What the heck am I supposed to do now? Elron looked at the bold old woman who was riding above the ocean with him.

Ira was also deep in thought. If I thought things were awkward before... well my expectations will surely be shattered.

Granny was not so deep in thought. I wonder what's for dinner tonight.

"So what, do we just go back to where we were before we left?" asked Elron.

"Yeah, I guess," replied Ira. "I mean, I don't know what else to do."

"Just skip to the Elite Four," suggested Granny. "It's been awhile since I've seen that Agatha."

Wrong Elite Four, but nice try. Elron leaned forward and told Bagel where to fly to. Back to the space just around Striaton City it was.

-----

They all landed, and then the real question finally popped into their minds.

"Wait, what are we going to do about your clothes and stuff, Granny?"

"Oh yeah," said Ira. "What are we going to do about that? You just rushed after us without backing anything."

"Don't worry, young ones, I came prepared..." She grinned an almost sadistic grin. "...To fly back every night to get some proper sleep!"

Elron couldn't believe what he was hearing. He leaned over to Ira and whispered to her. "We can just leave her when we do that, right?"

"Please do. We can at least stand today though."

They nodded in agreement and kept along their way. It wasn't long until they were stopped though.

"I'm tired of walking," said Granny in a whiny voice.

He turned around with an annoyed squint. "Can't you have Meowstic just fly you around then?"

The cat meowed next to its owner, indicating that it too was too tired to go on.

"Maybe the tiredness grows in the family," joked Ira. "Because I'm also getting tired."

Elron sighed. "Fine, we'll take a break. There's a river nearby, so if you need me I'll be there." He waved his hand and walked off into the trees.

Ira looked back and forth between her grandma and Elron quickly, trying to make a decision of who to stay with.

"Go swimming if you want," said Granny. "It's something you can really only truly enjoy in your youth. I have Meowstic to keep me company anyways."

"Oh, alright." She followed after him.

When she caught up, he was already taking off his shirt. He wasn't as muscular as she expected, but he had some definition.

He looked confusedly at her. "I thought you were too tired to do anything?"

"I still have energy left!" she replied back.

"Whatever." He kicked off his boots and dove into the water, still wearing his long pants suspended by a belt. He popped up out of it and looked at her. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to get in?"

"I need to get changed first!"

"Oh yeah, girls don't normally wear their swimsuits underneath their clothes..."

"What would make you think that we did?!"

He went silent for a second. "Don't worry about it. Just a weird habit of Flora." He went back under to avoid her gaze. Underwater, he curled up in a ball, letting the sunlight sprinkle the caustic patterns across his body in peace. His hair floated every which way in the water. He spun around slowly as he gradually used up his breath. You're supposed to have moved on, Elron! Stop bringing up her name all the time! Get out of your hiding and apologize to Ira for making things awkward! He unwrapped himself and swam to the surface. "Hey!"

But Ira had already disappeared back into the trees to change clothes.

What am I doing? He got that sinking feeling that told him he was doing something wrong. I'm thinking too much. He swam across the river on his back. He went back and forth across the surface, mindlessly swimming his time away.

There was a slight squeal on the other side of the water that made him stop and look.

Ira was dipping her toes into the water. "It's kind of cold!" She was wearing a teal swimsuit and was obviously not very confident about herself. She was looking away from Elron as to not see how he was looking at her.

"Just dive in. It'll feel better in just a few seconds." She's beautiful and she doesn't even know it.

She cringed, then jumped right in. A few seconds later she resurfaced. "Man! This feels great!"

"Told ya so!" He swam towards her, then stepped on shore.

"What're you doing?"

"Well, now that you're in the water I figured we could have some fun." He rummaged in the pile that was his backpack and clothes and pulled out a pokeball and breathing apparatus.

"What are those for?"

"Just swim still for a second and you'll find out," he teased back. He threw his pokeball into the air and Gyarados popped out, splashing down in the water and making ripples that were a little tough for Ira for a few seconds.

She spat out a little bit of water that had gotten in her mouth. "Huh?"

He tossed her the breathing tool. "Use this; I'm sure I can hold my breath a lot longer than you." He got back in the water and swam over to his pokemon. "What are you waiting for?!"

"Uh, right! I'll be right over!" She swam to their position.

"Alright, now put that thing in your mouth and hold on tight to Gyarados here." Elron grabbed hold of the serpent's body.

She popped the device into her mouth and held on, still not 100% sure what was going to happen.

"Take it away, buddy!" he told his pokemon, taking a large breath immediately after.

The blue beast dove down into the water and dragged them down with him. Down to the bottom of the river they went, down where the ray's of the sun were less powerful and the currents were far more potent.

Gyarados swam swiftly along the bottom of the riverbed, weaving in and out of the jagged rocks in a fluid flurry. The tan rocks were formed into the strangest shapes down here, and the water was a little bit cooler.

The water currents tugged on Ira's hair, but not in an unpleasant way. Rather, it was playful as the Tympoles that spun round and round playing games with each other around them. There was a warmth that the rebreather gave her lips that felt comfortable when surrounded by the cool water. She really felt at peace down here.

Elron tapped on Gyarados's hide to tell him to resurface, and the pokemon understood and obeyed the command. They swung upwards towards the sparkling light, when suddenly they hit an unexpected current and Elron was ripped off of his pokemon and swept rapidly backwards.

Shoot! Right when I am running out of breath too! He drifted back in the strong current not able to fight it. He had let out too much of his breath earlier on and was starting to sink in the stream, and was losing his strength.

