Calem clutched his chosen pokeball in his right hand and grinned across the improvised battlefield on Route 16 to his opponent. Serena met his gaze with an equally confident one, especially for having been discharged from the hospital mere hours ago. Her bandaged hands were preventing her from properly holding her chosen pokeball – a normal pokeball, so Calem dutifully took note that she was not starting with Jolteon – with one hand, so she used both of them to hold it close to her chest. As promised, the two rivals would get to battle each other. Calem hadn't expected her to challenge him so quickly, but they were close to Dendemille Town, and the scenery was admittedly beautiful. A plethora of earth tones provided by the colourful leaves, the faint sound of rushing water, and grass that grew far past their heads on its bid to reach the late-afternoon sun donated a peaceful, calming atmosphere.

Calem and Serena had walked all the way by themselves. They had chatted lightly and alternated taking on the various trainers who challenged them, but were both eager to get to Dendemille as to avoid spending Serena's first night out of the hospital somewhere cold and dark. That would undoubtedly be too much for both of them after their experience in Frost Cavern.

"Calem!" Serena called, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. "You okay? Can we start now?"

Calem nodded and readied his pokeball. "Alright, let's get this over with…" He feigned exasperation, considering he never won against Serena.

Serena laughed. "Keep in mind you've had a lot of extra training, though. Maybe you have a shot this time."

Calem rolled his eyes, and raised his arm to toss out his first pokemon. Serena did the same, and with a flash of light, both pokemon appeared. Calem smirked at Serena's choice: Delphox. It was the best case scenario, as he'd chosen to start with Absol.

"What?!" Serena exclaimed, staring in distress over at Absol, who had picked up on Calem's gleeful emotions and confidently crouched into an aggressive battle pose. "But… you always start with your meowstic!" She was pouting, and it was adorable.

"Well, I knew you'd figured that out, so I switched things up." Calem shrugged. "Not that Meowstic on Delphox would have been that much more favourable for you."

Serena crossed her arms. "I know what I'm doing!"

"Del! Del, del!" Delphox cried out in agreement.

Calem grinned. "Absol, use sword dance!"

"Sunny day!" Serena retorted, to Calem's surprise. He had been certain that she would recall her pokemon due to the type disadvantage.

"Delll!" The bipedal fire/ psychic type pointed a stick to the sky, and the battlefield magically became much brighter and much, much hotter. Calem pulled on the collar of his jacket as Absol followed up with the command for sword dance.

Delphox was faster, which meant that Absol would likely need to survive a sunny-day-powered fire-type attack with his menial-at-best defenses before he would inevitably take her out with the sword-dance-boosted night slash. He decided it was worth the risk. "Absol, use night slash!"

"Flamethrower!"

As Calem had predicted, the stream of fire hit before Absol could land the attack. Calem gritted his teeth and turned away to protect himself from the heat. "Absol, just push through for the next attack!"

"Ab…sol!" When the fire had cleared, Calem was thrilled to see that Absol was still standing.

Serena's eyes widened. "No way…"

Absol took a step forward, but winced and glanced at his hind leg. The fur in that area was charred black; he was burned.

Calem groaned, but pointed ahead. "Try it anyways, Absol! Night slash!"

"Absol!" Delphox had probably underestimated the speed that Absol could still manage in his condition, and was hit. The burn had made a notable difference in power, though, so to Calem's great frustration, Delphox remained standing while Absol finally succumbed to his injuries and toppled onto his side.

"Return…" Calem pulled out his pokeball and recalled Absol. He bitterly watched as Serena and Delphox did some sort of celebratory dance on the other side of the field. "We're just getting started!" Calem called in irritation.

Serena brushed her hair away from her face and laughed. "Okay, well it's your move."

Calem hesitated to consider his options. Serena had expected him to start with Meowstic, and it would logically be a bad idea to give her what she had prepared for. Flareon would be able to take advantage of the sunny day, but he needed him for later…

Calem made his decision, and tossed out the first pokemon he had ever received. Greninja stretched his webbed limbs out, then crouched back into his fighting stance with a satisfied croak.

"Whoa, he evolved…" Serena noted, but was still smiling. "No problem. Delphox, flamethrower!"

