A/N: This is the last week for triple updates! Starting next week, updates will be on Tuesdays and Saturdays instead of Mondays and Fridays like originally planned.

13: Investigations

Espeon

When I was a little Eevee about two months after joining the team, I was asked by Pikachu how old I was. Needless to say, I slapped him with a paw and heard Red snickering from behind us at our interaction and quickly hid it when Pikachu glared at him. Pikachu told me that I was the youngest, but even after arguing with him about it since I believed he was younger than me, I learned that Venusaur was the oldest of us all, then it went Blastoise, Snorlax, and Charizard. I finally admitted when my birthday was and Pikachu was ecstatic and answered that he was older than me, if only by three days.

After a little teasing from the excited electric mouse, I decided I would train even harder than he would so I would prove that I wasn't too young to beat him in a battle. He just told me that I had a long way to go. I began training on my own, waiting until Red was asleep at night and huddled in Snorlax's fur for warmth and I would wander off so I wouldn't make too much noise.

It was perhaps a month later or so when I began to get snappy with the boys and it only got worse as time went on. I tried to tone it down after being scolded by Snorlax of all pokemon though my efforts were in vain as every little thing made me irritable, especially if it was caused by Pikachu. One night, he caught me wandering off and followed me. When he caught up, he told me that if I could beat him in a battle then he would let me keep doing what I was doing since and in his sarcastic tone added that it was obviously working so well. He decided to mention how snappy I'd become and told me if he beat me, I would have to sleep at night just like the rest of them.

I didn't even hesitate to agree; I could beat this little mouse any day!

I regretted the decision not even three seconds into our battle.

I tried using a Quick Attack against him and he easily dodged it with his own Quick Attack but he didn't aim to hit me. I tried again and he dodged one more time. After a few more times of this, I snapped at him to fight back and to my complete and utter shock he told me, "I'm worried about you. Why are you training in the middle of the night?"

He seemed so sincere and that odd look of pity on his face made me angry. I didn't need his pity—I didn't need him to look down on me! Immediately furious, I ran up to him and used Bite against him, glad I'd finally landed a hit. He didn't make a move to dodge, but he did wince and tried to pull his arm out of my jaws. I let go and responded, "I'm going to prove to you that I'm not weak! I'm going to show you all that I'm strong!"

He was quiet before he started laughing and successfully confused me. Why in the world was he laughing? I growled at him, irritated and demanded to know why he was laughing at me. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at how stupid you can be!"

I hissed loudly, my ears flat on my head. "Say that again, pipsqueak!"

"Okay. I'm laughing how stupid you can be." He sat down, nursing his arm and ignored my hissing as he looked at me straight in the eyes. "When did I ever say you were weak? To be honest, you're strong, Eevee. You may be the youngest, but that doesn't mean you are weak. But if you keep training at night like this then you'll just get worse." He rubbed his arm where the bite had landed again. "You wake up tired and you can barely keep up with the rest of us during training with Red. We're all just worried about you, that's all."

I finally stopped my growling and eventually sat beside him, staring at the ground. We were silent for a while before I mumbled, "I'm sorry. About everything." I really did feel apologetic because I knew how much stress I was throwing at the boys because of my behavior. Venusaur especially didn't like being stressed out so much, always complained that it wilted the petals on his back if he was too anxious.

He shrugged. "It's okay. We also got tired of you being all pissy at every little thing. You'll get stronger if you stop this night training." He smiled at me. "Besides, it's more fun with others! You know that Red trains us for as long as we need to and I know you haven't been with us for a long time but he will find out what your weak points are and help you overcome them. Trust me on that."

After that, I stopped training by myself at night. The boys were grateful for that; I got more sleep and was happier then after I evolved, Red helped me learn how to use my new psychic moves and eventually had me training with Snorlax. Two weeks before the championship match, he told me to pick him up.

Astounded, even Snorlax tried telling the human that he was simply too big for anyone to lift but Red just said that he believed in me and turned to Snorlax and told him that every time I failed, he could have a whole basket full of his favorite berries. Snorlax stopped to think about it and agreed with a smile. I gaped at them. That would just make it harder!

