I'M SORRY THIS IS REALLY SHORT I'M SORRY THIS IS REALLY SHORT I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE.

I just gotta say, I'm really busy with school and this Pokemon group on dA and my mind totally being overflowed with all sorts of other thoughts for other stories and and I'll stop rambling now.

This chapter is mostly so short because I'm getting into the plot :3 Tiamat is actually a Purrloin I have in game, no she doesn't know Hypnosis or Nightmare because Purrloin can't learn those moves but I like to take liberties with Pokemon and modify them to suit my needs. Sorry if you no likey, I promise Tiamat will be the only odd one in this story (can't promise that for the other Pokemon stories I have in mind :B)

Please enjoy~

Chapter 3: All things necessary

After the cruise was finished, Cilan uneasily let Iris loop her arm around his as the two waited for Ash to finish saying good night to the others. Iris offered Georgia a nod, and the red-head was pleasant enough to return it. Then she stalked off and Trip, after a moment's hesitation, walked briskly after her.

Stephen approached, eying Cilan, his eyebrow quirked. Cilan tilted his head at Iris and mouthed 'help me' to the larger teen.

Stephen grinned.

"Say, Iris, you wanna' go for a walk with me. To the park," he offered her his hand and she peered at him, unsure.

"Why don't you go, Iris?" Cilan encouraged, elbowing Ash to prevent him from snickering. Iris looked between Cilan and Stephen, then smiled.

"Okay, I'll go for a walk with you!" and when she released Cilan's arm in favor of taking Stephen's, Cilan felt he could finally breathe. Next to him Ash snickered and Cilan threatened to elbow him again.

"Gees! You're so touchy tonight, especially after that battle with Burgundy," he rested a hand on Cilan's shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows, "why were you so upset about that?"

Cilan sighed, "she bested me. We made a deal where if one of us won the other would have to do something for us. Naturally, if I won she would be my apprentice, and if she won, I would do whatever she said for a week."

Ash whistled, "a week?"

Cilan shrugged, "I thought it was fair, considering if she was my apprentice that would last for quite some time – until she reached the next class of Sommelier, at the very least."

Ash nodded in understanding and Cilan continued, "she forfeit the match, which prevented both of us from winning and therefore broke the deal."

"Wow... yep, she bested you!" Ash gave Cilan's shoulder a squeeze before he started to walk off, covering a yawn, "I'm off to the hotel. I'll see you later, yeah? Don't come back too late. I don't like being woken up!"

Cilan smiled and shook his head, waving at Ash's back. He waited for a few minutes, tilting his head back to look up at the sky, then he felt the searing pain in his shoulder, which told him that it's time.

He gripped his left shoulder tightly in his hand, then proceeded towards the alleys of Castelia, green eyes flicking over all the dark shapes.

And then a Purrloin hopped onto one of the dumpsters and Cilan stopped dead in his tracks, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead, 'that's her.'

The Purrloin flicked her tail, and groomed her paw before she spoke, "hello, Cilan. It's been a while. Doesn't hurt too much does it?"

Cilan grit his teeth and looked under his hand – even through his suit, the three lines were visible, glowing a dull purple, 'though I'm glad the scars aren't that visible on other days.'

"No, not too badly, Tiamat," he cringed when she purred, "w-what are you doing here?"

"You know why I'm here. Ghetsis is on the move. He wanted me to tell you and your brothers. You'll really have your work cut out for you, you know? I'll be around," she flicked her tail again, hopping onto the ground and walking up to him, rubbing her head and body against one of his legs, "I'll be following you. Or at least, one of the others will be. But you don't have to worry – we won't let ourselves be seen," she easily scampered up his torso, making Cilan shiver.

She perched on his shoulder and licked his face, "be prepared; the Shadow Triad will have much work to do."

'You already said that,' he wanted to tell her but he kept his mouth shut, fisting his hand in his suit, 'just hurry up and leave!'

Tiamat flicked her tail once more and glanced over her shoulder. He just barely heard her whisper, "but the human girl is irritating. She followed you."

