Chapter 3 is finally here, it took me a fair amount of time to finish this one. Mostly because college is here woopin my bunda.

Anyway, here's chapter 3.

Beta'd by Old Man of the Mountain, Slothful, and Demonoid

Chapter 3 – Tia goes Gremlin

I don't own anything except some stuff

Watching Leona devour the meal put before her was rather amusing. Despite her size, she ate a lot. Not to mention how her tail wagged during the entire meal, making her look very cute. Beside me, Piper and Dawn were also staring at Leona with smiles on their faces while Tiamat, having already finished her meal, was sitting on my lap with a smile.

"She really is a cute little puppy, isn't she?" Tiamat smiled.

"Indeed she is." I chuckled. "How about you, though? You don't feel left out or anything?"

"Nope!" Tia shook her head. "Not at all! I have you patting my head, Nik, and I already have a new friend in Leona!"

"Yeah, because I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for that battle earlier, she'd be too shy to even talk to us," I whispered, ensuring Leona didn't hear us. "But you still want more friends, right?"

"Yep!" Tiamat nodded before leaning up and nuzzling my chin. "I want a lot of friends! Let's start with a hundred!"

Is that you, Komi?

"Sounds good, Tia." I patted her head, watching her close her eyes and enjoying the sensation of my touch. "We'll find you some friends along the way."

"Yes, please!"

"Alright, alright, enough of that," Leona huffed as she stood up and stretched. "Let's go, shrimp. We've got an adventure to join in, don't we?" She walks towards me, stopping in front of me with a grin. "That aside, I'm going to become stronger than you."

"Nu-uh! No fair! I'm going to become the strongest Moemon first! Me, me, me!" Tiamat pouts.

"No, you're not. I'm going to become the strongest around here, so that means I'm the strongest." Leona smirks.

"You two sound like you're competing for something other than being the strongest." I sigh with a soft smile, clearly happy that they're already getting along. Reaching out with my free hand, I give Leona a head pat as well, causing her to blush. "You will both get stronger. I believe in you two."

"Of course! You can count on us!" The girls both cheered simultaneously.

"Well, you're going to have to train really hard for the Oreburgh Gym," Dawn chimes in, folding her arms as she turns to me. "That Gym focuses on rock-type Moemon, and because Tia only knows Tackle and Leona is a fire-type, you might have some trouble beating them."

Wincing slightly, I frown at Dawn's words. The only way I could really have a chance of winning with Tia and Leona is if they learn moves that are super effective against rock-types. There are 3 ways for Moemon to learn new moves: the most obvious one is evolving, and the other two would be training and TMs.

Unfortunately, for some odd reason, Magikarp cannot learn any new moves until they evolve into Gyarados. Which meant that Tia is literally playing as the underdog. I'd have to wait for her to evolve to be able to use new moves.

"Yeah, you're right," I nod, pursing my lips in thought as I turn to Tia. "Sorry, Tia, but I don't think charging against a rock-type gym leader with only Tackle is a good idea."

"Wha?! B-but...!" She flails her arms, tears welling up in her eyes. "T-then what do I do?"

"Obviously, evolve, shrimp." Leona chides as she folds her arms and leans back. "And then after that, learn some moves or whatever."

"But how?"

"Don't worry about it, Tia." I pat her head gently. "You just leave that to me, okay? Just focus on your own training, and eventually you'll be able to use new moves as well."

"R-really?"

"Of course!"

"I see..." She mutters, frowning as she falls silent in thought before turning to Leona. "You're going to have to fight twice as hard for me, okay?!"

"Of course." The Growlithe nods, grinning. "Just leave it to me, shrimp."

"You better not lose to anyone, though, got that?"

"Hmph. Who do you take me for? A weakling like you? Please. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much." Leona scoffs, her tail wagging. "Besides, Nik is probably going to find another Moemon anyway, so there's no need to worry."

This caught Tia's attention as her face brightened. "Really, Nik? More friends?"

"Of course! I wouldn't lie to you."

"Yay! Let's go looking for new friends!" The Magikarp cheered.

"Alright, alright, let's calm down a little bit, shall we?" Dawn claps her hands together, catching all of our attention. "Nik, there's one thing we can do that'll help you a lot." She flashes me a sly grin.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, if you want to, we can trade." Blinking once, I stared at Dawn silently, prompting the girl to continue speaking. "I meant temporarily! You can trade Tia for Piper for when you challenge the Oreburgh Gym." She quickly explains. "That way, you have someone who knows a water move to help you out."

"Hey, I know a move too!" Leona huffs.

"And what move would that be, exactly?" The young teen raises her eyebrow.

"It's...erm..." Leona averted her eyes, frowning. "It's..."

"...You don't know a single move, huh?"

"H-hmph!" Turning away, the dog girl pouts. "I don't need to know a move that's strong against rock-types. All I need to do is burn them all up!"

"So, what do you think, Nik?" Dawn turns back towards me. "Want to trade with me for a bit until you beat Roark?"

"I mean..." Frowning, I look between Piper and Tia. "I...well...I mean, I already promised Tia that she could become stronger and all that...it feels kinda cheap, trading her off like this. Even if it's only temporary..."

