A/N: Hey friends! Once again this is your friend DrPhill being productive during spring break and writing a brand new chapter for you guys to enjoy in only a few days of writing.

Tyler: Wait, spring break? But it's still winter for two more days

DrPhill26: Don't remind me. It's so disheartening to have spring break in the middle of March when it's still 40 degrees outside and there's snow on the ground.

Wendy: Well, you know we're on our way south of Snowpoint City finally.

DrPhill26: That's true. You guys are finally headed into the heart of Sinnoh at the start of this chapter. Can you guys send me some of that good weather?

Pulse: I'm pretty sure that they have no control over the weather Phil.

DrPhill26: I can dream of no longer seeing snow on the ground can't I Pulse? Well regardless, because of the crummy weather and my inability to do what I really want to do with my spring break, (which is go golfing) I had a lot more time to write this chapter so you guys can enjoy a little chapter. So have fun you guys while I regret living in places with snow still on the ground.

"What do you mean the Celestic Pass isn't running today?!" Wendy yelled, startling the woman standing in a ticket booth at a rustic train depot at the southern edge of Route 216. From behind Wendy, Tyler curiously poked his head around her shoulder and saw the uniformed woman bowing an apology.

"I'm really sorry ma'am! P-please don't yell at me." The woman meekly replied, sounding panicked. "You're like the fifth person today who's yelled at me about the train not running. I know none of you are actually mad at me, but I'm starting to take all of this a bit personally."

"Oh, no I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to yell, I'm just really surprised." Wendy quickly bowed an apology of her own before continuing. "But why isn't the train running today?" The clerk stood up, wiping a tear from her eye before speaking.

"Because last night there was an avalanche at the summit of the-"

"An avalanche?" Wendy half-yelled again making the woman flinch. "What happened?" It took the woman a moment to respond.

"Um uh…We think some wild Pokémon on the summit got into a fight last night and caused it. Right now we need to send a team out to make sure the tracks aren't damaged and to make sure we don't have a repeat avalanche in the immediate future. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh man…" Wendy slouched her shoulders in defeat. "But I really need to get to Solaceon Town. I miss Yuri so much…"

"Uh Wendy?" Tyler poked her shoulder to grab her attention. "What's an avalanche?" Wendy stared at him with a blank expression before turning back to the clerk.

"Two tickets for the Eterna Pass and one cargo transport please." Wendy sighed heavily as she placed the money on the table, then pointed a thumb at Tyler. "Mr. I-don't-know-what-an-avalanche-is needs his moped transported."

"It's a legitimate question!" Tyler protested, ignoring Wendy's moped dig. "I seriously don't know what an avalamp thingy is."

"It's avalanche Tyler." Wendy sighed as the clerk began printing out tickets and a form for Tyler to sign for his hovercraft. "You know what a mudslide is?" Tyler nodded his head. "Think that, only with snow."

"Oh" Tyler slowly nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah that would be a problem…"

"Okay, here are your tickets, and sir if you could sign this document and write down the approximate size of your moped for us, then we can load it up for you."

"Sure." Tyler grabbed the form as it was handed to him and a pen and began checking boxes where he needed to. After signing the form, he handed the clerk the form again with a smile.

"Thank you." The clerk said entering the data into a computer. When she finished, she printed out a sticker and slid it to Wendy along with the tickets. "Place this sticker on your moped and bring it to the loading platform. Somebody will know what to do with it when you get there. And again, I am really sorry about the inconvenience for you ma'am."

"No I understand; I'm sorry for yelling." Wendy said handing Tyler his train ticket and the sticker. "I just really miss Yuri. It's been over a month since I last saw her."

"So why didn't you bring him with you on your trip to Orre?" Tyler asked, following Wendy to where they'd parked his hovercraft.

"Her Tyler, Yuri is a girl as are all Lilligants, and she's a delicate one at that." Wendy quickly corrected him. "And I didn't bring her because she doesn't do good in intense heat. I had a feeling Orre's constant sun would be too much for her, so I left her at the daycare."

"Is Orre really that hot?" Tyler wondered aloud.

"Do you think this is cold?"

"Um… yeah I guess so. It's not as bad as Snowpoint City, but I'm still pretty cold." Wendy rolled her eyes with a sly grin, grabbing the zipper of her jacket and quickly unzipped it, revealing a plain white turtleneck sweater beneath it.

"This is nothing to someone from Sinnoh. In fact for me, this weather is lovely. I won't be needing this at all." Wendy tossed the coat to Tyler which flopped over his head. "But although this cold is nothing to me, the heat in Pyrite Town was scorchingly hot when I was there. Considering how bad I was dealing with the heat myself, Yuri would have wilted the second I let her out of her ball. Not to mention there wasn't a drop of flowing water anywhere in the town and it looked like a damn scrapyard."

