A/N: UPDATED: Blah blah blah, I fixed some spelling, grammer goof-ups, tweaked some dialogue, blah blah. Same deal here. Anyhow, to any new readers, hopefully you enjoy! And to old readers, maybe the somewhat updated chapter is a bit more...palatable.

Without further ado, read and review...

Second Floor Halls - PokéGene Inc. Facility

Well, to be honest I was very nervous when both Brian and Frank brought me to meet the other five kids-turned-Pokémon. It's not that I wasn't excited to meet them, it's just that I'm pretty self-conscious about how they will think of me. Well, there's always a first time. We arrived at the door to the room after a two-minute search, but right when we did the secretary named Marilyn from before came up to us.

"Oh, Dr. Peters, Dr. Summers! Nice to run into you here!" she said. "I was just going to deliver Maxwell's bag here to..." Marilyn then noticed me at their feet, so I waved innocently. "Who's this little guy?" she asked, eying me curiously. "...Hang on, is it...Maxwell?"

Brian chuckled. "You catch on quick, Marilyn. Yes, it's him."

"It is? Oh, wow! Once again you two surprise me! Aw, he's so cute now!" Marilyn said, and bent down to give me a little pinch on the cheek, which, needless to say, made me feel quite silly. "Oh, right... Here's your bag Maxwell. Sorry if it's too heavy for you..."

She carefully set down my bag (which is about the same size and shape of a purse, but it is NOT a purse, I swear) in front of me, which I then grabbed by one of its straps. The bag had only a few things inside of it, so it was still light enough to carry (or at least drag around).

I thanked her as best I could, being unable to speak English, and then she left (though I could still hear her giggling about how "cute" I was as she walked off). I looked up at Brian, who was now opening up the door to the room. Surprisingly, there was no doorknob, just a flat sheet of what looked like metal that had a small window in it. As he approached it, the door simply slid open, no force necessary.

Brian noticed my confused look and explained, "It's a proximity-triggered door. When you approach it, it'll open on its own, so you don't have to worry about being stuck if we're not around."

I nodded in understanding, and followed Brian and Frank through the door into the room, dragging my bag along with me. The first thing I noticed about it was that it wasn't a single 'room'. It was more of a small apartment-like area with a living-room area, a dining area, and bedroom area. It seemed rather nice to live in a place of my own, though I will have to share it with the others regardless. Just when I was wondering where everyone else was, I saw them in the living room area.

There was five of them, as Brian had told me, and they were all Pokemon—though I knew they were kids that had been given the CPT formula, and were once human like I was. Out of all of them, I saw a Pikachu, a Piplup, a Cyndaquil, a Snivy, and a Ralts, spread all over the room somewhere, apparently still getting used to their surroundings. Brian gave me a little pat on the head and urged me on. "Go on, they won't bite...much," he said jokingly. "Heh, just kidding. I gotta go now, okay? Why don't you get acquainted with your 'brothers' and 'sisters'?"

Brothers? Sisters? Well, if Brian adopted them as well, then I suppose that would be true, in a sense. As both he and Frank left, I slowly walked into the living room, where the other five 'Pokékids' were at. Almost at once, they all turned their gazes towards me, and I froze. I managed to wave and say hello, but the response was mixed. The Piplup and Snivy seemed to both ignore me, the Ralts acted rather indifferent, but the Pikachu and Cyndaquil eagerly ran over to meet me. Obviously, these two were the more friendly ones. Right away I noticed that the two Pokemon were wearing some sort of human accessory. The Pikachu wore a pair of gray goggles over its eyes, and the Cyndaquil had a plush little pink scarf.

"Pika pi! Pikachu?" the Pikachu said, but, since I was a Pokémon myself, I understood it as, "Howdy! What's yer name, buddy?"

I looked at the Pikachu blankly for a second. Here I was, talking to a Pikachu. Or rather, a kid who was turned into a Pikachu. Which was even stranger. "I... My name is...Maxwell," I responded shyly. "N-Nice to meet you...um?"

"Warren, that's the name," the Pikachu said. "Nice ta meetcha, Maxwell! ...Uh, can I jus' call ya Max?"

"S-Sure...everyone already does," I said, and tried to put on a smile.

