Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its affiliates. I do, however, own my OC's and my story.

POV: Lura, 914 BBF

{Welcome back. That didn't take long.}

[Yeah, yeah, just send me back.]

On the way back to the Bailey residence, Lura's thoughts were filled with images of the battle in the market, and Zero's broken leg. How did he get over to me so fast, she wondered. And then he broke his leg and didn't even flinch! Who is he exactly?

She also couldn't help but remember his eyes as he looked at her. And then of course there was the wink. What was that about? Was he flirting? Lura was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice that Tal was talking to her. That is, until he poked her with a paw.

Lura jumped slightly. "Oh! I'm sorry, what did you say? I was thinking," she explained.

Tal looked at her confusedly, before shrugging and saying, "I just asked what you thought of the city. This is your first time in one, is it not?"

Lura nodded. "Yes it is, and I have to say that I like it! The air is so cheerful, and no-one seems to be angry."

Tal grinned, before saying, "Well I'm glad you like it! And a lot of Forn is very friendly, unless you go to the eastern part of town. There's a lot of crime over there, but it's to be expected in a city of this size."

Lura frowned. "What kind of crime exactly?" she asked.

"Mostly just thievery and a bit of violence. Someone did get murdered there, but that was a while ago, four years probably."

"Who killed them and why?"

Tal shrugged before replying, "Not sure on both accounts. No-one was ever caught and there was no clear motive. Some of the guardsmen think that someone paid to have the guy killed, but there was no clear evidence of that."

Lura frowned. "Strange."

Suddenly, Tal grinned at her, before asking in a cheeky voice, "So what were you thinking about?"

Lura blushed slightly for some reason, then said, "Well, I was thinking about that pokemon, Zero. I mean, he broke his leg protecting me, and then acted like it was nothing! Who is he anyway?"

A shadow flitted across Tal's eyes for a moment as he frowned. He turned back towards the road before replying, "I don't know a whole lot about him other than he's a bad 'mon."

Lura's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean he's a bad 'mon?"

Tal shrugged again, then said, "I'm not a fan of him. I don't like his arrogance or his personality. Mostly, though, I don't like his disregard for others."

"What do you mean by that?"

He sighed. "A while ago my sister, Rose had a thing for him. She chased after him for months, trying to get him to court her. He steadily refused, until I think he just got annoyed. They courted each other for a few months, until they took their relationship to the next step. Then he started becoming more distant, not as interested in the relationship. Finally he cut things off between them, leaving my sister heartbroken. She still hasn't recovered from that."

Lura was shocked. "That's horrible!"

Tal nodded. "I know. That's why I say I'm not a fan of him. But for whatever reason people still love him."

Lura took a moment to process this. So Zero isn't a very good or nice pokemon. This made her sad for some reason. Then a couple other questions occurred to her. "So how old is he then? And where does he live?"

Tal shook his head. "No one really knows. He doesn't talk about himself a whole lot, if at all. As for where he lives, he lives up near High Point, which is that castle over there," he nodded his head in it's direction before continuing. "Supposedly he's very well off, which is unusual for a pokemon of any kind. Most live with a human, but he just lives with his gallade friend named Gabe. I never really talked with Gabe, but he seems to be a decent sort. Most gallade's are, what with their honor and all."

Lura nodded, showing that she understood all of what he said. This conversation made her even more curious of the mysterious umbreon. She wondered if she would ever meet him in person, or if the market incident would be the only kind. After hearing what he did to Tal's sister, Lura wasn't sure that she wanted to know him. But she was still curious.

The rest of the walk home passed in mostly silence, except from the occasional comment from Tal about some part of the city. When they arrived back at Lura's new home, it was night-time.

"Is there a way for us to get onto the roof? I want to look at the stars, but there's too much light down her," Lura asked Tal.

The jolteon nodded, saying, "Yeah! Come-on, I'll show you."

With that he bolted inside of the house through a flap in the door, apparently for that very purpose. Lura didn't take a whole lot of time to think on it though, as she was too busy chasing after a yellow blur.

