The rest of the week went smoothly; Flare made incredible progress in PE in regards to stamina and Clara was only getting better and better in our daily training sessions with Sarah. Thursday came and with it, a long weekend. The last two days of the week were a holiday for students, except I still had to go to the academy on Friday for Clara's field test.

Sarah showed up at my door Thursday morning and told me to come with her and to bring Flare and Clara. I tried to get a reason out of her but she wouldn't let one slip and wouldn't let me get out of going along with her either. I sighed and called my pokemon over and Clara cheerfully greeted Sarah. Sarah led us out the door and I noticed that she had a full team of 6 pokemon clipped to her belt. I knew she meant for some kind of training for us, and I was pretty sure she wasn't going to go easy on us because it was our last day of training.

A short walk later and I was surprised to see Sarah had led us to the academy. "You didn't reserve the gym again, did you?" I asked her

"and if I did?" She asked grinning

"You don't have to do so much to help us out you know, you're already doing so much by helping me train Clara" I said, feeling a little uncomfortable from the excess generosity.

"Don't worry about it." She said "I'm just helping my friends out the best I can" She smiled "Plus it certainly doesn't hurt that this helps scratch my itch for a good battle" She added smirking

I shrugged and thanked her before following her inside. There, we found another obstacle course already set up, only this one was more straight forward at first glance.

"Alright, here's the rules." Sarah started. "You can see three team lift challenges, but what's going to happen is you'll have to beat two of my pokemon in a double battle at each gate before advancing."

"Double battle?" Clara asked

"It's when each trainer used two pokemon in the battle instead of one" I explained "So you'll be fighting alongside Flare against two of Sarah's pokemon."

"Oh, I get it!" Clara asked, looking excited. "So I'll finally get to see Flare battle?"

"That's right." Sarah answered. "There's a catch to the first two battles though. they'll both consist of pokemon that are very used to working together as a team, but I won't be guiding them. You'll have to react quickly as you won't get a warning for each attack. The third and final gate will be guarded by me and my two best pokemon. If you manage to beat us and still lift the gate afterward, you'll win the prize."

"There's a prize?" I asked

"Lunch and dinner for you, Clara, and Flare will be on me if you win." She explained. "If you lose, you're stuck with the bill."

"Alright, sounds fair" I said. I looked down to Clara and over to Flare "You both feeling up to the challenge?"

An excited bark from Flare and a confident nod from Clara gave me the answers I needed.

"Seems all three of you are ready" Sarah said as she unclipped two pokeballs from her belt and flung them in front of the first gate. "Go, Marry and Frost!" She called as the familiar Mareep and a blue fox revealed themselves. A few seconds of racking my memory revealed the fox to be a Glaceon. The fox stared us down and the sheep seemed rather excited and cheerful.

"So you have an Espeon and a Glaceon?" I asked, wondering what kind of luck she had to have raised two rare pokemon like that.

Sarah just smiled as she pointed for us to head towards the starting line. We took our spots as Sarah walked behind the first gate, where I heard her call out two more pokemon out of sight, and a minute later two more, presumably behind the second gate. "Ready whenever you are, Mark!" Sarah shouted from far away. Hearing their master, both pokemon in front of us leapt into a battle formation, with Marry being closer and to our left with Frost holding back to our right.

"Ready Clara?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Let's do it, Master" She said, looking confidant as she met Frost's battle gaze.

"Alright, go Flare and Clara!" I shouted as my pokemon leapt into position. Flare took the lead, Leaving Clara in the back lines as she took a battle stance.

"Flare, use Extremespeed to knock Marry back!" I called and the massive red canine leapt forward in a blur, colliding with the pink sheep before it could react and sending it crashing against the heavy gate behind it.

Frost let out a sharp hiss as it's team mate was stunned and countered with a flash of blue lighting from it's mouth towards Flare. The dog let out a yelp of pain, but couldn't move as it tried to leap back. Frost had frozen Flare's paws to the floor with an ice beam.

"Clara, Flare, both of you try to hit Frost with a flamethrower and a Psybeam!" I shouted. Flare did his best to angle his head to unleash a blast of flame at the fox, which it easily dodged despite it being less nimble than it's purple cousin Sarah had fought before. Clara pulled through though, timing her shot just right to hit Frost with her rainbow bolt of light as it evaded Flare's attack. The Fox yelped and stumbled around, dazed from the blast.