Warren smiled back. "Well, I hope ya enjoy it here. I already am! I guess Brian an' Frank put ya through the 'procedure' an' stuff like that?"

I nodded.

"Ah, that would explain bein' a Pokémon an' all, eh? Hahaha..."

I couldn't help but laugh a bit at that, even though it was a bit of a dry joke. The Cyndaquil decided to speak up at this point. "Hi, my name is...um..Samantha. Nice to meet you too, Max," she said, bowing her head slightly.

"Hello, n-nice to meet you too...sis. Heh," I replied, having put in the notion of us all being 'siblings' of a sort. Hey, if we're all supposed to be living together...

"S-Sis?" Samantha said, sounding a little confused. "You mean like, we're all like brothers and sisters now?"

Warren pushed his goggles up from his eyes, so he could see better I assumed, and snickered. "I guess so... Funny how we all hafta meet like this, huh? Ah, life as a Pokemon ain't so bad. Ah'm already used ta it by now."

"A-already?" I inquired, curious as to how he could be so adaptable. "How long have you been here?"

"'Bout two days," he replied, shrugging. "Samantha showed up same day I did, then them other three came the day after. An' now, we have you!"

I nervously rubbed the side of my head. "Y-yeah...well, um... I suppose...yeah. Excuse me for a sec..."

I turned my attention to the bag I carried around with me, and I dragged it to a good position by a couch (perfectly suited for me and the others' height) then opened it up and began rifling through it. It soon became apparent that Warren and Samantha watching me, as they started asking questions.

"What'cha doing there? You packed some stuff too?" Warren asked, walking over and curiously watching me unload my things.

I paid little mind to him, as I was busy. I unloaded all the things I packed, which included the silver charm, the hat, the books, and then the busted-up PokéGear. Samantha took interest in the charm, and Warren was immediately drawn to the PokéGear.

"...You have a PokéGear?" he asked, eying the device with extreme interest.

"I do, but it's broken. Has been for a while now," I replied, not really paying any mind to his scrutiny of the device since I was busy brushing some dirt off the book covers.

Warren picked up the device, and examined it closely. "Huh. Broken you say? Lemme see what we got here," he said, then removed the frontal plate from the PokéGear and began eying the circuitry. After a moment, he seemed to have reached a consensus. "Oh! Well, there's yer problem. The dang thing's CPU is shot, an' a few connections are a tad screwy. Looks like there ain't been no operation of this fer a coupla years or so."

I sighed heavily, then responded, "Well, that's great. All the more reason I've given up on it. It's unfixable."

The Pikachu scoffed, then put his goggles back over his eyes. "Like heck it's unfixable!" he proclaimed, starting to reach into the PokéGear's circuitry and mess around with it. "It jus' needs a little adjustment...here...an' a few bits o' metal...here...an' a little fine tunin'...here! Swell, now I jus' gotta giv'er a lil' jumper-start, an'..." Warren suddenly let out a small jolt of electricity out from his cheeks that flowed through the device. Almost immediately, the device sprang to life. "Voila! Done! How's that fer 'unfixable'?"

I was stunned. "How the heck did you...?" I said in disbelief, then ran over to the now-operational device. I got it back from Warren, then I started messing around with the features to make sure it was fully-functional. Shockingly (no pun intended), it was. The map, radio, phone, and everything else that Silph Co. programmed into it was intact and working. I looked at Warren, whom was acting rather proud of himself. He should be. After all, how could he repair a broken high-end device with almost no material? "Are you, like, MacGyver or something?" I asked, somewhat jokingly.

He chuckled. "I may as well be! Wasn't really that hard actually, just had ta bypass sum o' the connective wires, patch a few holes in the CPU, give it a good rechargin', and bam! Fully-functionin' PokéGear."

For the second time in an hour, I was at a loss for words. I switched the device off and placed it back into the bag, safe and sound. "Thanks, I'd...been meaning to get it fixed," I said, even though I hadn't. In all honesty, I may have just as well left it there at the orphanage.

"O' course ya have," Warren said, smirking. Apparently he had seen through my false thankfulness... "It don't really matter to me, I jus' love tinkerin' with electronics. Being a Pikachu jus' makes it easier! Haha."

"I suppose it does," I said back. "For me, being an Oshawott makes it easier to..." My thoughts blanked out on this point. "...Well, I don't know what's easier this way just yet."

