena. What was it?

"Flor-el... mmm..."

"Dew?" I asked, responding to her. I didn't think she was awake. I hope I didn't wake her up...

"Oh, Florel... ohh... mmmm..." She wasn't awake. From the sounds of it, she was just talking in her sleep. But she was dreaming about... me?

"Maybe I should wake her up..." I mumbled to myself, half-curious about what she'd say if I left her asleep. The way she was talking in her dreams... it sounded so familiar...

"Yes, Florel, ohhh, it feels good..." The Mudkip was twitching and rolling about in her sleep.

I looked at her with a puzzled expression on my face. She was having a dream... about mating... with me?! No, it couldn't be, could it? Perhaps I was too quick to jump to that thought. It had to do with what I saw today, no doubt. That must have been it. She must have been dreaming about something else.

"Florel... I... love... mmm... zzz..." Right as she was about to say something, it seemed that she'd fallen back into a deep sleep and was simply snoring rather than mumbling.

"Dew...? You... you love me?" I shook my head, trying to think rationally. "Why didn't she say anything to me about it? Wait, calm down, maybe she's talking about something else... maybe..."

I laid down and rested my arms behind my head, thinking about everything going on. "Maybe that's why," I whispered, "she was acting so weird earlier? Maybe... We have been friends for a long time, like, ever since I can remember, but I don't think she's ever thought about me like that... She's never said anything like that to me... I mean, she loves me as a friend and loves that I am her friend, but..."

For the next few minutes, I was thinking about what I just heard and what it meant. "I wonder... I wonder, do I love her? Like that? Like that Poochyena couple? Stop, Florel, stop... think, think... I've known her for nearly all my life. She's my best friend. Maybe I do... Could we really...? Stop! I just don't know... I never really thought about it before... I wonder if... if I should talk to her about it or not."

"Mmm... talk to me about...?" mumbled Dew, catching me off-guard and completely embarrassed. How much did she hear? I didn't even realize I was talking out loud.

"Dew, you're awake?" I asked her, still keeping my voice down.

"Yeah... I was... um, well, never mind. What were you saying?" she asked me, getting up -- still looking a bit sleepy and woozy -- and looking over at me. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Well, had she heard the whole thing, she wouldn't have asked me what I wanted to talk to her about, heh. That was good, at least, but it also meant I'd need to talk to her about it. Should I? Would it be a mistake?

In the end, I realized that it would be best to at least be honest about what I was feeling, thinking, and wondering. If the reason she was so reluctant earlier was because she wanted to talk to me about that -- which I wasn't sure if it was -- it would have been better to just go ahead and do it rather than keeping it bottled up inside. That was my belief.

"Uh, it's sort of weird, I guess... do you think we could talk about it outside? Your parents won't know, don't worry, and we'd just be right at the entrance to the den. It'll be safe. I just need some fresh air."

She looked at me a bit nervously and reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay, just as long as we don't go too far."

"Thanks, Dew," I said in appreciation, motioning for her to follow me outside. After getting her footing and being roused enough to walk properly, she followed, holding onto my tail to compensate for her poor night-vision, and we both made it outside of the entrance to our den.

"What is it, Florel? You were saying something... How long were you awake? Did you even get any sleep?" she asked, looking a bit worried about me.

"Nah, I didn't. I couldn't, sorry. I had a lot on my mind," I answered, telling the truth. Well, at least part of it. "Listen, Dew, uh... do you... like being around me?" I asked her, not knowing how to go about starting it, so figuring asking her what she asked me earlier might shed some light.

I saw her pause for a few seconds, looking at me with a look of disbelief or curiosity. I couldn't quite tell which. "Do I like being around you...? I do..." It looked like she was looking for something to say afterwards, but wasn't quite getting the words to come out.

I smiled at her, glad to hear at least that much. "That's great. I like being around you, too." I wanted to say something more, but I just... I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't bring myself to pry into either of our feelings like that.

"Florel..." she said shyly. "Do you... wan- um..." she paused briefly. "Do you think that those two Poochyena we saw earlier were... happy together?" The mud fish Pokemon closed her eyes, almost as if she was afraid of a response to such a silly question.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you think that we're happy together?" she asked me, still through shut eyes.

I walked over to her and sat down beside her, pulling her in for a hug. "Yeah, I think we are."