I tried using Psychic to pick him up and of course I failed the first few times, panting when I realized it was just simply impossible to do! With Red feeding him more berries, I was sure he was just getting heavier and heavier by the day.

Two days before leaving for Victory Road, I was frustrated enough to tackle into Red and even hissed at him in anger for the first time and the others stopped their own training to stare. After shouting at our trainer that what he was asking of me was impossible, I heard Charizard begin to growl but Red simply smiled.

He sat up, patted my head and told me to pick Pikachu up. I stopped hissing and frustratingly looked at Pikachu, easily lifting him despite his squeaking. Then he told me to lift Charizard and I was shocked. It was normally incredibly difficult to do so but when I gently set the flying-type down, my eyes were wide when I realized how easy it was. Eventually I managed to lift even Blastoise and Venusaur, who were both startled and when I set them down, my anger had ebbed away completely and I finally knew why Red had been training me with Snorlax.

Pikachu began laughing at me again and fell down holding his sides and I didn't have the heart to tell him to be quiet or even glare at him. He was laughing at how stupid I could be. Red knew I wouldn't be able to pick Snorlax up within a few weeks, but his odd request was to increase my psychic power—and it worked.

He was allowing Snorlax to eat more than usual to keep increasing the weight just enough to force me to increase my efforts and strengthen my mental abilities—then I learned he was secretly training him when we were all in our pokeballs to increase his physical strength, thereby building muscle underneath that flab and making him even heavier. I realized he had already pinpointed a weak point, determined the best course of action and was trying to help me overcome it.

Now even more determined and on the day before the Elite Four, we were training in Victory Road though after a few hours, I gritted my teeth together and stared at Snorlax as he ate his fiftieth berry of the day. I squeezed my eyes shut in effort and by the time I heard Snorlax make a questioning sound and Blastoise let out a startled noise, I opened them again and saw Red smiling when Snorlax floated just above the ground a few inches.

Clearly, I was overjoyed and my concentration was broken almost instantly; Snorlax just complained about the rough landing as I tackled into Red again but this time, I was licking his face and it caused him to laugh and try to shove me off.

I may be the youngest of the team, but I am certainly not weak. I was just the last to find out.

-x-

Mew has always been an excited, laughable little pokemon even during a dark and dreary day. She usually managed to bring a smile to nearly everyone's faces, whether it be human or pokemon and always tried to keep a happy façade on. There were times when she would be upset and would come to us for comfort and then there were other, rarer times when she would act like a true legendary and scare the hell out of us.

Most of the time she would be a delight to be with and as a psychic-type myself, we got along quite well. The boys were usually nervous when we were together alone and for good reason. I suppose it was because we both enjoyed playing pranks against people or plotting fun things to do that they deemed irresponsible, crude, rambunctious or something along those lines. They just didn't know how to have fun.

The two of us would be up late some nights just talking to each other and those were the times when I usually saw her happy façade fade and her true self would appear just like this morning as she and I both woke up before the sun rose.

She told me that while Mewtwo was a great partner in helping her quest to help all the pokemon she could in Kanto and eventually the world, it felt a little lonely, that it wasn't the same when she had been traveling with us.

I knew where she was coming from and smiled and glanced toward the others in the bedroom. While the boys annoyed me at times and argued with each other a lot, I couldn't imagine not traveling with them.

She sighed as she leaned against the balcony railings. "I missed you guys," she admitted as the sky began to turn different shades of color.

"We missed you as well," I answered.

We sat in comfortable silence as the sun began to peak over the horizon, lighting up the stadium in the distance and sky above. Mew's tail swung side to side as she asked, "So, does he actually like that other human?"

It took me a moment to figure out that she was talking about Red and I chuckled as I nodded. "If by 'like' you mean he has a crush, then yes. We've hung out a lot with her over the last month, she's very nice. Short temper and she's a horrible cook, but she loves her pokemon and her friends. I think Red is better cook than she is."

