"And you finished in just four years! What dedication! Well, we've run out of time. Do you have anything else you'd like to share before we go?"

"Just that I'd like to thank Kyle and Roger, the two most important people in my life, for their support."

"Well there you have it! That wraps up today's interview with Johto's very own first male Nurse Joy!"

...

"Phew, glad that's over with," he mutters to the pokemon by his side.

Chansey pats him on the arm, chirping brightly.

"Yeah, we did do good," he says smiling.

He breathes in the crisp air outside of the television studio and enjoys a moment of peace.

It's shattered by the ringing of his Xtransceiver.

He doesn't even need to look down to know who's calling—only one person has such a brazen ringtone.

"Kyle."

"Jace!"

The cheerful face of his best friend greets him.

"Saw you on tv, congrats Mr. Nurse Joy!"

He smiles.

"Thanks."

"Congrats, Chansey!"

Chansey bounces beside him with a chirp.

"So, now that you've got your title, do you know where you're heading on from here?" Kyle asks.

This is going to blow his mind, he thinks.

"There's a Pokemon Center wanting to hire me in Olivine City," he tells him.

Kyle's gaping face is just as amusing as he thought it'd be.

"You're kidding."

"Nope. They're getting my work space set up now," he tells him.

"Wow, just, wow. Full circle, huh?" Kyle says amazed.

"That's just how things turn out. They're going to ease me into the position, but in a few weeks I'll be running around like any other Nurse Joy."

He sees Kyle's mouth opening and decides to cut him off.

"And I get to wear pants while doing so," he stresses.

"You don't know what I was going to say," Kyle pouts.

He rolls his eyes.

"I totally know what you were going to say. For some odd reason it always comes back to dresses with you."

It was getting to be quite irritating actually.

"I can't help it if it suits you," Kyle says grinning, "and maybe if you didn't have a skirt or two hanging in your closet I wouldn't be so curious about it!"

He can feel himself going bright red.

"S-Shut up!" He stutters. "Those were for disguises, and you know it!"

Unfortunately, he had never grown into the masculine look he had hoped for. It had been unexpectedly helpful in hiding from the overwhelming face of the public though.

"Yeah, yeah, that doesn't stop me from getting asked about my "young girlfriend" from my parents," Kyle says still grinning.

He winces and closes his eyes in remembrance. That had been one of the most humiliating moments of his life.

To think, the chances of walking into Kyle's ever traveling parents while in disguise was so low, and yet…

"That never happened," he growls.

"If you say so," Kyle chortles.

"Seriously, unless you have something else to say, I'm hanging up," he threatens.

"I've been saving up for a while now, and well, now that I know where you're going, I'm going to get us a place either in or near Olivine," Kyle informs him.

He blinks in shock.

"You don't have to do that!"

"I've already got a list of places to look at in all the major cities in Johto," Kyle states with a smirk.

"Huh?" He asks gobsmacked.

"It might not be anything big," the Ace Trainer warns, "but it'll have enough room for you to live comfortably and be a place to crash at for me."

He's still trying to process this.

"Oh, and it's going to be a house, by the way," Kyle absently tacks on.

He'd been looking at apartments this whole time, but to get a house of his very own!

"You—" His words die on his lips.

He really doesn't know what to say.

"You can repay me in home-cooked meals whenever I visit," Kyle says cheerfully.

"It's not visiting," He says without thinking.

"Come again?"

He hadn't meant to say that. His face turns bright red again.

"If it's your house, it's not visiting," he struggles to put into words. "It's 'whenever I get home.' I'll cook you something whenever you get home."

There's a long moment of silence, and he thinks his face is getting redder. Chansey is absentmindedly examining some flowers near the road, like the good pokemon it is.

"Aw," Kyle eventually says, "that's so adorable!"

He makes a face and is resolutely not looking at the video screen.

"Well, guess I should get a move on, on getting our house. I'll leave you to your embarrassment!" Kyle says brightly.

He's about to end the call when—

"Oh, and one more thing," Kyle tells him, "I told your brother we're getting married."

Everything comes to a halt; even nature itself, he swears.

"What," he asks flatly.

"He wanted to have you return to his house, so I told him that. Just thought you should know," Kyle grins wide.

"Why?" He wants to know.

"Because it was funny," Kyle says.

The screen goes blank and he's left looking at it in disbelief.

Surely Roger didn't take Kyle seriously. His older brother had to have known Kyle was just messing with him!

He recalls his many failed girlfriends, never parting from Kyle except for one stressful year, and all the cross-dressing incidents.

His brother is probably working himself into a rage at this very moment, he thinks despairingly.

He lets out a pain-filled groan, and Chansey pokes him in concern.

"Why does he always do this?" He asks the worried pokemon.

Chansey makes a motion, and he nods his understanding.

"You're completely right. It's Stockholm syndrome because I couldn't possibly be friends with someone so insane."

Chansey places flowers on its head, and it gives him an idea.

"You know, it wouldn't be that hard to get invitations out to his parents," he says slowly, "or to tell them, as his young beautiful, tearful girlfriend, about being dumped because it was Kyle who wanted to wear the dress."

He smiles.