Rachel awakened when the alarm next to her buzzed to wake her up. She got out of bed and rummaged through a wardrobe to find that Xell had even grabbed her clothes. She took them all and walked out to find the nearest showers. There were signs hung from the ceiling to point to just about everything, and she saw one that pointed to the nearest shower. The only problem was that she was nude. She looked around to find a towel hung in the kitchenette; she grabbed it and wrapped it around herself snugly. She headed to the showers after. After following signs for a minute or so, she found a room labeled: Women’s Shower. She smiled and walked in proudly. The room was spectacular, it was almost as if it was owned by a rich Pokemon! It was white with a gold trim everywhere. She found an open shower rack that she hung her clothes on to keep them dry. and the towel on a separate one next to it. She walked into the shower and it started up on its own. It was almost as if it was psychic, because it knew exactly the temperature she wanted it at. She looked around for soap, only to find a panel of buttons, each with an option of Soap, Shampoo, Conditioner, or any other thing that she may use in the shower. She pressed the Shampoo button that said it was for short and soft fur and instantly machinery could be heard quietly whirring somewhere inside the wall. Eventually, a ding was heard and a wall panel fell away to reveal a large bottle full of the shampoo and a brush to help it get into her fur and spread it easier so that there was less waste. She rubbed down her fur with it, feeling so refreshed from the hot shower with the shampoo. After putting it back she pressed a button for the conditioner she wished for. The panel closed up with some whirring machinery just to open again to reveal another bottle, this time the conditioner she wanted. She did the same process that she did with the shampoo and finished up the shower after that. When she left, she loved the feel of the cool condensation from the water in the air on the floor as she walked to grab a towel and dry herself. She put on her pants first, then put on a shirt similar to the one she wore for her games. However, unlike when she was in her games, she put on two elastic rings on her tail She put a red one at the base of her tail and a blue one at the base of the split of her tail. She then addressed her bare feet by slipping on some socks and some tennis shoes.

            When she left she walked to the room where Colin was still sleeping. She decided that it was time to wake him up and tapped his cheek to try to get him to wake up. “Wake up Colin, time to open your eyes.” He continued to sleep as she started to repeat what she had said, with some variations, getting louder each time. When she started to reach the point where she was nearly yelling, she filled a cup with water and splashed it on his face, causing him to sit bolt-up.

            “Jirachi! What happened?” he yelled from the shock of the water hitting his face. “Rachel, why did you do that? I was sleeping, you could have tried less startling ways!”

            She sighed angrily and stood him up. “Just go take a shower and get some clean clothes on.” She said, throwing some new clothes at him from another wardrobe in the room. He stood up and grabbed the clothes.

            “Where are the showers?” he asked.

            “Down the hall, follow the signs.” He nodded and left, August coming in right as he left 

            “Good morning Rachel! Enjoy the shower?”

            She nodded, “Yes.” She then grabbed that cup she splashed the water on Colin with and filled it with water. “So, if you want to find these descendants so bad, why me? Aren’t there others who share the same blood?”

            He shook his head, “The book follows the closest match to the blood, the most direct link to the ancestor. For example, if you were to mother a child, they would be the most direct link to you. But if they were male and had children of their own, they would be more direct links to their mother than you. This does not mean that the most direct link has an entirely female lineage to them, it just has the most females in the line.”

            “Oh, I think I get it. So if the warrior is male, the most direct link would be the one that relates the most males from the ancestor to the descendant.”

            He nodded, “Correct. But, just because the ancestor is male does not mean the descendant will be.”

            “Of course!” she said.

            “In fact, I think I found one that is a perfect example of that.” He said, opening the book. “Aha, here he is! The only problem is, all entries of the ancestor seem to be removed minus a few stating her gender. Which is very strange.”

            “Mind if I see that?” He handed her the book, and, sure enough, the warrior’s name was rubbed out. Not scratched out or left out, but the ink seemed to have been smudged like someone was rubbing it hard. What could this mean? Rachel took a quick look through to find that the only thing left of any of this Pokemon’s lineage was the one that exists now and his parents. It was almost as if the writer was trying to make them forgotten. Rachel even looked for indications of who wrote it, and their name was smudged too. “Hey August, if the author’s name is smudged like the rest of this Pokemon’s lineage, could this mean that they are related.”

