The pokemon center's doors flew open as John rushed inside, cradling Thea's small and vulnerable form in his arms. As the nurse behind the counter saw him come in, he noticed that the building seemed to be totally empty except for employees.

"How can I help you?" Nurse Joy questioned as the trainer approached the counter.

"She needs... healing." He gasped out. A cardio workout maybe wouldn't be the worst idea for John. He seemed to be doing quite a lot of running these days.

"Why isn't she in her pokeball?" The nurse questioned, "It is a poor idea to keep fainted pokemon out in the open. They could get hurt."

"Right." John sighed as he focused on catching his breath, "Thing is, she hates it. I don't know why, but she's very against being in the ball."

"Hm." She replied, "Well, I suppose that's fine. We can give her healing without having her in the ball if you would prefer that."

"That would be great, thanks." John replied, smiling for the first time since his battle with Duncan.

As a chansey wheeled out a stretcher from behind the counter and John gently placed Thea on top of it, Nurse Joy spoke once again.

"It's obvious that you care about you pokemon quite a lot." Now it was her turn to smile, "That's very refreshing to see. There are lots of trainers who seem to neglect their pokemon these days."

"I try my best. They're my team, so they're my responsibility. I wouldn't be anywhere without them." John replied, scratching the back of his head. As he spoke he watched Thea disappear into the back of the building.

"You can just have a seat out here." She said as she gestured towards the multitude of seats available in the lobby, "Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes or so."

With that, the nurse left to tend to Thea.

John found himself with some time to think. First of all, he thought of Duncan and Elysium, and how he and Thea had fared so poorly against them. Duncan hadn't lied when he said they were out of his league. It was like they didn't even try. But this loss offered John a little bit of perspective. He had always considered himself to be a competent and even somewhat talented trainer, but it looked like he still had a long way to go. It seemed like his journey was just beginning.

His thoughts then drifted to Elysium specifically. She had been magnificent, that much was certain. And despite her immense power, she had been courteous when she could have just as easily been discouraging towards her weaker opponent.

John wondered how Thea would eventually look as a gardevoir. She was a shiny, so her colors would obviously be different from Elysium's, but he wasn't sure how much two gardevoir would differ from one another physically. The two of them would make an incredible team, there wasn't a bit of doubt in his mind about that.

"John?" The nurse called, "You can come back now, she should be waking up soon."

As the trainer made his way to the back of the building, Nurse Joy stopped him in front of the door to Thea's room.

"You know, it's strange." She said, looking John directly in the eyes.

"What is?" He asked, beginning to feel a little nervous.

"It's something I see very rarely." She said, "After all these years on the job, I can tell how badly a pokemon had been knocked out. Most come in pretty badly fainted, but your kirlia..."

She hesitated, looking down at the ground for a second before meeting his gaze once again.

"Whoever defeated her used nearly the exact amount of force require to cause her to lose consciousness, and we're talking about decimal points here."

John's eyes widened.

"Either you're incredibly lucky," She started as she looked back up at him with a worried expression, "Or whoever did this had the power and control to do far, far worse to her... but simply chose not to."

Unsure what to do with this new information, John walked past her and opened the door.

"I suppose you're lucky either way." She concluded.

"Thanks." John replied, shutting the door behind him.

Thea was laying in the bed that seemed to dominate most of the room, leaving only a little space for the chair that sat at her bedside.

John sat.

She was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling with small and gentle breaths every few seconds. The cuts, scrapes, and bruises that had adorned her before were all gone now. It seemed like the nurse had done her job well. As he watched her sleep, John realized something.

He felt terrible.

Even though it was obvious that she was going to be totally fine, he still felt that this was mostly his fault for a agreeing to let her go into a fight like that. She'd never stood a chance against a foe like Elysium. Maybe he wasn't as good to his pokemon as he thought. Maybe he-

"Hey John."

Startled by the feeling of another presence in his mind, John jumped slightly before quickly turning his gaze towards the bed. It seemed Thea was awake, as she was looking up at him with curiosity.

"What's wrong?" She asked as her gaze softened, "I'm going to be okay, don't worry."

"Nothing's wrong." John lied, "I'm just happy you're alright."