Calem smiled knowingly – as he'd predicted, Serena still thought she had the advantage because of sunny day, but he had other options besides water-type attacks. "Greninja, dark pulse!"

Greninja responded immediately, and sent a ring of dark energy flying across the field. Serena and Delphox simultaneously froze in disbelief, which resulted in Delphox collapsing to the ground.

Serena recalled Delphox, but stared at Calem in confusion. "Greninja can learn dark pulse?!"

Calem chuckled. "Well, he is half dark-type."

"…Really?" Serena shook her head and dug into her bag for her next pokemon. "Whatever, that's fine! You're up next, Gogoat!"

The large-horned grass-type bleated powerfully as he was released, and dragged a forehoof across the ground in anticipation.

Greninja looked back at his trainer for orders. Calem knew better than to switch Flareon in – he'd fallen for that once before and was mercilessly defeated by a bulldoze attack. The sunny day was nearly up anyways, so he wouldn't be able to take advantage of the literal fire-power. Calem shook his head. "Greninja, dark pulse!"

"Seed bomb, Gogoat!"

To Calem's surprise, seed bomb apparently wasn't a special-type move, as Gogoat begun charging full-speed to Greninja after receiving his commands. Greninja sent a powerful dark-type ring soaring toward the opposing pokemon, but Gogoat charged right through it, then came to a screeching halt and released several white orbs from his mouth.

"W-what the -?!" Calem threw his arms up to shield himself from the dust that the attack stirred up when it collided with Greninja. Once it had settled, he squinted anxiously through the dust. "Greninja!"

"Niiiin!" Greninja leapt out of the dust and reappeared to Gogoat's left.

"Dark pulse!" Calem hastily commanded as Gogoat steadied himself for the attack.

"Take the attack, then use synthesis!" Serena called, smiling confidently.

Calem flicked his eyes up to confirm that the effects of sunny day were still in effect, and groaned as Gogoat glowed brightly and instantly recovered what was probably all of his hit points. He rubbed the area between his eyes. "…I thought sunny day only lasted for five turns?" Suddenly realization hit him. "Where did you get the heat rock?!"

"It was near the power plant," Serena said nonchalantly. "Gogoat, bullet seed!"

Gogoat didn't bother trying to fake Greninja out the second time around, and opened his mouth to begin charging energy –

"Greninja, return!" Calem swiftly recalled Greninja before Gogoat could release the attack, and the grass-type glanced back at Serena for further commands. Serena waited quietly with her arms crossed.

Calem exchanged pokeballs, then threw his choice into the fray. "Alright, Flareon! Go!"

Flareon emerged and shook his fluffy fur, causing small spurts of fire to fly in all directions. "Flare! Flareon!"

"Okay Flareon," Calem said, and the fire-type glanced back. "Hit hard and fast." Provided Flareon could get to Gogoat before he could retaliate, it would be an easy one-hit knockout due to the sunny day. Flareon nodded, so Calem nodded back and then yelled. "Fire fang!"

"Bulldoze!"

Gogoat reared up and ploughed his front hooves powerfully into the dirt, and the battlefield began shaking violently. Flareon tried to keep on target, but the unsteady ground caused him to trip. He tumbled across the ground, and struggled to rise due to the shaking earth.

"Gogoat, return!"

Both Calem and Flareon shot Serena a confused look, but Gogoat began charging full speed at Flareon. Calem noticed first. "Flareon, jump to the right! Quickly!"

Flareon flung himself out of the way as Gogoat just barely missed, but the mount pokemon pivoted and started running back again. "I thought you were recalling Gogoat?!" Calem yelled as Flareon leapt out of the way, only for Gogoat to circle around for a third try.

Serena gave him an odd look, then her eyes widened in realization and she started laughing. "I wasn't telling Gogoat to return, I was telling him to use return! It's a pokemon attack!"

"Flare!" Flareon barked for help as Gogoat rapidly approached.

"Meet him with fire fang by jumping!"

Flareon nodded and leapt into the air. Gogoat couldn't slow himself, and had to keep running. Flareon expertly landed himself on top of the larger pokemon, and sunk his teeth into the back of Gogoat's neck.