            August shrugged, “Possibly. There is no way of knowing for sure. Anyway, meet in the meeting room and we will discuss what the plan is.” Rachel nodded and he walked out. Rachel stretched a bit and then ran out to the meeting room as fast as she could. She passed Xell on the way there and he seemed shocked as to how fast she was running. In fact, he was running there too and she passed him like he was just standing there. Rachel arrived in the room which contained a large round table surrounded with chairs. At certain places were plates of food and names were at each one. One smell struck her nose instantly, a food she had since she was a child that she loved for breakfast. She walked toward the smell to find that it was in fact what she had smelled. On this plate was a large thin crepe-like pancake with fruit underneath coated with a thin layer of powdered sugar and sprinkled with lemon juice to add flavor. It was her favorite breakfast, and she was never upset whenever she had it. In front of the plate was a folded card that read her name, spelt wrong. “Raichl” is what it read and she had no idea what to make of that, but didn’t care because there was food there and she knew who it was for!

            “Don’t eat that!” She was halted by a new voice before she could dig in. She had just sat down when a skinny Minun boy came in. The boy seemed to be approaching her quickly. Right as he got to her Xell rammed into the door. He was startled and hid under the table. The startled Minun whispered to her from under the table, “We’re waiting for August to tell us it is okay.”

            “You can come out you know, Xell just-“

            She was interrupted by Xell entering and shouting, “Where’s Henry?”

            The Minun seemed to scurry further under the table, frightened by Xell. “What? Are you scared of him?” The Minun panted and nodded, “I understand, his energy scares me too!”

            “His energy scares me three!” Xell said suddenly sitting next to the frightened Electric-type who just about fainted when Xell appeared next to him, “Who are we talking about again?” He stared at the Minun for a few seconds before shouting “Henry!” and hugging him, dragging him out from under the table. After getting up and hugging the mouse, who was hesitant to stand, Xell said, “Rachel, this is Henry. Henry, this is Rachel!” He put Henry’s arm out for him, Rachel took it and shook it. After Xell released Henry, he suddenly remembered where he usually sits and sat there. “Henry used to be the newest of our group, but then you and Mr. Zangey took his place!” The Minun slowly walked with legs shaking to his place at the table. “Oh yeah, that reminds me, August said he would not be here until he finished talking to Mr. Zangey about what this place is and stuff that Pretzel Girl already knows, and to let Scardey Minun and Ms. Vappy know that. By the way, where is Missus Vappy?”

            “Ms. Vappy?” Rachel asked, confused as a sleek blue figure came in.

            “That would be me. My name is Raine.” The tall blue figure walked in. It was a Vaporeon, one that she could not take her eyes off of. The tail on the Vaporeon swayed from side to side gracefully; her hair cascaded from her head gorgeously and her body was thin and long.

            “And my name is Rrraaachellll.” Rachel rolled her Rs and emphasized the Ls as she bolted up and stood next to the Vaporeon. She grabbed her hand, lost in the eyes of the other female.

            “Oh, I see someone’s energetic!” She said with a purr as August walked in.

            “Girls, girls! Sit down now. Rachel, don’t hit on Raine.”

            Rachel blushed shyly avoiding eye contact with August, “Was I doing that?” After her little shame, Rachel sat down and Raine sat in her respective spot. Both were seated across from each other, coincidentally. Raine gave Rachel a wink and then looked toward August with intrigue as Colin sat down beside Rachel with an omelet in front of him.

            “Okay, now that display was not what I expected to see when I came in. But back to business. You may begin eating,” He said as he sat down in front of him a nice little burrito. Rachel thought it was strange for a breakfast choice, but she wasn’t one to judge. “Now,” he said in between bites, “We have our next target.” He pulled out a remote and a screen fell out from the roof and a projector turned on from behind it as the lights turned off to make it easier to see. August clicked on the remote and an image of an Umbreon was projected on the screen, “This is Manny. I have tried to gather at much information as possible on him and his lineage, but only his parents could be found. That being said, we have a member here who knows quite a bit on him. I will be passing the remote onto them.”