"Yeah, Pyrite Town is kind of a dump, especially compared to Phenac City." Tyler said as the two of them made it to Tyler's hovercraft. He took a moment to look back at the train station, seeing once again the raised platform where the train cars would be waiting for them up a wide flight of stairs. "Hey, why don't you run on ahead to the platform? I need to fiddle with this thing a bit and make it easier to get up the stairs."

"You could have said that earlier you know." Wendy rolled her eyes, but smiled at Tyler anyway. "Don't keep me waiting Ty."

"At least take your coat with you." Tyler said tossing Wendy's coat back at her, which she caught and threw over her shoulder. A wink and a wave later, Wendy left Tyler to do what he needed. Tyler turned his vehicle on and once it was hovering pressed the red button to transfer it back to a moped for the first time since he'd used it.

"Happy now Wendy, it actually is a moped for once." Tyler mumbled beneath his breath as he turned the moped off and began pushing it back towards the platform. He saw a wheelchair ramp alongside the more narrow stairs so he began rolling the moped towards it. Tyler let out a weak sigh as he began rolling the heavier than expected moped up the ramp.

"Hey guy, you need a hand with that?" A man's accented voice came from beside Tyler who looked to his right and saw a man with his hands already on the opposite handlebar and helping Tyler push his moped up the ramp.

"Uh, yeah sure. Thanks for the help dude." Tyler said looking curiously at the stranger.

"A`ole pilikia." The man replied with an amused grin as Tyler's expression changed to great confusion.

"I don't… I'm sorry, what was that you said?"

"Kaumaha, err… I mean sorry." The man apologized. "I am from the Alola region. I still use the native language when I speak to people. It's a bad habit, especially around strangers. All I said was something like how you would say no problem, only in my native tongue."

"He's from Alola huh?" Tyler thought as he and the man rounded the first corner of the ramp, giving him a good chance to look over the curious stranger. The stranger's hair was ocean blue, flowing down the sides of his face while also being tied up in a very messy ponytail that spiked off above his head like a palm tree. He wore a similarly colored t-shirt with neon blue accent stripes down the sleeves and the row of three buttons in the center that broke over a foaming white wave pattern at the bottom of the shirt. But for some reason he kept the shirt un-tucked over his sand colored cargo pants. He definitely looked like a walking embodiment of the beach, which only made Tyler more curious as to why he was here in Sinnoh, and especially at the edge of a cold mountain range.

"So what's an Alolan islander doing in the Sinnoh region?"

"I work at a Pokémon daycare in Solaceon Town." The man replied as they rounded a corner up the ramp. "My specialty is with the Water types."

"Oh really? We were supposed to head there ourselves, but apparently the train isn't running today."

"You are going to Eterna City instead?"

"I guess so." Tyler replied with the two rounding another corner in the ramp. "I'm not really from around here either; I'm from Orre so I've been letting my girlfriend drag me around while we journey through Sinnoh together."

"Eterna City is far from Solaceon. Why are you going there?"

"I'm on my way to challenge the Gym there so I can get my first badge."

"Ah, you are on your Pokémon journey." The islander nodded his head with a nostalgic grin. "I remember my huaka'i, my own journey through the islands. I did not do good at the gyms, but I fell in love with raising Pokémon and seeing their smiles. So I work at daycares ever since."

"I'll bet it's a fun job."

"Yes, I am quite happy with my job." The man smiled just as brightly as Tyler did. "Most of the Pokémon are very nice to me, especially the Water types. I get to work with my Ku'uipo, my sweetheart each day. Sometimes the work is tiring, but that makes me all the more happy when I see the smile on the Pokémon's faces and their trainers when they return."

"Damn man, I'm kind of jealous of you right now. I wish I could do what you do for a living." Both Tyler and the man laughed, his laugh a slower, heartier laugh than Tyler's, but greatly carried the appreciation he had for his work.

"Mahalo my friend. Thank you for the kind words." Together, Tyler and the islander stepped onto the platform with Tyler's moped, rolling it towards the last car. With the man's help and one of the workers, Tyler loaded his moped into the train car, slapping the sticker beneath its seat before stepping off.

"Hey thanks again for your help man." Tyler said shaking the islander's hand who quickly repeated his thanks as well. "You know, I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. My name's Tyler Lawson, nice to meet you."

"Likewise Tyler, my name is-"

"Keanu!" Wendy's voice squealed excitedly as she quickly raced up from the side and leapt at the islander in a hug, spinning both of them around in a tight embrace. "I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?"

