The next morning came without much fanfare, which Inyssa found to be quite rude. Couldn't it at least congratulate her? Give her a nice, sunny day? A rainbow or two? Something to celebrate the occasion, maybe?

As she lifted her face from the pillow, her gaze came to rest on the boy sleeping on the makeshift bed of pillows and blankets below, and her heart skipped a beat. His hair was a blond mess, not too unlike a Starly's nest, and the fingers of his left hand closed around hers, dangling from the side of the bed down toward him. The sudden rush of emotion almost made her dizzy. She didn't know if she was more overwhelmed by the memories of what had happened last night or offended because falling asleep while holding hands was the sappiest thing two people could possibly do.

"Morning, Niss…"

Shit, he was awake. And he caught her staring at him which… wait, why was that a bad thing? She was his girlfriend now, she could stare at him all she w–

G-girlfriend? Realization of what she'd thought came to her a moment after, flushing her cheeks a soft red and making the inside of her arms feel all itchy. I'm his…

"Uh… Niss? You dozin' off again?"

She came to her senses with a jolt, and had to swallow whatever had risen from her chest to her throat before she could reply.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine." She pursed her lips and tried to form a smile. It felt like someone was playing bongos inside her chest. "Did you sleep well?"

Barry smiled, squeezing her hand. "I slept on the floor, but other than that…"

"Right… sorry about that."

After what happened last night it wasn't like having him sleep next to her was an outrageous idea, but the bed was only a single. And as much as she liked the idea of cuddling with Barry, she'd rather do so without the danger of falling off the bed in the middle of the night.

"It's okay," he smiled. "I had nice dreams. How about you?"

"Well… I didn't have nightmares. Didn't dream anything else either, but I guess it's an improvement."

"Nice…"

There was a short, uncomfortable silence as they lay there, staring at each other with only slightly more excitement than anxiousness. What was Barry thinking? Dammit, why was his expression always so hard to read? Couldn't he wear his heart on his sleeve for once, like she did every single day of her life?

"So…" she whispered.

Barry raised an amused eyebrow. "So…"

"So… appears to be the thing that we're saying right now." She swallowed. "Uh… are you… you know, okay? Doing good? Not… regretting… stuff?"

Nice. Real fucking nice, she heard her own voice in her head. That was about as smooth as a fucking Cacnea.

Barry, however, didn't seem to mind her lack of articulation. He simply let out a small sigh and rolled his eyes a little.

"You overthinking stuff again?"

Fuck me, he knows me so well, she thought. How annoying.

"Yeah… kinda." She averted her eyes, looking at her pillow instead. "Sorry, didn't mean to ruin the moment. I just… don't want what happened last night to be because I pressured you or anything, and…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Couldn't have, really, as Barry's hand went up to her shoulder and gently pulled her down from her bed and on top of him, making her yelp from the surprise. Her lashes fluttered and she found herself less than an inch from his face.

"U-uh…"

"You always say nonsense when you over think things," he said, the sound of his voice so close and the feeling of his chest moving up and down under her sending a shiver throughout Inyssa's body. "It's a really bad habit."

Their kiss only lasted for a couple seconds, but to Inyssa it felt either like an instant or an entire minute, she couldn't really tell with all fireworks going off inside her chest. Once they parted, they stared at each other for a while. Then, once the cogs in her brain finally started to turn again, she let out a scoff and slightly punched him in his non-broken arm, trying her best not to smile.

"I haven't even brushed my teeth yet," she said, looking to the side. "Couldn't you wait until I do that at least to kiss me?"

"Guess I couldn't."

"Dumbass… thinking you're all suave and shit." She could barely contain her giggles as she pushed herself to her feet, grabbing Barry by the arm to help him up as well. "So then, you're not…"

"I don't regret anything, really," he hurried to say. "I meant everything I did and said yesterday."

