Going to try something different by writing a longer chapter for Chapter 10, just to see if it fits better. If not, I'll stick to the shorter chapters. I also updated the description of the story, so it would make more sense in the long run.

…

"This is the place!" Elena beamed. I examined the building, and it was a very large house. From what I saw while walking there, it even had what looked to be a large pool with fountains in the back.

"Pretty big house," I noted. "You said a friend you met while training lives here?"

"Yep! He's a successful Pokémon breeder from Kalos! This is sort of like his vacation home that he visits from time to time. Anyway, let's head in. I think he's expecting me."

We walked up the cobblestone path way (which was lined with six Swanna fountains, three on each side), up the black and white marble steps (each engraved with the legendary Pokémon Zekrom and Reshiram on them), and up to the giant wooden door (okay, nothing special about that one), with a golden knocker (small, silver plated Pokéball logo on the bottom). I think this guy's goal was to shout "I'M RICH!" only by making people walk up to his door. Elena rang the doorbell, and I could hear the faint sound of the chime indoors. We waited a few seconds before the door was answered by a small old woman.

"Oh! Elena!" The old woman said. "It's good to see you again!" She had a Kalosian accent.

Elena chuckled. "Good to see you too Mrs. Maçon."

The old woman turned to me next. "Oh? Who's this now? Are you a friend of Elena's?"

"Yes, I'd like to think I am," I held out my hand, but instead I was pulled into a hug, and kissed on the cheek by the lady. I broke away and saw both the old woman and Elena laughing. "Ahaha, welcome! Welcome! What is your name?"

"Uh… My names Marcel," I replied with varying levels of uncomfortableness going throughout my body.

"Marcel! You're from Kalos too, hm?" The old woman asked.

"Unova actually. My mother is from Kalos…" I then remembered I still had to charge my phone to call her.

"Ah, Unova. Is big region, no?"

"Um…" Before I had time to respond, I heard another voice come from behind. "Grandma! Let them inside already! They're probably sick of waiting!" It also had a Kalosian accent, but it wasn't as noticeable. In fact, it probably sounded more Unovan than anything.

The old lady laughed and opened the door wider. "Come in, I'm sorry to keep you waiting!" We walked in, and I could already see how huge and lavish this house was. Marble floor, marble staircase leading up to a second and third floor, I could see an open kitchen across the huge living room, marble pillars in the corner of walls, giant flatscreen television in front of a huge couch, and to top it all off, a giant crystal chandelier dangling from the ceiling.

"Elena! Great to see you!" I looked up and saw somebody walking down from the top of the staircase, and halfway down he slid down the railing. 'Show off,' I thought. He walked up to the both of us, and I got a better look at him. He had a tall, yet skinny build. His face was slightly tanned, and he had amber eyes. His hair was wavy, styled back and permed, and it reached the middle of the back of his neck. Dumb haircut. He was probably a bit older than me.

He stood in front of Elena, examining her. "You've gotten taller I see, and you cut your hair shorter, as well as going back to your natural hair color. However, beautiful as always," He kissed her on the cheek and smiled, while Elena blushed. I rolled my eyes. I was already not liking this guy. He turned his attention to me.

"Hm. New face, traveling with Elena I presume. New boyfriend?" He asked her. I heard Elena scoff. "No, he's someone I met in Jubilife City, and he's heading up to Eterna City for a gym battle." Intrigue filled the guy's eyes.

"Ah, a Pokémon trainer then. Pokémon?" He asked me.

"Gligar…" I hastily responded. He seemed to be waiting for me to list other Pokémon before realizing that was it. "Just a Gligar then," he seemed to be disappointed. "Sad you don't have any other Pokémon, but when it evolves, at least you'll have a beautiful Gliscor at your side." I just stood there, still very uncomfortable.

"I can see you are nervous, uncomfortable, and annoyed at my presence, despite having only known me for a minute," he listed. He actually managed to capture that very accurately. "But these are feelings lots of people have when meeting me for the first time. They eventually come to like me however, either because I sell them a rare and exotic Pokémon, or because they fall in love with my charm. I like to imagine it's the latter."

