Hello readers! J and L here, and we have finally finished chapter 36! It did take us a lot longer then we would of liked to write this, but unfortunately school work can get in the way. So far we have had to read a total of twenty chapters in a book, write three five page essays, do nearly two hundred long drawn out math problems by hand, and construct several power point presentations. All in all, a lot of school work to take up almost all our free time. But enough about that, you don't want to hear about how our education is going, you want to read chapter 36 of this story. So let's get to it.

(Person's name POV) how the person who is talking sees things.

"Person talking"

[Telepathic speech]

'When a pokémon is talking in poké-speech'

{Anything written on paper, such as notes}

Disclaimer- This story is in no way a claim on either the pokémon franchise, or on Nintendo. Except for our claim on our OC that were made for this story, and the plot of this story itself, all rights to go Nintendo and their respective owners.

Chapter 36

It's Been A While

(Normal POV)

It's been nearly two years since Joey's and Lilly's escape from Phoenix, and a lot has happened since then. After they split from Ash and Lilly's family, they began to travel farther south, passing through New York where they got there fourth team member, a Gastly by the name of Casper. Along the way, they battled every gym that was in there path, and by the time Joey's seventeenth birthday they had almost forty badges, which was the fastest anyone had ever gotten the badges so far. Word of their speed soon crossed the land, and by the time they reached Texas they had a huge fan group following them.

Of course their speed wasn't the only words that crossed people's lips when they spoke of Joey and his team. Rumors of Joey's and Lilly's love for each other also spread around the world, and because of that some people wouldn't have anything to do with them. It got so bad in Florida that Joey and Lilly were run out of multiple towns, and were nearly hung in Mississippi. Because of this, Joey and Lilly usually hid their love for each other, waiting till they were alone to anything, even just hold hands.

On the bright side, six months after Vincent and Mia were arrested by the Rangers, they were released and cleared of all charges. Since Vincent had also been disowned like Joey, and Mia couldn't rejoin her old friends, the two off them took a plane ride, and meet Joey and Lilly when they arrived in Texas. By this time, Vincent had a new pokémon team, a Shinx called Electro and a Mawile named May, and Mia's Eevee, Arthur, had evolved into a Umbreon.

By the time Joey's small group reached Las Vegas, nearly everyone on Joey's team had reached their final evolution, with the lone exception of Casper who was now a Haunter, and Joey had finally gotten used to the idea of leaving most of his team, except of course Lilly, inside their poké-balls while they traveled. This not only kept their group from attracting too much attention because of their size, it also saved on food when they traveled, although they still attracted a lot attention because of who they were.

.

(Joey's POV)

"The winner is Joey's Gardevoir, Lilly!" called the referee as Lilly knocked out the gym leader's last pokémon.

"How?" stammered the gym leader as he's withdrew his knocked out Steelix, "how did you knock out my Steelix?"

"You didn't protect your back side," I explained as Lilly walked back to my side, "all Lilly had to do was get behind you and attack to knock you out."

[And so I did,] added Lilly with a smile at the gym leader's face at hearing her voice in his head.

"Did she just talk?" asked the gym leader, only to shake his head before I could answer, "nevermind. Here is the badge for defeating me."

"Thank you," I said as I took the silver coin and put it in my badge case. I was up to sixty two badges now. You only needed fifty to enter into the pokémon league, but the FOH had recently blown up half of the stadium, luckily there were no casualties, so the league wouldn't be ready for at least a few years, "you have a good day."

"Another badge down," said Vincent as we walked over to where he and Mia stood, "what number is that one? Two thousand?"

"Sixty two," I said, putting away my badge box, "don't exaggerate."

"How many do you plan on getting?" Mia asked, "all of them?"

[Well, the league isn't ready so we might as well get as many as we can,] said Lilly as the four of us started for the door, [and hey, it gets us stronger and our fan group likes watching us get them.]

"Might as well call them what they are," said Vincent as we walked outside and got blinded by flash photography, and nearly deafened by the scream and hollering of the people waiting for us outside, "the paparazzi!"

