Chapter 51: Me, Myself, and Marie

Topaz slammed her hands on the booth table, her eyes wide at Ceailean sitting across from her. “WHAT?! She’s gone!?” Everyone in the Pokémon center looked in her direction, wondering what the commotion was.

“Could you please keep it down?” said Falt in a worried tone, “People are staring.”

Topaz sat back down and lowered her voice to a more reasonable level, though it was still loud. “I mean, how could this happen?”

“I told you, her dads butler showed up and said her dad wanted her home. So she went home.” said Ceailean, leaving most of the details out.

Topaz crossed her arms. “To think we finally found ourselves a rival, then she bails the first time someone tells her to? I’m not buying it!”

“Uh…” said Ceailean, somewhat rattled.

“Topaz, lay off him.” said Falt. “He looks pretty shaken up about it too.” Topaz takes a second to observe and takes a deep breath, slumping into her booth chair. “Plus, we were here to tell Ceailean about our time at the gym.”

“How did that go anyway?” asked Ceailean.

“Ugh! It was a complete wash.” said Topaz. “We didn’t have much more than a Seedot’s chance in there.”

“Give us a little credit, we each took down at least one Pokémon.” said Falt.

“I took down one Pokémon! You took a draw on the first Pokémon and never even saw the second Pokémon!”

“It’s the same thing isn’t it?!”

“No! It’s like you used 2 cups of water to make half a cake while I used 1 and a half cups of water!”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

Ceailean stared as the two started to descend into endless bickering. He looked up to the ceiling annoyed. “Oh, by Arceus.”

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

() Ceailean was now sitting in his room, looking mentally drained.

“Well maybe if you’d just be better at planning on the fly, I wouldn’t have to point out every fault you have, Falt!” said Topaz.

“Well maybe if you’d just been better at shutting up, maybe it’d actually be quiet enough for me to think in the first place, Topaz!” said Falt.

Ceailean ran his hands down his face. “How did Marie ever rein you two in?” As the two continued to argue, he looked out the window. Night was falling upon the city. As the orange glow of sunset faded under the horizon, the street lights turned on their golden light. He sighed and turned back towards the twins. “Yo, uh guys? I think I’m gonna turn in for the night. Could y’all continue this elsewhere?”

The two immediately stopped arguing. “Wait! No no no! I still wanna talk about the other reason we came here.” said Topaz.

“But Marie isn’t here.” said Falt.

“Well yeah, but remember what Ceailean did for us? He saved us from that storm! Surely he can help too.”

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that! We must’ve been thinking about Marie too much recently.”

“You mean you have?”

“Like heck! You think I still don’t notice you calling her Miss Marie when you're near her!”

“I’m just being formal! Like you would ever-!”

“HEY!” shouted Ceailean, startling the twins. “Could you just tell me what you two want? I’m just… I’m tired, okay.”

“Yeah, um… okay.” said Topaz sheepishly. “We were hoping to talk to Marie about a new strategy to tackle the gym. Maybe even train a little. Could you help us?”

One of Ceailean’s pokéballs popped and Noibat came out, cheering eagerly. Ceailean patted its head, flopping its ears into its face. “Sure, I could do that. But like I said, I’m tired. Why don’t we get started tomorrow?”

“Sure! We’ll see you then!” Topaz firmly grasped Falt’s shoulder. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep him any longer.”

Falt pushed away Topaz’s arm. “I’m not tired yet though! How about you and me settle this with a battle!”

“Sure, I’ll show you the difference between needing 2 Pokémon and 1 and a half Pokémon!”

“You’re on!” The twins filed out of the room. Noibat looked at Ceailean and hopped up and down eagerly.

“Go ahead, just don’t stay out too late, okay?” Noibat nodded and immediately flew out of the room, following the twins.

Ceailean sighed as the room door creaked slowly closed. He flopped onto his bed and looked at the ceiling, pondering what to do. The room was silent. The ticking of a small clock was all that filled the room. Even though he was in the middle of a city, he felt lonely.

