Illusion trudged through his apartment. A series of knocking sounds had interrupted him, leaving him aggravated and unsatisfied. He threw open his front door and hissed out a, "What?"

Illusion was greeted by a set of honey brown eyes, "Hey Illusion!" the eyes chirped, "You busy?"

Illusion narrowed his eyes, "I was..."

"So...you aren't anymore?"

Illusion leaned in the doorway, "Shouldn't you be...digging up rocks?"

The blonde in the doorway raised an eyebrow, "First of all- not my department. Second- It's five O' clock. Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Something more important came up."

"Like?"

"Sex."

The honey brown eyes suddenly seemed to see Illusion- messy hair, sweaty, and thrown together. The girl blushed, "O-Oh...I can come back-"

Illusion stepped aside and gestured for the girl to come inside, "Nah c'mon in. I can't imagine you'd come to me for something if you weren't desperate."

The blonde gave Illusion a grateful smile and scurried inside. She watched Illusion shut the door and sit on his couch.

"Sit." Illusion commanded.

"Is it...clean?" The girl asked.

Illusion rolled his eyes, "I assure you, the real nasty stuff stays in the bedroom."

Silence.

"That was a very vague answer..."

"Oh just sit down!"

The blonde sat on the edge of the couch cushions, not really wanting to touch anything in Illusion's apartment.

"Wait..." the blonde whispered, "Do you have a girl over?"

"Yeah." Illusion confirmed.

"Oh...sorry..."

"That's okay," Illusion said, shrugging, "She's not alone in there."

"Two girls?"

Illusion smirked, "Three, actually."

The blonde's eyes widened, "Did something traumatic happen to you? Why are you filling the void with meaningless sex?"

Illusion scowled, "What do you want, Ellie?"

Ellie nervously wiped her hands on her skirt, "So, earlier this week I pitched an expedition to my boss-"

Illusion groaned and leaned back in his seat dramatically, "Bored!"

"Will you just listen?" Ellie sighed, "What is it with men...you don't listen!"

"Hey that's not fair," Illusion defended, "I listen when I actually care about the things people say."

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Look," she said, "I pitched an expedition but my boss said no. Just for the hell of it! I have a feeling she's hiding something. So I thought I'd put together my own expedition!"

"Uh huh..." Illusion said, fiddling with the strings on his hoodie, "And what does this have to do with me?"

Ellie bit her lip, "Well...the area I want to go to is on Victory Road. There's loads of strong Pokémon there and I'd need a strong trainer."

"Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not a 'strong trainer'. Try Gray." He grumbled.

"Gray's coming," Ellie confirmed, "And as much as I appreciate him, I thought maybe having someone who can communicate with Pokémon would be useful!"

"You wanna use me?" Illusion asked, smirking a bit

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Don't be gross. I need Gray to remove obstacles and maybe fight off other Pokémon. But I'm hoping if you come there won't have to be any fights."

Illusion ran a hand through his messy green hair, "Well I hate to put a damper on your plans, but I would really rather not go."

"Please, Illusion!" Ellie begged.

"Why don't you ask my father? I'm sure he'd love to help!"

"I'm not asking your father, I'm asking you because I think you'd be better at it."

Illusion blushed. No one had ever said that before...He was usually people's fourth choice after his father, mother, and little brother. He almost felt inclined to accept. Almost.

Ellie sighed, "Think about it at least, yeah? Your brother and I are meeting at the Pokémon Center on Thursday to go."

Ellie stood up and exited the apartment. Illusion sighed and stood up. As he walked back to his bedroom, a million thoughts raced through his head.

Should he go? He didn't even know what they were looking for. Maybe he should start listening when Ellie talks about her job. Should he have been nicer to her? No, she came at him first...at least today she did. Just because he likes sex doesn't mean he had trauma! Even if sex makes him forget about things for a little while. It could be worse! He could be an alcoholic! Like his mom! Okay well she's not an alcoholic...but apparently she came very close when she was around Juniper's age.

As Illusion opened his bedroom door, he was greeted by three women getting dressed.

"Jeez welcome back..." One of them grumbled.

Illusion pinched the bridge of his nose, "Shit...sorry."

"That's okay," Another girl said, "We finished without you."

Illusion held open his bedroom door and made a "get out" gesture, "Cool. Bye bye."

All three girls finished getting dress and headed out the door. Illusion scrunched up his nose and took all of the sheets and pillows off his bed. He put them into his laundry basket and collapsed on his bare bed. He heard the front door close and released a sigh of relief.

After a few minutes of just laying around, he got up and brought his laundry down the the building's laundry room. He tossed the dirty laundry in the washing machine and headed back upstairs to his home.

"What are you doing here?" Illusion asked, addressing the girl on his couch.

"What? Can't come drop in?" The girl asked.

"Drop the illusion. It's weird."

"I think I'll keep it up," She said, playing with her dark gray and red hair, "I like it..."

"Whatever." Illusion mouthed.

"How was your foursome?"

"Why do you care, Zorua?" Illusion asked, sitting next to the girl.

Zorua blushed and stuck her nose in the air, "W-Why do you always think I have some kind of ulterior motive? I'm just making human conversation!"

Illusion chuckled, "Sorry, Z."

Zorua dropped her illusion and became her usual tiny fluffy self once again. She climbed into Illusion's lap and demanded pets. Illusion happily obliged, listening to the fox Pokémon purr. He sat there stroking her soft fur until it was time to switch his laundry.

Illusion and Zorua made the journey together, Zorua jumping onto a running washing machine and watching as Illusion put the wet cloth in the dryer. They decided they were too lazy to walk back upstairs, so they chose to fuck around in the laundry room.

"Bet you won't drink the laundry detergent." Illusion said.

Zorua glared at Illusion and attempted to unscrew the detergent lid with her tiny red paws. Realizing she'd actually do it, Illusion snatched the bottle from her.

Zorua put up her human illusion and dangled herself over the edge to watch someone's clothes spin around. She got dizzy and queasy and almost fell off the machine. As Illusion laughed at her, one of his neighbors walked in.

Illusion and his neighbor gave each other a nod of acknowledgement. His neighbor noticed Zorua on the washing machine and raised an eyebrow. Illusion pulled on Zorua's ear and her illusion dropped. The neighbor mouthed an, "Oh" and began doing his laundry.

"That hurt, asshole!" Zorua complained.

"Shh!" Illusion shushed.

"Oh it's not like he understands me!" Zorua said, turning to face the man, "Fuck! Shit! Bitch!"

The man smiled, "Aww...so cute!"

"See?" She smirked.

Finally, Illusion's dryer went off. He put his laundry in his laundry basket and Zorua jumped straight into the warm sheets and blankets. She snuggled in as Illusion made the trek back to his apartment.

By the time he made it back, Illusion noticed Zorua was asleep. He smiled down at her and placed the basket on the floor. He collapsed on his couch and closed his eyes, deciding on a nap.

Zorua awoke to darkness. She yawned and stretched, jumping out of the basket. She padded across the hardwood floor, finding Illusion sleeping on the couch. She jumped onto his chest and sniffed his face. She licked his cheek, laying down on his chest and going back to sleep.