"Why don't we just teleport?" asked Mia as we started wading through all the people as we started to get to our hotel.

"Because the last time we did that, the people here who had Psychic pokémon teleported after us," I said as I quickly signed a little girl's book for her.

"Might as well get this over with," added Vincent as he shook someone's hand, "after all, this will be over soon."

.

"Another successful day," I said as Lilly and I made it to our hotel room, although it was more like an apartment then a hotel room. One of the perks of all these gym battles we had won, was that I now had a lot of money, so we were in one of the finer hotels in Las Vegas.

[And another win for us,] added Lilly as she quickly kissed me on the cheek, [and I was able to restrain myself the whole time till we made it back.]

"Yeah, I could feel how much you have been itching to kiss me all day," I said as I walked over to our room's mini kitchen and pulled out a root beer for myself, and a chocolate milk for Lilly, "but you did well not to do it in public. I would prefer not to be chased out of Vegas by over seven hundred thousand people."

[We aren't in public anymore,] said Lilly as she walked up behind me, wrapping her arms around me, [so we can be as affectionate as we want to be.]

"Of course we can," I said, kissing her arm, "but it is easier to kiss if I were to be facing the other direction."

[I guess,] said Lilly as she let me turn around and put down the drinks, [why do you have to have good points?]

"It's part of my charm," I said as we embraced in a deep, passionate kiss.

[That it is,] agreed Lilly after we broke our kiss, [you know what I want?]

"Chocolate milk?" I asked, holding up a bottle of Lilly's favorite drink.

[I was think about is doing that thing we had talked about us doing a couple of years ago,] said Lilly, getting as close as she could to me, [you know what I am talking about.]

"Yes I do," I said, remembering the conversation we had after I had been healed at the Poké-center shortly after we escaped Phoenix, "but I thought we had agreed we would do it when we were both eighteen years old."

[I don't want to wait another three months,] wined Lilly as she started to kiss my neck, [I want to do it with you now.]

"I told you I would do it when we were both eighteen years old," I said, lightly moving Lilly off my neck, "the closest we can get before then is merging our minds."

[Fine,] muttered Lilly as she laid my right hand on her heart, sending a shiver through her. She was still very sensitive there, even after all the times we had done this, [but I really do want to do it with you.]

"This will have to tide you over for now," I replied, running my hand down her heart, and after a brief dizzy spell, I could feel Lilly's and my minds wrapping around each other. After the first time we had combined our minds, Lilly had started to strengthen our mental connection, which ment we had to combine our minds about once a week. At first it was exhausting, since we would only stay awake for about twenty minutes before we passed out, but as time progressed we were able to do it without that much energy loss, "better?"

'Much,' said Lilly as she spoke aloud. One of the perks of combining our minds, I could understand what Lilly said for a short time, 'so what should we do now?'

"Well, I thought we would sit down, enjoy something cold to drink, and maybe find something on TV to watch," I said, picking up both our drinks, "then later I could order room service and we could enjoy some time on the balcony."

'Why don't we go out for dinner?'

"Well for one, our paparazzi friends would never leave us alone when we leave the building," I said, glad I had given the hotel a large sum of money to keep the paparazzi away from us when we were in their hotel, "and another reason is that while there are many nice places for us to eat at, most will disapprove of a human and a pokémon eating a romantic dinner together."

'Yeah, they might frown on that,' agreed Lilly as we walked over and sat down on the couch in front of our room's eighty inch flat screen TV. Having money has it's perks, 'so what should we watch?'

"I'm not sure, let's see what's on," I said, picking up the remote and started scrolling through the channels, "there has to be something good on."

.

'How can there be nothing good on?' Lilly asked after I passed over the five thousandth channel, 'I thought humans loved to watch TV?'

"I guess they just enjoy really bad shows these days," I said, turning off the TV, "well, since the TV is out of the question, how about I call room service about dinner?"

'That sounds good,' agreed Lilly as I picked up the room's phone, and dialed room service, 'make sure they get us something good though.'

