I stared in disbelief at my friend sitting just a few feet away from me in my uncle's house, unable to speak.

Suddenly a look of concern donned on Sarah's face. "Mark are you okay? You're covered in blood!" She said, quickly standing up and walking over to me. She set to work looking me over to see where I was injured, and breathed a sigh of relief once she saw I was already bandaged. The fresh throbs of pain caused by her prodding managed to shake me out of my stunned state.

"Sarah what are you doing here?" I asked, "Not that I'm complaining but don't you have work?"

Sarah sighed. "I'm on medical leave, for mental health reasons." She said in an almost bitter tone. "At least that's the excuse I used but I think it fits."

"You okay Sarah?" I asked.

"When I got here you had already been dispatched to the ranger thing," she said, ignoring the question. "The receptionist was kind enough to give me your uncle's address and he recognized me when I showed up. Can you believe he let me stay here without a second thought?"

"Yeah, that's Ted for you." I said, deciding to let it slide until later.

"Anyway," Sarah continued, "I figured I could spend the week here and then on the weekend we could spend a few days catching up. After all, you have your own internship to worry about."

"Well," I said, "I just got out of the hospital. I'll have to check in with the Chief first but I'm pretty sure I'll be on my own medical leave at least until my foot heals up."

Sarah blinked and looked down at my shoes, gasping when she saw the blood drenched one.

"Wait, you were in the hospital?" Ted said from behind with a concerned look on his face.

"I just needed some stitches." I said, "I'm fine now, don't worry."

Ted nodded. "Well, I have to head out to the field, I'll be back later to check in on you two." Ted said, heading for the door.

Sarah and I waved goodbye as Ted left. My view unobstructed, I could now see Clara, still outside, fidgeting nervously while Jade seemed to be utterly frozen. I went out and kneeled in front of Jade, taking her hands in mine. "Don't worry, she's not going to hurt you or Simon or Ruby." I reassured her, and she nodded slowly in response, seeming to relax a little. I then took Clara's hand, seeming to calm her down a bit just from the physical contact as I led her inside; Jade reluctantly followed us in.

Sarah could only stare at Clara for a few moments before speaking. "Hey Clara, how've you been?" She asked in a somewhat nervous tone.

Clara smiled a little. "I've been well, working at the police station is fun and I get to see my friends every day." She said.

Sarah cracked a little smile, "I'm glad to hear that." She said. Her gaze shifted, now noticing Jade, and her smile faded quickly.

"Listen, I need to check in at the station and get Jade here home," I said, "Would you mind waiting here for a while?"

"Go ahead, I'll be fine." Sarah said, seeming relieved.

We shuffled outside as I phoned a taxi with my cell. After a few minutes it showed up and we headed to the post office. The first thing Jade did once inside was run to Simon and hug him.

"Jade you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, I just missed you." Jade said, seeming to have relaxed quite a bit since we got out of the house. I stayed and chatted with Simon for a bit, not telling him about Sarah just yet. After that we walked down to the station, which was rather difficult for me but I figured it was cheaper than a taxi.

I stopped at the school to have a chat with the recess supervisor while her Hoot-hoot kept tabs on the kids; she said she was worried about me when I didn't show up for crossing guard duty, and I reassured her I was fine now. We said our goodbyes and hiked the rest of the way to the station.

Once inside, Carol looked up from her desk and started giggling.

"Did I miss something?" I asked, confused.

"Mark go home!" She said smiling, "The ranger station gave us their report, Ramsey says you're on medical leave until you quit limping." I sighed and chuckled a bit myself before saying goodbye to the receptionist and calling another taxi as we headed outside. I felt a lot more collected on the ride home than I had been when I first saw Sarah, and hoped she was feeling the same way.

Clara and I took a moment to nod to each other at the door before heading inside. Sarah was still at the table, though she had cleared it off and now had a game of solitaire laid out. She jumped a little when we walked in, and scooped up the cards before putting them back in their little box.

"I take it since you're back you've been put on leave as well?" She said.

"Yup." I said, "Until I get rid of this limp to use my chief's own words."

"I see." Sarah said. "You're better off not walking around on it anyway."

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt as much as it looks." I said, trying to dismiss it.

"What the hell did you even do to your foot?" Sarah asked.

"It's a long story." I said.

"We've got time." Sarah replied, "but first we need to get you off that foot and in fresh clothes."

I nodded and begrudgingly let Sarah help me up the stairs to the guest room and then into the bathroom before she left to give me some privacy. I managed to get my shoes, pants, and boxers off without too much trouble, but my shoulder was still too messed up to get my shirt off on my own. With a sigh, I pulled a clean pair of boxers on with a wince and peaked out into the hall.

Sarah was standing next to the door and looked over at me, catching a glimpse of my boxers before averting her gaze. "Mark you missed a layer." She said.

"I need a little help getting my shirt off." I said quietly.

"You really can't do it yourself?" Sarah said exasperated.

"Look, my shoulder's too messed up to do much of anything." I explained.

Sarah went quiet for a while before an idea hit her. "Hold on." She said as she jogged down the stairs. I looked after her, confused until she returned with Clara in tow. "Mark needs your help with his shirt." Sarah explained, blushing a little. Clara stared at her for a few moments, unsure if she was being serious before slowly stepping inside and closing the door behind her. Once concealed, Clara suppressed a giggle and smiled.

"She's made a lot of progress." Clara said to me, privately I hoped.

I smiled in return and nodded before holding my arms out so she could pull my shirt off. That part was easy, getting the new shirt on proved to be a more difficult task for her, but after a few moments she figured it out. I tried to put on my pants, but found pulling something up hurt my shoulder quite a bit. Clara giggled again and motioned for me to have a seat on the toilet before helping me get my pants on. I was perfectly capable of buttoning them once on, but was happy to let Clara do it for me. After that, I stood up barefoot and emerged into the hallway.

Sarah looked me up and down before fixating on my foot, still very purple. "You were walking on THAT?" Sarah said, barely keeping her voice down.

"It hurts but nothing's broken." I stammered out.

"Holy shit Mark, you've got a HOLE through your foot!" She shouted.

"But-" I started.

"No buts, Mark, you're going to bed and not getting up until you're all one color." She said resolutely. "Clara, pick him up for me will you?"

