Night was often said to be one of the most peaceful times of day. The rest of the world had retreated into their private shelters and prepared themselves for rest, and those that lingered outside savored the greater freedom and flexibility allowed to them during this time.

Others considered the night to be extraordinarily dangerous for the same reason. Darkness clouded their vision and allowed danger to creep closer to unsuspecting victims until it was too late to stop the approach. As such, protective parents would herd their children into the safety of their den or company at the first sight of sundown.

Fear of the unknown contributed the most to this paranoia. While many of the creatures that wandered the night meant no greater harm than the ones that wandered the daylight, the presence of shadows concealing the threat was the greatest problem. Furthermore, the fact many other creatures had retreated to their safe havens meant that those that did intend harm had minimal obstacles preventing them from achieving their objectives, and few would be available to come to the aid of the unfortunate target, if they chose to strike.

None of this particularly mattered to Aureia.

The Vaporeon was more than capable of taking care of herself, even in the face of adversity. In the rare occasions where she did come across a Pokemon that was convinced she would pose minimal threat to them, they soon discovered how grave a miscalculation they had made. In the even rarer event that their intentions were more malicious, rather than merely irksome, she showed them no mercy and then continued on her way.

Tonight was a fine night, and she had no intention of allowing anyone to disturb her when she took nightly strolls. It was a complete non-issue once she was within a body of water - her species' abilities would ensure her absolute protection and near-infinite fuel for her offense, assuming she would bother. She was most at risk away from water, yet there seemed to be a curious misconception that Vaporeon were inept at combat on land.

The night air was pleasantly cool with a delightful mist. The sky was mostly clear, allowing for an excellent view of the glittering stars overhead, adorned by a sliver of the moon. The grass underfoot was slick with dew, enabling a brisk, leisurely pace to the Vaporeon's footsteps. Her eyes were dull and distant, as was her default demeanor, but they flicked around the area as she walked, taking all details of her surroundings into account. As confident as she was regarding her ability to protect herself, being legitimately ambushed would nevertheless put her at a disadvantage. The solution was to take stock on her surroundings to prevent being taken off-guard.

Aureia's path ended at a small clearing, where a small lake sat nestled beneath an open sky and lined with trees and bushes. The ground here bore the mark of frequent habitation, the softer earth following the day's rain was marked with footprints leading to and from the lake itself. However, the water's surface was calm, perfectly reflecting the navy sky above and the splendor of the glittering stars glowing like fireflies around a crescent moon.

The Vaporeon surveyed the area one last time, turning in a full circle to confirm that no Pokemon or humans were within range of her location, and only then did she relax and approach the lake. The water shimmered a little, disturbed only mildly by the light breeze passing through, and Aureia took a moment to admire her reflection in the glassy water. It was an act of vanity she reserved only for when she was completely alone.

It wasn't as though she liked staring at herself like some self-absorbed nitwit, but there were times when she found it therapeutic to really look at herself, good and bad qualities alike, and be able to privately acknowledge both sides of the matter. Her figure was sleek and well-toned, and a trained eye would be able to detect the muscle that flexed with her every motion, a sure sign that she kept in shape and likely ate well. Her belly did have a bit of excessive fat, but Aureia scoffed at the notion that this was either unappealing or unhealthy. She was a Vaporeon, and while having a sleek figure was ideal for swimming speed, having bulk was just as important, and a worthy trade-off for agility.

Besides, she had seen some of the models displayed in human fashion magazines, and no matter who tried to convince her otherwise, she sincerely doubted that the models were truly happy with that sort of body image. It looked like a ridiculous amount of hassle to maintain, and she doubted it was even healthy. Then again, the magazines weren't intended to cater to her opinions, which was a shame, because it would certainly explain why humans seemed pretty miserable, with low self-esteem and a constant grumble about dieting.

Turning her focus away from such trite things like body figure, Aureia peered closer at her reflection, turning her head from side to side to observe various angles of her face. Her one consistent complaint about herself was her eyes. They were devoid of warmth and happiness, to the point where one could call them cold and uninviting. Even Ember's eyes occasionally shown brightly, especially when she was in good spirits, yet the Vaporeon's eyes refused to shine.

