The words Yvonne said to me back in the route had stayed in my mind the entire time we were in Geosenge Town. We've been in the Pokémon center for the pass two days after Yvonne ate something she wasn't suppose to. She was in full recovery now, but the entire time she stayed in the hospital room, I walked around the town, thinking about what she asked me.

"What about me..?" She asked, spinning side to side "What do you think of me..?"

"O-Of you..?" She came up to rest her injured hand on my chest and got close to my face, increasing my anxiety. I didn't think this sort of thing would be happening, but there was a lot of things that I didn't expect happening when it involves her.

"Yeah..." I walked backwards, watching her follow me until my back hit a large stone of many in this route "I mean... We've been together for over a month already. I protect you and you protect me... Though I'm only here to provide my service, I want to know what you think of me" I gulped at her weak expression "You never told me what you thought about what I did to you back in Ambrette Town" I panicked in place, but didn't move.

"I-If I'm being honest" I looked away, knowing telling her would be best since she did all that work. Thinking about it made me hard "It was something I will never forget" she gasped with a smile on her face "I-It was amazing"

"I'm happy to know you enjoyed it" she moved away and spun again "Seeing you panic, I don't think I should ask you that sort of question, but I'll come out and say it..." she shut her eyes and threw her arms down "I-I like you!" My eyes widened as she looked back at me "You're everything I want in a man... You're kind, caring, smart, respectful..." she cupped her cheeks "This is so embarrassing..."

"Do you really feel that way about me?" She shut her eyes again and nodded "I..." I don't know what to say...

"I want a man who is able to provide me with what I want... You've done exactly that, even if it doesn't seem like much. You're shy... Which makes it really cute" she smiled "You have values and goals... I'm inspired by your goals and your stories. I want to be part of them... You are dedicated to what you want and drive for a successful future" she took my hands "You don't let anyone hold you down, even when getting talked down on. You're so strong..." I frowned at the things she admired about me.

"Even if I have anxiety from stress and everything? I'm working on trying to fix that, but I don't know if I'm a suited enough guy to be someone's boyfriend-" she cupped my mouth before I could finish.

"Don't say it!" She let go of me "You don't have to say it now... My service is pretty much over when you start going back to school at the end of summer" she turned away, holding her heart "Until then, you can tell me your answer. I like you, Calem..." she teared up "I want to be someone worth being with you... I might not be suited, but I mean what I said about my feelings for you..." she closed her eyes "In the end of the summer... I'll be ready for your answer"

It shocked me on how quickly this happened. My journey started over a month ago, and she helped me start by following me through the cities and towns and routes, never complaining and giving me my chance to explore without worrying about my condition. It's gotten better as those weeks passed, and I couldn't thank Yvonne more. She says she'll be ready for my answer about her feelings at the end of the summer... So until then, I hope I know what to say.

"Look at you!" Mom gasped on my holocaster as soon as I called her. She was back home, taking some vacation time from work "You look so much healthier! The bags under your eyes aren't as dark anymore and your face is clearing up nicely!" She clapped "How's the journey treating you?"

"It's great. I'm in Geosenge Town"

"That's the last place you were before stopping!" She looked so happy to hear that "Tell me! Has anything interesting happened?"

"I met this girl-"

"A girl!?" She got close to the screen "You met a girl!? Is my baby finally going to get himself a girlfriend!?" I jumped, almost dropping my holocaster. G-Girlfriend?! H-Hold on! I still got until the end of summer to know what's going on!

"M-Mom!" I blushed "let me finished!" She giggled "I met this girl back in Lumiose City. We met in a café and we started talking and she mentioned how much she wanted to go on a journey but didn't want to go alone" at least... That's the story we tell people so they wouldn't know how we actually met "So I asked if she wanted to come with me. Her mom was a nurse and she used to tag along with her, so she knows some basic things about that stuff and offers to check my blood pressure and all that"

"That's incredible!" I smiled, excited to tell her about it.

