John awoke slowly to find Thea cuddled up to his chest, still sleeping. She was snoring softly with her face pressed down against his chest. He small chest slowly rose and fell with each soft breath. He glanced over to the digital clock that was perched on the nightstand beside his bed. It blinked out "10:12" in large red letters.

He should've been awake two hours ago.

"Thea." He whispered, knowing that he had to wake her up, but wanting to do it gently, "You've gotta get up. We slept in. We're supposed to leave for route 117 today."

"...Kirl." She said softly, pushing her face down.

"Please? There's complimentary breakfast, my treat."

She pushed her face down a bit more, groaning slightly. After a few seconds, she lifted her face up and looked at him. Her hair was tousled and messy. Her normally brilliant tangerine eyes were half closed from just waking up. She looked adorable, topping it off by giving a tiny yawn.

"...Hey." Her felt her words for the first time that day. They felt groggy. He usually didn't speak to her like this. In fact, she didn't sleep in his bed all that often. It usually only happened after things like nightmares or traumatic experiences. That's not to say John was against it, in fact the opposite was true. He genuinely enjoyed the company. The main problem was that he felt like asking her to sleep in the bed with him all the time might be going a little too far for where the two of them stood at the moment.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked, offering a small smile.

"Really well, actually." She replied, giving a small nod, "I honestly really enjoy-" She started speaking, but cut herself short when she realized that she still had both her arms wrapped around her trainer's chest. She looked down at them, then back up at John.

He chuckled nervously.

"...Right." She took her hands back and rolled off his chest. She moved about a foot away and knelt on the bed, looking over at him happily.

"...What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as she stared at him.

"We were pretty great yesterday, weren't we?" She asked, smiling at him.

"We sure were." He beamed back at her, "And we're only going to get stronger from here. I can't wait."

"So what's the plan for today?" She asked, hopping lightly off the bed and gracefully tip-toeing to the bathroom, grabbing a comb to fix her hair with.

"We're going to set off on Route 117 towards Verdanturf Town. From there I'm pretty sure we can get to Rustboro City, where we'll be able to go for our next badge!"

"So... walking, then. We're going to walk all day."

"Chances are there be at least a few trainers to battle on the road." John replied as the kirlia finished with her hair, "I'm sure it won't be completely uneventful."

"Sounds good, then!" She exclaimed, "Let's hit the road! -As you humans say."

"I like your attitude." John said, pointing at her from the bed, "But I still have to shower and stuff. I'll be quick. Can you do me a favor and wake the guys up for me?"

"But I already-"

"Thanks!" John said, cutting her off as he shut the door to the bathroom. Almost instantly she heard the water running.

Thea groaned, turning to gaze at the two pokemon sleeping beside the bed. Deciding to get started, she quickly hopped over to them and prodded Oddball, who quickly woke up and began loudly squawking, starling the Kirlia and awakening Earl, who yelled out in surprise and lashed out, knocking the Pidove across the room. Oddball recovered quickly and came back strong, beating Earl with its wings. The phanpy yelped in protest as war was waged on him.

Thea sat back on her haunches and sighed. Another day with John and these two characters. She supposed there were probably worse places to be.

Ten minutes later John was dressed and the crew went downstairs to get something to eat. As the four sat a table eating a fairly unimpressive continental breakfast, Thea looked up at John. He was glaring down at a blueberry muffin as if it had personally insulted him for being mediocre.

"Hey." She said telepathically, quickly bringing a finger up to her lips to indicate that this was going to be a one-sided secret conversation. Earl was wolfing down a plate of sausages while Oddball furiously pecked at a stack of three plain bagels.

He gave her a quick nod as he took another bite of his breakfast.

"So... about me sleeping in your bed..."

He choked on his muffin. The clang of cutlery rang out as his knee thudded against the underside of the table.

She lifted a glass of orange juice to her lips in a relaxed manner as she spoke to him. She seemed to be doing it to try and appear confident, but It was obvious that this train of thought was making her nervous. Her eyes darted at him quickly every couple of seconds before returning to scan the rest of the room.

He gave a small motion with his hand that essentially meant 'Go on..'.

"...I, well, I really liked it." She said, offering a small smile towards him as a faint redness crept onto her face. "And, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to make it... like a regular thing?"

