"Alright, great work today Cleo," Aurelie grinned to her Luxray. Cleo in turn let out a low mewl and softly padded through the gravel alongside its trainer.

"We got a tonna good stuff today, didn't we?" She asked no one in particular, spinning what looked like a CD about her index finger. "Might even be able to teach you a n-oh?"

Cleo's tail swished disapprovingly, and something little and spiky barked up at them both. Aurelie squat down in front of it.

"Hey there, little guy. You lost?"

"Goo!" The little thing yipped. With its brown and white scraggly fur, the Zigzagoon's eyes shone up at the strangers. It didn't even flinch when Aurelie dared pat its head.

"Hm, you don't seem like a wild one…" Aurelie bit her lip. "Is your trainer around somewhere?"

The Zigzagoon barked again and tilted its head to one side. Cleo's tail swished once more, a crackle of electricity escaping its mane. Powerful claws sharpened against the ground.

"Oh, shush Cleo." Aurelie scoffed. "A little Zigzagoon ain't gonna hurt any-"

There was another bark, and the Zigzagoon seized its moment. With a lunge, it snared the CD Aurelie was holding between its teeth and dashed under her, meandering off into the distance.

"Y-you son of a!" Aurelie leapt to her feet and threw her fist at the fleeing drunkard. "An' I thought you were just bein' cute, dammit!"

She withdrew her fist and rubbed her sinuses with it. "Ughhh… so much for the spoils, eh Cleo?"

"Mrowww…!" Cleo mewled.

"Yeah yeah, spare me the lecture," she ruffled her Luxray's hair. She rolled her eyes, and a house in the corner caught her attention;

"Let's go see what KitKat's up to."

She hadn't seen her buddy in days, what with everything that had been going on. Last she knew, KitKat was taking a day off or something, and then there was that thing with the pillars of light, and then she and a whole bunch of other guys were fighting a Cresselia of all things. All of this was in the space of just a couple days, so she'd be a little ashamed to admit that she'd forgotten about KitKat. Just a little.

"KitKat…?" She rapped on the door, "Y'in there? Hullo-oooo…"

Her knocks went unanswered.

"Huh."

She tried the handle on the door. It turned, but the door itself wouldn't budge.

"Locked?" Aurelie mumbled. These doors didn't have locks, did they? Everyone just seemed to be relying on the good will of everyone else not breaking into their homes while they were out. Was it barricaded or something? If KitKat was out training, she wouldn't be able to do that.

"Aw c'mon KitKat! I know you're in there!" Aurelie didn't even believe herself. At best this was just wild speculation. "I-I'll… I'll break the door in! I really will!"

Another guy who happened to be walking past took a moment to stop and stare at the spectacle. She pointed at the door and frowned. He shrugged in return. She deflated.

"Ugh, guess there's no turning back now," Aurelie groaned. She pulled up the sleeves of her plaid and took a few steps back. There was a grunt, and the wooden door rattled, but the damn thing held strong.

Aurelie grimaced and slipped to one knee. "Shoulda known that wouldn't work."

Rubbing her sore shoulder, she looked around for ideas. Meanwhile Cleo just loafed on the ground next to her with its paws tucked under itself.

She snapped her fingers. "Alright you. Up. Gimme a boost."

Cleo yawned, rolled its eyes, and made sure to draw out an arching stretch before following its trainer's wishes. At her order, Cleo crouched beneath one of the chalet's windows.

"Okay, steady…" She muttered, all wobbly and duck-footed as her loyal Luxray rose to the occasion. A good three feet 'taller', she was more than able to kick her way in now. The tiny window latch pinged off as her foot burst the windows open, and then Aurelie herself tumbled through, "A-hah!"

She picked herself up, dusted herself off, and looked around the room. "Alright, now where are ya. I don't go to this much effort for just any…one."

Was it anger, fear, pity or sadness that crossed her mind, upon finding the pathetic sight? Curled up on her couch, surrounded by food wrappers, and not even perturbed by someone breaking into her home, was Caitlyn.

"Oh geez. I know you said you were takin' a day off, but you totally commit, huh?"

Aurelie brushed a few wrappers onto the floor – it was already a mess, so what did it matter? – and squashed herself onto the half a seat next to Caitlyn. "So you're a hermit now? What gives?"

Caitlyn barely responded. Staring off into the distance, she readjusted her position on the headrest. There wasn't even a flinch when Aurelie's index finger squashed against her cheek.