She nuzzled against me and licked my chest, which I found to be quite ticklish. We just sat there, right beside each other, holding one another close until we both eventually drifted off to a restful sleep. Neither of us had wanted to fall asleep outside, where Dew's parents would find us and likely scold us for being out there at night, but it felt just too comforting being with Dew that night. I wouldn't have changed it for anything.

I was disappointed, though, that I didn't confront her as I planned to. I didn't talk to her about if she loved me or not, or even if I loved her. Maybe that was what she felt earlier that day? Maybe she felt too nervous to ask what she was planning to? Maybe being around me took everything she had planned on saying and thrown it out the den, just as being around her did to me tonight? All I knew was that I wouldn't have traded tonight for the world. There'd always be tomorrow.

***

"Dew! Florel! What are you two doing outside?!" yelled the angry voice of Dew's mother, Moyst, a powerful Swampert. We both woke up to that unpleasant scolding -- as predicted -- and proceeded to be lectured about the dangers of staying out at night.

"I'm sorry, mom... we couldn't sleep, so we just wanted to talk for a little bit and didn't want to wake you and dad up..." explained Dew, coming up with reasons that sure didn't cross my mind when I took her out there. At least she was covering it, but I didn't want her to take all the blame for it, either.

"It was my fault, I'm sorry," I said, apologizing to her mother. She still looked upset, but increasingly less so.

"Well, I suppose it all worked out this time, didn't it? Just please, try and stay in the den at night, kids. I don't want anything bad happening to you." She tapped her foot a few times before finally smiling, freeing us from any further punishment. She went back into the den, telling Dew's father, Torent, also a Swampert, that everything was fine.

I looked over to Dew, feeling a bit relieved that her mom let us off so easily. "Guess that worked out alright, huh?"

Dew smiled and nodded in response. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, giggling afterward. "So what do you want to do today?" Usually I was the one to ask that question; her preemption was rather peculiar.

"How about that cave we didn't go to yesterday?" I suggested. I was actually quite glad that we went to the flower fields instead of the cave like I had originally wanted. Part of me almost wanted to go back to the flower fields just to see if we could see that Poochyena couple.

"Oh... it's just, uh, kind of scary..." she remarked nervously.

"Well... we could go to the flower fields instead... if you'd rather." Either way, I'd be happy.

"No, that's fine... we can go to the cave today. You'll make sure I'm safe, right?" asked Dew, looking up at me.

"Of course I will! That's part of the fun!" I exclaimed.

"Keeping me safe?" Dew tilted her head slightly.

"Er, well, yeah!" It was a bit silly, but at least it was true; feeling like I was protecting her was part of what made it so exciting.

"Thanks, Florel. Let's go, then!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, surprisingly eager to get going. I was quick to agree with her. After telling her parents where we'd be off to, we left towards the cave that we discovered the other day to explore it and see what was inside.

***

Exploring caves was something I found particularly enjoyable. The thrill of not knowing what was lurking behind every corner and the possibility of getting lost were both very exciting things to me. I had a good sense of direction, so I rarely wound up lost, but there were times that took me a few tries to get out of.

The first time that I took Dew on an adventure was actually accidental and it scared her so much that it was a few weeks before her parents let us go exploring again. Even then, it was tough trying to convince her that it'd be okay to go on. After all, even harmless Zubat frighten her, but I had to admit, that was one of the things that made it so fun: her looking to me to protect her. And I always did.

When we arrived at the cave, we both looked at each other, nodded, and proceeded to enter the cave. There wasn't much to see as we wandered around through the seemingly abandoned cave, but it was still pretty fun regardless.

"It's getting dark in here... I can't see that well..." Dew complained as we got deeper into the cave, leaving only a little bit of light shining in from the entrance. I had forgotten that she lacked my Treecko eyes and couldn't see as well in the dark as I could.

"Do you want to go back?" I asked her sincerely.

"N-no... just... can I hold your tail while we go along? So I don't lose you?" she asked me back shyly.

"Of course!" I responded full-heartedly, thinking it was a pretty good idea, actually, to make sure that we stayed together.

She did so and held onto my tail, presumably with one of her forepaws. We continued to go deeper into the cave, taking a few turns and still finding very little of excitement other than the thrill of adventure.

"Florel?" she asked, trying to get my attention.

