If you haven't checked out my newest story, Soldier, please give it a look!

For the second time that week, I woke up in the Cerulean hospital.

Perfect, I thought, groaning as I opened my eyes to see the familiar fluorescent lights hanging above my head. I squinted, letting my eyes adjust, and shifted my legs. My left leg was elevated once again in a sling, with my cast on holding my bones in place. My right leg was fine, just uncomfortably hot, and adjusted it slightly until my toes were outside the blanket. I sighed, feeling slightly better.

Erik opened the door then, stepping inside quietly. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked softly. He walked over to the side of my bed, quietly, until he was beside me. He took my hand in both of his.

"Yeah..." I said, thinking. "I drowned, didn't I?" I asked laughing slightly.

He smiled. "Not completely," he began. He told me the story of how Splash had dove down to the depths as I sank to the bottom, and how he had hoisted me to the surface, with me being unconscious.

"Aqua bent over your body, and pushed on your chest, and kissed you," Erik said with a straight face, "And somehow the kissing caused you to start coughing, and then we took you to the hospital."

"Um, you mean CPR?" I asked, grinning at Erik's ever present lack of education on human practices.

He shrugged, a motion he had picked up from traveling with us. "I do not know what that means..."

So I explained to him how the 'kissing' was really her blowing air into my lungs, and the pushing on my chest was pumping out water from my lungs while at the same time restarting my heart.

He was fascinated. "It makes so much sense to me... I had just never imagined that such physical stimuli could be effective in resuscitation!"

I nodded, pretending to understand his burst of scientific speech. "Yeah... I think I just need to be more careful. Where is Splash?"

"Sleeping with the others in the waiting room," Erik explained. "You have not been sleeping as long as last time... but your pokemon did have time to go to the pokemon center and get completely healed, and they insisted on waiting for you outside of their pokeballs." He smiled. "You should probably get some sleep too."

"How long was I out?" I asked, worried about having caused us to lose more time.

"Not long," he explained. "Only the rest of the day and night. It is only four in the morning here, you should rest." He leaned against the bed I was in, bending over and kissing my lips gently.

I was worried about you, he said in my head. Feelings of genuine caring and love washed over me when we touched. Our connection had gotten stronger recently, and I realized that it was due to our recent sexual endeavors.

I am fine, do not worry, I thought back to him, trying to convey that I really was fine. He pulled back from the kiss and nodded, turning around and dimming the light above my head.

"Get some rest, Allora."

~

The next morning I woke to the bright sunshine pouring through my window. I turned my head from the window, shielding my eyes, and groaned when I saw the clock. It was already almost noon. In the back of my mind, I could feel... Erik. I realized it was him as I lay there, analyzing the feeling. The day before I had felt something in my head, but ignored it, as I would a headache or other type of disturbance. But our connection had gotten even stronger, until I realized that I was able to feel his emotions, just as he could feel mine.

What I felt now was him realizing that I had woken up. It was strange, for I could not feel his thoughts, but his emotions and intentions. I felt that he was heading to my room, and soon enough, there he was, opening the door.

"Allora good morning-"

"I felt you coming up here," I blurted. His face looked shocked, but pleased.

"This is normal," he informed me. "Psychic powers sometimes rub off on those that a psychic pokemon is close to. I did not expect it to happen to you, for I am not quite a pokemon at the moment, but..."

"Our connection must just be that strong," I finished for him. He nodded.

"Which is not a bad thing... in fact I feel that I enjoy it?" he half questioned. I nodded.

"Me too."

~

Everyone else was back in the suite, waiting for me to be discharged that morning and to head back to the center. Erik walked me over, making sure I was okay, having been nearly dead the day before, and then two days before that. I seemed accident prone recently, and I was determined not to get hurt anymore.

"You're okay!" Cali squealed, hugging me tight as soon as we opened the door. She jumped up and down, crushing my lungs in her grip.

"Cali... leg... air..." I breathed, trying not to pass out.

"Oh, sorry!" She pulled back. Then I got a good look at the room.

I first noticed that Aqua was sitting on the couch, her golduck sitting beside her. They were watching Cali and I, her only with the ghost of a smile on her lips. She stood as I began to hobble to her.

"That was quite the irresponsible decision," she remarked, referring to my choice to leave the trainer box, on the ice covered floor, in my crutches. She didn't say it in a condescending way, but a factual, indisputable way. I nodded, unable to argue.

"Yes, it was," I agreed.

"You left without your badge." She pulled out a small pouch from her pocket, and pulled open the drawstring. She tipped it over and let the badge fall in her hand. It was a simple blue color, shaped like a raindrop. "The cascade badge."

I took it from her hand and nodded, reminding myself to put it in my badge case once she left. She fished through her other pocket, pulling out a CD case.

