Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 4: The Psychic Connection

When Oak was halfway through the article he was reading for peer review, the phone rang, caller identification revealing it came from the Orange Islands. A quick check on the clock revealed it was barely half past eight, not even twenty minutes after his own call to Pummelo Island. Good time, though Oak wagered both teenagers had hurried there to figure out the mystery that he had presented them with. A bit predictable, but that was understandable.

He looked down as he rose from his chair, spotting a pink Pokémon in the same spot as she had been. "Go get our guest, will you?" he asked, and the Fairy-type nodded, half-walking, half-hopping off, as was habitual.

A few seconds later, Oak answered the call, and two confused-looking teenagers came into view. They'd found a private booth as well. Most excellent. "It's good to see the two of you safe and sound," he told Max and Bir – Danny, he corrected himself. "Though I have to say Max looks a little pale around the edges there."

"Short night, and I can't sleep all that well on moving things anyway," the younger teenager said, his best friend nodding beside him. "How did you know I'd switched my Pokénav back on?"

Oak didn't answer immediately, instead pulling his inbox up on an adjacent screen. "A good guess. Let's just say that a mutual friend told me you would likely be where you are right now from today onward." Ah, there it was. "He made it here safe, and has been fervently clamouring for himself and the two of you to be granted asylum, by the way. Last I heard, he was making headway."

He knew more than that, but confidentiality oaths prohibited him from telling them that. Even so, just the minute amount of good news seemed to take a burden off of the boys' shoulders. "So… Should we go to Kanto?"

"It might be best to wait a day or two for confirmation. I don't quite think that'll be a chore for you." Not when Oak knew the Orange Archipelago Champion had a challenge scheduled for Sunday. They'd probably find that out soon enough on their own, if he wasn't mistaken. "Your Pokémon are all here, by the way," he added, and neither of them looked surprised by that. "Well-trained, though your shelgon got in a bit of trouble, Max."

"Huh?"

Oak smiled, helped by the rap on his open door – the sign he had agreed upon with the Pokémon he'd sent away earlier, after the initial call. "Turns out he wanted to butt heads with one of Ash's tauros. Shelgon lost that exchange and ruined a fence on landing."

Max seemed to be torn between being embarrassed and wanting to smile at what Oak assumed to be well-known antics, while Danny let out a sharp laugh. "He's okay, right?"

"Only his ego was hurt. It takes rather more to hurt a shelgon, and even then, someone's audino was nearby. The only reason I know is because Tracey saw it and told me. Otherwise, I would just have assumed the tauros had broken the fence. Again." A finger, below the view of the camera, beckoned the waiting Pokémon closer. "There's something else I need to talk to you about. Specifically… There's another Pokémon here waiting for you, Max."

That seemed to surprise the boy, though he recovered quickly. "I'm sorry, but… What, Professor?"

"The day before yesterday, a Pokémon appeared before Professor Birch. A gardevoir, to be exact." Oak heard the Pokémon move up to him. "He was exhausted beyond belief, but he managed to share an image of something that left my colleague quite shocked. Something about a room with steel walls?"

Whatever that room indicated, it caused Max's expression to both harden and become brittle, while Danny grimaced before compassion took over, mixed with a hint of confusion. "If it's the same room… How?"

The teenager visibly had to rein himself in, and Oak let it happen. The outburst was telling, and on the side, Danny seemed tempted to do something alien to teenage boys as well. It was a place of importance to them, and from what Oak knew, there were few that would qualify for such a reaction out of the two.

Then the gardevoir moved into view, behind Oak, and a moment later, palpable waves of relief surged outward. He straightened his back against the pleasurable sensation, but as he did so, he noticed Max scrutinising the Psychic-type. "What is it?"

"He… You're not one of the adult gardevoir, are you?" Max said, hesitating and uncertain, and for the first time, Oak had not even an inkling of what the teenager was on about.

"BROTHER."

