-Ty-

"Come on, look up or you'll regret it." Ty poked Ralf in the back, but all he got from the young green-haired boy was a shake of his head. The older boy sighed and leaned back, letting the wind stream through his hair. There were times when Ralf looked confident and determined, but right now he simply looked like the too-young and inexperienced trainer he was, especially right now as he hunched over the Honchkrow with his eyes tightly squeezed shut (although Ty couldn't really be sure, since he couldn't quite see Ralf's eyes with his bangs covering them all the time).

Ty couldn't help but wonder if Ralf was even ten, like he'd claimed. Ralf sure seemed a bit short, even for a ten-year-old kid, and he was definitely way too reckless and clueless to already be going on a journey. How had he even gotten his parents' permission to allow him to go off by himself? And those two streaks of red in Ralf's hair, had they allowed him to do that as well?

Still, Ty thought that since the boy was already on a journey anyway, he might as well experience all the good things that came with it... like the scenery they were flying over right now. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, one that he was actively and desperately trying to suppress: what if Ralf actually wasn't on a journey (to see the world and challenge the Pokémon League that is)... and was travelling for other reasons as well? Ty shook his head; he didn't want to suspect Ralf like that. Besides, such trivialities could wait. At least till we get Azelf to a Pokémon Centre... he thought, looking down at the blue legendary cradled in his arms.

For now, though, he just looked out at the skies beyond, watching the gold and vivid orange hue of the sunset fade into the soft greys and pink of dusk. It was really such a shame that Ralf was missing out on it.


-Ralf-

Needless to say, Ty and I ended up causing an uproar when we arrived at the Pokémon Centre with an unconscious Azelf. The nurses (one of whom look exactly like the Nurse Joy I met in Hearthome- but surely she couldn't have been the same person) put Azelf in a brightly lit room with complicated machines and glass walls, and told us that Azelf's condition "was stable but the prognosis doesn't seem too good". In other words, Azelf isn't going to wake up anytime soon.

Since night had already fallen, Ty and I won't going anywhere either.

"I'm going to sleep now." I quickly levitate myself to the top bunk while Ty's back is turned and burrow underneath the blanket. It's a pain that Ty decided to bunk with me without even asking for my thoughts on sleeping in the same room. With the human around, I can't bring out the others to discuss any plans for tomorrow without looking suspicious. Heck, I can't even let him see me while I'm sleeping, since I probably can't maintain my illusion while unconscious. Refusing to share a room would probably make me seem even more suspicious though, so I'll just have to deal with it.

"What, so early? You haven't even showered yet. And didn't eat much for dinner either. You okay?" I hear a creak and I can sense Ty's somehow looking at me. Fidgeting uncomfortably under the blanket, I reply: "I'm just kind of tired, that's all."

"I guess growing kids need their sleep, huh?" Although I can feel that Ty's poking fun at me, I pick up a hint of fondness in his words, too. "Well then, good night Ralf. I'm going to shower before sleeping."

"...Good night." I hear another creaking sound and the feeling of him watching me is gone. Some rustling later, the door creaks faintly as Ty leaves the room to the shared bathroom at the end of the corridor. Finally, I can drop my illusion properly. I sigh and push the blanket off me, then scan the bed to see how I can masquerade as a sleeping human... okay, a pillow here and bunch up the sheets there... looks passable.

Should I bring out the others now?... Nah. Better not. I have no idea when Ty is going to come back and it's better not to get caught with my illusion down, talking to Pokémon. Since I already said that I was going to sleep, might as well go to sleep. I tuck myself under the blanket, safely behind the "sleeping human"-shaped pillows, and close my eyes.

...I'm still too anxious to fall right asleep however... Thoughts of Azelf whirl in my mind, the image of the unmoving body... Mesprit's worry... but also Sam's unexpected "capture"... and the fact that Ty has a Honchkrow and Umbreon. Does he have more Pokémon I don't know about? He did say he hasn't shown me all his Pokémon yet...