"It's okay!" Tia suddenly spoke, surprising all of us as we turned to her. "If it'll help you beat those rock-types, then I don't mind helping out!" Her smile looks a little forced, but still, she continued. "It'll take a while until I evolve, right? When I get really, really, reaaaally strong, I'm going to kick butt so that you don't have to trade me anymore!"

"Tia..." I watch her as she continues smiling. 'She's so cute...' I gently place my hand on her head before patting it. "Thank you."

"N-No problem!" She beams brightly, the forced smile now replaced with a genuine one. Hugging me tightly, she turned to Dawn. "But can we wait until we go to Oreburr-Oreburr-"

"Oreburgh."

"-until we go there," Tia finishes, nodding at Dawn. "I wanna battle some trainers and stuff!"

"Alright." The young teen giggles before turning towards Piper. "Let's start by training with Piper. We don't need to trade to train together."

"Can I join in?!" Leona asks excitedly, her eyes shining brightly while her tail wags. "I want to fight too!"

"Sure thing, puppy!" Piper smiles smugly. "I don't mind showing off a bit."

"Show off? Don't make me laugh, penguin." The Growlithe scoffs, baring her fangs. "I'm the one that will be showing off here."

"We'll see about that, puppy."

"I'm not a puppy!" Leona huffed.

As the two began their bantering, I chuckled softly before turning towards Dawn. "Thanks for this, Dawn."

"No problem." She winks at me. "Besides, even though you said you're worried about trading Tia, I know that deep down you want to train more with Piper."

I blinked, staring silently at Dawn who merely giggled.

"Don't worry, it's not something weird or anything. It's just...a girl thing, you know?" She shrugs her shoulders. "You're a guy after all, so it's normal that you'd be curious about other things that are different from yours."

"...you're making me sound like a pervert, you know that?"

"Hey, I didn't say that! That's all on you!" She laughs, sticking her tongue out at me. "But yeah, thanks for trusting me enough to help you out. I know that Tia might be nervous, but we all know that it'll take her a while to evolve into a Gyarados, so we gotta work with what we got!"

"Yeah, but Leona's still gonna be in a bad spo-"

"About that, there's a store here that sells TMs." Dawn informs me.

"What? Seriously?"

"Yep. You can buy a TM that can teach Leona Dig which would help her against rock-type Moemon like Roark's Moemon." Opening up her phone, she points it at me. "Here, look. There's a discount right now, so if you want, I can buy one for you."

Pursing my lips, I turned from the phone to Dawn. "Are you sure? I mean, this is kinda expensive and stuff..."

"Think of it as an investment!" She grins, her eyes twinkling. "I'm already helping out by loaning you Piper for a little bit, so think of it as me investing in your team!"

"...I will kiss you later." I said with a straight face. "I swear that I'll do it." The amount of money shown on Dawn's phone was almost half of my entire budget. It was a lot of money, and yet she's willing to spend that much just so that I could have a better chance at beating the Gym.

If I survive my future team, which will consist of hormonal Moemon girls, I'm definitely marrying her—no questions asked.

"D-Don't say such embarrassing things so casually, idiot!" She blushes, smacking me in the arm. "Y-you...! Jerk!"

"Ow!" I whined.

"It didn't hurt! Don't lie!" She huffed before turning away, her cheeks still red. "Jerk..." She muttered once more.

"Wait, a kiss?! No fair, Nik! If you're kissing anyone, then it has to be me!" Tia pouts, her cheeks puffed cutely. "If you're giving kisses, I want them too!"

"Wait, Tia! What are you saying?! Nik's not going to kiss me! R-Right, Nik?!" Dawn turns to me, her face growing even redder when she notices my stare. "R-Right...?" She repeats, her voice softer this time.

"You don't want me to?" I asked with a raised brow.

"W-Well...I-I mean..." She averted her gaze, mumbling something under her breath.

"If Dawn doesn't want them..." I heard Leona mumble to herself before turning to her. "It's...it's not like I want your kiss or anything! T-There's nothing to be proud about it either, shrimp!"

'Leona, your tail's wagging.' I thought, stifling a chuckle. 'How adorable~!'

"Muuu..." Tia pouted before looking up at me, a look of determination on her face. "Fine! Everyone gets a kiss since we're all friends, but I want more headpats!"

Sighing softly, I shake my head in resignation before patting Tia's head. "Alright, alright, no need to fight over who gets a kiss." Seriously, am I that desensitized to having girls that are not Buns and Luna act like this?

"Sounds good to me," I smiled, gently patting her head.

"Alright! Its decided! A hundred headpats!"

"Tiamat, no."

"A thousand headpats!"

"That's too many!"

"Hundred million headpats!"

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous!"

"Gimme!"

"No!"

"Then kissies!"

"Why are you suddenly bargaining with me?! Stop it!" I grabbed her cheeks and started squeezing them while she laughed, her tail wagging excitedly. "Seriously, what am I going to do with you?"

"Love me lots!" Tia cheered, grinning at me through my cheek-squeezing. "Kisses and headpats and stuff!"

"Yes, yes, I get it already." I roll my eyes with a soft smile before leaning down slightly to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Is that enough for you, or would you rather have a hundred million of them as well?"

"Nope! Just one is fine!" She giggles before hugging me tightly once again, her body trembling as she laughs. "Nik loves me best!"

"W-What about me?" I turn towards Leona. The girl stared at us with her cheeks puffed out, her tail wagging even faster than. "And...and I want headpats too..." She mumbles the last part, averting her gaze when I stare at her.

