He spent a week terrified of what would happen to him. Though the Overseers did not punish him for his original transgressions, thanks to the kindness of the Priestess that had saved him from the Steelix, they now took any excuse to torment him. They would trip him if they could get away with it and make him clean up the mess he made from dropping whatever he was carrying. A simple mistake would earn him a full-on beating, instead of just a quick punch. They even decreased his rations, though now he learned how to hide the food he was given until right before he had to take his medicine.

He could see his friend shooting him worried glances as they prepared to sleep on the night of the seventh day. The room was large, and housed every slave that worked in their kitchen. There were only four mattresses, though, and they were rotated between groups of people every night. He had been lucky enough to sleep on a mattress for a few days after his attempted escape, thanks to the kindness of the other slaves. However, they quickly learned that the Overseers weren't going to be treating him any better anytime soon, and then he was back to sleeping on the floor again.

"I shouldn't have done it," he mumbled, half to himself, half to his friend. "It's all my fault for being so stupid."

His friend rested a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Maybe. But it's over now. You can't change what's in the past, you only have control of the future. Just keep your head down – someone else will mess up eventually, and then they'll focus on them, and not you. Just focus on living through tomorrow for now."

He nodded. "You're right. Let's get some sleep."

The two of them curled up back-to-back – had to keep close to keep warm; they didn't heat the slaves' rooms, so body heat was the only way to keep from shivering through the night. He was quickly asleep.

"3064-188-094-02!" He was roused from his sleep very early, just before the lights would come on, he guessed. The Overseers were in the room, calling out an ID number and shaking slaves awake, or just walking over them if they didn't move fast enough.

"3064-188-094-02! Stand up, 3064-188-094-02!" Oh, that was his number! For a moment, he froze. If the Overseers were looking for him, it couldn't be good. He didn't think he had been disobedient yesterday; at least, not that he remembered. Maybe they were going to punish him for running away?

His friend gripped his arm. "Don't keep them waiting," he whispered. "Good luck."

He nodded and stood shakily. The Overseers saw him get to his feet, and one quickly made her way over to him. If her scowl was any indicator, she was extremely displeased, even more than usual. That wasn't a good sign.

"You're being transferred. Follow me," she told him before turning and tromping through the other slaves to leave the room. He hopped after her, trying to avoid stepping on anyone, though he wasn't entirely successful judging by a couple of yelps that echoed through the room.

Transferred? What did that mean? In any other situation, he would have just thought he was being given a new job, but that couldn't be it; not this time.

In the entrance to the kitchen stood a single Guard. That explained the frustration of the Overseers – it was often said that women who were given Guard jobs and women who were given Overseer jobs had very similar skill sets and personalities. However, the more feminine women were given jobs as Guards, while women who were more masculine were given Overseer jobs. While the Overseers were stuck taking care of slaves, Guards protected women of rank and importance, while also fighting off any attacks made by Team Genome. Though their occupations were similar, Guards were more respected than Overseers by a vast margin.

However, the presence of the Guard only served to confuse him more. He couldn't think of a single reason why a Guard would be there for him, especially not to take him to a new occupation.

"Here's the one you're looking for," the Overseer sneered at the Guard, shoving him forward. He fell to his knees right in front of the Guard.

The Guard ignored the Overseer. "3064-188-094-02?" she asked him? He nodded.

The Guard dropped a cloth bag into his hands. He fumbled for a moment, then caught it. He could hear and feel a rattle inside of it, and a large, cylindrical object – the bottle with his medication in it? He ventured a peek inside – yes, that was his medicine, as well as his spare change of clothes.

"We're going to the Center," she told him. He would have loved to ask a question, but he had not been given permission to speak, and the Guard was already leaving. He spared a glance back at the many curious eyes of the slaves staring out at him from the other room, then ran after the Guard, tripping once on the way.

The Guard led him through the twists and turns of the colony, keeping mostly to the larger roads, though they turned once or twice down a small alley. Eventually, they reached a large plaza, and boarded the monorail at the station there.

