"Of course," Andy replied. "Many times. It would make understanding them so much easier." He made an amused sound. "I have to admit I'm envious of my nephew, who can understand perfectly what they say. He can understand Benny better than I can, and I've been with Benny longer than Michael has been alive. But I'm glad for him, his Cyndaquil was finally able to tell his life-story to Michael and how he ended up on Rhando. It made them a lot closer. It would be fantastic to chat with Benny," he paused and chuckled. "I'm not sure I'd like to understand Merlin. Now I can pretend he calls me awesome anytime he says something. That will be a long-running joke that will disappear, filling in what they say even though I know that's not what they're saying."

[i]"Heh, you'll love to hear what Merlin has to say about you,"[/i] Bear said.

"Of course I'm awesome, thanks for pointing that out."

Bear chuckled. [i]"I would miss hearing that kind of nonsense, but we all wondered sometimes what it would be like if humans could understand us and it would be easier. Andy wouldn't have to guess and we wouldn't have to play charades. Although Benny is really good at that. If we all fail, he usually finds a way to get the message across."[/i]

[hr]

Mabel opened her eyes and looked at Gavin. [i]"Your intentions with Mindy better be honourable,"[/i] she warned him. [i]"She's young, especially compared with you."[/i]

Michael turned to the Dragonite; he hadn't expected her to speak up like that. But she probably had wanted to wait until Mindy was gone.

[hr]

"I don't keep my Dragonite in a Pokéball either," Mindy said. "I caught her as a Dratini, but it turned out she's claustrophobic, so I let her swim freely. I spend a few months at the area I caught her and we trained a lot on the shore. She practised a lot in the water too, because she knew if she would get stronger she would get wings. When she evolved, that's when we continued our travel. That's also why it took us this long to get to Johto." She laughed a bit. "I've been away from Rhando for almost a year now. I hadn't seen Michael for that long, so it was a great surprise to run into him here."

As the walked and talked, she checked the shops in the street.