Calem and Serena turned to face a woman they'd never seen before. Her light emerald hues stared back at them with intense focus. A Lucario stood beside her, a blank expression on his face.

"Sorry to barge in on your evening, but I couldn't help but overhear," the woman stated.

"Eavesdropping's rude you know," Serena frowned.

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. It's also rude of me not to introduce myself. Guess that's two strikes. Je m'appelle Angelique. Parlez-vous Kalosian?" She asked, looking pointedly at Serena.

"Je m'appelle Serena. Oui je parle Kalosian. Calem however," she gestured to her friend, "doesn't."

"Yeah, I only know a little," Calem sighed.

"No worries Calem. We'll fix that," Serena replied with a bright smile.

Calem nodded and turned to Angelique. "You said you could help us with something?"

Angelique cleared her throat. "Yes, I did didn't I? Well it works like this. The two of you have a gift that allows you to understand Pokémon. However, it doesn't stop there. Ever heard of aura?"

Calem nodded and replied. "I have, actually. In metaphysics, it refers to an energy field emanating off of a surface or person. Recent studies show that everything has it but some have more of it."

"Bravo Calem. You're right on the money. But there's more to it than that. Aura is far more complex than just an energy field. It can display feelings, it has different colors, heightens awareness...there's a plethora of things it can do," Angelique prattled on.

"So basically, we have powers like our Pokémon?" Serena asked, trying to keep up.

"Bingo. With enough training, you could use actual Pokémon moves. Sorry, this must come as a bit of a shock to you both," Angelique said with a nervous laugh.

"Y-yeah...no kidding. I am gonna need some time to process this. I mean, this kind of thing doesn't happen everyday," Serena replied.

"Trust me, I know. It came as a bit of a shock when it happened to me. Oh who am I kidding? I was petrified. But then again I suppose anyone would be at first if they could suddenly light their hands on fire and not get burned," Angelique chuckled. "I mean..."

She really likes to talk, Calem thought.

I know. You could leave your holocaster on and walk away and she'd still be talking...

Okay, either I'm losing it, or I'm hearing voices in my head.

Well you'd be right. I'm speaking with you telepathically since I don't want my trainer to hear.

Let me guess, Calem paused, glancing over at Angelique who was explaining aura and how it worked to Serena. You wanted to talk to someone who has an off switch?

Lucario snorted. That doesn't seem to exist on her unless it's a special occasion.

I see...

She's a great friend though. Big hearted as they come and she can be quite fun. She's got several other Pokémon too, but she's pretty close with me, Lucario smiled.

Cool, though I will admit that this will take a lot of getting used to.

It comes with time. You'll get the hang of it. Lucario replied.

"So, did you get all that?" Angelique asked, taking a breather after all the talking.

"I think so. I guess I'll start by trying to talk to my own Pokémon first before I get into that other stuff," Serena said with a grin.

"I'll do the same. I want to know more about this so talking with my Pokémon is a good place to start," Calem stated, glancing back at Serena who nodded.

"Sounds like you two have it all figured out. I should get going then, you both must be exhausted since it's so late," Angelique yawned.

"Sounds like we're not the only ones. Thanks for the info. We'll be sure to make good use of it," Serena replied sleepily.

"Right! Well, I'm off. It was a pleasure meeting you both."

"Same here," Calem responded.

With a polite bow, Angelique turned and left the two to their own devices.

"Well, now we know what's going on. Though I do wonder why I never noticed this before," Calem stated with a befuddled expression.

"Me too. This is going to be so odd..." Serena mumbled.

"Let's think more on it tomorrow. We've got a bit of a walk by the looks of things, and we will be needing all the sleep we can get," Calem declared.

With both being in agreement that sleep was the best course of action, the duo walked back into the center and up to their rooms. Once more, they were next to each other.

"Hey Calem?" Serena began as Calem was about to enter his room.

"What's up?"

"Do you really like when I speak Kalosian?" Serena queried hesitantly.

Calem smiled faintly. "It's a beautiful language. So...yeah, I do think it's cool when you speak it."

Serena blushed slightly. "Well, would you...like to learn more?" Serena asked curiously.

"That would be sweet actually. Learning a new language has always been something I've wanted to do. And from what the others said when I met them, I have no doubt that you will be a great teacher," Calem smiled.

"Merci, Calem."

"De...rien?" Calem tried.

"Yes! That's right. Though you may wanna work on the pronunciation a little. Once you have that down the rest is cake," Serena chirped.

"I'll work on it then. Thanks for the tip," Calem laughed.

"Pas de problème, bien dormir et doux rêves !" Serena said sweetly.

"Er...I don't think I'm quite there yet Serena," Calem replied, sweat-dropping.

"I know that silly. It means, 'no problem, sleep well and sweet dreams.' Don't worry, you'll get it," Serena giggled.

"I'm sure I will. Let's see here uh...bonne nuit?"

"Oui, bonne nuit. See you in the morning," Serena replied as she opened her door to walk inside.

Calem entered his room and switched the light on so he could change. He sat on his bed afterwards and mulled the events over in his head.

So I can talk to Pokémon huh? And according to Angelique...there is more to it than that. Now I know why my previous meditation felt so strange.

Calem looked at the clock and contemplated meditating just to see what would happen. However, he felt too tired to do that, so he decided to hop into bed and turn out the light.

X-X-X

Serena was also getting ready for bed. Her mind was swimming with thoughts of the day's events as well as her conversation with Calem. Her face flushed at the thought of it all. Shaking her head vigorously, she slipped into her pajamas and took out her diary and began to write.
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A/N: Another chapter down! Angelique steps out into the open and a whole different can of worms has been opened. See you in the next chapter!