"Well," Jack said to Wendy as Nicholas recalled the unconscious Sunspot, and the crowd above them roared its approval. "That went rather well, I thought."

Wendy chuckled. "I'll say; evolving was a pleasant surprise, for me at least. Although I can't help but feel like you planned it somehow."

Jack shrugged and walked towards the arena exit. "Not so much planned, as hoped. How are you handling it by the way? Do you feel alright?"

Wendy followed him, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Uncle Jack; I'm perfectly fine. A little sore here and there, but nothing some rest and a hot meal won't fix."

Jack grinned. "Well then, I'll see what I can do about that; in the meantime..."

Before Jack could finish that thought, he looked up to see Nicholas walking over to him. The red-haired trainer looked somewhat disappointed, but he still managed a light-hearted grin.

"Good game, Jack," he said, holding out his hand. "You beat us fair and square."

Jack took the proffered hand and shook it, hiding the stab of guilt he felt at his friend's words. "Thanks Nicholas; it was a close thing, you were a tougher opponent than I've fought in a long time."

"Thanks," Nicholas said, then he turned to Wendy. "And Wendy, congrats on evolving; and learning that awesome new move."

Wendy giggled a little and bowed in appreciation, and said, "You can't tell what I'm saying, so it probably sounds like I'm complimenting you back; doesn't it?"

Nicholas gave her an odd look, then turned back to Jack who was completely straight-faced.

"I have a strange feeling," Nicholas said with mock-seriousness, "That she's making fun of me."

"What? No, of course not," Jack deadpanned. "Whatever gave you that idea."

Nicholas let out a small snort of laughter. "Oh sure, I see how it is," he replied good-naturedly.

"Hey Nicholas," Jack said, "Why don't you and your team go get spruced up, and then drop by our room for dinner?"

Nicholas looked up at the sun, which was still high in the afternoon sky.

"It might be a little early for dinner," the red-headed trainer replied.

Jack shrugged. "Okay, so how's about we go out for dinner? Lily of the Valley Town is only a few kilometres south of here, I can get us there in seconds and we can do some sightseeing; then we can find a nice restaurant for dinner, my treat."

Nicholas laughed ruefully. "Wow, you must be really desperate to stay in my good graces."

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked, slightly taken aback.

Nicholas looked him in the eye and smiled. "Whatever you might think, I'm not mad at you for winning; it a was a fair fight, and I lost. I'm not gonna let it get me down, and I'm not gonna stop being your friend. You don't have to be extra nice to me."

Jack sighed. Nicholas had read him like a book.

"Still," Jack replied, "I am sorry. I know that becoming the Sinnoh Champion is your dream, and I pretty much just stomped all over it."

Now it was Nicholas's turn to shrug. "Yeah, you kinda did; and about two months ago I might have held it against you. Lately though, I've been thinking about what I really want to do with my life; I'll spare you the lecture on philosophy and just say that, after much deliberation, I decided that becoming a Pokémon Master, or even the Champion, isn't really all that important in the grand scheme of things. It'd be nice, yeah, but I was pretty much obsessed with it; so much that I wasn't spending nearly as much quality time with my Pokémon as I used to. I got so focused on the destination, that I forgot to enjoy the journey. If it means giving up what I really love, spending time with my Pokémon, my friends, then I don't even want to be Champion."

Nicholas's words made Jack feel strange; as if someone had walked over his grave. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that someone was trying to tell him something. Maybe going sightseeing and having dinner with everyone was a better idea than he'd thought.

"But listen to me, getting all sappy and melodramatic," Nicholas continued, shaking his head with a rueful smile. "I sound like the hero from some cheesy romance novel or something."

Jack folded his arms and stared at the floor. "Actually, you're making a lot of sense; some sense I needed to hear, too. My offer on dinner stands, if you want to come; I think I'll be going with my team either way."

Nicholas smiled. "In that case, I accept; I'll meet you at your room in…. let's say, half an hour; sounds good?"

Jack nodded. "Sure, see you then. Remember, it's my treat."

"That's an offer you may regret," Nicholas said, grinning impishly.


"Not that I'm jealous or anything," Jason said, "And I suppose it all worked out in the end, but why exactly did you decide to send out Wendy instead of me? I could've taken down Sunspot easily, and you knew it."

Jack sighed; he'd only just made it back to the suite and released everyone from the Pack, before Jason was on his case. Not that he hadn't expected this; calling out Wendy had been a pretty risky move for him to make on a hunch. If he'd been wrong, they probably would've lost the match.

"Trust me," Jack said, "I know how risky it was; but I also knew that Wendy could pull it off, and she did. It's over now, so let's just leave it alone; I promise to let you have the next one."

