FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Eight days had passed since the Froslass attacked Sandy's team, and she got only more and more nervous as each day passed. Something wasn't right, she just knew it. It wasn't Crystal's sudden ability to speak english that had her worried, no, that only made her happier with every new word. Simon and his Gardevoir had stayed at her house for the last few days to get to know Sandy's team, but Gardevoir also seemed nervous, especially around Simon. In fact, most of the older females were increasingly ill at ease, and would often lapse into long brooding depressions. Gardevoir and Alice wouldn't say what was going on, even if they knew, and Sandy had to keep a constant eye on Azure to make sure she didn't end up translating this depression to the younger Pokémon. Sandy figured they were just bored, being stuck in the same house for days on end, and took Alice and Azure out for walks. This would often work if they got far away enough, and Azure would turn back into her usual antisocial self, hiding on the far side of Sandy from other people. Alice also returned to her usual self, but when asked, would tell Sandy that she and the other Pokémon had promised not to tell anyone what the problem was or who they had promised. It wasn't until late that night, after Simon had gone out alone, she had discovered what was going on.

Simon's Gardevoir had asked her for a bath, and although Sandy was a bit embarrassed to be bathing someone else's Pokémon, she agreed none the less. It was about half past ten at night and Sandy's Pokémon, with the exception of Blueberry, had all gone to bed for the evening after their baths and groomings, so the bathroom was free. Gardevoir sat in the tub while Sandy ran a sponge along her arms. Even now Gardevoir looked troubled.

"Garde, what's wrong? You look so nervous." Sandy asked after a short while. "You're all tense." Gardevoir only blushed brightly and turned her head away.

"I-it's nothing." Came her reply. She even sounded nervous. Sandy grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.

"Look, Alice won't tell me and the other girls can't talk; what's going on?" Sandy demanded. "Out of all of them you're the most depressed, so this has got to have something to do with you." Gardevoir's eyes teared up as she blushed brighter and pushed her head to one side.

"I-I can't even tell Simon..." She said. "If I tell you, you'll inform him..."

"Tell Simon what?" Sandy pushed. "C'mon, I'll keep it a secret from him, you know you can trust me, right?"

"I... I can't."

Sandy pulled Gardeoir into a hug. "Your brooding depression is relating back to the other girls, and that worries me. Please?"

Gardevoir only blushed brighter, her eyes still tearing up.

"You must've wanted to tell me something;" Sandy said "Or you would have had this bath on your own."

At this, Gardevoir broke into weeping and held Sandy tighter. "I need help." Was all she could say.

"What's wrong?" Sandy asked. "C'mon, you can tell me." Gardevoir pulled out of the hug and began rubbing the tears from her eyes.

"I've been with Simon all my life and I've always been able to compose myself around him... But lately I just can't." She quietly said. "It's like I've lost all control of myself."

Sandy nodded. "You've been so moody lately that even Alice is affected." She said, before trying a different approach, pulling out of the hug, her hands on Gardevoir's shoulders. "I've known you since you were just a little Ralts that could barely teleport last year. You've grown into a beautiful Gardevoir since then, please tell me what's wrong?"

Gardevoir looked down at her legs, which were crossed as she sat in the bath tub. "I've known Simon for my whole life." She said. "And... Now I can't stop thinking about him. He fills my every waking thought; 'what would he think if I did this?', or 'how would react to this?'... It... Worries me."

Sandy smiled. Gardevoir were known for forming intense bonds with their trainers, even to the point of sacrificing their lives to protect them. "Garde, do you feel funny?"

Gardevoir gave her a worried look. "Funny?"

"Like, in your chest and your stomach?" Gardevoir nodded slowly. "A burning feeling at all?" She nodded again. Sandy grimaced, not enitrely sure how to inform her partner's Pokémon on this kind of thing. "I guess I'll be blunt." She said, looking directly into Gardevoir's eyes. "How much do you like Simon?" Gardevoir fidgeted and looked away, her blush now the same colour as her spikes. Sandy understood, and pulled the psychic into another hug. "Oh, Garde; why didn't you just say so?"

"Th-that kind of bond is..." Gardevoir began before Sandy interrupted.

"Is rare, but not unheard of. It's very common for Gardevoirs to feel like this with their trainers." She said.

