93 A New Beginning

Max and the group had resumed their travel after a year and a half break and were now heading towards their next destination: Boon Town. It had only been a couple of minutes when Max loudly sighed, catching the attention of his companions, who wanted to stay out of their customized pokéballs for the first day.

{Are you doing alright?} Scarlet asked.

"Yeah… I really got used to living in the mansion and… I guess it's again one of those times where I have to adapt to the wild again. At least you girls are here with me."

{We're a family, so it's only natural.}

"Yep, the best family anyone could ever hope for. Anyway, I'm really eager to settle down for the night. I'm so excited to see what this thing has that I wish I could manipulate time."

{We can stop for a moment to check it out.} Aurora suggested.

"Thanks for the proposition, but I think I'll wait until the evening, like usual."

{Well, how about we set up camp a little earlier than usual?} Bonny suggested.

"Sold," Max says as he lets out a sigh "You guys are not helping me improve my patience."

{We just don't want to hear you complain all day long.} Aurora teased.

"How thoughtful of you, Aurora dear." He replied, playing along.

{Isn't it a little heavy?} May asked, sitting on the backpack.

"Nah, just enough for me to notice. I can't say I would have been able to carry it before though."

{While Mad'Ji's methods may have been cruel and barbaric, the results did come in a record time.} Scarlet mentioned.

"I don't know, I think she started to have a crush on me." Max joked with a foolish smile, at which half of the girls laughed.

{Yeah, sure.} Bonny replied. {She was craving your dick so much, haha.}

{I'm sure she also dreamt of mating with you every night.} Aurora nagged.

"No one ever entered her head, so who knows."

{Haha, your naivete is cute.} Scarlet said, roughly brushing his hair.

"Can you blame me? I'm just that irresistible."

{I personally agree, but don't let it get into your head. You're not that desirable.}

"I'm… not?" Max wondered, a bit saddened.

{Hahaha!} The gardevoir laughed again. {And that was for implying intimacy between you and her.}

"I was just joking, geez."

{As was I.} Scarlet replied with a triumphant grin.

With Max sighing, Sally got next to him and grabbed one of his arms, and hugged it.

{Well, I personally have a huge crush on you.} She said, rubbing her head against his arm. {And… I'm so thankful to be with you by being part of this team.}

"Same here, Sally," Max assured, caressing her soft head. "I'm sorry for having insisted on you staying in Togetheart when we left."

{I was the one wanting to stay there in the first place, so I'm the one at fault here.}

"But you changed your mind at the last minute."

{And you made the right decision by refusing to let me join at first. I wasn't ready yet.}

{Were you when you finally left?} Luna asked.

At that question, Sally got a bit morose.

{Not exactly. I wanted to try to find you again because ever since then, I couldn't live a single day without you. The problem is that I didn't know what I was getting myself into, so I was very lucky that I managed to catch up to you.}

"And now, I have another beautiful companion on my team."

{Aww… I love you so much.} Sally assured again, strongly hugging his limb, radiating pure love.

Even though she liked her a lot and was very glad that she joined them, Bonny couldn't help but feel a little jealous at that scene.

[What is it, Bonny?] Scarlet asked her, noticing. [You're not the kind to get jealous.]

[I'm not, just… a bit uneasy. I guess I'm a bit scared of losing my place in the group as "the bunny girl."]

[Aw. Your honesty is quite touching.] She sincerely replied. [But I understand where you're coming from. Are you afraid that she'll replace you?]

[...I know master would never willingly do something like that, but…]

[Then I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about. At worst, you two will end up being some kind of badass rabbit/bunny duo. I think it's something master could really dig into, actually. He really likes bunny pokémon.]

[Really? Why have you never told me that?!] Bonny asked, a bit upset.

[You never asked.] Scarlet replied nonchalantly.

[Tsk, whatever.]

[I understand your worries, Bonny, but there's no way he'll choose anyone else over you. Not with an ass like yours.]

[I guess…] Bonny conceded, blushing slightly and letting out a sigh. [In any case, she deserves his love as much as the rest of us, so it would be unfair of me to want to keep him for myself.]

[Yeah. In fact, between you and me, I'm actually glad she's with us because not many humans would have given her a chance like master did. You know how cruel they and other pokémon can be. If it wasn't for master, she could have never experienced love her entire life.]

[...You do have a point…] Bonny conceded, with Scarlet feeling her brief sadness of that thought.

[She is a nice girl…] Scarlet affirmed, looking at the cinderace, who was passionately clinging onto Max, who had to tell her to restrain herself a little. [Despite being a bit… different from us, she deserves every bit of master's love.]

[More or less. We all have a little something that makes us… different from everyone else. She simply joined the right group.]