“Ah, I haven’t felt that in a while.” he said to himself. Why did he feel alone though, he thought to himself. He had his Pokémon. There was Falt and Topaz. And even though he was a little distant, there was Crisis. But they weren’t the same. They weren’t there to take away the loneliness he had after The Battle for Kalos. He didn’t even know them for more than a month. The thought made Ceailean feel guilty. This shouldn't be a competition. Is it fair for him to value other friends more than others? Even his own Pokémon?

“Dammit.” he whispered to himself. He moved his hand down and felt his pokéballs in his pocket. He pulled them out, swirled them within his palm, then let out his Pokémon. Raboot came out on top of the bed, looking at its feet sadly. Solosis came out spinning in the air, slightly dizzy. “Hey guys.” said Ceailean, not looking away from the ceiling. Both of them gave a quiet greeting back. “What do you two think we should do now?”

Raboot sat on the edge of the bed and crossed its arms as it pondered. Solosis happily answered immediately, saying that it wanted to try more foods. Raboot responded with a slight hum, unamused with its answer.

“It makes me wonder why I even started this journey in the first place,” said Ceailean. “Ha. Who am I kidding, I knew why. It’s just that I almost forgot about it. Did I ever tell you…” Raboot’s ears perked up. It was curious as to what brought it and Ceailean together on that day. “N-No, it’s nothing.” Raboot understood. It must’ve been a super personal reason.

“If you think about it, Marie was the only reason our journey went on. She had a clear goal. To beat 8 gyms in the region and compete in the Kalos league. What did I have? I think Topaz made me realize that I had nothing. Do I even have a reason to keep going? I have one, but someone back home told me to let it go. And to be honest, I probably should.” Ceailean sighed. “I think all that is left is to go home with Marie.” Raboot and Solosis tried to find the positives in this. They conversed with each other, agreeing that they’ve never personally seen snow, wondered what Ceailean’s house looked like, and that perhaps it may have been fun to live a simpler life. That last suggestion seemed forced for the both of them though. This journey had been fun for them and it was hard to imagine anything else.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “I’m tired, Falt, or Topaz, whoever, please just let me sleep.”

“It’s me, Ceailean.” said Miss Crimis. “Can I come in?”

Ceailean sat up. “Y-Yeah.” He walked to the door and opened it. Miss Crimis stood patiently on the other side. “Hey mom.”

“Hey, Ceailean. Are you… doing okay?”

“Yeah, um. I’m just wondering what to do now.”

“You’ve been wondering for a while.”

“I really have huh.” The two stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Well,” Miss Crimis walked in and sat on the second bed, “Why don’t I help you wonder.”

“Alright.” Ceailean closed the door. He walked over and sat down on his bed.

Miss Crimis then looked at Raboot. “You never introduced me to your new friends, Ceailean.” She reached over and held Raboot's paws. “So how did you meet my dear sweet boy?” Raboot grew worryful and turned away, knowing that it wasn’t its place to tell her about Tuviere. “Well, I know when and where. I got some general information from Christianson when we were looking for you. Speaking of which,” she snapped her head towards Ceailean, “REALLY?!”

Ceailean guiltily turned his head away, “It wasn’t my fault, I swear!” he said quickly.

“That doesn’t matter! You don’t think it's important to tell your mother you went through something like that?!”

“It was right after we left! I thought if I told you, you woulda worried and make me come home also.”

Miss Crimis crossed her arms. “Well doesn’t that sound familiar?” Ceailean remembered Marie’s plight before Christianson showed up. She was worried Ceailean wouldn’t agree with her running away and be mad.

“That was… different, mom.”

“A person doesn’t reveal information to someone important to them because they don’t trust that they will be comfortable with the information given to them? It sounds similar to me.”

“So does that mean you would’ve said the same thing as me?”

