Katherine's P.O.V.
*****
"-be sure to eat more Oran berries to make them heal quicker, okay?"
"Don't forget to drink water!"
"Don't push yourself too far, okay?"
"And-"
Arceus! They're only leaving me alone for a day, and they're giving too many do's and don'ts to me like I was seven instead of seventeen? I can take care of myself!
"Guys, calm down." I laughed. "It's only for a day."
"And it can continue for months if your injury will get worse-"
"Hey! I'll be careful okay?! It's not like I'm the most stupid person in the world!"
"Heh. Whatever you say." Blake chuckled as he went for the door. Lonnie gave me an assuring hug before she went after Blake. "Oh, and by the way," The Charmeleon added. "We left Philip to look out for you."
Wait, what?!
"BLAKE!!!!!!"
Philip's P.O.V.
******
"Phil, wake uuup!!!"
"Lance.... give... me a break..." I groaned as I drifted back to sleep. After a minute or two...
SLAP!
"Yeow! What was that for?!"
"I'm waking you up!"
"Then why in the name of Da- Arceus did you hit me?!"
"Geez, calm down bro. You've got a girl to take care of, remember?"
Yeah, yeah. It's not like that I care for her or something. I wouldn't want to look suspicious for them, so I just accepted the favor. We had discussed about this yesterday, and with their stupid goody-goody deeds, they finally convinced me to take the job.
"Yeah, I remember..."
"Good. Now off you go!"
"I don't even had my breakfast yet, idiot!" I snarled. The Lucario just laughed at my outburst. He was used to my hostility.
I snorted and walked off.
Katherine's P.O.V.
******
I was staring at the ceiling, doing nothing but lying down. Stupid Norsoe. If it weren't for him, I could have fun wandering dungeons today. Still, I couldn't believe Blake has chosen Philip to look after me out of the three of them! It was embarrassing!
I took a glance from my scarf, which luckily wasn't in tatters beyond repair. The thick line of damage was visible on it, and it might give a hard time to a certain tailor I'll give it to fix.
Once again I turned to the mirror, which dropped a large piece of realization on my head.
"I can't go to town looking like this..." I groaned. But I just shook it off; they can't just go around judging me of my injuries, right?
Hesitantly, I put my scarf and some Poké in my saddlebag, slinging it over my shoulder. I limped to the door and padded quietly outside, greeted by the verdant greenery that surrounded the house. I hummed a random tune and trotted limpily to the sun-kissed town of Clearwater.
I smiled as random Pokémon walked passed by, ignoring the morning fog. They had opened their shops for the day; the owners waving and greeting good mornings to strangers and their friends. I scanned the area until my eyes landed on a shop: Leah's Tailoring Shop.
The door opened with a bell chime as I slowly walked inside, taking my scarf from my saddlebag. Some of my Poké fell into the ground, joined by a familiar necklace.
I picked it up and stared at it with a smile; it was the necklace Shaunder had given me, the thoughts of the adorable cub running through my mind.
Making a decision, I slipped my head through the loop, wearing the necklace. I picked the fallen Poké from the ground and returned them to the depths of my saddlebag.
"How may I help you?"
That made me flinch in surprize, hearing a voice ask me. I lifted my head and saw the owner of the shop. She was a Kangaskan, about three to four times bigger than me. I smiled awkwardly and held out my scarf.
"Uh... good morning. Can you please fix my scarf?" I asked as the Kangaskan daintily picked the purple fabric and began to examine it, raising an eyebrow. She smiled calmly, and then she turned to me.
"Very well. I'll fix this scarf of yours and you can come back and pay for it in the afternoon."
"Thank you."
I let out a grin as I walked out from the shop, limping in rhythm as I walked along. It was quite a matter of time when I remembered Philip. Oh no- what if he was out in the wilderness looking for me?!
WHAM!
The impact knocked me clear across the grass, for my leg didn't heal quite well yet. I shakily stood up on all fours, rubbing my now bruised head. My surroundings were spinning in circles, and I couldn't make out the Pokémon in front of me.
"Hey, watch were you're---" A familiar voice spoke. "Kate...?"
I squinted my eyes as my vision went back to its normal state. I saw a Pokémon with a yellow pelt and a white mane. It was obviously...
"Philip?"
"Fancy meeting you here!" He beamed with a cute smile. I blushed and hoped he didn't see it. "So, what brings you here? I was on my way to your house, and by the way... sorry I'm late..."
"I-Its okay. I just went here to have someone fix my scarf."
"Oh, right. Nice necklace. You look pretty cute."
"Oh, right. Nice necklace. You look pretty cute."
You look pretty cute....
Cute...
Cute.
The word 'cute' kept playing on my mind, causing me to blush deeper than I thought I could. I started to paw at the dirt, nervously staring at him as we locked eye contact. It was like I was in a sort of a trance; I could stare into his eyes all day...
"Earth to Katherine?" He asked as he waved a paw in front of my face. That made me snap out of it and straightened up.
"I-I'm fine!" I yelped.
"Uh... I know this is unnecessary but... can we hang out or something? You know.... in order to know more about each other..."
My ears perked up in that question.
Did he just ask me out?! Kate? Are you hallucinating or something?!
"W-Why n-not-" I quickly shut my muzzle, mentally slapping myself for that. It was too late to take it back now!
"Uh... what is that you want to say?" A confused Philip asked. I made a decision. I'd like to hang out with him. It would be rude to reject a friend. Or... maybe... something more... than that...?
"Y-Yes. I-I'd like to hang out with you..."
"Great! Come on then!"
"W-Wait up!"
"Uh, yeah, I forgot you had the injury in the first place... my bad...?"
