FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Hey ladies!" Malcolm yelled, waving at the pokemon.

Chelsa quickly ran up to both trainers, smiling brightly as she greeted them both back. Cole looked around the Ampharos and noticed that they picked their spot for the night and the fact that Lavana had cooled off.

"I see they picked out camp tonight." Cole said as he walked past the Ampharos, slipping his heavy backpack off of his back getting ready to set it down to start setting up camp. "I'm gonna get started on camp then." He followed with a soft sigh.

Lavana lifted her head and glared at Cole, her vents still fuming from earlier, Cole noticing the glare as he turned towards her. Cole just brushed it off and remained quiet as he sat his backpack down.

Chelsa's ears drooped a little as she noticed the tension between her trainer and her friend. She turned to Malcolm and smiled though, her long tail swishing. "Ros ampharos?" She asked, wondering when they'd go on that berry hunt together.

"Hm? Oh hey, Chelsa!" Malcolm said, patting her head. He ignored the question shot his way being that he had no knowledge of what she said. He looked back at Cole, seeing him start on his chore. "Cole, I'm about to go berry hunting, any particular food that you're craving?"

"Yeah." Cole replied with a raise of his voice. "Clean food, Chel, you better keep an eye on him." He said, teasing Malcolm for earlier.

"I'll be sure to give you the rotton berries on the ground." Malcolm joked before waving Ren over to him. "Anyways, I'm out."

Malcolm walked off with Ren and Chelsa at his side. He looked back a few times, worried about leaving Cole with Lavana. Who knew what she would do to him while he was gone? For all that happened, Cole could be a pile of ashes when he returned.

"Be safe, Cole...and stay out of trouble." He yelled over his shoulder before exiting the area.

Few minutes went by, trekking through countless trees in search of a berry bush, Malcolm and Chelsa were following Ren being that she had a good sense of smell with berries. Malcolm occasionally assisted Chelsa over the high tree roots sticking out the ground, while Ren hopped over it or crawled under it, getting a nice back scratch as an addition.

"Are we getting close to any berries, Ren?" Malcolm questioned.

"Umbreon" the dark pokemon confirmed, continuing to smell the sweet scent in the air.

"Good, good." Malcolm responded. "Anyways, glad you could join us Chelsa. Always good to have an extra set of paws on the hunts since Ren can only use her mouth and carry two berries at a time."

"Ampharos." Chelsa replied with a nod, glad to be joining them both for a change, especially after her little talk with Ren about Malcolm earlier.

"Hopefully, you'll join us more often, berry picking can be a troublesome job at times. Sometimes, we run into wild pokemon who just don't get the hint that we aren't going to do anything to their territory." Malcolm sighed, visiting the past events of his bery picking.

The electric pokemon nodded in response to Malcolm, hoping that she could join them both a bit more, finding berry hunting with them both a bit more interesting than just sitting around with her trainer all day.

"Umbre...!" Ren piped up, catching a strong whiff of something sweet floating in the air. She took off, running almost recklessly through the forest. She felt more than compelled to reach the source of this scent; this scent being the sweetest of all.

"She's got something. Let's go, Chelsa!" Malcolm said, grabbing Chelsa's paw and running after the Umbreon.

"Amphaaa!" Chelsa let out as she was dragged along, nearly tripping over a few dead branches due to her short legs.

Ren continued sprinting ahead of her trainer, steadily spreading the gap between them. Malcolm frequently told her to slow down but the scent was the only thing on her mind at the time. Nearly five minutes later, she drew a large gap from Malcolm and Chelsa, only being a speck of black to them.

Malcolm slowed down to a walk, knowing that there was no way he would catch up to Ren now. He let out a defeated sigh as he knew how common this was on berry hunts. Usually, it would be some trainers having a barbecue or a Bellossom using Sweet Scent to attract mates; very seldom were there actually berries.

"Ros?" Chelsa questioned, still being held firmly by her paw by Malcolm, wondering why they slowed down.

