I groaned as I felt the harsh rays of sunlight hit my eyes. It was far too early to get up and deal with the day. My body felt heavy, and I ached. A dull pounding behind my eyes made itself known as I slowly came back to reality.

The fuck did I do last night?

...Right, dumb question. I groaned before opening my eyes, bringing my hand up to shield myself from the sun. That damn light wasn’t doing my headache any favors. At all.

I moved to sit up and frowned as something held me in place. I glanced down and smiled at the arms wrapped around my waist.

“Hmm... five more minutes.” May groaned before rolling around, away from me.

The sudden lack of my own personal space heater made me realize it was freezing in here. I jumped up out of bed and immediately tripped over a wadded-up blanket on the ground.

Who the fuck did that?

“Wha...” May slowly rose up from the bed before looking down at my prone form. “Lea!” She hopped out of bed and started looking me over.

“Morning, May.” I grinned at her as I slowly pulled myself up from the ice-cold floor. “So, I know this place is a ‘tropical paradise’ and all that, but do you think they have a thermostat I can crank up? I’m freezing.” My voice came out raspy, and I noticed a bit of a dull ache in my cheek as I talked.

May leaned back from me, her eyes wide. She quickly grabbed the blanket and pulled me close, before wrapping us both in it. “Better?”

“May, this cover’s cold,” I complained.

May giggled at me. “Just give it a minute and take time to enjoy your space heater.” She smiled at me before looking away. “So, uh... how do you feel?”

I winced. Getting right to it, huh? “I have a headache, and my joints ache. Outside of that” I shrugged. “I don’t feel any different.”

I felt May relax against me. I hadn’t even realized she was tense.

“Good. That’s good. How much do you remember?” May glanced at me shyly. “You were really out of it last night.”

“I did things after that horror show?” I looked over at May with widened eyes.

May nodded but didn’t respond further.

I sighed. “I was in my mindscape with Emilie, when I felt a... pressure. A weight bearing down on me. It was” Unnatural. Dark. Wrong. “Suffocating. Emilie told me some stuff, and after that. I turned around and saw... something.” Still don’t know what that was. “I blacked out after that.”

May sighed. “So, you don’t really remember” May paused and looked me up and down. “Anything, that you did out here?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Noooo? Should I?”

“Nope.” May shook her head so fast I was worried it was going to fall off. “Not a thing.”

Tauros shit. I groaned before rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Where’s Emilie stashed herself away at, anyway? She’s usually out cold way longer than us.” Lazy brat.

“I... She thought it would be prudent to hang out in her ball last night. Just to be on the safe side. You” May looked up to the ceiling and thought for a second. Like she couldn’t figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say. “Didn’t react well to her last night.”

Fuck. I reached out to the nightstand and grabbed the lone white poke ball. I hovered my thumb over the release button, and hesitated.

Why the fuck was I hesitating, this was Emilie.

My heart rate picked up a bit before I bit back a growl. I squared my shoulders and opened the ball. Emilie’s still sleeping form manifested in the middle of our bed.

Why does she always claim the middle? She’s not even conscious right now. Her body just formed there on its own!

I reached my hand over and poked my starter in the head a few times, hopeful she wouldn’t need too much prodding to get up for once. I smiled as she unconsciously swiped at my hand.

“Don’t wanna...” Emilie complained.

I giggled a bit before leaning back as Emilie’s eyes snapped open wide. She stared at me, her eyes running up and down my form, like I was mythical being transported to this earth to bless it with sacred baked goods.

“Uh...” I trailed off nervously, slightly freaked out by her gaze. “Hey?”

Emilie remained silent for a few seconds, before snapping out of her gaze as May coughed a few times into her fist. “Right, uh... hey.”

Legends above, that’s not awkward at all.

“Alright, I’m stopping this right now. I’m fine. I’m not running for the hills from my bestie. Would you stop being weird and-”

Emilie disappeared and my heart dropped to my stomach. A familiar weight reformed on my tense shoulders and a pair of arms wrapped around the side of my head. My body relaxed slowly as I lifted my arm up and tried to pull my starter off my skull.

“Oh, thank you. I was so worried this was going to be ass and I was going to have to live in that thing! Ugh, it’s so boring.” Emilie steadfastly held onto my forehead.

