Author's Notes: I've decided to use past tense again.

Even though Bi had healed my friends up, exhaustion was still an issue, yet it was easily remedied by sleep. While my friends were all sound asleep around the small fire that was almost out, Bi was keeping an eye on us as she sat on a branch, hidden in the shadows.

As for me? Well, I was just lying on the ground, my head on Vixie's neck. I actually lost tracked of time. I think I've bee like this for two or so hours now...

...what? She's warm, and we're surrounded by snow, so I'm gonna need all of the heat I can get.

Evolution really healed my lethal injury though, and the adrenaline rush I had during the battle was yet to settle.

I sighed and quietly stared at the fire.

When that Weavile stabbed me on the neck, I slipped out from existing and went back to my world. I guess that proved the theory of mine that if I die here, I would wake up in my home world.

But eh, death doesn't sound fun. It sounds painful. And I don't want my brother to give me an earful if I die right now, ending the adventure. I rolled my eyes at that thought.

Hm... I wonder how many weeks have I been here. Months? I haven't spent a year here yet, and I don't plan to. I'm leaving, but I guess I can do every Pokémon here a favor and return the evolution power thingy to them before I go home.

Even if I was fighting to get back home, heh, I still enjoyed my time here. I mean, another world, where Pokémon exist? Hell, if only I didn't had any attachments back home, I sure as heck won't go back. My world sucked. Well, to be fair, this world wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be, but eh, I'll pick this over my world in a heartbeat, if only...

I sighed, and slowly rose up, careful not to wake Vixie or anyone up. I'm not sure if Bi was still awake, but eh... I quietly walked towards the trees, heading...nowhere. I guess I just felt like I needed a walk.

Back home, offline video games were the things that'd drain my energy so I could sleep during some sleepless nights I had in the city. Or I'll just visit 9gag. But recently, when I got here, I've been walking just to tire myself so I could sleep. Not walking far though, since I still need to return and sleep together with my friends. On the ground. Outside. Surrounded by things that could kill us. Sigh...

"Having trouble sleeping?"

I stopped and shrugged. "Eh," I turned and sat down as Vixie approached me. "Yeah."

She sat beside me and started licking her paw.

...and then it clicked on me. We're alone. Surrounded by trees and bushes. With no one else around.

...I'm doomed.

I gulped and slowly stood.

She stopped licking her paw and turned to me. "Hm? Where're you going?"

"Back," I lied. "I'm feeling tired now..."

I turned my back on her and began my walk back.

She sighed, making me stop. "Jay... Can we talk?"

...now or never? I can delay this, can't I? We're close to the mountain now. I wonder if that would make her even more desperate. With a sigh, I turned back and sat on the cold ground. "Okay. Shoot."

"I'm not gonna shoot fire at you."

...I closed my eyes...tightly. "...not what I meant." I opened them and looked at her. "Whatever. Anyway, go on..."

She blinked. She looked elsewhere. "Well, you said that you like me, right?"

Stop being cute, goddamn it! "Er...yes?"

She slowly looked back at me. "And um... You know that I like you too, right?"

I nodded, and internally sighed.

She frowned. "A-and Bi's here... Meaning..."

"It means that the gem-thing is close by, and we're gonna be having less days together now."

She hung her head, ears drooped.

"...t-that's assuming that they can really help me get back home."

And then we went quiet.

"Er...so..." I scratched my neck. "...b-but they can get me back home, right?"

She sighed and nodded.

I'll be back home. Back to my world. Back to work. Back to my brother.

...but I'll be leaving my friends here... I tried making my friends feel that I would always be with them even if I was already back home, like, during that time when Fay cried. Fay cried, and told me that she only wanted to see her friends to be happy. That was really unexpected, yet, I think I encouraged her to keep it up? I no longer remember...

...some friend I am. But anyway, that was my intention. Shock and I had a good talk during that sleepless night we both had.

...I'm not sure about Saur though. He's so quiet and calm, and has a good smile. I guess smiling back at him was enough, I hope.

...and then there's Vixie...

I sat beside her and patted her shoulder. "Vixie," I said. I blinked. I wanted to say something, anything, but I was drawing a blank.

She shook her head. "I can't force you to stay, Jay... That'd be selfish."

"Yeah, it does..." I earned a weak glare. "B-but...er..." Come on, brain! Think of something! "Uh..."