"Yeah! She's also really good at cooking! She made some macrons awhile back, she's a professional masseuse, and knows a lot about nutrition and skincare" I rubbed the back of my head "so you can see how that's been going with my face and diet... I feel pretty good"

"I'm so happy to hear that, dear! Where is she? I want to thank her for what she's been doing for my little man!" I huffed at the nickname and told her that Yvonne was in the hospital for accidentally eating a granola bar that had the artificial coloring label in a fold in the wrapper.

"Oh no! I hope she's okay" mom frowned.

"She's fine. She'll be getting out pretty soon" she held her chin to think "What?"

"I just remembered... Didn't Serena have a-"

" ?" The nurse who was takin care of Yvonne called for me. I turned back to my mom.

"Gotta go" I said my goodbye and followed the nurse to where Yvonne was already dressed to leave.

"Glad to see you ready to go" I said, taking her hand to bring her up close and mess with her hair, making her laugh.

"I'm a lot better, thanks" she chuckled. The nurse smiled at us and turned to me.

"We were lucky that the symptoms weren't too serious. We were able to treat our patient very well. Artificial colors are common in a lot of things. We just got unlucky" Yvonne sighed.

"It's hard eating a lot of things because of it" she fanned her face "I got my breathing under control, but imagine if I ate more than that bite" I wouldn't want to experience anything that may harm her more.

"No wonder you're so picky" I joked "Come on, Yvonne, let's get out of here" Yvonne walked me out the room after thanking the nurse and finally left the Pokémon center. Yvonne threw her arms in the air

"I'm all better" I smiled, thinking back in route 10 after we handled a few Team Flare grunts. She took a bite off her granola bar after handling them and suddenly lost her breath. At first, I thought she was choking before she was looking through the label like crazy. Instead of letting her get the chance to see if it was anything to do with the artificial stuff, I carried her body to get help.

Not wanting to waste anymore time in this town, we traveled to the exit before hearing someone screaming at us. I quickly turned around when seeing a familiar face screaming and unable to stop herself from skating.

"Watch out!" She shouted, quickly ended up running into me and landed on top of me. She got up and looked at my face while I groaned in pain "Sorry!" She panicked and stood up to help me up. Yvonne was pouting for some reason "Didn't mean to run into you! I couldn't get myself to stop my skates! I must've put too much oil in the wheels to get them going faster" I dusted my pants.

"Be careful next time" I said.

"Wow! I thought that was you!" I looked at the familiar face that belonged to one of the gym leader in Shalour City, which was in high school territory "Calem! It's been a long time!"

"Korrina. I almost didn't recognize you. It's been so long" last time I saw her was back when her Lucario had ran away from her and came over to meet me, claiming that it must like me if it ran away from Korrina. That same Lucario was beside me, smiling up at me after last seeing me since I was 14.

"It has!" She laughed and looked at Yvonne still pouting for some reason.

"Serena? You look so different!" Yvonne flinched and hurried to hide behind me. I know they sort of look alike, but not that much to think they were the same person.

"You got it wrong. This isn't Serena" I said. Korrina looked shocked "This is Yvonne. She's my traveling partner. She doesn't go to my school"

"Wow! Really?! No way!" She bowed to Yvonne "Sorry about that! I just looked at you by your eyes and assumed!" Yvonne nodded and hide completely behind me "I heard from your friends back then that you stopped traveling for personal issues" she told me.

"Yeah, but it's resolved" she nodded and pet her Lucario's head.

"Lucario here never forgot about you. Look at it! It still remembers you!" I chuckled and pet the Lucarios head.

"Good to see you both again. It's been a long time" it cried out "We're heading to Shalour City soon. I'm ready to finally battle in the gym" Korrina held her hips, amused.

"Grandpa doesn't work in the gym anymore. He handed it down to me a few years back"

"That's great! I look forward to battling you!"

"You sure you won't lose like last time? We battled before, remember? You lost and got mad about it" she stuck her tongue out, joking "What about your friend?" She tried looking at Yvonne, but she stayed still behind me "What does she want to do?" I explained to her our situation "That's so sweet! You got lucky, Calem" I rubbed my head, feeling embarrassed.