“Emilie, let go. I can’t see,” I complained.

Emilie ignored me. “I’m so happy you’re not scared of me. Last night sucked so bad.” The errant sniffle sounded through the room. “You kept freaking out when you looked at me. I hated it so much...”

I stopped trying to pull her off. “I... Emilie.”

The sniffling got worse, and I felt my hair get wet.

“I’m not going anywhere, alright?” I patted her awkwardly on the back. “I think I’m brave enough to tough out hanging out with the coolest Ralts from Route 110, so quit the waterworks, yeah?”

Emilie finally pulled back from my head, and I was able to turn and look at her. Her hands blocked most of her face as she wiped her eyes, and she kept opening and closing her mouth. I at least took solace in the fact that a grin was slowly pulling up at her lips. A tissue box entered my vision and I turned to see May offering it to my starter.

“These work better than hands.” May smiled kindly.

Emilie ripped a tissue from the box that was probably about as big as she was before blowing her no-

Wait.

“You have a nose?” I asked, my head tilted to the side.

Emilie’s crying stopped almost instantly as her face shifted in color from white to red. “Shut up!”

I winced back from the volume, fuck that was right in my ear.

Emilie started pounding on the top of my head with her little fists. “You are the worst, most embarrassing human being on the face of the planet. How the hell is THAT a question you would think appropriate to ask in this situation!? Why?”

“May, a little help here?” I looked at my girlfriend pleadingly as Emilie continued to smack my head. The hits lacked any kind of weight, but my hair was getting more and more fucked up by the minute. “Please.”

May just smiled widely at me with her eyes closed. “I think you’ve got this.”

I groaned as I walked to the bathroom, resigning myself to my bad hair day as Emilie wholesale devolved into yelling random gibberish with each strike.

----------------------------------------

“Stop ignoring me, you deserved it.” May glared at me as we walked to breakfast.

I ignored her. The damn traitor. “I’m sorry I was insensitive, Emilie.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m used to it.” Emilie looked away from me with a pout, her legs crossed in front of her on her usual spot. “My trainer’s a massive dork. I forgot about that for a minute.”

“I don’t know if I would go that far,” I muttered.

“I would,” May said.

I continued to ignore her as we crossed the threshold into the cafeteria. Ah, Wally beat us-

I froze. My eyes locked on to the waist-height psychic on Wally’s right, happily munching away on a muffin.

It’s just Gawain, Lea. It’s just Gawain.

“You okay?” Emilie asked.

I shook my head before turning and meeting her worried eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not, and that’s fine.” Emilie smiled at me.

“To be completely honest, I was surprised you handled Emilie as well as you did, all things considered.” May hopped in front of me, blocking my view of the table across the dining hall.

“I don’t know what-”

“I saw you tense when she teleported.” May cut me off. “I know you don’t want Emilie to know, but it’s better if we’re open about stuff. Only way we can work through it is if we talk about why something freaks you out.”

Emilie nodded. “You were still tense when I landed.” Emilie looked away. “I just assumed you didn’t like the teleport when you relaxed.”

“It wasn’t...” Why did I tense? The teleport itself didn’t bother me, but... “I think I was more freaked out that I didn’t know where you were.” I looked away. “I couldn’t feel the pull you usually do when you teleport.”

“So, the teleport itself wasn’t an issue?” Emilie asked. “Huh, I just figured, psychic did psychic thing so bad.”

I tilted my head at how she said that. “Are you-”

“I just structured that in a way that was easily digestible for you. Your brain likes to think in caveman sometimes.” Emilie smiled down at me.

“Rude, and uncalled for.” I sniffed before looking at May. “You see what I deal with?”

“Your own kind. What is it that bothers you about Gawain? Is it the fact that he’s a more powerful psychic?” May asked.

Emilie turned her head and narrowed her eyes at May. A dull thrum of power emanated off her in waves.

A bead of sweat trailed down the side of May’s head. “Relatively speaking, of course. I was just thinking about the evolution-”

The energy became tangible as the aura enveloping Emilie started to warp the area around her.

I bonked her on the head. “Be nice to my girlfriend, or I’m hiding all your favorite snacks.”