Inyssa's relief was almost palpable as she heard him say that. Somehow, even though Barry's expression was always so hard to read, she knew that he was telling the truth. Or maybe she was just projecting. She'd take either option, really.

"Well… good. Same here." She looked around, moving back and forth on the ball of her feet. "So… what do we do now?"

Barry shrugged. "Whatever we want, right? I don't think we need to like… do anything differently. Reiko told me one time that being in a relationship with someone is kind of the same as being friends with them… only not."

She blinked a few times.

"Well… I'm glad she gave you such a priceless nugget of wisdom," she said, voice thick with sarcasm. "But I like that idea. I wouldn't want us to treat each other too differently just because… because we're…" She swallowed, feeling heat rise to her face. "…you know."

He nodded. "It's okay, I know." The sound of a yawn filled the room as Barry raised his free arm toward the ceiling, his back and neck popping as he stretched. "Well… I should probably go check on Auri. I did kinda leave her alone last night." He frowned, then looked down at his wrist. "Crap, I also gotta leave my Pokétch charging. Forgot to do that too."

"Right…" She nodded, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "We also gotta visit the professor and ask Lucas to show us the library today, so we better get going. I'll brush my teeth and change while you go to your room."

Inyssa spent the next five minutes with her body on autopilot, brushing her teeth and dressing up and grabbing her belt while her mind assaulted her with about fifty trains of thought all at once. Normally she wouldn't have minded, as that was how her brain tended to function, but the memories and distant feelings of what had happened last night didn't mesh well with it. She honestly had trouble believing it really had happened. She wasn't dreaming, was she? Crap, how long had she been brushing her teeth for? They were starting to hurt…

How… am I supposed to feel about what happened? I have no idea…

First thing they needed to do was to get their new Pokédex. Then they could freely explore Canalave's library in search of any clues regarding Team Galactic's true plans.

I mean, I'm happy, but this is so goddamn weird.

She also had to search any information available about the Pokemon she believed was influencing Shadi. If her suspicions were correct…

Shit, I hope I was a good kisser. Would he even know if I wasn't? Wait, why do I care?

Then as soon as she got the chance to she needed to start training Shadi again, needed to find a way for her to fight without putting her life at risk. Was such a thing even possible?

We're… a couple now. Why does that sound so weird when I say it in my head?

Not to mention they needed to start preparing to face against Canalave's Gym Leader. Without Enma and with Shadi temporarily out of commission a Steel-type user would be tricky to deal with. Though if she could come up with a few strategies to…

"Inyssa?"

Uxie's voice shook her out of her trance. She blinked a few times, looked down at her toothbrush and found that there was a bit of blood on it. Fuck.

"Barry's been knocking at your door for almost a minute."

"Oh. Shit."

"Do you want me to help you clear your mind once in a while?" Uxie asked as she hurried toward the door. "It seems you could use some assistance in that regard."

Shut the fuck up.

Only when she opened the door –a bit more strongly than necessary– did she realize that she had put her hat on backwards, which Barry realized as well.

"Going for a new look?"

"You shut up too," she snarled. "Why the hell where you even knocking anyway? Just come in!"

Barry shrugged. "Pays to be polite. Also…"

She caught the way his gaze moved, and only then noticed the strange sound coming from the other side of the door. It was like a short but powerful gust of wind. Like the sound wings made as they flapped.

"So, remember how I went to check on Auri? Well…"

The Pokemon which slowly flew toward her had Auri's face, but everything else about her was wildly different. Though her torso was still somewhat egg-like in shape, she had grown out of the shell covering most of it and now sported longer legs, arms, neck and a pair of puffy, angelic wings which seemed to expel small amounts of silver dust as they flapped up and down with.

Before she could process what she was seeing, Barry grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her Pokétch toward him as he whispered something into it. A second after, an electronic voice rang throughout the room.