The word echoed around his head, bouncing off the inside of his skull, but fading. Oak rubbed his temples, opening his eyes from when he'd reflexively closed them. Whatever this gardevoir could do, subtle telepathy wasn't on the list, and perhaps it hadn't been all shock that had caused Maxim's writing to be worse than usual. "He just projected the word 'brother' into my… Max?"

"You were a kirlia. And you could use telepathy," Max told the Psychic-type standing behind Oak. "But… You're not one of the others. I just know." The boy's glasses went off, making him look years younger and allowing two hands to rub at closed eyes. "If… If you're his brother… What did he do for me when we first met?"

Oak turned sideways, looking at the gardevoir, who glowed with energy before making clefairy float in front of him. Gently, if the lack of complaining was anything to go by.

Whatever that indicated, he didn't know, but Max did. "It… It really is you. But… How?"

"I would love to hear the full story, but I think we might be better off trying to do that in person," Oak said, taking over the conversation again as a preliminary warning popped up on the second screen. The daily meeting was due to start in ten minutes. "I'll ask Sabrina for a loan of a fully telepathy-capable Pokémon for sometime next week, and you make your way over here. The boat from Hamlin to Pallet leaves every Wednesday and Saturday."

Danny nodded after he noticed that Max was off in another world. "We'll try to make our way there, then."

"Good." Oh, alright, he should probably throw them a bone. "Don't worry too much about the asylum, by the way. If nothing else, Reginald has got a silver tongue."

That elicited a grin from the older teen, really driving home the family resemblance. "Yup."

~~§~~§~~

It was after dark already when Max and Danny made their way back to the Pokémon Center from the least populated area of Pummelo they could find for a bit of training. Max only had espurr on him for Pokémon who could keep stray attacks in check, and with Pummelo being essentially entirely urban, Trainers were reminded that they were responsible for any damage to buildings. It meant more intense training with ranged attacks had to be skipped, but setting up simple dodge and close-range combat practice was easy enough to do.

Unfortunately, both of them had forgotten their Pokénav – Max thinking Danny had it with him and vice versa – and so they had to make their way back without a map of any kind. "This brings back memories."

"Did you ever get lost in a city before?" Danny asked as he led them into a narrow alleyway that looked promising.

Max shrugged, to the annoyance of the espurr travelling on his shoulder. "Probably. Kind of lost track at some point. Ash is capable of getting lost in my Dad's greenhouse, pretty much."

"Weren't you the navigator for all of you?"

"Didn't mean they listened," Max said, though he knew that he'd led the group astray a few times as well. Danny knew that as well. "It… What the hell?"

Expanding dark smoke appeared in front of the two teenagers, blocking their path. A hissing sound from behind suggested that it had happened there as well. It reminded Max entirely too much of what had happened way too many times while with Ash.

"Prepare for trouble, and prepare to lose!"

"And make it double, whichever path you choose!"

It really was just like back then, and it was all Max could do to not break out in hysterical laughter right there. A bunch of Team Rocket grunts – not any he'd met before, he thought – had ambushed them and were looking to steal their Pokémon. "Cut the motto, Team Rocket," he yelled when the hidden duo was just about to introduce themselves. "Don't care about your names. You're not taking our Pokémon."

"Says you and which Pokémon," one of them said from above them, and Max saw the two of them step into vision on a nearby rooftop, framed against some weak lights. "We have a galvantula and a lampent. That's a lot better than your pesky masquerain and espurr! Attack!"

A lance of electricity flew towards Max from the front, but espurr was faster, throwing up a Light Screen dome first and pushing generic psionic energy out second, both diluting the Thundershock to something that Max barely recognised as static charge, let alone a Pokémon attack. "You take care of the lampent?"

"Deal," Danny said, and Max heard him shout something to masquerain as espurr moved out of the Light Screen barrier, immediately sending a Disarming Voice down the alleyway.

It failed to make much headway into the smokescreen up ahead. Smog, then. "Psybeam."