"You can't lie to me," She stated, "So tell me what's bugging you."

John sighed. It was true. Since she could sense his emotions, unless he totally believed what he was saying she could tell when he was being deceitful.

"I just-" He started before clearing his throat and continuing, "I just feel bad about sending you into a battle like that. We were both outmatched."

She stared at him with confusion before giving a tiny laugh.

"That's it?" She asked.

John nodded.

"Well you shouldn't be worried about me." She smiled, "Actually, I'm grateful. I may have lost, but I've set a goal for myself. Someday I'm going to be just as strong as her."

"Wow." John breathed, "It seems you managed to find a rival before I did."

"Yeah... I guess I have."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, simply enjoying the peace and quiet, as well as each other's company.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

The pair made their way to the lobby of the pokemon center. When they arrived in the doorway they found it still mostly empty, save a peculiar duo sitting on a couple of chairs by the entrance. One was a tall man with glasses who sat and looked around the room with boredom, while the other was a gardevoir who had her face buried in a fashion magazine.

This surprised Thea for several reasons.

"What are they doing here?" She asked immediately, spotting their previous opponents.

"Oh." John said, "Right. I forgot to tell you. Duncan said that he wants to buy us lunch as an apology for beating us so badly."

"That's... an odd thing for a trainer to do, right?"

"Yeah, it's pretty strange. But I'm short on cash these days, and the two of them really seemed to have their minds set on it. Is that alright with you?"

Thea considered this for a moment.

"I suppose so. Let's get to it, then."

With that, they stepped out of the doorway and into the lobby as Duncan and Elysium noticed them instantly.

"John!" Duncan exclaimed as he stood up, "It's good to see you. Thea, you're feeling well, I take it?"

"I am."

"She is." John translated, throwing a quick sympathetic glance down at his pokemon.

"Well." Duncan said, clapping his hands together, "Let's go get food, then."

He glanced over at Elysium.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"It's nearly two in the afternoon, Duncan." Elysium smiled patiently, and her voice was heard by all three of them, "We're all hungry."

The four of them left the pokemon center as John once again expressed his thanks to Nurse Joy. Duncan and John walked in front, while Thea and Elysium trailed a short distance behind.

"So, where are we going?" John asked, glancing over towards Duncan. The man seemed to have a spring in his step. He smiled, glancing around and taking in the sights.

"The best joint in town!" He replied as he turned to beam at John, "Although I may be biased. It's called Terry's. A buddy of mine from way back owns it. Nobody fries up a steak like Terry, I'll tell you what."

"Sounds good." John said as they continued walking.

As they journeyed onward, they couldn't seem to keep up a very steady pace. Duncan seemed to be stopping every thirty feet to wave at someone or point something out. Elysium didn't seem to mind.

"Wow." John sighed, "You sure seem to know a lot about Verdanturf. Do you guys come her often?"

Duncan chuckled.

"Not anymore, but I spent a lot of time in this town. I grew up here, see?" He gestured around at their surroundings, "I don't visit as much as I should, though. Elysium and I were just in town to visit my parents. We were on our way out when we ran into you guys."

"Interesting." John said, "I've never met anybody from around here before."

"Well this is what we're like." Duncan said, jabbing a thumb into his own chest.

John looked at him curiously.

"I'm kidding. People here are close-minded and reserved. The type to bury their heads in the sand when they don't like that they hear." Duncan said, "At least they are for the most part until you get to know them."

John's eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't seem like the kind of guy to bothered by something like that."

Duncan looked away quickly with a chuckle.

"You'd be surprised."

About ten feet behind them, Thea and Elysium were having a conversation of their own.

"So how long have you and John been together?" Elysium asked telepathically, her voice ringing clearly through Thea's head.

Thea looked up at Elysium who was levitating about half a foot off the ground. She didn't seem to fly as high when she wasn't near Duncan and wasn't trying to match his height.

"We've been training together for a little over a year now-" The formed the words in her mind and then realized that she didn't know how to send them to anyone but John, "-You can hear me, right?"

"Yes." Elysium said, "I can read your thoughts, so if you think of words I'll be able to hear them. Or-"

The gardevoir opened her mouth and spoke verbally.

