Cranidos, Lucario and Raichu went off in a group together to search for the missing lion. Riley stayed at the gym in case Luxray returned - and Volkner and I set out together.

Volkner was completely out of his mind to the point where it was difficult to look at. His method of searching mostly consisted of running up and down the beach and through the streets, flailing and crying Luxray's name. He'd stopped sobbing, but his eyes remained red, his expression purely depressed.

After almost two hours, I was worried that what Volkner had said might be true... that Luxray had been released and re-captured. I looked up as I pondered - we'd arrived back at the beach. A complete circle.

Volkner flopped down into the sand behind me, making a sound like a deflated tire. I sat down next to him, putting a hand on his back.

"Volk..." I said softly. It was the first word we'd spoken in the past two hours besides Luxray, where are you, I'm sorry. "Volk... you need to take a rest."

I wasn't quite as surprised this time when his body went limp, flopping down and curling into my lap. I sighed, petting his hair, still at a loss.

"I've had Luxray since I was a kid," he said flatly, his voice barely audible. "Luxray gets jealous... like I do. I can't believe I was so caught up in... in it being my birthday, and trying to..." he paused, obviously starting to feel embarrassed by this show of emotion. "Trying to be... a romantic guy..."

I pondered this, still gently stroking my fingers through his hair. "Well, everyone gets over-excited about their own birthday... and you don't need to force yourself to be a romantic guy, Volk, I've always found you to be romantic just the way you are."

He answered mostly by shaking his head, then curling his body up more tightly against my legs. I sighed, gently scooting him off, laying his head down in the sand, which was warm despite the chilly weather.

"Volkner, just... I'm going to go look some more. Just wait here... or go home... you look terrible."

I'd had an idea, and I couldn't put it into action if I was with Volkner. I left him laying in the sand, which I assumed was fine as he had not responded to me. Then I set off at a brisk pace for the woods surrounding the gates into the city.

After half an hour of rustling around as loudly as possible in the bushes, I finally felt what I'd been hoping for - the feeling that I was being watched.

No, not watched. Hunted.

I stopped dead, trying to listen for any sound. I suddenly realized any crazy Pokemon could hunt me, not that I was less scared if it was the Pokemon I searched for that hunted me. As I had these exact thoughts, a bush yards away rustled slightly. I turned to look.

There was a flash of intense light, and I felt my body go stiff, paralyzed by thousands of electric surges. I cried out in sudden shock and pain, and could smell smoke I was certain was caused by my brain and guts frying inside of me. Then the shocks stopped and I collapsed to the ground, twitching like mad, every hair on my body sticking out straight.

It hurt, but I couldn't whimper. I was momentarily paralyzed. A black paw, sharp claws extended, stepped down in my line of vision, pushing into the soft dirt I was laying on. Even as the paralyzation faded, it was replaced with paralyzation from fear.

I turned my neck a few degrees so I could look up to see the massive furry chest of Luxray, sloping up to a powerful neck and chin. I could see the fangs in the mouth, large enough to rip open my throat. I gulped.

"T-truce," I choked weakly. Luxray looked down at me with eyes full of anger. Then it reached out, rolling me onto my back with its paw. I cringed - the claws looked like they'd have no problem spilling my insides onto the ground.

"Luxray..." I coughed, then stretched out a stiff arm, attempting to push myself up. Luxray put pressure on his paw, effectively pinning me to the ground. I decided to try this from my odd position. "Luxray... forgive me. I... please. I'm sorry. It - it's my fault Volkner was mad at you. It's... it's my fault I stole him away from you this weekend. It's my fault... we forgot to include our partners m-more in our ... in our relationship."

Luxray's paw trembled. It continued to stare at me, looking confused. I decided to continue.

"After... after you left. Volkner... tried to battle with you. He forgot he'd had a fight with you. When he saw you were missing, and remembered what he'd said to you, he... he started crying."

Luxray visibly flinched, now giving me an incredulous look and growling a little, as if saying, Don't make me laugh.

"No really... he was crying!" I moved a stiff arm, pointing to my tear-stained jacket. "He was crying... here's proof..."

Luxray bent down, delicately sniffing my jacket. Then he recoiled suddenly, stepping back and freeing me from under his paw. I propped myself up, and turned to look at his shocked face.

"We're sorry... so please come back to Sunyshore..." I bit my lip. "You don't have to like me, it's okay if you want to ignore me. I won't be around enough to steal Volkner from you... I promise. But I do like to ...spend time with him... sometimes..." I trailed off awkwardly, mumbling into nothingness. Luxray growled at me again and I pulled myself together.

"You're lucky, because you can be with your favorite person every single day." I attempted a little smile. "I only get to see him maybe... once every two months. I really miss him then. Because..." I gulped, blushing hard and turning to stare at a tree. I was telling this all to a Pokemon that would probably prefer me roasted with barbecue sauce. "Because I love him."

Despite my best efforts, a little tear trickled down my cheek, then another. I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as possible, embarrassed. "So... I will be coming around sometimes, because we're not breaking up right now, and... so, I'd really like it if we could be frie- eep!"

My eyes were still shut tight, but I felt a rough cat tongue licking at the salty tears which had dripped down to my chin. I dared to look - Luxray's big furry face was right next to mine as he licked me. I felt a happy feeling surge through my heart, and carefully lifted one arm, placing it behind the lion's gigantic ear and trying a little scritch.

Luxray purred.