Author's Notes
This chappy went way longer than I expected. When I was setting my goals for it, I didn't expected it to be this lengthy.

As of this writing, I am now on Chapter 12. And… it's still blank. Ehehe. Though I have an idea how it's going to go (I think). I may not be able to work on it for the coming week since I'll be busy, so the next update may take a while.

Pokémon's not mine. So aren't a hundred other video games that I'd like to buy but have no money (yet) to purchase. Life can be depressing sometimes.

- x x x -

CHAPTER 11

Allison knew that his day was off when he got to the storeroom and saw Skye and Wade wrangling over breakfast. The two were seated on the wooden table and facing each other like a pair of Persian hissing over a fish. Both wore blue jeans and sleeveless shirts, violet for Skye and black for Wade. A white apron was neatly draped over the back of each one's chair.

"You give me back that luncheon meat now!" Wade growled.

"But you didn't look like you were going to eat it," Skye said with his hands defensively in front of him. Apparently Allison had failed to teach his son not to talk when one's mouth was full.

"You won't mind if I do this, then." Like an Arbok striking its prey, Wade's hand darted to the other's food box and snatched the slab of luncheon meat sitting on top of the fried rice. He popped it in his mouth and swallowed.

"That's mine!" Skye retaliated by seizing the bottle of milk beside Wade and downing half of it in a few gulps. His tongue suddenly rolled out, and he looked like he was about to heave. "I forgot… I hate milk… Why in the world do you still drink that stuff, anyway?"

Wade airily grabbed the bottle and drank. He wiped the milk moustache off and smirked. "Serves you right. Besides, milk's good stuff."

"They've been like that since they got down from their room," Angeline whispered in Allison's ear. Her head was tilted to one side as she continued to observe the scenario with a pondering look.

"Don't you think it's a bit… odd, sir?" Lilibeth murmured in his other ear. For once, her oversized pair of glasses was perched evenly on her face.

"This merits observation," declared the two girls, their eyes glinting with spirited scheming. Allison shuddered.

Skye finally took notice of him. "Oh, hi Dad! Good morning!"

"Good morning, sir," Wade greeted with a nod.

"Hey Dad, can I ask a favor?"

"… Huh? Oh, what is it?"

"When we're done for the day, would you mind teaching my Murkrow Drill Peck? Wade's, too."

Allison made sure to keep his surprise in check. That was a first. Although he was a renowned move tutor in Ebony who focused on Water and Flying techniques, the boys had never enlisted such services for their pokémon training. And Skye and Wade had both caught a Murkrow? His mind briefly recollected the news report yesterday about the black birds causing enough mayhem to give the Fair officials a migraine.

"Sure. Are you going to evolve them?"

Skye looked stunned. "They… they evolve?"

Allison laughed. "Yes, they do, son. Though you need Dusk Stones to turn them to Honchkrow. They lose a little speed, but they gain quite a lot in their offense and HP. You'll have to plan their moves a bit, since Murkrow and Honchkrow each learn different techniques."

Skye seemed awed at his extensive knowledge on the Flying pokémon. Allison had half an urge to close that hanging jaw of his. "How do you know all that?"

He winked at him. "Trade secret. Now, better don those aprons, because we have a busy day."

Their first customers arrived as Skye and Wade were sorting the merchandise on the shelves. A troupe of adolescents barged into the pokémart—nearly knocking the door and wind chime off!—and rushed him. The pokémart owner was dead wrong if he thought that the counter would be enough of a bar to stop these kids from flattening him against the wall.

"You're a move tutor, right?" a chubby boy asked.

"What do you teach?"

"Do you take shards?"

Allison frantically fished for the leaflets in the shelves beneath the cash register and rapidly distributed them to the aggressive teens.

"There you go," he said, a little breathless.

The pokémart was suddenly quiet as the leaflets, which listed the techniques he could teach and how much each one was, were perused. That silence didn't last long, though.

"Teach my Swellow Roost!"

"Teach my Pelipper Roost!"

"I want a Water Pulse on my Glaceon!"

