“We hope to see you again!” Nurse Joy exclaims as Minseok is already tucking his pokéballs back onto his belt. The line used by all Pokémon Center workers reminds him of the time not so long ago when he used to substitute at his hometown Center, which in turn reminds him of Lu Han.

It has now been two months since Minseok arrived in Kanto. After coming up victorious in all the gyms in Johto, he decided to take on the gyms of Kanto before going back home and challenging the Johto Elite Four. It was partly because he thought he needed the extra experience. But for the most part it was because of Lu Han.

After more than two years of correspondence via letters and email, and recently via the Pokégear's phone function when Minseok finally managed to save up enough pokédollars to get one, Minseok was thrilled to see Lu Han again. Somewhere amidst countless puns and jokes and lame pick-up lines, he had become so fond of Lu Han it was almost impossible to imagine a life without him.

When he first arrived in Kanto on the Magnet Train, Minseok walked straight to Silver Town with the goal of meeting Lu Han. Once he got there, however, he was informed by the townspeople that Lu Han had left the town a few days earlier to do 'trainer things'. Since then, all messages to Lu Han on his whereabouts have been answered with “come find me, Minseok.”

It's safe to say Minseok is disappointed at how things have turned out. As much as he tries to see the bright side of things – like not having Lu Han around with his hands all over Minseok like an Ambipom when Minseok's trying to prepare for gym battles – he can't help feeling sad about not being able to tour Kanto with Lu Han, especially after he waited for so long to be able to do that.

Minseok has taken his sadness and frustration out on the gym leaders, which is why he has already fought his way through five gyms out of eight. Two months into his time in Kanto, he has achieved what took him over three years in Johto. Actually, he could have done it much faster than in two months, but instead of quickly flying from one city to another on his Delibird, he has taken his time walking through some the places Lu Han told him he might like.

And Lu Han had been right, Minseok did enjoy them. He would've enjoyed them more, though, if he didn't have to experience them by himself.

Earlier today, Minseok arrived in Saffron City, the home of the sixth gym in Kanto. It's close to Silver Town and it happens to be a psychic type gym and it all makes him think about Lu Han when he should be thinking about how to win the upcoming battle. Many of the people Minseok has encountered in Kanto have told him that Sabrina, the leader of Saffron Gym, is a tough nut to crack. “Tougher than a Seedot,” said one of the challengers Minseok came across during his walks.

Minseok stops by the Poké Mart to get some more Hyper Potions, Revives and Full Restores for his bag. He double checks the compartment of the bag that stores all his berries to make sure he's got enough Persim Berries in case his pokémon get confused by Sabrina's psychic pokémons' moves.

Sixteen Persim Berries. That combined with the Full Restores he bought should be enough for now.

Minseok braces himself at the entrance of the gym. A psychic type gym shouldn't be that difficult to beat with both he and his pokémon well prepared for the battle. It should be a piece of cake. What worries Minseok much more than Saffron Gym is having to face off against Cinnabar Gym's Blaine after Sabrina. Out of Minseok's entire fleet, only his Lapras and Piloswine, the former in particular, stand a decent chance against Blaine's fire type pokémon. Minseok almost hopes he wasn't carrying another ice type egg from Unova, this time a Cryogonal. An Oshawott egg would come in handy soon instead.

Walking into Saffron Gym, Minseok feels nauseated right at the door step. Warp tiles cause Minseok to have severe motion sickness and it appears Saffron Gym has plenty of them. Stepping onto the first one, Minseok hopes he won't be too dizzy to command his pokémon by the time he reaches Sabrina.

Some fellow trainers have told Minseok that it's possible to reach Sabrina with only five moves through the gym's unique maze. Unfortunately Minseok doesn't have such luck and he ends up warping from one room to another for over an hour, with the occasional battle in between warps. The battles he clears easily, almost too easily for his liking, but the motion sickness is a little harder to beat.

When he finally arrives in a room that doesn't have more warp tiles, he knows he has made it to Sabrina. It appears her fleet is different from before as there is no Espeon or Alakazam like Minseok expected. Instead, Mr. Mime, Hypno, Kadabra and Exeggutor are playing tag around the room while Sabrina sits cross legged on the floor, her back to Minseok.

“I had a vision of your arrival!” the gym leader says and sounds... oddly familiar?

'Sabrina' is already standing up and turning around when Minseok realizes who it actually is that is in the room with him.

“You finally found me, Minseok,” Lu Han says and winks at Minseok. “And no, that's not a Sudowoodo in my pants. I'm just really happy to see you.”

Minseok had imagined hundreds of times how he would react to seeing Lu Han again. He would run up to him and embrace his friend, tell him in as many words as he could how great it is to meet him again. Lu Han would make some stupid joke, they would both laugh and then Lu Han would show Minseok all the places he loves in Kanto.

Now, however, all Minseok can do is gape.

