Contents:
Wesley
Obvious exits:
Northeast <NE> leads to Pewter City: Jacob's Apartment.
Southwest <SW> leads to Pewter City: Abandoned Warehouse.
West <W> leads to Pewter City: Rolling Stone Burger Club.
East <E> leads to Pewter City: Pokemon Center.
North <N> leads to Pewter City: Onix Square.
South <S> leads to Pewter City: Outskirt Fields.

Wesley walks briskly through the streets of Pewter, Fistfight keeping in quick step beside him, using his body to shield her from the rain lashing in their direction. ThoughtThief trots on all four legs, his big rear bringing up the rear of the group! ...Not funny at all, I know. The boy and his Pokemon appear to be searching the houses they pass. Their efforts aren't aided by the houses themselves, who look remarkably similar in drab grey stone, with only a few flower pots to differentiate them. But one of those flowers in special. The house...with purple flowers, who are probably enjoying the rain after so much crippling heat. Wesley eventually spots that splash of colour - Fistfight and ThoughtThief being colour blind, they don't, and follow after him as he walks down the driveway of the house. And freezes as he gets to the front door.

Somewhere a Meowth finds a shiny coin and tucks it carefully away. (Saving.)

Heavy rain pours from dark grey clouds, propelled by a furious east wind.

Wesley would probably not have -too- much of a problem with finding the right house even without the flowers; cheesily enough, a little yellow balloon is tied to the mailbox, which, of course, says 'Barlette' on it. You know, the ones signifying that there's a birthday girl in the house? The lights are on, and any passerbys who would happen to be outside in the rain would be able to see quite a bit of joy in the house - a cake, a couple of balloons, three happy people, and one very, very happy person! After all, today, July 17th of 2001, is Melissa Barlette's birthday! And she is living it up, baby.

Wesley peers over at the balloon, as do Fistfight and ThoughtThief. <What's that thing?> shouts ThoughtThief over the din. <It's a..uh..> Fistfight fumbles for the word, eventually just shrugging. <Hey, Wes, what's it say on it?> "...Barlette" the boy murmurs. Does Melissa have a brother he doesn't know about? If so, weird name. Or.."Her family's name," Wesley clarifies. He then peers in through the main window showing all the hap-hap-happy festivities. He looks like a pale, chilled-to-the-bones ghost, even with his curious dog look on his face. <You gonna knock?> Fistfight asks. "N..not yet," is Wesley's murmbled reply.

Inside the house, Melissa glances up at the clock. Hm, it's almost 5:30. She should start making her way to her rock... despite the rain. She got her raincoat and everything out this morning, preparing for it. Adrienne, Melissa's sister, didn't bring the younger girl any presents or anything, except for a little potion and a Pokeball. Still, seeing her sister alive and well was good enough for Melissa! ... man, what a sickeningly cute family. "Are you sure you don't want another slice of cake, Adrienne sweetie? Or Melissa honey?" Mrs. Barlette asks, smiling deeply at both of her fine daughters. Mr. Barlette has his own face stuffed with cake. Chocolate. Mmm.

Wesley skulks about the window, still peering in, the light from within making the figures and their actions, if not their words, easy to distinguish. He feels a bit like a scientist exploring a new planet. And he feels just as creeped out as if the Barlette family were aliens. He takes a deep breath, and slinks back to the door. "We should..come back later," he says to his Pokemon, with a surreptitious glance backwards. "I did say I'd meet Melissa at the rock, and.." *knock* *knock* *knock* Fistfight taps politely on the door. Wesley's grey eyes widen as he stares in shock at his Pokemon. "You..didn't have to do that," he says miserably. <Yes I did,> replies Fistfight with a slightly annoyed sigh. He's been mooning about this partu all day! Oy! ThoughtThief shakes himself, though the action is rather useless. <Can we go inside?> he whines. "No," the boy responds quickly, his eyes on the door.