Vixie sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'll...miss you."

I sighed. Damn, hearing that hurts...a lot more than I expected. I sighed again. I've been sighing a lot lately. Then again, that was the only thing that I could do at the moment...

No, that was a lie. I do like her, and she does like me, too, but...

With another sigh, I gently pushed her head off of my shoulder. She didn't fight it. I took a deep breath, and licked her cheeks.

...and wow, did she blush. I swore she'd turn into a living fireball if she kept it up. Or at least her head would be on fire, like that ghostrider movie. ...I don't want that mental image right now.

She turned to me, eyes wide and mouth hung agape.

I chuckled nervously. "S-stop being cute, 'xie..."

"J-Ja-b-but you-ah?"

I chuckled again and leaned close, our nose touching. I guess I'll just...let it flow? Yeah. Let it flow, let it flow~ Can't hold it back an—yeah, whatever. "I'm the selfish one, 'xie..."

She blinked, still blushing hard.

"You only wanted to show me how much you like me, yet I kept on pushing you away..." I leaned back and shook my head. "It wasn't fair, right?"

"I..." She was still a mess... Poor girl.

I shrugged. "I...guess...what I'm...trying to say is...that..." ...and then I'm a nervous wreck as well. Good job, me. I looked elsewhere. Her eyes were making me too freaking nervous. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but heck, I could at least...give her something, right? S-something to remember me by?

"Jay?"

I gulped. "I...ah..." I looked back at her. "Would you...like to be...my girlfriend?"

Yes, or no. She'll be the one who'll decide. It's only fair, right? To me at least. She blinked, and blinked, probably thinking of an answer, yet if she really likes me, then the answer would have been pretty obvious. Then again, I kept on pushing her away, even after I told her that I liked her back at the lake.

Damn, the wait is killing me.

She opened her mouth, closed it. Opened, closed. "J-Jay?"

I gulped. I took a deep breath.

She blinked. "What's a girlfriend?"

...I fell on the ground on my side. Wow, that really ruined the moment. I chuckled quietly. "It means...mates, Vixie. I'm asking you if you wanted to be my mate..."

"Oh..." she blinked. "But we already are."

That made me blink. "Wait, what?" I sat back up. "Since when?"

She smiled...cutely. "Since you told me that you like me, silly."

I blinked. "...is that how things work here?"

She blinked. "What work?"

I sighed. "Never mind..."

She suddenly started nuzzling my neck. "Mm... But it was really nice to hear you say it, Jay."

Yeah, I bet it was.

She pulled back, and looked elsewhere with a shy smile. "D-does this mean...we can..."

I gulped. "I...er..."

"Vixie has a weird spring on her steps," Shock noted as we continued walking, Vixie unusually leading us in front with Bi. He turned to look at me. "While you walk like a Slugma..."

I sighed, ears drooping. "Go away, Shock..." I still can't believe we did it.

Fay chuckled. "Vixie is super extra happy today." She turned to me with a sly grin. "I wonder if something happened between you two last night," she said, with emphasis on those two words...

I glared at her, blushing.

Shock immediately caught on. "Wait... No way!"

"Yes way!" Fay chirped, and dashed after Vixie before I could stop her. "And I wanna hear all about it!"

I blushed even further as I grumbled.

Shock snickered. "Does that mean you'll be making me your kids stepdad?"

"I'm gonna murder you..."

"No need to be ashamed, Jay," Saur said. He was smiling ever so calmly. "You made her happy. And she's the happiest I've seen her yet."

I sighed through my nostrils. "But I didn't do it so our goodbye wouldn't...hurt her."

"Really?" Shock asked, looking skyward. "I find that hard to believe."

"Shut up, Shock."

"Still," the Pikachu patted my shoulder with a smile. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Gee, thanks..." I sighed.

"It felt wonderful, right?"

"Yeah, it was, actually..." I sighed, a bit dreamily. I blinked back to reality, and turned, seeing Shock snickering. "I'm gonna freaking murder you," I glared at him.

Saur shook his head with a smile.

Author's Notes: And for those who are curious about what Jay and Vixie did during that time skip, there's a fic of their "activity." It's rated 'M' for...obvious reasons. Just go to my profile and click [Four Paws - Private Moment]. I don't know how to add links here, or if we can.