"You're staring again," giggled Lily.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care, I've decided."

"Decided what?" Lily asked, nibbling on a sandwich.

I stood decisively. "I'm going to introduce myself."

Lily wobbled unsteadily on my shoulder.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

The tiny lizard Pokémon smiled and nodded. "Right, you go girl. I'll be right here if you need me," she said as she turned invisible.

I sighed and shook my head. She's not so good at meeting new Pokémon. Oh well, I can do this. Yeah, I got this.

I looked across the schoolyard to where Fable was sitting alone. He didn't seem to be doing anything, just lying on his back, staring at the sky.

I gulped and marched across the grassy field until I was standing beside him. His eyes were closed, and he didn't seem to know I was there. I gathered at my courage and smiled shakily at him. "Um, hello."

His eyes opened and he looked at me curiously.

"Hi," I said nervously.

Fable rolled onto his stomach and stood up. He smiled and waved hello.

"You're name's Fable, right?"

He nodded.

"Well Fable, it's nice to meet you. I'm Rose, and this is Lily." I gestured to the invisible lizard on my shoulder.

Fable frowned and tilted his head. I sighed and poked her gently.

"Fine," grumbled Lily.

She turned visible, smiling awkwardly and waving nervously. Fable smiled and his eyes widened. Suddenly, he disappeared. My mouth fell open and I looked around, but I couldn't see him. A moment later he reappeared, grinning cheekily.

"Wow," I whispered. "You know, I saw you performing the other night, it was really cool."

He smiled happily.

I tilted my head. "So, you don't speak, but you communicate through illusions?"

He nodded.

"That's... cool," I said.

At that moment the lunch-bell rang, signalling the end of break.

I smiled at Fable. "I guess I'll see you in class. It was nice meeting you!"

I smiled and waved goodbye. He simply smiled and waved back.

As I was walking towards my locker Lily sighed. "I get we've got a new friend now and all that, but how are we supposed to understand him when he won't talk?"

"I'm sure it'll work out, and in the meantime, I'll discover the truth behind Silent Fable."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," said Lily.

I shrugged, almost knocking her from my shoulder. "Either way, I'm sure we'll find out eventually."

"Do we really want to?"

******

"How was school today?" Dad asked.

"Good, I hung out with Lily and made a new friend," I answered.

"Oh, what's her name?"

"His name's Fable."

"His..." Dad echoed in a faraway voice. "Will I be meeting him?"

I looked up at Dad with my brows drawn together. "I don't know. Maybe. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

I rolled my eyes. "Daaad, it's not like that."

"I'm sure it's not," he replied.

I groaned; he's definitely lying.

"Alright, what's on our list?" He asked, changing the subject.

I looked at the shopping list in my paws. "We still need groceries."

"Alright, to the markets."

We'd recently got everything we need for our house and now it can be our home. Dad had bought some plants and was going to start a garden in the backyard. We'd got our old furniture and fridge and everything. Now, we just need food.

Dad and I stepped into the local market and started walking the aisles. We picked up the occasional item, dropping it in the bags we'd brought.

"What do you want for dinner?" Dad asked. "And don't say-"

"Pancakes," I answered immediately.

"Oh, my goodness. You and your pancakes, I swear. They're a breakfast food."

"Pancake time is all the time, especially when there's little Oran berries mixed in."

Dad sighed. "Fine, pancakes tonight, but tomorrow, I'm choosing."

"Yay!" I cheered.

We kept walking and upon rounding a corner I recognised a familiar fox-Pokémon. The Zorua was looking over some berries and picking out the freshest ones.

"Hey, Fable!" I called, running towards him.

He smiled when he saw me coming.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

He gestured to a saddlebag slung over his back. It was full of heavy looking groceries.

"Rose!" Dad called, running up to us. "Don't run off."

"Sorry Dad," I said, "I just wanted to say hi to my friend. Dad, this is Fable. Fable, this is my Dad."

"Oh," Dad said, obviously surprised, "Hello Fable, I'm Rowan. It's nice to meet you."

Fable smiled and waved. Dad frowned in confusion.

"Fable doesn't speak," I explained.

"Oh. Why's that?" Dad asked.

"I don't know," I replied, looking curiously at Fable to see if he'd do anything. He just shrugged.

"Doing some grocery shopping?" Dad asked.

Fable nodded and patted his bags.

"Well, perhaps you could help us? We're looking for pancake mixture."

Fable nodded and turned, walking down through the aisles. We followed after him, collecting a variety of foods as we went. Fable stopped by a rack of shelves and pointed at it. Looking over the shelves I quickly found the pancake mix and put it in our bag.

"Well, that's everything," I said, checking our shopping list.

"Great, let's go make some pancakes," said Dad.

Fable escorted us to the checkouts and offered for us to go first.

"Thank you," Dad said, joining the cue.

I stood next to him and we quickly bought the groceries. Fable went next and when I turned around, I saw him fishing a small pouch from his bag. He dropped some coins on the counter.

"Just the usual then, Fable?" Asked the Golduck serving him.

Fable nodded and bought the food. Golduck smiled and handed his bags back to him. "I'll see you next week."

Fable smiled, nodded and waved goodbye. He walked away from the counter, towards Dad and me.

"Well Fable, thank you," said Dad, "Perhaps you should come around for dinner one night?"

Fable looked surprised.

Dad chuckled. "No pressure, just if you'd like to. I'll leave you and Rose to sort it out."

Slowly, a thin smile spread over Fable's face. He nodded and waved goodbye before walking away.

"Bye Fable! See you tomorrow!" I called.

"Come on, Rose. Let's go home," said Dad.

I nodded and we started walking home. I didn't know it then, but Dad had felt Fable's Aura. He'd felt Fable's sadness, and his fear. If I had known, I would've run to him right then. I would have hugged my friend; told him that everything would be alright, but is it ever that simple?

A/N: If you haven't guessed already, we're gonna be moving fast from here on out. Try to keep up cause this relationship is on the fast-track!