Just then Marry pulled itself up and launched a thunderbolt at flare, hitting him easily as he was still frozen to the floor. Flare howled in pain.

"Clara, hit Frost with Hypnosis while it's stunned and take care of Marry with psychic!" I shouted.

Clara unleashed her special psychic pulse at the blue fox, knocking it out cold easily as it stumbled around before rushing forward and picking up the sheep telekinetically. She spun Marry quickly in the air as it tried to fire a thunderbolt at her, but by then it was too dizzy and disoriented to land a single hit on either of my partners. The sheep soon passed out from the spin treatment and Clara gently set it down next to the fox, who was now snoring loudly as it slept.

Flare barked happily and took the liberty of starting to thaw its paws out with its flamethrower while I walked up to the gate.

"We did it Master!" Clara said cheerfully, smiling up at me.

"Yup, but we have to clear two more still." I said, waiting for Flare to finish melting the ice around his paws before getting a grip on the handles at the base of the gate. Flare bit down as best he could on the other side of the gate as Clara took hold of the slab telekinetically. This one was lighter than the one Clara and I lifted the other day, and with all three of us we easily lifted and passed through the gate before letting it down with a thud and turning to meet out next challenge.

Before us stood a large black hound with two white horns curving out from the back of it's head and a spade shape on the end of its tail. I wondered why there was only one for a moment before a purple face materialized out of nothing in front of us. It appeared to be a ball of black and purple gas levitating in front of us.

"Houndoom and Ghastly..." I mumbled to myself as Clara and Flare took the same positions as before.

This time our opponents took the lead as The Houndoom unleashed a wave of what looked like pure black at Flare and the Ghastly faded away again.

"Flare, dodge over it!" I shouted, and Flare leapt high into the air just in time to let the attack pass beneath him.

"Now hit him with your flamethrower!" I ordered and Flare obligingly unleashed a jet of flame as he descended. The black dog made no attempt to dodge and took the attack in full as Flare came back down. "Yeah!" I shouted, but my victory was cut short as a loud howl filled the arena and the flames let up, revealing the Houndoom to be not only unscathed but Glowing red as if superheated. Before I could react it surprised me by letting out it's own flamethrower back at Flare, dwarfing Flares attack with it's size and white hot intensity.

Before I could order Flare to dodge Ghastly reappeared right behind Clara. "Clara, Psybeam directly behind you!" I shouted as the black hound's attack connected with flare, who yelped.

Clara brought her hands to her head and fired off her attack without even turning around. The beam flew from the back of her head and connected with the advancing ball of gas, which hissed angrily as it disappeared again.

The houndoom had let off on the jet of flame but was still glowing. Flare was crouching down, trying to stay standing and was clearly dazed from the blast.

"Clara, hit Houndoom with psybeam, get it away from Flare!" I shouted and Clara unleashed her beam again, but to my surprise the attack bounced off the black dog who barely took note of it as it slowly advanced towards Flare.

"It didn't work!" Clara shouted back at me.

"try Psychic then!" I shouted feeling a bit panicked.

Clara nodded and rushed forward, trying to grab ahold of the dog with her mind. She gasped after a moment and slowly backed away "I can't move him!" She yelled, panic seeping into her mind's voice. The hound glared at her before unleashing another wave of darkness in her direction, hitting her before I could react due to the close range. She screamed as she was knocked back.

"Clara are you okay!" I shouted

"That... hurt..." Clara said, dazed. I saw Flare begin to get back up as the hound began advancing on Clara.

"Clara, try to hit it with Hypnosis and Flare use close combat!" I shouted. Clara managed to unleash her special pulse, which somehow managed to stun the hound, and by some miracle ghastly reappeared right behind Houndoom, snoring loudly as the pulse had connected with it while invisible. Flare got to his feet and rushed the hound while it was stunned, colliding with it hard enough to send it flying across the gym, howling in pain.