He had only been on a monorail a couple of times before, and those had been when he was very young; before he had even received his career. Except when Overseers were transporting large numbers of slaves, men were generally not allowed on monorails. Women used it for ease of transport to different parts of the colony. Some slaves were given special permission to use the monorails by women – for example, many servants had access to the monorail, so they might better serve their masters. However, for the most part, those that rode the monorail were almost exclusively female.

Unfortunately, the quiet of the train did little to calm his nerves. He still did not have permission to speak, so he could not ask why he was going to the Center. Had the Overseers reported his escape attempt? Was he going to be executed as an example? Or, even worse, would he be banished to the Wastes? The idea terrified him.

The Guard stayed on the southbound train for about fifteen minutes, then disembarked with him in tow at the Central Plaza. He had never been to the Central Plaza, but he had heard of it. It was the largest plaza in the entire colony, and smack-dab in the center of it, too. It was almost a mile in diameter, with a tall, arching ceiling and a statue in the middle. Shops lined the walls, advertising everything from clothing to food to pets. And, of course, there was the Temple of the Earth-Mother, taking up a large chunk of the west wall. A stairway of a hundred steps led up to the large, arch-shaped doorway, big enough to several people to walk through side by side. Despite the early hour, the plaza was already full of people going about their daily business, either heading into or out of shops, or just passing through the room on their way to work.

"Stay close," the Guard told him. "It's easy to get lost here." He nodded in reply, and followed on her heels. They cut across the room in a diagonal, dodging women and men alike, until they got to the smallest of the four main pathways that intersected with the plaza. From there, they continued on for a few minutes, before taking several turns.

He hadn't been able to hear the hustle and bustle from the main roads or the Central Plaza for several minutes when the Guard stopped in front of a door. She knocked once, then the door slid open. The Guard beckoned him inside, then left, letting the door slide shut behind her.

This…was not the execution block or the prison he was expecting. It wasn't even an entrance to the Waste. Instead, he was standing at the entrance to what appeared to be a perfectly normal set of rooms, though they were pretty large. The room he was standing in had a couple of couches and an armchair in front of him and to his right, facing a television with a gaming system hooked up to it mounted on the wall directly on his right. Behind the couches was a well-organized desk with a desktop computer on top of it. A tablet rested next to it, plugged into the wall to charge. To his left, against the back wall, was a small, personal kitchen open to the rest of the room, and closer to him was a dining room table with six chairs. A couple of bookshelves were pressed up against the wall directly to his left. There were several door leading to different places – one to the left, one next to the kitchen behind a set of spiral stairs, and a very large one directly in front of him. The room was large enough to be spacious and even a little empty-feeling, despite all the furniture in it.

"Oh! I thought I heard someone knock! Glad you finally made it." Down the stairs came a girl about his own age. Her honey blonde hair was long, reaching just below her waist, and tied back in a ponytail with a white ribbon. She was dressed all in the white robes of a Priestess, embroidered in the black and silver that meant she was being considered for an Archivist position. Her smile was not one that only covered her face, but one that reached her kind blue eyes as well. It was the same girl that had saved him from the Steelix before.

"I'm sorry, I was going to come get you myself yesterday, but something came up and it was very late by the time I returned home," she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

She must have noticed the look of bewilderment on his face, because she paused and frowned. "Is something wrong? You can speak. Actually, feel free to speak anytime you want when it's just you and I, but nothing too unnecessary. I usually like my peace and quiet, but I don't mind if you speak either, just not excessively."

It took him a moment to find his voice. "I…I'm sorry," he stuttered. "What am I doing here?"

"Didn't you hear?" When his look of confusion persisted, she sighed. "I can't believe they didn't tell you. I don't know why they wouldn't. Someone missed a memo somewhere along the way. I can't imagine what you must have thought, coming here." Then, the smile returned. "Actually, you're here because I requested you for a personal servant."

For a moment, he just stood there in shock. The girl in front of his was still smiling, waiting for his response.

Finally, he managed to sputter out, "B-but why? I-I-I don't have any r-real skills needed to b-be a servant. You c-could have picked someone more experienced." He cursed the stutter in his voice, but he was still in a state of shock.

The girl frowned. "Because I wanted you as my servant, that's why. Do you need any more reason?"

"No! No, of course not. I…I was just wondering. I didn't mean to presume you owed me an answer." At least now his stutter was gone.

