A low, almost-inaudible whir started to play as I quickly tapped a button on the black box in front of me, resting my palm atop the Wii-U and waiting as it hummed to life, slowly scooting away from the messy cords running behind the shelves. I shook my head, my aura tassels brushing against my checkered shirt, and scooped up a trio of controllers, their jet-black plastic shining in the moonlight that streamed in from outside. Standing up, I glanced over at the window-wall, my heart skipping a beat when my partner walked into view. Her nine fluffy tails waved up and down in time with her footsteps, and she peered down and pressed a dusty gamepad closer into her midriff.

"Oh, woah, Rose, you really were able to dig it up!" I exclaimed, walking backwards and unceremoniously dumping the controllers onto the chair behind me, then looking back at the cream-furred fox. She padded over to me with a spring in her step, her bust shaking ever-so-slightly in her hoodie, and I reached out to tousle her headfur, combing my fingers through her ponytail, our ears twitching when the Ninetales let out a soft sigh. "Heh... think its battery's dead from boredom?"

"Mmmm... I hope not," Rose replied, setting the gamepad onto the seat cushion before wrapping me up into a gentle hug, leaning into my touch, and I chuckled dryly. The fire type Pokemon rested her head in the crook of my neck and looked up at me with a silly, modest smile, hopping onto the tips of her footpaws to nuzzle my chin. I patted the small of her back, her ponytail slipping out of my grasp and brushing over my wrists and pawspikes, and she gestured across the apartment with a slight sideways kick. "But I found the charger, too, so it's there in the closet if we need to get it out."

"Well, that's good." I gave my partner's forehead an affectionate kiss before pulling away, looking over her shoulders at the star-speckled sky, then stealing a quick glimpse at the clock hanging near the bed. The sun had set, twilight had passed, and I spotted a few figures wandering down the sidewalk leading away from the building, probably heading out to enjoy Little Old Island's nightlife. "I think Cyan and Erin should get here soon, right? The evening's pretty much over and done with now, so Cyan's shift at the pawn shop should have ended by now."

"He's probably just checking on her," Rose said, striding over to the Wii-U and rifling through the various games on the shelf underneath, pulling one out after a few moments and slipping the disc into the console. She fumbled around to turn on the television, an 'eep!' of surprise escaping her when it loudly blared to life, and I couldn't help but wince myself, my ears folding themselves against my head to muffle the noise. The Ninetales hastily turned the volume down, and we both relaxed, sharing a mutual, sheepish, look between each other. She continued speaking even as I wandered over to the table, still gazing outside. "She seemed like she'd gotten mostly better from her cold last I saw her, but he probably wants to make sure she's doing okay."

"Wouldn't surprise me, the big softie." I grinned cheekily, leaning forward to scan around the grounds below, spotting a large pink Pokemon hopping away, tailed by a squawking parrot.

There was a sudden, sharp knock on the door, rising above the sound of the music playing from the television, and I jolted, spinning on my heels to stare down the hall at the door, my aura tassels bumping into each other from the motion. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rose perk up as well, looking up from the gamepad and staring slightly at the ceiling, the back of her skirt rising a little as her tails curled up. Another knock, harder and louder than the first, rang out through the apartment, and I exhaled, folding my arms – feeling the fabric of my shirt rub against my fur – and tapping my footpaws on the floor.

"Well, that must be them," I muttered, sending Rose a wink as I pushed off of the table and made a beeline for the door, my smile widening when the Ninetales playfully stuck her tongue out in response. Before I'd even gotten halfway to the door, there was a third knock, this time rapping against the door's wooden frame, and I narrowed my eyes when the noise was accompanied by a short series of coughs. "Sounds like them, anyway."

I reached out and grabbed the knob, turning it and pulling the door open... only to flinch when a wiry, pink mink rushed inside and crashed into me, her nose and whiskers bumping against my blunted chestspike. I grunted and stumbled backwards a couple steps, feeling the Mienshao sniffle, but let my arms fall when the Samurott standing nearby grabbed the collar of her tank top and pulled her backwards. I nodded at the helmet-clad sea lion, who slumped forward a little bit, but still held our friend firm, and the younger fighting type Pokemon quickly pulled herself together with one more short cough.