"C'mon KitKat, get up already." Aurelie shook her by the shoulder. "You're not gonna get anywhere if you just spend the rest of your life on a couch. How long have you even been here?"

Caitlyn pursed her chapped lips, but no words left them. Her steely eyes were bloodshot and puffy as she made the bare minimum effort to meet Aurelie's gaze.

"Oh gosh, somethin' really bad's happened, huh?" Her voice wavered, for just a second. It was that very moment that Cleo took its chance, and leapt smoothly through the open window, hitting the hardwood floor with a heavy 'dunt'. It too noticed Caitlyn and immediately lit up, lowering its body and wiggling its hind quarters.

"L-look, Cleo wants to play," Aurelie said, the quiver in her voice betraying her words. "You've got him here somewhere, eh? Lemme just find-"

Caitlyn's eyes widened, but she did nothing to stop her neighbour from riffling through the mounds of food packages in her search. Aurelie was victorious after a minute or so, raising a hand into the air in dramatic triumph.

"Here ya go, Cleo." She pressed the button on the capsule and rolled it across the floor towards her Luxray. It split open in a flash of crimson light, and Cleo pounced, but jumped straight through the burst of light, scratching its way about the floor.

"Mrrah?!" Cleo mewled in obvious confusion, at the business end of some deep claw marks. Its eyes were fully dilated, staring intently at the open, empty pokeball.

"What… the?" Aurelie frowned. "Hey Kit? What's happ-oh."

Tears bubbled in her icy blue eyes. "H-how? When?!"

"…you were right," Caitlyn finally croaked out. "I-I… I was stupid and… went trainin' on my own in the big woods over that way. Got lost, and Leon got p," she paused for breath, "…poisoned. Couldn't get him healed 'cause the pokecentre was feckin' closed."

"Aww, you big dummy!" Aurelie wrenched her upright and wrapped both arms around her. "What'd you go an' do that for? Now what're you gonna do?!"

Caitlyn simply looked down at the arm across her chest. One side of her face was all bruised from the couch armrest, and she was even paler than usual. She glanced to Aurelie on her left, then the still confused looking Cleo on her right.

"…don't know," she mumbled. Her gaze continued to droop downwards, insistent on making friends with her knees it seemed.

"Well ya know what? I think we could maybe salvage somethin' here." Aurelie was insufferably positive despite it all. "Like maybe we can – hey."

She snapped her fingers. "C'mon KitKat. Pay attention now."

Caitlyn merely carried on staring at her knees. Her face was ashen, her eyes vacant.

"Aw, c'mon…" Aurelie groaned, and sat down on the floor in front of her. "There, you can't look away now. Listen. You want help? Just say the word."

"…why?" Caitlyn croaked. "It's every man fer himself out there. You're just gonna make t'ings harder fer yers-"

"No no no, don't you dare look away!" Aurelie cut in and grabbed her by the cheeks. "And listen to yourself, KitKat! Do you really wanna just waste away like this? Cold, in pain, just waitin' for the darkness to take you? Cause I'll be damned if I'm just letting that happen!"

Caitlyn's stomach punctuated the silence with an audible growl.

"Why… why do you care?" Caitlyn muttered. "It's not like anyone'll notice…"

"I'd notice!" Aurelie cried. "And maybe I care about you, okay?!"

Her grip weakened on Caitlyn's cheeks. "M-maybe I… care about you a lot…"

Now it was Aurelie's turn to look away. Her lips were tight, and her blush was furious.

"…you're-"

"-a little." Aurelie was a little too quick with her answer. "I umm… the way I see it, i-it doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl… y'know? Like, why stop at veggies when there's a whole buffet, y'know? Eheh…"

Caitlyn snorted. "I've never seen you eat anythin' that's not veggies."

"Hah. Yeah. That's a uhh, different story," Aurelie's eyes rolled. "…dammit, now I want a burger so bad…!"

She pushed off against her knees and levered herself back into a standing position. "But first things first. You. Get in the shower. You stink."

Aurelie grabbed at Caitlyn's hands and tugged her to her feet. The redhead wobbled, and stumbled, and almost fell back down again, but Aurelie held onto her.

"B-but… why me?" Caitlyn spoke thickly. Her head was swimming from all of this. "There must be other people you… like?"

Aurelie tapped her nose. "Trade secret. Now get in the shower, dammit. Otherwise I'll have to do it, and then the neighbours'll overhear, and they'll get the wrong idea and I'm pretty sure you don't want that."

"They can t'ink what they want. S'not like anyone cares."

Caitlyn shuffled into the shower, only to hear the sing-song voice in the background holler "I know someone who likes you!"

