And we have sex again. Though not actual sex, but you get what I mean.

Don't worry. The good stuff is coming up very soon, I promise.

After my first attempt at writing this didn't match up with how I've been writing it, I decided to rewrite it. Anyway, enjoy.

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I yawned, stretching my limbs as I opened my eyes from a wonderful night's sleep. I sat up on the bundle of hay, trying to recall yesterday's events. I remember that last night, I had talked to one of the newest members of our team, Sentret, about Stephanie's recent behavior. I made a note to myself that today, one way or another, I would find out why Stephanie's been acting like she has towards me.

"Maybe Sentret was right. Stephanie does seem to be acting like she loves me, could she be trying to maybe make me feel the same way toward her?" I asked myself. I decided not to think about it anymore, as I know she'll be by soon and we'll be busy doing another rescue job. I stood up on my legs, grabbed the Toolbox, and started walking out of the base.

Once I was out of the base, I had that strange feeling that I was being watched again. I don't know why I felt paranoid, but I could feel that someone was close by, watching me. I looked to my sides, but once again, I couldn't see anything. I hoped that these strange feelings of someone watching me would go away soon. But, as I was thinking about this, I saw Stephanie walking up to the base, ready for a brand-new day.

"Daniel, good morning! Let's do good again today!" Stephanie exclaimed, with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. I began to smile as I responded.

"Good morning, Stephanie! Let's rescue some more Pokémon!" I exclaimed. However, as I was about to say something else, another familiar voice spoke from behind Stephanie.

"Umm... Hello?" The voice said. It sounded familiar, but I didn't know where I had heard it before. We've been getting quite a few familiar faces the past couple of mornings, but this was another new one. I saw Stephanie look at me, with a confused tone in her voice as she spoke.

"Huh? Who could that be?" Stephanie asked. I didn't know who it was either, but I saw Stephanie turn around to face who had spoken to us. I saw what looked like a familiar blue Pokémon approach us, but I didn't know where I had seen it before. I saw Stephanie back away from the approaching Pokémon, until she was standing next to me. The blue Pokémon started speaking to us again.

"Umm... Is rescue team Nature here?" He asked us. I wondered if this was another rescue mission, since this Pokémon knew us somehow.

"That's right... Huh? Wait, aren't you..." Stephanie said, trailing off. She looked like she was thinking and I began thinking as well. Suddenly, a scene from a few days ago flashed before my eyes as I remembered where I had seen this Pokémon before.

***

We were in Pokémon Square at the time, when I had seen Jumpluff begging Shiftry for help. "Please help my friend! Please, I need help!" Jumpluff exclaimed.

"Forget it. We're not about to work for that." Shiftry replied smugly at Jumpluff.

"But my friend needs a gust of wind! Please!" Jumpluff continued to beg.

***

Then, the scene disappeared from my eyes as I refocused my eyes on the same Jumpluff we had seen a few days ago at Pokémon Square.

"I remember now! Jumpluff, we saw you in Pokémon Square. We watched Shiftry agreeing to take on your rescue job." Stephanie said happily. I wondered why Jumpluff was here if Shiftry had agreed to do the rescue job as we saw him do when Alakazam's team showed up the other day. However, Jumpluff's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Yes. But, Shiftry... He hasn't come back yet from the rescue mission." He said sadly. I was shocked to hear that and my eyes went wide.

"Are you serious?!" Stephanie asked surprisingly.

"How'd that happen?!" I asked, shocked at this news as well.

"Our friend Jumpluff got wedged between some rocks. We Jumpluff can go anywhere if we can catch a wind, but... Even though the skies are filled with thunderclouds, for some odd reason, the winds haven't blown." Jumpluff replied sadly.

"Not even a breeze? That is strange..." Stephanie asked confused.

"Yeah, that is really strange. I don't get it..." I said, trailing off at the end.

"Shiftry's leafy fans can whip up powerful winds. We thought Shiftry's wind would be able to dislodge our friend, but..." Jumpluff replied, trailing off at the end.

"But Shiftry hasn't returned...? It doesn't sound like all that challenging of a rescue mission... It is strange..." Stephanie said, trailing off at the end. Then, she stood there for a moment, confused and unsure of what to do next.

She then turned to face me and I turned to face her with a look of readiness in my eyes, letting her know that I was ready to look for Jumpluff's friend and Shiftry.

"Oh? That's the spirit, Daniel. Your expression tells me you're ready." Stephanie said, looking at me with her eyes sparkling. I found it cute when they looked like that, but I decided to drop that out of my head for now, to focus on the mission ahead of us. Then, she turned to look at Jumpluff and I did too. "OK, then! We'll go look for them!" She exclaimed.

I saw Jumpluff jump in the air and beam with pride when he heard that. "R-really? Thank you!" He exclaimed happily.

"No problem! You can count on us!" Stephanie replied happily. Then, she turned to face me and I turned to face her. "Let's go, Daniel!" Stephanie said, smiling at me.

"OK! Let's go, Stephanie!" I said, smiling back at her. We started walking out and over toward our Friend Areas to grab another member to help us for the mission ahead. I wondered which one we would take now, since we had more than just Magnemite to pick from. I decided that Magnemite would probably be the best one to pick, seeing as he probably had more experience fighting in the dungeons than Sentret and Slakoth.

