“Alright, class.” I smiled brightly as I clapped my hands together. “I’m really happy to see you all here, today.”

“Is the full teacher motif really necessary?” Emilie looked up at me from the table with pleading eyes.

‘Lady Lea is simply holding herself to the role she’s taken for the day. A teacher should take joy in teaching, after all,’ Gawain said. A mixing bowl was to his right, and he was holding a whisk that was longer than he was tall.

Legends above he was adorable.

‘I am a knight. A knight is not adorable.’ Gawain glared at me before setting the whisk down.

Emilie grinned smugly at him while Wally patted his head.

“We’re going to be making cookies.” I continued my intro with grace and poise as the psychic types started to bicker. At least May and her team weren’t here for this. Last thing I needed right now was a full-blown brawl between Suzy and Emilie in the kitchen.

That’s what I kept repeating in my head, at least. She’s just in the field out back, calm down Lea.

“Mostly because I’m completely out, and Emilie and May are starting to show withdrawal symptoms.”

Emilie twitched a bit as she stared up at me with an empty gaze.

Joern raised his hand from his spot by the stove. He had already started preheating the ovens, nice.

“Yes, Joern?” I asked.

‘What’s withdrawal?’ He tilted his head and gave Emilie a nervous look.

“It’s what happens when you form an unhealthy dependency on something, and it gets taken away from you,” I replied.

Emilie teleported to my shoulder and poked the side of my head. ‘I can and will make you think your cookies taste like canned asparagus.’

“Well, I won’t have a reason to make them then, will I?” I placed my finger on my chin and pretended to think about the possibility.

‘I’ll be good.’ she said.

I smiled.

‘Such shameful behavior of a lady of your stature.’ Gwen said.

I curled my nose up a bit. Not sure Emilie deserved that.

‘Yet she is still a lady of stature, and you would do well to remember that.’ Gawain glared hotly at the water mouse as Emilie tensed.

‘Don’t worry, I-’

“Am shutting up now.” Emilie cut Gwen off.

Gwen huffed and turned her nose up. Legends above, she felt like a completely different pokemon to the cute little Azuril I met on Route 104.

...and proceeded to not talk or interact with me at all in the days after. Come to think of it, didn’t she evolve the first time because someone insulted her?

Maybe this was in character...

‘I don’t take orders from you-’

“But you do from me, cut the crap or I’m recalling you,” Wally said.

Nimue chuckled. ‘I do kind of want to get to the cooking. Even if the show to go with dinner is shaping up to look like a hit. Quit being you and enjoy the class.’ Nimue flew down from her spot and landed on Wally’s shoulder before tucking in her wings. ‘Though I’m not terribly sure of what all I can do.’

‘At least you have appendages,’ Ogier complained from his perch on the table.

‘Don’t worry, Oggy, I’m sure the two of us together can come up with something.’ Nimue smiled down at the blushing bagworm Pokémon.

“Oggy...” Emilie said the word with disbelief in her voice before grinning at Ogier.

I loudly cleared my voice and grinned as the whole room quieted down.

“Right, I’m just going to start things off with the Oran Berry Cookie that Emilie loves so much...”

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

I began rolling out my own cookie sheet as everyone got to work. This would probably take a third of the time it usually did, all things considered.

...Assuming they all followed the recipe and didn’t screw up. This was probably going to take just as long, wasn’t it? I started to tune out the rest of the world as I got to work on rolling the dough out flat. Let the noise and the bickering fade out, Lea. Just cut your cookies and-

‘Would you shut up!’ Gawain shouted mentally, giving me a headache.

Dammit all.

‘But you’re doing it wrong.’ Gwen pointed at Gawain’s admittedly thick dough with a smile on her face. ‘It’s supposed to be nice and thin, so you get a nice crunch.’

‘I like mine chewy,’ Gawain said.

Honestly, with these, they probably could have done little dough balls and just put them in the oven and it would’ve been fine but May liked the crunchy ones and I was hoping to get a big enough supply so I wouldn’t have to worry about her pilfering my softer cookies.

‘Girls, you’re both pretty.’ Nimue brought her wings between them and pushed them away from each other. ‘Cool and it and make what you want.’

I walked next to Wally and grinned down at his little dough balls. “Never would’ve thought that Nimue was the voice of reason for your team.”

“Her and Ogier are the sane ones. Having two fairy types on the team at the same time was a mistake. They butt heads constantly.” Wally sighed. “I’m surprised Gwen isn’t yelling at me for my dough balls. Guess I’m enjoying my special to the fairy privilege right now.”

I nodded along before frowning down at Ogier.