"Wendy! My Lehua!" The man replied just as merrily as Wendy did, looking into her eyes with excitement. Tyler could only stand in shock as the two of them started laughing and making minor small talk, completely ignoring that Tyler was standing only a few feet away.

"What on earth are you doing here near Mt. Coronet? Shouldn't you be working at the daycare?" The man shook his head.

"No no. Luna gave me some time off. So I went to visit my parents. I am coming back today for work tomorrow."

"I see, and how are your parents doing? I hope they're well."

"Very much so, thank you for your concern." This time the man nodded and both he and Wendy smiled at each other again until Wendy caught Tyler's eye once again.

"Oh Tyler, come here a moment. You have to meet my friend Keanu! He's from the-"

"Alola region, yeah I know, we just met." Tyler grinned at both of their astonished looks. "Keanu here helped me load my moped on the train."

"Wendy, you know Tyler?" Keanu asked now looking as confused as Tyler was a moment ago.

"Of course I do. He's my boyfriend!" Wendy merrily smiled, grabbing Tyler and giving him a short kiss on the cheek. "We've been together for a couple weeks since we met in Orre. Well, actually we didn't become a couple until we met on the cruise ship we took back to Sinnoh, but we first met in a club in Orre."

"Wonderful! Congratulations Wendy." Keanu beamed even brighter still. "I am very happy for both of you."

"Aw Keanu, you're so sweet." Wendy lightly blushed as she leaned her head on Tyler's shoulder. As she did, a pinging noise played over a speaker above them.

"Attention passengers, the Eterna Pass is now boarding on platform two."

"That's us right?" Tyler asked as he saw most of the crowd on the platform head towards the cars. Wendy nodded her head, nuzzling against Tyler's shoulder with a quiet purr like 'yup'.

"Then we can ride together." Keanu said placing his hands on both Tyler and Wendy's shoulder. "I need to go back to Eterna because the stupid ka`aahi isn't running today."

"Great! We can catch up or introduce ourselves in Tyler's case over the train ride. Oh this is going to be so much fun!" Wendy squealed as the three of them stepped inside the nearest train car, while Tyler wondered what Keanu's new word meant.

Together, the three of them all made their way into a trolley car along with the rest of the passengers as the train left the small depot. They decided to take a seat in the last car, which they soon realized a few minutes after their tickets were checked was only being used by them, so they each released their Pokémon from their balls and let them stretch for a bit. Magnus and Yuki fought between themselves over which one was going to sit next to Tyler, while Caelum found himself staring outside a nearby window with Wendy's Ampharos. The energetic Pokémon's argument ended with Tyler placing Magnus in his lap much to Yuki's disappointment, but he scooted over enough for her to sit next to him and began scratching her behind the ears. Pulse, being his stoic self sat on the floor before his trainer as she gave him a shoulder rub.

Once a calm atmosphere had finally returned to the cabin, Tyler looked at Keanu's Pokémon; one he'd never seen before and captured his curiosity. The mostly light blue furred Pokémon stood on two legs, bashfully looking away from Tyler and hiding behind its black fur covered hands whenever it realized Tyler was looking at it. It had two v-shaped white whiskers poking out from behind the hands on the side of its cheeks, along with a thin row of embarrassed blush.

Keanu noticed his Pokémon's restlessness and comforted her with a reassuring arm around its shoulder. He told Tyler that the Pokémon was a Dewott named Lana and that she was especially shy when meeting people for the first time. Tyler quickly apologized for making her uncomfortable with his staring, telling Keanu that he'd never seen a Dewott before. That quickly led to a story about how Keanu and Lana first met.

It was during Keanu's attempts at something called the island challenge when he first met Lana as its pre-evolution Oshawott. On a place called Akala island, Keanu met a strong trainer from Unova named Marlon who like him, had an affinity for Water type Pokémon and they spent a few days together near the waterfalls on the northwest side of the island. Lana was even more timid back then, rarely leaving her trainer's side. But for whatever reason, one evening under the night sky by a campfire, Lana started gravitating towards Keanu and more enthusiastically than she had with Marlon. A few days later, Marlon had to return to Unova, but he offered to leave Lana in Keanu's care as his Pokémon after seeing the melancholic look in her eyes at their departure, which quickly turned into an enormous smile.

"And when she smiled, Lana's body started glowing bright white. When it faded, she had evolved into Dewott. We've been together ever since." Keanu said finishing his story.

"I love that story so much!" Wendy merrily sighed with her head pressing against Tyler's shoulder like a human pillow. "Ten times and it still gets me every time I hear it. It's just so sweet and lovable!"

