Breakfast the following morning was a surreal affair. Amy was particularly happy despite being somewhat tired. She hadn't slept well, unable to stop thinking about Tripp's blue eyes, his dark shiny hair which fell messily into them, and his tanned, brown arms. Amy was not particularly insightful, and took the fact that neither Rose nor Tripp looked at the other to be a positive sign for her. Jay, although somewhat quieter than his sister, was more observant and could not ignore the heavy tension in the air. There was definitely more to Rose and Tripp than indifferent, cold friendship…but what that was, he had no idea.

Tripp had slept fairly well once he had actually managed to fall asleep, and his anger at Rose and her changing moods caused him to ignore her easily. Instead he spent breakfast talking to Amy; Jay he tried to talk to once or twice, but he seemed to be rather awkward about something. Amy, however, was a breath of fresh air after Rose, and not only after the previous night. Tripp couldn't help but feel liberated at the ease of their exchanges. At the moment he never knew exactly where he stood with Rose – their relationship had become very complicated over the last week, and it was refreshing to talk to and laugh with someone new.

Rose had not managed to sleep at all, and it showed. Her face was white and drawn, and her usually bright eyes were dull and rimmed with dark circles. Her hair, normally so glossy, was unkempt and slightly frizzy, and her clothes, which she had worn the previous day, were crumpled from where she had lain in them all night. She did not eat but drank cup after cup of black tea, and did not appear to notice anything that was happening at the breakfast table.

Rose's silence made Amy all the more confident. Her reddish-blond hair, although straight and rather limp, was bouncy and clean. She laughed easily and chatted easily – and that was exactly what Tripp had been craving recently. She felt good this morning. She had dressed with deliberate care, and was wearing a slightly too bright, slightly too tight-fitting purple dress. She felt very glamourous and alive compared to Rose, who, although she hated to admit it, had made her feel very self-conscious about her looks the night before.

Jay noticed that Rose seemed incredibly miserable. Although, when he thought about it, he decided that she didn't in fact look miserable, she just looked emotionless - and dog-tired too. It was a very quiet breakfast for him. He did not want to intrude upon his sister and Tripp, but neither could he bring himself to talk to Rose, who looked as though she were not quite there.

"Good morning all!" Professor Willow called, hobbling into the dining hall clutching a newspaper and a cup of tea, "I see you're all looking well rested."

Jay noticed that Rose raised her eyes for the first time that morning, to stare at the Professor incredulously.

"In precisely ten minutes, I wish you all to join me in the Grand Lecture Theatre, which you will find in the basement. Enjoy breaking your fast!" Professor Willow hobbled back the way he had come.

"Are you both finished?" Tripp asked Jay and Amy, deliberately ignoring Rose, "Shall we go then?" he asked, after they had nodded. As they left the room Jay looked back at Rose who was methodically stirring her fourth cup of black tea.

"Are you coming?" he asked shyly.

Rose cleared her throat and nodded.

"I won't be a minute," she said dismissively. Jay, to her relief, took the hint and followed his sister and Tripp downstairs.

-o-

When the room was finally empty, Rose sighed heavily and rested her weary head in her shaking hands. She was too exhausted to be angry, and too exhausted to be upset. She realised somewhere in the back of her mind that Tripp was flirting with this girl, but she couldn't bring herself to care, particularly. She rose heavily from the table and leaned momentarily against the back of her chair. This was all done without thought, and again, without thought, Rose made her solitary way downstairs towards the Grand Lecture Theatre.

Jay, Amy, and Tripp were already seated alongside one another in the front row, Amy between the two boys. Professor Willow followed Rose into the Theatre and gestured that she take the seat next to Jay. She sat down heavily and did not even look his way. Tripp scrutinised Rose as she sat down, three seats away from him, but could make out nothing from her expression. Amy worriedly noticed the way that Tripp was looking at Rose, and immediately engaged him in a whispered conversation, the content of which caused Tripp to laugh out loud.

"Settle down, you two, settle down!" Professor Willow said, taking his papers out of his briefcase and arranging the first slide on the projector. Tripp grinned guiltily at Amy, who flushed red at the attention.

"It has finally come," the little man said dramatically, "the moment you have all been waiting for, I expect."