Clara paused and then with a giggle lifted me up telekinetically. I flailed fruitlessly in the air, only managing to make my shoulder hurt more for my effort before sighing and resigning. "Fine, take me where you will." I grumbled.

Clara giggled again and carried me into our bedroom before setting me down in the middle of it. "You know she's right Mark." Clara said.

"I know." I grumbled.

Meanwhile Sarah had taken ahold of my foot gently and was examining the wound. "What the hell did this?" She asked looking up at me. I answered as best I could by telling her everything that happened. I didn't leave any details out this time, being confidant she had done a lot of thought and now was not the time to start lying to her anyway.

She interrupted at several points in the story to help explain some things. When I got to the part about finding the camp destroyed, she mentioned that if I hadn't slammed my foot down I wouldn't have a hole through my foot, as Beedrill don't shoot their barbs fast enough to penetrate that far. When I got to the part inside the hive I made sure to explain things as clinically as possible, and thankfully Sarah didn't seem to get upset. She seemed uncomfortable and I swear I saw her blushing a few times here and there, but she didn't interrupt to yell at me at any point. She seemed genuinely impressed when I got to how I had Jade and Clara fend off the swarm to let Flare get away, and complimented Clara on her skills, causing the Gardevoir to blush. After finishing, I asked Sarah what she thought about all of it.

"Your uncle was right, you've been through hell." She said cracking a smile.

I was silent for a while before speaking up again. "I know its awkward for you, but I need to know where you stand on the whole thing between Me and Clara." I said quietly.

Sarah was now undeniably blushing now. "Look, I don't want to talk about that just yet." She said, looking down. "Right now I just want to make sure I still have a friend."

I nodded understandingly and made and attempt to hug her, which she didn't resist. "Look, there's no hard feelings okay?" I said.

Sarah nodded.

"I understand it's a lot to swallow and I don't hold that against you, right now I'm just happy you still consider me a friend." I said, causing Sarah to crack a smile; which made me smile. "So how's the past month been at your station?" I asked, changing the subject.

"It's been rough to be perfectly honest." She said, "I've been doing a lot of thinking, enough for my boss to start referring to me as a 'space case'. By the time I finally requested medical leave she didn't even hesitate to grant it."

I nodded, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." She said flatly. "I spent a few weeks back home training my pokemon from back when I was in the league, hoping the nostalgia would clear my head, but..." she trailed off.

"But?" I asked.

She sighed. "It didn't work. My dad's always been a clever one though, and he suggested I confront whatever put me in this state." She said. "At first I was totally against it but the more I thought about it the more I knew he was right. So here I am, and I've got at least one thing off my chest knowing you and Clara don't hate me."

Clara giggled. "Sarah, you helped us so much and were always a good friend at the academy. We're always going to call you our friend." She said.

Sarah smiled and thanked her.

"By the way," I interjected, "Where's your Spinarak? Didn't you bring him with you?"

"Oh, he's here." Sarah said, looking a bit surprised. "I just have him in his pokeball right now." She gestured to her belt, which to my surprise had a full six clipped there.

"Brought the whole gang I see." I commented.

"Yeah, sorta." She said, "Just the ones I ran the league with an a couple others that I'm close to."

I nodded. Conversation shifted from there to the routines we had while interning, and it turned out Sarah was doing the same sort of grunt work I was, though she got more opportunities to have field experience riding with another officer due to the bigger city. The day wore on and conversation grew thin, but we didn't seem to mind just hanging out together. Eventually dusk came and we heard Ted return form his work. Sarah helped me downstairs and set me down on the couch before she helped Ted prepare dinner. Ted asked her what kind of pokemon she had with her so he could make them a meal as well, and Sarah promptly called them out. I recognized her Houndoom, Marry the Mareep, Esper the Espeon, Geld the Typhlosion, her Spinarak, and Frost the Glaceon. I followed suit and let Flare out of his ball as well, who set to work sniffing all the new pokemon, who thankfully didn't seem to mind the attention. Ted took a tally of all the types of pokemon and set to work mixing up a meal for each one. Dinner was good as usual, and Ted and Sarah chatted about their different training methods while the menagerie of pokemon ate scattered around the room that barely held all of them. After the meal, Sarah was about to call her pokemon back when Ted offered to set up some beds for them in the barn, thinking they might enjoy a night out in the fresh air away from town. After a moment of thought Sarah agreed he was right and Ted escorted all of them including Flare to their impromptu room for the night. It wasn't long after that we decided to call it a night ourselves; I offered Sarah the guest room, fully willing to sleep on the couch but she refused, demanding I sleep in a bed until my foot heals. Not wanting to argue, I agreed and she helped me upstairs with Clara close behind. I was able to get situated in bed on my own and Clara snuggled in next to me, which seemed to upset Sarah bit; though I wasn't sure upset was the right word for it. Sarah shook her head clear and headed downstairs to make up the couch for the night. It took a while to fall asleep with all my aches, but having Clara next to me helped. So ended the first day of Sarah's visit.

The next day was still a bit awkward, but it wasn't long before we had grown accustomed to being around each other again and were talking like we had back in the academy. On the third day having Sarah over, she asked if I wouldn't mind having a battle like back when we were training Clara, only with neither of us holding back now. I was surprised at the question, but after asking Clara and Flare what they thought we agreed. By now I was able to limp my way around rather efficiently with little fussing from Sarah. Ted agreed to referee the match and marked out an arena in the field with several orange cones he had stored in the barn. Sarah and I took up positions opposite each other while Ted stood between us off to the side with a makeshift flag that was a shirt tied to a stick. There was a brief stare down before Ted brought the flag up and down yelling "Begin!"

"Flare, you're up!" I shouted, sending the massive canine rushing from my side ahead into the arena.

At the same time, Sarah took a pokeball from her belt and threw it. "Come on out Geld!" She said as the massive Typhlosion emerged from the resulting flash of light. Sarah caught the pokeball on the rebound naturally.

A nervous laugh from Ted broke our focus. "Try not to use too many fire attacks." He said.

Sarah and I both nodded before locking eyes again from across the field. Sarah moved first, "Geld, hit him with Roll Out!" She shouted. The Typhlosion let out a bark before leaping forward and curling up, rolling straight for Flare.