The quick initial beam espurr threw out reacted violently with the toxic cloud hanging in front of them – somehow – and she fed the reaction, causing the galvantula to skitter away, Max spotting it climb up a building with the help of a web he hadn't noticed in the dark.

Espurr noticed as well, and after reinforcing the Light Screen once and dodging a Signal Beam that now crashed into the ground – Max felt wind tug at the legs of his trousers from it – she headed up as well with a mighty jump. "Get it!"

Confusion flowed out, meeting an Electroball, and for a moment, the Electric-type attack actually seemed to overpower the grey Pokémon's attack, but then espurr pushed, and with a shrill cry, she sent the ball and Confusion into the spider.

And triggered her evolution in the process.

"Way to go, meowstic!" Max yelled with his eyes closed from the blinding light, and he felt Danny look around to check the newly evolved Pokémon out. "Go get that galvantula!"

Meowstic delivered, using the rush of evolution to rapidly gather enough Psychic energy that Max could feel it from twenty-odd feet away, before launching the jagged bolts at the Unovan Pokémon. It tried to dodge, but a quick adjustment made sure meowstic caught it.

And then the galvantula screeched in agony as the Psychic connected, overloading its nervous system as meowstic probed into mind and body. It went on just long enough to make Max wince from the high-pitched sound, but it stopped as suddenly as it had started, and he spotted his feline Pokémon sagging a bit. She'd obviously put too much into the attack, but after that, Max was pretty sure the galvantula wasn't capable of fighting any longer.

"Got a hand here?" Danny asked, breaking through Max's studying of the galvantula. "Just so we can go back?"

Max's answer was to quickly grab the second and fourth pokéballs on his belt, sending out manectric onto the roof and ninjask into the air. "Ninjask, lampent. Manectric, Thunder Wave the Rockets."

Five minutes later, meowstic had recovered enough to help Max and Danny onto the rooftop where two male Team Rocket grunts were still twitching from too much electricity in their system. "Idiots," Max muttered as he saw that they only had the two Pokémon, which had been knocked out and given the same paralysis treatment on top of that. "Thought you could take on two Trainers with the two of you and some smog. No traps, no trying to get us away from our Pokémon..."

"Don't give them ideas, Max," Danny said, chuckling as he walked around the fallen pair. "And congratulations on the evolution, meowstic."

Meowstic reacted as only felines could: with carefully cultivated disdain. Mostly at the Rockets, though. "Stic."

~~§~~§~~

Pallet Town was exactly as it had been the last time Max was there: silent, quaint, and a soothing sight all around. The Oak Laboratory was visible in the distance from where the boat had moored, but as much as Max wanted to just use xatu to Teleport there, they couldn't. For one: xatu was actually there, and not with him. For another, and more importantly: they had a Kanto government official to meet. Professor Oak had set it up, telling them that being willing to talk the moment they got in would look good.

The official would've been recognisable even if they hadn't been told that they would have to look out for a man in his twenties with very short orange-red hair: the three piece suit standing out like a magmar in snow. He, in turn, recognised Max and Danny before they crossed the terminal, and with a quick nod towards them, motioned towards a door on the side.

They sat down in a regular office, a man leaving it as soon as the three of them entered. "Misters Birch, Maple," the man said as he sat down, a few documents coming out of a briefcase. "My name is Patrick Baker. I am here to ask you about the former Hoenn Gym Leader Reginald's claims of yourselves and him needing asylum from Hoenn's government." Another item was placed on the small desk between them. "I will record the conversation. At my mark, please state your name so that others listening in might identify you." The mark was duly given, and both of them did as ordered before the government official pressed another button on the recorder. "Now, before we continue, could you read the following document?"

He handed them a sheet of paper each. Max quickly skimmed it, finding that it was a summary of the press release Ash had put out combined with some of the details of what had happened back when the three of them had assaulted the facility.

"Now," Baker said after both of the teens were done reading, Danny taking far longer than Max. "On the one hand, we have reports put out from the Hoenn government that state that it was a private research facility and all legal. On the other hand, there are various others like the Kalosian government, and several of Kanto's high-level Trainers, who have gone on record as saying that nefarious events were happening in there. I would like to hear from just you, Mister Birch, how it was that you discovered the location that you thrashed."