She groaned and wobbled into the shower. But as the steaming hot water pelted down her weary frame, she did find that, despite it all, a smile had snuck upon her lips.

Half an hour later, a refreshed but still wobbly Caitlyn padded her way towards the kitchen diner thing, wearing the generic hoodie and tracksuit bottoms that came with the flat. Immediately her nose picked up on the scent of something tangy and pungent coming from the next room, along with a fair amount of steam and the occasional clattering of metal.

"Whoa! Oh c'mon Cleo! Not now! This is people food!" Aurelie cried at her Luxray, who was doing its best to take her attention away from the stovetop, where she was manning pots and pans that were heaving with food.

"You… can cook?" Caitlyn had to take a step back. And only after the fact did she realise how rude it sounded.

"Ayup!" Aurelie responded brightly. "I live in a country where everything has cheese, meat and gravy, and nothin' else, so I gotta make my own stuff if I wanna stay healthy!"

One hand was busy stirring what looked like a pot full of rice, while the other was flipping a wok – where did she even get that? – full of mushrooms and green beans. Cleo rubbed against her lower half once again and almost tipped her over.

"Cle-o!" She squeaked back at her Luxray. "Look, I'm busy! Go play with auntie Caitlyn!"

The Luxray mewled at its trainer and then turned to face Caitlyn, who instinctively took a step back from the four-foot-tall mass of muscle. Its almond eyes bounced between the two young women, and suddenly the thing leapt, tackling Caitlyn into the couch.

"Agh! Sonofa! Get yerself away, ye – auggghhh!" She flailed uselessly under its bulk, as Cleo delighted in dragging its tongue across her face. A purr began emanating from Luxray's depths, loud and low enough that it started shaking the couch underneath them both. Caitlyn could feel her insides protesting from Luxray's weight, all while the thing itself just sat with its head held high, looking proud.

Well that was a waste of a shower, she groaned internally. Her face must have been shining with saliva, made evident by every whistling exhale of the lion towering above her, and she could only inhale so much before her lungs were ready to burst because of how heavy the damned thing was. How was this a good idea? Her whole body was vibrating thanks to Cleo, and her chest was starting to ache from all of the half-breaths she'd forced.

It was warm at least. Incredibly so, she had to admit. But that was about the only good news in this entire situation, as Cleo continued to slather her with its sandpaper tongue.

Her torment was only spared with the clinking of china in the distance. Cleo's eyes rounded like dinnerplates, and the electric blue lion thing bounded from the couch, clearing a good six or seven feet to scrabble against the wooden floor and park itself right by Aurelie, who had plated two steaming heaps of… something.

"Still not for you!" Instantly she scolded her Pokémon. "This is for KitKat, so go siddown!"

"Rrowr…" Cleo gave a disdainful moan. It made a slow, dramatic trot across the kitchen floor before spreading itself out across the median and glaring at nothing in particular.

Aurelie just gave her Luxray a blank stare in return. Carrying the two plates, she picked her way between Cleo's outstretched feet. "…so yeah, thanks for keepin' Cleo busy. I tell ya, feedin' him is a nightmare!"

"Can imagine," Caitlyn hauled herself back upright. Inflating her lungs to full capacity never felt so good. "What is…" she received the bowl, "this?"

"Oh it's sorta like a risotto… thing?" Aurelie shrugged next to her. It's got like soy sauce and garlic and stuff so it should perk ya up a tad. No meat I'm afraid. Tryna… not."

"Don't worry about it," Caitlyn smiled, and buried a tentative fork into the concoction. The rice was soft and starchy, mixed with the freshness of green beans and earthy mushrooms, followed by the tang of what she presumed was soy sauce. Immediately her stomach reacted with an appreciative gurgle, to the point where it almost hurt to actually have food in there.

"I uhh, hope it's good enough," Aurelie seemed bashful. "I just knew you needed food in you and this was all I had in at the time. It's… okay, right?"

Caitlyn had already scarfed down about two thirds of it. Thumping her chest to choke down another mouthful, she gasped for breath. "It's g-rand!"

"I-it is?" Aurelie's eyes widened. "Oh wow. It must be, you're eatin' like there's no tomorrow!"

"Feckin' starving."

"Ya see, this is what happens when you don't eat!"

"Ye don't-" her autopilot revved up, but she bit it back at the last second. "…sorry. A-and t'anks. You… you really helped, ye know? I-if ye hadn't broken into m'house I probably would've just wasted away there."