Mew laughed. "He wasn't that good last I checked."

"He's gotten better, he just needs to learn. White, on the other hand, burns anything she touches just like Black told us."

Far below us on the ground, something caught my eye. My ears flicked forward and Mew followed my gaze. Both of us watched as Ethan sprinted with Typhlosion beside him while Rosa and Brendan chased after them. I heard their distinct voices echo up into the air and although I couldn't decipher the words, I could tell they were all arguing.

Instead of doing anything to stop them, we simply watched them run and disappear into the city. After they were gone and all was quiet, Mew asked incredulously, "They aren't doing what I think they're doing, are they?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, exasperated. "I think they are," I answered and got up onto my paws. So much for investigating with Hilda. "I'll go wake up Red and let him know they went off alone to the tunnel."

Mew flicked her tail again, uneasy but followed me inside, closing the door behind us.

I jumped onto the bed once I was close enough and sighed. Red needed the sleep and I second guessed myself. Should I really wake him up because of something Ethan, Brendan and Rosa were doing? After all, they were also champions and they were strong. I decided to keep going and tapped his head with a paw. "Red, wake up. Red. Red. Red." Each time I said his name, I would tap his face a little more.

I heard Pikachu groan but ignored him as Red finally opened his eyes as my paw pressed against his cheek a fifth time. He took in a long breath before he croaked quietly, "What?"

I found it difficult not to find him adorable when he was practically asleep and I tried to hide my smile. He sounded just like an annoyed parent and I was the child waking him up. "Ethan, Rosa and Brendan are going to the tunnel without you."

It took a second time for me to say it for him to fully comprehend and in his sleep addled state, he quickly sat up and Pikachu let out a tiny yelp when he was unceremoniously tossed to the other side of the bed on accident. The others woke up to the noise as Red shot out of bed and quickly went to get his clothes on.

"What do you mean they went to the tunnel without us?" Venusaur asked, a hint of worry in his tone.

"Just like I said. We saw them running from the hotel towards the tunnel."

Snorlax eyed Red as he threw on his vest. "Seems like you're not the only one who likes to play hero," he teased, ignoring a glare from our trainer.

We all glanced at Mew as Red tried to shove his pants on without falling to the floor and she said, "Mewtwo won't come with us, but I will. He's got something more important to do."

"What's more important than investigating Team Rocket?" I asked honestly.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

I noticed how she looked away purposefully towards Red as he recalled the others. Yes, she knew exactly wat Mewtwo needed to do—she looked away whenever she was lying, a habit she had been unable to break. She didn't want to tell us and figuring it had to deal with legendary stuff, so I let it slide.

Mewtwo nodded at us and he teleported as Mew turned invisible, taking her place on Red's shoulder as Pikachu and I ran ahead towards the elevator. The elevator ride seemed to drag on and as soon as we were inside and I saw him hit the first-floor button, I glanced up at him. "Don't you want to bring Hilda with us?" I asked him.

I don't want to wake her up. It's still very early, his thoughts answered.

Pikachu and I shared a look. "But you and her were going to go together today," Pikachu said to him.

I'll make it up to her.

Pikachu sighed at him. "If you say so."

Mew let out a giggle and I saw a spot on Red's cheek move as she patted it. "Don't worry! You guys have me!"

"That makes me even more worried," Pikachu scolded.

"You're still a poopy pants."

"Why are you still using that insult? How childish are you?"

"False, I am no child." She paused to let Pikachu's confusion settle as the doors dinged, letting us know we had arrived to our destination. "Poopy pants."

He let out a loud and annoyed groan. "Arceus damn it…"

I chuckled at their argument as the elevator doors opened. Those two never ceased to banter no matter what. We ran out of the elevator and I could see that no one else was awake this early and even the staff in the cafeteria were still yawning.

I ran forward as soon as we were outside to lead the way. The city was still quiet and while the early birds of the world were just starting to wake up, the streets were pretty empty, with only the occasional human taking an early morning jog. I figured it was this empty because it was a weekend and most people were sleeping in before they worked the next day or in other cases, before the champion's tournament began.

