"Gee, that guy must've been really grateful to give us these bikes for free," Ally said, grinning and clipping the chinstrap to her helmet.

"Funny, you save someone and suddenly they become generous," Kellyn replied sarcastically.

Ignoring his cynicism, Ally thought out loud, "who would've thought he owned a bike shop? More importantly, why would Team Galactic kidnap the owner of a bike store?"

Shaking his head, Kellyn sighed. "I don't know. He wasn't very helpful in the way of information: didn't even know what they were after."

"I know that. I was there," Ally replied bluntly.

"I know you were physically there, but I'm not sure if you were mentally present."

Ally poked her tongue out and belted him in the arm. Kellyn chuckled lightly.

"Anyways, it's good we got these bikes," he said, "now we can get down cycling road. One problem though."

"What's that?" Ally asked with a frown.

"How do you ride a bike?"

Ally's jaw dropped. "You, you don't know how to ride a bike?"

Kellyn raised his eyebrows and frowned, stressing his response. "No."

Ally couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. She clutched her sides and doubled over in laughter.

Kellyn sighed. "I don't think it's that funny."

"Oh, but it is," Ally said, straightening up and brushing a tear from her eye. "I can do something you can't. I'm better than you at something. This is the greatest day of my life."

Kellyn smirked as he got an idea. "I've made it this far in life without needing a bike, why change now? I'm going home. Have fun travelling alone."

Kellyn turned and started walking, waiting for Ally to stop him, but she just laughed.

"You wouldn't leave now, we've come too far. Besides, you'd be lost without me," she said teasingly.

Kellyn stopped, turned and looked at her incredulously. "I'd be lost?" He echoed.

She nodded smugly. "Lost in that cabin of yours, never to interact with another human ever again."

He looked at her with an open mouth and raised brows. She walked towards him, swinging her hips and gazing alluringly into his eyes. She placed a gentle hand on his strong shoulder.

"If not for me, you might've never again felt the touch of a woman," she whispered.

She slowly slid her hand down his arm. He simply raised his eyebrows innocently. She pouted, but he remained stoic. Little did she know, he was close to breaking. Staring down at her, the urge to lean in and kiss her soft lips was almost irresistible.

The thought occurred to him casually, as if it was inevitable. Kellyn drowned the thought in his sarcasm and tore his eyes away from her.

She frowned, made a whining noise and let go of him, moving away. He breathed an internal sigh of relief; he couldn't've maintained his composure much longer.

"Alright, teach me how to ride this thing," he said, picking up his bike.

She shook her head. "Not until you admit that you were never going to leave."

Kellyn chuckled quietly. She's stubborn, may as well give her the truth. "You're right. I was locked in my cabin and you opened the door for me. Now, you're stuck with me until you beat the Pokémon League."

Taken aback by his honesty, Ally blushed a little and took a moment to compose herself. 'Well, I got what wanted, and then some,' she thought to herself. She determinedly picked up her bike and faced Kellyn.

"Right, well, to ride a bike, first, stand it upright. Then, sit on the seat. Finally, start pedalling and just don't lean too much to one side. Your brakes at those things attached to the handlebar."

Kellyn lifted his bike onto its two wheels and looked it over. He frowned and took his seat. Without hesitation, he pushed off and started pedalling. Ally's jaw dropped as he seemed to immediately master riding.

He tore up and down the streets of Eterna city: Sitting down, standing up, doing wheelies and riding freehand.

Ally sighed in resignation; of-course he's amazing at riding a bike. Looking closer, with an annoyed expression, she suddenly freaked out, noticing something dangerously wrong. "Kellyn! Where's your helmet?"

*******

"This is nice. It's just like riding a Doduo, except completely different," Kellyn said, grinning.

"I get it, you like bikes," Ally groaned.

She'd been listening to Kellyn rave about bikes for the last hour and she was getting sick of watching him try different tricks. After he got used to the bike, they'd raced down the cycling road, battling trainers as they went. Now, she breathed a sigh of relief as they walked towards the reception desk.

"Hi," Ally said to the lady behind the desk, "we were told we could leave our bikes here."

"Certainly, we can store them for you, and you can return for them later," the receptionist replied.

"Great, we'd like to store two bikes," Ally said, nodding.

"Of-course, just fill in this form and I'll take your bikes."

Kellyn sighed and patted his bike. "Goodbye old friend."

Ally sighed. "Come on," she said, grabbing his arm and tearing him away from the bikes.

They both filled in forms detailing the storage and retrieval of the bikes before smiling at the receptionist and leaving.

"Thanks," Ally said, a dull expression on her face.

"Ciao," Kellyn said with a wave.

The receptionist smiled and waved goodbye.

Kellyn and Ally stepped outside, walking down the road towards Mt. Coronet.

"What's with you?" Ally asked in frustration.

"Whaddya mean?" Kellyn answered curiously, his head cocking.

"The second you got on that bike you turned from sarcastic to giddy, like a little kid," she said, pointing accusatorily.

Kellyn shrugged and looked to the horizon. His expression turned wistful. "What can I say? I forgot how much fun travelling is: Feeling the wind course through my hair, it brought back good memories. I remembered times when I used to race across fields, speed through the water and soar through the sky. I didn't realise how much I missed it, and, if it wasn't for you, I might never have. Thank you, Als."

Her expression blank, Ally's gaze fell to the road, and she kicked a pebble. After the longest time she whispered, "Kellyn, tell me about being a Pokémon Ranger. What was it like?"

He grinned and a spark seemed to ignite behind his eyes. "It was amazing. When I was old enough, I applied for the academy. We spent long hours studying and practicing. I graduated and was transferred to one of the local bases. After that, I travelled around, helping out here and there and pretty soon I was transferred again, to Ranger Union Headquarters," he said with an air of nostalgia.

"Okay, what's that mean?" Ally replied, feeling dumb.

"It means I was good. Very good. I travelled all over Almia, helping people and Pokémon alike. I've flown on Staraptor, ridden Torkoal through lava and even fought fires with Blastoise."

Ally frowned, she'd tried asking this once before and he hadn't answered her, but they'd come a long way since then. She swallowed and decided to try it.

"If you enjoyed it that much, why'd you quit?"

Kellyn sighed and was quiet for a while, but eventually he spoke. "My last job didn't go so well." He pulled a Pokéball from his belt. He smiled at Buia's sleeping form. "I screwed up."

Her brows furrowed and she chewed on her lip. "You're still young though, surely you could've stayed on longer."

Kellyn nodded vacantly. "It was my decision. I just, I don't know."

Ally shrugged. "Okay, maybe some other time you could tell me more about it."

He smiled. "Sure, sounds like a plan," he said weakly.

She nodded and looked around, searching for something else to talk about. Ally whistled as she looked up at the mountain before them. "Mount Coronet, right?"

"Yeah, we've gotta pass through to get to Hearthome City," he answered.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go, partner."