Chương 91: Act 3: Chapter 8

With the phone still vibrating away, Lee untangles himself from Ninetales and speedwalks to his bedroom, Nine hot on his heels. Once a golden tail gently shuts the door, Lee answers just before the call rings out.

"Hello? Champion Stone?"" Lee, it's a pleasure to hear from you." Lee blinks at the tired (hell, maybe haggard is the right term) voice on the other end.

"Ah, Champion Stone? Are you feeling alright? You sound a little…" he trails off, unsure if his words might offend. Steven lets out a weak chuckle over the line.

"Just Steven is fine for now, Lee. I apologize if I sound tired, but the last few weeks have been, well, they've been something. I'm only just now getting some time to slow down, and I was a bit horrified to realize I had an unanswered voicemail from you dated weeks ago, so I'm returning your call."

"Voicemail?" Lee mouths to Ninetales, only for both to remember at the same time. Hello, Champion Stone. This is Lee Henson. I apologize for disturbing you, but I need to arrange a meeting with you. This is in regards to a matter similar to the one we discussed in Lavaridge. The Draconid Prophecy! He completely forgot about that call he made!

"Oh! Right, right, yes, it is a pretty important matter regarding the region's safety," Lee begins, pacing about in the small bedroom and looking over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, just as the timer rolls to 9: 45 PM.

"Due to how sensitive it is, it's probably better discussed in-person rather than over the phone. I… have a few other things I should probably bring to your attention as well."' You intend to tell him about the encounter with Archie, and about our Megastones.' Ninetales tilts her head from where she sits by the door.

'Do you believe that the latter is wise, beloved?'' We want Steven to play ball with the prophecy, and dropping it with news about Aqua and Mega Evolution, two very real and dangerous things, is going to make the prophecy feel more real as well,' Lee reasons during the lull over the phone.

'If we want his help, it's better to show some of our cards to try and show that we're willing to trust him in return. Besides, the Draconid Elders more or less gave us their blessing to blow the secret wide open, so Mega Evolution won't stay a secret for long.'" Meeting in-person is probably for the best…" Steven murmurs.

"On-top of your piece, I have some proposals I would like to make to you, and if the topics you wish to discuss are what I think they are, then everything will line up quite neatly." A proposal? To them? Lee and Nine's eyes meet for a moment, then Lee gives his phone his full attention again.

"Of course. I'd be happy to listen."" Fantastic. What is your schedule looking like? I have openings for the next few days, but the week after this Friday is totally full. Are you still in Petalburg?" Steven pauses.

"Oh, and congratulations on your badge."

"Thank you, Steven. We're still in Petalburg," Lee says, his feet carrying him to the window. Outside, Petalburg is dark and sleepy, and he can make out an Arcanine on the street with a small form on their back, hastily bounding to escape the evening chill.

"We can stay for another day or two, or if it's all the same to you, meet in Fortree. We'll be flying that way in the morning." Steven takes a moment to think, and during the quiet, the sound of a keyboard clacking comes through the speaker.

"Fortree is a bit closer, so how about we teleport in to meet you there? We can hash out the details once you land, and - Oh! Right, let me…" Lee's phone buzzes, and pulling it away from his ear, he can see he's got a text message from an unknown number. All that's in it is"It's me!"" There we go. That's my personal number. Naturally, it'll get answered much faster than my office phone. Please don't spread it around, I just had to change it…"' Arceus almighty, I have the fucking Champion on speed dial.'

Lee shakes his head and saves it.

"No worries on that end. I'm not one to even bother my contacts on the regular. Emergencies only, promise."" Ha, I believe it. I've seen how you post on BattleNet, or rather, how you don't post." Unsure how to process the idea of Steven Stone creeping on his BattleNet profile, Lee simply decides to ignore it." I'll let you go now. See you soon, and have a nice night."

"Same to you." His phone beeps and the call ends, leaving Ninetales and Lee alone in the small bedroom.

"Ugh…" Lee slumps on his feet, his lethargy from earlier coming back with a vengeance.

