Sean awoke the next morning to find that Hailey had made an exceptional recovery. In fact, she was healthy enough to be situating the items in the bag for him. He smiled and watched as she worked, her attention so focused that she never noticed he had even woken up. When she had placed the last item in the bag (a light blue shirt that he had worn the day he met her), he noticed something strange in her expression. The care in which she handled the shirt and the strange look on her face, he just couldn't figure it out. He decided he was just looking too far into things and walked over to her from behind, putting her into a massive bear hug.

"Gah! What the hell, Sean?" Hailey managed to say in short bursts.

"Hehe, good morning," Sean replied, letting her out of the embrace. "I see you're feeling better?" He sat next to her and noticed a slight blush across her face, making him chuckle slightly.

Hailey giggled and hugged her trainer, nuzzling his chest. Now it was his turn to blush. "I'm even better than I look. When are we leaving?" she asked, looking up at him with obvious excitement and longing to leave.

"Well, seeing that you're up and moving, we can leave now if you want."

Hailey smiled broadly and literally dragged Sean out of the room and into the main hall of the building, with him smiling all the way. He then signed the paperwork, slung his pack over his shoulder, and left the small town with Hailey right beside him.

As they left the city boundary, something crossed his mind that made him mentally slap himself. "Hailey," he called, "we're forgetting something." She stopped and looked back, thinking they had forgotten something at the city. "The next gym in Cerulean City is a water-type gym. I'm afraid you'll have to sit that one out."

Hailey looked devastated. How could she have forgotten? There was no way she could possibly go against that gym. She wanted to make Sean proud of her, but if she went on her own against the next challenge, she thought she would just embarrass him and herself. Sean patted her on the head and smiled warmly at her, taking a pokeball from his pocket.

"Don't worry, all I need to do is catch an electric or grass type and we'll be set." He tried to smile, but he knew this just made her feel worse. All he could do was get the second gym out of the way for good. He didn't want her to be this depressed…

As they continued walking, Sean tried to think of ways to cheer his friend up. He wanted nothing more than for her to just be happy. He thought he would take her out for a night, all by themselves. He knew how much she loved to look at the moon, remembering how she had told him that the soft light seemed to help her gather her thoughts. He smiled at the thought of seeing her stare at the pale ball in the sky. Her eyes would shimmer as if in a trance, and her beauty would be amplified in the night.

Wait, what the fuck was he thinking? Her beauty? Her shimmering eyes? He suddenly felt a slight warmness in his chest as he thought about it. What was happening to him?

Just as he was pushing the thoughts out of his head, a slight rustling behind a shrub caught his attention. His head jerked to the right just as Hailey's had, and there they beheld a Luxray. The creature's black fur shimmered in the sunlight, and its paws shot small bursts of electricity with every step it took toward them. Wait a second, towards them? Crap, they must have wandered into its territory by mistake.

"Get away from here, you trespassers!" By the sound of its voice, Sean could tell it was a female. But this was strange, usually the males were the ones to confront any intruders, unless…

"Are you alone here?" he asked her, concern and genuine curiosity apparent in his voice.

"So what if I am?" she retorted, sending off small jolts from the fur on her back.

"Well," Sean started, trying to find the words to convince her, "how would you like to come with us? I could really use your help."

"Why should I trust you?" she spat at him, her voice coming to a near scream. "You're just like the rest of them, men. All you want is to use me and throw me away, and I've had enough of it!"

Without warning, she charged at him, her fangs crackling with pure electricity that make his hair stand on end. The thunder fang move was about to connect when Hailey tackled her from the side, sending her spiraling into a tree. This did nothing to faze her in the least bit, as she shakily got onto her feet and scowled at them both. She then turned to Hailey. "Why do you protect this human?! Are you his slave, or are you doing it out of pity?"

The flame on Hailey's neck ignited and burned the air around her, making it hard for Sean to breathe. "I am not a slave, and I do not pity him. I do this for one reason and one reason only."

"And what would that be," the Luxray inquired, her head tilting to the side but her demeanor not changing.

"I do this because I… I… I LOVE HIM!" She then flung herself at the Pokémon, using so many moves in succession that within seconds, the Luxray fainted before them. Hailey's breath came in short rasps as she studied the result of her handiwork.

She then went to her shocked trainer's side and took a pokeball from his belt, placing it in his hands. "Here, use it before she wakes up," she said. Her face was covered in the darkest blush that Sean had ever seen, and without needing any more instruction, he flung the ball at his target. A red beam surrounded the sleeping Luxray, as it dragged her into the recesses of the device. The ball then hit the ground and proceeded to roll from side to side, eventually coming to a halt, giving a final click as the Pokémon had finally been captured.

He quickly retrieved the ball and placed it on his belt. As he did, he looked at Hailey, her face to the ground and paws limp at her sides as she prepared to be insulted by her one true friend. He then did something that shocked her: he walked slowly up to her, wrapped an arm around her, brought her chin up with the other, and kissed her.

She stood in a daze, unable to move, and not wanting to. His lips were soft and warm as she felt all of his emotion in that one action. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him against her chest. This was everything she wanted, and dreaded would never come to pass, but here they were, locked in a loving embrace, with nothing on their minds but each other. Both of them had finally figured out what the feeling in their chests was: it was love. Pure, untainted love. It didn't matter that one was human and the other a Pokémon, so long as they both had each other.

Sean then broke the kiss, looked into her eyes, and said, "I love you too."

Well, that's the end of this chapter. Finally, shit starts to happen. Stay tuned for the next chapter guys!