It was night in Shalour City. All of its citizens slept soundly, safe under the careful watch of the tower that sat isolated in the ocean. Home to the secrets of Mega Evolution, the Tower of Mastery sat as a symbol to all of the trainers of Kalos. Any trainer that wished to achieve greatness sought to master what was and is widely considered to be the ultimate connection between people and Pokémon, and the Tower of Mastery was home to the secrets of this awesome power as well as the guardians that protected this secret along with the tower and the city it watched over.

Tonight, however, the tower acted as a home for a new guest hoping to face one of the tower's guardians, who just so happened to be the city's Gym Leader. The guest's name was Serena, a new trainer from the Kalos region hoping to make her mark in the world as a trainer. As a new challenger for the Shalour City Gym, Serena had been allowed to spend the night in the tower, where she would soon battle to prove that she were worthy of her 3rd Gym Badge, but for some reason, she could not sleep that night.

"Why am I even here?" Serena thought to herself as she lay in her bed by herself.

It's not like spending the night somewhere other than home wasn't a regular part of life for her or any traveling trainer hoping to challenge the Pokémon League, but something about the tower kept her from sleeping well that night. Maybe she was too excited for her Gym Battle in the morning, or maybe the ghosts of the ancestors that used to live in the tower had decided to pay her room a visit that night. Serena had always been rather superstitious, especially when it came to ghosts.

"Serena? Are you awake?"

Or maybe it was the person that voice came from.

"Korrina?! What is she doing here?!", Serena thought to herself, feeling panicked by Korrina's sudden intrusion, but still not moving to see the face of her intruder.

She had never felt so nervous around the tower's newest successor and Gym Leader, at least not until a few nights ago. Everything was all right when they had met each other in Geosenge Town. At the time, she was just a new trainer finally getting her bearings and didn't know any more about the blonde-haired trainer than that she was one of the rare trainers in the world that had a Lucario as their partner Pokémon. Their first meeting was the same as any other trainer's with a greeting and a battle, and although the battle was utterly one-sided against her, she was enthralled by the power and chemistry that Korrina and her Lucario had shown. The fact that they both were heading towards the same city made it seem like the choice to travel together with her seem like the perfect decision, so why did she regret that decision now?

"Maybe if I pretend to still be asleep, she'll go away eventually." Serena thought, still feeling panicked and remaining motionless as she heard silent footsteps walking towards her bed. With her back turned towards her intruder, it was hard for Serena to make out what Korrina was doing on the other side of her bed. All she could do was wait quietly with her heart pounding in anticipation of what her uninvited guest would do next, but then her heart skipped a beat when she felt a slight tug on her blanket and a small shift in her mattress.

"No way! Did she just crawl into the bed with me?!"

She struggled to process what was going on right now. Right this moment, one of her friends had just crawled into her bed with her with no warning whatsoever. Even though she could not see her, Serena could feel Korrina's soft breath cascading down her own hair and sending a slight chill down her spine. Had she not been so paralyzed with shock, she would have jumped out of the bed and ran away in embarrassment. All she could do right now was imagine what her intruder was going to do next and think back to times when their relationship wasn't so awkward and complicated.

When they started travelling together, there wasn't much to worry about. On their way to the city, the two would constantly share stories about their hometowns. Serena would always talk about her dreams of becoming the Pokémon Champion and the friends she had that went on a journey along with her while Korrina shared stories about her ancestors and Mega Evolution. Korrina may have teased her once in a while, but they were very good friends with one another. Every now and again, they would stop to train together, but even after improving so much, she still struggled to find a way to beat Korrina and her Mega Lucario.

Things weren't so bad until the two of them went through Reflection Cave. It was their last stop in their journey until they finally reached Shalour City. Everywhere in that cave, they could see their own reflections, large and small, thin and wide. It felt like a funhouse, but there was something bewitching about the cave. It was a well-known story in Kalos that, if you looked into a flawless reflection of yourself in a mirror in that cave, then, just maybe, you could catch a glimpse of another world. Maybe, in one of those other worlds, Serena wouldn't have to worry so much about what her nighttime intruder was about to do to her. Would she caress her skin and hair? Would she just continue to lay behind her? Would she try to do something a bit more…forward? She could only wait with her back turned to her and her heart racing until she heard a whisper from her blonde-haired guest.

"I wonder if she's dreaming about what happened before?" Korrina whispered softly.

"Korrina?" Serena responded nervously, unable to take the tension any longer. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I couldn't sleep a wink, and I wanted to see if my favorite girl was having the same problem," Korrina teased.

"Y-Yeah! I was, err, just thinking about our gym battle tomorrow!" Serena quickly responded, still feeling a little panicked.

"Serena~," Korrina sung as she began to twirl a small tuft of Serena's honey-colored hair between her fingers. "I know you're not being completely honest."

"Okay, so maybe it's about something else," Serena responded shyly as she began to play with her own hair, though for her, it was more of a nervous habit. "Do you still remember what happened in the cave?"