"Busy day, tomorrow, it seems…"' Lets turn in, then,' Nine replies, hopping into the bed and settling, her tails fanned to the side in the promise of a warm blanket.

'We'll need rest for the morn.' The moment Lee's head is on the pillow, silken fox tails wrap around him, and the warmth sends him to dreamland in short order.

"I'm telling you, Lee, it's fine!" Leaning on the doorframe to Zinnia's room the next morning, Lee watches with a frown as Zinnia packs up her things.

"It doesn't look fine to me," he says back, noticing how ginger the grip of her bandaged right hand is as she stuffs a shirt into her Sliph pouch. The tanned woman shoots him a narrow-eyed look.

"Its just a burn, a training accident. It happens." She belts her bag to the small of her back and reaches for her jacket, which lies rumpled on the equally messy bed.

"Every Draconid is acquainted with burns."

"I'm acquainted with them, too." Zinnia falters, her annoyed stare losing much of its edge. She looks away as she dons her jacket.

"Training accident, you said?" Lee continues on, straightening up and stepping into the room proper.

"What happened?" The woman leans to the side, looking past Lee for a moment, and when she finds nothing, she bites her lip in an unusual moment of nerves.

"I took Salamence to the coast and Mega Evolved him, like you did with Mean Green." Lee's eyes shoot wide open.

"Next time, Dolittle, go further out of town before you go Mega with Sceptile. Anyone even slightly sensitive to Dragons felt that."

"We were five miles and some change out!" Lee exclaims, silently wondering how many people knew something happened out there. Zinnia smirks at his expression.

"Geez, don't have a Miltank, Dolittle. Any lesser Dragons in Petalburg probably freaked out, but I don't think any full-blooded Draconids live around here, so I was the only human who knew," she practically reads his mind.

"Make it, like, ten miles and you'll probably be fine."

"Let's get back on topic," Lee grumbles, crossing his arms.

"Your hand?" Like a ball passed to the other side of the court, it's once again Zinnia's turn to be on the backfoot. She holds the bandaged hand with her good one, looking down at it pensively before raising her gaze back to him.

"Things went fine. Salamence was just a little too over-eager and didn't keep a good lid on his flame breath. The very moment he realized what he did, he reverted back and we took a break." Lee drums his fingers along his arm as he thinks what he's been told over. In the back of his head, through Nine's eyes, he watches her try and fail to wake Brendan and Swampert, who are tangled up in one great lump under their covers. Pokes, yanking the covers, even an echoing, foxy screech all do nothing.

It doesn't take long for the vixen's annoyance to thrum through him, and she simply flips the bed with a burst of telekinesis. Thud!

"I'm up! I'm up!" Brendan's sleep-slurred voice faintly calls through the wall, along with a deep, tired groan. Finally, Lee sighs and drops his arms to his sides.

"Okay. I'd still like to look at it, though, to ease my own mind more than anything." Without Nine's ears to borrow, Lee can't make out the grumble that Zinnia lets out, but he's sure 'mother hen' is uttered. Regardless, the tanned woman holds her hand out.

"Fine. I was just about to re-wrap it anyway." Smiling, Lee reaches behind him, and is rewarded with his first aid kit dropping into his hand. The sensation of telekinesis, like moving water with a slight static buzz, brushes his fingertips.

'Thank you, love.' Kit in hand, Lee drops it on the bed, takes Zinnia's burned appendage with a light touch, and carefully unwraps the linen bandage haphazardly tied around it. It sticks here and there, but Zinnia doesn't show any pain on her face, even if Lee is sure she feels it.

"Oh…" He winces. The outside of her forearm along with her pinkie and ring fingers have the worst of it, with the skin pink-red and blistered in places, but thankfully, there isn't any char or epidermis totally burned away. Still, a nasty 2nd degree burn. The inner side of her arm is a lighter, less intense color that readily stands out against her normally darker complexion. Popping open his medkit, Lee finds a fresh bandage roll and a travel-sized bottle of rawst ointment.