Even gazing at her reflection, Aureia could not label the Vaporeon gazing back at her as being happy, not even content. She seemed...bitter and distant. Cold and disinterested in the world around her, unable to marvel at simple beauty. Continuing to gaze at the reflected Vaporeon, Aureia would even go as far as to say that the reflected Pokemon had little to no investment in her self-image. Her short fur was groomed and well-cared for, and she seemed to be the pinnacle of health, but there was still some sort of emptiness in her gaze and stance.

If she really focused and convinced her mind that the reflection and herself were truly separate entities (to avoid self-bias, naturally), Aureia would further label the Vaporeon as...lonely, perhaps. Meaninglessly so, as well. She was attractive, strong, very independant, yet there was an underlying sense of guardedness. Her eyes were even narrowing in silent disapproval of the analysis, a burning in her heart insisting that she was fine the way she was, yet the eyes betrayed a wavering resolve. Doubtlessly, the reflected Vaporeon received plenty of admirers, sincere or otherwise, but denied them all by default, unwilling to expose the slightest weakness. It wasn't a matter of pride, but of something else. Her stance was intimidating, even unyielding, but if she could look a little deeper, she might see the reason for-

Aureia flinched as the surface of the water rippled, dispelling the reflection, and her gaze flicked towards the leaf that had landed in the water, blown from one of the nearby trees. She sighed, and took a deep, cleansing breath.

She found it therapeutic to observe both positive and negative aspects of herself...but she hated the results. The only benefit such self-guided reflection had was the ability to draw out her own negative feelings. She didn't need anyone to tell her what was great about her, nor nitpick her little flaws. Everyone had flaws, whether they accepted them or not. The cruelest judge was always oneself.

More than a little miffed by the results of her internal reflection, Aureia turned her back to the lake and slapped the water with her tail, producing a more violent ripple than that of the leaf, and disrupting the serenity of the water. Then she lay down and rested her chin on her forepaws, leaving the fin of her tail submerged, but the rest of her body securely on the shore. She wasn't even in the mood to swim tonight, she just wanted to get away from the rest of the world for a while.

Not that she expected to remain isolated for very long. Adrian was very familiar with this spot and Aureia's frequent routine of coming down here, and he would inevitably follow to check up on her. He never explicitly said he was concerned, but it was always apparent. He would usually let her be and give her space, even if he followed, but Aureia suspected he just didn't like leaving his Pokemon unattended for significant stretches of time, even though he gave them almost complete freedom when he wasn't traveling or working.

The pattering of paws along the grass alerted Aureia to an approaching presence, but she didn't even need to look up to figure out who it was, or even if she knew them. She just remained still, focusing on the blades of grass directly in front of her face.

"Oh, hi Aureia!"

The Vaporeon fought the urge to roll her eyes at the sound of the familiar male voice, which seemed to be inappropriately chipper, while also faking surprise at recognizing her. With a small sigh, she sat up, drawing her mermaid fin tail from the water and pulling it closer to the rest of her body. Only then did she turn her head to gaze towards the speaker.

The Pokemon standing a short distance away was a quadruped with brown fur and darker brown eyes. The tip of its bushy tail was a cream color that matched the collar of fur that encircled its neck. As if Aureia would have difficulty identifying an Eevee.

"Hi," she stated blandly. The Eevee didn't seem to expect any better response than that, because his tail wagged simply at being acknowledged.

"You're looking beautiful this evening, as usual," the Eevee said, and he moved closer and nuzzled against her foreleg. Had literally any other Pokemon, male or female, gone into Aureia's personal space in such a way without invitation, they would be unconscious or drenched, if not both. However, the Vaporeon showed absolutely no reaction, and simply permitted the contact in silence.

That said, when he continued to nuzzle near her shoulder, she very gently, but firmly, pushed him away. The Eevee didn't seem the least bit troubled by this response, because he simply smiled and sat down, his tail wagging.

"How's your day been?" he inquired.