“As well as a few motherly things like, ‘what were you thinking, you’re lucky to be alive, don’t ever do it again’, the usual stuff.”

Ceailean gave a soft chuckle. “Thanks, mom.”

“Either way, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m still here.” Ceailean went silent for a moment. “What do you think I should do now?”

Miss Crimis flopped onto the bed. “Hard to say. At this point, I don’t think it would be right for me to say anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Hasn’t this entire journey been your choice?”

“I mean, I started this journey to do something more. I never wanted to leave you alone, I didn’t want to abandon everything. But staying there also felt like nothing was happening. I needed to see what I could do, what I wanted to do.”

“And have you found that out?”

Ceailean clasped his hand just under his nose and sighed. “No…” He stood up and started to slowly pace back and forth across the room.

Miss Crimis’s brown eyes slowly followed him. “Then how about this? Let’s focus on the now. What do you want now?

“Know what I want to do in the future.”

“Except that, of course.”

“Well… I…” Just then, an explosion shook the room slightly. A blue flash shone through the window, changing Solosis’s color for a moment.

“Whoa! Is something happening?” asked Miss Crimis.

Ceailean waved it off. “It’s probably just Falt and Topaz battling outside. I hope they don’t disturb anybody though.”

Miss Crimis then got an idea. “Hey, do you think we could watch? Maybe you could tell me about your journey while we’re at it.”

Ceailean looked at his Pokémon. Raboot shrugged, thinking of nothing else they could do. Solosis nodded, feeling a bit bored. “I guess…” Ceailean walked over to the door and headed down.

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

() The two and the Pokémon sat on a nearby bench to view the Twin’s battle. To Ceailean’s mild surprise, it was actually the pair of them against Noibat.

“How is Ceailean’s Noibat so powerful?!” asked Falt.

“And the way it uses Dragon is like nothing I’ve ever seen before!” said Topaz. Dewpider and Swirlix were breathing heavily and stared down Noibat, who had its wings enveloped in dragon rush energy. It was also breathing heavily, but it was obvious that it was losing stamina faster as it was fighting two Pokémon.

“There’s only one way we're doing this.” Falt got into a battle stance.

“Let’s do it!” Topaz got into a similar stance. “Use headbutt!” Dewpider charged in. Noibat spread its wings and ran to meet it head on.

“Now Swirlix!” said Falt. Noibat didn’t even have a chance to react before it was shoved from behind by Swirlix. Dewpider then swung its head like an arching hammer and bashed Noibat's head straight into the ground. Dewpider then spring boarded up into the air and landed back on its feet. Noibat wasn’t discouraged, quickly rolling over and getting back up.

“Fairy wind!” said Falt again. Swirlix flew around behind Noibat and blasted it with fairy wind. Noibat tried to block it with dragon rush energy, but it was quickly washed away by the attack. It blocked with its bare wing, keeping energy on its other wing.

“Bug bite!” said Topaz. Dewpider jumped in and latched right onto Noibat’s wing. But with it being imbued with dragon rush energy energy, it was like trying to bite through rubber. Noibat quickly twisted around and threw Dewpider onto the ground. But Dewpider used the momentum to roll back onto its feet. “This is it! Use bubble beam!” Dewpider launched a bubble beam at Noibat.

“Close in and use flamethrower!” shouted Falt. Swirlix flew onto the other side and shot a flamethrower. The two attacks came and sandwiched Noibat between them. They mixed into a giant continuous blast of steam. “This’ll finish it for sure!” But just then, a purple energy welled up from the center of the attack. The sound of yelling got louder and louder until the purple energy burst all around, flashing a wave across the immediate area. The attacks got repelled and whipped their casters back.

“Again? I had almost forgotten about this.” said Ceailean calmly.

“And what is this?” asked Miss Crimis.

“I have no idea.” From the steam, Noibat emerged with a bright, thin, purple aura around its body. It glimmered with purple particles.

Falt shaded his eyes. “What is that?”

