A/N: Hey guys, new chapter for you to enjoy today. I will say in advance this is a chat heavy chapter, especially on the back-end. I could have neutered this chapter considerably but honestly, I needed a break from studying for midterms and this was my outlet. So for better or for worse you guys, enjoy yourselves.

Tyler: You make it sound like that's a bad thing. Isn't a new chapter a new chapter?

DrPhill26: You've got a point Tyler, and we did get a chapter up in one week from start to finish, during midterms no less. That's something to be proud of.

Wendy: Says the guy who should be studying for his Theories of Personality exam tomorrow.

DrPhill26: Hey, I've been studying. They don't call me Doctor Phil in that class for a reason you know.

Pulse: Isn't it just because there's an actual Doctor Phil in your world who has his own TV show and you're piggybacking his name because you're both named Phil and you just so happen to be studying Psychology?

DrPhill26: That cuts deep Pulse. That cuts really deep... I think I need a Burn Heal.

Tyler: I think you'd be better off getting a Full Restore.

DrPhill26: Just leave me alone and let me study.

Wendy: Then stop writing and actually do it already.

DrPhill26: Never!

Stepping out of the shower with a towel pressed against his face, Tyler was still feeling the effects of Nurse Amanda's heavenly massage from earlier on in the day. Ever since he'd stepped back inside after diving into a snow bank with Yuki, a natural high had quickly taken over Tyler's body and left him feeling like he was a cloud. He glided lazily, whimsically through the halls up to his room relishing in this perfectly relaxed state of mind. As a means of furthering the high he was on, Tyler decided to take a page out of Wendy's book and just pamper himself the rest of the day. And given the time, and the rumblings in his stomach that would not quiet, the first step on the agenda was to order something to eat for dinner.

Upon dressing himself in his casual orange t-shirt with the white Poké ball emblem and a pair of jeans that didn't get soaked from being forced into a snow bank, Tyler picked up a menu that was lying on top of a table. Tucking it under his arm, Tyler walked over to his bed, vaulted over the guard rail and landed with an emphatic plop on the less than cushioned bed. He complained briefly about the bed not having any bounce to it but ignored it as he began reading over the menu. Maybe it was because this was in Sinnoh instead of Orre, but Tyler quickly noticed that this Hospital/Pokémon Center had way too many options for him to choose from. And it certainly wasn't helping that each consecutive dish made his mouth water just a bit more than the one before it.

One section in particular stood out to him however and Tyler felt obligated to pick something from it considering he hadn't talked with, let alone tasted his Mom's Home Cooking for a month. Surprisingly enough, one of his mother's signature meals was actually available for Tyler to order, so without hesitation he pressed the order button on the display cord looped around his bedpost. Within minutes he'd placed orders for his Pokémon as well as a grilled Seaking steak for himself, which came with a simple Nomel berry and Dill based cream sauce, a rice pilaf side and an iced tea. Mom didn't make the meal often because fish was very expensive in the middle of the deserts of Orre, but whenever she did, it was always something that Tyler looked forward to. Hopefully the Pokémon Center's kitchen staff could make the recipe the same way. It was under the Mom's Home Cooking section after all, and Tyler would be a very harsh critic if it wasn't just like his mother made it.

Tyler could at least smell the same pungent, nostalgic mouth-watering smells wafting up from the hallway about an hour after he placed his order indicating his food was on the way, so that was a step in the right direction. His three Pokémon seemed equally excited to see food on the way as they each patiently sat by the bedside as the serving aid placed Tyler's meal on a tray as well as served specialized food for each of his three Pokémon. As she did, Tyler noticed that Magnus had completely frozen in place with his eyes turning starry and a very noticeable puddle of drool had started dribbling out of his mouth. He couldn't help but laugh at his gluttonous Pokémon whose appetite had to rival a Snorlax's as he tried his hardest not to bowl the nurse over and get the food himself. Fortunately he showed more restraint than when he was as a Cyndaquil and waited long enough for the server to leave the room before charging Tyler's bedside in fiery blur of excitement.

"Damn buddy, wait your turn." Tyler laughed as he first served his other two Pokémon deliberately teasing his fiery best friend.

"Quil! Lava Quil!" Magnus sadly whimpered as he pawed innocently at Tyler's feet.

"I'm only doing this because you can never wait your turn. Didn't I tell you once that things taste better when you wait for them?" Magnus shook his head vividly as he continued to whimper for his food. "I think you're pulling my leg Magnus. But whatever, you've waited long enough. Here you go champ."

"Lava-va! Quilava Quil!" Magnus literally jumped for joy as Tyler placed his Pokémon's food before him.

"Finally my turn." Tyler quietly laughed as he rubbed his hands together excitedly. The Pokémon Center's version of mom's signature dish looked exactly like it should. The pincer shaped cut of fish was a beautiful shade of yellow-orange with char marks in all the right places resting on top of the browned rice. It even looked like they de-boned the steak the same way mom did. Whoever the chef was in the kitchen was a pretty damn good artist if nothing else. But it all rested on whether it tasted the same way mom made it. Tyler sat down in a chair by the table with his fish before him cutting off one of the "claws" and examining it on the end of the fork.