Three of the four people inside the house seemingly don't even hear the knock, but Ms. Barlette obediently makes her way to the door. "Coming, coming!" Her voice is soft and delicate, though perhaps Wesley and his Pokemon won't be able to hear her, what with her being inside and all. A moment later, the door opens up. Melissa's mother glances right over Wesley's head. She peers left, right, then finally down at Wesley. "Oh! Hello." Clarissa says cheerfully, smiling as she does. "What brings you to our house on such a... rainy day?" She was going to say 'miserable' day, but she's far from miserable. "Who is it, mom?" A girl's voice shouts, though whether it's Adrienne's or Melissa's is unclear. Clarissa (that's Mrs. Barlette) doesn't respond quite yet.

Wesley tries to think of how he should act. Go straight to business? Be nice and polite..maybe compliment the flowers? Wish Melissa happy birthday? Wait, is she even coming to the door? What if it's someone else? What if they get mad at him for interrupting?! As Clarissa opens the door, Wesley looks like a Nidoran caught in headlights, when she glances down at him the look is still on his face, only his eyes are slightly wider. His jaw opens..then closes..then opens again and words finally form. "H-Hello Mrs. Barlette." He takes a breath, then speaks a bit more surely. A bit. "I'm Wesley Brier. Melissa's..friend. I've come to give her her birthday present." "Machop," Fistfight greets the older lady with a light wave, and ThoughtThief nods, giving a rather reserved "Zee" of salutation.

"Oh! Wesley... you must be the friend we've heard -so- much about!" Clarissa smiles deeply, so glad to finally see her daughter's friend, finally! "Meliiiiissa! Your friend Wesley is here!" A chair can be heard getting pushed back, and a reply of "He's here? Now?" "Yes!" Mrs. Barlette replies to her daughter, before turning to Wesley. "Oh, please, come in, come in!" Despite the boy's likely-dripping self, she seems fine welcoming Wesley in. "Would you like a slice of cake, perhaps?" Melissa isn't in sight quite yet - she's making sure she doesn't have any cake or anything on her shirt before she reveals herself.

Wesley blinks. "Heard so much about..?" he repeats blankly. "What have you heard?" he asks, some curiosity kindling in him. Fistfight nudges him sharply <not polite to ask,> she says in a quick hiss. "Oh.." Wesley says, his face falling some. He blinks at Clarissa as she asks him to come in. "I..really, I'm fine out here ma'am, I just need to talk to Melissa." He fudges by the part about bringing her to the Pokemon Center..because he's just not sure how to bring that up with her mother. "And I'm fine without cake." <I'm not,> grumbles ThoughtThief. <Eh, they don't make that stuff for our bodies, and I ain't havin' you throwing it up> Fistfight notes. Ah, such lovely conversation.

A conversation Ms. Barlette can only hear the Wesley-half of, thank goodness. "Oh. Well, I..." Melissa pops around the corner, thanking her mom with a quick hug. "Thanks, mom! You go and enjoy your cake. I'll talk to Wesley." Mrs. Barlette nods gently, adding a "Nice to meet you, Wesley." as she goes back to organize all the gifts Melissa got. "Hi, Wesley!" Melissa says, not caring that this is perhaps the giddiest the boy's ever seen her. She, of course, doesn't give *him* a thank-you-for-coming hug. "Is something wrong? I was just about to, um, leave and go meet you at the rock... I got my umbrella out and everything." She's smiling deeply. And barely stuttering, too!

Wesley nods to Mrs. Barlette but..cringes visibly when the mother and daughter hug, no matter how brief it is. It's like a train wreck, you just can't look away. That hug quite unnerves him, so much that he almost doesn't respond to Clarissa, adding a belated "Ah, thank--I mean, you're welcome!" which he half-shouts so she can hear him as she goes back into the house. Melissa's mood only off sets him more. "N-Nothing's wrong. I just needed to--" <And a one and a two and a three,> bursts out Fistfight. She and ThoughtThief then begin to sing a song, which to Melissa will consist of only "machop"s and "drowzee"s, but the tune is quite a familiar one. They're singing Happy Birthday a cappella - and off key, and without much rhythm, and quite loudly. Wesley just looks like he wants to bury his head in his hands.