"Flare, jump over him and hit him with Extreeme Speed from behind!" I yelled. Flare moved, but too late. Geld barreled into him mid-jump and sent him flipping through the air before he crashed down on his side. "Flare you alright?" I shouted as Geld ground to a halt and stood up again. A growl from Flare as he regained his feet told me he was still in the fight.

"Geld, finish this with Double-Edge" Sarah shouted, and the Typhlosion barreled forward on all fours at Flare.

"Overpower him with Close Combat!" I hollered. Flare rushed forward as well, both Pokemon colliding hard in the middle of the arena. There was a low growling as the dust cleared revealing them locked together, each trying to toss the other. Flare had his head low and was pushing into Geld's stomach while Geld had a grip on Flare's back, trying to lift him. "You can do it Flare!" I yelled, and seemingly in response Flare dug in low and lifted Geld up before flinging him over his back. "Now Flamethrower!" I shouted, and Flare leapt onto Geld as he landed, not giving him time to get up before blasting him point blank with a powerful jet of flame.

"Stop!" Ted shouted, and Flare leapt off of the Typhlosion. Ted jogged over and knelt by the downed pokemon. After examining him for a minute, he stood up. "Point goes to Mark, Geld's out of commission." Sarah sighed and thanked Geld for his effort before calling him back.

Flare trotted back to my side of the arena happily, though I could tell he was worn down. "Good job Flare." I said as Sarah pulled another pokeball from her belt.

"Alright Esper, you're up!" She shouted as the familiar purple fox leapt from the flash.

"Ready?" Ted asked, looking to both of us for confirmation before waving his flag and shouting, "Start!"

"Flare, hit her with Extreme Speed!" I shouted, and Flare leapt forward at blinding speed.

"Don't even let him get close, use Psychic!" Sarah shouted, and Esper crouched down. A yelp from Flare was all the warning I got before he seemed to reverse direction instantly and wound up rolling, unable to keep his feet under him.

"Flare you okay?" I asked as he tumbled to a halt.

Before I could say anything else, Ted called out, "Stop!"

Esper sat down and began grooming itself patiently as Ted jogged over to examine Flare, who seemed to be still conscious but was too dazed to stand up. "Point goes to Sarah." Ted declared, standing up. "Flare is unable to continue. Next round wins the match!"

"Good work Flare." I said before calling him back to his pokeball. I turned to my other partner. "You ready Clara?"

With a nod, Clara advanced onto the field as Ted took up his spot off to the side again. "Ready?" he asked, getting confirmation from both of us again before swinging the flag "Start!"

Without command, Esper jumped forward and fired a purple beam from the gem on it's head.

"Teleport out of the way!" I shouted. Clara just barely dodged the attack and reappeared flanking the purple fox. "Now Psybeam!" I shouted, and Clara let the familiar burst of rainbow energy fly at the fox. Again without instruction the Fox leapt to the side and let her own purple beam fly at Clara, giving her no time to dodge. Clara was knocked back several feet, but managed to just barely keep her feet under her. "Clara you alright?" I asked, wincing from the pain she shared with me.

"I'm fine." She said, staring the Espeon down. I looked over at Sarah, who had a grin plastered on her face, and I realized what she was doing.

"Clara, they're using thought commands!" I called out, then added in thought "Why don't we level the playing field?"

"Ready when you are." Clara responded, taking a battle stance.

"Alright, open up with safeguard so she can't stun you with that signal beam again, then Teleport behind her and hit her with Psybeam." I thought. Clara immediately began glowing silver before disappearing and popping up behind Esper, but right as she fired off her attack the fox had leapt high into the air.

"Quick, teleport back towards me!" I sent. Clara disappeared again right before Esper contorted in the air to face towards Sarah and blasted the ground where Clara had been.

"You and Clara have gotten much better." Sarah commented out loud from across the field, "But unfortunately for you, so have Esper and I." She added grinning. As if to prove this point, right as Esper landed she sprinted towards Clara at a blinding speed.

"Clara, try to grab her with Psychic when she gets close!" I thought panicked. I saw Clara's eye's flash blue and felt the pulse from her grab attempt, but an attempt was all it turned out to be. Almost faster than I could see Esper had sprung into the air spinning, and before I could figure out what it was doing I felt the familiar pulse of a Psychic attack as Clara suddenly flew up and back before arcing forward over Esper as she spun and slamming into the ground hard. I doubled over from only feeling a fraction of the hit myself.

"Stop!" Ted shouted from the sidelines as he rushed in to check on Clara. I already knew she was down for good in this battle; I could still feel a powerful ache from her.

"I'm fine Ted," Clara said, sounding strained even in thought, "I'm done for this battle though."

Ted nodded and stood up, pointing his flag towards Sarah's end of the field as he announced, "Point goes to Sarah, that wins her the match." He said officially, then added in a concerned tone, "Now please get these guys to a pokemon center."

I nodded and jogged out to help Clara up as Sarah ran forward as well. Esper was strangely the first one to get to Clara, breaking her usually aloof character as she licked Clara's face worriedly before sitting down and closing her eyes. Suddenly the Gem on her forehead flashed white, and to my surprise I felt most of Clara's pain lift from me. When I got to her she was staring surprised at Esper who was purring happily.

"She used a healing move on me." Clara remarked before adding, "T-thank you."

"That was Wish." Sarah said, drawing close. "She wasn't holding back after you two started using telepathy against us and was worried."

I blinked in surprise before turning to the purple fox. "Thank you Esper." I said.

"Don't mention it." An unfamiliar female voice spoke up in my head, and it took me a moment to realize it was Esper speaking to me.

Sarah started laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked, confused.

"You're face mark, it's priceless." She said giggling. I sighed and shook my head.

"She's right, you do look rather perplexed." Esper said matter-of-factly.

"Forgive me if I'm a little confused hearing you speak for the first time two years after I met you." I said scratching my head.

Esper's head bobbed up and down in a silent chuckle. "I only talk to people I like." She said cheerfully.

"So why didn't you talk to us back at the academy?" I asked, more confused now.

"I didn't like you then." She said plainly before strolling up to Sarah and rubbing up against her leg purring.

Sarah giggled again. "You know she's technically a fox but she acts more like a cat." she said, picking her partner up, eliciting more purrs from her.

I helped Clara to her feet. "I see that now." I said, chuckling a bit myself.

