The Ice Path was a place many trainers dreaded when headed to Blackthorn City to challenge Clair. For years, it was quite literally the only way to get into the city from route 44 on foot. During the industrial age of Blackthorn City, some twenty years ago, the quaint mountain village was transformed into much more of a modern city, despite the protests of ex-champion Lance and his cousin, the Blackthorn Gym leader Clair. Pokémon Leagues simply didn't hold the kind of weight they used to. The world was changing, and battling was seemingly on the way out, what with some regions completely cracking down on Pokémon battling outside of registered gym matches. Johto and Kanto, fortunately, hadn't been faced with that. Yet.

The dreaded Ice Path was now an optional stop, for only the most serious of trainers (so of course, it was where Gray had told them they'd be spending most of their time until Ade was ready). Atena raised a brow at the entrance to the cave as they passed it, traveling up the mountainside that had been carved into for convenience. The top of the mountain had a resort area, primarily for skiing in the winter, and gondola rides that carried passengers from the top of the mountain all the way down to the middle of Blackthorn City.

She'd seen images of what the city had looked like fifty years ago, and "city" had been a very generous title. Three huts, a local mart, a center, and a gym didn't make a city, that didn't even make a village. It had barely expanded until twenty years ago. Now it was unrecognizable, with skyscrapers tucked away into the relatively small valley. The only place that didn't seem touched was the famed Dragon's Den, and the area around its entrance, though that was probably due to historical and cultural value instead of anything to do with the Pokémon League.

The ascent up the mountain was what they'd needed that third break for, at least for some. Going up was never as easy as going down. The only team member that seemed happy about the upward march was Ade, whose tail wagged as he ran up and down the steps ahead of them. In fact, Seidon had been so upset by the unending walk that he'd start hurling boulders about haphazardly until Gray recalled him to his pokéball to calm down (and get some rest). Sui sailed overhead, and Ares trudged behind Gray. Runa had thrown a non-destructive fit by silently protesting at the bottom of the path until she too was recalled to her ball Atena, meanwhile, hovered her way up. Gardevoir were fairly notorious for a lot of things, but something they never seemed to get much credit on was their relationship with gravity. Or rather, the lack of relationship. It wasn't something that affected any gardevoir she'd ever met, nor did it affect her. If the ground were to suddenly collapse beneath them, she'd either be left floating above it, or would start slowly hovering down into the cave-in. She was probably having the easiest time of all of them, maybe aside from Seidon and Runa.

Once at the mountain's peak, Atena stopped for a moment to stare at the city ahead of them. Even at this height, some of those skyscrapers were still at a higher altitude. She noticed Gray had stopped to stare as well, his chest heaving as he placed his hands on his hips. "Who wants to gondola down?" He asked after several moments of silence.

They boarded a gondola a few minutes later. At this time of year, the gondola was active, but not often used, letting them have the car to themselves. Sui perched herself on top of the car as Gray, Ares, Atena, and Ade got situated inside.

It began to move, riding shakily from the top of the mountain and down toward the middle of Blackthorn City. Atena silently hoped they'd ride this again to get back up the mountain on their way to the Ice Path. She stood at one of the windows, hands against a support bar as she stared through the pane at the sides of the mountains. Briefly, she could spot glimpses of wild Pokémon through the trees below. It was quite beautiful from here, seeing the world as it was. Even the city had a beauty to it, though of a different context. It might have even been romantic, especially if it were just her and Gray on board. Alas, privacy with him was a rare commodity. It was one of the many reasons why she cherished their private, telepathic communications.

Atena found her gaze had shifted toward her trainer, who was at the far end of the car, staring out at the approaching city, Ares seated beside him, eyes closed in quiet contemplation, no doubt meditating. He wasn't like either of them in their wonder and awe. Ade, however, was running circles, making ghostly yips and yaps.

Maybe there was still some opportunity here, to capitalize on the romance...

[It's beautiful, isn't it?]