"Drill Peck on my Natu!"

"Aqua Ring! Aqua Ring for my Lombre!"

Allison gulped. "A… Alright, kids, no need to push…"

"Just line on up," Skye said as he approached them with a bunch of Water Stones in hand. He was probably still arraying them on the shelves.

"Are those Water Stones?" the guy with the Lombre asked. "I'll get one!"

And that was when a bunch of brawny men with burly backpacks and yellow hardhats came romping in. Fortunately for Allison, that was also when Wade finished arranging the goods. He immediately took the position behind the cash register.

"Hey, boy," one of the men greeted Wade. "D'you know if there're any wild Rock types on the island? We came from Kanto and were wonderin' if there're some new pokes here."

Skye, who had found his way behind the cash register—consequently crowding Allison and Wade—was the one who answered. "In fact there are!" he began cheerfully. "There's a forest up north—"

Allison's eyes widened, and that was about the extent of surprise that he was able to show. Had Wade just stepped on Skye's foot? That was some stomp! His son swallowed the rest of what he was about to say, along with, Allison had a feeling, a scream of pain.

"You could try the ocean," Wade said as if nothing had happened at all. "There are a lot of wild Corsola that you can catch by fishing or diving. Besides, the only thing Featherbrain here knows are where the birds are."

Allison gaped. But only for a moment, because one of the teens suddenly screeched, "Oh my gosh, they have King's Rocks!"

Thirty painful minutes later, Allison was done teaching his move tutor techniques, and the adolescents had finally left. As the door swung close, it nearly soared off its hinges again when another big man blasted into the pokémart. This one wore a crisp blue and green plaid shirt, tan slacks, and brown leather shoes that shined as much as his polished floors.

"Hello, Officer Malone," Allison greeted with a sigh. He hoped he wouldn't have to fix the door in the near future. Meaning, any time today. "What brings you here?"

The policeman laughed heartily as he removed his hat. "Heard the news, Allison? Pokémon have been disappearing the whole time yesterday. Right under our noses! Turns out they were being stolen. Your boys snared us a lead, and now the whole thing's wrapped up like a neat present."

Allison's eyebrows went up to his hairline. "And what exactly… did my boys do?"

Officer Malone helped himself to the countertop and sat on it. "Like I said, they snared us a lead. They battled and tied up one of the thugs. Caught the goon red-handed, they did!" He fished an envelope from his pocket and tossed it on the countertop. "Hey boys! I've got a little something for you from the salesmen. Seems they want to show you a little appreciation."

"Wow, is that a reward?" asked Skye, his eyes twinkling. "I—huh?"

The envelope had somehow found its way in Wade's hands. "I'll take it."

Skye sputtered a few words before spitting out something that made sense. "Hey! Isn't that ours? I mean, I know you were the one who beat the snot out of that thug, but—but—!"

Allison refrained from making any remarks and instead watched the two boys.

Wade smiled. Or rather, smirked, something that seemed to be part of his emerging personality. He offered the envelope to Skye, whose eyes widened into big saucers. "You keep it. At least we have something to get lunch later."

Thrusting a victory fist into the air, Skye whooped. "Lunch is on us!"

Officer Malone chortled. "Now, I hope you heroes don't mind if I go on with my shopping. Allison, I need ten Water Stones for my officemates. They got a bunch of pokémon to evolve from the Fair—there's Hewitt's Eevee, Dragger's Poliwhirl, Charlene's Staryu, and the bunch of Lotad that Ollie caught in Ochre Oasis."

"… Ten?" the pokémart owner asked faintly. Officer Malone might as well ask for half the stock. And it wasn't even lunchtime, yet!

"Of course," the large man added jovially, "I'll be asking for my usual discount."

Allison suddenly felt like sulking in a corner.