The Ghastly showed signs of waking up at the loud crash that resulted. "Clara, hit it with Dream eater before it can move!" I shouted and a purple aura enveloped both Clara and the ball of gas. The Ghastly struggled, but didn't open its eyes as Clara sapped it's energy and before long descended to the floor as it surrendered to unconsciousness.

Clara quickly picked herself up, having recovered with the energy she sapped from the other pokemon and Flare walked over to sniff her, making sure she was okay. Clara smiled and patted the big dog on the head. "Thank you, I'm fine now." She told him as I walked forward. We each assumed our positions and took hold of the next gate. This one was probably the same one that Clare and I had lifted in the last course, but even though both she and Flare were tired from two battles all three of us lifted it without much trouble and passed beneath before letting it down with an thud that nearly knocked us off our feet.

"Glad you made it" Sarah said, standing directly in front of the last gate. "Meet Krieg, and Geld" she motioned to her right and left. The one she pointed out to be Krieg was a tall blue and black avian with short legs and flipper like wings, and Geld was what looked kind of like a black bear with a tan underside and a mane made of fire.

"Geld's a Typhlosion, but what I Krieg?" I asked, my breeding knowledge failing me for once.

"He's an Empoleon, one of the starter pokemon from the Sinnoh region." She said. Krieg shuffled a bit, seeming uncomfortable.

"Well that explains why I don't know him, but how did you get a pokemon from Sinnoh?" I asked.

"My father gave him to me to train after he attempted the Sinnoh league a long time ago," She explained. "And Geld's been my partner ever since I got my trainer's license back in Jhoto." Geld gave an affirmative grunt as it looked towards its master. "You're gonna have a tough fight, and to be perfectly honest I don't expect you to win." Sarah said, smirking.

"So this was a ploy to get a free meal out of me?" I asked, scowling at the challenge she put me to.

"Partly, the first two battles were good practice, were they not?" She asked.

"I guess," I admitted. "Well, no point in drawing this out. You ready guys?" I asked my pokemon.

Flare gave a low growl as it took a battle stance and Clara did the same, "We're not going down easy" Clara warned her opponents.

Krieg and Geld took their positions on the field as well; with geld taking a forward stance and Krieg staying back.

"Let's go!" I shouted, commencing the battle.

"Geld, use hyper beam!" Sarah shouted, and Geld responding by howling as a ball of light built up in its open mouth.

"Flare get ready to dodge, Clara follow Flare's lead!" I countered, and Clara, leapt behind Flare, her eyes glowing blue to read how he would move. Geld unleashed the beam, sending a massive ray of yellow light straight for Flare, who nimbly sidestepped the blast, Clara easily dodging with him. Geld doubled over panting as the attack missed.

"Clara, hit him with hypnosis while he's stunned!" I ordered and Clara leapt to the side to get a clear shot at him.

"Oh no you don't! Krieg, hit her with ice beam!" Krieg obliged by launching a familiar blue bolt of lightning in Clara's direction. The beam caught Clara by surprise and hit her square in the chest before she could launch her attack, encasing her torso and one arm in a block of ice.

I gritted my teeth. "Flare, hit Krieg with close combat while it's distracted!" I shouted. Flare rushed forward and tackled the bird with all his might. Krieg let out a pained squawk as he was launched backwards into the gate behind its master. It grunted as it started to pick itself up.

"Hit it again Flare!" I ordered and Flare made another bum rush for the bird.

"Krieg, Ice beam!" Sarah shouted and the bird unleashed the blue bolt just as Flare collided with it. The impact caused a huge flash, and when it passed it revealed Flare to be encased in a solid chunk of ice as well as Krieg unconscious and also partially frozen to its opponent.

Sarah rushed to her partner's side and quickly checked him over before examining Flare. "They're both okay, but they're out of the round now." She said, sounding relieved.

"Clara, you okay?" I asked, seeing her still lying on the ground half encased in ice.

"Yes, just cold and stuck" She replied sounding flustered. But before Sarah could call the match Clara started levitating, using her telekinesis to pick herself up and regain her feet.

"I appreciate the tenacity, but this match is pretty much over" Sarah said, not joking in the slightest. "It's my best and most trusted partner against a half frozen initiate."

I heard a quiet growl come from Clara and it surprised me. "I'm not giving up!" Clara snapped.

