They'd been warned there was rain, but no Trainer would ever let a little something like rain stop them. No one wanted to tell their partner they could have met them earlier if it hadn't been wet outside. Brandy's clothes were still a mess, but thankfully Fenny had an old rain jacket they had given her when her human mom had grown out of it. It had some Wooloo fur lining around the collar, which Brandy would have enjoyed if she could have gotten near it. Calcine and Sparky were flanking her, each with their head on it as they hid under her umbrella. 

Maple had an umbrella all to herself, a rather clean-looking white raincoat that went right down to her ankles. Very practical and brand new from the looks of it! Some people had all the luck.  

"There is space under mine," Maple said, a smile on her lips creased at the edges as she tried not to laugh at the sight of three people trying to share one umbrella. 

"Yeah, but Brandy's cozy," Sparky said. "She warms up when she blushes."

Calcine is a little more practical, letting Brandy go, quickly jumping the gap between the two trainers, and ducking under Maple's Umbrella. She didn't enjoy getting wet, while Sparky seemed to relish the excuse to cuddle up. 

"Thanks, Maple," Calcine said, hovering as close to Maple as she could without touching, eying the rain suspiciously. "We haven't really gotten properly introduced."

"You told me about what you did to Brandy last night," Maple smirked. "I think that's getting to know pretty well."

There had been a mortifying amount of detail. Brandy wasn't embarrassed about sex, more how they talked about how it was with her! She was pretty sure sex was meant to be, well, sexy. Not something that made people laugh between a few gooey moments of genuine fondness. Clearly, she needed more practice or less terrible partners. 

"You want me to tell you what's coming up?" Brandy said, ducking her shoulder to make it easier for Sparky to lean against it. It was an uncomfortable way to walk, but the dopey smile on the Joltik's face made it worth it. "I got jumped my first time and barely made it."

"No," Maple shook her head, "I'd like my first impression to be genuine. I may have bitten off more than I could chew with Mercury, but it still felt good until it went wrong. I want to see them and just have it click. If you build the moment up, it can disappoint."

Smart. Brandy had done that more or less by accident, but it made sense. If you went in with impressions, you would have some disappointment about what you were told. It made her think of the plans for her last binding ball. "I'm hoping to talk about the third later today."

"Oh, ho?" Sparky said, looking up at Brandy, "You want to add another to the team? You can barely handle us." 

"No! I mean, not right away, but if we plan it out beforehand, I might resist capturing the first cute Pokémon I come across."

"Maybe," Calcine said, shaking her head. "I saw you looking at that Scorbunny in the Center. You couldn't resist a cute pair of bunny ears."

"Or a Pokémon that breathes," Sparky nodded.

"Or one that doesn't," Maple said. Her face lit up into a smile when Brandy gave her a look of betrayal. She was getting in on the teasing too! That was hardly fair. 

Turrfield was a distant speck now. They were back in the wilds, though the rain had made most sensible wild Pokémon go for cover. The only one they'd seen was a far-off speck of some flier. Brandy really wanted a flier, but they didn't have a way to get them to come down yet. Luring them was a real challenge; even if you succeeded, they were notoriously tricky to tame. Flying types were surprise, surprise, flighty. Fiercely independent and always eager to take off and do their own thing, to partner with one. You had to be more interesting than soaring through the air, and Brandy doubted she was that yet. Maple, maybe, but not her!

 

After walking for a while, Brandy tried to get some petty revenge, leaning the umbrella to the side so some rain swept onto Sparky. She got pounced for doing it, Sparky swinging off her neck as she tried to jump away from the spray, laughing madly as Brandy wobbled about on her feet. Calcine just shook her head at the antics and crept a little closer again to Maple, who pulled Calcine into a hug. 

"It's fine," Maple said. "You're hot. You can touch."

"I just, um, Brandy and all," Calcine said, though Brandy was more busy splashing Sparky with water than worrying about her. "Can I be honest?"

"Go right ahead. You seem the honest type."

"From the sounds of things, you and Brandy didn't get along at school. I don't want to dig up old wounds, but are you already past that?"

"Calcine!" Brandy said, straightening up as Sparky held onto her arm, nuzzling at the fur on her coat. "It's not a problem, really, old news."

Maple stopped, looking at Brandy thoughtfully. Calcine almost stumbles out into the rain before darting back under the canvas. 

"I admit I wasn't the most welcoming at school," Maple said, fidgeting with the umbrella's handle. "I know it's a bit late, but sorry about that. I was raised thinking I couldn't do any wrong and needed a harsh lesson."