"You'd better not disappoint me fish." Tyler pointed his index finger threateningly at the lifeless piece of food. "I have very high expectations for you. If you're anything less than perfect, I will not be happy. Do you hear me?" It took Tyler longer than he would later admit to before realizing that food doesn't talk back when being eaten. Perishing the idiotic thought, Tyler licked his lips as he raised the fish to his waiting mouth. The taste of his mom's cooking was already preloaded on his palate to compare just how good this steak would be

"Quil! Quilava Quil!" Tyler stopped moving his arm as he looked down slowly at his Quilava, who was staring intently at Tyler's fish with the same wide-eyed drool face from before.

"Seriously Magnus? I already gave you your…" Tyler looked over and saw that the dish Magnus had been eating out of was already empty; a stark contrast to Yuki and Caelum's food which both Pokémon had barely made a dent in. "food… No Magnus, this is my dinner. You already ate."

"Quil…"

"Nice try buddy, but the Lillipup eyes don't work on me anymore." Tyler raised the fork back to his lips again but didn't break eye contact with Magnus. Eyes filled with dreams of eating the perfectly crafted piece of fish being held tantalizingly out of reach. The longer Tyler stared into his Quilava's eyes, the more cracks began to show up in Tyler's façade.

"Dammit." Tyler mumbled under his breath as he put the piece of fish down on the plate again and cut off a small piece for Magnus to eat. He half-heartedly tossed it behind his Pokémon, watching his Pokémon not take his eyes off the flying fish as it sailed away from him. But with agility he'd expected from his best buddy, Magnus did a backflip, snatching the tiny morsel of deliciousness midair and landed on his feet having already swallowed the bit. "That's all you're getting, understand?"

"Lava!" Magnus swooned in place as he let the apparently delicious food dance through his system. Tyler rolled his eyes as he took what was left of his original piece and moved to finally take a bite himself. But watching his Pokémon eat the small bit of food got Tyler curious about something. He knew of course very well that his Pokémon and especially Magnus loved eating people food. Was the reverse also true, what did Pokémon food taste like? Now that curiosity had rooted in Tyler's mind, he had to find out for himself.

Standing up from his seat and carefully pushing the chair in so Magnus couldn't steal his dinner; Tyler walked over to Caelum and picked up a brown food pellet from his meal. He looked closely at it, smelling it and picking up an Earthy tone from it. It sure didn't smell as good as the fish he was going to enjoy in a moment. But maybe it was one of those foods that tastes better than it looks. With a shrug of his shoulders Tyler casually tossed the pellet up above his head to try to catch it in his mouth. He should have known better though as he felt a rush of air blow past his face and saw a blue and cream-colored blur snatch the pellet from right before him.

"Dammit Magnus." Tyler grumbled as his Quilava munched on yet another piece of food he wasn't supposed to. Tyler grabbed a second pellet from Caelum's amount and this time smartly brought it to his lips without letting go of it. He bit off half of it with his teeth with a loud crunch. A frown came over his lips as he continued to crunch on the pellet, getting a sort of chalky, almost stale pretzel like taste. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the world, obviously that was the fish lying a few feet away, but Tyler thought it was at least passable… at first.

A horrendous aftertaste suddenly hit Tyler like a truck, immediately making him cough up the tiny scrap of food on the floor and dive for the bathroom sink. He almost ripped the handle off before sticking his head beneath the stream of water and began vigorously washing out his mouth. How the hell could his Pokémon eat something that tasted like this? How the hell could the Pokémon Center serve this to them deliberately? A few minutes later after making sure he had removed every single crumb of the pellet from his mouth Tyler finally stopped half-drowning himself in the sink and stood before it. His Pokémon all sat patiently in the doorway waiting for an okay when Tyler finally gave them a thumbs up.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine." Tyler coughed up some more water as he continued to catch his breath. "I'm good you guys."

"Glacie?"

"Quil?"

"Tor?"

"How can you guys eat that crap? I don't even care if it's nutritious for you, you couldn't get me to eat that again if you paid me… Okay maybe if you paid me a million bucks then we'd talk but no less than that. Fucking gross man. I hope this doesn't ruin my meal any." Tyler walked past his three perplexed Pokémon as he sat down yet again before the fish steak. His stomach roared loudly as he picked up his fork one more time. "Hey shut up stomach, I'm getting to it!" Tyler roared back as he finally put the piece of fish in his mouth.

"Oh God! It's amazing! It's so fucking good. It's so fucking good…" Tears of joy rolled down Tyler's face as he slumped back in his chair, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he savored every aspect of the Seaking steak. The fish was perfectly flaky and sweet, falling apart in his mouth and spreading the rich, buttery cream sauce further around his tongue. It really was just like mom made. He needed the nostalgically delicious taste so badly after that stupid impulse of his, and whoever the chef was deserved a raise.