Warren gave me a little pat on the back. "Don't worry about it, you'll find out soon enough."

I checked through my things one more time, and came across my tiny light-blue baseball cap. The one that was the second-earliest thing I could remember owning. By many standards, it could considered common, or basic, but regardless I liked it. I held in in my paws, admiring its subtle charm.

Warren looked at me and the cap I held with an odd gaze. "What's wif the hat?" he asked.

"Oh, this old thing? It was mine when I was just a toddler. Human toddler that is, heh," I answered, examining the cap. "...Y'know, I think this thing might fit me!" Curious, I tried to fit the cap on my head, and amazingly enough it was a perfect fit. It makes sense I suppose, seeing as how I was approximately the size I was when I was three...

"Wow, that actually looks gud on ya!" Warren said, eying the baseball cap intently. "The blue really goes well wif yer body color, I reckon."

"Thanks! I guess I have a little 'human distinction' now, huh?" I said, feeling a little good about having something nice to wear at last.

It was then that I noticed Samantha (the Cyndaquil) was eying my silver amulet. I walked over to her and asked what she was so interested about.

"Well," she began, "it just looks really...pretty. It reminds me a lot about the one I have...er, the one I had... Um, where did you get it?"

Kind of an odd question if you ask me... Huh, you'd think girls that willingly become Pokémon wouldn't even think about jewelry. ...And yet, here she was. "It's a hand-me-down," I explained. "The House-Mother at my orphanage said that it belonged to my mother one time, and it belonged to her mother years before that. I never knew my parents, so...that amulet is really important to me personally."

Samantha nodded a bit, still looking at the precious piece of jewelry. "...It is really pretty though. You...you should take good care of it..."

I picked up the amulet, and was nearly about to put it somewhere safe...but a thought suddenly crossed my mind. Samantha really seemed to like it, and she said that she had one...so that's means she lost hers? How? When? From the way she was eying me, it seemed that she really missed it... That's actually...pretty sad...

I finally made up my mind, and plopped the amulet back on the ground in front of her. "Here, you can have it," I said quickly, not giving this decision much second thought.

Samantha actually looked quite shocked. "Y-You're giving it to me? I...I couldn't...not something that was your mother's..."

"Go on, I insist," I urged, practically pushing the jewelry in her face. "We're all family now, right? So it's not like it'll be gone forever or anything. Won't you please? Think of it as a replacement for your lost one."

At this Samantha quieted down. She looked away, appearing to be contemplating something, then looked back, and sighed. "...Okay, if you really want to... I...I don't feel comfortable about taking it though," she said at last.

"Trust me, my mum would've wanted me to pass it on to someone anyway. I may as well give it to you, since you lost your amulet. I'm just...trying to be friendly, is all," I said, handing her the amulet, which she hesitantly took.

"...Tha...thank you, Max... It does mean a lot to me... really, it does," Samantha said.

I really felt good about myself. Here I was, a kid who would often think of no one but himself, and yet I was giving away my precious silver amulet to my new 'sister', whom I just met. Am I hopped up on something or what? ...Nevertheless, it was rather gratifying to do someone good besides myself. I turned back to face Warren, who was chuckling to himself.

"Wow, Max. Ya jus' gave Sam that thing o' yours jus' 'cause she's missin' hers? I gotta respect that, man," he said, nodding approvingly.

I looked out over the room towards the other Pokékids I saw earlier. The Ralts was still sitting alone over near the middle of the room, and the Piplup and Snivy were both wandering around, minding their own business. They had their eyes on me for a moment; perhaps they saw me give the amulet to Samantha? Or possibly not, as they continued to ignore me. Maybe they just didn't care?

"Uh, Warren?" I asked, pointing at the others. "What are their names? And on top of that, what's with them? They look pretty...I dunno...distant."

Warren sighed. "Them? Oh, those guys. Haven't really gotten ta know 'em much yet. Frum whut Brian tells me, the Piplup is a girl, named Mary; the Snivy is a guy, named Matthew; and that Ralts there is also a guy, called Steve. Mary an' Matthew are pretty...standoffish, so I haven't been really able ta talk ta them. Only one they listen ta is Brian or Frank. An' that Steve...he's actually a good guy, but he's kinduva...loner, so he doesn't say much."