"Erk! Oopsie... I didn't think you'd be standing right there, Bill, heeheeheehee!" The Mienshao giggled, waving hello at me, her fur sleeves – tied, as usual, into their usual looped slings – whooshing left and right over her wrists. She fidgeted a little, rocking back and forth on her heels, before leaning sideways to try and peer into the room. "Where's Rose? Hey Rose, it's us! Cyan and Erin, we're here- ekrff-!"

I raised my eyebrows, grimacing when Erin suddenly coughed again, and Cyan quickly stepped up and squeezed the Mienshao's shoulder, the tired expression on his face unable to mask the worry in his words. He stroked at his mustache as he spoke, the horn on his helmet tapping against the wall as he shook his head. "Erin, don'try t'push yourself like that! Geez... y'told me yourself that y'haven't totally recovered from th'cold y'caught yet!"

"I know I know, but I'm almost better!" Erin piped up, jumping up and down a couple times where she stood, her whiskers bouncing, and she turned her head to look over at Cyan, who held his hands on his hips, digging the shell plates on his wrists into his shirt. The pink mink's short tail whipped this way and that as she spun around to face the water type. "I'm not as snifflysnuffly anymore and I took some medicine before you came to get me, silly!"

Cyan opened his mouth to reply, but I hastily stepped forward, bringing an arm up to tap his pink nose with a finger. I tapped Erin's nose with my other hand, eliciting a cheerful wink from the younger explorer. "Don't worry about it, Cyan. We've got a box of tissues near the bed, and there's more in the bathroom, so if you're feeling blah, go ahead and take a few, Erin. You definitely seem better to me, though."

"Hey, you two! We were just wondering when you'd get here!" We turned to glance across the apartment. Rose waved a hand at us, holding the gamepad under her other arm as she nodded her head and smiled warmly, her nine tails wagging to and fro.

"Rose!" Erin's cheeks dimpled as she cried out, and the Mienshao skipped forward, speeding into the room and pouncing onto my partner, giving the cream-furred fox a great big hug. "Hi Rose, hi! I'm feeling better today!"

"Mm-! Ohh, I'm glad to hear that, Erin." Rose's fur bristled, but she relaxed soon afterward, lightly patting the pink mink's forehead, and I walked after Cyan as he followed after our friend, his boots thumping on the tiles. The Ninetales looked over at the water type, her expression turning thoughtful as she gave him a quick once-over, speaking up gently. "You look exhausted, Cyan... was it a busy evening at work today?"

"Hah! A boat full o'tourists left th'docks jus' before I got to th'pawn shop, that's th'kind o'evenin' it was at work today." Cyan promptly answered, reaching up and slipping both of his hands underneath his helmet, running his fingers through the short patch of scruffy fur between his ears. He leaned against the table, the small shell in his fan-shaped tail narrowly avoiding leaving a notch in the wood, and perked up when a catchy song drifted over to the four of us from the television. A small, toothy smile crossed his features. "It was borin', like usual. I'm glad that y'decided t'invite us over!"

"Now you can be bored here with all of us instead," I quipped, grinning cheekily as I nudged the water type Pokemon with my elbow.

Cyan rolled his eyes and grunted in response, and Rose nodded her nose towards the television, gesturing at the other chair nearby. Cyan, Erin and I nodded at her, and the four of us ambled across the room, Cyan and Erin scrambling ahead to snatch up the controllers, and my partner turned her attention back to the gamepad, tapping past the title screen and opening our file. A 'Yay, Peach!' and 'Okay, let's do this!' sounded out barely a second later, and I peered over the Ninetales' shoulder, watching her poke the Mario icon on her character spot.

"So where are we now, huh, huh? Did you play any more since we got together last week?" Erin asked, stomping in place a couple times before sitting down on the floor, her whiskers bouncing as she folded her legs and fidgeting from side to side to get comfortable. I looked up when the Mienshao abruptly sneezed, and she hunched her shoulders and smiled sheepishly at us from behind her hand, wiping her palm on her tank top and shorts.

"Nope, not so far," Rose replied, her ponytail waving around as she shook her head, and I stepped forward and grabbed the last lonely controller resting on the chair, glancing towards the television and pressing the A button to pick Luigi – as usual, I thought to myself. "We're still at the start of world 5, so we've got a lot of new stuff to go."