"What is a chef who is so damn skilled doing in a Pokémon Center?" Tyler thought as he picked himself back up and readied another bite of his meal. His second bite was just as rapturous as the first one was, and the same wave of bliss washed over him with each consecutive bite after that. The rice was perfectly seasoned and complimented the fish flawlessly. Even the tea, the fucking tea was blended to the exact balance between sweetness and tartness that Tyler loved. This was a meal he'd pay thousands, even tens of thousands for at a restaurant, and he was getting it in a hospital for free? The only thing that could come close to this feeling in Tyler's book was winning the lottery, and even that would be a distant second to this sublime meal.

After savoring the last bite of his meal, and having shared a small piece of it with his three Pokémon, Tyler and his companions left their room and went to the lobby to find a videophone. He could have easily just used his cell phone to call home, but figured that his parents would much rather see his face in addition to hearing his voice. That and he didn't know if he could even call people in Orre from Sinnoh with his phone. He stopped midstride in the middle of the hallway as another thought dawned on him. The hallway clock told him it was about 6:50 at the moment, but what time was it in Orre? In sailing from Orre to Sinnoh Tyler knew he'd crossed the International Date Line at some point in his oceanic voyage. He distinctly remembered thinking his phone had broken the day he did cross the imaginary line when he saw the date function get screwed up and say it was tomorrow when it was still today by his standard. Wendy told him that Sinnoh was roughly a little over half of a day ahead of Orre which meant that Tyler had to figure out what time it was back home before he could call his family.

He stared at the clock for a few minutes as he tried to work out everything in his head. Tyler wasn't the greatest at math and hated problem solving, but he did eventually work it out in his head that the time back in Orre was ten hours from now, but a day behind from that. Thinking that hard made his head hurt, but he did realize that if he called now, it'd be almost 5am. And as much as he'd love to inconvenience his sister by waking her up at this ungodly time, he'd also be doing the same to his parents and knew they'd be pissed, especially dad. So he went back to his room and grabbed his laptop before moving back to the lobby and started waiting.

Tyler sat down on a cushioned bench between some potted trees opposite another man, a few years older than him who also had his laptop and was typing up some work. The guy looked a bit familiar to Tyler as he'd seen him a few times walking through the halls following nurses and doctors with a clipboard or a tray carrying coffee in the wee hours of the night. The two of them exchanged pleasantries, introducing themselves, their Pokémon and conversing briefly before the man and his sleepy Luxray were summoned to another section of the hospital. With his conversation buddy gone, Tyler went back to surfing the web, trying to find something to hold his interest for the next few hours.

He ultimately settled for streaming a movie online about a criminal organization that stole luxury goods and relaxed even more. A Chansey came up and gave him a blanket to keep himself and his Pokémon warm. Thanking her for the added layer of warmth, Tyler and his Pokémon cuddled together as he continued watching his movie. Compared to that campy action movie he'd most recently seen with his friends back in Phenac City before he left for Sinnoh, this film was a hundred times better. Crime thrillers were Tyler's favorite genre of movies, and the one he'd selected lived up to his expectations. Suspenseful plot, dynamic characters, action that wasn't completely mindless, this movie did everything right. By the time it ended, he'd managed to kill enough time to make it almost 10 at night. Checking with his math from earlier, that made it 8am back home, a perfect time to give his family a call.

Being fairly late at night, the videophones were mostly open with only one other person using one of the many phones in the corner of the lobby. Tyler picked one of them and began reading the instructions on how to make a long distance call with them. A few button pushes and touch screen menu presses later and Tyler finally found a point where he could input a phone number and waited. While he waited, Tyler straightened out his hair better and lazily hopped in place. The display on the screen showed a spinning Poké ball moving across between two outlines of homes. For some reason Tyler suddenly felt a bit nervous calling home. He had no reason to, but it was still strange feeling nervous calling his family. The system made an audible click and Tyler looked up to see his mom standing in the kitchen looking back at the monitor. Her wavy strawberry blonde hair was slightly unkempt, but her bright blue eyes sparkled and showed her excitement as she saw her baby boy's face for the first time in a month.

"Tyler! Hi honey! I wasn't expecting a call, what a pleasant surprise." Her voice sang with happiness that couldn't help but bring a bashful smile to Tyler's face.

"Hi mom. Sorry I haven't called home before now."

"Nonsense, I'm just happy to hear your voice again. How have you been?"

"Oh you know, pretty good. I'm still trying to get used to the cold here though. It's snowed almost every day since I got here."

"Snow? Where in the world are you that you're seeing snow?"

"Snowpoint City."

"You're in Sinnoh!" Mom raised her hand before her mouth in shock. "Gosh, that's so far away!"

"Who's in Sinnoh?" A different voice came through the speaker this time.

"Was that dad? I thought he'd be at work already." Tyler asked curiously trying to see his dad on the screen.

"It's Sunday dear, he doesn't have to work on Sunday. You know that."

"And that's why I love Sundays." Tyler's dad snuck into the screen holding a coffee mug as he stood besides his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Morning Miri. What's for breakfast?"

"I think breakfast can wait a bit this morning honey, look who's finally called home." Dad looked up at the screen and his eyes bulged out of his head for a second.