After running up two sets of stairs, and then down a hallway, Lura saw Tal waiting next to another door. The jolteon smiled at her.

"Come-on slowpoke! You can run faster than that!"

Lura just gasped for air. She decided that she wasn't the most fit vaporeon in the world at that moment. I need to work on that, she thought.

Tal laughed at her. "Alright, so through this door is the roof. Normally these doors don't have flaps, so they can be kind of tricky to open, but after a month or so of living here Stephen had one installed. Before you go out though, do you know where you will be sleeping?"

Lura shook her head. Tal smiled at her. "Well no worries. Can you make your way back to the kitchen? I can set up some blankets for you as a makeshift bed before I turn in for the night."

Lura smiled at him, grateful for his generosity. "Thank you! And yes, I can find my way back to the kitchen. Just down both stairs and to the right, right?"

Tal nodded. "You got it! Alright, I'll go make your bed and then turn in. See you in the morning!" And with that he took off down the hall.

Lura just smiled and shook her head at the charming jolteon. He was certainly very friendly. She turned around and went through the flap that served as a quadruped door.

Once outside, she immediately looked around the roof. There was a stone bench near the edge of it, as well as a little garden towards the center. Lura smiled again as she saw the flowers. It reminded her of the time Gary's mom attempted to grow them, which ended horribly as she had no experience with gardening or farming in general. She always left that stuff to Gary and his dad.

Lura made her way over to the bench and jumped onto it, before sitting down, curling her tail around her front paws as she did so. She admired the view of the city for a moment, looking at all the houses seemingly connected to each other, although some were taller than others. Then she looked up at the moon and the stars.

They were a lot clearer up here than they were down on the street. She sighed happily as she gazed at them, still amazed at how beautiful they were. To think it took a stranger to get me to notice them, she thought.

"How is it that such a gorgeous pokemon is living in my city, and I never noticed?" a voice suddenly cut in through the silence.

Lura let out a squeak and immediately turned around to face where the voice came from. Needless to say, she was very surprised when she saw who it was.

Standing there, right forepaw in a splint, was Zero, the umbreon. He had a slight, confident grin on his face as he looked at her, red eyes gazing into her dark ones. Lura found that she couldn't speak for a moment, as she finally processed what he had said to her. Then she blushed deeply and hid her face behind her tail.

Zero chuckled at her. "Oh, there's no need to be shy gorgeous. Although I must say, you look positively stunning when you blush."

Lura blushed even deeper, before she found her voice. "Wha-what are you doing here? And how did you get up here?"

He looked over his side to that of another building, before turning back to face her. "Believe it or not, I was actually on my way home, when I saw you sitting there all by your lonesome. I felt that it would be a crime to leave such a beautiful pokemon feeling left out. And as for how I got here, the building's in this city are quite close together. Makes roof hopping very easy. So what's gorgeous pokemon such as yourself doing up so late?"

Lura bristled slightly. "And what makes you think that I wanted company, let alone yours?"

For a split second his eyes widened, as though he hadn't expected a response like that. Then his expression went back to normal and he frowned at her. "I must say that I'm not entirely sure what I did to offend you. If it's about the market earlier, I'm sorry about that, but I honestly didn't know that there was someone there who didn't know to get out of the way. Regardless, you weren't injured, so I don't think that should be enough to have you upset with me. Not the best of first impressions I know, but certainly not the worst."

Lura shook her head. "No, it's nothing you did to me. Tal just told me a bit about you and your history with pokemon. I'm not a fan of how you treated his sister."

For a second confusion filled his eyes, until it cleared as realization dawned on him. Then his face went simply neutral as he started to speak again. "I wouldn't believe everything that you hear, least of all about me. Especially when it comes from Tal. While he has good reason to not like me I will admit, his judgement is biased. You would do well to not judge someone until you get both sides of the story."

Lura stared at him, chastised. Then he continued speaking.

