Craw paled. "Ariela I swear it was Anubis' idea. He wanted it to be a surprise."
Ariela just lifted a finger pulling Craw into the air using her Psychic. She glared at him.
Craw looked to her in panic. "B-Before you punish me I want to say something. I just didn't tell you to surprise you. You always try to control the situation. You always try to push your own problems aside while you try to help others. That may be something noble but you can't forget your own feelings over that. You will just lose yourself if you don't think about your own emotions. I wanted to surprise you with your emotions to make you remember that you have feelings too. I wanted to discomfit you so you have to deal with your feelings."
She looked to him for a moment. She sighed and let herself fall onto the bed.
Craw slowly came back to the ground. He looked to Ariela nervously and sat down next to her but as he tried to take her hand she pulled her hand back.
"I am still angry on you." She looked to the ceiling. "But I know that you are right..." She looked to him with tears in her eyes. "Why it is so hard?"
He smiled weakly. "Why do you ask me? I am probably as messed up as you are if not even more."
She chuckled and looked to the ceiling again. "Yeah... We are a pretty messed up pair."
Craw sighed and let himself fall next to her looking to the ceiling as well. "Yeah... But I couldn't be happier to be together with you Ariela."
She smiled and reached out to take his paw but accidentally her hand touched something else.
Craw widely blushed and squeaked while his whole body tensed. He didn't move a bit not knowing what to do.
She quickly pulled her hand back. "I-I am sorry! I just wanted to take your hand..."
He took a deep breath. "It's OK... It was an accident." He took her hand and looked to her still embarrassed.
She looked back to him embarrassed as well.
Craw sighed trying to calm down.
Ariela smiled weakly. "Craw? Why didn't we do it already?"
He blushed again. "W-What? Why do you ask me now?"
She blushed. "I don't know..."
He didn't know what to say.
She looked to him. "Don't avoid my question please."
He sighed. "I don't really know... I didn't want to push you into something that you don't want..."
Ariela smiled a bit and kissed him. "You are cute."
He kissed her back softly.
She smiled and stroked his broken arm. "Can you promise me something?"
He looked to her with curiosity. "What is it?"
She looked to him. "I want that you promise me to never do something this dangerous again. At least not as long as there are others that can handle it. OK?"
He smiled weakly and kissed her. "OK. I promise."

Brighton smiled as they made their way back to the guild. "I wouldn't mind if we move into one room."
Kathrin blushed and looked to him with curiosity. "I have a bit mixed feelings about that..."
Brighton looked to her. "I promise I have no ulterior motives."
She looked to him. "Good to know." She sighed. "Maybe you are right... I mean I already spend nearly every night in your room anyway..."
Brighton smiled and nuzzled her. "I don't mind that at all. I just want you to be happy."
She blushed widely. "You are such a sweet talker."
He smiled and looked to her. "I love you."
As they reached the guild there was a crowd of Pokémon. Then the crowd separated and king Markus together with Marianne and Elizabeth. Also Lux was there and the other servants of the king.
Brighton grit his teeth.
"Ah there you are son." The Ampharos looked at the Pikachu. "I will leave now. This is the last chance for you to change your mind."
Brighton shook his head. "I will stay here. I am really happy for the first time." He took Kathrin's paw.
The Ampharos looked at the two. "Well... Seems like you have chosen your path... Still I want you to never forget that you are a prince too. One day you will have to come back and take the throne as yours." He looked to the Eevee. "And I would like to see my grandchildren before I die." He turned to go.
Kathrin widely blushed and looked to Brighton nervously.
Brighton just grinned and shook his head. "Don't worry about that... He says that often..."
Marianne smiled and kissed Brighton on his forehead. "Please visit us sometime." Then she hugged Kathrin making her blush. "I've never seen Brighton this happy before. I hope you feel the same." She looked to her. "And if he ever does something stupid you have my permission to punish him." She winked the Eevee.
Kathrin blushed and nodded.
Eliza on her side hugged her brother happily. "Don't forget to write me every week like you promised."
Brighton chuckled. "I won't don't forget don't worry."
The Pichu went to Kathrin and whispered into her ear. "When you marry my brother then don't forget to invite me!"
Kathrin widely blushed but nodded. "I won't forget it."
Eliza giggled happily and ran to her mother.
