Episode 39: Shannon and Genius

"Shannon?" Genius shuddered, staring at him.

He struggled to stare back. Now that the scene had calmed and Netherworld had fled, his thoughts began to fester. He hadn't seen Genius for months. That time away either made him long for her even more, or made him forget how adorable she really was.

The moment he looked into those violet eyes, it was like every bit of him faded. He felt guilty. He knew why, and yet all that was at the forefront of his mind was how adorable she was. Those round features accented by her unfathomable strength, gem-stone like eyes that seemed to glisten with an ocean's worth of shades and colours, that supple fur coat, and the fact that somehow, she was just about shorter than him. She was the ideal woman no matter what angle he admired her from.

"Shannon, it really is you!" her voice took him out of his thoughts, but he still didn't say anything. The words wouldn't form. "Shannon!"

He jolted a little, though he had no need to. She sung those words as she skipped toward him, arms open for a hug. To him, the scenery faded into a world of pink and sparkles. Though he felt guilty for leaving her, he couldn't deny his relief that she was okay. He opened his arms out and accepted her hug, holding her tight. She almost pushed him over, but he managed to stay balanced.

She whimpered and buried her face into his chest, and he returned the affection in kind, ever so softly rubbing her back. "Shannon…"

"Genius… it's… alright now," he breathed out. "It's me. The real me."

Kayla and the others gathered together, though Kayla was the only one without their jaw on the floor. He said it before, but I guess they really were close.

"Uh, someone wanna fill me in? Ain't she the twenty million Gald Pawmot?" Pola asked.

"I say we let him have this. He seems happy," Ashe said.

"I'm sorry…" Shannon whispered, cradling and swaying with her. Hearing those words made her grip on him tighten, and he adjusted his hold on her. And then his heart jolted again as he realised he was being lifted off the ground.

"Shannooooooon!" Genius raised her voice as she pulled him up. With a shout, she bent backwards and slammed him headfirst into the ground so hard he was left in an indent. "You royal jerk!"

Now Kayla's jaw was on the floor as everyone flinched.

"I think I'm going to like this Pokémon," May broke the silence.

"I- you- man, I'm not even gonna bother," Pola rolled her eyes and walked over. "So er… you like suplexing Pachirisu?"

"No! But this stingy, edgy, royal, smelly, um, er, punk!" Genius pouted. "Get up so I can hit you again!"

There was no response, not even a twitch. Only Shannon's feet could be seen, and they didn't move even when Kari gave him a poke. "Er, I think you knocked 'im out."

"Whaaaat? Wake up!" Genius bounced. She yanked him out and held him by a foot. His eyes were swirls. "Don't you gimme the dizzy! I know you're in there!"

"As entertaining as it would be to see you kick him down a notch, that is our teammate you're bullying there," Kayla spoke up at last. "You gonna tell us what's up?"

"Bullying? I'm the bully?" Genius' face turned red. "What kinda boyfriend ditches you for six months?"

"Boyfriend?" the group flinched.

"Wait, it's not like that!" Shannon cried.

"Aha! You are awake, huh?" Genius dropped him to put her paws on her hips. "Alright, start talkin', mister! Sorry ain't gonna cut it!"

"It's not… we're not… ugh," he grunted and turned away. "This is why I can't with you. I can't have you around!"

"What do you mean?" she cried.

"He was there… he was right there. All of you got in my way!" Shannon raised his voice as he stood up. "He might still be nearby. I have a chance!"

"Shannon!" Kayla snapped. She met his glare with her own fierceness, so he gave up with a sigh.

"The whole reason I'm here... The whole reason I'm learning Visionary Magic, being part of the team, is to kill that Ditto. He finally turns up, and all of you stop me. And the biggest distraction of my life has to turn up too," he ranted, folding his arms.

"So that really was him? That Ditto with the er, trumpets and shit?" Pola asked, twirling her weave.

"I guess this is my fault. I did say I'd leave the battle to you, but he's a General of Netherworld. That changes things," Kayla pointed out.

"So what, it's okay when you go and fight Zude, but with me it's a problem? Is that what you're going to allow?" he became fierce and stood over her. Kayla only just noticed the black and red flaming stars in his eyes, and something came over her. Her heart was racing. For a moment, it was as though she was staring down another monster… a monster that wasn't a Pokémon. A demon.

