Once Claire and I had washed up, we switched off with Lucas and Cliff. They got to bathe, while we began to cook dinner. As always, Charm was acting as heat source, allowing us to skip looking for firewood. Otherwise, it would have been a massive annoyance, as there simply were no trees in the higher Coronal Mountains, only a bunch of shrubs and a lot of high grasses. Nothing that would provide real fuel for a fire.

Claire and I were in a most serious discussion about whether shredded nuts or berries were better in an oatmeal porridge when a scream from the lake caught our attention. Instantly, the cooking ceased to be a priority and the two of us, with Charm in tow, started dashing towards the water, thinking that the other two were in trouble.

When we got there, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to laugh, cry or blush, probably all three. While Claire and I had carefully switched off while bathing, Cliff and Lucas had decided to go in together. Now, in full view of Claire and me, the two of them had dashed out of the water, stark naked. In the recently vacated water was some movement, likely from some water Pokémon.

“I’ve heard you use worms for fishing…” I quietly muttered, pointedly not looking at the two dangling… worms.

“Charm, Dragon’s Breath in the water,” I ordered, pushing that slightly disturbing mental image from my mind. Charm let out a rumbling breath and Dragon’s fire swept over the water, most of it deflecting and fading but some of it must have hit the hidden Pokémon.

Cliff and Lucas had used the time to get to their clothes, using their shirts to conceal the bait and Cliff called out Buddy, his Roselia.

“Thanks, Dani, we got this,” he shouted, his voice a little higher than usual and with some urgency. It was quite obvious that he wanted us to go away, quickly.

“Maybe we should stay, it’s not every day that you get such a show,” Claire suggested, the shaking in her voice making me think she was only half-joking.

“Let’s not,” I shook my head, turning around already. My face was matching Charm’s scales in hue as I dragged Claire away.

“Was the water that cold?” Claire asked as we were walking back to the camp and I noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. It took me a moment to figure out what she meant and I wondered if there was steam coming from my face. It certainly felt hot enough.

“What’s your plan with the Meditite?” I asked, desperately trying to change the topic from certain dangling bits and their size.

“It should be out for a few hours,” she replied, her voice musing, “We could ask Cliff and Lucas to take the watches tonight and if we both sleep during the first watch, we could get up early and watch it during the night. I’m afraid I’ll need you to help me if I want to move around during the night, otherwise, I’ll be in the dark”

“We can talk to them, if they don’t mind, we can do it,” I nodded, “What do you think was in that lake?” I asked, curious if she had an idea.

“I tried scanning, but whatever it was, I didn’t get a clear scan. Maybe the two of them saw more,” she shook her head, while I raised an eyebrow in surprise. I hadn’t even thought of trying to scan the water, distracted by the dangling bait and splashing water.

Not long after Claire and I returned to camp and continued cooking, Cliff and Lucas came back, too. Both of them looked quite amusing, each in their own manner. Cliff was still sporting a visible blush but there also was a look of smug satisfaction on his face, while Lucas wasn’t quite blushing, but the expression on his face wasn’t quite right, either.

“I got it,” Cliff crowed when he stepped to the fire.

“You got what?” I asked, a little confused, “What Pokémon drove the two of you from the lake?”

“A trio of Feebas,” Lucas replied, a bit of annoyance showing on his face, “He caught one of them, makes it the second Pokémon he caught with his pants down.”

“I heard that some people use bait to lure Pokémon, but never heard of anyone using life… worms,” Claire joked back, her jest only slightly ruined by the blush on her face.

“Eat your food,” I grumbled, still not comfortable with that topic. Instead, I spooned some porridge into Claire’s bowl, trying to get her to occupy her mouth so she would stop talking. “Congratulations, Cliff,” I added, realising that a new partner was always something to celebrate as I got my own food.

“Thanks, Dani,” he gave me a grateful smile, probably just as happy to leave the earlier topic behind, “I’ll have to be careful training him, Feebas can barely move on land.”

“It’s a fish, be happy that its fins are strong enough to give it a little land mobility,” Claire reminded him, “Otherwise, it would be entirely aquatic.

We stopped talking and began eating our food, the porridge quite bland but filling. If nothing else, the water up here had a peculiar taste but not an unpleasant one. Refreshing.

“Could the two of you keep an eye on the camp tonight? I want to try catching the Meditite later, it’ll wake back up some time during the night. Maybe, if I’m waiting for it, I can make it acknowledge me,” Claire asked, looking at Cliff and Lucas.

“It’s worth a try,” Lucas shrugged, “Its potential was high, but it might simply not be interested in you. Or it was angry that you two tag-teamed it, who knows.”

“I’ll go with her, so Charm can light the way,” I added, “Unless you want to go with her and have Champ play torch?” I asked, looking at Lucas.

“I don’t mind either way. Maybe if I’m with her, it won’t be reminded of the earlier battle. It might hold a grudge against you,” Lucas replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

“I’ll take second watch then. Cliff, can you wake all three of us about two hours after midnight?” I asked, not really interested, either. If Claire managed to catch the Meditite, good, if not, there would be other Pokémon.

“Well, that works, too.” Claire nodded, leaning back, “Just make sure there is no trouble with the Starly, they were quite protective of their valley.”

“Makes you wonder why this small valley is so attractive, doesn’t it?” I asked, looking at the Starly that were still strewn around the entrance of it and the lake, containing at least two more Feebas and who knew how many other Pokémon.

“Maybe there’s something in the water,” Cliff shrugged, “I remember some lessons regarding certain minerals dissolving in water that proved beneficial to Pokémon. If we weren’t this high in the mountains, there probably would be a lot of berries growing around the area.”

“Could be,” I agreed, remembering similar lessons.

Soon after, the three of us crawled into our respective tents and went to bed. I quickly fell asleep and far too soon, Cliff’s voice woke me up.

For a few moments, I was utterly groggy before my mind was fully engaged.

“No problems?” I asked him, shaking my head to get rid of the cobwebs in my mind.

“All clear,” he assured me, before crawling into the tent Lucas had just vacated.

“Good luck,” I told Claire, cheering her on as she walked away with Lucas. There was little more I could do, but settle in for a hopefully uneventful watch.

During my watch, I mostly played with Charm, trying to figure out a way to help him with new moves. Considering that Champ had a few fighting-type moves, we had asked Lucas to demonstrate them before, hoping that Charm would be able to emulate them, but so far, it hadn’t been successful. Maybe we’d really need the technical assistance of the League, but for that, I’d need a few more badges.

There was a faint light of dawn, barely visible in the sky, when Claire and Lucas returned. With Champ’s flame, it was quite easy to see that Claire had a victorious grin on her face, making me smile in return.

“You did it?” I asked, speaking quietly so we wouldn’t wake Cliff. Claire bounced a little, clearly keeping quiet so she wouldn’t be too loud and hugged me.

“I got it,” she whispered, her voice filled with glee, “The Meditite acknowledged me.”

“Congratulations,” I replied, returning the hug.

“It wasn’t even hard, I had Lucas wait some distance away and waited for it to wake up with Twiggy. When it saw us sitting there, all calm and collected, it walked over, sitting down across from us. We just stared at each other for half an hour, until it stood back up, going into a fighting position, waiting for Twiggy to move,” Claire whispered, barely keeping herself quiet.

“Instead, I simply took out a Pokéball and it gave me a nod, so I threw the ball,” she grinned, “And it worked.”

For a moment, I was flabbergasted, wondering just what happened there. And realising that I knew far too less about Pokémon. I certainly hadn’t expected that turn of events.