As Calem had predicted, Gogoat bleated in pain for only a few moments as fire exploded from Flareon's mouth. He collapsed.

"Alright! Excellent work, Flareon!" Calem praised. Flareon ran over to him, and Calem scratched him behind the ears.

Serena recalled Gogoat and sighed. "You did a good job, Gogoat. The sunny day strategy still needs some work, but that's my fault…"

Calem watched as she dug into her bag for her third pokeball. "Don't be hard on yourself. You and your pokemon had a long break from each other."

Serena managed a small smile, and held the chosen quick ball in front of her. "I think this is the first time you're actually winning, though."

Calem realized with a start that she was right. He still had three pokemon left, and she only had two. Serena tossed Jolteon onto the field, and Flareon's ears perked as the other eeveelution materialized. Jolteon flared her spiky fur outward and growled as she crouched into a battle position. Flareon hesitated, then imitated her.

"Stay focused, buddy…" Calem knew that Flareon was the best matchup available to him, as Greninja suffered from a type-disadvantage and Meowstic was a special attacker, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a difficult battle. If Flareon could pull this off, he would be pretty much home-free.

Granted, that did beg the question as to why Serena would use Jolteon over Wartortle… He didn't have time to ponder it.

"Quick attack!"

Serena and Calem called out the command simultaneously, so both Flareon and Jolteon became white blurs as they sped toward each other. Jolteon was the faster of the two by far, but Flareon hit harder, so both pokemon tumbled backward from the collision.

"Jolteon, follow up with thunderbolt!"

"Take the attack, then use fire fang!"

Jolteon let off a few sparks, then focused the energy into one continuous beam of electrical energy. Calem winced as he remembered the last time he'd seen Jolteon use that attack…

Calem's head shot away from the battle and toward Serena as a jolt of panic momentarily overtook him. She was okay. He had no reason to think that she wouldn't be…

"Uh, Calem?" Serena asked.

Calem blinked, then turned back to the battle to see that Jolteon and Flareon were engaged in a disorganized tussle in the middle of the battlefield. Flareon had his teeth bared and was emitting smoke from his mouth, but Jolteon was too fast and he simply couldn't keep up. "F-Flareon!" Calem hastily called, and his pokemon paused and looked back.

"Jolteon, quick attack!"

Jolteon sped toward Flareon at an alarming speed. "Flareon, you're bigger than her! Try to pin her!"

Flareon stood his ground as Jolteon collided with him, and both pokemon flew back. Jolteon tried to get up to regain her neutral position, but Flareon swiftly blocked her attempts and stood overtop of her.

"Flip him over!" Serena advised.

"Jolt!" Jolteon pushed back against Flareon, and the two engaged in a fight for dominance. The air filled with angrily growls and yelps as the two pokemon scuffled, but it ended the same way it began. Jolteon lay on her back and panted as Flareon growled and held her down by her shoulders.

Calem grinned. "Excellent. Now finish her off with fire fang!"

Flareon bared his teeth to begin executing the move –

"Jolteon, kiss him!"

Without hesitation, Jolteon lifted her head, closed her eyes, and connected her mouth with Flareon's. The fire-type's attack dissolved entirely, and his ears stood straight up into the air as his eyes widened in surprise.

Calem stared, dumbfounded. "I, uh… Flareon, fire fang!"

Flareon didn't seem to hear the command. Jolteon disconnected from him and tipped her head with a smile.

"Okay Jolteon, now flip him!"

"Jolteon!" In one swift movement, Jolteon had somehow gone from the bottom to the top, and now it was Flareon who was on his back. He stared up in confusion, as if not sure what had just happened. Jolteon smirked and placed a front paw against his fluffy neck.

Calem broke his gaze to glare at Serena. "That's not fair! Kissing isn't a legal pokemon move!"

Serena shrugged. "All's fair in love and war."

"Gah… Come on, Flareon, get up!"

Flareon was either ignoring him or was too transfixed by Jolteon to hear the command at all. "Thunderbolt, Jolteon!" Serena called.

"Flareon!" Calem shouted, wracking his brain for ideas. "Say something to her! Convince her not to electrocute you! Please!"

