Wow, it's been another 4 months… and I still get visitors.
I said this before. Twelfth grade is surely a turbulent period. There are (too) many tests that I went through when I wasn't working on this fanfic.

Also, there's something I would like to tell you about this fanfic. I used two new stuffs in this chapter, the em dash and the short separator line (I don't know what it's called exactly) in attempt to make the story flows better.

Anyway, thank you for your patience. Here's the second part of chapter 8!

Chapter 8b: Morty's Experimentation

The following afternoon, I was battling a Youngster. He looked different than the usual Youngsters I battled. The green hat he wore might have signed that he's slightly tougher than them. He owned a single male Nidoran, who had used Focus Energy and beat my Pidgey with a Double Kick. So it was Pidgeotto's turn to battle. I withdrew Pidgey into my Poke Ball and switched out Pidgeotto. Pidgeot was watching the battle with focus.

For the first move, I decided to start with a basic attack. "Pidgeotto! Use Tackle!"

Pidgeotto propelled towards Nidoran. He hit the Nidoran hard with its body, throwing the little Poison-type Pokemon back.

The Youngster appeared panicked when he saw his Pokemon thrown by Pidgeotto's attack. He glanced at me before commanding his Nidoran, "I haven't lost yet. Nidoran! Use Take Down!"

I became worried. If the move were a critical hit, my chance of losing would be very high. Pidgeot was with me. He lowered his eyebrows and pouted.

The Nidoran got back on his feet. He took a few steps back before running at high speed to Pidgeotto. He jumped, striking Pidgeotto on his neck. Pidgeotto fell down from the attack. For a moment, I thought I might have lost the battle because Pidgeotto didn't make a move. Pidgeot then yelled at me, pointing at Pidgeotto. I noticed that Pidgeotto was shivering. He tried to stand up on his own. He looked weak from his slow movement, but I could see the determination he had.

"All right, Pidgeotto!" I praised him enthusiastically. Pidgeot was cheering for him also. "OK. Now, use Gust!"

Pidgeotto cried, before flapping his wings rapidly. A mini tornado formed in front of him, and was launched at Nidoran. It hurled the Poison-type away, Nidoran bounding off several times against the floor and finally stopped near his Trainer's foot.

"No!" The Youngster yelled, "Nidoran!" He dashed to his Pokemon, who was now lying still with mouth gaping. The Youngster's mouth soon gaped too. He patted his Nidoran, but the Pokemon only uttered a low voice. I watched the Youngster telling his Pokemon to get up, but the Nidoran could only breathe under his Trainer's hand.

"Your Pokemon has been defeated," I said calmly. "You have done quite well though. If you could train your Pokemon a little bit more, you'll have a bigger chance of obtaining the Zephyr Badge."

The Youngster glanced at me, and then back at his Nidoran. I could see his eyes were filled with disappointment. He let out a sigh. A Poke Ball was pulled out of his pocket, and he sent Nidoran into the Poke Ball. His sight was now fixed at Pidgeotto. He just stood still with his mouth shut. I had no idea what was going on in his mind. The Youngster raised his head, looking at me. I was taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm he put on his face. "Yeah, I'll do better next time! Nidoran will beat your Pidgeotto, and I'll get my first badge!" He shouted, "You'll see!" The Youngster walked away to the wooden platform, going back down to ground level and disappearing from my view.

"That was one skilled Youngster, isn't he, Pidgeot?"

"Ooott!" Pidgeot shouted in agreement.

Having finished the battle, I sat down, and took the lunchbox from the plastic bag I brought to my Gym. Earlier that afternoon, Morty had succeeded in persuading me so he could make lunch for the afternoon. It was just like he had stated; chicken katsu with rice, salad, and miso soup, served with jasmine tea for drink. The jasmine tea was put inside a small thermos. In addition, there were spoon, fork, and a small cup. Again, the whole meal was too much for me —but too much is always better than not enough, right?