[True. And knowing her; I highly doubt that she will try to steal him from you intentionally.]

[Heh, master would put her in her place before we do if that was the case.]

[Also true.]

[But… Now that I think about it, it's like she's a… I don't know. A little sister to me, or something like that.]

[A sister from another father and mother.] Scarlet joked. [That's kinda cute, actually, and I don't mean it in a contemptuous way.]

[D-Don't make it weird…] Bonny replied, a bit embarrassed.

Like the other times before taking a break, the rest of the morning went pretty swell, with Sally asking way too many questions about pokemon training, battling, and such. They then stopped for an afternoon lunch break.

"Alright, time for the first lunch break since… forever, now," Max announced.

{What would you like for your first meal back?} Scarlet asked.

"Good question." Max pondered. "I don't really know, actually. We are back in the wilderness again, so we'll have to make do with what we have in our vicinity."

{Aren't you supposed to have a kitchen in this thing?} Bonny said, pointing at his high-tech backpack.

"Yeah, but…"

{Wait! I have an idea!} Dusk exclaimed enthusiastically. {How about that for the rest of today, we set up camp and build up a good stockpile for the portable home?} She proposed.

"A good stockpile?"

{Y'know, like food, water, electricity…}

{That's actually a really good idea.} Scarlet approved. {We also want to see what this thing has in store.}

"Alright then. We did make some good distance, so I guess we can stop here for now. Let's find a good spot, then." Max said, going off-road with his team.

{This thing looks like it'll take up quite a bit of space, so we'll need a pretty big area to set it in.} Aurora pointed out.

{And since there's a water tank in there, we don't especially need to be close to a water source.} Bonny mentioned.

They searched for a few more minutes until they arrived at a not-that-large clearing in the woods.

"Hmm, I wonder if we'll have enough space." Max wondered upon inspecting the zone. "I don't know how much this thing needs."

{Let me take care of that.}

After saying that, Scarlet floated in the middle of a clearing. After a very thorough inspection of the place, she used her tremendous power to alter the terrain, loudly terraforming the ground to make it flatter and push the trees away. The power used for that maneuver was strong enough to make the surrounding ground shake at the very beginning. When she was done, the ground stopped shaking and it was calm once again, as she was now standing in a much larger clearing.

"We could have just looked a bit more, you know, instead of deforesting the area," Max complained.

{Too long. Now make it work.} Scarlet impatiently demanded.

"I swear…" Max sighed, removing his backpack to put it in the middle of the clearing. "Clearly you're more excited about this than I am. Okay, let's see…" He mumbled, looking around the backpack to see if there was a way to activate it.

{Maybe it's this button here?} Sally suggested next to him, pointing at a not very noticeable big button on it.

"Maybe. Thanks."

After Max pressed it, they all backed up a little. They waited a moment for any movement, but nothing happened.

{...Is it already broken?} Aurora said, a bit disappointed.

"I don't think so. Maybe there's some mechanism on it that-"

{I think you have to do something with that first.} Scarlet stated, pointing at the other side of the backpack.

With an interrogative expression, Max joined Scarlet.

{Look…} She said, pointing more precisely at a large translucent circle. {Maybe it's digitally protected.} She guessed.

"That would make sense. Surely there is some security to prevent any random dude using it and stealing its contents."

Max then put a thumb on the circle and a blue light appeared, running across his fingerprint to register it. After a short moment, a beep was heard.

{You should be able to use it now.}

Turning on the other side, Max pressed the button again. As soon as they saw it shaking a little, he and the girls backed away. Like a pokéball opening at a slower speed, the backpack extended and changed into something bigger, with multiple compartments expanding to make it look bigger than it was before. Before the group's very eyes, the backpack had now changed into a very large high-tech red and white shed-like structure.

"...Wow…" Max exclaimed.

{That's… pretty crazy, actually.} Aurora commented.

The group then stared at the structure without actually doing anything.

{Well? Don't you want to see what's inside?} Scarlet asked impatiently.

"Y-Yeah, sure."

Followed by the girls, Max approached the freshly created structure's door. It didn't have a doorknob, but a small button next to it instead. After pressing it, the door slid to the left, disappearing inside the wall and revealing the inside.

"Whoa…" Max expressed, impressed.

Perse, the inside wasn't that spacious, but it more so had the same space and appearance as a trailer, but with a more high-tech and futuristic vibe to it. On the front side, there was a small kitchen on the left with a cozy table and bench next to a window and a very short hallway. Strangely, the right side of the shed was only a weirdly designed wall, as if something was supposed to be there, but not. With the girls looking around, Max explored further through the hallway and saw two more sliding doors. He opened the right one and arrived at a rather tight bathroom. Smaller than a house's bathroom, but larger than that of a simple trailer. After backing up, he noticed that this door had an extra button to the left. After pressing it, the bathroom door closed on its own and noises could be heard from the other side. Since he didn't see anything, he couldn't tell what was happening, so he pressed the button again. The noise could be heard before the door opened once more.

