---
Note: originally, this was two short chapters. Now it's one. There may be an odd change in speech halfway through, so yeah.
---
It took another three days to get back to Fort Alpine, despite having Chamberlain along. Eros attempted to turn into a Pidgey and pick up Chamberlain, but the Marowak was just too heavy for him and he didn't manage to get more than an inch above the ground before collapsing on top of him. In the end, Chamberlain decided that it would be best if he were to walk on his own. Going along with this, Eros flew ahead, eventually stopping and resting. From what Eros could gather, they both managed to get back to the fort at the same time, with Eros' flying speed matching the longer hours and minimal rest Chamberlain was able to withstand.
As they approached the fort on their third day of travel, they decided to walk together and end with some conversation. As it turned out, Chamberlain was actually pretty up-to-date with his knowledge, since he was well traveled around the world and often involved himself with all types of cultures. He was even familiar with Hank's celebrity status, which was slightly perturbing for Eros.
As they were walking in, they didn't cease their conversation, finding themselves being much more connected than they could've imagined. "... I swear, Red would so totally kick Mewtwo's ass!"
"I don't believe he would. He isn't even the champion of his region," replied Chamberlain, speaking from the mouths of both the Aegislash and Marowak.
"I... I think he already won it a while ago, bud. How long ago did you say you fought him?"
"And yet, every day that passes, Mewtwo gets stronger. There is no chance that Red would even have the time to draw his first Pokeball."
"Well, Red isn't a fighter, silly. I think. Those washboard abs, though-"
Eros, having strolled around the fort for a few minutes and discussing this with Manus, was absolutely stunned when he spotted Sicily on the path in front of them, partially shielded from the sun by a building at her side. She was quick to become aware of Eros, having been pacing up and down an area for quite a while, and started mumbling something to herself in a very remorseful voice. Eros didn't know what to think at first. He... He was rather stunned.
What should he do? He... He didn't know what to think. She clearly decided to come back, but why? Did she want to apologize? He certainly felt that she owed it to him, considering that she left him back at the Populi, but... He didn't know how he felt now. Considering how angry she was before and how he directly disobeyed the prophecy concerning the mission, it really was his fault for what happened. He felt kind of bad, now that he never told Sicily about it, but... He was too torn between his two emotions that he just up and picked whatever came naturally to him.
Sicily looked at her trainer. Now he was approaching her, but unsteadily. Maybe she should just go- NO! You came here to do something, Sicily! Just review your topics for today and get it over with. Apologize about leaving him there and bring up that, in a way, you were going through a rough time. Ease your way into your completely legitimate complaining after he gets angry at you, slowly bringing up a few good memories to abate his anger. Finally, state how they did technically enlist a bunch of bad people, and especially on a swing. Hey, who's that new guy? Is that... A Marowak holding an Aegislash? Oh Arceus, why is she still... No, no! She just has to square this away, and maybe they'd see eye to eye again. Maybe she can get him to understand-
She felt some soft, inferior human arms wrap around her, catching her by surprise. "I... I'm sorry, Sicily. I didn't mean to make you angry. I hope you can forgive me an' all..."
No, NO! You promised you wouldn't cry Sicily! Just stay calm, talk about what you wanted to talk about, and slowly approach the topic. Oh, and whatever you do, don't feel super guilty about it...
"WAH! I'm sorry, Eros! I didn't mean to leave you like that! Are you alright? Did you get hurt at all?! I LOVE YOU MASTER!!!" Sicily couldn't help bawling her eyes out, despite how calm Eros seemed to be.
"I... Yeah, that was pretty mean back there, but you weren't wrong when-"
"DON'T BLAME YOURSELF, MASTER! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" Sicily was now leaning her head over his shoulder, even going as far as to protectively wrap her wings around him. "I WILL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU!"
"That's alright, Sicily. It's alright."
