*Video phone conversation between Cassidy and an unknown voice speaking from Team Rocket headquarters, on a remote island in the sea*

???
"Do you think the boy knows?"

Cassidy
"I'm not certain sir. He didn't exactly cooperate."

???
"Do not think I am blind to what goes on beyond my island, I know of the conflict between you and the boy. I also understand that he killed Butch, our top operative."

Cassidy
...

???
"What? Remember, I want the asset alive! I know that Butch was your partner, but that does not make an excuse to disobey your duty. Now, what have you learned, and what have you done about it?"

Cassidy
"S-Sir, I would never betray the corporation or my duty. I know he at least knows something. That pesky girl, Roxanne, managed to get to him. As to what and how much he knows, I'm not sure. I 'removed' the girl so she could not cause us any more problems. I also left a note to instill a good amount of fear in the boy. If he knows what's good for him, he'll not pursue his destiny any farther."

???
"Do not let your rage cloud your judgment. If he were to pursue his path further, he could have fallen right into our lap. As it is now, you have made my job ten times as difficult. I want you to bring me the boy, alive. Get going, oh and take the man out in the lobby at your base with you. I sent him this morning, and I believe you may know him. At least I can trust him to get the job done right."

Cassidy
"Yes sir." *salutes as she turns off her video phone*

???
"It seems the rats are within the walls. I will have to keep an eye on this one..."

*back in Rustboro*

I still couldn't believe it. Roxanne was right, and because of me, she was also dead. The crowd had left awhile ago, but I was still there clutching the letter from Cassidy. All of the sudden I couldn't take it anymore. I lost it, tearing the paper to shreds and then, when there was nothing left in my fists to tear, I pounded at the ground. My partners seemed a little shocked at my behavior and backed away a little. When I saw this I stopped and tried to reassure them.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just a little frustrated, that's all," I managed to say. They calmed down a bit at this and returned to my side, Neo helping me up and Rena rubbing her head against my leg. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate this."

They expressed their happiness at this in their own ways. Neo slipping back into poke tongue for a second with a "Zan, Zangoose Zan!" while Rena simply state she was glad to help in that feminine voice that only echoed in my head.

"Well, everyone ready to go? There's nothing holding us here." I inquired of my small party. When they nodded their agreement I began to set out to where I knew the route to the next town began. I read the sign, which read 'To Verdanturf' and said quietly to myself, "sounds like a good a place as any to visit."

With that, we set out on the route. Little did we know we were being followed. The trail at the time was pretty deserted, there was the occasional trainer who insisted on a battle, but the trainers here were pretty weak. Almost all of them insisted on using first stage bug Pokémon, so it was a cinch to win. Eventually though, the battles did add up. After lunch there seemed to be more trainers with even more Pokémon. By the time we stopped to make camp, we were exhausted.

"Whew, that was a long walk," I joked. I knew all I would get was grumbles in response, so I decided to change tack. "So, anyone hungry?" I still got grumbles, but this time they were of a different kind. "I'll take that as a yes. Neo, your stomach talks for you." I chuckled while saying. Rena began to laugh at this until I said the same applied to her. At that she looked indignant and managed her best pout before cracking up again and laughing her head off.

Setting up camp was uneventful, and before we knew it, dinner was ready and cooked to perfection. I filled everyone's bowls with my mom's famous stew, a recipe I had insisted on receiving for my travels.

This was actually the first time Rena had tried any, so it was no surprise that she came back for seconds and thirds. Neo was a bit more controlled, but still got a second bowl when he saw I had finished my first and wasn't going for another round.

After dinner I cleaned the few dishes we had made in a small brook, then refilled our canteens and came back to the campsite. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Neo had somehow gotten the bedrolls ready and the fire put out. I still to this day have no idea how he did it with his claws without ripping or breaking anything.

That night while I was in my sleeping bag, I heard a rustling outside as well as the sound of something rubbing past the tent. I was a little nervous, but then put it out of my mind as I remembered what it was last time something like this had happened, when it was just Rena. At this thought I promptly fell asleep, which is why I didn't notice two figures open the ten and the feminine of the two sneak inside. She went over to my backpack and planted a strange device on it in a spot that would most likely not be inspected. After that, she slowly crept out of the tent, zipping it closed behind her.

That night I had another dream. In it, I was once again surrounded by what I now knew were the seventeen elementals. I seemed to be more in control of myself, so before the dream could progress, I quickly asked a question of them. "What do you want from me? I heard about a prophecy, but what does it have to do with me? What is my purpose?!" To my surprise, one answered me. The one colored dark purple stepped forward.

"Welcome brother, I am the elemental of darkness. It is fitting that I am the one to explain this to you, for though you do not know it, we are twins. We cannot exist without each other."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, completely confused.

"I am the darkness, and you are the light. Some say the darkness hides from the light, but in reality I embrace it, touching at the edges, but never quite able to be in the same place. You may not know it, but once you were an elemental as well, the elemental of light. I know this is confusing, as once you took human form you lost your memory, but try to understand and listen well, for my time with you is short and I can only say this once. Long ago there was balance in the world. All beings coexisted in perfect harmony. All this changed, however, in an instant. An insidious group of thugs thought to control the power of darkness, spreading chaos and fear throughout the land. You know them now as 'Team Rocket'. You requested my assistance, and of course as your brother I obliged. You wanted to travel in physical form to the human world, to try to restore the balance. Now is the time to do so. I fear our enemies may have something planned, something big. I can sense my earthly charges massing together, heedless to my calls. The darkness is beyond my control, so I am calling to you to drown it out with your light. Hopefully, the darkness can one day come back to the way it was. Our time together is drawing to a close. Remember what I have told you. It may just save the world!" I was too shocked to say anything, and the dream faded to black.