"Hm? If you're asking why we stopped running, blame Ren's knack for sweets. Once she smells something sweet, she'll take off after it. Though, she'll be back. No point in running after her when she's so far ahead us." Malcolm explained, looking down at the yellow pokemon.

The Ampharos nodded, understanding that much, knowing Ren was much faster on her four feet than either one of them both.

Malcolm looked down and noticed that his hand was still locked on Chelsa's paw. He glanced up at the yellow pokemon, wondering if she knew they were still joined at the hands. He took his hand away, turned his head towards the partly darkened sky trying to prevent his small blush from being seen.

"Oh..um...sorry about that." Malcolm lowly said, nervous on how the Ampharos would react

The Ampharos just smiled and stepped up next to him, sweeping her paw back against his hand and grasping it. "Ampha ros." She warmly said, saying it was no problem as she saw nothing wrong with it as she softly lit the red orb on her tail, causing a soft, pulsing light to shine from it as the forest around them both darkened.

Malcolm returned his grasp to her paw, smiling back at her. He peered down into her sparkling dark eyes, his smile growing a bit wider. "Let's just rest here and wait for Ren to come back." Malcolm suggested, sitting down on the ground while still holding the Ampharos' paw.

Chelsa quickly sat down next to Malcolm's side, seeing no harm in resting since neither of them could keep up with Ren. Sitting down she was easily able to look eye to eye with Malcolm and then some, actually sitting taller than him due to her long neck and rather large body.

Malcolm took his other hand and placed it over Chelsa's held paw, moving it up and down her arm. "Very fine fur, you have here. It's mighty soft too."

Chelsa blushed softly at his compliment, not having had one like that for longer than she could remember. "Ampha..." She thanked in an embarrassed tone, turning her head away to try and hide the blush.

"Hm, I wouldn't mind cuddling up to this while I go to sleep. Don't get me wrong, Ren's fur is soft but...this is far better than hers. Don't tell her I told you that, though." the trainer chuckled, still motioning his hand along her arm.

The Ampharos turned her head back towards the trainer, staring at him for a long moment, wondering where this came from all of a sudden, shuddering a little at the feeling of his hand moving up and down her arm as her heart began to race. He never quite spoke to her like this before now, perhaps it was because they were both alone? She didn't know as she just nodded softly to him, unable to find any real answer to his sudden behavior, perhaps it was nothing and she was over reacting.

The trainer slowly looked up at the Ampharos, seeing her staring down at him. He noticed he was getting too touchy with her removed his hand, returning to the holding of hands. "I'm terribly sorry. It's just that I...nevermind."

Malcolm turned away in disbelief that he was actually starting to flirt with this pokemon. He felt a little ashamed that he was, being that it was Cole's pokemon after all. He was mentally cursing himself for being such an idiot and that Chelsa would probably look at him differently now after his strange behavior.

Chelsa noticed he was backing off, assuming that maybe she was overreacting to him, feeling a little embarrassed herself at him, chuckling softly to herself as she felt like a bit of a fool for thinking that it might have been something else.

"Ampha phros." Chelsa said, telling him it was fine as she leaned over and hugged him suddenly, trying to get the point across that everything was okay.

Caught off guard by this sudden action, Malcolm jolted a bit, receiving the warm embrace coming from the electric pokemon. He slowly returned the hug but mentally made sure he watched what he did with this pokemon. Ren was different from this pokemon in so many ways and if he acted the same with Chelsa, he didn't know what would happen and he was a bit scared to find out. He wanted to know how she would react to him though if he did try something with her. There had to be a way to try something and get an answer.

The Ampharos tightened the hug slightly, wrapping her other paw around his opposite shoulder as she smiled, kind of enjoying this a little more than she should, the hug reminding her of the early days when she was with Cole and he was a little more open towards both her and Lavana. Unknowingly she leaned a little against him, pressing a bit of her weight against the human as she awkwardly hugged him, both their body types not working that well together for such a thing.

