DISCLAIMER! I do not own Pokemon, Gamefreak, Nintendo, or whoever is related to the Pokemon companies! I do however own a little bit more willpower as you can see!

The sun was already starting to set when we cleared the tree line and laid eyes upon the outskirts of Rustboro. An old-looking little playground lied at the edge of the woods, forty or so of feet away from us. The place looked abandoned. Considering that probably not a lot of people would venture this far out of the city unless they had business or were Pokemon trainers like me, there wasn't really any reason to keep it maintained. Never the less it was still a welcome sight to see after two days spent walking through the forest. I wasn't the only one who was excited to see something new.

"Oooh! Eric what is that thing?!" Elizabeth shouted excitedly and took off in the direction of the playground. She had so much energy for someone who spent the better half of their day walking. Not wanting to get left behind I also started walking towards the playground, but by the time I took my second step she was already at the swing set. Elizabeth was carefully observing it, trying to figure out what that thing was and if she could have fun with it.

"That's a swing. It's a thing human children play with," I explained, walking around the 'attractions'. There was not a lot to see or rather play with inside the abandoned playground. An old wooden see-saw laid on the edge of it. It was carved out to resemble Rayquaza, but the years took a toll on it, rendering it to be nothing more than an offensive caricature of the real deal. On closer inspections, a few of the other playthings were based on the Hoenn trinity. The rusty looking slide was actually Groudon's back, but it took me a second to realize. There was a spring rider made to look like Kyogre, but one of its fins were chewed off.

"Wow, Pokemon don't respect the trinity," I snickered and turned back towards Elizabeth. "Hey, can I ask you a weird question?" I asked, making my way around the swings so I could push her.

"Uh, sure? What is it?" She replied curiously and plopped down on the swing in front of me.

"Do you know anything about the Hoenn trinity?" I didn't really expect anything, but the question was still on my mind.

"The what?" She looked back confused. Her presence in my mind suddenly grew stronger as she dug into my memories. "No, not really. I have never seen any Pokemon that looks like that," She turned back and just kept enjoying playing with her human friend.

My back started to ache after five minutes or so, prompting me to take my backpack off and put a hold on our playtime. Watching the sunset in this abandoned playground felt strangely serene, or maybe it was because of whom I was watching it with. Pondering about the pretty site made me remember my other little buddies.

"I guess you guys would like to stretch your legs too, huh?" I thought to myself and released my other Pokemon so I could share this moment with them too. Tide as usual looked very tired, he must've been sleeping when I released him, Brim, on the other hand, looked full of energy and hopped up and down at the sight of Elizabeth and me. Blitz was just surprised to see the place I chose to release him and nodded in my direction before flying to the top of the Groudon slide.

"Same as always," I sighed.

"Don't worry, he likes you. He just doesn't want to show it," Elizabeth comforted me and rested her hand on my shoulder.

"At least you show that you like me, right Tide?" I reached for my little buddy, but he just flopped on his side and went back to sleep. "Doesn't anybody like me?!" I whined dramatically. Brim took this as his cue and bolted to my feet and rested his body against it. I leaned forward and pet him, appreciating the sudden affection.

"I like you too, you know…" Elizabeth muttered sheepishly. She was starting to fidget, clearly embarrassed by what she said.

"Thanks! I like you too," I placed a hand on her thigh then turned back to pet Brim. He was really enjoying the attention he was getting, making him even more energetic. "Why don't you two play around for a bit, but then we'll have to get going," I got up slowly, trying not to kick the happy little mushroom as I did.

A loud crash of thunder came from behind us, causing the three of us to quickly turn around and Tide to wake up in a panic. I looked over to Elizabeth, but I didn't even need to say a word. She was already moving towards my backpack and the Pokeballs lying next to them. She threw two of them to me then hurried over to Tide with the third one. She carefully put it down in front of him with a patient smile. Brim was shivering and hiding behind my leg, the loud bang must've really scared him.

"It's gonna be okay, Brim!" I knelt down to comfort him before returning him back into his ball. Luckily I didn't have to run to the other side of the playground to get Blitz, he had already landed next to me and just stared at the coming clouds.

"At least you like me on the inside…" I thought to myself and zapped him back into his ball and clipped it onto my belt along with Brim's ball. Elizabeth was tugging at my shirt and proudly presented Tide's Pokeball to me. "Good job, Elizabeth!" I pat her head. She almost melted into my hand but another loud crash of thunder spooked the both of us.