"I don't want to talk about it," Aureia stated flatly. She wasn't really in the mood to go over the minutiae of her day, and even if she was willing to do so, she wouldn't. It was usually bad enough experiencing it once without doing so again verbally.

"Can I talk about it?" the Eevee asked, his eyes widening hopefully. Aureia blinked, her expression a mixture of confusion and amusement at the unevolved male's response.

"About...my day?" she asked uncertainly. The Eevee nodded enthusiastically, and she rolled her eyes. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

The Eevee grinned and stood up again, considering her thoughtfully. Aureia just raised an eyebrow slowly, the faintest trace of an amused smile gracing her face.

"Okay, so you got up this morning, had a rushed breakfast because your trainer slept in a little, then he went to work, dragging you guys in your Pokeballs as usual," the Eevee recited, tapping his chin with one paw.

He then walked around Aureia's front and inspected her other side, specifically focusing on her tail, an action that made absolutely no logical sense in Aureia's mind, and had anyone else done it, she might have assumed it was an unsubtle way of checking her out and resulted in a drenched male. Once again, she permitted the behavior in silence, although she did keep a fraction of her attention on him to make sure his eyes didn't attempt to wander.

"On his break, he let you guys out to watch your friend spar, and you slapped your tail against the wall for about fifteen minutes because you had nothing better to do," the Eevee continued. Aureia actually took a moment to study her tail after that comment, wondering if perhaps he was noticing some physical abnormality with her tail that might indicate such a thing, but she found nothing remotely unusual.

The Eevee then circled back to sit directly in front of her, gazing into her eyes. Aureia blinked uncomfortably a few times, beginning to get genuinely unnerved by his peculiar behavior, not to mention she normally detested prolonged eye contact. After a very short pause, she outright averted her gaze.

"After work, you guys went home, he whipped up something for food, which was nothing special, but edible, then he started interacting with you guys one-on-one, but started with uh...the grass one, what's-her-name?"

"Avis," Aureia supplied. The Eevee nodded brightly, and took another moment or two to think before continuing.

"Started with her, then got distracted by something for a while, and by the time he finished with that, you just wanted to be by yourself, so you came out here. And you hoped I'd be here because you think I'm cute."

"Not exactly trying to end on a high note there, Blaze," Aureia sighed, rolling her eyes. The Eevee just grinned a little in response.

"Was I ANYWHERE close?" Blaze asked, tail wagging.

"To the high note? Not particularly," Aureia replied flatly.

"But you DO think I'm cute," he complained. "You said so the other night."

"Did you perhaps wake up after me saying that?" Aureia asked, hiding a smile. The Eevee blinked, then pursed his mouth a little bit in what was unmistakably a small pout. The Vaporeon rolled her eyes again, but didn't say anything, instead ruffling the fur at the top of Blaze's head in what she assumed was a playful manner, although the slightly annoyed look she received in response suggested that maybe she just didn't know what that action meant.

"Was I close to how your day went?" Blaze clarified, licking his paw and fixing the fur that Aureia had messed up. She watched him with mild amusement for several seconds before realizing that he had asked her something.

"I didn't want to talk about it, remember?" Aureia stated, a bit more rudely than she had intended. Blaze frowned at her, but then shrugged it off. "Your version is fine, anyway. No idea where you pulled some of that, though."

"I pay attention when you talk," Blaze answered, sounding slightly hurt, as if Aureia was deliberately assuming otherwise. "So I just made guesses based on similar stories."

Aureia nodded in response, and an awkward silence fell between them. Aureia gazed around restlessly, but watched the Eevee from the corner of her eye. The two of them had met some time ago, in a situation very similar to tonight, where he happened upon her while she was at a water source. He had approached and offered a casual compliment (though he was certainly wise enough not to try and nuzzle her back then). She had brushed him off then, just as she brushed off the many males that had previously offered their compliments to her in the past.

But Blaze hadn't gotten the hint the first time.

Perserverence was a virtue, but it was not a virtue that Aureia encouraged, particularly not when one's persistence was to her expense. Despite the inevitable conflict that arose as a result, they somehow managed to mold it into a tentative...acquaintanceship. Aureia was not one to swiftly label another as a friend, and the Eevee was no exception to the rule. Still, they had agreed to meet again at a later date.