"You don't have to do this, Clara" I said. "it's okay to give up, it's just a practice match after all."

"Please, let me try" Clara pleaded.

I thought for a while. "Well, most of your attacks don't require you're arms to use...." I admitted.

"You're seriously gonna try this aren't you." Sarah said. She sounded frustrated, but was still smiling despite that.

After a few more moments' thought, I decided. "Alright, we'll finish the match."

Clara grinned and did her best to resume a battle pose, though one arm was still encased under ice in an awkward position. I couldn't be sure from his animalistic appearance but I could swear Geld was smiling as well as it took its own battle pose, the flames on its mane erupting higher.

"Alright then," Sarah said "Geld open up with Flamethrower!"

"Clara, use Psychic to divert the fire!" I shouted a split second after.

Geld unleashed his attack straight for Clara and she did one better than what I had hoped to be mere deflection. She took a page from Esper's book and redirected the stream of fire to her side, then around her back, then straight for Geld.

"Geld get back!" Sarah shouted a moment too late. Geld took his own attack, but leapt out of the way before the full thing hit him. He crouched low panting as I saw Clara had used the heat of the blast to partially thaw herself. She had her hand free now, but still was slowed down by a large chunck of ice around her chest.

"Clara, use Psybeam now that you're hand's free!" I ordered. She brought her now free hand to her forehead and unleashed the bolt straight at Geld, who was already staggered from the last attack and took the beam in full. The hit knocked the Typhlosion on its back, and it rolled around confused for a moment before shaking it's head and regaining it's feet.

"Clever," Sarah complimented "let's see how you handle this. Geld use smokescreen!" Geld let out a roar as it's mane burned brighter, pouring out smoke and filling the arena. I heard Clara coughing inside the cloud, but couldn't see anything.

"Clara, you alright?" I asked, worried.

"Yes, just hard to breathe Master..." She replied. "I can't see anything though"

"Reach around you with Psychic, try to find him!" I ordered.

"Geld, hit her with Inferno and end this!" Sarah shouted from behind the dark cloud. A loud roar signaled the attack, and soon a red hot flash emanated from deep within the cloud.

"NO!" Clara's psychic voice boomed from within the cloud, and the red glow was soon overtaken by a white one, far brighter.

"What the-" Sarah started.

"Clara!" I shouted. Just then a chunk of broken ice slid out of the cloud towards me, followed by other pieces soon after. The white light blazed brighter before fading entirely.

"I'm not losing that easily, I'm going to win for Master." A mature, but familiar psychic voice spoke up from in the cloud, then a glimmer of silver light appeared before a rush of air blew the smoke out in all directions, clearing the arena.

The first thing I saw was Geld now panting on my side of the arena, but the tall white figure in the middle took a moment to identify. She had a clearly feminine figure, and the long dress she wore complimented that. Her long green hair came just to her shoulders, and from her chest stuck out a red crystal, providing a color compliment to her green arms.

"Clara?" I asked, not believing my eyes.

"Let's finish this." The newly evolved Gardevoir said, smiling at me. There was a silver aura around her which I guessed to be a Safeguard ability. Just then a yip at my heels informed me that some of Sarah's other pokemon had woken up and were watching our match. I looked back and saw everyone but Ghastly watching from my side of the arena, and he materialized in a few moments completing the cast.

Sudden near hysterical laughter broke out from the other side of the field. Sarah as doubled over, and it took her a moment to regain her composure. "Man you guys are just full of surprises!" She said. "Don't think this means you've won though, Geld use rollout!" She ordered.

Clara took a more refined battle pose with her now taller figure as The Typhlosion launched itself forward as a ball, rolling quickly at Clara.

"Toss him with Psychic!" I shouted and Clara's eyes glowed blue. She waited for him to come within ten feet of her before smoothly changing his course straight up.

"Hit her with Flamethrower!" Sarah shouted, undaunted by the change in course. Geld uncurled, quickly getting his bearings in the air before unleashing a torrent of flame down at his opponent. Clara took the blast in full, and I felt her pain telepathically. I winced, feeling her hurt, but as the attack finished, I was amazed to see she wasn't charred or marked by the flame at all thanks to her Safeguard.

