“Okay, okay. I admit that everything that happened today was at least a little bit weird. I’ll also admit that at least some of it couldn’t have happened without me,” Tommy exasperatedly told his five friends.

“Only some of it was thanks to you?” Nessa’s smile went from one ear to the other.

“That’s all you’re going to get,” He grumbled under his breath. His friends had been nagging him for the last half hour ever since he had helped Jonathan bond with the Honedge he had caught on his expedition in Ecruteak City.

He looked up at the sentient metal sword that kept trying to wriggle out of Jonathan’s grip and smiled to himself. When he saw his friends all smiling back at him though he scowled and looked away from them all.

Tommy wouldn’t admit anything to his friends but he would certainly admit to himself it was probably more than a coincidence that he had been instrumental in helping his two friends bond with their newly caught Pokémon. He wasn’t surprised when Jon asked for his help immediately after seeing Darius interact with his Rhyhorn. Tommy hadn’t wanted to help Jon, but he didn’t know how to refuse his friend when he was asked so earnestly.

When Honedge was first called out of its Pokéball it had been inquisitive and unruly. As soon as it saw Tommy though, the little sword floated over to where he was standing and stood at attention, polished blade pointing straight into the air. He had refused to believe that he had any part in helping Darius with his Rhyhorn, he thought it had to have been a coincidence. But when he was also able to help Jon with his Honedge, the evidence had been irrefutable.

“Fine, if that’s all we get from the great Pokémon master, then we’ll have to take what we can get I guess,” Aubrey grinned mischievously.

She was the most stubborn out of all of them and hadn’t asked Tommy for help with her new Pokémon, whatever it was. For that he was grateful because there were a thousand other things running through his mind at the moment.

“DON’T call me that,” Tommy warned the group. He was surprised by the threatening tone of his own voice but he looked around at each of his friends with what he hoped was a menacing scowl.

“I think that everyone should keep what happened here today to themselves,” Ashley said to the group. “Don’t tell anyone about Tommy or what he did with those Pokémon.”

“I didn’t do anything,” He said stubbornly. “Stop saying that.”

“Of course I won’t tell anyone!” Jon joked. He stood up from his seated position and then knelt down, bowing his head towards Tommy and throwing his arm over his heart. “Anything for my liege!”

Tommy stood and left before anyone could say anything further to him. This was the reason that he refused to believe he had some special power, if his friends were treating him differently then he couldn’t imagine how bad a stranger would be. He hadn’t walked very far when he heard footsteps racing to catch up with him; he tried to quicken his stride to outpace whoever it was.

“Tommy, wait!” He heard Nessa calling out behind him. He ignored her and kept walking, trying to reach the exit to the park with Houndour at his side before anyone else could catch up with him.

“Aubrey punched Jonathan pretty good for that remark,” Ashley huffed, as she and Nessa jogged up on either side of him.

“I don’t care, leave me alone. I’m going home,” Tommy replied curtly. He was fuming and was trying his hardest to not say something stupid he would regret or take his anger out on Nessa or Ashley.

“Tommy, what you can do is awesome! There’s no need to be so upset about it!” Nessa smiled. “I think all of us wish we could do what you can!”

“Shut up!” Tommy screamed at the top of his lungs. His breath was hard to come by and the edges of his vision were tinted red. “I don’t want to be different from everyone else! I didn’t ask for any of this shit so if the two of you think it’s so amazing then figure out how to fucking do it yourself!”

“We have something to give you,” Nessa blurted out, she chewed on her lower lip deciding whether or not she should press the issue. “Please, stop walking!”

Tommy took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he came to a halt. He clenched and unclenched his fists, ashamed at his outburst. Thank goodness that his mother hadn’t been around to see him yell at a woman, she would have torn him a new one.

“I’m sorry,” Tommy said, ashamed of himself. He looked over at Nessa who was staring down at the ground. “I’m an ass, and I shouldn’t have yelled at someone who was only trying to help me and encourage me. Especially if that someone was my friend. I was raised better than that. Can you forgive me?”

“It’s okay, Tommy.” Nessa smiled sadly. “Of course I forgive you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

“No, you can’t,” Tommy agreed, his voice still somewhat terse. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me and it’s fucking terrifying. I just want it to stop.”

“Well it won’t,” Ashley said simply from his other side. She smiled at him widely. “Or at least that’s what I believe. It won’t stop. So get your shit together, this pity party doesn’t suit you.”

Tommy looked sideways at Ashley for a second then broke into a huge grin. He laughed and pulled the girl into a hug.

“You’re right,” Tommy agreed simply. “I’ll figure out my own shit, thanks.”

