Chapter 56: Breaks, and time

"Charcadet! Ember! Now!" Kai cried out as a wild Vigoroth approached the tiny Charcadet.

Charcadet took a step back, quivering in fear and looking as though it was ready to run away.

"Charcadet- c'mon, you gotta hit him with all you've got!" Kai cried.

"You can do it, Charcadet!" Aeon shouted.

Vigoroth began glaring furiously as he stepped forward. Charcadet took a few steps back, began to cry, and ran straight over to Kai, hiding behind him and holding onto his leg.

Both Aeon and Kai sighed.

"That's the third time today..." Aeon mumbled.

"You know what to do, Quaxwell," Kai said.

Quaxwell suddenly appeared behind the Vigoroth with incredible speed, and before the normal type could turn, Quaxwell landed an Aerial ace right onto Vigoroth's back.

The Vigoroth's eyes widened in pain before it fell to its knees, and fell to the ground.

Shivering in fear, Charcadet peaked over Kai's leg. Kai crouched down patted the charcadet on the head.

"It's okay Charcadet," Kai said, "Battling is too scary for you right now."

"We're in a predicament.." Aeon said. "If your Charcadet doesn't learn how to fight soon, we could be in a bad spot for the next gym."

"Why don't we challenge the grass Gym?" Kai asked. "I'll tera-fuse with him, and then things should go well."

"While I like the idea of fighting the grass type gym, The power a trainer gains from tera fusion mostly comes from the Pokémon themselves. If Charcadet's too scared to fight… then you'll be weakened."

"Well…what do you suppose we do?"

Aeon crossed his arms and began to think… after a while, he shrugged.

"I… don't know." He said.

"Huh." Kai said. "Well…maybe it's a good time to just… y'know, relax?"

"Relax..? But-"

"But nothing. Do you have any ideas?"

Aeon said nothing and looked defeated.

"Listen." Kai said, approaching Aeon and putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to not do anything for a while. Charcadet's scared. He'll warm up to fighting, it's just gonna take a while."

"...You're right." Aeon said.

"When am I not right?"

Aeon looked as though he were about to say something, but then stopped. Kai crouched down and patted the now crying Charcadet on the back.

"It's okay, buddy. It's okay."

Charcadet nodded while hugging Kai's leg tighter.

"Kai…" Aeon spoke up and Kai raised his body to face him. "I'm sorry if I've been seeming like I've been… really anxious." Aeon said. "I'm just… ever since what happened in that cave… I haven't stopped thinking about what could happen if I went berserk- and.."

"Well, how about this?" Kai said. "You and I are alone, it's a nice day, why don't we just relax and forget about everything for a bit."

"Huh.?"

Quaxwell approached Charcadet from behind and patted the tiny Pokémon on the back. He motioned with his beak for him to follow, and Charcadet nodded. Charcadet held the winged Pokémon by the wing as they walked off.

Meanwhile, the fallen Vigoroth twitched before rising from the ground. Anger was the only thing that was on the Pokemon's mind. Standing up and jumping away into the trees around them to retreat.

"Yeah," Kai said, not noticing the Vigoroth. We can just talk. Y'know, have a heart-to heart…well, technically you don't have a heart…wait- is that insensitive?"

"I mean, you're not wrong, but you're not right, either." Aeon said frankly with a smile on his face.

Kai chuckled a bit.

"Welp- i'll just say you do have a heart."

An idea came to the robot boy's mind as he raised his eyebrows upon hearing the word 'heart'. He smiled lightly, then approached Kai suddenly. He embraced the human boy, much to his surprise.

"What- What's going on?" Kai asked.

"Speaking of hearts…" Aeon said, whispering onto Kai's ear. "I've got an idea.. Let's lay on the grass together."

"Aeon…are you asking to cuddle?"

"Yes."

"...I'm the luckiest guy on earth."

Kai slowly let himself fall under Aeon's weight, and they both fell together on the ground, much to the android's surprise. Out of a reflex, Aeon swung their bodies- attempting to put himself under Kai to take the brunt of the fall. But he wasn't fast enough, and the two boys fell on their sides together- facing each other.

"The heck was that..?" Aeon asked. "Why would you let us fall like that- are you trying to get hurt?"

"I thought it'd be more romantic if we did it like that."

"Ugh..you're an idiot."

"But I'm your idiot, right?"

Kai inched closer and gave an eskimo kiss- rubbing his nose against Aeon's. Aeon blushed a bit and returned it.

"Yeah, you're my idiot." Aeon said. "But- there's a reason why I wanted to do this. Could you do me a favor and lie on your back?"

"Uh- sure." Kai said, flopping onto his back. The moment he did this, Aeon moved his head and planted his ear onto Kai's chest. He could hear Kai's heartbeat…and it was soothing to the robot boy. He slowly closed his eyes and smiled a bit, listening it to it rhythmically thumping in his ear.

Badump…

Badump…

Badump…

Aeon felt Kai's arm move around his head, and a wave of comfort washed over him. For a while…there was silence.