"How could I not?" Korrina said as she continued to play with Serena's hair. "There were so many mirrors in that place and so much light coming in thanks to all of the mirrors, especially in that one spot. That place looked so beautiful in the evening, and-"

"And that was when you stole my first kiss," Serena interjected.

"I like to think of it more as sharing a first kiss," Korrina joked. "That was my first kiss, too."

"Korrina!" Serena said in a huff. "This is serious! This really has me worried!"

And why wouldn't she be worried? Before their first kiss, she had not even considered the idea of pursuing a relationship, much less with another woman. Sure, she had Shauna, but she had always viewed them more as close friends than anything else. What would she tell her friends? What would she tell her mom? So many of these thoughts had continued to swirl in her head and haunt her as the night went on until she felt a sudden warmth around her waist.

"Serena," Korrina whispered in her partner's ear as her arms continued to embrace her. "Do you remember what I asked you when we were in Reflection Cave?"

"No, I don't," Serena responded, still feeling tense about the situation, but curious about what the blonde trainer was about to say. Korrina knew that she still remembered that time, but had decided to play along regardless.

"Back when we were in the cave, I told you the story that pretty much every person in Kalos had probably heard by now. We both spent the day imagining what those different worlds would be like. You were especially excited when you were imagining a world where you were already the Champion of Kalos."

"And you imagined a world where you could travel wherever you wanted in the world learning more about Mega Evolution and the many trainers and Pokémon that bonded this way, including you and your Lucario."

"That's right, Serena, but at that time, there was something else on my mind," Korrina continued, still holding her embrace. "All of those other worlds were nice, and there were some other worlds that we didn't like so much, but there was one world in particular that I was curious about, and I want to ask you about it again. Serena, if there was a world where the two of us were more than just friends or even more than best friends, would you hate that world? Would you hate me?"

Serena could feel Korrina's grip tighten as she asked that question once again. Here she was, worrying so much about what others would think of her and not even considering the idea that the one holding her so close now may have been just as confused and frustrated by this as she was. Looking back, when they would share stories with one another, Korrina would never really talk about any of the other friends she had except for her own partner Pokémon. Did she even have any friends besides Lucario before they met?

"Korrina," Serena said softly as she turned around to see a sullen-looking and teary-eyed trainer. "I could never hate you for what you've done, and I never will."

"But Serena," Korrina pleaded, finally looking back up to a more stern-looking trainer. "All I've done is made things harder for you. If I had gone off to Shalour City by-"

"Korrina," Serena interrupted. "Don't feel so bad about things we've done on this journey together. I still don't know where all of this may go, and I still don't know about…us…but I know that you're someone that I care about so much, regardless of whether or not we sha-…you stole a kiss from me. Don't worry so much. If there's anything else you're worried about, you don't have to worry alone. Not while I'm here."

"Heh heh, you're right," Korrina chuckled as Serena gave a small grin. "Even if we have problems we don't have the answer for right away, even if this world may have some things we don't like, we can work together to make this a world that the both of us could be happy in together."

As the two shared a laugh with one another, it had felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. It had felt as if all of the tension that was there before had dissipated completely, being replaced with the silence of the night and the warmth that they shared. For that moment, it felt like all of their worries were gone, even if only for that night.

"Serena?"

"Yeah?"

"How did it feel? Your first kiss."

"M-M-My first kiss?!" Serena yelped in a flustered tone, her face going red with embarrassment. "W-W-Well," she continued as she begun to look down and twirl a tuft of her own hair again. "It felt a bit weird at first, but it didn't feel bad at all. It tasted…sweet, like eating a cone of ice cream that's a little bit melted. Your hair tickled a little bit when it happened, but it was soft…Korrina?

"Yeah?" Korrina responded with a soft smile.

"Is it all right if you could steal another kiss from me?"

Korrina gave a small laugh upon hearing Serena's sudden request. To think she would be bold enough to ask for a kiss instead of waiting for her nighttime intruder to make the first move. With her eyes closed and her body a little tense in her visitor's arms, Serena could only wait nervously with her heart pounding as she leaned in slowly, waiting for her partner's lips. The tension that was gone before stormed back, but for some reason, it felt better than before. Could it be because it wasn't building from fear and anxiety this time? The tension only broke once again when Serena felt another warmth on her. She opened her eyes to see that Korrina was kissing her forehead instead. Admittedly, this made her feel even redder and flustered than the kiss she had braced herself for long for. As Korrina drew her lips away from Serena's forehead, she began to continue back to her partner's ear once again.

"Maybe tomorrow," She whispered, leaving Serena even more flustered than before.

"You're so mean, Korrina," Serena said in a huff as Korrina giggled to herself.

"Don't worry," Korrina said, breaking her embrace for a moment to play with Serena's hair again. "Tomorrow is a new day, and tomorrow, I have a special gift for you that might be even better than any old kiss."

"I doubt you could have a gift better than being together with you right now," Serena joked before the two shared a small laugh together. "Korrina?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we stay like this for just a little longer?"

"…Sure."