"That's mature to admit," Calcine said, "Did you need to lose a Gym Battle to learn that?"

"Hey!" Brandy poked her tongue out at Calcine. The cheek. 

"You know what happened! I'm not going over it again." Maple said, a blush creeping up her neck. She squeezed Calcine's arm, hugging it. "You're a messy bunch, but it's nice. I'm way too used to order. I feel I should have noticed how stiff I was being."

It made Brandy curious about who Maple's Poké-mom was. She'd never actually seen them. Kind of like Fenny, they always seemed to be away at work. She knew it was something to do with fashion, but beyond that, she didn't know much. She really hadn't wanted to think about Maple any more than she had to while at school. Now she'd gotten past the smug outer layer. She really wasn't so bad. Kind of like Calcine. There was a lot under there if you could warm her up some. 

Hopefully, she'd like what she had planned. Because this could go pretty badly. 

---

"No way," Maple said, "I'll freeze my chest off."

"You gotta!" Brandy said, gesturing to the lake. "Water Pokémon won't come out to us. You gotta swim."

"It's raining, and it's freezing! This is a trick."

"Nah," Sparky said, "I know what she's planning; it makes sense. Totally your type."

It was nice for Sparky to back Brandy up without causing trouble. She'd have expected some teasing, at least about her awful idea. 

"You should probably take your clothes off first," Sparky said. "You won't want to put wet ones back on."

Oh, okay, never mind. There was the other motive. 

"Okay, I'm going to, out of respect for you coming all this way, do this," Maple said, giving Calcine her Umbrella before peeling up her shirt. "But if there's nothing in there, I'm allowed to drown Brandy."

"No," Calcine said, pulling the umbrella down for maximum coverage from the churning rain. "You're not." 

"Until she's sorry. Or dead. One of the two. Preferably both." 

"It'll be fine!" Brandy said, "I thought you were a badass. Getting cold is nothing. It's not even an Ice Type! We'll make a log layer and get a campfire going for you."

Calcine would not help while it was raining, and Sparky usually only helped when she felt it was a big sacrifice, so what Brandy meant was she'd do it. Which was fine. Camping was something she was good at. 

"And you're going to watch me?"

"Yeah!" Sparky nodded. "Want to see you crush it, you're going to do great. You look good, you act good, you're all good!"

"Thanks. I think" Maple snorted and shrugged her top off. 

It was a little annoying how Calcine and Sparky's breath caught as they saw her with nothing but a bra on. They didn't make that noise for her! 

"Wow, you are gifted. Your Poké-mom must be stacked." Sparky said. 

"Moms," Maple said quietly as she undid her belt. "They're a Falinks" 

"Oh damn," Calcine said, "That must be hard to get away with anything."

"They're usually quite busy." Maple smiled. "But very supportive. Maybe a bit too supportive now, I think on it." 

Brandy couldn't even really comprehend it. Falinks were pretty weird even for Pokémon, multiple bodies with one mind were pretty up there on the bizarre scale, and Fighting Types were really ambitious. She must have been pressed to excel from all directions growing up. You'd never get away with anything with that many moms. Or just two moms but multiple mom bodies? How would it even work? It sounded like a real headache. 

"She's probably just wanting the best for you!" Brandy said, trying to be charitable. "Uh, how do you inherit multiple bodies, though?"

"You don't! I was with you when we learned this, inheritance approximates. It isn't one-to-one. You pick up traits, not actual looks. Else we'd just be Pokémon by now." 

Maple had a good lecturing voice, enough to make people pay attention even though she was half-naked. Admonishing enough that Brandy felt a little guilty she'd not paid proper attention in school. It really would have made a lot of things easier. "Twins and Triples are more common, but it was just me! It's not a guarantee."

"I don't think I could handle multiple Maple's." 

"Darn right, you couldn't," Maple smirked as she kicked out of her expensive-looking jeans and neatly folded them up. Then dipped her feet in the water, still wearing her white underwear, looking back with a shiver at the others. 

"You sure there's a Pokémon in there?"

"Ninety Percent," Brandy nodded. "So I got a good chance of not drowning today!"

Maple narrowed her eyes at that, but she was trusting, it seems, or maybe just stubborn and stepped into the water. Her blonde hair fanned around her as she swam out, swearing colorfully about how cold it was. 

Brandy had to hope this worked. Because she would probably get murdered if nothing turned up.