The pizza place was still open and Alexia, her Eevee and their new Kirlia friend arrived home with three big pizzas piled up on top of each other.

  Her apartment wasn’t exactly big, but it wasn’t like she had any particularly big Pokemon she needed to worry about either. Her tallest Pokemon was barely a metre high and despite the big scruff of fur around her neck, Eevee didn’t shed much fur.

  Alexia set the pizzas down in a row on the surface in her little kitchenette. Then she pulled out Wigglytuff’s ball.

  Her Eevee was cute and Alexia loved her to death. But this large, pink rabbit Pokemon was Alexia’s best friend. In her opinion every girl should have one.

  “Wiggly!” The Pokemon yawned, stretching her little arms. She looked around, nose sniffing and immediately caught the scent of the pizzas.

  Tuff wiggly wiggly!” Alexia’s starter said cheerfully. Alexia chuckled at her friend’s enthusiasm.

  “Hey Wigglytuff,” Alexia greeted. “Yeah I got pizza, but we have a guest.”

  She gestured towards said guest and the pink Pokemon spotted the wild Kirlia in the room.

  “Gly?” The Wigglytuff asked curiously.

  “Yeah this is the Kirlia I mentioned before. From when that Fairy type trainer visited the Gym.”

  That elicited an “oh” expression from the Wigglytuff. She stepped forward and said hello to the Kirlia and the three Pokemon started talking together, the Wigglytuff interacting with the second stage evolution for the first time.

  Alexia got the pizzas ready for everyone to eat. Wigglytuff had a big appetite despite her relatively small size, which was why she’d got three pizzas between the four of them.

  She grabbed three plates and also a bowl. Eevee, lacking hands, couldn't eat in the same way as the rest of them would be able to.

  But a pair of scissors made short work of a few slices, getting them ready for the brown and cream furred Pokemon.

  Alexia brought a pair of plates into the living area, where the Pokemon had congregated.

  Wigglytuff at this point had directed the other Pokemon towards the TV and… yep, she was putting the music channel on.

  There weren’t many channels that didn’t feature Pokemon in some way and the music channel was much the same. The latest hits often included Pokemon singing and whatever music video was being shown right now on PMTV included a Roselia singing with some fancy looking guy. He was one of those Contest performers, Alexia vaguely recalled.

  Alexia had never really been interested in that sort of thing. She knew Wigglytuff enjoyed watching other Pokemon perform, but she’d never asked to actually perform since they were younger.

  It… hadn’t been a good day. Her Igglybuff had evolved to Jigglypuff and on the high of evolving had finally been brave enough to stand in front of a crowd, something she’d wanted to do for a long time, to sing for people.

  Alexia had been about ten at the time. She hadn’t thought that maybe the Pokemon her parents had got her to help her get to sleep at night might not be the best Pokemon to sing on a stage.

  It had taken a lot of consoling from Alexia, who’d just been a kid back then, to get her partner to calm down about it all and now over a decade later Alexia’s Wigglytuff was one of those rare among the Jigglypuff line that was embarrassed enough about her singing that she wouldn’t use the move.

  “Start,” Alexia said casually while quickly returning to the kitchenette to grab Eevee’s bowl and her own plate of not so healthy goodness.

  She arrived back in time to grab a seat and watch as the Kirlia experimentally took the corner of a comically large, for her size, slice of pizza to her mouth.

  Then Kirlia’s red eyes went wide as she took another, bigger bite of the plain cheese pizza.

  “Kir, kirl!” The Pokemon enthused, rapidly devouring the slice in her hands.

  Alexia felt a tiny bit of amusement at the Pokemon’s expression but she was eating awfully fast, she realised as Kirlia went for another piece. The last thing Alexia needed was for their guest to make herself sick trying to eat the very rich food for the first time too quickly.

  “Maybe pace yourself,” Alexia advised. Wigglytuff nodded authoritatively in agreement, saying something to the Kirlia who did eat a bit more sedately.