"You...don't say..." I honestly wasn't quite sure how to proceed from here. Part of me wanted to try and talk with them myself, and the other part wanted to listen to Brian when he said to give the others some space. But, in the end, I decided to try and talk with them.

Before I could start walking to them, I felt a paw on my shoulder hold me back. Looking behind me, I saw it was Warren that was stopping me, with a serious look on his face. "Are ya seriously gonna try talkin' ta those three? Steve probably won't give ya a lotta hassle, but them other two...don't even bother," he urged. "Brian says they're bound ta cum on by anyhoo. Let's jus' leave 'em alone..."

I sighed. Oh, how much I wanted to listen to him—and to Brian! But...I suppose with the knowledge that a few of my "siblings" are outcast, that somehow spurred me to do the opposite I was told. I never really did understand that feeling. A sense of duty, perhaps? Regardless, it was no time to be silent.

"No," I said firmly. "I don't care. I'm going to talk to them, whether Brian likes it or not."

Warren looked like he was going to protest, but he didn't. He just shook his head and finally removed his paw from my shoulder. "...Fine then," he said lowly. "If yer gonna go, then I won't stop ya frum doin' that. Jus' don't say I didn't warn ya, Max."

"I'll keep it in mind," I replied, and began walking away from him and Samantha towards the others. I decided to start with Steve, since he was apparently the 'friendlier' of the loners. I stood in front of the Ralts, who didn't even respond to my presence until I made a rather loud "Ahem!" noise.

Steve looked up at me, his reddish colored eyes just barely visible from underneath the pale green "helmet" (it's the only word that comes to mind for me) of his. "Yes?" he asked rather calmly, almost as if he was in a trance. But, I suppose Psychic-type Pokémon can be that way if you think about it.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to think up a proper introduction, but Steve didn't seem to mind waiting. Finally, I said something, "H-Hello. My name is—"

"Maxwell. I know that already," Steve said, giving me a coy little smile.

Taken quite aback, I asked, "How did you know that? We never even met before..."

"I read your mind," he said, almost as if he was teasing me. "You're kind of odd. You keep a lot of substance bottled up in that noggin of yours. Some stuff you'd rather anyone not know, right...?"

Yikes. Steve has really embraced the concept of "Psychic" with little difficulty. Something tells me I should be careful what I 'think' around this guy...

"You'd better. I'm always listening," Steve said, chuckling a bit. "Well, listening in a sense. Not necessarily with my ears, so to say."

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly. "You can't just...read my side-thoughts like that!"

He just shook his head. "Well, of course I can. That is, if I really wanted to."

"Then...uh...don't want to! Or...something!"

"...You really are peculiar."

"Nrgh..." I nearly had it with this guy. Reading my thoughts? And he seemed rather smart-alecky about it... I doubted I would get anywhere with him. But I didn't forget why I was here in the first place, and that was to try and get through to Steve and get him to be more open.

I decided to go with a different, more "sensitive-and-sincere" approach, so after moments of awkward silence I finally said something. "Steve...you know we've all been through the same...process, right?"

Steve shot me a confused, almost baffled look. "Umm, yes? That seems...obvious, doesn't it?" he said slowly. "Why exactly are you asking me that?"

"I just wanna tell you that we...well...let me ask something else first: You're an orphan...right?" I said, then paused to let the question sink in.

Steve said nothing in response, he just gave a light nod.

I began to feel a bit tense. "(Should I really go this far? May as well, I'm already in too deep. There has to be some—oh crud, I forgot that he can read my mind!)" I thought. Steve noticeably rolled his eyes, but continued to keep still and quiet. With little other option, I proceeded.

"...Well, I'm telling you right now...that you are not an orphan," I said, my voice cracking a bit from being so tense. "Not anymore."

Steve looked right up at me, and for the first time since I saw him, he looked sad. "Wh-What? What was that?" he said, barely more audible than a whisper. "What do you mean?"

At that moment, I knew I had struck a chord with him. "You're not an orphan," I repeated, then added, "because I'm your...your...your brother."

Right away, Steve's look of gloominess had turned into one of pure surprise. "Say...what? But...I never had any siblings that I ever knew about while I was growing up—"

"Well, I'm not your real brother," I clarified, sighing a bit to relax myself, then continued. "Me, along with Warren, Samantha, and those...other two...we're all your adopted siblings now, so to say."