I groaned at that last statement, and I heard a slight chuckle come from him. He quickly grabbed my hand, and kissed the back of it, as if I was some sort of mistress. I quickly pulled my hand away, and he just grinned. "Jay Maçon, pleasure."

…

Ding!

My phone lit up as it reached enough battery life to automatically turn on. I was sitting on the edge of my queen sized bed in one of the many guest rooms. The sheets were silky smooth, probably made out of actual silk, and the pillows were as fluffy as an Altaria, probably actually made from Altaria fluff. My backpack was lying in the corner of the room by the television, and Dirt Wing's Pokéball lay on the bed side table next to where my phone was charging.

"Gliiiii! Gliiiii! Gaaa-aar!" Dirt Wing was flying around the room with more than enough space, as the ceilings were very high. I set down my phone, allowing it to charge for longer before I tried calling my parents. I heard the door creak open.

"Hey, are you alright? Making yourself comfortable?" Elena's voice asked. I simply nodded, and laid back onto the bed. I basically felt myself melt into the sheets. She sat herself on the edge of the bed. "I can tell you don't like him," she stated. Before she could continue her statement I interrupted. "I wonder what he could have done to make me think that. It couldn't possibly be his overconfident nature, or high self esteem could it?" I criticized.

"Hey, he's not all bad once you get to know him,"

"Perhaps it's him treating me like a Kalosian mistress?"

"Who knows? Maybe he likes you? I mean he is-"

"Or him making a very obvious flaunt of his wealth. That's probably-"

"I think if we were also millionaires, we'd make a show of our wealth too-"

"Maybe it's the dopey haircut. It looks really dumb." I sat up to face Elena.

Elena chuckled at that one. "You should see him when he goes out, always wearing this expensive black fedora,"

I groaned and laughed at the same time. I just pictured him walking down the streets of Lumiose City, black fedora on head, hair waving behind him. I chuckled at the thought.

"Gaaaaar!" I felt something heavy fall on my head, and I was forced to the ground. Elena giggled, and I think so was Dirt Wing. "Gar gar gar!"

"I swear you're gonna give me brain damage if you keep landing on my head like that," I told the Gligar.

Ring Ring!

Elena and I turned our attention to the door, which is where the bell sound seemed to be coming from.

"Guess lunch is ready," Elena determined. "We should go down and eat."

"I assume if I go down their, the lunch will consist of something to further tell me their rich, like an entire bowl of caviar?"

"Ew, who would eat an entire bowl of caviar?"

We made our way down down to the dining room, where I saw a large dining table, probably enough for twenty people. And there were only two people sitting at it, being Jay, and his grandmother. There was also another man next to the table who was unloading trays of food onto it.

"Table for twenty with only two people, and a butler?" I whispered to Elena.

"Most of Jay's family is out of region, so they're the only ones here. Plus they like having dinner parties. As for the butler, that's Diego. He acts as the servant and chef in this house, along with his Gallade." She whispered back.

"Ah, Marcel, so glad you could join us for lunch!" Jay cried. Yes, cried, because if he spoke normally, he would be inaudible to me, despite sitting across from me at the table.

"I'm staying at your house, why wouldn't I join you for lunch?" I sarcastically retorted. I felt Elena kick me in the shin from under the table, since she was sitting next to me. Jay just laughed.

"I've taken the liberty of selecting your meals for today. Hopefully you find them to be more than satisfactory. Diego." Jay motioned Diego to lift the covers up off of the trays in front of us. In front of me was what looked to be different varieties of seafood, including cooked fish of unidentifiable species, some crab meat, and what I believed to be Clawitzer meat as well. There were some other different foods on my plate I couldn't identify. I looked over to Elena's plate and saw some pasta with mushrooms, chopped onion, parmesan cheese, and chopped onion. Despite crab being my weakness, I was slightly jealous of her dish.

