Chapter 5

The next morning I started to wake up from my slumber but something suddenly sent up warning flags when I felt someone or something against my back and something in front of me. I slowly opened the eye closest to the ground and what I saw frightened me slightly because just a foot away from my head was Serenity's head and when I slowly lowered my gaze I nearly jumped because she had snuggled up to me and worked her way into my arms so that they were wrapped around her waist. I moved slightly back but that movement only earned me a poke on the back as I found out without looking that Jake was sleeping behind me with his back spike pointed towards me. I tapped into my psychic powers and gently lifted Serenity up enough to free my arms then I placed her down. After that I got up and made it to the tunnel. I look back at Serenity only to see that she was trying to find my warmth while still asleep then she felt the warm spot and rolled over onto it and curled up into a small ball. I smiled at this but then a frown made it's way onto my lips. I couldn't believe what I was about to do but it was the only way I could think of to keep them safe. I turned around and walked down the tunnel until I reached the main cave. I was surprised to see a Chansey moving around the cave cleaning and preparing what I assumed was breakfast.
"Good morning. Caleb right?"
"Yes and good morning to you to ms. Chansey."
"what are you doing up so early?"
"I'm normally an early riser."
"Oh ok. Why don't you take a seat and have some breakfast."
"Alright."
I awkwardly tried to sit on a stump next to a raised slab of rock and waited patiently for the Chansey. After a few minutes she came to the makeshift table and put two plates with Oran berries and a single Pecha berry each. She moved one over to me while she sat down herself with the other plate. We silently ate the meal and when my plate was about half gone she looked at me with a sad but serious look.
"Please don't do what I know you are going to do and leave those two."
Her statement made me choke on the Oran berry I was eating and caused a series of coughs before I regained my composure.
"What do you mean."
My attempt to avoid the confrontation went down in flames when she gave me the 'are you serious?' look.
"Your joking right? It's obvious you were going to leave those two behind for their safety."
I lowered my head in shame.
"How did you know?"
"it was pretty obvious with you trying to be silent to get out of the cave."
I sheepishly scratched the back of my head when she brought up the valid point. I let out a sigh as I knew that there was no way I was going to slip past her.
'Sigh' "Yes I was trying to sneak out of the cave to protect them from what I was assigned to do by Arceus himself."
"I can see the reason behind that but you don't have to do this by yourself. They are your friends. They can help you."
After a few minutes of silence with me going over what she said then I made a choice.
"Alright I'll stay and when the time comes they will come with me."
"That is good to hear. Now go ahead and finish your breakfast as I can imagine the other two will be up soon."
I only nodded my head before I went back to my breakfast. It didn't take long before we both heard a panicked Kirlia wake up to find that someone was missing. We heard the pitter-patter of Jack's paws and the sound of a dress fluttering before we both saw Jack and Serenity running down the tunnel. When they reached the edge of the tunnel they froze when they saw me. They looked like they had been hit with a mean look attack. I just waved my bladed arm and motioned for them to sit down at the stone table. They quickly recovered and sat down at the table next to me. We sat there quietly until Chansey brought over two plates for Serenity and Jack. When Serenity saw that there were only two plates she was about to voice the mistake to Chansey that she forgot one for me but I stopped her by raising my hand up.
"It's alright Serenity. I already ate."
It looked like she accepted that answer as she went back to eating her berries. After a few silent minutes they both had finished their breakfast and it was at this time that Serenity spoke.
"I thought you had left us behind to protect us from the dangers of what your mission brought with it."
"To tell you the truth I was considering it but Chansey made a good point and that made me rethink it over and I decided to stay."
There was nothing but absolute silence as Serenity silently sat next to me then she did the last thing I thought she would ever do. She leaned over and gave me a hug. Because of the height difference she was hugging my midsection and after a minute of her hugging me I brought my arm down and returned the hug. Then she raised her head slightly and spoke softly, "Don't you ever leave me."
"I would never dream of it Serenity."
We continued our hug for another few minutes then she started to glow. She quickly got up and backed away as the light intensified. The light continued to grow in brightness and slightly blinded all of us then the source of the light grew to about my height and from the waist down a cone shape formed. After a few more minutes the light died down to reveal that Serenity had evolved into a Gardevoir. I just stared at her as I took in every detail of her transformation from her slim body to her new dress. Her spike had grown a bit from her chest and with my psychic powers I could feel her now heightened psychic powers. The most noticeable thing was that her green hair turned light green towards the end. Jack and Chansey went over to congratulate Serenity on her evolution while I sat there stunned.
"Congratulations Serenity on evolving."
"Thank you Chansey."
"Now I really have to pick up on my training so that I can catch up with you two eh Serenity?"
"Yes you will little Jack."
"I am not little! I'm practically the same age as you!"
"Your still little."
"Argh"
Jack charged towards her and tried to swipe at her but she just had to hold her hand out and hold his head. It was comical as he struggled against her hand while at the same time swiping at open air. Everyone was laughing but one person, me. I sat at the table staring at Serenity as I sat there stunned. After a few minutes she noticed that I was staring and she blushed slightly. When I saw that it snapped me out of my trance and I looked away blushing slightly. Both of our actions didn't go unnoticed by Jack and Chansey as Chansey silently picked Jack up, much to his dislike, and whispered into his ear, "Let's leave these two alone." then they left towards the sleeping cavern. Once they were gone I awkwardly stood up and came closer to Serenity.
"Congratulations on Evolving Serenity."
Her blush intensified slightly as she swung her hands back and forth twirling her dress.
"It was all thanks to you Caleb. I couldn't have evolved with out you."
"Now we both know that's not true."
"True. I guess I got the experience I needed even if it was unintentional."
Her blush got even brighter as she remembered the incident with the protect and my blush increased as well. There was nothing but complete silence as the two of us just stood there and stared at each other. She unconsciously started to move towards me and as she got closer I could see a look in her eyes that I've never seen before.
"Caleb?"
"Yes?"
"Do you love me?"
The question felt like getting hit with a nuclear bomb in my world as I stood there stunned by the question. But I quickly recovered and spoke from my heart.
"Serenity I do love you and to tell you the truth I kind of fell in love with you when we first met."
That seemed to be the answer she wanted as she gave me a hug while being mindful of our spikes then she did something else I didn't expect, yet I should have seen it coming, she gave me a passionate kiss. I returned the kiss while returning the hug. We stayed like that for a few minutes. We were suddenly interrupted by a new voice, "What in Arceus's name is going on here!"