Lux smiled looking to the two. He just bowed down and followed the king.
Brighton looked to Kathrin. "What did my sister tell you?"
Kathrin looked to him still blushed. "That's a secret."
Brighton chuckled and nodded.
The two stood there and waved their hands and paws to the royal family till they were out of sight.
Kathrin smiled and looked to him. "Will you miss them?"
Brighton nodded. "Yeah... But I can visit them." He nuzzled her softly. "Also you are here so I won't feel lonely."
She widely blushed.

Damion chuckled. "You two make a cute pair."
Brighton wanted to warn him but Kathrin was faster hitting the Buizel onto the head. "Don't make fun of me!"
"OUCH!" He rubbed his head. "Why? I just said the truth..."
Kathrin pouted.
Ariela giggled and shook her head. "You better let her alone. She doesn't like that but you should know that already."
Craw just grinned and ate his scrambled eggs. He looked to Kathrin. "Don't worry too much about what others think. Enjoy the life and don't let others bother you."
Kathrin sighed. "I just hate it..."
Craw smiled. "You will have to get used to it."
Kathrin rolled her eyes.
Brighton smiled and took her paw. "I will help you with that. Even though that will probably mean that I will get a whole lot of bruises."
She glanced to him. "I know already that I won't like this."
He chuckled. "I know."
Craw smiled. "OK. How about we change the topic? Damion and Fletcher? What jobs did you choose?"
Damion smiled. "Well I got one where we have to go through a dungeon to bring a specific item to a trader who needs it before midday."
Craw looked to him. "Why is that so special?"
Damion grinned. "He is in a village that is only accessible through a dungeon that is classified as d class dungeon. It is a pretty short dungeon but has some strong feral Pokémon."
Craw nodded. "That sounds fine. What about the second dungeon?"
Fletcher handed him the sheets. "A rescue mission in Rockfall Caverns. A medium long dungeon with medium strong Pokémon. The task is not very hard since the missed Pokémon seems to be in around the half dungeon."
Craw nodded. "That is fine. Damion and Kathrin you will take the rescue mission. Brighton and Ariela you will take the transport mission."
Kathrin sighed. "Why this constellation?"
Craw sighed. "Brighton is faster than you and Ariela can support the team better if some problems appear... They have to be fast so that is the best. You and Damion don't need to hurry that much. Sure the missed Pokémon needs help fast too but you can go at a slower speed."
Kathrin nodded. "OK OK... But if you say anything stupid I will send you home the hard way Damion."
Damion paled and nodded. "OK OK..."
Brighton smiled. "Let's get the rookies and then do the jobs. Kathrin and Damion you take Freddy the Tyrogue and Erin the Baltoy with you. Ariela and Brighton you take Kevin the Gligar and Nino the Buneary with you."
They nodded.
Craw sighed. "And Fletcher and I go to training again..."
Fletcher nodded.

Craw sighed Anubis decided that the training was over. "Really... I understand that dodging is pretty important but only focussing onto that won't help me getting stronger..."
Anubis looked to him. "Your fighting style is based on hitting the enemy as hard as you can. You don't have any status moves that boost you. You also don't use any moves that lowers your foe's defense or power and you don't use any moves that protects you from enemy attacks or hides you from their view. As long as you keep up your fighting style and don't want to learn a new fighting style you will have to dodge or you will die faster than a Rattata in an Ekans nest." He stretched himself. "You could use some move items tho but since you need to channel energy through them you will always be slower than with learned moves. If you train a move you learned long enough then you can use it automatically without needing to focus much onto channeling your energy. But a move item can't be trained. You will always need that little time to concentrate your energy into the item and in a dangerous situation that can make the difference between life and death."
Craw sighed again. "So I have to learn new moves?"
Anubis shook his head. "Not necessarily. You can also rely on items. But then you will always have to carry them with you. There are plenty ways that this can be used against you by using Thief or Knock Off for example. You just need to be prepared the one way or the other."
Craw nodded. "I will think about it."
Anubis nodded and looked to Fletcher. "You did really good today. I think three or four more days and you can go onto job missions again."
Fletcher nodded. "Yes. I feel much better and can move pretty much normal again. I just feel a pull sometimes on my back when I fly."
Anubis looked to him. "What did the nurse say about that?"
Fletcher tilted his head. "She said it would be over in some days. The pull is from the muscles that were damaged and now are recovering."
