That ridiculous Shinx is going to get himself killed someday.

I shake my head as I approach the infirmary built into Peter's laboratory. As I pass the living room, I question whether or not Peter has a complete understanding of the term "laboratory" for the tenth time today.

When I finally arrive at the infirmary, I find that the Gardevoir is upright in her bed, watching the heart monitor with her hands pressed to her chest, undoubtedly feeling her own heartbeat as it is displayed as a sine wave on the screen. Or is it a cosine wave? I don't know, Peter explained it a while back when I was still a curious Riolu, but I've forgotten now...

I lean against the door frame, not wanting to interrupt the Pokémon's morphine-induced wonder as to the nature of the device before her. She begins to extend her hand towards the monitor, and I frown as I decide it's time to interrupt.

"Don't touch that," I caution her – perhaps a little more sternly than I should have, as she turns around in shock. Her eyes go wide as she sees me – well, wider than they already are given the drugs in her system – and her fear is evident. I hold up my hands as I approach.

"Sorry – I didn't mean to startle you," I explain. "I only came to check on you. My name is Lucario." I force a smile as I introduce myself, silently hoping that she can still understand the universal language of Pokémon – which still doesn't have a name, oddly enough. I slowly approach and hold out my paw, using my own energy to read her Aura, resulting in glowing palms and eyes.

Unfortunately, the glowing body parts I'm exhibiting seem to scare her, as she inches away from me on her bed. I sigh as I let the energy flow settle, and carefully explain what I'm trying to do. After a while, she nods in understanding, either unable or unwilling to speak.

As I scan her Aura, I pay special attention to her chest spike. Her chest spike had been fractured where it connects to the sternum. I helped Peter hold the protrusion in its proper position while he applied the pins to hold down the errant bits and pieces. According to Peter, it's one of the most sensitive parts of the body, as it helps channel their psychic powers. Or something like that.

I'm vaguely aware of Peter walking by the room, and based on Shinx's excited hops, I can only assume that Peter is getting dinner ready. I hope he makes seared fish tonight, it was so damn good...

I return my focus to the matter on hand as I continue to observe the Gardevoir's body. When I'm done, I lower my palms and look at the Pokémon's face for some sort of reaction. Apparently, my scan must have been very soothing, as she's fallen unconscious.

What can I say? I've always been a lady pleaser. I smirk to myself, and leave the smirk there as I silently let my self-hatred fester deep within my soul.

When I die, that joke will be the greatest of my regrets.

I silently retreat from the room, letting the Pokémon sleep. While I may have been at a disagreement with Peter over how to deal with the dilemma of being unable to use her for the study, there are certain things that Peter decides – and dealing with this is definitely one of them, and I'm not about to challenge him on it. If we're going to take her into our family, she should be cared for.

I smile as I shut the light. I like to think of the three of us as a family – even if two of the three are incredibly infuriating. With that in mind, I head to dinner with a smile.

"You know, you could put that book down while we eat," I telepathically remind Peter. He grunts as he flips through it, absentmindedly shoving a forkful of pasta into his mouth. I sigh as I bite off a good chunk of meat from my chicken. Oh, so good...

I don't get why most people assume Pokémon are herbivores. Peter used to always tell me about the various going-ons with Pokémon of my species – and still does. A while back, a pack of wild Lucario snuck into a farm with a few Charmanders and killed half of the livestock there, using moves like Flamethrower to cook the meat before eating it. And some of those crazy vegetarians still go around asking "if Pokémon don't eat meat, why should we?"

I'm fine with vegetarians, don't get me wrong – I just hate when they try to force their ideas onto us. Seriously, I love eating meat – if there's a moment of the day when I'm not shoving hot, juicy meat into my mouth, it's a moment of the day spent poorly.

Wait...that sounds kind of...

"Yeah, but I've got a really good lead," Peter replies, interrupting my musing. Thank Arceus. "I've been reading through Professor Maple's studies, and I think I've found a pretty big loophole..."

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued. My ears perk up in excitement, an undoubtedly imposing display of their height. I take a forkful of pasta, enjoying the contrast of starch and light cheese to meat.

"Yeah – apparently, according to Professor Maple's 'studies'," he uses air quotes at that, and rightly so, "if a Pokémon is released and left to fend for itself, it will...let's see...ah – it will 'regress into its previous, wild state after at least two months, thus losing its remarkably human traits.'" I nod, completely understanding what he's getting at.

"So, depending on how Gardevoir has been released for, we might have a clean slate to work with after all."

"Exactly," Peter replies with a grin. "And now, it's just a matter of determining if there's some sort of way we can stop other Trainers from capturing her, without using our own Pokéball..."

"Wait, why would you want to do that?" I nearly drop my fork as I stare at him. "Don't tell me that we're still going to travel!"

"We are!" He chirps, confirming my greatest fear.

He truly is the biggest moron on the planet.

"This is ridiculous – we don't have to travel, so why should we?" I put the fork down, mostly so that I don't drop it in my lap and end up stabbing myself.

"Because we can, and we've barely seen any of the region, and it'd be easier to observe her personality on the move and in the wild: make it more valid, in a way." He continues to rattle off ideas, but I just put my head in my hands and sigh.

"Uh...you okay, Lucario?"

"Peter...I swear to Arceus, Mew, and every human god there is...I'm going to kill you someday."

"Aww, thanks," he responds, sweetly. I growl as I restrain the urge to lunge across the table and bite his fucking head off. "Hey, look at it like this: we could find you a nice female Lucario while we're out there."

I look at him, blushing in all shades of red. I'm left absolutely speechless, and my face continues to grow hotter and hotter before I bury my face back into my paws in embarrassment. I hear him laughing, and I silently let my hatred fester.

I eat in silence, trying to ignore him. After dinner, I stretch and yawn, and thank him for the food before remembering that I'm not talking to him. We watch television, check on the Gardevoir (who is still unconscious), put off checking her "release date" until tomorrow, and go to bed.

I sigh as I enter my bedroom. I've got to admit, no matter how much of a dumb prick Peter can be sometimes, he can be really cool sometimes. Like giving me my own bedroom.

I don't care how old I grow. I will still love this bedroom and everything in it. Mostly because it has a plasma screen television and a PlayStation. I would play the Wii, but...I always manage to break the Wii-Mote. In fact, I think Peter just left the final Wii-Mote in the wall and painted over it.

I flop into bed, and decide to watch an episode of Married with Children before falling asleep. I'd rather fall asleep with a smile, rather than the perpetual frown that Peter causes me to wear.

As I slowly drift into sleep, chuckling absentmindedly at the jokes and more subtle comedy, I find myself anticipating what the future holds. While I may not want to travel, it's hard to deny that it's exciting.

I guess I'll just have to wait to see what tomorrow brings, then.