Somewhere a Meowth finds a shiny coin and tucks it carefully away. (Saving.)

Melissa glances at Wesley as he speaks. "You needed to...?" And then, all of a sudden, the Happy Birthday song (or the Machop Chop song/Drowzee Drow Zee song) is emitting from Fistfight and ThoughtThief. Melissa's heart is absolutely filled with pure joy. Aww. Her eyes sparkle behind her glasses as the two Pokemon sing. "Did..." She asks breathlessly, looking at Wesley. "Did you teach them this?" She glances back down at ThoughtThief and Fistfight. Any thoughts she might have had about ThoughtThief disliking her have been washed away in her mind (though, of course, he probably still does hate her).

The two singing Pokemon finish up, Fistfight grinning (and bowing!) a lot more enthusiastically than ThoughtThief, who complains that his many talents are now reduced to <stupid pet tricks>. He can't help but grin at the expression on Melissa's face, though. It's hard to tell whether that's an evil grin or not - Drowzee don't have too many facial expressions. Wesley shakes his head. "I'd never even heard the song...Fistfight remembered it from..sometime," he adds with a vague mumble. "Anyway, I have your...present, but I need you to come to the PokeCenter to get it." Wesley finally gets down to business, even if he does sound a bit shy when saying it. Melissa probably won't want to leave her warm house, after all...

"Of... of course!" Of course she'd love to leave her warm, dry house to slosh through the rain to walk all the way to the Pokemon Center! "Excuse me for a moment." She disappears around the corner, and if Wesley listens closely, he'd be able to hear requests of asking to leave. After a little convincing ("I'll, um, I'll be back in just a bit!"), her parents finally agree. Melissa reappears in front of Wesley, smiling slightly. "I'll... um, I'll just go upstairs and get my... um, get my stuff. Are you... are you sure don't want to come in? Get some cake? They... they deserve something..." She glances down at the Machop and Drowzee. "For, um, for doing such a nice thing."

Wesley blinks. Really? She wants to go? Wow, that was the shock of the day for Wesley. "Oh.." he says, relieved. The boy doesn't listen closely, but ThoughtThief does. "You can go upsta--no, I'd just..rather give you your gift and, ah..." What is he going to do after he gives Melissa his gift? <Come back for cake then,> Fistfight fills in. Wesley shakes his head quickly. "I think my Pokemon will pass up the cake, I've heard it's bad for them." He heard it quite recently, in fact, since Fistfight just told ThoughtThief a second ago. Still, it's a good excuse.

Melissa nods slightly. She didn't think Wesley would accept the invitation to come inside. "All right. I'll... be right back, then." She ducks upstairs. A few moments later, she's back downstairs, with a nice little raincoat (not an overly large one) and an umbrella. "This is, um, these are two presents I got. Because I'm out in the rain so much." She sticks her head out to glance at the room where her family is, and she waves. "I'm... heading out now! I'll be right back!" Such a nice relationship... anyway. "Will you... lead the way? This, um, this umbrella..." She holds up the (non-expanded) umbrella. "It had a few Psyduck prints on it." Cute. Cheesy, but cute.

Heavy rain pours from dark grey clouds, propelled by a furious east wind.

Wesley raises his eyebrow slightly. "Ah.." he says, in reference to the Psyduck comment. At least he manages to make it sound neutral. ThoughtThief makes a gagging motion with his 'hand', which Fistfight quickly catches. She gives him a glare, and he quickly stops. Looks like someone learned their lesson last night! Hee hee! "Yes, just..follow me," Wesley says, as he starts off. Boy, what weird words for the kid to be saying - he's more of a follower himself than a leader. Wesley and his Pokemon set off.