He reached over to Nessa and hugged her as well. “I’m sorry again. I’m going to head home and clear my head this weekend. Thank you, both of you, for encouraging me.”

“Wait, Tommy, your gift!” Nessa said before he could leave. She handed him a boxed present at the same time that Ashley did. “We each wanted to give you the prizes that we won from our expedition!”

The expedition prize.

He had completely forgotten about it this week and whatever he might have chosen was lost forever now.

“These are your prizes, I can’t take them, especially after I just made a giant ass out of myself,” Tommy tried to push the gifts back into their hands but they refused to take them. “You won them off your own efforts, they’re yours.”

“No, we wouldn’t have made it through the weekend without you,” Ashley said, shaking her head. “We still owed you.”

“I already told you that we’re friends and friends don’t owe each other,” Tommy told her.

“Friends also take gifts from one another don’t they?” Nessa asked slyly.

Tommy sighed in defeat and accepted the two gifts from them. “Fine, I’m clearly no match for either of you. I’ll take them, thank you.”

“Of course, what are friends for!” Nessa said. They waved goodbye and headed back into the park to rejoin the other three, leaving Tommy alone with his thoughts.

A horrible pit formed in his stomach, he had just yelled at a woman, a friend. He felt like he was going to be sick so he ran over to a trash can and started dry heaving. Nothing came up but he tasted bile in the back of his throat. He put the two presents into his backpack, underneath the egg, and swore to himself that he wouldn’t open them until he apologized a thousand times over to the two girls.

He biked home with Tori riding on the seat behind him, he was getting better now that he had been doing it all week. When they got home he went inside and ate dinner with his family, feeling sorry for himself all the while. After dinner, his sister took the egg and Houndour outside to play but Tommy didn’t feel like doing anything so he just sat at the table with his head down.

“What’s wrong with you son?” Dad asked. “It’s not like you to just sit there. Are you feeling sick?”

“No,” Tommy mumbled. “I just had a bad day at school.”

“What happened?” Mom asked.

“Well, just… stuff,” he said stupidly. “Sorry it’s hard to explain. But I handled it poorly and ended up yelling at my friends, Ashley and Nessa. I feel physically ill.”

“As you should!” Mom yelled. She came over and started whacking him on the head with her dish towel, causing him to cower in fear. “How dare you yell at those sweet and beautiful girls! Your father and I raised you better than that!”

“I know, I know!” Tommy yelped, shielding his head from the towel with his forearms. “I already apologized like three times but I still feel miserable. How can I fix this?”

“You and I are going to the Mart tomorrow,” his mother said through gritted teeth. She narrowed her eyes at him, “Bring all of your money so you can buy each of them something thoughtful. Then I’m marching you over to their houses so you can apologize and beg for their forgiveness!”

“Dear, he already said he apologized a bunch,” Dad said. “Don’t make the poor boy spend his life savings.”

“Are you contradicting me?” Mom hissed, and Dad chuckled nervously. “Don’t you remember that time you made an ass of yourself when we were dating? You tried to win me back for weeks! Honestly you and your son are exactly the same!”

Tommy smiled as he watched Mom and Dad ‘fight’ with each other. Mom was right. He made a mistake so he would apologize to Nessa and Ashley with a gift, especially since he had received a gift from each of them.

The next morning he finished his chores and climbed into the family truck with Mom so the two of them could head to the Mart. Tori had begged to come but his mother said that this trip wasn’t going to be a fun one; he tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder.

“Are you going to help me pick out a gift?” Tommy asked as he and his mother exited their now parked truck. He looked at the Mart looming in front of them and silently dreaded the thought of going into hundreds of stores trying to pick out the perfect gift.

“They’re your friends, you’ll know what to get when you see it,” his mother told him.

“Right. Well you’re going to at least walk around with me, right? That way if I pick up something stupid you’ll tell me not to buy it?” He hesitantly asked.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m not letting you out of my sight until I’m positive that you’ve picked the perfect gift for each of those two perfect girls.” Mom’s smile looked absolutely terrifying. “Don’t pick anything stupid like jewelry or flowers either.”

Well there go all of my ideas, He screamed internally. He sighed and started to feel sorry for himself but slapped his cheek lightly so he could focus on the task at hand. He saw Mom smile at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Alright, let’s go then!” Tommy said as enthusiastically as he possibly could.

He spent the next few hours making no progress whatsoever. He must have walked into and out of a hundred stores already and still had no idea what he wanted to get either of them. True to her word, Mom didn’t let him get any jewelry or flowers. He thought about getting clothes but had no clue what they would like, wear, or even the sizes that they fit into. He walked in and out of electronics stores but nothing could compare to the PokéNav that was currently strapped to his wrist.