The girl sighed, but soon started to smile again. "It's not a bad thing to be curious, you know. It's just not usually a good idea to question your good luck."

He nodded. "Yes, miss."

"Leah will do just fine. Follow me. I don't have much time before I have to go to the temple, but I'll give you a quick overview of your duties before I leave," she told him, before turning and heading through the room toward the doorway on the other side.

She spoke as she walked. "I'm not really too much of a messy person, but I do expect the place to be kept clean. I'll need two meals a day, one in the morning and one at night; I go out for lunch in the middle of the day, though if I'm at home for the day I might need something light to eat. Your ID number has already been modified to include both of our grocery expenses, plus anything else I may need. Just scan your bracelet at the market and you'll be fine. I also expect you to make enough for two people," she said, wrinkling her nose and grabbing onto his boney wrist. "I won't see you hungry; you can't work if you're starving," she sighed, shaking his skinny wrist before dropping it.

"I won't lie, there won't be much for you to do around here, but if I am chosen to become an Archivist, I'll need someone to look after my home and any Pokémon I leave behind while I'm gone. You're free to do pretty much anything you want around here, as long as you keep it clean and attend to your duties, and, of course, run any errands I need you to run." She smiled at him. "I suppose it'll take a while to get used to each other, but we'll figure our each other's preferences and how to stay out of each other's way and all that stuff as time goes on."

"Oh, that's right! I wanted to introduce you to my Pokémon before I left. You'll be helping me take care of them, so you'll have to learn about them as well," she mentioned as they left the hallway they had been walking down and entered another large room. This one had a few toys scattered across the floor – "Don't worry about cleaning up the toys in here, they'll just mess it up again." – as well as some fluffy pillows and Pokémon beds. To one side was a large pool set into the ground – according to Leah, there were windows to see inside downstairs.

However, he was not focused on that at all. Instead, his eyes were glued to the humongous Pokémon that had tried to kill him just one week ago.

Leah seemed to notice his distress. She grabbed his arm, though he wasn't sure if it was meant to calm him or keep him in place. "Meena, come here," she called, and to his terror, the giant Steelix slithered over.

"Don't worry about Meena," she assured him, though he was barely listening. "She looks big and scary, but she's been nothing but amiable since I caught her." Despite his resistance, she was easily able to overpower him – one of the many, many downsides to under eating – to plop his hand on the monstrosity's nose.

Thankfully, the Steelix made no move to attack him. Instead, she just tilted her head, and made a face that almost looked like a smile, thought on her toothy, terrifying face, it didn't help to calm him.

Leah just sighed before returning Meena to her Pokéball. "We'll work on it later," she told him. "To be honest, I'm still learning Meena's quirks myself, so it's a learning experience for us both. For now, let's meet the others."

The next Pokémon was a Dewott, who came rocketing out of the water nearby to land in front of them with a graceful spin. "This is Tidus. He's a bit of a show-off. Don't let him push you around, by the way." She picked up another Pokéball from her waist and returned the blue otter Pokémon.

Next to come bouncing out of a pile of pillows was a little, orange mouse Pokémon. He gave a screech of, "Dee deeeeeee!" and jumped up onto Leah's shoulder, his cheeks sparking as he glared at him. "Hey, hey, Gabe, that's very nice!" Leah cried, reaching to pick him up off her shoulder. Instead, she deposited him on his shoulder, much to his dismay. The Dedenne scampered back and forth across his shoulders several times, his cheeks still sparking, before sitting down decisively on his right should. Leah just sighed. "Gabe's also kind of full of himself. He's a big Pokémon born in a little body. He's pretty nice when he's not pretending to be aggressive, though. Watch out for him and Tidus, though. They'll get into fights occasionally. He's also been picking fights with Meena, too." Again, she picked up a Pokéball and, in a flash of light, recalled her Pokémon.

After that was a Sliggoo sitting by the aquarium. She made a contented sigh when Leah reached down to pet her head. "This is Ophelia. She's really sweet. She'll probably help you keep Gabe and Tidus from fighting." Another Pokéball, another flash of red light.

When the Braixen approached them, he let out a cry. "Oh, I remember you!" He blushed when he realized he had spoken, turning his eyes to the ground again.

