Achievement

Roughly three days had passed since the pond incident and Max's first attempt to mega-evolve May. The group had just woken up to another new day, and Max decided to extend breakfast time before leaving the campsite, wanting to give another try at mega-evolving May.

"Okay, May, have you reflected and organized your priorities since last time?" Max asked his beloved mawile, the two of them being a bit further away from the others for some privacy.

{Yes. I understand now that wanting to mega-evolve for my own selfish needs was foolish of me.}

"Great. I'm very proud of you."

{And with a hot night like yesterday, no way I'll do that only for me.} She mentioned with a dirty smile.

"I guess so," Max shyly replied with a normal smile of his own. "Let's go, then."

With May nodding, both went into the forest. Finding a good spot and holding their respective stones, they then started focusing very hard on the mega evolution, trying to picture it already working.

{...Darn it.} May cursed, not feeling anything on their first try.

"Let's try again," Max suggested.

This time, after spending several seconds immensely focusing, both of them felt a little something.

*gasp* {Did you feel that?} May exclaimed, her eyes bursting open.

"Yeah. For a split second, I felt like I was in your place," he said, feeling glad and excited.

{Same!} May replied with stars in her eyes.

For a little while, they kept trying again and again, but all their attempts were in vain. Nothing progressed beyond what was already felt.

"Tsk, let's stop for now. The others must be getting impatient. We'll try again this evening."

{We were so close.} May complained.

"At least we've finally made progress, even if it was just a little bit. From now on, it's only a matter of time before we succeed."

{I sure hope so.} May acknowledged with a warm smile.

"Atta-girl," Max praised, petting the cute pokemon.

As soon as Max returned her to her pokeball, he headed back with the others.

{How'd it go?} Bonny asked, currently chilling on the ground and enjoying the sun.

"We made some progress, albeit small. We'll soon have a mega mawile in our team."

{Cool. I can't wait to spar with her.} The lopunny responded back with a smile.

{So we're good to go?} Aurora asked, resting a bit further against a tree, not sounding as enthusiastic as Bonny.

"Yes. And don't worry, I'll try it again tonight with you, too, like always," Max said to his lucario.

{There's no rush. It's not like we've progressed a lot, anyway.}

"Patience, my pretty. We'll get there eventually."

{If you say so.} She replied with a shrug.

Rolling his eyes, Max recalled everyone in their pokeball.

"I'm good to go, Scarlet," Max said out loud while resuming his travel on the road.

Shortly after, the red gardevoir appeared alongside him.

{Anything new?} The red pokemon asked, hands behind her back.

"More or less. We didn't achieve the mega evolution, but I feel we're getting close."

{Nice. I never once doubted you.} Scarlet warmly replied.

"Heh, we both know that that's not true," he playfully retorted.

{Hehe, you're mostly right.} Scarlet giggled.

Throughout the day's morning, both of them walked under the warm rays of the sun, heating up nicely the air around them. And strangely, during the afternoon, a thin fog had suddenly appeared and surrounded them.

"Huh. The weather sure is strange around here," Max commented.

{Yeah. I don't remember ever seeing fog appearing this abruptly.} Scarlet said suspiciously, looking around.

"I'm pretty sure it's just a harmless fog zone. We'll be out of it in a moment."

Contrary to what Max thought, the further they traveled inside it, the thicker the fog was getting.

{Didn't you say we would be out in a moment?} Scarlet playfully mocked.

"Well, normally we should. I guess it's just a big foggy zone. Anyway, we can't really do anything about it besides walking in a straight line."

{I guess so.}

For various minutes, they kept marching through the thick layer of fog, and like Max assumed, it seemed to have a rather big radius.

"Oh. An intersection," Max pointed out when they arrived in front of two separate roads.

{Which way do we go?} Scarlet inquired.

"...I can't tell. There is no indication," Max answered, looking for a sign panel or something of the sort. *sigh* "I believe we'll have to choose."

{Well, I like punching with my right fist, so right it is.}

"What kind of logic is that?"

{Mine?}

"Meh, works for me, I guess," Max conceded, shrugging his shoulders.

{I can always bring us back here if we end up at a dead end.}

"You think you have memorized this place enough? We can't see further than two feet before us."

{Are you doubting my abilities?} Scarlet asked with crossed arms, feigning being upset.

"Not really, just wondering how you will manage to do that."

{Well, no need to get into details. Let's just proceed, shall we?}

With Max letting out a sigh, they took the right turn. Luckily, as they were walking, the fog was getting slightly thinner, but it wasn't enough to make a huge difference. For a couple more minutes, they still remained inside the fog when they stumbled across another intersection.

"Let me guess, to the right?"

{You understand pretty quickly. For a human.} Scarlet nagged with a grin.

"I more or less anticipated it," Max said with an eye roll, taking again the right path. "However, if we come across another intersection, I hope you're planning on taking a different direction."

{Why?}

"Because if we always take right, we'll end up walking in circles."

{Not necessarily.}

"Tsk, you really love to argue, don't you?" Max replied, feigning being annoyed.

{Only a bit, but I make it my goal to be especially stubborn with you.} She countered with a haughty smirk.

"Ahh, what an evil and spoiled little gardevoir you are," he gasped in fake indignation whilst placing a palm on his chest.

{And your point is?}

"I hate you."

{I love you, too.} She innocently replied with a smile.

A little while later, the fog got a little thinner and they were able to spot a house in the distance.

{Hmm, I think we went on the wrong path.}

"We? You're the one who decided where to go."

{Then I decide to go back.} She proclaimed with closed eyes and a raised finger.

"Why don't we just ask them for some help?"

{Help for what? We'll just continue taking paths until we find the right one.}

"And still be in this place by nightfall? No thanks. I believe it's gonna be quicker if we just ask for directions."

*sigh* {Whatever. If it pleases you.}

It took them roughly a few minutes to reach the house, it being just like any other normal house in the woods; modest and rustic. But the house looked to be particularly old.

"Heh, this could almost be the setup of a horror movie with all the fog around here. It's almost creepy," Max shared as they were getting on the porch.

{I like it. It's my kind of ambiance.} Scarlet commented.

With a quick eye roll, Max went to knock on the door. After giving only one knock, it slightly opened as if it wasn't closed in the first place.

"Huh. The owner sure isn't afraid of thieves around here."

{If the place is often like this, I doubt many would come here, anyway.}

"Good point," Max agreed before opening the door halfway. "Hello? Is anyone here? Sorry to barge in, but we were wondering if we could get some help."

They waited for a short moment, and no answer could be heard.

"Strange," he said with a bit of confusion, slowly darting his eyes to each direction of the place.

{Maybe they are just not at home.}

"Or someone is an incredibly heavy sleeper. If it's an old man, he's probably knocked out on the couch and forgot to close the door."

{If he's that senile, how can he help us?}

"It's worth a try. And if we do find him, we should tell him to be more careful with the door."

{Why do you even care?}

"Because… I'm just that nice," Max replied a bit arrogantly.

{Riiight. It surely has nothing to do with you looking for something interesting to 'borrow'.} Scarlet retorted sarcastically.

