There's always someone better (bonus chapter for 3,000 weekly recommendations)

"Mis."

Misdreavus suddenly picked up a smooth, rounded stone beside her and held it out. "Mis, mis."

"Quag?"

Quagsire took it, examined it, then shook its head and went back to acting cute in front of Dian.

It tossed the stone up, then fired a Water Gun, sending the round stone skipping across the water with three splashes.

Splash, splash...

"Quag, quag..."

Quagsire clapped happily, then turned to look at Dian again.

Dian pressed a hand to his forehead. Now he finally understood how Misty felt when dealing with her Psyduck.

And while this Quagsire was rather self-absorbed, at least it could understand human speech and what people meant. Even so, it was giving him a headache. He could only imagine how much trouble Misty's Psyduck caused her.

"No."

Dian shook his head firmly at Quagsire. "First of all, I'm not giving you my precious Pokémon's Poké Balls. Besides, your ritual should already be over."

"Quag?"

Quagsire tilted its head in response, then strolled leisurely to the river and jumped in. With a twist of its body, it vanished. Whether it had actually understood Dian was anyone's guess.

Dian shook his head as he watched the water gradually settle.

"Skip."

Skiploom ambled over to the river, then suddenly cried out, "Skip?!"

It wiggled the petals on its head, reached out a little hand to touch the water, then tilted its head in confusion. Its reflection tilted its head right along with it.

"Skip."

Skiploom studied its reflection, its two big ears twitching, as though it had only just discovered how much it had changed.

"Zub."

After finishing its meal, Zubat immediately went to the river for a drink. It hadn't been caught long ago and still retained its habits from the wild.

"Mis!"

Seeing Dian getting ready to pack up,