            Rachel looked at Raine, expecting it to be her. She was a little surprised when August slid the remote across the table to Colin, who then stood up. “Hello, I am your newest member, Colin. I am very familiar with this Umbreon due to the fact that I lived on the streets. What we will have to do is set up something at the corner of these streets,” he clicked the clicker, taking a second to understand which one advanced the slides. “He is generous to the homeless, so we will need someone who can act and look homeless to him, if we can get a donation in a cup from him with one of us acting like a pan-handler, he will donate any spare change he may have. If we can get him to donate, we will have been able to get close enough to him to imply what we need. If the person pan-handling says ‘Thank Arceus for your kindness sir,’ we will imply a message to him to go to this location,” the slide change again, this time to a broken down home. “Whenever I’ve seen somebody say something like that to him, he goes to this location. He even told me that it makes him feel hopeful that he won’t have to see people on the street sick and begging for money if he gives them enough or if people care enough. This means we will need to convince him that he will be able to do that if he comes with us. That is where August or Rachel come in to convince him of such.” He sat down and slid the remote over to August who then picked it up and changed the slide to one with a number of tasks; certain ones were already taken. “We know our usual taken tasks. Our observer, Henry, for those who are new, is to observe to make sure the action we need to happen takes place so that we don’t have any equipment on the person doing the acting so they are not easy to identify. Our operator, Raine, will watch using satellite hacking to ensure that she can communicate to us and that we are in the right place. And our emergency runner-”

            “Xell!” Xell shouted and August smacked his palm to his face. “Oh wait, I interrupted again, didn’t I? Sorry August!”

            August continued, “Now, these are the tasks that need to be filled. Actor, the person who will be our homeless Pokemon. Any volunteers or nominees?”

            Rachel raised her hand and August pointed to her and giving her permission to speak, “I nominate Colin. He’s been homeless before and knows exactly how to be like one, and Manny has met him before so it would seem normal to him.”

            August looked around, “Any comments, objections, or other nominees?” The room was silent.

            “Well, it would seem like we only have one other job left for the field. The Talker, the person who will convince him to join us. Any-“

            Xell jumped up. “I nominate Pretzel Girl!” Rachel nearly jumped out of her chair from what she had just heard. “She’s a former Shoeball striker, she’d be perfect for running in and out if anything were to happen, and if she were to be dressed to look different, nobody would expect her!”

            August nodded and asked, “Any objections, comments, or other nominees?”

            “I have no objections, and he does have a good point.” Rachel nodded as August finished.

            “Then all that’s left to do is prepare the outfits and get our performers trained as to what they are supposed to do.” August said. By the time he finished his sentence, everyone had finished eating and the plates quickly vanished from sight via telekinesis. “Meeting dismissed. I would like to see Rachel and Colin after the meeting to report to the dressing room, and then we will talk about the time.” Everyone stood up and left.

Rachel stopped Colin for a second to talk, “Colin, I didn’t know you knew so much about him! And when did you and August meet to talk about all that? I never saw you leave.”

“Actually, you were not the first to wake me, August woke me in the middle of the night to talk to me about the book and everything. When he showed me the lineage pages, I recognized every one of the names, which surprised not only me, but him. You know I lived a long time on the street, so I am surprised that you didn’t know!”

“Wow, you have a lot of good friends.” Rachel said as the tall Vaporeon passed by her, waving to them to follow her. They followed vigilantly.

They eventually reached the dressing room, which might not have been the right name for the facility as it was more of a fitting room than a dressing room. Raine stood next to a platform and August stood next to her. “Glad you two were the ones chosen, this makes the preparation of future possible outfits faster.”

