Hello everyone. I think this is the first A/N I've done for this story, but I wanted to get the elephant out of the room and mention that this chapter is being uploaded over a year since the last one. If you picked up this story in 2023 or after, then it isn't a big deal, but I wanted to apologize to those of you who had been following the story when I stopped writing. I can't promise I'll upload any more frequently, but I certainly want to.

Thanks for reading, and without further ado, here's the chapter. Hope you like it.

Once they got back to Robin's home, she immediately took back the Energy Root and cut off a part of it before grinding it up in a bowl. Apparently, energy roots weren't nearly as hard as actual roots, so they could easily be reduced to a pulp and added to water, which allowed them to be drinkable.

At least, that was according to Robin. Rory didn't have a good reason to doubt her, but that didn't make his apprehension any less strong.

Rory released Flora again and laid her back onto the bench. As expected, although not wanted, Flora was still in bad shape. If anything, she was worse. All Rory could do now, though, was watch her struggling face as her body fought off the sickness as best it could.

No words were exchanged as Robin worked. She ran here and there around the room, grabbing various things off shelves and adding them to the mix that was slowly coming together in the wooden bowl she was using.

This wasn't the first time that Rory had to sit next to Flora's bedside as she was recovering from illness, but it had always been done with modern medicine before, at the Pokemon Center, which is something he trusted heavily. This was the first time that he wasn't sure what the outcome would be.

"All done," Robin said after a painfully long time, hopping off her stool and wiping some sweat from her forehead. "Sorry for the wait, but this stuff can't be rushed. I added some extra stuff to it to make the effect stronger."

"And you're sure this will work?" Rory asked as Robin came over from her counter, bowl in hand.

"I'm telling you, it will," Robin said with a pout, once again a little peeved. "It would be okay to have just a little faith in me, you know. Come on, prop her up," she motioned with her head.

Rory did as he was told and lifted Flora up to a sitting position.

"This will be pretty bitter, but it will make you feel better," Robin instructed. "Open up."

Flora let out a weak cry before moving her mouth open. Robin took no time in pouring the liquid down her throat. Immediately, Flora's face scrunched up and she started to cough. She was able to keep everything down though, and once she had recovered from the taste, Rory laid Flora back on the bench.

"There, that should do it," Robin said. "She should be good by the morning, but I want her to stay the night just to make sure." She turned to look at Rory with a piercing stare. "That's good with you, right?"

Rory knew that she wasn't really asking. "As long as I get to stay here as well," he replied. It's not like they were going to get much more distance towards Virbank today anyways.

"Fine by me, although I only have one bed, so you'll have to sleep on the ground."

"I've got a sleeping bag; I'll be fine."

"Alright then, mission complete," Robin said nonchalantly before going back over to her bench and began the process to clean up.

Watching Robin, Rory realized there was something that he ought to say. He didn't really want to, but he figured it would only be fair.

"Hey, uh, thanks for this," he said without looking up from Flora. "I don't think I could have helped her on my own. And…I'm sorry for yelling at you when we first met." Rory added.

"Huh, guess you do have manners," Robin said while she put away her bowl under the counter.

Rory immediately regretted saying anything.

"Okay, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with your stupid replies," Rory said as his annoyance came back into his voice. "Keep that up and I won't end up paying you."

"Paying me?" Robin looked over at him with confusion.

"Yeah, this is a shop, right? Don't I have to pay you?" Rory asked as the confusion spread to him.

"No, not a shop," Robin corrected him, waving his suggestion off. "I just started this place to help out Pokemon who ended up coming here." Robin turned away as she slotted her utensils onto a shelf. "Herbalism is about the only thing I'm good at, after all."

"…As long as you're fine with that,'' Rory said, making sure. There was a little bit of a somber tone in Robin's voice, but it immediately disappeared with her next line.