However, Leah just laughed. "So you do have vocal chords!" she chuckled. "Yes, Morgan helped fight Meena when you were in trouble. I actually hatched her just after I became a Priestess. She's pretty calm most of the time, but she does have a mischievous side, so be careful." For the fifth time, she pulled a Pokéball from her waist and recalled her Pokémon.

"And last is – " Leah paused, looking around. There were no more Pokémon in the room. "Where did he go?" she murmured to herself, though he could hear her in the emptiness of the room.

Finally, she called, "Rollo! Rollo, where are you? We need to leave!"

For a moment, there was no response but her own voice. Then, a trill echoed out of the other room, and a Mothim floated into the room. It landed lightly on Leah's outstretched arm and crawled up to rest on the back on her shoulder. "This is Rollo," Leah introduced him. "He was my first Pokémon. He was a gift from…someone very dear to me." She did not recall the Mothim, though there was a sixth Pokéball on her belt.

Quickly, Leah took him through the other rooms of her suite – a couple of bedrooms down the hall, a bathroom, a few closets, her own room up the small, spiral staircase (with her own bathroom), and the room down the stairs that allowed them to look into the aquarium.

Finally, she stopped by the door on the left side of the first room. The door slid open, showing a middling-sized bedroom, complete with a bed, a nightstand, and a desk with a lamp on it. On one side was a doorway that led into a small bathroom.

"This is your room and your bathroom," Leah explained. "You're responsible for keeping both it and your restroom clean." She quickly peeked out of the room, then turned back to him. "I have to leave for the temple now," she explained. "I don't have any real instructions for you, other than to make dinner tonight, of course. There's food in the fridge, feel free to make whatever you want. Remember to make some for yourself as well. Oh, and, uh, take a bath or a shower. You need it. There's shampoo and soap in the bathroom, scrub well. There's also a new change of clothes, put them on," she said, picking at his tattered, threadbare clothes. "I took a guess at your size, so we'll see how they fit. We'll take you shopping on my free day."

Leah headed toward the door out, patting her pockets and bag to make sure she had everything. She muttered to herself absently as she did so, as if checking her mental list. He followed quietly after her, still rather overwhelmed by everything.

"Oh!" she cried just before reaching the door, and she whirled back to face him. "I was going to give you a name! I know, I know, a lot of people don't, but saying "hey you" just seems strange, as does shouting out your ID number every time I need you. How does 'Bo' sound?"

He was still too shocked to come up with a very intelligent response. Instead, he tried it out. "Bo…"

Leah frowned. "That's not my best one, I just wanted something easy to remember. I've got a couple more-"

"No!" he cried, suddenly scared she would decide not to name him at all. He realized he had practically shouted when Leah raised an eyebrow. "I mean…No. I…I like the name."

Leah shrugged. "All right, then, if you say so. I'll be back around seven-thirty, and I'd like dinner to be ready by then. See you then." With that, she turned and left. The door slid shut behind her, leaving behind a very confused, yet very happy, newly christened Bo.

He didn't know quite what to make of this situation. Before dawn, he had thought he was going to be executed or banished outside of the colony. Now, just after dawn, he had very suddenly been elevated to the highest position he could reach in society and given a name. He silently repeated it to himself. It still felt strange, unfamiliar, but the more he said it to himself, the more it became his, and the more he became its.

He was still confused, but as his new master had said, he shouldn't question his good luck. All he had to do now was not disappoint Leah, and he had a pretty good idea of how to do that. First, though, he needed to take a shower…

Leah stretched out her back and yawned. At seven o'clock, her day was finally over. Her days had used to be much shorter – five or six hours, though they had been longer while she had still been in training. Of course, the temple was open at all hours of the day, with the Priestesses in rotation – after all, spiritual guidance could not always wait until morning. However, now that Leah was being considered for an Archivist position, she had to prove herself worthy of the distinction. Not everyone took longer hours – others often found other ways to go about it – but for now, the colony was in a state of peace. No recent attacks from Team Genome (except for the possibility of Meena, but the Archivists had rejected that possibility), the All-Mother was in good health, food was plentiful, and there were no major sicknesses going through the colony. That left little room for Leah to quickly prove herself. She had to take the slow route that everyone else did.