Then Sicily broke down and kept on embracing Eros awkwardly for a few minutes, kinda creeping him out. Then, after a little while more of Sicily crying on his shoulders, she softened her hug and said, "You know, I wouldn't have any other trainer in the world..."
"Uh, thank you Sicily. That's pretty nice, I guess."
"A-and... *sniffle* I-I'll never... *sniff* I love you..." Then, staring deeply into her trainer's eyes, she couldn't help but lean in, closing her eyes, and...
THWACK!
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sicily. That fist just came out of nowhere." Eros pushed her away gently, kind of making the moment even more awkward. "Yeah, no, your breath stinks. Dragons have bad breath, I'll tell you that."
"Oh, sorry. I just..."
"Yeah, please just stop. I don't want Chamberlain givin' me shit for this." Eros stared back at the Marowak, who seemed to be grinning madly at the situation. "Yeah, laugh you punk ass bitch! I'll wipe that smile off your face real quick!" Eros broke from Sicily and started running at Chamberlain, who ran away and laughing, trying to stay up as he ran.
Chamberlain taunted, "Oh my, I think Dusk needs to hear of this!"
"Oh no you don't! Get back here!!!" Eros faded into the distance, trying his hardest to keep Chamberlain from divulging this information.
Sicily was frozen in place, not sure what to think. Well, that was embarrassing. Maybe she should've been more subtle, or maybe she shouldn't have tried at all. Nah, she'll just forget about this. Well, them happening isn't actually a thing, but she's happy the way they are anyway. She'll just kill anyone who dares to interfere with this difficult balance that she has worked so had to maintain. Is that technically considered yandere? Only if she does something about it; But as long as she makes sure nobody is allowed to be too friendly with Eros, or else risk being accidentally made dead intentionally, she'd be in a perfectly health trainer-Pokemon relationship. After all, it isn't weird for a Pokemon to be a little protective of their owner.
After the party had a very interesting day...
'The night was a very strong late,
and the moon a very up in sky. Eight.' H-how did you like my poetry, M-mr and Ms r-readers? I-I hope I could convey that it's pretty late out... Please don't hate me!!!
And so it was the evening. Eros was tired after having to chase Chamberlain around all day, unable to prevent the news from arriving to Dusk, Manus and Bidoofy; and none of which didn't laugh or stare awkwardly after hearing the news. By the end, all Eros could do was give up and try and sleep it off in his dormitory, making sure to throw a nearby stone at Sicily around the time she normally started staring at him. A little bit later, Chamberlain walked in, waking Eros up right before he could truly fall asleep.
"Hey, kid. I wanted to plan something with you."
Eros turned over in the cot, covering his head with the terrible pillow. "Ungh! What is it?"
"That Sicily lady was talking to me and I recommended a special kind of training."
"SHUT UP."
"It isn't anything weird. It's just that Sicily was wondering how I got so powerful, especially when the Marowak and Aegislash parts of me work together."
"... I'm listening."
"And I do believe it holds some semblance to the bond a trainer and a Pokemon share. I vicariously learned about your fighting style and, from what it seems, you and Sicily do not actually exhibit that bond. I was hoping to address it. Now, I had heard about the problems Sicily had before..."
"I... You'd really do that?" Eros popped his head up and looked at the Aegislash's eyes. "Really? You don't have to..."
"No, no. It's my pleasure. Anyway, that Sicily does need some counseling..." The duo started heading out of the room. "Meet us at the beach north of here. It'll be marked with a circle."
"Circle?"
"Circle."
"Oh."
"Which is also a circle."
"What?"
"An O is a circle."
"Oh."
"Circle."
"Circle."
"O."
"You should go now." Eros plopped back into the bed, falling asleep immediately. "I'll try to not be late..."
The next morning...