"And don't worry about yelling at me, I didn't mind." Having finished cleaning up, Robin walked over and sat on the floor next to Flora's bench. She crossed her legs and laid her tail next to her before continuing. "The few other times I reveal I can speak the human language to others they're all stunned and speechless. You yelling at me was actually a nice change of pace."

"Right…" Rory trailed off. He joined Robin in sitting down.

"I know that sounds weird, but it's true," she said as she turned to him. "You didn't treat me like some oddity, and that felt nice for a change."

Rory definitely did see this girl as an oddity, but he wasn't going to say that now, especially because this was the nicest he had heard her speak all day, and he didn't want to ruin that.

"You know, I thought it was nearly impossible for Pokemon to learn the human language," Rory noted curiously. "I mean, there are rumors of Pokemon that can speak it, but I didn't actually think they were true. How'd you end up managing it?"

Robin was noticeably silent to Rory's question. Her long ears started to droop and her eyes glued themselves to the ground.

"Uh, well, that's…"

Before she could say anymore, the door to the shack burst open with a loud crash. Rory and Robin jumped up to their feet, looking frantically over towards the door to see who or what had just burst in.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, Rory!"

"Of course it's you…" Rory mumbled when he saw who it was.

Indeed, in the doorway stood Celeste, her lithe figure illuminated by the fire in the middle of the building.

"Don't scare me like that, Celeste," Rory chastised the Genie. "Did you really need to bust open the door?"

"Never mind that, where have you been?" Celeste asked, walking over to where Rory was standing. "Didn't we agree to meet back together after an hour? It's been well past that, you know," she said in a simple, informative tone, only slightly grevenced.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Rory admitted as his tense stance lessened. During his whole escapade with Robin, he had forgotten about meeting back up with Celeste. "How were you able to find me?"

"Trust me, it wasn't easy, but tracking happens to be my specialty," Celeste said in a bright tone. "I've gotten pretty good at it over the years. Uh, but never mind that!" she said, getting back on track. "Where is Flora, is she okay?" she asked quite frantically.

"Yeah, she's right here," Rory motioned to the bench behind him. "We were able to get an energy root to help her, so she should be good by the morning."

"Oh good, then I guess we can just save these for later," Celeste said as she unloaded a group of berries from her pockets onto the counter.

"You actually found some," Rory said in slight disbelief.

"Of course I did," Celeste said, slightly offended. "Anyone can find some berries in a forest, you know."

Rory stayed silent, deciding not to tell her how many he hadn't found.

"Wait…did you say we?" Celeste asked, finally noticing that there was someone else in the room. Robin had shrunk back into the corner of the room a bit, and she was giving a slightly uncomfortable grin back at the girl. "And who do we have here?" Celeste continued.

"Braixen…" Robin said, her voice clearly trying, but clearly failing, to hide her reproach.

"Huh?" Rory eyed the fire type. "Why are you-" he started to say, before Robin quickly dashed over and jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow.

"Ack!"

Rory looked down to her for an explanation. She was glaring up at him, her ridged eyes telling him all he needed to know.

"Keep her human speaking a secret, got it," Rory confirmed to himself. "Uh…anyways, this is Robin, she helped get the medicine for Flora."

"Braixen…" Robin said, most likely as an agreement.

"Robin, this is Celeste. She's…um…my traveling companion." Rory explained the best way he could without revealing anything.

"Oh, well aren't you cute!" Celeste spoke up as she walked up to the braixen and knelt down to her level, which only made Robin more uncomfortable.

"Togekiss," Celeste said to her, catching both Rory and Robin off guard.

"Togekiss?" Rory asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Robin wasn't as quick to respond. It was clear she was unprepared for this response.

"Brai…" she said quietly, her voice trailing off.

"Toge," Celeste replied with a smile and an endearing tilt of her head.

"Wait a second," Rory said as he finally started to grasp what was going on. "Celeste, you can speak the Pokemon language?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you that before?" Celeste asked, straightening back up. "Any Genie worth their lamp would be able to communicate with Pokemon; it's pretty important for the job."