"So you flew all the way to the coast?" Lee asks, spreading a bit of berry-blue ointment on Zinnia's hand, being careful with the blisters.

"Yeah." Zinnia nods, looking out the window, where Petalburg's morning traffic lazily coasts by on the road below.

"Salamence was thrilled, Dolittle. You should have seen it. Should have felt it. It was like… like standing under Sala in his prime." She pauses and turns her hand over, letting Lee start wrapping it up.

"The sand all around us dried up, and the wind kicked up, it was unreal, and… And…" Her good hand rises to her chest, right over her heart. It takes Zinnia until Lee is finished treating her burns to his satisfaction for her to find her words again.

"Is that what it's like with you and Ninetales, Lee?" she finally asks, left hand still on her chest.

"It's… A little like it, yes." Lee resists the urge to mirror her pose, and closes up his medkit. The moment it's packed away again, a purple corona takes hold of it and pulls it back out of the open doorway. Lee follows the plastic box with his eyes as it floats back to his room. It nearly collides with a standing lamp that Nine forgets about, but a little mental nudge from him sees it neatly curve around and finish its journey.

"When Sceptile went Mega, it was more rigid, more physical than what Nine and I have, for lack of a better word." He returns his attention to Zinnia, who is staring holes into him as he answers.

"The first thing I noticed right away was that our heartbeats synced up, that I could feel his body as if it were my own. Did that happen to you and Salamence?" Zinnia's answer is one clipped nod.

"Yeah, it's intense, and I say that having been connected to Nine, mind and soul, for months." Lee lets out a breath and sits down on the edge of the half-made bed, prompting Zinnia to sit as well.

"Having someone else's thoughts and feelings running through your head, up and down your nerves, it's an experience you don't ever forget. My, ah…

'foreknowledge' never went into great detail about how intimate an experience it is, so it was a shock to me too." Zinnia nods, absently now, her eyes on the floor and brow furrowed in thought. So distracted is she that the dragon tamer almost jumps out of her skin when Lee lays a hand on hers.

"Are you okay, Zinnia?" Lee asks quietly, searching her face. She lets out a huff, her black locks bouncing as she shakes her head to clear it.

"I mean… It's… Fuck, Lee. I-I don't think that I am," she admits past clenched teeth.

"I'm trying not to think about it. I don't know the words for what I'm trying to say! Salamence ascending and the connection, it was - Fuck!" Zinnia stands and paces, frustration in every step.

"I want to do it again, I want it to be like that all the time! But I'm…" She stops herself short, but Lee knows what word she held back. Afraid. Although he's been told what he and Nine have is strange by Nigel, Mable, Anabel, and others, it's Zinnia's shaken words that finally drive home why others would find such a thing distressing. Two separate minds, two separate souls, aren't meant to be melded together in such a way… Or are they?

Standing, Lee wraps an arm around the woman's shoulder and guides her back to the bed, where both sit heavily. Zinnia lets out a shaking breath, but doesn't pull away as he rubs a thumb on her shoulder.

"It's fine to be afraid, Zinnia," Lee begins slowly, still trying to think over what he wants to say.

"A connection like that is wonderful, wonderful in a way that I'm not sure people were supposed to actually experience." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Her eyes snap to his.

"But you-""-Are connected to Ninetales permanently, and I love it, I know. I still stand by what I said," he continues, keenly aware that Nine has her mental ear turned to them.

"Would I have gone for it if I knew the consequences beforehand? I don't know. Now?" He gives her a hard stare.

"I'd rather die than be separated from her." Zinnia goes still, listening.

"I've thought a lot about the subject, as you probably guessed." Lee gives her shoulder a squeeze.

"And it's okay to be unbalanced and even scared. The only things we know for certain are true is ourselves and what is in our heads, as we have to trust that our senses are telling the truth, and there is always a little doubt there, no matter how confident a person is. When you suddenly get a direct, raw measure of someone else from the outside, from someone who loves you, and it finally hits bottom?" Unbidden, Lee reaches a mental hand down towards Ninetales, and a ghostly appendage meets him halfway.