"Tynamite! Hey stranger, where have you been?"

"He's been in Sinnoh; apparently he's in Snowpoint City." Dad let out an amused whistle noise in response.

"Gone for a month and already half way around the world, damn son that's impressive."

"If you say so dad." Tyler rubbed the back of his head a little embarrassed at his dad's praise.

"So why'd you call home? Homesick?"

"A little bit. I've been cramped up in the hospital for about a-"

"Excuse me, did you say hospital?!" Mom half screamed to which both Tyler and his dad leaned away from the shrillness of her voice. "What on Earth are you doing in a hospital? How long have you been there? Why are you there? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine mom, really. I just crashed the hovercraft in a snow bank about a week ago and bruised my collarbone, and gave myself a concussion… and got hypothermia… and frostbite." After hearing his son's explanation and then each consecutive ailment he had, the color in Tyler's mother's face drained rather quickly.

"You sure you're okay Tynamite?" Dad asked trying to hold his wife in his arms so she didn't fall over from shock.

"Oh yeah, they've got top class medical care in Sinnoh. I'll be out of here soon enough. At least I hope so. Dr. LaSalle didn't exactly say when I could leave. I mean it has been almost a week so it should be really soon."

"What in the world happened to you that caused all that in the first place?"

"Like I said I crashed the hovercraft trying to dodge some brown furry boulder thing in the middle of the road and I accidentally hit the transform button from hover to moped mode and wiped out. Then after waking up in a blizzard, I stumbled my way to a cave where I passed out again only to wake up in the hospital the next evening and I haven't left since."

"Goddamn son. That's pretty messed up. But at least you're okay."

"He is most certainly not okay!" Mom suddenly sprang back to life, standing herself up out of her husband's arms and glaring at Tyler. "How could you be so careless as to spend a night outside in a blizzard; especially after crashing your hovercraft?"

"I didn't have a choice! I had to make sure Yuki was okay and we got lost in the woods."

"Who?" Mom and dad both looked at each other confused then back at Tyler.

"Oh durr, I didn't mention her yet did I?" Tyler lightly slapped his forehead as he bent down and picked up Yuki, holding her in his arms with her paws draped over the front of them. "You guys remember my Eevee right? Well the night of my accident she evolved to a Glaceon."

"Glaceon!" Yuki happily mewed her name and smiled at the monitor.

"Oh wow, your Eevee evolved? She's beautiful Tyler." Mom smiled and waved at Yuki herself.

"And then you named her Yuki? Couldn't think of anything Latin for her this time huh Tyler?" Dad half smiled with a teasing tone of voice

"I thought Yuki was more appropriate given our connection to it with the story I used to read to her all the time. It is how she became my cute little snow princess after all." Tyler hugged Yuki tighter as he kissed her forehead. "Who's my cute little princess that I love so much?"

"Glacie!"

"That's right, it's you! I love you so much Yuki! Hey, speaking of that story, is there any chance you could send me that book mom? I'm pretty sure it's on the desk in my room."

"Actually since you left I turned your room into a workout room for me." Dad replied as he flexed his arms. "I figured that since you weren't using it anymore, I could put in some weights and a treadmill. Your old man's not that old yet, he's still got to keep his body strong."

"What?!"

"He's kidding honey; we've left it the same way it was since you left." Tyler let out a warm sigh of relief at his mom's words. "Although your father did turn the backyard shed into a workout room so he's not exactly lying either."

"Is that so… well that's great and all, but about my book?"

"I'll go run up and get it; you keep talking to him okay hun?"

"Sure thing sugar." Another kiss on the cheek from dad and mom went off-screen to look for the book.

"Ugh, you two sure are flirty this morning."

"Yeah well, Britney went to Anna's house for a sleepover this weekend leaving your mom and me to have a very romantic weekend together. I took her out to dinner last night at the Desert Rose, we caught a show at the Relgam Tower and the night only got better once we came back home."

"I didn't need to know that last part." Tyler shuddered as he thought about what that last part implied.

"You'll understand when you find someone of your own Tynamite. Nothing is more enjoyable in life than being able to spend time with the woman of your dreams and then waking up next to her in the morning."

"Aw honey, that's so sweet." Mom came back in the picture throwing her arms around her husband's shoulder and kissing his cheek. Tyler rolled his eyes as he hugged Yuki tighter.

"Little do they know that we already have someone special, right Yuki?" Tyler whispered into his Glaceon's ear.

"Glacie." Yuki quietly purred in Tyler's hands as she nuzzled his arm.

"I found your book Tyler." Mom held up a thin white and blue book in one hand that both Tyler and Yuki quickly recognized as their book.

"You recognize that don't you Yuki?" Tyler teased as he hugged Yuki once more. "That's our storybook!"

"Glacie! Glaceon Glae! G-lae!" Yuki started wiggling excitedly in Tyler's arms and looked up at him happily.

"Looks like somebody wants a bedtime story like the old days. Now we just need mom to send it to us and we can do just that."

"Right… how am I supposed to do that again? I know it involves the PC system but you know I'm not the best when it comes to technology."