Flareon finally turned to stare wide-eyed at Calem, desperate for further instructions. Calem understood how he felt. Sparks were dancing across Jolteon's fur, but Calem noted that she was purposefully hesitating. Serena didn't seem to notice…

"Don't look at me, Flareon!" Calem yelled. "Look at her! Use your own words!"

"…F-Flare! Flareon, flare, flare, flareon flare!"

Jolteon released her attack – it hit the ground a solid ten feet off its mark. Calem grinned widely, and it was Serena's turn to stare in disbelief. "H-how could that have…" Serena trailed off in realization and rubbed the spot between her eyes. "You have got to be kidding…"

"Flareon, get up!" Calem called, a renewed sense of confidence driving him forward.

Jolteon put up a half-hearted effort to keep Flareon pinned, but after only a few moments the fire-type was back on his feet. "Flare! Flareon!"

"J-jolt, jolt, jolteon."

"Flare!"

The two pokemon began slowly circling each other. Both trainers quickly saw that they finally had an opportunity –

"Fire fang!"

"Thunderbolt!"

Jolteon's thunderbolt attack landed just to the left of Flareon, who dove a bit excessively to his right to avoid it. Flareon began charging fire fang, and dove toward Jolteon, who scooted well to her left to dodge, which placed both pokemon on the very edge of the makeshift battlefield.

"Flareon, fire fang…"

"Um… thunder… bolt?"

Their pokemon again traded attacks, and this time moved off of the field entirely. Both trainers watched in disbelief as Jolteon and Flareon moved further and further down the path.

Calem was about to recall Flareon when Jolteon finally landed a thunderbolt attack on him.

"Yes!" Serena cheered, but her elation was short-lived. Flareon shook himself, dazed by the attack. Jolteon smirked, then barked and disappeared into the tall grass. Flareon's ears perked, and he swiftly followed.

"Flareon!"

"Jolteon!"

Serena and Calem looked across the battlefield at each other, then Serena sighed and abandoned her side of the field to join him. "Can you see them?"

"No…" The grass on the route was unusually tall, and Calem couldn't even see a rustle to indicate movement. "They should be okay against the wild pokemon as long as they stick together."

Serena groaned. "It's not the wild pokemon I'm worried about…"

Calem looked over. "Why? What's wrong?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "How exactly would you like to split custody of an eevee egg?" Calem started laughing, but Serena retained her serious expression. "No, really though, your flareon isn't fixed, is he…?"

"Why would I do that? I had plans to breed him in the future. Besides, I'm sure they're just…" Calem trailed off, trying to find another explanation. "…they're just, uh, playing?"

Serena glared at him. "Well, what should we do?"

Calem gingerly grabbed her hand. "Let's go in too, I guess."

Serena hastily pulled her hand away. Calem looked back, worried that he'd hurt her, but she was blushing furiously. "T-too forward! Way too forward!"

It took Calem a second to figure out why she was yelling at him, then he reddened. "I… I meant let's go look for them, not copy them! For Arceus's sake!" Calem turned to rummage in his black and blue bag, and pulled out a silver canister. Serena watched quietly as he shook it, and closed her eyes when he pointed the nozzle at her.

It didn't take more than a minute or two to apply the super repel, but the lack of an appearance from their pokemon was starting to worry Calem. Once they were both adequately coated in the wild-pokemon preventative, Serena stepped ahead of him and nodded. "Thanks…"

"No problem. Let's get going."

The tall grass reached past both of their heads, and though Serena had taken the lead, Calem too felt as if he was swimming in the thick, rough strands. He continuously reached ahead to pull a path for himself, unable to fathom what would happen if they encountered a wild pokemon. The repel would hopefully protect them until they could get out.

"Ah!" Serena's long hair became ensnared by a particularly large piece of grass, and she stopped in her tracks to free it. Her bandaged hands were not doing an effective rescue job, so Calem ducked around and gently tried to untangle her. Her hair had somehow managed to wrap itself around several of the leaves, and Calem wasn't sure how to release Serena without hurting her. He thought for a moment, then decided on a compromise; he grabbed the stem of the grass, and broke it.

Serena glowered at her saviour with the plant still loyally attached to the left side of her head. Pieces of her hair stuck up in odd directions around it. Being somewhat freed, she was at least able to straighten her stance. "I appreciate the effort, but really?"