Togetic: The Happiness Pokemon – Fairy/Flying Type. This Pokemon is said to be acutely attuned to the emotions and mental state of their trainer, and might even evolve into this form after sensing a powerful burst of happiness from them. They are able to absorb and distribute the joy all around them, which makes them perfect partners for trainers suffering from any kind of depression.

A low groan escaped Inyssa's lips as she took a step back and hid her face in her hands. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Oh my god…" she whispered through the clump of embarrassment in her throat. "I'm going to fucking die."

----------------------------------------

Their meeting with Rowan went smoother than expected, which Inyssa was thankful for. After pretty much ruining one of the city's parks and costing god knows how much money to the Association it was a miracle she got away with just a slap on the wrist. Any day where she didn't get sued or had her trainer card ripped in half was a good day as far as she was concerned.

I'll have to thank the Gym Leader when I meet him for covering up for me, she thought. Still, I can only imagine what people are gonna say about me online now… not like I don't deserve whatever insults they throw at me.

But this wasn't the time to be negative, she tried to convince herself. Things were finally looking up. She'd gotten a boyfriend, an incredible and heart-pounding Pokemon battle with said boyfriend, a brand-new and shiny red Pokedex and an entire afternoon for her to hang out with Barry and Lucas, not to mention the opportunity to do what she loved most after Pokemon training: solving puzzles.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

One of her hands pressed against the pocket of her coat, where Cynthia's letter rested. She felt a chill of excitement run throughout her entire body, and couldn't help but smile as she curled her fingers into fists. She could smell adventure in the air, along with the salty, tangy scent of the ocean a few streets away.

"…and sure I ended up breaking my arm, but it was still cool." Barry's conversation with Lucas seeped into her train of thought, breaking her out of it. She turned toward the two boys walking alongside her. "Except for the part where Niss got hit with a lightning bolt. That was… not as cool."

"Oh my god…" Lucas whispered, eyes going wide. "That sounds..."

"Painful?" she offered. "Yeah, you have no fucking idea. But hey, at least I got some cool scars out of the whole deal." She rolled up the right sleeve of her coat, showing Lucas the dozens of vine-shaped red lines running through her arms. "What do you think?"

Lucas squinted, an uncomfortable look on his face. "I… feel like commenting on their coolness would be somewhat insensitive, considering how you got them."

"It's okay. I choose to think them as an accidental and extremely painful full-body tattoo."

"Besides," added Barry, "there's no shame in scars you got by protecting other people, right?"

"I… see." She could see Lucas trying to stifle a smile. "That attitude… really suits the two of you, I think. You really never cease to amaze me."

There was a slight pause in the conversation as both her and Barry's cheeks turned a bit pink and they exchanged a short glance as well as a wordless conversation.

Can you believe how cute this piece of shit is?

I know, right?

"You're just exaggerating," said Barry. "It's not like we did anything incredible, just what anyone else would've done."

"The fact that you really believe that is what makes you two so amazing."

Bitin gher lip, Inyssa delivered a very light punch to the boy's arm, trying to hide her embarrassed smile from view. God, why was she so bad at taking compliments?

"Agh! What was that for?"

"Because no one calls me amazing without paying the price," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Besides, you're forgetting about the most important part. We couldn't have done anything against that guy and his weird Pokemon if it weren't for you."

A look of confusion flashed across Lucas' face for a moment, before realization dawned on him. "O-oh, right. The silver Pokeballs." He let his shoulders fall a bit, a shy but proud smile on his lips. "I'm… really glad they were useful, if only because of an unintentional design flaw."

"You gotta own it," said Inyssa. "Call it a feature, not a bug."

"Yeah! Those Pokeballs ended up being so useful!" Barry added, giving the boy a strong pat on the back. "Oh. By the way, Niss, remember what you said about properly thanking him when we met again?"

She and Barry locked eyes, and a tiny, identical smile formed on their lips.

"You know what… yeah, I think I do."

"Huh? What are you two…?"

Before Lucas could react both trainers stopped at opposite sides of him and, after placing a hand on the boy's shoulders, got closer and planted a delicate kiss on each cheek.