The morning was quite exasperating, what with it taking its sweet time to fade into noon. Allison lost count of the times that he had to avoid getting stampeded on by ten-year old kids who were eager to clean out his shelves. Not only that; he had also given up tallying the number of instances his boys had to diffuse impending pokémon battles, which often had a foregone conclusion: the destruction of some part of the pokémart. Now and then a Hi Potion or a Revive would totter down from its perch on one of the shelves, but fortunately Smiley the Teddiursa was always there to catch anything that might drop. With all the commotion storming around them he was surprised that Wade, being the tolerant and relaxed youth that he was—not—hadn't lost his temper yet.

Allison stole a glance at the brown-haired teen, who was at the moment rapidly punching the keys on the register. Then he took a look at Skye, who was ferrying boxes of items from the storeroom to their shelves. As his son passed by the counter he suddenly tripped over a stuffed Azumarill toy that a little girl with golden curls, bright blue eyes, and a frilly green dress was dragging around. Allison was about to lunge for the falling box when a couple of hands were just abruptly under it. Then he heard an annoyed growl.

"Hey twinkle-toes, you nearly squashed that poor girl's Azumarill doll," Wade roughly handed back the carton box.

"What about poor me? I could have tripped—"

But Wade was already in front of the little girl and patting her head. "Are you alright? Is your cute Azumarill fine? You don't have to worry; the big, scary oaf isn't going to hurt you anymore."

"Thank you, big brother," the girl answered sweetly. "Azu says thank you, too." She held out the doll to Wade, and he gave it a pat on the head, too.

"Now why don't you get us some lunch?" Wade said as he faced Skye with an arched eyebrow and a ghost of a smirk lurking behind his expression. The other just fumed.

"I want stir-fried noodles with lots of vegetables!" Angeline called as her face popped out from behind one of the shelves.

"Me too!" Lilibeth chimed as her own face materialized from the storeroom.

Allison continued observing the two boys before placing his own order. "Spicy squid with lots of chili."

"And I'll have fish and tofu with tausi sauce," Wade said. "Quit whining," he suddenly barked, giving Skye no chance to even heave a sigh. "Who was it that was clamoring to keep the money a while ago? Since you have it, you buy lunch."

"Heartless, that's what you are," Skye muttered. At Wade's flat gaze he cringed and hastily said, "Alright, alright! Let me just get something from our room…" And up the stairs he thumped.

Allison was still staring when he abruptly heard a giggle from his right.

"Did you ever think this day would come, sir?" Angeline asked as she fixed her black eyes on him.

"Who would have known?" added Lilibeth, her hand pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Wade was back behind the register, and just in time since the old ladies who had just entered were ready to pay. He adeptly punched in the values and handed the elderly customers their change and receipts, then bid them a good day.

Lilibeth voiced the very thought that had resolutely settled in Allison's mind.

"They're getting along quite well, wouldn't you say?"

"I wonder what happened?" Angeline asked.

Allison smiled. There was no need to find out, was there? After all, some things were better left unknown.

- x x x -

"Two stir-fried noodles with lots of vegetables, one spicy squid, one beef brisket, and one fish and tofu with tausi sauce."

After fifteen hot minutes under the sun, it was finally Skye's turn. Thank goodness for that; any longer and he'd be a puddle.

The takeout booth was an improvised kitchen that barred unauthorized persons from entering with canvas tied to supporting poles. Not exactly much of a block. The enclosed, roofed space was wide enough to house the bunch of chefs working—chopping vegetables, slicing meat—around two wooden tables. Sizzles and pops were loud in the air, and the smoke mixing with the cooking garlic and other spices almost made Skye's eyes water and his nose wrinkle. A Quilava, its orange, furry body giving off a sputtering flame, served as the stove, and when the chefs needed more heat it obliged them by spitting out an occasional Ember attack.

Skye found himself glancing at the watch of the cashier man. Was it twelve already? Maybe he wouldn't have taken so long if he hadn't returned Mr. Higgins's clipboard first. He had dropped the item in one of the shelves of the rival pokémart then left without as much as a word. Besides, they'd find it there and think that it had been misplaced.

"Would you like some of these red bean balls?" the cashier man asked as he showed a bunch of brown balls with lots of sesame seeds. "They're perfect desserts."