“So that’s Noibat, huh?” asked Miss Crimis.

“Yeah.” said Ceailean

“How did you two meet?”

“You sure you wanna know? It’s a pretty long story.”

“Last I checked, you had a free schedule.”

“I guess,” Ceailean sighed, “Noibat was always a strange pokemon. At times it seemed more human than pokemon. I first met it about a month ago, back when Raboot here was still a Scorbunny.” Ceailean poked Raboot shoulder, to which it looked away shyly and rubbed it.

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

() Miss Crimis groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I actually cannot believe you right now.”

“What else was I supposed to do?!” said Ceailean. Raboot sighed, seeing as its story diverted into another lecture.

“I mean, couldn’t you think of anything else?” asked Topaz.

Ceailean jumped. “By Arceus! Where did you come from?!”

Topaz raised her hands defensively. “I-I noticed that you came outside and I wanted to ask you questions about Noibat but I noticed that you were in the middle of a story with your mom so I just kinda stood next you guys waiting for you to finish and it sounded like you did so that’s I blurted out a question-!”

“You’re a mess, you know that.” said Falt, scratching his head.

“S-Shut up!”

“You too?” Ceailean said with a sigh. “How long were you two listening?”

“Around the time you said Marie stole Fennekin.” said Falt.

“So practically all of it.” Ceailean hung his head in defeat. “Could you guys keep that a secret? We tried to keep low about that stuff because we don’t wanna have to deal with media people asking questions.”

“Pffft! Good luck! Topaz couldn’t keep a secret even if her life depended on it!” Falt said while shoving Topaz on her shoulder.

“I’m… good enough.” said Topaz with little confidence.

“I guess it doesn’t matter too much anymore.” said Ceailean. “Tuviere is old news by now. So don’t worry about it.”

Topaz saluted with a smile. “I’ll try to keep it to myself regardless.”

Ceailean gave a small smile. “Thanks, Topaz.”

“So, could you tell any more stories? I’m really interested in how you met the rest of your pokemon. Maybe we could hear more about Marie and her pokemon.”

Ceailean sighed. “Yeah, sure. Not like I had much else to do today.” Noibat excitedly walked over and hopped up next to Raboot, holding its head high knowing that its story was next.

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

() Ceailean told his story. Starting with where he left off with Crisis joining the group, Noibat's story, their run in with Solga, the race for Solosis, Marie’s battle with Aeise, Scolipede and the exploding mountain, all the way until he came up to his arrival in Cyllage city.

“-and that’s when I arrived here. I’m sure you two know the rest.” said Ceailean.

“I still can’t believe it was you guys that blew up that mountain!” said Falt, spinning in circles with his hand on the sides of his head.

Miss Crimis was on the verge of freaking out, but did her best to keep her composure. “You… got attacked by three wild pokemon, poisoned, got sick, assaulted by people on 2 separate occasions, and like Falt said, almost got blown up by a mountain. All within the span of just a month?”

“Life’s pretty interesting out here, isn’t it?” said Ceailean.

“More like crazy.”

“And to think Noibat pulls its fighting style from Lifeorb Z!” said Topaz with a chuckle. “But it seems so obvious now.” Noibat crossed its wings and looked away, blushing a bit as it didn’t know whether to take it as a compliment or a jab.

“That dragon rush can be pretty insane.” said Ceailean.

Falt pointed his finger up. “That reminds me! That thing Noibat did earlier! What was that?”

“You mean that sparkly aura Noibat had?”

Falt excited shook his hands at his side. “Yeah! Yeah! Was it like a transformation or a power up?!”

Ceailean shrugged. “To be honest, I have no idea. I don’t even really know what it does.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, when we fough-” Ceailean caught himself, “When it first achieved it in battle, it didn’t really perform all that differently.” Noibat looked at its wing curiously. It felt powerful, but nothing had changed much. But it still was different. Noibat felt like it fought much longer than it normally could’ve. The feeling was strange. “If anything, it’s entirely possible that Noibat learned how to do it just to be cool and flashy.” Noibat quickly slapped Ceailean’s arm, unimpressed. “Ow. I guess it doesn’t think that.”