The little guy just looked forlornly at the ball of dough that Nimue flattened out with her wings. It was uneven and lumpy, but none of these really had to be perfect. Cookies were cookies after all. They tasted good even if they were deformed mutated abominations.

I walked over and stared down at the little guy. “Need a hand?”

“Want to help friend. Lack a way to do so.” Ogier looked down. “She always helped me do stuff I couldn’t in the forest. I hate that I can’t do things for her. This body... is really annoying sometimes.”

“I get it. I couldn’t imagine a life without hands, much less arms and legs. I don’t think she minds helping you though.” I grinned before leaning closer. “I think she enjoys spending time with you, in fact.”

Ogier looked away. “I enjoy spending time with her too. She’s very patient and” Ogier stopped mid-sentence and glared across the room. “One second.” Ogier lowered his head and launched a single web. It latched onto the wall, and he pulled himself towards the argument. “No hurt friend.”

Gwen backed up. “I wasn’t going to-”

Ogier glowed white and Gwen snapped her mouth shut.

Ogier grinned. “Good. Shall we finish our cookies, my lady?”

Nimue stared down at the bagworm Pokémon before smiling and grabbing him with her feet. “I suppose our mishappen mess could do with a bit of cutting.”

I grinned at them as Nimue flew back to her part of the table. They were so cute together. The fact that I thought like this about bug types of all things still threw me. It was such a stark contrast from what I was used to from movies.

People needed to be nicer to bug types, that was all there was to it.

A feeling of nausea passed through the link, and I looked towards where my starter was supposed to be working.

Half of the cookie dough she started with was already gone.

‘Emilie...’

The only response back I got was a groan. I walked up closer and frowned at my starter Pokémon, the evidence of her misdeeds clear as day on her lips.

“I might have a problem,” Emilie muttered dazedly.

I looked down at her with pity. “You’ve taken a very important first step, and I’m proud that you’re taking it before it started leaking out into the other facets of your life and affecting the people you love and care about.”

“My stomach isn’t big enough to enjoy this to the fullest.” Emilie groaned again.

“That’s not the problem here and you know it!” I turned to glare Joern’s way when I heard him laugh. “You didn’t think to cut her off?”

‘I tried.’ Joern looked down at my cookie monster and winced. ‘She scared me.’

I sighed in time with Emilie’s groan before looking pointedly at Joern. “Just go ahead and add what’s left of her dough to your pile. Guess It’s my own fault, honestly. I left her around sweets unsupervised.”

Joern nodded before cautiously claiming Emilie’s leftovers, giving the psychic type an incredibly wide berth as he did so.

I gave him a flat, unimpressed look.

‘I saw things, okay?’ Joern shivered.

I chuckled lightly before going back to my own workstation. Honestly, this was going better than I was expecting.

Gwen chucked a wad of flour at Gawain, nailing him in the back of the head. She chuckled lightly as the cloud dispersed downward, and Gawain’s green skin shifted in color to match the rest of him.

‘I felt you needed a bit more flour. It makes rolling easier,’ Gwen said.

I officially did not like this thing. “Gwen, don’t-”

I stopped talking and groaned loudly as white powder started floating angrily around the psychic type.

‘That’s it. Have at thee, foul harpy.’ He let the volley fly with a hearty laugh.

Gwen ducked under the bulk of the attack, causing the bulk of the assault to slam into an unsuspecting Wally as he put his cookies in the oven. He turned and glared at his starter, who cautiously started to back up as Wally loomed closer, a cloying aura surrounding him as he grabbed a bag of sugar.

“Wally, don’t-”

My pleas fell on deaf ears as he whipped the sugar around in a wide arc, sending an arc of the sweet stuff Gawain’s way. The response was stopped in midair, and Wally ducked as Gawain whipped it back around and chucked half a bags worth of sugar across the kitchen.

I watched in horror as Nimue was knocked out of the sky by the confectionary counterattack, and Ogier glared bloody murder at Gawain before launching himself across the kitchen. His shell glowed white in promised retribution before a red line pulled him back into the Poke Ball. I sagged down to the floor in relief before freezing as a familiar, overwhelming presence made itself known from behind me.

“Alakazam.” The single word was uttered as I made eye contact.

“We’ll clean up.” I uttered those three words so quickly and quietly that I was unsure if I even said them at all.

Alakazam just shook his head, chuckled, and walked out of the kitchen. ‘You better.’

I groaned in time with Emilie as I took in the massive mess we had just made of this kitchen.

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

Cold air gripped me as I trudged into the training ground behind the center, my starter held gingerly in my arms. She was still a bit green in places that shouldn’t be green, but the small vomit session she had on Wally’s shoes seemed to help things significantly.