Jason didn't look too happy about it, but he dropped the subject. "Fine then. About this little excursion though, how exactly are you planning to pay for it? Out of your own pocket?"

"It's not like I don't have the money," Jack said. "I've still got several thousand dollars left; more than enough."

"For now," Jason countered. "But if you keep racking up expenses like you have been recently, that's not going to last long unless you find a source of income."

"And since when are you a master of all things economical?" Jack said, although he realised that his brother had a good point.

"I'm just saying," Jason said dryly.

Jack sighed. "I know, and you're right; but so far I haven't found any reliable ways of making money. We've been moving around too much lately; and travelling doesn't pay. I was going to look for job offers tonight when we go out," he admitted.

"Really?" Jason said, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't have to sound to surprised," Jack said. "It's not like I don't think about these things myself."

Jason initially seemed a little bit surprised, but his expression smoothed out to one of mock-relief.

"Finally," he said jokingly. "I thought I'd have to look after you forever; but it looks like you're finally growing up."

Jack grinned mischievously. "Oh, you're gonna get it for that."

Without any further warning, Jack pounced on his adoptive brother and started tickling him relentlessly. Jason tried to resist, but Jack knew all the right spots and Jason was soon laughing so hard he started crying. When Jack finally stopped his ruthless assault, the Lucario was completely out of breath.

Jack got up and looked around; the others were all looking at them, but it was nothing they hadn't seen before. Scenes like that had once been quite commonplace, although they had become less and less frequent over the last three months; this was the first time Jack and Jason had had a full-on tickle fight in weeks, and most of the team were smiling at the nostalgia.

Jack was about to say something about getting ready to go out, but then he felt his legs get swept out from under him. He twisted as he fell and managed to catch himself with his hands, but then he felt a pair of furry paws slip underneath his robe and begin tickling his sides.

Jason rarely got the better of Jack in their tickle fights, but Jason knew Jack every bit as well as Jack knew him; within seconds, Jack was laughing so hard his sides hurt. The others, with the exception of Thomas, all cheered as Jason completely turned the fight around.

"U-uncle!" Jack struggled to say between peals of laughter, slapping the floor with his hand. "Uncle!"

Jason relented and let Jack catch his breath. The victorious Lucario then stood back up to the cheers of his adoring fans, and did a quick, and ridiculous-looking, victory pose for the fun of it. This set everyone laughing, including Jack and Jason themselves; but the laughter was no longer forced, it was the heartfelt laughter of simply enjoying the company of close friends. And as Jack sat down on the couch to catch his breath, he realized sadly that it was a sound he didn't hear nearly as often as he used to.

Jack would've happily reminisced about the good old days, and resolved to spend more time with his team as a whole, just having fun, but then he realised that Nicholas was going to be there any minute. Then he realised that he needed a shower after rolling around on the floor with a sweaty Lucario.

Jack lost no time in excusing himself to the en-suite washroom and taking a quick shower. Once he was satisfied with the way he smelled, he went to get dressed; only to realize that his robes smelled like damp fur.

With a sigh, he got out another set of clothes; after an… 'incident' a couple months ago, Jack had bought a few extras for emergencies. Not really one to deliberate over such things, he dug around in his bag and pulled out the first things he saw; which happened to be a pair of black cargo pants, the kind with about a dozen pockets on each leg, a tee-shirt of the same deep blue colour as his robes, and the only jacket he owned. The black one with a yellow lightning bolt on the back.

As per usual, he didn't bother with socks or shoes; he couldn't fight with those things on his feet. He also didn't bother trying to comb his unruly honey-coloured hair; he knew by this point that it would be an effort in futility.

Satisfied that he looked halfway decent, except for the hair, Jack bundled up his robes and tossed them into his bag; he'd wash them later.

"On the other hand," he muttered to himself, "Maybe I should wear normal clothes more often; I mean if it's a matter of being ready for a fight, I already make sure my clothes are unrestrictive. It'd also probably help my public image if I didn't go around looking like a Dungeons and Dragonites reject. Plus," he said, turning around in front of the mirror, "I look pretty good in mufti."

He froze mid-turn, and frowned; since when did he think about clothes or, more disconcertingly, how he looked in them? Maybe Maylene's talk of fangirls was starting to get to him...

Jack's train of thought was, fortunately, derailed by a knock on the door of the suite; opening it, Jack saw that Nicholas had arrived.

"Hey Jack," the trainer said. "Looking good; did you do something different with your hair?" he asked jokingly.

"Yeah," Jack replied. "It's called a shower; I heard they're all the rage these days."