“Lu Han?” he asks, possibly more of himself than Lu Han. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm covering for Sabrina!” Lu Han exclaims, doing the peace sign and looking proud of his new temporary position. “She left for some spoon bending contest in Kalos a couple of months ago and she liked it there so much, she decided to stay for a while and maybe try to catch an Espurr to bring back with her. And, since she needed a psychic type specialist to cover for her, she called me. I've been kicking so much trainer , you wouldn't even believe, Minseok!”

“But... I was supposed to challenge Sabrina, I came to this gym for a leader battle!”

“Why don't you and I go to my gym and have a battle?” Lu Han says, wiggling his eyebrows. “I must warn you, though – my move set only has Harden and Pound.”

Minseok groans.

“I still don't know if I'm comfortable with these new kind of pokéjokes you've been making,” he sighs. Lu Han, on the other hand, just smiles and shrugs.

“We're of age now. It's time for naughtier lines!” he tells Minseok. “...I wish I were the ground and you were a Diglett so you could be inside of me.”

“Lu Han!”

Minseok lets his Piloswine out of its pokéball as a warning of sorts, though he knows Lu Han is aware that Minseok is only joking.

“Can't you be serious for a moment? I need to discuss this gym battle thing with you,” Minseok says, petting his Piloswine close to its pink, round nose.

“I can't help it, Minseok.” Lu Han confesses while his pokémon attempt to persuade Piloswine into joining their game of tag. “When I look at you, I get harder than a level 80 Metapod.”

“People don't have level 80 Metapods,” Minseok retorts. It really is rare to find a Metapod of a higher level than 20, even in special bug type events.

“Surely some people do – ever heard of Everstones?” Lu Han huffs. “Even the famous Ketchup's Pikachu has one.”

“I believe his name is Ash Ketchum,” Minseok says, smiling at Lu Han's mistake.

“Who cares what his name is, all that time spent journeying through the different regions and still no Pokémon Championship! What a loser, I say,” Lu Han says. Minseok knows Lu Han only puts Ash Ketchum down because he's jealous of the boy's early start into being a trainer. Starting when he was already well into his teens, Lu Han has had to work so much harder than most trainers to get to where he is now. Minseok has never admitted it out loud, but he is extremely proud of Lu Han.

“Erm... so,” Minseok starts, “if I want to get the Marsh Badge today, I'm going to have to battle you?”

“Well, yes. But be warned, you'll be Weezing after I'm done with you.”

Before Minseok can protest at Lu Han's pun, Lu Han throws his arm over Minseok shoulder and leans against him.

“I'll give you the badge if you promise you'll be my boyfriend?” he hums optimistically against the skin on Minseok's neck.

“No thank you,” Minseok says and playfully punches Lu Han's stomach with his free hand. “I don't want to be known as a trainer who slept his way to the top.”

Lu Han laughs so loud the pokémon stop their games for a moment and turn to look at him.

“But Minseok, I Absol-utely Bayleaf we're meant to be!” Lu Han argues humorously. He wraps his other arm around Minseok's neck and now they're in a hugging position.

Lu Han is warm against Minseok and his cheek against Minseok's neck is soft, like the skin of a peach. Minseok has missed this.

“How about I become your boyfriend and I'll battle Sabrina once she's back?”

“Are you serious?” Lu Han asks, he eyes open wide and his mouth curved into the biggest smile. His psychic connection with his pokémon must be a strong one because the pokémon look thrilled as well. Exeggutor even rubs his trunk against Piloswine out of sheer joy.

“Yes,” Minseok admits. His face starts feeling a little too warm so he lets Vanillish out of its pokéball to cool him down.

“Oh, Minseok, my Kadabra just used Future Sight and it looks like ours is a bright one!” Lu Han laughs, and wraps himself tighter around Minseok, like an Arbok would.

Minseok feels warm, like a Litwick were hidden inside his chest. Lu Han takes his hand and starts rambling on about how they should go over to Silver Town for dinner so Minseok could meet Lu Han's parents, who Lu Han is sure will love him just as much as he does.

They take a shorter route, reserved for the gym leader, to exit Saffron Gym and Lu Han informs the guy standing at entrance of the gym to call him on his Pokégear if new challengers show up.

“It takes them a good part of an hour to get to the gym leader's room anyway and it's only a 25-minute walk from Silver Town to Saffron Gym. I'll be able to make it here in time just fine if you call me once a challenger arrives at the doors,” Lu Han advises the man before pulling Minseok forward by his hand and starting their walk to Silver Town.

“There's a funny-looking tree on the way there that I absolutely need you to see, Minseok!” Lu Han says, his eyes sparkling, before he goes on to explain about all the things they should do together while Minseok is staying with him in Silver Town. He promises to let Minseok know of all of Sabrina's and her fleet's weaknesses, so he'll have no trouble defeating her once she comes back from Kalos.

Minseok is no longer thinking about gym battles, however.

The flame in his chest burns warmer by the minute and he is sure it's happiness. As a trainer he has always known that it's something that can trigger the evolution of certain pokémon but this is the first time he wonders if it can make humans evolve, as well. At least for now, the Marsh Badge can wait – instead of wanting to rush off to his next pokémon battle, Minseok thinks that becoming a Day Care Couple in Silver Town wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all.