"Let's leave the pampering for later, we gotta move. That's gonna be a mean storm!" I exclaimed and ran to get my pack, but Elizabeth was one step ahead of me and I came crashing face-first into my levitating backpack. With a heavy thud, I fell on my butt and clutched my aching nose instinctively.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Eric!" She came rushing to my side to comfort me, but she lost focus and the backpack came crashing down barely missing my foot. "Oh no! I'm sorry, let me help!" She reached out an arm to pull me up.

"No problem, or should I say nose problem?" I joked, still holding my nose. "Right, we don't have time for jokes, we better hurry if we wanna make it to Rustboro before we get drenched!" I ushered and flung my backpack over my shoulder. Elizabeth and I booked it out of there in spite of our exhaustion. While she was a lot slower than me on foot, she still kept getting ahead of me. Every twenty seconds or so she would pop up in a cloud of pink smoke a good distance ahead of me.

We rushed through the rest of the way to Rustboro in mere minutes! We slowed down a bit when we entered the city because Elizabeth had reached her limit and couldn't teleport anymore. I held her hand and power walked the rest of the way to the Pokemon center. Unlike in Petalburg the Pokemon center wasn't in the middle of the city, it was more on the southern side and a lot closer to the entrance, lucky for us. Exhausted and lightly drenched we stumbled through the automatic doors. To my disappointment, there was a bit of a line to the reception desk. A few angry-looking trainers and a couple of fellow drenched adventurers made up the bigger portion of the line. There were a few everyday citizens, probably their Pokemon ate something bad or just wasn't feeling well. Seeing that we would have to spend a little time here, I walked Elizabeth over to one of the comfortable couches in the corner of the room and sat down. She looked really exhausted, her breathing was a little heavier than usual and she was holding the side of her head with one hand and tightly clutching onto mine with the other.

"You're gonna be fine, Elizabeth! Nurse Joy will fix you up in no time!" I reassured her then pulled her head into my shoulder so she would be a bit more comfortable. I didn't have time to be embarrassed about the awkward position I put myself in, my Pokemon was feeling bad, and making her feel better was my top priority. We sat there for what felt like an hour, by the time it was our turn the last faint beam of sunlight finally disappeared and the only light outside was that of the streetlamps scattered throughout the city and the occasional bolt of lightning.

"Next please!" Nurse Joy chirped from behind her desk. The same warm and welcoming smile was etched on her face as the other Joys. So charming and kind, no wonder that kid with the scruffy brown hair was fawning over her.

"Hello, nurse Joy, could you make sure my Pokemon are doing okay? Oh, and I would like a room for the night," I asked, trying to replicate her affectionate smile and tone. However, my version seemed less pure, which made both her and me a little uncomfortable. To ease the situation, I got straight to the point and unclipped my Pokeballs and showed Nurse Joy my Pokedex.

"Alright, Elizabeth I'm gonna need you to go back into your ball for just a little bit so that Nurse Joy can make you feel better," I explained, kneeling down. I know she didn't really like being in her Pokeball, that's why she was traveling on foot, but Joy couldn't help her otherwise. She sighed and gave me a sad look before finally letting go of my hand. I pat her head and pulled out her Pokeball.

"See you soon, okay?" With her withdrawn, Nurse Joy was able to start the recovery process. She took my Pokeballs and went into the room behind her.

"Your Pokemon will be healed shortly, please take a seat while I fetch you a room key," Joy smiled and dug through a cabinet in her desk. While I was waiting for my buddies to return I decided to read a few of the magazines that were laid out on the coffee table. Master's Monthly, Vogue, The Rusty burrow, and a few gossip magazines were a few of the options. I was never really a fan of gossip, even if some of the articles looked eye-catching most of it was probably fake. The title 'Lavaridge woman marries Pokemon' was written in big yellow letters on one of them.

"Yeah, right like that would ever happen!" I thought to myself and stared out the window for the remainder of the time. Not long after Nurse Joy came back out with my Pokeballs and a room key for the third floor.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy, I wish you a restful evening!" I said, not noticing the visible bags under her eyes. She replied with a halfhearted smile and went back to her desk. "That was awkward," I thought to myself and fastened my little buddies to my belt before heading up the stairs to finally get some rest and more importantly a shower.