"Uh..." Danny started, scrunching his face as he thought back. "Ash, Ash Ketchum, led us there. It was pretty out of the way in the mountains, miles off of any big or even small Route."

"And how did he lead you there?"

"There was…" Another deep dive into memory. "Some kind of counter. For specific waves that had been used in Johto by Team Rocket, I think. Something about the Lake of Rage and a gyarados?"

A quick note was made, but in shorthand Max couldn't even begin to identify upside down. "Which Pokémon did Mister Ketchum use to watch over the man that had been guarding the entrance, Mister Maple?"

"Charizard," Max answered instantly. "Told him to knock the man out if he yelled," he added, seeing Baker about to ask for something more.

"And how did he open the door that led to the main chamber in the facility?"

"Sceptile used Quick Attack on it."

"I see." Another note. "Mister Birch, what did Mister Maple do during the fight in that chamber?"

Max didn't understand why Danny had to think about that. That had been on the sheet: 'Maple used Ketchum's sceptile and his treecko to defeat an ursaring.' He had seen that much in his skim, noticing his name. Eventually, though, Danny reached the same answer, and gave it.

"Who first spotted the kirlia?"

"Danny did," Max answered calmly. The memory resurfaced in his head, as vivid now as it had ever been.. "Sceptile broke him out of the tank."

Baker nodded, then smiled, to Max's surprise. "This concludes the recording," he said, and with a quick motion, he took the hand-held recorder back.

"Er… Mister Baker? What's going on?" Danny asked, and Max was glad Danny was similarly confused. He certainly had no idea what was going on.

The adult reached over the table, pushing the sheets of paper along the wooden desk, only to end up side by side. "I lied. I gave you slightly different documents, each having details the other did not."

Understanding sparked to life. "And you asked us questions about what wasn't on our document, but only on the other's," Max said, feeling his mouth settle into a wide grin. "That's clever!"

"You got all of that from five questions?" Danny asked, sounding a bit confused still. "There were a lot more details on there. Some of them I barely remember..."

"Blame your friend for that. It was his lack of reading and perfect answering that convinced me," Baker told them, nodding towards Max with his head. "Insofar as I had doubts after you had two Gym Leaders, the Grand Champion, a League Champion, and Professor Oak tell us in the government that you didn't do exactly what you were accused of."

Danny was quicker on the uptake. "So… We're okay now? We… We get the asylum?"

A shake of the head made Max's grin vanish faster than ice before a volcano. "Presumably. There are regulations that have to be followed, and Hoenn is certain to raise objections. I would not count on being allowed to leave freely for a while." A small semblance of a smile returned, though it looked a bit forced to Max. "Professor Oak barely won the argument that you should be allowed to stay in Pallet Town. As opposed to house arrest somewhere," the official added.

Staying in Pallet Town wasn't exactly a problem, Max thought. Sure, they couldn't travel, but there was always something interesting going on at Professor Oak's laboratory, and maybe Ash would drop by at some point too… "Guess we're staying here, then."

"I'll try to convince them to speed the process up, but I'm just a junior official," Baker said self-deprecatingly as he rose from his chair, packing everything back into his briefcase with quick efficiency and sticking his pen into a hidden trouser pocket. A kadabra came out, revealing how the man had come here. "I trust you'll be able to find your way to Professor Oak's? Not like you can miss it," he added when both teenagers snorted. "A good day to both of you."

Max and Danny quickly exited the office, finding the harbourmaster waiting for them in the terminal itself, and after a short and muttered thanks for allowing them to use the room, the boys exited the warm building into Kanto proper.

~~§~~§~~

He felt them. They were through the locked door, where the important human, the one everyone called Professor as if it was his first name, was welcoming them. He had been for a minute or two already, ignorant of the apprehension that burned within one of the duo and the mixture of worry and wonder within the other. The adult, meanwhile, exuded nothing but patience and compassion.

