Sean stood in the small shower stall with his back to the tile wall. His stomach was filled with butterflies and his heart was soaring the clouds. What little thought he had was torn between trying to think about what had just happened and scolding himself for letting it happen. Moving under the running water, Sean couldn't close his eyes without feeling Nate's lips against his. His heart was so happy it hurt. Yet, the rest of him was scared that his bad chose in men was becoming a habit. Tracing his fingers across his lips, he leaned forward to put his forehead to the tile wall. He felt like he had a fever. His skin was burning compared to the cool wall. Turning the shower lever over to straight cold, he inhaled sharply as the icy water shot over him from the Horsea mouth nozzle. Even the icy water couldn't snap him out of it. After years of trying to avoid it... He was helplessly falling into the feeling again. Huddling into the corner, Sean shook his head, whispering sternly to himself. "No. Stop. Why now? Why him? He's not..." His heart wasn't listening. It was too late. His heart didn't want to be caged anymore.

Sean finished his shower in silence, trying to talk himself out of any ideas about love. Whether it was a crush. Whether it was just a simple attraction or the heat of the moment. He didn't care. He wanted nothing to do with love. His body couldn't make him feel that way. Stepping out of the stall onto the gel turtle shell mat, he took a towel off the heating rack and wrapped it around his body to dry himself. The warmth felt great against his skin. When he finished tying the towel around his waist, he stopped and let out a groan. His clothes were dirty, and his spare clothes were out in his bag. Creeping to the door, he opened the door just enough to peek out. Mark was laying on the Master bed with his arm over his eyes. While Nate was laying on the top bunk and whispering to Zoey. Seeing his bag under the pokeball shelves by the bunk bed, he tried to risk sneaking out to snatch it. He silently crept past Mark, but as he touched his bag... Zoey suddenly leaned over the side of the top bunk to chipperly state aloud. "Whatcha doing?" Yelping, Sean snatched his bag and ran back into the bathroom.

Sean pressed his back to the door, listening to her say casually. "Oops. I think I spooked him." Mark and Nate chuckled, but Sean rolled his eyes. Digging through his bag, he pulled out fresh closes. Pulling on a white t-shirt with the blue Team Mystic logo and pulling on a simple blue hoodie over that. He then put on his blue jean pants and gathered his dirty closes into a laundry bag, before stepping out. Mark was the first to chuckle out. "That was faster than I thought." Sean glared at him, grumbling out. "Shut up. I don't do that..." Before they could start teasing him more, Sean abruptly asked. "Anyone hungry? The Café should still be open." Both Mark and Nate sat up excitedly and then groaned with disappointment. Sean turned to glance at them, giving them a confused shrug. Mark gestured to his dirty clothes, mumbling out. "Probably not a good idea to go strutting around in my Team colors again..." From the top bunk, Nate pulled at his Team Rocket shirt, slipping in just as grimly. "Same."

Sean shrugged again, asking them blankly. "What about your spare clothes?" Mark shook his head, answering dryly. "No good. They are like those. Team color." Nate shook his head, telling him in turn. "I don't carry any other clothes. This is all I got." Sean dropped his head into his hand to rub his temples. Shaking his head, he told them gruffly. "Alright. Give me your sizes and I'll... find something for you." Mark sat up to grab the hotel notepad off the bedside table. Writing down his sizes, he tossed the pad up to Nate. Nate caught it and then the pen, asking Zoey for his sizes. Zoey pulled up Nate's shirt collar and the tag at the back of his jeans to tell him. When he finished, he tore the paper off and held it down to him. Sean walked over to the paper, their fingers touching. The second their skin touched; Sean felt a rush straight to his heart. Nate's fingers were so warm, and his black fingerless gloves were smooth to the touch. Clearing his throat, Sean lowered his eyes to the floor and looked over the paper.

Despite staring at the paper, he couldn't read a word of it. His brain was so overwhelmed with trying to figure out why the touch had affected him so much. That the writing might as well have been in a different language. Nate's fingers touched his cheek, making Sean jerk his head up with wide eyes. Nate pulled his arm back to lay over the railing as he asked him with concern. "Hey. You alright?" Sean nodded without a word and turned on his heel. Rushing to the door, Sean fumbled with it and told them over his shoulder. "I'll be back. Stay here." He barely slipped out the door, when Nate called out. "Hey, wait up! Zoe-?" Zoey sprang off the top bunk to rush to his side. Sean nodded to Nate, letting Zoey out with him. Walking out to the elevator, he asked Zoey over his shoulder curiously. "Why did he want you to tag along?" Zoey leaned forward a little menacingly, flashing him a wolfish grin as she said. "I think he's worried about you." Sean huffed, scanning his bracelet and pressing the button to go down as he mumbled out. "Why? I'm fine."