Anubis nodded. "Sounds good then." He sighed. "Craw how about you do some training with Siver and Silver next week? They are thrilled to see you in action and I think you could need it."
Craw's ears twitched as Anubis said that. "Sure. Sounds interesting. Also only learning from one might be a mistake since I will be better prepared if I know as many fighting styles as possible I think."
Anubis chuckled. "I didn't even fought you yet. You only fought some of my old students and they are already too much for you."
Craw grit his teeth. "Fine. How about this: If I beat Siver and Silver then you will train me personally and won't let others fight me."
Anubis chuckled. "Sure. Good luck with that."
Craw grinned as Anubis left the training room of the team.
Fletcher looked to him. "Why are you doing this? You are not fully recovered and especially since your arm is still broken. You aren't moving as swiftly as you were before your fight with the Rhyperior. You won't be able to win a fight against Siver or Silver in your current state."
Craw chuckled. "Don't worry. They are both weak against fighting types. I will first make some training with them to learn how they fight and then I can still use my enhancer to beat them."
Fletcher tilted his head. "That is very dangerous..."
Craw grinned. "Don't worry about me."
Fletcher sighed. "I ask again. Why are you doing this?"
Craw looked to him. "I have to get stronger. Much stronger."

Craw looked to Kathrin and Damion. "And?"
Kathrin sighed. "Freddy is too rash with acting. He got himself into trouble as he ran into a monster room. He nearly fainted but Erin on the other side... She is pretty good. Even in trouble situations she kept a cool head and did exactly what she needed to do."
Damion nodded. "I think so too. Freddy is a no for the team. Erin on the other side is good. She should come into the next round."
Craw nodded. "OK." He looked to Brighton and Ariela. "What about Kevin and Nino?"
Brighton sighed. "They are both a no go for the team. Kevin is too weak and Nino is... Well he thinks more about girls than Damion. He flirted half of the time with Ariela and the girls of the village. He might be a good fighter but it wouldn't be good for the team's reputation if we have such a Pokémon in our team. Also it's annoying."
Ariela nodded. "It is really annoying. I told him like ten times that I am not interested and that you are my boyfriend but he didn't seem to care a bit."
Craw sighed and nodded. "Good so only Erin." He looked to Fletcher and Damion. I will let you two decide what jobs you do tomorrow. But first: Ladies I am sorry but we gonna take the evening just for us males." He smiled. "A boys night if you want to say so."
Ariela looked to him. "Is that some human stuff?"
Craw grinned. "Yeah. Kinda. To that only males are allowed taking a break alone without any females and do stuff. Like going to the hot springs and talk about females and stuff."
Ariela grinned. "Well then you won't have to talk much I think."
Craw rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah..." He winked her. "No reason not to go."
She giggled. "Well then Kathrin and I will talk about you boys."
Kathrin rolled her eyes.
Craw grinned. "If you want to. I would say we are finished for today." He looked to the other males. "OK. How about we get ready? In one hour we will head out."
Brighton, Damion and Fletcher nodded.
Craw smiled and kissed Ariela's cheek. "Would you come with me? I would like to show you something." He stood up.
Ariela smiled and stood up as well.
The two went into their room.
Craw went to his table. He opened a drawer and took out a neckerchief. It was in a light blue color and seemed to be made of silk. "I was in the city after training and saw this. I thought you maybe would like it."
Ariela smiled and looked at it. "You really didn't need to." She took it and stroked over the surface.
Craw smiled. "But I wanted to buy it for you. It is made of different types of silk and it is fire proofed. It also can be imbued with a move and be used as move item if you want to."
Ariela smiled and put it around her neck. She smiled. "It is wonderful. Thank you."
Craw kissed her softly. "I don't want that you are angry on me. I just do this for Damion. I thought it would be good to do something with him and Fletcher. Like back then as we were only four. He feels very left out."
She sighed. "We really did exclude him a bit..."
Craw nodded. "Yeah... If he would have a girlfriend himself he would probably be fine but now... We two do so much things together and Brighton and Kathrin spend much time together the last days too... I would like to do these kind of boys night at least once a week. Maybe he will feel better then."
Ariela nodded. "Yeah that would maybe be good."