Now it was John's turn to get red in the face. He barely even took half a second to consider anything before immediately nodding at her, giving a nervous smile.

She beamed back, clapping her tiny hands together twice. John tried to tell himself that he was mostly doing this for her benefit, but he knew that wasn't true.

John's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed Earl was slowly alternating between staring at him and staring Thea. John looked across the table at her, and cleared his throat to get her attention. Then he quickly gestured towards Earl. She had been staring at John, not noticing the phanpy clearly catching onto their little conversation.

Thea looked at Earl.

"...What are you guys talking about?" He asked the kirlia, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing. We're talking about nothing, actually." She replied quickly, shooting him a threatening look. She glanced over at Oddball, but he seemed to have his big unblinking eyes transfixed on a lamp across the room. Pieces of bagel fell out of his mouth as he chewed absentmindedly.

"I don't believe that for a second." He replied. "I don't like these little secret conversations you two get to have. Doesn't seem fair."

"Why don't you just mind your own business?" She shot back, glaring at him. "John and I are talking about some very important stuff right now."

"Oh yeah? Like how you're always staring at him when he-" He started, but was cut off as Thea interrupted him, face turning red.

"Why don't you shut up?" She growled as Earl realized he had struck a nerve, "You don't think this stuff is hard on me? You think I choose to feel like this?"

"Thea-" Earl started, shooting a quick glance at John.

"You have no idea what this is like. You don't know how complicated this is! I wish that I could-"

"What are you guys talking about?" John asked, having idea what was going on.

There was an obscenely awkward pause that lasted about five seconds.

"…It's not really worth explaining." Thea responded finally, looking apologetic.

The group ate the rest of their mediocre breakfast in silence.

After a quick stop at the Poke-Mart to stock up on supplies and then a half-hour later they were on the edge of the city. As John looked out over the route they were going to traverse, he noticed that it looked like it would be pretty easy going. The path was mostly small ponds with a few flower gardens. They could probably make it through to Verdanturf before the end of the day as long as they kept up a steady pace.

"Phan-Py?" Earl asked, looking up at him.

John glanced at Thea, hoping for a translation.

"He wants to know if he and Oddball can go on ahead of us. The bird apparently wants to stretch its wings and explore."

"Sure thing guys." John said as he smile, "Just try not to go too far, okay?"

His other two pokemon nodded in response before taking off. This left just John and Thea. She hopped up on his shoulders and the pair set out.

"We won't lose them." Thea assured, "I can sense some of their emotions and where they are coming form. It's kinda like a tracking device."

"That's neat." John said as the two stopped to examine a flowerbed. The plants swayed calmly in the wind, sporting an impressive range of colors. Thea plucked an orange chrysanthemum and placed it in her hair. John very much approved.

It was just a little past noon by now, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. There was a slight breeze, pushing the pleasant aromas of the flowers that surrounded them onto the path, causing everything around them to take on the same scent as the flowerbeds. The sky was clear, and it was as if they could see for miles in the distance. A flock of unidentifiable bird type pokemon flew overheard, squawking amongst themselves. The path itself was nice, soft, and worn, having been tread on by countless trainers in the past.

Eventually they caught up with Oddball and Earl, who had sadly failed to find any of the adventure they had previously sought. The group traveled together for a while before coming to a friendly looking building.

"Pokemon daycare?" John read, raising an eyebrow at the sign, "Seems interesting, but we really should keep moving."

"Agreed."

"Dove!"

They continued onward, passing a lot of pretty scenery and running into the odd friendly gardener, but no trainers. He noticed that it looked like Earl and Oddball were beginning to tire. The phanpy was dragging his feet, and as John watched, Oddball accidentally banked and flew directly into a tree. He fell back to the earth, dazed.

"Hey, do you guys want to go in you pokeballs for a bit?" John asked as he gestured to the orbs attached to his belt, "It'd be a lot easier than walking."

He got a pair of nods in response, and so he returned both his phanpy and his pidove to their pokeballs.

"They made it pretty far, actually." John said, looking up at Thea, who was still perched on his shoulders, "Considering they actually had to walk. I'm sure you aren't tired at all."

"Nope!" She replied cheerfully as she looked down at him, "I feel great! I've been loving this trip so far. This road is so pretty."