"B-but what if Simon doesn't feel the same way?" The worried psychic asked. "Wh-what if he rejects me?!"

Sandy held Gardevoir's shoulders as she pushed out of the hug. "Look;" She said "right now you have little choice but to come forward with this. You're in heat, and your body is rapidly losing control over your instincts. You don't have time to pussyfoot about and worry what he would think. I'll make you a deal, okay? I have a male Mismagius in the storage system. You go to Simon when you next see him and come forward with this. If he reacts badly, I can have my Mismagius relieve you of your heat. If he reacts as I think he will, my Mismagius will not be needed. Deal?" Gardevoir thought this over and reluctantly nodded. Sandy smiled and went back to bathing Gardevoir, certain of the events that would happen in the next day or so. She shampooed her hair and carefully scrubbed her back. When she had finished she turned Gardevoir around and stopped. "I... Uh..." She began.

"Hm?" Gardevoir mumbled curiously. "What is it?"

"I... uh... Can't wash you completley as I would the others." Sandy said. "I'd not... Feel right." She blushed, handing Gardevoir a washcloth. "I'll do your legs to the knees, but no higher, and I'm not going to wash your chest." Gardevoir nodded and lay back, pulling her dress over herself to at least keep a little dignity as Sandy went about cleaning her feet. It was an awkward silence as they went about getting what seemed like weeks of dust and dirt off of Gardevoir. "When was the last time you got thoroughly clean?" Sandy mumbled, breaking the silence. "The last Pokémon that I had make the water this dirty was Azure... She looked so stunning after I got her dry and brushed her fur though." Sandy's eyes went a little glossy.

"What do you mean?" Gardevoir asked.

"Well, I had filled the bathwater and had already given Blueberry a bath, which was easier because he could turn his body into water, but when it came to Izaac's turn Azure watched me like a hawk, probably thinking I might try to drown him. When it came to her turn she stuck her nose up at me and tried to walk out. I had to grab her tail and pull her back through the door to get her into the bath, and even then she wouldn't sit still until Izaac was back in the room. The water was clean when she went in, and a murky brown when she came out. I had to refill the bath to make sure none of the dirt got back into her fur as mud." Sandy smiled, pushing Gardevoir's legs back into the bath and rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. "She was so terrified of the sound the water made as it hit the tub, and actually writhed when I was covering her in shampoo, thinking it would hurt her or something. Izaac loved the bath and when I brushed his fur down, but Azure was so suspicious of everything I had to demonstrate what I was doing before she'd let me get on with it. She still doesn't trust me I don't think."

"She likes you..." Gardevoir said after a breif pause when Sandy poured a water over her hair. "She's just been horribly treated in the past..."

Sandy nodded. "I know, but still... everything I do she questions. I've known her for months though, surely she could trust me by now?" Sandy looked down at Gardevoir, who hadn't started to wash her front. "Hey, hey, I told you before, you gotta wash your front." Gardevoir responded by starting to wash her stomach. "That's better, make sure you scrub thoroughly or you'll not get all the dirt off." Gardevoir nodded shyly. Another few minutes passed as Sandy continued washing Gardevoir's hair and back.

"Hey, Sandy, watch this;" Gardevoir said out of the blue. She held her hands in the water, in just such a way as to squirt her. "Keep watching..." She mumbled. "Keep watching..." Suddenly bathwater sprayed Sandy in the face from a completley different direction. "Gotcha!" Gardevoir laughed.

Sandy rubbed her face with a towel. "You sneaky little..!" She playfully growled through gritted teeth. "I'm going to get Alice to straighten out your Twistedspoons for that one!" Gardevoir simply laughed. "I'll go get a brush for your hair, finish your front and I'll brush it for you." sandy said, walking out. She found the hairbrush on her bed, underneath Izaac while he slept. She tried to covertly sneak the brush from under him, but she couldn't get it to budge without him going with it. She eventually gave up and physically rolled Izaac off it, the sleepy Lucario waking slightly as he moved.