"Enjoy your meals," Diego said as he bowed, and walked back into the kitchen.

I'm not going to lie, it was probably some of the best seafood I'd ever tasted. Everything tasted fresh, and had just the right amount of diversity in flavor. To top it all off, I tried juice made from a mix of fermented berries from a Shuckle for the first time, and it made my tongue tingle with the sweetness of the berries.

They even had food for our Pokémon, which some had to eat outside, as they were too big to be indoors (that was a surprise.)

"It was pretty good I guess," I said, trying to hide the fact I LOVED that meal to Elena. She just looked at me with a flat expression. "Okay, you can't even hide it this time like you probably could with the flowers, you have to admit that meal was fucking amazing."

"It was pretty good I guess," I repeated, just to taunt Elena. She rolled her eyes and playfully hit my arm.

"Your Gligar seems to like me quite a fair bit," I heard Jay's voice in the doorway. I turned to see him with Dirt Wing in his arms, and my Gligar with his tongue sticking out. Jay scratched the top of its head, and it let out a small sound of satisfaction. He then let Gligar glide to the ground, where it then waddled over to me. Jay casually walked over to where I was standing.

"I once managed to get ahold of a Gligar of different color variety you know. Managed to sell it for quite a high price," Jay boasted.

"I don't remember me asking." I coldly said. He looked slightly offended. He turned to Elena. "Is he always this rude?" Before she could respond, he turned back to me and said, "I just thought I'd let you know. I'm one of the most successful breeders in Kalos for a reason. I show dedication to my craft! I remember I spent almost six hours trying to find a Kingdra on my Pokémon near the coast of Ambrette Town, and instead I stumble upon an underwater cavern, in which the local coast guards inform me I had discovered a nest of Relicanth, Pokémon which cost a fortune to import from Hoenn. So I capture a few Relicanth for myself, and have them breed. I then sell their eggs to those who may want them in Kalos, each one going for a few thousand..."

Jay looked at me once more, and could easily tell I was uninterested. "Hm, but I suppose you don't care for that sort of thing. However, you'd probably care for this." He pulled out a white, sharp looking object. It was shaped like a tooth.

"What is it?" My voice sounded a little more interested than I wanted to make it sound like. Jay looked up at me and grinned. "This fine object is what's known as a Razor Fang." He looked over at Gligar. "Catch." Jay gently tossed the object towards my Gligar, who promptly caught it with one of its pincers. Jay seemed to be waiting for something, but his face showed disappointment when nothing seemed to happen. Dirt Wing and I exchanged glances, both very confused.

"Just as feared," Jay shrugged. "Your Gligar simply isn't mature enough yet."

"Gli-gli!" That seemed to spark some anger in Dirt.

"Not mature enough?" I asked him. "What do you mean?"

Jay took back the Razor Fang from Dirt. "This Razor Fang is an evolutionary item for Gligar. When a Gligar reaches a certain point in its life and is then exposed to one, it will evolve into a Gliscor." He said calmly. Now some anger was sparked in me as well.

"So you were going to evolve my Pokémon without my consent just now!?" I yelled at him while walking closer. Elena had to get up and place a hand on my chest to keep me from getting too close.

"What? I thought I'd be doing you a favor. These Razor Fangs aren't common, and I was basically giving you one for free." He kept his calm attitude, but I sensed some nervousness creep over him as I attempted to get closer.

"My Pokémon are my business! You don't get to decide when they should evolve!" I spat, and Elena had to get in front of me to keep me from possibly hitting him.

"Gli-gar gar!" I think he was agreeing.

"Marcel, that's enough! He only wanted to help!" Elena scolded, trying to hold me back. I looked at her like she had grown a second head. "You're defending this asshole?" I asked, exasperated. Before she could respond, Jay replied with, "Of course she's defending me over you! I've known her for three-"

"Shut up!" Elena commanded. I was surprised by the sudden outburst from her, and even Jay looked taken aback. "I'm not defending you," she pointed straight at Jay. "Or you!" She pointed her other arm at me. "Jay, you shouldn't have even considered trying to evolve Marcel's Pokémon without his consent. How would you feel if I threw a Fire Stone at Isabella right now? Huh?" Jay's cocky expression went away after she said that. She jerked her head toward me. "I know you don't like him, and I know what he did was wrong, but you can't hurt him at all!"