After the line about 'any genie', Robin threw a questioning glance towards Rory. Rory rolled his eyes and shook his head, trying his best to motion not to worry about it. Although maybe at this point it would be less trouble just to explain everything.

Turning away from Robin, Celeste took her time to examine the building around her now that her immediate worries were alleviated. "So, is this an apothecary for Pokemon?" Celeste guessed correctly. "And you run this by yourself?" she asked the braixen before waiting for a response.

"Braixen," Robin replied with a nod, although she didn't look over to Celeste.

"That's pretty cool, all things considered," Celeste said as she started to examine the shelves, along with the bottles of liquid Rory had noticed earlier.

"To think…she can speak both languages as well," Robin said in a hushed voice so that Celeste couldn't hear.

"Yeah that's news to me too," Rory replied. He remembered when she had translated for Flora earlier, but it just never hit him that understanding and speaking probably come together.

Robin's face went from confused to neutral as she peered over and examined Celeste.

"Maybe I can tell her then," Robin thought out loud.

"If you do that, then you need to take back that jab from earlier," Rory chided.

"Nope, not doing that," Robin snapped back, much to the disgruntlement of Rory.

It was just at this time that Rory realized that one of the bottles on the higher shelves had been precariously placed. As soon as he noticed it, it started to tip over, threatening to fall onto the oblivious Celeste.

"Hey, watch out!" Robin called out before trying to run over to her, having apparently seen it as well. At the sudden exclamation, Celeste looked above her to see the bottle start to fall over. Quickly sticking out an open palm, a gust of wind shot out of her hand that made the bottle float in equilibrium, stopping it from falling off the shelf.

Now, Robin had stopped her stride and Celeste was standing with the bottle floating above her open hand. They were both staring at each other, not saying a word.

Rory knew that some kind of scene was about to happen, but he didn't really know what to do, so he stood there in silence, waiting for either of them to make a move.

With a flick of her wrist, the genie caused the wind to lift the bottle back to its upright position onto the shelf and she turned to look at the braixen.

"Wh-what did…" Robin stuttered after witnessing Celeste's powers.

"Wait, did you just speak human?" Celeste returned, her voice rising with excitement.

"Erk," Robin recoiled visibly as she realized what she had just done. "Br-braixen?" she said, sheepishly.

"Oh, no, I heard you. Come on, talk again," Celeste giddily pressed as she advanced towards the Pokemon.

While trying to escape from the encroaching genie, Robin ended up backing up and bumping into the counter. A quick head turn determined that she had nowhere else to go, and another turn forward revealed Celeste practically up in her face with excitement. Eventually, Robin let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, yeah I can speak human, what of it?" Robin said, turning away, clearly tired.

"Aw man, that's so cool!" Celeste exclaimed with jubilance. "Did you already know, Rory?"

"Yeah, I did." Rory admitted with a shrug.

"Aw, what's the big deal with excluding me," Celeste said with a playful tone. "It's been so long since I've met a bilingual Pokemon I would have been mad to miss out on knowing."

"Huh? Wait, you know others?" Robin asked, her attention suddenly very focused on Celeste.

"Oh yeah, I've met a few throughout my life. Few and far between that bunch though, let me tell you; oh, although I guess I don't have to tell you, since you probably already know."

Rory found Celeste's rapid fire, scatterbrained speaking a bit grating, but Robin didn't seem to mind it. Instead, her face was locked in contemplation.

"Could I meet them?" Robin asked with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Are they around here?"

"Well they're not around here, buuuuut…." Celeste paused and grinned. "If you join up with us, I could take you to one."

"You'll do what?" Rory perked up at this sudden offer. "Celeste, did you forget why we're on this trip to begin with?"

"It was just a suggestion, and I promise it's not out of the way," Celeste said, but her words did very little to comfort Rory. "Oh, but I guess you might not just be able to up and leave your place here, now can you?"