All four teenagers were silent, all in anticipation, except for Rose who was dully wondering why she hadn't eaten a croissant when she had the chance. Her empty stomach was now rumbling painfully.

"As you all know, my name is Professor Wilfred Willow, and I am one of the world's leading experts on evolution. As you can see I am getting rather old, no matter how sprightly I may appear," he said with a wheezy chuckle.

"Due to my age, there is research that I am not personally able to carry out. My grandson Elliot, who would be very talented had he the sense to realise it, is not interested in research, and rather has become a 'Gym Leader'," Professor Willow sniffed affectedly as though his grandson had opted to become a toilet cleaner, "therefore, I have selected you four young saplings in the hope that once you have heard what I have to say, you will be willing to embark on this momentous research project with me."

He surveyed them all though his incredibly thick bifocals.

Tripp turned to Amy and Jay with raised eyebrows to signify his displeasure at the prospect of this task. Amy stifled a giggle, but Tripp noticed, as he went to recline back in his seat, that Rose was sat slightly forward, and for the first time all morning she looked as though she had come to life.

"Please, Professor," she started earnestly, "does your research have anything to do with the Pokémon Eevee? Is this why you gave us one?"

"He gave you an Eevee too?" Amy asked Tripp grabbing his arm in excitement, as though this were an exhilarating coincidence.

"Yes, yes, I gave all four of you an Eevee, in the hope that you too will find this Pokémon fascinating as I do, and that you will wish to help me in my research," Professor Willow continued, "before any of you agree to becoming my assistants, I am going to give you a lecture in basic evolutionary theory. It is only through learning this material that you will be of any use to me."

He handed all four of them a notepad and pen, before launching into his lecture. The complexity of the material meant that Tripp grew bored quickly, and he lounged casually back in his seat. Amy too sat back in a desperate attempt to look comfortable, and spent the next hour hoping that Tripp would place an arm around her shoulder. Jay, who was lost after Professor Willow's opening sentence, rested his head sleepily on the desk before him and let all the organic chemical theories and concepts of elemental forces wash over him like a befuddling lullaby.

Rose, in stark contrast to her peers, was sat bolt upright, her face cupped in one hand, and her pen in the other. Her eyes flitted between Professor Willow and the slides that he presented on the complex theories of the science of evolution. Her pen was scratching continually against the paper, all the more obvious for the fact that it was the only pen that was moving at all. Soon, Tripp became aware of her note taking, and shifted slightly so that he could see her over the top of Amy's fluffy red-yellow hair - which was annoyingly close to his face.

Rose looked nothing like she had earlier that morning. There was hard, determined concentration in her eyes, and her lips curved upward in a small smile; she was content to be learning something new. Tripp blinked, and wondered what he was doing. Here he was pretending to have no interest in the lecture so as to seem 'cool'. He flushed slightly with embarrassment that he would act in such a ridiculous manner. Shifting slightly so that he too was sat upright, he attempted to tune into the lecture. Amy noticed his change in attitude and too adopted a look of intense interest in Professor Willow. Tripp tried not to roll his eyes and picked up his pen. After only a few minutes, however, Tripp realised that he had no idea what Professor Willow was talking about. He had spent a good hour lounging in his chair before deciding to pay attention, and it was clear that he couldn't simply catch up now. He cleared his throat in annoyance as he again looked over at Rose, who not only was taking very detailed notes, but also looked incredibly interested in what the Professor had to say.

"Right," said Professor Willow, taking a large swig of water after almost an hour and a half of solid lecturing, "I hope that that wasn't too much to take in? Please take a ten minute break, after which we will return here to start part two of basic evolutionary theory."

It was strange how his pompous manner all but disappeared when he lectured, Rose thought as she labelled her four pages of hastily written notes. She had great respect for the Professor after hearing about his work and realising the extent of knowledge that he possessed. She finally felt awake despite her sleepless night. Rather than taking a break with the other three, she approached the Professor and began to question him earnestly, much to his delight.

Amy noticed Tripp watching Rose with a strange expression on his face and panicked – she had to take a risk.

"What a nerd," she whispered maliciously, as they left the Grand Lecture Theatre. Jay looked at his sister and shook his head hurriedly in warning.

"What?" Tripp said, wrenching his eyes from Rose, who was gesturing enthusiastically to the Professor.