Aureia snorted to herself. Even on their second meeting, after the initial verbal slap she had given the Eevee, Blaze still offered her a flirty compliment. In fact, every time they met, he had some sort of praising comment for her. As time had passed, she had grown somewhat tolerant of this routine. He would drop by, compliment her, occasionally give her a light nuzzle, and after being inevitably nudged away, he would keep the rest of their interaction respectfully platonic.

They mostly spent their time talking, although he did a significantly greater amount of it than she did, but he seemed okay with this. Even the long silences where neither of them had anything to say didn't faze him too much, whereas most others grew awkward or irritated.

Adrian had seen them interacting at one point, and labeled them as adorable, which Aureia openly opposed. The human had merely smiled and refrained from teasing Aureia too much, but it was obvious that he thoroughly enjoyed seeing her spending time near a male Pokemon without lashing out at it.

Blaze's ears suddenly perked up, and Aureia snapped out of her thoughts, following the Eevee's gaze towards the path she had taken to get here. It didn't take long for her to spot the telltale sign of a small flame flickering in the distance, which eventually came near enough for her to notice it was attached to the tail of a familiar orange bipedal lizard. Less delightful to see was the shape of a green bipedal lizard walking beside the Charmander.

"Ooh, Adrian was right, she is out here!" Avis announced brightly. Aureia heaved a sigh, earning a curious look from Blaze. Although Ember and Avis had been mentioned to the Eevee in previous conversations, the same courtesy had not been extended to them. She was not particularly looking forward to introducing them to Blaze, and part of her was already hoping that neither of them would notice the Eevee at all, before being promptly shot down by the part of her brain that knew Blaze was unlikely to be completely silent, immobile, and invisible.

"Hello!" Blaze chirped, before Aureia could stop him. Ember did a slight double take, whereas Avis giggled and waved one of her tiny paws at the Eevee.

"Good evening!" the Snivy replied brightly. Aureia sighed again, already feeling a niggle of irritation towards the grass Pokemon, something that did not escape Ember's notice, because she glanced between Blaze and Avis, then gave the Vaporeon an incredulous look.

"Hi," the Charmander supplied hastily, realizing belatedly that Blaze's greeting had been to both of the newcomers. The Eevee smiled and nodded, his tail swishing a little.

"You're Aureia's friends, right?" Blaze guessed.

"Ooh, she thinks we're friends?" Avis giggled, giving Aureia a smug look. Blaze seemed confused by the response, and cast the Vaporeon an inquisitive look that she promptly ignored.

"Yeah, we're friends," Ember answered, sighing slightly and sitting down carefully near the lake. "Who are you?" she asked, focusing her full attention on the Eevee.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Avis interrupted, waving one of her paws quickly, cutting Blaze off before he could answer. The Snivy smirked, fixing her eyes upon Aureia, somehow appearing even more smug than usual. "Let our mutual acquaintance introduce one another."

Aureia gritted her teeth, but gave a curt nod. "Fine. Blaze, that one's Avis, she's a Snivy. That's Ember, she's a Charmander. Girls, this is Blaze, he's an Eevee."

"Come on, describe us a touch so he knows a bit more," Avis chided Aureia. "Like at the Ruins, I mentioned you were rude. Told them all they needed to know, right?" she added teasingly.

"And you called Ember a bright girl, which wasn't much of a description," Aureia countered. Ember rolled her eyes and sat herself down beside the lake. "Uh...no offense?" Aureia offered quickly.

"She was talking about my flame, so none taken," Ember commented dryly. "She also called Sorin 'softer than the Pillow of Arceus', so...just call it even and move on."

Avis folded her arms across her chest in what was obviously intended to be a pout, but completely failed to portray one due to her amused smirk. "Yeah, well...no one's perfect. Still, no excuse to lazily introduce us."