Craw smiled and stroked her hand. "Maybe you and Kathrin search for some other female friends too and make a girls night at these evenings." He winked to her. "Then you all can talk about males as much as you want."
She giggled. "I was just teasing you." She took his hands and kissed him.
He smiled and kissed her back. "I know."
She looked into his eyes. "I love you."
He smiled and nuzzled her. "I love you too."

Brighton stretched himself. "This was a really good idea."
Craw sighed relaxed. "Yeah. A bath in the hot springs is great after a rough day. I would enjoy it even more if my arm would be free from that damn cast..." He was just sitting on the edge of the hot spring letting his arm lie on the stones of the edge so it wouldn't get wet.
Damion chuckled while he swam around a bit. "Well next time you will be more careful."
Craw sighed and nodded.
Fletcher was bathing like birds normally did. "Then maybe you should overthink the fights with Siver and Silver."
Craw sighed. "This time I will be prepared."
Brighton looked to him with curiosity. "What are you talking about? What fights?"
Craw rolled his eyes.
Fletcher looked to him. "Craw made a bet with Anubis. If he can win a fight against Siver and Silver Anubis will train him personally and stop sending others to train him."
Brighton looked to Craw shocked. "And you think they won't be prepared? They are guild leaders for a reason! Many even say that Siver is the strongest of all leaders and Silver is said to be the toughest! It won't be as easy as you might think!"
Craw looked at him. "I am sure I can do it without much trouble. I have the power enhancer after all."
Brighton widely opened his eyes. "You think that would help you in any way? They have power enhancers too!"
Craw looked to him surprised. "What? How do you know that?"
Brighton shook his head. "I heard it from other trainees. Every guild leader has a power enhancer themselves. You won't stand a chance against one of them!"
Craw paled. "Damn... I was so sure I would be able to win against them..."
Brighton sighed. "You can never be sure of something..."
Craw looked to him. "What do you mean?"
Brighton shook his head. "Yesterday my father left to go back to the kingdom. Before he left he said something to me and Kathrin... He said that I would have to come back to become the next king one day and that he wants to have grandchildren one day. As he said that he looked to Kathrin... The way he looked to her and the way he said that... I think he actually understood me... why I chose to become an explorer and what I feel for Kathrin..." He looked up to the sky. "It is nearly like if he accepted it. It is so different to how I know him."
Craw looked to him. "It really doesn't sound like the king I learned to know..."
Brighton nodded.
Damion sighed. "Everything goes so well in your lives..."
Craw looked to him. "What do you mean?"
The Buizel shook his head. "Just forget it."
The Riolu shook his head. "No, now tell me already what you mean! You are so depressed all the time. Why is that?"
Damion sighed. Tears were in his eyes. "You are all so happy and I am happy that you are happy but at the same time I feel so lonely. You Craw and Ariela... You Brighton and Kathrin... And you Fletcher seem so cold... I know it is probably because you are a feral Pokémon and I know you try your best but it feels to me like if nobody really understand me..."
Craw looked to him. "Damion. You are one of my four only friends... I care about you as much as I care for Kathrin, Brighton and Fletcher. Sure Ariela is special to me but you will understand that once you have a girlfriend yourself..." He sighed. "I know this is hard and that you feel like if you are left out but you are really important to all of us."
Damion sighed. "I know... It is just... You two have someone who loves you and Fletcher you don't seem to worry much about it but I... But I can understand it... Who would want to be my girlfriend if I stand beside Brighton the prince and Craw the best explorer of the last century?"
Craw didn't know what to respond.
Fletcher sighed. "I feel lonely too at some times Damion. Sometimes I even wish to be back and don't remember anything of what I learned here. That I would live the simple life again and that I won't think about what love really is and that I yearn to understand it... That I would want to find out what it means and to feel it."
Craw was worried. The evening really didn't went the way he thought it would be.
It was Brighton who finally said something about that. "I know what you two feel. I can understand you better than you might think. Do you think the life as a prince is so wonderful? Sure I had all the money and all the fame but with that I also was very lonely. Nearly every Pokémon that I met was either envious of me, feared me or wanted to use me for their own profits. That counts for friends as for mates. Sure there were many Pokémon that wanted to be my friends and many females that wanted to be my mates but nearly all of them were just trying to take advantage of me and those who didn't were scared off by my father... Sure I had some fun and wonderful nights with them but that was all as meaningless as they could be." He looked to them. "I thought I would never find true friends or someone I could love. I thought I would always live a lonely life. But now. Now I have you three and Ariela as my friends and Kathrin someone who I can love with all the love in my heart and that loves me as well not for my money or my fame but for the Pokémon who I am." He smiled. "You two shouldn't give up. There will always come hard times and then there will be good times again."