She watched his shoulders tense slightly, before relaxing. He always did that when she initiated a conversation with him. She used to feel bad about it, but after a while, she had accepted he didn't mind it very much, and she had very little ways of warning she was about to establish a telepathic link.

[You don't mean the city, do you?] He replied, his tone humored. Atena blinked, before she inwardly groaned. She'd been talking about the mountainside, and had gotten so wrapped up in staring at her trainer that she'd forgotten where he was looking. While she found a certain beauty with cities, Gray did not. He despised them. In truth, he hated anything man-made, and loathed interacting with other humans. She didn't know the story there, had never asked him, believing it was too personal and too private to try. Even Ares didn't know.

[Come over here,] she decided to reply with. [Look at the mountain.]

Gray turned, and his eyes briefly locked with hers, just like under the tree earlier. It made her heart flutter, but it was short-lived as his eyes turned to the mountainside, and he left his window to join her at hers.

[You're right. Much prettier.] He agreed, staring at the relatively untouched beauty. He didn't seem to notice she was staring at him, or that her gaze dropped to his hand. The desperation she felt at the prospect of holding it in hers, such a simple act, was almost unbearable. Atena wasn't even certain if she could form a proper relationship with another Pokémon, not just because of her unlawful infatuation to a human, but also because of how many romance novels she'd read. It had warped her perception of romance, and what to expect and desire from it. It was a human perspective on love, one that she'd adopted as her own. Thanks to that, she doubted she could ever have romance with non-humans in a way that would be satisfying for her partner or for her. Especially for her. She cringed at her thoughts, suddenly feeling like she was betraying Gray by even considering relationships without him. She was forced to remind herself that her lust was purely one-sided, and she'd need to face reality sooner or later.

Still. She found herself almost unable to keep her hand down, as it was twitching, fighting the urge to move and grasp his.

She briefly accepted the fact that she was the textbook definition of a simp.

[What?]

Atena paused, feeling her blood chill. She'd forgotten to cut her telepathic link to him before battling with her inner thoughts—how much of that had he heard!?

[What do you mean?] She replied with, her heart racing into her throat.

[You called yourself a simp.]

Oh. If that was all he heard...

His gaze turned to her, a brow raising in some concern, though mostly confusion. She tried to casually wipe the cold sweat off her brow, and gave him a reassuring grin, though it might have been a little too wide.

[Yeah! You know, for nature. For... views like this. I'm a real... simp for it...]

Ugh, that word was already something she didn't care for already. She found herself sincerely hoping it wouldn't come back up in conversation again. Gray's expression, however, maintained some concern.

[Uh, alright,] he said, and gave a small chuckle out loud, before he looked back out at the mountainside. Unfortunately, a skyscraper passed in front of the view, blocking it out. Gray cleared his throat, before he sat down at the seat in front of them. She mimicked him, sitting down beside him, trying her best not to stare too much. If she was writing a romance novel about her own life, she'd have already failed tremendously. Nobody wants to read about a love story that doesn't even kick off after like, eight years of build-up. Slow burners are good, but that's excessive.

She glanced over at Ares, getting the feeling he was looking at her, and her feeling paid off. He was staring at her with his usual, stoic expression. How long had he been looking? One of his brows slowly raised up a hair, and she felt her face flush. He'd been staring long enough, apparently. He knew what was going through her mind.

It wasn't exactly a secret that she was crushing on their trainer. Well, it was a secret to her, but Ares was far too observant to let that slip under his nose, and Atena felt confident that Runa and Sui had some recognition of the one-sided attraction. Fortunately, none of them could communicate with Gray like she could, or else she was certain Runa would have spilled the beans ages ago, just for shits and giggles.

She stuck out her tongue at Ares, who blinked slowly back in response, unimpressed. Atena shook her head before looking away, accidentally putting her face right in the firing range of Ade's tongue as he licked at her face, having leapt up onto the seat beside her. She pushed his face away, and he bounded off, before doing a little doggy dance in the middle of the car.

