I saw Clair busily fixing her gym's roof, along with other people and Pokémon. Even though the sun had already slept under the oce—er, mountains, they still kept at it, with flashlights, torches, and a few Pokémon that were either fire-types or those who knew the move Flash.

...I don't understand why fire-types couldn't learn the move Flash. They have fire, a freaking source of light! And they—bleah, whatever.

At least I'm a Pokémon at the moment. Somehow, Pokémon have better vision at night than humans. At least, as far as I remember when I was still a human during a blackout in the middle of the night.

Anyway, I found a small path up the mountain that led me down here in the city. Aside from the approaching darkness of the evening, I could easily avoid anyone's attention just by traveling behind houses, back yards, bushes, rocks, and that pile of thrash that the city seriously needed to get rid of.

There were a few Pokémon that spotted me though, but none of them really bothered to bother me. Still, it was really nice and weird walking in Blackthorn City.

I still didn't fully understand what that Skarmory had told me earlier today. Green Grey, was it? I can't just keep quiet and pretend that nothing happened like what Shock and Vixie did. I need to confront her about this and ask for her forgiveness. But how? She won't accept it. She gets angry. She avoids me. I need to come up with something, and the sooner, the better.

The lake was already up ahead. I already want this over already, so I quicken my pace and got there in a few minutes. I sat by the edge, close to the base of this tall and steep mountain. I could already notice the stars' reflection on the calm lake water as I looked around. I raised my nose up and sniffed the air. I got my friends' scents, though it was faint. Still, they were here.

I'm no dog, so I have no idea how to look for them. Maybe they were on the other side? The opposite edge of the lake was quite far, and it may take ten minutes or so of walking around the edge to get there. With a sigh, I stood up and began walking, all the while ignoring the faint swimming and gentle splashing noises from the lake. This is a city where the gym leader's a dragon-type user, so I wasn't really surprised to see silhouettes of Dratinis in the lake.

Now that I thought about it, I wonder why I was the only Pokémon here by the lake. Are Dratinis carnivours? Well, they are dragons after all. Just to be on the safe side, I distanced myself from the edge and continued my walk.

I'm starting to get nervous, and I could barely contain it. But I needed to calm myself if I want this issue to be resolved by the two of us, or with the help of our friends. I just hope their presence won't make me even more nervous than I already am.

Hm... I could try with a simple yet heartfelt apology...and then what? Sigh... I guess I'll just have to go with the flow of how things will work out. At least I know how to begin.

...suddenly, a Dratini crawled out of the water a few feet ahead. It crawled like a snake for a few seconds before it noticed my presence. It stopped, turned, and blinked at me. "...hello?" a female, if her calm and girly voice was of any indication.

"Er...hi?" I awkwardly replied back.

She crawled, or slithered, towards me, and stopped two feet or so in front of me. "Can I eat you?"

I blinked... "Er... Figuratively or literally speaking?" ...wait, what?! I violently shook my head. "No to both, sorry."

A stomach growled, and it clearly wasn't mine. "Aw..." the Dratini squirmed, and sighed. "...berries for tonight again..."

I chuckled at my shy predator. "I don't like them either." And then a thought. "Oh hey, before you go, have you seen a Rattata, a Pikachu, a Bulbasaur and possibly a Vulpix around here?"

The Dratini shook her head. "I don't know. I just woke up..."

"Ah...well, thanks anyway."

And she slithered towards the city. Dragon types are rare 'mons, right? Well, I guess they're quite common in a dragon city. I wonder if that would make Fay a rare 'mon. Then again, no one paid her any attention when she ran through the many humans earlier.

I continued my walk, still busy with my thoughts, and soon enough, I saw my friends hidden behind a tall bush, near a tree, a few feet from both the lake and the base of the mountain. They sat in a circle, chatting and eating berries.

Fay was the first to notice my approach. "Oh! There's Jay!"

Vixie was the only one who didn't turn to see me.

Shock stood up and grinned. "We thought the Dratinis ate you already."

"He might as well have been," Vixie whispered all too loudly.

Saur sighed, while Shock sighed with rolling eyes. At least Fay found it funny.

"Whatever happened to the two of you up there, anyway?" Shock asked as I sat beside him. He sat and took a berry. "Vixie was crying us a river as soon as she got to us!"

"Huh," I tilted my head to the side. "No wonder that Dratini I met early said that the lake got bitter..."

Vixie growled.

My ears drooped. "Sorry... Poor attempt at trying to lighten the mood." ...and a poor attempt to start apologizing...again... Sigh...

"I'll light you up if I could..." Vixie sharply whispered back.

...she was getting annoying. I shook my head and turned to Shock again. I suppose there was no point in dancing around the issue. "We broke up."

Shock rolled his eyes. "Obviously."

I deadpanned. "Then why ask in the first place?"

He shrugged. "Just making sure."

I nodded at him anyway, and then turned to Vixie. As I said, there was no point in dancing around the issue. "Vixie, I'm sorry, okay?"

...no answer. Saur and Shock thought it might be best to not say anything. Even Fay stopped smiling, and just concentrate on staring at a berry.

"Look, I don't want us to have this...er...bad air between us."

"You two forgot to take a bath?" ...lame joke, Fay. Saur sighed, Shock facepawed, and Vixie groaned.

I ignored our little rat friend. "Please, Vixie... I'm sorry. You of all peop—er, Pokémon know that I'm a human! Was, anyway, but I'm fixing that!"

"'We're'..." Saur quietly corrected.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry. Yes, we're fixing that! I kept on trying to tell you that I just want us to be friends! Just friends!" I stood up and approached her.