We started walking over to the Power Plant, knowing where it was rather easily by now. On the way there, I remembered that I wanted to know what area Stephanie stayed at, but I would have to find that out later. Right now, we have a mission ahead of us and I can't get distracted by minor things.

We reached the Power Plant and we saw Magnemite floating around. He noticed us and then floated over to us. "Time for another mission?" He asked us. I nodded my head and he floated over next to us, staying with us for today's mission. We started walking back toward the base and then, when we got there, I started walking over to Pokémon Square, to check out the Bulletin Board at the Pelipper Post Office.

We started walking when I decided to make a small stop at the Kangaskhan Storage, to free up some space in the Toolbox. I walked up to the store and behind the counter, there stood Kangaskhan. "Hello, sweetie! What can I do for you today?" She asked, smiling at me.

"I'd like to deposit some items." I replied. I reached into the Toolbox and pulled out a few apples, an Oran Berry, and a Max Elixir and handed them to Kangaskhan. She took them from me and put them back with the rest of the items I had already given her in the past few days. Then, she turned back to face me as she spoke.

"Is that all?" She asked. I nodded my head in response. "Well, thanks sweeties! Come again soon!" She exclaimed. We started walking away from the Kangaskhan Storage and over to the Pelipper Post Office. Less than a minute later, we had arrived in front of the Pelipper Post Office and were standing in front of the Bulletin Board.

I stepped up to the board and looked it over. I could see more new missions up and most of them were in Mt. Steel and the area we explored yesterday, Sinister Woods. I reached up and touched the jobs in those areas, selecting Accept under them to accept the request. Then, I selected Take Job so we could to the dungeon and do the job. With that out of the way, we started walking back through Pokémon Square and toward our base for today's mission. About a minute later, we had gotten back to our base and so we started walking away from our base.

We started walking toward the location for today's mission: Silent Chasm. Unlike the other missions though, the Jumpluff who wanted us to find his friend and Shiftry followed us to the cave. I didn't know why he did this, but I would soon find out though. It took us a while to reach Silent Chasm, as it was like some of the other dungeons we've been to, quite a distance from our base.

I could see Stephanie looking over a cliff down to the ground below. "Wow! This cliff is steep!" Stephanie exclaimed. Then, she and I turned to face Jumpluff. "Your friend Jumpluff is lost deep in this canyon?" She asked him.

"Yes... I'm sorry to ask, but please help." Jumpluff replied.

"It'll be fine. Let's go, Daniel!" Stephanie said, turning to face me. We started walking over to the entrance, when Jumpluff's voice interrupted us.

"...Wait!" He exclaimed suddenly. We turned to face him, wondering why he had stopped us.

"Yes? What is it?" Stephanie asked curiously. I was curious why he had stopped us as well.

"There's something I forgot to mention... This canyon is known as the Silent Chasm, but... It's rumored that an amazing monster sleeps here." Jumpluff replied sadly. I was surprised to hear this. However, I wasn't the only one surprised.

"M...monster?!" Stephanie asked nervously.

"Yes, but! It's only folklore! It's also true that Shiftry hasn't returned... I just thought I should let you know..." Jumpluff replied, trying to calm us down. However, I was still a little nervous at what this "monster" could be. I was brought of my thoughts when I heard Stephanie's voice.

"Owowow! My stomach! It hurts..." She said, in pain and crying. I turned to face her, wondering what caused her to start acting like this all of a sudden.

"Oh! What's wrong?!" Jumpluff exclaimed. Stephanie started falling down to the ground, holding her stomach as she talked.

"It's my stomach! It suddenly cramped up! Owowow... I think my breakfast was spoiled or something..." She replied sadly. Then, she got up and turned to face me as she continued speaking. "Say, Daniel, you're feeling sick too, aren't you? Daniel, your stomach hurts too, doesn't it?" She asked, giving me a wink after saying all that. I figured she wanted me to play along with her, though I had no idea why. Maybe she's afraid and doesn't want to do the mission because of this "monster" that's rumored to sleep here.

"Ow! Yes, my stomach hurts too! I think I must have had something bad for breakfast today..." I exclaimed, trailing off at the end to pretend I was in pain. I fell down to the ground, laying on my stomach. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Stephanie looking to Jumpluff as she spoke to him.

"See... Daniel is hurting too. I'm sorry, but we won't be able to handle this rescue..." Stephanie said, trailing off again. I figured that she probably was scared of this "monster" that was rumored to be sleeping here. I was a little afraid too, but I wasn't going to let it stop me.

"Is that so? But Daniel... Hasn't had anything to eat yet this morning." Jumpluff replied. I wondered how he knew that, but I wasn't going to complain. Seeing as we were caught in the act, I decided to stand up and face Stephanie. But she was still pretending somewhat, for the sake of trying to trick Jumpluff.

"Owowow... I guess the cramping settled down..." Stephanie said, with a confused look on her face. Then, we started laughing as she spoke again. "Hahahahaha..." Stephanie said, smiling with her eyes closed. Then, we turned to face Jumpluff again. "So, anyway, you said there may be a monster. What is it like?" Stephanie asked. I wanted to know more about this "monster" that we may or may not face while we're here as well.

"I don't know very much at all... It is an old folktale. I wouldn't know if it existed or not." Jumpluff replied.