"Yeah, it's a cute story." Tyler agreed while lovingly stroking Yuki's icy fur.

"Dew…" Lana shyly spoke up, smiling at Tyler and Wendy before climbing into Keanu's lap. "Dewott Dew?" Keanu silently nodded his head as Lana rolled over onto her back while Keanu began lightly scratching her belly.

"Lana loves getting her belly scratched." Keanu smiled happily as his Dewott made an assortment of quiet murmurings with his touch.

"So, is Lana your only Pokémon?" Tyler asked after looking around the cabin. "I mean, you've only sent out your Dewott since we got in the cabin."

"No, I have a few more Pokémon." Keanu held one of Lana's paws in his hand in a warm display of affection. "All of them water types too. But none compare to Lana. She is my Ku'uipo after all."

"That means sweetheart right? I think that's what you said earlier." Keanu nodded his head, then went back to scratching Lana's stomach. It was obvious from the look that Keanu was giving his Pokémon that Lana was incredibly special to him. He could even see the same look in Lana's eyes that he'd seen in Yuki's during the time she lectured him that night they shared in the cave. "Hey Keanu, can I ask you a personal question?"

"What would you like to know?" Cautiously, Tyler looked around the entranceways to the cabin and saw that the three of them and their Pokémon were the only ones in the cabin.

"Are you and Lana… you know, intimate?" Tyler asked placing the word in finger quotes.

"I do not understand." Both Keanu and Lana looked at Tyler curiously.

"Well, you know you look like you really get along with your Dew – with Lana. Even though we've just met, I can see that you care about her a lot."

"Of course; she is my Ku'uipo, my sweetheart. I love her with all of my heart." Lana squirmed in Keanu's lap and Tyler could see another shy band of light pink blush on her face.

"Right, so you too love each other a lot."

"Of course we do. Lana is the love of my life. How could I not love her?" Tyler rolled his eyes in frustration, unsure if Keanu was messing around with him or he was just not being direct enough in his questioning.

"I think what Tyler is trying to ask Keanu, is if you and Lana are in love, as in are you a couple." Wendy interrupted, giggling slightly as she saw Tyler look away from Keanu and Lana with the same embarrassed look Lana had a moment ago.

"Oh, yes we are." Keanu smiled innocently, picking Lana up under her arms and kissing her forehead. "Lana and I are very much in love. I couldn't imagine my life apart from her."

"He might be too shy to admit it, but Tyler here is also in a relationship with a Pokémon." Wendy teasingly poked Tyler's shoulder. "Think you use that magic eye of yours to guess which one?" Keanu looked at Tyler's three Pokémon for a brief moment with a hand on his chin. Each of Tyler's Pokémon looked into Keanu's eyes and said their name once, apparently that was all Keanu needed because he quickly gave an answer after looking at Caelum.

"Your Glaceon is like my Lana, am I wrong?" Tyler didn't need to say anything in response, the bright red coat of blush on his face was saying enough for him, and made the islander laugh his joyously loud laugh.

"I uh… I only just got introduced to this whole Pokémon and trainer as lovers relationship thing." Tyler bashfully admitted as he looked at Yuki, who then smiled back at him and nuzzled her forehead against his arm. "Yuki and I both still have a lot to learn about this kind of love."

"May I ask how you met?" Keanu inquired as both Lana and he looked intrigued at Yuki.

"You want to tell them or should I?" Wendy asked.

"Nah, I can handle this." Tyler replied before clearing his throat with a cough. He then went and gave an abridged version of what had now been the first month of his journey away from home. He'd said it to a few people already so he knew what parts to draw on, but it surprised Tyler that he was actively talking about his experiences with Poképhelia with another person, let alone in a relatively public setting. He even made the comment to Wendy once he'd finished his tale and she confirmed what he thought, telling him that he'd changed quite a bit since leaving home.

"That is a rather interesting tale." Keanu said once Tyler and Wendy had finished their reflections.

"I don't think interesting is the word I'd use." Wendy said in a teasing tone. "Perhaps, idiotic or reckless would be more appropriate."

"Not everyone had their first time in a comfy bed Wendy." Tyler commented rather snidely and everyone had a quick laugh. Their laughter was interrupted by another pinging noise over a speaker in the corner of the car.

"Thank you for using the ECT rail line today, we will be arriving in our Eterna City station in about five minutes."

"Holy crap really?" Tyler said in disbelief. "But it's been like ten minutes, how long of a ride is this thing?"

