About seven months ago, I visited the more graphic corner of the Internet and stumbled upon a painting that depicted Calem (the rival from X and Y) having sex with his Greninja on a forest floor. The style and coloring job were gorgeous and the image struck a chord with me. Thank you to the artist whose work inspired me to write this story. And thank you, reader, for coming here. I hope so much that you like what I have to offer.

This work takes place during the storyline of X and Y. There will be 10 chapters.

Chapter 1

Greninja wakes up. The last thing he remembers before fainting is taking a Leaf Blade from Serena's Gogoat. Did Calem lose the battle at that point? Or did he still have other Pokemon to use? Greninja doesn't know if his trainer prevailed. Probably not, since Calem never beat Serena before, but Greninja likes to hope.

He is inside his Poke Ball right now. He feels good. Calem must have gone to a Pokemon Center and healed the team. Greninja wants to see him. He wants to know the outcome of the match, but mostly just wants to see him. The Pokemon rests and waits to be called out. He's stuck inside his red-and-white case until then.

When the time finally comes, the three of them – Greninja, Meowstic, and Absol – are brought out together. Greninja is surprised to find that they're surrounded by thick trees and dark grass growing out of muddy patches. It looks like they're somewhere on Route 14, the area where Calem battled Serena earlier. Did their trainer really walk to Laverre City, heal his Pokemon at the Center, and then walk all the way back?

Calem is sitting on the ground before them. His face is blank in a controlled way. In front of him are three dishes filled with food. He pushes these toward his Pokemon and tells them in a monotone to eat.

"First of all," Calem says once they've started, "I want you guys to know that you shouldn't feel bad about losing to Serena again."

So they lost.

"I think it's good for us to have a tough rival like her. If we won all the time, we'd have no motivation to keep getting stronger." Abruptly Calem stands up. "That's . . . that's all I had to say, actually. I'm going to leave for a bit. Just stay here and eat dinner. I'll be back soon." Without looking at them, he walks away hastily, and soon he's disappeared within the darkness of the dense forest.

The Pokemon exchange glances with each other. "Wait a minute," Absol says. "Why did he bring us out of our Poke Balls if he was just going to ditch us immediately?"

"I don't think he was planning to ditch us," Meowstic remarks. "I think he was planning to stay here, but then all of a sudden he realized he can't bear to look at us right now. He was going to lose his composure in front of us if he stayed any longer."

"Wow, do you think he's that upset?"

"I guess so. Of course, there's no way he'll ever let us see that."

Greninja stands up. "I'm going to find him."

"Don't," Meowstic says in a warning tone. "He went away for a reason."

"He can take care of himself," Absol adds.

"I'm going anyway. If he tells me to come back here, I will, but I want to check on him first."

Meowstic sighs. "Well, suit yourself."

Greninja goes into the forest and searches. The sky is darkening with night's approach. The trees are packed in such a way that they create twisted paths. Even though he moves a lot faster than a human on foot, it takes him a startlingly long time to find his trainer.

He finds him alone in a small clearing. Calem is sitting on a tree stump, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. He looks somber. Out of habit, Greninja's approach is dead silent, which he doesn't even realize until he's right next to Calem and his trainer flinches with surprise.

Greninja backs up a little and sits down. The ground is muddy, but he doesn't mind that. He locks eyes with Calem, who grimaces and says, "I'm embarrassed you caught me like this. I didn't think you would follow me."

He falls silent, as if waiting for a response. Greninja always thought it was silly when Calem did that. As a human, there is no way for him to understand the speech of Pokemon. It's useless for them to speak to him, which is why Greninja seldom bothers with it.

As expected, once Greninja is quiet for long enough, Calem starts to talk again on his own. "I actually had more I was planning to tell you guys," he says. "I was going to say that it's my fault if I can't bring out the potential of my Pokemon, and that's the reason why you shouldn't feel bad about losing. That's what being a good trainer is about: when you win, the glory belongs to the Pokemon. When you lose, the blame belongs to the trainer. I was going to tell you that, but I had to leave because . . . Well, anyway, you've heard it now."

Again he becomes silent. His gaze is still fixed on his Pokemon's face. Greninja didn't think of this before, but it occurs to him now that he and Calem are alone. Aside from the plants, he can't sense another living being anywhere near them. Suddenly everything around him appears different. The whole scenery melts into a dream. Meanwhile the human in front of him, the human he's long felt so attracted to, looks clearer than ever.

"Greninja," his trainer says softly. "Why did you come here anyway?"

He hates when Calem asks questions like this, questions that can't be answered with a nod or a shake of his head. They only remind him of how he can't speak.

For a long time now, he's wanted to try communicating with Calem in a different way.

He warns himself to be cautious. Slowly he takes a step forward. When Calem doesn't react and the world doesn't collapse, he takes another step. Calem is looking at him quizzically. Greninja can't remember ever being this nervous. He leans forward and presses his mouth against Calem's. Or at least, he tries to, but he can't actually do it because his giant tongue is in the way.

Calem leans back slightly. "What are you doing?"

In his mind, Greninja is kicking himself. He attempted a kiss because he knows that's what humans do, but he isn't a human. He is a Pokemon that wasn't built for kissing. He considers giving up, but then his hand impulsively grabs the zipper of Calem's jacket and tugs down on it. Greninja is not planning to go too far; he just wants to make his feelings clear. But he can't even do that, because like all the members of his species, his skin is perpetually slimy. He can't get a grip on the zipper, nor can he pull it down an inch.

Nevertheless, at that point Calem realizes what his intentions are. He bats the Pokemon's hand away. "What are you doing?" Calem snaps, and this time it's not so much a question as an accusation. Greninja freezes. He thought he was nervous before, but now he's terrified.

"Are you crazy?" his trainer demands. Greninja doesn't know if he should answer yes or no or nothing at all. Then Calem puts his head in his hands and groans. "I knew I shouldn't have kissed you when you were a Froakie. I think I messed you up. Listen, I'm not your . . . mate . . . if that's what you're thinking."

Greninja has no idea what Calem's talking about. Then he remembers: there was a movie in which a human princess kissed a Froakie and magically turned him into a human prince. Calem and his friends once talked about this movie, and their discussion had led to Calem jokingly kissing his then-Froakie to see if he'd transform into a prince. (He didn't.) Greninja had practically forgotten about that event. It has nothing to do with the way he feels now.

He thinks about the reason he tried to kiss Calem – all of their shared travels and experiences and all of his unshared nights of lovesick loneliness that led him to where he is now. Rejection stings like poison, yet he can't resist bringing it upon himself once again. He reaches out and touches Calem's hair as gently as he can. The contact lasts only a moment before Calem shakes him off and stands up. "Stop," he commands. "You know you can't do this."

Greninja nods, unsurprised but miserable.

For a second, Calem's face softens with sympathy, but in the next it becomes cool again. He turns away from the Pokemon. "Pull yourself together," he mutters, "and c'mon. We're going back to rejoin the others."

Greninja lets him walk several steps ahead before starting to follow him from a distance.