Malcolm felt her weight increasing on him, but not by much. 'Perfect chance...' he thought as an idea popped into his head. He ceased to resist the oncoming weight and fell back with the yellow pokemon on top of him. He stared into her eyes once again, awaiting a reaction as she stared back at him. For an odd reason that he couldn't explain, his heart had begun to beat at an increasingly fast rate.

The Ampharos eyes went a little wide from them both falling over, her face now hanging above his, separated by a matter of inches. Slowly she raised herself off of him, supporting herself with her two small arms, staring down at his face, a blush growing on her yellow cheeks as her heart began beating furiously once again. She knew he didn't do that for no reason, he was trying to get a reaction from her, but what? She didn't know but she remained perfectly still, the pace of her breathing raising a little.

Malcolm mentally cursed himself again, knowing he was being stupid now. If that flirting earlier didn't make Chelsa think differently of him, then that stunt he pulled more than likely will, he thought. Though, he did notice that the yellow pokemon didn't move from on top of him nor any movement whatsoever.

"Umbre..." Ren shouted, jumping from behind a bush as an attempt to surprise Malcolm and Chelsa but instead was surprised herself by the situation the two were in. She stared in awe, not knowing what to do or to say for that matter.

"Ren!" Malcolm acknowledged as Chelsa immediately brought herself off of him and up to her feet. His heart was beating hard now, knowing that the situation he was in did not look good to Ren. He swallowed hard awaiting his pokemon's response to this.

Chelsa chuckled nervously, her cheeks crimson now, extremely embarrassed by how that must have looked. "A-ampha amph ph-phros..." She stuttered out, saying it wasn't what it looked like as she slowly backed away from the trainer.

The Umbreon stared at the two as Malcolm tried explaining the situation, saying it was an accident that she fell on top of him. She could have sworn that earlier he said that he had no interest in Chelsa and that he only needed her to help collect berries. Did he lie to her? Was that just a reason to get her to ease up and let Chelsa join so he could possibly get some alone time with her?

Quickly, Ren was starting to feel like a fire type being that she was getting hot by each passing moment. Instead of attacking like she deeply wanted to, she simply turned away from the two and began walking off in the direction in which she returned, finding endless berries at the end of her immediate take off.

"Ah...dammit..." Malcolm muttered, knowing he was deep in the doghouse. He rose to his feet and followed after the dark pokemon, extremely ashamed of himself for doing what he did to Chelsa. His head hung low wishing he could take back that moment. Not only did he get caught but he also got no reaction from Chelsa except a stare.

Chelsa rubbed her neck, her ears drooped down to the sides of her head, also feeling terrible about what happened, even though she didn't understand how bad the situation actually was. She knew Ren was extremely upset at both her and Malcolm though, and she was probably better off just going on her own.

"Phros..." She apologized with a bow towards Malcolm, knowing that saying sorry wasn't going to fix anything in this situation, but she just felt she had too.

"It's...not your fault, Chelsa. She much more angry at me than you. Besides, all that happened was my doing and I admit that. If anyone is going to be sorry, it's going to be me. I knew what I was doing...and continued with it. So don't feel bad." Malcolm said, trying to change the blame onto himself. "I'll try to talk to Ren later..."

The Ampharos ears perked up once she heard that Malcolm was indeed trying to do something. She immediately stepped forward after Malcolm and swiftly grabbed a hold of his hand, stopping and holding onto him firmly. "Ampharos amph ros!" She asked in a raised tone, demanding an answer from him at what he was actually trying with her.

"W-what?" Malcolm snapped his head towards the yellow pokemon, shocked that she suddenly grabbed his hand again. All her words were nothing but gibberish to him, unable to understand what she was saying.

Chelsa's cheeks turned red from embarrassment and frustration, knowing for certain there was something she wasn't being told. "Amph..." She sighed as she gently let go of his hand, quickly turning away and walking in the opposite direction of Ren, needing some time to think to herself and give both the trainer and his pokemon some space.