"I...yeah...I kinda picked up on that," Steve said, regaining his matter-of-factually tone, but still seemed willing to listen to me. Finally, I think we're getting somewhere!

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to go on. "Yeah... Um, we all became Pokemon by choice, right? So that means we're all a...group? We should at least be friendly with each other."

"But...I am...right? I talked with...what's his name...Warren earlier, and we're 'cool' and all. Samantha seems nice as well. Those other two won't talk at all, though. That suits me, I like being alone anyway."

"Since when has 'alone' ever meant that you're friendly?" I insisted, trying to push this further. I was really on a roll here.

"It has been since...s-since," Steve said, stammering, then fell silent, and looked away.

"I thought so. I just... Look, if you want to actually have a family...our family...then you should...I dunno...come 'hang out' with us...or whatever."

Steve looked at the floor, saying nothing.

"Won't you please?" I insisted.

Again, he didn't respond at all.

"Come on Steve, can't you at least say something?" By now, I was starting to feel a little agitated.

Steve didn't budge, he just mumbled something for a bit, then trailed into silence.

"No response...how shocking. If you can't at least try to get to know me or anyone else..." I started raising my voice without knowing it, until it almost became a shout. "Then...then we have nothing to say to each other, you...you...thing! Go be a loner for all I care, you don't even... Gah!" By now, my blood was really starting to boil, which, in context, doesn't really make a lot of sense, but you get what I mean.

Once again, no response. But before I could manage to yell at Steve further, I saw the distinct sparkle of a tear fall to the floor, followed by another, and yet another. Oh good god. He was crying. Right when I realized that, I immediately came to my senses. I felt horribly guilty, for very clear reasons. "Oh, oh no... I'm... Steve...I'm so sorry, I...didn't mean..."

Steve lowered his head until it was nearly perpendicular with the floor, and more tears came. I never saw his face, which was just as well, as I hate to see people (or Pokémon) cry like this. "...Just go away," he said quietly, barely moving from his sitting position. "I need to be alone..."

"I...er...wait! But I..." I started stammering nervously, and tried to console him. "C-come on...I really am sorry... I...I just lost myself a second is all... I've never really been known for being tolerant... We can work this out—"

"I said...!" Steve abruptly shouted, and I recoiled backwards a bit from surprise. After a sudden halt in order to compose himself, he let out a sigh. "...I said I want to be left alone... I need to think some things through..."

"(Wonderful job Maxwell. You just made one of your adopted brothers cry, and on top of that he probably now hates you. Great. Absolutely brilliant.)" I looked around nervously, slowly walking backwards. Every eye in the room (besides Steve's, obviously) was on me. Never before had I been this embarrassed in my life. I managed a look at Matthew and Mary, who were giving me a rather cold, disdainful stare. I also snuck a peek at Warren and Samantha, and they were giving me looks of both pity and contempt.

Partially covering my head with my short arms, I hurried back to the latter group, having now just given up on trying to talk to either Matthew or Mary also. Come on, if I couldn't even talk to Steve, supposedly a friendly guy, then what are my chances of succeeding with those other two? I'm thinking somewhere between nil and negative forty percent.

Warren just shook his head and covered his face with his paws as I approached. "What in the sam heck was that?" he said rather coldly. "Ah've seen negotiations go wrong... but man oh man..."

I finally returned to them and just sat on the couch, completely bypassing both Warren and Samantha and ignoring their attempts at conversation. When I did, I lay face-down right on it and said nothing for the longest while. I didn't feel like talking to anyone right now...

Dozens of thoughts scurried around my head as my brain attempted to digest what just happened. Where did I go wrong? How did things spiral out of control so fast? Why didn't I keep my cool? Perhaps I should've listened to Warren and not done anything? Maybe this whole thing from the start wasn't such a good idea? All these things and more ran through my mind like lightning.

At last, I felt something poke me on my back. I sat right back up, to find Warren and Samantha standing in front of the couch. "What do you guys want now? Can't you see I have enough problems?" I asked rather gratingly, hoping they would leave me alone. Somehow, I knew they wouldn't.