Calem wasn't able to stifle a laugh and snorted in amusement. "I still think you're cute."

Serena scoffed and continued to fight with her hair. She was actually able to maneuver the grass stem with greater ease now that it wasn't attached to anything other than herself, and it only took a few moments for her to finally separate it from her head. "Ugh, finally." She removed her red felt hat, and swapped it for a hair elastic in her purse. She quickly tied her hair into a ponytail, and sighed. "Sorry about all of this." She shifted her gaze to the ground. "I know this isn't turning out to be much of a date…"

Calem shrugged. "Travelling between two towns isn't usually thought of as a date, anyways."

Serena didn't look up. "…I mean, I shouldn't have asked you for a battle. It was too soon, too sudden - "

"Battles aren't typically thought of as dates, either." Calem was playing with her now. It was too hard to resist.

Serena glared at him. "Y-yeah, well…" Her voice wavered, and she stared dejectedly at the ground. "I… I thought…"

Calem dropped his smirk, briefly panicking at Serena's lack of a witty comeback. Was he being too harsh? Normally he would say no, but their relationship had changed beyond that of rivals. "I… hey, no, I-I didn't mean that! I, uh - "

Serena interrupted him with a giggle. "I'm just joking. Jeez, you should see the look on your face."

Calem settled his surprised expression back into a smile. "Whatever. I deserved that."

Serena grinned. "Yeah, you did. As if you weren't looking forward to this." She took a subtle step closer, and brushed Calem's arm with her fingertips. Calem felt his breath catch. She paused, then looked up with a small frown. "…Right?"

Even after everything, she still lacked confidence. They were both new to this, Calem figured. He reassured her with a light laugh and gently wrapped his right arm around her waist. The long grass scratched at their skin, but they were too focused on one other to take notice. "Yes. I'm sorry it took you being hospitalized for me to admit it."

Serena smiled back, her cheeks tinged pink.

Then her eyes widened and she pulled back, breaking their connection with a terrified screech. She moved too quickly without remembering the length of the grass, and tripped backward and out of Calem's sight.

Startled, Calem froze in place. "Serena? Serena, what are you - "

"LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

Calem followed her instructions slowly, not sure what he would find –

"KABOO!"

A bright flash of light momentarily blinded Calem. "AH!" Disoriented, he stumbled backward in a similar manner to Serena, and predictably also ended up falling onto his side.

Calem sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes. His heart was pounding from adrenaline, as he still had no idea what had just happened.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh, use surf! Use surf!" Serena was frantically yelling even before Calem registered the click of a pokemon being released from its pokeball. Calem blinked as his vision finally started to come back, and noted Wartortle preparing the attack.

A high pitched snickering echoed around them, and Wartortle's attack splashed down without hitting anything. The three of them stayed silent for a few moments, then let out simultaneous sighs of relief.

Serena huffed and brushed dirt off of her new coat. "So much for the repel."

Calem was already rummaging through his bag for another one. "I… I wasn't counting our steps, but I didn't think we'd gone that far!" He successfully located another super repel, and hastily sprayed himself, Serena, and the area immediately around them. "I bet it's the tall grass; we're rubbing against it, and it's wearing off the repel."

"War, wartortle?"

"Good job, Wartortle." Serena smiled and recalled him back into his pokeball before pulling back the grass to look at Calem with a concerned frown. "Are you okay? I don't know what that thing was, but it attacked you…" She crawled closer so that the wall of grass no longer separated them, but looked warily around. "It's not like pokemon to do that unprovoked, even wild ones…"

"I'm pretty sure it was a pumpkaboo. Part grass, part ghost," Calem explained. He also peered around the area; the grass seemed even taller from the ground. "I saw a lot of them when I was here last time with Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna. It probably attacked when it saw movement, but backed off when it realized what it was attacking wasn't going to hurt it."

Serena shivered, sending a wave of terror through Calem. "A-are you sure it's safe in here? I don't - "

"Are you okay?" Calem interrupted in a rushed, panicked tone. He scrambled to get closer to her. "Are you cold? W-we should - "

"Calem, Calem, shh…" Serena managed to quiet him, and wrapped him into a hug. "No, I'm sorry, I'm just… that pokemon scared me, I…" She pulled away, the concern etched clearly across her face as she stared at his alarmed expression. "I'm fine, Calem. I promise."