Malcolm stood there wondering who to go after first. It didn't take long until he came to a decision of going after Ren first. He jogged off in her direction, searching hard through the growing darkness. Luckily, when the dark blanket spreaded across the sky and the moon starting to reveal itself, Ren's yellow rings started glowing, producing a dim light around her, a trait known by Umbreons.

It didn't take long for Malcolm to find Ren and catch to her, running in front of her. He knelt down in front of her ready to explain the earlier event.

"Ren...listen. What happened earlier, don't blame Chelsa for none of it; all of it was my fault. I don't know what got over me back there." Malcolm sighed. "Look, I know you are upset with me and don't want to hear what I have to say but please, if you're going to blame anyone, blame me. Chelsa had nothing to do with that."

Ren stepped closer to her trainer, hopping up and placing her front paws on his chest. She looked into his eyes, their faces inches away from each other. She raised one paw to his cheek, stroking it gently before rearing back and slapping him across the face.

"I deserve that." the trainer admitted, rubbing his sore cheek. "But please, talk to Chelsa and you'll see that its completely my fault. I just don't want anyone getting blamed for something they didn't do."

The Umbreon simply nodded, dropping back down to all fours. Later on, she made up in her mind, that she would talk to Chelsa to see if everything Malcolm said was true. She walked around the trainer continuing in the direction before, her trainer following close behind.

'All that's left is Chelsa. Hopefully i can explain my actions to her, more importantly, she won't think differently of me or anything.' Malcolm though, looking over his shoulder, behind him.

Shortly, the two came across a small field with berries scattered practically everywhere. The sweet scent strong enough for Malcolm to smell it now. 'No wonder Ren took off after such a smell, it was so captivating.' Malcolm thought.

It took well of twenty minutes for Malcolm to inspect and collect the berries he found ripe enough for dinner tonight, while Ren sat back thinking about what Malcolm said earlier. After a few months, she was still learning new things about Chelsa but throughout all that time, not once had she made a move on Malcolm. It was very possible that the whole incident was Malcolm's fault and Chelsa was just there. Of all people, she knew Malcolm well and this was something he'd probably do but she wasn't completely sure. The only thing making her jump back and forth was the talk they had at the pond and the talk a few minutes ago.

Malcolm was on his last few berries, observing a few Cheri berries for spice to add to dinner. He grabbed a handful and poured them in the tin cylinder that he carried in his pocket. He hopped up on his feet, ready to trek back to camp, positive that everyone was hungry by now.

"Ready?" He asked the barely visible pokemon.

The Umbreon simply turned away from him and walked ahead, leading the way back to camp. She was still troubling herself over what happened earlier with Malcolm and Chelsa. Yeah, she was upset with them both but who was to blame? Sure, Malcolm admitted to doing the deed but how come Chelsa didn't do anything to stop him.

For as long as Ren knew Malcolm, she knew he was "different" from most trainers. Of course he did the normal things trainers do, such as feed his pokemon, bathing and cleaning, and battling with them. Though, what made him different is that he actually had a close relationship with certain pokemon such as herself, close enough to fulfilling their every desire when it came to that time of the month; in other words, he was a pokemon pleasurer, doing naughty deeds with pokemon.

Maybe, just maybe, the fact that berry hunting is the usual time, other than alone time in the pokemon center, was the time her and Malcolm did these naughty deeds, it was an automatic reflex to do it with Chelsa while they were alone.

'Wait a minute, no! That's unacceptable! Whether its our usual time or not, he should still have self control in what he does.' Ren thought to herself, pushing out any excuse that came to her mind on trying to defend Malcolm's unforgiving deed.

After a long, silent walk back to camp, the two found that Cole was sitting down alone with Lavana laying in his lap, the trainer softly stroking the small fire types head. The tents were already set up and a nice kindling fire in the middle of camp, its flames dancing around on the dead wood beneath it.