"OK... Well, it can't be helped. Let's just hope that monster doesn't exist." Stephanie said smiling.

"My friend Jumpluff should be around the basement of this dungeon. Please take care!" Jumpluff exclaimed.

"OK! Gotcha! Let's get going, Daniel!" Stephanie exclaimed, as she turned to face me. I turned to face her and smiled back at her.

"Let's do this, Stephanie!" I exclaimed, wanting to get this mission done as well. So we walked in the dungeon and started walking, looking for the area where Jumpluff was and hopefully, we would find Shiftry as well. Upon entering, I saw some Poké on the ground and picked it up, storing it for future use. We continued walking and I turned to face Stephanie to ask her about what she had just done outside. "What was that about?" I asked her. She turned to face me with a confused look on her face.

"Hmm? What was what?" Stephanie asked, trying to act like she didn't know what I was talking about.

"That act you put on out there. Owowow, my stomach! Hahahahaha!" I said, laughing. "It was pretty funny seeing you act scared of a rumor of a monster sleeping here." I said, my laughter starting to fade.

"I wasn't scared! I was just doing what anyone would've probably done if they heard a monster slept here. And what about you? You acted like it too!" Stephanie exclaimed. I had only done it not to make her look silly in front of Jumpluff, so I was going to let her know that.

"I only did that because when you winked at me, I could tell that you wanted me to play along with you. Plus, I'll admit I was a little nervous about hearing that, but I wasn't going to let it stop me from doing the mission we came here to do." I replied smiling. I could see her start to look sad, so I decided to ask her why she looked like that. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Well, maybe I don't deserve to be on this team. If I got scared over a little something like a rumor, then why am I here?" Stephanie asked sadly. I could see she was beginning to doubt herself, so I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. I moved my hands up and down her back, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, it's okay. You're one of the bravest Pokémon I know. You've helped me taken on more scary things, like that Skarmory and Team Meanies yesterday. Rumors may just be that, nothing more than a child's tale told for scary effect." I said smiling. I pulled my head away from hers and saw her start to smile back at me. "Feeling better now?" I asked. I saw her give a nod as she started speaking.

"Yes. Thank you, Daniel. You're the best friend in the world." Stephanie replied smiling. She then grabbed my hands with hers and started stroking them softly. "Well, let's continue on now, shall we?" She asked. I nodded my head, continuing to walk with her. Soon, we came across a Teddiursa and I got into my battle pose.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Teddiursa with electricity. It hit the Teddiursa, weakening it slightly. The Teddiursa started scratching me with its claws, which I realized was its Scratch attack. "Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Teddiursa and knocking it out. We continued walking and came across a Yanma. I took my battle pose, when I heard Stephanie's voice behind me.

"Quick Attack!" She called, hitting the Yanma with her body. The Yanma then attacked me, weakening me further. I prepared to finish it off.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Yanma and knocking it out. We continued walking, looking for Jumpluff's friend and Shiftry. We soon came across another new Pokémon, a Farfetch'd. It looked like it was sleeping, so I walked up to it and it woke up, preparing for a fight. "Thundershock!" I called, trying to shock the Farfetch'd, but missing it.

The Farfetch'd started throwing sand in my face, which I realized was a Sand-Attack. But, it didn't seem to do anything to me. I prepared to try shocking it again. "Thundershock!" I called, trying to shock the Farfetch'd and succeeding this time. It fell down to the ground, defeated. We continued walking and soon came across another new Pokémon, a Weedle. I prepared to battle it, taking my battle pose.

"Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Weedle dead-on and knocking it out. We continued walking, wondering when we would reach the end of this dungeon. We encountered a sleeping Gloom, the evolved form of Oddish. I prepared to let my teammates help me on this one, walking up to the Gloom and waking it up. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Gloom with the electric attack. It hit the Gloom, weakening it slightly.

"Quick Attack!" Stephanie called, trying to hit the Gloom, but missing it. The Gloom started using Absorb on me, regaining its energy. I felt really weak now, but I decided not to let it stop me. I prepared to attack it again.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Gloom again and knocking it out. I decided to solve my energy problem by opening the Toolbox and pulling out an Oran Berry. I ate it, feeling my strength return as I did so. When I finished it, I felt back to normal, except for the pain of almost being defeated. Stephanie turned to face me as she spoke.

"You okay, Daniel?" She asked worriedly. I turned to face her as I spoke, panting slightly from how tired I was.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired from the battles I've been doing." I replied. I saw her look at me for a second before she started walking behind me as she started speaking again.

"Well, I can fix that." She said, before she started rubbing my shoulders again with her hands. She was doing a good job, which caused me to let out a sigh of pleasure. I could hear her giggle when I did this, so I figured she liked hearing me do that. Then, after I started feeling better, she withdrew her hands and started walking to face me, with a smile on her face. "Feel better now?" She asked.

"Yeah, a lot. Thanks." I replied, smiling back at her. I wondered why she was doing these things for me, but I figured I knew why as Sentret had explained yesterday. All the things she's been doing for me lately tell me that she is indeed in love with me. But, I decided to drop it for now and focus on the mission we came here to do. "Well, let's continue on now." I said to my teammates. They nodded in response and we continued walking.