"As for the situation with Rose, I told her repeatedly that I wasn't looking for a serious relationship. The damn girl is too determined though, so I decided to just see how it went. After a night when I had a bit too much alcohol, we ended up mating. Please note that I was not in my right mind. After that, she immediately went and bragged to absolutely all of her friends, which made my life annoying beyond belief. So I ended things."

Lura just looked at him dumbfounded. Then she shook herself and asked, "Uh, what's alcohol?"

This time it was Zero's turn to look at her dumbfounded. "You're obviously new to the city, aren't you?"

She blushed and nodded. "I just got here today actually."

He shook his head disappointedly. "You poor, innocent vaporeon. Speaking of which, what's your name?"

"It's Lura," she said. "And I wouldn't say that I'm innocent. I just don't know certain things. Like what alcohol is."

Zero shook his head again. "I suppose that's actually normal for most pokemon. A lot of us don't really experiment with human substances. I do, but then again I'm not like most pokemon."

As Zero was speaking, he started walking towards Lura before jumping up next to her. Lura shied away from him, although she didn't move.

"Any case, it's not important what alcohol is. Just know that it messes with your head, and makes your decision-making skills nonexistent."

He started leaning towards Lura a little bit. Not a whole lot, just enough for her to notice and be slightly nervous, although not entirely uncomfortable. For whatever reason, she didn't really mind him being so close to her. Although she didn't have to let him know that.

"So you never answered my question," he whispered to her.

Lura suddenly found it hard to breath. "Wha-what qu-question w-would that b-be?" she asked.

He pressed his side against hers gently before answering, "What a gorgeous vappy such as yourself is doing up so late?"

Lura felt her heart pounding in her chest as she fought to breath normally. Why is my body acting like this!? This has never happened to me before! What do I do! Lura decided the best course of action would be to just answer his questions and to stop stammering.

She breathed deeply before answering, "Well, I just like the night-time. I like the moon and the stars and peacefulness of it all."

Zero placed his tail over hers as he leaned more firmly into her side, which made her lean back so that she stayed balanced.

"Not very many pokemon who aren't dark types enjoy the night sky. It's wonderful that such a beautiful pokemon like yourself is not so ignorant as to assume that the night is bad. It's quite refreshing actually," he complimented.

Lura was starting to relax a little bit. She smiled slightly, enjoying his contact. At the very least it blocked what little chill there was in the night air. Plus, he smelled rather nice.

She decided to just enjoy his company for the moment, and completely relaxed into his side. Zero let out a happy murr as she did so.

"So may I ask you a question Lura?" he asked her.

"I don't see why not," she told him.

"I noticed that you are marked by the wolf. I wasn't aware that he had marked any vaporeon. How did you get it?"

Lura was shocked that he even noticed the mark, let alone that he was aware of who Wolfe had and had not marked. She decided to just answer his question.

"Well, he actually marked me when I was an eevee, not to long ago actually. I evolved that same night, although we aren't sure how. I think it had something to do with being marked."

Zero frowned slightly. "That's strange. That hasn't happened to any that he's marked before. I wonder what makes you different?"

Lura stared at him, surprised. "Wait, do you personally know him?"

Zero chuckled. "Well that's one way of putting it. In all actuality, we are quite close. We technically live in the same house, although he isn't around as much as I am."

It was at this point that Lura realized that their muzzles were very close to being connected. She blushed brightly although she didn't move. For some reason, she got a sudden urge to close that gap.

Just as she was about to do something, Zero put his paw on her mouth, stopping her from moving or talking. He chuckled a little bit.

"Probably too soon to be doing that, don't you think? You should probably save that for someone special to you, no?"

Lura just blushed even brighter as she started to focus again. For some reason, all of her sense had gone out the window, and she had almost kissed him.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," she said.

He just laughed at her. "Don't worry about it dear. It happens a lot, so don't feel bad. Now, I think it's about time that you get some sleep, no? You must be tired, what with you just moving today and all. I'll see you around gorgeous. And I would keep this little meeting to yourself. Some pokemon might get the wrong idea."

With that, Zero placed a light kiss on her cheek, winked at her, and then trotted off into the night. Lura could only stare after him in shock, paw going to where his maw had touched her as her brain turned to mush.