Pewter City: Southern Pewter

Contents: Wesley
Obvious exits:
Northeast <NE> leads to Pewter City: Jacob's Apartment.
Southwest <SW> leads to Pewter City: Abandoned Warehouse.
West <W> leads to Pewter City: Rolling Stone Burger Club.
East <E> leads to Pewter City: Pokemon Center.
North <N> leads to Pewter City: Onix Square.
South <S> leads to Pewter City: Outskirt Fields.

Pewter City: Pokemon Center

Obvious exits:
East <E> leads to Pewter City: Southern Pewter.

Wesley arrives from Pewter City: Southern Pewter.
Wesley has arrived.

Well, I think that would be a cute umbrella. Sort of. Um. Anyway, a few minutes and a short walk later, Melissa and her three friends arrive at the Pokemon Center. Melissa is the first to enter. "H... hurry in, everybody!" She uses for Wesley, ThoughtThief, and Fistfight to get in before they get too cold. Brr! Bet they wish they had little (silly looking) raincoats too. Or maybe not. The center is slightly more crowded than usual this Tuesday evening, but finding a seat or four would still not be very difficult at all.

Wesley actually does have his dark blue rain slicker on. Wait, I suppose you'd call that a raincoat too, wouldn't you. Either way, he has a rain-something on. He is relieved to get inside, however, and so are his Pokemon. ThoughtThief even shakes the water from his sparse fur, causing a few people to look over and Wesley's face to turn pink. He hurries over...not to a chair, but to one of the PCs in the corner. At least nobody's using those. He then types in a few letters and accesses his account. "You..need to access yours, too, probably, but I'll show you your present first in case you won't..like it," the boy adds, looking as if, deep down inside, he thinks Melissa already might not. It's not like it's that much of a surprise now...

Oh. So that's what a rain slicker is. Noticing that everybody made it in safe, Melissa starts to head over to a chair to take off her raincoat and take a seat, but Wesley calls her over, instead. "I... um..." Melissa quickly checks to make sure she even has her Pokedex. Quite fortunately enough, she does. She pulls this out - thank goodness they're pretty waterproof! - and heads over to the computer. "Um, wh... what are you sending me? Should I, um, deposit one of my Pokemon? Or, um, look at what it is, from... from your computer?" She's giving Wesley the option, partially because she's completely clueless as to what it is. For all she knows, he could be sending her a digital book. Digital book... snicker.

Somewhere a Meowth finds a shiny coin and tucks it carefully away. (Saving.)

Wesley shakes his head slightly, tapping a few more buttons. Out of the little slot at the bottom comes a Pokeball, which Wesley takes in his hand. At the question, Wesley blinks. "Well..I want you to see what I'm sending you first, so you won't not-want it," he explains. Fistfight shakes her head and sighs. <These things are supposed to be a surprise, hero,> she notes. <These two are gonna have the dumbest babies ever,> ThoughtThief notes to Fightfight in an undertone. <Oh, come off it,> Fistfight says, but even she can't help but smile at the thought of Wesley having whelps of his own some day! Maybe not with this girl - who knows what'll come of this relationship? But with a good steady home, and a wife he loves and that loves him back..that'll be the best birthday present she could ever get! However, this isn't her birthday, nor will she probably get to see that day. Wesley blinks. "Or..would you rather I surprise you and just send it over now, then you can take it out and see what it is?"

This is really starting to get confusing. "I... um..." Fistfight and ThoughtThief don't seem to help - a nice little gesture would have been appreciated! "I'll... um... I'll see what it is." Very curious, indeed. Melissa, leaving her gear on, heads over to stand next to Wesley. "I... um, I don't think I'd..." She giggles very slightly. It's more like a small exhale. "... don't think I'd... not... want anything from you." Double negatives sure do get confusing! Still, she wonders what in the world the boy could have in store for her.