The fact that he wanted nothing to do with us afterward was a bit of an overreaction, though. Honestly, his shoes didn’t look that bad, all things considered.

I shivered. Fucking hell, I thought tropical islands were supposed to be warm. I scanned the beach and grinned down at the familiar form of my spectral sword.

Lucas rested on the ground, a soft pant escaping from his mouth as Apollo glanced down at him with narrowed eyes. ‘Why am I... winded... I don’t... even need... to breathe...’

‘Aye, quit yer bellyaching. Do you know the kind of crap the cap put me through to get this down?’ Apollo stared down from on high with a frown etched into his beak. ‘Ah, speak of the devil.’

“Devil, eh?” I asked.

Apollo froze before smiling nervously at me. ‘Just a turn of phrase, cap. You understand.’

“Maybe I should revisit some of those training practices? I’m sure Emilie would love the chance to work on controlling living things.” I grinned as Apollo started to pale.

Emilie’s groan instantly undermined my threat, and I sighed as Apollo relaxed.

“Hey, what’s up? How did class go? Can I have some cookies?” May called over.

I turned to see her jog up to me from the other side of the beach and smiled. That smile slipped from my face when I realized I had to explain what happened. “So, we might be banned from the kitchens.” Ripping the band-aid off was probably the best approach.

“What.” The word was uttered in a way that chilled me to my core.

I made it a point to not make direct eye contact. “We got a ton of cookies made up before we got kicked out, don’t worry. We just made a bit of a mess. We got most of it cleaned up, but we weren’t quite finished when Nurse Joy got back and she was... not pleased, to say the least.” I hastily pulled out a small bag of May’s favorites and offered them to her.

She snatched the bag from me in an instant and I sagged in relief when the overwhelming malignant force dissipated into a calm, serene presence.

“How goes training?” I asked the greater contingent at large, doing my best to ignore the somewhat familiar unimpressed stare Joern was pointing my way.

‘Right, I’m the pathetic one,’ he muttered.

Suzy, Leshy, and Samie all groaned from their resting positions on the ground, and I passed Joern’s look along to my girlfriend.

She stopped her munching with red cheeks as she nervously looked her teams way. “We’re taking a break. I... might have pushed them a bit hard.”

‘A break... sounds good.’ Lucas slowly levitated up off the ground. ‘Arceus above, I ache in places that shouldn’t exist. Quite the feat... considering my lack... of muscles.’ He levitated back to the ground and closed the eyes on his sheath. The big glowing eye in the middle of his hilt remained open and was locked on Apollo at all times.

‘Aye, cap. Credit where it’s due, the lazy piece of steel is a quick study. He’s still a fair sight slower than me, but he’s got a good understanding of how to get the job done.’ Apollo flew down and perched himself on my shoulder. ‘I see the first mate made a right pig of herself in the kitchen.’

“You’re lucky I’m still feeling sick to my stomach, or I’d be punting you into the ocean.’ Emilie burped as she finished.

I made it a point to face her away from me and held her away just a bit.

‘Would you stop, I’m not going to throw up again,’ Emilie said.

I reluctantly pulled her close again and shifted to look at Lucas’s taskmaster. “How’s his endurance? I know he’s not looking his best right now, but-”

‘Swabbie managed six shots before eating sand. He’s been down there ever since,’ Apollo said.

I grinned down at my spectral sword. “Nicely done, Lucas. Don’t let Apollo’s browbeating fool you. This little guy could barely fire off one of those before passing out when I first caught him.”

Apollo stared at me in abject betrayal as Lucas floated up and started laughing.

‘Consider this revenge for the water incident in the forest. Best not to cross someone with a perfect memory, remember that, quartermaster,’ I said.

‘Ah, laughter is the best medicine, I’m feeling much better,’ Lucas said.

Apollo shifted his glare. ‘Aye, so we can get back to it then? Now that ye’ve had your break?’

“I think it’d be best if we focused on something else, Apollo.” I lightly knocked my bird on the head. “Quit it with the hazing.”

‘But cap-’

“No buts.”

A loud belch pulled me out of our conversation, and I looked over at a red faced May, who was currently holding an empty bag.

“Excuse me,” she muttered, doing her best to look anywhere but my face.

“Out of idle curiosity, did that taste like cookies, or the day old pizza you pilfered from Jasmine’s room.” Emilie asked.

I pulled her up and gave her a noogie. “That is not something you ask.”

Emilie lifted her hands up and frowned when she couldn’t quite reach my fist.

“The pizza,” May replied.

“It’s also not something you answer!” I stopped and pointed angrily at my girlfriend.