"...Weird."

He then turned around and opened the other sliding door. The room he came across was definitely a storage room judging by the large space it had. He then immediately noticed his old backpack and tent alongside two other things: A big high-tech cuboid topped with a very short square pyramid and another high-tech cylinder, with the center being an opaque glass and a bit bulging with the ends being more metallic. For now, he didn't pay much attention to those and saw two small boxes piled up against the wall. He entered and went to grab them when he saw a small note on the top one written 'A little gift for you'. Recognizing Helene's handwriting, he smiled warmly and left the room to join the others at the front.

{It's incredible, master!} Dusk exclaimed. {We have so much space in our new fridge and freezer!} She informed him while in front of an opened door next to the high-tech oven.

"That's cool." Max acknowledged, putting the boxes on the table. "We can stock up on a lot of food, then."

{Wait, what's that?} Bonny asked, turning her attention from the wall-mounted tv above the oven to the boxes Max was holding as she sat on the bench on the other side of the table.

"Something I found in what seems to be the storage room. It's from Helene." He told her, sitting on the other bench.

Before anyone could urge him, Max began to open the box and pulled out a rather big tablet.

{What's that?} Sally asked, curious.

"It's a tablet. A little device that we can use for a lot of things. Music, internet, videos, games… and of course, it's the latest model with five hundred gigabytes of storage. That's insane!" He explained while turning it on. "So I know a few of you that'll be using this a lot." He said, looking suspiciously at Bonny and Scarlet.

{Bold of you to assume that.} Bonny retorted with crossed arms.

Rolling his eyes, Max put the tablet aside as it was already performing a software update.

{There's something else in there.} Scarlet said, grabbing a card at the bottom of the box and handed it to Max.

"What the-?!" He exclaimed while grabbing it. "It's a debit card. Mine expired shortly before being tossed out of my home, so I never had the chance to get a new one."

{And there's another note.} Scarlet continued, handing him a piece of paper this time.

"I took the liberty to create a bank account at the same institute as us since I know we can trust them. I gave you a small loan to help you on your travels. All the info you need is on the paper next to the card. If you ever run out of money, don't hesitate to call me, I put our phone number on the tablet. Safe travels, and may your journey make you grow." Max read.

{That's so nice of her.} Dusk commented with a smile.

{A small loan, huh?} Aurora said. {I wonder how much we're talking about.}

"One way to find out," Max replied, taking the tablet that was now done with the update.

Turning the paper, Max went on the internet with the tablet and went to the instructed website. After doing all the security procedures and entering the password, he arrived at the dashboard of his newly acquired bank account.

"...What the fuck!?" Max exclaimed a bit loudly.

{What is it?} Scarlet inquired.

"Am I… seeing this right?" Max wondered out loud, placing the tablet on the table and pushed it towards her.

Looking at it, Scarlet eyes widened.

{My my, that's a lot of zeros.} Luna commented, looking over Scarlet's shoulder.

"You're seeing this too, right? Am I going crazy?"

{...No. You truly have exactly one million dollars in your bank account.} She assured, hardly believing it.

{You're kidding, right?} Aurora expressed.

{See for yourself.} Scarlet retorted while passing her the tablet.

{I can't read the human language, but I do see a lot of those circle thingies on there.} Aurora stated after grabbing it.

{That's insane!} Bonny commented, also hardly believing it.

"You're telling me." Max agreed with crossed fingers. "I've always struggled with money, only to be able to afford very modest luxuries from time to time… being rich was a fantasy at that point."

{Well… I guess it's real now.} Scarlet assured him.

"I guess," Max affirmed with a sigh, dropping his head on the bench's back.

{Something wrong, master? Is… being rich that bad?} Sally asked, a bit worried.

"No, Sally. Not at all. It's just… if someone told me a few years ago that I would be getting this lucky, I would have definitely called that person a liar. Back then, I pretty much had nothing besides a miserable life. But now, I'm rich and accompanied by seven pretty girls who all love and care for me. It's… almost too good to be true."

{I'll say it again, master; it pays to not be a selfish asshole.} Scarlet affirmed. {All of your accomplishments until now were because you're a really nice and generous human. Or because you're in a coma.}

"You think so?"

{Of course, I do. Why? Are you starting to have doubts again?} She asked with crossed arms.

"No, no. Not at all. It's just… I got a bit emotional, that's all."

{Better than a lack of self-confidence, I guess,} Scarlet sighed.

"Hehe."