"We can simply converse out loud if you would prefer."

"I'd like that, thanks." This new development pleased Thea. She had never spoken out loud to another member of her species before.

"You've never spoken to a Gardevoir before?" Elysium glanced down quizzically.

"Oh- well... no." Thea said, becoming a little embarrassed that this thought had been pulled from her, "John and I have only been trainer and pokemon for about a year but we've been friends since he was six or seven years old."

"That explains the strength of the bond I sensed between you two." Elysium gave a small smile, "You're lucky. Duncan found me shortly after he started his journey. It took a long time for us to develop into what we are now."

"But about you not knowing anyone in our evolution line..." The gardevoir trailed off, curious, but unsure as to what the best way the phrase the question would be.

"When I was young- well- it's hard to remember much from back then, but I can't remember my parents. John's father found me in the woods outside his family's home and took me in. I was just a ralts at the time, and I was just happy to have somebody I could call a friend. I... remember being alone for a long time before that."

"I'm sorry Thea," Elysium said, talking quickly, "I overstepped my boundaries, that was none of my-"

"No, it's okay!" She replied, "It's actually quite nice to have somebody to talk about these things with. I can't really... speak to John. Not like you can with Duncan."

Elysium didn't reply. She gazed off into space, apparently lost in thought for a moment.

"So," Thea started, hoping to have one of her many questions answered, "When did you gain the ability to communicate like that?"

Elysium thought for a second.

"It was after I evolved into my final form. A couple months later, I think. That was years ago, though. To be honest, before I met you I had forgotten how far I've come. Speaking telepathically has become second nature to me, as I'm sure it will one day be for you."

"I can't wait to evolve." Thea said suddenly, "I'll finally be able to do all the things I want. It'll be so-"

"You shouldn't rush it." Elysium's tone had turned deadly serious in an instant. Thea turned to face her gaze.

"Do not rush into your evolution. You'll regret it. I've seen pokemon who's trainers rush them into evolving... and it's too much power for them to handle. They hurt others. They hurt themselves."

Thea's mind became full of a multitude of images. Charizards destroying entire forests, Gengars tearing their opponents minds to shreds completely by accident, Machamps crushing those they cared for because they didn't know their own strength.

"Are these... your memories?" Thea asked, her eyes growing wide.

"They are. I'm showing them to you because I need you to understand."

Elysium stopped floating and knelt down so that she was eye level with Thea. She placed a hand on the kirlia's shoulder.

"John is a good trainer, and a good person. I'm a mind reader, so my judgements on things like this are sound. " Her gaze was intense, but there was a warmness to it. "I'm certain that he won't rush you, but you must be certain not to rush yourself. Let your evolution happen. Do not force it to happen. You'll be far happier that way."

Thea nodded. She hadn't expected advice like this.

"And," Elysium added as an afterthought as she shot a smile in Thea's direction, "You'll be far more powerful, too."

John looked back to see Elysium kneeling on the ground in front of Thea, speaking intensely to her as his pokemon seemed to absorb every word.

"Whats- uh-" He tapped Duncan's shoulder and gestured over his own shoulder with a thumb, "What's going on back there?"

Duncan turned around listened for a seconds before giving a shrug.

"Dunno. I don't speak Pokemon. Probably a heart-to-heart of some kind. Girl stuff, y'know?"

"Girl stuff." John chuckled, "Right."

After another ten minutes of walking and the group arrived at the restaurant. It was a quaint establishment that was a little on the small side, giving it a cozy feel. A large purple neon sign above the door shouted the name of the bar and grill to all who passed by, or rather, it would have, had it not been turned off during the day. Things seemed a tad slow for Terry's at two in the afternoon. This wasn't exactly rush hour.

"This place is cool!" John exclaimed.

"Right?" Duncan said, happy to have the approval.

John motioned quickly for Thea to come over to him. She did. He slowly pulled a pokeball out of his pocket. It looked older than the other two that were clipped to his belt, and the kirlia's brow furrowed the second she laid eyes on it.

"John." She warned, "No. I am not-"

"I'm sorry Thea, but this is a human restaurant. I don't like this any more than you do, but people usually think it's rude if-"

He was interrupted when Duncan looked over and witnessed the exchange.