Aureia rolled her eyes. "Blaze, Avis is that bossy and annoying grass type that looks like she should be sitting in a revolving chair and stroking a Skitty. Ember is the one whose tail is on fire and looks like she needs a hug. Girls, Blaze is the only male present. If that somehow doesn't make it easier to identify him, I'll add that he's chipper, flirty, and way too socially outgoing."

"And yet, you tolerate him," Avis noted. Unable to truly deny this assertion, Aureia just shrugged. "He doesn't seem any of those things right now, though," the Snivy continued, looking Blaze over with a critical eye.

"And Ember doesn't look like she needs a hug right now, either," Aureia countered irritably. "Just because they don't match the description that moment doesn't mean they don't match at all."

Avis sniffed haughtily. "Well, you matched the description of rude when I gave it to you, Sorin matched the description of soft, and Ember was bright AND a girl."

"Quality of your argument dropped really badly at the end there," Ember noted, sounding amused. "Do you two ALWAYS have to argue when you get the chance?"

"Yes," Avis and Aureia answered simultaneously. The main difference between the statements was that Avis sounded delighted by the prospect, whereas Aureia sounded like she was only grudgingly admitting it.

Blaze choked with laughter, earning an annoyed glance from Aureia, although it softened as the humor of the moment sank in. Avis stifled a giggle of her own, using the leaf of her tail to conceal the tell tale smile. Ember just shook her head before taking a drink from the lake.

Once they had settled down a little, Avis stood up and walked nearer to Blaze. The Eevee blinked and tensed a little bit, even as Avis gave him a gentle smile. Ember and Aureia exchanged briefly puzzled looks, and the Vaporeon simply shrugged.

"So...you're a flirt, huh?" Avis asked, regarding Blaze with curious interest, as if he were a television program discovered by pressing random buttons on the remote control. "Why?"

"What?" Blaze asked, taken aback by the sudden question.

"No, not 'what'. Why?" Avis corrected.

"...why what?" Blaze amended, looking increasingly confused. Aureia rolled her eyes, but couldn't deny that she was a little entertained by the exchange. Avis was much more tolerable whenever other people were interacting with her, and she was always glad to see that someone else struggled to understand her behavior.

"Why are you a flirt?" Avis asked, her red eyes widening innocently, despite the fact that she had moved her face uncomfortably close to the Eevee's, as if she thought she could use Blaze's eyes as a magnifying glass to read tiny print.

"Um...w-what?" Blaze stammered, visibly unnerved by the Snivy's proximity.

"No!" Avis whined loudly, causing the Eevee to cringe as the exclamation was delivered half an inch from his ears. "Not 'what'! Stop saying 'what'! I want to know WHY."

"Avis, you're freaking him out pretty badly," Ember said seriously. "What kind of question is that, anyway?"

"Fine," Avis pouted, turning her back to Blaze, although this resulted in the leaf at the end of her tail tickling beneath his chin, presumably by accident, but Aureia wouldn't put anything past the Snivy. "Don't tell me why you flirt."

"...I don't even flirt that much," Blaze protested. "I'm not even good at it!"

"He really isn't," Aureia confirmed blandly.

"Oh?" Avis asked, smirking and peering over her shoulder at the Eevee. "So you're practicing? Very well, give it a shot. Flirt with..."

"Not you," Aureia interrupted bluntly.

Avis rolled her eyes. "Of course not me, how would I...never mind. Try flirting with Ember."

The Charmander expelled a small mouthful of water that she had been in the process of drinking, and she coughed once or twice before giving the Snivy a bewildered look.

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're not moody anymore," Avis explained, her eyes lighting up as if she was delighted by the chance to explain herself. "And Aureia doesn't react at all, so she's a lousy subject. And she's vetoing me, so...that leaves you!"

"Uh..." Blaze's eyes flicked around the area frantically, like a prey animal surrounded by large birds that were circling overhead, but might not have noticed him. Finally, his eyes settled on Aureia, silently pleading for salvation.

"I don't care, go for it," Aureia stated indifferently. "Don't take it so seriously, just do what you normally do. Wait...on second thought, don't try to nuzzle her."