They did look enticing. "Alright. Give me a dozen." In case Wade got any weird ideas of filching Skye's share.

"Please wait here for your order. It'll arrive shortly."

Skye leaned against the booth pole and glanced at the next customer, who ordered a chicken-filled bread bun. He was probably in his early twenties and had an untidy jumble of black hair that looked natural on him, as if any grooming would ruin his entire countenance. A pair of red round studs hung from his ears, and they shone in the harsh sunlight. The color of the earrings clashed with his green eyes, which radiated a quiet calm. A black sleeveless hoodie showed off his wiry arms and his well-developed, slender build, and it seemed to meld with his dark blue jeans. His footwear was a surprise; instead of sporty rubber shoes or casual sneakers there were sandals strapped to those feet. Skye was about to dismiss him as a nondescript tourist…

Except that he could have sworn he had seen that messy jumble of black hair and calm green eyes before.

The man then fished out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, shook one out, and lit it. He took a long drag and puffed out the smoke, which joined the fumes floating from the woks.

So uncool.

"Here's your order, sir," the cashier man said, holding out two plastic bags filled with boxes. "The red bean balls are on top."

"Thanks."

Skye headed back for the pokémart. Unfortunately, that meant squeezing through a whole lot of crowds while carrying two plastic bags that were tormenting his appetite. Difficult thing to do, really. He momentarily stopped by a service booth and picked up a few Fair pamphlets, pieces of glossy paper that advertized events like the Preston Carnival, a water race, and the like. As he got on his way he was nearly ambushed by a dancing Ludicolo, challenged to a battle twice, and almost carried off by a swarm of fishermen that had just finished some competition—maybe a fishing contest? It didn't help that he was perspiring bullets due to the generous sunlight that the cloudless sky was tossing around. Still a ways from the pokémart, Skye decided to take a break in a narrow, quiet alley. He dropped his load and dragged up a tired sigh.

He reached for his wallet in his back pocket to check how much he and Wade still had left. Maybe they could use it to watch some of the attractions like the Ocean Dance or that carnival, or perhaps register for some competitions…

His wallet wasn't there.

He swallowed. He inspected his other pockets, but all they contained were his cell phone and the pokémart keys. Maybe he had brought along that envelope—

"Hey!"

Skye almost jumped. He swung around and came face to face with the guy in the black sleeveless hoodie. Slightly out of breath, he had his bread bun in one hand and a brown wallet in the other.

"This fell out of your pocket when you left the Oriental Quickstop," he said. His voice wasn't deep, but it exuded the same unruffled quiet that his eyes gave off.

Skye grinned sheepishly. "You just saved my life there. Thanks a lot."

"I had a handful trying to follow you around, and I lost you twice! Thankfully I got wind of that ponytail quite fast." The man offered a small smile. "You should be more careful. It's easy to lose a wallet with all these people milling about. Especially when you have lunch in tow."

Skye eyed the pokéballs strapped to the man's belt. There were six of them. "You're a trainer, huh?" At the other's laid-back shrug, he went on. "If you need any supplies, why don't you drop by the Andies pokémart. I'll give you a discount to show my appreciation."

"That's rather generous of you. I might take up on that offer some time, right before I go back."

"Where are you from?"

"I work in the Sinnoh region. I'm here for a vacation."

Skye decided to get a move on before Wade murdered him for being late with the food. "Well, it was nice meeting you. I have some hungry pokémart workers waiting for lunch, so…"

"No problem."

Skye grasped the two plastic bags and headed off, but not without a final "Thanks again!"

- x x x -

"What again do I have to do to evolve my Poliwhirl into Politoed?"

Kiss a Qwilfish, thought Wade sourly. Was the brunette doing this on purpose to annoy him, or did she have some other diabolical plan in mind? Almost failing to suppress a sigh, he launched a repeat of his previous explanation, which was composed of two simple steps. First, attach the King's Rock to the Poliwhirl. Second, trade. That was it! He hoped that the girl had enough brains to trade back the Politoed, because if not then he'd given her too much credit.