"Does Thea like being in her pokeball?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..." John started, shooting a quick glance down at the pokemon glaring up at him, "No. She hates it, actually."

Duncan laughed and looked over at Elysium who smiled back at him.

"It's the same with Elysium. I think it's a pretty common thing among gardevoirs and the like."

John looked between his two new companions. Duncan seemed to have no intention of recalling Elysium.

"So.." John started awkwardly, "Are you gonna.."

"Nah." Duncan said, "I know it's outside the norm for people to dine with pokemon outside restaurants that specifically cater to this kind of thing, but Terry's an old friend. We'll be fine."

Thea smiled with relief as they entered the building.

"So, have you tried any human food before?" Elysium asked as they approached the hostess.

"Not really." She replied, "I really like oranges, but I've never been to a place like this."

Elysium surprised Thea by quickly clapping her hands together in excitement and giving a small squeal, breaking her usual semi-stoic attitude.

"This is so exciting!" She exclaimed, "I can't wait to see what you think of it. Human food is very interesting. I'll help you pick out what's good."

Thea smiled up at her. Elysium seemed incredibly familiar with human customs for a pokemon. The question was, how far did her interest go?

"Table for four, please." Duncan said smiling at the hostess as he leaned on her podium slightly. She was young, looking no older than twenty-five, with sweeping blonde hair and green eyes. At the man's words, they narrowed.

"Four, huh?" She asked, shooting a very obvious glance at Elysium, who had floated over to Duncan's side. The Pokemon smiled at her.

"Will... it-" She put a lot of emphasis on the last word, "-be dining with you as well?"

Neither Duncan nor Elysium seemed to react to this, but Thea noticed that while his smile never faltered, his eyebrows came down very slightly. This had comment bothered him, that much was for certain. Elysium's expression remained friendly.

"I don't see anyone else here with me." Duncan answered simply, smile as present as ever.

There was a short pause.

"Well sir, I'm not sure you realize-" The woman started, "-But our policy on-"

"Could you just get Terry for me please?" Duncan asked quickly, interrupting her as he leaned on her podium.

She seemed to consider her options for a split seconds before turning on her heel and departing for the back of the restaurant without another word, heels clicking as she went.

John coughed.

"Well, that was... super awkward." Thea said to john as she glanced around.

"You get used to it." Elysium answered, injecting herself into the conversation.

Both John and Thea looked at her in surprise. This type of thing would take some getting used to, that was for sure.

"Sorry about that." Duncan said apologetically as he turned around, "I don't know her. The normal hostess usually doesn't give us any trouble."

"You've been eating here for a while?" John asked.

"I guess. I'm twenty-two, and I first ate here with my parents when I was seven. My dad was friends with Terry's dad, so I was friends with Terry, too. Terry has since taken over the family business-"

Duncan stopped talking as the door to the kitchen opened.

"Speak of the devil." He said.

Terry was a big man. He nearly six and a half feet tall and built like a brick house. He couldn't be older than Duncan by more than five or six years and was sporting a well-trimmed beard. He had on an apron that looked to have a wide variety of stains on it that he had attempted to wash out, but the marks still showed. The hostess trailed behind him, the small woman nearly completely eclipsed by his massive form.

He stopped in front of Duncan, staring down at the man with a pair of cold blue eyes. He slowly looked at Elysium, then back at Duncan. His expression was unreadable.

"Terry." Duncan said, clearing his throat and scratching the back of his head, "Long time no see."

The big man crossed his arms, which were thick like tree trunks. When he spoke, his voice was a deep growl.

"It's been two years..."

Duncan's eyes darted around nervously.

"Right, yeah. I know that- I just figured-"

"You just come into my restaurant after two years..." His expression hardened slightly.

Duncan began talking quickly.

"Listen, Terry, buddy, I'm sorry- I know I said that I'd try to keep in touch but-"

"You come in here, into my establishment, after two years..."

Duncan fell silent.

"And you don't even say hello?"

In an instant, Terry's eyes widened, and his mouth split into a huge grin. He moved a massive hand and gave Duncan a hearty slap on the back, nearly knocking him over. The huge man laughed like he had just told the funniest joke in the world.