Max then returned his attention back to the table and grabbed the other present. Opening it, an interrogative expression appeared on his face before he pulled out a black-bladed combat knife from the box.

"A combat knife?"

The others then stared at the knife a brief moment before Scarlet recognized the alloy.

{Whoa… not any kind of knife!} She started, asking Max to lend it to her with a hand. {It's a darnium knife.}

"Darnium?" Max repeated.

{A very special and rare metal. It's an alloy, very hard and tedious to make, only obtainable by gathering rare and uncommon materials and forged with extreme precision, preferably by psychic and fire-type pokemon.} Scarlet explained, inspecting the blade.

"Really?"

{A pokemon like Dusk, in short.} Bonny commented.

{Among other things, yes. Thanks to their dual typing, delphoxes are excellent, if not the best, pokemon for blacksmithing, able to raise heat temperature at will to the extreme while using their psychic abilities to mold the metal, all the while keeping it constantly hot. Darnium is so unstable and easy to screw up that only the best of fire/psychic-type pokemon can forge that alloy perfectly. However, if you manage to pull through, you can obtain one of the hardest and most durable metals in the world, and it almost never goes dull with proper care. That expensive piece of metal is strong enough to pierce through an aggron's skull. The black coloring also adds a bit of epicness to it.}

"Damn! Who could've given me this?" Max asked, impressed.

{If I tell you that that metal is mostly used by military personnel, would you have an idea?}

"Military personnel? You mean…"

At the realization, Max sighed and closed his eyes with a wide smile.

"Ahahaha. Mad-Ji… you sneaky bitch…" He expressed, very touched by the thought. "Keeping us on our toes until the very end."

{...I must admit that I'm rather astonished myself.} Scarlet said, giving the blade back to Max.

{Maybe she wasn't that bad, after all.} May said.

{Her thoughts went towards you alone before you left. That present is proof.} Dusk mentioned.

{Maybe she did have a crush on you after all.} Bonny suspected with a smug smile.

"I don't think so. She's so impossible to read that it's hard to determine the true motive behind her actions…"

{Personally, I think that she did care for you, even if just a little.} Sally said.

{She also gave you a very expensive gift. She may have even gotten into some trouble to get it for you.} Luna guessed.

"Heh. I wouldn't be surprised if she has the army in her grasp, so obtaining this should've been as easy as making a few calls, but you're right. It doesn't change the fact that whether she got in trouble or not, she took her time to find something that must have cost her a fortune for me. It's… a shame I couldn't thank her properly."

{If she dropped it here without telling you, it's probably because she didn't want you to.} Scarlet theorized.

"Unfortunately, I can't do anything but believe you, as it's very likely of her."

{At least we can say that she really wants you to stay alive.} Aurora said.

"I guess." Max agreed, staring at the blade, a bit mind-absently.

{...I would also like to point out that if you wander around with that on you, I'll be more at ease about your safety.} Scarlet shared.

"Good thing Mad-Ji taught me the basics of knife combat." He said before flipping it in the air and catching it back by the handle.

{Be careful with that thing. It could pierce through your bones like it was nothing.}

"Thus, making it very useful," he replied, putting the knife down.

{Well, how about we start making use of this place and get it up and running?} Bonny proposed while standing up.

{Right.} Scarlet acknowledged. {I'll start by finding the generator and getting us power.}

{And me, I'll go get water with the tank.}

{Do you need help with finding a water source?} Luna proposed.

{That would be nice, thanks.}

{I think I'm gonna get us a good reserve of berries and wild edibles.} Dusk said while Bonny and Luna left the inside. {I'm sorry Scarlet, but as for the meat…}

{I'll take care of that as well, don't worry.} The red gardevoir assured.

{Thanks.} The delphox replied with a grateful smile.

{Anything you want in particular?} Scarlet asked Max as Dusk left as well.

"Nah, I'm good. You know how much I love it when you surprise me."

{That's why it's so hard to make you a present.} Scarlet sighed, slightly exasperated before leaving too.

With Max chuckling, he got his attention back to his surroundings, with May, Aurora, and Sally still with him.

"This place is really nice."

{Should we give it a name?} Sally wondered.

{Naming an object?} Aurora said interrogatively, sitting on one of the benches.

{Why not? We can't always call it the 'super cool shed-pack-thing that we got'.} She stated, sitting next to Max.

"Ah, she has a point there," the human said, looking at the lucario in a slightly teasing way.

{I guess, but what are we gonna call it?} She asked with crossed arms.

"The official name is the P.C.E… wait, no…"

{C.P.E.H.} Sally reminded him.

"Thanks. However, we can't really form a word with that."

{Why don't we just call it a house?} Aurora questioned.

"Because it's not exactly a house."

