The "pool," such as it was, was actually an open section that lead to the aquarium tank. Sinking below the surface would bring them into a tank, where they could be observed by any watching patrons. Luckily, there were no other customers that day. No one but Shiv would be watching this show.

---

After a pleasant thirty-eight minutes, the two men would leave the pool. An elevator would bring them back up to the walkway, and thanks to the quick thinking of a certain Baltoy, two towels would be left for them on the railing.

Rally brought a towel to his sopping wet hair. "Well, that was fun. But if you end up telling anyone what we did, I might have to tell the press about what just went down."

And boom went the dynamite. It was a bold statement, but Rally had the man by the cajones. That's right, the domino fell and he played his hand: blackmail. If Spyro told anyone about their tryst, Rally would tell them about the tryst. Admittedly, Rally was not good at critical thinking. But in that moment, he could only bask in the surprising intricacy of his plan.

(Un)luckily for them, the smell of food would greet them. A pizza was placed on the table, waiting for them to take a bite. One slice, however, was missing: Nova held it on its tongue, and it was trying to push it against the Psyduck's face to make it eat the food.

Bon appetit

Their search would continue on. Rally would trek through the tall grass, while Nova floated high above the treetops to get an aerial view. Both were determined to catch a Pokemon, though, hopefully the next one wouldn't be as delicious.

Unfortunately, the next Pokemon was a Togepi. Rally found the thing sleeping next to a tree stump. He approached it with soft, careful footsteps, so as not to wake it up. He drew his Safari Ball and...

And Nova immediately swooped down to lick the poor egg Pokemon. Startled, the Togepi started to whimper in fear. Unlike Cherubi though, it didn't move; it was already Paralyzed from the attack. If nothing else, this would make it easy pickings for Rally's PokeBall.

THWAP!

Ha. "Daddy" was falling like a domino, and Rally was going to make sure it all came tumbling down, one by one. He pulled back from the kiss and peeled back his dress shirt he wore over his regular T-shirt. It was tossed over his shoulder, briefly falling onto the frying pan full of pizza, before sliding down the side of the stove and landing on the floor.

"You like swimming. I'll show you a good breast stroke, if you show me how strong your legs are."

Rally exited the stand and made his way towards the edge of the walkway, towards the desert habitat. All the while, he peeled off his clothes, until he was left with nothing but swimming trunks. (Red and yellow with a Darmanitan face on the rear. Nova picked them out for him.) He put a foot to the railings, then jumped forward. He fell over the edge, and the sound of splashing water could be heard.

Nova was a good Pokemon. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he always encouraged his trainer. While Rally dove into the water, this Gastly was going to improve the meal. Mimicking its trainer, it grabbed a nearby box of... something, wrapped its tongue and around it, and threw it into the frying pan.

And now there was a Ludicolo, dancing. It was a strange and off-putting Pokemon, not like anything he'd seen before. Its whole dancing schtick was just weird, though it made sense that Spyro would own such a... thing.

"I don't need friends," Rally told the man. "They disappoint me. I need visitors who keep coming back for more."

Nova, meanwhile, smile and bobbed along. It kept the beat with a "Ge. Ge. Ge." Unlike Rally, the Gastly found it easier to embrace song and dance. Wisps of smoke moved from its purple cloud, as if it were waving hands in the air. Wait, was that how Gastly used moves like Fire Punch?

The man leaned on the counter. This was the perfect time for Rally to respond with his own moves, and his own flirting. "Seeing's not enough. I'll need to reach down make sure everything's there. But I'll work my way down first."

What did that mean? Well, it meant that Rally would reach out, grab Spyro by the shoulder, and pull him in for an attempted kiss. I guess you could say that his plan was going




swimmingly.

Okay, he had the dough, the batter, the meat, the pepper, the sauce. Now he needed cheese. Luckily, he had something already on the oven: rice pudding from earlier that morning. He ever-so-carefully pulled the layer of milk skin that had grown at the top, then cast it on top. Then, he pulled out some cheese slices from the fridge and dropped them on the pizza, to give the cheese a nice, yellowy color.

Rally froze for a moment. This guy really saw through him? How? Gaydar, right? Because there was no other way he'd be able to tell, Rally had been very careful with his wording this entire time. Aside from the daddy comment, but Spyro was at least an actual dad to a Psyduck.

"I'm not gay," he said curtly. He kept his eyes on the food, carefully avoiding Spyro's gaze. Can't forget the oil now. Luckily, he'd been deep-frying earlier. Rally pulled out a jar of oil from a cabinet under the sink. A gentle drizzle onto the pan would not only add flavor, but it would keep the dough from sticking to it.

So what was this? Blackmail? Was this guy here to extort him? Well, two can play at this game.

"If you're making a move, spit it out. Nova can watch the stove and we can take this to the pool."

"Oil and water? I thought you said opposites attract."

Rally raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, those pictures were real?"

N-Not that he was looking at that sort of stuff. Anyway, he was out of tomatoes. Instead, he decided to substitute the sauce for some orange juice, since they were both fruits. The juice would be poured into a bowl and mixed in with a bit of syrup to make it thick enough for sauce.

