Part 8: The Bell

Chapter 61: Too Lucky

Episode FOUR: A Real Sibling

Just a little bit left before we start our new adventure.

I don't own Pokémon.


Bryan

Skywisp Al pushed me away because I was gross. Oh. I needed to fix being gross. Now I was grosser on the outside than I was on the inside. That was what I thought when Al hugged me and said she was okay with me now. Old Bryan made bad jokes and insensitive comments, but I didn't do that, because I had no more room for nasty things. Was I right to think that way? Who was I asking this question? Myself. I could ask myself questions. I liked that. I wanted to keep doing it. Why did skywisp Al hug me if she knew I was gross anyway? Oh. I cured her with Symbi Solacea. My paws still tickled from doing that, but not too much. It was a good tickle. It told me I did a good job, even if my 'patient' shoved me over. I stumbled over some crunchy leaves and one or two of them got stuck under my feet. After that, I stood still and tried to look right at my shoulder – the one Al's arm touched. My shoulder wasn't the same anymore. It had skywisp on it. She had a long body – almost as long as my old one. My, er, oldest one. Skywisps were weird. My dad turned into one. I still didn't know where he was. If I could turn into a buizel, I could probably turn into Charley, too. Did he do that to me? Was that why I had Solacea? I looked at my shoulder some more. The surface of my body reflected the strange, fuzzy light this place gave off, even if it had no sun.

Skywisp Al was talking so loudly. I didn't know where my ears were anymore, but I could still hear her voice above all others, even as somebody screamed over her – okay, maybe not then. There was another girl's voice, and she was calling Al's name. 'Alli', though. It was 'Alli' now. I wanted to remember that. This girl person flew right by me, a fiery red bullet. Solacea sparkled, and my paws tickled more... loudly, than before. Once the fiery thing passed, the sensation quieted down. Someone else flew by. Everyone was good at flying, even without wings. This person was a Pokémon with a big yellow thing on its head, yellows ribbons flowing behind it. It passed almost as quickly as the first person. The third person chasing after the first two was blue with orange cheeks, smelled like fresh water, and looked like Nikki. She stood up like Nikki, had hands like Nikki, was pretty like Nikki, and even stopped to examine me. Her deep, calm purple eyes were fixed on my Symbi. They climbed my body and met my eyes. I had nothing to say with my mouth, but I told her 'hello' with my eyes. Maybe she didn't understand me, 'cause all she did was lift a pencil to a notebook she was carrying, scratched something into the paper, then gave me a few fleeting glances more before taking off into a sheepish jog after the other two. I watched her, her wide, bright blue tail fin staying meticulously straight even as she moved.

They had gathered around Alli. The girl person made of fire clung to Alli, laughing. The Pokémon with the funny head stopped short of the two, putting her small hands up in front of her chest like she was too shy to interact. The blue Nikki-like girl joined in on the hug. So much affection over there. Alli gave me some, so I was okay now, but even Nikki was thrilled to see them all together. Rayse, too. So happy, I thought. All those smiles. All that laughter. I had a happiness that I couldn't put away. It looked nothing like that. I just laughed and I wanted people to laugh with me, even if the things I said and did weren't funny or nice. Old Bryan was like that, too.

I looked at my Symbi. It always sparkled, brightening my dark, bloody body. My sutures drifted around the bar, my arm, my head, playing with my fur – it was really just me doing that, poking myself, making sure I could still feel. Didn't know why. Maybe I liked that I could move the sutures around just like my arm or my split tail. They weren't gross, either. I liked them a little more then I liked my own body.

My nose tingled, almost burned. Someone smelled really nice all of a sudden! I pointed my nose high, tracking the wafting scent. Somebody was next to me.

"I do believe I've some unfinished affairs with you." she said to me, a girl adorned with diamonds so pink and shiny that I had to blink while I looked her over. Shiny girl, I thought? With a dress? I wasn't used to all that pink, only blues. But, somebody pink owned my blue Symbi. I should've been used to it. Somebody pink was my father. Somebody pink was Charley. This was also somebody pink? She knew me? She had affairs?