Most Pokemon centers had four floors, balcony included. The first floor was the medical area dedicated to sick Pokemon and it was the main floor of the building. The second floor had two-person rooms and some recovery rooms. Yes, the first floor was full of recovery rooms, but the Pokemon center dedicated a part of the second floor as a secondary healing area in case of emergencies. The fourth floor had the staff's rooms, like Nurse Joy and the Chansey. Finally, the third floor had the single-person rooms where I would spend the evening. I would've preferred a room with two beds, knowing full well Elizabeth would rather not sleep in her Pokeball and opt to spend the night curled up next to me. Room 307 was like all the other rooms on the third floor, small cozy, and had only one bed.

"Home sweet home, huh?" I snickered and closed the door behind me. There wasn't really anything to mention about the place. A small kitchen counter was to my right with a quietly humming mini-fridge under it. A plugin stovetop rested in the cabinet next to a few mugs and plates. The drawers were full of plain-looking silverware and one had an unopened pack of napkins. The closet that the room provided was rather big, too bad I didn't have all that many clothes to hang in there, so I just tossed my backpack in there as a whole. There was a full-length mirror on the inside that I spotted just before closing the closet door.

"Hey there, handsome~" I flirted with my reflection. On closer inspections, I realized how drenched I really got in the storm. Ruffling up my hair made me a little less depressing to look at, but I knew I had to take a proper shower rather than the one nature presented me with. I unbuckled my belt and tossed it on the bed along with my Pokeballs. The huge window by the bed provided me with just enough light to make out which ball was which. Not wanting to play favorites I decided to let them all out while I freshen up.

"Evening, guys! Oh, and lady," I smiled at Elizabeth and continued. "Uh, I'm gonna take a shower, why don't you guys get comfortable?" I insisted and looked inside the closet to dig through my pack. I pulled out my pajama along with my spare clothes which were in a desperate need of a wash. With my clothes safely crumpled into a ball, I headed into the bathroom for a well-deserved shower. Unlike my little buddies, except Elizabeth, I spent all day sweating and walking while they just chilled inside their Pokeballs and only came out to have lunch, which finally depleted what little Pokefood I had left.

I turned back towards the bathroom and narrowly avoided stepping on Brim. He didn't even notice and just continued walking around the room in amazement. Tide, surprisingly was wide awake and was eying the bed up and down, sizing it up before attempting to jump on it. Sadly, my little Mudkip didn't have the best jumping abilities and tumbled back down onto the carpeted floor, pulling most of the blanket off with him. The overly affectionate Taillow of my party resorted to his usual mannerisms and just perched himself on the top of the closet, looking over the overcrowded little room.

"Okay, this is not working out. There's too many of us!" I dropped the ball of clothes and reached for my Pokeballs. "I'll see you guys in the morning! Breakfast is on me," I winked at Tide. Hearing his favorite word, he practically teleported to my feet. Having three members of my party withdrawn made the room feel a lot bigger. As I was looking at the three Pokeballs in my hand a thought had occurred to me.

"Wait, don't I have four balls?" I thought to myself and raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth. She puckered up her lips and rhythmically blew out air, in a hilarious attempt to whistle. "Where's your ball?" I sassed, which made her try even harder to whistle but having no experience with the art, she just ended up blowing a raspberry.

"Elegant," I smirked and picked up the laundry ball from the clean carpeted floor then went into the bathroom. I didn't bother to lock the door behind me, having my hands full would've made it difficult so I just knocked it shut with my leg. There was a small laundry basket under the sink, so I tossed my dirty clothes in there along with the ones I was wearing, then set my pajamas down neatly on the radiator. After taking a long look at myself in the mirror, I stepped into the shower and started fumbling with the knobs. It took me a while to find the perfect temperature between sheer cold and lava plume, but eventually, I found it.

"How are you feeling, by the way? Do you still have a headache?" I shouted over the sound of the rushing water pelting the bathroom floor. She hasn't said a word since I released her from the Pokeball, so I was a little concerned that she still wasn't feeling well. A short pause later I felt our psychic link reconnect, leaving me with tingles all over my body.

"I am alright, just maybe a little tired," Her voice rang in my head. This would be normal if she were still a Ralts, but ever since she became a Kirlia whenever she would talk to me telepathically, she would manipulate her voice to match her location relative to me. She also must've messed with my head, because every time she talked her lips moved to match her words. Well either that or she was just mouthing and pretended to talk.

"You sure you're alright?" I poked my head out from behind the curtains, now growing a little more anxious. The door creaked open and Elizabeth peered through the crack with a reassuring smile.