Emilie rubbed her head and glared at me, before shrinking back at the threat. “Yes ma’am.”

I smiled before realizing something. “Okay, if that didn’t scare the shit out of me, then Gawain’s general existence should be fine.”

May moved out of the way so I could see Wally and his Pokémon staring at me from across the room. Beautifly whipped up a whirlwind in my stomach as I started considering the merits of eating breakfast in my room. “Why the fuck is the goofball freaking me out? Emilie just threatened you with a category five psychic bitch hurricane and I was fine. Gawain wouldn’t hurt a fly as long as it didn’t try to fuck with Wally.”

Emilie pouted. “Everyone’s being mean to me today.”

May looked at the table before looking back at me. “Do you want to go back to the room?”

“No,” I replied. “I... need to push through this. I’m not just going to... ignore Wally and his team for the rest of our journey.”

“But Leaaaaaa.” Emilie looked up at me with big pleading eyes.

“No.” I bumped Emilie in the forehead again. “Bad.” I sighed again before looking back across the room. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and marched towards the table with shaky legs and chittering teeth.

Why the fuck was it getting even colder!? Fuck this stupid island.

“Hey,” Wally waved as I got closer to the table. “What’s up? You and May were at the entrance for a while.”

“Nothing.” The word left in a clipped whisper as my eyes remained glued to the smiling psychic next to Wally. Fuck you, brain. I will not be irrationally afraid of my own friends!

“Kirlia. Kir, Kirl lia.” Gawain smiled at me, his eyes crinkled as he waved.

I swallowed down my nerves and waved back, before resting my head in my hands. Right. Emilie can’t really translate for me if my mind’s locked behind a massive, fuck you barrier, can she? Maybe...

No.

Dread pooled up from my stomach and an all too familiar feeling started to take hold of me. My arms tensed as I clenched my jaw. Shadows creeped into the corners of my vision, just out of sight, but there. Always there. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t-

Stolen novel; please report.

Stop.

The world around me came back into focus and I lifted my head up. I leaned back in shock.

Everyone was looking at me.

“Okay, uh... not nothing. Sorry.” I muttered the apology as I looked away, blood making itself known in my cheeks as my face felt hot.

Emilie patted my hair. “We removed Lea’s fear block, and we’ve kind of noticed a few issues.” She turned and stared at me worriedly. “The fuck caused that.”

“I uh, I noticed you couldn’t translate for me and tried to bring down the stupid wall in my head.” I shivered. “Bad idea. Brain didn’t like it. Not trying that again anytime soon.”

Gawain popped up next to me, before patting me on the back. “Kirlia.” He held his hand out in front of him in a fist. “Kir Kir kirlia.”

One good thing that came from that, the earlier unease I felt from Gawain was a drop in the fucking bucket compared to that. “Thanks, Gawain. I’m going to assume that was a pep talk. Sorry I was weird before.”

Gawain frowned at me before raising his hand in a thumbs up. I looked over to my shoulder and saw Emilie shifting her view from person to Pokémon.

Great, I’m the only one out of the loop, now. Wonderful.

“Not fun, huh?” May asked from her spot next to me.

I turned and glanced at her. “Huh?”

She winced. “Nothing, sorry. Uh, ignore me.” May made it a point to not meet my eyes. “Forget I said anything.”

“Azumaril.” Gwen poked her head up close to me, her face inches away from mine as she looked at me. “Azu azumaril.”

“Pine...” Ogier sighed. He glared at the intrusive water mouse before firing a string shot at her and pulling her away from me.

“Azu...” Gwen whined, before turning and glaring at the small bug type.

“Masq.” Nimue whacked Gwen on the back of her head.

“A little help here?” I asked, looking up at my starter.

“Huh? What do you- oh, right. Sorry.” Flecks of red dusted Emilie’s cheeks. “I was doing what I usually do. Guess those thoughts just go into the void right now, huh?”

“I don’t like that you’re referring to my head as a void,” I complained.

Emilie just smiled at me, and I felt a vein pulse on my forehead.

“Emilie.” I waved impatiently towards the gaggle of idiots around Wally.

“Right! Gwen was curious about what happened to your head.” Emilie scrunched her nose up. “She was really rude about it, too. Ogier told her off for it, and when Gwen turned to yell at the little guy, Nimue whacked her upside the head.”