"Why shouldn't I?" I snapped. Immediately, a shadow overtook Elena, and she looked up behind me.

"Or else you'll have me to answer to."

I slowly turned behind me, only to be met with a seven foot Gallade looming over me. I quickly loosened myself from Elena to show I wasn't making any more advances toward Jay.

"That's better. Any further advances like that towards Master Jay, and I will gladly teleport you to the middle of the Hoenn badlands."

I gulped. 'Damn psychics,' I thought.

"I heard that."

I got scared, instantly realizing what I just did. Of course, psychics would also have the ability to mind read if they could talk to you using telepathy. "Hmph." The Gallade promptly teleported out of the room after that.

"…That's why. That was Lance, Diego's Gallade, and Jay's personal bodyguard." Elena finished.

She removed her hands from my chest and sighed. "You two need to get along somehow. Why don't you just talk to each other? Find some common interests?" The tension in the air still loomed.

Jay looked at me and smiled slightly. I looked away, but even in my mind I realized I was just being stubborn. "…Fine. I'll attempt to talk to him…" I murmured to Elena. Her smile returned to her face. "Good Marcel!" She patted my head like I was a Herdier. "Jay, you'll do the same I assume?"

"Don't worry, soon he won't be able to resist my charm," he winked at me. My eyes were already starting to roll.

"Great!" Elena exclaimed. "I'll leave you two to socialize, and build a better friendship!" She excitedly hopped out of the room, leaving the two of us alone. There was some awkward silence before Jay finally broke it by speaking up. "So, you like video games?"

…

"You bitch!" Jay shrieked.

"Come here so I can hit you!" I cried back.

I heard the sound footsteps coming from the hallway, and the door suddenly bursting open. "I left you two alone to become friends! Not to fight- huh?" Elena was clearly confused. She swore she heard the sounds of us bickering.

Instead she was met with us on the edge of the bed, playing Super Smash Bros. on the television.

"The winner is… Bowser!" the in game announcer… Announced. I threw my hands up in the air. "Not even killed once!" I cheered for myself. Jay let out a cry of frustration. "He's broken, simple as that." He tried to come up with an excuse to why he couldn't win.

Playing video games with Jay started off awkward, but actually became really fun. We played Super Smash Bros. and Wii Sports Resort (the sword fighting mode), and it eventually turned into a really heated competition. Elena occasionally checked in on us from time to time, then left to return to her training her Pokémon outside. After a while, we started talking about our own lives, and what we wanted to do.

After the eye rolling and self bragging stories Jay had to tell, I got around to talking about my life before Sinnoh, and why I moved to Sinnoh. He didn't seem to take much interest in me challenging the gym circuit, and he said I could find much better work as a model.

"A model?" I asked, clearly confused.

"Why not? You've clearly got the face of one." He winked. That made me slightly uncomfortable.

Jay then told me about Pokémon that he personally owned, and I found out Isabella is his pet Vulpix who he refuses to evolve for reasons he didn't share. He also has an Ampharos named Anaïs, which was gifted to him when it was a Mareep, and a Fletchinder named Fabrice, which he uses to scout an area for specific Pokémon.

"How many battles have you had so far?" He asked me. I was about to respond when I realized: I hadn't even had my first battle yet.

"Oh… I haven't had one yet…" I scratched the back of my neck.

"What?" He seemed surprised. "I know you've only been a trainer for four days, but that's hard to believe! Most trainers have a battle every moment they can when they get a starter Pokémon!" He seemed to think about something for a moment. "I know what you can do. Rehearse against me!"

I cocked my head. "Rehearse against you?" An annoyed look came over him. "Practice against me. Battling that is." He clarified.