A click and footsteps tell me Ty's back (time sure flies by fast when one is deep in thought…) and I hear a creaking sound which brings with it the feeling-of-being-watched. "Hey Ralf, you awake?"

He pokes the pillow (which he somehow hasn't realised isn't me! Not bad, myself...) "Ralf?" he repeats.

Seriously? And here I thought he was just going to let me sleep in peace. After a bit more name-calling and poking, I'm just about to put on my illusion again and confront him when the human retreats. "Woah, looks like he's really asleep... good then."

Something about his "good then" doesn't feel quite right. Ty feels... relieved? What for, because I fell asleep? For some reason it's right after I decide to stay up a little more to find out exactly what he means when I finally actually start feeling sleepy.

Resistance is futile as time passes with Ty doing nothing in particular (he does hum a nice tune) and the music gradually but steadily lulls me to sleep...

The tune breaks off. A jolt runs through me at Ty's sudden change in mood: from being relaxed to becoming completely serious, and it wakes me up more effectively than an apple thrown at my head does.

"Tyler reporting, sir."

I don't think I'm going to sleep anytime soon.


"Are you sure he said all that?" Sam frowns.

"Yeah, I heard it!" My agitation shows in my voice. "The entire conversation... well from Ty's side at least."

"Calm down, Ralf. It's not like you to be so panicky." Pip slaps me on the back and I stumble a bit, but it does help clear my mind, even if it's only slightly. I had to force myself to fall asleep since my anxiety went over the roof after 'accidentally' eavesdropping Ty's strange phone call last night, and right now I'm holding an "emergency meeting" with the others while Ty's still in the bathroom. I have no idea when Ty's going to be back, so on top of my nervousness about being discovered, there's also my confusion about what Ty's words yesterday meant… not to mention the fact that now that we've saved Azelf, what are we going to do next? For a wannabe 'trainer', I sure need a lot of counsel from 'my' Pokémon. (It feels wrong to call them 'my' Pokémon though, that living beings with their own thoughts could actually belong to me…)

"Anyway Ralf, you mentioned that Ty said that the police need to question you about Azelf, right?" I nod in confirmation. "Then, the more important thing right now is how you're going to answer their questions. We still don't know how to explain the way you got onto the island."

"I can help with that." Mesprit, who's been silent throughout, suddenly offers. As we turn to face her the air around her seems to shimmer, before she turns into the pink Drifloon. "Ralf, put on your illusion, and raise your arms in the air."

"Huh? Okay…" I obligingly do as she says. The Mesprit-Drifloon curls her string-like arms above me, like she's wrapping them around something, and the next moment I yelp as a barely-noticeable red glow envelops me body and lifts me off the ground. "Wha-what're you doing?"

"Woah! It looks really believable!" Sam exclaims, looking up at the floating me. Even Pip gives a satisfied nod: "So your Drifloon carried you across the lake and onto the island. I think that'll work."

"Ralf? What are you doing? I heard your Pokémon in here." Ty pokes his head into the room, staring curiously at me (in my illusioned form! Thank goodness!)

"Ty! I was just, uh, wanting to show you how I got to the island yesterday. Since you asked." I nod up towards the Drifloon "carrying" me and give him a sheepish smile. That's one thing taken care of, at least. A wave of relief and realisation sweeps over him as Mesprit-Drifloon finally returns me to the ground. "So that's what it was. Huh, I almost forgot about that pink Drifloon you had out yesterday. It's a one-of-a-kind, isn't it? There was some commotion in Hearthome about it, too. So it was you that time.

"If it were any other trainer I might not have believed it, since I don't think Drifloon are strong enough to carry most humans… but you're really light." Ty laughs. "I guess there are benefits to being little, too."

"Yeah, I guess…" Along with the benefits of having a lake legendary with you…

"So, you coming to breakfast? And all your Pokémon too, it seems." Ty chuckles and adds, "But you might want to return them first and get them out at the cafeteria later. You have quite a lot of Pokémon now- right, forgot to congratulate you for getting another three Pokémon so soon. Back at Sandgem you only had Pip, and look at you now!"