Rachel nodded as she was motioned to stand on the platform by Raine. Raine pulled out a tape measure and began to measure her waist. Rachel watched as August chatted away with Colin. The Vaporeon bent over to measure her legs, and she watched quietly. She tried not to let August see her tail flicking from side to side from being close to the Vaporeon she had flirted with. As Raine measured her arms, Rachel quickly said an apology, making sure that August was not watching. “I’m sorry about earlier, I did not know that you two were…”

“Oh no, we are not. We’re just good friends.” She said, continuing to measure, writing down every measurement on a clipboard.

Rachel sighed in relief, “Good.” She thought for a moment before adding on, “So, wait, why did he get mad then?”

“August just likes to keep a ‘professional environment’ because he believes that this is a workplace while we are using it as one.” She shrugged then continued, “I don’t blame him, we are using it as a place of work during the mornings and afternoons. If you were to have done that tomorrow or the day after, he may not have been that angry because of everything then being optional for you to participate in. The acting he leaves to the actors, unless they ask for help. Hell, even if you had done it this evening he would not have batted an eye!” She stopped the measuring and put the clipboard aside, taking out the sheet she had just filled with measurements of the Espeon. “By the way, I love how you act like one of the guys, it’s cute.” Raine motions to Colin as Rachel stepped off the platform to stand beside August.

Rachel watched as Colin got measured, two talking just like she had with Raine. Rachel looked over to August, who was now leaning against a wall, and asked, “So, if I am the first to be confirmed to be related to these warriors, then why are these Pokemon here and how do you know them?”

August looked back at her, happy to tell her. “Well, you see, after me and Xell found the cave with the book in it, we decided to convert it and live here. After that, it was just me and him and we had nobody to help us and no real way of working together and keeping an eye over our new headquarters. I had decided that we needed at least two more people to help us, and that is where Raine and Henry came in. I had known Raine for quite some time, we met one time and I thought I liked her, but I didn’t like her as much as I thought, and she felt the same strange way and, since then, we were friends. I decided to ask her to join me because I knew her passion and talent for costume design, and decided to use that to my advantage. The idea of using Pokemon as ‘actors’ came when I thought of the costumes as disguises and the actors as liars, thieves, and deceivers. If they can make a person think they are a character, then why not ask a group of underground Pokemon that are looking for others, acting? After I proposed the idea to her, Raine joined instantly. But I still needed someone who was both good at combat and caring for homes. Raine had suggested I visit Henry, this scared little Minun whom she had known as a neat freak in his apartment. She even told me of his ability to fight, which impressed me. After talking to him and getting him on board, I still needed a Pokemon who could cook, so-”

“Wait, I have only met four Pokemon that were here before, one of them being you, and now you are telling me there are five?” She asked, a little shocked.

“Oh yes, that reminds me, you never met the chef. His name is Jacque, and he’s quite the chef. He does everything involving food. But, yeah, he doesn’t come out much, preferring to stay in the kitchen. He was harder to convince, but at least I got him. I don’t even remember how I met him, for some reason I want to say he’s one of Xell’s friends.” He shrugged as Colin walked over, done being measured.

“Hey Rachel, after they leave, I think I have just the outfit for you. I have the design for it, it just won’t fit until I either edit that one or make a new one.” She nodded as the other two leave. Raine went into a closet for a few seconds and then pulled out a big white dress. Instantly, Rachel felt sick if that was what she was going to wear. “I know, I know. It’s a dress and you don’t like dresses, but you have no choice right now. The idea is to make you look nice to imply to him that you have some mission sent from Arceus. He believes in stuff like that, so you can’t argue with that.”

Rachel stared at it for a second, it was just a white dress, “Before I try this on, what about the ears, or horn things, whatever they are called, on the head and elbows? And what about the ring that goes around the waist?”

Raine looked at it for a second before realizing that they were missing, “Well then. I will be making a new dress after all. Now would you stop delaying and get over here and try on the dress?” She said, grabbing Rachel by the wrist a pulling her over to the platform again so that she could put the dress on her.