We crossed a few streets until we finally reached the tunnel entrance and each of us stopped to catch our breath. Red looked up at the tunnel and I saw that the temporary barricade had been moved aside just enough for a small human to get through. He glanced down at me as Pikachu sniffed the air and I nodded. I could sense Ethan's presence close to us. Closer than I thought, really—

"Oh, hi, Red!"

We all looked in surprise at the barricade as Ethan jumped through the entrance they had made for themselves, followed by Rosa and Brendan. Ethan grinned as he stopped in front of us. "I decided to come because I wanted you to see my amazing detective skills," he bragged.

Red rose a brow.

"Okay, maybe they aren't the best but you have to admit that I'm good at deducing stuff that I do find!"

"But we didn't find anything," Rosa said, confused.

Ethan's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Not yet! Maybe they're somewhere else in town, but not here!"

Brendan finally came out of the tunnel to join us with a black and gray pokemon trotting beside him. "Mightyena didn't pick anything up either," he said and glanced down at his pokemon.

Mightyena's ears flicked. "Can you tell him that I did smell old scents?" she asked. I was impressed that a dark-type was so polite, usually they were so rude. "Whoever was there did something but they left a long time ago."

I happily obliged and Rosa rubbed her chin in thought. "There's only a few places nearby people like Team Rocket could hide then, and if they aren't here, I don't know where else they could be. Maybe they found what they wanted?"

"Let's hope not," Ethan mumbled and Red nodded in agreement.

"I'll be on the lookout for anything suspicious, then. I'll tell my dad too, he's got a good eye for things like that," Brendan added.

Red looked to the tunnel as Rosa moved to the barricade to put it back to normal and I stopped her, using Psychic to keep the barricade in place. She was startled and looked towards us. "Uh, do you guys want to go look for yourselves?" she asked.

Red nodded.

"Knock yourself out, then, there's just a bunch of wild pokemon, dirt and dead ends," Ethan said and shrugged.

"Wake us up next time you want to do an early morning adventure," I told him.

"I just happened to be awake super early and got bored," he objected. I didn't need to squint to see his eyebags. He hadn't slept at all, but I let him keep his pride as he walked away back towards town, hiding his yawn.

Red rose a brow at Rosa and Brendan, silently asking if they were leaving too.

Thankfully they understood and Rosa smiled. "Nate and I have plans already with Serena in about an hour. She's really nice, I think you would get along with her as well," she said to Brendan and took his arm to drag him away.

"I'm an introvert, I don't do social stuff!" the young man objected but went along with her as well, Mightyena chuckling as she followed them. I wondered what they were doing so early in the morning if they made plans but I couldn't help but feel relieved that we were alone so we could do our own investigation.

Pikachu walked ahead and had no issues walking right underneath the barrier. "I don't think they searched very well," he admitted to me and glanced back at me. "I just have a feeling."

I smiled. "I'm glad I'm not the only one then," I answered. It was a very real possibility that nothing was here and whatever Team Rocket had set out to do here they had completed. For some reason, I felt like there was something here we could use. Why else would Giovanni mention the tunnel to us? That man knew more than he let on and for that I was worried, but I would ask more questions later.

As we walked into the tunnel, I took a deep breath and looked around. The area was thankfully well-lit and quiet and the cavern pokemon that resided there were mostly asleep and ignored us as we walked by. As much as Red seemed to want to stop and scan all of the new pokemon with his pokedex, he kept the job in his mind as we kept going deeper into the winding tunnel.

Mew felt comfortable to show herself again and as we reached a larger room full of rocks and many different ways to go, she scratched her head. "Why are caves so big?" she asked us.

"Can you sense anything?" Red asked, ignoring her question as he stared down at old rail tracks that were seemingly abandoned.

She shook her head. "Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least."

"Mightyena said she smelled other scents, so there has to be something here," Pikachu told us. He jumped on top of an old minecart to be closer to Red's level. "And if Giovanni told us to come here and look around, then Team Rocket had to have been here."