What… what just happened, she thought. Her cheek tingled slightly where he had kissed it, and Lura found that, for the life of her, she couldn't form very coherent thoughts. She sat like that for a long time.

Eventually she realized that she should indeed probably go to bed, and shook herself. Then she smiled slightly and made her way inside to sleep.

POV: Zero

How curious, he thought. He had been thinking about Lura for a long time. He was slightly concerned that she was so quick to want that kind of contact, but decided that there wasn't much he could do about that. After all, he knew that he had a strange aura about him that made people like him more than they really should. For instance, the jolteon Tal.

Now that was an interesting night, he thought. I really should learn to limit myself on alcohol. Not my fault that it leads to fun times, but still. He let out a small chuckle at his thoughts. Then he landed on his broken leg wrong, and let out a yelp as his face dug into the dirt.

"Uggghhh…" he groaned. "Of course, right as I get home I do something stupid to it."

"Well maybe you should actually rest an injury like that for once. I don't talk just to hear my own voice, unlike some people I might mention," a voice suddenly cut in. Zero glared up at the gallade who was staring at him with mild amusement in his eyes, as well as a good deal of frustration. Zero frowned at him.

"Fuck you, Gabe. I don't talk to listen to my own voice, I talk so others can listen to it. There's a difference you know," he told him.

The gallade laughed at him. "Of course, my mistake! How could I be so wrong?" He grinned at the umbreon on the floor. "Would you like some help, dear cripple?"

"Fuck off," came the short reply. Zero hauled himself to his feet and studied his broken leg for a moment. "You know, broken legs are a real bitch."

"What? A broken bone leads to pain and awkwardness? Who would of thought?!" Gabe said with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up asshole. Not like I had a whole lot of choice in the matter," Zero muttered.

"You could have let her take the hit."

Zero snorted. "Yeah, right. If it broke my leg, I guarantee that it would have broken far more if it had hit her."

The gallade smiled. "That might be so, but you could still have let it hit her. Always a choice, my friend. Not saying you made the wrong one, but still. Always another option."

Zero glared at him. "She's marked you asswipe."

The gallades eyes widened. "Wait, that was her?!"

There was another glare aimed at the gallade. "You should have known that, dipshit. You saw her before I did. After all, you put that cloak on her when she slept outside a few nights ago."

Gabe sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Uhm… oops?"

Zero snorted. Then he laughed a little bit. "Oh well, it's not like it's that big of a deal. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. You just make them more often than most."

This time it was Gabe's turn to glare at Zero. "I'm not the one who decided to go on a night stroll when I had a broken leg, now am I?"

Zero frowned slightly and sighed. "Point," he said.

The gallade shook his head with amusement. "So how was our adorable little eeveelution then?"

Zero grinned. "Why, I'm just fine thank you! I mean, I did break my leg earlier today, but that's about it. Thank you for asking!"

Gabe glared at him. "I meant the cute one."

Zero's grin widened. "Awh, you think I'm cute? That's so sweet of you! And here I thought you hadn't noticed!"

"Fuck you."

Zero laughed loudly. "I know, I know. I'm a catch, what can I say? Any case, Lura is fine. Tal told her some stuff about me apparently, so she wasn't too terribly happy to see me at first."

Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. You need to learn to keep it in your metaphorical pants my friend. Then maybe he wouldn't have such an issue with you."

Zero frowned. "Hey, he came onto me first. I never make the first move. If he couldn't handle it then he shouldn't have asked."

The gallade sighed exasperatedly. "I meant with Rose."

"We both know that that's not the real reason why he doesn't like me."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't introduce pokemon to alcohol. It wasn't exactly made for us you know."

Zero shrugged with a slight smile. "Says who?"

Gabe glared at him. "Says every sane creature everywhere that knows what it is."

Zero waved a paw dismissively. "Meh, sanity is overrated."

Gabe sighed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you."

The umbreon grinned. "Love me, and hug me, and pet me, and feed me food."

