INTERLUDE - HAYSTACK I

Louis Bianchi stared at his Bisharp, who was sitting on a fallen tree diligently sharpening his blades on a triangle-shaped rock. Bisharp had grown a lot since his evolution, and he was now half a head taller than Louis was. His blades were so sharp that Louis had once accidentally touched the ones below his chest and cut his arm. The steel type had profusely apologized and offered him his rock in return, but Louis told him it wasn't his fault. He had a lot on his mind that made him not pay attention to his surroundings sometimes. Still, this rock wasn't one he recognized.

"Where did you put your old rock? Is that a new one?" He asked.

Bisharp offered a curt nod, but he was too engrossed in whetting his blades to do anything else. He had owned at least ten favorite rocks since Louis had caught him, and this one made eleven.

Route 222 was quite a nice spot. Not to train— he and Maeve used the arenas for that, and she was currently spending time with Pauline and Cecilia— but to simply stick with his team. Plus, newer trainers left him alone like he wanted. Louis wasn't famous like his friends were. He had his time in the sun, but he was in the background now. Most people knew him as that person whose father tried to betray his country for a quick buck. Part of him wanted to see his dad again and ask him why, but he knew the answer. Pure and simple greed. Regardless, the maximum security prison at the Lily of the Valley Island didn't allow public visitors or calls, so it wasn't like he could go there or communicate anyway. If Louis had to guess, his father would be placed back into a normal prison on the mainland after the remains of Team Galactic was dealt with. It wouldn't be long now that their bases in Veilstone had been raided.

Empoleon stood behind him, always standing guard even when it wasn't needed. Louis had tried to get him to go to the beach, but his dislike for swimming still lingered, even after reaching his final evolution. Combee lazily buzzed around his head like usual, occasionally bending honey around themselves, which was supposedly a telltale sign that the evolution into Vespiquen was near. The three heads would fuse into one mind and form one being.

Louis had teared up multiple times at that prospect, but always in secret, hidden away from Combee. He didn't want them to hold themselves back for him.

Ninetales and Gabite were currently arguing about something, which he didn't know what. The dragon snarled at Ninetales, sending spittle all over her fur, and she was not amused. She retaliated by blowing a puff of flames into his face, but a grunt from Empoleon stopped them both. The fire type huffed, turning her head away from Gabite while he slammed a claw against his chest. Really, the issue was that they'd never really loved each other. Gabite was too violent for Ninetale's tastes.

Gabite did enjoy Bisharp's company and begrudgingly respected Empoleon because he'd known him the longest. With Combee, he basically ignored her, finding her too weak for his tastes, but Ninetales coddled the bug type like she was family. Bisharp found her cute as well despite pretending otherwise, but he was quiet when compared to the rest of his Pokemon. Louis' research had said that Bisharp tended to be loud and boisterous because they led, but he was the polar opposite of that.

Either way, his team wasn't… well, it wasn't a family like Grace's, nor a unit like Maeve's, Lauren's or Cecilia's. It was a hodgepodge of different personalities that often clashed.

And yet, they persevered.

"Gabite."

The tall dragon shot him a prideful look, but begrudgingly offered Ninetales a half-hearted apology, or at least that's what Louis thought he said. Ninetales, for her part, smiled smugly and seemed pleased with herself, giving Louis a slight dip of her head as thanks.

Gabite had come far since his early days as a Gible, but he had a ways to go still. Part of Louis dreaded the inevitable Garchomp evolution that would no doubt bring a slew of problems, but that was still far away. Louis sat next to Bisharp and he consciously forced himself not to make his leg bounce. He linked his hands together and pressed them against his mouth as he thought.

Where was Justin?

He'd become obsessed with his old friend, desperately scouring the Gym's website to see if he'd fought Volkner, but he hadn't. This felt odd. Wrong. Grace had told him that Justin would eventually come to find him, but had she been wrong? He'd hoped that her acquaintance with Type Energy would help her understand him, but that didn't look to be the case.

Louis blinked as a cold flipper tapped him on the shoulder. A tough, metallic hand covered in rock dust touched his own. The buzzing around his head quieted down. A soft, tuft of warm golden fur rubbed his back and his dragon's piercing yellow eyes softened for a second.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "I'll be fine."