She wasn't facing me before, and she still wasn't, and she growled.

I didn't care. I stopped a few inches in front of her. "B-but..." I stared on the ground, fighting the nervousness away. "...things change...over time..." I took a deep breath and faced her. ...like I said, there was no point dancing around it...so I'm gonna say it. "Vixie, I l—"

"Fight me," she faced me with a sharp glare.

I blinked. "W-what?"

And as sudden as she broke my train of thought, she broke the peaceful silence with a burst of flame.

I jumped back, barely dodging the fiery inferno. It only lasted for a second or two, and Vixie was gone!

I heard my other friends' late gasping reactions.

I turned... At least, I tried to, until something fast slammed against my side, throwing me at the roots of a tree. "Ack!" Skidding to a stop on my other side, I looked up and saw Vixie glaring at me. She attacked me? She just attacked me! And now she was running towards me!

I scrambled back to my feet...paws! Whatever! I couldn't think straight at the moment! I managed to jump away in time. If I didn't, then I'd instead be on the receiving end of a fiery wave of fire. The tree will survive that, hopefully.

"W-what the hell?! Vixie?!"

She vanished yet again.

"Gah!"

She knocked me to my side, and quickly dove down and bit my neck from behind.

I felt her fangs dug under my skin, and felt something warm rolling from her bite down to my neck... I was about to black out then and there, but I took a sharp breath and blindly kicked my paws around. I think I kicked something.

She yelped and lost her grip and as well as her balance.

I jumped away and turned to her in panic. "W-were you trying to kill me?!" I asked that stupid question as I tried to ignore the numbing pain on my neck.

"That's the plan," she snarled as she quickly got back on her paws, and then fired a thin yet fast wave of fire at me.

I jumped to the side and quickly dug both my front paws on the ground.

She breathed out fire at me again.

I threw both my paws up, creating a thin shield of earth. ...in all honesty, it was easier to jump away than doing what I just did...

As soon as the earth and smoke settled, she was gone once again.

"Oh, for the love of—" I quickly pulled myself down against the earth, and just in time, too.

Vixie yelped as she stepped on my back. Obviously, she failed to anticipate what I just did. She slipped, and still having the speed, slammed face-first on the ground on my other side, and rolled all the way to the scorched tree.

I stood on all four and quickly ran towards her.

She quickly got up.

I jumped, landed on her back, and pinned her down. "Stop this!"

She struggled to get away. "Get off of me!"

I quickly forced her to roll on her back, so she could face me better. I quickly pinned her shoulders down before she could escape. "Vixie, listen to me!"

She breathed a thick streak of fire at my face, and she really let it all out and it lasted more than I thought. But she gasped when she finally stopped.

I deadpanned, my mouth starting to hurt as I kept it open to hold this water ball in front of my face. I dunno, but I guess I could use a few elemental moves even while being an Eevee. I managed to spit fire that one time from Fay's dare. I looked ahead and 'willed' the ball to fire itself, and it launched itself somewhere I didn't care. With that out of the way, I sighed, and slowly looked at Vixie again.

She was looking away, still angry, and breathing deep and fast.

I sighed yet again. "Vixie..." I closed my eyes as I suddenly felt how tired I was. Not just physically though... I slowly moved my head, and let it rest on her neck. "I..."

...no point dancing around it anymore...

"...love you..."

She stopped breathing hard. ...actually, it seemed like she stopped breathing at all.

"...and that's why I...I-I don't want us to be...mates..." ...that's the Pokémon equivalent of a boyfriend slash girlfriend, right?

"...w-wh...?"

"...I'm leaving soon, Vixie... You know that..." I sighed as I slowly move back so she could move again. Our position earlier was hella awkward, anyway. I sat down and sighed as she slowly sat up, shock and disbelief still painted clearly on her face. "I...don't...want...to hurt you...physically, or emotionally... T-that's why I—"

"...kept your distance?" she asked, her eyes started to water.

I hung my head, and nodded weakly.

"...kept on telling me that you're not interested? Kept on pushing me away? Kept on—"

"I get it, I get it," I interrupted her through gritted teeth and with a slight tone of annoyance. "No need to make me feel even more guilty..."

I heard Shock chuckle from far away. Oh yeah...why didn't they stop us from fighting, anyway? I turned and shot the three of them a glare.

I took a breath and sighed through my nostrils, and turned back to the matter at hand.

Vixie already hung her head, sobbing quietly that even I didn't notice while I wasn't looking.

I took a sad breath and slowly approached her, and gently leaned my head on her. Cats do that all the time back at home. They even put rub their head on my bent knee for some strange reason. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

She sniffed, audible this time. "...hate you..."

I sighed... "I know..."

She slowly moved her head back, and I pulled mine back as well. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. She took a breath, and sighed, and looked at me. "...c-can't you stay?"

I shook my head. "Believe me, I'd love to... I just...can't..."

"Why not?" Fay asked from behind as she and the rest of our friends finally reached us.

...I haven't told them yet, huh? Now that I thought about it, it kinda was unfair for them not to know... With a sigh, I looked at them with sad eyes as I gathered my thoughts about why I really need to return.

I was about to start when we heard faint yet fast footsteps that was getting louder and louder. We turned and saw humans rushing towards us, probably wondering what happened here. Shock and Saur led us somewhere, Fay followed them. I helped Vixie up on her paws and we then followed our friends.

When we find a good place to rest, I'm gonna tell them the reason why I need to return home.

...my brother still needs me back home.