"Who do you take me for?"

{My master that I know too well?}

"Whatever, think what you want," Max concluded, proceeding inside.

After both went in, Max closed the door. The interior of the house was very ordinary but it looked pretty clean and the furniture didn't look very old.

{Yecch, it stinks in here.} Scarlet remarked in disgust.

"Yeah, it's really unpleasant," Max agreed, briefly sniffing the air. "Hello?" he called out louder without any response from the landlord.

{I'm starting to believe no one is here.}

"I guess so. It would be odd with the given fact that the front door wasn't even locked. But, this smell..."

He then began to move towards the living room while Scarlet went to inspect the kitchen. Carefully walking and looking around, he noticed a door slightly ajar next to a staircase. Guessing it led downstairs, he went to it and opened it.

*koff* "Shit!" he exclaimed, covering his face.

{What is it?} Scarlet asked before joining him with a small cookie in one hand and munching on another piece.

"...Seriously?" Max questioned, looking at her accusingly.

{What? I'm hungry.}

*sigh* "Whatever…" he said, rolling his eyes. "I think the provenance of the smell is down there."

*sniff* {Pheuuuw! Smells like something died in there.}

"Or something is currently dying."

{A dying being doesn't smell that terrible.}

"...What do you suggest we do?"

Munching on her last pieces, Scarlet swallowed before speaking.

{I'm curious now.}

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Scarlet floated past him.

"What are you doing?"

{I wonder what's down there. Who knows?, maybe we'll discover a dead gardevoir.} She said with an amused and casual tone.

"Wait," Max called out, following her. "Oomph, I don't know what stinks like that but it could be anything."

Remaining silent until reaching the basement, Scarlet just looked around curiously. Max did the same as her, hoping that the sooner they find the smell's provenance, the sooner they will be out. The basement also looked to be ordinary but it was in a very messy state, it being overly filled with trinkets and junk, making it harder to easily maneuver the place, at least for the human. As Scarlet went to a part on the right, Max proceeded forwards. In front of him, the passage was almost blocked, but he managed to get through it with some strides and arrived at a path that forked to the left. When he engaged it, he then froze in place, eyes widening like saucers.

"Oh... My... God."

{What did you find?}

Thanks to her floating abilities, she managed to easily join him.

{...Damn.}

In front of them, both was the smell's origin. Lying on the ground with its back against the wall, was a male human's eviscerated corpse with the bowels spilled out and he was covered in dried blood all over. From the looks of it, it was a middle-aged man.

"What the fuck happened here?!" Max pondered out loud, very creeped out.

{Something sinister, that's for sure.} Scarlet replied, crossing her arms and looking unfazed.

"No shit! Okay, now that we saw-"

*Crush*

A moderately loud noise of some wood breaking could be heard from above them.

"W-What was that?!" he unintentionally blurted out loud.

Immediately after that, loud and quick clawed footsteps could be heard rushing towards the basement door.

[Okay, time to go.] Scarlet said very seriously.

As soon as Max felt a hand on his shoulder, they got teleported away and were now back in front of the first intersection of the forest. After his mind took a few seconds to register that they were out of that place, Max then dropped onto his knees with accelerated breathing and puked from the nauseous sight he just witnessed.

"Holy f-fucking shit! What t-the fuck was that n-noise?!" he exclaimed with fear, still spitting out some leftovers.

{I don't know but it wasn't something friendly, or sane, for that matter.}

"Fuck!... I-I swear I heard it h-h-heading down the stairs the second you teleported us!"

{Here, let me help you.} Scarlet said with a soothing voice before helping him up.

"...Shit."

{I guess right wasn't the right way. Let's go that way this time.} She said, proceeding through the left path while helping Max walk.

After a while, he was able to walk on his own, but he had his arms coiled around himself as if he was cold and was even shivering.

{Are you okay, master?} Scarlet asked with concern, placing a hand on one of his shoulders, startling him a little.

"I-I… Not really," Max replied, looking forward again.

{I don't need my psychic powers to know exactly why.} Scarlet softly said, withdrawing her hand.

"Just... just what was that?"

{I really don't know.}

"Fuck. Whatever it was, it was coming straight for us. And what was I doing? Yelling like nothing was wrong," he berated himself.

{...}

"We were sitting ducks inside there. It could have intercepted us at any given moment... and if you weren't there…"

{But I was there. Everything's okay now.} Scarlet calmly reassured.

"Yeah but, what if you weren't there with me? What if you had missed me and teleported without me? Right now, I would probably be just like the man we saw, emptied of my guts and blood and-"

{Calm down now!} Scarlet commanded, stopping him. {Now that's just your fear and anxiety speaking. Whatever might be the situation, I will never abandon you, especially now.}

"..."

{Anyway, if I wasn't there prior to entering the place, you probably wouldn't have ended up in that situation in the first place.}

"But… what if I did?"

{...Well, no need to ponder it further. I'm here now, for better or worse whether you like it or not. Just tell yourself that you're blessed with my presence and protection for the rest of your life.}

"Or until you get tired of me," he cracked with a weak smile.

{Tsk, I will never get tired of you, so you might as well start to shove that into your head, okay?} She playfully retorted with a smile of her own.

"...Okay."

{Good. Now be a good boy and breathe deeply to calm yourself down. If you can't do it on your own, I'll be more than glad to help you.}

"I… think I'll ask for your help."

{Sure thing.}

Scarlet then placed herself in front of him and put a hand on his head. Instantly, a soothing sensation filled him and it vanquished his worries and fears as if they were never there in the first place.

*inhale* *exhale* "Thanks. I lost control for a bit," Max said, feeling all relaxed again.

{With good reason. Even I got goosebumps. It's not something usual what we just experienced.}

"True. And yet again, you saved my life."

{It must be like what, the billionth time?} She cheekily pondered, hands behind her back.

"Something like that, hehe... Eurk, I still have that horrible vomit aftertaste," Max complained, with what Scarlet helped him to get rid of it. "Huh. Thanks. Despite wanting to forget about it, I can't help but feel curious. Do you think that noise was a pokemon?"

{What else it could have been?}

"I'm not sure. But, I'm a bit skeptical that a pokemon is capable of something like that."

{Hehe, your naivety is kind of cute but dangerous for you. First off: yes, a pokemon can do something like that; mental illness is not something only inherent to humans. You just witnessed a small glimpse of what they can do. Secondly: besides an animal, I don't know of other creatures that could be that wicked.}

"Hmm, you have a point. Or maybe it was a demon," he jokingly stated.

{Oh, well if we include all of the absurd and mythical creatures that humans have imagined, then it could have been a lot of things, indeed.}

"I sensed a bit of mockery behind that statement."

{You don't say.} Scarlet retorted with a dimwitted expression.

"I was just wondering. Geez."

{Hihi. Why don't we just forget about it instead? We're alive and probably far from it now.}

*sigh* "I guess you're right. I just hope it won't traumatize me."

{You seem fine to me.}

"Yeah, because of your drugging powers."

{That you willingly accepted.}

"Alright, let's forget it, then," he dismissed in defeat.

