"Hey, Lillie? We've got a surprise for you!" Ash called as he and Clement returned to the forest after a quick trip to Alola. Lillie came over curiously, then gasped at the fluffy white bundle in Ash's arms.

"Snowy!"

"Vul!"

The Vulpix eagerly leapt out of Ash's arms and approached Lillie, but the blonde took a nervous step back. "Vulpix?" Snowy frowned, looking upset. "I... I'm sorry, Snowy..." Lillie apologised quietly, looking guilty. "I just... I..."

"... Eevee?"

Lillie glanced behind her, smiling slightly when she saw Sophie. The little Eevee smiled back, then took a deep breath and gently patted Lillie's ankle. "Vee. Vee. Vee."

Lillie smiled wider, nodding. "Right, three pats." She crouched down, her hand hovering close to Sophie. "Is this alright?" "Eevee," Sophie nodded, despite looking slightly apprehensive. "Thank you," Lillie smiled, gently petting Sophie for the support. "Okay, I can do this... Snowy, come over here, okay?"

"Vul..." Snowy approached slowly, obeying Lillie when told to stop just shy of touching the blonde. Lillie was looking scared again, but Sophie gently nuzzled her hand. "Vee, Vee, Vee," she reminded her gently, trying to encourage her.

Lillie bit her lip and reached out, gently patting Snowy on the head. Sophie counted. "Vee... Vee... Vee!"

Lillie grinned as Sophie praised her for achieving the three pats. In her excitement, she decided not to let her bravery wear off and began to gently pet Snowy, who wagged her six tails happily. "Vul!"

"Lillie, you're doing it!" Ash cheered. "Eevee!" Sophie smiled, happy that Lillie was able to continue without prompting. She was clearly very proud for her friend.

Everyone came over to see what was going on, which resulted in everyone smiling ear to ear when they saw Lillie hug Snowy, much to the snow fox's delight. Sophie slowly slipped away, allowing the pair a moment exclusively with one another and testing to see Lillie's reaction to not having Sophie by her.

Lillie hardly seemed to notice the absence at all, she was too focused on hugging Snowy like she'd lose her if she let go. "Oh, Snowy, I'm so sorry... all this has been so unfair to you, I know. I never should have sent you away..."

"Vul!" Snowy assured, nuzzling her Trainer happily. She was clearly just glad to be back with her. They'd both missed each other the whole time, it was clear to see.

Even Kit and Lilac could tell; they were together - as always - and both donning matching warm smiles at the sight of both Trainer and Pokémon embracing for the first time since Lillie's fears returned.

~•~

Later, when things had settled down and the Trainers had all decided to gather berries from the grove, the Pokémon were chatting together in, for once, complete privacy. The only one absent was Snowy, who seemed to care little for speaking to the other Pokémon as opposed to staying with Lillie. Not that anyone could blame her, of course; they all understood perfectly well that she'd want to be with her Trainer after being separated for so long. Even Sophie understood completely.

Speaking of Sophie, she was happily chatting to the large group of Pokémon when Chespin came over to her. "Hey, Sophie!" He grinned. "Hi, Chespin!" Sophie smiled back, her tail wagging. "What's up?"

"Uh... I just, er... do you... remember our, er, talk? Before we left last time?" Chespin asked, suddenly all flustered.

~•~

Flashback

"Hey, uh, Sophie?" He pulled out of the hug so he could look at her face. She looked understandably a little confused. "Yeah?" She asked.

"Well, the reason I came over here is because I wanted to... Uh... tell you that I... I like you, Sophie... I really like you..."

She cocked her head, then opened her mouth to say something, but Poipole got to her first, hugging the little Eevee tightly. "I'll see you around, fluff butt!" It smiled cheerily, making Sophie giggle at the nickname. "Bye, Poip-... Wait, you're leaving?"

~•~

"Yeah, I remember!" Sophie nodded. "Why?"

"Well, I, uh... I was... um... wondering if you... if you like me back?" Chespin summoned up the courage to ask. Sophie blinked, visibly surprised, then hugged Chespin tightly. "Of course I like you, Chespin!"

Chespin gaped for a minute, shocked and elated at what was happening. "You... you do?!" He asked quietly, hearts forming in his eyes. By now the other Pokémon had noticed and were watching in surprise, amazed that Chespin has finally succeeded in his attempts to catch a female's interest.

"Why wouldn't I? You're my friend, Chespin! How could I not like a friend?"

Everyone sweatdropped at Sophie's naivety.

Chespin felt himself fall flat, pulling out of the hug. "No, no, Sophie, I didn't mean it like that... I meant... I like like you..."

It slowly dawned on Sophie what Chespin was saying. Her brown eyes widened. "... really...? You... you actually do?" "Yeah, Sophie..." Chespin nodded. Sophie didn't really seem to know what to say, which unsettled Chespin.

"Why don't you give me and Sophie a minute to talk about this?"

Chespin and Sophie both looked up at Sylveon, who was smiling softly at them both. Chespin was tempted to object, but he saw the relief on Sophie's face and knew it was only fair to give her time to work out her own feelings.

"Okay, but... talk to me soon, okay, Sophie?" He asked the Eevee, who smiled and nodded. "I will, promise."

Sylveon lead Sophie away from the group, who all then smirked at Chespin the moment his crush was out of sight.

~•~

"You were right about Chespin having a crush on me..." Sophie sighed, looking down guiltily. "I'm not surprised," Sylveon hummed. "But what do you think about all this?"

"Well... I don't know..." Sophie admitted, suddenly finding her paws to be the most interesting things in the world, judging by the way she wouldn't take her eyes off of them. "I've never thought about stuff like this..."

"How did you feel about Chespin before?" Sylveon asked. "I know you guys are friends, but was it ever any different to being friends with anyone else?"

"I... don't know... every friendship feels a little different," Sophie sighed. "Maybe... maybe I should just say no to Chespin, anyway. We can't do anything about it."

"Well why can't you?" Sylveon frowned. "Because he's got a Trainer," Sophie pointed out. "He'll leave, he'll have to. And I can't make him choose between me and his Trainer."

"Hm... well why don't you just come with us?" Sylveon suggested. "You don't need to be caught; Squishy was with us for a long time without ever being caught."

"Really?" Sophie looked at her curiously. "Could I?" "I don't see why not," Sylveon smiled. "In fact, I think the others will be really happy to have you around more often."

Sophie smiled slightly at this. "That'd be fun, but... I'm still not sure how I feel about Chespin..."

"You don't have to decide right now," Sylveon assured her gently. "He'll understand, I'm sure. And if he doesn't, that pretty much makes your decision a lot simpler, doesn't it?"

"Hm... I guess so..." Sophie nodded thoughtfully.

(AN: Do you guys want Sophie and Chespin to be a couple? I'm very much on the fence about it. Or if there's any other couples you wanna see between the Pokémon especially just let me know)