"Take a single step further and you'll regret it," May warned. He was about to turn on her, but noticed Kari in the corner of his view. Her claws were out. He stood down, but not without a huff and a sway. "Zude was an enemy that was prepared for and caught in an ambush," May reasoned. "Ditto would not have been defeated surrounded by his army and aide like he was. You'd just be throwing your life away, and possibly ours as well."

"You don't need to tell me," he grumbled without looking at her.

"Don't be like this…" Genius put her paws together. "This isn't you. I know it's not you."

"You don't know anything. You never remember anything!" he snapped again. "This is me, Genius. This is who I've always been. I can't be what you want me to be. You can't force me!"

"Shannon, no I—" She tried to hold his hands, but he smacked hers away.

"Stop it! You can't force yourself to be part of my life!"

"That's enough! Quit it, both of you!" Kari screamed, bolting between them. Both Pokémon were silenced. "I'm so confused what the heck is going on here! One second you're really close, the next you sound like someone stole your porridge!"

Both of them didn't say anything, but Kari's interjection worked. They were calm at least, to which she sighed. "Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. We can talk like Pokémon, can't we? Miss Pawmot, who are you? Let's start there."

"Me? I'm, uh, er…" Pawmot trailed off, becoming nervous.

"Her name is Genius. She has amnesia alongside short term memory loss. The world's best combination," Shannon answered, still looking away.

"Oh yeah. That's it, right! But er, what does the combination do?" she cocked her head.

He sighed. "Makes it so you basically never remember anything."

"… Wait, that's bad. You said it was the best," she squeaked. "Shannon, you cheeky cutie, you."

"H-huh?" Kayla leaned away.

"For some strange reason, the only thing she remembers is me. Me and my mission to kill that Ditto," he continued.

"That seems kinda random," Kari commented. "You don't remember anything else? Just Shannon?"

"I guess it must sound hard to believe. But everything else is blank," Genius put her paws together. "But I believe it's destiny. I remember Shannon because Shannon must be important to me. I think, or something like that."

"I can get the logic," Kayla smiled.

"There's something kinda cute about that," Kari put her paws together and swayed.

"I don't want to imagine what sort of thing leads to such a condition. It sounds thoroughly depressing," May palmed her face.

"Well, not really. Shannon is a nice Pokémon. He's taken good care of me ever since we met," Genius was finally smiling.

"Having the only thing on your mind be a single male? To the extent that you have no individuality of your own?" May asked. There was a pause.

"What does individdy- er, what she said mean?" Genius whispered to Shannon.

"It means you have no character of your own. Which is false," he replied. "But if there's one thing we both agree on, it's you dedicating yourself to me being a bad thing."

"So what was that about 'boyfriend'? You two aren't really together, are you?" Pola put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, we are," Genius said.

"We're not. We never were," Shannon stated.
"We're not? But what about—"

"We're not. We can't… I can't," he coughed, struggling to look at her.

"Shannon…"

"Don't start. We're… we were partners, and then," he trailed off, rubbing his face. "Look it's complicated, okay? Can we just leave it at that?"

"Ah, young love. How I wish I could experience it again," Ashe giggled and turned away.

"He gets really shy about it. But I'm sure I've been with Shannon for a really long time!" Genius explained. "We were searching for that Ditto so he could get revenge for, er, something. He took care of me, and I help him fight. Somewhere down the line, I got really attached."

The way she sways when she says that, Kayla couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Is she totally oblivious to everything?

"We're getting off-topic," Shannon stated.

"No we're not. Or… are we?" Genius put a finger to her lip. "Um, who are you girls, anyway? Are you Shannon's friends?"

"Teammates. Of my team, specifically. I'm Kayla, and this is Team Daybreak," the Buneary bowed briefly. "We met Shannon after he requested training from our Visionary."

"Visionary… right, that Plusle! Is that what happened?" Genius gasped.

"You know about her?" May wondered.

"Yeah! We um… Plusle. Plusle, I think it was called? At that club… yeah. You said something big happened, but you were holding her really close," Genius started grumbling and pacing. "And then you went to school, and told me to wait behind, and then you didn't come back, so I started wandering. And then I wound up here."

"You abandoned her?" Kayla was surprised.

"I didn't… ugh, like I said, it's complicated," Shannon turned away.

"What's so complicated about this? Why didn't you just bring her with you to RSE?" Kayla argued.