"I'm back." Malcolm announced. "Hopefully I didn't take too long this time." The short hair trainer sat down near the fire, taking out his berry can and placing it beside him. He pulled his bag over to him, which was located in front of his tent, and pulled out a pot with a ladle inside, numerous bowls and a metal circular grate with metal legs folded under it.

Cole looked at Malcolm and Ren, noticing the absence of a couple of things tonight. "You guys are back early...something happen? And wheres Chels?" He asked, noticing she wasn't with them both.

Lavana raised her head and looked at the couple as well, curious as to why her friend wasn't with them, the Quilava immediately noticing something a little off about the two tonight just from their expressions.

"You mean...she didn't come back here?" Malcolm noticing the absence of the yellow pokemon. "Dammit, I'll be right back!"

Malcolm shot up from his spot and back into the forest, Ren following close behind him. The two ran through the endless oncoming trees, looking left and right, dodging the outstretched branches.

"CHELSA!!....dammit, where are you? CHELSA!!" Malcolm shouted, cupping his hand to his mouth in an attempt to project his voice further. Ren, the Umbreon running ahead of the trainer, kept her nose to the air, trying to catch a whiff of the electric pokemon's scent.

Malcolm's job wasn't hard, shouting and keeping a sharp eye out for anything yellow and glowing, but on Ren's side, she was struggling to smell though the scent of honey slathered on the tree trunks and the various fruits in the surrounding trees. Although this was the hardest thing she has faced, she wasn't even going to resort to giving up.

"Um...breon." Ren responded, her nose twitching to a particular scent after a few minutes sifting through the other smells. She made a sharp turn to the right, making a beeline for where she believed Chelsa was.

'Please, for heaven's sake, be safe...' Malcolm thought, praying the yellow pokemon wasn't injured in any way or Cole would have his head for it. Few moments went by and Malcolm could see a small glow coming from up ahead, his hopes rising that it could be the missing Ampharos.

The two slowed to a halt as they came up to an Ampharos, sitting against a broad oak tree, staring off at the endless sea of trees. Malcolm was the first to speak, "Chelsa..?"

The Ampharos attention quickly turned to the trainer and the Umbreon as it suddenly stood up on both its feet. "Ampha..." Chelsa let out, saying sorry to both Malcolm and Ren as she bowed herself towards them. "Phros amph ampha ros..." She followed, pleading to Ren to not be angry with Malcolm, the Ampharos feeling as if she did something terrible earlier.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Malcolm sighed in relief, not seeing any mark on the yellow pokemon's body.

"Umbreon umbre umbre umbreon" Ren stated in a relaxed tone, stating that it wasn't completely upset with either of them for what happened. She walked over to the taller pokemon, sitting in front of her. "Umbre umbre umbreon." saying that she couldn't truly put the blame on neither one of them.

"Umbreon umbre..." She said, asking for her reaction when Malcolm pulled that stunt on her.

Chelsa turned her head away in a slightly ashamed manner. "Ros..ampha amph phros...amphros ampha ros..." She replied, saying it just happened and she didn't really react, she just went with it. "Ros amph amph ampharos ros ampha..." She followed, stating that she didn't know what Malcolm did or was trying to do.

"I see. Well, he was testing you...in an automatic reflex sort of way." Ren let out a small sigh before continuing. "Listen, don't tell anyone about this but...usually when Malcolm and I go on berry hunts, its usually our time by ourselves and that's when we...express ourselves in many ways."

"Ways?" Chelsa asked as she raised her head, wondering what she exactly meant by that.

"Well..." Ren started. "...let's just say, even though there are no male pokemon in Malcolm's party, I still get my dose of action on berry hunts. That's truly why I was hesitant to let you join us before."

The Ampharos grew silent with those words, her question finally answered about what Malcolm was after. Oh the irony of it all she thought to herself, so close yet so far, she should have guessed from her and Ren's conversation earlier that this was the case but she didn't want to believe it until she was actually told.