Calem's breathing slowed back to normal, and he shook his head. "I'm sorry..."

"No, I understand - "

"I-I keep having these visions - "

"I know, I know - "

"I keep thinking we're back in Frost Cavern -"

"We're not ever going back there - "

Beads of sweat were starting to form on Calem's face, and tears welled in his eyes. "I-I can't lose you, I just, I-I just - "

"Arrière!" Serena exclaimed. Calem finally hesitated, then looked to Serena in bemusement.

"…Excuse me?"

"Stop," Serena explained, then hesitated. "Um, I think that's how you say it…"

Calem tried and failed to stifle a laugh. "Arrêter," he corrected, finally cracking a grin. "The word you used was effective enough, though."

"It was a real word, though?" Serena asked hopefully.

Calem chuckled. "Oui. It means 'backside'."

"Oh…" Serena's face reddened. "Sorry for yelling that at you." She smiled sheepishly at him. "My English wasn't doing a good job of stopping you, so I just thought…"

Calem shook his head, deciding not to question where she had picked up the word in the first place. Likely Tierno. His amused smile slowly faded as he remembered what she had been trying to say. "I deserved it for freaking out on you like that." It wasn't as if it was the first time he'd panicked over her; it was a daily occurrence in one way or another, and he figured Serena must be exasperated by this point. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't deserve any of this, Calem…" Serena averted her eyes, but not before Calem could catch a glimpse of the pain reflected in them. "You saved my life, and suffered because of it. I deserve to suffer. I'm thankful for my life, but I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you."

"Arrêter," Calem smirked as Serena hesitated and looked in his direction. "Don't say things like that. Do I seem remorseful?"

Serena stared at the dirt floor. "No… I know…"

This explained her strange bouts of ill-confidence, at least. Calem knew that time would solve Serena's doubts on its own. For now, they had other issues that needed to be tended to. Calem started to stand. "Come on, let's go find our pokemon."

Serena stopped him from standing by grabbing his arm and pulling him. "Just a little longer?" she pleaded.

Calem obediently sat down, albeit with a quizzical look. "Uh, why? Weren't you the one afraid of an eevee egg?"

Serena shook her head. "I could use an eevee." She hesitated, then added, "that's not why I want to sit here, though."

Calem laughed. "Are you serious? What's with the change of mind?"

Serena smiled sadly. "I thought back to our battle; you started with Absol for a good reason. I have no counter for dark types. I could use a Sylveon."

"You defeated Absol, remember?"

"I was lucky with the burn." She smirked. "And you shouldn't have used Absol until after you defeated Jolteon, anyways. Absol could probably beat Gogoat and Wartortle after a swords dance, and Delphox by type-advantage, but Jolteon would outspeed him."

That was Serena - always ahead of him. Calem rolled his eyes. "If Absol could take a sunny-day-powered flamethrower, then he can take a thunderbolt."

"That was luck."

"Then why do you think you need a better counter than Delphox if I only won by luck?"

Serena laughed. "That was your fault for letting me set up the sunny day."

"I was predicting the switch!" Calem argued. "Who would leave a Delphox in against an Absol besides you?"

"Yes, and you won't do that again… which is why I need an Absol-counter."

Calem groaned, but then remembered something. "Wait. You already have an Absol-counter…"

Serena hesitated, then slowly nodded. "…You mean Lucario."

"I can't believe I didn't notice at Frost Cavern…" Calem sighed and looked at Serena's bare wrist. "I guess I was more than a bit distracted. I'm assuming that the mega ring is safe even if you aren't wearing it, right?"

"It's with Professor Sycamore. I left it with him after you sent me the Holo-cast, since I was actually in Lumiose City at the time. Lucario's there too."

"Why? You would have flattened me with that thing!"

"Exactly!" Serena exclaimed. "I was thrilled to have the opportunity to use mega evolution, believe me, but it felt so wrong to use it against you…" She laughed. "I respect you too much, I guess. Besides, I wanted a battle, not necessarily a win."