"Nngh- leave me alooone..." He mumbled before drifting back to sleep. Blueberry trotted up to Sandy and nuzzled her thigh affectionatley. Sandy scratched him behind his ear and returned to the bathroom, where Gardevoir was drying off. Sandy sat Gardevoir on a stool and started running the brush through her hair, commenting on how knotted it was. When she had finished she ran some sheen through the psychic's hair and washed her hands. Gardevoir looked in the full-length dress mirror and blushed, turning this way and that.

"Wow..." She mumbled to herself. Sandy turned and looked Gardevoir up and down in the mirror.

"Arceus would have trouble rejecting you now." She said happily. "See what a little careful cleaning and a light groom can do?" Gardevoir hugeed her tightly. "Listen, just be yourself around Simon and everything will be fine, he's a nice guy."

"Thankyou." She replied.

"Remember, I'm here if you need me and I'll be happy to clean you in future." Sandy said. "Just ask." With that she opened the door and picked up Blueberry, who was waiting patiently by the door for his turn. Gardevoir walked out and closed the door behind her as Sandy ran a new bath for Blueberry. He was prone to mischief and getting her wet as he playfully messed about in the water so she stripped to her underwear and sat in the water with him, scrubbing his back. His bones were still lightly visible, but he had gained some well needed weight in the last few months. His muscles had strenghtened too, but he hadn' gotten any larger since she first found him sprawled across the end of her bed. She pulled a bur out of his fur that he kept scratching at and tossed it out onto the tiled floor. "That's better, isn't it?" Blueberry yipped happily and closed his eyes as he relaxed with her scrubbing. Sandy heard the front door close as Simon came home and also heard his surprise that Gardevoir looked much nicer than she had when he left. There was a few moments of quiet talking before voices were raised and she could almost make out the words being yelled. She heard someone running on the stairs and then the door to the bathroom flung open, making Blueberry jump and Sandy snap her attention to Gardevoir who came running in, followed closely by Simon. Gardevoir was in tears, and Sandy hugged her tightly. "Shh." She cooed. "What's happened that's got you so upset?"

Simon slammed the door behind him. "Go on!"

"H-he doesn't... f-feel the same way. Not the same way a-at all!" Gardevoir managed as she cried into Sandy's shoulder.

"She said you gave her the idea!" Simon yelled. Sandy shot him an angry look.

"Quiet down or you'll wake my Pokémon!" She hissed. "What's the problem?"

"She said that you told her I'd be fine with her coming forward with me." Simon snapped.

"Oh? And you're not comfortable with her liking you that way?"

"She's a Pokémon!"

"She may be a Pokémon, but that doesn't make her any less entitled to love!" Sandy snapped back, rubbing Gardevoir's back. "Would you be the same way if I came on to you?" Unknown to Simon, Izaac had woken and snuck into the bathroom. Sandy kept her eyes on him.

"No I wouldn't. You're human, she's not!"

"Wrong answer!" Izaac yelled in a growl, tripping Simon up. Izaac glared at Simon, baring his teeth angrily. "What makes us any different to you? How are we lesser beings? Huh?!" He snarled.

"Truth is, you're not." Sandy said. "If anything, human kind is the lesser species." Simon humphed and pushed Izaac painfully into the wall. He got up and slapped Sandy across her face. In a flash, Blueberry was there, his teeth chomping down on Simon's wrist and piercing his skin, but Simon swung his arm, the water Pokémon was unable to hold on and got flung across the room with a wet thump. This time, Gardevoir stopped Simon from moving, holding him still and levitating him off the ground.

"I may be your Pokémon; but I won't let you hurt my friends!"

Sandy called Blueberry over, who now avoided Simon like a plagued rat, she pulled him back into the bathwater. "You may be a good trainer, but you've got a long way to go before you know how to treat a girl." she said to Simon. "All she did was come to you in the time of her need and you pushed her away. You've taken her companionship and destroyed it, I hope you're happy." She threw Simon a dirty look. "Stay in your room, don't talk to me, maybe I'll get over this, but I know she won't. Garde, you're welcome to sleep in my room for tonght and we can go get Mismagius in the morning, okay?" Gardevoir nodded and released Simon from her hold. "Get. Out." Sandy said darkly. "Or I'll let Blueberry do more than just bite you. I'd have expected this from any other trainer, Simon, but not you." Simon, in a huff, opened the door, but was stopped from leaving by Azure, who had also been woken by this loud conversation. Evidently she had heard enough of it to know what was going on and dragged a claw across his heel as he passed her.