We came across another Gravelerock, so I picked it up and placed it in the Toolbox, adding it to the others already in there. We kept walking and eventually came across another Weedle. I started walking toward it, when it fired a string of thread at me, causing me to get stuck to the ground. I realized it was a String Shot attack and it slowed me down a little. The Weedle started moving closer, so I decided to use an attack that would get me out of my current predicament.

"Quick Attack!" I called, breaking free from the string and hitting the Weedle. It fell down to the ground, defeated. We continued walking, but I could feel I got slower from the String Shot. I knew my speed would return to normal and soon enough, I could feel my legs walking again at a normal pace.

Soon, we came across another Farfetch'd and it used Sand-Attack on me, blinding me slightly. I could still see it though and I prepared to battle it. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Farfetch'd with electricity. I could see sparks fly off of its body, so I knew I paralyzed it. It was unable to move, so I decided to attack again. "Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Farfetch'd and knocking it out. When it fell down, it dropped some Poké it was holding and I picked it up, storing it for future spending purposes.

We continued walking and soon, I noticed we had walked around in a circle, so we walked back toward the right path. We eventually encountered another Yanma, so I prepared to battle it. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Yanma and knocking it out. We continued walking and I could see some Gravelerocks ahead. I was about to pick up one of them when Stephanie's voice interrupted me.

"Oh, let me get that for you, Daniel." She said, bending over to pick it up for me. I could see her behind as she did this and I had to admit, she looked a lot like one of the girls in my magazine I bought at the Gulpin Shop. But, I decided to drop it and took the Gravelerock from her, adding it to the others. I picked up the other one and added it to the collection as well. We kept walking and came across another Weedle. I hoped I could get this one to join our team this time.

"Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Weedle hard and knocking it out. We kept walking, soon coming across a Blast Seed. I picked it up and placed it in the Toolbox for future use. Soon, we came across another Weedle and I hoped I could get this one to join our team. I walked toward it, stepping out of its path and it fired a String Shot straight at Stephanie.

I felt bad that she had taken the hit instead of me, but I decided to beat the Weedle for her. I moved closer to it and took my usual battle pose. "Quick Attack!" I called, trying to hit the Weedle and missing it. Weedle then fired a poison stinger at me, so I realized it used its Poison Sting attack. Then, I had a weird feeling running through my body and I realized the Weedle had poisoned me.

"Quick Attack!" I called, trying to hit the Weedle and succeeding this time. It fell down to the ground, defeated. I could feel the poison in me slowly suck away my strength, so I opened the Toolbox, pulled out a Pecha Berry, and ate it. I could feel the poison slowly leave my body as I ate it and once I was finished, I felt as good as new. I turned to face Stephanie, as she was still stuck in the String Shot. "I'm sorry about that. Are you okay?" I asked concerned. I knew she was probably upset about getting stuck, so I decided to help her.

I started pulling away the string, throwing it away once I had pulled it off. When the last piece was off, I felt better that she could move again. But, I still felt upset with myself for letting that happen to her. However, her voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks." She said, smiling at me. Then, she saw the sad look on my face and spoke again. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's all my fault. I'm sorry I let that Weedle hit you with its String Shot." I said sadly. I felt terrible about what had happened to her, when I felt her stroke my hands with hers, rubbing them softly. I looked up at her with a confused look, seeing her smile at me as she spoke.

"Hey, it's okay. Mistakes happen. The important thing is not to let them get us down too much." She said, trying to cheer me up. She was right, I was being silly about nothing. I looked at her as a smile spread over my face. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Yes, thank you. I was being silly for no reason." I replied. I didn't know why I felt like this whenever she got hurt, so I decided to put it out of my head for now. We continued walking, searching for Jumpluff's friend and Shiftry.

I soon ran into another Yanma and as I moved closer to it, it used Quick Attack and weakened me slightly. I moved closer to it again and prepared to attack it. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Yanma and knocking it out. We started walking again and ran into a couple of Yanma and a Dustox. I was going to let my teammates help me on this one, so I prepared for a battle and so did they.

"Tackle!" Magnemite called, hitting one of the Yanma with his body. The Dustox started releasing a light aura, which I could feel hurting me. I realized this was a Confusion attack, but it soon stopped, and I felt slightly weaker. The Yanma attacked Magnemite back, hurting him slightly. I prepared to do some attacking now.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Dustox with electricity. It hit the Dustox, weakening it slightly.

"Quick Attack!" Stephanie called, hitting the other Yanma with her body.

"Tackle!" Magnemite called, hitting the Yanma he was fighting again with his body. I hoped we would beat them soon and be able to continue on our way. The Dustox used Confusion on me again, hurting me more. I was panting now, but the Yanma that Magnemite was fighting used Quick Attack on me, knocking me out. I was about to fade from view, when a Reviver Seed in the Toolbox started glowing, reviving me. Then, I was back on the battlefield, fully refreshed and ready to fight again as the Reviver Seed turned into a Plain Seed.

The other Yanma moved closer to me, wanting to fight me up close. I prepared to attack again, hopefully beating someone this time. "Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Dustox and knocking it out.

"Quick Attack!" Stephanie called, hitting the same Yanma as she did before.

"Tackle!" Magnemite called, hitting the other Yanma with his body once again. The Yanma he was fighting attacked me, weakening me again. Then, the other Yanma used Tackle on me, hitting me hard. Then, I saw sparks fly off of its body, due to my ability. I was going to finish the one who had attacked me first now.

"Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Yanma with my body. It fell down to the ground, defeated. I was happy, but Stephanie's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Absorb!" She called, sucking the energy out of the other Yanma. It fell down to the ground, defeated. We continued walking, wanting to find Jumpluff's friend and Shiftry as soon as possible. We didn't encounter any enemies as we continued walking, which I thought was a nice change from all the fighting we normally did.

Then, I saw another Gravelerock and a Max Elixir. I picked both items up, placing them in the Toolbox for future use. As we kept walking, I spotted some more Poké, storing that away as well. As we kept walking, I encountered a spider-like Pokémon, a Spinarak. It started looking at me with a scary-looking face, so I realized it was using a Scary Face attack.

It slowed me down a little, but I was still ready to battle. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Spinarak and weakening it slightly. Then, Stephanie's voice stopped me from doing anything else.

"Quick Attack!" She called, hitting the Spinarak hard with her body. It fell down to the ground, defeated. We kept walking, wondering when this dungeon would end. I found that I was soon able to walk back at a normal pace and continued walking. We kept walking and soon, I picked up some Poké and stored it in the Toolbox for future use. As we walked, we encountered another Dustox and I decided to let my teammates handle it. "Leer! Pound!" Stephanie called, hitting the Dustox with her combination attack.

The Dustox attacked Stephanie back, weakening her slightly. "Absorb!" Stephanie called, sucking the energy from the Dustox and regaining her own health.

"Tackle!" Magnemite called, charging forward to hit Dustox, but missing it. Dustox hit Stephanie again, but it looked pretty weak, so one last attack from her would finish it off.

"Absorb!" Stephanie called, sucking the Dustox's energy again and knocking it out. We continued walking, not encountering any enemies once again as we did so. I found another Gravelerock on the ground again and added it to collection of them I had in the Toolbox.

I came across another Gravelerock and placed it in the Toolbox. I came across some more Poké as well, adding it to the collection I already had. Soon, I came across a Poliwag, a water Pokémon. I smiled, because I had a type advantage over this Pokémon. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Poliwag with electricity. It fell down to the ground, defeated. I noticed another Pokémon, a Beedrill this time. I prepared for another fight. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Beedrill and hurting it slightly. I prepared for it to attack when Stephanie's voice spoke.

"Quick Attack!" She called, jumping up and hitting the Beedrill. The Beedrill attacked me back, weakening me slightly. I prepared to finish it off.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Beedrill again and knocking it out. As we started walking, I could hear Stephanie's voice behind me.

"Leer! Pound!" She called and I turned around to see her battling a Spinarak. She lowered the defense of it, but didn't hit it with her tail. The Spinarak attacked her back, hurting her slightly. I moved closer to help her with her foe. "Quick Attack!" She called, hitting the Spinarak hard with her body. It fell down, but quickly got back up and attacked her again. I prepared to help her this time in any way I could.

"Quick Attack!" I called, trying to hit the Spinarak, but missing it.

"Absorb!" Stephanie called, sucking the energy out of the Spinarak and regaining her own. The Spinarak then jumped on Stephanie, wrapping its legs around her. I realized this was a Constrict attack, which is supposed to slow the foe down sometimes. I prepared to finish it off, to give Stephanie a break.

"Quick Attack!" I called, trying to hit the Spinarak again and succeeding this time. It fell down to the ground, defeated. I was about to start walking, when I heard cheering aside me and saw Stephanie looking happy, as she must've leveled up again. We continued walking and soon, I could see another Pokémon, a Trapinch this time. I frowned because Trapinch are Ground-types, which are strong against Electric-types like myself. Still, I prepared to battle it, taking my usual battle pose.

"Quick Attack!" I called, trying to hit the Trapinch, but missing it. The Trapinch attacked me back, hurting me slightly. "Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Trapinch this time and weakening it. The Trapinch attacked me again, but I saw sparks fly off of its body, so it was paralyzed. "Quick Attack!" I called, but I missed the Trapinch again. I noticed it couldn't move due to the paralysis, so I decided to attack it again.

"Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Trapinch and hitting it. I saw it couldn't attack again, so I decided to finish it off now. "Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Trapinch one final time. It fell down to the ground, defeated. I was about to start walking, when I heard a cheer behind me. I looked at Magnemite to see him looking happy, as he had leveled up again. We continued walking and came across a dead end, so I started walking back toward the right path.

As I could feel we were close to the end of the dungeon, I could see one last Pokémon, a Paras. I prepared to battle it, with Magnemite at my side. "Thundershock!" I called, shocking the Paras with electricity.

"Tackle!" Magnemite called, hitting the Paras hard with his body. The Paras attacked me back, so I decided to finish it off now.

"Quick Attack!" I called, hitting the Paras and knocking it out. We continued walking, searching for where Jumpluff's friend and Shiftry could be. Soon, we could see the end of the dungeon, with nothing but an open area ahead.

"Isn't this the place? Where Jumpluff's friend is supposed to be?" Stephanie asked, looking to her sides. Then, we saw another Jumpluff approach us, I figured this one must be Jumpluff's friend. As Stephanie started speaking, it hid its face behind its cotton spores and started shaking. "Oh, hey!" She said surprised. We walked up to it to try to calm it down and let it know we were here to help. "We came for you! Are you all right?" Stephanie asked, smiling at Jumpluff's friend.