"I got you, didn't I?" He said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Duncan found this a little less funny, but still found himself laughing.

"You big lug! You scared the hell outta me!" He exclaimed, looking up at someone he was talking to for once.

"Is that Elysium?" Terry asked, locking eyes with the gardevoir.

"Obviously." She replied. He rushed forwards and crushed her in a hug. It lifted her off the ground than usual, but she didn't seem to mind.

"You look great!" He exclaimed, looking up and down Elysium's slender form. She gave a crooked smile as he continued, "And you too Duncan, did you get new glasses?"

"No, actually." He replied, smiling.

John and Thea watched this exchange with unmatched confusion. They had never seen friends greet each other like this. The hostess stood awkwardly a couple feet away. She had clearly not been expecting the confrontation to play out this way.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of having my two friends over?" Terry asked, looking at to pair in front of him.

"Well, we were hoping to not starve to death." Duncan replied as he grinned, "Figured you could help with that. Oh and I brought a couple friends. I wanted to show them the best place in town."

Seeming to notice them for the first time, Terry plodded over to John and Thea. He held out a hand and John took it. He tried not to let the man know that it felt like every bone in his hand was being crushed.

"I'm Terry." He said, "I run this place. Me and Duncan go way back, so any friend of his is a friend of mine!"

"Name's John." He replied as he pulled his hand back and flexed his fingers in an attempt to gain some feeling back, "This is Thea."

Terry waved down at the kirlia as he towered over her. She waved back timidly.

"Nice to meet you, Thea. Never seen a kirlia with blue hair before. You must be pretty special."

Duncan cleared his throat.

"So... food?"

"Food." Terry agreed, gesturing for them to follow him into the restaurant. As they passed the hostess on the way by, she tapped one of Terry's massive shoulders to get his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Sir, it's just that..." She trailed off, unsure how best to phrase her question, "...Are you really going to let pokemon eat in the restaurant?"

Terry smiled at her.

"They aren't pokemon to me." He said, "Duncan and Elysium are like family. I'll make an exception for them. And their friends, too. Besides, it's not like they're bringing a muk and a koffing to the table with them. These pokemon won't sc."

"Right." She replied, knowing better than to question her boss, "Of course."

With that, Terry led them to a nice booth by a window overlooking the beautiful mountains that surrounded the town. The group had great food and great company, so the meal as a whole was fantastic. They left about an hour later, with everyone feeling very content as Terry waved to them from the entrance.

"Don't be a stranger!" He called. They laughed.

"John, we need to buy soda." Thea said, grinning up at him, "I want to drink soda every day."

John chuckled.

"You'd get fat." He teased.

"Why would I get fat?" She asked.

"Soda makes you fat."

"SODA MAKES YOU FAT?"

Elysium covered her laughter with one hand while Duncan made no attempt not to laugh at the conversation.

"How can you hear her?" John asked, turning his gaze towards the pair.

"I can hear her thoughts, and I'm translating for Duncan." Thea assured as they continued to walk aimlessly.

As they sauntered around Verdanturf without a care in the world, Elysium stopped floating and began walking beside Duncan, her tiny feet gracefully moving her forwards at a steady pace. Eventually, she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, allowing him to guide her through the town.

"That was... nice." She said, letting out a gentle purr into his shoulder.

"I think so." He agreed, talking softly as John and Thea were distracted behind them, "It was the least we could do. You did beat Thea into the dirt, after all."

"Oh come now, that's an exaggeration. You know I tried my absolute best not to hurt her." She feigned hurt, but he could tell she was only joking. "Plus, I was only doing what you told me."

"What should we do now?" He asked, nodding at a passerby who shot the pair a quick glance.

"We could take them to see the mountains. It's such an excellent view."

"That's a great idea." He agreed, "I'll have to tell John and Thea so I'm going to need to turn around now, though."

She giggled.

"Maybe I won't let you." She opened her eyes, red like two polished rubies, and shot him a mischievous look. Her thin lips pulled upwards into a smile of perfect white teeth.

He chuckled, "Oh yeah?"

"I could keep you trapped here like this until the end of time, but I'm choosing not to. Next time I may not be so lenient."