In a few minutes we were in Ted's car on the way to the pokemon center in town. Sarah drove while I sat shotgun with Esper in my lap, who seemed to tolerate me well enough as a chair.

"That last attack..." I spoke up about half way there, "What the hell was that?"

Sarah smiled. "You ever heard of an atlatl?" She asked.

"A what?" I asked, not recognizing the word.

"Basically it was a stick we used to throw spears before we invented the bow." She said. "The idea was to use the curve of the stick and the increased radius to the pivot point holding the end of the spear to whip the thing harder and faster than we could with our bare hands."

"So what does that have to do with it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The concept's pretty much the same," She said, "You saw Esper's speed. Most people think that the only thing that can improve a psychic attack is by improving psychic power, but we used the momentum of her speed and the flip combined with the extra space between Clara and Esper which was basically our invisible stick to throw her much harder than Esper could standing still."

I sat stunned for a moment, running it through my head to see if I understood it all. After a few seconds I realized it was possible, but not only that as we had seen it put to actual use. "Holy hell Sarah." I said.

I could see she was blushing now. "It was only half my idea, me and Esper were watching TV and saw something on the atlatl and Esper wanted to know if we could do anything like that." She said, "After some tweaking and a hell of a lot of practice we had it down, as you saw."

"As I felt." I corrected her, chuckling. By now we were at the pokemon center and we parked on the street before heading inside to take care of our injured pokemon. Clara seemed fine but it was still recommended that I put her in her ball to be patched up anyway, which I did so without hesitation. While waiting I saw Esper sitting out in the lounge and wondered why she wasn't being healed as well. After a moment of thought I slapped my head, realizing it was because we didn't even scratch her in the battle. Before long the nurse returned our pokeballs and we headed back to the ranch. Once there, Sarah helped me back inside and to the couch where I lazed about the rest of the day with Clara sitting comfortably next to me. Sarah sat and chatted with me for a while before heading outside to train with her pokemon. Things got boring after that until Ted got back from working in the field with a confused look on his face.

"You seen your friend lately?" he asked.

"She should be outside training." I said, "Why, what's wrong?"

"So that's what she calls it." Ted mumbled to himself.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Well," Ted started, "She's lifting the barn."

I was quiet for a bit. "What?"

"She promised not to break it," Ted said, "And I didn't exactly know what to say about it so I just let her be."

"She's lifting the barn?" I asked, confused.

"Well, her Espeon is." Ted said as he walked into the kitchen. "You got a knack for finding people with amazing pokemon you know." He added as he set to work preparing dinner.

Having to see this for myself, I limped my way to the back door and sure enough, the barn was levitating several inches off the ground. Clumps of dirt clung to the base boards and insects scattered out from their now exposed dens while Sara stood inside with Esper next to her. They both had the same strained look on their face. It wasn't until I got closer that I heard the weak growl coming from the Espeon and saw the sweat all but pouring down Sarah's face.

"You really have gotten better." I remarked, startling Sarah. A moment after her focus broke Esper's Growl turned into a yelp as the barn dropped down around us with a thump and a creak. "Oh crap, I'm sorry!" I stammered out, kneeling down to check on the poor fox only to have her snarl and snap down on my finger hard enough for me to bleed freely.

Esper let go of my hand a moment after marring me. "There, now we're even." She said with a huff, trying to shake her head clear.

I winced as I wrapped my shirt around my finger to stem the bleeding. "Alright, fair enough." I sighed. I looked up at Sarah, who was still panting breathlessly. "I've seen sharing pain and fatigue, but this one's new to me." I remarked.

"Y-yeah..." Sarah said. "She improves a lot faster when I help her like this."

"How long have you been training like this?" Clara asked after checking to see if my finger was okay.

"W-well..." Sarah started, but trailed off.

"Hey you two!" Ted called out from the back door. "Dinner's hot and ready!"

Sarah jogged off before I could say anything else as Esper strutted past me after her, turning and giving me a confusing wink before breaking into a run to catch up with her trainer.

"What was that about?" I asked, turning to Clara.

Clara shook her head. "I don't know, but they're a lot closer now than they were back at the academy, that's for sure."

I nodded. "Say, you think we could do something like that?" I asked.

Clara blushed, "Yeah, but I think a barn may be too much for us to handle right now."

I chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go eat!"

Dinner was great as usual and for the first time since returning from the hospital I was allowed to go up the stairs unassisted. My foot had gotten better to the point that my toes were no longer purple, but instead a rather yellowish color. I could even see the hole beginning to heal over, and if the itching I felt deep inside my foot was any indication it was healing inside as well. Clara and I crawled into bed together as usual; though I noticed Sarah no longer seemed to have the same reservation watching us as she did when first arriving here. I shrugged it off and snuggled close to my partner after Sarah closed the door and headed downstairs. Sleep came slowly that night due to the constant throbbing in my finger, but once it did I slept well.

The next few days seemed to pass quickly. Clara and I joined Sarah in training one day and she gave us quite a few pointers on psychic pokemon strategies. She also made sure to mention frequently how much progress Clara had made since she last saw her, causing the poor Gardevoir to blush each time.

The weekend finally came, and with it a breeding expo in Goldenrod City. Naturally, Ted wasn't going to miss the event. I wanted to go as well, but didn't want to leave Sarah behind during her visit and my foot still was in no condition to make the trip. Sarah, Clara, Flare, and I saw Ted off Friday evening after he had finished work in the fields, promising to take care of his pokemon until he got back. After that, we headed inside and Clara began preparing dinner for everyone; she had learned a lot about cooking from Ted and did fairly well keeping track of what pokemon ate what. As we ate, Sarah seemed as if she wanted to say something, but never spoke up. She seemed pretty quiet the rest of the night as well, but I thought it best for her to go at her own pace rather than confront her on it. We went to bed late that night; I limped my way up the stairs with Clara while Sarah set up the couch for herself.

"I think Sarah wants to talk about you and me but doesn't know how to start." I said quietly as Clara and I reached our room.

Clara nodded. "You're right, I can feel she wants to talk."

"You think she's really okay with us being together romantically?" I asked, causing Clara to blush. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked, worried I had embarassed her somehow.

"No," Clara said, still blushing, "I just never heard you say it like that before."

I smiled and leaned in for a kiss, which she returned deeply. "You think we should bring it up for her?" I asked after a while.