{Great. Because this was starting to get redundant.}

"Your face is redundant," Max childishly jested.

{Shall we talk about yours?} Scarlet replied, playing along.

"You mean my amazing face? Sure, go ahead," he said, rubbing arrogantly his jawline.

After some more harmless bickering, it took them quite a while for the incident to already be a distant memory, and the fog got thinner and thinner the more they traveled on the left side. Eventually, they were close to being completely out of it.

"...Say, I wonder if what happened has something to do with this fog. I mean, maybe it's a demonic fog that spawns hellish fiends."

{Again with that? I thought you would have forgotten about it by now.}

"But it could be a possibility."

With Scarlet sighing, they finally made it out of the fog.

*Crack*

Not even a moment after they left it, a loud cracking noise of deadwood was heard from behind the two, making them quickly turn around. Both of them briefly looked at each other.

"Did it… follow us?" Max asked, starting to panic again.

{I'm starting to wonder if your fog theory wasn't that stupid, after all.}

"Holy crap. Either we are very lucky, or it's just playing with us," he quietly remarked.

{Either way, we're out now and nothing seems to come out. I suggest we create distance between us and that place as soon as possible.}

"I never agreed with you that much until now," Max complied, speeding up his pace.

Eventually, they made enough distance so that the foggy zone wasn't visible anymore.

"If I could have one prayer answered at this moment, it would be to never relive something like that ever again."

{I don't know. It was quite thrilling, actually.}

"Are you crazy?"

{You know too well that I indeed am.} Scarlet replied with a mischievous grin.

*groan* "What have I done to god to deserve this?" Max whined, pretending to be miserable.

{Some nasty things, I'm sure.}

"Thanks for your support," he sarcastically said.

{Anytime.} She replied with a warm smile before grabbing one of his arms and holding it against herself.

"Anywho, we should forget about it for real this time and focus on something else. There's something I need to talk to you about."

{What is it?}

"Well, you see, May is on the way to mega-evolve, but the same can't be said for Aurora. Yet. So I came up with a Plan B in case I can't mega-evolve either one of them in time for the battle."

{Mm-hmm.} Scarlet mumbled, listening intently.

"So, here's the thing: I was thinking about training Jade to make her a spare fighter."

Upon hearing that, Scarlet let go of his arm and immediately crossed her arms with a disapproving expression.

{I see.}

"I don't know what you're thinking but it's nothing like that, I assure you."

{I'm just thinking that you can do what you want, like always.}

"The goal isn't-"

{You don't have to justify yourself.} Scarlet cut him off. {If you want to spend quality time with her, then do it. I'll just wait for my turn if it ever comes.} She said, almost sounding mad.

"Dammit. I knew you would react like that," Max remarked with closed eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What I was going to say is that the goal isn't to spend more time with her. It's just that due to the next gym leader type, I figured that maybe a psychic-type will be of great help."

{Yeah, a psychic-type. As if you didn't have one in your team already.}

"You don't want to fight, remember?" Max knowingly pointed out.

{...}

"Also, I believe that if I have to hand her over, it won't be too much to ask if she knows how to defend herself, even if just a little."

{She can learn all of that with the one you'll give her to.}

"True, but having the basic notions can help speed things up. You know what? Knowing you, see it this way: if I train Jade and make her a bit stronger, more people will be interested in her. No one wants a pokemon that can't fight. In trainer battles, at least."

{Knowing you, I'm surprised that you didn't think about how careless a human that is only interested in battling can be with their pokemon.}

"Knowing you, that's why I said that because you don't care much yourself."

{Charming. Always making me look like an evil bitch.}

"Well, you are evil. Which doesn't displease me in some ways, but you're not a bitch. I see you more as a sweet, sweet, evil creature. And besides, if you recall our end of the deal, you are gonna help me identify a proper trainer to take care of Jade, even if it means poking in their minds."

Scarlet briefly looked at him before sighing in defeat.

{Alright, you win.}

"Great," he remarked in victory.

{However, I'm gonna assist the sessions.}

"You don't trust me?"

{I don't trust her.}

"Okay, if you want to. That could be really helpful, in fact. If she has trouble, you could help with some tips."

{I never agreed on helping her personally.}

"Come on. If you help, she's gonna be stronger and more desirable very quickly."

At that statement, Scarlet glared at him accusingly.

"Wrong choice of words, I'm aware. But you get what I mean."

{...We'll see, then. But I'm warning you, if she even glances at you when you're not looking, she's gonna lose her eyes immediately.}

"I'm sure she already knows that. Besides, I doubt she's into humans."

{Don't be that naive. You never know. I wasn't into humans before meeting you.}

"Maybe you were, but you just didn't know it."

{Even if it was the case, I would probably never have been aware of that without our encounter.}

"Good point. Anyway, I haven't asked her that yet, and if I manage to mega-evolve either May or Aurora before reaching Oxgard, maybe I won't even need to resort to that at all."

{If you ask me, I don't really see her saying yes.}

"It's worth the try. For everyone's sake, at least."

The rest of the day went on normally and it was now the end of the afternoon. After the camp was set, Max went to a private spot to practice the mega-evolution with Aurora and May. He started off with the lucario for a while and ended their session of the day with again, no progress being made. Feeling a bit frustrated, Aurora left them both, leaving Max alone with his mawile.

"Okay, this time…" Max started the sentence.

{...we'll do it.} May finished it.

Wasting no time, both of them began the session to summon May's mega form. During the first several minutes, nothing seemed to have happened until a certain moment.

"Come on, May, we can do it!" Max almost shouted to motivate both of them.

{Of course, we can!} The mawile replied, sounding as pumped as the human.

{"Mega evolution!"} They both said out loud in sync.

Suddenly, May glowed in bright light, with what Max immediately opened his eyes. Unfortunately, doing that made him lose focus momentarily and it was enough to cancel the process. He, however, had the time to see it and excitement began to fill him immensely.

"Oh my god!"

{What?} May asked, not noticing it.

"We almost did it! You glowed for a brief moment!"

{I did?}

"Yes! If I hadn't lost my focus maybe we would have succeeded."

{Then what are we waiting for?! Let's try again already!} May urged, getting more excited.

Focusing again, they both called out the mega evolution and May started to glow once more. Max, again, couldn't help but to open his eyes and be amazed at the sight, but this time he managed to keep his focus. However, despite glowing for a longer time, the fusion was still not perfect and May still remained in her normal form.

"Again," Max commanded.

They gave it a couple more tries and Max was starting to get a bit tired from all of the wasted energy. Nevertheless, he didn't want to give up and kept on trying. And fortunately, he was about to harvest the fruits of his labor.

{"Mega evolution!"} They both called out before May glowed yet another time.