He couldn't help but feel like he'd failed Justin every step of the way. He should have followed him after Solaceon like Maeve and Mira had done to him when he'd been struggling. Instead, he let Justin do whatever he wanted because he'd asked— demanded it, even. Then, he'd lost that battle in Veilstone and gotten utterly crushed. If he'd been more skilled, then all of this could have been fixed.

No… that wasn't it. Louis had been scared as well. Justin had changed so much that Louis had preferred to look the other way and to keep him as far away as he could because loss was terrifying to him. Loss of any kind of relationship. Fear had made him a terrible friend. He'd found it easier to look the other way and to tell himself that it would all be fine if he waited.

And so Louis had waited, but there was nothing there. No progress had been made.

It couldn't be just left like this. It would feel wrong. Like a page left unturned.

"Is everyone ready to head back?"

Nods and grunts of affirmations ran through his team. He recalled all of them besides Combee and started his long trudge toward the city gates.

Arceus, each step felt so heavy. Like a thousand stones weighed his ankles down. Like he was pushing a boulder up a hill with no end. Like he was walking in quick sand and sinking with each step. If there was one thing Louis sometimes wished he had, it was a dash of his old ego. At least that way, he would have been able to bear through this with his self-esteem and confidence unburdened.

Louis took another step. And then a larger one. Soon enough, he was jogging to Sunyshore.

He would endure.

—

"Hey my brother!"

Denzel waved at Louis from the gate with a huge smile that he couldn't help but instinctually return. From what Louis understood, Denzel was doing great for himself these days, especially with his huge stream yesterday. Louis approached his friend, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder and dragged him toward Sunyshore.

"Heard you were feeling down from Maeve," Denzel said. "I came to cheer you up, since I'm not training today. I'm trying to negotiate to create merch and it's a real hassle now that Craig isn't here to help, but I'll deal. What's wrong?"

Louis frowned. What was wrong? The answer was obvious!

"Justin."

Denzel's lips went flat. "Ah. Yeah, he's just gone. Like a ghost. Finding him would be like finding a needle in a haystack. There isn't much that we can do."

"I know," Louis muttered. "I'll deal with this, no need to bother yourself—"

"Come on. We can hang out for a little bit, right? All of the girls are together and Chase and Mira are training. I don't want you to go through this alone. You can talk to me."

"Where would you have us go?" Louis asked.

"Anywhere. Got a favorite spot here? You must have been to Sunyshore plenty of times."

He nodded. "I did. Uh, I used to go to the beach with my… well, I wouldn't call them friends. Children of my father's connections, mostly."

"You don't see them anymore, huh?"

"Not since the start of the Circuit, no. And now that my father went to prison, is a pariah and our— his company got nationalized, they have no use for me."

Denzel patted Louis on the back.

"Why don't we go to the beach, then?"

"It's cold around this time of year," Louis answered.

"It's hot today, and I see plenty of people go in every day," he shrugged. "I know you have a lot on your mind, but why don't you relax a little?"

"I can't—"

"You don't think you deserve it," Denzel said. "I've gone through… a similar thing before. Well, not exactly, but it was back in Eterna."

"What happened? Sorry, I was mostly focused on myself and my so-called prowess as a trainer back then," Louis said with a dry chuckle. "I hadn't gotten my wake-up call."

His friend paused. "You're a good trainer, Louis."

"Nonsense."

"You've got four badges, dude. In your first year. And you're going to get more. If you solve your flier issue or use Pauline's Braviary after Pastoria, you've got a real shot at making it to the Conference."

Louis stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

"I mean it," Denzel shrugged. "But let's return to my story. I used to have self-confidence issues that stemmed from the fact that I wasn't progressing as fast as Cecilia and Grace, but that was compounded with the fact that they had all of these problems that my life couldn't hold a candle to. That made me think that every single complaint, every time I felt tired, angry or sad wasn't warranted. That my feelings were invalid because, I mean, what the hell was I even worrying about?"

Whereas Louis felt like he couldn't afford to rest or feel happy because of what Justin was going through.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"I guess that is somewhat similar," he nodded.