Sandy finished giving Blueberry his bath, massaging his back where he had hit the wall, and put him to bed for the night, Gardevoir kept him curled up in her lap while she slept in a chair, every so often she'd let out a quiet sob. All that preparing and all for nothing. Sandy thought sadly as she drifted to sleep with Izaac and Azure.

She was woken at about ten the next day by her parents. She carefully woke Azure and Izaac and got out of bed, noticing that Gardevoir and Blueberry had gone. She picked up little Crystal from her bedding in the corner and carried her to the kitchen downstairs. Gardevoir and Blueberry were already here, and Sandy's mother had breakfast spread out for them. They quickly ate breakfast and went out back to play with the few remaining Eevee that had not been bought yet. It had snowed heavily that night, and the young Pokémon hid from each other and dug tunnels through it. Sandy had to put cold weather gear on Blueberry and Crystal before they could keep playing, as they winced with every step they took. Even she had put on a fuzzy winter jacket. When eleven rolled around, Azure, Alice and Gardevoir had lapsed into yet another bout of depression. Sandy noticed that Gardevoir had become almost suicidally gloomy and went over to talk to her as she sat on a swing hidden by shadows under the acorn tree, shifting snow with her feet.

"If you keep your bare feet in the snow too long they'll get frostbitten." Sandy said to her, leaning against the tree.

"Why?" Gardevoir gloomily mumbled.

"Why?" Sandy retorted, ignoring her depression. "Something to do with your blood freezing or something like that anyway."

"No." Gardevoir sighed. "Why do you care?"

"Hm?"

"Why does anybody care?"

Blueberry took this moment to run up and sit in Gardevoir's lap, his face a look of worry. Sandy chuckled lightly.

"We care because we value your friendship." She said. "We don't want you to suffer for something that's not your fault. You can't control your bodyclock any more than I can stop the sun from setting or the rain from falling, so don't begrudge yourself, please?" Gardevoir remained silent, still swirling snow with her feet. Sandy's mother jogged over from the house and handed Sandy an earpiece.

"It's Silph Co.'s new Pokémon translator according to the box." She whispered. "Turn it on and put it on your ear and it can translate Pokémon speech into English."

"Why am I getting one then?"

"Silph Co. sent us two dozen of them, and it's not like we're going to need it." She finished, running back to the house. Azure wandered over and tugged her pants. Sandy shrugged, turned the device on and put it around her ear, then picked Azure up, tucking her into a warm fuzzy hug.

"Anyway;" She continued to Gardevoir, "I promised that I'd lend you Mismagius for the afternoon if things didn't turn out quite right and I meant it."

"Don't bother." Gardevoir said gloomily.

"Don't bother?" Sandy parroted, surprised. "I made a promise and I intend to keep it!"

Gardevoir shook her head, still shuffling snow. Blueberry blew the snow away with Water Gun and gave Gardevoir a firm glare.

"I can cope with it." She finally said, still depressed.

"No Pokémon can cope with their first heat." Azure piped up with a voice of maturity. She had a light scottish accent. "It'll either destroy you mentally or you can douse it by mating. There is no 'cope' lass."

"How would you know?!"

Azure glared at her. "How do you think I got my little Izaac? If I hadn't found his father when I did I'd have gone mad. The depression the rest of us females are feeling is just the start, you're losing control and losing it fast."

Sandy looked surprised. This translator was actually working! Alice wandered over at the sudden debate.

"Azure is right, Garde." She said. "Many a time we've had females brought here in times of desperation."

"Why not take Sandy up on her offer?" Blueberry piped up, he sounded young and innocent, but his voice had an air of calm logic about it. "She promised to take care of us when she rescued us from that Rocket, and she hasn't yet gone back on her word." Sandy nodded.

"He's correct, Garde." She said. "You need not bear Mismagius an egg. This is for you and you alone." Gardevoir looked down at her feet again.

"I wanted my first to be special." She numbly said. "But..."

"We can't all get what we want." Azure said. "Sometimes there is no other choice. You've got to take what you can get and run with it."

"It's not fair..." Gardevoir mumbled quietly. Blueberry used his tail to scoop up some snow and slap it into her face.