Being a Priestess had always been stressful for Leah, though, and the extra hours and the pressure of being a possible Archivist did not help. Some of the other Priestesses suggested that she talked to a Doctor specializing in therapy, but Leah had tried that before. It seemed that whenever she went into a therapist's office, she came out more stressed and worried than before. Instead, she opted to relax as much as she could at home and go to a spa once every couple of weeks. Judging by the knots that she could feel in her back, it was almost time to make another appointment.

For now, though, it was time to return home. Leah bid the other Priestesses on duty a good night, and headed home. It was time to see how her new servant had fared during his first day at home alone.

When the door to Leah's home slid open, the most delicious scent hit her nose. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the mouthwatering smell emanating from the kitchen. "Wow, it smells really good in here."

Bo gave a yelp when he heard her speak, and she chuckled at him. He ducked his head and blushed, before reaching down to pull something out of the oven. "Dinner is out of the oven," he mumbled.

"I know. I smell it. Can you get food for the Pokémon as well? There should be plenty in the cupboard in the other room." She unhooked her belt of Pokéballs and tossed it to him. He fumbled, then caught it by the tips of his fingers. "Just press the button in the center and throw it. They'll pop right out," she instructed him as she sat down at the table.

Leah had to say, it was an excellent idea to get a slave that had spent time in the kitchens. There was a basket of steaming biscuits sitting in the center of the table. A small array of cheeses and a stick of butter rested on a platter beside it. There was a bowl of steaming pasta, tossed in some sort of white sauce, and peppers stuffed with rice, mushrooms, and carrots on the side. It looked like Bo had just pulled a cake out of the oven, though it still needed to be frosted. There was even a glass filled with a thick, pink smoothie.

Well, all this delicious food wasn't going to eat itself, was it? Leah grabbed a plate from the cupboard in the kitchen and served herself.

She had already begun eating when Bo returned from the other room, gently placing her belt, Pokéballs now empty, on the table. He sat down directly across from her, staring at her with huge, unbelieving eyes, like he still doubted he was there with her and thought the entire room would disappear soon.

Though the food was delicious – some of the most delicious she had ever had, she had to admit – his stare was unnerving. It was hard to eat when she was being glared down.

She glanced up at him, and his eyes averted to the ground once more. "Have you eaten today?" she asked him, and he shook his head. "Didn't I say you have to eat three meals a day?" she sighed, and he flinched. "Go grab a plate and serve yourself. I don't know why you made all this; there's no way the two of us are going to be able to eat it all on our own."

Obediently, her new servant stood and got himself a plate, and placed some food on it. However, he still did not eat, and instead seemed to be having trouble deciding whether to look at his plate or to keep staring at her.

Leah gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh my – Goddess, Bo, eat." He flinched at her tone, but he did as she said, and started to eat. Somehow, he was able to keep his eyes glued to her as he shoveled food into his mouth – they could work on table manners later, when he had gained a bit of weight.

Finally, his blatant gawking became too much for Leah. It was annoying and just plain rude. "What?"

He flinched at her harsh tone and focused on his hands in his lap. "Sorry," he murmured, "I don't mean to stare."

"Then why are you?"

"I just…" he fumbled for words for a moment. "I've never had a master before. Well, I mean, I have, but I've never been someone's personal servant before. I just…it makes me really happy." Finally, a slight smile began to grace his face. "You've been so kind to me. I just want to make you happy too. That's why I made all this. It's…sort of my way of saying thank you. I know there's a lot I don't know right now, but I'm going to work hard, because I want to make you as happy as you've made me today." By the end of it, he was really smiling, though his eyes were still focused downward.

Leah stood from her seat and moved around the table to rest her hand on his shoulder. She waited for him to raise his gray eyes to hers. "You're going to do just fine," she assured him, "and I think we'll get along just fine as well. But do you want to know what would make me really happy?"

"What?" The hope in his eyes was contagious.

"I need you to stop staring at me so much." That finally got a giggle out of him, especially when he saw Leah was smiling too. "Seriously, it's kind of unnerving. I'm not going to pop out of existence," she promised.