  She didn’t eat so quickly after that, but it was clear that Kirlia was enjoying both the food and the company, as well as the TV. When a Gothitelle solo singer started to perform her new single, the Kirlia’s eyes were wide as she watched the other Pokemon singing.

  Alexia left it to Eevee and Wigglytuff to explain what the TV was properly and what Kirlia was watching.

  Really, Alexia thought as she settled down comfortably in her chair. It was like the middle evolution Pokemon had been part of her team since forever.

  “If only catching other Pokemon was this easy,” Alexia murmured to herself, watching the Kirlia interact with her team.

  At the Gym you had to get permission to catch any Pokemon in the habitat, but you still had to actually catch them too in a battle. Also, like in the wild, sometimes other Pokemon would interrupt the battle if they decided they didn’t like you or didn’t want you to take their friend away.

  Alexia had never had that problem. Both of her Pokemon had been born in domestic environments and she’d not really wanted to battle to catch a Pokemon like that.

  She wouldn’t suggest it today, maybe another time but if Kirlia would be willing to let Alexia catch her then that would be three Pokemon on her team. Norman was a bit of a stickler about typings, but it wasn’t like some of the other trainers didn’t have non-Normal types, even if they didn’t use them for Gym purposes so she didn’t foresee any problems with that.

  After the food was finished the three Pokemon had gathered together on the main sofa and were watching the musical performances together.

  Then that show ended. Wigglytuff, who was in charge of the remote, flicked it over to another channel. She couldn't read, so she only knew how to use the up and down channel buttons so the screen flicked across to a scene of some Roselia dancing. Something to do with Alolan style dancing from the look of it.

  “Kir kirlia!” Kirlia said quickly, making the Wigglytuff stop channel hopping.

  After a few gestures and brief communication, Wigglytuff turned the TV back on to the scene with the dancing Pokemon.

  Kirlia seemed unable to contain herself and jumped up to twirl around and dance in that adorable way Alexia had seen before. Eevee joined in too, with only a bit of mild recrimination from Wigglytuff, who didn’t seem to think it was such a good idea.

  Then Kirlia knocked the table, disturbing one of the plates that Alexia realised too late had been left too close to the edge.

  The dirty plate fell to the floor, shattering into a dozen pieces and everybody froze.

  Absolutely mortified, Kirlia started babbling an apology.

  “Hey, hey it’s alright, don’t worry about it…” Alexia said.

  It took a couple of minutes for Kirlia to calm down while Wigglytuff went and grabbed a dustpan and brush to help clean up the mess.

  Everything was okay though in the end, nobody was hurt and Kirlia and Eevee went back to watching TV while Alexia grabbed her Wigglytuff up for a cuddle. The pink, flubby rabbit had been with her ever since she was a little girl and after a token resistance that was more about tradition than really resisting at this point, settled down and let her trainer hug her close.

  ***

  She hadn't been able to give much of an answer to the question. The moon… didn't really mean anything to her. Liza never really thought about it and the same was actually true for Lunatone.

  Which in hindsight was probably kind of silly. But they’d both spent all their lives practicing to be psychics. They didn’t really do much else, even if being a psychic was awesome.

  So Harry had given them the job of sitting down and trying to figure out some way that made the moon special to them.

  So far the best she'd got was that the moon was… glowey.

  So not very far then.

  In fact the only thing she’d noticed thus far was that it was pretty quiet with Tate asleep. Usually they went to sleep at the same time. This was probably the longest she’d been properly awake while Tate was asleep in forever.

  It was oddly… nice. In a way Liza would probably never have thought it might be.

  Sure she loved her brother to pieces, when he wasn’t being a butt. But just having that bit of quiet without his thoughts in her head as loud as her own seemed to take away a tension that she hadn’t realised was there.

  Still, she still hadn’t gotten anywhere with this whole moon thing. Also, Harry had tried to explain how Fairy type moves worked, Liza didn't think she really got that either. But she definitely got the gist! She was still trying to think of what made the moon feel special to her and technically it was all about Lunatone anyway. She was only trying out of solidarity with her partner.