"Yes... I'm fine, but..." He replied, still shaking.

"Great! Your friend is waiting for you." Stephanie said, smiling at him.

"Shiftry is in the back..." Jumpluff's friend finished saying.

"Huh? Shiftry?" Stephanie asked confused. We looked behind Jumpluff's friend and there, we could see Shiftry lying on the ground. Then, we turned to face each other. "Let's go!" She exclaimed. We walked over to Shiftry, with Jumpluff's friend behind us. "Listen! Are you OK? Snap out of it!" She exclaimed surprisingly, wanting Shiftry to get up.

"...Urrrgh. Forget about me... Get away from here!" Shiftry exclaimed, telling us to leave him behind.

"Get... Get away?!" Stephanie asked surprisingly. I wondered why he wanted us to do that, when all of a sudden the lights in the cave dimmed out and it was so dark, I couldn't even see my hand in front of me anymore. "Wh-what's going on?! Why did it turn pitch-black?" She asked nervously, trying to figure out what was going on. I was wondering why it had turned dark too, when all of a sudden I heard a strange call from in front of us.

"Gyaoooooh!" The voice said.

"It's coming!" Shiftry yelled out. I wondered what it could be, when I heard the voice speak again as there was a flash of light.

"Move aside, you!" The voice said. It sounded like a male voice, so I assumed it was a he. I thought he was talking to Stephanie and me, but I didn't think we were doing anything. "He dared to disturb my sleep!" He continued on. There was another flash of light as he continued speaking. "I have no mercy for meddlers! And that includes you!" He exclaimed. Then, the lights came back on and I could see for a brief second, a big, yellow bird Pokémon that was flapping his wings. Then, there was another flash of light and Stephanie and me were blinded by it. "Gyaooooh!" He called again. When the light faded, we looked around confused, until we saw that Shiftry was gone!

"Shi-Shiftry's gone!" Stephanie exclaimed surprisingly.

"I am Zapdos! The embodiment of lightning! If you wish to save Shiftry, then scale Mt. Thunder!" The bird Pokémon said. "Gyaoooooooh!" Zapdos called out, before flying off and leaving us there in shock at what had just happened.

"Zapdos... So that's the legendary monster..." Stephanie said, shocked at what had just happened. I was shocked too, because now Shiftry was being held hostage. But, I figured this could wait until tomorrow, as it has been a rather long day.

"Yeah. Well, let's head back now." I said, turning to face Stephanie. She nodded at my suggegstion and we started walking back through the dungeon, toward our base with Jumpluff's friend in tow. It took us a while as it was quite a distance from our base. But, when we got back, we saw Jumpluff there, waiting for us. He saw his friend and ran over to him, smiling as he spoke.

"Yay! Saved! I'm so happy!" He exclaimed. Then, his friend turned to face him and he turned to face his friend.

"But even though I'm safe, Shiftry is in trouble..." Jumpluff's friend said sadly.

"Please tell us. Exactly what happened?" Stephanie asked, smiling at Jumpluff's friend. Then, they both turned to face us as he spoke.

"...Yes... Shiftry whipped up winds with his fans... And released me from between the rocks. But those winds tore a thundercloud in two... And that was when that monster appeared in the sky." He replied sadly.

"That monster... It said it was Zapdos..." Stephanie said, curious about this new Pokémon. I was rather curious about it too, since it said it was the embodiment of lightning.

"Did you say Zapdos?" A familiar voice said from the side of us. Me, Stephanie, and the two Jumpluff looked to the side and to our shock, there stood Alakazam, Charizard, and Tyranitar. I wondered why they were here near our base. Did they overhear our conversation?

"Alakazam!" Stephanie said surprisingly. I was rather surprised too, to see them here. They walked over to us and we turned to face them as Alakazam, the leader, began speaking again.

"Zapdos... It's one of the legendary bird Pokémon. I heard it had been sleeping for a long time..." He said, trailing off.

"So Shiftry woke it up?" Stephanie asked him.

"No. Shiftry's winds were only the trigger. To begin with, the absence of winds there was unnatural. It must have been caused by the rash of natural disasters recently. Zapdos is enraged from having been awoken from its sleep. Shiftry must be saved." Alakazam said. Then, Tyranitar turned to face Alakazam as he spoke.

"But Zapdos won't be easy. Its electric attacks are wicked nasty." He said. Then, Alakazam turned to face him.

"I know that. We will need to be cautious." Alakazam replied. Then, I saw Stephanie jump up and down, like she had an idea of some sort as she started speaking.

"We'll go too! We'll go help Shiftry!" She exclaimed. I wanted to help Shiftry too, but a legendary Pokémon is something that might be out of our league at our current skill level. Alakazam turned back around to face Stephanie and me as he spoke.

"What?! That is dangerous! Zapdos is powerful. It will be too much for your skill level." He said. I was glad that he agreed with me, but Stephanie wasn't, as she started to get angry.

"Hey! We're not that weak!" She yelled. Then, she calmed down as she continued speaking. "Besides, Zapdos doesn't scare us. Right, Daniel?" She asked, turning to face me. I looked at her and seeing her smile at me, made me feel more confident that we could indeed take on Zapdos.

