“Hey Soren, it’s time to wake up buddy, we need to get to Accumula in the next few hours.” A male voice says softly. Vaguely, I was recognize my soft, cream colored chest being rubbed, rousing me from sleeping peacefully to gaze up at a man of about twenty years of age.

“Is it really time to wake up? I thought you wanted to sleep in today.” I reply after yawning, my eyes putting in a half-hearted defiance to my request for them to open, blurring my vision slightly.

“We did sleep in. In fact, it’s almost eight a.m., but we need to get to Accumula Town because there’s a snowstorm rolling in according to the radio. I don’t know about you, but I know I want to be inside when it hits, as will Nassus I’m sure.” Vandell, my partner and trainer replies, putting an arm around my shoulders in a hug, and follows it up with a soft kiss on my cheek.

Perhaps I should explain why I could speak human, despite my being a Typhlosion and never learning how to actually speak the human tongue. I had something known as a translator collar that Vandell, my partner, had bought me as a final evolution gift. From what I understood when I was given the collar, it functioned by sensing vibrations that were produced when I speak in my native tongue, then translated into data, which, after a bit of tuning, begins to form its own database based on my vocal patterns. This data was then processed into human tongue, made audible by several speakers that were placed around the collar. I didn’t quite understand how it reduced the noise of what I was actually saying; if I had understood the salesman correctly, it did something with negating the vibrations after a certain point so that all that came out of my mouth was air.

Sighing happily I move my arm to rest upon the back of his neck, my eyes now fully open, gazing upon his kind face. He always kept his face clean shaved, or, at least he tried to. He wasn’t a big fan of facial hair. His mouth was always a natural smile, soft pink lips complementing his tanned skin. His smile was powerful; it radiated an aura that made you want to smile also. But, my favorite thing about his face was his eyes. Oh Arceus, those eyes are beautiful, a bluish-green that seemed to swirl with friendship and wonder. Often I could find myself getting lost in them as I gazed into their intriguing depths. They were magic; they could entrance me in no matter how many times I looked at them. Every time I would get lost in my own world as I imagined the thoughts that might occur behind those orbs of wonder.

Every second I stared felt like minutes, a serenity of peace overwhelming me. I was truly entranced by this feature of him, although, it wasn’t the only thing that I could stare at for hours upon hours, his face was one that was soft and caring, and seemed to emit a feeling of calmness and understanding. For this reason I had become infatuated with my trainer. We both enjoyed being with one another, and could often be spied paw and hand together, or cuddled up close to one another near a fire if you happened to walk by our campsite.

We both loved each other very deeply, despite it being a taboo practice among society. Humans supposedly were not allowed to love Pokémon, or at least that was what was believed by a vast majority of humans it seemed. However, we could not care less about the others thought; we loved each other with all of our hearts, and that was all that mattered. Out in the wild we would openly show our affection to one another as there were not too many people to discover us, but in cities and towns, walking close to my mate was as open as I could get. In cities, the only place we could show our love for one another was in our hotel room, as that was a private area where we could cuddle one another.

He had been my trainer for the past eight years, but it was on his fifteenth birthday I finally started showing him my affections towards him. Our relationship was not started off in quick leaps and bounds, no; I started off by barely hinting at my emotions. The first step of the path to the relationship being that at our cooking fires, I would sit next to him, sometimes even nuzzling into his side to snuggle up against him as he cooked our meals. He noticed it and teasingly called me weird at first, but he wouldn’t push me away; he just let me snuggle up against him. A few months later, whenever we would cuddle I would give his cheek an occasional quick lick, a small step up in my affections, and once again, this was noticed, but he allowed it. In fact, he seemed to enjoy my licking and snuggling, so I continued with my affections towards him, and that was enough for me, at least for a while.

But, my wanting for him outgrew the simple licks and cuddling; I would lick him on the lips, and then look away, as if it was an accident, blushing heavily. This went on for another few months, and then as it started getting colder and colder as time moved into the winter months, I would move closer and closer to his sleeping bag, eventually asking to sleep with him in his bag. He thought this as weird, just as he had thought the same for the cuddling and the licking at first, but he still let me sleep curled up with him. After all, a fully grown Typhlosion and a fully grown human do not exactly fit too well in a single sleeping bag. So, it was at the next town that he bought a second sleeping bag, zipping it to the first to make room for me as well. It was awkward at first, after all, I had a massive crush on him, and finally was being able to sleep cuddled up against him. He did not seem to mind how close I would cuddle up to him or how my arm would happen to always be wrapped around his side, resting on his stomach in the morning. He simply wanted his starter Pokémon to be happy, and did not complain once about how I’d get a little too excited every night when it came time to sleep.

He actually enjoyed the added warmth at night, especially when a chilly wind tore through the trees. It was nights like these, when it became exceptionally cold that he would snuggle up against my furry body as he cooked dinner, or when we were relaxing after a hard day of traveling, his back making my fur press down slightly, causing me to quietly sigh with happiness. Despite being able to show all this affection, it too eventually became too little for I. I wanted him to be my lover desperately, to be the one who I could adore and hold close, the one whom I could comfort when he had a bad day. There was just one problem though. I didn’t know how to show him how much I wanted to be more than just trainer and Pokémon. I didn’t know if he would be accepting of a relationship between two different species, or if he would even be interested in another male.

It took a total of two years to build up the courage to ask him to be my partner, and, when I finally did ask him one night, actually going through with my plan, I was scared. I knew that by asking him, I was laying our friendship potentially on the line. This was an all or nothing moment for me, and, the odds were against me. Not only was I a different species than him, I was also a male. I knew that I would need to communicate that it was more than just companionship I had with him, and that I most certainly wanted more than that. That in itself would be a challenge, as, upon this night, in the moment that I had managed to build up, my collar was inside his bag. It had been a long day of travel, and, the collar had been he couldn’t even fully understand me because I didn’t have my translator collar yet, however, I did know how to write in basic English by digging messages into the ground with my claw, and so that would be how I would ask him. We were sitting at the fire at night, and I was snuggling up against him as he cooked some beans over the fire for our meal. We had already had dinner, but we were both still hungry and so he had decided to cook a small extra meal for us. We weren’t too far from the next city that we’d need to worry about running out of food, but we were also too far to push and make it to the city that night, and so we had set up camp a mile away from the city.

As he waited for the beans to cook, I started to write in the dirt, finally asking him to be my lover. I figured that if any time was the right time, that time would be in a moment while we were snuggling, and so I picked him up and sat him in my lap, my arms around his stomach. He must have thought that this was just another instance of me showing affection towards him, so he leaned back against me after a few seconds of figuring out what had happened. I often had thought about how to go through with asking the question, but I hadn’t ever had the courage to ask him. I felt it was the right night, and, I promised myself, as I wrote in the dirt, I would follow through, I would not smear this message as I had on other occasions, backing down from asking him, failing my attempts to tell him how much I truly loved him. I didn’t stop this time. My heart was beating hard and fast, I was surprised he didn’t feel it as I continued; I wasn’t going to back down this time, I was really going to do it. I was going to ask him to be my mate for real this time. From this one small action my heart was pounding, and I feared it might explode from my chest when I asked him to be my mate. He didn’t notice the paw leave his stomach as I leaned down and wrote my question to him in the dirt, but, when I rubbed his stomach after finishing, he looked down, and spied my question “Will you be my lover?”

I then returned my paw back to his stomach with the other, my heart beating loudly as I waited for his answer. He didn’t notice the message at first, and so I licked his cheek and made a small whimper to get his attention. It worked, and he turned to me before asking “What is it Soren?”

With a blush, I licked his cheek again then motion down at my message, which was illuminated by the dancing light of the fire. The silence that followed was deafening, and as I waited, my heart sank as my blush grew. My face felt like it was on fire as I awaited his answer, the moment seeming to never end as my existence seemed to disappear. I knew he would reject me, there was no doubt about it, he wouldn’t have been this quiet had he wanted to become my mate. My mind was running rampant as I thought about all the possible things that could happen to me, all of them bad things. I could almost feel tears coming to my eyes, despite him not saying anything yet. What must have been only a minute seemed like a year, but in that minute thousands of thoughts had run through my head before my trainer said “Soren, I…I’m not sure about this decision, and it would seem a bit too soon to make a decision tonight. I’m not saying that I won’t become your mate, but I’m also not saying that I will become your mate. Give me some time to think it over, and when I’ve reached a decision, I’ll tell you it as soon as I possibly can.”