"I think we should let her decide when to talk." Clara said.

"And if she doesn't get to it before ted returns?" I asked.

Clara giggled, "You know Sarah won't wait that long, she's usually to the point."

"Yeah you're right." I said, stretching, feeling a throb from my foot in response. "We'll just wait it out in the meantime and make sure she knows we still care about her."

Clara nodded and nuzzled into my neck as we drifted off for the night in each other's arms. Right as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard the door open. I looked up sleepily, expecting it to be Ted or Sarah checking on me, but after a moment remembered Ted was away in the city. Instead of seeing Sarah though, I was confused to see no one at the door as it slowly swung open. I sat up rubbing my eyes just as I felt four paws land squarely in my lap. I scooted back startled, and saw that the Espeon who had pounced me kept her footing seemingly without effort.

"E-Esper!" I stamered out, now fully awake.

"I want to thank you, human." Esper said, and I could swear she was smiling.

I stared at her confused for a bit before she started chuckling.

"You don't seem to know what I mean," Esper said. "So I'd like to show you."

"Show me what?" I asked, finally feeling my heart rate returning to normal.

This time I was sure she was smiling; I could see her teeth showing. "The prize you've given me." She said before leaping down onto the floor silently and strutting out of the room. I stared after her for a moment, confused, then turned to check on my partner. Clara was snoring silently against me.

"Clara, wake up." I said quietly, shaking her shoulder gently. Slowly she came to, and looked up at me.

"Mark? Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I don't think so, but..." I said, trailing off. I looked over to the doorway and saw Esper sitting in the hall patiently, her tail swishing back and forth slowly. "Esper said she wanted to show something."

Clara yawned and sat up before sliding out of bed. "Lets see what it is." She said, helping me out and onto the floor. We walked over to the door where Esper sat.

"I didn't tell you to wake your partner human." Esper said sternly, "But she helped in her own way so I guess she has just as much right to see."

"See what?" Clara asked.

Esper said nothing and simply stood up and walked down the hall, her tail still flicking back and forth. Clara looked at me confused. I shrugged and followed the purple fox, who thankfully walked slow enough for me to keep up with my gimped foot. Clara followed close behind as Esper led us downstairs and into the living room. I didn't see Sarah anywhere and looked over to the couch; which was set up for Sarah to sleep on but otherwise looked untouched. I noticed Flare passed out and snoring heavily against the wall and decided not to wake him. I was about to ask Esper what was going on, but noticed she hadn't stopped and was heading through the kitchen now. I hurried as best I could to catch up with her as she reached the back door; which swung open for her as she continued out into the night. I gave a confused look towards Clara before heading out after Esper. I could barely see anything except for a dim glow coming from the gem on Esper's forehead, which allowed me to keep track of her in the darkness; and a thin sliver of light coming from between the closed barn doors. The fresh dew on the grass felt ice cold to my good foot but felt wonderful on my wounded one. Before I could really relish the cool though, we reached the barn, and Esper stopped and turned to sit facing us.

"Here we are." Esper said.

"Why exactly are we here?" I asked, looking down at the fox.

Esper began licking her paws as she spoke to us. "Because of you, Sarah's had to rethink a lot of her life. Did she ever tell you why she quit the Jhoto league to become a police officer?" She asked.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to help people." Clara said, taking my hand.

Esper nodded. "Yes, that's what she told herself and there is some truth to it, but why, if she just wanted to help people, would she have bothered going into the league in the first place?"

"Well, maybe family pressure?" I suggested.

Esper shook her head. "Sarah didn't want to be a police officer to begin with. She chose that path to make up for what she thought was a bad side of herself."

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked.

"You sure are slow, human." Esper remarked, looking up at me with her head tilted.

I blushed and looked away. "I'm not slow, I just want you to say it all plainly rather than this roundabout way of explaining things."

Esper resumed lickign her paws. "Fair enough, human. Sarah felt ashamed of an attraction she felt towards one of her partners, something you can sympathize with I presume. She unfortunately lacked the open mind you had during whatever your first experience was and did everything she could to repress it. She thought she must be some kind of evil for desiring Geld as more than a battle partner, and tried to repress it and somehow make up for it. So she left her pokemon with her family and applied for the police academy in her hometown, which was able to provide her with her Spinarak but was unable to fit her into any of their classes."

I felt Clara tighten her grip on my hand, and I returned the squeeze.

"They offered her a spot in their transfer student program, and she was more than glad to go. the more distance between her and Geld the better. So she left everything behind to cover up her shame and eventually she forgot about it herself. She started to remember when that Medicham let slip she kept a human mate, and you remember how well she handled it."

By now I had noticed the faint scuffling sound emanating from inside the barn as well as the occasional grunt.

"Even she didn't know why she was so mad then, but the more she thought about you and your Clara the more she had to work to convince herself it was wrong." Esper's tail was swishing faster now. "It got bad enough that she had to take leave from work, and feeling alone after the experience she turned to her old companions for comfort. What she didn't know was that she hadn't been the only one to feel attractions like that. I was bitter after being left behind like that but I hadn't forgotten the good times we had. She made me happy like nothing else, my current form is proof enough of that. So seeing the situation as it was, I made my move, I couldn't leave such vulnerability untended to after all." By now she was purring deeply.

"So you and Sarah are mates now?" I asked, having suspected it but not quite believing it now that it was in front of me.

"Oh no," Esper chuckled, "We're a bit more than that. See, Sarah's not the straight laced honor student she makes herself out to be, underneath the surface she has much more interesting traits, even beyond her attractions to her partners."

"What are you saying?" Clara asked. I could feel her trembling now.

I saw a sly glint flash across Esper's eyes. "I mean in the daytime Sarah is the master, but during the night..." She trailed off. Before I could ask her to continue, the barn doors creaked open, flooding the lawn with light. It took a moment to adjust to the light, but once I had any questions were immediately erased from my mind. I can't say I wasn't expecting what was in the barn, but that certainly didn't mean I was prepared for it.

Naked, arms bound behind her, blindfolded, and with a ball-gag firmly in place muffling her moans, Sarah lay in the dirt on the barn floor. Above her was Geld, her Typhlosion, who was currently balls deep inside his trainer and from his enthusiastic humping and pleasure filled grunts and murrs, he was clearly enjoying taking her. Although restrained and silenced, It was clear Sarah was enjoying it too from the way she writhed up to meet his thrusts.

