Chapter 11: Striking a deal

The next day, Ark had continued his summer camp rountine of having breakfast, heading to the Professors lounge with Cynthia and Serena, flirting and teasing them before meeting up with the Professor again in the evening. When Cynthia and Serena first saw Ralts, Ark thought he saw hearts appear in their eyes. They rushed to cuddle with Ralts before grabbing onto thin air. Ark chuckled for a solid few minutes as the first time he'd seen Ralts use a move was to run away from two overexcited girls. Needless to say, Ark made sure they didn't forget it and managed to make them both look like ripe tomatoes by the time they split up.

Ark is sat across from Professor Oak, Ralts sat on Arks lap as it fiddled with Arks fingers like a toy.

"So Professor have you found anything new about the fact that Ralts here can talk somewhat?"

The Professor put his cup back onto the table and put his hand beneath his chin. His expression deadly serious, an expression that Ark has seen for the first time now. Ark remained silent to allow the Professor to arrange his thoughts.

"I have a theory. I believe it is due to the ability known as Telepathy. I got in touch with an associate of mine called Professor Birch. He told me that one of Ralts' recorded abilities was Telepathy. Though, this is an unprecedented case."

Ark tilted his head in confusion as the Professors theory seemed to completely sum it up neatly. He could not understand why it was an unprecedented case. After all, he had some memory of the Ralts evolution line having telepathy therefore it should not be a new thing to see a Ralts with Telepathy.

"You seem confused. Indeed, Ralts are commonly found with the Telepathy ability however, there is no recorded case of any Ralts or it's evolutions being able to use their Telepathy to communicate verbally. Most trainers recieve something closer to intent through their telepathic bond."

Ark was shaken. This revelation was baffling to him. As he had seen in many cases in the Pokemon anime, there are cases of Pokemon being able to talk using telepathy however it seemed that no such cases had actually been recorded. Therefore, Ark decided to keep quiet about these cases as he could be easily cornered about how he acquired such knowledge. Ark had not forgotten that one of the conditions of his reincarnation was that the system needed to be kept a secret so there was no reason to go out of the way to draw attention at the moment.

"So Professor Oak, is this Ralts special then? Also it seems to be partial communication, do you think there's something wrong?"

The Professor lent forward and smiled at the Ralts on Arks lap. Throughout the conversation, it had sat still watching them as though it was trying really hard to listen to what they were saying.

"I feel that this Ralts may be special since no matter what tests and training was done, no other Ralts has been able to replicate what this wild one has achieved. As for it's broken speech, it is likely due to its age. Judging by its behaviour, this Ralts is quite young"

"I see that makes a lot more sense, well Professor I have another appointment today since we're packing to leave tomorrow, so Ralts and I will be excusing ourselves"

Ark smiled after finding out how fortunate this encounter was. With this, Ark left the Professors lounge and headed towards the 7th cabin. A mischievous smile formed upon his face as he knocked on the door. Without even a second of delay, a girl with beautiful honey coloured hair opened the door.

"You're here Ark and you brought Ralts, come on in!"

There was not a hint of reserve in Serenas polite attitude. Ark walked in and said hello to Cynthia who was laid on her bed reading a magazine. Ark, Cynthia and Serena had decided to spend a little bit more time together today since tomorrow they will only have few minutes to say goodbye since they will need to pack and leave by noon.

"I can't believe this is our last day, it's gone by so fast"

Ark spoke out as he and Ralts sat down on the sofa opposite the bed. Serena followed and sat down next to them, her eyes would often drift to the little Ralts sat in Arks lap.

"It's gone way too fast, we still have so much to do"

Cynthia agreed with Ark. Though they had spent the whole camp together, its nothing compared to the time they will be spending apart. Serena just lowered her head and didn't add to the conversation however, it was apparent that she agreed.

"Well I've already promised to come meet you in the future so it's not a goodbye but more like a see you soon"

Even though Ark was sad over their soon to be parting, he had resolved himself to meet in the future. Plus, he knew that dwelling over partings will only slow down the future.

"Yeah you're right, besides when we meet in the future, we will all have our own Pokemon. Of course, you'll bring Ralts with you right Ark?"

The moment Cynthias words left her mouth, Cynthias, Serenas and even Ralts' heads snapped to Ark. Should Ark answer badly here, his whole future may be void. Cold sweat trickled down Arks back when feeling the pressure emitted from the three.

"Huh? Of course Ralts is coming with me, we're partners!"

The answer was obvious but it was no lie to say that the pressure emitted from the three had caused fear to bubble inside him. Smiles bloomed on Serenas and Cynthia faces while Ralts jumped up from Arks lap and clung to his neck.

"By the way Ark, have you picked a name for Ralts yet?"

"Eh?"

Ark was stumped...

He had not even consider naming Ralts since he technically hadn't even caught it yet. However now that it had been said, he felt bad for treating it like a wild Pokemon.

"A name huh? I can't think of one, I'll get back to you both tomorrow on it. I want it to be the perfect name for my Number 1 partner!"

The girls consented to that idea, though they couldn't hide the disappointment from not being able to name it themselves.

The time continued forward with a happy atmosphere which was completely unlike the original sad parting atmosphere. As night came, Ark had gone back to his cabin and was not sat in quiet contemplation.

Ark thought back to the start of the camp. He originally came just to get close to the girls, and while he had achieved his goal, he realised that he will have to start thinking more about the future. Strength is what's needed to protect, however he will need to have both influence and money as well if he wants to support not only his Pokemon, but also his family.

At no point did Ark think it was going to be easy, however he realised that he will need to put even more effort into improving himself. Now that he has Ralts, he can start to gain more practical experience in Pokemon care. Unfortunately it is illegal to actually catch Ralts until he's old enough, plus he would rather catch it himself than ask the Professor or his mother to do it for him. In a way it removes the charm.

With these thoughts about the picture, Ark laid in bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.