Gray let out a short laugh at her misfortune, making her flushed face a shade more red, and she tried to wipe off the slobber. Even Ares looked somewhat humored.

"Hey, hey," Gray spoke out loud, catching Atena's attention. She stopped wiping to find he'd pulled a rag out of his pocket. He didn't use it too often, but most recently for Ade's slobber. Atena felt like one of the pages of her romance novels had just leapt into reality as he doted over her, lovingly wiping the slobber of her face. She was fully aware his current affection wasn't the type she craved, but it was affection nonetheless, and she could feel heat rising within her again. It was over too soon, however, as he pulled the rag away and stowed it back into his pocket.

She tried to quell a deep breath, not realizing she'd been holding it the entire time. He gave her a grin, before he turned his head to look at the drop-off point they were riding into. The gondola experience was over too soon. Atena's gaze flitted back over to Ares, who was still staring at her, but his one eyebrow was raised another hair higher. She rolled her eyes at him before she stood up with Gray as they pulled into the station.

It was easy to forget how much the city stunk when you spent almost all your time in the wild, and Blackthorn was no different. If she had a physical nose, she would have wrinkled it. Instead, the horns on either side of her head acted as receptors for sound and smell. She wished she could control that as much as her psychic and empathic abilities.

For obvious and understandable reasons, Gray wasn't comfortable in the city, enough to call Sui and Ade into their balls to keep them close and accounted for, leaving only Ares and Atena out. They were the most trustworthy of the team, not to mention the most capable. He trusted they could handle themselves better than the others. Plus, they weren't as unpredictable as the others, so that was probably a bonus.

Atena followed closely behind Gray as they left the boarding zone for the gondola, and marched onto the streets of Blackthorn City. It had grown into quite the bustling place, with people milling all about. Despite the city's size, it was still confined to the valley, so traffic from the likes of cars was sparse, as walking from one end of the city to the other was at least 30 minutes. Their destination was simple; the nearest Pokémart, and maybe a general store, before making their way back. It was here that Gray pulled out an extra backpack, which was often used for battle supplies and additional food, but when empty would be stored away. Ares accepted the bag, being the physically more able of the three, and they set out. First they hit the mart, stocking up on potions, antidotes, paralyze heals, and the likes, before they made their way to a general store for snacks, other supplies, and a new charger, as Gray's Pokédex charger was beginning to wear out.

To the gardevoir's satisfaction, everything was running relatively smoothly, Ares's pack filling up with the new goods, before they headed back for the gondola. Even if anybody with bad intentions had spotted them, not many would willingly go for somebody with a six foot tall firebird walking beside them.

Just a block away from the gondolas, Gray paused, bringing their little caravan to a halt. His head was turned to the right. Atena followed his gaze to find he was looking at a pizza joint called "DRAGON PIZZA." Not very creative, in her opinion, but most everything is this place centered around dragon type Pokémon, so it wasn't unwarranted.

Using her empathy, she could feel hunger and reluctant desire on her trainer's mind. He used to love pizza, but over time, he'd slowly cut out manufactured human foods, removing pizza, fast food, even most sandwiches from his diet. He was peculiar about his interactions with the human side of the world, even through his food, but it was evident here that there were still some qualities to the human world he enjoyed.

"I've had Dragon Pizza before," Gray told them, now biting his cheek. "My dad used to get it every time he..."

Atena's eyebrows raised in surprise, and she turned her head to Ares, sharing a look with him, not having expected a rare instance of Gray sharing a bit about his past. The emotions he was exerting now were of love, nostalgia, and a sad longing. Almost loneliness. The Embrace Pokémon pursed her thin lips, before she stepped to her trainer's side, glancing down at his hand. Perhaps it was because her intent and desire was different, but she suddenly felt the confidence required to reach over... and grasp his hand in hers. His fingers were rough and calloused, as was his palm. There were some scabs from cuts on the back of his hand. They felt powerful, for a human at least. They contrasted heavily with his smooth arms, despite their toned features. She had to keep her eyes from wandering, and focused on her intent. Squeezing his hand in hers, she took a step forward, and nudged him to follow with a simple pull.

