After the rescue, I felt much worse about what I put Yvonne through. She had two stances that she switched between for the entire way back to the main pathway. Either she was looking rigidly forward and slightly up, or she held her hands beside her face like horse blinders to check the next jump she needed to make. She had to be terrified of heights.

So, I was left in the ball for a good hour or two. I couldn't really blame her at the beginning of it. However, as time wore on, I grew restless. I had already figured out the punishment, if you could call it that, and why she didn't want me to do that again.

"~Forty-two bottles of vee on the wall. Forty-two bottles of vee…~" I had been reduced to singing the multiversal anthem of boredom.

I hadn't even noticed they had stopped until I was let out beside a road sign and set of metal steps. The rest of the area was mostly uneven dirt path with a small patch of overgrown weeds. The sun was getting towards midafternoon.

I gasped. "Oh, fresh air and actually being able to sense things normally!"

Sitting on one of the rocks off the main trail, Yvonne spoke. "Now, I don't like being the bad guy and having to keep you put away like that, but I hope you understand why I did it. You just need to think things through more, Fireball."

The feeling of my ears lowering didn't escape me while my gaze dropped. My getting stuck hadn't been a complete lack of forethought on my part. I just slipped… I looked up, and Yvonne was tensed. Her eyebrows knitted and I could hear the beginnings of one of her oh-my-gosh-a-cute-thing-in-distress-I-have-to-make-it-better squeals. I could probably push her over the edge and get her to take back what she said, if I turned on the charm.

But, maybe she was right. What would I get out of that beyond avoiding a problem that I might have?

I sighed. "Yeah. I-I'll try to work on that."

A much more reserved smile crossed Yvonne's face and she swung her bag around to go through it. "Alright. Now, I think it's time for lunch, right guys?"

The menu for the afternoon was what looked remarkably like a quiche. It, unfortunately, didn't have any meat, but still looked good. A lot better than I had thought adventure food would be. I had always imagined people on the road ate more trail-mix-y things, unless they stopped at restaurants.

Yvonne had just set everyone's portions down when Sylvie took a bite of her food, then spoke up in a casual tone. She had a puff dessert just to the side of her meal, as well. "I need you to stay calm and act like nothing special is happening."

I paused, not sure why I needed to stay calm, but did eventually answer her. "Am I about to explode, or something?" Was there a giant pokémon behind me? Yvonne wasn't acting like that was the case. She was just glancing up at us occasionally, then going back to her own meal.

Sylvie gave me an exaggerated shrug. "Or something. Yvonne mostly understands me through tone. I thought about your deal, and… I'm in. I need your water bowl, though."

That was great! Not the person I was originally trying to get on my side, but my brilliant plan was nothing if not flexible. However, that still wasn't able to distract me from the out of place comment. "Why my water?"

"Yvonne spiked it. She crushed the firestone up while you were in your ball, then sprinkled it into your bowl while she was letting the flamiche cool." I knew Yvonne was going to try again! Dang it, I thought she would try hiding it in the food a second time. After all, who would guess the same place twice? "The problem is: She's watching you. I can't just drink your water in front of her."

I hummed. "What if we jumped around each other, so she loses track of who is who?"

All that got me was a level look. "We've lived together for years. Yvonne knows how to tell me from some wilder."

I cocked my head. "Not wildling, anymore?" Not that I was complaining, the way she said wildling sounded like she was calling me a kid.

There was a beat of silence that was filled by Yvonne. "Sorry if the food is a bit dry. Still kind of a new recipe for me. Got plenty to drink, though." After hearing what Sylvie said, Yvonne was truly shameless. Still, I had to give her props for sheer audacity.

Sylvie looked back to me. "You graduated. Still, I think you need to distract her."

I took a small bite. "Alright. How can I do that and make sure it won't draw attention to you by accident?"

"That, you'll have to figure out on your own. She's almost always ready to dote on you, just go be cute. You'll need practice for it anyway, if you're really going to be a sylveon." After that, Sylvie gave me a look that said it was okay to trade our positions in the team, but only trade positions.

So, cute? I could do cute…

My mind was blanking. What were some of the things that I did over the past couple of days that set Yvonne off?

-Author's Note

Flamiche is a type of puff pastry often made around the real world France/Belgium border. It's a lot like a quiche, but tends to only have vegetables along with cheese or cream.