{How about 'the super cool house'?} Sally suggested. {Oh wait, it sounds like the other long name.}

"Hm… I got it. Let's just call it 'The Module'."

{Hm… short and simple. It could work.} Aurora agreed.

"The Module it is, then. Now, how about we look around some more? I'm surprised that there is no bedroom in this thing."

{Maybe it has something to do with that wall.} Aurora mentioned, pointed at the wall Max found strange when entering earlier.

"You noticed it too, huh?"

{Hard not to.}

"Let's go find out, then."

After Sally moved away, Max stood up and approached the wall, with the girls still sitting and looking at him.

"Let's see here…" he mumbled, inspecting the wall.

Quickly, he noticed a scanner on an angle of the wall that was quite easy to miss. After pressing it, he heard a noise similar to the bathroom, but slightly louder. A moment later, a part of the wall changed into a sliding door. After looking at his pokemon with an impressed look on his face, he opened the door to reveal a bedroom.

"Haha." Max laughed lightly. "Now this is just ridiculous.

Curious, the girls stood up and went to check it out as well. The room wasn't the most spacious and only contained one bed. However, the bed was excessively large as it touched both walls. It took up so much space that there was no room to hold any more furniture.

{Holy shit!} Aurora cursed, a bit astonished. {I'm sure we could all fit on that bed.}

"Easily." Max conceded.

{Do you think that… it was made specifically for us?} May wondered.

"I don't know, but it's plausible. The only thing bugging me is that if someone isn't in a cuddling mood or is pouting, they can't sleep anywhere else."

{If that ever happens, that someone can go sleep on the bench in the kitchen.} Aurora said in a rather cold way.

"That's harsh. We could also use our inflatable mattresses and drop it somewhere."

{Like outside?} Aurora said.

"Why outside?" Max asked, a bit confused.

{Hpmf. If someone wants to take a 'break' from you, then they are better off outside in my opinion. Not wanting to cuddle with the world's best trainer is an insult in itself.}

"Hehe, I appreciate the thought, Aurora, but it's not that simple. Anyone could come up with many reasons for feeling extra solitary every now and then. Despite being my pokemon, you're not my slaves. You have your own free will and I won't tie you anywhere. You of all pokémon should know that I'm not that kind of trainer."

{Well… it depends on how and where you tie me,} The lucario replied a bit seductively, making May giggle and Sally laugh.

"Feeling kinky, huh? Haha. It kind of reminds me of Scarlet telling me that one time that she wishes to try some bondage with me."

{I'm almost afraid to ask who wants to tie who.} Aurora wondered out loud.

"Without saying too much, we all know that she's not the submissive type, so I'll let you make your own guess," Max answered a bit embarrassingly before going to sit on the bed. "Most of the time, that is. Ooh! Very comfy."

{I want to try it!} May exclaimed, jumping on the bed.

{Me too!} Sally followed, doing the same.

{Aaah… feels so good.} The mawile commented, eyes closed on her back.

{You said it.} Sally agreed.

Briefly looking at them, Max smiled before being joined by Aurora, sitting next to him.

{...I'm still sensing a bit of disturbance in your aura. Still doing okay?} She asked, a bit worryingly.

"Yeah. I just have to re-adapt to being on my own again. On our own, I mean. It may sound a bit weird, but… today feels like the first day I got kicked out of my home."

{I see. Well…} Aurora started, putting a hand on one of his thighs. {Today's different because you're not alone this time.}

"...You're right," Max replied, rubbing her hair. "I'm feeling a little nostalgic right now, so distant memories of my not-so-great background easily resurface. I'll try my best to keep telling myself that it's for the best this time, and…" He continued before grabbing her paw. "That I truly am not alone."

{Hmpf. Don't tell me that you have become someone who understands me so quickly.} She jested, dropping her head against his shoulder.

"I always have," Max affirmed.

{Hmm… if you say so.} She retorted with an exaggerated skeptical tone.

{No fair!} Sally complained, hugging Max from behind. {I want affection from him, too.}

"What are you talking about? I'm giving you plenty already." Max assured her while petting her, with Aurora leaving his shoulder.

{We never have enough.} May said, getting under his left arm in a cute way.

"You girls are impossible," he complained affectionately, petting May as well.

{Well, instead of doing nothing, maybe I can take a little walk around if we are to stay until tomorrow.} Aurora announced while standing up from the bed.

"Feeling adventurous, by chance?"

{A little. It happens every now and then. I also like some alone time every so often.}

"Some more than others, but yeah. I understand."

At the same moment, Max and the girls heard a moderately loud buzzing sound.

{What was that?} Sally asked.

"Probably Scarlet switching on the power after she charged the generator. Everything should work now."

{Let's try it out.} Aurora said before pressing a nearby button.