"Make him kiss the floor with another Psychic!" I shouted, seeing the opening as Geld began to fall. Clara's eyes glowed blue as she took ahold of her opponent telepathically and whipped him into the ground, hard. The Typhlosion let out a yelp of pain as it landed, but quickly picked itself back up.

"Geld you okay?" Sarah called out. A low bark from him was all she needed in response to issue her next order. "Hit her with your Roll out Inferno combo!"

"What!?" I shouted, amazed they could combine moves. Geld let out a roar as it flung itself forward and became engulfed in white hot flame.

"Master what do I do?" Clara asked, sounding panicked.

"Hit him as hard as you can with a Psychic to knock him back!" I stammered out. With just barely enough time to react, Clara's eyes glowed as she unleashed her own attack just as Geld collided with her. A blazing flash ensued and the resulting heat was enough to make me stagger.

"Clara!" I shouted as the flames cleared. Geld was barely standing, doing everything in it's power not to pass out on the spot. Clara was in front of him down on one knee doing the same, her silver aura now gone and soot covering parts of her body and dress.

The two pokemon stared each other down as the battle became a match of who would pass out first, and a few moments later both pokemon collapsed simultaneously. I rushed forward to Clara and gently picked her head up, checking her for serious injuries. She smiled up at me "I'm all right Master" She said quietly.

I silently hugged her and she weakly hugged back, her arms now long enough to easily embrace me. "I'm so proud of you Clara" I said, holding her, and she nuzzled my chest in response, still smiling.

I looked over to see Sarah tending to her own partner, a worried look on her face, but after a few moments she gave a sigh of relief and looked towards me. "He's okay, but he's going to have one massive headache when he wakes up." She half joked.

"I guess it's a draw?" I half joked back.

"Unless you can lift the last gate all by yourself, no such luck" she replied, smirking. I heard Clara start giggling in my lap and I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh well Master, at least we didn't give up" Clara said to me.

"Yeah, and you evolved too" I said, smiling down at her.

She blinked and stared at me "I did?" she asked, unbelievingly.

"You didn't notice?" I asked, staring back with equal disbelief.

Clara remover her arms from around my neck and looked down at her hands, seeing their new color and her eyes widened. She squirmed out of my lap and struggled to her knees, where she began physically examining her new body, testing every new curve out with her hands. After a few moments she beamed at me "I did!" She exclaimed as she did her best to leap at me and hug me. I caught her easily and we embraced. After a few moments she spoke up "I thought I felt bigger but I was pretty sure I was just dazed from the impact. When did it happen?"

Sarah spoke up to answer. "It happened when you were in the smokescreen, right before Geld would have taken you down with his inferno attack."

"Really?" Clara asked, looking to me for confirmation.

I nodded "Yep."

"All I remember happening then was getting really mad and not wanting to fail Master" She said, looking back at her new hands. After a moment she looked up at her former opponent. "Geld are you all right?" She asked him directly. Geld gave what sounded like a bark and crawled to meet her on all fours before giving her a big lick on the cheek as a peace offering.

I looked over at my still frozen Arcanine and saw that Krieg had woken up and did not look at all happy being half stuck in the ice block containing Flare. He squawked at me disapprovingly when he saw me looking and looked stubbornly to the side.

"I suppose we should help them out" I said, and Sara agreed. We left Clara and Geld together to recover as we set to work breaking the ice around our other pokemon with the pocket knives that we carried as part of our uniforms, though neither of us were wearing them we still had our knives as you never know when you'd need them. Her Houndoom tried to help, but was too tired to produce an effective flamethrower. Every time I tried to chip at the ice around Krieg he would squawk and weakly peck at me to get me to stop. Sarah laughed and told me to let her get him out, which he seemed more tolerant of, though just barely. Clara and Geld watched from the sidelines, leaning against each other to keep both of them supported upright. It took about ten minutes to get Flare's head free of the ice, but once I did all it took was a hard poke in the nose to rouse him from his sleep-like state. He woofed happily in seeing me, then looked confused as he tried to move and after a moment realized the situation. He quickly raised his body temperature in response and water started dripping off the ice block as he melted it. Even with a fire type's body heat, it was another five minutes before he could muscle his way out of the ice. Krieg was still a quarter encased in ice by then and had gotten flustered enough that he even pecked at Sarah when she tried to free him. Sighing, she just returned him to his pokeball. She did the same for all her other pokemon except Glaceon, who was the only one not exhausted from the course as he had just been knocked out with hypnosis. Sarah and I then did our best to move the lift gates back where they belonged, and only accomplished our task after an hour and a half of hard work and grunts.