Nicholas let out a sharp laugh, then leaned in close to Jack's face with a mock-serious expression. "Don't believe it for a second."

"What's wrong with showers?" Jack asked with a chuckle.

Nicholas spread his arms in a solemn gesture. "It's a sad truth but in this day and age, personal hygiene is a dying art."

"You don't say," Jack deadpanned. "Anyway, come on in; we're all ready to go."

"If we're leaving for Lily of the Valley Town," Nicholas asked, "Shouldn't you be coming outside instead of me coming in? And also, before I forget, what did you mean earlier when you said you could get us there in seconds? It's at least five minutes by car, more like half an hour on foot. Not that I doubt you can, but how do you plan on getting us there in seconds?"

Jack grinned mischievously. "Oh, you'll see. Just come insi…"

Jack was cut off by a voice from down the hallway. "Hey Jack, what's going on?"

Jack and Nicholas's heads turned in unison to look at the source of the voice.

"Maylene?" Jack said. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to treat a friend?" she asked with a grin. "I came to congratulate you on winning your match, and… Hey," she exclaimed, pointing a finger at Nicholas. "You're the guy he fought, aren't you. Nicholas, right? I'm Maylene," she said, holding out her hand. "Although now I think about it, we've met before haven't we."

"Yeah," Nicholas replied, taking the proffered hand and shaking it. "I challenged your gym a few months ago; it was a tough fight."

Maylene nodded. "I remember enjoying it. Anyway, like I asked before, what's going on?"

"Nicholas and I are old friends," Jack interjected. "We were just about to leave for Lily of the Valley Town to do a little sightseeing, and have dinner."

"Oh, okay then," Maylene said with a shrug. "Have fun; I'll just head back to my room."

Jack sighed as Maylene turned back the way she came. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had planned to hang out with him herself, and that she was disappointed at having been beat to the punch. Jack and Nicholas glanced at each other, and silently came to an agreement.

"Hang on a minute," Jack called to Maylene, and she turned around to look at him. "Do you want to come with us? The more the merrier."

Maylene smiled gratefully at the two of them. "Thanks, I'd love to; are you sure it's no trouble? I wouldn't want to impose..."

Jack shook his head. "Not at all, we'd love to have you along; oh, and just so you know, dinner is my treat."

Maylene grinned. "You might regret that offer."

"That's what I told him!" Nicholas exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

Jack smiled ruefully; the evening had just gotten that much more interesting.


Me: Now, any of you who know me are probably freaking out right about now. If so, let me but any doubts you may have to rest; no, I'm not terminally ill. I've just decided to upload early.

Jack: You're totally dying on us, aren't you. Well, it was nice knowing you; I'll be sure to send flowers.

Me: I'm not dying, Jack; I just realized that I'm never going to get anything done if keep procrastinating like I'm so fond of doing. So for the next… well, until my conscience allows me to stop basically, I'll be working on chapters back-to-back; uploading new chapters as soon as they're finished, and then immediately starting the next one. No set upload dates, no schedule, you'll see new chapters as soon as they're done; and I'll be working extra hard to get them done as quickly as possible.

Jack: What about your schoolwork? You don't exactly have tons of free time right now…

Me: Which is why I won't be posting a chapter a day or anything like that, but I will be uploading much more frequently; I have more than enough free time for that.

Jack: Alright then, but I guarantee you won't be able to keep up this pace for long.

Me: We'll see about that; but even if I can't, at least I'll have made an effort. In other news, some of you have probably noticed a lot of places in the more recent chapters of my story where I… well, where I make references to things that never happened in my story. I'll tell you right now, those references come from two places; and you've heard of them before.

The first is The Ancient Fuse Evolution, by Krominicon; a story in which Jack is currently making a significant cameo, which takes place in the three months of his life which my story skipped. I won't be making a ton of obvious references to what happens, and it's not strictly required for you to read his story in order to understand any things that might happen in mine, but if you enjoy my story then you'll love his.

The second piece of 24-karat fanfiction gold I've been referencing is Dimensional War, by OseanSoldier; a story which, in all honesty, I simply cannot recommend enough. Dimensional War remains to this day one of my all-time favourite Pokemon fanfics; and it only keeps getting better as it goes on. Once again, it's not strictly necessary that you read it, and I feel it safe to say it's not for everyone; some people might not be able to handle the sheer, concentrated awesome contained within it, but I'd say you should probably try your luck anyway. It's worth it, I promise.

Jack: Wow; are you sure you're not dying? That's a lot of selling-out, even for you.

Me: I'm ignoring you. Anyway folks, I hope you enjoyed this chapter; see you in the next one.