*morning, as seen by Rena*

I looked over at the master, worried. He was tossing and turning, and I knew that that amount of sweat wasn't normal. I tried to ignore it, but as his condition got worse and he actually started to cry out I thought I really should probably wake him up. I walked over to him and pinned his shoulders to the ground to keep him from turning any more while my lower legs straddled his stomach. I tried to wake him up mentally, but nothing seemed to get through. It was as if someone was blocking my words! I began to panic, trying to think of a way to wake him without hurting him, because I definitely knew now that something was up. I tried licking his face like before, but he still didn't respond.

Right then, I got an idea. I remember all those years ago, back when Matthew was my Master. We used to occasionally watch something called 'Sleeping Beauty' together. It was a movie about a princess who wouldn't wake until her one true love came and delivered a kiss. I didn't really take a liking to it, but the master did, and that was all that mattered. I remembered the actual scene and blushed a little. I couldn't help but think about my new master right then and how attached I had become to him. I knew I wouldn't do this if I wasn't but part of me was still rationalizing with the other part that I was only going to do this because it might work.

With one last furtive glance at Neo to make sure he was asleep, I slowly lowered my head to his sleeping, tortured face. I split my lips and slowly pressed them down to his, and his eyes shot open!

*Chris's point of view*

I woke up to an incredible feeling. My eyes flew open to see my Absol firmly kissing me for no reason I could possibly think of. All I knew was that it felt great. Her eyes were closed when I had opened mine, so she didn't notice I was awake. When she began to try to explore my mouth with her tongue however, I knew it was time to break it off. While I enjoyed the surprising gesture, something just seemed wrong about doing this with a Pokémon. I pulled back, much to her surprise.

"Oh, you're awake," she said with a blush. I never noticed before how cute her smile was. "I'm sorry Master; I'm not sure what came over me!" She began to explain frantically. "You weren't waking up, and then I tried to get you up by yelling, and then with a lick, and then the movie, and the mmmphhhhmmmmmm....." In the middle of her explanation I had reached a conclusion to my moral dilemma and pulled her face back down to mine. It felt so good to part her warm lips with mine, even if she was a Pokémon. Her fur brushing my lips felt exotic, and her warm tongue had found its way back into my mouth, only adding to the pleasure. We stayed like this for a long time, until a sudden embarrassing interruption stopped us cold.

"Enjoying yourselves?" I heard Neo ask. We nearly choked trying to pull apart, but it was too late. Neo was just standing there watching us as we muttered embarrassed comments with no meaning in particular. I could actually see the red of Rena's blush through the ebony fur on her face, and I'm pretty sure if I had a mirror I would look pretty red as well.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked, still trying to come to terms with what just happened.

"Long enough," he said then put on a playful grin. "So how long has this been happening?" he teased, which caught Rena and I completely off guard. "Come on, you can trust me. I promise I won't tell. How long have you two been together?"

Rena was the first to speak. "Um, well we aren't really together... this sort of just... happened." she mumbled, embarrassed.

"Oh come on, you have to have developed some feeling for him, why else would you have done that?" he replied.

At that I looked up at her. I was kind of curious as to when she began to feel this as well. I know I had enjoyed her company, but I didn't know she had felt this strongly at me. Come to think of it, I don't think she knew then either.

She blushed even deeper as she responded. "I'm not really sure. I didn't want to admit any feelings like this before because my mind just didn't want to accept them because of their nature. I guess I really started to accept it when I couldn't get you to wake, Chris. I was really worried."

I couldn't really say anything to this. What could I say, my Pokémon, of all people, was in love with me. I decided that enough had been said and decided to try to change the subject. "Alright guys, I think it's time we got our stuff packed. I think we've wasted enough time here already." Rena agreed readily. It seemed like Neo would protest at not getting the whole story, but he finally consented as well.

The next hour was spent eating breakfast than packing away all of our supplies. Once we were done, we began walking down the road. I noticed that Rena walked a little closer to me than usual, nearly walking right into my right leg with how close she was. I was content to know I had a new lover and that my life was about to get a whole lot happier. Little did I know, a small device hidden in my pack was recording our every move.

*Back at the Rocket base*

???
"Everything is going according to plan. The boy doesn't suspect a thing. Good work Cassidy."

Cassidy
"Thank you, Giovanni."Chapter End Notes:Phwew, that took forever. I planned, wrote, then deleted and rewrote this chapter. Before anyone panicks, this will not turn into a yiff-a-palooza. I enjoy good relationships, and something like that, especially this early in the story, speaks for a bad ending. Also, I would like to point something out before I get a barrage of reviews saying something about it. As a pokemon, Rena has a shorter life-span. This means that she will also probably develop a relation ship faster than a human which is why this happened this fast. Once again, this is not a yiff. It will never be a yiff. The only possible way that could happen would be if I got one hundred reviews with that request, and we know that is not going to happen. If anyone wants me to make the relationship start slower, I would be happy to tak suggestions and rewrite a bit. Also, on an unrelated note, I am still waiting on a response for what pokemon I should pick for Chris's first flying type