"Naturally, I made sure Geld wanted it too." Esper spoke up, sitting down next to Sarah. "Sarah's such an good pet, and she enjoys it so much too." She added purring. "She doesn't even know I'm here right now, let alone you two."

I was about to speak up but thought better of it. thankfully Clara stepped in with her more private telepathy. "It's not right to have us see her like this without her knowing!" She pleaded.

"So naive." Esper said. "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I said she was a lot more interesting beneath the surface. I believe a demonstration is in order." She said standing up. "Sarah dear, are you enjoying that Typhlosion cock?" Esper said endearingly, just as the ball-gag loosened and levitated away from Sarah's mouth.

"Y-yes Mistress." Sarah all but moaned blushing deeply. "I love it!"

"I'm feeling a bit neglected from the fun, be a good pet and tend to your Mistress' pussy." Esper cooed, backing up into Sarah's face presenting her dripping slit. Sarah said nothing and all but lunged forward, her tongue eagerly delving into the fox's depths and working it as best she could.

I looked to Clara and saw she was blushing deeply.

A deep purr brought my eyes back to the display Esper had arranged to see the Espeon seizing up. Her tail pointed straight up in the air and the fur on her back stood up as she came from Sarah's tongue. "Good girl." Esper said as she stepped away purring, leaving Sarah's mouth unobstructed and moaning. "I believe its time for a change of position, wouldn't you agree Geld?" She said, looking to the huge pokemon. Geld nodded with a murr and pulled out of Sarah, leaving her whimpering on the floor as he walked off and assumed a sitting position leaning up against the back of one of the stalls, his massive shaft pointed straight up as it twitched. Esper lifted Sarah up and levitated her through the air into the Typhlosion's lap before gently lining her up with his rod and dropping her onto it. Sarah let out a sharp moan as she was filled almost instantly and quickly set to work riding her partner's shaft. Geld murred happily and grabbed her thighs for leverage as he started grinding up into her.

"M-Mistress, I'm getting close." Sarah panted out between moans, her breasts bouncing freely as she writhed atop her pokemon.

"Not yet," Esper scolded. "You aren't allowed to cum until Geld does."

Sarah bit her lip and whimpered, doing her best to contain herself as Geld continued grinding up into her. All Clara and I could do was stare at this point, stunned far beyond words or action. Esper walked up to inspect the mating pair. "My my," She said, "Poor Geld looks like he hasn't cum in months with how swollen these are." She added while starting to lick the Typhlosions testes, encouraging him to cum.

"D-don't hold back Geld, give it all to me." Sarah whimpered. "I want you to let it all out in me!"

"My my what a slutty pet you are." Esper teased, causing Sarah to blush more. "It looks like Geld here likes that though, he's just about ready to burst."

Sarah started riding the Typhlosion as fast as she could, forcing his rod into her hard and deep as he tensed up.

"Did I mention we have guests my pet?" Esper said coyly.

"W-what?" Sarah stammered.

"There's some people here that you should thank dear." Esper said, pulling Sarah's blindfold off and levitating it away. Sarah locked eyes with me and turned beat red, though only for a moment before she locked up, legs trembling as she sank down deep on her partner's cock. She moaned weakly as a powerful orgasm rocked her and it was only a moment later that the massive rod inside her started twitching, pumping her full of his heavy load. Semen drooled out of her and down Geld's member as her womb was filled and the excess drizzled out of her.

Before I could say anything Esper spoke up. "Bad girl!" She scolded, "You came before Geld did!"

Sarah looked up. "I-I'm sorry Mistress!" She stammered, seeming to forget about me and Clara at least for the moment.

Esper sighed. "I'll have to deal with your punishment another night, there's not enough time tonight."

Sarah nodded silently.

"Well, don't you have something to say to our guests?" Esper said impatiently.

Sarah looked up at Clara and I sheepishly. "L-look..." She started. "I know I'm a massive fucking hypocrite for ending up like this after threatening to arrest you..."

Blushing, I spoke up. "I already said we're past that, I'm just surprised we're both like this."

Sarah nodded slowly, making an attempt to cover her chest, but not getting much success with her arms still tied behind her back. "What about you Clara?" She asked nervously.

Clara smiled. "Don't worry about it Sarah, I'm just glad you're being honest with yourself. It's the first step to being happy like this you know." She said.

Sarah nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else.

Esper looked up at her impatiently, "Well, what are you waiting for pet? Thank the kind couple."

Sarah jumped a little and nodded quickly. "T-thank you Mark and Clara for helping me to be with Geld."

"And?" Esper asked impatiently.

"A-and to be Esper's loyal pet." She added quietly.

"That's my good girl." Esper cooed as she licked Sarah's face, making her smile.

After a few moments of silence, Esper turned to face us. "You have my sincere thanks as well, Mark and Clara. Without you I wouldn't have known such happiness."

I nodded, blushing at the flattery.

"That aside, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you return to your room. I hope you enjoyed what you saw, but from here on we would like privacy." Esper said.

I nodded silently, and took Clara's hand as I led her back to the house. The barn doors closed behind us as we left, and once inside Clara burst out giggling.

"I'm sorry," She said, trying hard to stop herself. "I know it's not nice to laugh but I keep thinking of how she yelled at us and then to see her like that...." She trailed off, a fresh fit of giggles taking over.

I smiled sheepishly, "Yeah guess I can't really blame you for laughing." I said, then something caught my eye. Smirking, I stepped behind Clara and wrapped my arms around her, sliding my hand down to the prominent bulge in her dress. "I can blame you for this though." I whispered in her ear.

Clara blushed deeply and tensed up in my grip. "S-shouldn't I be punished for this Master?" She said coyly.

I grinned and slipped my hand under her dress taking ahold of her shaft before starting to stroke it gently. "Yes, you should." I teased, nibbling her ear gently. Clara moaned quietly, rocking her hips into my hand as I stroked her faster. I felt my own member swelling and pressed it into her as I jerked her off, letting her feel how hard I was getting. "I think I have a good punishment for you in mind." I said.

"Anything you want Master." Clara all but purred, continuing to thrust into my hand.

I smiled, "Down on your knees then." I said, and Clara did so obediently; I could see she was smiling as well.