Zoey huddled into the corner, crossing her arms as she smugly stated out. "Oh? Then my sniffer must be going... cause I thought I smelled a dash of fear." Sean shuffled his feet, avoiding her eyes as he said uneasily. "I don't know what you mean. I'm not afraid of him." Zoey leaned forward to purr over his shoulder teasingly. "So, you must be afraid of how much you liked it. Why else would you avoid Nate's eyes?" Sean looked at her, grumbling out defensively. "That's not true. I..." Her big turquoise puppy eyes burned right through him. She didn't believe him, and she saw right through him. Grinning to show off her beautiful white canines, she told him in a motherly voice. "As a pokemon who is the master of illusions, it is VERY hard to pull the wool over these eyes. So? Feed me the juicy details. I won't tell." Sean opened his mouth, but the elevator dinged and opened. Slipping out as others moved in, Sean told Zoey over his shoulder. "There is nothing to tell. You saw what he did. He caught me off guard. That's all."

Zoey skipped behind him as he made his way past the front desk to the small Pokemart. Young Trainers were taking numbers to the front desk to collect their Pokestop Pre-order trays. Trays with new pokeballs and food to go. While others were turning in pokeballs to be taken and healed in the clinic. It made quick shopping and hospital visits easier. Walking into the little Pokemart, Sean brushed past more trainers that were looking for new traveling gear, or souvenirs to send home. Sean moved to the very back to look at clothes. It wouldn't be anything fancy, but it would be comfortable stuff. Zoey stayed close to him, looking around as she said aloud. "So small... Doesn't the place have one of those Pokemalls yet?" Sean huffed, browsing a shirt rack as he answered. "It's a small island. So, no. The marts here have to import stuff. They only get stuff they know trainers will buy and use." Sean looked over dozens of t-shirts with pokemon sports teams from the mainland, Team Mystic shirts, pokemon academies, region shirts, and varies pokemon designs. Groaning, he told Zoey dryly. "I should have asked what they would wear..." Zoey picked out a shirt from the rack, chuckling out. "Hey, Sean! Think they'd wear this?"

She held a black shirt to her chest that had a pokemon egg at the stomach and a question mark over it. Sean snorted, chuckling out. "Not unless you know something that I don't. That's a maternity shirt." Looking at the sizes on the paper, Sean pulled a white t-shirt with a picture of a Pikachu in a chef hat sitting in a pokeball mug. Sleeping with full bellies on either side of the mug was a Munchlax and a Snorlax. In bold letters over the logo was written. 'Pokemon Café Center. Where the weary travelers relax.' Tossing it to Zoey, he told her lightly. "Hang onto that." She caught it, looking over and giggling out. "Cute." Sean kept searching for another decent shirt, when Zoey held something up as she said. "Sean, look. I found a shirt for Nate." Sean looked up and raised an eyebrow. The t-shirt hoodie was a mix of space colors with the ancient wall carving of Mew on it. Around the edges were Unown pokemon that were styled to be the ancient writing on it. Waving his hand, he said happily. "Perfect. That works." Zoey hugged the shirt to her chest with the other one, exploring the shelves of other clothing.

Sean got them a set of jean pants. One a dark blue and the other a black. He even picked up a set of fresh socks for them. Just when he thought he had everything; Zoey put a black hat in his arms that had a pixel trainer with a pixel Pikachu following behind. Sean was going to tell her no, but she suddenly held up a hat hoodie that looked exactly like Mimikyu. Zoey flashed him a grin, asking him curtly. "It's the only one. Please?! Think of poor Chad?" Reluctantly taking the hat, he added it to the pile. Quickly heading to the counter before she bankrupted him, he set everything down. The man at the counter tallied up the damage, asking him with a warm smile. "Find everything alright, Sir?" Sean nodded, waiting to scan his bracelet across the scanner. The man tallied everything, then asked him promptly. "Would you like to donate five more dollars to the Pokemon Ranger foundation. Donating helps them rescue and care for injured Pokemon across the regions?" Sean shook his head, but the man pointed to a cereal box on the shelf behind him, adding out quickly. "You get a free box of the Pokemon Café's new 'Bug Bites' cereal with every donation?"

Sean was about to tell him no, when Zoey tugged at his sleeve and gave him the biggest pitiful puppy eyes he'd ever seen. She even let out tiny whimpers. He'd never had a dog and fell victim instantly. Wincing, he reluctantly nodded to the man. The man tallied it in, gesturing for him to scan his bracelet. Sean scanned it, watching the man stuff the clothes into a brown paper bag. Taping the bag shut with a Pokemart purchase confirmation tape, he pulled a box of cereal down and handed it to Sean. Sean looked over the green box with a Butterfree happily eating what looked like golden honeycomb puffs with marshmallows in the shapes of bug wings and bug catching nets. Sean handed it off to her, thanking the man and walking out as he told her gruffly. "You know that's pure sugar, right? And besides, aren't you weak against bug types?" Zoey tore the box open before they even got to the elevator, munching them down as she said through a mouthful. "Sugar means it tastes good. So, I'm game. And yes... I am. But who knows? Maybe this is the secret to becoming immune to them!"