“I’m starving,” Tommy said to his mother after they had been walking around for what must have been forever.

“Let’s go get something to eat then,” his mother agreed. “What do you want? Pizza? A burger?”

“Wait a burger, that’s it!” Tommy shouted, making everyone in the vicinity stare at him. “I didn’t get to cook for them last time! Let me cook something for them! It’s from the heart and I know that they’ll like it.”

“You’re halfway there,” his mother said, smiling at him. “Maybe you should also get each of them something small as well.”

“A picture?” Tommy asked hesitantly. His mother had shot down every other idea that he had come up with so far. “Nessa is a transfer student from another region and Ashley told me while we were on the expedition that she didn’t have any friends growing up. So I could get them a picture frame and we could all take a picture together tonight after I cook?”

“It’s good,” his mother smiled and nodded. “Make sure you pick out a good picture frame for each of them, and most importantly make sure they’re the same price if you end up getting different ones.”

Tommy and his mother finished up their trip to the mall, he got the food to make dinner with and two picture frames that he spent a lot of time picking out. He got one that was blue and white for Nessa and one that was pink and yellow for Ashley. They left the mall shortly afterwards and he frowned when he realized that they weren’t heading back to the ranch.

“Where are we going? Are you making another stop?” he asked his mother as she drove through the city.

“Of course,” his mother replied. She glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m driving you to each of their houses so that you can apologize to them in person and invite them over to dinner. What did you think was going to happen? That I would invite them for you?”

He hadn’t really thought it through, he realized. He tried to still his quickening heart rate so that he could work up the courage to apologize and ask his friends over. They were just friends of course, why was he so nervous and worked up about asking them over to his house for dinner? His parents and sister would be there with him after all.

“Wait a minute, how do you know where they live?” Tommy asked.

“I had the phone numbers to their homes from last weekend when they used our house phone,” his mother told him. “Now here we are, Ashley’s house.”

“I don’t see any house,” he said, looking around at all of the massive trees that they were driving by.

“This is Ashley’s estate. Her family owns all of this land inside the city. There, I think I see her villa coming into view now. Wow, it looks impressive!” Mom whistled.

Tommy’s jaw hit the floor as their humble little truck turned the corner and brought Ashley’s home into view. It was the biggest house that Tommy had ever seen in his life; three stories tall, it was almost as big as the reception building at the trainer’s school. He wondered how he didn’t see it from further away. There was a Goldeen fountain in the front courtyard that their truck drove around and mom parked in front of the paved stone steps that led up to a set of massive wooden doors.

“I’ll wait in the truck,” Mom said, bringing out a book from the truck’s center console. “Take your time, make sure you apologize and invite her over properly, do you hear me son?”

“Yes ma’am,” Tommy said, only half listening. He still hadn’t recovered from the sight of Ashley’s mansion and was staring awestruck at the sheer magnificence of the home in front of him. He opened the truck door and made his way up the steps to the front door. There was a massive brass knocker shaped like a Growlithe head on the door so he grabbed it and knocked loudly. He took a step back as the door opened revealing a tall elderly gentleman with salt and pepper hair and a gray mustache. The man was dressed in a sharp black and white suit and looked over Tommy’s shoulder to the idling pick-up truck waiting at the base of the steps.

“Might I help you, young sir? Are you lost?” The man spoke to Tommy. He was very curt but not impolite.

“Hello, I’m Thomas Hartford,” Tommy told the man. He felt dumb standing here on the front porch in casual clothing. “I’m a friend of Ashley’s. My mother said that we were expected?”

“Of course. Please forgive my rudeness, Mr. Hartford. My name is Watson. Come in, come in.” Watson said. “And your mother? Will she be joining us?”

“I think she said she was just going to wait in the car with her book,” he told the butler as he glanced back over his shoulder. “She said to take my time.”

“Very well,” Watson nodded his head. “I will have one of the maids deliver some tea out to the car while she waits. Please come in. I will escort you out to the garden and then inform Ms. Ashley that her company is here.”

Watson led him into the house and it took every ounce of self control that Tommy had not to stop and stare into every room impolitely. The home was even more magnificent and opulent on the inside, constructed from white and black marble. There were crystal chandeliers hanging in every room and the furniture looked too expensive to even sit on. Watson and Tommy walked through room after room until they passed through a set of giant glass doors that led out into the villa’s backyard. There was a two tiered swimming pool complete with a jacuzzi and water slide and further beyond that a massive garden filled with beautiful trees and berry bushes. Tommy saw countless Pokémon flitting about the garden and wondered how many different species of Pokémon made the garden their home.