Oddly, Max felt a bit more energy than usual being drained from him, and this time, he now saw May starting to change form while her whole body was glowing. Excitement was tremendously rising in him and couldn't wait to see May's mega form, the moment seemingly lasting for an eternity. Soon enough, May's silhouette had gotten bigger and the glowing light quickly faded, revealing a mega mawile. Besides the fact that her mouth was just slightly bigger and longer, which made her look a bit cuter in his opinion, everything about her had changed: she was now taller, roughly gaining one foot and nine inches in height, and her limbs were longer and more slender; behind her head, her singular giant maw had been replaced with two bigger maws and two ribbon-like extensions were hanging from each side. Her lower half had changed to a violet color, as well as around her two forearms. Overall, she looked like she was wearing a Japanese kimono.

{...Did it work?} May asked, opening one eye.

"I… Yeah. Yeah, I think we can say that," Max replied, scanning every part of her.

Opening her second eye, May then looked at herself. First, she glanced at her longer arms, then her lower body. With widened eyes, she reached the back of her head and felt her two giant maws.

{I… I did it. I can't believe I… We did it! This. Is. So. AWESOME!} She yelled before starting to jump around. {I mega evolved! I mega evolved! I mega evolved! YAY!}

Smiling, Max just stood where he was and looked at the happy mega mawile expressing and expelling her joy.

{This is the best day of my life!}

"The best day so far," Max corrected.

As if she had forgotten her master's existence, she abruptly stopped to look at him.

{Wait...} She said, slowly walking towards him.

"What is it?" Max asked when she was right in front of him.

Instead of speaking, she raised her head to look at Max's face, which was now closer than what she's used to. She then used her hand to measure herself and moved it forward at the same height to touch Max. And at that moment, her eyes went even wider.

"Something wrong? Too tall?"

May suddenly pushed Max onto the ground and jumped on him, getting on all fours with her hands resting against his chest.

{Master, do you know what this means?!} She questioned him with a wide grin, almost looking like a psychopath.

"Hem…" Max uncomfortably let out.

She immediately went lower on Max's body and began to work on his pants clumsily fast.

"Whoa, calm down there," Max said, sitting up to stop her.

{But… but…} She protested.

"You just mega-evolved. We'll have plenty of occasions to do that. Frankly, I think that since it will be our first time together, maybe we should make the moment a bit more special than rushing it like this."

{...I…I guess you're right.} She sadly agreed.

Then, she seemed to brighten up all of a sudden.

{Tonight!} She proposed, sounding like she's not letting Max have much of a choice.

"Umm, yeah. I suppose tonight might do."

{Oh my god! Oh my god! It's really gonna happen! It's the best day of my life!} She repeated with more exuberant energy.

"Come on now, you already sound like a broken record," he said with a small chuckle.

{But I'm just too happy! My dream is about to become a reality!}

"Alright now, hehe. Save some energy for later, please."

May then took a second to recompose herself to a minimum.

{Y-you're right. Sorry.}

"Eh, it's okay. I can understand your excitement. Anyway, before anything else, how about we go show the others?"

{Oh yes! I can't wait to show them my new form!} May exclaimed, clapping her hands briefly.

After both stood up, they began to walk back to the camp but then Max tripped on something and fell to the ground.

*gasp* {Master, are you alright?} May hurriedly asked with worry, gently helping him up.

"Oww… Yeah, I'm okay. What exactly tripped me?" Max said with slight annoyance, dusting himself.

{...Found it, master.} May said after identifying the culprit. {It looks like the rock is now empty. Look for yourself.} She added before handing it to him.

"Huh. At least your mawilite is now free. But I'm gonna keep carrying this around. I'm still hoping that this is worth something."

As he was holding onto it, the hollow rock broke in half.

"What?... Ahh, man," Max said in slight defeat and disappointment. *sigh* "Looks like my supposed onyx gem was worth nothing if it was this brittle," he said, exerting enough pressure to break the remaining pieces.

{How come it became like that all of a sudden?} May asked, a bit perplexed.

"My guess is that it probably was like that in the first place, and your mega stone is what kept it from falling apart."

{I see. That's a shame for you, then.}

"Thanks for your sincere compassion," Max jested.

{What? You're the one that cares most about money.} May justified herself.

"I can't deny it, but you care about the things I get you with it, don't you?" Max stated with a smug smile.

{...It's true…} The mawile conceded in a cute way.

At that, they continued walking until they reached the campsite.

"Girls, I have big news," Max announced to them while May trailed some distance behind him.

{You finally found your brain?} Aurora teased.

"Even better. Prepare to marvel yourselves at this," he declared, taking a step aside. "Ta-daa!"

{Damn!} Bonny exclaimed as soon as she saw the mega mawile. {Is that really you, May?}

{Who else?} May proudly replied, hands on her hips.

{That's amazing, May! You got bigger, and surely you are now stronger!} Dusk said, walking quickly to her.

{Hihi.} May giggled.

{Where are the others? They have to see this! Luna?! Scarlet?!} Bonny called out, looking around.

Soon enough, Scarlet appeared next to them.

{What is it?} The red gardevoir asked.

{Look who just got her mega evolution.} The lopunny said, pointing behind the gardevoir.

{Oh my...} She expressed after turning her head. {You sure did change quite a lot.}

{You think so?} May replied while twirling on her spot.

{Your personality is still intact, though, which is reassuring.}

{Hihi, just good ol' me, but bigger and stronger.}

A moment later, Luna showed up as well.

{Look, Luna.} Bonny told the zoroark.

{Wow. Aren't you just full of surprises.} Luna said with a smile.

{Ah shucks. That's enough now.} The mawile replied with a slight tint of red on her cheeks, starting to be embarrassed.

Almost immediately, May reverted back to her normal form, the unrefined mega stone dropping to the ground next to her.

"Well, it looks like the show is over."

{For now, you mean.} May corrected him.

"True."

As the others continued praising May, Max noticed that Aurora was absent.

"Has anyone seen Aurora?"

{That way.} Scarlet answered, pointing to her side towards the woods.

"Mind if I leave for a moment?" he asked his little mawile.

{Of course not. As long as you're free tonight.}

"I will be, don't worry."

{Oouuu, looks like this night will be a steamy one.} Bonny cheekily commented.

At that, Max left the group with an embarrassed smile to go where Scarlet indicated. It didn't take him long to find the lucario sitting and resting against a tree.

"What's on your mind now?" Max kindly inquired, sitting next to her.

{Nothing in particular.}

"Really? You're feeling well and yet you wanted to be by yourself?"

{We all need those moments, no?}

"...True," Max just said, not pressing it anymore.

Both remained silent for a short moment before Max broke the silence.

"So... what do you think of May's new form?"

{It's great. Really great. The team is getting stronger every day, which is very nice.}

Either she was serious, or she was getting good at hiding her feelings. Obviously, Max suspected the latter.

"Indeed," he agreed with a slightly skeptical tone.

{...You're not buying it, are you?}

"Nope. I've known you for a while now."

{Then I guess I don't have to tell you why.}

"You're a bit mad because May mega-evolved and you still have not?"

{Mad would be an exaggeration, but…} She said, coiling her arms around her legs.

"But you still don't like it."

{...}

*sigh* "I understand. But I'm wondering, why do you find mega-evolution so important? So May was able to mega-evolve before you, no shame there. We're just gonna have to work harder. Now that she achieved it, I'll have more time just for you."

