We walked back to the Pokémon Centre as the sun was setting in silence, each of us well satisfied with out meal - or in Miku's case, a little too satisfied as she lay in Gardenia's arms half asleep while she rubbed her swollen stomach. The sunlight caught the jewels on her stomach, making them dazzle in a brilliant way. She yawned sleepily as Gardenia shifted her in her arms, smiling slightly as she looked at me from Miku.

~She will sleep well tonight I think.~ My shiny Gardevoir chuckled. ~She skipped the rush and went straight for the crash.~

Chuckling to myself, I nodded in agreement. :Yeah, she did eat a lot!:

Despite Nichole's initial interruption, we'd managed to have a fun evening as we talked battle strategy as well as contests and travel locations. Jessica did remain tense though but held the illusion that she was having fun. Now she walked behind us, eyes fixated on the distance with her arms crossed behind her head.

"Thanks for the awesome time guys, I don't get to have any fun with Nicholette, she's just train train train ya know. It's nice having people I can have a nice time with instead now and then." Jessica said sincerely, a small smooth smile over her features. "I'll look forward to doing so again next time we meet up. If you guys want to that is."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, it was nice and I'm sure we can do it again." He smiled. Although if you don't mind me asking, why do you travel with her if you don't have too. You clearly fight more then you get along in most cases we've seen."

Jessica sighed, twirling her long black pony tail through her fingers. "It's complicated, I don't hate my sister despite how much we fight. I owe her a lot too, we never exactly had a very stable house hold... My father earns money exploiting it from others online, wasting most of it on drugs and alcohol while my mother hasn't ever been able to maintain even the most mundane of jobs. Nicholette practically raised me and although she did leave as soon as she turned ten, she did so to get a job where she earned enough money to send me to a boarding school so I wouldn't have to be home all the time. Don't get me wrong, I do love my parents and my sister... it's just... complicated." Again she sighed.

Gardenia placed a hand on Jessica's back. ~It does sound harsh for someone so young but you sister does clearly love you. She seems to just show it in a different way.~

"Yeah, I know. I kind of suspect that her protectiveness and the way she pushes me to be my strongest is her way of showing she cares." Jessica smiled thoughtfully as we entered the Pokémon Centre. "She just never shows that part of herself to others."

"That does seem to be the case." Milly pipped in as we walk through the lobby and into the designated sleeping area. "Which room are you staying in?"

"Twelve." Jessica replied, nonchalantly with a sigh. "Don't tell her I told you this stuff, she prefers to keep it private but I can't talk to her about it either, she gets angry and defensive. I don't think she understands that sometimes I just want to be able to talk with my big sister."

Milly looked up at her big brother. "Yeah, I get that. I don't know what I'd do without Jake to talk to when our parents were going through their divorce, I thought my whole world would fall apart!" She exclaimed.

I squealed happily as I threw my arms around Samurai before doing the same to Gardenia. :I would die without you two to look after me!:

Samurai smirked playfully as he ruffled my hair. ~Paige feels the same way towards us.~ He explained as he took my hand in his and squeezed softly.

"Welp, this is my room." Jessica stated, nodding towards the white door with a bold 12 printed on the front. "I'll keep in contact with you guys, I had a lot of fun and it really means a lot you guys put up with me."

Jake laughed aloud. "Anytime." He smiled as the door opened to reveal Nichole scowling as us.

"Jessica, inside, I need to talk to you new friends for just a moment." Nichole snapped without so much as a hello, giving her sister a sharp stare that almost dared her to disobey. Jessica hung her head and nodded, glancing at us sideways before mumbling goodbye and entering the room. Nichole shut the door behind her and pointed down the hall. "Come with me."

~Why!?~ Samurai snapped agitatedly, stepping in front of me.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "Because I have a nosey 13 year old sister who is mostly likely sitting with her ear against the door." To prove her point, Nichole kicked sharply back against the door, causing it the shake and alert a cry of pain or shock from the other side.

Samurai still eyed Nichole with suspicion. ~Why should we trust you?~

"Because I simply want to talk to you on matters concerning my little sister." Nichole snapped

Samurai looked sideways at Jake before down at me, clearly weighing risk to reward in the situation. ~Paige?~

:I think it's okay.: I replied. :Just stay close to me please, Nichole scares me.:

My shiny Pokémon nodded, turning to Nichole with a warning gaze. ~Make one wrong move towards Paige and I will attack.~

"Tch, whatever. Too many witnesses anyway." Nichole replied with a click of her tongue, her tone heavy with sarcasm as she lead the way down the hall and around the corner, we followed with caution, me sticking safely behind my team of Pokémon. I also decided it best to return Miku since she was sleeping now and so she wouldn't hinder Gardenia if a fight did break out.

Nichole stood on the corner, most likely so she could watch the door to her room should Jessica come snooping while we stood before her. Samurai remained in his protective stance in front of me while Gardenia remained to my side. Gummie and Angel just above my head and Champ... off somewhere close I presume.

"I want you to stay away from Jessica." Nichole said firmly after a moments silence, looking between Jake, Milly and myself in a serious manner. "You're too dangerous for her to be around."