  Lunatone’s eyes were directed up towards the sky too. Liza could sense that she was concentrating on the same question.

  It was kind of funny, neither of them had really thought about the moon before. She'd never really thought about Lunatone being a moon Pokemon either. Lunatone just… was. Lunatone had always just been Liza's partner, almost as close to her as Tate was and she knew it was the same between Tate and Solrock.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Cliff was still here too, sat down with her brother. Tate was basically asleep now, resting his head on Solrock's side, the other Pokemon also asleep. Noticing her attention, the old man looked in her direction and feeling slightly embarrassed at being caught, Liza quickly turned her attention back to the sky.

  What was so special about the moon?

  The moon was round, big, far away. It made the tides happen…

  Liza huffed in annoyance. She'd been at this for ages. She'd never had problems with Psychic type moves before and while Lunatone was struggling with Earthquake, they'd still been making progress from the very beginning of trying to get it down.

  This really didn't make any sense. She was concentrating really hard and so was Lunatone but nothing was working!

  They had a great view from up here though. From their position on the hill overlooking Mossdeep they could see the whole town and the ocean on the horizon. Liza thought it was pretty.

  She sighed, her attention wandering to the side.

  A little way away Harry was sat down with a laptop open and illuminating his face as he typed away at it. He was a writer, but Liza didn't read a lot of books, they were all so silly and childish, so it hadn't interested her a great deal before. Pretty much all her time outside of school had been spent learning how to use her psychic powers with Tate and that was much more exciting.

  His Gardevoir was kneeling beside him, leaning against him and she looked to be dozing. Liza could tell the Pokemon was awake though. Despite looking relaxed, the Gardevoir had her telepathic senses open and searching for anyone else who might be approaching.

  Liza wanted to go and speak to him and ask for more advice but stopped herself. Harry had already said that what he'd told her before was all the advice he could give, that this was the hard way of learning Moonblast that wouldn’t be nearly as easy as using a TM.

  Sadly not being a Fairy type, there wasn't an easy way for her and Lunatone to figure this out. This whole emotional connection thing had to be a connection that would be special to them, not somebody else. It couldn’t just be taught this way, in the end they just had to do it.

  Somehow Lunatone needed to figure out her connection to the moon on an emotional, personal level. After a lifetime of trying to push aside her emotions to concentrate and use her powers it seemed nigh impossible right now.

  “Emotions are annoying,” Liza groused. They just got in the way all the time. Whether it was distracting her and Tate or making people do silly things. The whole world would be better if everything was just a bit more logical.

  Lunatone's gaze didn't stray from the sky but she rocked in the air, basically nodding in and sending Liza a feeling of agreement to her psychically. She couldn't wrap her head around it either.

  Liza patted her friend's side, hugging her mentally. With Tate and Solrock asleep it was just them now. The twins rarely had the opportunity for some real privacy with just their Pokemon.

  She could feel Tate's mind still drifting around. At this rate he'd need to be carried home to bed and if she was being honest the same could be said for her.

  An amused sense from Lunatone gave Liza the impression that her friend wasn’t going to be offering. Liza huffed playfully. Then suddenly a yawn escaped past her lips.

  Liza didn't know what time it was but it was definitely past her bedtime. They were going to have a challenger tomorrow so she would have to be responsible and get some sleep. Although that ship had probably sailed at this point. Either way Moonblast would have to wait for another day.

  Liza got up and approached Harry. She sat down on his other side.

  “Hi,” Harry said, eyes not leaving his screen. “Any progress?”

  Liza shook her head.

  “Am I doing something wrong?” She asked, looking back at Lunatone who had remained in place contemplating the moon for a little bit longer.

  “No, I don't think so. This was a bit of a long shot,” Harry reminded her. “We couldn't figure it out for ourselves,” he said, gesturing towards Leah the Gardevoir who cracked an eye open and then straightened up properly.