{...I suppose.} Aurora said, not really convinced.

"...Come on, why don't you come here and give me a big ol' hug. Master Max's gonna give you a lot of love."

{Not really tempting when said like that… but okay.}

Getting on her knees, the lucario moved to get in front of him and went for the hug, with what Max returned it almost as strong as he could, making sure that she would feel cared for and loved.

"Feel better?" Max asked after Aurora broke the hug.

{A little.}

"Better than nothing," he said with a happy grin.

Max then more or less forced her to sit between his legs with her back resting against him. Thankfully, she didn't protest one bit and let him do as he pleased. As soon as she sat, Max coiled again his arms around her, the lucario still not objecting to it.

"You know, Aurora, we can't have everything in life. You can't be pretty and succeed at anything every time."

{I've never been told that I'm pretty, so that argument is irrelevant.}

"You think that, and yet, you are," Max assured, rubbing her chest. "In the end, what matters is that you care only for those who care about you, right?"

{I… Perhaps. What if you're wrong?}

"Who can tell that I'm wrong?"

Continuing rubbing her, Max got a bit bolder and moved his hand lower very slowly, as if he was trying to not make it noticeable.

{N-no one, I guess.}

"Really? Why don't you take my word for it, then?"

{I…}

Shortly after, the lucario finally noticed where his hand was going but it was already very close to her intimate region.

{What… are you doing?} She demanded without interfering with his actions.

"I could tell you, but would you believe me?"

{What kind of question is... *gasp*... that?} Aurora replied at the same time Max reached her womanhood and put his hand on it.

"A simple one."

Gently, Max began to rub her entrance and outer lips so as to set her in the mood.

{What if someone sees us?} Aurora inquired, slightly tightening her legs together but without preventing Max from continuing his actions.

"We'll be done before that happens," he softly spoke in her ear, making her shiver.

{I… hate you.} She lustfully said, letting out small and bated breaths.

"Of course you do."

As soon as she was wet enough, he coated his middle finger with her juice and began to softly rub her most sensitive part.

{Not… not so fast.} She told him while tensing up a little.

Despite himself, Max obliged and went at a pace she was comfortable with. But soon enough, he grew a bit impatient and proceeded to slide his finger inside her and very carefully moved it in and out. Luckily for him, she seemed ready as she let out a surprised and ecstatic moan. With her excitement and lust raising gradually, her breathing and heartbeat went a bit faster. Eventually, she reached her peak and she felt her lower body tremble.

"Well? Does my pretty lucario feel better about herself now?" Max cooed with a teasing tone.

*pant* {Yes, but it is not enough.} Aurora replied, briefly getting on her knees to turn around and sat down again, now facing him. {You'll have to do more than that.} She asserted with hungry eyes.

"Do I, now?" he playfully questioned with a raised eyebrow.

{Yes. If you start something, you better finish it.}

"Alright. I guess I should take responsibility for my actions."

{Do you ever shut up?} Aurora impatiently hissed.

"Well, it depends on-" Max started before Aurora shoved her tongue inside his mouth.

She explored his mouth rather eagerly before separating, a strand of saliva connecting them. Both of them then stared at each other with lustful eyes.

"...You're such a pretty lucario…" Max complimented, caressing one of her cheeks.

{Y-You're just saying that so I can suck your dick.} She contested, briefly looking away shyly.

"Ohh? I'll be receiving such a treat?" Max wondered, raising again an eyebrow.

{Phff. In your dreams.}

"Hmm. Shame," Max complained playfully. "I still think that you're the prettiest lucario ever."

With her ears drooping, Aurora was now quite embarrassed.

{Well… m-maybe I will, t-then.} She nervously said.

"Don't force yourself."

{I'm not… But if I want you to get hard…}

"With such a sexy pokemon in front of me displaying such cuteness, it's hard not to be."

{Well, I don't want you to get soft during the middle of it, so b-better be sure.} She assured him.

*sigh* "Alright. I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to, anyway."

{For what kind of monster do you take me for?} Aurora accused, slightly moving back so she could try to work on his pants.

"A hungry and sexy monster."

Blushing at his words, Aurora briefly looked at Max before focusing her attention back down.

{Tsk. Stupid paws.} She growled, getting impatient that she couldn't free what she was looking for.

"Let me help you," Max proposed, unbuttoning his pants.

{Grrah. I wish I could surprise you one day by being able to take down your pants even if you don't want to.} She remarked with slight frustration.

"That would be very enticing but disrespectful."

{Hmpff. You're just saying that to make me feel better. We all know that you have a thing for dominant females.}

"Never once tried to deny it... There we go," he announced, now having removed his pants and only left his underwear intact. "I'll let you have the pleasure to at least unwrap your gift."

{Tsk. Whatever.} She replied, rolling her eyes before getting closer.

With a rather embarrassed face, Aurora unpacked Max's boxer and freed his rock-hard shaft.

{Already this hard? We haven't done anything yet.}

"Told you. Your sexy figure is appetizing enough to make me go nuts. Pun not intended."

{Geez, you really need some help, dude.} She replied, not being the least bit amused.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Care to help me?" Max asked with a grin.

{Oh god. So pathetic…} She insulted him some more before grabbing his rod.

She then pumped it for a few seconds before leaning her muzzle forward and opened it, her fangs being visible, and then closed it around half of his member, making him feel her hot breath. Not having lips to pleasure him with and considering that her maw was mostly composed of sharp teeth, the lucario was doing some tongue-play, licking and choking his tip with her warm and slippery tongue.

"Shit… a canine's tongue is way too good…" Max commented, already getting more aroused.

Despite not showing any reaction herself, that kind of remark was what motivated her to keep going. She continued orally pleasing him the best she could until she decided to stop.

{Alright, you're hard enough. Now, time to mate.} She impatiently stated, moving her dripping pussy above his wet shaft.

She slowly lowered herself and bit by bit, Max's dick went all the way in.

{Crap!} She cursed in pleasure. {Your dick feels so…}

"Awesome?" Max commented with arrogance.

{Talk about a big ego.} She replied with a mocking tone.

"Hey, I'm saying it as it is," he retorted matter-of-factly. "But I will say that your vagina feels very good."

{Can you shut up… just for a moment?} She requested while starting to move up and down.

"...Wait," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "I almost forgot about something I had in mind."

{Hrrh... What now?} She snarled in a bit of anger.

"Well, I have a request: I'd like to try a different position with you."

{Right now?}

"I would really like it," Max affirmed with a loving smile.

Sighing, Aurora unplugged herself from him and moved away with an annoyed face.

"Can you lie down on your side?"

With the same face, she did as told, getting very eager to continue. Max then lay down behind her and lifted one of her legs, exposing her genitals.

{W-What are you doing?} She asked, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"You'll see."

Immediately after, Aurora felt his dick pressing against her slit and he instantly slided it inside.

{Damn!…} She cursed in pleasure.

In a rather unorthodox position, Max was now the one in charge and used his hips to please both of them.

{It's quite… pleasant… this way…} Aurora commented with a lewd expression.