"It sure is something." John said, "They nearly got the whole way there. I'd say we're only about a half hour out of town at this point. And it's only four in the afternoon. We made great time!"

Thea was about to reply when she heard a voice call to them from behind.

"'Excuse me!" What sounded like a male voice call to them from the distance. They waited for a couple seconds and soon two peculiar figures emerged from the brush that surrounded the trail.

The first was a man, appearing to be in his early twenties, sporting a jovial grin. He was tall, with black hair and glasses. The clothing he wore wasn't anything remarkable, but he seemed to exude an aura of confidence. First impressions left John with a feeling that he was someone who carried a lot of experience. He didn't catch John and Thea's eyes nearly as much as his companion, though.

She looked to be about five feet tall, but she floated a little over a foot off the ground. They could only catch glimpses of her slender legs, hidden beneath an elegant white dress that was constantly being blown about by the wind. Her chest was adorned with a red horn-like protrusion that looked almost as if it were piercing her. She had green hair that swept neatly around the edges of her face, which seemed to end in a trio of points on either side. A pair of red eyes shone towards John and Thea with intelligence while she offered a warm little smile to them with thin lips.

Neither Thea nor John had ever seen a Gardevoir before.

"Hey." The man said, offering a handshake. "I'm Duncan."

John took his hand and shook it, still awestruck at his pokemon. "John."

"Nice to meet you, John." He replied, never dropping his smile. He gestured to the Gardevoir floating behind him, "This is Elysium."

She offered a small bow in response.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Her voice rang through both John and Thea's heads, clear as a bell, and with a posh British accent. Both of them heard the words as if someone had actually spoken to them. This was not the telepathy that Thea was able to do. This was on a whole different level.

"...How did you..." John said, unable to believe what had just happened.

"Surprised?" She asked, cocking her head to one side slightly as her polite smile grew a little.

"Ask her how she-" Thea started.

"Comes with Experience, you could say." Elysium responded, cutting her off. Her smile held.

Duncan laughed. "This is great. I swear every time we meet any trainer with a psychic pokemon, the same thing happens. She's pretty great, huh?"

"She can read minds?" John asked, staring at Elysium, who was floating at eye level with him.

"Oh, buddy, she can do way more than that." He said with a smile, "But I didn't come over here to waste your time and show off for no reason. I actually came to ask if I could borrow a pokeball."

"You... what?"

"Yeah, It's a little embarrassing. A guy like me, you'd figure I'd stock up, right?" He scratched the back of his neck, "But it's been a long time since I've needed to catch anything. A Roselia in the bush over there caught my eye, and I was gonna go after her, but then... well, you can figure out the rest."

John looked at Duncan, then at the Gardevoir, then back at Duncan. He had no idea Thea would be able to get this powerful. He had no idea she would get so... beautiful, either. The thought of it filled him with-

"So whaddya say?" Duncan asked, looking at him expectantly. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, there was so much this man could tell him. But he seemed to be in a rush.

"Uh... yeah sure." She dug a pokeball out of his bag and placed it in Duncan's palm. The man beamed.

"By the way, what's her name?" He asked, looking up past him at Thea, who was still perched on his shoulders.

"I'm Thea." She tried to say, but John was the only one who heard her. Her brow furrowed in frustration.

"Her name is Thea." John said.

"That's a nice name." He said, before looking up at her with an understanding gaze, "Keep trying. You'll get it eventually. It's hard, I know. Well I guess I don't personally, I've been where you guys are now." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Elysium who had begun to float away, apparently bored with the conversation.

Thea smiled her thanks at him.

"Anyways, John." He turned his gaze back down on the younger trainer. "Thanks for the pokeball. You seem like a pretty swell guy. I'm hoping we meet again someday."

With that, he turned and began to walk away, Elysium floating beside him. She turned and offered a small wave.

"Tell them to stop." The said, sounding determined.

"What?" John asked, "Why?"

"I want to fight her. You should challenge him to a battle."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" John asked, he looked forward and noticed Elysium had stopped floating away and was simply staring forwards.

"Think about what I could learn from her! She's everything I could be! I want to see it myself."

"I don't know Thea, she's-" John started.

"Please John."

"Hey, Duncan!" He called.

The trainer turned around and plodded back over. "What's up?"