“Right...” And most of that was paraphrased, wasn’t it. Ugh.

Sergei popped into view, and an image of a Wingull saluting popped up on screen. “Reporting for duty, sir!”

“At ease.” I grinned down at the ghost before glancing at May.

“I’m not taking no for an answer this time, you need him way more than me right now.” May got up from her seat and made for the cafeteria line. “I’m going to grab us breakfast, do you want your usual?”

“Yes, please.” I smiled at her before turning my attention back to the spectral smartphone. Guess I was going to be doing a lot of reading over the next few days.

Please just be a few days.

“So, tomorrow’s the big day.” Wally cut through the conversation with a rasp. “You think you’ll be good to go.”

I winced, before looking back up at Emilie. “Well, my usual tactics with Emilie all just got shot to hell and back.” I sighed. “Definitely going to spend most of the day trying to work through that. Lucas is... actually coming along really nicely, and Apollo and Joern are-”

“Apollo and Joern.” Wally supplied, before stabbing what was left of his breakfast. He lifted the fork to his face. The lower part of his mask retracted on its own, and Wally shoved his breakfast into his mouth. “Fair enough. Not like you aren’t heavily advantaged in this. Two out of three mons brutalize this gym type wise, and one is immune to all of Brawly’s best attacks.”

I winced as Roxanne’s Lileep came to mind. “Types aren’t everything.”

Wally’s mask automatically reformed as he lowered his fork. “Fair. Guess I’m the only one who didn’t get the advanced badge treatment back in Rustboro. Still though, I think you’ve got this.”

I smiled before staring at his mask. “What exactly is it that your uncle does? That mask is an incredible invention, considering he only had, what, a week to get it made?”

Wally’s eyes crinkled a bit. “Little less, actually. Man’s a genius inventor. He used to show me all kinds of cool stuff when I was a kid. He’s a researcher under one of the Elite Four now, so that job keeps him fairly busy.” Wally looked down at his plate. “He made time for me, though. He’s always made it a point to make time for family.”

My eyes lit up as I smiled at my friend. “Sounds like a pretty awesome dude. I’m glad you’ve got someone like that.”

“Yeah.” The smile on Wally’s face could be heard. “He’s great. That entire week was a blast. Even though I wanted to spend it with you guys, I’m glad I got to hang out with him. I don’t get to do that enough.”

“Good, now then...” I leaned forward. “You can’t just dangle that your uncle works for a member of the Elite four without telling me who it is.”

Wally just stared at me, not saying a word.

“Come onnnnn, tell me. Is it Glacia? No, wait Sidney. A dark type specialist sounds like the type to have his own researchers!” I slapped my hands together.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wally glared up at me.

“Kirlia!” Gawain agreed.

“Not Sidney, then. Hmm... Phoebe and Drake don’t strike me as sciencey types so that just leaves Glacia. Is your uncle trying to help her figure out how to go below absolute zero?” I asked.

Wally tilted his head at me. “Uh, Lea, your elite four knowledge is a bit dated. Drake retired last year.”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah, it was announced at last year’s conference. Drake didn’t want to deal with Wallace anymore, apparently. Can’t really blame him on that one...” Wally sighed before grinning back at me. “You didn’t see? You always watch the conferences.”

“I was busy with bakery stuff when the last conference happened.” The fact that I would have been out there on that arena if I had left when I was supposed to didn’t really make me happy to watch the damn thing, either. Wally didn’t need to hear that, though.

“Right, well, the new guy’s a fire specialist. First time we’ve had a gym leader and an elite four member with the same type specialty,” Wally said.

“Well then, Mr. Nerd. Since you know so much about him, I’m willing to be that he’s your uncle’s boss.” I smiled knowingly at my green haired friend.

Wally winced.

“Come on, just tell me his name. I’ll just look it up on Sergei now if you don’t, but having a name would make it way easier.” I waved Sergei around to prove my point and giggled as a Munchlax popped up on the screen looking a bit green in the cheeks.

Wally sighed. “Fine, ugh. It’s not like it’s a big secret, calm down.”

I pointedly ignored him as I leaned forward.