"I agree. It's like… I was reaching… new places," he grunted while thrusting inside her love tunnel.

{Feels… g-good.} She moaned softly.

Rather quickly, Max sped up the pace, making Aurora moan louder while gaining a more ecstatic expression.

"Damn! You feel awesome… Aurora!…"

The lucario was firmly grasping the ground below her and after a little while, she was now feeling her second orgasm coming up.

{Harder!} She urged him, not satisfied with Max's pace.

Obliging with her request and after a minute or two, Max felt his orgasm coming up as well, but he was a bit behind the lucario. When the orgasmic pleasure finally hit Aurora for a second time, her entire body went stiff and she loudly moaned while her pulsating vaginal passage got tighter. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to make Max release his cum.

*pant* {Keep… going.} She told him after relaxing her body, slightly panting.

"Are you sure? It's your second one already."

{You have the right… to feel good, too…}

"...Alright."

Max then resumed his actions but at a slower pace while Aurora tried her best to get as narrow as possible to help him get off. As the minutes passed, he was getting closer and closer until he finally reached it, triggering another small orgasm for Aurora and she felt his dick getting bigger while he was filling her womb with his thick cum.

"Phew. Damn. Why is sex with a pokemon so good?" Max commented after he was done.

{Because… we are way superior.} She tiredly vocalized.

"It must be that, hehe."

{Consider yourself very lucky... that I even let you touch me.} She boasted a bit arrogantly.

"But I'm even luckier to have you," Max assured her with a hug.

{D-Don't do that while you're still inside me.} Aurora scolded him, weakly trying to push him away.

"Sorry."

Removing his softening member off of her, Max then hugged her even tighter while making sure that she felt his dick against her butt.

{You little…} *sigh* {I hate you.} Aurora complained, unconsciously moving her rear against it.

"I know, and so do I," Max retorted, kissing the back of her head a few times.

{Rhaa…}

With a chuckle, Max then went to put his pants back on. While doing so, Aurora sat up and stared at him. When he was done, he managed to catch her staring, making her look away and feel a bit embarrassed.

"Still have something on your mind, Aurora?"

{...So-so.} She replied, a bit morosely.

Lightly sighing, Max sat next to her, guessing why she was feeling down.

"Cheer up, pretty girl," Max said, petting her beautiful hair between her ears. "You'll get there. We'll keep on trying and you're gonna mega-evolve. I won't stop until we succeed."

{You sure have a lot of time to waste, but thanks.} She replied, not feeling a lot better.

"To spare, not to waste. And you're welcome."

*sigh* {Better get going before someone spots us.} Aurora said, standing up. {Dinner must be ready soon, anyway.}

"...I hope so," Max agreed, not pressing it further. "I'm kind of quite hungry right now."

{You always are.}

"Not true. I'm not hungry when I just finish eating or when I'm sleeping," he jokingly stated.

With a low sigh, Aurora went on alone to join back the others. After taking a short moment for himself to gaze at the sky, Max stood up and wandered back to the camp.

Arriving, Max saw the girls around the campfire enjoying their meal, talking about whatever they had on their minds like usual. But this time and to his surprise, Luna was with them. Despite her being a bit more quiet than usual, which happens from time to time, she looked ravished to be there. No sooner than a few seconds after he joined them, he was greeted with a dinner both Scarlet and Dusk had prepared. Like with almost every evening, everything went well and normal, aside from the fact that May was staring at Max for almost the entire time. Meanwhile, the girls shared with him that they all agreed on leaving him and May alone for their special moment tonight. The lucario also agreed on that, but it was obvious to him that she had put some thought into it before answering.

After returning everyone in their pokeball and with Scarlet and Luna further away in the woods, we now see Max resting in the tent while waiting for May to be ready, the sky not being completely dark yet. As he was chilling just browsing in his pokedex, she finally showed up and proceeded inside.

"...Well, I guess this is it. It's gonna happen tonight," Max commented with anticipation, dropping the pokedex next to him.

{Y-yeah, it finally is.} May just answered.

With that single answer, Max noticed how incredibly nervous she seemed to be.

"No need to be nervous, May. It's not like we never have been intimate before."

{Y-yes, I know. B-but this will be c-completely different, y-you know?}

"I guess so," Max timidly agreed, rubbing the back of his head.

For a few seconds, an awkward silence settled between them.

"...Well, maybe we should start by mega-evolving you," he pointed out, handing the mega stone to his mawile.

{G-good thinking. After all, t-that's why we're here. Hehe.} She said with a nervous laugh, receiving it.

"Not just for that, but yeah. Ready?"

{Yes!} She blurted a bit more loudly than she wanted to. {S-sorry. I mean, yes.} May now responded at a normal volume.

Unable to contain a small chuckle, Max touched his key stone while May did the same with her mega stone. The small yellow pokemon then changed form and became bigger.

"I must admit, it's even cooler the second time," Max shared, eyeing her from feet to head.

{Y-you think so?} She shyly asked, blushing a bit.

"I do. Now, how about you come over here?"

Timidly nodding, May clumsily moved towards him. Upon closer inspection, Max noticed she was trembling. She then sat on her knees in front of him.

{So, hem…} She started, nervously playing with her fingers. {...h-how do we s-start?}

"Maybe by making you relax," Max said, making the mawile look at him interrogatively. "Why don't you lie down for a bit?" he proposed while moving away, offering his place.

Slowly, May crawled to where Max was a second ago and sat down. Gently, Max then pushed her onto her back and moved to be above her. They then stared at each other's eyes for a long moment, and Max was more than happy to see trust in her eyes, but he wanted to do something about her small insecurity.

"Would you like it if I start with something you know very well and love?" he softly inquired.

{I… Y-yeah. I would really like t-that.}

With a small smile, Max started by kissing her on the lips, adding some tongue-play to it. After exchanging some more smooches between them, he separated and began to move lower on her body, now kissing the side of her neck. Stopping the kisses once more, he moved lower to kiss her on the chest; and repeated the same actions, but now on her belly. Eventually, he arrived at where he wanted to. He then gently kissed her lower lips, making May gasp lowly in anticipation. Besides having a slightly bigger vulva, her intimates were exactly the same. But even so, May's womanhood was a tiny bit smaller than Scarlet's and he began to wonder if he'll be able to fit inside her. A part of him didn't want to hurt or traumatize her, but another one told him that he shouldn't ruin the opportunity for her. For now, he decided to put those thoughts aside and went to do what made the mawile the happiest: cunnilingus.

{Yes! Master!} May moaned, already sounding less nervous.

Her body began to slowly wriggle in pleasure. Max didn't know if it was because her clitoris was a bit bigger, but she seemed to be enjoying the pleasure slightly more than usual.

{Ahh! I love your tongue so much… master!} May said, already in a state of bliss.

Alongside some kisses, Max played with her pleasure bud with his tongue, making random twists and applying different pressures on it. As soon as May began to wriggle some more, he put more strength and speed in his movements. And very quickly, an orgasm followed suit alongside the loud moans of pleasure from his pokemon.