I walked closer to her, cautious, overwhelmed with how much work it took to look at all of her. With each step, I noticed something new about her, from her flowing bands, to the tiny jewels attached to them.

"Hi. I'm Bryan," I told her, stopping a yard short of the regal girl. "I like you. You're really shiny."

"Mm..." she hummed over my compliment, diverting her attention, putting a little gray hand over her mouth. She made a fist with it, but not out of anger or anything. She wore such a concerned face. Why the worry? "Pray, Bryan. Oh my days..."

Was she European? She sounded like it. English? I liked her voice a lot. I flicked my tail from side to side.

"We've met before, but any number of circumstances may have deviated your memory," she said, only to return her attention to my, albeit wryly. She found me hard to look at. "I'll give you the short of it: It was because of you that I became this way – not this body, mind you, but this mind. Now irony's come to point its finger at us."

"Your mind? Your mind smells so... not Flux," I remarked, letting my nose go high again just to make sure. An extra sniff asserted my thoughts for me. I lowered my head again, watching her jeweled eyes closely. "What did I do to make you so different?"

"For one, you gave me quite the scare," she answered fast. "And the scare summoned the Royal Pink Princess: Diancie – that would be me, just in case you didn't know..."

"Pink..." I mouthed. No reason. Just said it. Maybe there was a reason. Wouldn't have said it if not. Was how thoughts worked. I had those. I had thoughts.

"...Out of her boyish demeanor named Atti." she continued. I felt my chest seize up. My body hardened. I couldn't flap my tail around so much anymore.

"I have one-" I gasped. No, that wasn't right. "I-I do one-" I stammered. No. Not that, either. Slow down, me. I thought slowly. "I... Atti? I have a-"

"Yes, prithee, spare me your shock. I've had enough emotion for a few chapters," she stopped me, arms crossing over one another, not before she flicked her wrist over one of her transparent ribbons, tossing it behind her shoulder as if adjusting hair. "Simply do me a favor and remember him, if you're going to return to the world of the cognitive. Yes?"

"I did meet you," I recalled. I was alone back then. I was 'happy'. Travis was afraid of me. Nobody wanted me. I was dirty. Then, a light broke through the red haze, blue in one aspect, pink in another. Her name wasn't Diancie yet. She was with Alli. The sky was still red. It must have not been long ago. "I did..."

"Of course you did. You bloody lived with me," she contested. Her voice was cold, but thawing. There was weakness in it. I said nothing – just watched her. "Yes? Come on then, speak up! Aren't you better than Flux?! You own a blooming Symbi, for Unown's sake!"

Why were my paws shaking? I wasn't angry. I didn't remember how to be angry. Was I afraid? It was in my chest or stomach somewhere – fear, if it was fear. I didn't like it. It was eating me up. I couldn't smile. I felt as stiff as ice. Even my sutures were completely still. No movement anywhere. I could feel the glow from Solacea going dim in my grasp.

"Right then," she sighed. "What of Charley?"

"Charley..." I droned. Skywisp, I thought. Symbi Solacea. Pretty. Still father, but pretty. Friend? Friendly. I didn't find Charley anywhere when I...

"You don't know. You don't know," she repeated more slowly the second time. "Not a Flux of many words, are you?"

"There was a flower," I said, speaking more loudly. Maybe I was angry, and that anger made me speak up and over her. "It's not a Flux, but it looks like one. The flower hurt Charley."

"Pardon...?"

"A flower with the Crossblade," I clarified, its sadistic smile in my head, blade through a skywisp's neck. "It ambushed Charley. I thought I saved him."

"No," said another, her voice mature. "That's not the case, Bryan. I'm sorry, kids. Your father – my... dearest friend, is now the Symbi you hold."

A purple skywisp came to us, hair black as onyx, her purple body shining, long and slender. Her belly, like Alli's was white and clean – it looked like she was longer though. She seemed much older.