“The new member of the elite four, and my uncle’s boss, goes by the name of Maxie.

----------------------------------------

I stared back out across the beach behind the center and sighed, my coat pulling down at my shoulders as I took in the sandy shores. I was happy I managed to get Wally and May to join Wayne and Jasmine for a day of sightseeing. I really wanted this to be private. I sucked in a deep breath and grabbed my poke balls. “Alright everyone. Here’s hoping this isn’t ass.”

Three flashes of light filled the area, and the temperature dropped a bit more as Lucas took center stage directly in front of me. Apollo flew in and landed on my shoulder, and Joern grinned up at me just a few feet away.

“Hon Honedge.” Lucas floated up higher and got closer. “Honedge.”

Emilie groaned from my shoulder. “Please stop.”

I grinned, happy to have avoided the pun for once.

“Wingull. Wing?” Apollo leaned in closer as I pulled up Sergei. “Ahoy, cap. Everything alright upstairs?”

“Not... really, Apollo.” I groaned as I let myself fall into a cross-legged seat on the sand. “Though I’m handling things better than I thought I would.” I turned and grinned at my ghost sword. “I was actually a bit worried Lucas was going to be a bit of an issue, but I suppose you’re too much of a goofball for that.”

“Honedge!” Lucas grinned as he bobbed up and down in the air.

“Don’t get too excited, that means I don’t have to work on being around you too much, and you get to go train with Apollo more. Your Aerial Ace still needs some work.” My grin caused Lucas to back away slowly from the group. Suppose this was a bit of revenge for all the sword puns and badly sung musical numbers.

“Gull.” Apollo’s grin matched mine.

I didn’t need Sergei to understand that one. “Get to work, you two. I expect the swabbie to be shipshape by the end of the day.”

Apollo saluted before taking off across open water. Lucas sighed, glared at me, and followed.

“Lom.” Joern raised his hand. “Lombre.”

Didn’t need Sergei for that, either. “You’re going to be with me. You’ll actually have the very important job of watching me while I do this.” I turned to Emilie and smiled at her. “I need to get rid of the barrier around my head.”

“What?” Emilie stared at me with wide eyes. “Lea, our gym battle’s tomorrow, we aren’t-”

“I don’t care about the stupid gym battle.” I yelled, before wincing. “Sorry, I...” I sighed before looking away. “I want to push through this as fast as possible. I... want you back in my head. I want to hear Lucas’s shit jokes and Apollo’s pirate banter. I want to listen to Joern’s sarcastic comments and your mental bickering with Suzy. This.” I pointed to my own head. “Fucking sucks.”

Emilie opened her mouth, closed it, and looked away. “I know it does, but... we’re not going to be able to work through this in a day.”

“So, we work our asses off at it every day till I'm normal again. It hasn’t even been a full day yet, and I hate not being able to understand everyone.” I sighed. “I understand why May was so happy, now, when I finally started learning how to push thoughts. Hearing everyone is so much better than reading it on a tiny little touch screen.” I grinned down at Sergei. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Sergei messaged. “Though my touch screen is one of the biggest on offer, so watch yourself.”

I chuckled. “Fair. Regardless, though... what can we do to push through this? You guys are like family, I want to listen to what you have to say, got it?”

Emilie kept her mouth shut for a bit before nodding. “In that case, I guess we’ll just have to get started by taking stock of how bad the reaction really is when you try to remove it. What did you feel in the cafeteria?”

I smiled down at Emilie. “It was the same feeling I felt when you first appeared in my mindscape last night. I was petrified, and I could barely think straight. It was... horrifying.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.” Emilie smiled at me. “I think I realize now that your trauma isn’t really tied to my type, it’s tied to feeling helpless and vulnerable. My type’s just... better at making you feel those things. Unfortunately.”

“Great, so I need to feel secure in my own head without the psychic barrier,” I said. “Only way to do that is to meditate and take stock of my head.”

That same feeling of dread froze me in place, and I gasped as the whole beach seemed to expand around me. I gulped as the world started to spin, and a sense of nausea overtook me. I bit back our breakfast before collapsing into the sand.

“Lea!” Emilie shouted, before running over. “What the hell was that?”

“I, uh... meditation might be hard,” I muttered before pushing myself up from the sand. “Great, I’m too scared to go back into my own head.”