Bo nodded. "Yes, Leah. Uh, miss. Miss Leah. I'll try."

"Don't go back to the stuttering again," she sighed. "Just Leah will do. Go ahead and do the dishes and put away the extra food. Maybe not make so much unless I'm going to have people over next time?" she suggested. "I'm going to read downstairs for now."

Bo nodded and started to gather up the dishes while Leah headed down the spiral staircase. She allowed herself a smile. Yes, this would work out just fine.

"Vena, use Petal Blizzard."

"Rollo, counter with Air Slash!"

The Venasaur let out a roar as it shook itself, expelling several petals from the flower on its back. The petals increased in speed, as if being whipped up by a tornado, until they were whirling around the Pokémon at incredible speeds. Then, she charged at her opponent.

Rollo was ready, though. His wings glowed white, and with a powerful slice of them, he managed to cut through the spinning flowers to hit the Venasaur with little damage taken.

"Vena, Sleep Powder." Unfortunately, Leah walked right into her opponent's trap. Now that he was close enough, all her Venasaur had to do was lean forward and spray Rollo with the green powder from her flower. The Mothim fell to the ground, already asleep.

"Vena, Giga Drain. Keep it up." Then, all she had to do was red a massive foot on the much smaller Rollo and drain his energy. Leah could see it trickling out of him and into his opponent in the form of green lights

"Come on Rollo, get up! She's going to beat you!" After several moment, the Mothim managed to wake itself. His eyes flew open in shock, and he struggled to get away from the Venasaur, screeching frantically.

"Don't panic! Stay calm, Rollo! Use Psychic!" At his trainer's call, Rollo's eyes and body began to glow purple. Vena was also surrounded in purple light, and slowly, her body was lifted off of Rollo. She struggled midair for a moment before she was thrown against the room to crash against the wall.

"That's enough," Leah stopped her opponent before she could call out another command. "I think they're both exhausted enough." Sure enough, though Vena was getting to her feet, she had already slipped once, and though Rollo was airborne once more, his wings were shaking, and he looked like he was about to faint. Leah held out her arms to him, and he floated gently down into them. "You did very well," she assured him as she returned him to his Pokéball.

Her opponent was also returning her Pokémon and muttering quiet reassurances. Yue was a pretty young women, with long, straight black hair that nearly reached her hips and honey brown eyes. She stood a few inches taller than Leah herself. Yue was one year Leah's senior, but the two had known each other for several years. Like with Wendy, Yue and Leah had not exactly hit it off – Yue was cold and blunt, and seemed to constantly be criticizing everything she did, which had driven her crazy at first. However, she was reliable and trustworthy no matter the situation, and though her critique was harsh, it had yet to fail to help Leah improve herself, whether it be in battling or bonding with her Pokémon or helping others. As such, Leah considered her a fairly close friend, especially since she had insight as a Priestess that other women could not hope to ever understand.

"You're not practicing enough," Yue told her as they returned to the main room of the temple.

"I'm trying to have a battle every day," Leah shot back, "but I can't always find an opponent. It's not as easy as it looks."

"Why not battle against your own Pokémon?" she suggested.

"If only, if only. I'd be giving both of the Pokémon orders. Not only is that confusing, but I know my own strategy. I'm not going to get any better doing that."

"No, I mean – you have a personal servant, correct?" Yue asked.

"Yes…" Leah replied, unsure of where she was going with this.

"Why not let him borrow a couple of Pokémon and battle against him?"

Leah stopped in her tracks and very slowly turned to face Yue. "What you're suggesting is not only illegal, but sacrilegious. It goes against every moral – "

"No. It doesn't," Yue insisted. "It is illegal for a slave to own Pokémon. Nothing is said about using another's Pokémon. Why, I have regular battles against my own servant. He's not very good, of course, but his mind works in a different way from our own. Knowing different fighting styles is imperative if you are going out into the Wastes."

"Maybe, but it's still wrong."

"It follows the letter of the law, but not the spirit," she said quickly. "As for the religious part, an Archivist caught me doing it once. She spoke to the others about it – they don't like it, but will admit that every bit of training helps. They look down on it, but it is not strictly forbidden." She stopped speaking as someone entered the temple glancing around and looking like she was in need of assistance. "Just think about it," she encouraged her. "For now, it looks like someone needs your help."