He hadn't yet seen them in person. He'd seen them once in an old picture, and several times through the emotionless lens of long-distance communication devices. Upon the first time that he had, the gardevoir had been shocked at how similar and yet different they looked. Mostly the other one, who had somehow attained hair of a different colour, as well as a more angular face that was both recognisably similar to and different from the one time they had met. A brief conversation with the clefairy had assured him that they were still the same two as before, just growing up.

Strangely, there was a hint of uncomfortable familiarity emanating from the youngest of the three. It felt like that place in the mountains; the place he had evolved in, and he wondered if his mother and the other elders had felt this as well, when Max had joined them in the congregation, approximately fifteen moons ago. The evolution had greatly augmented his senses, to the point of initial human contact – a passing-by young girl in some forest to the south of where he had evolved – almost overwhelming him until he had reduced the strength of his empathic senses. She had not fared much better, but a fellow Psychic-type interceding on both her and his behalf had stopped the situation from getting out of hand.

Now, it was as it had been since he had evolved for the first time, though with less psionic strength required.

A lock clicked, and the door opened soundlessly after, the Professor leading. He nodded at the gardevoir before stepping to the side, leaving unimpeded vision of someone who had barely changed at all since they had last met in person.

His brother's savour was maybe three inches taller, as tall as he himself was, and there were new glasses to help him see, but otherwise… It was as if celebi had transported him to many moons ago, but only superficially. Beneath the surface, different emotions bubbled. There was no invigorating mix of nervousness and hope running through the boy, nor melancholy and determination as there had been when they had last met. It was recognition, remembered sorrow, and relaxation. "It's really you..." Max stated as he closed the distance. "But… How did you get here?"

"He arrived at the Littleroot Pokémon Laboratory sometime late last Wednesday," the adult said, instantly commanding Danny's attention in full, but not Max's. "My colleague divined that it was someone you knew, and sent him here."

"You didn't ask?"

"I'd be surprised if your government didn't monitor calls your uncle makes," a gentle admonition flowed from understanding. "He is attempting to keep his job after your flight. A well-hidden and short note was all he could give."

That sent surprise and fear soaring. "Uncle might lose his job?"

"No," came a darkly amused response. "There wouldn't be any serious replacement, and with how long your uncle's been at it… Many more people are inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt than they are you. The same goes for Max's father." The Professor sat down in a high-backed chair. "You need more than guilt-by-association to get rid of Gym Leaders or Professors. As long as they don't contact you directly, there isn't much that can be done."

The small lie went unchallenged, though it didn't feel important.

Danny realised something, and confusion arose. "How did uncle realise he was, well… Ralts's brother? They never met."

Some tension, physical and mental, appeared in the older man. "I asked gardevoir the same question. The answer I got was twofold. First, a telepathic projection of a picture of the two of you, from around when you left. Maxim had it on a shelf somewhere in his laboratory. Second, an image of Max sitting against a tree in some unknown location, playing with a ralts on his knees." A soft shake. "They were as as uncomfortable as what occurred during our call."

The gardevoir shifted uncomfortably, expecting wary looks, but not receiving any. "Not every gardevoir is skilled at telepathy," Danny said with utter surety. "And evolving does strange things to Pokémon, right Max?"

It was only now that gardevoir noticed that Max's emotions had shifted into something different: puzzlement and curiosity at trying to figure something out. "Yeah," he said softly, mind half elsewhere before he shook his head vigorously. "Sorry. There's something… Familiar about gardevoir. Something I didn't feel last time we met, I'm sure of it."

Shock permeated the room, and belatedly, the Pokémon realised it was his own, projected outwards with enough strength that everyone noticed, Max visibly more than the other two. The youngest human recoiled on instinct, while the others frowned. Clamping down provided palpable relief for all of them.

"Interesting..." the Professor said as he stood up, studying both gardevoir and blue-haired human. "Can you try your telepathy on Max, please? Tell him what you told me last night."