"That's not really a big problem," Robin said. "I don't really get many Pokemon actually coming in here anyway. Still… this is all just…a lot…" Robin said, pulling a nearby stool to her and sitting on top of it. "Can you just, uh, start from the beginning, especially about…what it is that you just did?"

"Oh right, guess I got carried away a bit," Celeste said with a jovial giggle.

"Something that it seems you do a lot," Rory commented casually.

"I'm Celeste, a Genie in service of this guy right now," Celeste said, pointing over at Rory while simultaneously ignoring his previous comment. "His first wish was to catch a legendary Pokemon, so we're on our way to get one now. As I said though, if you come along, I could show you to a Pokemon I know that can talk."

"A genie…like from folklore?" Robin asked, her voice still traced with doubt. "I mean, I guess I'm in no position to disbelieve you," she said with a glance over at the bottle now firmly on the shelf. "But if so, why are you walking around to get a…legendary, was it? Can't you just snap your fingers and make Rory's wish happen?"

These words made Celeste instantly deflate. After a moment of processing, she turned to Rory with a very distressed face.

"Yikes, you weren't kidding. It even crosses the species border."

"Told you."

"W-was it something I said?" Robin asked.

"Uh…no, don't worry about it" Celeste said, getting her composure back. "It's just that genies don't exactly work like that," she started to explain. "Us Genies use our powers to help the people get their wish, that's all." Rory thought this explanation might take some time, so he helped himself to one of the sandwiches he had packed. He hadn't realized how much the running around with Robin had taken out of him.

"Is controlling wind something all genies can do?" Robin asked.

"Nope, there are four different types of genies, one for each of the four elements." Celeste explained. "There are Marids that control water, Ifrits control fire, Dao control earth, and Jinn that control wind; that's me!"

"I see…" Robin stopped to think about what she had just heard. "So are there a lot of you guys? Genies, I mean."

"No, quite the opposite," Celeste confirmed. "We're a very rare breed as well as very spread out. We do help each other out from time to time, but other than that I don't really see many others."

"Huh…" Rory mused as he took another bite of his sandwich. Seems he was learning a lot today.

"But really, I'm serious about my offer," Celeste said. "I love traveling with more people, and Rory won't mind, right?" she asked, giving a sly look over to the named.

Rory definitely would mind. It was no secret that this girl had been getting on his nerves since they had met. But then again…

"You did help Flora, so I guess the least I can do is let you join us," Rory said, regrettably.

Robin took a second to gather her thoughts. "It's getting pretty late, so let me…think on it overnight," she said slowly, switching her tail to the other side of the chair.

"Sure thing!" Celeste said jubilantly.

It didn't take long for Celeste to go to sleep, taking a place on the ground next to the fireplace. Something about being more tired than normal for a few days after being summoned. Whatever the reason, Rory and Robin were alone once again.

"Hey, so…Celeste…she's an actual Genie, yeah?" Robin finally spoke up. Rory didn't expect her to say anything.

"Uh…that's what she says. Came out of a lamp and everything. I'm still trying to believe it myself."

"Do you think that she'll really be able to grant wishes? Will she be able to catch you a legendary Pokemon?"

Rory was a bit surprised by this question. He thought about it for a second.
"Yeah, who knows?" Rory replied doubtfully. "She certainly has powers, but if they'll come through when it counts remains to be seen. I really don't even care about that wish, it's just something we have to do before getting to the other two."

Rory placed his hands behind him and leaned back, letting his eyes rest on the fire before continuing. "We just set out today, and it's already been a big hassle. I don't know if it will be worth it, but I decided that any wish wasn't going to happen if I stayed in place, so…here I am." Rory let out a sigh and scratched his hair. "Wasn't really doing much of anything anyways."

"Huh," was Robin's simple response.

"What?" Rory said, expecting another witty comeback.

"Oh, nothing," Robin said, staring at her tail. "That just kinda sounds a lot like…"

"Like…?"

"Uhh, nothing, I didn't say anything." Robin said, quickly hiding her face in her tail.