We sat ourselves down, and I reached an arm over my head, pawspike bumping against my aura tassels, and thumbed upwards at Cyan, who was leaning against the back of the seat. Soon enough, the world map brightened onto the screen, a jazzy tune starting to play from the speakers, and I scooted backwards to rest, smiling at the little model of a beach slowly spinning above our characters' heads. My tail started to thump against the seat cushion, wiggling around until it slipped underneath the armrest and flopped over the edge of the chair.

Rose turned upwards to check on the level, and when the little white bubble – speckled with just three green stars – popped up, I heard the pink mink sitting at our feet let out a quiet squeak of confusion. Cyan pushed forward sharply at Erin's strange noise, accidentally moving the chair forward a little bit, and I pressed my pawpads into the tiles, while Rose crossed her legs and prodded the Mienshao's shoulder with her footpaws to get her attention.

"O-oh! Eheeheehee," Erin giggled awkwardly, craning her neck to look at us. Her ears twitched, ever-so-slightly, in time to the music's beat, and she sniffled once before settling back down, idly wiggling the analog stick and tapping the buttons on her controller to make Toad jump in place on the map. "Umm... could we go back and play Sunshine Seaside again? I wanna do the dinosaur ride at the end of it again! And I won't mess around so we can get the stamp this time, I promise! Please, pretty please?"

I blinked, then raised my head to look at the television, my eyebrows quirking upward when I noticed the tiny, blank icon just underneath the row of green stars. My heart skipped a beat in lingering panic as an image of Plessie, jumping for a coin ring and nearly sending us plummeting to our doom, replayed in my mind's eye. I let my hands fall into my lap, using the side of my controller to scratch an itchy spot on my jeans, and then shrugged my shoulders, smiling in amusement as I turned back to Erin. She wore an innocently hopeful expression on her face, and I took a deep breath while Rose bent over and gave the Mienshao a friendly pat.

"That sounds okay to me, Erin," My partner said, her fluffy tails curling and drooping over the top of the armrest on her side of the chair, and I scooped up the cream-furred fox's headfur, keeping it from slipping over her shoulder as she eased herself back with me. "We shouldn't start with something hard anyway, especially since you're still sick."

The younger Pokemon beamed, happily bouncing up and down where she sat, but my ears stood straight in the air when I heard Cyan let out a low hum, and I glanced over my shoulder at the sea lion, who was staring at Erin and stroking his mustache all the while. "She isn't doin' that badly, Rose! Besides, we can jus' wait a minute an' let her catch up if she starts havin' a bunch o'coughs or somethin', right?"

Nuh uh! You'd be the one having to catch up to me, mister slow princess!" Erin shot back.

"Wh-" Cyan blurted out, tensing up as the pink mink below burst into laughter, rocking back and forth, and he snorted grumpily when the fighting type Pokemon stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at him. "Oh, now you're really goin' t'get it, Erin!"

The sea lion hunched his head until it rested atop the back of the chair, jabbing his helmet towards Erin. The shell armor dropped between Rose and I, causing us both to recoil; my partner reacted first, letting the gamepad rest in her skirt as she brought her hands up to push the sharp horn to get Cyan's attention. He furrowed his brow, then raised his chin, turning his eyes to the television and hammering the controller to try and out-jump Erin. I glanced at the Samurott, then at the Mienshao, and chuckled.

"If she has a coughing fit, we could always just pause the game..." Rose pointed out, quiet but firm, and I resisted the urge to chuckle even harder when our two friends blinked in confusion, mulling my partner's comment over in their heads. She closed her eyes and hummed the music, then leaned sideways to lick my cheek, giving me a sweet look. My eyes widened for a moment, and then I nuzzled her nose in return, smiling at the contented purr that rumbled in the fire type Pokemon's throat. "So... is everyone ready to get tonight started?"

"Yup!" Cyan and Erin both spoke up, nodding at the cream-furred fox, and I intently watched the television as my partner jumped into the beach level, a confident smile curling onto my muzzle as the countdown dinged down. Three, two, one-

'Let'sa go!'