His reaction, or lack thereof, was immediate. Inyssa had never seen a more hilarious 'Deerling caught in a headlights' look on anyone before, and the way the dark skin of his face turned redder and redder with every second that passed only made it more wonderful.

"Wh-wha…" Lucas took a sudden step back, placing both hands on his reddened cheeks. "W-what was that for!?"

"We just told you," said Barry. "It's to thank you for those Pokeballs."

"Yeah Lucas, get with the program," Inyssa added. "There's plenty more where those came from, so if you want more feel free to keep saving our lives with cool gadgets, okay?"

"B-but… I…"

"All right then!" Inyssa cut him off by planting her feet firmly and pointing north, a huge grin on her face. "Off to the library! There's some cool secrets we need to learn!"

"Off to the library!"

Sporting similar smiles on their faces, Barry and Inyssa dragged a still dazed and embarrassed Lucas forward, heading toward the enormous building a few blocks ahead.

----------------------------------------

"Ulmere sciontionem ciiabi durii ludis."

Inyssa whispered under her breath, staring up at the carved words atop the arch separating the library's lobby from the rest of the building. They were a dark grey outlined with a bright blue, and though they seemed old and faded, their placement suggested they were meant to be the first thing most visitors saw when entering the library.

"Cool welcome mat," said Barry.

"Isn't it incredible?" Lucas asked, giddy. "Those words have been there since the library came into being hundreds of years ago! It's written in ancient Sinnohan and it means…"

"Let the light of knowledge cast away this moonless night."

She uttered the words without thinking, the crackle behind her eyes so faint that she barely noticed they had turned gold. There was a moment of silence. Then realization hit her, just as Lucas turned toward her with a raised eyebrow, barely giving her time to blink and turn her eyes back to normal.

"…Yeah. How'd you know? Did you study ancient Sinnohan back in high school?"

Inyssa clenched her teeth and mentally cursed herself. Her gaze moved toward Barry and she shot him a silent plea, which he returned by simply shrugging. Great.

"Ah… no I just… think I remember reading that somewhere online," she said. God she was bad at this. "In a… story? Of a book, about an… archeological report regarding ancient Sinnoh. Yeah, that."

Thank Mew Lucas was staring at her and not Barry, because if her complete inability to lie hadn't been enough then the mixed look of amusement, utter disappointment and second-hand embarrassment on the boy's face would have swiftly confirmed just how full of shit she was.

Lucas' brow furrowed for a moment, and he tilted his head to the side. "Oh…" There was a moment of silence, and then he relaxed his expression and smiled. "That sounds pretty interesting! Tell me the name of that book later if you remember it, okay? Though now we should probably head inside."

"Right," she said, trying not to sigh in relief. What a blessing it was, to be surrounded by a couple of dumb-asses. Then again, what did that make her? "Yeah… let's get going."

The true guts of the library were massive, easily twice as big as the building looked from the outside, which already appeared to be the size of two or three cathedrals. Rows and rows of curved bookcases spiraled through the many circular floors above and below, climbing up to a ceiling of clear glass so high she could barely make out and diving deep underground toward unlit chambers, darker and darker the farther away from sunlight they were. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to the way the bookcases were arranged, looking from a distance like a bunch of concentric circles within another bunch of concentric circles.

Inyssa couldn't help but frown, feeling a distant spark in the back of her mind. Why did it look so familiar?

Unlike the lobby they had left behind, which had a reasonable array of computers, phones, lights and electronic devices, the inside of the library itself was completely devoid of any kind of technology. Windows and chargestones were positioned all around the building in such a way that no lamps or electronic lights were necessary to illuminate any of the bookcases or hallways. Even when she took a peek past one of the handrails separating them from the lower floors, staring down at the darkest ones at the bottom, she noticed the people down there carrying odd, flickering lights with them, potent enough to illuminate whatever they were reading.