"Alright, I trust you," Now slightly calmer I went back under the water so I could wash out the remaining shampoo from my hair. Good thing the Pokemon center always restocked their small necessities after the guests leave. Small bottles were stacked on a little shelf to my right. Conditioner, soap, moisturizers, and of course shampoo. They even provided a mini canister of toothpaste, but I had my own. Too bad I forgot to use it recently. I stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and the stress of the last few days was washed away along with the sweat and dirt that stuck with me through the journey. Once I slipped into my pajamas which were nice and toasty from sitting on the radiator I went back outside with the laundry bag in my hands. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow when she saw me.

"I'm gonna get these washed, I'll be right back," I explained, reaching for the door. I almost fell through the opening as I was tackled by a small green and white blur. Elizabeth was holding onto me tightly, worried that I wouldn't come back. Being in the Pokeball again must've gotten to her.

"H-Hey, it's okay! I'll be back I promise!" I put the basket down so I could pat her head. This seemed to work and she let go after a bit of pampering. After locking the door behind me and making sure she wouldn't just teleport out two minutes later I headed downstairs to get my things washed.

Official Pokemon trainers like me, who got their Pokedex from the region's lead professor were given certain benefits. Trainers like me were given full access to most facilities of the Pokemon Centre for free. We could stay in non-patient rooms for as long as we wanted, were given 3 meals a day, and our Pokemon were healed for completely free, whereas they charged a small fee for regular trainers and citizens. Professional trainers also got a slight discount on the Pokemart! It wasn't anything crazy, roughly ten to twenty percent.

"I'm back!" I greeted the empty room, "Huh? Elizabeth? Where are you?" After frantically scanning the room for a few seconds, I realized that the shower was on.

"That's weird, didn't I shut it off?" I thought to myself and opened the bathroom door. I found Elizabeth. She was blissfully bathing herself using her psychic powers to make the showerhead float around her like some sort of flying snake. Her outfit was neatly folded on the toilet seat. She didn't notice that I entered over the sound of the rushing water, however, she quickly realized I was staring at her, thanks to the psychic link she reattached a little while ago.

"KIRLIA!" She screamed and covered herself. The floating showerhead was now targeting me with such force that she nearly tore the whole thing out of the wall. In her frenzy, she pretty much soaked the entire bathroom, but I barely got wet thanks to my quick reaction and the waterproof wooden door of the bathroom. Five minutes after she tossed every movable object at the door she finally decided to come out. Her outfit was soaking wet, even her leggings were wet.

"You're gonna catch a cold, i-if you wear those while they're wet," I averted my gaze, not wanting to ogle a girl in wet clothes. She crossed her arms and did the same, we were both embarrassed about the situation.

"I-I do not have anything else to wear…" She mumbled. That's right, the only other piece of clothing she owned was that hat I bought for her back in Petalburg, not like that would be of any help right now. My clothes were down in the laundry room and the lady there said they would only be ready for pickup in the morning, even my emergency shirt was in the wash. It was squashed under all my dirty clothes while it was in the pack making it smell a little, so I just threw into the laundry basket on my way out. I looked down in the middle of thinking and finally came up with a solution.

"You can just wear this shirt for t-tonight. It's long enough to cover you," I offered and pointed at my pajama shirt. While a shirt with a Snorlax belly design wouldn't be the most charming look on someone like her, it was the best I could come up with. I didn't think she would like the idea, but her eyes lit up when she heard my offer. As if she was expecting it…

"Really?" She was beaming. All the grumpiness from the incident left her mind and now all she was focusing on was getting my shirt. I nodded with a crooked smile which only fanned her excitement.

"Give me!" She squealed happily and leaped forward. I held my hand out and stopped Elizabeth in her tracks. She was still dripping wet, if she tackled me, then both the bed and my pajamas would end up soaking too.

"Not so fast! Dry yourself off and then you can get it," I stated, expecting her to calm down and get to her senses. Her smile hasn't wavered a bit and she poked her head out from behind my hand with a determined expression.

"I already dried myself off," She proudly stated, then inserted a memory into my mind. It was of her shaking wildly like a wet Poochyena puppy that fell in its water bowl. I burst out laughing loud enough for even Nurse Joy to hear on the first floor. Elizabeth looked confused, but was still reaching for my shirt with her large soft hands while clinging onto mine with her other and desperately trying to force it away.