"This is the TM water pulse," she explained. "It is useful, and sometimes confuses opponents."

I was vaguely aware that everyone was crowded around us in a circle, my pokemon included. "Thank you, Splash will make good use of this, I think."

"That is the other reason why I am here," she began quickly. My heart fluttered, and I panicked, thinking Spash had drowned somehow whilst saving my life.

Aqua saw my panic and shook her head. "No, he is fine. Better than fine, actually..." At that, Splash pushed his way out of the small crowd of pokemon that had gathered around.

He had grown, having muscular legs and arms, and standing a foot taller that before. His chest was wider as well. "Poliwrath!" he greeted, eyes smiling.

"I have never seen a pokemon quite as heroic as this one here," Aqua said, showing real emotion for the first time; awe. She regarded Splash proudly. "I would be honored if I could train him further, he could make a great soldier. He has the right stuff."

I realized what she was asking, and nodded slowly. "I think he could probably grow more under your guidance than mine," I said, breathing out a heavy sigh.

Splash looked back and forth between me and Aqua. In his evolved form, he stood now just at my waist, and his eyes showed worry. "Wrath?"

I knelt down beside him as best I could with my injured leg. I leaned on my crutches. "Splash, you are so strong!" I began, aware of my voice tightening. "And you got so strong in such a short amount of time... You are too strong for me to help you anymore buddy." I let go of my crutch to reach out and hug him. Instead, I lost my balance and started to fall to the side as soon as I let go.

"Wah!" I yelped, hating that feeling of falling. Splash reached out one of his arms, and held me steady so I didnt fall. I regained my balance, unsteadily. Then I tried again, reaching out and hugging him.

"I'll be back for you, buddy," I said, reassuring him and myself.

Aqua nodded in agreement. "Yes, I am only to be your mentor, but you are still Allora's pokemon."

I heard Cali sniffle, making it harder for me to resist the urge to shed a tear. I could even sense that Erik felt my sadness, making it even harder to hold it together. Everyone in the room was quiet.

"I'll be back," I repeated. "And you'll be stronger than ever, okay?"

"Poli poliwrath!" he said, liking the sound of what I told him. It helped me that at least he was excited about it.I felt that my heart was breaking and I didn't know why. But it was best for Splash, because I knew that nothing I did anymore would be able to help him grow. But being with the Naval officer, doing military training, would be perfect for the now dual fighting and water type.

I stood, nodding to Aqua once again. She was dressed in her Navy uniform, this one deep blue and white. Her white-blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun, with a Naval cap sitting on her head. She nodded back to me.

I took a deep breath in, and let it out shakily. I hobbled to my room, where my bag had been placed by my friends while I was in the hospital. I fished around for Splash's ball, and headed back to the lobby. I handed it over to Aqua, who took it, unceremoniously, and returned Splash.

And that was it, for the time being. I had no idea when I would ever see my pokemon again, and he was gone. Aqua saluted me, thanked Erik for letting her into the suite, and left. Just like that.

It felt as if part of my soul had been removed. I spent the rest of that day in my room, sitting on my bed, thinking hard about... everything. Everything that had happened to me.

I didn't understand why letting go of Splash for the time being was so hard. It hadn't been as big of a deal, leaving Snuf with Professor Oak. But I had only used Snuf in one battle, and had him for a short time. But Splash and I had been through so much already. Hell, he had evolved twice under my care. He was so persistent, so eager to learn. I twirled my cascade badge between my fingers, thinking. Finally, I clipped it into my badge case next to my stone badge.

Two badges, six to go. I had only been on the road for close to three weeks now, and already so much had happened. I stared at the ceiling, feet dangling over the edge of the bed. I had met two legendary pokemon, fallen in love with a third, captured pokemon, won gym badges, fought Team Rocket, and been hospitalized twice. I cracked a smile at that thought.

"Allora?" was the voice. I looked to my right, not surprised. I had felt his concern already. Erik closed the door behind him, walking towards me.

"What's it like?" I mused, just because I could.

"What?"

"Changing into something new?" I rolled over on my hip, laying as a model would on the bed. Realizing this, I playfully put my hand on my hip, striking a pose. Erik was confused as to what exactly I was doing, making it even more amusing to me. He had no idea about what human sex appeal meant.

"Well," he began, still looking at me strangely. "It's quite different. Not having my tail is... different." As he spoke, his hands travelled unconsciously to each part of his body he addressed. At the moment, his hands were on his ass. I giggled.

"Thumbs were nice for my research," he said, moving his own up and down. "And I'm shorter than usual. But the biggest change for me is not being able to use my powers."

"It seemed like, in your memory, you had a lot more powers than you do now. Even after Darkrai took most of them from you." I patted the bed next to me, and he sat down.