Gabe laughed, still shaking his head. He couldn't help it. "Anyways, what else happened?"

Zero chuckled. "Not a whole lot really. I showed her the error of her ways, and then we got along famously."

"Is that so now?"

He nodded. "Mhm. And then she tried to kiss me."

Gabe snorted. "Ha! You know, for some reason that doesn't surprise me. I really don't know how you do it."

"I could give you some pointers if you'd like."

The gallade glared at him again. "I have a mate, thank you very much."

Zero shrugged. "I'm just saying that I could help you spice things up in the bedroom."

"You're a one minded dog, you know that right?"

He frowned. "I prefer the term open."

Gabe stared at him blankly. "Yeah, right. Open, my ass."

"Whoa now, didn't you just say you had a mate?"

The gallade groaned loudly. "Ugghhhh. You're absolutely impossible when you're in this mood, I hope you know that."

Zero's grin faded to be replaced with a serious expression. "I know old friend, but if I didn't think you could handle it, I wouldn't do it. That being said, we have a bit of work to do."

The gallade's face turned serious as well. "Another contract?"

"Not so much a contract as a personal interest. I want to know a bit more about this guy who want's the Peterson's dead. They don't exactly have a whole lot to hate them about."

"So you meant that I had work to do, not we?"

"Well, I mean, I do have a broken leg after all. The contact said he wanted Gary Peterson and his family dead. He said Gary. Not his parents, Gary. What exactly did he get into that made someone hate him enough to want him dead? And see if you can't compel the kid to move with his parents. I really don't feel like killing him."

"You got it partner." With that the gallade brought his hands together and vanished without a sound.

POV: Lura, the next day

Lura woke with a yawn, before looking around her surroundings, slightly confused. This isn't Gary's room, she thought. Then she remembered. Oh, right. I'm in Forn now. She got to her feet and stretched gracefully. Then she padded over to a wall and jumped on the windowsill so she could stare out.

It looked quiet outside. The sun was shining, although it couldn't have been up for more than a few hours, and there were a few clouds in the sky. Overall, she thought that it looked like it would be a nice day.

She heard pawsteps coming down the stairs, and turned to face them. They sounded too heavy to be Tal's, so she assumed that it was Rio, the lucario who she hadn't met yet.

As soon as the pawsteps rounded the corner, she saw that she was right. Rio was a relatively tall bipedal canine, that had most blue fur, though she also saw that he had lighter fur around his paws and chest. He had a spike on the back of each paw, as well as a larger one in the center of his chest. Overall, she thought he looked intimidating.

They stared at each-other for a moment, before he continued his trek to the kitchen. There, she heard cupboards being opened and closed. She just stared after him, perplexed. Uhm, alright then.

Rio did his own thing in the kitchen for a while, as she just stared out the window. She soon caught the scent of food being made, and she had to say that it smelled delicious. After yet a little more time she heard more footsteps coming down the stairs, as well as the sound of a hyperactive jolteon.

"Foooooooooood!" Tal yelled as he rounded the corner, charging straight into the kitchen, blowing right past Lura as she stared after him. Then he came running back to her and stood in front of her, seeming to vibrate with energy.

"Good morning Lura! It's great to see you!" and then he charged back into the kitchen. Lura let out a little giggle at his antics.

"I'm sorry about that," she heard Stephen say, as he and his wife had both come down the stairs as well. They both smiled at her sheepishly. "He has a lot of energy, but that's why we love him I guess."

Lura just nodded with a smile. He certainly seemed to be very loveable. The Bailey's smiled at her warmly, before Betty came up to her and stroked her behind her ear-fins.

"Stephen told me about your situation, and I have to say that it's great to finally meet you, though I wish it would have been under happier circumstances. Despite what he's done for all of us, I still don't think that it's right what Wolfe is doing. All we can do is hope for the best, I suppose."

Lura just nodded as she closed her eyes in bliss, enjoying the attention. Betty smiled softly before making her way to the kitchen as well.

"Come on Lura, let's get some breakfast," Stephen told her, before walking into the kitchen as well. Lura jumped off the windowsill and followed him.