"Would Master like me to pleasure him with my mouth?" She asked, licking her lips.

I smirked, "No, you're only to use your hands. If you're a good enough girl I'll let you use your mouth to make me cum." I ordered.

Clara nodded eagerly and quickly undid my fly, freeing my throbbing malehood within moments before setting to work rhythmically stroking it with both hands. I sighed with pleasure as she worked, and eventually I felt one of her hands slip free. I looked down to see her quickly stroking her own member as her other hand sped up to compensate. I groaned as her hand grew slick with pre and she sped up, seeming to rub all of my most sensitive spots with each stroke. Before long she had me panting as she quickly jerked both of us off. Her grip suddenly tightened on my shaft as she came across the floor, moaning quietly before returning her second hand to my shaft, adding her own cum as extra lubrication. I felt my peak arriving quickly with both her hands working my cock expertly, and Clara sensed this. "Please Master, may I taste it?" She begged.

I groaned and nodded, "That's a good girl, don't let a drop go to waste." I said. Clara's mouth immediately descended upon my shaft and began massaging it with her tongue. I came instantly, flooding her mouth as her lips locked tight around my base. I panted and pumped everything I had into her as she eagerly swallowed every spurt. She diligently licked my shaft clean of any seed left, be it hers or mine, before pulling off of me and standing up. I chuckled and embraced her, kissing her deeply.

After we had both come down from our afterglow, we quickly cleaned up the mess Clara had made; which was easy due to the kitchen's tile floor. My foot now numbed from both the dew from outside and a powerful orgasm thanks to Clara, I didn't even limp going up the stairs to our room before snuggling into bed with my mate and passing out for the night.

When I awoke the next morning, I could only lay there staring at the ceiling for a while as I ran everything that had happened last night through my head again. Eventually I looked over at Clara who was already awake and watching me with a smile. "That was all real wasn't it." I said to her, and she nodded before kissing me on the cheek and hopping out of bed. I followed close behind her and was greeted to the smell of bacon and eggs once in the hallway. Downstairs, we found the table already set and Sarah groggily dishing up a plate for herself.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked as I sat down.

Sarah blushed, "Some, but Esper wouldn't let Geld out of me so..."

"It's okay, I understand." I said, dishing up a plate for myself.

"Listen, Mark..." Sarah said, "I really want to thank you for opening my eyes." She said quietly.

"No need to say it again, you already thanked us last night Sarah." I said, blushing.

"No, I need to say this now in the daytime." Sarah asserted. "I need to say it so you know its me thanking you and not Esper making me thank you."

I nodded understanding. "I'm with Clara, I'm just glad you're okay Sarah." I said.

Sarah nodded and slowly began eating her breakfast.

"Though I have to ask," I resumed, causing Sarah to look up. "How exactly did you end up in the relationship with Esper that you're currently in."

Sarah blushed deeply. "Normally I wouldn't talk about this kind of stuff, but lets say a lot has changed in the past month." She said. "I've always had a more kinky side that I try to hide, but one of my things is I get off by being dominated, and it turns out Esper gets off on dominating, so when she confessed her feelings to me and started making advances I was all but helpless to submit and we turned out to compliment each other perfectly. I can say for sure its made us a lot closer, I mean you saw us lift the barn. Anyway, the rope, blindfold, and gag were all things I bought on my own for Esper to use. I kept them a secret until they arrived and lets say Esper was more than pleased to see what her pet had bought her. Eventually I told her about my feelings for Geld, but I didn't expect anything to come of it. Last night was the first time he took me..." She trailed off, seeming lost in thought.

I couldn't keep from smiling and when Sarah finally came to and saw me she scowled. "Oh quit it." She growled. "Not like you're one to talk. Esper told me about what you do with Flare."

I blushed deeply. "alright fair point, we both liked getting stretched." I stammered out.

We stared at each other for a few moments before simultaneously breaking out laughing.

"Wow, Mark." Sarah said.

"How else was I supposed to put it?" I asked, still giggling.

"I don't know." She said, breaking into a fresh laughing fit.

After a while we got ahold of ourselves and finished eating. We cleared the table and Sarah was about to head out in the field to start work, but I made her stay behind to catch up on missed sleep. She was out cold within minutes of laying down and snoring lightly. Clara and I headed out into the fields with Flare close at our heels; though he was more there for the chance to stretch his legs than to help out. We set to work feeding and grooming Ted's stock, which varied from the Umbreon I had seen before to a Tauros and Miltank pair, to even a couple Muk; which I knew better than attempt to groom and just prepared an appropriate meal for. All of Ted's pokemon were remarkably tame, even the Tauros waited patiently as I brushed him instead of trying to defend his mate the moment We entered his pen as most Tauros would do.

The work wasn't hard, but the sheer amount of pokemon Ted was taking care of kept us busy well after dusk, and by the time we got back to the house we were relieved to see Sarah was up and in the process of making dinner.

"You two look like you ran a marathon." Sarah remarked as we trudged inside.

"Not exactly." Clara said, "But close enough."

"I take it you've worked up quite an appetite." Sarah said.

"Like you wouldn't believe." I sighed as I collapsed on the couch. Flare was still out in the fields running about, but had returned by the time Sarah had dinner ready and all but inhaled the meal she had made for him. Clara and I thanked her generously for cooking before setting to work filling our stomachs. Sarah had propped the back door open and set up her pokemon's food bowls outside so it wouldn't be so cramped while we ate and through the doorway I could see Geld and Esper sitting close to each other as they emptied their bowls.

"How's your foot doing?" Sarah asked after we finished eating and began clearing the table.

"Hurts a bit, but now it just mostly itches." I said, wiggling my toes to prove my point.

The rest of the evening passed quickly for us and Clara and I both hit the sack early, still tired from the day's work. Sunday went by in a similar fashion, though this time Sarah was awake to help us out in the fields and we finished the work early. Not having much else to do after that, we wound up sitting around the table and just chatting.

"I'm quitting the force." Sarah said abruptly and seemingly out of nowhere.

I blinked. "You sure you want to do that?" I asked. "You're and amazing officer you know."

Sarah nodded. "I know." She said quietly. "But thanks to you two I realized what I really want to do." Esper hopped up into Sarah's lap from the floor and Sarah began petting her. "I want to be with my partners, but if I stay with the force I'll only be able to visit them occasionally."