"Life's not meant to be fair!" he snapped. "It's a very unforgiving world out there, and when it's you vs the world the world has all the aces! Me and Azure, we know what it's like! We've been there and done that! Pushed to the point of no return and recovered from it! It was a lucky day if that grunt even remembered to heal us from our injuries, let alone feed us! The night I escaped and found Sandy was the happiest night of my life, even though I almost died on the way!" He regained his composure. "Just don't make a mistake you'll regret for the rest of your life like I did by trusting that man. If you can believe anyone, it'll be Sandy; and right now you need to fix this problem before something bad happens."

Gardevoir nodded as she started to cry, pulling her arms around herself and shivering. Sandy raced back to the house and returned with a thick jacket and draped it over Gardevoir.

"Here you go." She said, pulling the large padded jacket onto the thin shivering psychic. "Would you like some more cold weather gear to keep yourself warm? You're only thin, so you must be freezing in this snow." Gardevoir nodded again and Sandy raced off to the house once more, leaving Azure with Gardevoir to kelp keep her warm.

"Ugh." Alice sighed. "All this excitement a the week before my heat starts. Next week is going to be murder!" Azure giggled as Blueberry sniffed the air.

"I don't smell anything, are you sure it's that soon?" He asked, curiously.

"If I wanted you and every other Eevee in this place to know I'd not have blocked it out, would I?" Blueberry looked hurt.

"Hey! What's wrong with me?" He asked. Sandy had returned at this moment.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him?" She asked, handing Gardevoir a thick set of winter clothes. "What's wrong with you?" She asked Blueberry, making Azure laugh.

Alice sighed. "My heat cycle starts next week."

"And she says she didn't want me to know."

"So what's wrong with him?" Sandy asked again, ignoring the last two comments.

"He's so... Skinny... And small." Alice said, throwing the words out like an insult.

"Let's see you not get fed for months on end and not be lacking in the flesh department!"

"Okay, okay." Azure interrupted finally. "You two stop arguing." She said, pointing at Alice and Blueberry. "You can stop being so clueless." She pointed at Sandy, who looked surprised. "And you..." She was pointing at Gardevoir, but could find nothing to say. "... Your hat is on backwards." Gardevoir pulled the Santa hat off and looked at it curiously.

"There is no tag, how am I supposed to know?" Sandy grabbed the hat and pulled it onto Gardevoir's head, tilting the tip down the back.

"It goes like that." She said. "You were with us last Christmas, how could you not know?" She smiled and pulled a black Poké Ball out of her pocket. "Here's Mismagius. I don't want this going to his head, so make sure he doesn't get smug."

"How do I..?" Gardevoir began, blushing furiously. Azure held up her paw.

"Alright, come with me and I'll tell you how things go." She said, much to the embarrassment of all present. She looked around the ring of blushing faces. "Well someone's gotta tell the girl, I figured someone with experience'd be ideal." Alice snorted. "What, you wanna try?!"

"No, no. But I'll give some tips after you're done. Psychic types are a little different..."

Azure and Gardevoir found a secluded corner to talk in, and Sandy began to climb the acorn tree. Blueberry and Alice watched her from the ground as she slowly got higher up.

"Be careful up there." Alice called. "Last time you climbed that tree you fell and broke your arm, remember?"

"I remember you laughing hysterically at me for the next day or so." Sandy replied. She finally reached the top, where Izaac had sat himself to be alone for a while. He didn't hear them talking, or notice Sandy creeping up behind him, but yipped loudly when she grabbed him and lumped out of the tree, landing heavily in the deep, soft snow. "Gotcha!" She said, triumphantly. He wrestled with her to get out of her grip. "Nu-uh." Sandy said to him playfully. "I want you to be here when your mother comes back." Little Crystal came bounding over and sat infront of Sandy, nuzzling her adopted mother. Azure came back over and tapped Alice on the shoulder.

"She's all yours, tiger." She said sarcastically. Alice humphed and walked over to Gardevoir, who was patiently waiting.