Rachel conformed to the body movements that would get the dress on with the most ease. After getting it on, she felt uncomfortable and odd. It wasn’t even the fact that it was too big for her, it was just the fact that it was a dress. Raine looked for a few seconds then tightened pieces of fabric to Rachel to make the dress fit a little better. Surprisingly, this made her feel somewhat better about wearing it. “You look rather nice,” Raine commented, “I think I will just make the other parts subtle details rather than what most people do. With your frame and that dress, it would look nicer.” She then helped her take off the dress, and Raine then walked with her out of the dressing room.

“So, uh, Raine, which do you-“ before Rachel could finish her question, Raine answered her.

“I don’t have a preference.” Raine closed the doors to the dressing room as she headed off to her room. “I will see you later, Rachel. Maybe at the restaurant?”

“Sounds great.” Rachel didn’t know there was a restaurant here! This just made her a little excited. This place was huge already, a restaurant too? That just made it even bigger!

She decided to go to her room where she met Xell, Colin, and Henry all sitting in front of her TV with her gaming console. They were playing a game with several characters on 2D platforms fighting each other till one was “launched” off screen. She picked up a controller and waited for their match to end, and then she joined in on the fun. The three guys cheered the moment they realized she had joined. She played for a round, learning how each of the three played. Colin tended to play the heavier and stronger characters, staying in the center most of the time and avoiding items, preferring to show that he could fight without them. Henry played the lighter characters with good recovery, preferring to play it safe and do little damage until adding in for the final launching blow. Xell chose from a variety of characters, never choosing to do the same strategy. The one weakness of his was that he never chose heavier characters, instead preferring speed over power and variety over weight. However, he could not recover if he caused himself to fall off. After a few rounds, she showed them her strategy. She chose balanced characters and used them to disable their strategies. She was using items against Colin, launching Henry off the platforms as much as possible, and avoiding Xell causing him to defeat himself more than anything else. “Damn Rachel! I never knew you were so good at this game!” Colin stated after a few rounds.

She looked at them confidently, “Well, if there is one thing I learned from playing sports for so long, it is you always analyze your opponent as you fight or play. You guys were hard to figure out, usually I can do it within a round. Xell, you were the one who took me the longest.”

“How did you figure out Xell?” Henry asked.

“Xell is terrible at recovery when he falls off on his own accord, so, he was hard to figure out.” Xell scratched the back of his head, realizing it was true. “In fact, from what I have seen, you all play this game like how you fight in real life. Xell is always unpredictable and always mixing things up, but if something happens caused by his mistake, he needs help to recover. Colin prefers to stay grounded, dealing strong attacks more than fast attacks. And Henry, I have never seen you fight, but I would assume you would prefer to dodge and tire out your opponent then deal the final finishing blow.” All three were shocked.

“Rachel, you are much smarter than you seem!” August said as he walked in, “I never would have thought that someone who has not even seen Xell fight that much would be able to come to that conclusion just after playing a game with him!”

She shrugged and he walked closer, “Eh, it’s nothing special. Anybody could if they played sports as much as I did.”

He got right up next to her right as Raine was coming in, at first confused but then interested in what they were doing. She leaned against a wall to watch. “If you are so good, then let’s see how you contend to me. Xell may play that more, but back before I was chased out, I was the king of the game.”

            “You’re on, but no telepathy.” Rachel said with a growl as she stared in his eyes. “Three rounds, first to two wins, no exceptions.”

“Alright,” he said as he took Xell’s controller and the other two disable their controllers. Xell offered to temporarily disable August’s telepathy, and August agreed to it.

They sat down, Rachel selected her best character and August chose his. They sat there and played at a very long first match. By the end of the match August had won, and Rachel had nothing. She had not learned anything from him, and had gained nothing from him. He was countering everything she did. As she was selecting the stage, she realized what it was. He was countering everything she did! If she did nothing or waited for him to strike, she would win! After selecting the stage, the match started. She sat there and waited. As the match went on, he eventually struck at her and she countered. By the end of the match, she had tied it with him. Realizing that she had figured him out, August started rethink his strategy. The final round came and they both used different strategies than the last ones they had used. By the end of the match, it was a draw. Rachel and August considered this a fitting end and shook hands.