I thought about his proposal for a moment. I could finally get my first battle with Dirt Wing to see how well we work together as partners in battle. "Alright sure, let's do it!"

…

Jay was standing across from me on the other side of the battlefield which was in his backyard, next to the large pool with fountains I saw earlier. Dirt Wing was standing next to me on my side of ring.

"Let me teach you a lesson in battling," Jay called. He threw a black and golden Pokéball into the air, and out came a Fletchinder.

"Fletch-iiii!"

I turned and looked down at my Gligar. "You ready Dirt?"

He nodded and replied, "Gli-ga!"

Dirt Wing leapt into the air, and started gliding in place to meet the Fletchinder.

"I'll let you get the first move!" Jay called.

"Gladly. Dirt Wing, use Poison Jab!"

Suddenly getting a burst of speed, Dirt Wing quickly glided towards the Fletchinder, pincers glowing purple.

"Dodge it and use Aerial Ace!"

The Fletchinder narrowly dodged the Poison Jab, and flew around the confused Gligar. It moved with such speed and velocity, I barely had a chance to order Dirt Wing to dodge before the attack hit the Gligar in the chest, knocking it a few feet down in the air.

"Gliii!" It cried. I winced, as if I had taken the hit for him. "Quickly use Poison Jab again!"

"Gaaaar!" Dirt Wing charged once more to the bird, this time landing a hit on the opposing Pokémon.

"Use Razor Wind, Fabrice!"

"Der, fletch!" it rapidly waved its wings, and several sharp bursts of wind repeatedly hit Dirt Wing on multiple parts of its body.

"Gli-gli! Gli!" It crashed to the ground, staggering in pain. Fabrice flew closer to the ground to be on the same level.

"Use Poison Sting!" I ordered. Instead, Dirt Wing stirred up some sand on the ground, veiling itself within it. Jay smirked. "Fabrice, use gust to blow that sand away!"

The Fletchinder flapped its wings, creating a great wind gust. However, before the attack could hit, Gligar came bursting out of the miniature sand storm it stirred up, sand trailing behind it.

"Fletch!?" Fabrice cried, confused. The Gligar elegantly spun around, shooting the sand that coated its body in multiple directions, most of which aimed toward Fabrice. Sand was caught in the bird's eyes, and it flailed to the ground as it tried to rub the sand out, however to no success.

"Gligar-gar!" Dirt cried.

"Nice! Now use Poison Sting!" I commanded once more, but still I was met with a different response. Dirt Wing's pincers glowed purple once more, and it flew towards the Fletchinder, and knocked it into the ground, then threw it to the side using its powerful, poison enhanced pincers. It then released a barrage of sharp, poisonous needles from its mouth at Fabrice.

"Fabrice!" Jay cried out, seeming like he was about to run onto the battlefield to comfort it. Dirt Wing wasn't obeying my commands, but it was winning. I couldn't tell whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Dirt Wing-" before I could finish my command, Dirt had set itself on top of the poor Fletchinder, who was already barely conscious, and repeatedly started beating it further into the ground. That's when I noticed the spill of red appearing on the battlefield. Dirt Wing pinned it down using his tail, and placed a pincer over the Pokémon's neck, grip seemingly getting tighter. Any movement the Fletchinder may have been doing was slowly going away.

"Gli…." The Gligar was growling down at the Pokémon under his claw. It then clicked in my mind that the Gligar wasn't just doing this for battle now, and I had to stop it now. I quickly pulled out it's Pokéball, but the beam of light which was supposed to return it into the containment, left the Pokémon unfazed. I was taken aback as to why it didn't return the Pokémon.

"Dirt Wing! Stop!" I called, and I started running towards it. Dirt Wing raised its free pincer to go in for the final blow, but before it could, I intervened by forcefully slamming myself into the bat scorpion.

"Gaar!" It snarled, and lunged towards me, intent to harm in its eyes. Before it could latch onto me, I grabbed it by the wrists, and pinned it to the ground.