Since they were expecting light or something like that, they were a bit surprised to see a small HD flat screen appearing above the door frame and turning on automatically. The channel seemed to be on a news one by default.

"Would you look at that? We can also watch TV in bed."

{This thing really has it all,} Aurora said with crossed arms.

"Even though everything is very simplistic, this is quite the luxury we have there. We practically have an expensive trailer that I can carry on my back. Wow, science is so amazing."

{I wonder if it's a thing that people would actually want,} Aurora pondered out loud.

"Why wouldn't they? I admit that it mustn't be that accessible since it's very expensive, but this is neat."

{I agree, and I personally don't dislike it, but for some, I think they may lose the thrill of being in the wilderness. You know, being too cozy and all.}

"...I guess you have a point there. I'm not especially into camping and such myself, but since we're basically being nomads…" Max quoted. "We have to go with portable shelters, which in many cases, is a tent and the stuff that comes with it. We live like hobos off the land because we don't have much of a choice."

{Vagabond is a more distinguished term, thank you very much.} Aurora scolded.

"Psh, same thing."

{Anyway…} Aurora gave up, rolling her eyes. {I was also thinking how since it's probably that expensive, it would be an extreme pain in the ass to have a random wild pokemon come around and mess with it.}

"That thought, I agree with fully. Luckily, I have you, girls and Luna, as night sentinels. We're pretty safe on that matter."

{True.} Aurora conceded.

"If anything, I'm sure we could find some engineers to fix it anyway."

{For a price, that is.}

"Very true."

{Well then, I'll see you guys later.} The lucario finished before leaving.

"See ya. Well girls, any ideas of what we can do to pass the time?" he asked Sally and May.

{Hmm…} May pondered with Sally. {I don't really know… I guess we could spar for a little bit.}

"Alright. Just try not to overdo it, guys. You have gotten pretty powerful, so if you go all out, you could destroy this entire area."

{Don't exaggerate so much, master. We're not that strong.} Sally replied, a bit embarrassed by his words.

"And I believe that you are."

Blushing, Sally looked away with a smile.

{I understand, master…} May started. {But if we don't surpass our current level, we won't progress much beyond our current point.}

"You're all very strong already. If you keep getting stronger and stronger, you could be considered a walking natural disaster."

{What's that supposed to mean?} May demanded with crossed arms, looking offended.

"No, I didn't mean it that way. I-I meant to say that you would become scarier than a natural disaster. If you keep getting stronger, you could wipe out the continent if you wake up in a bad mood."

{Hm hm.} May hummed, still a bit offended. {Well, whatever. If we ever get to that level, you know that our strength will be only used to serve you.}

"Don't say it like that."

{Ehe. Consider this as payback for calling us natural disasters.} The mawile retorted, making Max sigh in disbelief. {But you're right, those were a poor choice of words. I mainly meant to say that our power will only be used to protect you and give you aid. Like we all said a couple of times now: Just because we can kill a human very easily, that doesn't mean we should.}

"That's very noble of all you. It would be so easy for you to consider us as inferior beings."

{You're not though, and neither are we. Despite being powerful beings, we're not perfect or flawless. Humans and pokemon benefit each other in various ways. I'll never see you that way.} She assured him, hugging his arm.

"That's very sweet of you," Max said, caressing her cheek near her neck, where she loved it the most.

{I agree with her. If it wasn't for you, I would've never met the love of my life.} Sally said, rubbing her head against his.

"Well, it's not really because I'm specifically a human, but I'll take it," Max said, petting her with his free hand.

{Wait! Come to think of it, why don't you use your watch to create a dome around us?} May suggested.

"That function only works when two trainers battle. All I can do is protect both of you individually."

{Tsk, dang.} May expressed, a bit upset.

"The best thing would be to ask Scarlet for help I suppose, either by creating the dome herself or restraining your power."

{...Well, it could work for all of us, but who's gonna train her?} She asked.

"Hm… if you're asking, I think it's safe to assume that creating a force field around you to contain your destructive power will be a training session of itself for her."

{That's a valid point, but what if she wants to train physically?}

"She will while still creating a dome. I believe it'll be even harder for her since she will train both her physical and mental attributes."

{That's… fair enough.}

{Whoa! Having a psychic-type pokemon as a friend is so cool!} Sally exclaimed, impressed. {They can do so many things!}

"Yep. And if you ask me, I think every team should at least have one psychic-type. They're so rad for saying 'fuck you' to the world's physics."

{Don't let Bonny catch you saying that.} May mentioned.

"What's wrong with that? Her self-esteem has pretty much returned to normal, thanks to Phanny. In fact, I think it's slightly higher than before."