"I can take care of that." Dad said grabbing the book out of mom's hands. "I'll run down to the station today and send Leroy over the PC system with it."

"You're gonna send Leroy? I haven't seen him in forever." Tyler's eyes shot wide as he remembered his dad's strongest Pokémon.

"Yeah, it's a shame I can't just up and send him with you on your journey. Leroy's been pretty antsy the last couple weeks since both of us got stuck with desk work. And I'm sure you'd love to have a battle tested and ready to fight Nidoking on your team. But department policy says I can't loan Pokémon to anyone who isn't an officer unless it's an emergency, you know how it is."

"Yeah, I understand." Tyler sighed dejectedly, wishing the powerful Nidoking could be on his journey. "Still it'll be nice to see him again. I can't remember the last time I did."

"I'll make my way to the station once we're done talking."

"Awesome, thanks dad."

"How are your other Pokémon doing? We've seen Eevee; I mean your Glaceon. But what about Magnus and Caelum?" Mom asked curiously.

"They're right here." Tyler picked Magnus up and placed him on his shoulder and held out his non-injured arm for Caelum to land on. "Magnus is kicking butt and Caelum is being awesome."

"Say Tyler, can I ask you something about your injury?" Mom spoke up with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Uh, sure, what do you want to know?"

"Is that mark on your neck part of your bruise?"

"Huh? What mark on my neck?" Tyler looked confused.

"The one right there on the side of your neck. It's some sort of reddish-purple color. You see it too right honey?" She pointed at something on the screen and Tyler watched his dad's eyes follow her hand.

"Yeah it looks like something's there. But that's a bit high for a bruised collarbone."

"I still don't know what you're talking about. Hang on a sec." Tyler set his Pokémon down and reached into his pocket, taking out his phone and turning on the camera function. "Where'd you say it is?"

"On the side of your neck, on the left"

"My left or yours."

"Your left." Tyler touched a few blips on the display and angled the camera at his neck. A flash of light came from the camera and Tyler pulled the phone in to see it. Sure enough there was a small, red-purple bruise on the side of Tyler's neck. "That's new to me. I wonder where that could have come from."

"It almost looks like a hickey." Dad commented as he stroked his chin.

"Nonsense, my baby would never get a hickey. He's never even had a girlfriend before."

"Mom!" Tyler's face exploded in blush.

"Miri that's not true, remember when he went out with Amber for like two months."

"He wasn't going out with her; they were both just going through a phase."

"But didn't we both walk in on them making out that one day."

"DAD!"

"We did, but trust me honey they weren't going out. You could tell by how uncomfortable they were around each other afterwards."

"I'm pretty sure that's because you caught me kissing a girl in my room!" Tyler feebly yelled a defense but was ignored.

"Who's kissing girls in their room?" The redness in Tyler's face quickly drained as the voice he'd heard sent a chill down his spine. He looked towards the voice and saw exactly who he didn't want to see jogging her way merrily towards Tyler. "I want to be a part of that."

"Oh crap…" Tyler mumbled under his breath.

"Who said that?" Dad scanned the display screen but couldn't see anyone at first. But then a pair of hands wrapped around Tyler's chest in a hug.

"Hi Ty! Whatcha doin?" Wendy asked innocently as she kissed Tyler's cheek. Tyler could already see the looks of shock on his parent's faces.

"Uh, nothing really. I was just on the phone with my-"

"Ooh, are these your friends?" Wendy looked at the screen, seeing Tyler's parents and waving at them friendly. "Hello Tyler's friends! I'm Wendy, Tyler's girlfriend. But I'm sure you already knew that because he's probably told you all about me already."

"Actually, we didn't uh… we didn't know he had a… a girlfriend." Dad replied while mom was busy trying to pick her jaw off the floor and failing at it. "Is this true Tynamite?"

"What? You didn't tell them about me yet? I'm hurt Ty." Wendy playfully shoved Tyler back a step and positioned herself in the center of the screen. "Well like I said, my name is Wendy. Tyler and I first met back in Gateon Port at a club and we just started talking for hours. I suggested he come to Sinnoh and a couple days later we ran into each other again on a cruise ship headed to Sinnoh and we really hit it off after that. One thing led to another and now we're a couple."

"You don't say…"

"Tyler has a girlfriend? I can't believe this." Mom still sounded in shock.

"Wendy, what's gotten into you? Why are you so giddy?" Tyler asked watching Wendy seem to bounce in place on the ground.

"Oh you know, I've just had the loveliest evening, had a couple drinks and now I want to tell you about all the stuff that happened." Tyler could smell the alcohol and a fruity scent on her breath.

"Can it wait? I'm talking to my par-"

"You know that really good-looking nurse with the super cute Flareon who gave you a shoulder massage earlier today?"

"And you're not even listening to me…" Tyler sighed as Wendy continued anyway. "Sorry about her; I swear I was going to tell you about her, it just hadn't yet come up in the conversation."

"I could have sworn we were at an appropriate spot. What with talking about your hickey." Dad commented.