"Ooh," she said with a giggle. She placed one dainty finger on her lips, then asked, "So where else can we use a King's Rock?"

The door opened. Skye stepped in bearing two full plastic bags. Wade grasped the girl's shoulders, turned her around, then said, "Ask him. He knows a lot about them." Without bothering to wait for a reply, he snatched the bags of food—"What the… Are you that hungry?"—and made his escape into the storeroom. And that was where he found Lilibeth poring over the inventory.

"That's the third one this morning," he muttered as he placed the plastic bags on the table.

Lilibeth glanced at him with a hint of a crafty smile. "Must be those arm muscles of yours," she remarked, her voice dripping honey.

Feeling the overwhelming weight of Gyarados and Umbreon's mad grins in his mind, Wade blushed and looked away. He went out the storeroom to look for the pokémart owner. It turned out that Mr. Andies had taken Skye's place with the brunette, who looked like she had just put herself in a predicament.

"And so," Mr. Andies was saying, "despite its capability to induce evolutions in the Poliwag and Slowpoke lines, with Poliwhirl turning into Politoed instead of Poliwrath and Slowpoke turning into Slowking instead of Slowbro, there exists the possibility of attaching the item to agile pokémon in particular, because doing so generates an advantage. Oh, you can always attempt to attach a King's Rock to some other pokémon, but in my opinion the greatest benefit emerges in putting them on the faster creatures."

"Wow, that's so amazing, Dad!" Skye gushed.

"Oh!" the girl cried out shrilly. "I didn't realize it was lunch time! I'll be going now, bye!" And she was gone before anyone could comment.

"Lunch is there in the storeroom, sir," Wade said. As always, Mr. Andies was excellent at mimicking an encyclopedia.

"But I'm not done yet with my explanation…"

A smile endeavored to curve his lips. "I wouldn't mind listening to them one time…"

Mr. Andies's eyes twinkled. "Really?" Wade gulped as the pokémart owner's hands gripped his shoulders tightly. "I've found a kindred spirit!"

Lunch occurred in two batches, and Skye and Wade opted to take the second group. While waiting for their turn, the ebb of customers remained as relentless as it had been the whole morning. Fortunately, not one of them wanted any move tutor techniques, so Mr. Andies was free to eat in peace. When it was finally their turn, they were able to finish their meals without any food getting pilfered.

The afternoon went by with the same Slugma pace as the morning. It started off with a fisherman, all dressed up in a life-vest, an angler's hat, black boots, and with his fishing gear in tow, coming in and grumpily asking if they had any Net Balls or Lure Balls. After which he went on about how fishing competitions were about luck, anyways, and not about how skilled a fisherman was.

"Men like Cassius Lummer get all the luck," he continued, still frowning. "Imagine catching a Wailmer!"

Wade knew that it was imprudent to ask questions since it would only fuel the man's tirade. Unfortunately, his love for Water pokémon and anything related to it got the better of him. "There was a fishing competition?"

"Were've you been, boy?" the man grumbled. "The Angler's Cup started at six a.m. this day and ended at about nine. The one who catches the biggest pokémon gets a whopping twenty-five thousand!"

"And this Lummer guy, he won, huh?"

"Ol' man Lummer won all that hard cash, plus a great pokémon. So, you don't have any of the balls? Aww, well, that's a drag. Some things aren't really meant to be: my win, and catching my own Wailmer." He sighed, a pitiable release of breath that made his appearance all the more wretched. "I'll be going, then."

Wade watched the man disappear behind the door. He'd sure love to join a fishing contest… Though to tell the truth, there was no need for it to be a competition, since fishing in itself was already fine for him. Wailmer, Corsola, Shellder, Magikarp, and Slowpoke from the oceans, then Poliwag and Lotad from the Ochre Oasis… Indeed, fishing in itself was just fine. But first he'd need to procure a rod.