"Right." Duncan chuckled as Elysium released him and began floating by his side again, "Thanks."

"Hey, Johnny boy!" Duncan called, turning around and continuing to walk backwards, "There's these great mountains on the edge of town! I'd be honored if you and Thea would accompany-"

"Gal-lade!"

Duncan's eyes shot wide open as he heard the pokemon call from about twenty feet away. The group turned to see a man walking towards them, accompanied by the gallade who had just called out to them.

Thea could feel a lot of emotions coming off Duncan at this point. None of them were positive.

"Elysium, what's wrong with Duncan? I can sense-"

"That was a mating call." Elysium whispered quickly, "You and John need to stay quiet. Let us handle this."

Thea nodded.

"John, we need to be quiet and stay out of this. It's important."

"Okay." John said, trusting Thea's judgement on the matter.

By the time they were done talking, the gallade and his trainer had reached the group. The gallade was a specimen. The muscles on his arms rippled as he approached, but his eyes seemed slightly glazed over. They were transfixed on Elysium, not taking in any surroundings at all.

"Heya." The trainer said, greeting Duncan. The man had barely shot a glance in the gardevoir's direction. He looked to be about eighteen years old, wearing a ball cap and a yellow t-shirt.

"Hi." Duncan replied, smiling. It looked honest, but Thea knew how to read people. It couldn't have been more forced.

"That's a nice gardevoir you've got there." He said, looking at her seriously for the first time. She stared back at him with a neutral expression.

"Yep." Duncan replied, "Her name's Elysium."

"Fancy." The trainer said, before sighing, "Look, man. I'm just gonna skip right to business. My gallade here is in heat. He can't concentrate, and because of that, he can't fight. He caught, uh, Elseum's-"

"Elysium." Duncan corrected, smile faltering slightly.

"Right. Sure. Anyways, he caught her scent. And I was just wondering if you could do me a favor and let him, like, get his beak wet? That way he and I can get back to kicking ass."

Duncan swallowed, seeming to think this proposition over for a second. Thea hadn't felt so much anger, displeasure, and indignation radiate from a human before in her life. Elysium's expression was still neutral. The gallade raised and lowered his eyebrows at her.

"Well." Duncan started, pushing his glasses up onto his face, "I'll tell you that it doesn't really matter to me."

This couldn't have been a bigger lie, that much Thea could tell.

"But I figure we should ask Elysium, seeing as how it is her... body-" He put an incredible amount of emphasis on that last word, "-and it should probably be her decision."

The trainer seemed confused by this line of thought.

"Why does it matter? She's your pokemon, right? Doesn't she do what you say?"

Thea felt a flash of nearly white-hot anger from both Duncan and Elysium. The intensity of it nearly staggered her.

"Elysium?" Duncan asked, getting her attention as he completely ignored the other man. He clearly had her attention long before he asked, but he seemed to be putting on a show anyways.

She nodded in response.

"So, this fine gentleman," He gestured to the gallade, who flexed in response, "Is wondering if you would like to have sex with him."

She seemed to really mull this over for a few moments, lifting a hand to her chin as she hummed quietly to herself. Thea couldn't tell what she was thinking, her psychic powers weren't strong enough to read minds yet.

The gallade flashed her a smile.

That was when she noticed it. The thin, nearly invisible blue glow had had begun to appear around the gallade's head, and the identical glow beginning to be given off by Elysium's recently narrowed eyes.

"John, I think it would be a good idea for us to maybe take a step back." Thea cautioned, as she and John took a deliberate step backwards.

In an instant, the gardevoir tightened her grip on the other pokemon's body. Before he could react, she used her telekinesis to fling him upwards into the air. The gallade let out a cry as he flew into the sky, almost disappearing from view. Thea and John gasped, looking up at the sky.

"What the hell!?" The trainer yelled out in shock as Duncan approached him with his hands in his pockets.

"So, I guess that's a no, huh?" He said, putting an arm around the other man's shoulders.

Elysium simply floated on the spot, examining her nails with a bored expression.

"Women, huh?" He laughed and turned to stare directly into the other trainer's eyes, which had begun to widen in fear. "I don't think I'll ever understand them."