Eros was sitting alongside Sicily on the beach just north of the fort. The stone fortress was within sight, a peaceful view that was enhanced by the ocean nearby. The scent of the salt and mist was almost overwhelming, only being bearable by the combative scent of the grass and the forest nearby. The sky was a vivid blue, just like the horizon of the ocean, and the dancing lights upon the sea only amplified the beauty of the scene. Even the passive gusts of wind were refreshing, making this a rather pleasant scene.
Soon, Chamberlain appeared from the direction of the fort, looking rather nonplussed. "You are here already? When did you arrive?"
"Five minutes ago," replied Eros.
"Like, two hours ago. complained Sicily.
"Oh. Well, you didn't have to come this early. Then again, I suppose it doesn't matter." Then, turning away from them, pausing, and turning back, he spoke, "You are here today to improve your battling capabilities."
"Now we're talking!", cheered Sicily, who stood up and pumped her stubby fist. "Wait, so we're going to be fighting you, right? Like, one on one, or-"
"Before you get riled up, Flygon, we're not going to be fighting. Yet. And, as for who we're training here," then, the blade of the Aegislash pointing towards Eros as he spoke, "it is him who's going to need training. Not you, Sicily."
Eros frowned and said, "Why me?"
"Because, as I've been told, it is you who is lacking on the field."
Sicily spoke, "Well, Eros isn't the best fighter..."
Then, pointing towards Sicily, Chamberlain added, "And that isn't to say it isn't your fault, Sicily."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because, as I've determined, it seems as if there's something that one of you is hiding. I assume you know who I'm talking about?"
Eros shifted uncomfortable. He knew what it was, and it was a matter of trust. He didn't want to speak of his feelings aloud, but he knew he had to talk about... How he felt. He might as well say it now. "I'm sorry, but-"
Sicily interrupted, "I know, I should've said this easier. Eros, I need to say something."
"Yes?"
"I... And, well, you aren't going to believe this... But... I feel as if, on the inside, I should be a Pokemon trainer."
"..."
Chamberlain tilted his head and said, "That doesn't sound right. I don't think that'd cause the kind of tension between the two of you."
Sicily started waving her arm and retorting, "No, it is! I wasn't ever direct about it, but now I feel it! On the inside, I'm really just a normal human! I'm really human on the inside!"
Eros started to get a headache as he muttered, "Please don't say it that way..."
Chamberlain ignored this. "Well, I'm no Pokemon to disagree. If that's really it, I do suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you try..."
The two were happy as fuck until Eros butted in, "Uh, she can't exactly become a trainer."
Sicily returned, "Oh? And why is that?"
"You aren't exactly a human. On the outside, that is. Ugh..."
"So? It's simple! You just use your magic on me so that I can turn into a human!" Sicily was beaming, feeling accomplished at the conclusion she came up with. "And then I can get some pokeballs and some cool clothes! Oh my Arceus, CLOTHES ARE SO COOL! I mean, you can look like whatever you want always! Isn't it so cool!?"
"I... I guess... Where do you plan to get the money, though?"
Sicily pulled out a small bag of gems from somewhere and said, "Yeah, my mom gave me, like, a million poke before I left. I can get everything, don't worry!"
"I... Dear author, are we really doing this story arc?"
"Too late!"
And then, after at least two weeks of intensive (human skills) training...
Eros and Sicily were walking towards Ashport, ready to take Sicily out for a fun adventure of being a human and all. Of course, she was still a Flygon at the moment. Eros was walking rather nervously beside her, making sure nobody was trying to stare at them as they found a good hiding spot. "Alright, so let's recap what we did over the past two weeks."
"But why?", replied Sicily.
"Uh, duh! So the readers know!"
"Readers? Am I supposed to be this 'meta' thing right now?"
"Ugh, let's just recap. You know about the general history of this place?"
"Yep! We're in Ashport and boats go here all the time! Also, I think there was a war or something at one point."
"Close enough. Now, repeat after me: 'Mary had a little Mareep.'"
Then Sicily repeated, in perfect English (or Korean or whatever language you believe this to be), "'Mary, your Mareep is dead.'"