"That's because I was not holding this form." I looked at him, confused. "I am not permanently in this form," he explained. "I am constantly maintaining it with my mind, leaving me only a small amount of power to pull from."

"So... if you ever stopped holding it..."

"I would transform back into my natural form, yes," he answered.

"Can I see you?" I whispered, suddenly very nervous. I had no idea what he would look like, at all. What if he was fearsome? What if he was... I didn't know where my mind was going, but I was terrified.

"No," he said, both relieving me and slightly disappointing me at the same time. "If I return to my true form, Darkrai will find my aura. Currently, by altering my body, I have also changed my aura, making me undetectable. But, if I transformed back, I would need to expand nearly all of my energy to shield myself from detection."

I nodded, understanding. Erik seemed so knowledgeable about so many things, it really was awe inspiring. But then he would pull shit like not knowing what cereal is, and I would remember that I knew a lot about things too, just maybe different things.

Erik looked away, towards the bathroom, lost in thought. I could feel him in the back of my mind, and I decided to try something. I focused hard, on his energy in my mind, opening myself to it. I could then feel his emotions more clearly, able to pick up what he was thinking about. His thought were on Darkrai, sometimes I was able to catch small visuals of his train of thought. Flashes of Darkrai here, pictures of the cave there, and so on. But soon... his thoughts began to... drift.

I soon felt red in the face as I realized where his head was. Er... both of his heads. He looked up at me and I averted my eyes.

"Can we do what we did the other night?" he asked, hopeful. "It was fun, I had never done that before in my pokemon form."

I couldn't help but laugh at his naivety. "Sure, why not," I agreed, feeling my body tingling.

~

A few hours later, I lay in bed beside Erik once again. It had been a good distractor, and mood lifter, because I was no longer as upset about Splash leaving.

"It will be good for him," Erik said, reading my thoughts. It seemed that our connection had only improved even more. I was now able to catch whole phrases running through his mind, and he was able to do the same with mine.

I sighed deeply, shifting my body closer to his, and laying my head on his chest. He smelled... once again, of something I couldn't describe. It wasn't a cologne, for I didn't think Erik even knew what cologne was, let alone why it was used. But he smelled like him, and I loved it.

I fell asleep very early that night, earlier than usual. Like... I think it was close to seven. But I slept deep and peacefully, feeling safe with Erik by my side. I didn't make dinner that night, but I figured Cali and Jamie could fix something for themselves. It's not like I was their mother, anyway.

The next day, I went down to the lobby in the morning. I had been too busy with my medical issues the day before to ask about our welcome in the suite, so I made sure to take care of that first thing.

The elevator opened up into a hallway, lined with the other hotel rooms on the first floor. I exited the hotel portion of the center, into the lobby that also contained the healing ward. The front desk had multiple sections, addressing different portions of the center. This was the first time I really paid attention to what they were, mostly because I needed to find the housing desk.

Cerulean has a smaller center than others in the region, but anything was bigger than Lavender Town's. It was giant, to me, and this became more apparent as I realized how many different sections of the center there were.

There is a gym and training center, complete with a pool, workout room, and practice battle arena. There was the health and safety center, which had the help desk for the pokemon hospital, as well as contact information and transport to the human hospital, just down the road. There was an entertainment center, with a game room, bar area, theater, ect. And the housing section, with the hotel section of the center, as well as boarding for pokemon.

The lines were completely empty, and so I walked right up to the desk and rang the small bell. A tall, skinny man with bright green hair came out of the back room and approached me warmly.

He answered all of my questions gladly, informing me that our contract for the suite lasted until the coming friday, giving us three more days in the nice, free room. I thanked him and left, heading upstairs, intending to make good use of all three days.

My pokemon were all out of their pokeballs, sitting around each other in a circle in the center of the sitting room. Erik was sitting on the couch, watching them along with Articuno. Jamie and Cali were still sleeping... or, they weren't out of their room, anyway.

Diamond was curled with her tail wrapped around, forming her body into a circle, and my pokemon were each sitting inside of the curve, chatting with each other. Noche and Sunny sat beside each other, with Icarus and Glitter opposite them, and Diamond hanging her head above the little gathering. Sunny would chitter, and the others, including Articuno and Erik, would listen. Occasionally, one of the two legendaries would interject into their conversation, and my pokemon would respond.

I approached the gathering curiously, Erik being the first to notice my presence, though I was positive he had already sensed I was coming. Sunny and Noche bounded over Diamond's coiled body, and to my sides in greeting. I bent carefully, having left my crutches in my room, and scratched them both on the ears.

"Um umbreon bre."

"Fla flareon!"

I looked at Erik for translation. "They said they want a new team member," he translated. "They have all been having a detailed conversation about it whilst you were absent."

