"You have an interesting relationship with your Pokemon," Eira commented, watching him play cards with Sparky in hopes of distracting herself from worrying about Shimmer. Walrein looked at her in confusion, wondering how she thought Z's relationship with Sparky was any different that her relationship with him.
*No. Pway,* Grace demanded, pouting at Scorpio with large eyes. *No sweepy*
Scorpio chuckled and decided to continue to play with the little pokemon, tossing it up and down gently again. Scorpio really was a softie at heart, but he was perfectly fine with being one. Z chuckled, "my pokemon are my friends and companions, so I treat them like I would a normal person. That's part of the reason I can understand them so well. Our bond allows their feelings to be conveyed when we speak so we can overcome the language barrier."
Grace giggled happily at being tossed into the air, enjoying the height and the feeling of not touching anything for a brief time. No one else ever played with her like this and she really was enjoying it. *Hiyar!Hiyar!*
Eira nodded, understanding just what he meant by being close friends with his Pokemon. "For a very long time, Walrein was my only friend, so we are very close to each other now. We can't communicate like you and your Pokemon can though."
"It takes time," said z, "you have to really connect with you pokemon to be able to understand them. I grew up with Fraxure since he was Axew and I nursed Sparky back to health when I found her as a torchic, which is why she likes me so much. Alloy is psychic, so it's easer. Scorpio and I are still working on our bond because I only caught him recently."
Scorpio continued to toss Grace up and down, making sure that she didn't lose her stone or her lunch from all the fun.
"I didn't get Walrein until I was a teenager because my parents didn't approve of having Pokemon around," Eira murmured softly, not liking thinking back to her childhood where everyone else got to grow up with their parents' Pokemon and then get one of their own when they were ten but she couldn't. "And I haven't been around Shimmer or Meta for very long and Grace just hatched a little while ago, so I guess I haven't bonded with them enough."
Grace cooed happily as she was tossed, enjoying being played with.
"That's too bad," said Z, "I can't imagine how hard that must have been, seeing so many pokemon around you that you couldn't play with. But at least you have a team of great friends to travel with now, right? And it seems that Grace can communicate quite well despite being a youngling."
Scorpio continued to play with the baby pokemon so they could have as much fun as they could have before they had to go their separate ways again. He hoped she wouldn't take it too hard when that time came.
"I had friends that let me play with their Pokemon and Walrein would play with me when I would sneak out of the city," Eira told him, smiling as she pet Walrein and remembering all the times that she had played with him and his siblings. "I'm happy with my friends now and couldn't imagine my life without them. And Grace learns well from the others."
*Pway game,* Grace cheered to Scorpio, getting bored of being tossed and wanting to do something else.
"That's good," said Z, "it would be hard to live a life without pokemon, so I'm glad you got to play with them a bit." Z glanced over at where scorpio was playing with Grace, "the two of them seem quite close. almost as if they were family."
*what kind of game do you want to play* asked scorpio as he put grace down on his back so she could rest. (and so he could rest his claws as well from tossing her so much. HE was getting a bit tired.)
"What kind of Pokemon did you grow up with?" Eira asked as she glanced towards where Grace and Scorpio were playing. "Grace had always been good at getting other Pokemon to like her and she has no probably being close with larger, scarier Pokemon. It's quite strange that such a tiny and cute Pokemon loves being around the largest and scariest of Pokemon."
*Pee-a-boo,* Grace cheered, clapping her tiny hands and bouncing up and down on his back.
Scorpio smiled and put Grace down in front of him before covering his face with his claws. *Peeka-boo* he said as he uncovered his face and tried to make a funny, face. unfortunately it looked kind of weird due to his slightly scary facial features.
"It is a bit odd," said Z, "just about as odd as a scary drapion having a soft side for cute little pokemon while also having a fierce battle instinct and powerful abilities and a lot of spirit." Z chuckled, "he really likes grace."
Grace laughed happily at the face that he made at her and tried to cover her own eyes, but couldn't with her tiny arms. *Pee-a-boo! Pee-a-boo!*
"I'm glad that he does. While she is incredibly friendly, she is picky when it comes to those that she actually likes to play with," Eira said with a small sigh as she shook her head. "She doesn't seem to like other cute Pokemon like herself, just larger and scarier Pokemon."
"she'd probably like Fraxure when he evolves and Alloy," said Z, "they're big pokemon that are somewhat frightening in appearance." Z looked over at where the two pokemon were playing and took his next hand from Sparky, "I raise you ten."
"Blaze." *I call.* They put down their hands. Z had a straight flush and Sparky pouted.
Scorpio continued to play peekaboo with Grace and Allow walked over to see what was going on, the large steel type looking at the baby pokemon curiously.
"Possibly, that child has a mind of her own sometimes," Eira chuckled, smiling as she watched them play their card game. "What game are you playing? I've never seen that before."
Grace giggled each time Scorpio revealed himself to her until Alloy walked up to them. She stared at Alloy for a moment with a confused look on her face before she grinned cheerfully and clapped. *Pway wit us! Pway wit us!*
"We're playing poker," said Z, "specifically five card draw. Want to join in?"
Sparky gave Eira a look that said "Join and you'll lose all you money. he's good."
"We're not playing for money," Z reminded Sparky, "we're playing for pokemon treats."
Alloy gave Grace a curious look and lifted her into the air with his psychic powers, rocking her around so she felt like she was flying through the air. Scorpio chuckled as the little pokemon flew through the air like a flying type.
"I've never played before or have even heard of the game you are playing," Eira murmured in embarrassment, unsure of what exactly they were doing. "I didn't really play cards as a kid, so I never got to learn any of the games other kids knew."
Grace laughed happily as she flew through the air, enjoying this new Pokemon that decided to play with her. *Hiyer! Hiyer!*