It was an odd request, and one that definitely caused all others to be taken aback, but quiet certainty floated within the older man. Even so, gardevoir felt he had to gain Max's permission first, but as he gazed into glass-covered eyes, he knew the answer before empathy could pick up on it.

Telepathy had always been similar to empathy to him, but whereas empathy stopped, telepathy dove over the mental threshold, pushing something into the other's senses. It was different for other ralts, kirlia, gardevoir: his mother had told him and his brother when they were both still ralts, shortly before his evolution. She had said empathy was all about taking, whereas telepathy was all about giving. Ralts, at that time, had been slightly too young to understand fully.

Since he had evolved into gardevoir, however, he couldn't find the subtle hitch that indicated when he had pushed into someone. Not with the girl, not with both Professors. As he reached out towards Max, though, he felt it, almost immediately. "I want to join you."

Various emotions cycled through Max; none of them painful. The cousins shock and surprise, followed by fleeting regret and healed sorrow, settling into doubt and uncertainty. The latter was directed at the Professor. "How… How did he tell you that? I thought telepathic communication didn't work?"

"I'm assuming it worked for you," the grey-haired man observed drily, amusement flitting about. "I asked, after seeing him hang around your Pokémon a lot. A simple question can be answered with nods or shakes, you do realise."

"Wait, hold up," Danny interjected as glee was lifted upwards on the wings of satisfaction and slight surprise. "You want to join him?"

Gardevoir nodded, projecting confidence outwards and making sure he held back in Max's direction.

"You know he turned down a ralts Egg, right?"

Though he nodded, the point of the question eluded him. He had been there, and the fragile conviction that Max had displayed in doing so had only proved the rightness of the offer in the first place.

"And you're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?"

He shook his head, stunning the white-haired teenager mid-swagger. "It's your choice," the Psychic-type sent. "Should you not want for similar reasons as in the congregation, I will accept." As much as it would hurt him.

If it hadn't been for the gardevoir's empathy, Max turning away would've been a world-shattering moment; the kind that defined lives. Now, it wasn't. "Professor?" Max asked, voice level, obscuring the decision made inside for a moment longer. "I know they're expensive, but do you have any Friend-brand pokéballs lying around?"

Gardevoir didn't know what that meant, but his Trainer seemed determined to get the different pokéball, even after he quietly added – amidst continued elation that he could still use telepathy effectively – that any pokéball would do. He desired to travel with Max, and his friend too, and the method in which that happened was irrelevant. The quick acceptance just meant he wouldn't have to spend time arguing why he wanted to join.

As it was, step one of his ardent desideratum was complete.

~~§~~§~~

Keith's mother was already home when he returned with the groceries for the weekend. He'd been stopped twice by people he vaguely remembered from before he left, asking stuff about Danny and Max. It was annoying, and he would've liked nothing more than to just tell them where to shove it.

Unfortunately, they all knew his mother, and she wouldn't stand for that, so… That was out.

"More of the same, dear?" Mum asked from the dinner table as he closed the fridge with perhaps a bit too much force. It rattled, as did the pans standing on top of it. "They just want to know what happened."

Keith sighed. "I know, but… I've told the same thing like… thirty times now. I'm getting tired of being asked."

"Is that why you're planning on leaving next week, instead of after Yule?"

Her words froze him, but they weren't accusing. Keith thought Mum sounded resigned, and when he turned to look at her, that seemed true. "How..."

"You left your ticket in your coat. The one you didn't wear even if it's breezy outside," she gently admonished him. "When were you going to tell me this?"

She didn't look angry, Keith thought. That was good, but it was still better to be honest to her. After what his father had done… Mum never liked lying, punishing even the smallest lie heavily when he was younger. The only reason he wasn't under house arrest for three weeks is because he'd just not told her what had happened in Geosenge until the award ceremony.