"Of course, Leona." Leaning down, I gave her a small peck on the forehead before gently patting her head. "I'll give you both equal amounts of attention, okay?"

"Yeah right! You obviously like Tia more! Your hand lingers longer whenever you pat her!" Leona huffs before grabbing my arm and pressing my hand against her head. "So hurry up and keep patting me, N-Nik." She says, a blush forming on her cheeks.

'Aww, they're so adorable!' I internally squealed, trying my best to hold back my urge to hug them tight. 'They're like little kids fighting over their favorite toy!'

"Now then..." Dawn sighed softly, shaking her head in exasperation. "I'll go ahead and buy that TM for you, Nik. Since you're so busy playing around with these two, I'm just gonna let you know that I'm going to leave now."

"Wait!" Tia grabs onto Dawn's skirt, stopping her from walking away. "Don't go yet! You still haven't had your kisses!"

"W-what?!" The bluenette blushed, freezing in place. "B-but there's no reason to-"

"There's always a reason to!"

"Y-You can't just decide that all by yourself!"

"But you said we're friends, right?" Tia tilts her head curiously, causing Dawn to grow even more flustered. "That means you gotta get some kisses too! It's only fair!"

"Tiamat, stop teasing Dawn." I chide.

"I'm not! I mean it!" The Magikarp pouts. "Besides, she's going to be our friend forever anyway, right? So it's fine if she gets kisses now!"

"T-Tiamat...!" Dawn was blushing furiously, her face redder than a tomato as she turned to me. "She...she really meant it...right?" Her voice was soft as she looked at me, looking slightly hopeful. "R-Right?"

"...yes, of course." I nodded, chuckling slightly. "We're friends, after all."

"I see..." Dawn mumbles under her breath before turning back towards the others. "Alright, fine. Just one kiss, okay?"

"Only one?" Tia tilted her head again, frowning slightly. "Then it has to be on the li-mmph?!"

"S-Sorry!" Dawn quickly covers Tia's mouth, stopping her from finishing what she would say. "It'll be just one, okay?!" She exclaims, her face as red as ever as she looks at me. "J-Just one!" She repeats herself once more, nodding her head vigorously. "Right, Nik?!"

"...just one." I nod back, smiling. "If that's what you want."

"Ugh...fine." Tia huffs, pouting before grabbing Dawn's hands and moving them away from her mouth. "One is good enough." She nods in agreement before smiling brightly. "Nik will give us a million kisses later!"

"...sure thing, Tia." I chuckled before leaning forward and pressing my lips against Tia's forehead. She giggled before pointing towards Dawn. "Now do Dawn!"

Phrasing, Tia. Phrasing!

"On the lips, silly!"

Goddammit.

"W-Wait! Tiamat!" Dawn panics as I grab her hand, pulling her towards me. "H-hold on a sec-"

Her words were cut off as I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. It took only a second for me to pull away, but even so, that moment felt longer than usual. Probably because of how flustered Dawn was.

"Done." I smiled softly before releasing her hand, letting her go free.

"Wha-I said on the lips!" Tia complains. "You didn't follow the rules!"

Deciding to save Dawn from any further embarrassment, I hugged Tia and patted her head, catching her attention. "If I do kiss Dawn on the lips, that means I'm not giving you and Leona equal amounts of attention," I pointed out, causing her to frown. "Isn't that right?"

"Muuu..."

"So instead of demanding for a kiss on the lips, why not ask for something else?"

"Like what?"

"Well..." I pause, trying to think of what would be acceptable. After several seconds passed, I finally settled on an idea. "How about hugs? You can have all of the hugs you want from me." I suggest, hoping that it'll help her feel better.

"Really?" She stares at me with stars in her eyes. "You mean it?"

"Yes," I nodded firmly, smiling. "I promise."

"...okay." She says quietly before wrapping her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly. "I'm gonna hug you lots then!"

"Do-Don't forget about me!" Leona quickly adds, jumping up and hugging me as well. "I don't mind if you're not as affectionate with me as you are with Tia, b-but I still want some cuddles too! Especially since Tia gets all this attention!" She says quickly with a pout, puffing her cheeks.

"Alright." Chuckling softly, I wrap an arm each around the two girls before resting my chin atop of their heads. "As long as you two remember that there will always be plenty of love and hugs to go around for everyone."

The three of us stayed like that for a while, basking in each other's presence before eventually separating...allowing me to notice the sparkle in Tia's eyes as she turned towards Piper.

Uh oh...

"Piper too! Don't leave her out!" Tia jumps at the Piplup and wraps her arms around her neck, surprising the poor girl. "You get hugs, headpats, and kissies from Nik too!"

"Oi! Wait a minute!" The blue-haired Moemon tried to struggle, but unfortunately, Tia proved to be stronger than her and ended up pulling her into the hug.

"Aww, how cute~!" Tia coos happily.

"What the hell?! Let me go, dammit!" Piper shouts, struggling futilely against Tia's grasp. "I'm not k-kissing Dominik!"

"But you're our friend too!" Tia replies cheerfully. "Friends share everything together!"

"That doesn't mean we have to share him!" Piper yells back, blushing brightly as she struggles harder. "Let me go, you stupid fish!"