'Iris? Wait no,' Cilan recognized the feel of the gaze on his back and he turned, 'Burgundy...'

She wasn't looking at him, he realized, and for a moment he was frozen in place; she was looking at Tiamat as the Purrloin scampered away.

"... well that's weird," she muttered, then turned her gaze to him, "what are you doing in an alle-" Cilan tensed when her eyes spotted the hand he was clutching his shoulder with, "are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm all right," he assured her, but didn't move his hand away from his shoulder; Burgundy was unconvinced and walked towards him. He smiled nervously, taking several steps back, "r-really, Burgundy."

His back came into contact with a dumpster and he glanced over his shoulder at it – then Burgundy's arm was planted firmly against the dull green metal, cornering him. She bored holes into him with her lilac eyes and he ducked his head, trying to avoid her gaze.

"You're lying," she informed him and grabbed his hand. He grit his teeth and wrapped his left arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She gasped, immediately moving both her hands to his chest.

"C-Cilan, let go!" she stuttered, her face bright red.

"I need you to trust me," he begged in a low voice, tightening his hold on her when she struggled, "I'm perfectly fine."

"'Fine' is not a very tasteful word coming from someone of your calibre!" Burgundy exclaimed, her cheeks pure scarlet, "which means, you are not okay and you're lying to me!"

Cilan tensed. He hadn't expected her to understand him that well, or to pick up on the small things; he sighed and pulled his hand away from his shoulder, looking at it out of the corner of his eye. A wave of relief swept through him when he saw that the purple lines had faded.

"Burgundy, really," he tried a smile but she scowled at him, pushing her hands harder against his chest.

"I don't like the fact that you're lying to me!" and she finally broke out of his hold, backing away from him. Then, to Cilan's surprise, she strode past him, down the alley and in the direction of the park, where Tiamat had run off to. Cilan stumbled after Burgundy, anxious. Tiamat might use Hypnosis on her, and worse, might even use Nightmare – and how the Purrloin knew such moves was beyond Cilan.

"Burgundy, wait!" he grabbed her arm as soon as he caught up to her. She jerked her arm out of his grasp, turning to face him, eyes blazing.

"You clearly don't want me to find out anything about that Purrloin. I thought you had a fear of them," she hissed, about to continue on her search. Cilan grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to stay facing him.

"I do, I won't deny that," he looked away, spotting Tiamat in the shadows, flicking her tail. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and Burgundy picked up on his anxiety.

"See? You're anxious! What is it that you're hiding, exactly?" she frowned, "are you going to keep it from Ash and Iris too?"

"I – well..." Cilan sighed, his head drooping, "I have nothing to tell," he muttered in a quiet voice, refusing to lift his gaze.

Burgundy was clearly unimpressed, because she crossed her arms over her chest, "you're a terrible liar."

"How would you know what I'm like?" Cilan inquired, quickly jumping at the chance to change the topic of conversation. Burgundy quirked an eyebrow at him, as if asking him whether or not he thought she was going to take the bait.

"Trying to change the topic are we?"

"It was worth a shot..."

"Hmph," she lifted an arm and swept it to the side, knocking his left hand off her shoulder; she side-stepped and walked around him. Cilan lowered his arms.

"Fine. Since you're so intent on keeping your secrets," she turned on her heel, making her way back to the hotel. Cilan glanced at the trees to see that Tiamat was still there, crouched down, her slit eyes focused on Burgundy. The A-class Sommelier strode quickly into Tiamat's line of sight; he gave the Purrloin a glare and the cat smiled, then dashed off into the park.

"If it's really nothing though, Cilan, and you want me to leave you alone about it," Burgundy turned sharply, causing Cilan to bump into her. He could hardly hold her harsh gaze, "I recommend you stop glaring into the woods."

Before he could response to her she continued on her way back to the hotel, shaking her head from side-to-side. Cilan pressed his fingers to his forehead, breathing in deeply.

He could only pray that Tiamat didn't do anything to the fiery Sommelier.