"Twenty five actually." Wendy corrected, looking at her phone. "And it's not a very long ride in the first place. If it wasn't for Mt. Coronet dividing Sinnoh in half, Eterna City and Celestic Town would be about a two hour round trip from one to the other and back.

"So we're already here?"

"Yes Tyler, take a look out the window if you don't believe me. You can see the skyline from here."

"Holy… wow!" Tyler pressed his head up against the glass of the window, looking like a little kid as he took in the size of Eterna City. It had to have been at least three times if not even five times larger than Phenac City was. Obviously the first thing he was drawn to was the many skyscrapers along what had to be the downtown section of the city. They had to be at least fifty stories tall in some places; he'd never seen buildings like these before with the exception of the Relgam Tower. But even that seemed tiny in comparison to some of these buildings. And they were everywhere too, this city was by far the largest Tyler was about to set foot into.

"You look like such a kid right now." Tyler ignored Wendy's comment as he looked down at a sparkling lake which the train was casting a shadow on from the trestles above. Everything about this place looked more captivating than the last. He could see a large park full of trees off in the distance in the northern side of the town that was just begging to have a picnic in it.

"How big of a city is Eterna City?" Tyler asked, picking up Magnus who had been poking the back of Tyler's leg, wanting to see for himself.

"Bigger than anything I know back home." Keanu remarked as he too looked out the window.

"If you think this is big, I should take you to Jubilife City sometime. It's about twice as big as this city is." Wendy added.

"What's that big building that looks like a flying saucer?" Tyler asked pointing at the building that had just come into view. Wendy and Keanu both looked towards where he was pointing and saw the building in question. It was definitely the strangest looking building in the city, having a bright yellow halo surrounding the top floors of the building and what looked like a crown of spikes at its top."

"Ah, that would be the former Team Galactic's Western Headquarters." Wendy replied with a less enthusiastic tone of voice. "And before you flip out Tyler, let me explain that Team Galactic wasn't always a villainous organization. The Galactic Research Institute as it used to be known before the Red Chain Saga began was one of the world's leading researchers in behavior and emotion research in Pokémon."

"So what happened to cause them to start acting like assholes?"

"I would assume that it's because of Cyrus. Remember what I said yesterday about how Cyrus' ultimate goal was to create a world devoid of emotion?" Tyler slowly nodded in understanding as he remembered Wendy's brief history lesson at the café. "He probably just took some of the research here and went way too far with it."

"I guess so. And at least we have people like Professor Krane working on the same thing in a more humane and loving environment."

"Who?" Tyler raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Wendy's question.

"Professor Krane? The head researcher at the Pokémon Labs in Orre?" Wendy shook her head. "The guy responsible for building the purification chambers to treat Shadow Pokémon?" Another head shake. "One of the lead researchers in Pokémon affection studies?"

"So he's a Poképhile?" Tyler facepalmed then shook his head as he dragged his hand down his face.

"You are a hopeless pervert Wendy." Tyler sighed. "You hear about someone researching Pokémon affection and jump to the conclusion they're immediately a Poképhile?" Wendy opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself, realizing that was exactly what she'd just done.

"Guilty as charged." Wendy innocently stuck her tongue out and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"At least you admit it." Tyler quietly chuckled to himself as the group heard the cabin door opening with a conductor poking his head through.

"Hey, we'll be stopping in a minute or two so I'd suggest you start cleaning up." The group of three politely replied and started gathering up their things as well as returning their Pokémon to their balls. Like the conductor said, a few minutes later the train had arrived at the station in Eterna City and they all got off and made their way to the caboose where Tyler had his moped stored. They retrieved it and wheeled the vehicle down the ramp as a group before Keanu saw a friend of his whom he'd called earlier and arranged a ride to Solaceon Town with. After receiving a finger crushing handshake from Keanu, Tyler and Wendy said their goodbyes to him and Lana and watched him head step into the car while they mounted Tyler's moped.

"Alright, now that we're in Eterna City, what are we doing first?" Tyler asked Wendy as she wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Depends what you want to do." Wendy replied as Tyler started driving slowly into town. "We could go straight to the Pokémon Center and grab a room for the night, but I'd like to do some shopping first."

"Yeah that's fine. So where's the Poké Mart?"

"Actually I'm looking for something a bit more girly than the Poké Mart." Wendy pointed to a street on the right of an intersection. "Right here please."

"Alright then, lead the way." Tyler shrugged his shoulders and began following Wendy's instructions that lead them to a little beyond the eastern edge of Eterna City and a short ways into Route 205 towards what Wendy said led into the Eterna Forest. Tyler asked Wendy what they were doing out by the forest but didn't get an answer, only a request for him to hush up and look for a gap in the trees on the right. Tyler just shrugged his shoulders again and slowed to a near crawl, keeping an eye out for this gap in the trees. With Wendy's help, he found a dirt trail that went deeper into the forest and slowly traveled down the road.