I sat down, staring at the Japanese meal. "Wow, another Japanese food. I'll surely love this day." Its smell drifted into my nostrils. I could already feel it landing on my tongue! I wanted to eat it right away, but then I remembered Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot, who were watching me with a frown. So I grabbed the food from the plastic bag and put it in front of Pidgeot, gathering the other birds.

"Let's eat."

I cut the katsu with the fork, looking at the food. It was well cooked. I could see that from its firm and crispy texture, which drew my appetite. Without further ado, I ate the chicken katsu. I was once again amazed by the tastiness of Morty's cooking. When did he learn how to cook Japanese cuisine anyway? The salad looked fresh too. And after the main course, there were still the warm miso soup and the pleasant jasmine tea…

"Wow…" The birds were watching me. They were obviously jealous that they didn't have a meal as exquisite as mine.

"I would love to have another one of these for dinner…"

Soon after I said that, I heard my birds grunting as they gave me a resentful look.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being self-centered," I told them, "How about this? For tonight, I'll give you all Lemonades for drink."

They lowered their eyebrows, telling me that they were not satisfied with the deal.

"And Berries for dessert… There, happy?"

Their disappointment suddenly vanished right away. My birds flew with a smile, given a hug when they stayed close enough to me.

"Pid, Pidgeot Ot?" Pidgeot asked me about my lunch.

"Yeah, Pidgeot. It tasted really great, thanks to Morty."

"Geoot?" Pidgeot's word translated as Morty's name.

I nodded to assure Pidgeot.

Pidgeot then lowered his head, seemed to be thinking what he intended to say to me. "Ot, Pidgeot Geoot!" He said that it would be a very good idea to thank Morty.

My mind, which had been focused to battles from noon, tensed from the thought of him. "You mean… now? A-as in… call him and say it from the Pokegear?"

My bird Pokemon didn't notice the anxiety in my voice, however. Pidgeot smiled in reply, Pidgey and Pidgeotto cheering for him.

Their support didn't help much for building my confidence. In fact, I could only become more nervous after I pulled out my Pokegear. My heart was beating a little faster as I saw Morty's name appearing on the topmost rows of names, because I put every Johto Gym Leader's names on top of my contacts list. I tapped his name. The last thing I had to do is press the call button.

Questions popped up in my head. How should I greet him? What should I say to him first? How should I thank him? What would we discuss then? And how should I properly end our conversation? Come to think of it, it was as if I was arranging a public speech. It couldn't be this complicated. I was sure that once I start talking, I know what I should say next.

"Pidgeot?" He asked why I hesitated.

I was pretty confused about how I would explain to Pidgeot. I mean, Pokemon are not able to understand human relationships… are they? So I sat there facing my birds blankly. They were clueless about why I didn't do anything. My thumb was already over the call button but it stopped there. Why was this really hard to do? I only need to press the call button, and then I could talk with Morty.

"Pidgeot, I-" My speech was cut by the sudden ringing of my Pokegear.

Rrrring, rrrring. And Morty's name appeared on the machine.

It would be less confusing for me if he called first, because he would have to do more of the talking. I pressed the answer button. "H-hello, Mort." I noticed my very low voice when I greeted him.

"Ah, I'm so glad to hear your voice, sweetheart." He paused. "Say, you didn't sound fine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was a bit surprised that you called me in the Gym."

"I see. Sorry for startling you."

Then he became silent. Perhaps he didn't know what to say next. But I remembered that he's the one who called, so I could ask the following question:

"Uh, Mort. What did you call me for?"

"Well…" His voice echoed. "I want to ask you about…"

When he talked that way, I could tell he had not come up with a worthwhile topic.

"…How you're doing in your battles today."

Hah! That's what we Gym Leaders generally talk about when we didn't have anything good to say. Still, I answered politely, "I have just defeated a Youngster. He was a tough one, though. His Nidoran almost defeated Pidgeotto. What about you, Mort?"