"I don't really look for that sort of stuff," he ducking lied. "Are celebrities really that wild? The most I've done was meet a gu- girl in a Pokemon Center bedroom. The nurse caught us. I almost got kicked out of my home when the news got out to my parents."

Fun times, fun times. It was about two years before he met Nova. And speaking of Nova, the Pokemon opened its tongue and let some bits of meat and egg roll onto the dough. Once the base of the pizza was ready, Rally fired up the stove, put a plate on top, and slid the dough onto the middle of the plate.

A ghostly wisp or smoke reached from the Gastly's personal cloud. Like some spectral hand, it attempted to pat the Deerling on the head. Maybe a little too hard, in all honestly.

"That's the good thing about Pelipper," Nova explained. "They can carry a lot of weight. All you need to do is climb inside its mouth and fold your legs under your body. Then, it'll be able to carry you out! Genius, right? Right."

Right. Genius plan. There was no way this could backfire.

The Gastly pointed a wisp upwards. "See? It's right there, flying around in a circle! Just shoot it down with that Solar Beam, and we can get out of here!"

What the hell are ducks and monkeys?

Nova and Rally moved to the little stand a few feet away from Spyro's seat. They'd be able to see the duo from the large, open take-out window at the front. The stove was placed underneath, so they could continue to make eye-contact with their guests.

"Oh, admiring?" he mumbled. "I guess I'd go for... Strong types. Confidence. People who don't start stupid fights. I guess you fit those."

For his guest, Rally decided to cook some pizza. He already had the dough out on a nearby table, when he was cooking something earlier. He pulled a box of salt from a shelf and began dumping the contents onto the dough. 

"Sometimes, people care too much about what others think. Like, they'll say I'm rude, or surly."

Throw in some green pepper and Pecha Berry juice...

"But I don't care. It's whatever. I'm guessing you're used to that, right? People talking about you? Last month Saturday Night Lairon had a whole skit, saying you banged Ricky Mankey and a bunch of guy groupies."

Curious observations. In Rally's experience, most people would say that those who liked Dragon types were try-hard kids. Fire types were for hyperactive weirdos and pyromaniacs. Not that Rally paid attention to those people.

"I'm not really cuddly or welcoming," Rally lied. "But you do seem like a Water guy; you're cool, you go with the flow..."

You make others wet.

"You seem like you'd be pretty dangerous if you got pissed off."

The tone in his voice was clear: he was disaffected at best. Unfortunately for Rally, he wasn't picking up what Spyro was putting down. Not on purpose or anything, he just didn't recognize the flirting. He wasn't one to notice these things easily. If Spyro was going to have to try a little harder, like forcing a kiss or proposing marriage.

Finally, they reached the tables. "Do your Pokemon eat at the table, or in bowls on the floor? I'll make them something good either way."

Food for Psyduck, Simipour and Spyro. He could manage that. He gathered everyone back to the elevator, tapped the panel with his keycard again, and they were swiftly lifted back up to the

To answer the man's question, "I like Dragons and Fire types. But I want Water types to fill the aquarium downstairs."

Which would be surprising, given the Ghost type floating beside them. Had they not been busy walking towards an outdoor patio section, maybe Nova might have said something. Or rather, repeat "Gastly" over and over again, with different inflections.

"What do you want to eat? I have ingredients to make anything."

"Well, don't worry about it. I got it all under control."

Too bad, Spyro. You were hot like fire, but Rally was as cold as ice. Nova, meanwhile, wasn't having an easier time; the Simipour's kick was surprisingly strong, so the ball smashed into Nova's face. The Pokemon flew back several feet and was left dazed.

Rally looked back to the man. "So, what else do you want? I can make some food, or show you the desert."

Which was as much as he could offer at the moment, sadly. As stated earlier, there were only two Pokemon in the entire Park. Entertainment was limited.

Once Andrea was done, Rally patted the same egg. He also had some words for it. "Grow up to be nice and strong. Don't stay a child forever, or you'll annoy people and everyone will laugh at you."

And that was it. The woman graciously accepted the eggs, thanked the trainers, and gave them their pay before closing the door. As for Rally, he scooped up his unconscious Pokemon, nodded toward Andrea and her Pokemon, and walked away. Hopefully, he thought, they'd never run into each other again.

And so exits Chansey, following Whitney into the house. The Chansey kept a friendly, soft smile on its face to assure the woman. But Whitney was practically in tears as she lead the Pokemon inside. Likely, the two would be busy for a good while.

Which meant that Nova and the Deerling had time to talk. The Gastly nodded to the other Pokemon's words and replied, "I'm Nova, but you can call me Big Boss. I'm going to get us out of here."

The Pokemon looked toward the wooden fence surrounding the property. It was about four feet in height, and it kept the Pokemon away from the busy, wild Pokemon-infested fields of freedom.

The Gastly stuck out its tongue and pointed towards the sky. "There's a Pelipper flying around. We'll knock them down with our attacks. Then, we talk them into flying us over the fence. If we have time, we can get it to come back and free the others."