May just giggled as Emilie teleported to my other shoulder.

‘I think it’s just safer up here. Being in your arms is dangerous, and I’m feeling much better now.’ Emilie smiled before ruffling up my hair. ‘Also, payback’s a bitch.’

I swiped her arms away running my hands back across my head and pulling my hair back. I turned to glare at May’s giggling form. “How the fuck is it, that between the two of us, you easily have worse manners than me. You LIVED with Caroline.”

“Dad.” May said that word like it explained the meaning of the universe.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I sighed, before looking back at my new teammate. “Can I hijack your dex again?”

May smiled before pulling the thing out of her pocket. “You can probably keep it for a few days, if you want. I don’t need it right now."

“Aren’t you supposed to keep this on you at all times?” I asked.

May waved me off. “Meh, I can scan some stuff when we go in the cave, I doubt I’ll need it till then, and you need it for Lucas.” She put her finger on her chin as she handed me the device. “If you want to thank me for this gloriously generous offer, though...”

I thought about the earlier belch and what she had to eat today and quickly shuffled away. “I think I’ll just accept your kindness at face value and thank you another time...”

May pouted before nodding and walking back over to her team. I booted up the bookmarked page on Honedge and grinned at him.

“Alright, so according to the pokedex, this next move should come easier than breathing. It’s called Shadow Sneak,” I said.

Lucas leaned forward and stared down at the computer screen. ‘Sounds edgy. What does it do?’

Joern sighed. ‘Are you sure a ghost as goofy as him is going to be able to understand how to be ghostly?’

I clicked on a few screens and a video popped up showing a blue sword slam into the ground. Its shadow extended outwards before the bladed tip came up out of the ground at the end of its shadow.

Lucas copied the actions taking place and slammed the tip of his blade into the sand.

Nothing beyond that happened.

“Huh, you’re right, that was easy.’ Lucas grinned cheekily at me.

I face palmed. I genuinely couldn’t tell if he was being an idiot to spite me or actually being an idiot. Both felt equally likely.

Joern just tilted his leaf and grinned. ‘See.’

“I think you’re missing the entire latter half of the move, Swabbie,” Emilie said, her face pinched as she looked down at him.

‘Oh, right, the whole shadow thingy.’ Lucas pulled himself out of the ground and stared at me. ‘How exactly do I do that, because I have no earthly clue how I’m supposed do that.’

I opened my mouth, then instantly closed it and clicked on a few more info guides.

“Just... relax your body, and fade into the shadows. The dex says you should be able to get a feel of how to manipulate them,” I said.

Lucas nodded and...

Laid down on the sand.

‘I am one with the darkness.’ Lucas said. ‘Think like an edgy teenager, Lucas. Come on.’ Nothing happened. ‘Are you sure this is supposed to come naturally?’

“YES!” I groaned as I looked down at my supposed ghost type. “You phased through the stone, why are you having so much trouble doing this?”

'Ohh, that’s what you meant. That’s easy.’ Lucas disappeared through the ground.

Emilie face palmed. “I think we found our version of Samie.”

Lucas rose up from the ground and tilted his head to the side.

“Head empty,” Emilie explained consolingly with a patronizing smile.

A look of comprehension dawned on Lucas’s face as he nodded, before suddenly stopping and glaring at Emilie.

“Why is it that whenever we find what is supposed to be one of the most powerful Pokémon in a region, they end up dumber than a bucket of rocks?” Emilie asked.

“Because if they were smart, they wouldn’t agree to come with us.” I replied, glaring at Emilie.

‘Was that another insult aimed my way or yours? I honestly couldn’t tell.’ Lucas said.

“Yes,” Emilie replied.

I slowly breathed out through my nose and stared at Lucas for a moment. “Alright, so how exactly do you phase through stuff. Maybe if we break down your... ghostliness, we can work through this a little bit easier.”

‘Well, I don’t exactly know how I phase through the ground and stuff like that. I kind of just... do it by feel,’ Lucas said.

‘Just have him describe it as he does it, Cap. Like you did when you taught me rain dance,’ Apollo said. ‘I’ll probably be easier if he’s doing it while he explains it.’

“Sounds like a decent enough idea. Lucas, go ahead and do... whatever it is that you do.” I gently patted Apollo’s beak as I finished.

Lucas complied, and the sand didn’t shift around him this time as he sunk into the ground. “Alright, now what?”

A hot gust of air pulled me from the conversation, and I looked across the clearing. Suzy’s entire left arm was engulfed in flames that kept trying to extend further out to the rest of her body. Her eyes were starting to cross as my girlfriend gave her a bit of distance.