"Ah'm perfectly aware, buddy," said Warren, "but ya gotta tell me whut happen'd! Steve's a pretty calm guy; howdja reduce him ta tears like that? Was it somethin' ya said?"

I honestly wasn't sure how to respond, but that was just me. Like I said before, I'm not all that kind. Not very into "socializing." Don't go calling me a anti-socialist just yet, I still have family values, however dull it may seem. All my life, I've wanted a good family, but as my years in that orphanage wore on, that hope dimmed quickly. I'm still grateful that Brian paid me a visit and all, but getting that 'family' is going to be a ton trickier that I thought.

"Hel-lo! Earth ta Maxwell! Are ya even listenin'?" Warren almost yelled, startling me from my deep thought, making me jump into a sitting position.

"I...uh...yeah! I'm, uh...just trying to think up an explanation," I said almost on impulse, then spent a moment pooling my thoughts.

Warren stared at me blankly. "What's ta explain? I'm just asking ya whut happened! Seems like an easy question ta me."

I couldn't stall any longer—no matter how much I wanted—so I had to come clean. I told him and Samantha about the whole deal, trying to speak with Steve, the conversation details and such (though I did leave out how I lost my cool and made Steve upset, I just told them that "everything started to break down").

Warren and Samantha both listened intently to my story, or at least I think they did, as either of them would ask an occasional question. When I finished talking Warren didn't seem perfectly content with my version of what happened.

"Riddle me this, pard," he said, scratching behind his ears. "How exactly did Steve get upset? You didn't elaborate on that."

I looked away, almost afraid to admit what I did, but my good conscious didn't feel right about that, so I looked back at Warren and sighed. "Okay, okay, I said...something to him, and that made him sad. It was my fault," I admitted, hoping that would be enough for Warren.

Sadly, it wasn't. "Well, whut exactly did ya say ta him?" he almost demanded, looking rather determined to keep this up.

I bit my tongue, which I regretted, as Oshawott teeth are actually real sharp. I cringed in pain, but tried to ignore it and decided to answer his question. "Er... I...tried to reason with him... Tried to, anyway. I told him to at least try and get to know us better, but he clammed up and wouldn't talk...and...I may have lost my patience and went a little too far... I accidentally said something mean. I said I was sorry though," I confessed, rather pitifully, and Warren shook his head.

"Son of a gun, you musta said something pretty darn hurtful to upset Steve like that," he said, looking down.

I looked over at Samantha, who was looking the other way. She appeared to be thinking about something, though there's no way I could've known what she was contemplating. Warren wouldn't look at me, he had his eyes on the floor, which was understandable. C'mon, the way I acted back there isn't anything to be proud of at all. Personally I blame the way those kids back in the orphanage would treat me, as being picked on regularly made me a somewhat bitter kid. Despite that, I tried to hang on to whatever goodness and purity was left in me, though I'm still not sure if that succeeded or not.

Feeling hopeless, I turned around and started to leave them both, thinking they'd be better off without me, but I was surprised to hear a voice stop me. "Wait!" it yelled, and I knew right away that it was Samantha. I looked behind me, and saw her approaching from behind whilst calling out my name.

Curious, and slightly hopeful, I turned to face her. "Ummm... Yes? Is there something that you—"

"Yes...there is," Samantha said, cutting off my sentence. "I...just want to say that... Umm... That you're...not a bad person."

I was taken slightly aback by this. Since when has anyone ever said I was a bad person? ...Besides myself? Curious, I asked, "What makes you think that?"

She spent a moment apparently thinking her explanation through, then replied, "Well... I know that you...made Steve upset and all, but...I'm sure that wasn't on purpose, right?"

"Uh, well... No, it wasn't on purpose. I would never willingly hurt someone like that...I just...lost myself for a minute there..."

"Neither would I, but...people sometimes do bad things when they get mad. It could've happened to anyone."

"I'm...grateful that you think that, but—"

"Plus, you gave me that pretty amulet of yours. I told you that I didn't want to take it since you said it was so important to you, but you insisted... No one's ever done that for me before..."

"Well...what are friends for?"

"...Yeah, so...I just wanted to say that, is all. And...won't you please stay with us? Brother?"

That last word, "Brother", hit me real hard in a meaningful way. I swear that I was feeling so happy about not only being forgiven, but being accepted as a true sibling. "I'd...love to," I replied, and smiled brightly, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while.