"I will," I said as someone picked up the phone, "hello, room service."

"Hello there trainer Joey," said the person on the other end of the line, "how can we help you tonight?"

"Since I beat the gym today, I have decided to celebrate with a nice dinner," I explained, "and I was wondering if there was anywhere near here that had good food for my Psychic type pokémon."

"Yes there is a place nearby, Psychic Palace. Would you like me to place an order for you with them?"

"No thanks, I think I'll call over there myself. Thank you for the help."

"Anything for a valued customer," said the person on the other line as I hung up the phone.

'So, where are we going?' Lilly asked as she got up off the couch and stretched, 'I know you said we would have room service being us the food, but I feel like walking there.'

"There is a place called Psychic Palace nearby," I said, pulling up a map on my phone, "two blocks over. If you want to walk there we could head over there and grab some dinner, then come back to eat it in the room."

'That's good, let's go,' said Lilly, pulling me off the couch, 'I'm hungry already, so let's not waist any time.'

"Hang on, let me grab my wallet," I said, grabbing my wallet, and hooked my knives back on my waist, "now we can go."

.

"Welcome to Psychic Palace," said a man with a Chimecho next to him as Lilly and I walked into the Psychic Palace, "table for two?"

"That would be good," I said, laying down a one hundred dollars on the table, "there is a large group of Paparazzi following us. Please make sure they do not get to our table."

"That can be arranged," said the man as Chimecho rang it's bell, and an Xatu came over, "please take our guests to table twenty five."

[Of course,] replied the Xatu, turning to us, [please follow me to your table.]

"Thank you," I said as we were lead over to a small two person table by the window, which had an excellent view of a nearby park.

'Wow, this place is very nice,' said Lilly in amazement as we sat down, 'and there aren't many people here. Do you think we should change our plans, and just eat here?'

"It's up to you," I said as a waitress came walking towards our table, "I'll do whatever you want."

"Welcome to the Psychic Palace, I'm Witney, I'll be your server for tonight," said the waitress as she handed Lilly and me each a menu, "have either of you been here before?"

[No, this is our first time,] said Lilly, opening her menu.

"Well allow me to help you with a few things," said Witney, not even flinching at the sound of Lilly talking, "on the first page you will find our appetizers. The dots on the side indicate what type of pokémon usually enjoy the food, with the open one with an H in it representing food that is prepared for humans only. Pages two and three are entrées, page four is deserted and drinks."

"Thanks for explaining that for us," I said taking out another hundred dollars and handing it to Witney, "this is for you. Anyone who can explain the menu that well deserves more money."

"Wow sir, thank you."

"Don't mention it," I said with a smile, "there is lots more where that came from, just make sure to keep my friend here happy."

"I think I can manage that," said Witney, writing something down on her notepad, "so can I start you off with something to drink?"

[I'll have an Oran berry smoothie,] said Lilly, 'what about you?'

"I'll take a Coke Zero on ice," I replied.

"One Oran berry smoothie and a Coke Zero coming right up," said Witney, writing down our drinks, "can I get you started on an appetizer?"

"I'm not sure what you have," I said, turning to the first page and quickly skimming down it, "no thanks, I'm good. Lilly?"

[Can I get a small Sitrus salad with no dressing?] asked Lilly.

"One Oran berry smoothie, a Coke Zero, and a small Sitrus salad with no dressing coming up," said Witney as she walked away.

'Well she is very cheerful,' said Lilly.

"You're right," I agreed, "but in a place like this, cheerful is always a good thing."

'Yeah, but why did you give her money?'

"It was a tip," I explained, "I give her money, which indicates I have lots of money. And since people love money, I just guaranteed that we would get good service."

'Can we afford to do that? How much money do you have left?'

"Well, there is the fifty thousand I have back in the room," I said, trying to remember how much money I had, "another ten thousand or so in my wallet, and then about that much in my old bank account."