Craw looked to him and nodded slowly. "Well said Brighton."
Damion looked to him. He felt embarrassed and selfish that he thought he was the only one feeling this way. "You are right... I shouldn't think about it too much... I am lonely now but for sure there will come better times..."
Fletcher nodded. "I thought that too. I may have times when I feel bad but there are so many good things that happened to me since I came with you that in the end I am happy that everything went the way it is now."
Craw smiled. "It is good that we could talk about it."
Brighton nodded.
Craw grinned. "I talked with Ariela about it already. I would like to do this boys night once every week."
Damion sighed. "But we only went to the hot springs yet... Is that all we do?"
Craw chuckled. "Nah. This was just the start. The boys night is for more than that. It is to remember our friendship now and then. To remember that besides our girlfriends and future mates we are still there for each other. We can talk about what bothers us and about our hopes and dreams. Where I come from we would talk about girls... females too. That we can do in any place that we want to. Be it at a bath in the hot springs, at dinner in a nice restaurant or at some drinks in a bar. Even though the last one is something we have to miss out for now till Damion is old enough for that... That reminds me... Fletcher how old are you anyway?"
Fletcher tilted his head. "You mean how many years I lived? Hmm let me think about it for a moment..." He spread his wings and moved his feathers a bit like if he was counting. "I remember at least 15 summers and winters... But I know there must be some more since I remember that I was grown a bit already in the first winter that I can remember. I think I am about 17 or 18 years old..."
Craw nodded. "That is good. I would be a bit worried if you were just 10 or something like that... But you always seemed to act so adult that I never thought about that so much."
Fletcher chirped. "I count that as a compliment."
Craw chuckled. "Well. I am soaked now. How about we go and grab something to bite?"
Brighton smiled. "You read my mind."

Ariela giggled. "And how is it to be together with Brighton?"
Kathrin rolled her eyes. "It is... That is hard to tell... It is kinda the way I expected it to be but at the same time it is so different... I am happy like I thought. It is wonderful and I finally feel safe again... But at the same time... I thought things would change. Mainly things between me and Brighton. I thought he would act much different towards me but even though he is lovely and caring to me but at the same time he didn't change at all..."
Ariela smiled. "I know what you mean. Craw is the same. He changed a little bit but not as much as I thought he would. I actually love that about him."
Kathrin sighed and nodded. "Yeah." She drank some of her tea. "We should find a female for Damion."
Ariela giggled. "I think he should solve that problem himself. I think he will do just fine."
Kathrin looked to her with curiosity. "You know something don't you?"
The Kirlia grinned. "Maybe there is someone that is interested into him but just didn't show up yet."
Kathrin sighed. "You really like this don't you? To know things that others don't is one of your favorite things."
Ariela smiled. "What should I say? I just love seeing couples finding together themselves. I just help when I see them struggling. Like you and Brighton did."
Kathrin rolled her eyes. "If you would have helped us earlier we would have been together since a month now and wouldn't have struggled so much..."
Ariela sighed. "Yeah... Maybe. But You just had to understand your feelings yourself first. If I would have told you about everything before that you wouldn't have believed it and you would have doubted it and would still doubt your own feelings..."
Kathrin sighed. "Really?"
Ariela nodded. "You were always bad at trusting your own emotions."
Kathrin looked to her. "Maybe you are right..."

Craw grinned. "Did you have any interest in a female lately Fletcher?"
Fletcher chirped and Craw thought he saw the Fletchling blushing a bit. "To be honest I do. There is a Taillow that caught my interest. I feel different when I see her. I just don't understand why I feel this way or what these feelings are..."
Damion smiled. "Do you feel like if your stomach is turned upside down? Do you feel tingly and dumb every time you see her?"
Fletcher tilted his head. "Hmm... Yes, that describes it very well."
Brighton chuckled. "Then it is at least a crush but maybe even love."
Craw smiled. "You should talk to her. Maybe take her out on a date."