"Ah. I see. Mary will not be pleased. Well, then, I do suppose that it is time to get your official trainer card...!"
Gasping, Sicily shouted, "Let's go!!!"
"Not yet. Only humans can get trainer cards. Transformation time!" Sicily spread her arms out, smiling as she did so. "Uh, that's a weird pose."
"I thought you had to hug me to get close enough?"
"I can manage at arm's length." Eros placed his hand on Sicily's neck, making this somewhat uncomfortable.
"Can't you just grab my torso? This is kind of uncomfortable."
"Well, no, I can't, because if you transform, I'd be grabbing your chest. And if someone does something inappropriate?"
"I kick them between the legs really hard!"
"That's a good Flygon." Eros focused his extrinsic powers once more, causing Sicily to transform into a human through their wills and the magical forces surrounding them. Soon, the creature in front of him was a human, bearing some features similar to Cerci. Although both were the same kind of blond, Sicily's hair was quite long. She also appeared kinder overall, although Sicily was covered in a heavy layer of battle scars, ranging from blisters to scratch marks to even some long-lasting burns. It wasn't even possible to qualify how the rest of her looked, since the body damage was the primary feature.
Also, she was wearing that same pink shirt from before, as well as some loose jeans. What was rather amusing about the outfit were her red shades, which were reminiscent of her previous form. "Sure was nice of Cerci to give you those clothes."
"Yeah, yeah, Cerci's so great. Can't believe I look like her, ugh..."
Eros shrugged and started walking towards the city, imaging the day they had ahead. If anything went wrong... Well, he didn't want to imagine that. A city full of witch-hunters... Actually, I think that's all they have to worry about. Never mind.
---
<(=a=<) blegh vegetables
"So, let me get this straight. You have no current residence, no contactable family members, no other forms of identification, and no last name?" The lady behind the reception counter at the town hall was giving Eros and Sicily quite a hard time.
Eros thought about a good answer for a few moments. "She doesn't want solicitors?"
The lady stared at the two for a few moments before turning away and uttering, "Fine."
Sicily smiled again, having the worrisome situation alleviated. "Thank you, lady!"
"... Hold on a second." The receptionist was now going through the computer on the other side of the room, staring at a particular file. "Pepe? Your file says you're dead." She turned to Eros and continued, "Why?"
"Uh, I don't know."
"Well, I'll just change that then. Not really accurate, is it?" The lady returned to the computer, clicking through a few menus before returning to the party again. This time, she possessed a card detailed with Sicily's personal information, possibly produced by the computer itself. "Alright, this is your trainer card." She revealed a paper with some lengthy text on it. "Just sign this to show that you received the card and that you understand the rules."
"Okay!" Sicily signed the paper, refusing to glance at anything besides where she had to sign. Her handling of the pen was highly questionable, as he had barely had any practice, but something akin to her name could be gathered from it. "That's it, right?" Sicily took the trainer card off the desk and put it in her pocket.
"Yep."
"Well... Bye, then!" Then, to Eros, "Let's go!" Sicily took off and left through the main entrance, forcing Eros to do the same.
Soon, the two found themselves outside the building and strolling about the streets of Ashport, observing the natural habitat of the humans. Eros had to prevent Sicily from stopping and staring at every building, since she was so easily fascinated by what was inside, whether the things be people eating at a diner or mannequins sporting the latest fashion. Of course, on the other hand, Sicily wasn't acting ludicrous about it, either, since she wasn't completely new to the city. She had been there before, with Eros, and had a fair look inside; However, this time, she actually had the prospect of utilizing anything she could manage to get her hands on, especially considering her wealth.
It was only after the two walked by a particularly flashy building that Sicily refused to move on. "Oh. My. Arceus! We NEED to go here!"
Eros kept on walking and said, "Nah. I know a place that sells some-"
"No! We go here!" Sicily crossed her arms.