“These aren’t... normal fear responses, Lea,” Emilie muttered.

“I know. I, it doesn’t really make sense. I’ve been afraid before. I dealt with it. Fuck, I dealt with it this morning with Gawain, and I still have no clue why I was worried about him in the first place.” I swallowed. “This is something else.”

Emilie sighed. “Oddly enough, this is something I know more about.”

“Can’t imagine why someone who learned about human psychology from a Mr. Mime would know more about why I’m being a whiny crybaby right now,” I said.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” Emilie’s eyes narrowed as she glared at me. “Considering all the Tauros Shit you went through, you being a mostly functional human being is incredible.”

I winced. “Sorry.”

“Lombre.” Joern raised his hand and pointed at Sergei. “So, if most of our issues get worked through by Lea meditating and working through her issues, how do we do that if she’s scared of meditating.”

“Good question, do you have an answer for us, oh great and wise therapist?” I asked cheekily.

“Uhhh...” Emilie kept shifting her gaze between me and Joern. “Why are you scared to meditate, let’s start with that.”

“The giant black death cloud thing that almost made me piss myself the last time I was in there,” I deadpanned. “Why do you think?”

“Don’t have to bite my head off about it,” Emilie muttered.

I winced. “Sorry, I’m a little on edge.”

“I know, I know. The upside, is that whatever the fuck that thing was, isn’t in your head anymore. I saw the black cloud explode before I got the boot.” Emilie smiled at me.

“I, uh... are you sure it’s gone?” I asked, my voice sounding shaky. “Really sure?”

Emilie opened her mouth, and the words died in her throat. It sounded like air was being let out of a balloon.

“Thought so,” I said.

“If there is something left, it’s a lot less of an eldritch abomination than it was before.” Emilie took a deep breath before looking me in the eye. “It’s your mind. You run the show. Even if there is something left, kick it’s ass and tell it to sit in the corner.”

I stood perfectly still, my eyes locked to Emilie’s.

“This will be what we work on today, then. Making you comfortable enough to meditate without freaking out.” Emilie nodded once. “Think you’re feeling up to it? Me and Joern can help you deal with the aftereffects, but...”

“I’ll do it.” I cut her off before she could make me doubt myself. I took a deep breath through my nose, exhaled through my mouth, and closed my eyes.

My hands instantly started to shake.

This was going to be a long day.

----------------------------------------

I dragged myself into the center with heavy eyes and a drooping head. My coat was doing fuck all to deal with the cold now that the sun had fully gone down. If it wasn’t for my own personal stash of chocolate peanut butter cookies, I’d probably be a passed out husk in the sand. As it was, this sofa was calling my name.

“Lombre.” Joern patted me on the leg as soon as I turned around and crashed. “Lombre lom.”

“Yeah, yeah. I did good, right?” I asked, my voice raspy and drained.

Lombre leaned back with wide eyes.

“You’re very expressive, Joern. It makes it easy to at least figure out what the gist of what you’re saying is.” I smiled at the grass type. “Especially since you usually don’t say much.”

“Lombre.” Joern huffed and looked away.

“That’s not a bad thing, Joern. Especially right now.” I smiled before pulling him into a sideways hug.

“He’s right, though. I think you might be able to swing a meditation session by tomorrow night. Assuming the gym battle goes well.” Emilie smiled at me from her new spot on the table. It looked strained. “I still think we should have at least worked a bit more on how we’re going to communicate during the battle. I-”

“You took down your evolution with minimal input from me. We’ll be fine,” I said. “Do you really think I’ll be able to stay calm enough by tomorrow? I had so many episodes down there. Only reason I think I was able to stay calm was how tired I am.”

Emilie disappeared and reformed on my shoulder. “You don’t give yourself anywhere close to enough credit.” She patted my hair. She was doing that a lot today. “Thank you for this.”

“You guys are worth it, so cut it with the thanks crap.” I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes. “I miss your running commentary on my thought process so much. It annoyed the shit out of me before, but now I miss the fuck out of it.”

The sound of a sliding door pulled me from my daze, and I lifted my head to see the full squad slowly make their way in.

In full winter apparel.