Phantom fur, warm and silken, runs through his fingers, making his palms tingle. How can one hope to describe the texture of love, or even give it up after feeling it?

"... It changes you, and there is no going back." Lee licks his lips, idly musing that he needs some chapstick now that the fall air is growing dry.

"Don't be ashamed of shying away from something so extreme. The weird emotions you're feeling after all of that is normal."

"When Salamence accidentally burned me, I felt what he felt. He was so guilty that it was like getting kicked in the gut," Zinnia murmurs.

"Does that happen with you and Ninetales too?"

"All the time," he says back gently.

"We both have to endure the lows that come with the highs together. It's not all upsides. Nothing ever is." The woman has nothing else to say, just leaning into him, but from the corner of his eye, he can spy her hand resting on the lead pokeball clipped to her belt, her fingers rubbing it anxiously.

"Take some time to think, Zinnia," Lee tells her, releasing her and standing.

"I'm not sure how much my advice will help since the whole soul-bond thing is so intimate that it'll be different to everyone, but if you ever need to talk, both I and Ninetales will be there. Promise me you'll say something." No reply.

"Zinnia." Lee frowns.

"Promise me." Still fingering Salamence's pokeball, Zinnia lets out an exasperated sigh and stands up herself.

"Fine, I promise," she vows. Lee nods, satisfied.

'Huh. Another mystery to look into,' he thinks, looking down at his watch and the rainbow stone inside of it. Just having it close to his body lets him'sense' it on the edge of his mind, like a finger that is perpetually asleep. It's dull and has little feedback when compelled to move, but it doesn't require much force for it to be roused. He gives the stone a little mental nudge, and it sparkles, but without a sister stone to connect to, the inner light fades shortly after.

'How much does mine and Nine's gestalt bond differ from a Mega?' Zinnia then tilts her body, looking past Lee and into the living room. He doesn't need to turn and look himself, as he can see Brendan, Swampert, Latias, and the rest of Brendan's team tidying up the living room before they leave like the good kids they are, all through Nine's eyes.

"We should be there when Mister Hero decides to go mega with Swampert," Zinnia declares.

"Agreed." With their hotel keys turned in and their pokemon mounts saddled, Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia stand in a huddle outside the hotel, bent over a map in Lee's hands as they plan the flight to Fortree. Around them, their pokemon form a loose circle. Corvi towers over Lee, casting a long shadow, while Latias, who is causing a traffic jam out on the street as cars slow to look at her, hovers close to Brendan, studying the map as well. The only outlier is Noivern, who stands hunched awkwardly behind Zinnia.

The older dragon's face says nothing, but her tense stance and the repeated twitch of her dish-like ears speaks of deep discomfort. Her yellow eyes keep looking between the balls on Zinnia's belt and her saddle.' No Salamence…' Lee withholds a frown.

'I hope they talk things out soon.'

"Okay, so we stop in Rubello for the night…" Zinnia's finger is pressed to a small town far north-east of Mauville, and only a hop, skip, and jump away from the dense green splotch of Fortree.

"Short flight to Fortree, errands and rest, then-""-Safari Zone!" Brendan exclaims, a wide grin on his face. He dances foot to foot, barely able to contain himself.

"Dad told me all about it! There are so many pokemon that can only be found there! Once we get checked into the Gym and the hotel, we gotta go right away!" Lee gives the boy a lopsided grin.

"Sure thing. I'm curious myself. I know I'm not actively looking for a new pokemon, but I do have that 7th slot…" He looks up.

"How about it, Zinnia? Coming with?"

"Any Dragons there?" Lee opens his mouth to answer—"You'll find the Hoenn Safari Zone is home to a small population of Dragonair and Dratini, Miss Draconid." —Only for a light, refined voice behind him to answer. Lee turns, with Corvi stepping aside to let him see. Lee blinks.

"You're…" A few paces away, a woman only slightly taller than Zinnia stands, her hands folded in front of her. With her dark indigo hair pulled into a pair of buns, skin like porcelain, and a kimono whose threads shine in the sun, the woman could easily pass as an actor in some traditional Kanto theater. The only out-of-place accessory is a Silph-branded purse that isn't the same shade of pink as her kimono.