As Yue strode away, Leah was approached by the woman who had entered the temple. Leah filed Yue's troubling statements away for another time and focused on her. She could worry about her friend later; for now, someone needed her help.

"Greetings, Priestess," the woman said. "I was wondering if you could help me."

"I am Priestess Leah. If I am able, I am always happy to help a daughter of the Earth Mother," Leah smiled.

"Priestess Leah, I run a pet store. I regularly make expeditions into the forests aboveground to find new Pokémon to sell to aspiring trainers. However, there are two Pokémon that I caught a couple of months back that no one will adopt. It seems like a crime to just have them live in the pet store for the rest of their lives. I was wondering if someone here would want to take them. I know Priestesses have a special bond with Pokémon. Maybe one of you could find a place in your heart for them."

"Of course," Leah replied. "I'll take them for now and see if I can find anyone interested in adopting them."

The woman smiled, handed her two Pokéballs from her bag, thanked her, and left.

Finally, after a long day at the temple, Leah returned home. Bo was cooking when she returned, but informed her that it would be a while until dinner would be ready. She nodded and headed upstairs to her room. In the few months since he had begun serving her, dinner had always been on the table before she got home. Today, she didn't mind so much, though. Between Yue's strange comments, her battle, and the normal strains of the day, she was exhausted. Maybe she could take a quick nap before dinner.

But first, the Pokémon. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the two Pokéballs she had received from the woman and released the Pokémon inside.

The first Pokémon was a Dunsparce. Unfortunately, it was no surprise he had not been adopted – Pokémon like Dunsparce, Stunfisk, and Magikarp were often the last to be adopted since they were viewed as weak. Still, each Pokémon had its own value, even if it wasn't immediately obvious. She patted his head, and he chirped a greeting. If it hadn't been for his species, his friendly nature would have gotten him very quickly.

The second Pokémon was much stranger – a male Eevee. How odd. Eevees were not only fairly rare, but they were very, very popular for their soft fur, cute face, and gentle, playful natures. Leah herself had tried to adopt an Eevee once, but the pet store had sold out the day before she went to visit. (She had bought Gabe instead; a decision she didn't regret at all.)

It was a mystery for another day, though. Her eyes were drifting shut, and she yawned loudly. "You two can explore if you want," she told them. "I'm going to take a nap." With that, she climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.

She was awoken by a heavy weight on her chest. She grumbled, and her eyes slowly opened – to come face to face with a pair of blank, soulless once. For a moment, she thought she saw the flames of hell reflected in them.

She lay frozen as her eyes refocused on the Eevee's face. He didn't move, nor did he make any attempt to greet her. He just sat there, staring at her unblinkingly.

She tried to greet it. "U-Um, hello there. How are you doing?" He did not respond, however. His eyes just continued to bore into her soul as she lay there, too terrified to move.

When she finally came downstairs – ten minutes after Bo had called her for dinner – she looked even more exhausted than she had when she had gone to sleep. Bo spared her a worried glance, but was wise enough not to comment.

She shoved the Eevee into his arms and stared at him with haunted eyes. "Keep it out of my room," she whispered to him before plopping down into her chair and mechanically began to eat.

Bo looked at the Eevee that he suddenly found himself carrying. "Now what did you do to scare her so?" he asked him, before carrying him into the other room and returning to join Leah for dinner.

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the lovely support, guys~ 3 I've already mentioned it once in the discussion thread, but if you want to, feel free to ask for my Skype account. I've been getting lots of nice support there too~

Also, so far, we've been seeing chapters that are more or less split equally between two POVs. In the future, we're probably going to be seeing a heavier emphasis on one POV or another during a chapter, or just one POV during a chapter. For now, it's probably going to be focused on Leah, since Bo's sort of delegated to hanging around the house cooking and cleaning while Leah's out doing things. Later, though, it'll end up more evenly split, whether that's within a chapter or switching POVs every chapter, when they both start doing plot important things.

I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far; please leave a review if you enjoyed it, or even if you didn't! I do my best to take critique well.

~Ami