"Ah, it's not much different," he said, "A Lass battled me with a Pidgeotto. It's kind of tricky to beat because Pidgeotto is part Normal-type. Luckily, my Ghost Pokemon knows a good set of Status moves."

He battled a Lass who had a Pidgeotto? Now I got an idea of why he called me.

I heard a laugh then. "So uh, her Pidgeotto made me think of you."

His saying made sense. Since he told me that, I learned if Morty saw Pidgey or his evolutions—or any other Normal-Flying-type for that matter, reminded him of me.

"You missed me, Mort?" My reply came out of nowhere.

"I guess I did." If that was the case, he must have called me because he only wanted to hear my voice. What should I say to that?

I just stood there, holding my Pokegear. Morty probably did the same. I didn't understand why such short words could silence the two of us. Waiting for him to talk, I glanced at my bird Pokemon. They were watching me all the time. I also found out my front most Gym Trainer glimpsed at me every now and then. But if this persisted, my hand would soon become tired, so I managed to tell him, "I missed you too, Mort." He might not know it, but I was smiling tenderly on the Pokegear. Those words sounded so simple yet worth a lot of solicitude.

"Falkner, thank you. That's all I need to hear from you for now," he spoke softly, "Uh, I'll see you at dinner."

"OK." I was running out of words. "Love you."

He hummed briefly. "Love you too, sweetheart."

Click! Beep, beep, beep.

And that's how it ended. I was smiling so widely at the floor from the satisfaction I felt. We only talked about trivial things, but if it finished with such precious words, then it would become meaningful. Which reminded me, I had said the L-word by my own reflex. I wasn't aware that I was in my Gym, surrounded by the Gym Trainers. My smile quickly disappeared as I asked myself: Oh no, what if they heard something they were not supposed to know?

So I checked them to make sure. Apparently, only Ivan, the Trainer who had been gazing at me before, heard the words I said to Morty. He was holding his mouth, staggering. I could tell he was trying to hide his laughing.

"Ivan!"

He immediately turned at me. "S-sorry, Falkner. I didn't mean to overhear your talk with your new girlfriend." With eyebrows raised, he made an apologetic smile.

I sighed knowing that he did hear my conversation with Morty. What ever would happen if Gym Trainers start spreading rumors about their Leaders…

But wait—did he mention girlfriend? Girl, not boy? Then that could only mean…

He didn't pay enough attention to notice that I was talking to Morty! Whew, thank Lugia he didn't know the person on the Pokegear was none other than the Ecruteak City Leader.

"Yeah, yeah. Seriously, keep it to yourself and get back to battling."

"I will!" He winked an eye while showing his thumb.

Hopefully he would be able to keep his words. With that handled, I could focus back on battles and wait until dinner time.

-ooooooo-

Before I went to Ecruteak, I did a few things at my house. I feeded my birds, and gave them Lemonades and Berries like they wanted. Also, I had taken a shower there, because after what happened earlier, I didn't think it's very safe to take a shower at Morty's place. As for my birds, I kept them inside the Poke Ball.

At 8:00 PM, I stood at Morty's front door. He had told me I could come in as soon as I arrived. Also, he assured me that the ghosts wouldn't be in the doorway when I came. So I opened the door, and stepped in. Regardless, I was still being cautious. I walked forward step by step in case there would be unexpected… or should I say undesired surprises waiting for me.

Oddly enough, what Morty had told me was true. I was already near the living room, but the ghosts didn't appear out of nowhere. What was weirder, there seemed to be nobody home. It was too quiet for a house filled with pesky ghost Pokemon.

Wondering why, I suddenly heard a voice calling my name. "Falkner!"

I noticed Morty was standing by the dining room.

"Would you please come over?" He said—before he went away quickly.

Yep, I knew he had planned something for me. And the only way to find out was to go to the dining room.