I nodded and glanced up at Red, seeing him deep in thought. "Pikachu is right. There has to be a reason for this."

He glanced down at me and then sighed. "Let's just keep looking then—" He stopped talking when we heard footsteps echoing through a tunnel.

"Hide!" Mew exclaimed and turned invisible. I didn't need to be told twice. Pikachu jumped into the minecart almost immediately and Red quickly joined him, lifting me up and held me in his lap as he sat down so we could all fit inside.

It was a painfully long time before we heard the footsteps get closer. I wasn't sure how many there were, but I could tell there were at least two people. We were all silent and I heard one voice say, "My back hurts, dude."

"You're telling me. I can't feel my legs. Arceus, and they want us to set everything back up again? My arms are going to fall off if I pull another twelve-hour shift," the other person responded.

I peered over the top of the minecart. There were two men heading out of a tunnel close to us and I had to stop myself from snarling when I saw the black shirt and a red "R" embedded into them, large and in full display. We already had enough problems from that group and now they were here in Unova at a most inopportune time.

I quickly ducked back down, giving a small nod to Pikachu and Red to silently confirm that they were Rocket grunts. Red's eyes narrowed and Pikachu couldn't help a tiny growl to escape his throat but he quieted down quickly when the two grunts kept talking.

"You think we're gonna get a bonus for moving all this crap around?"

"Hah! You crazy? We're just grunts, we don't get no bonuses!"

"I was just asking! Don't get your panties in a bunch." They walked past us, not even stopping to look at the minecart. I felt Red release a breath he'd been holding and I realized I had been holding mine as well, gratefully taking a breath. "Then how do we get promoted?"

"If you were there during Team Rocket's prime, oh man, it was so easy. I got so many stories to tell you."

Their voices started to echo as they made their way out of the cave and we slowly got out of the minecart as soon as we knew we were alone. Red brushed the dirt off of his pants and glanced in the direction the two grunts had walked out of.

How Ethan, Rosa and Brendan missed them went beyond me but I finally let out that hiss I'd been holding back. "What are they even doing here?" Pikachu asked, his fur bristled up in his own anger.

"Dunno, but that's what we're going to find out," Mew answered, showing herself once more and flew after Red as he walked in the direction they had come from.

We traveled deep into the tunnel and came to a dead end. I scowled as I looked around the rocky walls. This couldn't have been it, could it? But I saw them walk out of this specific tunnel, there has to be something we missed! I watched as Red put a hand against the wall in front of us and look around.

As he ran his hands against the wall, Pikachu tapped the ground with his back paw in thought and scratched his head. "You're sure they came from here and not another tunnel?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm positive," I told him.

He jumped when Red flipped a rock up to reveal a button and I stared at him as he pressed it. The wall next to us suddenly let out a small hiss and opened up, revealing a large cavern. He glanced down at us when we all stared at him, wondering how in the world he knew about this. "It's Team Rocket," he dead-panned, as if he had heard our thoughts.

He was right. They had hidden a secret base in a casino with a button behind a poster as an entrance.

Pikachu let out a soft laugh. "Arceus, we're stupid," he mumbled.

"Yeah, you are," I said and grinned as he huffed in objection.

We wandered in and I watched as the door closed behind us. I glanced up at Red as he looked back and found a light switch. As soon as the lights were on, I gaped at the room cavern. It was mostly empty but it was huge, the ceiling itself seemed endless and I knew Charizard would have no issues flying around comfortably. I saw that the room was also closed off, leaving the only way in or out through the door behind us so we were able to scatter around the room in search of anything we could use.

The dusty ground had marks of large things being pushed around, and I knew whatever Team Rocket had been doing they already finished the job, otherwise they wouldn't have cleaned the area out, save for the scattered parts stacked against a wall in the back next to a few thick stalagmites. I flicked my tail in irritation. Since when did Team Rocket get so good at hiding themselves?

Pikachu jumped up onto Red's shoulder as he stared at the wall he was facing. "What is this?" he asked softly, mostly to himself.