It was then that time stood still, the only things I could sense was my trainer and myself as we cuddled by the fire. My blush must have been visible through my dark fur, I was blushing so hard. That minute between him seeing my message and him replying was the most awkward moment of my life. Never had I feared my fate more than in that single moment. I had actually prepared myself for rejection and banishment. I was thinking that he would cast me away from him for admiring him. At least it wasn’t an all out rejection of my love, but he also hadn’t accepted my request.

As we waited for the beans to cook, I had continued to cuddle him in my lap as I watched the flame beneath the pot that contained our second dinner. The fire was magical; it danced with its bright and cheery colors that cast light upon the opening about us and made his tanned white skin and my sandy front fur glow with an orange radiance.

That night was vivid in my head, just as much as the night a week later, when he gave me his answer, an awkward kiss upon my lips that took me by surprise. The kiss didn’t register at first; it was almost as if I didn’t exist, the only person that was present was my trainer, and that I was seeing it as a dream. When I finally realized that I wasn’t dreaming, and that he was actually kissing me, I happily wrapped my arms about my trainer and leaned into the kiss, returning the action of affection to my new mate. “I know how much you feel for me Soren, I finally figured out why you had been so affectionate now.” He says with a soft smirk.

That was a little bit less than two years ago, now we had no awkwardness in our relationship as we had at first. Kissing wasn’t as awkward as that first one; after two years of experience, we knew how our mouths fit around each other best, and so kissing wasn’t such a strange experience. It was a different relationship, but we had known it would be from the start of the relationship. To this day, kissing was an adventure, but we didn’t mind, we enjoyed each other’s company. I made it a point every morning to kiss him, I enjoyed being with him, and I enjoyed showing my love for him.

This morning was no different, and as we lay together in our combined sleeping bag, I lean forward and push my lips up against his, as my eyes close again for a brief moment. “I wouldn’t want you to get too cold hun, let’s get breakfast first though, nothing big though, it’s close to lunch.” I say after breaking the kiss with him.

Nodding, he unzips the bag and I hand him his shirt. I could feel the cold through my fur; it was a cold winter morning, and with a snowstorm on the way, it would be foolish for us to stay around too long. Over his body, I could see his other companion, a male Dewott who went by the name of Nassus. I had found the otter an interesting creature, as it reminded me of a Lucario and a Buizel mixed together. His fighting style was interesting, and was fun to do mock battles against him, even if I was much more powerful than him. The little water weasel was quick, and that made fighting him a bit of a challenge.

When we weren’t battling though, he liked to stick close to me. If I went off to fetch some wood or hunt a meal, I could count on the otter following along. He had recently started wanting lessons on how to hunt, and I complied, and to be honest, the weasel was pretty good at it. I’ve seen him take down Pidgys with his blades, which was no easy task; that was for sure, some of those birds were fast. Nassus wasn’t awake yet, and so I gave Vandell a second kiss before rising from our sleeping bag and moving outside.

It was mere seconds before I heard a light padding behind me as I walked to the edge of our campsite to take care of some business, and I knew that Nassus had woken up. “Morning Nassus” I said behind me as I relieved myself of some pent up pressure. It was annoying sometimes how he would follow me; he reminded me of a dog with how he would follow me. Ever since he had evolved, he had been trying to get closer and closer to me. Him following me everywhere was his most recent advancement towards me. He knew I was mated though, and so he didn’t try to kiss me or anything, the most he had done was hug me once or twice. I didn’t mind the hugs or him snuggling up against me, except when he got between my mate and I, but I didn’t get angry, I would simply move him to my lap while I leaned against Vandell.

Upon realizing what I was doing, he turns and returns back to the tent, blushing I’m sure. It wasn’t the first time he had followed me into a situation like this, it had happened several times before, and each time it had turned into a situation where he had gone back without replying. I had realized recently that he was acting like me when I began showing my feelings for Vandell. Oh well, I was taken, and that wouldn’t change if I could help it. A minute later, I rejoined my mate and Nassus, moving over to Vandell to hold his hand. He had on what he usually wore, a black shirt covered by a black hoodie like jacket that had a lining of dark gray fur. His shirt and jacket were accented by a dark blue pair of jeans with dirty tan stitching. “You forgot your bandana Soren.” Vandell says with a smile, holding up a black bandana that had flames on it.

“I knew I was missing something when I got out, was too sleepy to remember what though, thanks for reminding me hun.” I reply as I take the cloth from him.

The bandana he was talking about I had had since I was a small Cyndaquil. Vandell had given it to me for my first Christmas, which was when he was nine years old. You see, I had been a Christmas gift from his older brother, who had chosen a Cyndaquil as a starter, and it had evolved fully, and then laid an egg after breeding with a ditto. The bandana had been Vandell’s for a few years before then, and he wanted to get me something, but couldn’t afford to buy anything because he didn’t get an allowance, and so he gave me his favorite bandana instead. Vandell would wrap up my body with it like it was a blanket, and I loved it, even if it didn’t do much good, it smelt of him and so I would fall asleep easier since I couldn’t sleep in the same bed as him. As a Quilava, I didn’t wear it; rather, I would snuggle up against it in my sleep. As a Typhlosion however, I wore it over my right arm as an upper arm band. I had gotten good at tying it on myself, and I could put it on in less than a minute, which was impressive considering my thumbs weren’t opposable. “You have anything planned for breakfast Van?” I ask after my arm’s accent was in place.

“Nothing, we need to get moving, help me put away our stuff, the storm is coming in early, and it isn’t snow any more, it’s freezing rain and sleet. We need to get to Accumula; as of right now, we will probably start seeing flurries before the town is even in sight.” He replies as he rolls up our large sleeping bag.

Making myself useful, I begin packing up the pillows and the blanket that Nassus slept under into Vandell’s bag, making sure to roll them up tight so that everything would fit into the backpack without much trouble. We had gotten good at packing; we could get all of our stuff put away in about five minutes if we needed to, such as this situation we were in currently. The tent was what took us the longest, since that had to be folded and rolled up a special way. Nassus had already begun putting away the tent as I finished putting away the blanket and pillow, and once put away, we were on our way to Accumula Town, my paw in Vandell’s hand as we walked, with Nassus in tow close behind me. “You know how far we are from Accumula?” I ask Vandell as we walk.
“I would guess about two miles, we aren’t that far, but that storm is right over there, and I’m thinking that we need to speed up a bit.” He replies as he points with his unoccupied hand.

Indeed, in the direction of where his finger was pointing, I could see streaks of dark gray falling from the cloudy gray heavens. This was much worse than snow. Snow I could handle, sleet and freezing rain were a different story; those would cause hypothermia, and fast. “Let’s run, the less time we’re in it, the better.” I reply.

“Good idea, let’s go.” He replies as he removes his hand from my paw and starts running at a steady pace. Nassus and I catch up with him, and it began to look like we would have a chance of getting away from the winter storm that was threatening to cause serious problems for us.

We ran, and ran, and ran until it seemed like we would never arrive at the town. Just before the town came into view, I felt the pressure drop, and I knew we wouldn’t make it to the town dry. The town came into sight as I felt a drop of liquid hit my shoulder, and then another, and another. It was now raining, and there wasn’t any place we could go, except forward. “Come on, we need to get there quick, it’s starting to rain.” I say as I speed up “Don’t worry if you’re out of breath, just hurry, if it starts pouring while we’re still out here, it’s going to be harder to get warm.”

I didn’t have to urge my mate and Nassus to hurry anymore, the feeling of the cold drops of liquid was enough to get them to move faster. It was now that we broke into an all out sprint, not caring that we had broken our pace and would most likely be out of breath once we reached the Pokécenter. I could see the entrance to the town in the distance, it had to be a maximum of a quarter mile to the town entrance, and after that we could find a building to take shelter in.

I could hear my mate’s breath starting to become ragged as he ran from the storm, spiking a twinge of fear inside of me. “Come on, you can make it Vandell, we’re almost there.” I encouraged as I ran with him, patting him on the back as we ran.

As we crossed into the town, that’s when the sprinkles started to turn into more, I could feel the drops as the rain and sleet picked up. When we reached the Pokécenter, it started pouring. It didn’t matter though, my mate was shivering, and I was glad we had gotten to the Pokécenter when we did, otherwise Vandell would have had a much worse case of hypothermia. Upon seeing us enter the Pokécenter, Nurse Joy makes her way over to the three of us and says worriedly “Come with me, we need to get you dry and warmed up. Typhlosion, could you take the back pack, he shouldn’t be carrying anything too heavy until he gets warmed back up.”