Ira violently hit Gyarados's back in a small tantrum to get him to notice when was happening. When he looked back angrily to see what all the commotion was about, he saw what had happened and whipped around and downwards after his trainer.

Elron's vision was starting to blur. His head was burning from the lack of oxygen. Guess this wasn't such a great idea after all, huh? Right as his eyes had almost completely closed, a shadow passed over his face.

His Gyarados and Ira were at his side now. Ira grabbed hold of him the best she could and tugged on him to bring him close. She could tell that it wouldn't be much longer until he drowned--she had to do something, and quickly. As soon as they were out of the current, she let go of the pokemon and used her newly freed hand to pull out the rebreather after one last breath of her own.

Elron wasn't breathing at this point; that device wouldn't do him any good at this instant. He just needed a few more seconds to get to the surface.

Ira pulled him to her and put her lips to his. I never imagined that it would have to be like this. She blew into his lungs, pushing somewhat used air into his lungs.

For a second, they were just floating in the middle of the water, lips connected, with the only sounds around being the muffled swishes of the water itself and the things swimming around in it. It really wasn't the time or place for it, but for some reason Ira felt happy.

He felt the warm air push a small bit of life back into him, with those friendly and soft lips touching his. He wouldn't let himself open his eyes--not now. He knew what was happening, and it made him excited yet terrified. If he acknowledged it now, what would become of him?

Gyarados pushed the two of them up to the surface with his tail and nudged them to shore, then watched with hopeful eyes for the body of his trainer to regain animation.

Elron deflated like a balloon and then drew in a huge, quick breath, then let it explode out again. He coughed several times, then regained composure. He was breathing.

Ira dropped the rebreather on the shore and hustled over to him. A feeling of relief brushed over her when she saw that he was okay. "Thank goodness you're alive!"

He sat up and opened his eyes. "Guess that was a stupid idea."

She jumped forward and hugged him, shaking him back and forth. "I thought you knew what you were doing! I thought you were going to die!"

"Calm down, I'm fine. I'll be fine."

She let go and sat a few feet away from him. The wind rolled over them, chilling them to an uncomfortable level. "D-do you remember what happened?"

"I'm afraid not," he lied. In truth, he definitely had, and was secretly thankful for that life saving bit of breath. He lied because he figured that it was too embarrassing for her right now, and didn't want things to get complicated between them so early on their journey.

"Oh, I see..." Maybe it's better that way. One thing was for sure to Ira at this point though; she had felt something when she saw Elron tugged away by the water. She wasn't quite sure what that feeling was, but she had an idea. It wasn't love by any stretch, but was the bud of such an emotion. She didn't want to acknowledge it at this moment though, because she thought that if she did then she would have only done what she had for selfish reasons.

They sat quietly on the rocks, reluctant to once again touch the waters to go to the other side where their clothes were.

"You look nice, by the way," Elron said, blushing slightly. What an embarrassing thing to say! "Just thought I'd tell you because it didn't look like you thought so earlier." Why am I digger myself a deeper hole?!

She turned bright red and reflexively curled up to conceal as much of herself as she could. "You're just saying that because you feel obligated."

"Nope, I mean it."

She grabbed the side of her body and pinched a little. "How could I? I have all this flab on me." She was a curvy girl, something that became obvious in her swimsuit, but she was making herself sound fat.

"'Flab?!' That's natural, and it looks good!"

"No it doesn't! Just look at all the girls like Elesa that are known for their beauty! They're so... So skinny."

"Elesa is a model, she has to be that way. Don't go comparing her to yourself. You look better than she ever will in a swimsuit." He laughed. "Especially when she has those ridiculous hairstyles of hers. What the heck do those turn into when they get wet anyways?!"

"...Thank you," she mumbled.

"Huh?" He could barely hear her.

"...Nothing."

"Really? Okay." He stood up. "Well, we probably shouldn't keep Granny waiting, now should we?"

She laughed. "No, I suppose not."

-----

Elron propped up a grill plate over the open fire. He felt like they needed a warm lunch after what had just happened, so he was going to grill some fish that he had just caught. It was a recipe that he had specially learned from his father.

Just out of earshot, Ira sat with her grandma explaining what had happened. Ira said everything in a quiet, unsure voice, and Granny nodded along compliantly.

"I see," the elder said. "So a lot happened in such a short amount of time, huh kiddo?"

She nodded. "It was too quick. I hardly knew what was happening."

"But you felt something, didn't you?"

"Yeah... Something."

"I felt a similar 'something' one day when I was with your grandpa."

Ira looked shocked. "You mean you knew him before you got together?"

"Of course! People don't just fall in love at first sight like those fairy tales. Let me tell you something, dear. What you're feeling now is natural, and no matter what happens, if it works out or not, you have to be confident in yourself. Stick stubbornly to the way your feeling, not just like this, but in any relationship. You won't get anywhere if you try and trick yourself or ignore how you yourself are feeling."

She let that sink in. Old people really did know what they were talking about, regardless of how much they pick on the younger generations. She knew that her grandma was trying to tell her the truth, and decided to take her message to heart. "Say, what was grandpa like?"

Granny laughed. "I had a lot of fun with that man. He was kind of like Elron, but even easier to push around."

***

A/N: Sorry it's late guys! I hope it was worth the wait :3 I actually had no idea what to do with this chapter until a few hours ago, but thank goodness the ideas started flowing when they did! The next several chapters will be pretty easy and are already somewhat planned, so don't worry about the next few chapter missing their deadlines :D