"Because she doesn't want me to kill Ditto! Look, it's like I kept saying before. The only thing that matters to me is killing that Ditto, nothing else. Genius helped me find a Visionary, so I started training, and had to join your team," he explained, folding his arms and turning away. "All I wanted was to get stronger and be out of your fur. I never meant to get dragged into everything else that happened."

"So what, when all this was done, you were just gonna abandon us, too?" Pola snapped. He didn't answer. "What the actual hell?"

"I would probably be arrested, so I wouldn't be around anyway," he said. Silence fell. "What?"

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but now I regret not going for that holiday," Kayla slumped. "Okay. Look. You two used to be partners and you've met up again after all this time, right? And you've got some feelings to sort out?"

"There's nothing to sort out. Ditto is here, and I want him dead," he replied. Kayla bounced to nudge him toward the Pawmot.

"Just go hang out with her for a bit."

"Kayla!"

"Fine, we'll make it an order. No moves onto Ditto until you have a talk with Genius," Kayla demanded.

"Why're you being like this today? What is with you?" Shannon gawked.

"You didn't wanna talk to me about this stuff, and I don't expect you to talk to the whole group, either. But you did promise you were gonna calm down and be yourself more," she argued. For some reason he gasped and recoiled. She took that as a victory, and edged right up close to him so she could mumble. "You felt strongly about her, so go talk it out."

"Kayla," he mumbled back. He shook himself and stumbled away, catching everyone else watching. They almost looked annoyed with him about something, especially Pola. With a great big sigh, the glints in his eyes returned to their usual orange shine. "Fine. Let's walk."

"Yay!" Genius bounced happily, snatching his hand. "Where're we going? And what're we talking about?"

"Gods give me strength," he slumped.

…

He was silent as he walked, exploring the scrapyard at complete random. The little landslide Mog made earlier had already been cleared up, while the activity of the area felt more upbeat somehow. Even though they had just been attacked by a small group of Netherworld soldiers, general chatter filled the air while passersby looked like they enjoyed focusing on their work.

What was odd to him was Genius' quiet. The Pawmot hummed to herself and gently swayed her head whenever they stopped. Although she interlocked her digits with his, her grip wasn't the slightest bit forced. It was feathery, or it was just that her hand was softer than he remembered. He snuck a glance at her a few times, but she was oblivious, lost in her own world of whatever pleasant thoughts kept her humming.

What do I even say? He realised. Small talk doesn't work on her. She won't remember how she's been or what she's been up to…

He took to trying to find anything interesting instead. This scrapyard somehow had a kitchen; it ought to have other landmarks he should try to learn, too. The paths dug between the scrap heaps were clear enough to follow, but they didn't have road signs, so he knew he was going to have a hard time remembering what went where.

Soon enough, a cool wind relieved him of sweat he didn't realise had. There was an oddly salty smell, coupled with the chirping of Wingull. "This almost seems like…"

"Oooh, l can hear the ocean!" Genius finally grew excited and ran off without him.

"Wait, don't go too far ahead," he went on all fours to chase.

Surely enough, they did reach the sea. Hidden behind all these giant piles of trash was a long beach with light sand. A series of shallows sat at one end, while at the other, a formation of coral, seaweed, and hollowed rocks and caves. It almost looked like an area that should have been underwater, but wasn't. The sand was easy on the feet as the sun didn't reach here, while the wind made things quite chilly.

"It's a beach! An honest to goodness actual beach!" Genius danced about.

"I don't know what it's doing here, though. Who builds a scrapyard next to the ocean?" Shannon was concerned. "Scratch that – these homeless Pokémon have access to a beach. Aside from the Wingull, it doesn't look like anyone even knows this is here."

"Y'know what that means?" Genius popped up beside him, half-lidded.

"Uh, no. I don't," he replied blankly.

"We've got this place all to ourselves," she giggled, giving him a little nuzzle, making him recoil.

"Except the Wingull. I don't trust them not to gossip," he turned away.

"Oh? What would they gossip about?" she went half lidded again. "What's on your mind?"

Here we go, I guess, he took a deep breath. No amount of psyching up would prepare him for this. "We… can't keep doing this."

"Can't keep doing what?" she asked, totally oblivious.

"This relationship we have. It's… there's so many things wrong with it," he struggled to look at her.