"What's this about a hickey? You mean this one?" Wendy pulled out the collar of her sweater and showed the bite mark that Tyler had left on her neck from the other day. "He gave that to me the other day actually. Of course I gave him one first so it was only fair that he gave me this back. You've gotten a lot better at kissing by the way." Wendy elbowed Tyler's stomach teasingly.

"Wendy, please stop. You're embarrassing me."

"No I'm not. So where was I… oh yeah! So I was talking to the nurse after you went and played with Yuki in the snow, by the way thanks for jumping headfirst into the snow bank you ass. I almost froze to death until Pulse cut our link. Anyway, so I borrowed her Flareon to help me warm back up 'cause you know how cute he is. So while I did that, her and I just kept talking about this and that and I convinced her to go out to dinner with me."

"She's got a firecracker for a mouth." Tyler's mom commented looking somewhere between shocked and stunned.

"She's a firecracker alright." Dad repeated his wife's words, but Tyler saw him checking Wendy out with his eyes.

"What the fuck dad, she's like half your age, I think. Actually how old is Wendy?" Tyler began losing himself in his own thoughts as Wendy continued, thinking his silence meant he was paying attention.

"We talked some more and had a great meal and a couple drinks together. She looked amazing by the way; she had on this really pretty midnight blue dress that hugged her curves perfectly. I kind of started flirting with her like I do with you, you know like joking around and teasing her a bit. But she's so clueless to flirting that unless I said something straight up to her, it just went completely over her head. At least with you I know you're on the same wavelength whenever your face turns beet red." Tyler's hand slid over his face in embarrassment as Wendy continued to talk.

"We went back to her place after that and I finally got her to give me a massage and oh my god I was in heaven. She has some of the most skilled fingers of any person I've ever met. I mean I was already floating above the clouds with a few drinks in me, but during that massage I just took off to the fucking moon."

"Holy shit she just swore! I don't think I've heard her swear before." Tyler gasped internally as he looked over to his parents on the monitor. They too shared the same expression as he did while listening to this drunken woman seemingly spew out an endless amount of words.

"So I start feeling really good and as I'm melting beneath her fingers I remembered that thing we did with Pulse earlier today when it was your turn. And you know I can't go anywhere without him, so he's right there with us and I get him to connect her and me together. So now she starts feeling the same things that I'm feeling…"

"Oh crap, I can see where this is going. I need to put a stop to this now." Tyler thought as he heard warning bells going off in his head. "Uh, Wendy that sounds like a really fun story, but maybe you can wait a few minutes to tell me what happened?"

"No! I want to tell you now or else I'm gonna forget what happened!" Wendy pouted angrily as she put her arm around Tyler and pulled him closer, pressing herself heavily against his body. "So thanks to Pulse we're both getting to a point where we both start feeling good. And we've both had a couple drinks so I started getting frisky with her, telling her to go to certain spots or start touching myself to tease her where I want to be teased."

"I'm never going to be able to call home again am I…" Tyler shook his head in frustration. "Wendy, please listen to me. Stop talking about this."

"She was pretty shy at first; it was obvious she'd never been with another woman before. But with a bit of persuasion on my part and a little bit of mine and Pulse's magic I got her-"

"Shut up already Wendy!" Tyler interrupted her by placing his hand over her mouth, muffling her speech before she could say anything that he wouldn't be able to defend. "I'm really sorry about her you guys, this isn't how I wanted to introduce Wendy to you. I also didn't expect her to go out and get knocked up on booze this evening before she came back."

"No… no we understand. We were once your age and got a little too much in us. It happens." Dad's timid response did nothing to instill confidence in Tyler for the uncomfortably awkward situation they were all stuck in.

"What? You didn't knock me up Tyler. I'm not pregnant." Having somehow pulled Tyler's hand away from her lips, Wendy said the worst possible words she could have at the moment. Tyler's face, as well as his mother's and his father's faces each became the same shade of embarrassed red in less than a heartbeat. His parents shared a concerned look with each other while Tyler simply nervously stared down at his feet. "Not that I wouldn't mind trying with you."

"Honey, please catch me." Mom sighed as she began drooping in her husband's arms towards the floor."

"W-whoa Miri stay with me." Dad lowered himself to the ground to keep his wife upright but she had already fainted and slumped into her husband's arms. "And she's out... great."

"Is - Is mom gonna be okay dad?" Tyler asked worriedly.

"What? Those two are your parents?" Wendy asked sounding completely stupefied as the lightbulb in her head finally turned on. "Oh man, I could have sworn they were your friends. That would explain why they look older than you."

"Yes Wendy, the two people on the video screen are my dad and my mom, who has now fainted from all of the shocking things she's just heard you say."

"I think this is a good spot to stop talking Tynamite." Dad said looking at his fainted wife with a concerned expression. "I'm gonna carry her back up to bed. With any luck we can pass this conversation off as a bad dream she had."

"Yeah, good idea…You still sending over Leroy?"