I looked down. "Already?" I questioned. They nodded their heads, an action reciprocated by the other three across the room.

"Flar flareon re flareon," Sunny elaborated. I blinked.

"She says that they like having partners, and that you need one of the water type."

"I know that guys," I explained. I did. I had accepted that it could be years before Splash was done with his training. "But we can't just find a water type that quickly... one that would be right for the team." I didn't want anything fishy, because they were hard to have out anywhere but in the water, and Cali was terrified enough as it was without me toting around a fishy pokemon.

"Umbre," Noche declared.

"He says, Professor Oak."

So that's how I ended up calling Gary Oak on my pokell, video chatting with him, surrounded by my pokemon. "And she took Splash, training him further," I explained.

He nodded. "It was wise of you to give him up for the time being. Pokemon need to grow, and Aqua will be able to bring out his highest potential." He leaned back in his chair. "So, what could I do for you?"

"Actually," I said, "Diamond mentioned something about you giving away starter pokemon once upon a time?" I questioned. I felt bad asking, he had already given us three very helpful pokemon. But Diamond had insisted, according to Erik, that I question him about another pokemon. "She mentioned a pokemon named... Aberforth?"

Oak nodded, recognizing the name. "Yes, he and Diamond have been friends for many, many years, back when she was just a dratini. Aberforth was a life-long friend of her father, Samuel Oak's dragonite. He is quite aged... and quite strange." Oak looked lost in thought.

He did not speak for a while, and I almost thought he had forgotten we were there, but then he looked up. "I guess I shall send him over. It will do him good to get back in shape. He is hundreds of years young." Oak chuckled. "Maybe it is time for a new adventure for him. I shall have to go and find him, but his ball will be transported to the Cerulean center by tonight. You can pick it up downstairs."

We thanked him, Cali and Jamie having come out of their room in the middle of the conversation. After I hung up, I explained the situation. I was happy to be receiving a new partner, and soon. I hadn't realized how accustomed I had been to having a full team of 6 until I lost Splash.

I felt a little guilty about asking Oak for another pokemon, but he seemed excited about it on the phone. He must have really missed giving starter pokemon away, because he seemed more than willing to offer up whatever he had laying around the lab.

So most of that day I spent waiting around the sitting room once again. This time, I was teaching Erik how to play a card game with Cali and Jamie. Articuno had turned down playing, deciding just to watch and learn.

I dealt the cards and picked up my hand. I had decided to start with something simple, to ease Erik into the idea of playing mind games with cards.

"The idea is to make pairs, by asking other players for cards that you already have in your hand," I explained to him. "Cali, do you have any... three's?"

She groaned, pulling a three from her hand and passing it to me. "You were always too good at this game," she grumbled. I put my matched pair on the table.

"You're turn, Erik," I instructed.

He looked around, eying each one of us with a critical eye. "Jamie..." he began hesitantly. "Do you have any... A's?"

"Aces," I whispered to him.

"Aces?" he corrected quickly.

"Nope!" Jamie said proudly. "Go fish!"

Erik looked around, confused. "But... I see no water to fish in..."

"No," I elaborated, trying not to laugh. "He means draw a card."

"But why would he not just say 'draw a card,' instead of instructing me to go fishing without a rod or body of water?"

I sighed. I really had hoped this game would be simple enough for him to grasp. "Let's try another game."

We tried Hoenn hold 'em, and got locked into a conversation about why the ace was able to be within a straight involving the king sometimes, and the two other times.

"If the ace is much better than the king," Erik questioned. "Why would he associate with the two? The two is the lowest card and I would not think that-"

"Okay, I'm done with cards," Cali said, having a tenth of my own patience. She stood. "I'm gonna go grab dinner, what do you guys want?"

We sent her and Jamie out to get some Ponyta's Place, which they brought back promptly. I had finally convinced Erik that it was acceptable for the ace to associate with the two and the king, because 'a good ruler should associate with all kinds of people.' We ate in the kitchen, our pokemon in the sitting room once again. I had just started to put my first bite in my mouth when.

"BRRRZZZT." A buzzer went off in the speakers on the ceiling. "ALLORA SILVERFIELD, YOU HAVE A DELIVERY WAITING FOR YOU AT THE HELP DESK."

The noise had scared the crap out of me, and I fell sideways out of my chair, thank goodness on my right side. Erik helped me up, and fetched my crutches so I could make my way downstairs.

A single, plain red and white pokeball was waiting for me downstairs. It looked brand new. I thanked the clerk, who had retrieved it from the transfer box, and took the ball from her hand. I handed it to Erik, so I could get back upstairs without falling. I shuddered to think what I would have done in my condition had the pokemon center only had a staircase.

Thank goodness for the elevator.