"Wrong with it? What's wrong with… oh no, did I do something to upset you?" she worried.

"… No. Technically, you haven't. Or I guess, telling the others that I was your boyfriend," he shrugged.

"But aren't you already? I don't understand," she asked. He started growling as he gathered his words, and kicked the sand as he wandered off. "Shannon, please. Just tell me."

"You… don't remember anything or anyone except for me. Not your family or friends, your own name, not even what you had for breakfast. You have to rely on me for everything," he explained, and then sighed in shame. "And all I've been doing is taking advantage of that. Using you and your strength to help me find my Father."

"So? What's the problem?" she cocked her head.

"I feel like a parent that's taking advantage of a gifted kid. All I ever thought about is how you can help me."

"But you're not my dad, are you?" she asked.

"Gods no! You're too old to be a daughter. You're older than me, in fact," he flinched.

"Then I don't see the problem," she put her paws on her hips. "I really do love you, and I wanna help. You take care of me, and I help you defeat Ditto. That's a fair trade in itself, isn't it?"

"It… is, but it should stay that way. No… All that matters to me is getting revenge. I'm just a bad Pokémon who wants to kill another bad Pokémon. You shouldn't associate yourself with a Pokémon like me," he stated.

"Then I'm a bad girl who wants to associate herself with a bad boy," she stated. He gave her a displeased look. "There's nothing wrong. I want to help you, Shannon. Not just because you help me. I guess it's hard to say because I don't remember anything or anyone else, but I really, truly do have feelings for you. And I know they're real."

"How can you say they're real? You don't remember anyone else. You just think it's destiny because I happen to be the only one," he raised his voice. "If you could just live normally, meet other Pokémon, and experience different things, and remember those experiences…"

"That's why I know my feelings are real. I remember what we've experienced," she put her hands together. "Do you remember when we first met, Shannon?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't look at her, either.

"It was on a beach, too. Once you learned that I couldn't remember anything, you did everything you could to help me out," she recalled with a smile. He still didn't reply. "But the thing I remember the most about then? You and I just had fun."

"Fun?" he mumbled.
"Yeah. We drew in the sand, and went swimming, and I think you got me sweets, too!"

"… This is sounding more like a jumbled combination of things we've done rather than what we did when we first met," he cocked his head. "If I found an amnesiac washed up on a beach, I would be asking around if anyone knew them, and trying to investigate what might've happened to them."

"Does that sound like something a bad Pokémon would do?"

"You—" he flinched. She got him good, there.

"I'm sure you did help me. And then when you let me help you, I'm sure we travelled all over the place. And when we did, we did stuff. It wasn't always about Ditto, it was about us," her eyes began to glisten.

"Can't you be angry at me? For taking advantage of you for all this time?"

"It's not taking advantage of me if I want to do it, too!" she cried, instantly losing that lustre. "Shannon, I want to kill that Ditto, too. I want to help you defeat him for good. But I also don't want it to control you anymore. You deserve so much more than that. If there's anything I can do for you, it's that."

"… Why?" he shuddered.

She answered with a determined nod, and then grabbed his hands. She made sure they were looking one another in the eyes. "Because I love you."

He gulped. There it was again. He knew she wasn't lying. A woman too good for him felt this way, and all he could think about was how much better she deserved. He wanted to say yes, to kiss her, to let all this go and just live with her; to reciprocate these feelings.

I can't.

The thought was like a spear of ice creating a crevice in his mind. He shuddered, and the glints in his eyes turned red. He was a horrible person. A horrible person bred by a horrible family that he wanted to murder. It was his destiny, his reason for living, for doing anything in life. All that mattered was that he could kill that Ditto. Nothing else, no one else, and nothing that ever happened would matter.

By now, there was a violent blizzard storming around that ice spear. That spear had a raging flame at its tip, which grew into a blistering star that began to erupt and incinerate the ground around it. It took form as the glint in his eyes, and everything in his view turned into this. Genius backed away from him, becoming faded by this deadly blizzard that struck the beach.

"You don't understand a thing. I can't," his voice shuddered lowly. "Once I learned you wouldn't remember a thing or care, I took advantage of you. I tried to take your power as my own. And now you claim that the real me is in love with you?"

"Because I can feel. I know it," she stated calmly, although she gulped.