Aeon raised his hand over to Kai's face. "Give me your hand." He said. Kai tilted his head in confusion, and did what he said, offering his free hand over to him as though he were about to give a handshake. Aeon grabbed Kai's hand and gently moved it so that their hands would be together, lined up, as though they had given each other a high five and hadn't pulled their hands away.

For a while, the two just kept their hands like that, moving as one.

"Y'know…" Aeon said suddenly, "I envy how simple you can be."

"Hey!"

"It's not an insult, it's a compliment, really."

Both boys swayed their clasped hands side to side.

"Let me explain what I mean." Aeon continued, "From what I've seen…You don't really think too hard on things. While I… think really hard on things."

"That's just our dynamic. I stop you from overthinking yourself so hard that you explode, and you stop me…from…well…"

"Being so stupid that you'd explode?"

"I wouldn't explode! I'm the guy wh-"

"Who has his back turned to explosions?"

"...How'd you know I'd say that? Do you have a mind reading thing in your system or whatever?"

Aeon started chuckling.

"What!? It's a legitimate question!"

Aeon sighed."I'm just able to pick up on the way you speak to the point that I can predict your next words. Just like right now- you're thinking of saying, 'Oh yeah? All right then, handsome- what am I thinking of now'?"

Kai began to pout. "I wasn't gonna say that.." He said.

"And that's my confirmation." and Aeon chuckled lightly.

"Jerk."

"I love you, too." Aeon said.

Aeon felt Kai gasp- and heard his heart rate become even faster. Aeon smiled.

"I-...I l-lov…"

"C'mon, you can do it," Aeon said teasingly.

"Hey- I- stop!" Kai said, pouting again. "I- I love you too, okay!?"

Aeon smiled at this. Then, silence hung between them again.

"...Although, I have one thing to ask you." Aeon said. "Why… was it that you fell in love with me? Was it because of my face?"

"I mean, yeah, at first. But as we went on I just wanted to impress you. I wanted you to see me as uh… a big hero, or something. Y'know? The hero always gets the girl at the end. Well in my case, it's the guy. But my point's the same. I just thought that uh… if you…saw how 'cool' i was… uh…you'd like me. And I saw you being dismissive as sort of a challenge, so I went with it, thinking that it was a running gag between you and I. I was the guy trying to get you to kiss me, and you were the guy hanging an apple in front of my face. Plus, since you were so…quiet back then, I thought that it was the only way that I'd be able to get close to you."

"That explains…why you acted the way you did back then…when I first erased your memories."

"Yeah, uh, can you explain what happened? I kinda wanna know."

"Sure. It's simple, really. You found out that I was a robot, and, uh, I couldn't trust you because I was afraid you'd tell Arven. He didn't know at the time, and I was afraid of his reaction. So we fought."

"Really? Did I win?"

"Yeah. You did. I was surprised."

"You didn't think I'd win, huh?"

"Heh. I didn't think much of your skill back then. Oh- sorry… I should have…sugar coated it a bit."

"Eh, it's okay. I literally implied that you were a heartless machine earlier, so.."

Both Kai and Aeon laughed together for a brief moment.

"..Besides," Kai said after laughing, "I've been called worse. Did I tell you I was bullied?"

Aeon raised his upper body and looked angry. "Really? By who?"

Kai started to chuckle. "You don't have to be so tense, man! Relax! It's not like I'm being bullied anymore."

"...Oh… Yeah-...yeah. Y-You're right." Aeon slowly lied back down.

"I'm lucky to have such a protective boyfriend."

"When you say it like that, it sounds like you're teasing me…" Aeon said, slightly pouting.

"What were you going to do, anyway? Find my bullies and beat them up?"

"They aren't even around for us to do that-.."

"Oh, Aeon. There wasn't a 'no' in that sentence."

Aeon sighed in defeat. "You got me."

"Heh. Anyway- go on about what happened before you erased my memories?"

"Uh… well, after our fight, you decided to willingly let your memories be erased."

"Really? Did I at least say something cool?"

"You did. You said to me, that the moment I could come to trust you with my life…would be the best time for me to tell you that I was a robot."

"Oh god… when you say that it makes me sound like a real dork.." Kai began to blush a bit.

"I mean, you are. But... it was your way of saying, 'notice me', wasn't it?"

"Yeah... I guess so."

Aeon sighed to himself.

"...I've something to admit." Aeon said. "I've…masked my feelings for you for a while up until recently. I've felt quite fond of you...but I pushed that feeling away within myself. …Because I wanted to protect you. If we became close… and I was forced to say something harsh to you- or even hurt you…I…" Aeon sighed. "...Sometimes… I wonder to myself if I was being a horrible person for masking what I truly felt about you… and I feel ashamed of-"

"Hey! Stop right there- you're overthinking it again. You were trying to protect me. Like you always do. And what- were you just going to deny your feelings? Sometimes you can be too selfless. Sometimes you need to think like me, the guy with one-liners that are almost as smooth as his brain."

Aeon chuckled.

"How do you manage to get me to laugh every time?"

"I don't know- that was the worst joke I've made ever. Although I hear that if a person laughs at all of your jokes no matter how bad is a sign that they have a crush on you. So maybe… you have a crush on me?"