Sean huffed sarcastically, uttering out softly. "I seriously doubt that. They usually use Alcremie berries to make the rich flavors in those things." Zoey blinked, swallowing to ask perplexed. "What's an Alcremie?" Sean started to say that it was a fairy pokemon that looked like whipped cream with strawberries for bows in its hair and produced rich berries on how happy it was... but he settled to just say simply. "It's a pokemon that makes berries and is often eaten by other pokemon." Zoey huffed, continuing to eat. The news completely unfazed her. Going back up to the room, they slipped inside. Mark was drinking coffee and holding the mug from Chad's reach as he watched a talent show on TV. Nate was nowhere to be found, but the water was running in the bathroom. So, he assumed that Nate was showering. Setting the bag on the table, Sean told Mark nervously. "Alright, I got some things that should fit... but don't blame me on how they look. The place is swarmed right now with the storm." Removing the pokemon café shirt, blue jeans, and socks; he set them out for Mark. Mark looked over the shirt, chuckling to himself, making Sean feel better for picking it.

Mark got up, slipping behind the divider to change quickly. Sean started to set out Nate's stuff, while Mark told him nicely. "I'll pay you back for the cost of these." Zoey nudged Sean in the ribs, removing the hat she had found. Sean took it, reluctant now to show it to him as he told Mark anxiously. "That's fine. But I got you one more thing." Mark stepped out from around the divider, suddenly snapping out. "HEY! Put that down! You hellion!" Sean jumped, then heard Chad quickly slurp down the mug of coffee before dropping it and dashing under the table. Mark rushed forward to try and snatch him, but Chad easily ghosted under the booth seats to avoid him and burped cutely. Smacking the seats, Mark sat up, grumbling out. "Son of a bitch! Get back in your ball, damn it!" Sean hid the hat behind his back, watching Mark calm down enough to ask him. "You were saying? What else did you get?" Zoey nudged him again and Sean held out the hat to him. Mark's eyes dropped to the hat, turning it over to see the face. Instantly, Mark's eyes rose to glare at him as he growled out softly. "You're punishing me for teasing you and Nate, aren't you?"

Zoey began to laugh uncontrollably, causing Chad to peek out from under the seats. The second Chad saw the hat, his ghostly arms snatched it from him and threw it to the ground. Springing on top of it, Chad looked like he was going to shred it with his sharp ghost claws, until he saw the face. Within the holes of his costume, Chad's eyes glistened, and he scooped up the hat to hug it to his chest tightly. After a minute, Chad zig-zagged across the floor to Mark. Reaching up, he began to tug on Mark's shirt and held the hat up to him. Mark pushed the hat away, stepping away as he said uneasily. "No. Stop. I'm not wearing that! You keep it! No!" Mark turned around, snapping out. "Knock it off, Chad! I'm not-" Mark picked up his trainer bracelet from the bed, then turned around to find Chad was gone. Sean pointed and Mark turned to look at the bunk bed. Chad had moved to the ladder and was outstretching his ghostly arms to try putting it on him while he wasn't looking. Mark screamed, jumping back across the bed. Which resulted in him bouncing off to the floor at the foot of the bed with a loud thud. Sean swallowed, watching Chad leap off the ladder to land on Mark's chest with his ghostly arms raised over his head to use the hat as a kind of parachute.

Mark squealed, scooting across the floor as Chad chased him into a corner and held the hat up to his face. Zoey could barely breathe as she rolled around the floor, panting out. "Aww, he likes it!" Sean shook his head, gathering up the clothes for Nate and going to the bathroom. Knocking on the door softly, he told Nate through the door. "Nate? I got you some clothes." The door opened a little, letting steam escape. Nate peeked around the door and Sean froze. He couldn't move or think. Nate's hair was soaked, his long bangs hanging down over one of his eyes and causing lines of water to run down the side of his face in a way that was strangely erotic as it dripped off his chin to the floor. He hadn't even noticed that Nate had tattoos along his arms until now. The tattoos were so clean and vibrate despite being in dark shades of colors. He had expected Nate to have hair on his chest, but he didn't, and his nipples were a darker color than his own. Sean swallowed, noticing how muscular Nate's arms and abs were. Nate gave him a curious look, snapping his fingers in front of him as he asked. "Sean? Earth to Sean. Clothes?"

Blinking, Sean's mind rebooted, asking in a wispy voice. "Huh...?" Nate pointed to the clothes, telling him slowly. "My clothes, Sean? I'm getting cold..." Sean cleared his head, handing over the clothes as he mumbled out embarrassed. "Oh, ya. Sorry..." Nate took the clothes in his arms, closing the door with his hidden leg. The second the door closed, Sean sat down on the bottom bunk and buried his burning face in his hands. He couldn't deny it now. He had it bad. He'd never been so embarrassed and ashamed of himself. He needed the antidote to this and quick! To Be Continued...