  “If we had a Pokemon that already knew Moonblast naturally then it would be easy with their help,” Harry continued. “Otherwise the only way I can think of is doing this.”

  “What Pokemon can learn it on their own naturally?” Liza asked.

  “Gardevoir, for one, eventually,” Harry replied. “A few others, but not many are present in Hoenn. Apparently there's Clefairy in Meteor Falls and they can learn it, probably more easily than Leah can. The trick would be actually finding one of them.”

  Liza sighed. She knew what he meant. Clefairy were supposed to be super hard to find.

  “Maybe we should keep coming out and looking for inspiration or something.”

  There was a sudden hum. Liza felt a sort of vibration running through her, right to her bones.

  Turning, she saw Lunatone.

  The Pokemon was bathed in soft pale light. Her eyes were closed and she was basking in the light coming from the Moon.

  Liza reached out to her partner and felt a strange sort of… serenity coming from her.

  “I think that’s it, Harry said softly, he was looking at the Lunatone too like he’d somehow sensed it at the same time Liza had.

  “Leah, you’re up,” Harry said.

  The Gardevoir stood up gracefully from beside her trainer and swept over to the Lunatone. Liza was about to go up and congratulate her partner but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Harry silently shook his head and Liza settled back down.

  “To be entirely honest I didn’t expect it to work this quickly,” Harry said sardonically as their Pokemon talked. “The hard part’s over though. Leah will help your Lunatone figure out how to turn that connection into Fairy type energy.”

  “Okay,” Liza said quietly. She almost didn’t want to do anything incase everything somehow broke.

  She wanted to jump for joy, but the odd quiet that surrounded them now made her hesitate. Everything seemed so calm, so serene.

  “Once your Lunatone knows how to make the move work, training it will be up to you both,” Harry said. “But I’d recommend you come out once or twice every now and then to keep that connection flowing.”

  “We will,” Liza said. She could sense the feelings coming from her partner. The sense of peace and connection was wonderful and she wouldn’t try to deny her friend that.

  It’d be nice to maybe get a bit of time alone from Tate too, Liza thought idly as she watched her partner study a soft pink glow held between the Gardevoir’s hands.

  ***

  While Liza had been doing her best to figure out a connection to the moon with her Lunatone I’d sat down and started fleshing out my next story. But then inspiration had hit me and I got distracted in writing the first few chapters of my next project. It was going to be about a few abandoned Pokemon coming together to create their own community. I’d never really written much from a Pokemon’s perspective before, so this was a fairly interesting exercise.

  I could’ve sat there for another hour or two engrossed in my keyboard before staying awake became too much for me or Leah lost patience and dragged me to a bed somewhere. But the Lunatone actually managing what I’d thought might a while to do in just an hour or two was incredible.

  Leah had spent the last few minutes demonstrating Dazzling Gleam up close to Liza’s Lunatone, the Pokemon listening to her explanations of the Type energy closely. I wasn’t especially surprised when the Lunatone managed to produce a thin beam of silvery blue energy. It cut out almost immediately, but the Lunatone had somehow done it.

  “Incredible,” I murmured.

  I’d figured it would be easier for a Lunatone of all Pokemon to figure out a link to the moon. But I really hadn’t expected it to occur this quickly.

  That was Liza’s cue to get up and race to hug her Pokemon enthusiastically.

  Clifford came then, with a sleepy looking Tate beside him.

  “Colour me impressed,” he said. “You managed just that in a couple of hours. I wasn’t entirely sure what you were on about with your explanations before, but they clearly work.”

  “Fairy type stuff is always a bit out there,” I said. “And it was mostly the Lunatone’s doing,” I demurred, making the man chuckle.

  “Well I’ll look forward to learning more about Fairy types in the next few months. I’m certain any Dark type trainers will be in for a big surprise if they wind up contesting the twins now,” he said mirthfully.

  I chuckled in agreement. A trainer expecting to ride their Dark typing advantage to beat the Psychic Gym would certainly be in for a surprise. At least at the higher levels.