Nodding, I move over to my lover and take the pack that had our survival equipment in it and put one strap over my shoulder. It wasn’t too heavy to me, but I could feel it had some weight to it. Once the weighted pack was on my shoulders, I follow the nurse, my feet making muddy paw prints on the tile of the Pokécenter floor. She turns down a hallway with rooms on either side and continues walking I could tell she was leading us to a room for trainers to stay in with their Pokémon overnight while traveling, I had slept in a few with Vandell. They were always a small basic room, meant for two to three people to sleep in. Inside was a queen sized bed, the sheets white with a Pokéball pattern sewn in the middle, standing next to the bed was a lamp with a Pokéball shaped base. The walls were a light sky blue, reminding me of the sky that had overlooked many a happy moment between my mate and me.

The room was plain, but it didn’t matter, we had made it inside before the storm had gotten even worse. I could hear the soft pelting of the sleet upon the window and roof, making the air about us seem colder than it truly was. Dropping the pack onto the ground next to the bed, I pad over to Nurse Joy and ask “Would it be alright if we stayed here until we can travel again? I don’t think we will be able to move away from this town for a few days at least.”

“I think I could arrange that, the rate for rooms is eight hundred Pokédollars a night.” She replies while smiling. “In regards to your trainer travelling, this storm is supposed to drop a foot of snow on the town after the sleet and freezing rain stop, so you may be here for a week or so, assuming we don’t get more.”

“E-eight hundred d-dollars a n-night, t-that s-seems a bit high don’t you think Nurse? I know the Pokécenters in J-Johto charge f-five hundred a n-night.” Vandell says as he sits on the end of the bed, teeth chattering and body shivering.

“That eight hundred also includes a reduced price check up on all of your Pokémon; I should have mentioned that, I’m sorry about that.” Nurse Joy replies with a soft blush on her cheeks, appearing almost non-existent when compared to her dark pink hair, which was topped by a white hat that had a green cross stitched into the front.

“Ah, th-that w-would explain the p-price then, I b-believe that w-we’ll be staying for a f-few nights th-then.” Vandell replies as I move back to him and place one of my warm arms about his neck and hold him close to my body.

“By the way, you need to get your wet clothing off sir; you have mild hypothermia and need to get your core body temperature back to normal. If all of your clothing is wet, I can get you some replacements from the center, we always have some, I’m not sure it will fit you though.” Nurse Joy says as she looks over Vandell, her white skin slightly glowing from the overhead lighting, making her six foot tall body appear to be angelic.

“We shouldn’t need replacements Nurse, thank you for the offer though. We put the clothing in plastic bags to help save space.” I say as I look back up to her, her feminine frame easily recognizable in her pink dress that she wore underneath a white apron.

“Alright, I’ll be leaving you to change then, if you need anything I’ll be up front at the counter.” Nurse Joy says as she turns and leaves, smiling her caring smile the entire time.

Once she had left the room, I close the door and return to my mate, who had already taken his wet shirt, shoes, and socks off. “You want to cuddle after you get into dry clothing hun?” I ask as I sit next to him and put a warm arm around his shoulders.

“Y-yeah, b-but before I g-get into d-dry clothing, might as well shower, w-we haven’t g-gotten a chance t-to do s-so in a week, and t-to b-be honest w-we all s-stink.” He replies, leaning against me for warmth.

Smiling, I hold his shirtless body close to me and lean down to kiss him on the cheek as he moves a hand down to his drenched pants to attempt to slide them off. Finding it a bit challenging to remove the clothing while being cuddled by his mate, he stands up and pulls them down, leaving him standing before me in his boxers, which weren’t wet, save for a few spots here and there. “Want to just take them off and go shower together?” I ask with a smirk “You said it yourself, we all stink.”

“Y-yeah…plus it w-will help m-me get w-warmer.” He replies, huddling up against me once again.

“Alright, let’s go then hun.” I say as I start walking to the bathroom in the room with him, my paws leaving slightly damp paw prints in the carpet as we walk, a tiny bit of mud visible from what was left on them from walking outside in the rain.

“I think I’ll take a separate bath…you all haven’t gotten to have some alone time for a while now.” Nassus says as he looks away, seeming to be lost in thought.

“Y-you s-sure about th-that Nassus, if th-there’s something on your m-m-mind we can talk a-about it.” Vandell replies, shivering less than before now that he was beginning to get warm again.

“I’m sure, you all deserve it, plus I need to think out a personal problem of mine. I’ll bathe after the two of you finish. Besides, I’m getting to the point where it isn’t really appropriate for me to bathe with the two of you.” He replies.

“I-if you insist N-Nassus, I hope you figure out w-whatever your c-conflict is.” Vandell replies as he crosses his arms and begins walking with me to the bathroom.

The bathroom was just like the bedroom, small and simple; containing only a sink that was colored a light tan and brown marble with lacquer, a toilet and a bath/shower combination, all of which was colored a shiny plastic white that you see in hotels. The only color in the bathroom were the linins and the shower curtain, both of which were colored tan and had a Pokéball pattern, much the same as the sheets on the bed. Blushing lightly, I watch my mate take the remaining article of clothing from his body and place it on top of the white counter that the sink was built into. He made sure to leave the boxers spread out to help them dry. “I’ll d-do laundry after we get out of the shower. H-hopefully there are some things w-we can do here to p-pass the time while we wait for the s-snow and ice to melt.” Vandell says, walking back to me as he smiles at my blush.

Even though he couldn’t see the actual blush, he knew from my behavior if I was blushing or not. It was one of the first things he had learned when I had evolved into a Quilava. Whenever I blushed, I had a habit of looking away from whatever I was blushing at, and then going silent for a few seconds. He had picked up on this, and as a result, when we eventually became mates, whenever I would blush, he would kiss my cheek and watch as I closed my eyes, smirking at the reaction to his affection. In some aspects, I probably deserved it though, as I would try my best to make him blush. When he blushed, it was one of the cutest things in the world, in my own opinion of course.


“M-maybe we can get you a hat while we’re s-staying here in town; you’ve said you want one haven’t you?” He says, continuing to smile as he turns the heater on for the shower.

“Let’s get you warmed up first before we talk about going back out there, and you’re going to get some better clothing to go out there.” I reply, smirking as I kiss his lips.

Vandell was sometimes stubborn, one such instance was what he wore. He mostly had shorts, and for cold weather he had a pair of blue jeans and a plain black hoodie. Whenever I would get onto him about his poor choice of clothing, he would reply simply “I don’t like the unnecessary weight in the backpack.”

I couldn’t complain about this, as he did carry the backpack most of the time. I would carry it, but I couldn’t put over both of my shoulders at the same time, and so it always hung off to the side and threw me off balance. I would still help however I could, such as carrying the tent when the backpack would get too heavy for him to carry it, I would take the pack from him and carry it for a while. Once he was ready to carry it again, or even before then, he would take the pack back from me and carry it once again. He didn’t like to have others do his work, that was for sure, he made that a large point whenever there was something he needed to do, but could have had help with.

“Let’s get that armband of yours off Soren, that way we can clean each other off.” Vandell says, the frigid fingers of hypothermia that once had a deep grasp upon my partner now fleeing from his body, getting replaced with heat.

Nodding, I move my arm closer to him, smiling as I feel his furless hands rub across my furred shoulders, the hairs being laid flat momentarily as the appendage trails over my shoulder. I watch as he removes the armband from my arm, and then turns the water on in the shower. Usually we could take showers without being too naughty, save for the occasional innuendo. Neither of us were the horny creatures we were both stereotyped to be. In all honesty, we had mated maybe twenty times in the two years we had been with each other, we just like to cuddle and be with each other, and sex really wasn’t too high on our priority list. Part of that may have had to do with we were always busy, or whenever we had some free time alone, we were tired.

Right now was no exception; my mate had just had hypothermia, a condition of the body that has been known to kill, and as such, would participate in no form of mating with him. He didn’t seem to be in a mood for sex either, so it didn’t really matter. He was sort of an anti-teenager; he hadn’t been a hormone crazed kid, surprisingly, he was very cool and collected. He rarely got mad, and when he did lose his temper, it was always a cold anger, instead of hot. He always had control over himself; it was one of his things that he had to have.

Hand in paw, the two of us step into the tub/shower area and let the warm water spill over us, my fur getting drenched quickly in the torrent produced by the chromed showerhead. Smiling, I lean forward and kiss Vandell’s lips once again, my mind at rest now that I could see he hadn’t had come down with a more severe case of hypothermia, which could have hurt or even killed him. Arceus knew I didn’t want to lose him, he meant more to me than my life or the world did, as long as I had him, I was fine. He truly was my life, I felt empty whenever he wasn’t around, as I knew there was part of my heart missing whenever he was gone.