"That wouldn't take long." Aurelie smirked. "You're pretty much skin an' bones as it is, silly goose!"

She cleared her plate and stood up from the couch. "So, ready to go?"

"…go?" Caitlyn frowned. "Go where?"

"We're gonna get you another Pokémon!" Aurelie grinned and grabbed her by the wrist. Caitlyn showed little resistance in getting dragged to her feet, and even Cleo stood to attention.

"…how?" Said Caitlyn. "It's not like another one's just gonna fall out of the sky."

"Well no, but that's not the only way." Aurelie shrugged. "What if I told you to trust me?"

"I'd be suspicious." Caitlyn raised an eyebrow.

"…well, fair point. I kinda walked into that one." Aurelie gave a meek smile. "Still, just trust me. I'll get you another Pokémon if I have to fight it with my bare hands."

"B-but… why're ye doing this f-"

"Look, you can trust me." Aurelie walked over to her diligent Luxray and clambered across it. "Now get on my electric lion and let's go find you one."

"Err…" Caitlyn gulped. Cleo wasn't exactly big. Could it even handle both of them? Aurelie didn't seem in any way fazed though, so she shoved her concerns to the back of her mind and shuffled behind the other girl. Effortlessly, the Luxray took off at a canter, with a warm current of electricity travelling under them. Once sure of its footing, Cleo started to speed up, smoothly and easily clearing potholes and dips in the ground.

"Make sure ya hold on!" Aurelie clasped both of Caitlyn's hands around her waist. "No seatbelts I'm afraid!"

Caitlyn tucked herself close to the girl in front, a soft heartbeat caressing her cheek. Despite the rushing wind and constant jumping about, for the first time in weeks, she felt safe.

"…thank you."

Rain spattered and hissed against the car window. The wind howled, and the radio crackled in and out of tune.

"Y-yeah, don't worry about it Ms Singer, I'm chasing a suspect as we speak. Just waiting for this rain to let up, ahah..."

He glanced over to his cohort in the driving seat, who returned a grim shake of the head.

"Huh, maybe not." He sighed. "Okay Ms Singer I'm gonna have to hang up now. Can't really talk on the phone while pursuing a criminal now, can I honey?"

"O-O-Okay!" A voice stammered on the other end of the connection. "Just make sure you get my little boy back!"

"Hey hey, now I told you when I took the case, remember? I can't make a promise like that." He raised his voice over the wind. "But I'll do my best to nail the bastard responsible, how's that sound?"

There was an audible blubbering over the line, and both of the men in the car sighed.

"Gonna have to go now, Ms Singer, alright? Can't just sit here all night."

"B-but I-"

"Sorry, hanging up now!"

"Wait a-"

The man closed his phone, and slumped against the dashboard. "Gods, that lady is so much work!"

"Hey c'mon, she's lost her son." His companion said.

"Well of course, but she's not my only client, uhh... Michael, was it?"

"Heh, feels weird hearing someone call me by my first name," Johnson scratched his head. "B-but yeah, I know how she feels. There's every chance my daughter could be in the same place. Remember that Camp Connect thing I told you about?"

"...and he's your boss?" Lawrence put two and two together. "If he's willing to take that big a risk, leave a paper trail... alright, that's a game changer my man. Are you ready?"

"...ready as I ever will be." Johnson said. "Remember I'm complicit in this?"

"But you came to us, helped us track down the true culprit." Lawrence opened the car door. "'Sides, you were just following your boss' orders. He was threatening your family after all."

"He was?" Johnson muttered.

"That's what I heard," Lawrence winked. "And I'm a pretty reliable witness. Why would I lie?"

"Huh." Johnson felt a secret smile bubble somewhere in his depths. This near stranger was willing to go to some serious lengths to help him out. The boss never would've done that. Was this what loyalty felt like? Someone he could actually rely on, should things get rough?

It was enough to get a man all misty-eyed.

But not this man, he forced it all back with a sniff. There was a far more important job going on right now.

"You sure this'll work?" Lawrence whispered to him, a hand signal following behind him. Another car door opened, and two more lights joined them. "No secret escape routes or anything?"

"Should be fine. He barely knows what time it is of late." Johnson nodded back. He pressed the buzzer on the neglected front door, and his three 'guests' kept their distance. Without so much as a word, the door creaked open, and Johnson ushered everyone inside. The dusty paintings turned a blind eye to the salvo of bright lights creeping down the many hallways. Even the wind outside had died down, holding its breath in anticipation.