"What's gotten into you!?" I interrogated as it flailed in my grip. Jay ran up next to me, cradling the poor Fletchinder in his arms.

"Gar! Gar! Gliiiiiii!" It shrieked as it thrashed about, catching sight of the Fletchinder. I tried to return it again, but the Pokéball light wasn't working.

"What the hell is going on!?" I hit the Pokéball a few times on the ground, as if it would magically fix the problem. Jay returned Fabrice with no error.

"A Pokémon can resist returning to its ball if it isn't in a calm state of mind," Jay calmly said. "For example, Elena's Rhydon was once enraged after a wild Pokémon attacked it, and she couldn't return it until it calmed down. Your Gligar must have gotten mad because Fabrice kept hitting it."

I looked down at Dirt Wing, who had slowly stopped struggling. "If you hadn't stopped that battle, I'm afraid to imagine what would have happened to Fabrice…"

I tried to return Dirt Wing once more, and it finally worked. I felt the shift in my hands touching the ground as the Gligar underneath it disappeared. I stayed on the ground, staring at the stone battlefield. My eyes screwed shut, and I let out a quivering breath.

"I'm sorry Jay… I didn't- I…" I tried to speak, but the thoughts of my Pokémon killing Jay's haunted me. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault. It was your first battle, you two just don't work that well together as partners just yet, and-"

"No!" I angrily snapped. "I nearly let your Pokémon get k-kill…" My voice broke off. I felt Jay pat my pack as he kneeled down next to me. There was only silence after that.

…

Jay left Fabrice in the care of Diego's Gallade, which did its best to patch up it up with Heal Pulse and antibiotics for the poisoning it sustained. Jay also had to explain the situation to Elena when she came back from the Center when she picked up some supplies for her Pokémon.

I was laying under the silk covers of my bed, trying to avoid any interaction with Jay. I heard my door creak open, and I guessed it was probably Elena.

"Marcel?" I guessed correctly. I let out a small moan, letting her know the lump underneath the covers was me. I heard her footsteps approach the bed, and felt her sit on the edge of it. "You know Jay isn't mad right?"

I let out a sigh. "I know he's not, but given what happened, I feel guilty just looking at him…"

It was her turn to sigh. "I know how you feel. It was about the time when I first got my Rhydon, and I battled some boy with a Raticate. I h-hadn't realized the strength it actually possessed, and it was very unstable at controlling it's an-anger…" Elena trailed off after that.

"The Raticate was..?" I didn't complete the sentence, as I imagined she could complete for herself.

"Fortunately, it wasn't. It barely survived. The experience of helping a crying boy, bleeding Raticate in his arms, rush into the emergency room is an image you can't erase from your mind." She had a grave tone, which was unsettling, considering she was usually a cheery person. I lifted the covers off of my face, and saw Elena staring at me with a sad expression. It made me feel uneasy.

"How did you deal with it afterwards?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"I couldn't deal with it for a month after it had happened. I had spent everyday that week visiting the kid in the hospital. He stayed by his Raticate the entire time. He mostly refused to talk to me most of the time, which I didn't blame him for…"

"Did he ever get around to?"

"The first time I visited, he was basically screaming bloody murder at me in the waiting room. I broke down in the middle of the hospital as he screamed. The next two days, we only exchanged glances, and I kept offering to buy him stuff to try and make it up to him, but he constantly rejected. I finally managed to take him out for lunch on the fourth day, and he broke down as well, telling me things about his life, such as how the Raticate has been one of his only friends since moving to Sinnoh…" Her voice was starting to quiver. "The fifth day… The kid was gone. His Raticate wasn't there either. I had heard from Nurse Joy that they both checked out in the morning safe and sound, which I was relieved to hear… But I never could forgive myself for what I did…" A single tear streamed down her face. I lifted the covers completely off of my body, partly due to the fact it was getting hot, partly due to me wanting to show Elena I wasn't hiding anymore. I sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.