"Yeah, I'll do that once I put your mom back to bed. Gives me an excuse to get out of the house, go buy some groceries and make her breakfast for once. I think she could use it this morning."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you." Wendy cooed, resting her head dreamily on Tyler's shoulder and lazily drawing a pattern on Tyler's chest with her finger. "You should make me breakfast in bed sometime. I would love to wake up to you cooking me something."

"Um… okay." Tyler nervously replied. "But I should warn you I'm not that good at cooking anything that isn't some sort of desert."

"We can have desert after breakfast. Just grab a can of whipped cream and I'll let you lick it off my-"

"So when can I expect Leroy to show up dad?" Tyler half yelled in another feeble attempt to censor Wendy's blatantly suggestive statements.

"Wait that's your dad?" Tyler facepalmed at Wendy's second realization of that fact for the second time as many minutes.

"Real soon son. I'll stop at the station first." Dad picked himself and his wife up from their kneeling position, draping her arm around his neck. "I'll see you soon. Not literally of course but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, bye dad."

"Call home more often okay Tynamite. I know what happened wasn't what you planned on, but before your… girlfriend happened, I could tell that Miri was very glad you called. She misses you a lot, we all do."

"Even Britney?"

"Even Britney. You didn't hear it from me, but the night after you left she was crying in her room that you were gone."

"Wow… seriously?" Dad nodded which really surprised Tyler. Of all the people he expected to miss him back home, Britney was very low on the list. Maybe the little brat actually did care for him after all despite all his teasing of her Hearing she was sad that he left home kind of made him feel guilty for the way he'd treated her and about the things he'd said of her. "Tell her I'm still looking for a really nice present to give her okay."

"Sure thing champ. Bye."

"Bye dad." With a friendly wave Tyler turned off the display feed and ended the call with his family. After letting out a massive sigh of relief, Tyler could finally turn his attention back to his ditsy girlfriend, who was leaning lightly into his arm. "Did that seriously just happen? I mean seriously, did this shit just happen? Did I really just have that conversation just now?"

"Hey Ty?"

"What Wendy?" Tyler growled an angry response looking down at Wendy on his shoulder.

"Are you mad at me?" Truth be told, Tyler was furious. He'd never been more embarrassed in his life than he was a moment ago and it was completely Wendy's fault. He felt like he had every right to completely chew her out for her inappropriate behavior. But he could still smell the alcohol on her breath, and he saw an apologetic look as tears began welling up in the base of her eyes. She might have said a lot more than he'd wanted her to in that conversation, but he knew she wasn't entirely herself at the moment. Deep in his conscious, Tyler knew he couldn't really be mad at her for what just happened.

"Not really." Tyler lied, giving her a hug and walking the two of them to a cushioned bench so they could sit down.

"Liar." Wendy slurred the word as she sat down. "I know you're angry with me."

"Then what am I angry with you about?" Tyler teased rubbing his hand up and down her arm lovingly.

"You're mad about what I said to your parents." Wendy quietly sobbed into Tyler's arm. "I'm really sorry. I just want to… I'm sorry."

"You dork. That's not why I'm mad at you."

"It – It's not?" Wendy looked hopefully up at Tyler's eyes. Her face had a sort of innocently adorable charm to it at the moment that Tyler thought was incredibly cute.

"No. I'm mad you didn't invite me to have fun with the nurse." Tyler laughed telling his half-truth as he ran his hand through Wendy's hair. "You know I have a thing for nurses, especially good-looking ones like Amanda."

"Oh… I thought it was the other thing."

"Nope, I'm just jealous you got to sleep with that babe of a nurse and I didn't. Did Pulse get to have fun too or was it just between girls?"

"Just us girls." Wendy whispered breathlessly beneath a yawn. "She wasn't as ready to experiment as you were that night on the boat. But we both had a lot of fun together. Sorry you couldn't be a part of it."

"Next time?" Tyler winked suggestively as Wendy put her arms around Tyler's neck and pulled him in for a kiss that tasted quite sweetly on his lips.

"Next time for sure." She yawned happily in Tyler's arm having already started drifting off to sleep in his warm embrace.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me yet. I still have something to do." Tyler gently laid Wendy down on the cushion before walking over to the PC transfer system in another corner of the lobby. As Tyler logged into the PC system he looked it over again trying to re-acquaint himself with the setup. He didn't have to use the PC that much so a lot of the things he saw weren't very familiar to him. But he didn't bother exploring with anything as he waited for Leroy to be sent his way with his book.

A message flashed on the screen saying that the transfer terminal had received a request for a Pokémon transfer from a location abbreviated as PCPD-PC2. He recognized that as one of the two PC systems his dad's department had access to store and send their Pokémon and accepted the request. As he expected, there was legal terms and services he needed to accept considering that a Police Officer's Pokémon was being transferred. A handful of other menus later and Tyler finally got to a spot where he could finally receive the Nidoking. With one last button press Tyler saw lights on the receiver pad besides the PC start turning on and glow before a Poké ball appeared in the center of it from a white flash of light.