I looked over my shoulder to see what they were staring at but my back paw brushed up against something metal and made me look down. I moved my paw and saw that I had almost stepped on a small remote that had one red button on the top and a smaller yellow one on its side. I looked up and caught Red's attention. "I found something!"

Red quickly abandoned the wall he was staring at and went to my side, picking up the remote with confusion. He blew the dust off and coughed when it went into his face instead. "Hah! You deserve that," Mew teased. She giggled when he rolled his eyes at her.

As soon as he picked it up, he glanced at the leftover metal that was stacked against the wall. We went to the pile and didn't even need to dig through it to see that most of it was just junk that hadn't been removed yet. Red let out a sigh, the noise causing Pikachu and I to look at him with curiosity. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Pikachu asked.

He glanced back at the pile of metal again. "More questions," he complained.

"Yeah, I have more, too," I said.

We all flinched when there was a loud hissing noise from the door. Shit, I heard Red's thought without meaning to. He quickly ducked behind the stalagmites and us pokemon followed right after.

"…lights on? Are you two amateurs?" a female voice was saying.

"Okay, that's weird because we really did turn them off!" another voice responded.

"Yeah, we didn't forget this time!" a third voice added.

I frowned to myself. The last two I recognized as the grunts from earlier, but the woman I hadn't a clue.

"Yet you 'forget' about the metal that's piled up and the damn barricade that's left wide open!" I dared to peek from around the stalagmite I was hiding behind. The woman seemed tall, especially with her heels on and she was motioning dramatically towards the metal pile near us. "What if someone finds this, huh? What's going to happen?"

The two grunts shared a nervous look. "We'll get fired?" the older one suggested.

The red-haired woman let out a cold laugh. "You'll be more than just fired." She lost her smile as she checked the watch on her wrist. "And I'm late to a meeting with Archer because of your stupidity."

"We're sorry, ma'am!"

The woman let out an irritated sigh and ordered them, "It's too late in the day to finish clean-up. Have it done by tomorrow. I don't want excuses."

"Y-yes ma'am!" they both chorused and fled the cavern to avoid her wrath.

The woman tsked behind her teeth and mumbled under her breath, "Idiots." She then paused to looked down at the ground. I wanted to curse. She had good observational skills if she saw the marks we had left behind while investigating. I watched her frown and I ducked behind again as she scanned the back wall but not seeing us or anything else, she turned around, flipped the lights off and left.

When the door hissed shut, Pikachu let out a groan. "Who the hell was that?" he asked as he used Flash to light the area.

"I don't know but I don't like her," Mew answered and shuddered.

I couldn't agree more. She didn't seem like the best boss and made me almost worry for the two grunts safety. Almost.

"Let's just get out of here," Red said and we couldn't agree more.

We waited for a few more minutes in the dark cavern until we deemed it safe enough to leave, even if it was with more questions than answers.

-x-

We returned to the hotel room after lunch was long over with and we hadn't even finished our meals when I started to tell Snorlax, Blastoise, Venusaur and Charizard what we had found in the cave and showed them the remote I had found.

Snorlax took it between two of his claws, peering at it through permanently squinted eyelids. "It's not a television or computer monitor remote," he said. "It looks like it definitely turns something on and off, though."

Pikachu rolled onto his back on the couch, his empty bowl beside him and stomach protruding a little to show he was full. "That's what remotes generally do, yes," he answered and waved his paw in the air dismissively.

"Don't be snarky, he's just thinking out loud," Venusaur scolded.

"I'm not being snarky."

"You're the literal embodiment of snarky," Blastoise said.

"You're just jealous of my amazing personality."

Even Charizard rolled his eyes at Pikachu.

"Anyway, it feels like the buttons are locked so if that's the case, I wouldn't try forcing them down," Snorlax interrupted.

Red came out of the restroom after getting the dirt and dust off and tossed the towel haphazardly onto the counter. Mew immediately went to him and attached herself to the top of his head, even though his hair was still wet from his shower. "Snorlax says the remote is a remote that doesn't work with computer monitors or televisions but it turns something on and off," she told him.