"Muuu..." Tia pouted as she tightened her hold on the Piplup. "Meanie! Call me stupid again and I'll kiss you myself!"

"Y-You wouldn't dare!"

"I will!" Tia threatened before leaning down and planting her lips firmly on Piper's cheek.

Piper froze at the contact before letting out a startled squeak. Her eyes widened as she stared blankly ahead, unable to process what was happening until after several seconds passed. "W-what the hell?!" She yelled, her face turning redder than a tomato as she tried desperately to escape. "Stop it, you stupid fish!"

Tiamat simply giggled happily as she kissed Piper's cheeks repeatedly while Piplup struggled, albeit with much less force this time. After another minute or so, Tia finally let go of the flustered Moemon who immediately backed away, covering her face with her hands.

"Why did you keep kissing me?!" Piper shouted angrily. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"

"But you looked really cute when you were blushing!" Tia smiled brightly as she clapped her hands together, giggling cutely. "Besides, you let Dawn kiss you earlier, right? So why couldn't I kiss you just once?"

"W-Well, that's different!" Piper stammered before looking around nervously. "This isn't fair!" She cried out, pointing an accusing finger at the Magikarp. "I didn't agree to this, you stupid fish!"

"It is too fair!" Tia pouts before crossing her arms over her chest. "And stop calling me a stupid fish! Friends shouldn't call each other names like that!" Turning to Piper, her eyes shined brightly as she asked hopefully, "We are friends...aren't we?"

"Guh!" Piper held her chest tightly, her face reddening further as she lowered her gaze. "Y-yeah...we're friends..." She mumbled quietly before averting her gaze from everyone else, grumbling under her breath. "Stupid..."

Tia giggled cheerfully at Piper's response before grabbing Piplup's hands and dragging her closer to us, causing the girl to blush even more. "Okay then, since we're friends, let's all hug together again!" She exclaimed happily before wrapping her arms around Piper's shoulders, hugging her tightly against her body. "C'mon, join in! You too, Leona!" She hopped excitedly while beckoning towards the Growlithe. "Since I kissed Piper 10 times, Nik should kiss you two 10 times each to make it fair, okay?"

"Wai-more?!" Piper cried out in alarm before blushing heavily and turning away from us. "T-That's not f-fair! What about D-Dawn?" She stuttered as she struggled weakly within Tia's embrace, failing miserably due to lack of strength.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed indignantly. "You can't decide something like that all by yourself!"

"Aww, c'mon! Please? Pretty please?" Tia whined cutely as she stared pleadingly at Dawn, effectively using the puppy-dog eyes technique. "Pleeeeaaase?"

Dawn remained silent for a long moment before lowering her head in defeat. "Fine." She sighed before looking back up again with a smile, her cheeks turning red. "Just one kiss though!" She quickly added when she noticed how happy Tiamat seemed after hearing that answer. "Only one!"

"Hmm...only if you kiss Nik on the lips!" Tia countered playfully as she stuck out her tongue mischievously at the bluenette. "Otherwise, no deal!"

"Hey, quit trying to change the rules already!" Dawn snapped at Tiamat, yet I didn't sense any anger from her. "I said just one kiss!"

"But I want ten!" Tia argued stubbornly. "Ten kisses for Piper, ten kisses for Leona, ten kisses for me, and ten kisses for you! If you only want one kiss then you kiss Nik on the lips! That's my com...compris...compromise!"

"Bu-I just met Nik earlier today! Why do you want me to kiss him so badly?!"

"Because we're friends now!" Tia answered simply, causing Dawn to groan loudly.

"Look, friends don't just randomly kiss their friends out of nowhere! Especially when they just met each other!" Dawn retorted, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"...they're not?" Tia turns to me with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Is that true, Nik? Do friends not kiss each other whenever they want?"

"Uh..." I backed away slightly upon seeing Tia start crying, the guilt overwhelming me immediately. The thought of making my Tia cry is more than enough to break through any emotional barriers I might have built up throughout my life.

As such, without thinking, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Friends can kiss each other as much as they want."

'Damn you, subconscious! Now look at what you've done!'

"Really?!" Tia beams happily at me before looking back over at Dawn, sticking her tongue out triumphantly. "See? Nik agrees with me too! So hurry up and kiss him!"

"What?! Nik!" Without even looking at Dawn, I can hear the betrayal in her voice as she turns towards me with wide eyes. "Y-you're seriously gonna let her force me into this?"

Pursing my lips, I quickly go through my brain for an excuse to get out of this situation. Unfortunately, I come up short and can only turn my gaze away from the girl in embarrassment. "She has a point...friends do tend to be more physically affectionate nowadays..." I mutter quietly under my breath, avoiding eye contact with Dawn.

Glancing at Tia, I turned to Dawn and began to walk towards her, a small idea comes to mind.

Angles don't fail me now!

"Besides, if you refuse, that means you're saying you don't see us as friends." I begin softly, causing Dawn to freeze mid-step. "And that would hurt Tiamat's feelings quite badly..." I trail off as I stop next to her, reaching over and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That wouldn't be right, would it? We are friends after all."

"...that's playing dirty." She mutters with a sigh, glancing down at the floor sadly before slowly nodding her head.

"Stay still," I whisper to her, leaning down and staying still just at the right time. Our breaths mingled together as our lips barely touched each other, sending shivers running through our spines. "I'm not kissing you if you don't want to." Glancing back, I noticed that Tia was watching us intently from behind, waiting patiently. "Just hold...still...perfect."