Wesley was a bit too nervous to think up anything other than that double-negative, a graffe in grammar the boy usually doesn't make. His hands then fly to the keyboard. From the slot below, out pops a Pokeball, which Wesley slips into his hand. He turns to Melissa, thinking she must hate this present. A Pokeball. To avoid her look of shock and disgust, Wesley quickly turns to Fistfight and ThoughtThief, opening up the Pokeball so that a form emerges from red light right near them. The Machop and Drowzee both have very broad grins on their faces, even though Fistfight does look a little melancholy. The light forms...into a pure white Growlithe puppy, with black stripes, who peers up at Melissa with crystal blue eyes. She is..the most adorable thing. In. The. World. (Except for Peppy!)

The first reaction Melissa makes is merely a blink. She's been absolutely stupified. She can't think straight. When Melissa is pretty sure she can speak without adding a 'D-uhhhh...' at the beginning, she murmurs, quietly, conciously, "Is... that... for... me?" Wesley's looking away - perhaps he accidentally meant to give her something small like a Caterpie, not... the cutest thing she's ever seen in her entire life. She takes a small step forward, looking with pure awe at the puppy. "Sh... I..."

CrystalFire scampers up to Melissa, being much more forward than the girl is. She even puts her paws on Melissa's foot. <I'm CrystalFire...yer gonna be my new family,> she "Growlithe!"s happily. She blinks her pure blue eyes, her pink tongue hanging out of her mouth as she perks her ears at Melissa, awaiting her response. She doesn't seem to have the trepidation Wesley does - not at all. "She's CrystalFire. Her mother was captured by a Trainer, and I happened along her. My Pokemon like her - she's not as rambunctious as Playright was. But she's still a child and...I thought you could take care of her better than I could. I'm not..good at training children. However, she's still very energetic, I warn you. But I believe, given time, you could make her into..a great Pokemon." <As if she ain't already,> Fistfight ammends, but CrystalFire doesn't seem to take offense at that. She's just so happy that she's going to be out of her Pokeball more, with friends her own age, like Wesley told her about!

Silence. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? As the Growlithe approaches her, Melissa just stands there, stunned, her mouth very slightly open. She turns to Wesley quietly as he speaks, absorbing everything he tells her. She's not hearing him, but she is understand everything. It's difficult to explain; ask her tomorrow, she'll be able to recite exactly what Wesley said. But she doesn't hear him at all right now. "Wesley?" She asks quietly. She - very gently - removes her foot out from under the white Growlithe's paw, and takes one step toward Wesley. She stretches out her arms, and leans forward to give Wesley a hug - not a big one, and not one that will choke the boy, and she's even giving him a little room to escape in case he doesn't want to get hugged. "Thanks." She says quietly, whether or not the hug connects.

Wesley cringes. Melissa hates CrystalFire. If Melissa were happy, she'd be perky like she was at the party. The boy lowers his head, sighing in defeat. He should have known..he should have asked first. His one friend's birthday..."Wesley?" Melissa's going to let him down gently, of course. But even a nice rejection is still a rejection. CrystalFire whuffs quietly as her paws are removed from the girl's boot, and she peers up at Melissa in confusion. ThoughtThief and Fistfight both watch, the later with a slight smile on her face...which only broadens as Melissa goes to hug Wesley. In a flash of energy Fisfight goes to stand behind Wesley, while ThoughtThief is motioned to stand at his side, which he does. Wesley's exits are blocked and he is...hugged. His head jerks upwards in surprise, his face blank, his body stiff as a corpse.

The hug is perhaps not as warm as Melissa would have liked it, but a hug is a hug, and the general feeling got across. "Thanks again." She whispers as she stands up straight, no longer embracing Wesley. That felt... well. Nice. Makes the rainy day seem a fair bit sunnier, doesn't it? She turns around to glance at the white Growlithe, a small smile on her face. She ducks down to be face to fuzzy face with the Growlithe. "Hi there, CrystalFire." The girl reaches out her hand to rub the dog on the side of her face. "I'm... I'm going to be your new trainer." She says it softly, feeling nothing but pure pleasure for these moments.

Somewhere a Meowth finds a shiny coin and tucks it carefully away. (Saving.)