"Azure, come here!" Sandy called, motioning her over. "You too, Blueberry." They sat next to her, Izaac still trying to wrestle his way free of Sandy's unrelenting grip. "Okay, now that you're all here, I gotta ask an important question that I'd like- OUCH!" Izaac had bitten her finger. Sandy sat up, stuffing him into her lap and holding him tightly. Crystal crawled over and into her lap also, sprawling across Izaac as she nuzzled Sandy affectionately. "Anyway, I was going to say, that I'd like a straight answer to my question."

"What question is this?" Azure questioned.

"Do you really trust me?" Sandy asked in earnest. "I love you little guys, but I want to know how you feel. I've been too afraid to ask Alice or Gardevoir to ask you, worried that you'd misunderstand, but this new translator allows me to ask you directly." Her Pokémon sat in silence for a minute with the exception of Crystal, who simply called:

"Mummy! Hugs!" Prompting a tight hug from Sandy. Blueberry was -technically- the first to answer.

"I can say that I do really trust you." He said. "But I don't know you well enough to love you like you do us."

Izaac smiled. "I like you, Sandy." He said. "You're smart and fun, and know exactly how to deal with our fear of people, I trust you alot, but..."

"But you don't love me like a sister or anything yet." She finished for him. "I understand." She turned to Azure. "And what about you?"

"Out of the three of us, I'd have to say I was the most sceptical about you when we met." Azure eventually stated. "But I've gotten to know you well, and I like your personality. How you dealt with the other day and Izaac's evolution sold it for me. You'd do anything for us, so I figure it's only fair that we give you our trust and support." Sandy kissed her on the forehead.

"Thanks, Azure. You've no idea how much this means to me." She said, smiling brightly. "You've moved the Silk Scarf to your tail, I notice. It looks good." Azure blushed. "Now, I want to know what you'd like most as a gift. Not you!" She said, holding a finger up at Crystal. "You get hugs all the time, I'll get you something nice." The group of Pokémon stayed quiet. "Okay, do you guys even know what holiday is coming up?" They shook their heads sadly. "Can't say I''m not surprised." Sandy mumbled. "Okay, Christmas is the birthday of the Christian savior. It's a very important holiday. They give out gifts and celebrate their religion. A fair amount of us, our family included, are not Christian; yet we celebrate the holiday anyway for what it promotes, good will to all. It's a great time to show each other how much we love each other, and we hand out gifts to the other family members. Christmas, for our family, is a celebration on life and how much we mean to one another." She said. "Inside is a whole lot of junk mail, little paper booklets the shops send to us through the post to show us what they have on special each week. You can go inside and have a look now if you'd like, and tell me what you want later?"

"What do we have to do for these gifts?" Blueberry asked, sceptical.

"Nothing." Sandy told him. "As I said, you tell me what you want and then just wait until the twenty fifth of next month and we'll see if you get exactly what you wanted, won't we?" Azure shuddered.

"Damn psychics. Can't keep anything to themselves." Sandy looked quizzical. "Don't ask, just be thankful she can't project her feelings onto you yet." Azure fidgeted. "I think I'm going to have to go for a short while, this is... Embarrasing." Alice came strolling over.

"You feel it too?"

Azure looked at her emploringly. "Can't you shut this out of my mind?" Alice shook her head.

"No, this is too strong, I can barely keep it out of my own head." She replied. the girls twitched. "Arceus damn it. Sandy, put us in our Poké Balls."

"Why?"

The grils shifted nervously before Azure leaned in close and whispered into Sandy's ear, making her blush. "Oh..." She mumbled. "Right, got it."

"It's like she's not even trying to control herself." Alice said as she vanished into her Poké Ball.

"I know what you mean." Azure replied as she too vanished. Izaac looked up at Sandy curiously.

"What're they talking about?" He asked. Sandy shuffled his hair.

"One day you might find out." She replied. "For now, just go and play with the others. Go on!" She watched the small Lucario scurry off.

"Mummy?" Came the familiar voice of Crystal from her lap.

"Yes, what is it Crystal?"

"I'm really cold." Came her reply. Sandy picked her up and tucked her into her jacket.

"Is that any better?" Crystal nuzzled her in response. "How about you, Blueberry, how are you faring?"

He shuffled his feet through the snow momentarily before shaking his head. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"Are you sure? We've plenty of cold weather gear I can strap onto your paws?"

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped. Sandy jumped at his sudden harshenss.

"I'm sorry if I pushed you..." She mumbled. He shook his head.