"Why? What's so great about this place?" Eros tried to find the sign, although from his current position, he seemed to be standing to far under it.
"I... I don't know, but everybody in there is having a great time!"
"Do you have to keep on shouting..." Eros looked inside and found it to be a bustling game corner, although it was more of an arcade rather than a casino. "The game corner?"
"Game corner? Is it any fun?"
"Well, yeah, but I thought you wanted to-"
"That can wait! Anyway, I heard Pokemon aren't allowed in there. And guess what I'm not technically?"
"I don't know. Letting you in would be breaking the rules."
"Rule?"
"The one where you can't let Pokemon it- ah, come on, it's a joke!"
Sicily tilted her head and smirked. "That was a terrible joke." She led herself into the game corner, forcing Eros (once again) to follow her in.
The place wasn't exactly clean, much like any other arcade. The only form of lighting was the abundant UV or crazy shit that made your clothes glow a purplish-blue when it is exposed for too long, which didn't help distract from the bits of popcorn that was scattered on the floor aside every few machines. The air was filled with a deep, ambient song that mostly consisted of bass, which went well with the cheap smell of salty foods cooking nearby. Sicily was more than stunned, now that she was in the middle of unfamiliar machines, unsure of what to do. She turned to Eros, trying to find him through the light crowd, and walked towards him with a sad, confused glare.
"I don't get it. This doesn't look fun. Humans are stupid."
"Woah, woah! Human are not stupid! It's just that you aren't doing it right. Here, follow me." Eros walked away from her, having her follow him this time. It wasn't long before they were aside a reception in the wall, the normal light from inside contrasting the atmosphere outside. Eros turned to the Flygon-human and said, "This requires a bit of money."
"Oh, that's no problem!" Sicily pulled some poke- obtained from some pawned gems earlier, because I'm not writing a fucking scene about selling rocks- and put it on the table, not bothering to count it. "So, like, does the amount matter? This should be more than enough."
The man behind the counter started poking through the coins and, his eyes growing wide, he asked, "Miss, we cannot accept transactions over 10,000 poke."
"Oh, okay." Sicily went up to the counter and (sloppily) shuffled through the coins, separating them until one pile had exactly 10,000 poke. She took the other pile and returned it to her pockets, carefully eyeballing the rest as the clerk took it and put it in some odd machine. Soon, the man had assembled a baggy that contained approximately 400 golden coins, which shall be referred to as "tokens".
Sicily took the bag and asked, to her trainer, "Is this fun yet?"
"Be patient, my child. The force will soon be with you." Eros stared at her for a few seconds, only receiving a blank stare back.
"So, uh, is this it? I get these weird coins?"
"No, no... Just follow me." Eros walked to one of the nearby machines, motioning for Sicily to follow. Soon, the two were standing next to a giant, cliche arcade machine. Eros gestured to it by swinging his arm and commanded, "Play."
"What?"
"Here, hand me a coin." Sicily did so and Eros inserted it into the machine, causing Sicily to lose her shit.
"Dude, what the heck?"
"Now look at the screen."
"Oh, is this a TV?" Sicily stood in front of the machine, reading the scrolling text that appeared. "Monty Python's Holy Quest to Vanquish the Blasphemous Magikarp By Use of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch... That's a weird name."
"Are you reading the instructions?"
Sicily returned her gaze to the screen, reading out loud once more. "And the Lord spake, saying, First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.
"Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuf it." (Monty Python. dir. Terry Jones)
"So play already!"
"Fine!" Sicily looked at the screen, which displayed a rapidly flopping Magikarp. She looked at the joysticks, still as clueless as ever. "So... Uh..."
"Count to three and press the joystick up."
"I don't know all the numbers yet!"
"JUST GIVE IT A GO ALREADY!"
"One! TWO!! THREE!!! FOUR!!!!" Sicily pressed the joystick upwards, activating an explosion animation on the screen. "Now it says... I lost... For I counted to four. Aww..."