A minute down the road and Tyler saw the outline of a building behind the trees which Wendy said was where they were headed. As he pulled up into a clearing, Tyler was met with a large amount of potted flowers underneath umbrellas before a gray brick building that had vines and moss growing along its front. A green and white striped awning hung over the main entrance way, which again was surrounded by more flowers in beautiful shades of yellows, reds, whites and purples. Wendy pointed at a spot in front of the store, just behind a sign that read "The Eternal Bloom" and they parked his moped.

"Alright, we're here. Now where is the adorably verdant Pokémon that I always see here?" Wendy quickly sprinted off towards some of the flowers on the far side of the building.

"We came all the way out here so you could say hi to a Pokémon?" Tyler asked and received nothing for an answer as Wendy darted around the side of the building out of sight. Tyler hung his helmet on one of the handlebars and entered the front door of the building.

A jingling bell accompanied Tyler stepping into the garden that made up the interior of the shop. Once again he was floored by the variety of colors in the shop that gave off an earthy feel and a warm atmosphere. A wooden chandelier, modeled after a large bird cage hung over the center of the shop along with a series of small planted trees with additional isles of various good smelling and pretty things.

He wandered deeper into the shop along one of the side isles towards the side of the building Wendy wandered off through. He could see her through a window with a few daisies in a pot resting in the windowsill scanning the ground still looking for that Pokémon. Tyler waved at her but again, the self-absorbed girl didn't notice him so Tyler continued his aimless wandering through the flower shop. He found a shelf with a group of lotions, one of them marked as being a sample bottle for customers to try so Tyler put a small, cream colored drop of lotion on his finger and smelled it. He was met with a light, almost ticklish scent of honey and citrus. Satisfied with the smell, Tyler pumped a little more from the bottle and rubbed it into his hands.

"Not bad, isn't it? I make it myself." Tyler heard a soft feminine voice from behind his shoulder. He turned around and saw a woman standing half a head shorter than him with Tawny brown colored hair in a partial bowl cut with a pair thicker, chin-length strands. Her eyes were the same tawny color, and accented the same earthy-warm smile that the rest of the shop seemed to give off.

"Yeah, it smells nice." Tyler commented taking a step back and seeing a hand extended towards him that he quickly shook while observing the woman's outfit. It looked like she was wearing a long-sleeved black top that left her midriff exposed beneath a green shoulder cloak that matched her boots. Her shorts, being the same tawny shade of brown also seemed to add into the fact that this woman had a fantastic body and wasn't afraid to show it off. She was just as beautiful as the rest of the shop she was standing in.

"Hmm…" Tyler nervously frowned as the woman closed her eyes and took a healthy sniff of the air around them. "Definitely rubber and a little bit of vehicle exhaust, probably from a small vehicle like maybe a moped. But I smell a crisp, almost cold air on the back of this scent… You've been traveling from northern Sinnoh today, haven't you?" She finished, looking back up at Tyler and saw the surprised look on his face.

"How on Earth did you know that from just a smell?" The woman took a step back and lightly poked her nose twice with her finger.

"I've always had a pretty good nose." The woman said with a half smile dotting her face. "I can also tell you're not from around here. You don't have the smell of a Sinnohan on you."

"Right again." Tyler said sounding impressed. "Name's Tyler, I'm from the Orre region."

"That would explain the smell of a dry sun that you seem to give off." Tyler skeptically looked at the woman who only continued to smile at him, rocking back and forth on her heels like a tree in the breeze. He waited a moment to see if she was going to say something else, but when she didn't Tyler took a deep sniff of his own arm, trying to see if he could smell the same things the woman was. But he got a bit too close to his armpit with one whiff and his head jerked back from the stale scent that assaulted his nose.

"Clearly we're not smelling the same thing. You smell a dry sun, I smell like I need a shower." Tyler looked up when he heard a melodious laughter filling the building and seeing the woman holding her sides in laughter. But as uplifting as her laughter was, it only seemed to make Tyler more apprehensive, until she straightened up and looked him in the eye again.

"You're funny you know that? You said your name was Tyler right?" Tyler nodded as the woman held her hand over her chest. "Well my name is Gardenia and I'm the owner of this little flower shop. Everything in this store has been grown by me personally."

"You certainly are a master botanist." Tyler said looking around the store again, stopping when he saw an arrangement of purple roses. "These are simply lovely."