Samantha smiled too. "Great!" she almost exclaimed. "I knew you were a good person... I just knew it." I noticed now that she was wearing the same silver amulet I gave her earlier around her neck. Obviously she was treasuring it. That alone made me feel better.

I followed her back to Warren, who was giving me an apologetic look. He obviously looked a bit tense, but he managed to hold himself together and forgave me as well. "Yeah, sorry 'bout making ya feel like a bag o' trash Max, I...I don't really whut else to say besides sorry, so...yeah."

"That's okay," I replied, feeling better about myself now that the whole problem had been pushed aside. "I'm sorry too, about what happened. I'll have to apologize to Steve whenever I get the chance."

"You don't have to apologize," a voice suddenly said. "I deserved it anyway."

Me, along with Warren and Samantha, all turned to the source of the voice, and collectively gasped when we saw who it was. As you might have guessed, it was Steve. The Ralts was walking towards us, looking rather despondent.

I immediately remembered the whole incident with Steve earlier, and I froze. I got that really nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach, and it refused to let up. Knowing full well this was my guilt talking, I started apologizing profusely. "Steve! I-I... I'm really sorry! I never meant to make you that upset! Please forgive me, I was just...I don't know what it was but I really am sorry for—"

"Just...enough please," Steve said lowly, waving a small white arm dismissively. "I know you are, so give it a rest. I've been thinking about what you said..."

Of course, he was referring to when I confronted him about actually getting to be a part of the "family". But exactly what was he thinking about? "...And what? What about what I said?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "You should know, you're thinking it already. Or is that more of a guess? Or a hope?"

Warren and Samantha threw me a confused look, but I ignored it. I knew exactly what Steve was talking about, unfortunately. I was hoping he would accept my offer of being friends—or rather, family—but that hope was barely burning at that point. I figured I may as well come clean, seeing as how I can't get away from a mind-reader.

"Okay, I was wondering if you'd...accept my offer of...being friends?" I admitted.

Steve managed to smile weakly. "That's the one. I have been thinking about it, and..."

"And...?"

"And..."

"And...what?"

"And..."

"What, what, what?"

"And..."

It became clear that Steve was messing around with me, so I started to fume again. "And what? Out with it already!"

"And..." There was another silence, but right before I could start yelling Steve quickly finished. "...I think I will go along with it," he said finally. And after saying that...he smiled. Actually smiled, not just a cheap or coy smile, but a meaningful smile.

My anger quickly fizzled out, and I couldn't help but smile back. When the realization finally hit me, my mouth dropped open and I stared at him in surprise. "Wait... You'll...?"

"Do I need to say it twice? I'll be part of your "family", if that will suit you," Steve said matter-of-factually.

Remember that feeling of happiness earlier? It just tripled. I couldn't believe it, I actually did succeed in convincing him! I was at a loss for words, so I just sputtered some random gibberish in shock, and he laughed. I could hear Warren and Samantha laugh too, and they spoke up as well.

"Well well, Steve! Ah'm glad ya turn'd 'round so quick! Welcome ta the 'family' buddy, heh," Warren said, grinning widely.

Samantha was smiling gently, and giggled a bit. "Hello Steve! N-Nice to meet you, I'm Samantha. So, I guess that...you're my 'brother' now?"

Steve tilted his head down a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I...yeah...I suppose I am. Nice to be able to know you all," he said, and chuckled a bit.

At last, our happy little family was four-strong, though it was beyond me how those other two loners—Mary and Matthew—would finally come forward to be part of it as well. I could probably see to that later on...but I've caused enough damage today.

Staff Room - PokéGene Inc. Facility

"So, you really think they six of 'em will all get along?" asked Frank, sipping some coffee. "I mean, those two...uh, Matthew and Mary I believe, seemed rather... Hmm... How should I say it?"

Brian chuckled. "Loners? Maybe," he replied, flipping through a magazine. "But I'm sure they'll all warm up to each other at some point."

"Eh, I suppose you're right," Frank said, and took another sip.

"Besides," Brian continued, "I have a good feeling about those kids, especially Maxwell. We were lucky to find them all."

Frank set down his coffee mug and laughed. "Yeah, yeah... I guess I'm just being a tad paranoid again. There really shouldn't be anything to worry about after all."