"You always get both regardless…" Calem muttered.

Serena shook her head. "I think we can call this one a tie."

Calem raised an eyebrow. "I was winning."

Serena shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I would have come back."

"Jolteon beats vaporeon, vaporeon beats flareon, flareon beats jolteon," Calem argued.

Serena smirked. "Serena beats Calem."

"Hey!"

Serena's giggles turned into a surprised yelp as Calem gave her a playful shove. It had been barely enough to even rock her, so Calem was surprised when she retaliated by tackling him flat to the ground. Her laughter returned as Calem blinked at the sky and tried to figure out what had just happened.

Calem grunted as he felt a weight on his abdomen, and looked up to see Serena's face overtop of his. He quickly glanced down, and blushed as he realized she was straddling him. "Uh... hello."

Serena tipped her head and smiled. "Hello."

Calem sat up slowly. Serena shifted, then leaned in closer. The two simultaneously closed their eyes and allowed their lips to softly connect. The tall grass provided a feeling of seclusion, which drove their kiss deeper. Pleasant endorphins drove their bodies closer and the thought of anything else out of their minds.

Serena separated first. She looked at Calem and blushed. "I'm so glad that we can finally be together like this…"

Calem could agree with that. The past few weeks had been dramatic and painful, but the happiness that came from being around Serena made him worry as to whether or not everything had just been a dream. He wasn't sure how to put it into words without sounding corny, so he opted for the easy way out. "Yeah… me too."

"I've liked you for a while, you know…" Serena flopped onto the grass, and Calem followed to lie next to her. "I never thought I'd ever admit it."

Calem grinned at that. He had initially dismissed any attraction to his rival – she was beautiful, he could admit that. He learned more about her every day – her passion for pokemon quickly matched his own, and by getting to know her as a friend, he began to long for more. Any boy would take notice of her flowing hair, her beautiful smile, her upbeat demeanor. Other boys did, after all, which fueled Calem's emotions, but never to the point where he could be brave enough to step in. Seri was always a step ahead, so if she returned those feelings, he assumed that she would be the first to admit it. When she didn't, he took that for his answer.

He didn't consider that they could be in the same emotional situation. Instead, he tried to distance himself. Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna were all pursuing radically different goals, so he went along with it. It didn't make sense to separate from Serena when they were aiming toward the same thing, but at the time he honestly thought it would be for the best. There was no use in painfully teasing himself.

He felt foolish now as they snuggled into each other. Not for warmth this time, but to satiate their desire to be closer. Serena smiled lightly and stared up past the grass stems and into the late-afternoon sky.

For a good while, they were content to lay still and simply be with each other. The occasional kiss was stolen, but few words were exchanged.

With a sigh, Calem broke the silence. "Seri?"

"Mhmm?"

"…We need to go find our pokemon before the sun starts to set."

Both parties groaned as they sat up. "Yeah, I know," Serena agreed. She stood up and stretched her arms toward the sky. "How many eggs do you think we'll have by now?"

Calem snorted in amusement and also stood. "Guess we should go see."

"Should we just keep walking and hope for the best?"

Calem shook his head. "Nah, we aren't making much progress here. Let's get out of the grass and wait for them. They'll get hungry eventually."

"That's true…" Serena sighed. "As long as the wild pokemon didn't take them by surprise…"

"Fire and electric together have a type advantage over everything here. Don't worry."

"Okay…"

Calem took the lead this time, and made a point of being the gentleman and pulling the grass far enough so that both of them could get through. Serena grinned and stuck close to him, but kept Wartortle's pokeball at the ready in case of any wild encounters.

The pair managed to make it through the grass scathe-free, and emerged roughly from where they first entered. They took a moment to brush themselves off, but soon after realized that they weren't alone.

"Flareon?!" Calem exclaimed to the fire-type, who was sitting obediently in front of the grass next to Jolteon. The two eeveelutions simultaneously cocked their heads to the left and gave their trainers an odd look. If they could talk, Calem knew that they'd be saying something along the lines of 'care to explain what you two were doing in there for so long?'