“Lea, as fun as this is, I’m going to bug the featherhead. She looks like she could use it.

Emilie disappeared from my shoulder, and I frowned for a moment before I saw her reform across the beach next to Suzy.

“Did I just get ditched by my starter so she could go hang out with her ‘hated rival’?” I asked the group.

Joern just started chuckling. ‘I think so. Guess they aren’t as bad as they were.’

Suzy spat a small flamethrower at Emilie, and my starter responded by teleporting behind her head and locking her legs around her neck before leaning back, sending them both into the sand.

I gave Joern a look.

‘Don’t even try to tell me that’s not an improvement.’ Joern met my look with one of his own.

I sighed. “Whatever. Lucas, just... tell me how it feels to be phased into the ground.”

‘Right, uh... It’s weird. My body’s there, but also not there. That doesn’t make any sense, does it?’ Lucas shifted his sheath around so that he could look at where his blade was going through the sand.

‘Makes about as much sense as anything else a ghost can do,’ Joern said.

I frowned in thought. Maybe... “Focus on the part of your brain that’s telling you the blade isn’t there. Maybe it’s just... intent based? Like you just have to visualize the part that you can’t see somewhere else?”

Lucas shrugged but complied. He closed his eyes, and my mouth dropped open as the shadow he cast started to move on its own. The shadow moved slowly around the sand before a small, black, blade pushed out directly below Joern.

‘Oi!’ Joern jumped backward and away from the tip just in time to avoid getting nicked. ‘Watch where you’re pointing that thing.’

Lucas’s eyes snapped open, and he grinned Mareepishly at Joern. ‘Sorry. My brain pulled me towards something that I could stab. I’ll try not to make a habit out of it. Slicing is way more fun.’ His grin turned into a full blown smile. ‘That said, your girly shriek made me realize I did it. Yay!’

“Not yay. That was slow as fuck. I thought the hallmark of this attack was that it was fast!” I glared down at the pokedex.

‘Well, cap, he did just learn the attack. Give him a second to maybe get his bearings straight. Maybe even do the attack with his eyes open?’ Apollo waved his wing in a circular motion as he stared pointedly at Lucas.

‘Oh, right. I should get to the point.’ Lucas quickly snapped to attention and pointed his sheath at the ground. His shadow crawled along the sand at the same sluggish pace. ‘I uh... can’t make it go any faster.’

“What the hell?” I groaned. “What’s the point of this attack if it’s this slow? Cut would be more-” I stopped talking as Lucas slowly lifted himself into the air. His elongated shadow remained as he ascended, looking incredibly odd in the afternoon sun.

‘Huh, that’s really easy to do, now that I know I can do it,’ Lucas said. ‘Guess I’m a bit sharper than you gave me credit for, eh?’

I groaned as I rubbed my eyes together. “So you just, move your shadow around while you float, and when you want to use the attack-”

Lucas slammed into the ground and the blade came up instantaneously at the end of his shadow.

“Do that, okay that’s a lot more useful.” I grinned down at Lucas. “We’ve got Cut, Aerial Ace-”

Apollo waved his wing from side to side when I said that.

“And Shadow Sneak. You already know more moves than Emilie.” I grinned down at Lucas.

‘I really don’t think that’s a fair comparison when you think about all the things Emilie can do with those two moves...’ Joern muttered. ‘Besides, she can... kind of use Rain Dance.’

‘That pathetic little cloud she can summon is not a Rain Dance,’ Apollo said. ‘Though, Captain. While we’re still working on this, I actually have an idea. Lucas, go float in the shadow of one of those palm trees.’

Lucas nodded before lifting himself out of the ground. The second his shadow joined the palm tree’s, it shifted in color. From a pale darkness to a bleeding void, pitch black against the sand. ‘Whoa.’

“Where all can you stab from?” A smile pulled at my lips as I very quickly picked up what Apollo was putting down. Clever bird.

Lucas slammed down into the round four or five times, and the blade came up from a different spot with each stab.

‘Probably not that useful, but it’ll be helpful outside if-’

“Joern.” I cut Apollo off as I grabbed my umbrella. “Do a little dance for me, would you?” My grin was practically splitting my face as I realized how terrifying a ghost under cloud cover truly was.

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

“So, a straight beats a flush, right?” I asked Wally with a thick cover draped over my shoulders. As it turns out, making it rain while it’s cold outside, even with an umbrella, was a bad idea.

Who knew?

Wally handed me a cup of hot tea as he took his spot on the sofa in the center foyer, a deck of cards in his hands. “No, a flush beats a straight. They both lose to a full house, though.”