Red blinked and I sensed his confusion. "That's what remotes do," he clarified.

"That's what I said!" Pikachu exclaimed and sat up quickly from his food-induced stupor.

I sighed at them both. Like trainer, like starter, I suppose.

"Yeah, but he wasn't snarky about it," Blastoise said.

"Can you not?"

Our human just grew even more confused at us and turned to the door when there was a loud knock. When I sensed White, I gave him a nod to let him know it was safe to answer it and couldn't help a grin from forming. This is what he gets for not listening to us and not bringing her along.

"You and Black always pull the same shit!" she accused the moment she was inside the room.

"Ooh, she swore!" Mew said to me and sat next to me. "I need popcorn."

"Get me some too," I said.

"Neither of you don't need popcorn," Venusaur told us.

The door closed and Red winced as White jabbed a finger into his chest. "You both run off to play hero! I'm always invited but you both never wait for me!"

"I wasn't playing—" he tried to say but he was interrupted.

"I had to learn from Ethan of all people that you guys already went! Even Rosa went along!"

"I didn't technically go with them." It was true, we just chased them down.

White didn't like that answer and crossed her arms across her chest. "'Technically'?"

The tone of her voice told me her temper was ready to strike again but I didn't feel sorry for Red. I mean, we did tell him to bring her with us and he decided to let her sleep instead. Red even glanced at me for help but I just shrugged and said to him, "You put yourself into this mess, get yourself out."

Traitor.

I snickered when I heard him, but he couldn't tell me that I didn't tell him to bring her with us.

"It was still really early and I wanted to let you sleep."

"You wanted to let me sleep." It wasn't a question and I wrapped my tail around my paws as we all listened. He just kept digging himself deeper into the hole he made, wasn't he?

He looked guilty immediately, his face flushing slightly.

"That's the lamest excuse, you know."

"Sorry."

I wanted to laugh but seeing him look like a kicked growlithe made me forget anything I could possibly be mad at, too.

White took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she unfolded her arms. "I can't stay mad at you when you look like that."

He mumbled another apology.

"Just remember to keep your promises and bring me along too, okay?" She smiled at him, and I could tell she wasn't mad at him. Maybe she hadn't been mad at all, maybe she was just worried about him.

Red returned the smile and then went to the table, motioning for her to follow him. "Espeon found this when we were there."

She stopped beside the table and picked it up. "What does it do?"

"It turns things on and off!" Mew and I chimed in loudly and simultaneously, startling both of the humans. We looked at each other and started to laugh, rolling onto our backs and holding our sides.

"Guys, stop it," Pikachu begged over our cackling.

"We don't know," Red said over us as if we hadn't said anything.

White turned the remote around in her hands. "There's no logo, no serial number. I wouldn't try pressing these buttons if I were you."

Snorlax smirked and looked at Pikachu. "That's what I said," he said.

Pikachu didn't waste a breath and snapped over his chuckle, "Stop it. I'm begging you."

White set the remote onto the table and then leaned against the counter. "You owe me for going without me, by the way," she accused.

Red watched her and smiled a little. "Dinner?" he suggested.

"Better be your treat."

He nodded.

"Then we have a deal." She got up off the counter and headed for the door, glancing back when Red didn't follow immediately. "Well, we going or what?"

"You want to go now?"

She looked away, embarrassed. "I'm hungry."

He let out a quiet chuckle, then recalled Snorlax, Venusaur, Blastoise and Charizard. When he grabbed my pokeball, I scowled at him and said, "I'm going to stay out. Pikachu doesn't get to hog all the fun."

Pikachu rolled his eyes at me.

"I'll hold down the fort!" Mew cried, flying into the bedroom.

We watched her immediately begin to jump on the bed and Red sighed. "Don't break anything," he instructed and followed White out of the room.

As we exited the hotel and White suggested a place to go, Pikachu walked beside me. We both watched the two humans interact quietly. We turned a corner as White animatedly talked to Red, the latter listening with his full and undivided attention. I was happy that his guilt had completely ebbed away by the time we entered Striaton Delights.

