Kate, Keith and Rhythmi were walking down the path to Chicole Village, where all three of them would be staying for the night. The next day they were to start working as Rangers. They were dressed in casual clothes.

They arrived in Chicole Village, which was a tiny place, with only a few houses. Kate and the others walked around until they saw a small cottage that said 'Lovett' on the door. She was about to open it when…

"Big sister?"

They all whipped around to see a little girl who looked no older than six years old. Her hair was a gentle shade of gossamer pink and was in thin, short curls. She had tiny pink flowers sewn in her hair, and the dark emerald leaves stood out from her fair skin.

"Gracidea!" Kate exclaimed happily, and she ran forward to hug the tiny girl. "Big sister!" The girl said, delighted. Rhythmi and Keith simply stared on until Rhythmi cleared her throat and said, "Care to introduce us?" Keith sweatdropped.

"Oh!" Kate nodded. "This is my younger sister that I was telling you guys about, Gracidea! Gracidea, these are my two friends from school, Keith and Rhythmi. Say hi!" Gracidea looked up excitedly at her sister's friends. "Hi!" She chirped. She then noticed Lyrical, who was sleeping on Kate's shoulder.

"Is that a Pokémon?" She exclaimed excitedly. Kate looked over at Lyric. "Yeah, this is my Partner Pokémon, Lyrical, or Lyric for short. She's a Pachirisu." She poked Lyric gently. "Lyric, wake up."

Lyrical's eyes opened slowly, but in all but a split second she was zipping around excitedly, jumping all around Gracidea. Gracidea's eyes sparkled. "She's so cute!" She cried. As Gracidea was hugging Lyric excitedly, Kate opened the door.

"Mama, Papa, I'm here!" She called. A woman with pink hair the exact same as Gracidea's and a man with tanned brown hair that was slightly balding came rushing down the stairs. The gossamer pink haired woman bounded forward and leapt onto Kate. "Kate!" She cried. "Oh, my little baby, all grown up! So adorable, I could just eat you up!" Kate's mother then proceeded to smother Kate with kisses and hugs. "Mom! Not in front of my friends!" Kate complained. Keith and Rhythmi sweatdropped, but were then quickly distracted.

"You two are Kate's friends?" Kate's father walked up to them. They were a strange pair, Kate's parents. Kate's mother, whose name was Monique, was obviously the one Gracidea took after, with her long, silky pink locks, piercing blue eyes and pale skin. Kate's father on the other hand, named Alistair, was apparently the one Kate took after, as he had light brown hair that spiked downward, not pin-straight up like Kate and Keith's.

"Yeah, we're her best friends." Keith stated proudly. Alistair raised an eyebrow. He had a very serious face. "You're sure you're not her boyfriend?" He asked suspiciously. Keith's face flamed up, as per usual. "NO I AM NOT!" He yelled.

Alistair's serious face cracked up in laughter. "I'm just kidding!" He laughed heartily. "Here, sit on the couch." The two did as he was told, and Alistair's face took on that serious look again.

"I'm really glad that Kate's got some friends here," He said. "She didn't have any friends whatsoever back in Fiore. But," He winked. "She had a whole lot of admirers. She couldn't go two weeks without being asked out by one boy or another!"

Keith felt his temper rising.

"Where are we sleeping?" He changed the subject, trying to keep the anger in his voice under control. A corner of Kate's father's mouth turned upward in amusement.

"Well, Rhythmi can sleep in Gracidea's room, and Keith can sleep with Kate." He stated. The way he had put that had so many ways of being interpreted.

"WHAT?" Keith shouted. "Why can't Rhythmi sleep in Kate's room?" Alistair sighed. "Come with me," He said and led Keith and Rhythmi to a door upstairs. He opened it to reveal a tiny pink room with pink walls, a pink bed, stuffed PokéDolls (one was a Pachirisu), and various scarves and flowers. Keith sweatdropped, but Rhythmi pored over the room delightedly, exclaiming on how this was so cute or that was so chic and so on.

"Still want to sleep in a six-year old girl's room?" Alistair asked. Keith sighed.

"I'll take the punishment."

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The next day, they were all getting ready to leave for Vientown.

…Or, at least, they were trying to.

"No! Gracidea wants Lyrical to stay!" Gracidea cried. The adorable (yet surprisingly strong) six-year-old had a firm grip on Kate's Pokémon and it didn't seem as if she was letting go anytime soon. Finally, after about ten minutes of Kate trying to pry Lyrical from Gracidea's arms, Lyrical broke.

"CHIPA!" A huge blue light sprung forth from Lyric's tail, and it shocked both Kate and Gracidea.

"Kate!" Rhythmi and Keith saved Kate from falling backwards onto the ground. She had swirls where her eyes had been, but her hair hadn't changed much. Except for the fact that it was a little singed now.

"Kate, are you alright?" Keith asked. "No, really, I can't eat anymore…" Kate said dizzily. Rhythmi and Keith sweatdropped. Suddenly Kate snapped back.

"FOOD!" She cried out, her eyes snapping back from swirls. Monique sighed. "Here's your snack, you can eat it on the way." She said, and handed a small tied up handkerchief and a bottle of water to Kate. She handed the same to Keith and Rhythmi.

"And Gracidea," Monique turned to face the pink-haired girl who had just been revived by Alistair. "You have to understand that Lyrical is Kate's Pokémon, not yours." Gracidea pouted, but said, "Yes, Mama… Oh, that's right!" Gracidea suddenly rushed into the forest behind the house and came back nursing a large bouquet of tiny pink flowers with emerald leaves, the same ones she wore sewn in her hair.

"Here!" She chirped, pushing the flowers into Kate's arms. "Give those to the nice Ranger people!" Kate smiled, but Rhythmi and Keith examined the flowers closely. "What kinds of flowers are these?" Rhythmi asked.

"They're Gracidea Flowers," Gracidea stated proudly. "I brought a whole bunch of seeds to Almia and I'm planting them!" Alistair nodded. "They went extinct in Almia many years ago due to the carelessness of humans, but we're trying to bring them back. The soil now is perfect for them, and they fetch a fair price on the market." He said.

"Well, let's go already!" Keith said impatiently. "Oh, you wanna go, huh?" Rhythmi growled and then proceeded to pull Keith's ear rather fiercely down the path.

Kate watched her best friends bickering, but then turned when the argument became about something else that was causing Keith to go red. She faced her family.

"Well, I'll be going then…" She said. She turned to leave, but was called back. "Kate!" Monique cried. Kate looked at her mother, who inspected her with a warm smile. She finally said,

"You've really grown up, baby."

Kate looked confused, but then decided to just leave the matter be. "I'll come and visit!" She said and ran off to join Keith and Rhythmi.

Keith glanced over at Kate. "What'd your mom tell you back there?" he asked curiously.

Kate shrugged. "Something about me growing up… I wonder what she meant?" she mused.

"Don't think about it too hard, Kate," Rhythmi sighed, waving the question off. "All parents speak the language of 'sentimental'. They also speak 'cryptic' and 'metaphorical'."

"Amen," Kate and Keith agreed simultaneously.