We decided that it was too late in the day for lunch by now, even though our appetites were catching up with us, so we headed out to the pokemon center to patch our partners up. Flare offered to carry Clara, but she insisted that I do it, which I gladly did. After one attempt trying to carry her like I used to before, her now human-like body weight proved too difficult to lift for long. After a few moments of adjusting, she draped her arms around my neck and rested her head against mine as I held her up by her legs, piggy-back style. She was much easier to carry this way.

At the bus stop I called Flare to his pokeball for the usual reason before boarding. Inside, Clara asked if she could still sit on my lap when we rode. Sarah giggled and covered her mouth and I let her, just hoping the ride wouldn't be too bumpy as her now plumper thighs felt very comforting on certain parts of my body.

Thankfully we got there without incident, and I piggy backed Clara the rest of the way inside as Flare let himself out of his pokeball. Sarah told me she would take my pokemon inside for me and that I should call my counselor and let her know about Clara evolving, and begrudgingly I admitted she was right and gently let Clara down before Sarah helped her inside.

Nervously I dialed Mrs. Feld's personal cell number. After two rings, she picked up. "Well if it isn't Mark" She said, sounding amused. "I take it you're calling to resign from the challenge I put up?" She asked, sounding confidant.

"No, actually" I said "It's just that Clara evolved today and I needed to know if that was going to be a problem in getting her approved as my partner.

There was silence on the other end before She spoke up "You're serious aren't you" Mrs. Feld said, seeming genuinely surprised."

"Yes Ma'am" I said. "Her skill set hasn't changed at all from it, she's just stronger and a bit taller for it." I explained. "It's not like Flare where he went from lighting bonfires to knocking down trees."

"Mark, I'm gonna need some time for this one." She said, sounding a tad flustered. "I need to do some research to verify what you said and then see if the course needs to be adjusted based on that."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to make you do more work, this caught me off guard too."

"Don't apologize, Mark" She said sternly "I'm actually impressed you managed to evolve her this quickly, I thought you would at least take a year to get that much experience with your usual training methods.

"Well, I have been getting help from Sarah" I admitted, blushing slightly.

There was a pause before I heard chuckling from the other end. "The transfer student from Jhoto right?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that explains a lot, but still impressive progress on your part." She said. "Don't worry about this Mark, It shouldn't be a problem. I'll take care of the changes to the test and paperwork for you this time, just be sure not to disappoint me tomorrow." And before I could thank her she hung up. I stared down at my phone, feeling relieved.

I headed inside just as flare strutted out of the nurse's office, seeming full of energy again, and I gave him a congratulatory scratch behind the ears to thank him for his hard work today. We moved to the waiting area where Clara waved us over just as she was called. Flare sat down next to Sarah, who smiled and petted him as her Glaceon napped in her lap and I followed Clara into the nurse's office.

Inside, Clara easily sat down on the examination table and giggled. "I don't need someone to pick me up to get up here anymore" She mused. I saw it was the same nurse as before, though she looked confused.

"Alright, I recognize you" she said, pointing at me. "but did you really get a second psychic pokemon?"

I couldn't keep from giggling.

"No silly, I just evolved today" Clara explained, beaming.

The nurse blinked and slapped her forehead, realizing her oversight. "Right, I didn't recognize you right away. You're the one that doesn't need a pokeball right?"

Clara smiled and nodded and the nurse proceded to do all she could to help Clara, though it still wasn't much considering she couldn't use the standard equipment. She at least bandaged what were Clara's more serious burns and told me to make sure she got some good sleep tonight.

"Pokemon heal faster than humans, she should be just fine by tomorrow morning as long as she doesn't exert herself any more today." The nurse explained.

We thanked her for her service and I helped Clara into the waiting room just as the nurse called Sarah in. Clara sat down next to Flare and he gave her a sloppy lick on the cheek as a belated congratulation for evolving. Clara giggled and scratched behind his ears as we waited, causing him to let out a happy murr. I smiled and watched them.