"Whoa, whoa...he normally would try to nuzzle me?" Ember asked, her eyes widening, her expression amusingly similar to how Blaze had looked mere moments ago. "Then what's the difference between flirting and coming onto someone?"

"Intent?" Avis suggested brightly.

"What's the procedural difference?" Ember deadpanned. "How would I distinguish the two while it's happening in real time?"

"I dunno," Avis shrugged. "I've never been flirted with."

"Same," Ember sighed, but then she frowned. "Wait, was Kuro flirting with me?"

"I...wouldn't cite him as an example of proper flirting, if he was," Aureia said seriously. "Or an example of good mental health, for that matter."

"Wow, it's getting late," Blaze said abruptly, making a show of stifling an enormous fake yawn and stretching. "Mm, I'm exhausted. I better be going."

"Where do you even go?" Avis wondered, cocking her head curiously. "Do you live in the area? Or do you have a trainer in the area? For that matter-"

Ember cleared her throat, interrupting the Snivy's bombardment of questions. "Don't overwhelm him, Avis."

"Sorry," the Snivy said sheepishly. Blaze hesitated, then looked over at Aureia. She shrugged, understanding the unasked request.

"He travels," Aureia explained, using a firm, dismissive tone she usually employed whenever she wanted to have the final word on the subject. Not that the tone would necessarily prevent Avis from asking more questions, but it was at least an effort to assist Blaze in leaving the area without being assaulted with follow-up questions. "Based on what he's told me, he had a trainer previously, but was released."

"Released, or abandoned?" Avis wondered. Aureia scowled and fixed the Snivy with a stony stare. To her slight surprise, the Snivy winced and flicked her paw to the side with a sweeping gesture. When it was clear that Avis had genuinely gotten the message and was dropping the subject, Aureia relaxed her gaze.

"It was nice meeting you guys. Girls, whatever," Blaze said, offering a smile.

"Sorry for putting you on the spot before," Ember said awkwardly, but returned the Eevee's smile. Blaze just shrugged it off, his tail wagging.

"See you around, have a good night," he said, dipping his head in a polite bow to Aureia. She gave a curt nod, and the Eevee turned and began to walk away, pausing only when Aureia called for him to hang on.

"I don't know if you're planning on coming by in the next day or two, but I won't be able to be here," she said, mentally cursing herself for forgetting to mention this detail. Avis and Ember's arrival had caused the matter to completely slip her mind.

Blaze shrugged. "That's fine, I'll live," he said. "You don't show up every day, and neither do I."

Aureia nodded slowly. "Just...letting you know, I guess." She furrowed her brow and bit her lip, then shrugged. "Good night."

"Night," Blaze said, and continued walking. Aureia watched him leave, then braced herself before turning to face her companions. As expected, Avis was smirking so widely that she looked like the picture of a character from a book that Adrian had read recently, the title of which that Aureia could not recall.

"I'm not crushing on him," the Vaporeon blurted out irritably.

"And any chance of that claim having credibility just vanished," Ember mused. "Even Adrian thinks you are."

"He did say you were probably out here to meet someone," Avis agreed with a giggle. Aureia sighed. Ever since Adrian had come across her and Blaze interacting, he had rarely missed an opportunity to tease her in some fashion. He was wise enough to know not to reference the Eevee directly, but certain phrases were usually enough to get his playful jab across, such as referring to something as 'adorable', especially if it involved Aureia in some form. Even commenting on Ember's choice of napping against Aureia's shoulder back at the Ruins of Alph had been intended to get under her skin in a playful manner.

"Yeah? Well don't harass me about it," Aureia muttered.

"We won't," Ember promised, catching the Vaporeon off-guard. "Right, Avis?" the Charmander asked, giving the Snivy a sharp look.

"Nope!" Avis answered, then paused, perhaps realizing how ambiguous her response sounded. "Uh, nope, no teasing from us!" she clarified.

"Hm. Thanks, I guess," Aureia muttered. If there was anything positive to be said for Avis, it was that she sincerely refrained from prodding delicate subjects. Alternatively, Ember just had a lot more sway over the Snivy than Aureia did, but it amounted to the same in the end.