“That’s a pair and a triple in the same hand?” May asked.

“Maybe it would be better if I just had a piece of paper on the table that orders the hands.” Wally sighed before staring balefully at both of us. “How is it that you’re both great at Pokémon battles but terrible at remembering hands of playing cards?”

“I can remember the hands just fine. It’s ordering them that’s tripping me up. My memory trick is really bad at sequencing sets of information, apparently.” Good to know about, though. “It’s mostly just keeping the straight and flush in the correct order. The hands with multiple of the same card are easy. I think I'm good to play a hand.”

“I think I would like the cheat sheet.” May said, before huddling up close to me.

I lifted an arm and pulled her under the cover. “You do know we’ll have to split if we play, right?”

“I know. I’m cold, though,” May said.

Wally smiled at the two of us as he jotted down some stuff on a napkin. “I’ve never heard of a tropical island getting cold like this.”

“I’ve never heard of any place getting cold like this right now. It’s summer.” I took a long sip of my tea.

“Snowpoint,” May said.

I poked the side of her head. “I’m not counting a city at the top of a mountain in the coldest region, you nerd.”

May stuck her tongue out at me before reaching out and grabbing the napkin from Wally’s hand. “Just hide your cards. I’m not moving. I like this spot.” She smiled at me. “It’s comfy.”

I sighed before shooting her a teasing grin. “I suppose there are worse places to be.”

“Stop being sickening and take your cards,” Wally muttered as he started to deal.

I reached my hand out from beyond cover and snatched up my two cards, cautiously glancing at my hand before looking back at Wally. A three and a five of hearts. Not great. “What are we gambling with?”

Wally brought out some chips, from his bag, but May raised her hand. She shifted around under the covers and slowly pulled out a bag of cookies.

“May, I just made those, how in the hell did you already steal a bag?” I asked, frustrated.

“You’re surprisingly easy to distract and Joern’s surprisingly easy to bribe,” May said, a smile on her face. She opened the box and passed half of the cookies to Wally, an action that looked like it caused her physical pain, before leaving the rest of the box in front of her.

I looked at her expectantly.

“You have your own,” May said.

“I should make you sleep on the couch tonight.” I glowered at her as I slowly pulled out some of my own cookies. I made it a point to take from Joern’s personal supply. I’d have to scold him later when Nurse Joy was done.

May snorted. “Yeah, right. Like hell you’re chasing your teddy bear out of bed.”

“Can we play? I would like to play.” Wally stammered. “Everyone throws a single cookie in at the start. Then we make a round of bets starting with May, since she’s the one to the left of the dealer.”

May threw in an extra cookie.

Dammit May, you barely know what you’re doing, why are you being aggressive.

“I call.”

Wally did the same.

“Now, I bin three cards, and flip three cards.” He flipped up a two, four, and a nine.

All of which were hearts.

“Now-”

“We get it at this point, Wally.” May interrupted him. She shoved five cookies into the pot. Damn, someone was confident.

“Call.” I replied instantly.

“Fold.” Wally shook his head. “You two do know that if you both have a flush, the pot splits, right?” May shushed him as he flipped up the next card.

A two of spades.

“Another five cookies.” May grinned.

Either I was getting played, or her poker face was ass. “I call.”

Final card flipped was ace of hearts. I barely was able to keep my face blank as May shoved her entire stack into the center.

“You’re playing chicken with someone who can’t feel fear, I want you to know that.” I called.

“Not playing chicken, and the block’s been slacking.” She flipped a full house as I revealed my hearts. May reached out to grab the massive stack of cookies.

Wally stopped her. “Uh, May? You lost.”

“Huh, no I didn’t. Your little piece of paper said a full house beats a flush and a straight.” May looked very confused.

“It does. It does not, however, beat a straight flush. Also, both of you are cheating somehow, and that’s a neat trick, cause I’m the one dealing the cards.”

I gave May a vindictive grin as I reclaimed my pilfered sweets.

May smiled at me before batting her eyes. “Don’t act like I'm not just going to steal them back later. You’re my girlfriend, I have an unlimited supply.”

“You. Still. Loooossst.” I sang.

Wally looked at my giant stacks of cookies and sighed. “Thanks, May, now I have to deal with that.”

Unfortunately, the fact that I didn’t really know what I was doing started to play into our hands. Wally slowly and meticulously chipped away at my stack of cookies as the hands played out. The fact that May kept eating from my pile wasn’t helping matters, either.

“So which member of the squad made these? They’re more poofy than I’m used to.” May asked as she shamelessly plucked one off my pile.

“Gawain’s. And stop stealing from my pile. I’m trying to reclaim what you stole,” I complained.