The butler led Tommy over to a table that was shaded by a massive parasol beside the pool. There was a teapot and some empty tea cups on a gleaming silver platter that rested on the table.

“Please have a seat Mr. Hartford,” Watson said, drawing a chair out for Tommy to sit in. He thanked the butler as he was poured a cup of tea and then the man excused himself to go find Ashley. Tommy sipped the piping hot tea and smacked his lips at its floral taste; it was very bitter but he didn’t mind it at all. He closed his eyes in contentment and settled back into the chair under the shade of the parasol, exhaling mightily as a slight breeze blew across the patio.

“You have a very well developed palate, it seems. Not many others enjoy that particular flavor of tea.” A voice called out to him from the swimming pool. He looked over to see a blonde woman, Ashley, emerging from the pool in what was without a doubt the most revealing swimsuit that he had ever seen. He blushed furiously and looked down at the ground, trying not to stare.

“Ashley!” Tommy called out with his eyes still downcast. He waved his hands apologetically in front of himself. “I-I thought you were expecting me! The butler went inside to find you! I’m so sorry!”

“Oh my goodness, aren’t you just the cutest thing?” the voice laughed. “I’m Ashley’s mother, Cecilia. But what a wonderful compliment you’ve just paid me.”

Tommy still blushed furiously and eyed the ground, hadn’t Ashley’s mom been expecting him?

“I’m sorry ma’am. Watson led me out here,” He yelped. He tried to stand while keeping his gaze towards the ground. “Please, I’ll head back inside.”

“Sit, please!” she laughed, pushing him back into his chair with a surprising amount of force. “You wouldn’t leave an old woman out here all alone would you? You can raise your head now by the way.”

Tommy slowly raised his head to see that Ashley’s mother had thrown a white shawl over her shoulders. It was pretty see through and Tommy used every ounce of willpower to stare at her face and keep his eyes from wandering. Cecilia was the spitting image of Ashley, and Tommy would have believed anyone who said that this woman was Ashley’s older sister instead of her mother.

“You must be Ashley’s friend! Tommy, right?” She beamed. She reached forward, extending her hand towards the teapot so she could pour herself a cup. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ashley had been talking about you nonstop since returning from the expedition. ‘Tommy this’ and ‘Tommy that,’ she hasn’t ever brought a friend over before.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am,” He said, reaching for the teapot quicker than she could. He grabbed it and poured her a cup of tea which he then promptly passed over to her.

“My, aren’t you such a gentleman,” Cecilia smiled, accepting the cup from Tommy’s hands. “Ashley sure is lucky to have such a great and kind boyfriend!”

“Mom!” Tommy heard Ashley yell from the open sunroom doors. She ran across the yard to the table where Tommy was seated. “Mom, what are you wearing?! Put some fucking clothes on!”

“Don’t worry, Ashley!” Cecilia laughed. She took a sip from her teacup and settled into the pool chair beside Tommy. “Your boyfriend here is quite the gentleman; no wandering eyes.”

“He isn’t my boyfriend, mom!” Ashley shrieked. Her face turned redder than it did when she was sunburned last weekend.

“Actually, that’s what I’m here to discuss,” Tommy said as he stood up. Cecilia and Ashley both looked at him quickly and he realized what he had just said.

“The gentleman thing! Not the boyfriend thing!” Tommy clarified quickly.

“What do you mean?” Ashley asked, laughing nervously.

“I yelled at you yesterday like a complete idiot. Never have I been more ashamed or embarrassed of myself.” He bowed his head deeply towards his friend. “Please forgive me. I’m here to invite you to dinner tonight. I’m planning to cook to make up for it, since I couldn’t cook for you last weekend. Can you come over this evening please? Are you free?”

“I’m free,” Ashley said quickly. She looked over at her mother who was still seated and smiling behind her cup. “Can I go out to their ranch for a little while?”

“Sure, not a problem at all!” Cecilia laughed. “Why don’t you spend the night out there? We aren’t doing anything tomorrow anyway!”

“Mom!” Ashley yelled.

Tommy cleared his throat and bowed to Ashley’s mom. “Thank you for letting her come over ma’am. We’ll have her back this evening after dinner.”

“Boo! You two are no fun!” Cecilia said, pouting her lips and pretending to sulk. “Why don’t you live a little? Where is your sense of adventure and spontaneity?”

As those words left her lips, the biggest bug Tommy had ever seen fluttered by and landed on the surface of the pool.