"I try my best," Denzel said. "So just come to the beach with me. Pauline bought this beach volleyball that she stuck in my room so we could play. Spend a day between friends where you can breathe."

Louis let out a long breath. "Very well. What do I have to lose? Every time I've looked, it hasn't made a difference."

"Now we're talking," Denzel smiled.

"Plus, I wanted to ask Pokemon training-related questions, so I suppose it could be nice."

"Sure, I'll help out. Let's head to the Center and get changed."

—

March was in full swing, and each day, Sunyshore's long beach had more and more people. Louis' feet shifted in the sand as he squared himself, and he sent the volleyball back toward Denzel. For all his friend's height and build, he was actually quite bad at sports. His dexterity just wasn't there. Denzel hit the ball, and it slipped off his wrists, softly bouncing onto the sand. They had no net to speak of and they weren't even counting points, but Louis had to admit it felt good to be playing sports after so long. His father had forced him to play a multitude of them, including golf (which he hated), but volleyball was among his favorites along with badminton.

"Damn, my bad," he awkwardly said. "Pauline said this would be easy."

"Pauline played volleyball in school," Louis said.

"What?!" Denzel scoffed. "She never told me any of that!"

"She probably wanted to keep it a surprise to dominate you during your match," he shrugged. "Emilia knows. She's definitely in on the plan."

Louis had noticed how close all three had grown, but it was nothing he paid much attention to. Subgroups had formed within their friend group, and that was just life sometimes.

"That sounds like her. Thanks for the heads up," Denzel said as he pushed the ball upward. "So. What were those questions you wanted to ask me? I'll do my best to help out."

"Field alteration. It is what I need to take the next step, and yet I'm stumped. I can't think of anything that would help my team as a whole—"

He cut himself off to send the volleyball back.

"You're thinking too big," Denzel said. "It doesn't need to help your entire team. That's incredibly hard to do when you aren't a type specialist. Helping even one or a few Pokemon is fine so long as it's not permanent. Hell, even if it's permanent, it might be worth it if you have a lead, but I know you don't like to play risky."

"Not at all," he shook his head.

Louis hated taking unnecessary risks during battles, which was why he tended to stay on the defensive and react most of the time. It was a far cry from who he used to be. Back when he'd only owned Gabite and Empoleon and only thought to attack. Despite working better, his newfound strategy had cost him multiple battles against Maeve, but he knew there was a way to make it work with tweaks and experience.

"That's fine, not everyone's going to battle the same. Plus, it works kind of well with your team, I feel like."

"How?"

"Well, it's kind of slow. Stalwart, for lack of a better word. It works better defensively than offensively save for Ninetales, but even she battles your way. Plus, you know about Kingambit, right?"

Louis nodded. "How could I not?"

Kingambit was Bisharp's final form, and they always fought twice as hard whenever they were the last Pokemon on the field. Scientists said that it was instinctual since they were the leaders who needed to fight for that final inch when their army had fallen and they were the last Pokemon standing.

"But getting a Bisharp to evolve is… complicated, and I don't have that much time," Louis continued. "I would have to go back to that cave I found him in and find his old group."

"What is it that they need to evolve again?"

Louis paused. "Triumph. The ultimate victory that proves them to stand at the apex of their species. They need to beat an army of Pawniard and Bisharp by themselves and live to tell the tale. It's… dangerous."

"Well, I'm not saying you have to do it. I'm saying it fits you. You know, I admire you, Louis."

"How is that even possible?" Louis froze. The ball dropped to his feet and rolled onto the sand.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. You're a tough guy. Probably the toughest guy I know."

"It isn't enough," the blonde said.

"I should have been there for you more, y'know?" Denzel muttered. "I'm sorry."

"There are only so many hours in a day, you don't have to drop everything for me. I know how busy you all are."

"But you're dropping everything for Justin. Shouldn't I be doing at least a fraction of that?"

"Well, you're doing it right now," he said after a pause.

"I am. Want to go grab a late lunch after this?"

"I don't see why not."

"Come on, give it a little pep!" Denzel exclaimed.

"Sure!" Louis yelled. He hadn't yelled in so long that it hurt. He pushed the ball back toward Denzel, and they began to play again.

"Hear me out, Louis. I've seen your battles with Maeve, and what you lack right now is confidence."