Once there she saw that the table had been set with fine silverware and plates. Tal was sitting in a taller chair than normal, and Lura saw that there was another tall chair next to him. Once he saw her, Tal called her over.

"Lura! You can sit right here," he said, gesturing to the tall chair next to him. Lura smiled at him as she made her way over, before jumping onto it. Then she faced the table, waiting.

"Did you ever eat at the table at your old place, or were you made to eat on the floor?" Tal asked her.

"Well, Charles tried to make me a taller seat at one point so that I could join them, but he isn't the best with tools, so it collapsed after only two days. But I didn't mind eating on the floor. They still gave me a plate or bowl."

Tal smiled. "Well, at least they sound like they care! Here we always eat breakfast and dinner as a family, noon meal we usually fend for ourselves. Yesterday we had dinner earlier, so you missed it then. Sorry about that by the way."

"It's no problem," Lura told him. "It's not like you guys knew I was coming."

He nodded. "I'm glad you're very understanding. Now, just to warn you, I love Rio's cooking, so it's not really my fault if some of your food somehow ends up on my plate." Then he winked at her.

For some reason, that reminded her of Zero, and she found herself blushing a little bit. Tal grinned at her.

After everyone had sat down and Rio placed food on their plates, before sitting down himself, everyone started eating. Lura was happy to see that there was also some discussion going on at the table. Rio still didn't say anything, but Lura decided that it was his choice if he wanted to speak or not.

She was talking to Tal about what life on the farm was like, when they heard a knock at the door. Stephen and Betty exchanged confused looks, before Stephen shrugged and stood up, making his way to the entryway. Due to the layout of the house, Lura wasn't able to see the door, so she just had to listen.

She heard it open, followed by Stephen starting to greet them, before his voice died out. Then she heard him speak again.

"Do I have a reason to hate you?" he asked. Then she felt a slight twinge as she heard the visitor speak.

"No you do not, old friend. I am merely here to deliver news, none of which is bad. May I come in?" Wolfe asked.

"I don't see why not. Come in, we're eating breakfast at the moment, you can join us if you'd like," Stephen offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I will decline. I ate something earlier today."

Lura heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen, and watched the entrance anxiously. Why is he here?! What does he want? Finally the two men entered the room, and Lura saw Wolfe for the second time in her life.

He wasn't wearing his cloak this time, he was wearing some sort of armor. Lura felt a slight tingle in the back of her mind as she remembered her dream. The armor looked almost exactly the same, minus the helmet, as he wasn't wearing one. She wondered what that meant. She noticed Betty glaring as she saw him, standing up and looking like she was getting ready to yell at him. Before she could, however, Wolfe held up a gauntleted hand.

"Peace, Betty. You have no reason to be upset, as I have not done anything. I just came to speak to Lura," he told her. Lura looked at him worriedly.

"And how exactly did you know where she was staying? We certainly didn't tell you," Betty asked him. Wolfe looked at her like she was stupid.

"Betty dear, you really are smarter than that. She bears my mark. I will always know where she is at," he reminded her.

Betty sat back down, looking slightly embarrassed. Wolfe chuckled.

"So that's the great Wolfe?" Tal asked Lura, a little loudly. She didn't even have to respond, as Wolfe did it for her.

"I don't know that great would be the appropriate word, but I am Wolfe, yes," he told him. Tal just stared at him, stupefied, as did Rio.

For the first time since she met him, Lura heard the silent lucario speak. "You can understand pokemon?" he asked him.

Wolfe looked at him and nodded. "Yes, I can."

Rio stared at him with awe. Wolfe turned back to Lura.

"I have news for you which should make your life a little brighter. Gary has decided that he won't be staying at your old home. He's moving with his parents to Nor, and I stand by my word. I will not go that distance for the price my contact was wanting to pay, neither does he have the money to cover the extra cost. They are safe from me."

Lura let out a little squeal of delight and launched herself into Wolfe's arms before even thinking about it. He caught her easily, although he looked at her, slightly confused. She blushed.