  Liza came back then, with her Lunatone at her side.

  “Thanks Mr Hemming! Now we know how to do it we’re gonna practice Moonblast loads until we get it down properly, just you wait.”

  “I look forward to seeing you use it in a battle,” I replied honestly.

  Leah likewise seemed very happy. When I looked her way she nodded. It seemed my Gardevoir had learnt something from the experience too.

  “Can we go to bed now?” Tate moaned, making his sister pout. But a second later she yawned too.

  “I guess we should,” she agreed.

  The four of us set off back to Mossdeep to get some actual rest.

  Clifford, the older man who had clearly been checking to make sure I wasn’t some nefarious character, walked with us briefly before heading off to his own home somewhere in the city.

  That was a relief. I could practically feel the man’s attention on me at several points during this little trip out. But I’d hopefully passed whatever test he had had for me, so I’d take it as a win.

  Once we got back to the Gym, the twins led me to what they called a guest room. It looked more like a small hotel suite to me. Not that I would be complaining. Having my own private bathroom was always appreciated.

  “Thanks, this is great” I said to them both.

  They both nodded, yawning simultaneously.

  “We’re gonna get some sleep,” Tate spoke for both of them. “Err, we’re probably gonna get a lie in too tomorrow cuz we’ve got a badge battle. So feel free to hang around. You can come watch if you like.”

  “Sure,” I agreed easily. “What level of badge is it?”

  “Fourth or fifth,” Liza said. “Nothing too fancy.”

  “Well I’ll look forward to it then,” I said.

  The twins bade me goodnight and left us alone.

  “That sounds fine,” I said politely. “Goodnight.”

  “‘Night,” murmured Liza and the door closed behind the two kids as they left.

  I was left feeling slightly guilty.

  “Probably shouldn’t have suggested staying out this late,” I said, turning to speak to my Gardevoir.

  Said Pokemon was lying flat on the small bed, hugging a pillow and making a performance of snoring.

  “Haha,” I said dryly as I started to undress. There was clearly more than one reason she’d not managed to learn Moonblast the way I’d tried to teach Liza’s Lunatone. A night owl my Gardevoir was not.

  Looking around, the accommodations provided to me at Mossdeep were very spartan, perhaps too spartan for my taste. I figured it was meant more to cater to psychics in some way, maybe something to do with mental stimulation.

  But there was a bed, which was the most important thing. Too small for more than myself and maybe one more. A single bed wasn’t something I was used to with six Pokemon that wanted to cuddle all the time. I'd had to get used to sleeping in at least a double bed to accommodate them all. It was helpful that most of them were pretty small and actually cuddleable, otherwise it would’ve been nigh impossible.

  Once I was dressed for bed and had done my normal nightly routine I came back and looked at my dozing Pokemon.

  “There’s just not enough room,” I lied, eyeing the Pokemon that was taking up the entirety of the single bed. “I guess you’ll have to sleep in your ball tonight,” I continued in faux sadness.

  “Gar…” Leah complained, pouting at me. Then she rolled over to make some room and I slipped in beside her before she rolled back.

  Resting her head on my shoulder, Leah rested her chest horn partly against my chest. Getting used to that had been a challenge at first when she’d evolved into her final stage. Don’t get me wrong, the horn wasn’t exactly sharp or anything, but it was uncomfortable to be poked by it and equally as uncomfortable for Leah to have it bent too far.

  That obviously hadn’t stopped my starter though, who had refused to sleep apart from me ever since I was a kid heading out for the first time on my own.

  I’d hang around Mossdeep for another day. There was just one more trip to make and then I’d be set to start working to establish my own Gym. A day of relative calm to sink my teeth into my new project would be good too. I needed to really pick what kind of Pokemon I intended to write about.

  My initial idea had been a family of Pokemon of some sort. But maybe I could do something with a few herd type Pokemon coming together? I could do some low quality foreshadowing by making them the same or different ty-

  Lea poked me in the side, reminding me to actually go to sleep.