"Right! I'm not scared!" I said, smiling widely. Then, Charizard started speaking as he walked forward, looking at me.

"Have you ever been hit with an electric blast? It'll leave you stunned and shaking!" He asked.

"No problem! I can handle it!" I said, still smiling. Then, Tyranitar started speaking as he walked forward, looking at me.

"Zapdos is wickedly tough! It might gobble you up for a snack! Can you face that?" He asked.

"I'm not scared! I've fought scary Pokémon before and managed to defeat them!" I exclaimed. Then, Stephanie turned around to face them as she spoke.

"We're a rescue team too! We want to help Shiftry!" Stephanie exclaimed. I was rather surprised to hear this attitude from her. This morning, she was scared because of a rumor and now, she wants to take on a legendary Pokémon.

"Yeah, we can help Shiftry! Just give us a chance!" I exclaimed, wanting to prove that we were serious about this. I didn't know why I had changed my mind so quickly about wanting to face Zapdos, but I figured that seeing Stephanie act like she was made me want to step up and prove we could handle anything that we fought.

"......" I saw Alakazam stand there as he was thinking things over, taking in our words about the situation. "Fine. I see that you have courage." He replied. I saw Stephanie jump in the air at how excited she was that we'd get to do this.

"Yes!" Stephanie exclaimed, with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

"Our two teams should make our ways separately through Mt. Thunder. We will go when we have geared up for battle. Knowing how strong our opponent is, we have no choice but to be cautious. You should make way for Mt. Thunder only when you are fully prepared. Our objective is to rescue Shiftry! Let us find success!" Alakazam said, explaining the situation to us. We nodded at his words, signifying that we understood them.

"Yes! I'm getting excited over this!" Stephanie exclaimed. Then, she turned to face me as she continued speaking. "Daniel! Let's do our best!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Yeah, Stephanie!" I exclaimed. Then, we thrust an arm up into the air to show our excitement. Then, after a few seconds, we pulled our arms back and turned to face Alakazam as he spoke.

"Well, we have to get ready for Mt. Thunder. Farewell for now." He said. Then, he and his teammates started walking away, leaving us alone with the Jumpluff. We turned to face them as the one who asked us to help spoke.

"Thanks for all of your help." He said, smiling at us.

"No problem. It was the right thing to do." Stephanie said, smiling back.

"Don't worry. We'll rescue Shiftry from Zapdos." I said, smiling as well. Then, Jumpluff turned to face his friend as he spoke.

"It's been a long day. Let's go home." He said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, let's get some rest." His friend said, smiling back. They started walking off until they were out of sight of us. I felt tired after the long day, even though it was a rather easy mission. But, then I remembered that I wanted to talk to Stephanie about her recent behavior.

"It's been a long day. I'm going to get some rest, too." Stephanie said, yawning as she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm going back to get a good night's sleep as well." Magnemite said. I turned to face them as I started to speak.

"Good night, Magnemite. Stephanie, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked. Stephanie had a confused look on her face, wondering why I wanted to speak with her.

"Sure, Daniel." Stephanie replied. I saw Magnemite start to float away, back to the Power Plant, for a night's well-deserved rest. Once he was out of sight, I turned back to face Stephanie as I spoke.

"Well, let's go into the base and talk." I said. I was unsure of what I would say or what she would say once I started asking her questions. We walked into the base and she looked around, until she turned back to face me.

"Well, what did you want to talk to me about?" She asked. I began thinking of what I was going to say, but I didn't want to come off sounding rude to her. I saw her look at me patiently as I kept thinking of what to say, but I decided to just get it over with.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. I saw her give a confused look as she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She asked. I knew I had to elaborate on my question, so I continued speaking.

"I ask because for the past few days, you've been acting really strange and I'm a little concerned." I replied, voicing my concern. I saw her give me another confused look, until she started speaking again.

"Strange how?" She asked, wondering what I had meant. I knew I was going to have to elaborate on what she's been doing, I knew that she knew what I was talking about, but she must've wanted me to explain myself.

"Well, the back rubs, the bending over to pick stuff up, the touching me. I don't mind, in fact I like it, but I just find it odd." I replied, explaining myself. Then, I noticed she had an odd look on her face, like I had hurt her feelings with what I said. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied sadly. I could tell now that I had indeed hurt her with what I had said, but before I could say anything, she continued speaking. "Can I go now?" She asked. I didn't want to let her go when she was upset, but I nodded my head and watched her start to walk out.

I scolded myself for not saying that better. I wish I had thought this through more before I talked with her, but I feared now I might have screwed up my friendship with her. Then, I made a decision to follow her back to where her home was. I took off the Toolbox and walked out of the base, seeing her off in the distance. I ran forward to catch up to her before I lost her, but still remaining at a safe distance, so she wouldn't hear me behind her.

After a while of walking, she had stopped at a forested area. It was full of thick grass and large trees, a very beautiful looking place for Grass Pokémon and some other forest-type Pokémon. I hid behind a tree, not wanting her to see me. I figured I would be the last one she'd want to see right now, so I decided to watch her silently. I watched her sit down on the grass and start to cry softly.

"I hoped he would've picked up on my signals by now. When he said he wanted to talk to me, I hoped he would admit he loved me like I love him. Daniel..." Stephanie said, trailing off at the end. I was upset that she was crying, when what she said got through to me.