"Looks like no pussy is able to resist me," Max boasted quite playfully.

*pant* {Indeed.} May agreed with a satisfied smile. {You know me very well by heart.}

"Glad you liked it. Are you feeling a bit better?"

{Yeah. But now that I know what is the next step, I'm feeling nervous again.}

"Shh," Max reassured, crawling over her again. "Everything's gonna be okay."

{Are you sure? I've never done it… that way.} She expressed, sounding very insecure.

"Yes, I'm sure. It won't be much different than when I use my finger, but it will be better. However, it's bigger than my finger, so…"

{It won't fit?}

Seeing May's eyes of waning hope was like a spear to his heart. Even without confirming nor denying it, he could already see the abyss of deception and sadness in them.

"I...didn't say that. But for precautions, we're gonna take it very slowly, okay, sweety?" he assured her while softly caressing her cheek.

{...Whatever it takes, I want to mate with you. It's my biggest wish right now.} She responded with a growing smile of devotion.

"And we will. Now that the mood is set and your palace is wet enough, I think it's time for me to dive in, literally."

With May chuckling at his pun, Max positioned himself correctly so their genitals could connect. When he went to grab her legs to spread them, he felt that they were very shaky.

"Try to relax, May. Otherwise, it's gonna be harder for us."

{I'll...try.}

While Max waited, May took a couple of barely controlled deep breaths. When her breathing got more steady, she then nodded to him. Nodding back, Max put his gland on her entrance and gently rubbed it up and down.

{It feels hot.} May commented, sounding less nervous.

"Indeed, thanks to you. Now, May, before proceeding, I want you to promise me that if for whatever reason you want me to stop or you feel like it hurts you, you're gonna tell me, okay?"

{But...you're gonna stop if I do.}

"Unfortunately, yes. Sorry, May, but if it means seeing you in pain, it's not worth it. If you don't say anything, it's not gonna be fun for both of us."

May took a moment before answering. At that moment, she heavily considered lying to him if it really was too hurt. She wanted it so much that she was willing to go that far. But then realized that her wish was starting to become an unhealthy obsession that could cost her heavily.

{...Okay.} She sincerely but painfully promised.

"Alright. Here comes the big moment," Max said, going for the invasion.

At first, he had a hard time staying aligned due to the slipperiness and small size of his target, but after a couple of tries, he managed to get it right and began to push in very carefully. Meanwhile, the mega mawile stared intently at what was happening with rather accelerated breathing. Stretching her entrance, Max now had his tip in.

"Is it too much?" Max asked the grimacing pokemon.

{It's...okay. I can… bear it.} She lied.

Technically she did keep her promise; she said she would speak out if it was hurting too much during it, but nothing was said about lying about the initial pain. The pain was more intense than she expected. From what the others had told her, the first time of penetration shouldn't be very painful. But for everyone's sake, she bore with it since she was also told that the pain was temporary.

{Just… let me take a moment to adjust.}

"Alright."

The human then patiently waited for his mawile to get accustomed to his tip. Very slowly, the pain was vanishing, and after a minute or so, only a tiny fraction of it still seemed to remain.

{You… can continue pushing.}

"Alright. I trust you."

Still, very slowly, Max pushed further inside until he reached the bottom, which was barely half of his length.

(Holy-... She's tighter than Scarlet.) Max thought in stunning pleasure.

Having her love tunnel completely filled, May's pain came back, and tried her best to not show it. Luckily, it was less painful than the last time.

"You still okay?"

{Yes. Don't worry about me.} May reassured him with a smile, but behind that gesture was slightly clenched teeth.

"I believe that the worst part is already over. I'll move very slowly, and be prepared because the pleasure is about to get real."

To say the least, May was deeply hoping for that to happen, and soon. At the same pace as before, Max initiated the intercourse. And again, the pain returned to her a bit more intensely this time but was still bearable. Then, after Max pushed back inside her, she felt it was similar to when he uses his finger but the pleasure and sensation were different and way better. Sure, she couldn't enjoy it totally because of the pain, but the pleasure was almost… intoxicating as if it was the way it should have always been. As the seconds passed, the pain was slowly being replaced by pure pleasure, and her grimaces were slowly being replaced by lewd faces. The small fraction of the pain was still there, but the pleasure was largely outweighing it, making it easy for her to ignore it.

{Yes, master...} She softly remarked.

May's first moan immediately put a smile on Max's face, greatly relieved that after all, mating was possible with her. For May, it was outright heaven. Not only was she finally mating with her master like the others, but it was pure bliss and a lot better than his fingers. Her heart was pounding hard not because of the stress this time, but because she was living the dream. Her face had the lewdest expression she ever had and was even drooling a little from the corner of her mouth. Overwhelmed by a newly found pleasure, her eyes were unaligned and she was grasping firmly the sheets under them with her hands.

{F-Faster!} May asked, not a hundred percent sure if she made the right call.

Stopping for only a second to nod, Max went a bit faster.

{Ghyaa!} She moaned quite loudly, shocked by the sudden change of pleasure intensity. {In...credible…}

Right now, she was so glad and thankful to be alive. After only a few thrusts, she totally forgot about the pain and now had her tongue slightly hanging out.

"You're incredibly tight, May. I won't be able to hold it for very long," he warned her.

{It's...okay. Do it a-as long... as you can.} May reassured him between his thrusts.

Like expected, Max could only go for a couple more thrusts before he was unable to contain himself anymore and released his load inside May.

{Yes! Yes! Master's filling me for the first time!} She ecstatically vocalized.

Excited by that very much, a rather early and strong orgasm hit her body, proceeding to moan quite loudly. When the moment was settled for both of them, Max came to a halt.

"Damn." *pant* "That was something."

{I... I just mated with my beloved master... and we both came at the same time... Words cannot... describe this special moment.} She shared while catching her breath.

"So I take that you liked it?"

{...I loved it.} She said, looking at him with joyful and satisfied eyes.

"Great. I'm happy with just this and that we could finally do it. You know, every time I had to tell you it was impossible for us to mate, it hurt me inside. I knew you wanted to experience this just like the others, but now…"

{...but now, we found a way to resolve that.} May finished for him.

"Yeah. Though I suppose it means mega evolution every time."

{I don't mind. Besides, we don't necessarily have to mega-evolve me each time.} May stated, raising her head.

"No?"

{I kind of got attached to our special moments in my normal form. I don't mind also doing only that from time to time.}

"Heh. Very well. Glad things went in our favor. Do you feel like going for another round?"

{Unfortunately, I'd prefer to stop here.}

"Your call," Max agreed, unplugging himself from her and May immediately reverted to her normal form.

{My belly feels a little full and it burns a little down there.}

"Must be a bit of irritation. Your vagina isn't used to having something of my size inside."

{I'm sure I will get used to it eventually. For now, let's go with one or two times a week.}

"If it means you being able to get comfortable with it over time, then fine by me. Take as much time as you need."

{Thanks. I'm so lucky to have such an understanding master like you.} May replied with a smile.

"Hehe, well…" Max replied, a bit embarrassed.