I nodded. "So what's your plan then?" I asked.

Sarah was quiet for a while. "I'm going back into the league." She said.

"You want to resume you're Jhoto challenge?" I asked. "How many badges do you have?"

"I have three of the Jhoto badges." Sarah said, "I'm not going back to the Jhoto league again though, at least not yet."

"Then where?" Clara asked.

"I want to start out as fresh as possible, I'm thinking either Unova or Hoenn." She said. "Probobly going with Hoenn because it's closer."

"I take it that means we won't be seeing each other for a while." I said quietly.

"No, probobly not." Sarah said, looking down. "But don't think that means we're done being friends. I'll do my best to check up on you and report my progress through the league, I promise."

I nodded and looked up at her smiling. "Then I wish you the best of luck Sarah, though I've seen how you battle so luck may not be a factor." I said. "Though there's one thing I want you to do before you head back home or set out for Hoenn." I added.

"What's that?" Sarah asked, looking a bit confused.

A half hour later we were standing in front of a small house in town, a house Clara and I recognized but Sarah did not. "I still don't quite get what you want me to do." Sarah said, looking around the small yard. I said nothing and merely rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Simon standing there.

"Hey Mark!" He said cheerfully. "Glad to see you're-" he stopped mid sentence, spotting Sarah who had frozen up upon recognizing him.

"Simon, you remember Sarah don't you?" I said as amiably as I could.

"Y-yeah, I do." He stammered out.

"You should probably go get Jade and Ruby." I suggested.

Simon nodded, clearly afraid but trusting me all the same. After a few moments he returned with both pokemon. Ruby was hiding behind his leg as usual for her, but so was Jade to my surprise.

"Sarah, I think you know why we're here." I said calmly, and she nodded sheepishly.

"Simon, Jade, Ruby..." She began quietly. "I want to apologize for everything I've done to you. I know now that your relationship is actually a good thing, but even in my ignorance my reactions were inexcusable. I understand if you can't forgive me for all the stress and worry I caused you, but I want you to know I regret doing it now." She was silent after that, unable to look at anything more than the ground.

After a few minutes passed, Jade slowly stepped out from behind Simon and walked over to Sarah, who looked up just in time to receive a full handed slap from the Medicham. Sarah winced but, stayed put.

"You have no idea what I've been going through." Jade growled, then sighed. "But you're lucky Mark here trusts you, otherwise a slap would have been the least of your problems from me." Sarah looked the pokemon in the eyes and saw Jade smirking. Before Sarah could say anything though the Medicham had wrapped her arms around her and was hugging her. Sarah shyly returned the hug.

"We're even now." Jade said after stepping back.

"After just a slap?" Sarah asked, disbelievingly.

Jade smirked and I saw a blue glint in her eyes. "Lets just say I know a lot more about you now and approve of your change in attitude." she said.

Sarah blushed deeply and nodded sheepishly, then turned to Simon and Ruby. "You both are still entitled to you're own retribution, Jade wasn't the only one I hurt." She said shakily.

To her surprise Simon started laughing. "Sarah, you don't need to worry about it." he said. "My biggest concern was Jade and now that she's satisfied I have no qualms with you." He looked down to his Mienshao who had timidly stepped out from behind him. "I don't think Ruby here holds anything against you either." He added. To prove his point Ruby dashed forward quickly and gave Sarah a lick on the cheek before rushing back behind her mate's legs. "As far as I'm concerned we're back to square one again, and a friend of Mark's is a friend of ours." He said smiling.

"T-thank you." Sarah stammered, barely holding tears back. Once she had regained her composure, we went inside with Simon and resumed getting to know each other as if we were still back at the restaurant a month ago. Sarah seemed reserved at first, but gradually loosened up as she came to realize none of them hated her. Dusk came quickly and unfortunately we had to say our goodbyes and head back home. We returned to find Ted had returned from the Expo in Goldenrod. We spent a few hours asking him about everything there before Sarah and Clara made dinner, letting Ted relax for the evening. The food was great as usual, as was the company and before long we had to call it a night and went to bed. So ended the last day of Sarah's visit.

Monday came and with it, a taxi to take Sarah home. She made sure to thank us generously before hopping in back with Esper and waving goodbye. I returned to work a few days later, still with a slight limp but Chief Ramsey seemed okay with it. Life returned to normal quickly after that; the children were all very excited to have their favorite Arcanine back on crossing guard duty; the massive pile of papers that needed filing still seemed endless; and I was still doing grunt work around the office. It wasn't long after that that I found a house in town that was renting for relatively cheap and applied. A few days later I was approved, and after making my first payment we began moving in. Work went much faster than moving out of my apartment had gone, as we had Simon, Ted, Ruby, and Jade to help us out this time. After getting situated we had a little housewarming party which the whole force attended; all five of them at least. That night, finally having some real privacy for the first time since leaving the academy, we had our own little housewarming party. I rolled out the yoga mat in the spacious living room and made sure to close the blinds before we began. Flare had been really pent up and I let him use my ass as much as he wanted again while I tended to Clara. Again and again, Flare mounted and Filled me with his hot seed while I pleasured my other partner with my mouth. I lost track of how many times I came and was knotted. Clara could only moan as I massaged her member with my tongue and fingered her ass, and I lost count of her orgasms after about the fifth time she filled my mouth with her seed. Eventually we collapsed, exhausted, and slept together well past noon; after which we spent most of the afternoon cleaning the huge mess and the rest of which relaxing together in front of the TV.

A few weeks later I got a call from Sarah asking me to come see her off on her journey, which I accepted gladly. Chief Ramsey seemed doubtful of granting me leave again so soon after my last break, but eventually wore down once he saw how important it was to me. Sarah arrived in a taxi a few days later to pick us up. She was dressed in her familiar Ace Trainer garb and I complimented her on how well the look suited her. After chatting a bit, we piled in the car and made the trip to Olivine City together. It took us a while to find the ship she was scheduled to board, and when we did she had barely any time left before it departed. Rushing her on deck, all we could really manage in the way of farewells was waving to her from the dock as the ship pulled out to sea until we could no longer see her. A little sad to see her go, but smiling all the same, I took Clara's hand and led her and Flare back to the taxi and we returned home to once again settle back into regular life, or at least what passed as regular for us.