"Ha!"

Denzel caught the ball and smiled. "You laughed."

"No, I didn't!"

"You did. Damn it, I should have recorded this, the others won't believe me when I tell them this. I haven't seen you laugh since… since…"

Denzel stopped, and his smile suddenly disappeared like dust in the wind. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Like I said, you're a good trainer, but you behave like a kid that's going through their first Gym Battle every single time. Even with Maeve, despite being a lot more comfortable with her. You can be reactive and confident… although we don't really have any reactive battlers in our group. I could tell you about some random trainer I know off the top of my head."

"Go ahead."

"Jules Mantle, half ice type specialist and half water type. As you can guess, they can do a lot of nifty things with freezing water. They mostly react to whatever's being thrown at 'em. Last year during the Conference, they got up to the top 16 by slowing down battles to a halt every time."

"Slowing…?" Louis confusedly asked.

"Yes. They'll slow their opponents' Pokemon down to give them time to react and counter things either with ice or water moves. The point is, they're reactive, but they still have an active strategy that they employ. You just wait for things to get thrown at you. Sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn't. You need strategy that complements your style."

Louis attentively nodded, listening to every word.

"Granted, you don't want to get a big head either."

"I'm the last person you need to tell that," Louis said.

Denzel chuckled. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what strategy it is. Just have something you set out to do. Flailing around in a battle won't work, or at least it won't get you to eight badges. You'll have a decent team against Candice, but types will only carry you so far."

Louis blinked, looking up at the volleyball that Denzel had lobbed at him. His body tensed, and he felt compelled to go for the ball, jumping and arcing his back until he spiked it right at Denzel's feet.

"Yeah, confidence like that. Sheesh, go easy on me."

"I appreciate the advice, Denzel," Louis said. "And that was me going easy."

A group of girls suddenly interrupted their game, asking Denzel to sign autographs on their Pokeballs and a selfie. He apologized and told them he was busy helping a friend, much to their displeasure.

"You didn't have to do that," Louis said. "I could have waited."

Denzel chuckled as he shook his head. "How's Gabite doing recently? He still causing you problems?"

"He's doing alright. I'm mostly worried about when he'll evolve."

"I'll lend you a hand if push comes to shove," his friend nodded firmly. "I said the same thing to Cecilia, but she's determined to do it on her own. Your Gabite's pretty rowdy as far as they go, so you might need help."

"That… that reassures me," Louis sighed in relief. He would rather have help than not.

"I mean, what are friends if they don't help out, right? You doing alright with Cece?"

"We haven't spoken to each other much in Sunyshore, but yes. The awkward atmosphere is gone these days."

"You over her?"

"Yes," he said, not missing a beat. "The time away helped."

"Glad to hear it. Don't worry about romance, I'm sure you'll get a girl soon. Maybe she's even closer than you'd think."

"I don't think I'm in the right… headspace for a relationship right now," Louis said. "It wouldn't be right. I don't even know what a relationship is. My time with Cecilia, it was all fake. I mostly spent it flaunting her around like a thing and forcing her to have one-sided conversations while she answered with hums and nods. I don't want to slip back into bad habits."

Denzel paused. "Fair enough."

They played volleyball in silence until Denzel tried to spike the ball—

And failed miserably. That gave Louis a good chuckle.

—

"This isn't as fancy as you're used to, eh?" Denzel said as he chomped on some ribs.

They hadn't gone far. They were in one of the multitudes of restaurants that lined the boardwalk. Louis had basically been peer pressured into ordering ribs as well, but he did enjoy them very much even though Denzel made fun of him for using a knife and fork.

"You make it sound like I haven't eaten those pre-packaged meals for trainers," Louis said.

"Oh yeah, those are terrible," Denzel laughed. "I heard Grace and Honey cooked for Mira, Chase and Cecilia when they were traveling, though. Homemade food while traveling? I'm kind of jealous."

"Why don't you ask her to cook for you?" Louis asked. "Knowing her, she'll jump at the opportunity. She's quite… motherly."

"We should ask her, then," Denzel said. "And hell, she won't be limited to ingredients she can conveniently carry since we're in a city."

"If she agrees, I will be there," Louis said.