"It shouldn't pain me, but it does," the purple skywisp sulked. "Because Charley can only join us in the form of Symbi Solacea."

I looked at my Symbi. Charley, I thought? Dad? The light of Solacea rippled outward, shaking in my paw, as it did when that fire person passed by. It was reacting to something. Somebody caused this to happen. I couldn't control it. It bothered me. I wanted it to stop. Was that Dad? Was that my dad causing it? I didn't want to believe Charley was... this, now.

"What do you mean?! Is Charley alive or not?!" asked Diancie, vehement.

"Charley now plays the role of Solacea, hosted by Bryan," she said. "Such is the nature of Symbis, should their original hosts die."

I bit down harder, both rows of teeth pressing into each other hard. I raised my Symbi, now shaking so much that I couldn't keep it still no matter how hard I tried. It hurt to try. It hurt to think about. I felt sad. I shouldn't have. Charley wasn't gone forever, right? I didn't know. I didn't know what to think, just what to feel. The sutures around Solacea started to swerve and dart about without much direction, while the main body of the bizarre weapon pointed itself at the purple skywisp.

"We oft meet under odd circumstances, Solacea," said the skywisp. "I'll tally us up, like always."

Neither Diancie nor myself could say anything to that. She waited until it seemed like a good idea to speak again.

"I've such heartache..." Diancie breathed. "And now we are but different colors of Gamma."

"Gamma's given you three your roles," she told us. "For what it's worth, some colors of Gamma discriminate; after all, Bryan, you have ended up with one of the most mysterious Symbis for a reason, and Atti's become a shining example of a Champion."

I couldn't put Solacea down. It stung me for this... person's attention. It was shouting into me, drilling me with a notion that I couldn't translate for myself. I was too absorbed. I was too Red for this. What was it? WHY was it?!

She came up to me – this purple skywisp, put one of her small hands over the bent end of Solacea, pushing down gently. I could feel her force altering the position of my arm, which meant she, in some way, was fighting Solacea's unrest down, burying it in tranquil motions. She smiled to me, showing more of her fangs. She found the rhythm of my messed up heartbeat somewhere in this bloody body. Her eyes were full of volume, bright as garnets – brighter even than Diancie's.

"Charley," she spoke through me. "You know where you are, but you have no idea what to do with that knowledge. Relax. You can still be a sublime doctor, even from where you are. And don't worry whether or not you'll succeed.

I'm here. I'm still your friend.

Although I can't teach you anything more, I can be sure that you'll get your wish. You can finally do what you love, while spending more time with these dear kids you've told me so much about."

Symbi Solacea went still. I could hardly believe what I was hearing, yet I could feel it burrowing through me, the emotions like liquid, flooding me. Solacea's sutures paused, some of them softly falling through the air, a couple landing over the crystal bar and drooping there, their blues blending together, gluey and viscous.

"It may not be perfect," said the skywisp. In the brief pause, I heard a couple quick sniffles, but the skywisp's eyes insisted that I kept looking her way. I couldn't tear myself from them. I was a Flux. I lived for this. "But it's lucky. It's the reason I'm embracing Sam's feelings."

Another sniffle. It was Diancie. As the skywisp stopped speaking, I took a silent opportunity to examine Diancie's expression. She was crying, one arm covering her eyes, her mouth a wide frown.

"You see," the skywisp continued, serene voice decorating the sniffs and the tears. "Your love won't be put away. You know who's important. You have that gut feeling – it won't ever shut up. Come on now, I've made enough tears out of you Champions today. Enough is enough, please. It's becoming contagious..."

A sniff out of the skywisp this time, but it didn't escalate. I wanted to do something like that. I did sniff, but not out of sadness. Maybe I couldn't be sad. I just felt sticky and mucousy inside, as opposed to the normal looseness that made my body feel easy to move. It was like I could bend into any shape, but now I didn't want to. I was paralyzed by everything this skywisp said. It made sense. Charley didn't ever reappear. The next best thing Charley would have wanted was for me to do his work in his place when he no longer could.