With that said, I stayed in place.

If one were to be looking behind us, they'd see me and Dawn kissing. But in truth, we weren't actually touching each other. Instead, our lips are merely hovering close to each other.

I'm not one to complain since Dawn is an attractive girl...but I don't want to take advantage of her like that. Even if it's to comply with my admittedly childish starter's whims. But it doesn't change the fact that we are intimately close. Close enough for anyone looking at us from behind to think that we were kissing.

Dawn is staring right into my eyes, her cheeks bright red as she tries her best to avoid moving. If she moves forward by even a little bit, then our lips will definitely touch. Yet, despite that, she doesn't move a muscle, remaining perfectly still while keeping her gaze locked onto mine.

It is very tempting to simply lean forward and make the connection between us, but I resist the urge to do so. The build up is killing me inside. I am desensitized when it comes to being intimate with girls, comes with growing up with a Lopunny who doesn't give a damn about being very open about her sex life with my parents and Luna. So this whole act of pretending to kiss Dawn yet not actually doing so is quite exciting to me, making my heart pound faster in anticipation.

But it's not fair to do something like this to Dawn without her consent. So instead, I remain still, waiting for her to decide whether or not she wants to go through with it.

"I won't mind if you do," I tell her quietly as I stare into those beautiful blue eyes of hers. "You're free to refuse if you're not comfortable."

"No, I..." She starts before pausing briefly as she glances away shyly. "Maybe...I don't...mind too much..." She trails off nervously, blushing harder than ever before returning her gaze back towards me. There's anticipation clear in her eyes as well as hesitation as she hesitantly leans forward slightly, closing the gap between our lips slightly. "If...you really don't mind...I guess it'll be fine."

'Damn, why does this feel more real than any other kiss I've done in the past?'

Not wanting to waste time, I gently cup her chin and pull her closer, allowing our lips to finally connect together. Her breath hitched slightly while her eyes widened in surprise. Yet she didn't pull away or resist the contact between us. In fact, she seemed almost eager for it as she pressed her own lips against mine.

As much as I want to take it deeper and turn this pretend-kiss into a full-blown make out session, I refrain from doing so as I keep things light between us. Our lips only press lightly together as we continue to stare deeply into each other's eyes. After several seconds pass, we both break apart from the kiss. Dawn's face was flushed red as she panted heavily while staring at me with wide eyes filled with shock.

"That..." She gasps out softly.

"Yeah..." I respond slowly before chuckling as I turn to Tia.

As expected, she looks very happy while Piper and Leona looked as if they were watching pornography for the first time. I can practically see the steam coming out of their ears as they blush furiously.

"There. Happy?"

"Very! Thank you, Nik!" Tiamat cheers happily before rushing over to Dawn and hugging her tightly, nuzzling against her affectionately. "See? Friends always share everything with each other, right?"

"...right," Dawn answers weakly after recovering from her stunned state, nodding her head absentmindedly. "Right." She repeats once more.

"Hehe, Nik's kisses are super effective~!" Tiamat giggles playfully before pulling away from the girl. Turning to me, she runs over and hugs my arm, snuggling close to me. "Let's go train now!"

"Hmm? But I thought you wanted me to kiss Leona and Piper some more?" I asked her with a raised brow. This caused her to giggle mischievously as she flashed me an innocent smile.

"I kissed them for you already! That counts as your 10 kisses for the day!" She states proudly.

This little...!

I look down at Tia who has a wide grin plastered across her face. Her eyes shine brightly with excitement as she continues to stare at me eagerly. "What do you think? Am I smart or am I smart?" She asks confidently.

Sighing heavily, I shake my head in amusement before ruffling her hair affectionately. "You're a cheeky brat, that's what."

Tia simply giggled cutely in response as she hugged me tighter. Sighing with a soft smile, I turn to Dawn. "You go on ahead and buy that Dig TM...and maybe something to clear your head too. I'll deal with these three."

"Alright..." Dawn mumbles before turning around and heading towards the stairs, still looking quite flustered.

"Hehe, I did good, right Nik?" Tiamat giggles happily as she skips towards me. "She looks like she enjoyed it very much! Just wait until later tonight when she finally admits that she loves you! You just wait!"

"It was in the heat of the moment, Tia." I deadpan, raising an eyebrow at the fish. "She didn't actually enjoy it. She's just embarrassed."

"No way! I saw how she looked at you earlier! It's like how I always look at you! With love!"

"Tia, I just became your Trainer a couple of hou-"

"With love! Love, I tell you!" Tiamat cuts me off excitedly, hopping up and down repeatedly while holding onto my arm tightly. "She really likes you, Nik! Trust me, I'm an expert when it comes to love!"

"And I am the Master of Love!" I reply with a straight face, causing Tia to laugh out loud while shaking her head at me. "Like you, Leona, and Piper, I just met Dawn a few hours ago. That's hardly enough time for anyone to develop feelings for each other."

"It is for me! Because I love you! And I've only known you for a day!" Tiamat points out happily, grinning widely at me. "So there!"

"Tia..." Letting out another sigh, I pat her head gently. "I give up."

"Yay! I won!" Tiamat cheers triumphantly, jumping high in the air while pumping her fist excitedly. "Take that, Nik! I beat you!"