"You don't get to decide. You don't get to decide that we're together. You don't get to decide who I am. Who I am, is this," he looked up at her, revealing those flaming stars. "Even if the whole world condemns me, I will fight alone. This is my battle."

"It is. I never meant to take that away from you. I only believe you can be more… we can be more," she said, looking at the floor briefly. Steeling herself, she closed her fists and glared at him. "Whatever these demons are that make you think you're a bad person, I'll help. I'll get rid of them for you. And prove it to you. You are in love!"

Shannon grit his teeth and sharpened his gaze. "Why do you insist on not listening to me?"

"Because I want what's best for us, what's best for you. And what's best is to let go. And to start living for yourself, doing what you truly want to do… not letting vengeance drive you. Ditto isn't your life. Shannon is!" Genius stated. She shifted a foot back, spun her staff around in one hand behind her, and then thrust her other palm as she planted her staff in the sand. "If nothing else matters to you… if I don't matter to you, then kill me."

Shannon's eyes widened with madness. By now, the stars in his eyes were as dark as an abyss.

"Go on then! Prove it. I'm going to stop you from going after Ditto, and the only way you can push me aside is to kill me!" she stated.

"… Don't make me fight you. Because I will," he warned. She gulped and shifted back a little, but remained determined. "Geniuuuuuus!"

Genius only had a moment to grit her teeth and brace for real. He really did fly at her and tackle her down with all the force of a bloodthirsty feral. He headbutted her in the chest so hard she was winded, and skidded across the sand in an effort not to fall over. She choked and patted her chest to recover, and then looked up to see him diving into her again. This time, she caught his paws with her own, but squeaked as he pulled her arms apart.

"Sh-Shannon…" she grunted. The sound of sparks made her gasp, and she opened her eyes into a Thunder Wave attack. Somehow, a blast of static exploded between them, and she once again skidded across the ground. She realised she dropped her staff in the clash, and reached out as it rolled away from her. "My weapon!"

Yet again, her moment of distraction cost her. Shannon leapt onto her again, and this time chomped into her neck with Super Fang. She yelled and thrashed, managing to throw him off, but not without a searing pain that brought her to one hand. She was left shivering and uttering, and was fairly sure he drew blood somehow. She was able to catch her breath, only to look up and see him glaring down at her. He was a dark, blurry silhouette, where only his eyes remained in full detail. A world devastated by a blizzard that was being burnt to a crisp by black stars that flowed like flames – that was what was looking down at her.

"That demon…" she whispered, becoming determined again. Her body hurt so much she hissed, but she got to her feet. "I-I can't lose… I'll free you from that demon."

It seemed like that demon was ready to end it. They reached into their tail and withdrew a knife in the shape of a trident. Yet still, Genius' eyes narrowed, and she remained focused. With a roar, the demon came running again, and hacked at her violently, flailing slashes at a full 180 degrees. Genius guarded her face against the first two, ignoring the splashes of blood that came from her arms, and then rolled away from a third slash, which made the demon trip up and stumble. In that moment, she scrambled toward her discarded staff, retrieving it as she got to her feet and charged forward.

She performed a couple of swipes of her own, but both were blocked, and then she clashed against his knife with her staff. This time she wasn't pushed over, but she was right up in the demon's face. She could hear those flames in action, and shivered from fright, but she couldn't back down. Growling with increasing volume, she thrust with all her might, knocking the demon into the air.

"I will free you!" she cried, drawing back a fist engulfed in sparks and electricity.

She had to jump up to punch him, but the moment she did, she realised she'd made another mistake. Somehow, the demon wasn't off-balance at all. They performed a flip to knock her fist back with their tail, and then spun with just as much force, whacking her face so hard she was sent skidding across the sand in an indent. By now she was dazed, yet still he landed on top of her with great force. She was pinned down hard by his body, and could only move her arms. Even though everything was blurry, she could clearly see him glaring down at her with his knife at the ready. At first she clenched her eyes shut and guarded her face, but something stopped her after a second.

They say that life flashes before your eyes a moment before death. But for Genius, she didn't have a life to flash. She was going to die, and she knew it, and yet there were no memories. No moments. No bliss. Only the realization of what Shannon meant. She'd given what excuse of a life she had to him and his mission, and was now walking away with nothing. She gave herself to him and his cause, and he would rather her die than let her be part of it.