Calem and Serena glanced at each other, then awkwardly cleared their throats. "We were looking for you two," Calem said sternly. "Don't go off without me again, Flareon. Uh, tall grass can be dangerous."

Flareon rolled his eyes and Jolteon emitted a short barking laugh before standing and nudging her trainer with a paw. "Jolt, jolteon, jolt?"

Serena crouched down and rubbed Jolteon behind the ears, but furrowed her brow. "Well, what were youdoing, huh?"

Jolteon smirked and looked over her shoulder to Flareon, who shifted his eyes nervously but didn't move. The spiky dog trotted triumphantly over to the fluffy fire-type, locked eyes with Calem, and then prodded Flareon with one paw.

Electrical sparks danced across Flareon's body, and he sunk to the ground with a grimace. "Jolteon!" she barked and stuck her nose proudly into the air.

Serena's eyes widened as Calem hastily sunk down to inspect Flareon. "Paralyzed…" Calem muttered as Flareon trembled and flattened his ears. "Pretty badly too. Wow." He tugged off his backpack, and rummaged through it. "Hold on, buddy."

"Well… I told you we'd come back." Serena giggled.

Calem groaned. "This was Jolteon's victory, not yours! We don't even know what happened!"

Serena scoffed and turned to Jolteon. "Quick attack and then thunderwave?"

Jolteon nodded. "Jolt!"

"Thought as much..."

Flareon whimpered in embarrassment. Calem sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. You win… again." He brought out a paralysis heal and sprayed it all over Flareon's body. As he was rummaging through his bag for Flareon's pokeball, Jolteon trotted over and nibbled at one of Flareon's ears with a whine. Flareon glanced at her, then snorted and turned away. Calem watched as Jolteon took a sheepish step back, then he finally recalled his pokemon.

Serena pulled out Jolteon's quick ball, then hesitated. "Love can be a dangerous thing to play with, Jolteon. Remember that next time." With that, Jolteon disappeared back into her ball. Serena bit her lip. "I'm so sorry, Calem." She bowed her head, and Calem watched curiously. "I didn't tell Jolteon to do anything like that. I hope Flareon can forgive her…"

Calem smiled, but shook his head. "Thanks, but if you didn't tell her to attack, then I doubt Jolteon was planning it. Flareon probably did something stupid." He rolled his eyes. He would have to find some way to properly educate his pokemon about romance for both of their sakes. He cracked a smile. "I guess we'll never know."

Serena slowly smiled back at him, and nodded. "I guess not."

The sky was obtaining a red tinge, and both of them took special notice. "Are you ready to go back to Dendemille Town, Seri?" Calem asked. It would be a big step in both of their psychological recoveries, but he himself was fearful of being reminded of the terrible events. Despite Serena's insistence, he began to worry that they'd made the wrong choice by coming back so soon.

Serena stared at the path ahead as the wind played with her ponytail. She wore a smile, and her eyes shone with characteristic anticipation. She wrapped one bandaged hand around Calem's and reassured him with a bright laugh. "Yeah, let's go!"

Calem was glad that she appeared content. Her confidence seemed to radiate, and he felt better just from being beside her. As they set off, he felt Serena squeeze his hand.

"Merci, Calem," Serena said.

"Um… de rien," he humoured her, but raised an eyebrow quizzically. "…Why are you thanking me?"

"For everything…" Serena looked up with a smile. "Je t'aime, Calem."

Perhaps there really was a reason for everything. After all, a near tragedy had blossomed into something that Calem was that much more grateful to experience given the situation. He blushed and smiled back at her.

"Je t'aime, Serena."

…The End…

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get this out. But finally, here is the conclusion! Thank you everybody for your views / favourites / follows / and especially reviews!

French translations:

"Arrière!" – "Backside!" (this is a bit of a stretch for the purposes of the story as yelled it would be more like "back" as in "stand back!", but it can mean backside!)

"Arrêter," = "Stop,"

"Merci, Calem," = "Thank you, Calem,"

"Um… de rien," = "Um… no problem,"

"Je t'aime, Calem." = "I love you, Calem."

"Je t'aime, Serena." = "I love you, Serena."

Send me one last review? :D It'll help me improve in the future, or maybe help this fic itself if you find any mistakes. Thank you again for your support!