Struggling to keep up with him, I closed my eyes for a moment and dropped my head in tiredness. I dropped into something spiky and kind of... soft, and it made me snap out of it. In that moment, my eyes shot open. It was Philip's mane, and I felt my face heating up.
Blushing immensely, I backed off quickly and removed my head from his chest. I lifted my head and accidentally locked my eyes with his. We remained like that for a few seconds, and I lowered my head in shyness, breaking eye contact.
I blushed as he motioned me to come along with the usual cute smile on his face. I started to pad along with him, the shade of red still visible on my face.
One question was bugging me though.
Would hanging out with him can be a good idea? I guess I had to find out...
"So. What place you'd like to go next?"
"M-Me?"
"Of course."
"How about Odette's?"
"Sounds like a good idea. Let's go."
Taking a few meters of walking to the café, we finally made it, ordering some food to satisfy our cravings. We exchanged stories as we went on, laughing at our own jokes.
"-and then, when Lonnie tried to help me out from the river, I pulled her in along with Blake!"
We laughed, sharing our goofy moment. "It's your turn." I said between giggles.
"Meh, nothing fun has ever occured to me and my 'buds' days ago..."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"You were being happy at the last dungeon we went to. Isn't that fun?"
"Uh... my mistake."
"Heh, you're being weird today."
"I am?"
"You are."
"Tsk. It's not like I went crazy or something."
"You're getting with your occassional 'tsk' already."
"It's always in my vocabulary."
"Oh, really?"
"One hundred percent."
I raised a brow at him as I daintily sipped the ramen on the bowl I had on my paws.
He sweat-dropped as he stared at me, taking a bite from his macarons. The awkward silence engulfed the noise from our conversation, quiet as a wonderful library. I tried to straighten up but failed, as we continued to deepen the silent moment.
It stayed like that for another few minutes, until he finished his food.
"So um..." He said, trying to sound normal. "You said you're already sixteen, right?"
"Not anymore."
"Huh?"
"I just turned seventeen yesterday. Which... in fact, was my birthday..."
"Happy late birthday, then! I guess we have the same age now, right?"
"Right!" I smiled, finishing my food. After awhile we headed out and talked about some things, which I'm surprized about myself; I've never been that talkative before.
That warm, tingly feeling I get when I'm with him made me feel comfortable, even though I could blush too deep at his compliments. Taking a step on the soft grass of autumn, we settled for a peaceful walk in the forest, padding through the undergrowth.
The warm rays of sunlight made my light blue fur shine at the touch, which made the day even more positive.
The Jolteon grinned; the leaves crunching under his paws as he stared into an amazing landscape in front of us. I gasped in amazement as I looked around. We were at the cliff side, and the beautiful sight of the valley took my breath away.
"This place sure brings back memories..." He sighed as he sat down.
"You've been here all along?" I asked, sitting right next to him.
"No. But it seemed that I know this place... and it seemed like it came from my dream nights ago..."
Despite the cold air, I felt the warmth of his pelt, causing me to blush at a thought. He sighed and took a deep breath.
"My friends told me that they found me at a cliff side. At that time, I lost my memory and up to this day, I'm still looking forward to recall every single bit of every memories I had once."
"T-That's horrible..." I gasped. He lost his memories? Does that mean...?
Recalling a dream I had weeks ago, it showed that Blake had a missing partner, and he was seperated from him during an attack that they were trying to resolve by fighting back. Could Philip be Blake's missing partner? Could my dream be based on reality in this world?
I turned to him, and the look on his eyes told me the desperation of getting his memories back. I held my breath when he also turned to me, locking his purple eyes with mine. Immediately, I quickly turned away, engulfed with silence once more.
"Kate?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"It's pretty, right?"
"It is. Did... everything here seem familiar to you, right? You do remember about falling or something, is it?"
"About that... yes. I could remember falling in that dream, but... everything seemed so messed up and blurry that I couldn't make out anything."
"Okay... I understand." I said, once more, staring into space.
"You know, it's really fun hangimg out with you."
"Oh, really?"
"Totally! Geez, why are you being unsure about that?"
"Something you wouldn't have to know about it. I could see the irony in your voice..."
"Ha ha. Someone's being sarcastic, eh?"
"No, I'm not, and I was being true about it!" I smirked and playfully punched his arm.
"Ow!" We whined in synch, he seeing that my punch hurt and me seeing that I accidentally punched him with my injured arm. We laughed at my mishap, seeing how silly it was to be hurt at my own punch at the same time.
"Ouch. You're quite strong, don't you know that?"
"I got that for battling in six days in dungeons." I stated like we were in a school as if I was the teacher and he was the student. "It can get out of paw, though."
"I know that. Thanks to you, of course." He chuckled and stood up. "It's afternoon already?! How can time speed up so fast?!"
"It depends on Ti- I mean Dialga, of course."
"You mean the lord of time, is it? I'd like to meet him one day."
"Of course you will. At the right time, of course. Oh, and we need to hurry back to town. I have to retrieve my scarf from Leah's."
"Deal."
We slowly walked down the path that leaded to town, leaving the outskirts behind us. The town's pleasing atmosphere greeted us as we passed strangers and shop owners, bringing smiles on our faces. I opened the door to Leah's shop, and the Kangaskhan welcomed me with a warm smile and lended me my scarf.
It was good as new, and I paid my bill for it. Philip walked me home, and as I stepped on the doorway, I waved a paw at him. "We'll meet again tomorrow, right?"
"Of course. And good luck for healing your wounds. I'll see you again in the morning, Kate-ey cake."
"See you in the morning too, Philly."
We laughed, remembering our time in a dungeon. He waved a paw goodbye and bolted away, sending weak electricity in the air. I grinned, stepped inside the door, closing it behind me, and padded towards my room.