"I said…I said -" Amy turned white, desperate to cover her tracks before Tripp realised what she had said.

"That lecture – was, um, absurd!" Jay inserted tactfully, "I didn't understand a word of it, did you?"

"I don't see how anyone could have!" Amy laughed in relief. She shot her brother a thankful look.

"Yeah…" Tripp tried to smile but couldn't for some reason. He ran his hand through his hair in confusion.

"Shall we get coffee?" Jay suggested.

Tripp nodded and the three of them returned to the dining hall. Amy desperately tried to engage Tripp in conversation, but he sat in silence holding his coffee cup, seemingly unable to hear her. Through the open door, he saw Rose sprint up the stairs to her bedroom, ignoring all three sat at the table. A minute later she ran past them back towards the Lecture Theatre, clutching something in her hand, her eyes shining with excitement. Amy noticed with anguish that Tripp's eyes followed her the whole time she was visible.

"Are you two good friends?" she asked, trying desperately to hide her painful curiosity.

"Best friends," Tripp answered automatically, not looking up from his coffee cup.

"Oh, well. You don't talk much for best friends!" she attempted a giggle, "You talk to me much more," she said daringly, ignoring Jay who was begging her with his eyes to stop talking.

"Yeah…" Tripp managed to laugh, "yeah…you're much less…less complex than Rose is…so it's easier I guess?"

Amy looked as though she was sucking on a lemon. She opened her mouth to retort, but Jay put a restraining hand on her arm.

-o-

When they filed back into the Lecture Theatre, Tripp manoeuvred it so that he was sat by Rose. This did not go unnoticed by either Jay or Amy. Rose however, was reading over her notes; a slight frown was upon her forehead as she tried to make sense of the more complicated concepts before lecture two began.

Tripp noticed with surprise that on the desk next to her was the Thunder Stone that Vulpix had dug up. He wanted to know why she had it, but couldn't bring himself to talk to her for some reason. She seemed different; she was very much alive, buzzing even, but he felt completely shut out from her. She still looked exhausted, but her eyes were bright and her full lips moved soundlessly as she read her notes back to herself.

As Professor Willow began the second half of the lecture, Tripp attempted to take notes. Try as he might, however, it made no sense to him and he sat back in his chair angrily, and watched Rose write page after page in her small, neat handwriting.

When the Professor began to talk of Eevee and its numerous evolutions, Tripp began to pay attention once more. There were some parts he didn't understand, such as the chemical makeup of the evolution stones and what it meant to Eevee and why, but other parts he found very interesting. Professor Willow spoke of the sun and moon, and outlined his theory that they contained much of the same elemental makeup as the evolutionary stones. He went onto to talk about evolutionary forces and the chemicals released during evolution, again none of which Tripp could understand, but what he did glean from the lecture was that Eevee could perhaps evolve into more than three types, and this could somehow happen through exploiting the energy of the moon and sun.

The lecture concluded at twelve, and Professor Willow dismissed them until dinner. Rose gathered her notes quickly and raced out of the Lecture Hall before Tripp could say so much as one word to her. He swore angrily under his breath.

Back in her bedroom, Rose lay back on her bed, feeling much better than she had in the last twelve hours. She read her notes back to herself once more. She had great respect for Professor Willow after hearing him lecture, and couldn't wait to start research with him. Tripp – to hell with Tripp, she thought. She didn't have the time or energy to think about him and why he had changed completely in such a short amount of time. Her mind was buzzing with new theories and concepts, and she could almost laugh that she had spent the last week so caught up about some boy. His being a bastard had really thrown things into perspective, and Rose couldn't be bothered to deal with either him, or that desperate Amy, at this moment in time.

She kicked off her shoes and closed her eyes wearily, pleased that she had some hours to herself. Despite the fact that her mind was swarming with information it took a surprisingly short amount of time for her to fall into a deep and dreamless sleep.

-o-

Jay and Amy were talking in Amy's bedroom.

"You just need to back off a bit Ames," Jay said knowingly, "I don't know if he likes her or not, but if he does, the worst thing you can do is slag her off."

"But -"

"Just listen," Jay continued, "they've obviously fallen out about something, but if you rub her good points in his face rather than her bad points, he's more likely to get annoyed at her."