Johnson gulped outside the boss' room. Was he really going to do this? Uproot his job security and possibly even safety? Even with Lawrence's help, he was probably going to prison for a very long time, and that was assuming everything went well with the boss.

"Okay..." He puffed, and wiped his brow. Carefully, his knuckles rapped the door;

"S-sir? Are... are you there?"

There was an awkward, bloated silence. Johnson exchanged a look with his three cohorts, and then flinched when a voice finally escaped the room.

"Come in, Johnson."

The man trembled, and fiddled with the door handle. Slowly it shook open. Wind howled, lashing rain against the window and fluttering the curtains.

"Another late visit Johnson." Aster muttered. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"...S-sir?" Johnson spoke to the back of his boss' tall armchair. "I need you to listen very carefully... okay? As-as long as you co-operate, then this won't-"

"-your little friends are welcome too, Johnson." Aster's voice was a notch lower than usual. "I suppose they wouldn't want a glass of wine while on the job now,"

His armchair span around,

"...would they?"

Three beams of light illuminated Aster's withered face, yet the old man didn't flinch.

"H-hands in the air!" Lawrence yelled, training a pistol on Aster. The elderly man grunted, and slowly lifted his arms into the air. His wine glass dropped to the ground and smashed.

The three men swooped, searching the room. Bottles and glasses clinked, stacks of papers were thrown to the ground, and various takeout packages were trampled on in their search.

"...would it perhaps seem wise," Aster groaned. "To tell me what you're looking for? I seem to recall that you need a warrant to search a man's premises."

"We have permission." One of the officers spoke, and Johnson awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Just... just give it up, sir. There's no way out of this."

"Give it up, Johnson?" Aster's voice was low and venomous. "Why, that would be foolish, boy. If I weren't here, who would maintain the experiment?"

"Experiment's over, grampa." One officer put a gun to the man's head. Aster finally flinched.

"Now you get them out, or we will."

The old man shook his head. "...be my guest! Bear in mind there's thousands of lives in there! How confident are you that you can just 'get them out'?"

The pistol in the officer's hand began shaking. Aster merely glared up at him.

"Even with those guns of yours, you're hopeless." He sneered. "Tell me, what is worth more? My one life? Or the thousands in there? Touch the equipment if you dare, sonny."

"W-we have some of the world's best programmers at our disposal," One of the officers stated. "Don't hide behind that excuse. We'll figure out how to save those poor kids."

"Is that so?" Aster scoffed. "And who do you suppose will maintain this delicate software while your genius programmers are learning how? It would collapse before they've cracked my password, boy."

"Don't be so sure, old man." The officer pulled Aster out of his seat, and tugged his arms behind him. "Maximillius Aster, you're under arrest for kidnapping and endangerment. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

A pair of handcuffs zipped into place, locking Aster at the wrists.

Aster smirked. "A shame. Tell me Johnson, what time is it?"

Johnson frowned at his boss. "...why? Why does that even matter, s-sir?"

"Come now, man. Earn your final paycheck." Aster rolled his eyes. Johnson sighed, and checked his phone.

"It's a quarter past ten, sir."

"I see." Aster muttered. "Next maintenance check is in forty five minutes, gentlemen. I suppose you'd better get those genius programmers of yours here, and quickly. Because there's one minor issue you've failed to address."

"...and what's that?" Lawrence took the bait.

Aster have his captors a toothy grin. "You cannot advance in a video game,"

He fiddled with something about his wrist,

"Unless you know the codes!"

Before anyone could react, Aster exploded in a supernova of bright blue light. Moments later, the man had disappeared.

"W-what the?!" Lawrence spat. "What just happened?!"

A pale Johnson spoke,

"I think... he's just jumped into his world."

A sigh escaped his lungs. With ease, he noted. His vision sharpened, and focused on the young, smooth hands in front of him.

"Incredible..." he spoke, and clutched at his throat. Did he really have to abide this squeak of a voice?

He looked around the wooden room. Discarded cutlery and neglected furnishings. Just like home.

Some enormous metal contraction floated over towards him, and he could've sworn the thing looked happy to see him.

"...it'll do." he let his arms flop down. "I'm sorry, Maxie. There was no other way..."

Author's note:

Hey everyone. First update in like six months I know, sorry. Between increased workload and decreased motivation, I've struggled to get fic out. But hey, here's one for ya. Some animosity and foreshadowing along with Caitlyn showing some vulnerability (I hope). Next up, Alex gets thrown in the deep end.

Feel free to leave feedback of any sorts if you have some. :)