At the very least, time really did freeze. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she didn't know why they were there. The demon was gone, and in its place was Shannon, the gentle Pachirisu who'd taken care of her for all this time. Being pinned down by him didn't even seem to hurt. if anything, it actually, somehow, felt comforting. If being out of his way brought him happiness, then she wanted it, and didn't regret that. To that end, she relaxed as she lowered her arms to her sides, and stared up into his eyes, unflinching. Her mouth hung open and she idly breathed, but she was calm.

Yes. She may not have had any memories, but she was happy.

She didn't even flinch when he roared and then brought that knife down. However, all that hit was a light tap of sand beside her face. What did make her flinch was the sudden droplet on her face. Shannon turned his head up, but couldn't hide a sniffle.

"Don't make me do this. Please, don't make me do this," he shuddered pathetically. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep hurting you…"

Genius blinked in disbelief. Tears ran down his face in silence. The only other thing she could hear were the waves from the sea, and it brought everything to calm for her. This is what she wanted. This is what she knew he wanted, too. Just herself and Shannon close in an embrace, and the quiet sounds of nature around them. She was even happier than she just was.

Eventually, she spoke. She was so sure of herself that she could sound casual enough to tease him. "You love me."

That got him to look down at her. His eyes were still flaming from those dark stars, but the blizzard within them had stopped. "Don't make this weird."

"I'm not making this weird," she went half-lidded. "You. Love me."

He blinked.

"You don't want to hurt me. You don't want to kill me, either. You have the chance to do that right now, but you won't. Because…" she said.

He still didn't reply, staring at her through those teary, burning eyes of his.

"Listen to yourself. Right now… do what you want to do. Tell me what you want to do," she said, reaching up to his face. She ever so lightly brushed her palms against his cheeks, nuzzling her paw pads with his cheek pouches. He motioned to hold her back, but held one of her hands instead.

"What I want to do…" he muttered dryly. She patiently waited for him. "Is it really okay?"

"Of course it's okay," she promised him, speaking softly. "Shannon… tell me what you want to do."

He sniffled and blinked away his tears at last, but couldn't take his eyes off her. Then he slowly leaned into her, close enough that their noses could touch, cupping his paws around her face. The two's gaze never left one another's. She wasn't even nervous here. Instead, her happiness was coming right back in spades. She was comfortable here.

"I want…" he said quietly. "I want… I want to be free."

He began to slide a paw behind her head and carefully pulled her close, while also sitting back to sit them both up. "All this time, I hated myself so much. I couldn't believe that anyone could like me enough to earnestly be in love, least of all a Pokémon that I felt like I was manipulating. But at the same time… I do. I do love you."

Now she couldn't help herself. It felt like she'd been waiting an eternity to hear him say those words, and when he did, handling her as if she were so precious to him, it made her heart flutter. It lifted a weight in her chest she didn't realise she'd been resisting. She felt tears in her eyes too, and blinked in disbelief.

"But it's true. I've never lied to you," she confessed. "This life we've lived, I've never felt that you've done me wrong. And just now, you proved more than anything, that you wouldn't hurt me. Shannon, you're a good person. Please, never doubt yourself of that."

"I… what I want… I just want…" he struggled to speak again, gritting his teeth. "I don't know if I can actually be a good Pokémon for you, but if you really are happy with me, and happy to let me keep taking care of you…"

She shifted so that she was in his view, and put a palm to his cheek again. That got him to lock eyes with her once more, and he gulped. And then he managed to surprise her, quickly leaning in to kiss her on the lips. She almost flinched, but his delicate hold stopped her from recoiling. He held his lips to hers as well, almost as though he were waiting for a response on her end. To that, she stood up without detaching from him, wrapped her arms around him, and returned the gesture in full.

To say she was elated was an understatement. When they broke away, the star in Shannon's eyes was dimming. It dimmed into its usual glint, and began to fade completely. What was left were calm, docile eyes that shone naturally in the dull light. With the demon suppressed, Genius smiled just as warmly, and then giggled. "You're so cute."

"You… say kinda weird stuff, you know," he admitted, hiding a blush.

"Don't be modest. Aren't I cute, too?"

He pondered a reply. "When you're not suplexing me into the ground."

"Ehee hee, sorry! You're not gonna leave me alone like that again though, are you?" she went half-lidded.

"I'll make it up to you," he gulped.