"And as for Malcolm's actions...well...all I have to say is that it might have been a reflex since we do practically every hunt. I mean...he might have been caught up in the moment and the fact that you two were alone and he needed something immediately to satisfy him. You just happened to be there but you weren't his normal treatment, one would say. So...he tested you to see if you would comply. I'm not really sure but that's what I gathered from my earlier talk with Malcolm."

Chelsa's face grew increasingly bitter with Ren's words, practically steaming with frustration over the entire subject towards Malcolm. Of all the times he could have tried anything with her, he had to right then, sure she really wouldn't have minded, hell she would have openly welcomed it, but to be that close yet that far from any relief from her current predicament was even more torture in itself. 'If only you knew how good you had it...' Chelsa thought to herself, anger, jealousy and frustration all mixing together inside of her towards the trainer and pokemon.

"So don't think I'm mad. I'm upset a little, don't get me wrong but it's nothing to worry about." Ren informed. She rose to her feet and returned to Malcolm's side, ready to leave, feeling a bit hungry since she didn't eat since this morning.

"Well..I'm starving. Shall we head back, now that the air is clear?" Malcolm suggested.

Chelsa suddenly stepped forward, walking towards Malcolm and roughly grabbing his shirt, yanking him down to head height with herself, their faces just inches away from one and other like before. "Clear? The heck it's "clear"! You...you jerk! How...how DARE you even try that! Do you even have any idea?!" Chelsa angrily yelled, the first time shes actually even shown any anger around either of the two, her eyes staring directly into Malcolm's. All of her words unfortunately fell upon deaf ears, Ren being the only one that could understand her out of the two.

"Woah woah...if it's about earlier, then I'm sorry." Malcolm said, raising his hands in the air, giving in to the yellow pokemon. Ren couldn't help but chuckle at the two, shaking her head and turning away, ready to head back to camp.

Just as suddenly as the Ampharos yanked him down towards herself, she suddenly moved her face upwards, closing the small gap between their faces, her muzzle directly meeting with his lips.

Malcolm froze on that action, not knowing how to react. She was just upset with him, right, so what was this? The trainer glanced out the corner of his eye, seeing that the dark pokemon's back was turned, unable to see anything. He pulled back, staring into the yellow pokemon's dark sparkling eyes, trying to figure this out.

'So...she's fine with holding my hand but is upset with me pulling that stunt, I assume. Now...she kisses me? What's going on? Oh goodness, this is going to bother me all night.' Malcolm thought.

Chelsa suddenly yanked Malcolm to the side of herself, tossing him over flat on the ground, sighing deeply to herself. "Enjoy your answer, idiot..." She muttered to herself as she began walking over towards Ren.

"Sorry for the trouble Ren." The Ampharos apologized as she stepped around the Umbreon, heading towards the direction that their camp was in.

"It's nothing. Just don't let me catch you doing it again." Ren stated, glancing up at the Ampharos. "But...I want to know something, what would you have done if he started feeling you up?"

The Ampharos paused for a moment, blushing a little to herself before she began chuckling at the question. "Well...I guess the same thing you would have done if it were you...I really can't deny any willingness because of...you know..." Chelsa admitted, rubbing her neck. "I'm sorry Ren."

"Hm...I see." Ren simply said, turning head back to the front.

Malcolm, finally gotten back on his feet, caught up to the two strolling pokemon, his mind still on that small event. He was determined to figure this out even if it would kill him. He would of had full focus on his thoughts if it wasn't for his stomach growling, aching for some food.

"Ladies...shall we hurry back? I'm sure some people are quite hungry by now." Malcolm offered.

Ren was going to open her mouth to get her thoughts on the subject but her own stomach voiced its opinion instead. She jolted ahead but only a few feet, stopping and looking back at the two, immediately realizing that the two would be alone again if she took off. Malcolm, not even realizing the opportunity he almost had, sprinted ahead of the Umbreon, a little eager to get back and start cooking.