{Anyway, it won't be that hard for you to wait for me when you have the others taking care of you in the meantime.}

"Ah come on. Don't say it like that. I would have waited for you even if you were my only pokemon."

{You would?!} May exclaimed, showing a wider smile on her face.

"Of course, May," he lovingly affirmed.

{Thanks a lot, master.} She said, standing up with some difficulty to go hug him.

After cleaning themselves up, Max placed his mawile in his sleeping bag since she wanted to snuggle with him for the night, and then she fell asleep afterward. Not feeling quite tired yet, Max got out of the tent to relish the cool night, the sky pretty much now being a pitch-black color. Putting his hands in his front hoodie pocket, he went for a small walk since he didn't have much more to do and the rest of the girls were also probably sleeping in their pokeball. He then began to think about Scarlet, and as if she sensed it, she immediately teleported next to him, following him in his walk.

{From the happiness you emanate, I believe it was good.} She engaged him with a smile.

"Just like every time with each one of you, but she was quite something."

{Really? Care to share a few details?}

"Well, for starters, sharing the first time of someone I care for makes me feel… I don't know how to explain it."

{You feel proud of yourself?} Scarlet guessed with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't want to sound like that kind of guy, but for a lack of a better term, we can say that."

{Don't be afraid of who you are. If taking someone's virginity is your thing, then so be it. What else?}

"Next, I'll follow that statement by saying that sometimes, you're weird."

{Why? Because I care about the happiness of my human?}

"Fair enough, then. And what else?... Oh, she's tighter than you."

{Oh. Not much of a surprise, though. Sure, we know she gets bigger in her mega form, but I suppose it didn't make much of a difference down there.}

"Yeah. It was a bit hard and painful for her at the beginning."

{No surprise there, either. You didn't make it very easy for her with what you have.}

"I guess I do have a perfect size."

{Like always, I told you so.}

"Anyway, what makes me really proud of is that I managed to make another one of my precious girls even happier."

Instead of answering, Scarlet looked at him with loving and caring eyes with a smile.

"What?"

{Nothing. I just like what I see, that's all.}

"Oh, never mind then," Max replied, slightly embarrassed.

{So now the only one remaining is Luna.}

"...Yeah…" Max said, frowning a little. "I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon."

{You almost had her in your grasp. It's not much of a lost cause, in my opinion.}

"Yes, but I chickened out. Even if she says otherwise, I don't think I showed a lot of manliness back there."

{Well, she's free to think whatever she wants if she keeps her judgment to herself. But whether she does it or not, that zoroark doesn't appear to be a liar. Dodging or just avoiding some harmless questions, however, makes me suspicious of her.}

"I'd like to think that she would rather stay silent than lie to us, which is rather honorable, to me at least."

{But it doesn't change the fact that I feel like she's hiding things from us.}

"...I agree that she's shrouded in a mystery cloud, but I don't think she's hiding too many things from us. At least nothing too… shady, I believe."

{I'm not sure we share the same vision, but I hope you're right.}

"Well, besides that, what do you really think of her?"

[Besides the trust issue, you mean?] Scarlet inquired in his mind and Max nodded. [Well, whether she means it or not, I guess she's concerned about our safety. She's nice to you, which helps her case a lot, and she is quite reliable. Well, judging from the very little we know about her, that is.]

[Yeah. I remember this time when she got pretty aggressive when thugs tried to play smart with us, mostly with her. And after those guys had taken her behind an alley, I started to hear screams… At that moment, I was so afraid she had resorted to killing them.]

[Why?]

[What do you mean 'why'?]

[They probably had it coming.]

[I don't really care about some assholes dying or not, but I didn't want both of us to get retaliations. We know what they do with dangerous humans, but what about dangerous pokemon?]

[Hmm, good question. I can only surmise what they do with the nice ones.]

*sigh* "Good thing we're not all like that," Max said, always wanting to gain a point of honor every time she said something like that. "The thing is, considering how fragile a human is, I always dread the thought of you confronting or defending me against one. Not that I won't be grateful, but… just that action alone and humans will label you as dangerous, and the entire world would then try to separate us," Max shared with a preoccupied tone.

[They'd better try their best then because whatever they throw at me won't stop me!]

"Hehe, I like how protective and caring you are. But if we can avoid a situation like that in the first place, everyone wins."

[I guess.] Scarlet just shrugged.

"Which again reminds me of when Bonny mega-evolved for the first time... If any human had witnessed what happened in that precise moment, the authorities would then try to take Bonny away from me."

[Not if I take care of them first.] Scarlet declared with conviction.

Max didn't want to go against her beliefs and wanted to respect who she was, but she wasn't making things any easier when she spoke like that. He then stared funnily at her.

[Don't look at me like that. Would you really prefer being separated from all of us than making sure that a snitching human "disappears"?] She emphasized the last word so as to sound less cynical.

Unable to retort, he only looked back in front of him.

[Of course, you wouldn't. I don't know why you always try to act like a chivalrous and empathic human. We both know very well that that's not really who you are.]

"And what would you know about who I really am?" Max demanded with irritation without being aggressive.

[Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm a damn psychic pokemon that has a deep connection with you.] She informed him matter-of-factly with mild annoyance. [Look, I'm speaking mostly about what's in your core. I know you don't find fun in inflicting pain or torturing other creatures, but you are not a completely oblivious and kind-hearted human.]

Again, unable to retort, Max kept staring in front of him.

[I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Not to me, at least. To me, you're just a lot less naive compared to other humans.]

"...Heh, only you can find the lack of kindness attractive."

[I don't, and you don't lack kindness. Otherwise, you wouldn't care for each of us as much as you do. It's just that you're very selective with it, which is understandable given your past.]

At that, Max stopped walking, making Scarlet do the same.

"Be blunt with me… Am I a good person, or a bad one?" he interrogated, looking gloomy.

[...I can't really say for certain. No one can really tell, actually, since the concept of good and evil can be very subjective. But I do know one thing...] Scarlet assured, floating close to him. [...you are who you are and it's good enough for me, and probably for the others, too. You shouldn't overthink it. Go on with what you already have. To me, you're just perfect the way you are.] She honestly shared with him, taking a hold of his hands.

With her insightful response, Max dropped his head.

[Hey...] The red gardevoir started, raising his chin to make him look into her sapphire eyes. [We're in this together and we're gonna confront life together, you hear me? Nothing's gonna get between us and nothing's gonna stop us!] She determinedly declared.

For a short moment, Max separated his gaze from hers, cogitating Scarlet's kind and encouraging words.

"...Thanks, Scarlet. I really needed to hear that," he said, sporting a small smile.

[Thank you too, Max, for being who you are and for being with me.] She replied, going for a warm hug.

Max returned it with a bit more force than usual, but Scarlet didn't mind at all and just let him embrace her as strongly as he wanted. Immediately, Scarlet felt his inner self getting a lot less stressed, feeling almost at peace.

"Say, since it's been quite a while, do you mind if we hold hands?"

[Not at all.] She answered with a warm smile.

Enlacing their hands, they continued their walk through the woods while giving each other happy smiles from time to time.