"Oh don't with that. I hurt you too, we're even. I think," she playfully brushed him.

"I, um… kinda want to stay here and just…" he began to mumble.

"Stay here and…?"

"Um, this might seem a bit out of nowhere, but Genius, have you eaten?" he asked.

Not that she knew, but the mention brought on thoughts, and she perked up, eyes widened. "Is that why my tummy hurts so much?"

"It explains a lot. There's no other way I'd be able to overpower you in a fight," he sighed and slumped to the side. "We better get some food in you. You might not remember to eat, but that doesn't mean your body doesn't need it. Now I'm wondering how you even lasted this long without me."

"Uh, I'm sorry. I don't know," she stood up with him. The Razor Claw was still in the sand at their feet. He reluctantly retrieved it, and stared at it intently.

"Am I going to need this anymore?"

"Of course you are. You're gonna drive it straight through Ditto the next time you meet," she held a fist forward. He glanced at her in surprise. "What? That's what you were going to do with it, weren't you?"

"Something to that effect. Only this time…" he began, hiding it in his tail. "Let's… live our lives. Rather than hunting him."

"Shannon," her eyes brightened.

"Genius…" he said, having to steel himself. "Thanks. I love you so much."

"Hee hee," the words made her squirm in glee, so she nuzzled her cheek to his, crackling with electricity. That set him off chuckling too, and he fed electricity back to her, enough to make her body shiver. "Woo! Sh-Shannon, you're too much!"

"Oh, before we go," he said, detaching from her. She got a little worried at the suddenness of it, then calmed as he put his paws together to pray. Confused enough to tilt her head too, until the air around them darkened, and he began to glow.

"Is this… Visionary Magic? You got stronger!" she started bouncing excitedly.

…

"That's Shannon's spell," Kayla muttered. The others could all see the sky turn dark as well, and worriedly searched around for the source. She eventually spotted the gold star shoot off into the sky and come back down. "There!"

"Be careful," Kari called as she took off at high speed.

By the time Kayla found her way to the beach path, Shannon's spell had stopped and the sky had long since returned to normal. She slowed a little, confused about the moist, salty air and the sight of sand ahead. It's a beach?

"Oh! Kayla, over here," Shannon waved.

She hesitated. The area didn't look like there had been a skirmish, nor were there any obvious spots for ferals. No signs of a Dream Pool or mystery dungeon weirdness, either. It was just this secluded beach, and a couple of cheek pouches that were holding hands. Her eyes widened at that, and she flinched when Shannon smiled.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," he joked, glancing around.

"Well, no, it's just..." she trailed off. "You two. I saw the light and… you're unharmed?"

"Shannon just showed me what he's made of, that's all!" Genius bounced happily, cuddling up to him.

"We had a little talk, yeah. And sorted everything out," he said, his voice becoming surprisingly soft. Kayla felt nervous, looking at him now. His eyes were bright and colourful, lacking the strange glow that normally made him difficult to read. His smile was genuine, too. He was cute again. "And now, we're…"

"We're…? Wait, what are we again?" Genius put a finger to her lip.

"Oh you silly little muffin, don't tell me you forgot already!" he laughed, suddenly scooping her up into his arms.

"Eek! Sh-Shannon!" she squeaked and blushed. He gave her a half-lidded look, making her snicker.

"You're my precious little muffin, that's what you are!" he laughed, nuzzling her.

"Oh you, then you're my bad boy!"

"Bad boy? Let's not get too frisky now."

"Says you, getting all nuzzly!" she laughed. "Sh-Shannon, stop it, ehee hee!"

The nerves swirls in Kayla's chest and she turned away from the rest. Rolling her ears down couldn't save her from the round of affection they delved into. She grumbled, tapped her foot, tried to distract her thoughts, and still felt her face heat up. "O-okay, you guys can do what you want, but can we not use the nickname Muffin?"

She dared to glance at them, and they were already rolling in the sand, but froze at her outburst. Kayla cringed even harder. Yeesh. I almost prefer the edgy Shannon.

"Sorry about that. I guess it's time to get to work, huh?" he brushed himself off as he got up. "It kind of goes without saying, but can Genius join the team?"

"Me? I'll forget, you know," she was surprised.

"It's fine. I'll take care of you," he promised.

Kayla nodded. "I was prepared for that to happen. But er, something else has come up…"