"You counted to four."
"I know, I got excited..." Sicily frowned, looking down at the game console. A single ticket popped out, confusing Sicily. Eros took the ticket. "I want to play something else..."
"That's alright. There's a ton of games here. Me and Hank used to play all the time. Here, follow me. There's a really good game over there." Eros pointed in the distance, and the two went across the arcade. Soon, they faced some sort of aerial combat simulator, focused on Pokemon. "Wanna play?"
"Uh, if you didn't know, I always fight in the air."
Eros rolled his eyes and said, "Just play it."
Sicily found out how to insert the coins and started the game, having the option to select a fighter. She stared rather unhappily at it until her eyes lit up and she pointed at the screen, whispering, "E-Eros! That's me! Look!"
Eros looked and found that she had selected a Flygon character. "Uh, yeah. That's a playable character."
"That's me!"
"I know."
"How did they know to put me in?"
"I... They like Flygons, I guess."
"But doesn't it look like me?"
"Every single Flygon in the world looks like you."
"... Not all of them."
"JUST PLAY ALREADY."
A few hours later...
Sicily and Eros were exhausted from playing the video games in the arcade all day. Despite her initial protest, Sicily had enjoyed herself with the arcade, even managing to set a single high-score on one of the older games. Now, though, Sicily offered to buy them food, wherever they do that, so Eros led the two to a diner that he found nearby; And, subsequently, the two enjoyed some fine meal that I'm not willing to randomly come up with right now. They were pretty silent during the while venture, almost feeling awkward with how little they actually accomplished that day.
Afterwards, the two arrived at a Pokemon center, and, because why the heck not, they had rooms to rent out for trainers who were traveling. As Sicily approached the pink-haired service bitch, she looked up and smiled, asking, "Would you like me to heal your Pokemon today?"
Sicily let loose a nervous, ashamed giggle and replied, "Nah, I forget to get my Pokemon. Can I rent a room?"
Eros piped up, "Two rooms."
"... Right, two."
And so it was. The day ended with a happy nod from Nurse Joy, who handed the two different room keys. The night was, unfortunately, unexceptional.
The next morning, after a quick transformation...
The two were now standing right outside of a pet store, which, you guessed it, sells Pokemon. Sicily was staring into the windows of the store, but no longer with a sense of awe. Within the store were a few Charamanders, Squirtles and Bulbasaurs. "Why are there so many in here? It's not enough room to run around or anything..."
Eros pats Sicily's shoulder and says, "Don't worry, those things get bought in, like, a day."
"Oh." Sicily kept on staring back inside, seeing that two of the aforementioned creatures were bought at once. "But I thought they were rare and stuff. I mean, that's what I hear from other regions..."
"Well, Morono is more of a breeding island. All the other regions get their rare Pokemon here. It's ridiculously profitable, but it also attracts a lot of crime; and, well, you know, Morono..."
"Ah. I see." Sicily stared back inside, keeping her eye on a particular Pokemon. "I want the Bulbasaur."
"Really? You're going to have to take care of it and feed it every day."
"For how long?"
"Until it dies."
"Humph." Sicily crossed her arms, looking frustratingly at Eros. "You don't always feed me."
"Sometimes I can't. Anyway, you are much more capable of getting food."
Sicily smiled. "I guess you do rely on me a little..."
"Well, I thought of this beforehand, so I did manage to bring you a very special Pokemon to act as your starter..."
Sicily gasped, holding her hands out. "What is it?!"
Eros plopped a Pokeball into her hands and she pressed the button, releasing Bidoofy on the ground in front of her. "Howdy."
Sicily looked at him for a while before returning him to his capsule. "Ha-ha, Very funny."
"Look, I'm hoping this 'I'm a human on the inside' phase isn't going to last forever, and I don't want you to have a permanent... Thingy. Can you just stick with Bidoofy for now?"