"Ah, an excellent choice Tyler. Do you know what the purple rose means?"

"I didn't know the colors had meaning to a rose." Tyler admitted, picking up one of the roses and smelling it. "I just grabbed it because it reminds me of my girlfriend."

"So I take it that you've fallen for her almost immediately then?" Gardenia crouched to Tyler's level and picked up a rose of her own. "The purple rose symbolizes an enchanting attraction, a love at first sight if you will for the person whom you give it to."

"I just picked it up because purple is her favorite color, but now that you mention it I guess you could say that about her."

"Are you here buying a bouquet for her?"

"Actually she's the one who brought me here today." Tyler stood up and looked around the store and Gardenia did the same. "But apparently she's still not in here. As soon as we got here she started looking for some Pokémon that she sees here regularly that she wanted to say hi to."

"THERE YOU ARE CUTIE!" Gardenia and Tyler both flinched hearing a high pitched squeal through the open window. "I've been looking everywhere for you since I got here!"

"Sounds like she found who she was looking for." Tyler sighed internally and placed his hands on his hips.

"You want to go check on her? I have a feeling I know where she might be." Tyler nodded his head and followed Gardenia out the door of the shop and to their left towards an area of small evergreen trees that dotted a path deeper into the forest. All the while they were following a constant whimsical giggling and laughter which had to be coming from Wendy. And based on what he knew of her, it had to be some kind of Eeveelution that she'd found.

Gardenia pulled a tree branch out of the way and Tyler quickly saw that he was exactly right. Wendy had practically covered herself in grass and leaves as she rolled around on the ground beside a moss covered rock and held up a seeded dandelion towards a Leafeon that was lying on top of the mossy rock. Leafeon looked at the white flower and batted at it with its paw, sending the white spores floating across the meadow and making Wendy laugh her carefree and innocent laugh.

Tyler stepped on a branch, cracking it and grabbing the Leafeon's attention in the process as it looked in his direction and rolled off the rock; running towards him much to Wendy's pouting display. Leafeon trotted over towards him and Gardenia, stopping a few feet before them, lying down on its stomach and looking at Tyler more curiously.

"Leafeon! Come back and play with me." Wendy sobbed like a young child as she begrudgingly got up and chased after him.

"Hi there Leafeon." Tyler crouched over and held a hand out towards the tan furred Pokémon. He looked at Tyler again, wrinkled its nose a few times apparently smelling Tyler like Gardenia had. A slight frown came to the Pokémon's face for a moment but as Tyler pulled the hand back, Leafeon crawled closer to him and gave another smell that changed the frown to a smile.

"I guess he still smells the rubber on your hands." Gardenia commented as Leafeon walked back over to her and nuzzled her leg.

"Leafeon." The Pokémon quietly murmured as Gardenia crouched down to scratch him behind the ears.

"I see you haven't changed at all Wendy since the last time we met." Gardenia looked up seeing that Wendy had caught up with Leafeon. "How long has it been, three, maybe four months?"

"Too long." Wendy smiled back, giving Gardenia a brief hug.

"So you must be the one who dragged Tyler out here to my little shop. Congratulations by the way, he seems like a keeper, definitely fallen for you already. He stopped at the purple rose when walking past them." Wendy playfully punched Tyler's arm, then wrapped her arms around it, resting her head on his shoulder.

"How did you know those were my favorite?"

"Uh… lucky guess?" Wendy squeezed tighter on his arm and happily sighed on his shoulder.

"So I doubt you came here to show off and play with Leafeon. Though if you did… he's not bad." Tyler's cheeks became flushed like rose petals as Gardenia looked Tyler over. "I have the feeling you wanted to get something a little bit sensual if you've come to see me."

"Oh you know me too well." Wendy smiled, offering to let Gardenia and her Leafeon lead them back to her store. As they stepped back inside, Wendy let go of Tyler, leaving him to wander through the colorful blooms as she grabbed a basket and filled it with a handful of bottles of different sizes and brought them to the back of the shop where Gardenia was already waiting for them.

"So, is that everything today Wendy?" Tyler overheard Gardenia ask her as she began checking out the products she selected while he looked at some tulips.

"Actually, there's one last thing I was hoping to get a hold of while I was here." Tyler turned around towards the two women and saw Wendy look back at Tyler and waved at him. "I'd like to buy a little bit of spore in addition to these today."

"Spore huh?" Wendy nodded at Gardenia's question, which only made Tyler more curious and he started walking towards the register. "Any kind in particular?"

"A good friend of mine recommended the Tainted Rose. I hope you have some in stock because I didn't see it earlier." Gardenia's smile twisted to a familiar mischievous grin that Tyler knew all too well as it normally was on Wendy's lips.