Rachel noticed Raine after shaking hands and she walked toward her. “I have never seen anybody keep up with August that way, never thought I would see it in a mere game.”

Rachel winked to her, “It’s more than just a game to me, it is a way of knowing my ally’s strengths and weaknesses and learning to support them.”

“So, since time has passed, are you ready for dinner?” She said as she walked toward the doors, with Rachel beside her.

“I’d love to go to dinner.” They walked together.

Raine leads the way to the restaurant, with August and the rest of the group following. Before Rachel could comment, Raine said, “Don’t worry. I offered to pay, they will be at separate tables, you won’t even know they are there.” Rachel nodded, understanding. It took a while, but Rachel eventually realized that she was walking down a hallway and there was a staircase up ahead. The staircase came up to a fairly nice restaurant within the city!

“When you said restaurant, I thought you meant-”

Raine silenced her by dragging her tail across her lips calmly, and Rachel realized what she meant. Raine went up to the little stand where the host asked how many people were in her party, and she said two. She also said that she would be paying for a table of four. They sat down while they waited. The wait for the talbe took a while. While they are waiting, Rachel felt a smooth hand working its way down her back and then under her arm. She instantly smiled and laid against the taller Vaporeon. The Vaporeon smiled back. After a while they started to look into each other’s eyes, and they saw something in each other that was unique; they had never seen this in the eyes of any other. They blushed as they continued to stare into the other’s eyes. Eventually, the host called “Raine” and they both stood up and walked to the table the waiters had set up.

They ordered their meals after the waiters came back by and then talked. “You know what? I think the boys have a crush on me.” Raine said with a slight sigh.

“What makes you say that?” Rachel asked.

“Well, August wasn’t just making it a ‘professional environment’. He flirts with me a little from time to time. He just doesn’t want other people doing it when he does it out of other’s sight.”

“Damn, selfish much? If it was me, I would slap him.”

“I don’t want to hurt him though, he’s just jealous. Anyway, Henry always gets all shy around me and his heart rate increases, and I mean more than usual. As for Xell… He’s not exactly subtle…” As she said this, the guys all got seated and Xell passed by.

“Hey sexy Vaporeon! Can I call you later? I know I can, what I am I saying!?” Raine sighed and smiled at him.

“Heh, that’s Xell, I guess.” She smiled as he left.

“Anyway, I don’t want one of them. I have always wanted another woman to be by my side. I’m happier around women and I always have been, but I never told myself that it was ‘women only’ and I always kept my options open for men. Of course, only if I found one that didn’t act like they were completely goo-goo over me.” She said, looking into Rachel’s eyes, “To be honest, when I was doing my research on you, I forgot to tell August that you were into women for a reason. That is, the fact that I want to break their hearts. I never wanted to hurt them, but I never wanted to break their hearts on my own. I told myself that I would never be that cruel to those whom I called friends. I want them to be happy for me, but heartbroken because they never knew or asked. That is their fault, not mine for not saying anything… Do you understand what I mean? I want to keep them as friends, but I don’t want them to think that I said something because I don’t like them.”

“I get what you are saying, these kinds of situations are delicate. I’ve always stated it openly because I never wanted to break their hearts, but if they were to not know for a long time, I think I would be in your situation.” Rachel sighed, “The only difference between me and you, is the fact that I have never had that attraction to men. But I understand that not everyone will be like me. However, I don’t know what it is, but you are special. Even compared to the other women I have met, you are different.”

Raine blushed and stared into Rachel’s eyes, “I knew you were thinking something like that, you’re eyes tell me exactly what you’re thinking.”

Rachel giggled and blushed, staring back. She then purred while her tail started to sway from side to side behind her, Raine’s doing the same. Neither were aware of the fact that their tails were swaying. “Your eyes tell me just as much as my eyes tell you then. Because I think yours are telling me about how you are thinking about how you find me cute.”

Raine chuckled as well, “Yours tell me that you are now thinking about how you find me beautiful.”

Rachel and Raine then spoke at the same time, “You are thinking on how you think my eyes are beautiful.” They then laughed at how they talked simultaneously.