"... Have we met, ma'am?" Lee blinks, swearing he's seen this woman from somewhere before. Even more oddly, there is a flash of vague recognition from Ninetales from within her ball. It's short and dim, but still leaves the fox with a mental frown.

'Something seems off here…' Nine mutters. She takes a deep breath through Lee's body, but his human nose can only pick up a delicate perfume with hints of citrus. With Corviknight standing so close, it's nearly drowned out by the scent of iron and polish.

"Oh, hey! You're the lady I bumped into a week ago!" Zinnia butts in with a smile. She pushes past Brendan and Latias (who is shyly hiding behind Brendan) to stand next to Lee.

"Small world, huh?"

"Indeed it can be," the woman nods with a small smile of her own.

"How fares your recently evolved pokemon, Miss Zinnia? I recall you were returning homeward after a day of training when our paths crossed. You said it was your…"

"My Sliggoo. The little booger is doing pretty good. Thankfully he's gotten used to being blind, but he's eager to evolve and get his eyes back," Zinnia grins and pats one of the balls on her belt.

"Did you catch that match you wanted to see? The one with your daughter or whatever?" The history woman sighs and shakes her head.

"I did not." As Zinnia and the woman talk, Lee studies her face, taking care to not be too obvious. Something tickles the back of his brain from the inside, a tiny, instinctual murmur of something amiss, but for the life of him, he can't figure out what. The woman is beautiful to the eye, but almost seems… Too beautiful. Where has he seen this lady before? During their travels? Somewhere in the games or anime? Oh! She was glaring at him from the crowd in the gym!

Now, a new question pops up: what did he do to upset her?

"-was cool to see you again, miss…" Lee tunes back into the conversation in time to hear Zinnia stumble over the woman's name.

"Er… Jeez, I kinda feel like an ass, but I forgot your name," The dragon tamer punctuates her words with a sheepish laugh.

"No offence taken. We met only once, after all," the kimono-clad woman waves Zinnia off, then turns her sharp, brown - nearly red - eyes to Lee.

"As for you, Mister Henson, we have indeed met, but not in person. How fares your Ninetales?" We have met, but not in person. How fares your Ninetales?

"Lokoko?" Lee blinks, hardly believing his eyes. What in the world is some shadowy, Ninetales-focused Pokemon Master doing out here in Petalburg? Why did she sit in on their Gym match? And… Did you catch that match you wanted to see? The one with your daughter or whatever? Daughter? Does Lokoko have a daughter who is running the Hoenn circuit? Lee gives her another once over.

'If she has a daughter, then Lokoko either had her young or aged like wine.' The woman smiles.

"Indeed. It's a pleasure to meet you in person, Mister Henson. I apologize for interrupting your travel plans, but I understand you are preparing for a flight to Fortree, yes?" Lee looks down at the map now folded between his fingers.

"That we are. Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping to convince you to delay your flight, so I might borrow an afternoon from you and your Ninetales," Lokoko states, her eyes looking to the lead pokeball on his belt, where Nine silently stares back, then back to him.

"You and she are indeed one of the most… interesting partnerships I've yet seen, and I've many questions and even experiments I would administer with your blessing. It is in the name of furthering knowledge of the Ninetales line, you see, something I'm certain you understand."' A test?' Lee wonders to himself.

'Regarding what?' Nine is quick to answer.

'Madam Lokoko was not pleased to hear of our connection and the plans to mediate it the last time we spoke,' the fox says, her mental words a touch defensive.

'If there is anything she might wish to meddle with, it could be us.' Frowning lightly, Lee sticks his map in his back pocket and nods outwardly.

"I do understand, and I would be happy to help out normally, but…" Lee looks back to Zinnia and Brendan. Zinnia doesn't seem to care either way, giving him a little shrug, but Brendan's youthful face is decidedly impatient. Well, not that it's much of a choice. Lee remembers not only his meeting with Steven, but how he planned to bring the rest of the group in on the Giratina business. Turning back, he gives Lokoko an apologetic smile.