"No, I should be sorry." He replied. "I've got alot on my mind right now and I'd really like some time to figure it out for myself if you don't mind." Sandy reached out and scratched him behind hie ears. He murred affectionately and wandered back into the yard. Hours passed slowly when daylight didn't fully hit the world, making it difficult to determine time. After Gardevoir came back out of the house, Sandy took Mismagius back and invited her to help build an igloo. They had used all the spare snow from the roof and front yard but were only half finished, so Gardevoir collected snow from roofs of surrounding houses, telekinetically pulling it into the yard. They spent most of the day huddled in the igloo until Sandy's mother called them in for dinner. They sat around the kitchen and ate thier respective meals. Blueberry finished before everyone else and went to Sandy's room, curling up under the bed and staring into the blackness. He didn't know how long he hid there for. It felt like hours passed before he heard the door open wider.Footsteps thumped across the room and he actually felt part of the bed sink under someone's weight.

"Blueberry? Are you awake?" Came Sandy's voice. "I don't mean to disturb you, but Garde said she sensed you were miserable. Is everything alright?"

He tried to feign sleep, but something about his mood made it impossible. Sandy knelt on the floor and pulled him out from the shadows, his claws feebly resisting her by scratching along the carpet. She lifted him up and dumped him onto the mattress.

"C'mon, tell me what's wrong."

Blueberry shook his head.

"Please?"

Another shake.

Sandy sighed. "Look, it took but a few days for Garde to come forward with her secret, and she's not my Pokémon. C'mon, you can tell me."

"I-" Blueberry started, his voice angry. He collected his nerves before continuing. "And in the half hour after she came to you with her problem things only got worse." He noted. "I don't want this getting any worse than it is now."

"Too late." Alice called from the door, slamming it shut behind her. "I know exactly what you're thinking, Blueberry; don't bother trying to hide it." Blueberry cringed and curled up tightly, hiding his face behind his tail.

"Alice! I..."

Sandy hushed him. "So;" she said calmly "you like Alice, huh?" The small Vaporeon nodded, still hiding his face. "Well, that's understandable, I'm sure she'd be a wonderful catch for any male Eeveelution."

"I'm not his catch!" Alice defiantly said.

"I know that." Sandy snapped back. "But you should understand what he's going through right now. You're probably the most beautiful Eeveelution he's seen ever, he can't help but get a crush on you." Alice humphed and turned her head.

"I'm nothing special, and he's certainly not an ideal mate." She said.

"As I asked before, 'what's wrong with him?'"

"Look at me!" Blueberry snapped, barely keeping himself from breaking down. "I'm skin and bones and I'm rediculously small for my age! If anything, I'd be amazed if I find a female who likes me like this at all."

"That's no excuse." Sandy said. "I've never understood natural selection amongst Pokémon. Sure, survival of the fittest, but can't you just overlook him for his flaws and see what he's got going for him?" She shot a dirty look at Alice. "What about Izaac and Azure? Would they be bad because they're strangely coloured?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. Their colouring is almost a warning sign that they're not ideal."

"If human beings hadn't started making Pokémon their companions hundreds of years ago I'd agree." Sandy said. "It's been proven that Pokémon with trainers live longer, better lives than those without; with the exception of those mistreated of course. Alice you've lived here with my parents for years, you should know that we charge more for differently coloured Pokémon than normal ones. Do you know why?" Alice shook her head. "Because people like their Pokémon to be unique. They stand out. Rares like Crystal only stand out because they're rare, but Pokémon with different colourations attract more attention by far! If anything, these days, alternate colouring or being uniquely sized is not a bad thing, but it's an advantage. People are far more likely to like a Pokémon for their unique qualities than their common attributes." Sandy sighed. "Honestly."

Gardevoir stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. "Your logic is sound." She said quietly. "But centuries of evolutionary programming can't be ignored so easily."

"What did you see in Simon?" Sandy asked. "C'mon, don't be shy."

"He... He's a nice guy. Caring, friendly..." the psychic mumbled. "...Handsome..."

"But he is incompatible." Sandy reasoned. "How can you justify falling for him if you can never have had children with him?"

"I..."