"Yes?" I was quick to respond, curious to hear what she had to say, but thinking it probably had to do with getting out of the cave.

"About last night..." she started, pausing for a second or two. Guess I was wrong. "Do you think that we'll mate someday?"

That sure took me off-guard, causing me to stop in my tracks. I wasn't expecting her to be quite so... forward! "Us? Mate?" I asked her, still in a bit of disbelief.

"Oh, I mean! Ah! I- I mean...! Like each of us, having a mate, do you? Uh, do you think we will, both, separately?" she said, tugging on my tail harder and stamping her feet nervously by the sounds of it. She always did that when she said something really embarrassing.

Ha, figured. "Yeah, I think so, don't you?" Even though we didn't really know any other Pokemon, I knew that one day we would both find a mate. Of course, there was always the possibility that we already had...

"Yeah," answered Dew. "Mom and dad told me that, pretty soon, we'd both start wanting to mate... it's a part of growing up or something."

Well, that was pretty true. My whole fascination with mating seemed to be rapidly increasing after seeing those two Poochyena from yesterday. "Did they say anything else about mating, do you remember? I mean, other than that whole talk they gave us?"

"Uh... they just wanted me to be careful and make sure that I don't rush into it, because mating usually means having babies afterwards... oh, they also said that it would probably hurt the first time I did it."

Somehow I must have missed that last part when her parents gave us 'the talk,' because they said it felt good. Sure, I knew about not rushing into it and the whole babies thing... but that had me a bit worried. Oh well, it wasn't like I was planning on mating right then, anyway, ha ha!

"I wonder if my parents were in love when they had me... I don't even remember them." A bit of a change of topic, but I couldn't help but wonder, with all of this talk about mating and love floating around.

"I'm sure they were," she reassured me, wagging her tail. I bet she forgot I could see that.

"Yeah... I just hope they're alright now. Hey, but at least I have you and your family to take care of me. Thanks, Dew..."

"N- no! Thank you! Mom and dad said that you were like the Treecko son they never had and a lot like a brother to me. I don't know if I would have any friends if it weren't for you staying with us..."

"Sure you would!" I exclaimed, knowing what she said to be false. "You're a great friend, Dew. A lot better of a friend than I think you give yourself credit for..."

"Do you mean that?" she asked me.

"Of course! I mean, sure, we don't always want to do the same things... you enjoy the fields and more relaxing places while... heh, I enjoy places like this and trekking all around, causing trouble... but we both seem to have fun together regardless, right?"

"R- right!" responded Dew with a revitalized enthusiasm. I think she was finally getting the message.

I feel that little talk, mundane as it might have seemed, brought us both a lot closer together. You'd think after spending nearly my whole life with her, we'd have exhausted all of these deep kind of talks, but things have just been different since that day we went to the flower fields. Somehow, it changed us, although I tend to think for the better.

After spending about another hour in the cave, we made our way out of it unscathed, although feeling a lot braver afterwards. Not just braver about caves and the darkness, but braver in regards to each other. Perhaps we were both starting to realize that we might be more than just friends...

***

Several days have gone by since our little adventure. We had been as inseparable as ever through that time, with neither of us wanting to leave the other alone for very long. Pretty much the only times we were apart were when we had to tend to certain business that I shouldn't have to describe, heh heh. It was common courtesy.

Quite a few of those days were spent at the flower fields, basking in the aromatic gardens and, rather than frolicking about and chasing each other like we would usually do, we tended to prefer simply relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

Every time we heard a rustling, we went to check it out, surely both of us secretly hoping we'd witness two more Pokemon mating and giving us a new story to talk about. Unfortunately, it was never more than just some Zigzagoon playing or a Taillow chasing a Wurmple.

I'd stopped paying so much thought to what she was saying during that first day and in the middle of that night in her sleep. I had a hunch, but I also knew that every time I tried talking about it, I ended up choking. I think she also had a similar feeling about some of the things I said or may have hinted at. Maybe we were both just in denial or maybe we didn't want to grow up just yet, but either way you cooked it, it was still something we knew we'd have to face with each other one day. At least, I hoped we would.

One night, though, my sleep was interrupted. "Florel... Florel... I'm sorry, but can you wake up, please?" I opened my eyes to see Dew looking at me in a desperate way. I got up to see what she wanted.