"That's not how you do it, Elizabeth," I snickered. Here, follow me. I picked her up with my arms fully extended, since I didn't feel like getting drenched by a wet hug. I plopped her down on one of the little bathroom stools that were hidden away in the corner.

"First of all, your hair looks like it's still underwater," I sassed. Lecturing wasn't one of my strong suits, considering I'm usually the one getting lectured by everyone. "Let me dry it for you," I reached for the towel which rested on the radiator. It somehow managed to escape Elizabeth's flood so it was still usable. Her hair was incredibly silky to the touch as if instead of hair she had some sort of expensive fabric growing from her head. I had to run my hand through her flocks a few times just because it was such an amazing sensation. She seemed to enjoy it, letting out soft purrs that sounded like little silver bells chiming as my hands caressed her scalp.

Getting to my senses, I started scrubbing her head with the towel, since gentle pampers don't get water out. It was a little difficult since her two large horns separated her hair into three different areas. I had no idea how she would manage to dry her hair without help or psychic powers. A good three minutes later her hair was dry enough for me to use the blow dryer. She didn't like it at first, but she gave in eventually and just enjoyed the warm sensation. I almost forgot how much her hair floofs up when it dries. I tried to comb it down, but she protested too much, so I gave up and let her have her scruffy looks.

"Alright, I'm gonna leave my shirt here. Towel yourself off and put it on," I ushered as it was getting pretty late. Even the Nurse Joy from Petalburg was probably asleep by now...I hope. She thanked me and shooed me out. It was a little cold in the room so I put on my jacket and opted to sleep in it, having surrendered my shirt to Elizabeth.

"I-I'm coming out!" Elizabeth warned me shyly. She stepped out of the bathroom and I felt my heart stop. I don't know if she was playing with my mind, but I swear I saw the world turn a little pinker when I saw her. Her lips slowly curled into a smile while I stood there speechless.

"C-Can you make these dry too?" She broke the silence with her question, snapping me back to reality. Elizabeth held out her wet clothes crumpled up into a laundry ball similar to mine. I nodded, still stunned with silence, and headed out the door with the crumpled clothes.

"Wow!" I thought to myself and made my way downstairs, clutching my chest just to make sure my heart was still there. I made the trip down to the laundry room and back fairly quickly, but I spent a few minutes in the hallway to calm down.

"I-I'm coming in!" I swallowed and stepped in. Elizabeth was sitting on the bed and looking out the window, watching the now empty streets. In the dim light that peered in through the large window, she didn't look like a Pokemon at all. She just looked like your typical, average girl with pink horns and psychic powers. I snapped myself out of it when she turned around to greet me.

"Hey, Eric! I'm sleepy, can we sleep?" She stretched, imitating me, then started patting the bed enticingly. As much as I would've loved to join her, I had to burst her bubble.

"Alright, you can sleep on the bed. I'll sleep in my sleeping bag!" I stated nonchalantly. "The things I do for you…" I snickered, trying to keep up my facade. She tried to cut me off and talk me into sleeping on the bed, but I just kept talking over her, pretending to make a noble sacrifice by sleeping on the floor. Elizabeth even stood up on the bed with her hands on her hips to look like a scolding parent as she tried to persuade me. Thankfully I was able to maintain my cover by being obnoxious enough to tire her out.

"Fine, sleep on the floor!" She frowned and slid under the covers in an aggressively adorable manner. I won. Too grumpy to do anything besides turning away from me and checking over her shoulder to make sure I knew she was turning away from me, Elizabeth slowly drifted into slumber despite her valiant efforts to stay awake and glare at me. I patted her head when I knew for sure she was asleep as a peace offering. With that out of the way, I closed the curtains quietly then tucked myself into my sleeping bag.

"Sleep well, Elizabeth," I whispered. With my lips stuck in a permanent smile, I slowly drifted off to sleep. As Elizabeth's psychic link began to fade, I swear I her mumble something.

"I ov, ou Eic…"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! That was something, wasn't it? Probably my longest chapter so far! I had a lot I wanted to tell in this chapter, that's why it's so beefy. I love world-building, but it's hard to make it subtle. I hope you guys will like this chapter at least half as much as I loved writing it! We're reaching the first anniversary of the fanfiction! What will happen then? An animation on my Instagram (davidt00ns)? The first kiss? Who knows? Probably me! Hahaha! Well, see you guys next time! 3