I rolled my eyes at her antics before glancing back over at Leona and Piper,who were quietly watching our interaction. Their expressions are unreadable, but judging by their blushes, they're probably thinking about what happened earlier between Dawn and me.

"...anyway," I began as I walked towards the two Moemon, ignoring Tia's childish cheering behind me. "Until Dawn comes back with the Dig TM, we're gonna be training." I told them as I stopped in front of the duo. "As much as I'd love to have Tia fight our first gym battle together, it's best that I face the fact that Tia won't be able to learn any new moves until she evolves into a Gyarados."

Fighting down her blush, Piper huffs her chest out proudly as she marches forward. "You can leave it all to me, Nik! It's going to be temporary, but I'll make sure that you win the Gym Badge easily!" She exclaims confidently as she strikes a pose, pointing towards the ceiling dramatically. "Prepare yourselves, for I will bring victory unto us!"

"It's a team effort, Piper." I chuckled at her enthusiasm before turning towards Leona. "You're going to be doing some light exercises to get you all warmed up. After Dawn comes back, you're going into your ball so that you can learn Dig."

Apparently, Moemon can learn TM moves via having a TM disc inserted inside their Moeballs, allowing them to automatically learn it through their data. It's a pretty quick and efficient process compared to spending hours upon hours practicing. Though, once again, this method only works for Moemon in their balls.

"So a warm up? Sounds boring..." Leona whines softly as she scratches her head while looking down at the floor with a pout. "I want to do something exciting...like fight another Moemon or something!"

"We'll get to that the stronger we get." I assure her gently before placing my hands on top of her head and rubbing it affectionately. "Until then, practice and get stronger." I flashed her a grin. "After all, wouldn't it be cool if a fire-type like you beats a rock-type despite your disadvantage?"

Leona blinks at my words before grinning as her tail wags excitedly. "Yeah! That would be awesome!" She pumps her fists excitedly while hopping in place. "I'll get stronger and get you to look at m-I mean! I'll get stronger so that we can win more battles! Yep! Win more battles!" She quickly corrects herself, blushing slightly as she looks away shyly.

Giggling cutely, Tiamat skips over to Leona and hugs her tightly from behind. "That's the spirit! Let's train hard and make Nik proud!" She cheers happily as she nuzzles against her hair. "It'll be fun! I'll make sure I keep up so that I can quickly evolve into a Gyarados and battle beside you!"

"H-Hmph, you better!" Leona crosses her arms and huffs loudly, though the slight blush on her cheeks gives away her true feelings. "I won't accept anything less than perfection from you! Got it?!"

"Yup! Leave everything to me, Leona!" Tiamat answers cheerfully with a big smile plastered across her face. "Let's go, everyone!" Without warning, she grabs onto my hand and pulls me towards the training grounds beside the Moemon Center. Piper and Leona immediately follow behind us, both looking eager to start our training session.

Seeing this, I can't help but laugh inwardly to myself as I allow myself to be led by the little fish girl. I can't even imagine what it'll be like once Tia evolves into a Gyarados. Will I end up being dragged around everywhere? Probably, seeing how energetic she is. Though honestly, I don't really mind all that much.

As long as she's happy, then I'm fine with it. And right now, there's no doubt about it that Tia is very happy. So why should I stop her? If she wants to drag me around the town all day, then I'll gladly let her. It's not like I have anything better to do anyway. Besides, this way, I can keep an eye on her and make sure that nothing bad happens to her.

And judging from how things are going so far, I've got a feeling that Tiamat will be my team's own gremlin...a fish gremlin who can somehow cause some mischief while being innocent. The kiss I had with Dawn earlier proves that theory quite well. I swear, with Tia's view of 'friends always sharing things' and her innocence, she's gonna get me into so much trouble. But at the same time, it's part of her charm. She's adorable and energetic and that alone makes up for any headache that comes along with dealing with her antics...probably.

3 hours later...

"Keep it up, Leona!" I called out to her, watching her dodge Piper's Bubble attacks effortlessly. "Remember, don't attack! Just focus on dodging them all!"

"R-Right!" Leona pants but continues to leap around, avoiding each wave of bubbles. "This isn't easy, though!" She complains loudly before rolling to the side and avoiding another volley of water attacks.

"Just keep going! You're doing great!" I encouraged her, clapping my hands enthusiastically as she narrowly avoided getting hit again. "Piper! Remember what I told you, don't just aim, predict where she's going!"

"Roger!" Piper stops shooting bubbles at Leona and instead aims further away from her position, preparing herself for the moment when the Growlithe leaps away. As soon as she does, Piper immediately fires off several bubbles, forcing Leona to jump in another direction to avoid getting hit.

Leona landed gracefully on the ground before turning to face Piper, breathing heavily as sweat drips down her face. Her chest heaving as she struggles to catch her breath. "Not...even close..." She mutters between breaths.

"No, that was perfect," I said as I walked towards the two Moemon. "You were able to anticipate where Leona would go after jumping and fired your bubbles accordingly." I explain proudly as I pat Piper's head gently, causing the little penguin girl to blush slightly at my praise. "Nicely done, both of you!"