"Y-Yeah..." this made Yvonne peak out a little "I can't really speak for her. She never said what exactly she wanted to do"

"You and Serena were such good rivals. You guys competed to see who was stronger" she sighed and looked at Yvonne looking at her "What's your goal, Yvonne?" Yvonne looked down and looked away.

"I...I have no interest in competitive battling. My goal is to see as much of Kalos as I can. I already have a career in massage therapy, so..."

"As cool as that is, you sound like you're kept from going forward" Korrina shrugged "If you're settled with that, that's great. Nothing wrong with wanting to see more of Kalos" Yvonne nodded "But if you want to do something else, go for it. Don't let anything hold you back"

"I just want to travel with Calem... is all" I looked over at her blushing hard again.

"How sweet!" Korrina giggled "Don't worry too much about it! I'm sure you'll find something you might like! Come to Shalour City! You might find something there you might like" she skated pass us "I look forward to our battle! It was nice meeting you, Yvonne! Maybe I can pay you to give me a massage" Yvonne smiled and waved as she left.

"It's been a while since I last saw her" I said "She has her own gym now. That's great. She was always someone I ran into every summer. She had this book that she keeps track of all the trainers she's beaten. The last time I saw her, she beat 100 trainers in a row" I pumped my fist "I'll be ready for a challenge. I hope she'll deliver"

Yvonne and I traveled toward pass late middle school territory and stumbled towards unfamiliar grounds. We finally made it to Reflection cave, where Yvonne was staring at herself at a bunch of mirrors surrounding the place.

"This is the moment where I can finally go farther than I ever went" I said "It's been years... I'm on the territory I never been before" Yvonne giggled at my excitement.

"I look forward to seeing more of what you haven't seen before. It'll be a mystery for both of us!" She smiled "Wasn't Shalour City our destination spot when the professor told you to meet some guru there?" Professor Sycamore had called me in a group chat with my friends and told us to meet someone who knew a lot about mega evolution for his research. There hasn't much lead to mega evolution before, so hopefully we'll get more information later.

"Yvonne?" I called as we started walking again "Are you sure you don't have a goal in mind when traveling with me? I mean, I know you already have a career ready for you and all, but I would think traveling Kalos would make you probably find something else you might like" Yvonne hummed.

"I don't have an interest in battling all that much, so battling gym leaders isn't something I care about" she patted on her bag "I enjoy just traveling and taking pictures and drawing Pokémon I haven't drawn in my sketchbook. Though it might be nice to probably find a dream, I'm just enjoying my time with you" she held my hand. I looked at our hands locked together, something we sometimes do without really thinking about it, but it gave closure and made me feel like if I held onto her hand, she won't slip away.

"It's been fun traveling with you. We still have two and a half months left before summer vacation is over. Whatever happens between that time, I look forward to new things" she smiled brightly to me "I've been meaning to ask you since we ran into Team Flare before Geosenge Town... What exactly happened between you and that Team Flare grunt?"

"A few of them had went into the lounge back in Lumiose to mess around. They thought they were so funny when harassing my coworkers and all, doing things that shouldn't have been done. A few of them were raped, and this happened before we opened. The few of them kept the only security guard around busy while my coworkers were getting man handled against their will" she looked at her injured hand with a large wound by each knuckle "I was lucky to escape. There was a broken glass on the floor with a handle and I used it to cut the grunt's eyes, almost blinding him. I got those grunts out thanks to my Pokémon" she opened her hand to show a small scar on the palm "For that reason, many of my coworkers don't come in before we open. It's the reason why Valerie comes all the way from Laverre City, so she can protect us"

"Valerie is a gym leader" she nodded "It's good that she comes to protect you guys, but I'm sorry that had to happen"

"What? You don't have to apologize for that" She smiled "Everything is fine" she closed her hand "If we're going to be real here, my goal is taking down those grunts one way or another!"

"I'll help you out!" I said, loud and proud "I won't let those criminals think they can get away with something like that! They're nothing but trouble!" Her confidence went up as her eyes sparkled in determination, a look I often see Serena wearing.

"Yes! I'm counting on you!" She hugged my arm "Your question was pretty late though... anything else you want to ask me?" I thought about it, thinking back when we were at the beach

"Are there things men do for you during your services?"