May sighed before snuggling into my side. “Yeah, but you’re losing. I need to get what I can while I can.”

Wally chuckled. “Don’t count her out just yet. She is getting-”

The doors to the center opened wide and Wayne walked in, his arm wrapped around Jasmine as they approached us.

“Hey,” Jasmine muttered.

Wayne lazily waved before sitting down on the unused love seat with Jasmine. “I’m mad jealous that you two snagged the blanket. It’s cold as fuck and I did not pack for this.”

Jasmine nodded before huddling up closer to her boyfriend.

“So... I’m guessing you guys worked things out?” May asked.

I face palmed. “May-”

“I got my head out of my ass, yeah,” Jasmine said. “I agreed to wait to leave with you guys.”

“I don’t know if you were the only one with there-”

“I was more or less ignoring your complaints and worries. This was my fuck up. Bask in being right for a bit.” Jasmine gave the big guy a small smile before reaching up and patting him on the head. “It doesn’t happen that often.”

“Yes dear.” Wayne smiled down at Jasmine before pulling her in close.

Emilie appeared on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Nurse Joy bringing out our Poke Balls.

‘So, I’ve kind of noticed this a lot. Is everyone whipped in a relationship or-’

‘It’s called being a loving and supportive significant other!’ I mentally exploded at her. ‘Would you stop, already. Legends above, at least get material. This bit’s moldier than that sandwich we found under May’s bed that one time.’

Emilie winced before looking away with a frown. ‘Sorry.’

I sighed before smiling back at her. ‘Thank you. I don’t suppose you could levitate our balls to us. I really don’t want to get up.’

Twelve balls levitated off of the tray and slowly floated towards the table. I waved at Nurse Joy and blushed as the rest of the table gave me a funny look.

“I thought we were done with the whole private conversation thing.” May glared at me.

I leaned away from her and chuckled nervously. “I was just chastising her for a mental comment, don’t worry. I’m glad you two made up. I uh... actually wanted to let you in on something. We were going to tell you this morning, but-”

“Ghost bitch attacked, and we were on the outs, I’m aware.” Wayne sighed. “I’m pissed I wasn’t there to help with that.”

“It got handled, can we drop it,” Jasmine said, her voice stiff.

I bit down the question that was on my lips and snagged the cards that Wally threw my way. I flicked them up and-

Holy shit, pocket aces. Dammit Wally, I hate that I now know that term.

Wally threw in the minimum.

‘Check here,’ Emilie said.

‘Emilie, I have the advantage here, why wouldn’t I press it? And stop helping. I don’t want to cheat.’

“So, what was the news you were wanting to share?” Wayne asked.

‘If you raise, he’ll get scared and dip. Check the pot. Let him raise,’ Emilie urged.

I begrudgingly tossed a single cookie into the pot before turning to Wayne. “It’s about what we’re doing after our gym battle. We were actually hired to run a few errands for Devon back in Rustboro.”

Wally flipped two fives and an ace. Holy-

“Right, so they didn’t have us sign anything saying we couldn’t tell people about what we were doing, but... please don’t shout when you hear what I’m about to tell you.” I played with my cookies a bit before whacking away May’s hand.

Wayne put his hand over his girlfriend’s mouth before grinning at me. “We’re good, though I doubt you’re meeting up with anyone-”

“We’re delivering a letter to Steven Stone.” May dropped the bomb before Wayne could even think about finishing.

“May, I wanted to tell them,” I whined.

“You were taking too long. Call or raise. Wally already chucked in his chips,” May said.

I turned to see five cookies in the pile.

‘See?’ Emilie gloated.

‘I don’t want to cheat!’ I complained.

‘Then Ignore me. I like winning, and I like your cookies. Call, but stare at the cookies for a minute. Hesitate.’ Emilie ordered.

I sighed before chancing to look at Wayne and Jasmine. A laugh bubbled up from my stomach as I took in Wayne’s face. The man’s eyes were as big as poke balls, his mouth had completely stopped functioning. The slackened jaw wobbled to and fro as his entire brain seemed to vacate his body. Through it all, he somehow managed to keep a hold of Jasmine, who was currently having a meltdown.

I called before grinning back at them. “Think that’ll be good enough to tide you over?”

Wally flipped over a seven. Boring.

“I’m sorry,” Wayne finally said. “I think I blacked out for a second. What?”

“Steven Stone-”

“I know what you said, woman! I need you to explain what in the hell you mean Ste-” Wayne glared down at his girl as Jasmine turned and pressed her hands against Wayne’s mouth.

Wally bet ten cookies. Damn, someone’s confident.