And what did I see? There were salmon teriyaki, bowls of rice, miso soup (yes, it was the third time), a variety of sushi, completed with salad, and ocha on the table. Another set of Japanese food! Only this time, there were candles in the middle. I was about to say something like 'Could you stop with the Japanese food?' to Morty. But apparently, he was standing next to a chair far from me. It was then I realized there were only a couple of chairs around the table. One across the other.

He pulled the chair and said, "Falkner, please sit down."

Guess I didn't get a single chance to say anything, so I just walked to the chair.

When I was directly behind the table, Morty pushed the chair forward. Finally, I sat down.

…uh, why was I being treated like a lady?

I pointed a frown to Morty, who had sitted across my line of sight.

"Is something wrong, sweetheart?"

That word again. It swept my frown away. I didn't get how a single word could calm me. I even looked away, facing down. "It's nothing, Mort."

"Oh, okay then." I found it quite odd for him to not ask me further. "Falkner, I want you to look around the table."

I had already seen what was on the table. It was that Japanese food again. Having mentioned that, I remembered earlier that afternoon I said I wanted to have another Japanese meal. Still, there was something that kept distracting me—the candles. They weren't the long, tall kind that could be found in costly restaurants. They were the short kind that placed in a small glass cup. Even though the flame was small, it was bright enough to light up the dark dining room. But in this darkness… I felt something unusual within me. Although I couldn't describe it clearly, I knew I felt peaceful. Those candles gave quite a mystical aura.

"Falkner?"

I raised my head somewhat abruptly to face him. "Y-yes?"

"How do you feel right now?"

I was flattered by his gentle tone. "Uh… I don't know how to say it, really."

"Hmm, it looks like you can't say much at this moment. Well then, I want you to enjoy the food I've made."

Without anymore chat, we began eating. The taste? It was as delicious as the ones I had for breakfast and lunch earlier that day. Seriously, where and when did he learn to make all of these? Perhaps he was a natural cook. Even so, it wasn't the right time to ask him that. It was better that I didn't say anything and appreciate his effort of preparing all these for me.

In the end, I got what I had wished for. One day with only Japanese cuisine. When I finished, I became aware that Morty had finished before me. Not to mention he was staring me all this time.

I snorted and closed my eyes, lifting a cup of ocha to drink it. I opened an eye to check on Morty. He was still facing me, but now his arm was on the table with his head rested on the palm. I closed my eyes again. After drinking the ocha, I put the cup and let out a breath of relief. Nonetheless, Morty was on my sight. He had leaned forward, his eyes focusing on me.

"Mort," I said to him as I looked away. "Don't go further. The candles might burn you."

What did I expect? He had leaned to the middle of the table. "Tell me, would you like to have dessert?"

I bent forward. "Well… sure."

Then he grabbed my chin with his fingers, taking me forward. I received a kiss at the end of the dinner. He pulled back a little. What I could see in my view were only Morty's eyes–eyes that always made me feel powerless. Then I felt something damp brushing my upper lip, followed with the lower one. Knowing what he wanted, I stretched out my tongue to his. To me, the sensation was perfect for a dessert. That kiss was sweeter than any dessert I could have.

"Thanks for the dessert, Mort," I said shyly.

He brought himself further to me despite his position on the table. "You're welcome, sweetheart," he whispered, before placing another kiss on my cheek. After that 'dessert' we had, we pulled ourselves back to the chairs.

And there came that silent moment where we just looked at each other's faces…

"Falkner, are you feeling sleepy yet?"

"I think so. I feel tired after the battles from the afternoon and the dinner I had."

He stood up, walking to me. He stretched a hand towards my direction. "Shall we go to my bedroom then?"

I didn't answer right away. I observed his eyes to see if he had other intentions in his mind. There didn't seem to be any. Moreover, his smile was too charming to conceal his shady thoughts.

"Falkner? Is there something wrong with me?"

"Oh no, no. I was just doing a simple observation of your facial expression."

He sighed hearing what I said. "Falkner please, don't worry. Trust me, you'll be fine. I promise that tonight I won't do anything weird to you, OK?"