"But why?" Amy asked in exasperation.

"Because if you're trying to be annoyed at someone, and somebody else does nothing but sing their praises, it just makes you resent them even more."

"Oh," Amy breathed, her mouth hanging open, "so I need to…?"

"Befriend her," Jay said in amusement.

Amy looked at her brother in surprise.

"You really think so?"

Jay nodded.

"Yeah I do."

"But…you still like her, right?"

"Yeah I do," he repeated as he blushed. At Amy's unimpressed glare he attempted to explain himself, "She's so…so clever and pretty…even though she's pretty aloof…and rude," he added.

"So that's why like her? Because she's pretty?"

"I don't know!" Jay said, "I just find her attractive, I feel like there's more to her – she's sort of different, like, like she doesn't give a damn…mind you, I bet Tripp finds that attractive, else he wouldn't be friends with her."

Amy snorted.

"So to get Tripp to notice me, I need to be 'different', say good things about his friend, and try and befriend her?!" Jay nodded slowly, and Amy continued, somewhat sulkily: "I don't see how he'd notice me next to her anyway, when she's in the room she's all he looks at."

"Well," Jay smirked, "she wasn't looking too fresh today, I say you start this all at dinner, get a good impression in before they start talking again."

Amy smiled to herself and looked in the mirror happily. It was true, she did look much prettier than that Rose today.

-o-

Alone in his room, Tripp had begun to feel a little remorse towards his best friend, despite the fact that he kept trying to argue with himself that he was in fact justified in his actions.

"Yeah, okay, she was rude to me at dinner…but we had had a weird day prior to that, what with the night before…" he felt himself growing hot with both anger and desire, "she was so rude though, she deserved it…well, maybe not something quite as harsh as that…" he remembered her brown eyes, wide with hurt after he had flung the cold and crude comment at her in front of strangers.

He growled angrily and tugged at his hair as he fell back on his bed.

"I don't understand," he groaned to himself, "what's gone wrong?"

They'd argued before, but never like this. They may have sulked, but they'd never deliberately hurt the other.

"I hurt her…she didn't do anything that we haven't done before…and we've both had our fair share of sulking and snapping in the last week…"

Tripp grew hot with shame when he realised he was very much in the wrong. He had been flirting with Amy – he only did it because it made him feel good, but he hadn't thought about how it would have made Rose feel.

"But…if she doesn't like me like that, why would it upset her if I flirt with someone else? ...she probably feels cheap…yeah. Probably thinks I jump from one girl to another…"

He groaned again as he realised that he had to apologise. He remembered how dishevelled she had looked this morning, how lifeless. His guilt intensified and he decided that after he had showered, he would seek her out.

Twenty minutes later he knocked on her bedroom door, but there was no answer. He knocked again, louder, but still there was nothing. He tentatively opened the door, bracing himself for crying, perhaps shouting and tears – but her room was empty. Tripp closed her door in confusion and made his way back down the East staircase. He frowned to himself as he thought…had he ever even seen Rose cry? At that moment he looked up, startled, as he heard her. She was laughing merrily, somewhere below him.

He raced down the stairs and was about to head into the dining hall when he bumped into Amy, who had an incredibly sour look on her face.

"Where's Rose?" he asked, looking over her head. Her sour look intensified.

"She's talking to my brother," Amy sniffed, before attempting to storm off impressively. When she looked back, Tripp not only wasn't looking at her, he had disappeared. Amy's lower lip trembled and she genuinely stormed off to her bedroom in floods of tears.

Tripp swung the door of the dining hall open to find Jay and Rose sat sharing a bowl of cherries as Rose tried to explain her notes of the morning to him. Before now, Tripp had been all but blind to Jay, but as he registered how he was staring at Rose, his blood began to boil. He made to storm into the room but stopped himself on two accounts. The first was that he had no right to start an argument with Jay because he was 'looking' at Rose. The second reason was Rose herself. She had completely transformed herself from the morning. She was freshly showered and her hair hung heavily to her waist in dark glossy curls. She looked far better for having had something to eat, and she was wearing a knee-length, floaty white dress that contrasted radiantly with her golden skin.

"Can we help you?" she asked indifferently, pulling the stalk off a cherry.