What...

I didn't like that thought. That was a bad thought – no, not bad, but not good. My insides seized up like crazy. If they were thick before, now they were rock-hard – like Diancie's gems. I sucked in a quick breath. My shoulders bounced with it. Another inhale. My nose felt hot and my eyes hotter. I shook my head.

"Is it my fault?" Diancie cooed, broken. "I took Atti away from Charley. It must have been miserable. A-and now I own these dreadful feelings, like I should care. Like Charley was my own father. It's crippling. I simply cannot... stand it."

"It's not your fault," I found myself saying. Diancie's face was forlorn, as she took her arm away from her eyes. She was actually crying, not just sniffing. I could see discolorations under her eyes, like tears had broken through her stony body. I didn't question how it worked. I had no right to, being what I was. Maybe? Didn't matter. I put my arm up, a soothed Solacea answering to my command. My sutures flew with grace again, and the core body became as luminous as always. I sent forth a single suture to heal the Champion's sorrow, and although at first she was wary, leaning away from the gesture, I came through to her, the suture touching underneath both her eyes and sweeping the tears away. They glittered, the jewel-like teardrops vanishing into the autumnal ground. Eyes still poised for more tears, she watched me closely. "Those feelings aren't dreadful. They're good. I have them, too."

"But they weren't mine before," she tried to fight. "So why do they have to be mine now?!"

"Because it's fair," I argued. She gasped, a hand touching against her own cheek. "That body didn't belong to you. It's only fair you pay something for it."

"Uncouth..." she whispered. "Me, lectured by a Flux..."

"I'm not just a Flux," I said. "I'm your brother."

"No...! You're no Champion!"

"I know. I'm sorry," I lowered my arm, Symbi Solacea with it. "Do you wanna turn me into one? I'm sure I'll love you and Charley still."

The look she gave me following that was ugly. It didn't look good on her pretty face. She was like Nikki in that regard! I was happy she could be my sister, even if she didn't like it very much. As soon as I thought she was gonna say something mean, she surprised me.

"Right then," she sighed, all the frustration and retaliation draining away from her scrunched up cheeks. "I know when I'm morally trumped. That is... three, four... five times now that I've... gone and... given a Flux the better part of me. Shame; Tempyae's not as gracious as me."

I was bubbling now. All my stony cold insides warmed up and melted into a big goopy mess of happiness. I felt it frothing inside. It must have looked gross, but it was what my happiness looked like. I felt my tail swoosh from one side to the other, and back again. My lips curled up. Solacea beamed in my paw.

"Maybe Tempyae could learn something from these Fluxes," the skywisp spoke again. "Or maybe he should earn a bit of the Red light for himself."

"He did make a blasted fool out of himself, running off like that," said Diancie, once again crossing her arms. "But I wouldn't wish Flux upon him. It would kill him. My, he's everything a Flux is not."

"On the contrary," exclaimed the other. "Such reckless, vindictive emotion begets Flux itself, correct? I'd go as far as saying he's become more unruly than many Fluxes I've seen."

"He-..." Diancie froze, mouth open. "Tempy's... going to be okay. We'll bring him back."

"That's lovely and everything, yes, but consider mending the family you have right here first." she instructed, drawing Diancie's attention back to me.

Diancie looked away briefly, shying from what I imagined was a dirty, infected Pokémon that she looked down on not just because she was floating above it, but because it was a stain on everything her kind stood for. I wanted her to understand me. I wanted her to know that I had the insight to understand HER.

Then, out of nowhere, she came closer, until the diamond making up the lower section of her body touched the ground. She laid it in the dirt, leaning in, the rest of her diamonds on her dress kind of sitting in the dirt behind her. Her face was on my level. I lifted my nose to smell her – she was ripe with a flowery, smoky pollen scent. It recognized it from somewhere. She was really close. I kept my nose high and smiled wider, just for her. Suddenly, her lips went all purse and her eyes shut tight. She bent her arms in front of her dress, shook them wildly as if she was horrified, or about to shout.