"I'm on a bit of a timetable right now, so I'm afraid that I can't today. I can fly back after we're finished in Fortree, if that is okay?" Lokoko blinks like a Hoothoot, clearly not expecting a rejection.

"Ah, I see…" She chews on her lip for a moment, looking away at a crack on the sidewalk before turning her head back up.

"In that case, could I perhaps travel with you to Fortree?"

"You want to fly with us?" Lee's halting question is answered with a firm nod.

"I would see my studies be done sooner rather than later."" And what of her daughter?" Corviknight croaks, looking down at Lokoko. Something metallic rubs under the great raven's helm as he tilts his head.

"Good point, Corvi," Lee scratches his chin as he thinks.

"And your daughter? Aren't you also out here to see her?"

"I'll see her soon enough," Lokoko waves off the question quite literally, raising a thin hand to make a dismissive gesture. She doesn't seem surprised or perturbed by the level of understanding between Lee and Corviknight, either. With a bit of uncertainty still poking him in the gut, Lee turns his whole body to Brendan and Zinnia.

"Ah, just a sec. Lemme talk it out since it's not just my call."

"Take all the time you wish," Lokoko states, bringing her hands together under her kimono sleeves. The trio of trainers put their heads together, with Corvi hanging from above, and Latias and Noivern poking their heads in between their trainers.

"You know this chick, Dolittle?" Zinnia whispers, asking the obvious first question.

"Not know per se, but we're acquainted," Lee begins.

"Lokoko is a certified Pokemon Master, with a capital 'P' and 'M', who specializes in the Ninetales line."

"A real Pokemon Master?" Brendan asks, mouth open and eyebrows rising so high they vanish into his beanie hat.

"And she found you because of Ninetales?"

"Because I was introduced to her by another Ninetales trainer online," Lee corrects, remembering the ghost town of a BattleNet group he almost never peers into.

"She had been keeping tabs on us before that, though." Beside Brendan, Latias's feathers ruffle for a moment.' Are Ninetales and Vulpix the only pokemon she specializes in?' The Eon Dragon's mental voice, to Lee at least, is quiet and tinged with girlish youth. More and more the shy dragon has been reaching out to him and Zinnia, as well as their pokemon, pulled free of her shell by Brendan's bright smiles and endless cheer.

The first time Latias actually spoke to Lee, it was a bit of a shock, as it was the first time he'd heard a telepathic 'voice' other than Nine's with genuine inflection and emotion.

In his and Ninetales' conversations with Anabel, her Espeon, and the rarer ones with Lucian and his Bronzong, none of them had much, if any emotion behind their words. It was akin to having closed captions read aloud by a machine, the words literal and flat. Latias, however? It's the first time he's ever had something to compare Nine's tone to. Compared to Latias, his fox's 'voice' is smokey, rich even, as if her words were dipped in honey.'

Oh, my beloved trainer flatters me,' Ninetales giggles as she reads his thoughts, excluding Latias from the message as she does so.

'I'm heartened to know you love my voice so, but I do wonder… Were I immature enough to stoop to it, would a lewd sound from me within your skull leave you flustered?'' Nine, you're the other half of my soul on what looks like a literal level according to modern poke-science. You can't make it weirder no matter how hard you try.'' Spoilsport.'

"We're getting off topic here. Do you trust her?" Zinnia once again hops back into the important questions, and drags Lee back to the conversation at hand.

"You know what happened last time we let some strange woman hang around with us." Brendan looks away, red with embarrassment." And it was totally our fault, so we don't wanna do it again," Zinnia amends, giving Brendan a slap on the back, before fixing her gaze on Lee once more. He hesitates.

"Trust? I trust that she knows what she's talking about in her field of mastery, and that she's plenty educated, but on a personal level?" He hazards a look backward. Lokoko stands calmly, waiting for them to finish.

"... I don't think she's got any malicious ends," Lee finishes.