"I'm challenging you to a battle!" He exclaimed as he jutted a finger towards the man, "Since you're a trainer, you can't say no. One on one. Elysium against Thea."

Duncan looked at John like he had just grown a second head. "I mean, you're right. I can't say no, but I can give you a little piece of advice. This might not be a good idea on your part. You're out of your league here, man. Me and Elysium have been at this a lot longer than the two of you. I'm not even trying to brag or anything, I'm just giving it to you straight."

Duncan cocked his head towards the Gardevoir as he spoke, who closed her eyes and nodded once in agreement.

"Doesn't matter." John replied, "Thea wants to, so that's what we're going to do."

Upon hearing this Duncan's features went from confusion back to his usual smile. "Alright then. I guess it's hard to say no to the missus, huh? Follow me. There's a clearing up ahead."

John and Thea followed behind their opponents as they led them towards where the battle would take place. Each looked closely at their counterpart, attempting to gauge what they should expect for the coming battle. John watched as Duncan swaggered along, looking anything but worried about the match that was about to take place. He paid his own Pokemon little mind, instead gazing around at the scenery that surrounded them. Meanwhile, Thea stared at Elysium, who simply floated along beside her trainer, gaze fixed forward. Her manner of travel gave off the distinct impression that she was above the world around her, like she couldn't even be compared to beings who walked on the dirt.

A couple moments later, John stared across a grassy clearing at his newest opponent. He wasn't stupid, and so was acutely aware that they were probably far stronger than him and Thea were. But this was what Thea wanted, so this was what they were going to do.

"Last chance, man." Duncan called, "You can still back out."

John glanced down at Thea, but he already knew her answer. She looked back and nodded. Her eyes were narrow slightly, filled with determination. He didn't need psychic powers to know she wasn't going to change her mind.

"Nope!" He yelled back, "We're sure about this."

"Suit yourself." Duncan muttered, giving a nod to Elysium. She floated from his side down to the battlefield and hovered above the ground, practically exuding grace. Her scarlet eyes were fixed curiously on Thea.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready." Thea said.

"Ready." John confirmed.

"Apologies in advance." Elysium's voice rang through Thea's head once again. It was like she had whispered in her ear, but both pokemon were at least ten feet apart. She took a step back then shook it off. It was time to fight, not time to talk.

"Thea, Use magical leaf!" She heard John call from behind her. She summoned the leaves to her command, building good number of them around her. As the leaves shimmered with psychic energy, Duncan and Elysium simply stared back. Deciding to capitalize on this, she sent the attack forward as quickly as she could, hoping to deal some damage early in the fight.

Elysium floated in place, allowing the attack to directly hit her with full force. She reacted like she had just been given a needle at the doctor. A slight wince, that was all.

"No way." Thea gasped, "I've never seen anyone take a hit like that without at least getting knocked down! What is she made of?"

John was at a loss for words. The only explanation was that the gardevoir's defense against special attacks was so high that it had all but nullified the damage Thea's attack had meant to do. He had been a pokemon trainer for about a year and had never seen anything even close to this before.

"Psychic." Duncan's said from behind Elysium. He didn't seem to be taking any pleasure in the battle so far. He almost hadn't spoken loudly enough for anyone to hear.

Elysium's psychic powers took hold of the kirlia within an instant, throwing her roughly across the field. The telekinesis was strong, and she skidded across the ground for several feet after impact. Thea pushed herself back to a standing position and faced her opponent. She promised herself she wouldn't be beaten that easily.

"Try confusion!" John called, though his voice beginning to lose its edge.

Thea's eyes began to give off a blue light as she grabbed the Gardevoir with her telekinesis. She tried to throw her back, but her foe wouldn't budge.

"I'm afraid that won't work on me.." There was no taunting in Elysium's voice, she was simply stating facts.

"Wha-" Thea started, but was cut off as her opponent spoke once more.

"My levitation is currently stronger than your telekinesis." She said explained.

"...My attack won't affect you at all?" Thea asked, beginning to panic.

"What's going on?" John asked, "Why didn't that work?"

"Let's not get into it right now." Thea growled, "Suffice to say that confusion is a no-go for this battle. We're going to have to try something else."

"Alright." John muttered, "Use double team!"