"Right…well, in any case, I'm heading to bed. Do whatever you want; if you come along, I won't complain."

Well, I won't complain too much.

Robin simply nodded at this last sentence, and Rory got out his sleeping bag and crawled in, leaving the braixen staring into the fire for a bit before heading back into her room.

Robin was still awake for a little bit, laying on her hay mattress, looking up at the dark ceiling above her. As her eyes and mind wandered, those words echoed in her head.

Any wish isn't going to happen if you just stay in place.

She had never had the motivation before to attempt anything even resembling wish fulfillment, but (and as much as she hated to admit it), Rory was right. Maybe all she needed was this push in the right direction.

"If I put one foot in front of the other, then maybe even I can…"

Not bothering to finish this thought, Robin ended up falling asleep.

Once morning came, Rory woke up to his phone alarm much earlier than he would have liked. Knowing there was no helping it, however, he got up and prepared to leave. He didn't see Robin or Celeste around, but Flora was still where they had left her last night.

"Hey, Flora. It's morning. How are you feeling?" Rory asked as he slightly shook the grass type awake. After stirring for a few seconds, Flora responded by letting out a large yawn. As soon as her newly opened eyes landed on Rory, her face lit up.

"Mar mar!" She exclaimed before jumping up from her laying position into Rory's arms.

"Alright, alright, Flora, that's enough of that," Rory said, relieved, as he slowly put Flora on the ground, relieving his arms of her spikes. He was going to ask if she was better, but the jubilant dancing and maraca shaking told Rory everything he needed to know.

Guess she really does know what she's talking about, Rory thought.

"Well, if you're good, we're most likely gonna head out soon." Flora replied to this with a smile and an affirmative "Marac!"

After packing up the rest of his stuff, Rory went outside, where Celeste was already waiting. She was standing in front of the shack and looking over to the sunrise, or at least, what you could see of it between the trees.

"You sure get up early," Rory commented, approaching his magical companion with a yawn.

"Early bird gets the worm, and all that," Celeste replied in her chipper tone, turning to Rory with a smile. "Let's cover a lot of ground today to make up for yesterday, yeah?"

"Sure…" Rory replied indifferently. It's not like his attitude was going to change their travel plans.

"It's nice to see you all better again, Flora."

"Marac!"

"You guys are lively this morning." Robin's voice came from behind the pair. She approached them with a burlap backpack filled to the brim with different herbs and concoctions. Strapped to the side were a bundle of sticks, all tied together. She gave out a huge yawn, giving away her current level of alertness.

"Good morning, Robin," Celeste gave a much more energetic reply than she had received. "Decided to travel with us after all?"

Robin replied with a nod, "Might as well." Robin then snuck a look over at Rory before lookin back to Celeste. "Wasn't doing much anyways."

"What's going to happen to your apothecary?" Celeste asked.

"Like I said, it's not exactly like I got too many Pokemon stopping by. I'm not even sure anyone will notice I'm gone."

"Well, you know what I always say: the more the merrier," Celeste said.

"Wish we didn't have to start so early though," Robin replied with another yawn.

"Hehe, you sound like Rory," Celeste laughed. "You guys are pretty alike, aren't you?"

"No we're not," the two said, slightly offended and almost in perfect unison. They both looked at each other disapprovingly. Celeste laughed a bit more at this.

Flora must have remembered Robin even from when she was sick, because the second she locked eyes with her, the grass type dived towards her and latched onto the fire type's stomach, much to her surprise.

"Ow…hey, what gives? Owowowow."

"Maractus!"

"Okay, you're welcome; you're very welcome, now please just get off me."

"Sorry, she's just very touchy-feely; for better or worse." Rory commented, lightly prying Flora off of Robin. "It's just her way of thanking you. You get used to it."

"I…see. I don't mind the praise, but let's keep the spike contact to a minimum…uh, Flora, was it?"

"Maractus!"

"No, I still think even light hugs are gonna hurt, you know."