Aeon smiled. "You've caught me. I've got a huge crush on you."

"Well, isn't that nice- I have a crush on you, too."

Both boys' grip on each other's hands became slightly tighter.

"And then they humiliated me! Right in front of the humans!" Vigoroth was angrily reporting what had happened to it to its tribe, full of a lot of other Vigoroth that crowded around him. "We have to report it to the chief!"

"I heard everything…"

Every Vigoroth in the area spun their heads over to their chief, who was a massive Slaking…Very massive- nearly the size of two moving trucks. Around him were other Vigoroth, tending to his every whim, giving him a back massage, feeding him food… and one of the food that was being given to him…

Was a Herba Mystica.

Penny was standing in front of the large staircase that led to Uva. She could feel a cold gust of wind on the back of her neck, and she felt the need to pull up her hood. For what she was about to do- the less people who could recognize her face from a crowd, the better. A sigh escaped her lips. She knew what she had to do, but felt scared of the risks.

There weren't many students around, however- due to the principal announcing that everyone should 'go forth and find their treasure.' Whatever that meant.

"As long as I use my words carefully…" Penny muttered, "I should be fine." The girl reached her hands over to her hood to pull it up.

The moment she did, she started climbing the steps. The wind chill threatened to penetrate the warmness of her coat, but her sweat from nervousness served as a proper second barrier against the cold. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

It was then when she heard someone else's footsteps run by her. She saw that person run past them, and widened her eyes upon recognizing who it was.

It was that cute looking boy, Arven. He ran right past her…he must not have recognized her because of her hood being up.

Maybe that was a good thing. For what she was about to do, the less witnesses, the better. It's best to just let him run by…so long as he's not after the Herba Mystica, too.

"And then, that trainer really let me have it! She totally deserved the champion rank!" Nemona cried. Geeta was listening happily to the stories that Nemona had of the challengers she fought against. Nemona was walking backwards while facing Geeta, giggling and pumping her fists in excitement.

"Using a Mienshao and having it take control of the trainer's body…" Geeta raised her eyebrows and put a bent finger on her lower lip. "Very interesting."

"Right?! The combined power of a Trainer and their Pokémon…it's so cool! Invokers are the best!"

"They really are," Geeta said. "You know, Nemona, I envy you. You and I are rather different," Geeta placed a hand on her chest. "I fight…well… I don't want to fight for this anymore- but… I want to say that I used to fight for status and…respect. But you- you just fight for the fun of it."

Nemona grinned widely. "I just love fighting. It's great!"

"Of course it is. Do me a favor... and Never change, okay?"

"I don't plan to! Also- also, can we fight now!? I wanna see that new power of yours… please?!"

Geeta shook her head. "I said tommorrow, remember?"

"Yeah, I know, I know..." Nemona said, frowning.

Geeta smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But- like I promised, first thing tomorrow, I'll show you my power. I need to sleep after meeting up with Kai."

"Okay!"

Suddenly, Geeta's phone started ringing. Geeta stepped away, pulled out her phone and raised a finger to Nemona, who nodded.

"Hello?" Geeta said after putting her phone to her ear.

"Geeta," It was Rika's voice. Geeta's eyebrows widened because Rika sounded a bit tense.

"What's going on?" Geeta asked.

"I decided to check on the people at Uva Academy researching the two Herba Mystica you sent in… I was told...that they're the same herb."

"The same herb? What? Isn't there only four kinds of Herba Mystica in the world? How could be two of a kind?"

"Yeah- that's what's confusing them. There's never been two of the same kind of these herbs...ever. The fact that there's two of a kind here… is very confusing the scientists."

"...Maybe there were just more than we thought..?"

"Maybe. It's still just odd, though. They checked the DNA, and everything. Herba Mystica are supposed to be very different from one another. The fact that there's two of the same kind, like they're cloned is just too odd to them. One of the scientists said that it was like it came from a parallel world, or something."

"Hm... Interesting. Well, tell them to keep looking into it. Maybe our databases about Herba Mystica have to be updated. Keep me posted."

"Yeah. Will do."

From behind Geeta and Nemona, there was a very tiny, flying machine the size of a tiny bug fluttering its tiny wings with a camera attached to it.

Professor Turo and Sada silently watched from the tiny flying camera fly's point of view on a giant monitor.

"Things are going smoothly," Turo said.

"They are. Now… if our calculations are correct… our guest should be arriving soon."

Suddenly, red electricity started sparking from behind the two professors.

Behind them was a machine portal- it was shaped like the letter O and had red electric currents sparking about them. They both turned around and saw a ball of lightning letting sparks of plasma out wildly on the center of the portal. Suddenly, the ball began to expand, and take the shape of a wormhole. The plasma looked like it was flowing like water, yet it looked thick, like a thunder cloud. Tiny electric sparks flowed about like it was blood pumping through its veins.

Suddenly, a hand veiled in shadow reached out from the center of the abyss, and grabbed at the edge of the portal machine, like it was pulling itself out of a lake.