"So you didn't tell him earlier about us being away for a few days?" Ember wondered. "You probably could have had him tag along if he's not tied down to a trainer or anything. It's not like Adrian would mind."

"Yeah, like I'd ever hear the end of it if I did that," Aureia grumbled. "Besides, it's just up to Ecruteak, it's not like we're flying out to Hoenn or Sinnoh."

"That's not until next week," Avis chirped. Both Aureia and Ember looked over at the Snivy in blank confusion. Avis' eyes widened in innocent surprise. "You didn't know about that?"

"No, when was that planned?" Aureia demanded. At this point in time, she had no idea if Avis was messing with her or not, but the fact Ember seemed similarly confused suggested that at the very least, if it was a joke, Ember wasn't in on it.

"It's just a tentative plan right now," Avis answered, sounding a bit more pompous and smug now that she was sitting on information she alone was privy to. "Adrian wants to meet up with his little bro for a week or two, but he's worried that there might be a last-minute job assignment that'll keep him from those plans, so maybe that's why he didn't tell you guys."

"But he told you?" Ember asked skeptically.

"No, I eavesdropped on his phone call," Avis said nonchalantly. "Ooh, he did say you two hate big changes, though. But he said it'd have to happen during April, because he just put Ember back on the roster, and will have to cycle Aureia off next month."

"I don't even get why he claims he cycles us off the roster," Ember said blankly. "He's not into competitive battling, and he didn't take the gym trainer job, so why even SAY we're cycled off when he still carries us around normally?"

"He still has to report developments to that Bureau or whatever," Aureia answered. "You know, that agency that monitors his progress on rehabilitating difficult Pokemon. By marking us as 'off-roster', he's not required to detail our developments or relapses."

"Oh," Ember said, frowning. "I...didn't know he did that."

"Ooh, is that what he's writing about when he's observing us?" Avis wondered, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Aureia nodded solemnly. "He explained it me before he got Ember. He doesn't just get handed random Pokemon and left alone. He has to observe them, document their behavior, quirks, and triggers, and then work on rehabilitating those Pokemon. For the most part, they don't object to him keeping those Pokemon indefinitely, but if he wants to keep collecting a paycheck and being recommended highly for his talents, they have to see progress reports."

"Ooh...interesting," Avis cooed.

"There's more to it, but it's easier to get the details from him," Aureia added, shaking herself a little and climbing to her feet. "I'm heading back now."

"Sounds like a plan!" Avis chirped, bouncing to her feet, despite having settled into a sitting position a few moments ago. "I do have one more question, though."

"What's that?" Ember asked, catching sight of Aureia's exasperated expression.

"Is Adrian keeping us, or are we just making really slow progress?" the Snivy asked. Ember and Aureia both blinked, and then exchanged looks.

"Uh...well, for you, I don't think he's figured you out yet," Ember said slowly. "It's only been a few weeks. He's had Aureia and me for two years or so."

The Charmander bit her lip thoughtfully, and glanced at Aureia. The Vaporeon kept her expression unreadable. She had never considered the question before, and was unwilling to admit that Avis had an extremely good point. Did Adrian intend on keeping them, or was he continuing to work with them until he was satisfied that he could safely release them?

"Yeah?" Avis prompted, looking between the other two Pokemon expectantly.

"I...think I'm just making slow progress," Ember muttered finally.

"I want to believe that it'll depend on what WE want," Aureia said. "I know I'm not ready yet, but when the time comes...I think he'll know us well enough to act in our best interests. If we want to stay, he'll be glad to have us, and if we want to move on...he'll allow it."

"You think so?" Avis asked, her red eyes widening hopefully. "Like, Adrian's cool and all, but I don't know if I want to be under his care forever, you know?"

"Mm," Aureia murmured, beginning to walk back the way they had came. While satisfied with the answer she had given the Snivy, there was still a niggle of uncertainty in the back of her mind. It wasn't that she didn't trust Adrian to act in their best interests, because she had absolute confidence that he would definitely keep them or release them as they wished.

The question that bothered her was WHETHER she would ever want to be released.