"Nice." Tyler laughed as he picked up the Poké ball and held it in his hands. "Alright then, come on out Leroy." Tyler pressed the button on the Poké ball and out popped an intimidating purple hulk of a creature. Everything except for its chest was clad in purple scales and spikes across its back. Its chest was mostly covered by a tough looking red vest that covered its body, forming around its spikes when it needed to. "Hey Leroy, it's been a while hasn't it. You remember me don't you?"

"King." Leroy nodded his head as he looked at Tyler and pointed to a pocket on his vest with his claws.

"Is that where the book is?" Leroy nodded once again as Tyler opened up the flap grabbing his and Yuki's book and looking whimsically at it. "Awesome, thanks dude. I wish I could take you with me but you need to go back to Phenac don't you."

"Nido. Nidoking." Leroy shook his head and pointed back at the pocket again. He then held out his arm and raised two claws on it.

"There's something else in there for me?" Leroy nodded as Tyler reached back in the pocket and felt a small cardboard box with a sheet of paper on it. He took both of the items out of Leroy's pocket and looked at them. On the paper was his name in what was unmistakably his father's handwriting, but he had no idea what the box was for. But he shrugged his shoulders not really caring what the mystery box's contents were just yet. "So is that everything or is there something else?"

"Nido." Leroy shook his head again and pointed towards his Poké ball.

"Yeah, I'll send you back. Nice seeing you again." Tyler rubbed Leroy's forehead by the horn in his head getting a smile from the prickly beast before returning him to his ball. Tyler turned around and placed the ball back in the PC system, setting up the Nidoking's return to Phenac City. With a few more button presses, the lights turned on and a flash of white light made the Poké ball disappear from sight. With that taken care of, Tyler walked his way back over to Wendy, who still lay against the cushion mumbling something about how soft it was until Tyler sat next to her. "Hey sleepy."

"Hi Tyler." Wendy dreamily whispered with another yawn as she started to sit up. "Where'd you go? I got lonely without you."

"I was gone for like two minutes."

"You're not allowed to leave me alone ever again." Tyler rolled his eyes as he ran his hand through Wendy's hair again.

"Okay, I won't. But look what I got, a couple of things from home." Wendy rested her head on Tyler's shoulder looking at the two things in Tyler's hands.

"Is that a book?"

"It's Yuki's and my favorite book. I used to read it to her every night when she was an Eevee."

"Aw *yawn* that's so cute. So what's the other box?"

"I dunno, but why don't we find out." Tyler took the paper off the box and saw a message written on the other side of it, deciding to read it out loud. "Dear Tynamite… oh it's a letter from dad."

"Read it." Tyler quietly laughed to himself as Wendy's head drooped off his shoulder and into his arm before she caught herself.

"Dear Tynamite, I must admit I'm pretty shocked you've got a girlfriend on this adventure of yours already. She seems like a nice girl even if she might party a bit too hard at times… Ain't that the truth." Tyler thought to himself before continuing the message. "Now I know you probably don't want to think about stuff like this right now, but your mom would kill me if I didn't send these your way after what we just heard. As your father I'm obligated to say be careful and use these responsibly. But as a man, I want to say congratulations son. She's a legitimate firecracker. – Dad." Tyler opened the box the paper was attached to and pulled out the contents that were exactly what he guessed they would be, a box of condoms.

"Seriously…" It was all Tyler could say before he started snickering at the yellow box in his hands. "Dammit dad, are you serious? God I miss you."

"What's that?" Wendy reached up and grabbed the box out of Tyler's hands. "Oh please, you won't be needing these." She then proceeded to throw the box of condoms over her shoulder to the other side of the lobby.

"And why's that Wendy?" asked a very amused Tyler.

"Because condoms suck that's why." Wendy groaned, making Tyler laugh quietly to himself. "First of all, they're a pain to get on, then they break right when it starts getting good so you've got to put another one on, and then when you finish it's like, what am I supposed to do with this thing? And to top it all off, it doesn't feel even half as good as it does without one."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Tyler laughed as Wendy's head drooped again on Tyler's chest. "You're the expert here not me."

"But I'm willing to teach you, and I know you're willing to learn." It was obvious Wendy was nodding off so Tyler laid both himself and Wendy down on the bench, angling her body so she was resting her head on his chest above his heart. He grabbed the blanket he'd received earlier in the night and threw it over both of them with his Pokémon taking a spot besides them on the floor.

"I guess we're sleeping in the lobby tonight. Whatever, I'm sure nobody will mind. Night guys." His three Pokémon responded in kind and each one quickly nodded off. "Night Wendy." He added lightly stroking Wendy's hair behind her ear.

"You're so warm." Wendy nestled closer to Tyler and put her arms around him in a light embrace. Tyler closed his eyes with a smile on his face and drifted off to sleep with the rest of them.

A/N: So yeah, this was chapter 17. Or more accurately DrPhill's escape from midterm hell. Seriously college life can be such a bitch sometimes I've had to do three exams, two papers and record a video project all in the past week. And yet I still find time to write this thing. Hooray for having my priorities straight haha. But seriously I should get to studying for this last exam tomorrow, so for now lovelies this is DrPhill signing out and I'll see you next time.