"Well, while I expected you to be happy about that, I didn't expect you to leap into my arms." He chuckled at her, before stroking her side softly. Even though it was a little awkward, Lura found that she didn't really regret her actions. Didn't make it any less embarrassing though.

"S-sorry! I don't know why, but I've been having trouble controlling myself recently," she told him.

He just smiled at her. "Don't worry about that, I suspect it has something to do with my mark, as it does tie us together. But it shouldn't really be a problem with others."

Then what about Zero last night? He continued to stroke her gently, causing her to close her eyes slightly. Then he sat down, still holding her. He was then spoken to by Stephen, who had been quiet for a while.

"You haven't changed a bit old friend. Your demon side is starting to show," he told him.

Wolfe chuckled. "We both know how true that is. And you, my friend, have a lot more grey in your hair now."

Stephen shook his head with a laugh. "That's what happens with normal people, demon. We grow old."

Wolfe nodded with a light grin, "Who's to say that I don't get old?"

Stephen grinned. "I do."

Lura just stared at them as they laughed together, shocked. "Wait, what?"

Wolfe looked down at her, still smiling. "You asked how old I was, Lura. Well, I'm somewhere around 96 years old."

Stephen cut in, saying, "Cheating bastard, still looks like he's 25."

Wolfe laughed. "I can't help that I'll stay handsome forever."

"Because you're a big cheat."

They laughed together again. It was obvious that they were good friends at some point in their past, but Lura was still trying to process what she just found out.

"So… are you immortal?" she asked him.

He looked down at her with a small frown. "It's complicated, Lura."

She frowned. "But will you live forever."

He shrugged, and scratched behind her ear-fins. "Who's to know? Forever is a long time Lura."

Lura still struggled with this. The idea that someone might live forever was just… incomprehensible. Death wasn't something that she had thought about a whole lot, but she still knew that she would die at some point.

Wolfe stayed to talk with Stephen and Betty for a while, holding Lura the entire time. She didn't say much for a while, still trying to process his age, but eventually, once Tal and Rio stepped outside to run a few errands in town, she decided to ask him a bit about Zero.

"So do you know Zero?" she asked.

Wolfe nodded, with a slight smile. "That I do. I'm pretty sure that you were told we live together. Did you not believe him?"

Lura blushed a little bit. "No, it's not that. I just wasn't thinking very clearly last night for whatever reason. I… I'm not sure what I think of him to be honest."

Wolfe just nodded understandingly, giving her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry to much about it. What do you think of him as a pokemon though?"

"Well… I guess I don't really know him that well. Tal doesn't like him, and he's really the only other pokemon that I've talked to."

Wolfe nodded again. "Well, my advice would be to just spend time with him. You're always welcome at my home, and you can usually find him there. Otherwise, just ask around."

Lura just nodded, unsure of what to say or do. Wolfe just smiled slightly again. "I should probably be leaving. If you ever need anything, just ask."

With that he set her down gently, before standing and shaking hands with Stephen. He went to go shake hands with Betty, but she swatted it away and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't wait so long to visit again, you hear? You're always welcome here, especially after you helped out the Peterson's. Yes, I know you were being hired to kill them, but you didn't. Instead, you warned them. So thank you. Stay safe, alright?" she told him.

Wolfe apparently didn't know how to respond, so he simply nodded and said, "Always."

Then he made his way to the door. Lura followed him, and right before he left he bent down to stroke her again. "I'll see you around, and try to enjoy yourself, alright?"

She nodded, saying, "I will, and thank you for not killing my family."

He chuckled softly. "You realize that that's a very unusual thing to thank someone for. But nonetheless, you're very welcome. I wasn't to keen on doing so myself." Then he was gone.

Lura stared at the door for a bit, before turning around and going back to the kitchen. The day had just started for her, and it was already one of the better ones she'd had in recent times. She smiled slightly as she waited for Tal to be home. She'd ask him to show her where Wolfe and Zero lived, and perhaps she could persuade them to get along with each other.