"Mm," Brian quietly hummed, quite fixated on the magazine he was reading. Right then, another scientist entered the room, concentrating on some documents he was reading while walking. Before Brian could say anything, the scientist took a rather bad step and hence took a tumble to the floor, spreading the papers all across it.

The scientist, clad in a white lab coat like all the others, picked himself off the floor and rubbed whatever part of him hurt. "Oww... That was real embarrassing," he said in a pitiful tone, then feverishly began to recollect and organize the papers.

Brian and Frank collectively sighed. "Honest to goodness," Brian said, his hands covering his face. "Learn to not trip next time Danny..."

The scientist, Danny, finished gathering up the papers and rearranged them into a folder, his face beet red with embarrassment. He was a rather young man, no more than 18 years of age, with messy blackish-brown hair and light blue eyes, and wearing the same color lab coat and pants as the other two scientists were.

"C'mon dad," Danny said, sighing. "Cut me a break, I've only been here for a week..."

Brian breathed deeply. His son Danny is always so clumsy, though he means well... But even if he didn't mean well the outcome would be no less different (or destructive). "Son...you know that you must learn to shape up, we are working on a great undertaking here," Brian said, rubbing his temples in slight annoyance.

"Sigh... I know dad, I know... But I can't really help myself sometimes," said Danny, lowering his head in shame.

"Nrgh, it's okay... It's just fine," Brian said, adjusting his glasses. "You wanted to show me those documents I'm assuming?"

Danny nodded glumly, and handed the paper-stuffed folder to his dad. "Umm...yeah. These are the...urr...DNA results from the testing thing."

"Good, good," Brian said quietly, and he lay the folder open on the coffee table in front of him, reading the contents along with Frank.

As the two older scientists scanned the data, Danny stood idly by, whistling a bit. "Uh, dad?" he said. "Just so you know, some of that stuff has to be still...um, analyzed and stuff. Yeah. But I really don't know what it all means myself, to me it's just a bunch of numbers and junk..."

Neither of them answered Danny. They both seemed to be zeroed in on one of the documents. "...My word," Frank said, "that looks very interesting..." He pointed at one spot on the document, which Danny could hardly make out from his angle, but Brian and Frank seemed very intrigued by it.

"Wow, that is quite neat," said Brian, nodding approvingly. "We should have this thoroughly analyzed."

Brian suddenly extended the document towards Danny, giving him a rather serious look. "Danny, can I trust you to deliver this to Carter down in the Analysis department? It's urgent."

Danny was surprised by this. All of a sudden, he was being given an urgent assignment? "Uh...sure! Right away dad!" he said, feeling a bit excited. He hastily accepted the papers, held them like it was the holy grail, and then hurried out of the room.

Cracking a small smile, Brian turned to Frank. "You know, he's a good kid. A bit odd or clumsy sometimes, but still good."

"You're right about that. After all..." Frank placed a hand on Brian's shoulder. "...He takes after his father."

Brian laughed. "Sure he does, Frank. Sure he does..."

At that moment, Danny came and poked his head into the staff room again, looking a bit lost. "Umm... Where IS the Analysis...place? I'm kinda...lost. Eheheh..."

Brian facepalmed. "Ugh. It's down on the first floor, two doors past the Testing Room. The door's marked with a big yellow "DANGER: RADIATION" sign, so you can't miss it," he said slowly, but snickered at that last description.

"Uhhh, thanks?" Danny said, a bit put-off. He knew his dad had to be joking...or was he? Needless to say, he did feel pretty silly about having to ask where the place was. "I'd better go slip on the HazMat suit then, eh? Eheh... Don't go canceling my life insurance on me now." He chuckled weakly and quickly left, saying nothing more.

Frank shook his head and laughed. "That clinches it; he really DOES take after you. Or is it the other way around? How can I tell..."

"Neither can I, Frank," Brian replied. "It's just one of life's little mysteries."

The two scientists sat down, and each went back to whatever they were doing before, be it reading a good magazine or having a sip of hot coffee, hoping that their small discovery in that document would yield promising results.

A/N: UPDATED: Phew, that's another revision done. Well, to those that haven't reviewed, please do so if the story takes your fancy!

Review where it's due, osha! Until next update, fare thee well!

-TheAuthorGl1m0