The trainer broke away from him, taking a couple panicked steps back. He looked up into the sky just in time for his pokemon to come crashing back to the ground. The gallade hit the ground headfirst, kicking up a large cloud of dust. When it cleared, only the pokemon's legs protruded from the earth. He looked like some type of strange plant.

"You guys are insane!" The trainer exclaimed, rushing over to pull his gallade from the dirt. After a few tries he got the pokemon to come free, though he was completely unconscious. He quickly recalled the galled to its pokeball and took off running.

"See you around!" Duncan called with faux friendliness as he offered a sarcastic wave, "Good luck with getting laid, or whatever!"

Both Duncan and Elysium stood in silence for about thirty seconds. The man's eyes had hardened into an icy glare, and the gardevoir was beginning to look concerned. Thea and John glanced at each other quickly, unsure what to think. Had this been going too far?

"Are you alright?" Elysium asked, turning to look at the man who stood beside her.

He gave a bitter laugh. Her expression went from concern to outright worry.

"Duncan..."

"Are you kidding?" He asked, turning towards her, "Of course I'm good! Nothing happened to me. That whole thing to you! I should be asking you that!"

"You know me." She replied with assurance, "It takes far more than that get underneath my skin."

"Of course." Duncan sighed, looking at her sadly, "It's just... I can't stand stuff like that, y'know?"

"I do." The gardevoir assured, "I really appreciate your concern."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?" John asked, looking worriedly at Thea.

"More often than never, sadly." Duncan replied, "I think it's mostly because..." He trailed off, shooting a worried glance at Elysium.

"I, um, I like to..." She trailed off, looking to Duncan for support, he nodded at her.

"I like to wear perfume." She stated before clarifying, "Human perfume."

"Oh." John said simply, trying to act like this all wasn't very strange to him.

"Right, well." Duncan started, his usually cheerful demeanor had faded and now he just looked tired. Elysium was looking like she wanted to spend the rest of the day sleeping. It was clear the recent turn of events had soured both their moods significantly.

"Maybe it would be smart for us to go. They look like they could use some time alone." Thea said, looking up at John. He nodded in response.

"Me and Thea should probably get going." John said as Duncan's eyebrows raised slightly, "We need to make it to rusturf tunnel before sundown."

"Yeah, sure." Duncan said, mouthing a silent 'thank you' as he paused, "But we can at least walk you to the edge of town."

"Okay, thanks." John said back as the group departed.

As they walked, Thea had a single question burning in her mind. She decided that now was the time to ask, seeing as how one of the only beings able to answer it for her would soon be leaving.

"Elysium?" She thought the word very hard and was relieved when the gardevoir's head turned in her direction.

"Yes?"

"Do you... ever go into heat?"

Her face flushed red as she heard Thea's question. She looked away quickly.

"Well... yes, I do. Most pokemon go into some form of heat when they are in their final forms of evolution, although there are exceptions to this rule. It happens to me in the spring… typically once a year."

Thea looked forward, lost in thought for a second.

"What do you.. do?"

Elysium glanced down at Thea, her eyes darting around nervously.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean... what do you and Duncan do, when it happens? How do you solve the problem?"

The gardevoir cleared her throat and looked away.

"We... manage." Elysium said simply, focusing intently on a statue on the other side of the street.

"...What does that-"

The gardevoir whipped her head around to stare Thea right in her eyes. She face might have actually been expelling heat.

"Thea, I know that this question is important to you for obvious reasons, but I'd really rather not talk about it if that's okay with you."

"Okay, I'm sorry for prying."

"...I appreciate it."

By this time they were nearly at the edge of town, and the path that would lead to the tunnels. Duncan shook John's hand, giving him a genuine smile.

"Thanks for spending some time with us. I wish you could've stayed longer. It was really nice to get to know the two of you."

"Likewise." John replied, "I'm sure we'll run into each other again, at some point."

"I'm counting on it." Elysium said, in a tone that seemed completely sure.

Elysium wrapped Thea into a hug, lifting her off the ground.

"Take care of him, Thea." She whispered into the kirlia's ear.

"I will." Thea replied.

And so, with their two newest friends waving goodbye to them, Thea hopped onto John's shoulders, and the pair set off towards the rusturf tunnels.