Fletcher chirped nervously. "No... At least not now... I feel so strange when I see her... What if I make a mistake or if she says no?"
Brighton smiled. "Take your time. But don't hesitate when you are sure about your feelings for her. Maybe you could at least talk with her. Try to learn more about her. Maybe you will find out then if she likes you too."
Fletcher looked to him. "That sounds like a good idea. I will try that."
Craw smiled and nodded. "That sounds good. What about you Damion? Anyone new on your radar?"
Damion blushed. "How about we talk about someone else?" He looked to Craw. "What's with you and Ariela? Already thought about marrying her?"
Craw chuckled. "Trying to distract huh? But fine. To be honest, yes. We already talked about that. We decided that we aren't ready yet but that we want to stay together forever."
Damion looked to him surprised. "That sounds great!"
Craw smiled. "Yeah. I really love her."
Brighton looked to her. "You are really more happy and relaxed since you are together with her."
Damion smiled and nodded. "Yeah. You had so many ups and downs last month but after you and Ariela got a pair... You are much happier. I envy you a bit."
Fletcher nodded. "You are a lucky Pokémon."
Brighton chuckled. "I shouldn't complain. After all I have Kathrin now." He smiled. "But it is true. That you found true love is something really special. I had to wait my 19 years to find it and you found it after just one week."
Craw chuckled and rubbed the back of his head a bit embarrassed. "Yeah... I was lucky with that."

Craw stretched himself as he entered the base. "That was a good evening. Damion and Fletcher you still have to choose a job for tomorrow then you can go to bed. I wish you all a good night."
The other three nodded.
Craw went to his and Ariela's room. As he opened the door he was surprised by many candles that were lit and standing around in the whole room. The light itself was turned off.
Ariela was lying on the bed frisky playing with her hair. "Welcome back Craw."
Craw entered and closed the door. "Ariela? What does that all mean?"
Ariela smiled and winked to him playfully. "Don't play dumb. You know what this means."
Craw smiled a bit amused and sighed. He slowly went to the bed and sat down on it kissing her softly. "Of course I know what it means... But why? Why now? Why do you want this?"
The Kirlia smiled and stroked his cheek softly. "I can feel it Craw. You know I can feel what you feel right?"
Craw blushed a bit and sighed. "That is the problem Ariela. It is true. I want it. I want it for quiet a time to be honest... But what about you? Do you want it?"
Ariela sat up and looked to him. "What do you mean? Of course I want it..."
Craw looked to her. "Are you sure? Are you really sure you want it too? You told me yourself that you reflect others feelings and don't know if what you feel are your feelings or those of others."
Ariela kissed him softly. "I am really happy that you are so concerned about me and my feelings. You are right that I always reflect the emotions of others. That is why I have a special place. A place only for me where I can calmly think about everything without feeling the emotions of others. I found this place just recently and it is my little secret so please don't ask me where it is. On this place I can only feel my own emotions. Craw. I am sure about it."
He widely blushed. "So... You really want to do it?"
Ariela sighed. "Yeah... Even now after you kinda killed the mood."
The Riolu sighed. "I am sorry for that..." He kissed her softly. "How about I give you a massage make up for it?"
Ariela smiled and lay onto the bed. "That is a wonderful idea."
Craw smiled and knelt down next to her. He put his paws onto her back and immediately realized his mistake. "Uhm... I hope you will like it... I mean this could be a bit hard with my paws and all..."
She smiled. "I trust you and even if you do it wrong I won't be mad at you."
He nodded and started moving his paws. He tried his best and rubbed her back more than that he massaged her.
She sighed relaxed. "See? You are doing this quiet well..." She looked to him. "That reminds me. If you use your aura ability and concentrate it onto my body you should be able to see my energy points. If you stimulate them the right way you should make me feel even better."
He was a bit surprised that she seemed to know so much about his ability but he did exactly that. It didn't need long and he noticed that she fell asleep. He looked to her a bit confused. "Ariela?" As she didn't react Craw carefully stood up from the bed and blew the candles out. He smiled and put a blanket over her. "Good night my love." He kissed her cheek softly and lay down himself to sleep.

Author's note: I was a bit distracted with playing PMD DX that is why I didn't finish this chapter earlier sorry. The game is a great remake tho. Hope you like this chapter too! Also the next chapter will be a special chapter!