"She loves me?" I asked myself. I couldn't believe it. Over the past few days, I had felt a deep connection to Stephanie and I had a feeling she felt one to me too. Then, it suddenly dawned on me. I realized that I loved her too. I didn't even care about the fact that I used to be a human, because I had found someone who loved me and I loved back. I suddenly wanted to jump to her and make her feel better, but her speaking brought me out of my thoughts again.

"Well, if he doesn't feel the same way, I just have to stop acting like I love him. It'll be hard, but I know I can do it. I've gone this long without acting like I love him around him." She said, still crying. I really felt bad about how I had made her feel. I don't know why I didn't pick up on her signals sooner. Maybe I was trying to deny what I felt because I knew I would go back to being a human eventually. At least, I hoped I would. But now, I didn't care if I ever changed back, as I just wanted to be with Stephanie.

I saw her wipe the tears off of her face. Then, a smile soon spread across her face as she started moving her hands down her body. Then, she put her left hand in front of her pussy and shoved a finger up, causing herself to moan. I couldn't believe that she was masturbating in front of me. I wanted to take my eyes off this scene, but found that I was unable to.

As I continued to stare at this scene, I could see Stephanie pull her finger out of her, then thrust it back in repeatedly, causing herself to moan even more now. As I watched this, I could feel a piece of me tap the tree I was hiding behind, and I looked down to see my dick, which was fully erect and begging for attention. I grabbed it with my left hand and started stroking it, putting my other hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet, so Stephanie wouldn't discover me.

As I went to work on stroking my dick, I could see Stephanie lying on her back as she kept thrusting her finger into herself. She really looked like she was enjoying it, but I knew there was something better than what she was doing. I didn't want to spook her though, so I kept hidden behind the tree as I kept staring at her while I pleasured myself.

As I kept stroking my dick, I could suddenly smell a very sweet scent in the air. I never smelled anything like this back when I was a human, so I credited it to my more developed sense of smell as a Pokémon. I looked around slowly, trying to figure out where the smell could be coming from. I didn't know what it was, but it was turning me on even more.

I looked back to Stephanie, to see her thrusting her finger in rapidly now. She was really going all out to pleasure herself and then, her orgasm hit her hard. "Daniel!" She shouted, as she ejaculated all over her finger and onto the ground below. She kept ejaculating until she was done and took her finger out of her pussy, panting from what she just did.

When she hit her orgasm, I really went all out on pleasuring myself. I was stroking myself faster, moaning into my hand, but still muffling it, so Stephanie wouldn't hear me. Then, a few seconds later, my orgasm hit me just as hard. I moaned loudly, but it came out muffled again as I started firing my cum all over myself. It landed on my hands, my face, and the tree in front of me. I kept stroking myself, trying to get all the cum I could out. Then, when it slowed down, I stopped stroking myself, took my hands off of my dick and my mouth, and looked over to Stephanie.

I could see her panting, still breathing heavy after her orgasm. Then, she sat up and I hid behind the tree again, because I didn't want her to see me since I had just seen her playing with herself. I peeked my head out slowly, to look at her again. I saw her sucking on her finger, tasting her own juices and moaning as she did so.

Seeing her do this made me remember my own situation and I decided to fix my fur before the cum got stuck on it. I didn't want Stephanie to see me looking like a mess when she saw me tomorrow. I started licking my cum off of my body, tasting how sweet and good it was. Soon, I could feel my fur was clean and there was nothing left on me. There was still the little bit left on the tree, but I wasn't about to lick a tree just to get rid of any evidence that I had been here.

I looked over to Stephanie again and heard her yawn as she spoke. "Well, today has been tiring. I just hope I can control myself around Daniel tomorrow." She said. Then, she laid back down and closed her eyes, soon falling asleep from how tired she was. I smiled at how she looked and then, I frowned as I remembered how I had made her feel. I know now though, that she loves me and I love her. I decided to start walking back to my base, to go to sleep after a long day of events.

On the way back though, I found myself thinking of Stephanie. I knew I loved her, but what would I do now? I had offended her by saying what I did about her recent actions, but I realized that now, she was just trying to get me to realize that I loved her as well. I found it cute the way she was trying to do it, but I figured she was nervous and couldn't just come right out and admit it to me.

"Maybe tomorrow I can help her feel better. Maybe finally, I can admit to her that I do love her." I said to myself, as I had reached my base. I walked in and walked over to the bundle of hay, laying down on it. I was about to go to sleep, when a thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Maybe I could do what she did around me. That seemed pretty effective in my opinion, so maybe I could get her to feel that way about me again. Stephanie, tomorrow I will make you feel better than you ever imagined." I promised to myself. I started to close my eyes and soon, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, thinking of what would happen tomorrow.

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Sorry for the delay in writing this. Well, that's what happens when you wait until the end of the week to write it.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed it as I spent extra time making sure this was good. Sorry for the length of it again, but the chapters are probably only going to keep being long as the story progresses. A page an hour isn't my best work, but quality over quantity, in my opinion.

As for the next chapter, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that. I think it's going to be pretty long, so I may split that up into two chapters. I'll decide that later on this week, though.

Thank you for reading,
Daniel, the Tinkler