After just a few minutes Sarah emerged with her Glaceon, who Stretched and yawned before walking up to me. I reached down to pet him as Sarah caught up and he murred quietly, accepting me. Sarah smiled. "He usually doesn't take to new people so well, guess he was impressed by you and Clara" She said.

We headed out, deciding to take a walk through the park to kill the remaining time until dinner. There, we ran into coach again, and I introduced Sarah and Frost to his Azumarill. Azu happily greeted it's new friends and him and Flare played while Frost watched and we chatted with coach. Coach made it a point to compliment Clara often on her accomplishment, reflecting on how much work it took when Azu was still a Marril. Eventually the sun sank low in the sky and we said our goodbyes, Coach wishing Clara and I good luck on our test tomorrow as we left.

It wasn't that far of a walk to the restaurant, and once there I was dismayed to see Sarah unleash her whole team as we were escorted to the largest table they had. I tried to enjoy the meal as best I could, but when the bill came my fears were confirmed. Despite my student discount this would still take a heavy toll on my wallet.

"Last time I accept a bet from you" I goaded, looking at Sarah as I pulled out my wallet.

"Just don't lose it next time" She said, smirking.

I sighed and paid the tab, the owners thanking me generously as I did. We finished off our drinks and headed out, saying goodbye to Sarah and company as we went our separate ways home. On the walk back, Clara asked if I could carry her again. I thought for a while before smiling and assuming the position, letting her cling to my back as I held her up. She nuzzled my neck and thanked me as she gently wrapped her arms around my neck. I smiled and enjoyed the affection, forgetting about the massive loss my wallet had endured.

Before long we reached my apartment complex and I had to put Clara down. We headed inside, and on the way up Clara marveled at how easily she could read the door numbers now. Once we reached my door, Clara insisted on opening it herself now that she could do it easily. I smiled and let her and after a few moments of fiddling with the key to figure out how it worked she led us inside.

Clara closed the door behind us and Flare to my surprise headed immediately to the bedroom, though he didn't seem tired at all. Adding to my confusion he pawed the door shut behind him. Before I could ask him what was up Clara grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face her as she kissed me deeply. I blushed and after a moment kissed back and embraced her, feeling up and down her back.

After a long while Clara stepped back, blushing. "Would you mind if we took a shower together?" she asked. "I'm still all dirty from the battle and don't want to get it on your couch."

I smiled, realizing she was planning this for a long time today and probably let Flare know ahead of time. "Sure, let's get you cleaned up Clara." I said, taking her hand as I led her to the bathroom. Inside, I turned the shower on and slowly disrobed in front of my partner as I waited for the water to heat up. She smiled and watched me intently as more of my body became exposed. I blushed as I finally removed my boxers, letting her see my most private part. She licked her lips, clearly liking what she saw.

I took a step towards her, but she sidestepped my advance, winking at me as she stepped into the stream of water. "Not yet" she tittered "I have to have my body all clean before Master can use it" She teased.

I smiled, accepting her game as I stepped into the shower. Clara smiled back at me and handed me a sponge before presenting her back to me. I stepped close to her and began gently washing her neck and shoulders. She sighed, leaning back into me as I worked. Smiling, I slipped my hands around to her chest, gently washing and massaging her small, but now apparent breasts, eliciting a surprised gasp from her which quickly turned into a soft moan. I moved my hands lower, washing all the soot I came across off her as my hands trailed lower. Eventually I was massaging her round ass as she smiled and grinded back against me. Realizing I was now painfully erect I decided to hurry up and wash the rest of her so we could get to the fun faster. I quickly cleaned her legs and feet before wrapping my arms around her and pressing my hard member to the small of her back to let her know I wanted it.

"There's still one spot you missed" She teased, and before I could ask where she bent over in front of me and spread her dress, giving me a glorious view of her ass and pucker. I reached down and gently massaged around her entrance, feeling her tense and loosen at my touch. I continued rubbing her asshole with my fingers and before long she was grinding back against me. I very slowly pressed y finger into her opening, but just as I felt her start to spread around and accept my digit she pulled away and turned the shower off. I grunted in frustration but before I could get any further in that mindset she kissed me deeply, proving she still wanted me.