Thea closed her eyes. She forced the thought that she had a pair of identical doubles into Elysium's mind. She was relieved when she realized it was working, as the gardevoir's gaze slowly moved from three distinct locations. She was distracted. Now was Thea's chance.

"Magical leaf!" John exclaimed, pointing towards the gardevoir, "Put everything you've got into it!"

Thea glared, balling her hands into fists at her sides. With a growl she willed as many magical leaves into existence as she possibly could. The kirlia's eyes flared with blue physic energy as she used all of her willpower. The projectiles kept spawning until there must have been nearly fifty floating by her sides. Then with a growl Thea launched an attack that used every ounce of power she could muster. They flew with pinpoint accuracy, directly towards her opponent.

"Teleport." Duncan said.

In an instant, Elysium blinked out of existence, then reappeared several feet to the left of where she had been before. The attack that had been launched at her sailed harmlessly past and impacted with the grass.

"Moon blast."

Elysium raised a hand with her fingers up, palm facing towards Thea. An orb of glowing purple energy appeared in front of the gardevoir's hand. It gave off a low humming sound as it pulsed, throwing purple light onto the grass around the battlefield. Thea could feel the power radiating from the orb even from her position several feet away.

As the attack flew towards her, Thea realized that Elysium had known which of her doubles was real the entire time. She hadn't hesitated at all when she was taking aim with her attack. The projectile connected with the earth at Thea's feet, exploding and launching her backwards as smoke trailed from her body. She landed roughly on her shoulder and rolled a few times before coming to a stop.

"Thea!" John yelled in shock, ready to run to her aid. However he stopped in his tracks as she began to move.

Slowly, she put one hand on her knee and pushed herself back up with one eye closed in pain. She took a shaky step forwards and looked towards Elysium. Panting, she realized that the other pokemon had begun to float over towards her. The gardevoir had a hand outstretched towards her opponent, as if she was going to offer help.

Weakly, and without John's command, she summoned a single magical leaf and sent it flying towards the Gardevoir. It nicked her shoulder and bounced off, getting stuck in the trunk of a nearby tree. Her opponent gave no reaction.

Thea chuckled and coughed once. Her face was twisted into a shaky smile through a set of gritted teeth. She never stopped locking eyes with Elysium.

"You must think I'm pathetic, huh?" She breathed out loud before wincing once.

Elysium looked at her with a mixture of pity and surprise, eyes widening.

"Pathetic?" The Gardevoir said, speaking out loud for the first time. Her actual voice sounded identical to her telepathic one. "No, I don't believe I do."

The two of them kept their gazes locked.

"I think that your bravery will make you incredibly powerful one day. It was truly an honor to meet you, Thea."

Elysium took a step back and sang. The note was soft and melancholy. As the song reached Thea's ears, she lost her grip on consciousness and sank to the ground in a heap.

"I guess that's it, then." Duncan said to John as the trainer rushed over to his fallen kirlia. There was no celebration of his win.

"What did you do?" John asked, examining his pokemon.

"Disarming voice. A fairy-type attack." Elysium said simply, gesturing towards Thea's crumpled form.

John picked Thea up gently, examining her wounds. She was beaten, battered, and unconscious, but she didn't seem to be in any critical danger. Regardless, he felt the overwhelming need to get her to a pokemon center so that she could get any help that she needed.

"Look." Duncan said, plodding over slowly with his hands in his pockets. He sheepishly continued, "We feel really bad about doing this."

"You-" John started.

"We want to make it up to you. Seriously. I'll tell you what, you're going to the pokemon center, right?"

"Um, yes." John replied, shooting a quick glance down at the pokemon in his arms.

"Well once you're done healing her, hang around the center for a bit. Elysium and I will meet you there, and we'll buy you and Thea lunch."

John was uncertain. This wasn't common for trainers to do.

"Please?" Elysium asked. Her scarlet eyes pierced anything she looked at, and John couldn't shake the feeling she already knew everything about him.

"Okay sure." John sighed, turning to leave, "I'll wait in the center for you guys."

"One more thing." Duncan said, taking the pokeball out of his pocket and handing it to John. "It wouldn't be right for us to beat you up and then also steal your stuff. I'll buy my own in town."

"...Thanks." He said, raising an eyebrow as he pocketed the ball.

With that, John turned and rushed off towards Verdanturf, cradling Thea's battered body in his arms.