"Alright," I answered, "But if you do, don't get confused if I didn't come back here tomorrow."

"Yes, I understand. Now come to my bedroom with me, please?" He asked with his palms joined beside me.

"Sure… whatever you say," I replied, rolling my eyes.

-ooooooo-

I was finally in the bed with Morty again. Of course, I had scolded him once before I got on the bed. What happened? Well, think about what Morty would do when he wasn't doing anything and I was changing to my sleepwear.

Lying next to him, I didn't want to sleep yet. So I gazed out to the window. Somehow, the image of the sky never bores me. It made me think of what my dreams are, what I want to achieve, what I like to do, and how Flying-type Pokemon travel from one place to the other. Wouldn't life become much more exhilarating if we could fly anywhere easily? Exploring various places, that truly sounds like an adventure. My father was one of those explorers, but sadly, I had yet to see him return.

Whenever I thought about my father, I would get emotional. Sigh…

"Sweetheart? You look quite sad. What is it?" It seemed that Morty heard my breath.

"Uh, it's kind of personal. I don't want to talk about it now," I explained to him. "Sorry."

"I see… Some things are better be kept secret."

Maybe he was right. What I needed to do was just let go of my worries and sleep. With my eyes closed, I tried to drift into sleep state. Though I could feel Morty's hands stroking me gently. He was embracing me from my back. His palm trailed against the soft material of my shirt. His touches felt so nice.

And strangely, my mind told me to sleep, whereas some other part of me told me to stay awake. Soon I felt Morty's breath on my neck. At one moment, I even felt that he sniffed there. Feeling the air, something soft dropped behind my neck. It slowly moved back and forth. Eventually, I realized that it was Morty's nose. Then a bigger stream of air swept behind me. I guessed that it was the breath from Morty's mouth. His breath sounded heavy.

"Falkner…" He whispered.

My eyes quickly opened wide after hearing that voice. The next thing I felt was a tongue at the area below my ears. As it slowly moving up, I whimpered out of my own reflex.

Oh no. What is he trying to do?

I began to tremble when I felt a hand fondling the skin at my chest. I didn't even know when that hand crept inside my shirt. The tongue that had dampened my ear moved to lick my neck. Feeling all of this, I felt myself becoming weaker.

"Mort… aaahh…"

I knew I shouldn't have moaned that way because it would only make Morty lose his control. He was licking my jaw. I squirmed as his hand slid down to my waist.

"Oh, Falkner…" came his faint voice again. He then gave a quick kiss on my cheek.

At this point, I became very anxious. I had to act before he made me fall into him, though it wasn't easy with his tender caress he did to me. When his hand had moved past my waist, I thought it was the time for me to do something… or he would go beyond my limit.

"MORT! NO!" I shouted as I shoved his hand away.

I sensed his body moving back. He must have been startled by my sudden yell. I turned to face him. "Mort, have you forgot what you said during dinner?"

"Frankly, no," he answered blatantly, "I was just doing a simple experiment of your physical reaction."

What. Oh, great Lugia. "Wait, are you saying you did that on purpose?"

"Yes!" His usual proud smile was on his face.

"Well then… guess I'll have to spend the night at my place for tomorrow."

"D'aw, sweetheart!" He shouldn't have used that term in a time like this. "Really, I'm sorry. It's just that I love to fondle you, OK? Please stay with me for tomorrow night."

If I counted how many times he had groped me, I would have rather stayed at my own house.

"Sweetheart? Forgive me? Pleeeease?" He begged as he held me tightly in his arms. It's not so often I saw a grown man like Morty begging to me like a toddler.

Of course, it was always better to accept the apology of others… humph. "Yeah. Now go to sleep!"

"Aww, thanks sweetheart." He kissed my cheek again. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mort," I replied softly. "Now go to sleep!"

Chapter 8 is complete.

Chapter 9a has been posted...