"I'm not ready for that yet..." She admitted "But I've been practicing so soon I will be."

"Practicing?" I asked

"I'll show you" She said winking, as she handed me a towel. I sighed and dried her off first, taking advantage of the moment to cop another feel of her breasts and ass before letting her dry me off as well, and taking a cue from me she made sure to give my throbbing member a firm squeeze as she passed over it. She then led me back to the living room and sat me down on the couch, leaving my clothes in the bathroom. Before I could ask her what she was planning her eyes flashed blue and a familiar dildo appeared out of seemingly nowhere levitating in front of me. It wasn't the large one Flare had scarred so many weeks ago, but rather the first one I had which had been lying unused at the bottom of my drawer, or at least so I had though. Another flash and next to it was my bottle of lube.

"I'm sorry for using Master's toys without his permission..." Clara said, suddenly blushing.

I blinked and looked at the dildo. "You've been using these?" I asked. Clara nodded looking down. The dildo hadn't been that big for me but for a Kirlia it must have been quite a stretch, though a part of me wondered how much better it would fit in her now, and that part also knew I'd be finding out before long. "Alright, I forgive you but on one condition." I said, smirking. Clara looked up hopefully. "I want to see you use it on yourself as you help me out" I said motioning towards my still hard member, twitching in neglect.

Clara nodded eagerly, and from the way she was smiling it seems she had this planned all along. She knelt down in front of me as she lubed up the toy and levitated it towards her tight pucker, and with a quiet moan and a slight wince slid it easily insider her ass. I dribbled pre at the sight and she quickly took my member in her mouth, running her tongue all over it as she started slowly sliding the toy in and out of her ass, occasionally wincing as she clearly still wasn't used to being penetrated back there yet. I moaned at the stimulation as I enjoyed the view, gently pressing on the back of Clara's head, guiding her lower on my cock. She obliged eagerly, now easily fitting the entirety of my shaft in her new mouth. She began working the dildo in and out of her ass in time with her head's movements, and gradually sped up both, forcing more moans out of me. Suddenly she stood up, slipping the toy out of her ass and bending over in front of me.

"Please Master, fill me" She begged, blushing deeply as she presented herself to me. I couldn't resist, though I had just enough control to go gently and to pull her down onto the couch first. I laid her down before me, seeing her now much larger penis standing erect in front of me as I brought the tip of my own to her ass. She nodded for me to continue and I slowly forced myself inside her. She was crushingly tight, and it took a while to get even the tip in, but once I did I slipped the rest into her much more easily. She moaned and bit her lip as I penetrated her, leaking a copious amount of pre onto her stomach.

"Does it hurt?" I asked concerned

"Y-yes, but it feels good too" She said "Please keep going." I nodded and proceded to slide myself back out of her slowly, before pushing back in. She moaned and squirmed a little, leaking even more pre. I set to work thrusting gently in and out of her, and more than a few times I was tempted to reach down and give her stiff member some attention, but from the amount of pre she was leaking just from going this slow I was confident I wouldn't need to. After a long while I felt her finally start to loosen up around me and she squirmed less and moaned more. I started to work my cock into her faster, causing her to moan loudly and spur me on. I quickly picked up pace as her ass got used to my member, but before I could get fully up to speed I felt my peak approaching early from the extended foreplay. I gritted my teeth and tried to hold out but a sharp moan from below shook my focus. I looked down to see Clara blushing and panting as she started cumming all over herself. Thick jets of her seed splashed across her face and chest as she arched her back in orgasm. I couldn't hold out any longer and immediately began cumming inside her ass as I thrust in and out.

I collapsed panting next to her, feeling my dick slide out of her ass with a little pop. Clara smiled weakly up and me and leaned in for a kiss. I closed the distance and embraced her as we kissed each other.

"I love you Master" She said sleepily.

I Blushed and smiled down at her, "I love you too Clara."

We held each other for a long time before the cold night air got to us and we reluctantly got up and cleaned ourselves off before heading to bed together. Once under the covers we embraced other again and both drifted off to sleep before long, dreaming of each other.