"What is it?" I asked her, still having no clue as to what the problem was, except noticing that she seemed much more nervous and hesitant than usual.

"I... really need to talk to you..." she said, sounding almost sad about it. That really started worrying me.

I sat up, shook my head, and then looked over to her with the utmost curiosity. "What's wrong?"

"Can we talk outside, please?" she asked me, to which I was quick to agree with and followed her outside of the den and into the moonlight. It was almost a full moon out and not a cloud was in the sky, as the moonlight was lighting up the whole area.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Dew?" I asked her, trying to see why she was so eager to wake me up.

"I... uh, um... I just wanted to say that... I... uh... I can't... I..." She was struggling so hard to speak that it was almost pitiful watching her. I felt so bad seeing her stumble like that, because it sounded like she was trying to say something really important, too...

"You can't...?"

"I can't... sleep," she answered, sighing afterwards.

"Dew... we're friends -- best friends! You're not telling me what's really going on, are you?" I asked her. I could tell that she was lying or, at the very least, coming up with something else to say. I wasn't about to let her wimp out now, oh, no I wasn't.

"I... I'm not..." she said with another sigh.

"You can tell me anything, you know that, right? Whatever it is... you can say it. We're friends, that's what we're here for! But you're really worrying me, here..."

"I'm sorry... it's just, I thought... I thought I'd be able to do this, but I... ... ...I... ...can't."

I sighed as well. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like the right time to say what I've been thinking a lot about over the past few days. It was a gamble, a risk, sure, but I had a strong feeling that she was on the same track and just lacked the ability to say what she wanted to say, being such a shy and overly cautious Pokemon.

"Dew... maybe I can say it for you, then?" I asked her sincerely.

"W- what?" she asked back in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking a lot about it..." I started, watching her eyes light up and head fin twitch. "Maybe we are growing up... maybe we need to stop being friends an-"

Before I could continue, I was interrupted. "No! No! Please... no!" The Mudkip began crying as she jumped forward at me, hugging me tight and refusing to let go. "You can't go! I love-" She quickly silenced herself before she could finish her sentence. I followed suit, only staring down at her and into her eyes, which were staring right back at mine.

I was going to start by telling her that I thought perhaps we should take a leap of faith together and be more than just friends, but given the moment, I figured that actions would speak louder than words.

Slowly, I leaned my head closer to hers, tilting it just a bit on the way down. She seemed to instinctively understand what was happening, too, as she leaned her head back and tilted it so our lips could touch. We both confirmed the suspicions and desires that we had of and for the other, sealing our feelings with that tender first kiss. I moved one of my paws to rub her cheek, petting the orange fins or whatever those things were while using the paw as extra support. We kept our kiss going for what seemed like an eternity. It felt so amazing, so incredible, so fulfilling, so... wet. I loved it.

Eventually, I fell onto my rear, sitting down while continuing kissing each other without relent. I then slowly fell backwards, never breaking the kiss but letting Dew lay on top of me. We took a brief break from our kissing to passionately stare at each other's eyes, seeing something new and exciting spark in them. Her eyes... they seemed so beautiful now. I couldn't explain it, or really, I couldn't explain why it was only now I noticed their glory. She, too, was staring into mine, leaving me only to wonder the thoughts and emotions going through her head.

"Maybe," I said softly, "we need to stop being friends and... start becoming... mates?" I smiled at her reluctantly, wanting to kick myself after saying what I said. At least it was true; us becoming mates was inevitable. I think we both understood that, especially after our recent week or so of reflection on just what being a mate really means and just how much like mates we were anyway.

"Florel... I... love... you. I love you, Florel!" exclaimed Dew, finally able to spit it out. Smiling and clearly feeling much better about herself, she leaned in again and resumed kissing me wildly, hugging me and holding me tight as I did the same to her.

I broke the kiss only for a moment to say something that needed to be said. "I love you, too, Dew." We continued to spend the next few minutes kissing each other millions of times, sometimes playing around in each other's mouths with our tongues, other times suckling on them or our lips, and even some other times just kissing the sides of our faces. We found out just how satisfying it felt, regardless of how it was done.