“It must’ve felt something,” said Topaz. She then slapped her fist into her palm. “Oh yeah! There’s a cultural exchange festival happening in Coumarine City!”

“Cultural exchange festival?”

“Yeah!” said Falt. “Me and Topaz were gonna go attend because they were gonna have some really cool stuff we wanted to get our hands on!”

“Like Unovan gems, Alolan Z-crystals, Paldean Terastilization orbs, a Galarian Dynamax showcase event, and even Mega Evolution crystals!” said Topaz, counting each thing with a finger.

“And the people hosting the mega evolution event is the Shalour City Gym Leader, Korrina! And Drasna!”

“W-Who?” asked Ceailean.

“Drasna!” said Topaz. “One of the elite four members and a dragon master! If anyone were to know what’s going on with Noibat, it’s her!”

“That’s so cool!” Ceailean said with a smile.

“I know right! You wanna come?”

“I…” Ceailean stopped and his bright expression faded away.

“Huh? Ceailean?” Topaz asked, concerned.

“It’s just…” Ceailean sighed, “Marie would’ve been excited too.” The mood immediately sunk. Falt and Topaz looked down sadly.

“So… what’re you gonna do?” asked Falt. “You wanna come with us?”

“I still don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out ever since she left.”

Quick and heavy footsteps then approached them. “I’ve been trying to figure out something too.” Crisis approached aggressively past Falt and Topaz and stood in front of Ceailean. “Why didn’t you do anything, Ceailean! It still doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Crisis, you don’t understand…” said Ceailean.

“Then by all means, enlighten me! Were you still bitter about her secretly blocking your mother? Did Christianson perhaps have something that forced your hand?”

Topaz tried to stand between them. “Crisis, leave him alone.”

Crisis moved her out of the way. “No! Tell me, Ceailean! Out of everything, could it have been that you really were just a coward?!”

Ceailean stood up and got in Crisis’s face. “Yes! Yes, I was! Is that what you wanted me to say? Damn it!” Crisis remained silent. Ceailean sighed and sat back down on the bench, looking at the ground. “I was…”

“Ceailean.” quietly asked Miss Crimis.

“You guys don't know who he is. I can’t talk to him. He is fiercely loyal to Marie’s dad, Mr. Visu. He owes him a great debt and will do anything for him. And I can’t battle him either. He… was a finalist in the Kalos League.”

Falt and Topaz’s mouths dropped. “WHAT?!”

Ceailean held up his hands. “10 times in a row, or so he says.” Falt and Topaz were even more flabbergasted. Crisis stepped back, now unsure of what to do. “There was just nothing I could’ve done.”

Crisis then remembered something. He put his hands in his pockets and softened his tone. “What about the promise you made with Marie?”

Ceailean looked up. “You… heard about that?”

“You know I was there standing next to you when you made it. Even while fighting Solga, I could hear your pledge.”

“Yeah… I guess it's broken now huh?”

“You’re gonna give up so easily?”

Ceailean extended his arms to sides. “By all means, tell me what I’m supposed to do?”

“Something other than this.”

“Oh, you’re just so insightful, aren’t you Crisis?”

Falt nervously held up his hand, “I have an idea. Why do we keep talking about Christianson? Why not convince Marie?”

Ceailean and Crisis looked at him curiously. “Elaborate.” said Crisis.

“This was her journey right? She’s her own person, she deserves to make her own decisions. And if Christianson nor her father wants to budge, then we’ll just have to convince her.”

Crisis scoffed. “You know she outright refused our help. How would trying to convince keep her from rejecting us?”

“Marie is strong and reasonable. It’s just that too much got thrown her way all at once. Why should this one battle be the one to decide it all? Can’t she keep going? Is she really gonna abide by her parents' rules for several years before she's allowed to go on a journey?”