Meanwhile, at the table with the three guys, “You know what?” Colin asked, his speech obviously slurred, “I think that this group of guys might just be the best friends I have ever met! You guys know what I like, and you seem to know me even though we have not known each other that long. You guys are the best!”

August sighed, “You know what? You must be drunk. Have you been drinking?”

Colin hiccupped, “No, this is only my… uhhh… Which beer is this? I lost count.”

Xell laughed at Colin, “You’ve only had two! You’re drunk off your ass at two beers! I’ma call you Lighty Zangy from now on!”

Colin stared angrily at Xell, “No I *hic* am not! I am not a *hic* lightweight.” This statement caused Xell to laugh harder.

Henry sat there with his head on the table drinking when his ears suddenly perked from the laughter across the restaurant. He lifted his head and stared over toward the two girls, “Hey guys?” Nobody heard the Minun. “Hey, guys?” The Minun asked louder, still no response. Instead of getting louder, he shocked Xell and he suddenly stopped laughing and sat there twitching. “Whoops, accidentally paralyzed him!”

August cured him then asked, “What do you want Henry?”

“Well, do you think the girls are getting along?” he said as he pointed to the two.

“I think they are getting along fine, why do you ask Henry?”

“No, I mean, does it seem as though they are getting along too well?” he asked with emphasis.

August looked over, glancing at them as well. He saw the blushes and the laughter and the staring into the other’s eyes, “You know what, since I don’t know what they are talking about, I would not know.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to give you back your telepathy!” Xell said then put his hands on his head as he reached across the table to do so, nearly knocking over Colin’s beer in the process. He then sat back down like normal and August could use telepathy again, “There you go!”

“Thanks Xell, but I think whatever they are talking about is their business, and I should stay out of it.” He said.

“Okay, but if you are wrong, you will be the one who will suffer!” Xell said in a creepy voice which silenced the other three.

“Oi, never talk like that to them ever again!” Colin said in an obviously forced accent.

“Dear Arceus Colin! Put down the damn beer!” Henry said as he watched Colin down an entire mug in one gulp.

“Never!” he hiccupped again, which led to August levitating the mug away from him.

“That’s enough for you!”

“Oi, I’ll say it’s enough when I say it’s enough!” Colin said as he flailed his arm at the mug. “Waiter! Get me more Shiny Umbreon! In a new mug too!”

“The waiter won’t help you now!” August said, this went on for a while until the food got there.

After having their food, the girls talked a while. Soon after they started talking they watched the guys get up from their table talking like drunks. They even burst into song as they began to leave. Well, all but Henry. Henry was hanging his head in shame as he walked with them, stumbling all the way. This caused the girls to laugh happily. After talking for a little longer, they decided to leave as well. The time passed and they walked back to the hidden passage and walked home. Rachel had her head on Raine’s shoulder and Raine had her head on Rachel’s. Both of them had an arm wrapped around the other, purring happily. They would be chatting as they walked down this hall, if their purrs didn’t say everything they needed to. Raine led her to Rachel’s room, where they found August and Colin had passed out in a bed together and Xell had passed out on Rachel’s bed. They both chuckled to themselves and assumed that Henry had tried to lead Colin to his room, but all of them passed out here instead. “Want to sleep in my room?”

Rachel looked up to her and smiled, “I would love that.” Raine led her down the hallway that led from her room. They went down to where the showers were then walked past them, eventually getting to a room. This was Raine’s. Rachel came in to see the room was painted blue with sand on the floor. It wasn’t desert sand, it was more like beach sand. This was the kind she loved to feel between her toes, she loved the feeling of it when she would come back from a beach and lay in her bed. Most would hate the feeling of sand in their fur as they slept, but it comforted her. She loved the feeling, it was like she was still at the beach, and when she felt that way she could smell it.

“You love the beach?” Raine asked, surprised and delighted.

“Yeah, I feel great when I am on it, I love to feel my feet touch the splashing water as it comes in waves. It feels amazing, I just wish I lived next to a beach.”