{...I guess, but I'm a bit worried that she may still be a bit sensitive about that.}

"I wouldn't bet on that. When we discovered she was abnormally stronger than the average lopunny, typing doesn't matter to her anymore. Ever since then, she started to show off a little, always trying to give me some display of strength. She wanted recognition, so I gave her some."

{Yeah, Bonny is very strong. I'd actually be jealous of her if she wasn't a friend.} Sally said, slightly pouting.

"Hehe, her strength is now the root of her confidence, so let her have a little fun with it."

{If you say so. Still, I wish that I could be that strong.}

"You all are in your own special way. You have to go with what you already have, sweetie," Max told her, rubbing her head affectionately.

{What do we do instead, then?} May asked.

"Hm… how about I show you a little more of the internet?"

{Sure.}

With a smile, Max stood up, walked back to the kitchen with his two pokemon, and sat on the table while grabbing the tablet. He then showed them different types of websites; from games websites to funny video sites and even sites to listen to and download music. They browsed the pages like that for a while until they felt the ground shake.

"Whoa. Maybe Scarlet brought us a Tyrunt for lunch." Max jested while standing up.

Accompanied by May and Sally, Max left the module and looked around.

{I think it was behind us.} Sally guessed.

Proceeding behind, they saw Luna and Bonny, with the lopunny resting a paw on the huge water tank and talking with Luna.

"Damn! Did you carry that thing all on your own?"

{Of course, I did.} Bonny confirmed. {It was a piece of cake for me,} she added, flexing her arms a little.

Even though her biceps were slightly bigger, her arms were still pretty thin.

"I still wonder how you pack such strength inside that small body."

{The body you love so much, you mean? I don't know. Magic, maybe?} She mocked.

"Not very science-friendly," Max replied with a small grin. "I see that the search for water went well."

{There was a large lake not too far from here, but with this much water, we won't need to refill for a while.}

"And I'm guessing it goes in there," Max said, looking at an empty large socket in the wall.

He then noticed another one, different from the one that Bonny had.

"There's two?"

{Actually, we deduced that the second one is a water heater.} Luna told him.

{Ah. One for drinking, and the other one for showering and dishwashing. This one might need to be filled more often.}

{Maybe in the winter, but in summer, you can wash in a water source directly.}

"True."

{Another reason to love summer even more.} Bonny commented with a smug smile. {Hot days are the only times where we can constantly see you naked and bathe with you.}

"Plus it saves water for travel. This thing is amazing. All it needs is something to help with laundry."

{There isn't a washer or dryer inside?} Luna asked.

"I don't remember seeing them. Maybe in the bathroom since I looked rather quickly and missed it."

{Well, don't worry about it then. Let's start filling this bad boy up.} Bonny said, lifting the water tank rather easily.

"I think we should let Dusk boil it first." Max interrupted.

{Good point.} She conceded, dropping the water tank again with a loud bang sound.

"I wonder how much that tank weighs, actually." Max wondered, with what she shrugged her shoulders with a prideful small grin.

{Maybe I can help.} Sally proposed herself.

"That's very sweet of you, but you're a pure physical fire-type, so unless you can put a part of you inside it, you can't really help."

Unfortunately, the top of the tank had just a small pipe sticking out of it, making it impossible to drop anything in it.

{Oh. Nevermind, then,} the cinderace said with her ears dropping down. {I should have seen it sooner.}

"It's okay, Sally," Max reassured, pulling her into a hug. "We have to accept that, sometimes, there are things we can't do. That's what a team is here for, completing each other's flaws."

{But anything I can do, Dusk can too, so… I don't know what I can do.}

"Sally…" Max said, kneeling to get at her height. "I'm sure that there are things that only you can do."

{...You mean it?}

"I'm sure of it. It's the same with May, Bonny, and Luna. There are things that they can't do and things that only they can do."

{...Alright. I'll trust you.} She acknowledged with a smile, her ears back up.

"Good girl." He praised, kissing her nose, just to tease her a little.

{You missed.} Sally complained.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He said before giving her a quick kiss on the lips this time.

{Thanks.} She said, widely smiling.

{Well, since we're at it, we're gonna go fill that one too.} Bonny said, grabbing the second water tank.

"Don't you want to take a break?" Max asked, standing up.

{I'm fine. It's no heavier to me than a small log to you.}

"Pretty sure I can carry big logs now." Max corrected, faking being a bit offended.

{Probably. My bad.} She apologized while taking off the tank from the wall. {We'll be back in a moment.} She informed them before leaving with Luna again.

Max then inspected the wall for a short moment.

"I wonder where the generator is. I'm curious to know how it works."

{Maybe it has to do with that.} Sally said, pointing next to one of the empty water tank sockets.

Max searched for a few seconds before he spotted a hard-to-see panel.