"It kinda looks like a labyrinth, huh Niss?" Barry said with a smile. "I mean I'm not too big on books or libraries but this place looks so cool!"

She nodded, squeezing his hand a bit. "Yeah… I wouldn't be surprised if people got lost inside here."

"Well… that's kind of what happened the first time I came here," said Lucas. "I was maybe a bit too excited and rushed in without asking any of the librarians for directions or lights or anything to help me orient myself down there. Still, I can't say it wasn't worth it; this place is…" He let out a huge sigh, his eyes almost sparkling with excitement. "…it's so beautiful. The biggest trove of knowledge in the entire world, all those millions and millions of books at arm's reach… I feel like I could cry every time I come here."

"Yeah… try not to, okay?" said Inyssa. "Wouldn't want to make all the books damp before we got a chance to read them."

"It would be funny, though we'd probably get kicked out for that," whispered Barry.

"Of course… here, let me see if I can find the books you two were looking for." Lucas took a step forward and looked up at the higher floors, squinting. "Sinnohan myths… Mt. Coronet… the Lake Trio and the beings of time and space… yeah, I think that's in the fourth floor, section DCL. Follow me."

They zig-zagged through half a dozen hallways and went up a few flights of both regular and spiral staircases in a way which felt like they were going in circles. And yet, slowly, they reached each floor after a couple minutes and without having to turn back. Something that would have been impossible without Lucas' knowledge of the building's architecture.

In the meantime Lucas thought necessary to explain in detail how the book organization system worked, and how it was incredibly difficult to properly catalogue books according to genre or dates or content when considering where to place them inside a library. Inyssa tried her best to listen, though she could feel her attention span drifting further and further away with every word spoken. She glanced to her right; Barry hadn't even made it that far, it seemed. The look on his face was comparable to that of Johnny.

"So technically speaking, there's ought to be hundreds if not thousands of books that have been lost due to being misplaced." Lucas continued to explain, the usual stuttering of his voice gone and his posture straighter than usual. "Can you imagine that? I could be looking through one of the many bookcases around and find by pure chance a book that doesn't belong there, a book whose pages haven't been seen by anyone for hundreds of years! Isn't it exciting!?"

"Y-yeah… sounds fun, I guess." Barry gulped, trying his best to form a reassuring smile. "Everyone has their own type of adventure they like, right?"

Inyssa nodded. "I'd call you a nerd but that does sound pretty neat." Also you're way too cute when you nerd out like that, she thought. "I've always liked the idea of finding secret books or scrolls containing forbidden information. Though in reality you'd probably just find… like, an old book about berries or shit like that."

"The journey is often more fun than the destination, though. At least that's what the people in books say." Lucas smiled, and then stopped walking as soon as they reached one of the furthermost bookcases within the fourth floor. "Ah, here it is! Hold on, let me see if I can find a book like the one you're looking for."

Lucas disappeared into one of the crevices between the bookcases, his head moving like that of a Hoothoot and his gaze flying through the titles of the books all around him. Finally, after what felt like an entire minute, he picked one up from one of the upper rows and opened it. He whispered something under his breath, then made a gesture for them to come over.

"You find something?" asked Barry, tone excited.

"I think so…" Lucas frowned as he moved from one page to the other. "This section is full of books about Sinnohan myths but I was trying to find something a bit more… academic than the usual pixie tales or storybooks which tend to dominate this section of the library." He lifted up the book from the spine and showed its leather-bound cover to them. "Birth of Sinnoh: A comprehensive listing of myths and folk tales by Draccus Lochees."

"Sounds fancy," said Inyssa. "Is there anything there about the space and time Pokemon?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact…" He flipped a couple more pages, then his expression brightened. "Here!"