"Your friend has excellent taste. It's a personal favorite of mine, I hope it brings you as much joy as it does me." Gardenia went into a back room behind the register and returned a moment later with a black box in her hand with a picture of a white rose that had small corruptions of pink on the petals.

"Wow, that's pretty." Tyler commented upon seeing the box in Gardenia's hands. Seeing Tyler at the register she pushed one side of the box in, sliding the other end out and showing its contents, being a package of thin brown sticks wrapped in a simple plastic bag. "Are those incense sticks?" Gardenia nodded as she closed the box.

"This particular brand of incense is gathered from the spores of flowering Grass type Pokémon like Roserade, Bellossom and Liligant. Of course a lot of other scents are mixed in to add a more pleasurable scent to the room this is burnt in. Simply burn this like you would any other direct-burn incense. It's a slow burner, so you'll have to give it about fifteen minutes to let the smoke fill the room. But when you do, it'll smell and feel like you're in the Gardens of Paradise.

"I like the sound of that." Tyler smiled looking at Wendy as she wrapped her arms around his again with an excited grin of her own.

"So Wendy, between girls here, what are you doing back in Eterna City?" Gardenia asked as she took an extended debit card from Wendy.

"I'm here because he's here. Tyler wants to challenge your Gym for a badge, don't you cutie?" Tyler flinched at Wendy's words.

"Wait, you're the Gym Leader?" Wendy shook her head with a frown.

"Tyler honey, I told you Gardenia was the Gym Leader this morning before we left Candice's house."

"I didn't think this was the same Gardenia!"

"And tell me Tyler," The Gym Leader bent forward with a teasing smile on her lips. "How many people do you know who have the name Gardenia?" Tyler's only response was to look away from Gardenia. "That's what I thought… So when can I expect your challenge to my Gym Tyler?"

"P-Probably a few days from now. I've been in the hospital for about a week so I need to get in sync with my Pokémon again."

"We'll be staying at the Pokémon Center downtown while we're here if you want to hear the story sometime." Wendy chirped as she picked up her card and the bag of her purchases and dragged Tyler away from the register. "I do hope you come over and say hi. It's been a while since we've done anything together."

"If you're staying for a few days, I'll be glad to come over for an evening." Gardenia waved at the two of them as the bell above the shop door jingled and they stepped outside into the evening air. Her Leafeon was lying in a patch of sun just beyond where Tyler had parked his moped. Wendy quickly gave Tyler the bag of goods and ran over to the lounging Grass type, to say her goodbyes while Tyler revved up the engine. He secured the bag around one of the handlebars and slowly rode up to Wendy.

"Say Tyler, can I ask you something quick?" Wendy asked as she mounted the moped and Tyler drove off down the dirt path towards Route 205.

"What's that?"

"Can I borrow the moped tomorrow so I can go pick up Yuri from the daycare?"

"Sure, it gives me an excuse to go out and train tomorrow for my Gym match."

"Then can we go shopping for a helmet for me? Yours is too big for me."

"Do you know where a shop is that we can buy one?" Tyler asked hanging a left and heading back down Route 205 towards Eterna City.

"Just keep going straight, I'll tell you when to turn." Wendy hugged Tyler tighter as he revved the throttle again and pushed towards the edge of the city.

A/N: There you go guys, that makes 22 chapters in the books for this story. Damn, that's almost as old as I am now. I feel old now. And for anyone wondering about Keanu's Alolan phrases, if you didn't figure it out he's actually speaking native Hawaiian.

Wendy: What do you mean supposed to be? I understood it perfectly.

Tyler: Yeah but you have the excuse of knowing Keanu a lot longer than everyone else.

Wendy: Oh yeah...

DrPhill26: Right, so to the translations may not be entirely accurate considering that I don't speak native Hawaiian.

Tyler: Don't you mean-

DrPhill26: Like I said, I don't speak native Hawaiian so I had to use online translators, dictionaries and phrase books to get his dialogue to what I thought was right. It might not be 100% accurate since online translators can be unreliable at best.

Wendy: Well I understood what he meant. I think most of the readers did too, and Keanu did explain what most of the phrases meant.

DrPhill26: And I'll drop the ones he didn't explain in the chapter below so you don't have to go looking it up (there's only 3 he didn't explain) unless you already did that and then I'll feel silly. But still, I hope you guys had fun with this chapter. This is DrPhill26 signing out and I am hoping that I'll see you again next time.

Lehua - Beloved Friend
Luna - Boss/Supervisor
Ka'aahi - Train