"So then what do I do about Dirt Wing? What if I c-can't control him again, and I'm unable to stop it? Wh-what if-" I was silenced by Elena pulling me into a hug. I was shocked for a few moments, but returned the hug. My face was leaning into her shoulder, and it felt as if I had melted into her arms. That hug was probably exactly what I needed in that moment to feel safe. I was glad to have a companion on my journey with me, as I probably wouldn't have known what to do, had my Gligar killed another trainers Pokémon in battle, and leaving me with nobody to speak to. I was glad I at least had somebody. I hugged Elena tighter and dug my head into her shoulder, some tears probably coming out. Her blue hoodie probably absorbed most of it anyway.

…

"So once again, I am sincerely sorry for Dirt Wing going ballistic on Frabrice like that…" I sheepishly told Jay as I rubbed the back of my neck. He cocked his head and grinned. "I've already told you, it wasn't your fault. There's no need to apologize," he smiled. Slight twinges of guilt still remained, but I had pushed past the problem of talking to Jay. I felt my main problem was going to be getting my Gligar and I on the same page. I held out my hand in apology, expecting him to shake it. Instead, he once again grabbed the back of my hand and kissed it. I wasn't so quick to draw back this time, figuring I at least owed him some of my dignity as payback. "Your hand is very soft," he remarked. I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment. "Um, thanks?" I hastily responded. He simply smirked and walked off.

Dinner was just as good as lunch, if not better. It had consisted of several different tropical meats from Hoenn mixed together in a bowl, as well as some guacamole and sour cream. I also tried the same meal Elena had when she had lunch, and that tasted great.

I didn't realize this when I started training, but I noticed the closest thing I had taken to a shower was in the lake in the Ravaged Path. I took a shower in the bathroom next to my guest room, and I was very confused. Taking a shower in somebody else's house was confusing enough, but now not only was there some hot and cold knobs, but now there were a few buttons to control where the water came from. It was one of those large square showers in which water came from the ceiling, as well as each wall. After much configuration (which was really just pressing random buttons until something worked), I finally got it to turn on, and at the right temperature. It felt very relaxing. By the time I got out, you could easily mistake the bathroom for a sauna, as I practically filled the hallway with steam when I opened the bathroom door to get out.

I was walking down the hallway to get to my room when I noticed Elena's door was open. I walked in, and I saw Elena under the covers watching a video. She didn't notice me until I spoke up. "Hey," I said. She looked up from her phone, and a slight smile came across her face.

"You always come into girls rooms without asking?" She chuckled.

"I thought I'd just stop by and thank you for helping me out earlier I guess…" I wasn't very good at thank-you's.

"All I did was do what any good friend should and try to comfort another friend when they need it," she smiled as she said that. The fact she actually called herself a friend of mine made me feel good inside.

"Just… Thanks." I softly said. We said our goodnights and I walked out of the room. I passed by Jay in the hallway, who flashed me a wink before disappearing into his room. The only other room I passed had Jay's grandmother in it, who was already soundly asleep. I finally got to my room where I stared down at my backpack. It was slightly open, and I saw the slight red glimmer of Dirt Wing's Pokéball. I let out a long sigh and started to crawl into bed. My phone was still on my bedside table, still plugged into the charger, despite being on one-hundred percent for a while. I was about to grab it before I hesitated. I knew I was purposely putting off calling my parents, afraid of what my mom might say. What if she made me come back home? I'm sure dad wouldn't let her but…

I unplugged my phone and turned away from it. 'Tomorrow.' I thought. I pressed a button on the remote that was laying on my bed, and the lights shut off. My thoughts started to wander. I recalled the events which happened on that day, and my eyes grew heavy thinking about it. I slowly drifted to sleep soon after.

As I expected, I found myself in that purple cloud world once more. I was in the same location where my last dream ended. I had found a tiny red orb there, but this time the orb was gone. Instead, in its place was an Espeon.

…

Hopefully you guys liked this chapter! I tried doing something a bit different and going for a longer chapter than I would normally would. I also tried using different themes than in the rest of the chapters, so I hope that came off as good. You guys can let me know what you think! Thanks!