That wasn’t surprising though, as he had stolen my heart when he became my mate. I loved him with every ounce of love I had, and then some. We had a very close relationship, one that wasn’t often shared by trainers and their Pokémon. “When was the last time I got to pleasure you Soren?” Vandell asks, leaning his forehead against mine as we kiss.

“You just got cured of your hypothermia; I won’t do anything sexual with you. You know that whenever you get sick or hurt I get in a mood that you can’t turn sexual, remember whenever you got poisoned by that Nidorino?” I reply, looking him in the eyes.

Nodding, he kisses my lips and replies “You wouldn’t even talk about sex for days.”

Smiling I pull him close to me, his body against mine “That doesn’t mean we can’t cuddle though” I reply as I kiss him then sit down, my legs spread so he can sit in my lap.

Blushing lightly, he sits in front of me and I rest my head upon his shoulders and give his cheek a quick kiss “I love you Vandell.” I say with a soft sigh.

Because of how close our bodies were to each other, my sheath was resting against the top portion of his lower cheeks, which caused it to bulge slightly. I wouldn’t give into it though; my mate meant more than just sex to me, I loved him with my heart. Even if he said he felt better, I knew from past experience that he still wasn’t back at one hundred percent. It was a nice gesture of Nassus to let Vandell and I have some alone time together, even if it was to help him get better. It was then that I realized that this was something peculiar for Nassus; usually he wouldn’t give us any time to ourselves. Rather, we would have to find our alone time, or make it. The latter was usually not an option as Vandell thought that keeping his Pokémon in their ball was inhumane, as they were in fact living creatures.

He would return us to our ball if we were injured, and even then, we rarely spent more than a day in our ball. Being inside a Pokéball was much like being alone in a room that moved. You can look outside if you want, but it was too disorienting to me to look outside while he took me to a Pokécenter, I always got sick if I watched the landscape while Vandell carried me, and so I usually opted to listen to the outside world as he carried me.

“I love you too Soren.” He replies, his hands laying themselves upon my arms as they wrap themselves around his midsection.

These were the kind of moments that I have often found myself longing for ever since Nassus evolved. When he first showing his affections to us, it was cute, especially when he would cuddle up against us, as his body fit perfect in Vandell’s lap. This would be how we would cuddle inside buildings, but outside I would sit in the middle with Nassus on one side and Vandell on the other. We had spent many a cold winter night like this, the campfire and my body the only sources of warm relief from the biting cold that seemed to follow us in the frigid months.

We could stay like this forever and be happy, but the world always had a way of intervening with our alone time. We had grown used to getting interrupted during our private cuddle sessions. It seemed like the fates did everything in their power to prevent us from having time alone with one another. There was always a trainer nearby, or a Pokémon who would wander into camp as we cuddled, whether on purpose or by accident, it seemed to always be whenever Vandell and I were alone.

And this time was no different.

A few minutes into our snuggling, a knock sounds from the door, and is followed by the voice of the male otter that Vandell and I knew so well “Nurse Joy wants to know if you can help her get the boarding room back in order. Apparently a Snover got excited about the snow and accidently let an ice attack loose inside of there, and now some of the cages are on the ground, and there’s only two Chansey here, both of which are attending to injured Pokémon.”

“We’ll be out in a few moments, thanks for telling me Nassus.” Vandell says after giving a soft sigh and kissing me on the lips, admitting to being foiled once again by fate.

Sighing, I rub his belly as he gets up and steps out of the shower. Good old Vandell, others always went before him, even if it meant skipping a shower to help pick up cages. If nobody else was helping her, I could still hug and kiss Vandell around Nurse Joy as she was used to trainers and Pokémon cuddling, hugging, and even kissing if the two parties were close enough, she had grown used to the concerning love that trainers often showed their Pokémon when they were injured. In addition to that though, this particular Nurse was also known to support Poképhilia, so long as both parties were able to show they were happy with the relationship.

It wasn’t even five minutes later when we left the bathroom, ready to help Nurse Joy. Vandell had clothed himself once more of course, he did have decency, and I had dried my fur to where it wouldn’t drip as I walked, and was only slightly damp. Nassus didn’t need to do anything to get ready of course, and it was only a minute more until we arrived in the boarding room. Inside the room could best be described as organized chaos. The room was designed to keep Pokémon for extended periods of time, out of their balls which were uncomfortable. The cages inside the room were large enough for a Pokémon stay in for several days on end without becoming uncomfortable, which was needed for family pets, which weren’t kept in their balls, and so they had to be boarded for family vacations. The majority of the Pokémon in the room were candid or feline, with a few other creatures here and there. Indeed the source of the scene had to be the Snover that was almost dead center of the room, helping Nurse Joy clean up the mess he had created.

Nassus, Vandell, and I move over to the busy nurse, who was currently preoccupied Furret from the bed that he was sleeping in when the ice attack ravaged the room. “Ah you’re here.” She says, finally freeing the large weasel from its bindings.

Standing up, she turns in a half circle, looking the room over as she assesses what still needs to be put back into order, which was only about ten cages. Of the cages, none of the occupants appeared to be too dangerous, save for a Growlithe who was complaining about all of the sudden noise by whimpering inside of his cage, the small firedog cowering underneath a sky blue blanket.

Whether the canine knew it or not, his tail was still outside of the blanket, making it appear as if the blanket had a creamy growth protruding from one side. The sight was a cute one, making me smile as I watched the small pup hide his face under the blanket. From the other cages I could see the blanket was a personal one, not one of the Pokécenter’s.

I couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle as I move over to the canine’s tipped cage and right it, the door having been trapped against the ground when it fell. The painted lock of the cage had been chipped, revealing the dull steel base for the thermal paint that prevented fire types from melting the bars. At first the small dog was afraid to come out, but was eventually able to be persuaded to come free of the cage, but not without his protective cloth. “Poor Tiger, he got abandoned off of the side of route Two. He’s still only a pup but has already survived a storm by himself. He’s a tough guy though; I’ll give him that, still sad how we got him though.”

Nodding, I pick the small pup up, his blanket held tightly in his mouth, the fabric draping down his body, the blue fabric looking tacky against the tan fur that covered his underside. “Nassus can you put his cage back against the wall?” I ask, the tip of my muzzle poking the infant canine’s chest.

My moment of holding the pup is interrupted by a yell of pain from behind me. Instantly I realize it was Vandell and I turn to look at what was wrong. It didn’t take long to see what the problem was; he had stepped on a nail and his foot was now slowly dripping drops of blood onto his hand that was holding his foot, painting both appendages with red streaks.

Nurse Joy reacts immediately as she had seen many injuries, some worse than this. A nail in somebody’s foot was nothing that would shock her. She had been putting a cage back against a wall when Vandell had stepped on the steel spike, and had abandoned the cage to treat his wound. “let’s get you into the lobby, Chansey will bring out a stretcher and take you to the ER.” She says, placing his arm around her shoulders to help support him and get him into the lobby of the Pokécenter.

I put the Growlithe back in his cage, then lock it, then go out to my mate to help him. It didn’t take long for those chansey to get around, as when I walked into the room, there were two Chanseys wheeling in a stretcher for Vandell. Not wanting to be separated from my mate, I follow the two pink nurse Pokémon into the emergency room, and am followed by Nurse Joy and Nassus.

The hallways of this portion of the Pokémon center were a spotless white, the floors being linoleum, they appeared to be sterile as well. That appearance was a reminder to the staff of the center that this area was to be kept clean at all times, so as to help prevent infections from common diseases and prevent the appearance of an unsanitary medical environment.

To do so would make trainers question the quality of care their beloved Pokémon team would be receiving from Nurse Joy and her assistants. At the moment however, I wouldn’t have cared; I just wanted Vandell to get cured. “Do you remember how long ago your last tetanus booster was?” Nurse Joy asks, wanting to get some of the basic questions out of the way before she operated on the puncture wound.

“Eh, I think right before I began my Pokémon journey. How long are they supposed to last?” Vandell replies to the Nurse, who was next to me.

“At most five years, you’re out of date for them, which is bad. That nail is the perfect thing for tetanus to make a colony on, and then can get transferred to you with that puncture wound. Are you allergic to anything?” Nurse Joy asks.

“Not that I know of, but I haven’t ever had any drugs besides Tylenol or whatever antibiotic the doctors in Johto gave me when I got sick with pneumonia.” He replies.

“Alright, the most we can do right now is knock you out with some laughing gas, numb the area up, then remove the nail and stitch the wound up. Besides that, we won’t be able to do anything.” She replies.