"So, Louis," the teenager said, dropping a bone on his plate. "What's next for you after this year?"

Louis froze at the question, not knowing what to answer. He'd been so focused on first surpassing Cecilia and then saving Justin from getting himself killed that he'd never taken a second to think about himself.

"I think it's an important question."

"It is. I know it is," Louis stumbled over his words. "I don't really know yet. I mean, I do have a long-term goal in mind, but it isn't currently achievable."

There was no more company for him to inherit, but even if there had been, he wouldn't have been interested any longer. The last thing Louis would have wanted was to turn into his father. He kept telling himself that they were different, but the sheer amount of wealth they'd had… that corrupted people.

"So you want to build yourself up for your long-term goal, then. Wanna tell me about it?" Denzel asked.

"This is somewhat embarrassing…"

"I bet you it isn't."

"I want to open a Pokemon sanctuary for abandoned Pokemon, both by their groups in the wild and by trainers," Louis muttered. "I don't really have any plans in place other than the location—"

"Dude."

"What?"

"That's so fucking awesome," Denzel breathed.

"Is it?"

"Yes!"

"Well, the planned location is Floaroma since there's a lot of space and it's close to Jubilife. That's where the majority of newer trainers come from and they tend to abandon their Pokemon the most," Louis said. "But I would have to have enough money to buy the land. Even with the money I currently have, it isn't enough. Plus, Floaroma's zoning laws are awful."

"Floaroma's a great spot," Denzel nodded. "You thinking of that field up north where the tournament was held, aren't you?"

"Exactly!" Louis exclaimed a little louder than he wanted. "It's the perfect area. There's nothing there aside from… well, flowers and a bunch of honey trees. So Pokemon training is somewhat temporary, which is something I'd have to sell to Gabite if he's still that aggressive whenever I try this project."

"I can try to help. I've got a lot of online reach, and I'll have even more whenever you get started. Of course, you need money."

Louis nodded.

"And you've been spending so much for us?" Denzel exclaimed in an incredulous tone. "That thing with Jerry Heo in Solaceon, all the parties you've paid for—"

"It's fine," Louis said.

"No. You need to think about yourself more," Denzel scolded. "I'm going to help you with this."

"You don't have that much. No offense!"

"In the future, obviously. Hopefully by then I'll be rich, but you should look into ways to make money too."

"Like what? I'm… good enough for a mid-sized sponsor, I suppose, but that's it."

"How will you run this sanctuary? Financially, I mean," Denzel asked as he leaned back.

"Hopefully through donations, but that probably won't be enough, especially when I might need employees if the project grows big enough."

"Hm. You know business."

"I can't just start a business out of thin air. I don't even have the capital for it," Louis said. "That was basically a nonstatement."

"This is all long-term. I'm not telling you to monetize your sanctuary. Obviously that would be an awful thing to do, but maybe have some services on the side? Like, you could make use of all that experience you're racking up as a trainer to offer training courses."

Denzel grabbed a napkin and called a waitress over.

"Excuse me, do you have a pen?"

The woman nodded, and after two minutes, she brought the pen.

Denzel grinned. "Let's brainstorm this. We all know that the best ideas were born on a napkin in a restaurant."

Louis cracked a smile. "Sure."

—

It was evening when Louis and Denzel went their separate ways. The blond teenager had multiple napkins in his pocket full of notes that he'd need to transcribe on an actual book or computer. Maeve would surely hand him a few. He grabbed his phone as he slowly dragged his feet through the boardwalk, and he noticed that she'd texted him multiple times already asking for his whereabouts and if he was okay.

Louis answered right away, apologizing for the tardiness of his answers. He turned toward the darkened beach and watched the people filter out now that the sun had set and the temperature had lowered.

Suddenly, a glimpse.

He blinked and caught himself. Surely he was seeing things. Louis pushed past a taller man as his breaths grew rapid and uneven. He'd recognized that light brown hair and pale skin anywhere.

Was this fate? Pure chance? Was Justin looking for him? Or perhaps something else entirely.

Justin wandered onto the boardwalk with his hulking Arcanine at his side. Louis clenched his teeth and broke into a run.

Somehow, he had found the damn needle in the haystack.