"It's because you're one of the rare few these days whose instincts have changed to cope with the changing times. Your instincts told you that you might have a unique child if you had been with him, even if it could never be." Sandy said. "Your instincts gave way for love, it's simply unfortunate that he didn't share your feelings. You still like him, I'm sure." Gardevoir nodded. "See? Her instincts changed to accept the fact that unique Pokémon are far more likely to live long healthy lives and have her bloodline survive. This isn't just science, Alice. There is pure logic here, and I thought you psychic types loved logic." Sandy shot a wry smile across the room before standing up. "Besides, Blueberry isn't genetically different, he's a perfectly normal Vaporeon who never got enough nutrients to grow properly. If I fed him five times as many vitamins as are healthy he'd probably grow into his full size, but he'd probably also die from poisoning." Sandy opened the door and let the two psychics out, stopping Blueberry before he could leave. "You could have told me earlier when she was in her Poké Ball."

"But it'd be like saying I want to sleep with your sister..."

Sandy picked him up. "She may be like a sister to me, but your happiness is more important to me than hers. She's nine now, she can take care of herself." Her little vaporeon sighed and stared at the ground.

"No wonder she doesn't like me, she's much older than I am..."

Sandy's curiosity got the better of her as she walked to the family room with him in her arms. "How old are you then?"

"I'm about four, born on April 24th."

Sandy carried him to the family room, where they sat down and watched TV with all the others. Simon had been absent since the night before, but Sandy didn't care. She'd had enough of him for one week. They sat on the large couch for a few hours, watching a movie called 'Old Howler.' The tragic ending had most of her Pokémon extremely upset and amazingly nervous until Sandy said that she'd never let that happen to them and that rabies was eliminated about one hundred years ago when Silph Co. created Antidote. This calmed them, but they were still really sad, so she had to turn on a comedy. They still sniffled every so often, but had gotten over it in the next hour. By now it was nine o'clock, way past Crystal and Izaac's bedtime. She took them upstairs and put them to bed, Gardevoir slept in the room with them. Azure tried to stay in the room, but Sandy pulled her back out and down through to the family room. She sat on the couch with Azure in her lap.

"Sandy! Let me go!"

"No, Azure. He'll be safe in there with Garde, you don't need to inconvenience yourself tonight. Trust me."

Azure wouldn't settle down, struggling to get out of Sandy's grip. She tried scratching her, clawing Sandy's arms until they bled. Sandy would not let go. "Let me go!" She roared. Sandy shifted her grip and slapped Azure across her muzzle, getting a confused look.

"I told you he'll be safe in there with Gardevoir!" Sandy snapped, wincing from the pain her cut arms gave her. "I asked you to trust me. Please, you're like the mother of the whole group even though you're younger than Blueberry. I need you to trust me." Azure sighed and stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. "But I get so nervous when he's not with me, you have no idea the things that Rocket did to him when we were seperated."

"I have a fair idea, and that's why I need you to trust me when I say he's safe with someone." Sandy said, scratching Azure behind an ear. "Gardevoir would never harm him. It's when I get nervous that you need to be alert. Your reflexes are much faster than mine, and you'll see things that I won't until it's too late. That collector the other day, I'd never have caught him if he ran from me, but you got to him before he even realised I had opened the door. You realise that at that point you had left Izaac in the backyard alone? All by himself with my mother, Charizard and the Eevees." Azure's eyes widened. Clearly she han't even thought about it. "And you had rushed with me to the front door, even though Izaac hadn't been hurt. Do you know why you did it?" She shook her head. "Because, even though they're not, you think of Crystal and Blueberry as family." Azure felt Sandy release her deathgrip on her waist. "I'm going to go get these patched up, you're free to go." Sandy said, standing up and walking out. She walked into the kitchen where her mother was washing the dishes and opened the first aid kit on the far wall. Her mother asked what had happened to get all the cuts, but Sandy replied by saying that she had it under control and returning to the family room when she had wrapped her arms in gauze. To her pleasent surprise, she found Azure sitting on the couch. She sat down next to her and scratched her behind her ears.

"I'm sorry for scratching you." she mumbed sadly.

"It's alright, Azure. they'll heal quickly. Arent you going to go check on Izaac?"

Azure sat in silence for a minute. "Nah, he'll be fine with Garde."