Chelsa kept her steady pace up, walking by Ren as well with a small laugh escaping her. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up. That offers still open for later if you're still interested." She reminded the Umbreon.

Ren tilted her head, puzzled on what the Ampharos was talking about. Though, it didn't take long until she realized that she was talking about her sneak peek at Cole. She blushed a bit, turning away thinking about when that opportunity would come. She sped up to her trainer with ease, wanting to get back to some food that was hopefully already or in the process of cooking.

---

Back at camp, the pot steaming over the still strong, flickering fire filled the atmosphere with the scent of what was cooked, a nice chowder-like substance with a few added berries. Both trainers and their pokemon sat back with their stomachs finally filled, sighing in satisfaction.

"Well...that was pretty darn good, if I say so myself." Malcolm smiled, praising himself for cooking up yet another meal with few ingredients to use. The Umbreon, who was laying beside him, absorbing the fire's heat, yipping in agreement, enjoying the meal herself.

"Dang they sure teach you how to cook in Sinnoh, well I'm off to sleep." Cole announced as he slowly got up.

Lavana looked at him then glanced intently at his bags, which Cole caught. "Chels, you better keep an eye on her." He said as he walked over to the tent, knowing what it was that Lavana was interested in.

The Ampharos just smiled at him as the trainer walked over to his tent and ducked inside, leaving her, Lavana, Ren and Malcolm to themselves by the campfire.

"Well ladies, who's going to help me clean this mess up?" Immediately, Ren jolted to Malcolm's tent, disappearing inside. The trainer looked over at the two leftover pokemon, hoping that someone would help clean up, not really wanting to do it all himself.

Chelsa looked over at Lavana, who in turn stared at her, both knowing that if Chelsa moved then Cole's bag would be wide open for the Quilava. The Ampharos just shrugged at Malcolm as Lavana kept her attention focused at the bag.

"Amph ros ampharos ampha..." Chelsa teased, saying how nice it was her and Malcolm were practically alone now, trying to draw the attention of a particular pokemon out.

Ren leaped out the tent, sliding a couple inches. She scoped the area seeing that nothing changed since her disappearance. She groaned as she was forced out her comfort to see absolutely nothing.

"Ren! Glad that you could help me! Just put out the fire for me and I'll worry about cleaning the bowls out." Malcolm said while hopping to his feet.

Ren gave a sharp look at Chelsa while turning her back to the fire. She started kicking some dirt with her hind legs, kicking it into the blazing fire. Usually, something like dirt would put out a small fire but this fire seemed to be a stubborn one. No matter how much dirt made it on the fire, it still burned as if nothing was happening to it. Ren immediately gave up and sat down, facing the dancing flames whose crackling was like laughter in her head. She swatted a bit of dirt at the fire before storming off into the tent.

"Well...she certainly did a wonderful job." Malcolm sarcastically remarked to himself. He reached in his bag, pulling out a small water bottle, a used bar of soap and a washcloth. It didn't take long for him to finish his job, thanks to the food unable to settle in the bowls just yet. With the bit of leftover water, he dumped it by the fire, onto the dry dirt, making a dark circle of mud. He scooped a bit of it and dumped it on the fire, the flames dying a bit with each scoop poured on them.

"There..." Malcolm lowly replied, realizing that he still had to do everything himself. He tossed the empty bottle to his opened bag and walked around the campsite, picking up any trash he or Cole must have accidentally dumped.

"Ladies...I'm off to bed. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight, you two." he said, removing his shirt before exchanging it with another found in his bag.

Chelsa couldn't resist staring at the trainer as he changed shirts, the Ampharos prospective about Malcolm completely changing after tonight with all that happened, while Lavana didn't even pay any mind, unaware still of what Malcolm does.

"Umbreon!" Ren yelled from within the tent, saying goodnight to everyone that could hear her. Malcolm waved at the two pokemon before entering his tent, disappearing for the night.