Trip blinked to clear his mind and grunted, "I need to talk to you."

"Well that's a shame," she said looking at him levelly and popping the fruit into her mouth. After she swallowed she said, "I don't particularly want to talk to you right now – Jay and I are studying."

She turned away from Tripp and back to Jay, who was looking at her in awe. Tripp left the room and angrily slammed the door behind him. Stupid bitch, he thought to himself, making you look like an idiot…why did I ever think -? As if I need to apologise…don't need people like her in my life…

Without realising where his feet were taking him, he found himself knocking on Amy's bedroom door.

-o-

Amy wiped her eyes hurriedly and smoothed down her garish dress. She opened the door and gasped as she saw Tripp. He looked furious, but this look turned to confusion when he saw her watery eyes.

"Oh…sorry if I was mean," he said absently, his mind only on how much he hated Rose.

"That's fine, that's fine!" she exclaimed, ecstatic that he apologised to her, "What was the matter?"

Tripp looked over at Amy and realised that he just wanted to talk to someone.

"It's not much," he said huffily, "I've argued with Rose is all, and I don't know why I'm so angry about it," he frowned to himself.

"Oh, well," Amy said with much effort, remembering what Jay had said earlier, "I'm not surprised you're angry, you two must be really close?"

Tripp thought about Rose's lack of outward affection, how she always closed off her emotions from him, and how he'd never even seen her cry once in all the years he'd known her.

"Um…no, not that close," he heard himself saying.

Amy's heart started to beat faster.

"Really?" she said, trying to sound calm, "you seem like you're really close…I thought you were 'together'…her being so pretty and everything…" she trailed off deliberately.

Tripp turned to Amy in shock. He was under the impression she didn't like Rose, but here she was, complimenting a girl who had only ever given her the cold shoulder. A sense of ease and relaxation stole over Tripp as he looked into Amy's wet, grey eyes.

"You're such a nice person," he said, frowning again as though something wasn't quite making sense to him. "You're pretty too…"

Amy gasped, she couldn't believe how right Jay had been, and how quickly it was all happening.

Tripp went on, still frowning, "I don't understand why I don't -" Amy leant over the bed and kissed him on the mouth. She didn't know where she found the guts to do it, but to her shock and relief he kissed her back.

At that moment her bedroom door was kicked open by Jay.

"Hey Amy! Rose and I were wondering if you wanted to –"

Amy and Tripp sprang apart as the door opened, and looked guiltily at Jay and Rose who were gaping at them. Rose snapped her mouth shut and made for her room. They heard the door slam angrily from across the landing.

Tripp could only blink, astounded that so much had happened in less than thirty seconds. He looked at Amy's smudged mascara and lurid dress and felt only a little pity. She was a nice girl. He bit his lip, unsure exactly what he should be doing, and whether or not he was in the wrong.

"I think she might like you," Amy whispered sullenly.

"No…no she doesn't," Tripp said, dazed. Amy and Jay looked at one another, more confused than ever at Tripp and Rose's relationship.

-o-

Back in her bedroom, Rose smiled serenely at herself in the mirror and took long, calming breaths.

"That's it," she whispered to herself, "he's not what you thought. There's no point in pining over something that never existed."

She felt strangely at ease as she considered the events of the last few days. Yes she had liked him, very much so. But the Tripp she liked wouldn't insult her, nor would he flirt so openly and arrogantly and kiss whichever girl wandered across his path. He couldn't actually like Amy, she thought, she was so…obvious.

Rose smiled at herself again in the mirror as she realised that she clearly did not know Tripp and therefore, for all she knew, Amy might be exactly his type.

She sat cross-legged on her bedroom floor and released all six of her Pokémon from their Pokéballs. She hadn't spent enough time with them recently, and she knew she would feel better once she had. They all sat on the carpet and Rose opened a box of Poffins. She spent a pleasant afternoon with her Pokémon, not thinking about Tripp, or Amy, or Jay, or evolutionary theories. She lay back on the carpet and laughed as Phanpy's long nose tickled her ear.

"As long as I have you guys, I think I'll be all right," she whispered and closed her eyes in considerable contentment.

-o-

Jack came bursting into the cabin, fear and anger evident on his young face.

I must not cry, he told himself, fifteen year olds don't cry.