Raine looked around then guided Rachel to a room that was next to hers. She opened the door to a small room filled with sand and saltwater. The smell alone made Rachel feel relaxed. She sat down and put her feet into the water just as she had talked about, wiggling her toes and moving her feet to the beating waves. The sand in her toes not only moving around, but coming off and absorbing moisture and clinging to her fur. Raine then joined her. She sat next to her, pulling her close and relaxed there. “I had this put in here because I was having a hard time adapting to the environment because it was lake water nearby instead of saltwater. I was about to move away from this city because I could not find a place to stay until August said he could find a way. Even though he can be a little on the jealous side when it comes to talking to women and will flirt with me when he wants, he is kind and I know deep down no matter what he does he only means good.” She sighed, taking in the sea-salt smell as well. “I was raised near the ocean. My parents loved it as much as I did, but as a little girl all I wanted to do was swim majestically in the ocean. That’s why I am a Vaporeon, I got to live that dream until I got a job. Once that happened I was taken here, my job was doing good but I could not stand being away from the ocean. As much as I love the ocean, this is no replacement, but it helps me be the person I need to be when I come back here nightly to get my feet wet and the sand between my toes. I can see that you enjoy that too.” She giggles. “The sand in the room fulfilled one of my wants, and this filled the other. I just wish it was real. August keeps saying that ‘It will get better, just trust me’ but I don’t know what he has in mind.”

Rachel moved closer to Raine, she finally saw why she loved the ocean. This may not have been what Rachel wanted to know, but it was exactly what made her feel bad about it. She leaned against the Vaporeon, wrapping her tail around her arm, and hugged her. Raine seemed surprised and then hugged back. “You know how you said you don’t know what August had in mind? Well, just like you, I feel as though he means good and that whatever it is that he has in mind would be for the best. Maybe he wants to take you on a trip or move to the beach. I wouldn’t know myself, but if I were him that is what I would do.”

She smiled and squeezed Rachel lightly, “Yeah, I guess you are right.”

They sat there for a while, letting their feet relax until they began to feel tired. Raine was the first to stand up, Rachel followed. They walked out together and then Raine laid on her bed. Rachel decided to go to the little kitchen thing and make them snacks. For herself, she made a sandwich, just like the one she made the day she met Xell and August. For Raine, she grabbed some tuna and made a tuna sandwich with relish. Raine appreciated the sandwich as she turned on the TV that was in the room to watch some late-night movies. “Oh my Arceus, I love this movie!” Raine exclaimed as the first movie came on. It was a comedy about two young Eeveelutions who fell in love, getting in trouble as they went on an adventure to the great unknown. It was a family picture that she had grown up with and loved. The characters were ones that were picked from stories that kids would identify or parents would then explain to their children if they didn’t know what they were.

“I love this movie too!” Rachel said, the two giggled and then decided to watch the silly little movie. Rachel related to the male character in the story, an adventurous little Umbreon who was high-strung and constantly getting the two into the trouble. Raine related to the female Jolteon, who was calm and thought straight-forward, but was always thinking of her friends. The two eventually started acting out the scenes together. The sand not hindering them, they danced, they laughed, and they had a great night. The movie was exactly what they needed before settling down one last time.

After getting stripped down for their sleep, Raine laid down once more with a big yawn. Rachel yawned as well and laid in a way where her feet were at Raine’s feet, but her head was placed at Raine’s chest. Before going to bed, Raine asked “Would you like a kiss?”

Rachel blushed and got nervous, “Of course.”

Rachel looked up into Raine’s eyes and they met lips to lips, giving a big kiss to each other. The kiss was one they would never forget. It wasn’t formal in any way, it was not planned, but the kiss was exactly what both of them wanted. They wanted a kiss that meant something to them, not just some romantic “in the moonlight” kiss. It was just one that they knew would be between them, and one that nobody else could replicate it.

After the kiss the two stared into the other’s eyes once more before they returned to the positions they were in. This time, Rachel curling up a little, with her head still at Raine’s chest, and Raine slightly curled around her.