By the time it was night, an irritable twitch had appeared on Wade's cheek. He had dealt with cantankerous old men who kept asking where the Deep Sea Exhibit was—"Are you going to tell us where it is or do we have to wait for tomorrow?"—only to find out that they actually wanted the Deep Sea Sub, which was a sandwich restaurant. Then there was that loon who kept asking for a pokémon battle, and it had taken Gardenbeast—Angeline's Oddish—and its Stun Spore to shut the guy up. Afterwards he had had to redirect a misplaced delivery, except that the mailman was so adamant that he ended up accompanying him to the police station, where the idiotic parcel was supposed to be. Not helping his growing vexation was Skye and his incessant nagging about seeing the Worm Dash the next day.

"What's so exciting about seeing Caterpie, Weedle, and Wurmple struggle their way to a finish line?" Wade asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It's a novel concept! Besides, the tickets are cheap. Plus, there's a raffle, and the prizes are any of the Bug pokémon! I want to get a Caterpie and a Wurmple."

The wind chime tinkled, but that didn't stop Wade from arguing.

"When is this Worm Dash, anyway? It's pointless if it's in the morning. You know we have duty for half the day."

"… Um… excuse me…"

"That's why I chose it, since it's at one-thirty, right after lunch!" replied Skye excitedly. "I already called Camille and the others about it. She and Nico can join us, but Sarah can't since she's watching the carnival with her family."

Wade considered going, because that was the only way Skye would cease pestering him about it. "Let me guess, you get to bet on the participants, right? Any news on which one's the favorite?"

"Nope."

"Uh… excuse me…"

"Figures you'd be clueless," Wade muttered.

"So we're going?" Skye asked with a grin that was ready to explode into an exuberant whoop. "Then right after lunch—"

"Guido Redspike!" Mr. Andies suddenly greeted with a wide smile. "How are you, son? You haven't visited in quite a while. How old are you now? Let me think… Ah! Sweet sixteen."

Wade blinked. So did Skye. The two turned towards the door, and there stood a thin boy with a messy mop of black hair. His green eyes, which matched the gleaming emerald studs on his ears, shyly took in the entirety of the pokémart. A tan shirt hung loosely on his body, which, in Wade's opinion, needed more substance in there. Though being in his teens brought forth the development of some muscle, his skinniness still bordered on skeletal. Guido stepped inside, and Wade saw that his slippers looked like they deserved to be buried in a graveyard. Maybe he'd hint to Skye about giving him a new pair later.

"Guido!" Skye exclaimed as he wrapped an arm around the other's shoulder. "I haven't seen you in ages! How's my buddy?"

"You could do with a little more fat," Mr. Andies observed as he held up Guido's forearm to examine it. "Perfect timing, since Angeline just bought us dinner. You are not leaving this pokémart without a good meal in you, alright?"

"I… I don't want to impose, sir."

"No worries, we'll take care of all the imposing," Mr. Andies said cheerfully. "Now come on, you can join the boys. The girls and I will hold up the front."

So… this was Guido. Wade had seen him a few instances in the past, but most of the time he didn't stay long. He would occasionally buy some supplies, chat with Skye for a while, or go train pokémon with him.

His eyebrows rose. Why was his hand suddenly clasping Guido's? It turned out that Skye had joined theirs and was looking like a proud mom while he was at it.

"You've met Wade, right? But I've never really introduced you guys to each other. Wade, this is Guido Redspike, my good buddy from Ochre."

[Ah, the one you sprayed Sleep Powder at,] Wade said in Skye's mind, to which the long-haired teen's eyebrow twitched. He was still smiling, though. "Hello."

"Hello, Wade."

That was when a billowy black mist appeared around Guido's head. Wade stared. He blinked, then the mist was gone.

The next moment Skye was driving Guido to the storeroom, where a feast of chicken bourbon, pork spareribs, paella, and mango bars was waiting. It took a while for Wade to regain his composure, and even after taking his seat beside the chicken bourbon he was still wondering if he had really seen that smoke-thing. He glanced at the other two and decided not to ruin Skye's good spirits by asking a question that would make him doubt Wade's sanity.