“Do it, the less time the nail is in there and the sooner it gets disinfected the better.” He replies. “That way there is less chance of having complications to the wound.”

“Alright then, go to the first operating room, I’ll get the drugs we need.” Nurse Joy says, “This is going to be done for free since it is my fault that you got hurt while helping me.”

“Yes Ma’am!” the two pink nurses reply in unison as they continue on down the hall while Nurse Joy stops and enters a room.

As we walked by, I managed to get a quick glimpse into the room. It was a storage room filled with many jars, most of them plastic brown, some of them were clear though. All of them were labeled, but I was too far away to read what each one was. No doubt they were supplies for the clinic, with most of them intended for usage on the patients of the clinic.

At a set of double doors, the Chanseys stop and turn to me, then say “We’re sorry, but you and the Dewott will have to remain outside, we can’t let you into the room. It’s a matter of keeping the room sanitized so your trainer doesn’t become infected with a virus brought in from somebody outside.”


“He’s my mate, and I have full intentions of staying with him.” I reply, not thinking about what the two assistants were saying at the moment. All I wanted to do was be with my lover, that way I could make sure nothing bad happened to him.

“You can’t come in, you will track foreign bodies into operating room, and it will have to be sanitized again. I’m sorry, but it’s just regulation.” The Chansey on the left replies, refusing to divert from the standards set in place by medical laws.

“I don’t care; I want to be with him!” I reply, starting to get angry at the resistance to me being with Vandell.

“If you really want to be near him, you can stay out here in the hallway and watch, that way you’ll see we aren’t going to hurt him.” The other pink assistant says with a soft sigh. “But we really can’t let you stand next to him while we operate, it could get him hurt even more.”

“Soren, please, they know what they are doing, listen to them. I’ll be fine, I promise.” Vandell says, fighting off the pain from the nail buried in his foot momentarily to calm me down.

At least this one was willing to compromise, albeit it I still wanted to stand next to my lover and hold his hand as he went through surgery. If they did start to hurt him I could simply rush in and stop them from hurting the love of my life any more. At least I was getting to watch them operate on him, and so I silently nod.

I knew I wasn’t going to win the argument, and so I didn’t try to. I accepted what they were willing to let me do, even if it felt like it wasn’t enough. Maybe that was me being stubborn or worried, although my guess it was a mixture of both. It was hard for me to watch Vandell get wheeled into the operating room; I knew that I wouldn’t be able to even touch him for a few hours possibly, and so I ask “Can I at least kiss him before you start?”

“I guess you can, make it quick though, the longer that nail is in his foot, the better the chance of infection.” Nurse Joy says as she pushes past us and walks into the room.

Leaning down, I kiss him on his lips, then hold his hand and give it a squeeze before I let go and let the two assistant Pokémon carry me into the room I was forbidden from. I watch as they wheel him to the far side of the room, and then place a white mask over his nose. The mask didn’t exactly fit him; rather, it was one that went over the muzzle of a Pokémon as to apply the proper dose of anesthetic to the patient being operated upon.

The mask itself was made to conform to the face, at least that’s what I guessed as I watch the gel bottom of it match the contours of my mate’s nose, and a few minutes later, his eyes flutter and close. I wished I could be there, holding his hand in my paws to subconsciously let him know I was there for him. Being out here with Nassus and watching the three medical attendants operate upon my lover. Not even a minute after the gas had taken affect, Nurse Joy gets a syringe and injects the contents of it into the surrounding area of the puncture wound. Numbing medication no doubt, it would help keep Vandell comfortable while his foot was operated on.

I had once gotten a deep gash into my arm, and had a similar procedure done to me when I went into surgery. Mine wasn’t as intense as this though, the Nurse Joy had done the same thing to me, but I wasn’t given gas, and so I got to watch her clean the wound and then suitor it shut. I got a total of six stitches that day. I don’t know if they would use stitches on Vandell though, it didn’t seem like they would do much good if he stepped on something.

And I was right, Nurse Joy had some sort of wadding, but I didn’t know what it would be for at the time though.

I hadn’t noticed that I had brought Nassus around to my front and crossed my paws on his chest as I watched Vandell go through surgery. It was hard watching them remove the nail, I could see it was covered in blood, and as it was removed a small trickle of blood began. It was then that I couldn’t watch any further, I had to sit down.

The sight of medical procedures being performed always made me uneasy, and this was no exception. I was fine with blood, it was just some of the stuff that was done in the medical field that gave me shivers, and when I saw Nurse Joy put a glove on her hand, and then cover a metal rod that was laced with gauze in a fluid. I had a feeling that now was the time to look away, and so I sit in a chair next to the door, listening in on the conversation between Nurse Joy and the two Chanseys to monitor their work and actions.

I didn’t protest Nassus hopping up into my lap; in fact, I consciously cross my arms once again across his chest and pull him towards me. I hadn’t noticed it, but Nassus had let out a soft sigh when I pulled him close. He was obviously enjoying the cuddling, even if it was a bad time to enjoy something. I have to admit though; it was nice to be able to cuddle somebody who wasn’t the same size as me. Nassus was almost like a living stuffed animal to me; he was so small and moved so little.

The surgery itself didn’t take too long, and that made me happy, as I didn’t want it to be too long. The seconds seemed to drag by, taunting me of Vandell’s current state. Every second was a chance for death to creep in and embed itself inside of my lover’s body and steal his soul from me. I knew he would most likely be alright, but I still was worried, he looked to have driven the nail deep into his foot, and if it had shifted it might have ripped some flesh that might not get treated. Then there was also the risks of complications from surgery, something that had the potential of being lethal. I was probably just over thinking the situation; after all, Nurse Joy was a trained medical person, everything would be alright.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t take my mind off of the worst case scenarios. I don’t even think I could live without him, as we had bonded to be so close to one another. I could hunt, but hadn’t learned how to make a proper shelter should I need to, as we had never needed to use that skill while we were out in the wilderness. We had always stayed in the same tent, and the past two years, we had even slept in the same sleeping bag.

My thoughts were interrupted by a hot tear rolling down my face slowly, the salty fluid dampening my fur slightly in a darkened line of fur running from my eye. The mere idea of losing my mate was enough to make me cry; and I found myself fearing for Vandell’s safety even more. I doubted I could even continue living if I were to lose him, the shock from losing such a close partner would take a toll on me. As I sat with Nassus, time seemed to slip on without me; my mind was trudging through the gloominess of my thoughts.

The clock above Nassus and I ticked on steadily, reminding me that nobody lived forever, and as we sat here waiting on Vandell, everybody’s lives were ticking on slowly, all with the same final destination, a bittersweet eternal rest for our bodies so that our souls could move on into the next realm. I didn’t want that for either of us though, after all, what would I have to live for if my lover died?

Thinking hard, I try to imagine a world without Vandell, but nothing comes. He’s a part of me now, and I couldn’t let him go, not now, not ever. He was my life and my religion; I worshipped him like a god, and why wouldn’t I? I love him with all of my heart, and would give my soul to the devil if he died, just so I could be with him forever.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Looking up, I see my mate lying upon a stretcher unconscious. “He should be good, but no strenuous activity for a month or two, the wound needs to heal fully before he can continue his Pokémon journey. If he walks on it he can cause the stuffing to fall out, which would require another visit to the hospital or clinic to replace it.” She says as she looks at me, “We’re going to wheel him to a room so he can get better; we’re going to give him two weeks free here, since he was trying to help me when he got injured.”

Not paying attention to the outside world, I realize that a little longer than ten minutes has passed, and Nurse Joy has Vandell unconscious on a stretcher, a brown band-aid covering the area where the nail had penetrated the ball of his foot. In an instant I was next to him, my lips on his as I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I could actually feel my shoulders get lighter as I see him breathing still. My lap also felt lighter, but that was something more physical. “Oy, gimme a warnin’ before you get up eh?! I’m nawt a flyin’ type!” Nassus says, slipping into his natural accent.

“Sorry about that Nassus, wasn’t paying attention. Did you say something Nurse Joy?” I reply, slightly blushing at my blunder.

“I said that he has two weeks free stay here, and he needs to stay off of his feet,” She replies, “Otherwise it might get infected. We’re going to take Vandell to a private patient room so that he can rest there.”

Nodding, I take a step away from the stretcher to let the medical professionals take my lover to his new room for the next few weeks.

