Claire and I had received our task and while I would have been happy to just head back to our room and to bed, Claire insisted on going to the party and dragging me along. On the way there, Ivie approached me, curiosity visible on her face.

““So, what’s going on?” she asked, speaking softly so the nearby people couldn’t hear her.

“We’ve got our task.” I replied, speaking normally. When she simply nodded, gesturing for me to continue, I slowed down, so a bit of distance opened between the rest of the group and the two of us.

“What do you want to know?” I asked, a frown forming on my face.

“Eh, there’s a bit of a situation. If your task is some sort of courier, patrol or escort, I’d like you to do me a favour.” she explained, her words only causing my frown to deepen.

“That depends on the favour.” I told her, causing her face to turn serious for once. For a moment, she looked around, as if making sure nobody was eavesdropping on us.

“You remember the night we met?” she asked, acting very circumspect. When I nodded, she continued on, “The events of that night were not caused by ordinary circumstances, nor by some random chance. Gym Leader Bree has some confidence that the events were caused by an outside party.” she paused again, my gut clenching in discomfort at her serious tone.

“A human party.” she added, causing a soft curse to escape my mouth.

For a moment, I was just silent, the revelation too large and impactful. If a human party had caused the Nincada-horde, it meant someone had either made a horrible mistake and endangered countless people by accident. Or that it hadn’t been a mistake.

“Shit.” I repeated my earlier curse, as Ivie placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“How can I help?” I asked, uncertain if I could do anything to help, but given that she had asked, there had to be something.

“Keep an eye open. I’m not experienced enough to really know what’s going on, I was only told that it was a man-made disaster, to keep an eye out and carry a message to Kendra, the local Gym-Leader.” she shook her head, letting out a sigh.

“The whole situation is a mess, if the general population learns that some trainers might be out there causing that kind of disaster, the whole League might be in trouble. That’s why it’s kept on the down-low, so don’t go around telling people. Even the Gym-attendants don’t get told about it, not all of them at least.” I gave her a nod of acceptance, still stunned from the revelation. Questions raged within my mind, who had taken action and how had they managed to manipulate a massive amount of Pokémon?

“Chin up. We’re here to have fun.” Ivie told me, her whole serious demeanour vanishing, replaced by her usual grin and for a moment, I wondered if I had been pranked. If so, it would be in extreme bad taste, but I’d rather have a bad joke played on me, than have to fear the destruction of society. When she didn’t add anything, only speeding up and entering the park filled with music and young people dancing, I was utterly flabbergasted. Neither my mind, nor my emotions could keep up and any desire I had to party had been thoroughly extinguished.

Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, I decided that before I did anything else, I’d look for dinner. Luckily, the whole town was in festival-preparation mode and a quick and easy dinner was easily sourced. I had no idea where the idea came from, but a savoury pancake, wrapped around a variety of vegetables with a tangy, sharp sauce was an interesting thing. And, best of all, there was nothing flowery about it.

When I got to the party, it was already in full swing. There was a simple bar setup and on a low stage a band was playing music while a mob of humans was standing in front of it, writhing more or less to the rhythm. Some even looked good doing it.

For a moment, I considered wading into that mob, but the moment passed as a shiver ran down my spine. Instead, I moved along the edge of the park, looking for some sort of comfortable space where I’d be able to watch, keep an eye on Claire, whom I had spotted near the centre of the dancing mob, and generally relax a little. The music wasn’t bad, an upbeat tune that I found quite enjoyable.

Once I had found an out-of-the way bench, mostly hidden behind some hedges, I sat down, making myself comfortable. While I was relatively well hidden, I had a decent view of the excitement and could easily watch. Feeling a little lonely, I called out Vio, thinking that she might enjoy watching with me, as her fighting-style had a certain dancing grace to it.

As soon as she appeared, she stared at the dancers for a moment, before hiding behind me, her hands holding her head and shivering, as if in pain.

“I’m so sorry.”I quickly apologised, gave her a hug and called her back into her Pokéball. I had read that the Ralts-line was empathic, but I didn’t think she would be overwhelmed like that. Feeling bad, I gave her Pokéball a caress, determined to make my blunder up to her at a later time. Maybe let her shower with me again, the last time, she had greatly enjoyed that.

Looking around, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one on the edges of the party, nor the only one who had the idea of letting their partners enjoy themselves. Near the mob of dancers was a Glameow, happily prancing around, while a group of Roselia was on the other side of the park, spinning around in a cloud of pollen.

With a grin on my face, I decided to let Prince Charming out to play, if Vio couldn’t enjoy the atmosphere. When he appeared, he looked around for a moment, taking in the various nearby Pokémon, before focusing on me, as if asking who we were going to fight.

“No fight, buddy, just relaxation. Listen to music, watch people, maybe have a drink later.” I told him, placing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.

His head cocked to the side, as if wondering whether or not I had lost my marbles, but he hopped onto the bench and sat next to me, his tail curling around and warming me. He was careful to keep his flame away from me, or things would have been unpleasant.

As we sat there, people-watching, I noticed something and started to giggle. Prince Charming’s flame was moving in tune to the music, dancing from side to side and flaring to the beat.

“Do you want to dance, Charm?” I asked, amused at his enthusiasm for the music. When he hopped to his feet, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing but obliged him, standing up myself. We remained hidden from view and I tried to move along to the music. It was a little awkward, not because my partner was a Pokémon, but because we had about the same skill when it came to dancing. But even without skill or experience, it was fun and the warmth I felt wasn’t just caused by the fiery Pokémon close to me.

Given that we had a task to accomplish the next morning, I didn’t feel that staying for too long was in our best interest and so, after two, maybe three, hours, I called Charm back into his Pokéball and went to look for Claire.

I was a little surprised when I found her, not becasue she was dancing, but because she was dancing very close with another girl. The two of them looked, for a lack of better word, sexy and I wasn’t the only one observing their actions quite closely.

Waiting until the current song had ended, I stepped up, only to suddenly get pulled in by both of them.

“Dani, there you are.” Clarie enthused, her breath tinged with the smell of alcohol. “Let’s dance!”

“Yeah, join us!” her partner cheered, and both of them took hold of me, not letting me get away. I tried to tell Claire we would have to get up early, but she simply ignored me and when the music started back up, I was dragged along, into their pace.

Dancing with the two of them was a different kind of awkward, but there was a heat to it that hadn’t been present with Prince Charming. But which was better, the reliable, comfortable warmth of my partner or the hot, sensual heat I felt with the unknown woman and Claire?

Or were both great, and I should only settle for having both?