It took him a moment, but he seemed to register her after a few moments, and his hand tightened comfortably around hers. "What?" He asked, his voice nearly cracking, forcing him to clear his throat. She tugged on his arm. "In there? No, we—there's no—come on."

She tugged his arm again.

He felt as conflicted as he looked. She knew he hated it when she did this, communicated with him without speaking, but her empathic abilities were practically screaming at her to take her trainer into this place, and eat a slice of pizza. She had no idea what it might do, if it might heal some wound he had, but her instincts had never failed her before. This simply felt like the right thing she could do for him.

Perhaps a small part of him understood that too, as he didn't pull his hand from hers, nor did he pull back as she slowly tugged him along, the entire interaction watched with mild interest from the quiet blaziken beside them.

Finally, Gray relented with a sigh, then a chuckle. "I hate it when you do this."

She gave him a somewhat wry smirk, before tugging on his arm once more.

"Okay, okay," he shook his head, and gulped, the two stepping in stride toward the pizza joint. She could feel the waves of anxiety pulsing off of Gray in heavy doses. It was a rare thing to feel from him. His demeanor was usually so put-together, he often could keep himself from exerting any notable emotions outside of his general happy go-lucky vibe. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, which seemed to calm him, if only a bit. Ares followed the two in.

Gardevoir handled the ordering, telepathically scaring the fuck out of the heavy-set man at the cashier, who'd previously looked about to doze off. Her voice in his head certainly prevented that. After he'd calmed down, he took the simple order of a pepperoni pizza (Gray's favorite, she knew, from the times he used to eat pizza.)

She sat her trainer down at a nearby booth, and slid in beside him. Ares sat in the seat across from them, still watching in curiosity. It wasn't often that Atena would let her instincts take over like this, but when she did, strange and wonderful things tended to follow.

His hand still hadn't left hers, and she found herself growing very comfortable with the contact. It was something she absolutely could get used to. But those thoughts could wait, she had to take care of her trainer. Dragon Pizza obviously was linked to some past trauma for Gray, at least linked to his dad, who she knew was a source of trauma for her trainer. When their pizza came, Atena did what she could to clear her trainer's thoughts enough to get him to focus enough to eat. He'd been allowing himself to get swallowed up in memories that she didn't want to intrude on the privacy of.

The feeling of hunger and desire returned. Atena nudged Gray, before she nodded to the pizza before them. His stomach growled in response. "Right, yeah," he said. "Just... trying to prepare my stomach. This'll mess it up, heheh..." He chuckled nervously.

Atena was genuinely curious at how he could be this reluctant to something like this. His trauma, or external link to it, had to be pretty strong to get this sort of reaction out of her trainer, who was usually so high-spirited and goal-oriented. She gave his hand a squeeze. His anxiety calmed again, noticeably more than before. To her disappointment, he removed his hand from hers to grab a pizza slice. "We'll all do it together," he said.

Ares gave a simple nod, and took a slice for himself. Atena followed suit, telekinetically picking one up to hover toward her face. She wasn't keen on the grease getting on her hands.

They all took a bite at the same time. Then, Gray and Atena both shook their arms as the pizza burned their tongues. Atena spit it out, catching it with her mind, but Gray stubbornly kept it in his mouth, quickly trying to chew it as he patted the table rapidly, eyes watering. Ares looked on with an air of superiority as he calmly chewed.

Once Gray had swallowed, he wiped at his eyes, before chuckling. "Wow, couldn't have told me it was hot, could you, Ares?" He joked. Atena smiled, feeling the usual Gray had returned. He blew on the slice before he took another bite, this time able to enjoy it. At least, the few tastebuds he had left could.

[How are you feeling?]

She noticed his shoulders tense, before they relaxed, their minds connected telepathically.