They didn’t rush at getting Vandell to his room; they had no need to as he was stable and unconscious. Walking next to his stretcher, I take his hand into my paw and hold it as we moved. The rooms were on the second floor of the clinic, and so the two Chanseys wheel the stretcher into an elevator, and then into the first room on the right. The room itself wasn’t too bad, it was pretty much the same as the room we were staying in, except the bed was built for one instead of two, and was built for Pokémon instead of humans. The room had a window that was built into the sloping roof of the Pokécenter, and a mound of snow had started accumulating against the window as the snow and ice came hurtling down from the heavens.

The window seemed to be a portal to another world, merely looking through it made me wonder who I truly was. Who was I to try to defy nature? The world outside was inhospitable, but the shelters humans made were a rebellion against the elements, and a nice one at that. It was nice to be out of the icy world outside, and not have to worry about finding someplace I would have to stay to weather the blizzard out.

I felt sorry for anybody out there who had gotten trapped by the storm, no doubt there would be a few fatalities from it, there always were with blizzards and ice storms. Unova and Johto were known for their horrid winter seasons, and it seemed that with every storm there were a few deaths. Usually it was just people out in the country who lost power or elderly people who caught pneumonia from the cold.

Sometimes it would be a younger person, who thought they were invincible and didn’t dress properly for the weather, and got stuck in the snow. They would die from cold related complications, mostly hypothermia though. It was still sad to hear about the deaths, and I was glad that I was with Vandell at all times, that way if he started to come down with hypothermia, I could warm him up again.

“We’ll leave you three here, if Vandell needs anything, the red button calls in a Nurse.” Nurse Joy says as she looks at the three of us. “He should be awake in about an hour, the drugs we gave him in surgery will wear off in about four hours, call us before then though, if you don’t, he will be in pain.”

Nodding, I move to Vandell’s side “Do you have any chairs? We will need two, along with a bed for tonight.” I say.

“There are chairs inside of the closet, which is to the left of the bathroom. There are also fresh linens in the closet if he needs them.” She says as she turns and leaves the room with the two pink Pokémon to leave Nassus and I alone with Vandell.

I grab a chair, then put it next to Vandell’s bed so that Nassus could watch him also, then I take his hand and hold it in my paw. I still feared he might get sick, even with his vaccination, despite it being out of date. I knew there wasn’t a cure for Tetanus, and it was horribly slow and painful death. If he caught tetanus, I knew I would lose him, and the world as I knew it would crumble to pieces in a matter of seconds.

I was around him almost twenty-four seven; we were almost one body in fact. We could almost communicate without speaking, all we had to do was simple body motions, and the other member of our relationship instantly knew what we wanted or needed. It was an uncanny ability we seemed to have, but in truth, it was merely one knowing the other well enough to read their body language.

Looking over my unconscious mate, I move my unoccupied paw and rub his cheek with the soft fur on the back of it. It was a motion that I made when he was sick and I was helping take care of him, and was only made whenever he was asleep. It was one of gentle compassion, a small, subtle sign to exchange my wanting him to be rid of whatever ailed him.

Even though he wasn’t sick, to my knowledge at least, I still felt the need to rub his cheek. I had never told him about this, I thought of it to be too minute of an action to even mention, and if I told him it would take away from its meaning to me. He was something truly special to me, something that was irreplaceable. Boiled down, he was part of my heart and soul, something that meant the world to me, and without him, I was nothing. “I’m worried also Soren, but Nurse Joy said that it would be a few hours before he woke up again, maybe you should sit down.” Nassus says as he looks up at me, his face a mixture of worry and compassion.

“I know, but I’d rather stand.” I reply, not even bothering to look down at him.

My gaze continued to rest upon my lover’s visage, my mind beginning to trudge through gloomy thoughts once more. What if he did come down with tetanus? We would be stuck here a while, we had seen a weather report a few days ago, predicting snow today, tomorrow, and then once again next week, and all of them were supposed to be heavy storms. If he did come down with tetanus, we were screwed, as it would be at least a week before he could get medical attention of any kind, and by then, he would need intensive care for it, if he wasn’t already dead.

The mere thought of what would happen if he did come down with tetanus was enough to make me cry. I was lost in my own world, wading through the muck of my mind, tears slowly rolling down my muzzle the entire time. The salty fluid was pure emotion, able to show compassion and happiness while at the same time able to show misery and depression. In my mind, tears are magical; even though they are small and simple, they are able to convey so much information to the outside world.

Sometimes they were a sign that a person was in need of a friend, while at other times they were a sign of being a friend. They were an indication of a person’s true feelings, no matter how much make up they wore or how well they did a fake smile. Each tear was a vibrant sign to the world of strong emotion, regardless if it was laughter or pain, tears were there to show the emotion.

“Your choice Soren” He says as he sits in the chair next to me and leans back in it, his shell fans clinking against the holsters that held them to his legs.

Remaining quiet, I continue my staring at my mate’s face, taking in the soft features of it as he remained in his unnaturally induced dream world.

Time seemed to slip by unnoticed as I thought of all of the happy times Vandell and I had had together. Finally growing tired of standing, I submit to a chair, but still remain at Vandell’s side as I sit, his hand still in my paws. Neither Nassus nor I spoke as we waited for Vandell to awaken from his slumber as there was no need to. I didn’t notice when Nassus moved closer to me, but did notice when he leaned up against me. I knew he liked Vandell also, and so it was no surprise to me that he would need some comforting. Sighing softly, I move him to my warm lap, and he leans back against me, taking in the warmth of my belly.

I had to admit, it was nice having somebody smaller snuggle up against me. Nassus just seemed to fit into my lap, almost as if he belonged there. His cooler body was a contrast to my warmer body, as was his fur coloring. For any outsider looking in upon us, we were a yin-yang of warm and cool. The silence didn’t last forever though; Vandell did eventually stir from his slumber and looked over at me. “Hey there sleepy,” I say with a smile “You feel any better now that the nail is out of your foot?”

“A bit, I’m sure it will hurt when the drugs wear off though.” He replies as he sits up in his bed, “Any idea when that will be?”

“Nurse Joy said about four hours, but she wanted us to contact her before then though.” I reply as I stand up to give him a kiss.

“They say how long I’m going to be here?” He asks as I remain standing

“No they didn’t sorry hun. Nurse Joy did say to stay off your feet as much as possible though so that the padding stays in.” I say as I smile down at him. “Of course, to you that means you’ll get crutches and still walk around and make her uncomfortable.”

He absolutely despised being bedridden, he couldn’t stay still for hours on end, much less for a week or two. “Heh, you’re probably right about that Soren, you know how much I hate being stuck in something.”

“That I do.” I reply, lightly chuckling at his stubbornness.

He would always disregard the need for extra sleep when sick unless he actually felt like sleeping more than he usually did. “At least this isn’t going to cost us anything.” He says with a sigh. “I wonder what they gave me, it’s really making me tired.”

“Not sure, but you should probably rest if you’re tired hun.” I reply as I rub his hand with my soft pink paw pads.

“But I won’t be sleeping with you.” He says, slightly disappointed.

“I’ll see what I can do, no promises though, for now you’re going to have to sleep alone, sorry hun.” I reply, wishing I could sleep with him.

“Alright, good afternoon I guess.” He says as he looks at the clock.

“Good afternoon, sleep well.” I reply as I kiss him once again, and then sit down.

“I will; thank you.” He says as he lies back down once more.

It was difficult not being able to talk to him as he slept, but I watched the clock for him, and called Nurse Joy when it was getting close to the time to change his pain medication. Over the next few days he continued to sleep almost constantly, as if in a coma. I didn’t mind though, at least he wasn’t walking around, save for when nature called. While he was asleep I would sit with Nassus in my lap. Whenever I had him in my lap, he would calm my nerves and mind, almost as if he took them away from me, and prevented me from creating more.

The room had grown darker, eventually having to be entirely illuminated by unnatural light as the snow blocked out most light from the outside; in fact, the window had become a layered white square, since the snow had covered it entirely. It was depressing, almost as if nature was telling us that there was no hope for Vandell to live, and that he wouldn’t get better. I didn’t let it get to me though; I was going to fight that prediction tooth and claw, in whatever way I could.

Despite me staying next to him though, two weeks after the incident with the nail I noticed his mouth had been brought up into a smile while he was sleeping. Weird, he wasn’t known to smile or make motions when he slept. I didn’t think too much of it, it wasn’t too weird or anything, just something different with him.

That was until he woke up, and tried speaking. He couldn’t move his mouth, and then I knew something was wrong with him. “Vandell?” I ask as I watch him try to move his mouth. When he responds with a muffled voice, I hit the button to call Nurse Joy. This was serious, I could tell that. The thoughts of my lover getting infected with Tetanus came back to me in a tidal wave, crashing over me and hurtling me out of reality once more.