'I didn't know all our battles were getting us that much money,' said Lilly, completely shocked that we had so much money, 'when you were playing your pokémon games, did you ever have this much money?'

"Of course not," I said, trying to remember how much money I had collected in my games, "I usually had upwards of five million dollars."

'Five million!' Exclaimed Lilly, drawing the attention of a few of the people around us, 'how did you never get robbed?'

"I had one of the most kick ass teams ever formed in the history of pokémon," I said as our waitress came walking back with our drinks and Lilly's salad, "and since I dressed in normal clothes, no one ever really knew how much I really had."

"Here are your drinks, and your salad," said Witney, putting our drinks and food on the table, "are you ready to order, or would you like a few more minutes?"

"I think we are going to need a few more minutes," I said, not even realizing we had been talking this whole time, and never even looked at the entries.

"Alright, take all the time you need," said Witney as she walked away, and I picked up my menu to find something to eat.

"I'm thinking about having their fish and chips," I said, finding one of my favorite foods, "what about you?"

'You always go for the fish,' said Lilly with a little smile, opening back up her menu, 'what is it with you and fish?'

"When I was little, my family and I traveled to London, where I had some fish and chips from this little road side stand that were heavenly," I explained, remembering the light, flaky fish, with its crisp and flavorful crust, and French fries that had just the right amount of sea salt on them, "ever since I have tried to find some that were equal to theirs."

'I wish I could do something like that,' said Lilly with a sigh, 'the only dish they have here I recognize is the berry Alfredo, and I can't have that.'

"Why don't you?" I asked, "whatever you want for dinner is yours."

'I can't. It has peppers in it.'

"Right, I forgot you can't have peppers," I said, mentally slapping myself for forgetting the one food Lilly can't have, "maybe we can get you it without them?"

'No, I think I'll just get the zucchini spaghetti with Mago berry sauce,' said Lilly, putting down her menu, 'I like sweet foods, and Mago berries are supposed to be very sweet.'

"Then I guess all we have to do is wait for our waitress to order."

.

(Normal POV)

'For over two years we have watched these two, and what have we found?' asked G as the ghostly Gardevoir stood with Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Latias, Latios, Mew, and Mewtwo around the viewing pool.

'Joey and Lilly's bond has grown immensely since they met, and even more so as they started dating,' said Latias, 'it will be nearly impossible to separate them from each other now.'

'Joey has been having more visions of the future, and now has one about once a week,' added Dialga, 'and while they are not always accurate, he can still gather enough information to get done what needs to be done.'

'Also, Lilly is starting to have feelings of a physical nature for Joey,' said Mew, 'and it is only a matter of time before she acts on them.'

'Speaking of time, we may be wrong about the time for Joey's powers of he is the chosen one,' added Mewtwo, 'at the latest they will activate by his eighteenth birthday, but there is a good chance they will develop in the next two weeks.'

'I have our time warp portal ready to move him and his team the moment they activate,' said Palkia, 'but what then? What do we do while his powers are developing, but before he can start training?'

'We will have to train his mind for that time,' said Arceus, 'and there is his team. We will need to build a bigger building for them to stay, since poké-balls won't work on the Hidden Land.'

'So we will have to accommodate a few more pokémon, what else is new?' asked G, 'we just need to be ready for his powers, because Joey defiantly won't be ready.'

'What about his travelling companions?' asked Latios, 'Vincent and Mia. Should they be allowed to come here we well?'

'I think we will have to bring them along,' said G, 'when they fought by my side, I felt they had some sort of connection between them and Joey, so they may be critical for Joey's training.'

So, we still have some legendary stalkers watching Joey and Lilly. Hopefully they will stop in the next few chapters, because that is kinda creepy. Also, we brought back Vincent and Mia for you guys! A few of you had messaged me about having either one of both of them come back, so we thought why not and brought them back.

So until chapter 37 is uploaded, whenever that is, this is J and L saying goodbye for now, and remember to help in any way you can with the recent damage done by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Even if all you do is send in five dollars, or just some old clothes, it can help out a lot to those in need.