"Jessica is our friend, you can't just expect us to abandon her just because you told us too." Milly argued. "That's not how friendship works."

Sighing heavily, Nichole looked down the hall at her sister's room. "Look, thinks are somewhat tense between myself and the remains of Team Plasma - especially Ghetsis. You three aren't the only people who fear him, anyone in their right of mind should. I didn't exactly resign, I just left in the chaos of things which means Ghetsis will eventually come after me because I know things he will consider threatening if anyone finds out, perks of my rank. The only reason he hasn't come after me is because I have kept quiet and he wants her." Nichole pointed accusing at me. "Anyone around her is just asking for trouble, trouble I don't want my sister involved in."

"So what?" Jake snapped. "We are capable of defending ourselves. I have Reshiram."

Nichole raised an eyebrow. "A Reshiram you haven't used since you caught. A substantial amount of money has been offered to Team Aqua for you to be handed over them, an offer judging by the golfball sized bump on your head and the fact you disappeared without your Pokémon for a week, they turned down."

"How did you know Paige went missing?" Milly responded accusingly. Jake had told me they kept it pretty low other then reporting it to the police so that Ghetsis hopefully wouldn't find out.

After a moment, Nichole sighed irritably. "Fine, I may or may not be keeping tabs on your little group."

~What!?~ Samurai growled, his bladed arms sharpening a bit with agitation. ~Why!?~

"Because one day, if Ghetsis decides he wanted to find his favourite underling and decides to threaten my sister in response to my abandonment of the organisation then I have some very useful information and can hand over to get him off my back." Nichole replied nonchalantly. "It's nothing personal really, it's just unfortunate for you to have gotten in the cross fire of me defending the only family I have to give a damn about from the most wanted psychopath in Unova."

Samurai growled as I clung fearfully to Gardenia.

Nichole straitened up further, looking down upon each member of our team. "I'll give you this final warning, stay away from my sister. I'll defend her my own way and if you dare to put her in danger, I will not hesitate to hurt you." With the she turned her heal and walked back towards her room. Samurai however was not willing to just let her threaten us and walk away.

My Gallade Teleported in front of Nichole, glaring at the older trainer. ~I have seen my trainer go through enough pain and enough heartache to last any being ten lifetimes. If you dare to cause her to feel any more, I will hunt you down myself and I will make you feel ten times as much pain as you have ever dealt her. I will not tolerate another being on this planet or beyond hurting her again.~ He spoke firmly, his tone completely serious as he seemingly accomplished his goal in unnerving Nichole as she look away and hurried to her room, Samurai's eyes following her with his intense glare.

After a moment, he snorted and made his way back to us. ~No one is going to hurt you again Paige, never ever.~ He promised, kissing my forehead with a small smile.

I could only nod stiffly and cling to Gardenia in fright. :I don't like Nichole... I don't want her to give me to Ghetsis.: I whispered. :Don't let her do it.:

Samurai was glaring at the doorway. ~I will not...~ He replied steadily, sighing softly as he turned to me. ~Come on little one, let's get you to bed. We won't give her the satisfaction of ruining our evening will we?~

:No!: I exclaimed, shaking my head in response. :Today was too great to be ruined, lets go play a game!: I ran back down the hall, giggling as I did.

~*🌺*~
~Samurai's pov~

I watched as Paige slept soundly, cuddling Miku for comfort as she did. Smiling to myself, I admired her ability to do so after receiving such a threat from Nichole. She was powerful and she wasn't one for empty threats and I knew the day where a fight against her would be necessary.

Leaving Paige in the safety of her dream land, I walked out to the balcony, looking up at Hoenn's sparkling stars. The night sky was far prettier here then that of Unova, being a much less developed region then that of which I hatched. It was always something I admired about this region.

With a dulled creak, the door opened. I turned, nodding my greeting to my sister before turning back to the ocean view. ~I'm going to go train. I have a feeling things may be heating up soon. I must be ready. Paige cannot be aloud to suffer further because of Ghetsis. I will not allow it to happen.~

"We are coming too!"

Turning around, I found Angel, Gummie and Champ by the door. My Teammates looking eager for battle, even Champ had an eager spark in his eye that was quite unusual for the little Meditite.

"We will not allow harm to befall our trainer again!" Angel barked, ribbons flicking eagerly for battle. "We will train together as a team to defend our family."

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Gummie cheered playfully but with a spark of eagerness in her eyes as she prepared her oversized arms in a battle ready stance.

Champ sighed, turning away nonchalantly. "I guess I owe the pipsqueak for getting me out of that lab." He glanced at Gardenia momentarily. "That is how polite nicknames work, yes?"

Gardenia chuckled with a nod. ~Yes. Champ, that was good.~

The young Meditite nodded firmly. "Then let's get too it!

~~~~~~🌺~~~~~~
Word count: 2078

I had planned on updating like two days ago but I've been out on holidays, sorry!
I'm quite proud of this chapter in all honesty, finally get some decent character building for Nicholette and Jessica. :3

Anyway, please remember to vote and leave a comment, see you guys in a week!