Sam stood up from the kitchen table where he was shelling peas.

"What's happened?" he asked, his eyes creased with worry. They deepened with anger, however, upon noticing something.

"Where's Farfetch'd?" he asked his youngest brother sharply.

Will looked up warily from the potatoes he was peeling.

"Jack…"

"It wasn't my fault!" the youngest brother cried, "it was all going fine, we had loads and loads of apricorns, and then she came with her Dragonite and – "

"Who?" Sam stormed furiously. He couldn't believe this had happened. After months and months of pestering he had finally conceded to let Jack gather the apricorns with their beloved grandfather's old Farfetch'd. If he had lost him…the last thing his grandfather had ever given him…

Damien surveyed his three brothers from where he sat plucking a chicken. He wiped his hands on a tea towel and cleared his throat. Standing up, he walked over to his youngest brother. He sat him down and put reassuring hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Just start from the beginning Jack, easy does it."

Will smiled at his older brother's tact. Sam was always likely to lose his temper in such situations, but Damien always managed to get the situation in hand.

"Farfetch'd and I were just gathering apricorns, like you told us to," his eyes flitted over to Sam nervously, "and it was all going fine, we had tonnes! And then…then there was this really strong wind, out of nowhere…we were in the clearing, by the huge oak tree, you know? And this…woman, with a really long black cape came down riding a Dragonite."

He paused to gauge the reaction to his words – he was not disappointed. His three older brothers all looked at one another with wide eyes. Nobody had really bothered to visit Ilex Forest for a good few years. Not, In fact, since their grandfather, Kurt, had died.

"But why?" asked Sam frowning, "Did she try and hurt you or Farfetche'd? Was she poaching?" he asked, his grey-green eyes narrowing to slits.

"Go on Jack," Damien said calmly.

"No, nothing like that," Jack said, his voice wavering. "she – she seemed really sorry that Farfetch'd got scared and ran away. She offered to help but, well…"

"What?" Will asked, curiously.

"She seemed in a bit of a hurry. She's travelling around Johto see, she's lost her little sister." He held out his hand and they all looked curiously at the roll of paper he was holding. Jack unrolled the paper to reveal a poster with a picture of a young woman on it. The three older boys all gasped.

"Wow," Sam said, his eyes rather wide all of a sudden.

"She's one hell of a looker," Damien said, gazing at the girl's dark green, cat-shaped eyes and shimmering lilac hair.

Sam nodded in agreement.

Jack looked at the poster of her, 'Pascalia', and just thought that she looked a little bit mean.

"Well, she's been missing for over three months now," he told his brothers, "and Clair, I think she said her name was, is travelling around on her Dragonite posting these everywhere."

"Clair?" said Will in awe, "as in Clair the Dragon Tamer from Blackthorn? Lance's cousin?"

"And fiancée," said Sam with a wry smile.

"They're engaged?" asked Damien in horror, "but they're…they're -" he seemed too repulsed for words.

"Dragon Tamers have always been a bit weird though, haven't they?" Will asked his two older brothers conversationally.

"Putting this aside," said Sam loudly, his brothers falling silent at his tone, "how are we going to find Farfetch'd?"

Jack looked guiltily into his lap.

"Seriously little bro," said Damien clapping him on the back, "that wasn't your fault – none of us could have prevented that from happening"

Sam grunted.

"Well could you?" Damien asked, his eyebrows raised high.

Sam sighed.

"I'm not saying that I could have, but these sorts of things always seem to happen to Jack…"

"Tell me about it" the youngest boy muttered quietly. Even Sam laughed.

-o-

The four were not so inclined to laugh later that evening, however. After searching the forest for hours they had only managed to catch a glimpse of the Pokémon which was still too frightened to come anywhere near them.

Sam sat down with a groan.

"We'll never catch him," Will mumbled.

"We'll just have to try again tomorrow," Damien said optimistically, "let's eat though, I'm starved!"

AN: A lot of angst in this chapter. As you can see, things are only getting more complicated for Rose and Tripp, neither being entirely sure how they feel about the other. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on Amy and Jay :D We've seen quite a few new characters in this chapter, all of which will be playing bigger parts as the story goes on.

Any reviews are much appreciated as always (: lots of love A xx