[...Better, I... think.]

[Good. I felt this would help you.]

Gray glanced at her, seemingly reluctant, before he gave her a small smile. There was a sadness behind it that didn't belong on his handsome face. [Thanks, Atena.]

[You would do the same for me,] Atena shrugged nonchalantly, before taking a bite of her pizza, wary to make sure it was cooled off enough.

They continued to eat in silence, and when they finished, they bagged up the rest of the pizza, still more than half of it, to save for the others once they were let out of their balls. Atena casually placed the pizza in a pocket dimension. Not the use one would expect for a pocket dimension, but it would get smashed in the backpacks otherwise. This was just convenient.

As they left Dragon Pizza, she could feel a sense of relief coming from Gray. Relief, and that underlying sadness he possessed, but it was quickly being replaced by his usual self. However, before they could continue to the gondola, Ares stepped in front of Gray, and gestured to the pokéballs on his waist, then to himself.

"You want in your ball?"

Ares nodded.

Gray blinked, perplexed, before he fished out the Blaze Pokémon's ball. Atena, too, was confused at this behavior, but she quickly learned Ares's motive when he glanced at her, and winked, before he was sucked into his ball. She could feel the heat rising into her cheeks, but felt a new form of respect for her blaziken companion. He was giving them privacy.

"Looks like it's just us then," Gray shrugged, hooking the ball to his waist with the others, before they continued on toward the gondola. Atena wasn't sure how much private time Ares had just bought for her, but she took this gesture as his "blessing," or something, to pursue her desire. She couldn't just let it pass her by.

So when they reached the entrance to the gondola rides, she established her telepathic connection with a word.

[Wait.]

His shoulders tensed, then relaxed.

[What's up?] Gray turned back to her. [You don't want in your ball too, do you?]

[No,] Atena confirmed. [I just... I want to...]

Gray was staring at her, and she could feel her face heating up as an awkwardness was overcoming her.

[Are you okay?]

[I am fine,] the gardevoir assured. [There's just something... I need to say, I think.]

Gray paused, before he folded his arms. [You want to know why I was acting all weird back there.]

Not what she was trying to build to, but it did provide a possible window of opportunity alongside providing insight into her trainer, and presenting another possible healing moment, so Atena gave a small nod, and he continued.

[It's... I don't like to think about it. Are you just asking to be nice? I know you can read my memories, there's no way you've avoided some of that stuff.] His tone at least sounded somewhat humored, maybe even somewhat... defensive?

[I have avoided that. Your history is up to you to disclose. I won't tread on your privacy.]

Gray blinked, before he gave her a small, thankful smile. [It's difficult to... talk about. Maybe we could do this somewhere else?]

She was about to miss her opportunity. [Of course,] she replied, [but there's still something on my chest.]

[Yeah, I noticed. That's called an "empathy horn."]

Typical. She rolled her eyes with a smile. [Har har. Do you ever get tired of not being funny?]

[Only when you're not smiling at my jokes.]

She almost tingled at that. What a simple thing to say that could have such an effect. Having to hide her blush, she audibly giggled, before she took a step closer to her trainer. [I like it when you make me smile.]

[I'd hope so, otherwise I'd feel like an asshole.]

She was silent this time.

[Sorry. What did you want to say?]

She tried to search for the right words. [We've been together for... eleven years, I think.]

[Yeah, eleven and a half, I'm pretty sure.]

[That's a lot of time to get to know someone. To learn to care about someone. And I... care about you.]

[Aw, thanks! You know I care about you too, Atena.]

[Yes, of course, but-]

Their thoughts were interrupted when a voice suddenly called out to them;

"Grayson!?"

Both their heads turned down the street to see a man approaching them, his face alight in excitement. "Grayson Oak!?"

Atena's gaze turned back to her trainer, who was wincing, before he put on a smile, and waved to the man. "I thought I recognized you!"

The gardevoir almost kicked herself, her opportunity probably lost for a while.