"T-thanks!" I take his advice and quickly return everyone to their pokéballs, and I'm about to follow Ty out the door before Delia floats in front of me and gives me a "you totally forgot about me didn't you" look. As I scramble to get Delia's pokéball (it's her fault for being so quiet that I forgot she was there for our meeting too!) Ty laughs, seemingly understanding the situation although being unable to understand the Pokémon's words themselves.

Ty seems really nice… but what exactly would that conversation last night mean?


-Ty-

"Why do I always end up getting questioned by police?" The young boy tilted his head questioningly. He didn't sound sulky or bored, which was what Ty might have expected from a young kid made to sit through questions all the time, but rather genuinely confused. A little nervous too, probably since Ralf was a little freaked out that a bunch of things-worthy-of-police-attention kept happening to him. Honestly, Ty was kind of freaked out by that as well.

"You keep getting yourself in weird places, that's why! I don't even know how you keep showing up whenever something big happens." Ty chided, although he couldn't stop the unease that he felt every time he went into that line of thought. That it wasn't just a coincidence that Ralf was always around… no, it couldn't be. Anyway, he'd already told that person about it last night, and Ty was sure she would be able to make a better judgement than him. He added hastily, trying to keep those thoughts out of his head: "A young kid like you shouldn't keep getting involved in dangerous things anyway."

Ralf frowned, as if he could sense what Ty had been thinking, but then he replied – actually sulky this time: "Well, it's not like I wanted to… And I didn't go anywhere weird… You were always there too, right?"

"That's different!"

"Why? Because you're older than me?" Ralf looked at him curiously, like he was now beginning to consider that he was really kind of too young to be travelling alone.

"Exactly." And also because it was his job, but Ralf didn't need to know that part.

"But I'm old enough too, right?" Gah! Just how innocent was this kid? It was like Ralf's parents never told him any scary stories about children being kidnapped by bad people or that kind of thing before. He seriously didn't seem to think his journey had been pretty dangerous up till now? If Ty's little sister had been like Ralf, Ty would've forbidden her to even step out of the house. Ralf continued, "Anyway, I'm going to look around Pastoria City! It's so far away from home…"

"What the-" Ty barely had time to react to Ralf's sudden declaration before the young trainer was already off the couch they were sitting on and heading to the doors. "Hey! You better come back later! The police still need to ask us questions after their on-site investigations are done!"

"I know!" Ralf had almost gotten to the entrance of the lobby when he suddenly stopped, dug around in his bag and brought out his Piplup. Just when Ty thought Ralf couldn't get any weirder, Pip glanced at his trainer and sent a few bubbles upwards, where they popped in the air. Then Ralf and his Pokémon stepped through the opening glass doors and headed off.

"Oh my. He's quite a rookie trainer, isn't he? Does he not even have a pokéball belt?" Nurse Joy's gentle voice sounded from behind the counter as she watched the trainer-Pokémon duo leave as well. "And what was that thing about his Piplup about?"

"Who knows?" Ty sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Ralf sure was a weird kid… seeing Pip reminded him of this morning as well, when Ralf suddenly brought out all his Pokémon in his room. The weirdest thing about it was that just before Ty had entered the room, he hadn't heard Ralf's voice at all- only the murmurs of Pokémon's voices. So Ralf had brought out his Pokémon just so they could have some early morning chat? And he could recall the previous times Ralf had acted weird too… Ugh. Thinking about Ralf's strangeness could only muddle up his head more. Better to just forget about it for now. "I'll just head back to my room till later. Tell me if Ralf comes back, could you?"

"Sure! Have a good rest!" Nurse Joy called out with a smile as Ty got off the couch and pulled out his phone. Time for a quick checking-in with that sister of his, then he'd be expecting an important call…


The end! Sorry for the shortness of this chapter together with the lateness... ouch... anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter. Although it was short. But we get into the head of Ty like twice! Ralf is a weird human.

Reviews very much appreciated!