As our little kissing festival raged on, we were rubbing our bodies together. It felt good; real good. It took a little bit for me to realize just why it felt so good, though, but even after I realized it was my newly-formed erection that was causing the pleasure, I was just too into it to stop and could only hope that she wouldn't notice. Yeah, it was kind of selfish of me, but I just couldn't help it. After all, if we were going to become mates, I knew that thing would be doing more than just slide against her smooth belly, that's for sure.

"Mmmm, Florel... is that... your...? Is it rubbing me?" she asked me between kisses. Whoops, looks like she noticed it after all.

I stopped immediately to apologize. "Ah, I'm sorry! It just-"

She interrupted me. "No, it's okay. It feels good... doesn't it? You... don't have to stop."

That sure was reassuring to hear, although I didn't know if I'd be able to keep it up after her noticing. It was still kind of embarrassing, regardless of if she was alright with it or not. "It's just, uh... I don't know if I could."

"You don't know if you could?" she asked, looking down at me with sincere eyes.

"I mean, I don't know if I'm ready to... to mate just yet..." It was true, I really didn't think I was ready for it. Not that I was actually mating her or anything, but one thing always leads to another... Even though I am a bit reckless and adventurous, I also knew that family was something important. My own family was captured... that gave me a strong understanding of just how important family is.

The Mudkip leaned in to give me a slow, comforting kiss, breaking away a few seconds later to reassure me. "We don't have to mate to love each other, though, do we?" She closed her eyes and looked away for just a moment, only to return her gaze back to me and smile. "I... I need to stop being so worried... it's just, actually saying that to you, I'm just not used to it."

"Saying what?" I asked her, a little curious over her actions.

"What I just said... about not having to mate to love each other. I just have to remember that... I can talk to you about it now... right?" she asked meekly, looking at me with those same beautiful eyes and eagerly awaiting my answer.

"Of course! I feel a lot better about it, too," I answered with a smile, pulling her in closer for a hug. "Just promise me... if you've got something on your mind, don't worry about what I think about it... just say it. Ask me, tell me, yell at me... if you really don't want to go exploring caves, just say so."

She blushed. "I just like being with you, Florel... I promise. I'm sorry if I... I... I'm just trying to get used to it, that's all." She paused, then looked at me with a sincere look on her face. "I wanted to tell you that day, back when we went to the flower fields... I wanted to tell you how much you meant to me... I really wanted to tell you I love you... but... but... you're the only friend I have... you're the only friend I'd want to have... and I was just afraid. I was afraid of what you would say in response. I was afraid that you'd hate me for it or be really freaked out by it. I was even afraid that you loved me, too, because I didn't know what I'd do..."

I almost began to cry after hearing what she had to say. Sure, I had a feeling she was struggling to tell me something that fated day, and I even had a feeling -- after thinking a lot about it -- that she had feelings for me... but hearing her say it like that, hearing her say she was afraid of what I'd say or feel back, hearing that she must have loved me even before that day and was just too shy to say or do anything about it... "Dew..."

"I wanted to cry... but I didn't want you to ask why, so I held it back..." It appeared that her tears were finally coming out, though, as I could see tiny droplets of water form at the base of her eyes. "When I saw the Poochyena couple mating, I wished that would have been us there... I couldn't stop thinking about it, except seeing us together like that in my mind instead of the two Poochyena." She blushed a bit more and started crying more heavily. "But then I woke up... and we were still just friends... and I just couldn't bring myself to talk to you about it... I'm sorry..."

I held her as tightly as I could, hugging her and pressing her weight against me, making sure that she knew I was so happy that we were actually having a moment like that together. "Dew... you don't have to be sorry. It wasn't your fault at all. I think one of the reasons I love you so much is that you're always so cautious and considerate; what I wish I was more of. You wanted us to be friends over anything else... You know, to be honest, that night... when I was talking to myself and you woke up... I was actually asking myself if I loved you. You must not have heard it, did you?"

"I... didn't. Wow..." answered Dew, seeming a bit surprised. "That was when I had that dream... of us... mating..." Guess I was right after all, although just the thought of it made me blush.

"I know. You were talking in your sleep," I said with a chuckle, inflicting embarrassment and heated blushing from the shy Mudkip. "That was what got me thinking about it. Well, that and how you were acting that day, when... heh, when I guess you were going to tell me the same, right?"

Dew calmed down and shyly laughed as well. "Yes."