"Now," turning to Leona, I continued, "you did really well too, Leona. Even if it didn't seem like much, moving around that much while also avoiding attacks takes a lot of stamina." I flashed her a small grin. "You'll be dodging a lot more than bubbles during our journey, so take this opportunity to build up your endurance for when we face tougher opponents!"

Leona nods slowly as she continues to breathe deeply. "So...what now?" She asked once she finally calmed herself.

"Rest up." I told her simply. "You girls have been training for a while with little breaks here and there. So get some rest, Oreburgh Gym is not gonna go anywhere anytime soon." I chuckled lightly as I glanced towards Dawn, who is hanging out with Tia on a bench nearby. She's currently reading a magazine, but every few seconds or so, she would glance in my direction briefly before quickly returning to her reading.

I can tell that she's thinking about what happened earlier and is trying to distract herself by focusing on something else. Tia is sitting beside her quietly as she watches the two Moemons practice. Occasionally, she whispers something into Dawn's ear and giggles afterward while glancing in my direction, causing Dawn to blush slightly before responding to whatever it is she said.

"So," approaching them both, I spoke up as I stood directly behind Dawn. "Any idea where we'll be spending the night tonight?"

"...a hotel?" Dawn answered hesitantly without looking up. "I'm not sure though...there are some nice ones in town but they're also expensive..."

"So we just stay in a cheap one then? It doesn't matter as long as we get a room anyway." I told her casually as I took a seat beside her.

"But the beds...they might smell weird and feel dirty..." Dawn mumbled softly with a frown. "I don't want my hair getting messed up because someone left a bad odor somewhere..."

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the magazine away from her before flipping through it myself. "It won't matter if you're tired enough to sleep through anything."

"Hey! I was reading that!" Dawn complained loudly, glaring at me angrily.

"Weren't you paying attention?" I replied back calmly, raising an eyebrow at her. "Hotel. Beds. Sleepy."

"I know that!" She huffed while crossing her arms across her chest. "It's just...can we go to a nicer hotel? Just this once?" She asked hopefully as she looked up at me with pleading eyes. "You can't let a future idol such as myself sleep in a place that smells terrible!"

Sighing heavily, I shook my head while chuckling to myself. "Fine, fine...as long as it's not too pricey, you can choose wherever we stay for the night." I finally conceded after several seconds passed by.

Dawn's face instantly brightened upon hearing this as she cheered happily. "Thanks, Nik! I'll go and book 2 rooms right away!" She immediately stood up and rushed towards the still bustling streets of Jubilife City, leaving behind Tiamat who simply sat there watching everything unfold before her.

After waiting for Dawn to disappear from sight, Tia turns towards me and flashes me a knowing smile. "Hehe~"

"What are you giggling about now?" I asked curiously, pinching her cheeks playfully.

"Nothing!" Tia answers innocently before batting my hands away gently. "I'm just happy that Dawn likes you so much that she wants to share a room with you!"

"She said she's gonna book 2 rooms. One for me and one for her." I corrected her flatly.

"Same difference!" Tia huffs loudly in response, puffing her cheeks out cutely. "Besides, I doubt she'd actually leave your side even if she got another room all by herself!"

"And why do you think that?"

"Because she loves you, duh!" The fish girl answered confidently. "It's obvious! Can't you see how hard she blushes whenever she looks at you?"

"That's probably because of the fact that you made us kiss earlier." I deadpanned before reaching over and ruffling her hair affectionately. "Honestly, if you really want me to end up with her then please stop trying so hard."

"Buuuutttt...it's fun seeing Dawn get flustered every time you're near her!" Tia whines childishly before pouting at me. "You two would look great together, seriously! Of course, you better not forget about me if that ever happens though!" She adds quickly as she leans closer towards me and stares straight into my eyes intensely. "You won't, will you?"

Laughing lightly, I wrap my arm around her small frame and pull her towards me, causing her to yelp in surprise as she falls onto my lap. "Of course not. How could I possibly forget about my little fishy?" I assure her gently while nuzzling against her cheek, eliciting several giggles from Tia as she squirms on top of me. "You're the cutest shiny little Magikarp in the world. How could I ever abandon such an adorable creature like yourself?"

Tia's cheeks reddened at my words, but she didn't try to escape my embrace. Instead, she snuggled against me while smiling widely. "Hehe...good answer, Nik..." she mumbled quietly while burying her face into my chest shyly. "Don't forget it...okay?"

Jeez, where'd that gremlin go? It seems like she's gone back to being the same shy Moemon I found at Professor Rowan's...well, not entirely. There is still a hint of mischief lingering within those golden orbs of hers. But right now, she appears content enough just sitting here cuddling me without saying anything.

"Hey..." Blinking, I turned to see Leona standing in front of me. Her eyes are locked onto my arms wrapped around Tiamat's waist tightly and the blush adorning both our faces. "Umm, when should we start training again?" She asked after clearing her throat awkwardly.

It doesn't take a genius to see that she wants some attention from me too. So chuckling inwardly at her pouting face, I pat the seat beside me with my free hand. "Come on, sit down and rest with us. You deserve it."

Leona hesitates for a moment but eventually decides to follow through with my suggestion, carefully taking a seat next to me while keeping a distance between us. After glancing over at me one last time, she finally settles herself comfortably and closes her eyes to relax. Piper does the same, except she's lying on the grass nearby instead of sitting on the bench with everyone else.