Sicily moaned for a few moments before taking Bidoofy's Pokeball and putting it in her pocket. The two were off again, headed towards the town's gym so that Sicily could get the taste of an actual Pokemon battle.
And so she did! The encounter started with the two walking into the blasting furnaces of Ashport's gym, finding that the entire place had literally become a special kind of furnace. The fire Pokemon, which were all outside and blasting their flames, fueled the massive steam generator that powered the entire city (with the help of other fuels, of course). The trainers inside watched over specific furnaces, much like when they visited before, but they were coming constructed from shinier metal than the cold iron prior to the renovation. In the center rear stood Kirk, who was as happy as ever, looking at Eros with a happy gaze. He motioned for the two to come over, but Eros told Sicily to enjoy a fight, since this was likely going to be private.
Sicily shrugged and picked a random trainer, drawing Bidoofy as quick as the other trainer could. The other trainer released a Quilava, not to Sicily's surprise. Unfortunately, Bidoofy was already sweltering from the intense heat, leading Sicily to believe that this would be a difficult battle. Relying solely on her battle instincts, Sicily shouted out, "Defense Curl!"
The other trainer smirked and commanded, "Smokescreen." And, like the camper he probably was, the Quilava released a cloud of obfuscating black ash. The attack, much to Bidoof's displeasure, affected him without problem, especially now that he was curled into a little ball.
Bidoofy uttered, "I hope you have a plan... Who are you?"
Sicily ignored this and shouted, "Rollout!"
Bidoofy complied and started spinning himself towards the opposing creature, gathering an astounding amount of speed as he made his way across the room. Soon, after what seemed to be only a second of buildup, Bidoofy rammed into the Quilava, forcing it to sprawl on the ground and loose its focus on the battle; And, as it got back up and dusted itself off, it was steamrolled from behind once more, infuriating it as Bidoofy spun wildly about the arena.
"Quilava! Use smokescreen again!" But it was no use, for no matter how hard the Quilava tried to blind its foe, it couldn't spew the smoke quick enough to catch up to the blitzing Bidoofy.
And, with a final attack from the rollout, Bidoofy smacked the Quilava in the head and knocked him out, briskly ending the battle. It didn't help the other trainer's temper when Sicily stated, "Was that it? Pokemon battles suck. You're a terrible fighter."
Sicily, looking for her trainer once more, found him returning to her and explaining that his conversation was nothing more than pleasant "catching-up". Satisfied with this, the two walked out, finding themselves having one final conversation before they left Ashport.
"So, Sicily, you had fun?"
"Meh. I like the arcade and the culture and all, but..." Sicily looked back at the gym, which was starting to shrink from behind them. "I don't know if I like battling so much. Kinda wish I was born a human, though."
"Yeah, well, there are some boring things as well. I guess you learned something significant this chapter."
"Nah, not really. I think I just want to go home for now. Oh, wait, unless you want to go shopping with me?"
"No, no male will ever voluntarily go shopping, with or without a friend. I thought you would've learned at least a little."
"If I learned anything, it's that you humans are all really weird. I mean, you hunt witches, make metal houses and play fake games in fake worlds. You don't get much weirder than that."
"I guess so. Well, this was a total bust."
"Not really." Sicily turned around and picked up Eros' hands, staring into his eyes with a deeper gaze than before. "At least I got to spend some time with you."
Eros couldn't help but blush a bit, finding the attention unexpected. "Aww, Sicily..."
"I wish every day was like this, honestly."
"Be careful what you wish for."
Sicily smiled, but she knew he wouldn't understand. Maybe he'd never understand. It didn't matter, though. She was happy the way this was, and wouldn't trade anything in the world for it. And yet... "Hey, do you think that we can do that thing Chamberlain said, now?"
"Probably."
"I see." Sicily dropped his hands and proceeded to poke his nose. "I'll miss having freakishly long arms."