"Yeah, I actually wanted to talk to you about it that night... but then I saw how hard it was. I saw what you had to go through, you know, wanting to tell me but being 'too afraid' to. I was afraid, too..."

"Aww, Florel! I thought you didn't get afraid!" she teased, laughing loudly afterwards.

"Yeah... well, I guess the only thing I really am afraid of is losing you..." I said honestly.

"Florel, you're so sweet..." She leaned in and, through tear-soaked eyes, gave me another tender kiss. The feeling of her sweet lips made everything just feel right. We faced our fears and confessed to each other something very hard to do. To have it feel so right and so perfect... it makes me wonder why we didn't just do it sooner. The kind of happiness I felt was far greater than any I'd felt before.

"Maybe we should get back to sleep," I suggested, breaking the kiss. "We have been out for awhile... and I don't want your mom mad at us again, heh."

"Maybe... but I just don't want this night to end..."

"I don't either..." As much as I enjoyed our time together tonight, though, I knew it would have to come to an end eventually. "Is there anything more you wanted from tonight? Anything that you wanted to talk about or do together? Anything you might not have said if I didn't ask? Anything at all?" I figured I'd give her an opportunity, should she have a particular reason for staying up. Even though she promised me she'd be honest and just talk about what was on her mind, that was only just a little bit ago, so giving her a perfect opportunity to voice her feelings was, in my opinion, the considerate thing to do.

"I... p-part of me really... really... wants to... um... ... umm... ...mate. But...! We... I- I don't think we're r-ready to... ... ...d-do you?" asked Dew shyly and with reluctance. At least she answered honestly, though.

Hey, part of me really, really wanted to mate, too, but I also couldn't argue that neither of us were ready just yet. We would just be rushing into it. Thankfully, I think we both knew the consequences of what would happen if we did mate, and I don't think either of us were really ready to become parents. "I... I also want to, and am really looking forward to when we do, but I agree; we aren't ready yet. Tonight's not the night."

"Um, Florel...?" she started asking. "Tomorrow... do you think I could... maybe, um... uhh..."

"Hey," I interrupted, "stop stumbling! Remember? You can talk to me about anything!" I kissed her on the cheek to reassure her I was there for her.

She blushed and giggled. "Sorry... I uh, do you think maybe, tomorrow, um... I could maybe look at... your 'parts'...? Like... your... penis?" Her blushing greatly intensified after asking. She closed her eyes and turned her head away as she usually does when nervous about the answer to a question.

Although it was an odd question to ask, I couldn't fault her curiosity. To be honest, I hadn't seen her 'parts' up close, and her parents made it seem like there was a lot more to it than just a little slit when mating, at least, from the talk they gave us. I guess I was also a little curious myself. "Heh heh, of course," I giggled. "We are going to become mates someday, so it'd probably be a good thing, actually, for us to see what we'd be dealing with, right? So... do you think I could look at yours as well? I mean, uh, not your penis, but you know..." I asked her, having a lot less difficulty about it than she had.

"Y-yeah, of course. That'd be... fine," she answered, smiling back at me. "We can get some sleep now... now that I have something really exciting to look forward to in the morning!"

"My penis?" I asked, jokingly.

"N-no! Ha ha! I was going to say you!" she exclaimed, giggling cutely.

"Well, you'll get both, then, ha ha!" I began sitting up on my rump, hugging her so she was sitting upright as well. I could feel my semi-erect member touch her belly. Instinctively I knew if I hugged her tighter and closer and lifted her up just a little bit, I would probably be poking inside of her opening and mating with her. It was a very arousing thought, however, I snapped out of it before acting on such an impulse.

However, Dew caught that I had something on my mind. "What is it?" asked Dew innocently.

"I just... this feels very comfortable, us, like this. When we do mate... and if it's possible... could we try it like this?"

Dew blushed and then licked me on the cheek. "Of course! It does feel really nice... and I bet your, um, penis would feel a lot better than just poking my belly." Whoops, she sure is sensitive!

"Heh heh... it would, I know it," I said with a smile. Breaking our embrace together, I stood up and let her stand up on her four legs as well. "Let's get some sleep," I suggested, to which she smiled and nodded in agreement and followed me back into our den. Rather than sleeping apart from each other, though, we cuddled cozily in a hug and fell asleep in each other's arms, loving how great it felt to be loved by the one we cared about the most.

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End of Chapter 1**

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