"Plus, I am curious about what kind of experiments she has in mind. Anything that could help Nine and I understand ourselves better is something neither of us want to pass up. If we tell her to buzz off, I'm not sure when we'll get another chance to talk to her in person."

"If you're okay with her coming, then I don't see why not," Brendan begins after a protracted silence. Like Lee, he gives the pink-wrapped woman a once over, not missing her lack of pokeballs.

"Erm… She won't be able to ride with me and Latias. Our saddle isn't big enough." Zinnia takes a bit longer, then nods slowly.

"Yeah, she's kinda weird, but I guess you don't become an expert in something without being an oddball," she grins, giving Lee a wink and a jab with her elbow.

"You're one to talk, Thelban," he grumbles.

"So, your call, Dolittle," Zinnia ignores his comeback and pats Noivern behind her red, pronged nose, making the bat-dragon purr.

"She's flying with you, though, since my other ride is…" she trails off.

"Corvi?" Lee asks, looking up.

"Are you up for a trip with two passengers?" The raven narrows his eyes, as if to say"Does it look like an extra human could weigh me down?"

"Noted," Lee raises his hands on mock surrender, then turns back around with a smile.

"Miss Lokoko, if you'd like to come with, we can give you a ride. I'd hate to say no after you came all this way." Lokoko's doll-like face takes on a subdued smile, and she gives them a shallow bow.

"Thank you, Mister Henson. I'll be in your care." It takes a bit of creativity to get Lokoko situated on Corvi's saddle with her kimono, and she's forced to hug herself firmly to Lee's back, but the addition of a passenger doesn't delay them too long, all in all. A bit before ten AM, they take to the sky and begin the flight due east, which will take them over an unnamed mountain, over Oldale Town, then from there, they'll follow route 103 north-east to Mauville and beyond.

As they rise higher and higher, Lee swears he can feel little touches, not unlike idle brushes from Ninetales, over his legs.

'Nine?'' It's not I, beloved, but I feel them, too.' Lee takes a deep breath, figuring it's the thin air and lack of oxygen playing tricks on him. At least he doesn't need to worry about the cold, however. Lokoko is a furnace against his back, wholly unbothered by the whipping winds and nippy temperature that only drops further as they level out at their altitude ceiling.

He has to wonder if she used the old camper trick of placing disposable handwarmers in her clothes, for how else could a petite woman keep so warm? For a time, they fly in silence, the only sound being the whistle of the air as Corvi's bladed wings cut though it.

"You did not heed my advice, did you?" Lokoko asks suddenly, voice raised to carry over the wind. Lee frowns into his scarf, knowing exactly what she's referring to.

"We didn't." The arms around his middle tighten, and Lee withholds a grunt at the grip such a small woman can muster.

"Do you not think it selfish, Mister Henson?" Lokoko's words come out more as an accusation than a question. He doesn't turn to look at her, but he doesn't need to, he can imagine her expression from her tone alone.

"To force such misery on your Ninetales? To force the pain of inevitable separation on her?"

"There was no force involved," Lee's frown falls into an open scowl, one he knows Nine is mirroring in her ball.

"We decided this together." Lokoko lets out a humorless laugh.

"Of course an addict will affirm the other addict. I gave you my warnings with good reason, but you've spurned them. Why? Did you lack the bravery? The nerve to do what had to be done?" Lee stares down at the ground passing below, then up to the pale blue above, his jaw working as he thinks.

"Let me ask you a question. Is it better to love with all you can, and deal with the changes that come with it? Or is it better to love from a distance, because there are less complications?" He doesn't get an answer, so he continues on.

"Maybe what we have will cause some pain. Hell, it already has in some ways," Lee continues.

"And… It'll have to come to an end one day," Arceus above, even talking about it hypothetically makes his chest a touch hollow, but a surge of silent adoration from Ninetales dulls the ache.

"But doesn't everything end?" He asks, turning his head to look at his passenger's flat expression.

"If you focus only on the ugly parts in a painting, then haven't you missed the point?" he finishes, looking down to check the instruments in Corvi's saddle. Lokoko says nothing more until they land.