Once again I could feel the tears rolling down my muzzle as the main thought that stirred the others hit me. I could lose Vandell forever. Not even holding Nassus could stop the tears, they continued to fall like icy drops of rain, each one showing the worrying of my heart. Every tear that fell reminded me of a different time when Vandell and I were together. I was still crying when Nurse Joy walked into the room and asked “What’s wrong?”

“Vandell…he can’t talk.” I say as I look up at her, tears on my muzzle and in my lap.

Nurse Joy only has to look at Vandell to know what was wrong, he had come down with Tetanus. “Shoot…”

“What’s wrong Nurse Joy?” I ask, fearing the worst of my mate.

“He’s showing signs of Tetanus, luckily it took a bit of time in its incubation period, and so the symptoms won’t be as severe, but, he still needs medical help.”

“Do you have the things you need to help him here at the clinic?” I ask, hoping she would say yes.

“Only some of them, remember, this is a facility for Pokémon, not humans.” She says “I wish I could say he has a good chance of living, and if there wasn’t so much snow, he would, but, it will be hard to transport him to the hospital.”

“I’ll carry him through the snow; I don’t want him to die.” I say as my hope being crushed under the weight of what I had just heard.

“No you won’t, it’s too dangerous.” Nurse Joy replies firmly.

“But if we don’t get him to the hospital, he’ll die!” I reply, stubborn on keeping my mate safe.

“I haven’t even checked to see if we have what is needed to take care of him, so just wait, he’ll be for now, I need to go and check if we have the supplies. If we don’t, then we’ll figure out what to do then.” She replies, trying her hardest to keep Vandell and myself safe from the chilling temperature outside

Outside, the temperature was beginning to drop as the sun started to set, just as my hopes started to fade away into nothingness. “If you can’t find them, I’m going to carry him close to my body, I’m a fire type, and so I can keep us warm.” I reply, giving some ground to her.

“You’ll also have several blankets around you and he’s going to wear proper clothing, otherwise he isn’t moving anywhere.” She replies, consenting to my statement. “But I get to look and see if we have the proper supplies first.”

“You get to check.” I say, reassuring her I wouldn’t do anything stupid, yet.

“Alright, I’ll be right back, don’t move him please.” Nurse Joy says as she runs out of the room and turns down the hall.

“Soren, don’t worry about it, Nurse Joy knows what she’s doing, she has to go through medical school before she can even start her practice on Pokémon.” Nassus says

“Nassus, I know that, I also know Nurse Joy isn’t her real name. That’s just something the Pokécenter’s do to help improve the moral of the trainers that visit them.” I reply, slightly annoyed at not being able to help my mate.

“Just wait, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Nassus says.

Nodding, I look at my mate, whose face had started to flush “I think he has a fever now.” I say as I look him over, worried about him.

I knew there was a very good chance that he would die, people just weren’t admitting it. It was then that I realized I was stroking his face with the back of my paw. Tears were still falling from my muzzle, making damp circles on the white bed sheets beneath me. “I love you Vandell.” I say as I look at him, my heart breaking into pieces as I was forced to watch him endure the muscle spasms that contorted his face into a fake smile.

Trickling down from his eyes were tears, showing what he was truly feeling right now, which was pure, burning pain from the spasms that caused him to smile so torturously. “Can you give him pain relief medication to help him?” I ask, wanting to make my mate comfortable.

“We can, but right now we need to get some anti-tetanospasmin immunoglobulin to help increase his chances of surviving. I’ll be right back; I promise you I’ll do my best to keep him alive.” She says as she turns and leaves the room in a hurry, rushing off in the direction of the storage room.

I don’t reply to her, instead, I continue to gaze down upon my suffering mate worriedly as my paws take his hand and encircle it, letting him know I was there for him, no matter what. As my paws grasped his hand, his fingers curl around my right paw, showing he still had control over most of his body. The disease may have been able to put a smile upon his face, but I knew he was grimacing in his mind. The muscle spasms seemed to mock him, the smile a bit of irony produced by the sick sense of humor that tetanus had.

It was only a few minutes before Nurse Joy returned with an IV bag stand, and close behind her were two Chansey, one dragging a second IV stand while the other pushing a cart with various things. “You’re going to be stuck here for at least two weeks, I can guarantee that. I just hope you don’t get a severe case of Tetanus…” Nurse Joy says as she gets an alcohol pad from the cart that Chansey had pushed into the room.

Silently she turns the arm that wasn’t being held by me over, and then cleans a vain that was standing out slightly. “I’m going to give him a Valium IV drip, this should help with the muscle spasms, and should enable him to be able to talk in a little bit.” She says after cleaning the insertion area.

She’s silent once again as she slips the needle of the drip into the vain, then fastens the needle to his arm with some medical tape. “If he goes into critical condition, we will need to take him to the hospital, or he will die. I don’t have everything he’ll need if he does come down with a severe variation of Tetanus.” She says after the IV was dripping the Valium into Vandell’s vain

“Just tell me what needs to be done, and I’ll do it.” I reply, watching her carefully, “And I’ll do anything to help.”

“Alright, I’m going to need you to let go of his arm, I need to get the Tetanus immunoglobulin IV started also.” She replies.

“Not sure what that is, but I’ll let you have his arm.” I reply as I let go of his arm so that she could repeat the procedure on the arm I had been holding.

“That should stabilize him for now, and keep him there until we can get him the proper medication to cure his Tetanus.” She says as she looks at the two of us “I don’t want him moving around with those drips inside of him, he could hurt himself.”

“Alright, I’ll try my best to keep him in bed, I’m not sure I’ll be able to though, he can be quite stubborn at times.” I reply, looking him over, my heart sunken in a sea of worry. “How long will it take for him to get better?”

“Well, in his current state, it will take at least four weeks to heal, if the Tetanus becomes severe, several months.” She replies grimly.

“A-alright…” I say, looking down at my mate, trying to imagine a world without Vandell.

I couldn’t even seem to wrap my mind around something such as that occurring; it seemed so unlikely and so unreal. If I lost him, my world would crumble to pieces, and never again would I be able to put them back together once again. He was truly the reason for me to live, and without him, my life would be quite bland, and would have no purpose. Even with him unable to move, I still felt a longing for him; it hurt me to see him in a position where I couldn’t snuggle up with him or tickle him. At least kissing wasn’t out of the question…yet.

“I’ll leave you all for now, I need to get the other people who are coming in from the storm now, if you need anything, you know how to contact me.” Nurse Joy says with a soft sigh, revealing to us that she knew it would be a long day. “I just hope that people use their brain and don’t do stuff that’s stupid, although, I know they will. Every blizzard they do stupid things.” She says, thinking out loud to herself.

“Hopefully you can cure anything that comes in through the doors Nurse Joy.” I say as I look at her, and then down at my mate.

He looked so peaceful lying in the bed, it was the first time I had seen him still while awake in a while, but it also looked painful for him to lie in the bed and be so still. It was so unnatural for him to be up and about, I myself was uneasy about it, but I knew that it was for his health, and so I wasn’t going to resist it. It was depressing though, it was like he had died, but was still living on and viewing the world after he had left it physically. Sighing softly, I pull up a chair near the foot of his bed as Nurse Joy leaves without a word.

Silently I gaze upon his motionless body, soft tears staining my muzzle in streaks of damp fur, each contributing to the forest of darkened streaks of my fur that were already present on my muzzle. I had mixed feelings about the situation; and they made head spin in confusion. I was worried and sad about my mate since he had Tetanus, but I was happy that he got it in one of the best places if you were to get it.

The fact there was still hope made me hang on to my emotions and to my sanity, despite it being an almost impossible task for me. Emotionally unstable was an understatement for me, my world was being crushed by the forces of nature. I had known nature was powerful since I was born. Storms had always fascinated me, especially the ones in the spring, as they would pop up and hit, then just as they had appeared suddenly, disappear into the sky without a trace, other than the occasional trails of destruction they left behind in their wake.

They were absolutely stunning in the unique destructive beauty each storm was, some were almost constantly illuminated via the lightning they produced, while others were quiet but had high winds, while still others spawned awe inspiring tornados of every shape and size, each destructive in their own way, and each there and gone in the blink of an eye. The storms in the winter were slightly tamer than the spring storms, but they still were destructive, and claimed lives as well. If you ever had the chance to admire the structure of a storm from afar, they looked to be monstrous white or gray clouds that rise upwards into the heavens, a sign of the almighty powers of Mother Nature.