Wade silently gave Guido a paper plate and plastic utensils then poured him a plastic cup of orange juice. The other took the cup tentatively and seemed shy about helping himself to all the food. Skye, however, had no inhibitions about heaping Guido's plate with a mountain of paella topped with all the chicken and pork that could fit. Wade grabbed his share and lost no time in digging in.

"Do you still work at the docks?" Skye asked quietly.

Guido simply smiled, then swallowed another bite of chicken.

"Why don't you work here?" Skye continued. Wade had a hunch that the two had had this conversation before. "If you're worrying about a place to stay, we can always make some space."

"I'd feel embarrassed to—"

"And we keep telling you that it's fine."

"That's really kind of you, but I can't stay that long away from my parents." Guido looked away. "Father has a limp and needs help going about his usual activities in the house. Mother has enough on her hands with the house chores."

"About that… I just thought up of something that might make their lives a bit easier."

Wade had a feeling he knew what Skye was going to say. "Catch them a pokémon to help around the house?"

Skye glanced at him as if surprised that he was there. Wade gazed flatly back. "Exactly what I had in mind. You have no idea how helpful Gardenbeast and Smiley are around the pokémart. Those are Angeline's Oddish and Lilibeth's Teddiursa, by the way."

Guido seemed lost in thought as he chewed slowly on a pork sparerib. "I'll… think about that."

"Great! While you're musing on that, why don't you join us tomorrow to watch the Worm Dash? It's at one-thirty p.m., somewhere near the plains. We get off from work at twelve; why don't you join us for lunch?"

A rosy hue colored Guido's cheeks, and he looked down at the floor. "I'd really love to…"

"Of course you would! Any bug fanatic would go crazy about it. You were the first person I was thinking of when I first heard about the event."

"… But I can't. I have… I have work."

Skye looked crestfallen. "Can't you skip it?"

"I'm not sure… How much is the entrance fee?"

So that was it. Not giving Skye any opportunity to turn this into a more awkward situation, Wade said, "You don't have to worry about that. Skye'll take care of the entrance fees, mine included."

[I am?]

[You are. Just ride along for now.]

"That's settled, then," said Skye. "So we'll see you tomorrow?"

Wade's eyes widened before he could stop them. There was that black mist again! It slithered about Guido's face and around his neck as if to choke him. But that wasn't all. A triangular, yellow face with twin protuberances, one on each side, faded into view beside the thin youth's face for a moment, then disappeared. Wade shivered despite the heat. An Alakazam, but with black eyes that gleamed like jewels. What did it mean?

"—try to pass by if I have time," Guido was saying. "Who knows, I may be able to sneak a peek during work."

"I'm keeping my eye out for you tomorrow, then," Skye said with a grin.

Guido replied with his own quiet smile.

"… It's not like you to leave some food on your plate, Wade," Skye remarked after a while, his head cocked in mild concern. Wade blinked then shot the other a glower, which immediately disappeared when he was offered a mango bar. He stared at it for a moment before shaking his head.

"Maybe later. But if I find all those mango bars gone…" He let the threat hang in the air. Skye swallowed.

Guido stood up. "I have to go. I dropped by because… well…"

"Because we haven't seen you for such a long time," Skye finished for him with a smile. "At least we know you're alive. When was the last time we trained together? A year ago?"

Wade half expected the ghostly black mist to reappear, but it didn't. He kept silent as Skye saw Guido to the door, with Mr. Andies following and asking if they were going to see him again. The thin youth replied with a timid, "As long as it's not a bother." The door then closed, and Mr. Andies and the girls entered the storage room for dinner while Wade took a seat on the countertop.

"… Skye?"

"Yeah?"

A pause. He wasn't sure how he was going to ask about it. "Did you notice anything… different... while we were having dinner?"

Skye's forehead furrowed. "The food was just fine. And Guido seems a lot thinner than the last time I saw him… Why?"

Wade gazed at the door before hopping off the countertop. "Nothing, I guess."

- x x x -

Author's Notes
Thanks to those who've reached this far! And a hundred more thanks to those who review. :D