"Oh."

He went near it and opened it. He didn't see any generator but saw a metallic handle integrated into the module.

"I guess that's where she applied it."

He went to touch the handle, but it electrocuted his finger, stinging quite a lot.

"Shit! Smart thinking, Max." He complained, shaking his hand.

{That's one way to learn.} May mentioned, next to him.

She then spotted a small panel, which was closer to the ground, and went to open it. Instead of a handle, there were thin cables with something circular in between each one.

"Wow." Max commented, noticing it.

Kneeling, he grabbed one.

{What's that?} Sally asked.

"I don't know…" He started, inspecting the circular object. "It looks sticky, I guess it's for quadruped pokemon. Eh, whoever designed this, he or she thought of everything." He finished, impressed.

{What will a trainer do if they don't have any electric-type pokemon?} Sally questioned.

"Well, there's always a workaround. We don't have any, but Scarlet knows at least one electric-type move."

{Oh, right. Thunder Punch.}

"But I guess if they don't have anything electrical, they can just use it without electricity, or just not use the power at all."

{How can a trainer guess he won't have any in the future?} May inquired. {They can't really guess that they won't have an electric-type pokemon with them.}

"Actually, Sweetie, when a trainer goes out there, most of the time, they already have a good idea of which pokemon they want to capture."

{I see.}

"Like I already said; you should always include at least one psychic-type pokemon in your team. I guess the most useful types in terms of 'survival' would be electric, water, and fire-type pokemon. Well, electric-type isn't that much of a must since we did just fine without one for a while, actually. Without anything that needs it, they lose their purpose a little."

{It makes sense.} May conceded.

"After that, all the others serve mostly as protection and other necessities. Maybe with an honorable mention of the ice-type, which can be useful in certain circumstances."

{I wonder what a ghost-type would be useful for?}

"Good question. Spying on the girls' dressing room, maybe."

{What's the point if it's not you?} The mawile inquired with crossed arms.

"That's… actually a well-made point. I don't know, then. I'm sure they all can be useful somewhere, I just don't know what exactly. Anyway, speaking of usefulness, maybe we can give a little hand to the other girls ourselves instead of not doing much."

{What are you suggesting?}

"Getting stuff to make for dinner. I'm starting to get pretty hungry, so the sooner we have something, the sooner I can start cooking."

{Yeah, me too, I'm getting pretty hungry. Very well, then. Let's go gather some edibles, just the three of us.} The mawile happily suggested.

{That sounds like fun. I'm in!} Sally shared enthusiastically.

"Alright. Let's do this." Max concluded before he, May, and Sally went off deeper in the woods for edibles.

Luckily, the part of the woods they were in was rather rich in nutrients as they were finding a lot of different edibles. Mushrooms, which Max made sure weren't poisonous, berries, and fruit trees were scattered a bit everywhere.

"We didn't think this through," Max commented after a while with his shirt filled with different berries and fruits. "We should have brought something to carry all this."

{Yeah.} Sally agreed, her arms full as well.

{We have a good amount, so we can head back and come here again with your backpack.}

"Good idea. Maybe I should clean it a little before we do, though. I haven't done that since we bought it."

{Yeaah, you should.} May agreed with slight disdain.

{Look, May, aren't those your favorite?}

Hearing Sally, May turned and looked towards where she was pointing.

{Hmm… it's similar, but not quite. Mine are a little darker.}

{Oh. Sorry, then.}

{It's okay. They are pretty easy to mix up.}

Suddenly, they heard a very brief buzzing sound behind them. Quickly turning, they saw that Max had disappeared, his berries still rolling on the ground.

{What the…! Master?!} May exclaimed, quickly looking around.

{Huh? Where… Where did he go?} Sally asked, immediately getting worried.

{You gotta be… Goddammit!} She said louder, frustratingly dropping her load. {We're not even a day back into our journey, after spending over a year training and going to therapy to get over our previous trauma, and this crap still happens to us!} She blurted, getting anxious as well as angry. {Seriously, all I wanted today was to have a nice, peaceful dinner to celebrate our day back on the road, and eventually have things go back to the way they were before! Is that too much to ask? Well, apparently it is!}

{What… should we do?} Sally asked, dropping her berries as well, getting nervous as well.

{ For fu… Ghrr!} The mawile angrily growled. [Scarlet? Can you hear me?!]

She tried to contact Scarlet, but no response.

{Damnit!} May shouted.

{What is it?}

{It's not working. I think only Max can contact Scarlet telepathically since they have a very deep connection. I'm not a psychic-type pokemon, so I can't reach her on my own.}

{Oh no…} Sally replied, getting very worried. {I got a bad feeling about this, May.}

{*Groans* You don't say.}