"Umph-!" she squeaked, lurching forth. I was seized, pulled in, her cold body stamped against my warmer, soft body. She muttered another whine during the process of the hug, which I failed to return until I realized she was holding it long enough for me to do just that. She wanted a hug back. I only lifted one arm, 'cause the other had Solacea, but I did hug her nonetheless. Her body was actually really small. It was all the gems and adornment that made her look so much bigger. I could reach all the way around her with just one arm, but I didn't. I kept it on her back and rubbed as steadily as I could. I could melt in her arms right now I was so happy, but for her sake, I didn't. I held my breath and kept all my gunk on me. She didn't want a mess like that – or maybe she did, because I was exactly that mess anyway!

She let me go, pulling back so quickly that I was surprised my arm didn't totally rip off. I let it fall, while she held both of hers up in front of her puny chest, hands curled into fists. Right away, she scanned her dress. I did my best for her, keeping all my grime to myself so she didn't have to worry about getting gross and dirty. I hoped she appreciated it! I let out a long, hot breath, and felt a big clump of bloody ooze drip off of my chin, and then one from the back of my head. It splashed against my back, then mixed with it.

"Y-you had better be grateful!" she scolded me, glaring from between her hands. "F-FOR SUCH A LOVING SISTER!"

"Huh?" I blinked. "Hey! Come on, you don't even have a speck of ooze on you! And my eyes are better than yours, so I can see for sure if there's-."

"OH, ExCUSE me?! Your eyes, better than mine?" she asked, then took a deep breath, followed by a spit so long I was actually a little jealous. "Ppppppppppphhhhhhht! Oho! Ohohoho! Ooo, now let's not get carried away—I have flawless, gorgeous eyes, and you have... those creepy peepers!"

Deep down, she thought they looked nice, even if they were creepy. I could see right through her – not what she was thinking, just some things she was feeling. I took that as a silent victory. Functionality over form, I thought. They weren't the prettiest, but they could put her flawless eyes to shame!

"What are YOU grinning about, you rascal?" she asked me. I was grinning? Oh. My cheeks were far apart. I WAS grinning.

"Nothing," I dismissed. She lifted herself from the ground and proceeded to brush her dress off regardless of how stainless and perfect it already was. "Maybe I'm just happy I have a place now."

"Awh, Bryan," Diancie cooed, brightening in an instant. "Well, good. Things have changed on an immeasurable scale, but so long as I have you with Symbi Charley and the Champions, I think I'll survive!

"Do that. I'd like that..." I told her.

"Is that a command coming from YOU? How dare you~..." she teased, throwing a much quieter giggle and a quick, consoling kiss to the air, as if to tell me she was only joking. "By the way, Miss... Oh, woe, I've not been introduced to you."

"Fausti will do," the skywisp chirped, adopting a playful tone. "What is it, Your Highness?"

"W-well, yes, that," Diancie stammered, pinching one of the long jewels hanging from the décor on her head. "It's just that you seem to know a bundle of things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you had connections to our father...?"

"No correction needed; I was one of your father's closest friends. Due to OTHER connections, however, we could only meet in vary particular places," Fausti explained. "But that's not a story for you to sit through right now."

"Verily. Why, I wouldn't know where to get started. Mew, the Bell – I can't bloody remember a useful thing about the blasted object – and, of course, Victini and Tempyae've run off."

"I happen to remember a particular place," Fausti repeated, speaking the last two words slowly, putting them in my head. "If this place – this one, with the corrupted sky and all – mirrors our Autumnridge thusly, then that 'other' place may be here as it was where you and I first met, Diancie."

"Oh dear," the pink Pokémon waned. "You are, er, slightly losing me here, Fausti. Had we met? I was unaware."