Physical contact has been made. He cannae take the strain, Cap'n! Wesley does look quite disoriented from the hug. His mouth twitches, but instead of of smiling it pulls into a worried frown. "You're..you're welcome," he says, with relief in his voice, but the pensive and worried look not leaving his face. Poor kid just doesn't know how to react to that. Fistfight pats Wesley on the arm. <You did fine,> she says gently. <Forget what I said about them having babies..the kid's gonna be dateless for life,> notes ThoughtThief, who walks to stand behind Wesley as before. CrystalFire licks Melissa's outstretched hand, with a large canine grin on her face, tail wagging as if there was a little motor in it. <I know, he told me!> she woofs. <He's nice..but kinda boring,> she admits, with a sheepish smile in Wesley's direction. The boy shrugs it off with a slight smile hovering around the corners of his mouth. Hey, at least CrystalFire didn't just hug him...

She doesn't know exactly what Fistfight is saying to Wesley - congratulating him on getting a hug? Saying he was nice giving her the Growlithe? Scolding him for being shy about it? She needs to catch a Machop one of these days, just to learn Fistfight's language! Enough about that. Melissa rubs a little more anterior than the Growlithe's neck now, throwing in a little scratching and the like. The girl is absolutely loving this Growlithe, all right. Forget anything she ever said about wanting a Gloom. This Growlithe is enough for her. "I think..." She half-chokes, not a longshot away from tears. Everything is going just so... so... *perfect* today. "That we're... going to make... a good team together."

CrystalFire's eyes close in ecstasy and her canine smile only seems to get larger. She leans onto Melissa's hand. What? Her? Speak? Not when she's getting scritched like this. Her mind wanders to the many playmates she'll have. Sure, she'll miss Leochardo, but he was about the only fun one on the team, anyway. Big bowls of dogfood dance in her head, as do walks in the park..maybe the white Growlithe will even meet her mom. That's not a pressing wish, however - she lives for the moment! <I think so too,> the Growlithe eventually murmurs back. Fistfight clutches a hand to her heart and smiles sweetly, while Wesley looks away. There's a perverse part of him that shies away from cuteness. "We should get down to transferring her now," he mumbles, breaking the moment.

Melissa lives for the moment as well, though she is almost positive these moments will last in her memory forever. "This is..." The girl is stuck between deciding to stand up, or to stay squatting and loving her brand new Growlithe. She finally decides on staying near the ground. "This is... the best... day of my life..." She squeaks out quietly, though she is doing an amazing job of keeping from crying from pure joy (aww). She scratches a little under the pup's chin, as well, her left hand still working on the white dog's ears. And it's all because of Wesley. That's what rings loudest in her mind - And it's all because of Wesley.

CrystalFire tries to put her paws on Melissa's hands, her blue eyes staring into Melissa's. "Lithe," she woofs quietly, happily and most of all, contentedly. Fistfight can't help it...she wants to go over there and give them a big group hug! She steps forward, but the resists the temptation, the hopelessly romatic, goofy smile not leaving her face. <It's just a Growlithe,> ThoughtThief mumbles, but he grins at the fact that he had a part in this as well. His job was to comment sarcastically on the intelligence of Wesley and Melissa's babies, of course...but he did it nontheless. Wesley, meanwhile, looks a little claustrophobic. "You're..welcome," he whispers, a catch in his throat. No one's ever said that to him. He's torn between insisting that they start trading, or just watching with a kind of quiet curiosity and..envy, almost. Eventually, he just looks back at the PC.

The girl has kept Wesley here for long enough. Giving CrystalFire one last final pat, Melissa stands up straight, brushing her hand through her hair once. Quite a bit of Growlithe fur gets stuck in there, but she doesn't seem to mind. "I should... head back home." Melissa says quietly, though instead of heading for the door just yet. Glancing at the seemingly non-caring Wesley, then at the deeply-moved Machop, she walks over to another computer. She'll need an extra space for CrystalFire; she would give Slip to Wesley for free now, but that would somewhat tarnish the pure beauty of what he did for her. Perhaps, in a few days or a week or two... anyway, Melissa types a little on the computer, her ID and the like running through it. "Will you... um... trade her to me now?" Melissa asks Wesley quietly.