“Guys, it’s cold, but it’s not THAT cold.” I smiled at May’s scowling form. “How was sightseeing?”

“Short. Nobody in this town knows how to deal with the cold. Half the shopkeepers were freaking out,” Jasmine complained before claiming the spot in front of me. “There was someone in front of the gym handing these out, and I just jumped at the chance. I didn’t think I’d need to pack winter coats for this trip.”

“I’m from Alola, originally. I’m not used to dealing with weather like this,” Wayne said, before sitting down next to Jasmine and pulling her closer.

“How’d your training go?” Wally asked.

Gawain peeked his head out from behind Wally, and I grinned.

“You’re alright, Gawain. I’m dealing a bit better than I was.” I groaned before sitting up. “Granted, I also feel tired as fuck, but I think I’m handling things better. I’m at least getting better at pushing through my panic moments and staying coherent.”

“Good.” May plopped down next to me. “I think.”

“Kirlia!” Gawain knelt before me once before bouncing back to Wally.

“Idiot.” Emilie muttered softly.

‘How very Tsun of you,’ I mentally pushed.

She didn’t respond and I felt like crying. Of course she didn’t respond, you idiot. I sighed before pushing myself up off the couch. May grabbed my hand and looked up at me with a frown.

“I know we haven’t hung out a ton today, but I’m exhausted.” I sighed. “Do you mind if I just turn in early? We’ll be together all-”

“Get some rest.” May cut me off with a smile. “I’ll join you soon. We have to get up decently early for our matches.” Her eyes cut across the room to Wally. “Since SOMEBODY had to take the nine slot.”

“It was open?” Wally chuckled lightly.

“There’s a reason it was open, no one wants to get up that early, you prick,” May said.

“Oi, I have to get up that early all the time with Gawain.” Wally grabbed the psychic type’s head as he finished. “This little knight in training rises with the goddamn sun. It’s about time I made you stupid night owls deal with the same crap I have to.”

“Kirlia,” Gawain complained.

“Great.” I gave May’s hand a squeeze before grabbing Joern’s poke ball and returning him. I looked up at Emilie. “I’m leaving you guys with Nurse Joy tonight, okay? I want everyone to be ready to go first thing in the morning.”

Emilie nodded once, before levitating the balls from my waist. “I’ll take care of that if you want.”

I looked my starter up and down before smiling. “Thanks.” I waved to everyone as Emilie disappeared, and slowly made my way to my bedroom.

Fuck, why the hell was I so jittery about tomorrow. This was a gym battle. No life or death stakes. No crisis needed to be averted. Nothing.

Why was I so nervous? I didn’t feel like this before Roxanne.

I couldn’t feel like this before Roxanne. Fuck. I spent the entire night seething over getting saddled with a fucking gym trainers. A shiver ran through my whole body as I pushed into our bedroom. Fuck, the entire room still looked like a jumbled up mess. Whatever, I didn’t care.

I crashed into the bed and passed out almost instantly.

----------------------------------------

I woke up the following morning to the sound of water hitting the shower floor. Dammit all, May actually made it into the bathroom before me. It was already fucking cold, I didn’t want to deal with not having no hot water while I washed up.

Blankets weighed me down as I slowly started to pull myself out of bed. I sent a mental call out to Emilie before wincing.

Right.

Psychically handicapped at the moment.

Yay.

I froze once I realized it wasn’t actually a cover draped over me. The green fabric looked familiar, and I almost shouted once I realized just what it was.

My Haori was draped over me. I pulled it up and traced the garment with my eyes. It looked exactly the same. Down to the back hems and sash. How-

A note fell down onto the bed, and I slowly picked it up and opened it.

‘It didn’t feel right for the ‘Jade Witch’ to not go into battle looking her best. (Please don’t tease me for the name, I tried my best) I know this journey’s been a hell of a ride, but I believe in you. You’re stronger than anyone else I’ve ever known, Lea. I don’t know how to help you through what you’re dealing with now, but here’s hoping this will give you a bit more courage.’

XOX

May

PS – Please shower and change today. You’re starting to get a bit ripe.

“I, May, you big sappy dork,” I muttered to myself before pulling the Haori close.

Brawly wasn’t going to know what hit him, today.

Neither was May when she got out of the shower.