"It was a one-sided scenario, and another story I won't force into your time. Instead, I need a favor of you two: Could you help me round up your Champions and friends and whatnot? All of your loved ones. Don't bother with the others. I couldn't care less what happens to those Delta Meadow fools." Fausti suggested.

"'Tis a courtesy I can repay you," said Diancie. "For telling us about Charley. Alrighty, Bryan, chop chop! Let's get started."

"Verily," I said back, her dialect rubbing off on me. Prompted with energy, and beckoned to follow her given a single inward wave of her arm, I composed myself, putting some manner of lid on my liquid happiness that may or may not have left a mess underneath me. The happier I got, the harder it was for me to keep my buizel form, but no one needed to know. Not for now.

Solacea held firm, my sister and I attended Fausti's request, returning to our friends of the Circle and the Champions.



Meanwhile

Cruce

"You're taking this a lot better than I would." Vay said at me. I wondered what gave him that impression. I wasn't happy, but again, the most neutral look this goofy face could make was still something more akin to a smile than a frown. You had to look elsewhere for better body language. For what it was worth, I was sitting, cross-legged, leaned in, with one paw holding my head up. I couldn't see very well out of the 'eye-patch' that my paw was over.

"It's a lot to take in," said Shaymin, having hardly moved since we began our chat, of sorts. "And not at the best of times, but..."

"It's fine." I said, hollow and misty-eyed.

Another of those bizarre rumbles came from beyond the trees, a tremor rolling beneath the ground. As before, there was a distortion in the air, particles of black and white flooding my vision, hazy and ephemeral. I lifted my head from my paw just to watch them. They smelled of seawater, and then they were gone, tremors and rumbling following closely into nothing. I sighed out of my nose.

"I ain't mean to step on toes, but it sure would'a been nice to know that Fausti was Cruce's 'grandma' before I sent her on 'er way." Vay insinuated. I didn't need to agree with him, nor did I have the energy to. Fine.

"Sorry about... her," Shaymin moped. "She's not one of us, so I wouldn't understand what goes on in her head. Well, that's not true; I do know she's concerned for you, Cruce."

"Not surprised." I muttered. I felt entombed.

"Cheeks, keep your chin up. Look'a'me." Vay commanded, powerful as always, but I didn't bite. I didn't look at him. I looked at the dusty leaves on the ground and left it at that. Didn't even think about anything. Didn't want to. Leaves. They were pretty. I thought about the consequences of not looking at Vay, not doing as he said. Would he get mad? Go on. Get mad. I didn't care. I couldn't care.

Silence between us. I drank it up, while everyone else in this area paraded their own stories.

"Hey," Vay grunted. "Remember what I told you?"

I looked at him, but I kept my head still.

"You put your eggs in one basket, you end up Fluxed past recognition." he reminded me.

"You said the Bell would keep me safe." I reminded him.

"I... did," he hesitated. "Ain't mean I can't worry about you."

"Hm, yeah," I said. Some part of me liked that, but it was no part I was willing to show at the moment. "Shaymin? What'd you do with that file?"

"File? The datapad?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I left it on one of the helicopters."

"Oh. Right," I sulked, finding that pretty pile of leaves again, so I could bury my thoughts in it. Couldn't even be bothered to give any shine or color to my voice. I felt lifeless. "Does it have more about the HX experiment?"

"Most of the details have been abridged, but there's more there than what I told you," he informed me. "And I don't think you should look any deeper into this. For your own sake."

I snickered, budged a little in place, then let my head shake, 'till I had too little energy to keep it shaking.

"Almost every part of my life – where I lived, the people around me, whether or not they got... messed up in the head..." I said, reeling over it. "I owe it all to that project, don't I?"

"Considering the ties your family had to the organizations, it'd be naive to think otherwise." Shaymin confirmed.

"'Top it all off, you're my uncle," I bit down. "What the shit."

"I'd... rather not be labeled like that. I'm Shaymin now," he stated, so firm, so certain. "Even if I have the guilt of a man like Chevron."