Inyssa and Barry hurried to his side and tried to look over his shoulder as best they could, the space between both bookcases barely wide enough to accommodate three people. There were two almost identical illustrations at the top left of the page, depicting the rough shape of two enormous dragon-like Pokemon with shining eyes and jewels encrusted all over their bodies. And written under it…

"Dialga and Palkia," she whispered. Something about their appearance… a small spark crackled behind her eyes for a moment. Why did they look so familiar? "Is that… them?"

Lucas nodded, then began reading aloud the text beneath the illustrations.

"Strangely enough, and in clear counterpart to the Lake Trio whose tales and myths are too numerous to count, these two are rather obscure as far as legendary Pokemon go. Our only reference for their appearance are a few cave paintings dating from thousands of years ago and the two oldest statues in the region –located at opposite extremes of Eterna city– which depict these creatures with debatable accuracy."

"Wait," Inyssa turned toward Barry, eyes wide. "Is that…"

"We saw one of them!" Barry jumped in excitement, poking with his finger at the illustration on the book. "That one, when we first got to Eterna! It was when we found…"

She immediately squeezed his arm and shot him an icy glare. Barry froze, then closed his mouth.

"So… according to this it's Palkia's statue we saw," said Inyssa. "Anyway, keep reading."

Lucas glanced from her to Barry and then back, clearly confused.

"Uh… sure. Here…" He cleared his throat. "While not much is known about their origin or appearance, some ancient manuscripts and paintings held in Celestic Town have helped us shine light on the exact nature of these two Pokemon. According to legend, they are some of the first life forms to have come into existence, created by Arceus itself in order to give birth to space and time respectively. Palkia (etym: meaning dragon of pearls) gave shape to the universe while its sibling Dialga (etym: meaning dragon of diamonds) put it into motion. Their forms are said to always be engulfed in shadows, perhaps referencing the theory that they live outside of our reality, which might explain why they are so scarcely revered in comparison to the siblings of the Lake Trio."

Engulfed in shadows… Inyssa gulped, the image of that strange painting within the depths of Celestic Ruins coming to her. She remembered the darkness which had swallowed the entire fresco once it had stopped moving, which they had at first thought as the world not yet having come into being… but what if it was something different? What if Arceus, Dialga and Palkia being represented as those three lights wasn't just an artistic rendering?

How about it? She spoke to Uxie inside her mind. Any of this ringing a bell?

"I'm… afraid not," it answered back, a hint of shame in its voice. "As I said my siblings and I came into being long after these two Pokemon, and I can't say I've ever laid eyes on them. Well, not eyes, but…"

Yeah yeah, I get it. She scoffed. You three are so much less useful than I thought you'd be.

"I'm aware of that."

"In conclusion…" Lucas kept reading, his glare focused almost at the end of the page. "…while these two Pokemon are depicted as possessing incredible influence over reality itself, not much unlike Arceus, it is an oddity that their existence has not been incorporated into Sinnohan folk tales and myths, with very few exceptions."

Inyssa waited for more, but Lucas simply breathed in and lowered the book, looking up at them.

"Wait… that's it?" asked Barry. "But that was like, barely a page!"

"And it didn't really tell us anything we didn't know already," added Inyssa. "Are you sure this is the best book we can find on the subject?"

Lucas nodded, lowering the book with a disheartened look on his face. "I've read a lot of Draccus' books; he's one of the most renowned historians of this century. If he couldn't find anything then I doubt anyone else has."

No one said anything for a few seconds. Inyssa felt her shoulders drop and immediately looked up at Barry, who seemed to be thinking hard about something. This couldn't be it, could it? Had they really come here just for nothing?

"No… there's gotta be more." Barry finally broke the silence, grabbing the book from Lucas' hands and forming a smile as he raised it in front of his chest. "You said it yourself, there's oughta be a bunch of books here that no one's read since like… forever. I'm sure if we look hard enough we'll find something!" He looked at Inyssa. "Cynthia told us to come here because she trusted us to find that book, right?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." She shone his smile back to him and straightened herself. "Come on, let's keep looking. We're not leaving this library until we find what we're looking for."