‘He smells weakness and is trying to bully you. Just call. Make him think he’s leading you,’ Emilie advised.

“He’s on an archeological expedition in Dewford’s cave system. I doubt he’ll be all that interested in talking to a reporter, but... there’s a chance? If you aren’t annoying and don’t look too pathetic?” May offered lamely.

Wayne and Jasmine both nodded their heads so fast I was worried they were going to pop off.

“Calm down, would you? I know he’s a big deal, but he’s still just a guy. Just be chill and see where things go.” Wally said before flipping the final card and-

Holy shit, I have four of a kind.

“Being chill right now is way easier than it should be,” Jasmine complained, finally free from Wayne’s hold.

Wally raised five.

‘Push him to go all in.’ Emilie grinned down at the table.

I hesitated.

‘Eh, fuck it, these are my cookies anyway.’ I shoved my entire stack into the middle of the table.

Wally leaned back in his chair. “Why do I suddenly feel like I'm getting hustled?”

I remained tight lipped and stone faced. “Fuck it, I’m in too deep anyway. If you have it, you have it.” He called and flipped up his full house.

I flipped up four of a kind. I grinned as I reclaimed my stolen goods.

“Pleasure playing with you.” I lifted a stack of five and handed them to Wally. “For teaching us how to play.”

Wally smiled as he popped one into his mouth. He moaned. “I forgot how good these were.”

I smiled at the compliment before putting my winnings into a bag. May pouted.

“You can have more later. This is why I ran out, and I can’t make more till we hit the next town, so behave.” She pouted harder.

‘Stay firm. She will destroy us all given the chance,’ Emilie ordered.

‘You’re getting rationed too,’ I replied.

‘Damnation.’

“Come to think of it.” Wayne leaned forward and snatched a couple of cookies from the top of my pile. “I don’t think I’ve had one of these, yet. Considering how much May raves about these, they’ve got to be good.” He chucked one at Jasmine before popping the pilfered baked good into his mouth.

They both moaned.

“Holy shit, these are almost as good as the stuff they had on the cruise,” Jasmine said.

I froze, my gaze becoming demonic as I glared hatefully at Jasmine. The entire world faded away into various shades of red and black as I loomed over her. “What do you mean ALMOST.”

Jasmine froze.

“She’s crazy, Lea. These are better, honest!” Wayne slowly shifted himself so that he was between me and Jasmine. “Calm down, please. You’re scaring me.”

“I-” stopped talking as May popped a cookie into my mouth.

“For your own information, Lea’s sister catered for the couple’s cruise.” May smiled happily at them. “She’s got a bit of a complex.”

“I do not.” I pouted before glancing frowning. Why was Emilie so stiff?

I turned to see an ashen faced Psychic. A sheen of sweat dotted her brow as she stared vacantly forward, her hands clenched into fists on her knees.

‘It’s all in your head, Emilie.’ was being repeated over and over again in a mantra.

‘Emilie?’ I asked.

‘Please don’t sick the cookie monster on me!’ Emilie cowered away as I called her name. ‘I’ll be good, I promise.’

I sighed before patting Emilie on the head. She slowly relaxed back into her usual position, and I grinned at the table.

“So, we up for another game, this time with chips instead of cookies?” I asked.

Wayne and Jasmine grinned as Wally started shuffling up the cards.

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

Legends above, the hours just flew by. I bowed out gracefully at my defeat and ducked into our room in the center alone.

Emilie was tense against my neck.

“It’s going to be okay, Emilie.” I turned and smiled at her. “We’ll get through this, promise.”

Emilie met my gaze for a long moment before holding out her hand. “I uh... don’t really have conventional human fingers but... pinky promise?”

I grinned down at my adorable starter before offering her my pinky. She wrapped her hand around it and lifted it up and down.

“There, now then, should we tackle this now or-”

“Can we have a watch party before we do this?” Emilie asked, her voice incredibly small.

“I don’t have-” My words died on my tongue as Sergei floated through the wall. “I stand corrected.”

“Emilie called me,” Sergei messaged me. “Anime night?”

I nodded once before sitting down on the bed. “Sounds like fun.”

Emilie hopped down as I leaned back against the pillow. I pulled her up onto my stomach, booted up Poketube, and...

Oh, new Pokemon Ranger. Yes please.

I let the video play and let myself get lost in the OP as Emilie slowly leaned back into me and relaxed. I smiled as her head all but radiated warmth in this cold ass room.

The perfect end to a mostly perfect day. Hopefully, this would help Emilie see that we’d have many more to come, my head troubles be damned.

The clock ticked away above my head, and I let myself relax as the world faded out.