"Muuu..." Tia pouts cutely as she glares daggers at Leona. "Why are you sitting so far away from Nik?" She complains loudly. "Sit closer to him! There's plenty of room over here!"

"N-No thanks!" The Growlithe immediately refuses while shaking her head rapidly. "I'm fine where I am! And I'm sweaty too, I don't wanna get you dirty, Tia!"

"Hmph! That's no excuse!" Tia retorts angrily. "Nik said you did great today! So come here and let Nik pet your fluffy ears!" She demands firmly. "Don't keep ignoring his kindness like this!"

Seeing that there's nothing left to do but accept defeat, Leona reluctantly scoots closer towards me until our bodies touch each other slightly. Then without wasting any second, Tiamat grabs her arm and wraps it around my shoulder before pressing herself against my side. "Pet her ears, Nik!" She orders eagerly, grinning happily as she watches everything unfold.

Sighing heavily, I reach forward and begin stroking Leona's hair gently. My fingers brush past her soft fur repeatedly as I massage her scalp tenderly.

"W-Wait...wahhh...t-this feels nice..." Leona gasps in surprise at first but soon melts under my touch. "Keep doing that, please..."

Smiling softly at her reaction, I continue combing through her red locks soothingly. Before long, Leona completely relaxes and leans against me without holding back whatsoever.

"Hehe~! Good girl! Now do her ears, Nik!"

Phrasing, Tia. Phrasing.

Mentally facepalming while resisting the urge to groan outwardly at her choice of words. I instead simply move my hand toward Leona's twitching ears and scratch it lightly. Immediately, Leona whines softly in pleasure as her tail wags happily.

"You like that, huh?" I tease her playfully, causing her cheeks to flush brightly. "Such an adorable pup. Who's a good puppy girl? You are! Yes, you are!"

"W-Who are you calling a puppy?!" Leona protests weakly. However, despite her words, she continues leaning against me affectionately. "Stupid...wait until I evolve into an Arcanine...then we'll see who gets treated like a dog..."

Chuckling lightly at her behavior, I decided to humor her slightly. "Can't wait to meet that Arcanine then. I bet she'll be even cuter than you." As an afterthought, I lean forward and plant a small kiss on top of her head.

"W-WHA-!?" Leona freezes up instantly while blushing intensely. Her face turns scarlet red as she stutters incoherently. "Wha...what was that?! Why did you do that?!" She exclaims loudly while looking extremely flustered.

Tia giggles cutely from beside me. "It's because he thinks you're really cute, Leo! Isn't that right, Nik?"

"...shut up, shrimp..." The Growlithe mumbles quietly under her breath.

"Muuu...meanie! I'm a shiny Magikarp! Not a shrimp!" Tiamat huffs angrily before crossing her arms across her chest. "Don't forget about that!"

"Shrimp, fish, whatever..." Leona shrugs nonchalantly. "You're still tiny compared to me anyway."

"That doesn't mean anything! Nik likes cuddling with me more than you! So hah!" Tia sticks her tongue out childishly at her.

"Yeah well you don't have hair as fluffy as mine! It's super soft and silky!" Leona retorts back instantly. "So there!"

"Hmph! My hair is super pretty and shiny! Nik loves playing with it!" Tia responds immediately. "Right, Nik?" She turns towards me eagerly waiting for confirmation. "Tell her how much you love my hair!"

"...are you girls seriously arguing over who's better in my eyes?" I sigh tiredly, pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "What happened to getting alo-"

"That's different! Tell her, Nik!" Tia cuts me off impatiently, ignoring my previous statement entirely. "I wanna hear you say it!"

"Well, I guess that answers your question..." Sighing heavily once again, I shake my head slowly in defeat. "Fine fine, both of you are equally adorable in my eyes. There, happy now?"

Both Moemon look at each other briefly before nodding their heads simultaneously. Then, together, they turn towards me with matching grins plastered across their faces. Although Leona's is slightly more embarrassed than Tia's. But regardless, it's obvious that neither of them is planning on letting go of me anytime soon.

"Good enough, Nik!" Tiamat beams brightly as she squeezes my arm affectionately. "But don't forget to keep petting Leona too! She's really enjoying it!" She adds quickly while glancing over at the Growlithe who just stares down at her feet shyly.

Nodding silently, I resume stroking her ears gently while keeping an eye on Tiamat who seems content watching everything unfold from beside me.

And Piper somehow manages to nap through all this commotion? Seriously, that girl must have some insane levels of tolerance if she's able to sleep peacefully even after hearing the three of us bickering constantly.

That or she's tired...probably the latter.

And cut!

That's around 7.8k words if you don't count the AN.

Beta readers' notes:

Slothful: Here lies the beta, because Tiamat and Leona gave him too many cavities.

Demonoid: Thank god I was hired then…wonder if my grave will be like that too. Anyway, since I'm a latecomer to this…or if I did beta this I completely forgot. Gonna need to brush up on a lot of things.

Old man: I'm still alive you jackasses-oh wait, your not talking about me, oh thank god. Anyway looks like he's almost scoring them so quickly with just simple scratches and headpats. Good luck mate, cause you'll need it

Anyway, I have a naughty P word if you want to support me. You know what it is!

Pat /luckyerofu

Here's my link for my inactive discord: discord .gg/3Tw93K8anZ

I'll see ya all in the next chapter/fic/update!

Ciao! Peace!