And maybe Jane's parents had something to do with it. His girlfriend had mentioned something…

"Tonight. That's why I had it there, so I could get it," Keith told her softly. He took a deep breath, hoping to calm himself but failing. "It's just… I don't want to stay here, Mum. It's been two weeks and people still don't shut up about it. I just want peace and calm and..."

"Some alone time with your girlfriend," his mother interrupted him, placing a finger on his lips. Keith's face heated up at the truth. "You know running away doesn't fix most problems, right?"

The teenager nodded, and he saw a strand of red hair bounce up and down. "It only makes them worse because you put off dealing with them," he repeated the lesson his mother had tried to teach him many times. "But in Sinnoh, they wouldn't ask me about Danny and Max as much."

That seemed to get through to Mum. "That's true," she said, sliding an envelope across the table with visible resignation. Keith recognised it as a hospital bill, and he quickly grabbed it. "Keith, that's private!"

He ignored his mother, instead opening the envelope and skimming the contents. "Mum… This is way more expensive than your previous meds were." Nearly triple, if he wasn't wrong. "C'mon Mum. I'm fourteen. I've known about how tight money has been for years. Can you even afford this?"

The bill was snatched out of his hands, but no admonition came. "I don't have to feed you, remember? It's a lot of money, but it'll be fine for one month. Next month, it's covered by my new insurance."

"And will it be cheaper then? Than before, I mean."

"About the same." His mother got out of her chair, and without a warning, hugged him. Keith relented after a moment. "You don't need to worry. I know it hasn't always been easy, but while we've never had a lot of money, I haven't had to borrow any in years."

The teenager wondered for a moment when the last time could have been – it was before he had realised money was tight. "The time that the granbull ruined the living room? Just before my ninth birthday?"

"Good memory!" his mother praised. "Yes. It was covered under home insurance, but granbull's owner didn't want to take responsibility and it was just a huge mess." She cast a look at the sofa they'd had ever since. "I tried to space things out, but then you caught that bug that kept me home for two weeks and, well..."

"You did the best you could, Mum," Keith said honestly. "And there's still money left over now?"

"Less than I want," his mother confirmed. "But that's what putting money aside is for. As you well know, mister."

Keith did. The reward for saving Kalos had come in, and he had wasted no time in sending most of it to the savings account that he couldn't access until he was sixteen. The allowance from the government was plenty for him, and between travelling with Jane, looking out for cheap deals, and Kalosian prices being generally lower… He wasn't wanting for money.

An idea zipped into his head, and he instantly decided that he wanted to try for it. "Actually… Do you want to spend Yule with us? In Sinnoh?"

"You're not… Of course you're not," Mum corrected herself. "Coming back when you've left a week before would be stupid." Keith saw her take a deep breath. "I don't think it's a good idea. I could afford it, but there wouldn't be a lot left."

"I could pay for it."

Keith tried to show that he really wanted to and that he didn't intend to take no for an answer. It seemed to work as he saw his mother back down from her gut reaction. "And where will you stay?"

"Jane's parents invited me to celebrate Yule with them after they heard I wanted to leave early. Originally, I was going up to meet them between Yule and the new year," he added, seeing his mother nod as he reminded her of what had been the plan before. "But the important thing is that they rented some kind of house for six people, and there's still a spot open."

She didn't look convinced, and it took Keith over an hour of dismantling arguments why he shouldn't do that to make her relent. Even then, he suspected it was because she was tired of arguing against it.

And yes, he was his mother's son, as she had told him with a sigh as she left to go do the dishes after dinner. And he was proud of that. Without being so stubborn, he never would've gotten her to agree.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Subject GVSK-1

Subject was captured as one of two Pokémon alongside RL-2. Preliminary testing indicates low-moderate psionic strength for species benchmarks while unconscious. Traditional species augmentation upon awakening is potent, requiring extensive dampening. Breaking subject will take time, though no indications exist that it cannot happen.

Author's Note: A day late thanks to FFN locking me out of my account, and we arrive in Kanto with Max picking up a new member for his team. One with a bit of a hidden agenda, at that.

Everyone needs a hobby, as they say.