She had the power to give life, along with the power to take away life. She was the goddess of life and the commander of death; the creator of joy and crafter of sorrow, she was able to bring tears or smiles to the faces of many in an instant through a single powerful image or action. Pictures and films of her beauty are as common as the ones for her destruction and tragedy. The pictures are nothing however upon being compared to actually seeing the beauty and destruction first hand. It didn’t matter if it was a beautiful waterfall or a wildfire; it could be something as simple as a butterfly or somebody suffering from a horrid disease.

The imagery provided in a single instant is enough to bring the strongest creature to their knees in tears, much as what was happening to me. I felt as if I was set to drift on an endless ocean in a horrible storm where the next wave would most likely tip me and doom me to drown in the thunderous waves, forcing me to the eternal dark depths of the sea. My sorrow was an anchor that was dragging me down, but I didn’t mind one bit, I wanted to stay with Vandell for eternity, and I would gladly leave my worldly body behind to stay with him. In the spiritual world it wouldn’t matter if we were of different species, as the afterlife was one of pleasantry and harmony. Amongst the other souls who had transcended their earthly bodies, there would undoubtedly be lovers that were quite similar to Vandell and I, and they would be happy there as well.

I loved Vandell with my heart, despite his kind forbidding our form of love, as he loved what some considered an animal, or by what they considered us, creatures unable of showing emotion and intelligence. I knew I wasn’t the brightest of all the creatures, but, unable to show emotion? That was absolute nonsense! I loved Vandell with everything I had to give, and then some!

The more I thought over the current situation the slower time seemed to go, and that was fine with me as I wanted to enjoy every second I could with Vandell while he was still alive. From what I had obtained from Nurse Joy information wise, all it would take was moving Vandell to the hospital, and then he would most likely survive, however, the main key for now was to keep him stable and to keep him alive. How long that would stay going was what determined whether he would live or die. I preferred the first option of course; I wanted to stay with him while he was still alive. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t kiss back when I kissed him, or that he couldn’t move, all that mattered was that I was able to watch over him and protect him from any further harm.

Every day was spent like this for a half of a second week, Vandell being watched over by me, protecting him from the cold with my body which remained perpetually close to his, ensuring he was comfortable in his coma as I awaited the day that I could semi-safely transport him to the hospital. Finally, a week and a half after the diagnosis and the first symptoms of the horrid illness that had stricken my lover, the snow cleared enough for Nurse Joy to deem it safe enough for the ambulance to make it through the snow covered streets to pick up the ill human that was in her care.

The sight of the ambulance was a welcome one that brought the signs of hope of my lover’s survival from this horrid disease that had forced itself into the lives of Vandell and I. The medical vehicle seemed to slowly crawl over the snow packed roads that interlaced the buildings of the large town, unable to navigate them faster as I wished it could have. I understood the need for them to be cautious, but, it still made me anxious to get Vandell to the hospital. Of course, who wouldn’t be if their lover was dying in a center that could only partially treat what had befallen the victim. It took ten minutes from the first time I saw the ambulance out the window before the paramedics were in the room that we resided in and moving Vandell to the ambulance. Even though I knew Vandell would most likely get better, I still was worried greatly about him as there was still a chance he could die. Outside it was still frigid, but the clouds had finally moved out, and the sun was shining brightly, melting the snow ever so slowly, but still making progress on the unforgiving winter wonderland that had Accumula town had become over the past two weeks. Eventually we were on our slow way, crawling over snowy hills and crossing icy bridges, all the way to the hospital in the city where his salvation awaited.

I was continually amazed at the feats that humans were able to accomplish, such as the size of this hospital. It was intriguing as to why such structures were built in the first place, however, I had grown used to the structures over the years, and learned to admire them even, for their stupendous strength and durability to weather the elements.

They withstood the tests of time and nature, each coming storm threatening the structures with all their might, and time and time again the buildings would stand tall and proud like the greatest of warriors. Rarely did the weather ever do serious damage, and, as I looked ahead, I saw the reason why the trip to the Pokécenter was so slow. Tree limbs were down everywhere, the roads were a hazard themselves as they were coated in ice, and, it seemed as if the fight to the hospital had only just begun, it was all uphill driving, meaning that we could get stuck if we lost our momentum. This was a dangerous trek, I could tell that even if I had only ridden in a car once or twice. We inched over the road, my body heat compensating for the cold that surrounded us. I made sure it stayed toasty inside of the ambulance; I didn’t want my lover to pass away when he was so close to his transcendence of his vile illness. There was a room awaiting him at the center of salvation, a room where he would be warm without me constantly around him, a room where there would be medical staff on standby to assist him should he need it. It was still a fight, we hadn’t won the war yet, but, we had lasted through the storm, but, I also knew a second storm was supposed to come through today, and we were racing the clock, expending precious time as we sluggishly drove towards the hospital. It was almost impossible to imagine how we would get up the hill to the hospital, a large, daunting structure towering towards the skies above, seeming to reach for the heavens, leaving the fate of so many humans in the knowledge and expertise of doctors, along with hope provided by the heavenly figure who dwelled in the bright sunshine.
Minutes faded into each other as we trudged through the beautiful winter wasteland. Power lines were down all around us, trees had their limbs stripped clean off the trunk upon which they were once grown from. The sidestreets were blocked by the fallen limbs, and sometimes entire trees, proving them to be impassable. The roads were lonely; in fact, we were the only souls who had braved the inhospitable conditions of the icy hell that Accumula Town had become. The roads were barren, save for the cars that had become frozen to the road, unmoving mounds of white and crystal. Up ahead a few cars that had tried to drive during the storm and had gotten stuck on the hill, providing an obstacle course for the ambulance driver, the lights of the ambulance casting eerie glows and beams through the snow, almost resembling the northern lights, although, not nearly as pretty.
Vandel had shown me pictures of the lights, the curtains that hung from nothing, a light show that bewildered all who gazed upon the natural eeriness of the aurora. I was astounded that anything of that beauty actually was natural. It looked fake, but, it was real, the videos I had seen afterwards of it provide that it was in fact a reality of the world. They were intriguing to watch, the clouds of color would appear and disappear without meaning or reason, just, to be there and to pass, like that of our lives, fading out of black, then back into it, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, our lives on a continuous cycle.
I had faded into a daze, day dreaming about past memories of my love, the human who lay beside me on a stretcher, so doped up with medication he was in a coma. It was heartbreaking to see such a young soul so helpless and so sickly. The knowledge that the cause was an illness that was often fatal, and that made the victims transform into grotesque statues of themselves, in a pose that made those who set their gazes upon the victim feel pain, was all the more sickening. This was something that shouldn’t be happening, but was. The worst was here, and, with any luck, it would only get better. Time was still of the essence, and, finally, it looked as if we could turn it to our favor. The thought was warming, and, as we arrived at the entrance to the emergency room, I knew that my lover’s chances of surviving had just gone up dramatically.
The moment that the ambulance stopped, the paramedics had gotten out of the ambulance, and, it was only a matter of seconds later that he was through the doors of the emergency room, and being taken to a room to get his first dose of his life saving medication, the beginning of a mountain climb to wellness. The doctors wouldn’t let me go through the doors, very much to my displeasure. The attendants in the hospital gave us the option of being put back in our pokéballs, or, we could wait in the waiting room. While we wanted to be near Vandel’s side, Nassus and I waited in the waiting room, watching the clock tick seconds away of our lives, precious moments of our lives spent in worry of a loved one.
After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, but, in reality, must have only been at most half an hour, Vandell had been stabilized, and, he had been given his own room, and we were allowed to see him finally. As soon as he was out of the doors to the emergency room, I was by his side, my paw resting on his hand. I hated being separated from him; after all, I loved him with all of my heart, and, being separated from him felt like a piece of myself was gone, like I was empty inside, devoid of any life or reason, and, understandably, I loathed the feeling.
He was my life and religion, the reason why I continued to live and love. I was there for him every second of his life, whether that was to comfort him, or to provide somebody to talk to, I was there for him through thick and thin, through any arguments we might have, despite the worse one being whether we could kiss in public, as he had to explain to me that it wasn’t looked upon well by society, and he’d rather not have people staring at him weirdly. I understood, but was disappointed by the decision. I still got to hold and carry him whenever we were out in the wilderness, and in private.

I hated not being able to listen to his voice, to see in his eyes. I knew that I would be near tears for most of the time. I would be separated from him, despite being there next to him for several weeks. To my mind, the phrase “Water water everywhere, but, not a drop to drink.” Came to mind, it seemed so true in this situation. At least I knew my lover would recover, but, it would be quite some time. It would be tough for me, but, I would still have my mate, I would have my love, and I would have my happiness.