"No mythical Pokémon needs to have that weighing down their conscience," argued the leafeon. "Y'all had enough to worry about with us 'n our research."

"I think it's the Crossblade," Shaymin declared suddenly, pausing. He already had my attention. I just wanted to stare at these leaves a while longer. Maybe forever. "The first time I heard a real explanation about the Crossblade was from you, Cruce. It was just after Rinavay did this to me – to Chevron, I mean.

I kept it to myself: A Naphal, an Icarus, and a Daemon. No matter how hard I data-mined, I couldn't find a thing about the Crossblade or these three terms; that was, until I spoke to Mew about it. He seemed... bothered.

I didn't get anything out of him though. Things became complicated between us. He had so much power over me that I didn't think it was my place to interrogate him..."

"Yeah, 'n look how that ended up." Vay remarked.

"Fair point. There was something else, though," Shaymin continued. "Just after Cruce, Allen said something about the Crossblade that really stuck with me.

Well, not so much 'said'. He implied it. Champions and the Crossblade. They can all wield it; yet, I wasn't convinced until I saw you and Tempyae fight with it."

"Wait – hold on a moment, Min," Vay stopped him. "Brainstormin's great an' all, but what're you getting at? Y'think you have the Crossblade, too?"

"I must," he answered promptly. "But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'll cut right to it: I think the Crossblade, or whatever influence it has on Gamma, is the reason our memories are the way they are. It has to be! It splits us into three and that saves whatever human part of us is left in SOME way.

Look at Jirachi. Her memory was so damaged. It doesn't seem to be the same for you, Rinavay, and that must be because you fall under a different category of wielder. I haven't really learned to identify them. Any thoughts, Cruce?"

"No," I said. Hearing Shaymin talk about this got me back into the right rhythm though. I felt less inclined to sulk and more inclined to put pieces together, so good for him. "But I am listening."

"Real quick, gang, 'cause it looks like Diancie's wavin' us over," Vay began. "Uh, that humie – Allen – had the Crossblade, too, but he ain't no Champion. What's that about?"

"Allen..." Shaymin took a short breath. "I don't really know. I do know that Topher was fond of him. That goes back pretty far. I wouldn't know where to start."

"Tophs," I mumbled, laying both paws in my lap and sitting up straight. "I thought I knew the whole story about him, but all he told me was just a proxy. Now he can't even tell Mom and Pops, 'cause... th-they're 'me'. Ugh..."

Vay's head dove into mine. His forehead pushed against the side of my face and I could feel his breath pour into my neck, becoming trapped under the Bell's strap. His tongue caught hold of the fur on my cheek, pulling my face in its direction ever so slightly. This was more of a full-on lick than a gentle lap. My tails twitched. I turned to him, his face still within breaths' reach of mine.

"Cruce," he called my name. "You ain't even need me to tell you you ain't alone, but I'm gonna do it anyways, 'cause I'm not so keen on the cold, broody Cheeks you are right now. Now get'chur sweet little tush up and let's go see what Diancie wants a'fore she gets all impatient 'n starts throwing shiny rocks at me."

"But you're a Grass-type..." Shaymin said.

"Hope I still am," Vay chuckled, planting his lips into the space below my nose but just shy of my mouth. 'Guess he was teasing me. I scoffed at his challenge, and instead leaned in so aggressively that I assumed he wouln't've had time to back away; however, the shit-lord did get away, and I ended up toppling over with my lips poised for a proper smooch to his big, lovely mouth. Still managed to catch myself before I kissed the ground, leaning over both paws, but it didn't go without me giving Vay some serious stink-eye. Too bad he was looking away. I said some nasty things to him in our new, creepy Flux-speak. "Up y'get. Shaymin, you too."

Grunting, I pushed myself up, hopped ahead on all fours to catch up, and lifted myself back to my hind legs, flowing into a simple two-legged walk from there. A tiny swish of air blew into my right ear, Shaymin joining us in flight.