Wesley nods quickly, and turns towards CrystalFire, recalling her. He then slips the Pokeball back into the PC. "Now.." he starts, his voice cracking. He coughs, shaking his head. What - is he gonna turn into some spineless wuss just because a girl hugged him and pet his Growlithe? "I'm..sending it over to you." And that's just what the boy does. Tappity tappity tap! go the keys as the supermagicalwonderful PC then transfers CrystalFire's Pokeball to Melissa's PC. And for the record, Wesley's not too interested in Slip anymore, though Fistfight still is. He likes the Hitmonlee possibly named Kickback! ..Unless Melissa somehow thought of another name last night.

Nope, believe it or not, Kickback is still... Kickback. Yay! Melissa does a little typing of her own to accept the Growlithe and her Pokeball. She actually really didn't know that you could 'trade' a Pokemon without actually 'trading'. You know, giving. Duh. Melissa's fingers quiver slightly while she types. Part of her still believes this is a dream, another part says there's a catch. But there is one part that simply reeks of this is now, this is real, this is true. And that's what's mostly making her hands tremble slightly as she types.

>> Wesley just gave you a female Growlithe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Capture date: Jul 17, 2001/20:55
Type:     Growlithe (Fire)                    Gender:   Female
Hits:  4            
Staff Note: She is still a pup. Extra HP may be applied for in about 
three to four months if she is kept out of her Pokeball (it will be 
auto-granted, and it will count as the evolution for that month). She 
is very eager, energetic, and lovable. Rather than being orange, she 
is a snow white with black stripes. She also has crystal blue eyes.
Player Note:              
Attacks:                                      
Bite         Roar         Ember        Leer         Take Down    Agility      
Flamethrower 
=======================================================================

Didn't Melissa give Wesley a Weedle? Either way, Wesley seems pretty sure this whole scene is rooted in reality, thank you very much. The computer replies with an affirmative message, and Wesley clicks the OK button, and then shuts down the computer. "I'm...glad you like it so much," the boy says eventually, with a yawn at the end of his words. "You should probably..get back." <And you should walk her home,> Fistfight perks up. <And get some cake!> ThoughtThief adds, licking his chops. <Trust me, that'll be the end of a perfect day for her,> Fistfight says. "It seems like if the day gets any more perfect she'll cry," Wesley murmurs back, with a light smile. He can be funny, when he wants to. "Or..should I walk you back if..that's okay?" he asks of her, rather timidly. He's so much more assured with his Pokemon.

Melissa smiles sweetly across the computer to Wesley. "Thanks, Wesley." She's so grateful. She doesn't know what she'll give him for his birthday... or does she? Perhaps if he... well, this is the present. "I'd like to... um... to deposit Amber for now to get my Hitmonlee." Melissa says quietly, detaching the Pokeball from her belt. It's only a quick command to do so. Type, type, type... result! Amber's Pokeball enters the computer, and out pops Kickback's Pokeball. This she puts right next to CrystalFire's new 'ball, and she stands. Gosh. Dugtrio, intelligent Bulbasaur, white Growlithe, Hitmonlee... Melissa's not got a bad team at all! Shrugging deeper into her raincoat, the girl smiles at Wesley. "I-I... um... shall we... go now?"

Somewhere a Meowth finds a shiny coin and tucks it carefully away. (Saving.)

Wesley nods, getting up onto his feet and walking towards the door. It's been a very full day for the boy, but he made Melissa happy. Much more happy than he probably realizes, stunted at empathy that he is. Fistfight and ThoughtThief follow after him, both with big grins on their faces. They'll get to have their cake and eat it too...literally. They'll bug Wesley so much that he'll have to get cake. Even Fistfight - heck, she just feels so happy, she'll even risk throwing it up again. So, the two humans and two Pokemon leave into the stormy night with a glow of warmth in their hearts.