"What's with all that?" Rory asked, switching topics as he eyed Robin's overfilled knapsack.

"I packed as many herbs as I could," Robin said, turning back to face Rory. "Hopefully it will do a lot better coming with me than just rotting on a shelf."

"And the sticks?"

"Uh, for fighting, what else would they be used for?" she said, the contempt already creeping into her voice. "The sticks I use aren't magical or anything, you know. They burn down and break…just like regular sticks do," Robin said with a swish of her tail and sarcasm in her voice.

"God, sorry I asked," Rory said before turning back to Celeste. "Let's just get going already. To Virbank, right?"

"Why Virbank?" Robin asked.

"Well you see, " Celeste started to explain, "the plan is that, from there, we should be able to take a boat to Kalos, and then from there we-"

"Wait, Kalos?!" Rory said, his voice rising in surprise. "Celeste, you never told me we were leaving the region,"

"Well, you never asked," Celeste defended herself apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't think it would be a big deal."

"Leaving the region is a pretty big deal in my book," Rory continued with a lower, but still just as accusatory tone. He was already dreading this trip, and now they had to leave Unova? That's just unfair.

"Honestly, that does kindaseem like your bad," Robin said, now from beside Rory. "That's the kind of thing that you check before you head out to go catch some legendary."

Robin's wit was getting to Rory again, but he couldn't really blame her for this one. "I'm good with wherever," she said, giving her own opinion. "I suppose I'm just along for the ride."

"Fine, whatever," Rory conceded. "But why Kalos? Surely there are some legendaries here that we could catch, right?"

Celeste shrugged. "Probably, but tracking them down and then catching them would be a whole ordeal, don't you think?"

"And how will that be different once we get to Kalos?"

"I told you, that's where my friend lives. She'll be able to help us out," Celeste explained with a friendly smile that did very little to disway Rory's worries.

Rory was still confused, but he wasn't going to question it. He honestly didn't care anymore. At this point he was fine with Celeste pointing in a direction and going there if it meant he didn't have to think.

"Alright then, enough lolly-gagging, time to head out!" Celeste announced before getting into a stride, leaping through the forest with agility on par with Robin.

"Just how much energy does that girl have?" Rory said to himself. He was about to walk after her before he felt a tug on his shirt. He turned around to see Robin's paw gripping his shirt, the girl herself not looking in his direction.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen," Robin said, releasing her grip on Rory's shirt. The braixen shuffled her feet a little as her eyes stayed towards the ground. "I just wanted to say…thanks…for taking me with you. I don't really know how long I'll stay, but if nothing else, the hunters will have a harder time getting me so…yeah, thanks."

"Hunters? There's more than one of them?"

"Yeah, there's a whole group of them. They all wear the same uniforms, so I assume they're all a part of the same organization."

"Sounds like to me that's even more of a reason to leave."

"Yeah… I guess so."

Rory listened to the braixen stumble through her words with surprise. He didn't expect her to thank him of all people. Wasn't she just insulting him a few seconds ago? Rory thought about his response as he looked off through the brush, the genie already out of sight.

"If you want to thank someone, thank Celeste, she's the one that made the decision," he stated.

"I know, and I will later, but…" Robin stopped, and then in a much quieter voice said "I wanted to thank you too…because…"

"Huh? What was that?"

"Uhh, nothing! Nothing at all!" Robin quickly turned her head away.

"Listen, we'll just call it even for helping out Flora. Isn't that right?" Rory asked his plant companion.

"Maractus!" she replied cheerfully.

"See? So there's no need to thank me if we're just getting even," Rory said. "Now come on, I'm sure Celeste is going to yell at us if we make her wait," he concluded before starting to walk after her, with Flora close behind him.

Robin stood in place for a few more seconds, watching Rory walk away from her. Her embarrassment had vanished with his words. Did he not want thanks? Was he just saying that to make her feel better?

"What a weird guy," she thought before adjusting her backpack and catching up to the others.