Cilan wasn't there, but the waiter introduced himself as one of the second gym leaders, Cress. He took us to a more secluded spot towards the back of the restaurant to give us some privacy and hand the two humans menus. "I'll come by when you're ready," he told us and left us alone with a large button to call him.

White thanked him and when we were alone, she looked at Red. "You wanna make a bet?" she asked.

He looked up at her from the menu. "A bet?"

"Who do you think will win the matches tomorrow? I know Black's going to win his match. I heard Diantha's really good, though, so I don't think Blue's going to make it past the first round."

"I believe in Blue. He's no pushover."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But I've seen Diantha battle on T.V. before, and her gardevoir is powerful." She held up a fist and rose a finger. "First round will go to Nate." She rose a second finger. "The second round will go to Diantha and the last one Black will win."

Red smirked. "Then I think it'll be Dawn, Blue and Brendan."

"Why are they betting on who will win their matches tomorrow?" Pikachu asked, confused and looked at me.

I shrugged. "Who knows. Humans are weird."

"What do you want to bet on?" White leaned back in her seat as she pressed the button, ready for Cress to take their orders. "I think another meal would suffice for me."

He quirked a brow and leaned forward, setting his elbow onto the table and propped his head up. "You can think of something better than that."

"Fine, then you think of something to bet on."

"You're the one who wanted to place a bet in the first place."

"And you're the one who left me at the hotel this morning."

"I'm taking you out for dinner right now."

"I'll consider it partial payment."

Cress had arrived and was looking between the two of them and confused. "Ah, am I interrupting anything?" he asked timidly.

White smiled and looked up at him. "Nope. We're ready!"

Pikachu and I were also looking back and forth between the two teenagers. "What just happened?" Pikachu asked as White put in the orders for Red and herself.

I beamed and looked at him as I replied, "They were bickering. I'll take it as a sign that they're meant for each other."

"You are way into this whole O.G.A.D. thing."

Maybe he was right, but I knew he was just as into it as I was. If Red was happy, so were we.

-x-

The sun started to set when we made our way back and as we waited for the elevator to bring us up to our floors, I noticed White staring at Red when she thought he wasn't looking. He hadn't caught her yet but she had been doing that the entire night. As the elevator arrived and we stepped inside, she pressed the button for her floor and took a breath.

"If we win our matches and move onto the next round and have to battle each other, it won't change anything, will it?" she asked and looked up at him.

"You've already asked me that before," Red answered calmly.

She huffed, crossing her arms. "I just need reassurance, then."

He shook his head. "Nothing will change."

"Okay. Okay, good."

I tilted my head as I watched them. Why was she so nervous?

Once we reached her floor, she stepped out and turned to face us. "Just so you know, if we do battle, I will beat you."

Red rose a brow and gave her a look similar to the ones he would give to people who challenged us. It was that trainer's look that made even Silver nervous when we first met him.

"You trying to look like Black won't work on me!" she said and smiled as the doors started to close. "Good night! I'll see you tomorrow!" She turned around and jogged off towards her room as the elevator took us up to our floor.

Red blinked and glanced down at us. I wondered what she meant by that as well and shrugged at him. As far as I knew, Red never tried to impersonate anyone.

Pikachu led the way to the room with a yawn, ready to go to bed and I stretched my limbs out as soon as we entered the room. Mew had already fallen asleep, whatever she had been doing had tired her out and Red ran a hand through his hair after he removed his hat. She was laying diagonally on the bed so that she was taking up most of the space and I chuckled.

"I'll move her out of the way," I said. As gently as I could, I moved her to have her head on the pillow instead of on the crumbled-up blankets.

Red released the rest of the team on his way to the bed and a chorus of yawns met us. With the lack of sleep we had last night, I was grateful the moment we climbed into bed. As I set my head down onto him and he mindlessly scratched my fur, I closed my eyes and wished we could stay like this forever and forget all about the troubles of the world.