Ceailean stood up. “No, that's not like her.” he said, eagerness swelling from within.

“Yes!” said Falt excitedly. “You knew her longer than I ever did. What’s gonna happen in the future, Ceailean?”

Ceailean paced back and forth. “I don’t think it will go well. She may follow their rules for a while, but after that, she’ll be a ticking time bomb. It will all bottle up and…” he turned to Falt, “Everything will be ruined.”

“She’s already ticking, Ceailean. The question is, do you want to set it off now or later?”

Ceailean clenched his fists and stood firm. “We have to set it off now, before anything gets worse.” Raboot and Noibat perked up and stood by Ceailean, waiting for instructions. “Alright let’s think of a plan.”

Behind Ceailean, Miss Crimis’s mouth was slightly agape. When did her little boy gain so much initiative? It was almost jarring, but impressed her beyond belief. “You remind me so much of your father, Ceailean.” she said to herself.

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

() The group all stood around a booth table inside the pokemon center. On the table laid an outspread map.

“You have an old fashioned map like this, Crisis? Why can’t we use GPS?” asked Topaz.

“Coordinating everyone on separate instances of GPS would be inefficient as everyone interprets information differently,” said Crisis.

“Oh yeah, duh. Of course Falt wouldn’t get it.”

“Shut up, Topaz!” shouted Falt. “You’re the one that got us lost more than I did!”

Crisis shushed both of them. “If the both of you argue now, I will personally see to it that you’ll be excluded from the plan.” The twins both clammed up, but still silently pelted each other under the table with their elbows.

“Now, when did Marie leave exactly?” asked Ceailean.

“Marie left the pokemon center exactly at 12:43 pm.” Crisis brought out a red marker and marked a dot on their general location above Cyllage City. “Many highways out of here have their speed limits set to 75 miles an hour. So with that time and mid-morning traffic, I’d guess that they didn’t officially leave the city for about an hour and a half. From there is where it gets rough. We don’t exactly know how traffic looks across the entirety of Kalos, nor how Christianson drives. So with that, we’ll practically have to guess how far he's gotten.”

“We can say he probably went straight towards Snowbelle, right?” asked Ceailean.

“That's all we can assume, he hasn’t made any mention of which pit stops he was going to make on the way. But the bigger concern is which route he took. You see, he could’ve taken the highway straight to Lumiose, or taken the roads to Santalune. One is a main travel hub and where most people would go, and the other is a pretty obscure route that’s only really known by rural people and truckers. We’ll only have time to check one.”

The group pondered for a bit. “But even if we do figure that out, how are we gonna get there in time?” asked Topaz. “None of us own a car, unless Miss Crimis-”

Miss Crimis raised her hand and smiled nervously. “Sorry, I don’t have one. I took the train here.”

“And the trains won’t run long enough for them to take us all the way to where we need to go,” said Ceailean. “Even if we did find a perfect schedule.”

“My initial plan was to find some Team Harmonious members in the area. I have a few that owe me favors so I was hoping I could get them to stall him until we got there.” said Crisis.

“Wait,” said Falt. “We don’t have to do any of that! Look, watch this!” Falt pulled out a pokeball, set it down on the table, and pushed the button. Out came an Elgyem, sleeping soundly while suspended in the air. Noibat and Raboot inspected it curiously. “Come on, wake up Elgyem. Say hi to everybody.” Falt poked its leg, making it stir. Its eyes then flashed open when it noticed everyone staring at it. It froze and gave a silent wave before holding its hands together. “It’s eh… a little shy. I’m sure it will warm up to you.”

“How will it help us though?” asked Ceailean.

Falt pointed a thumb at Elgyem. “Well you see, this bad boy knows teleport! Just tell us where we think he is and we’ll be able to teleport there no problem!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Unfortunately that’s not how it works,” said Crisis. “Considering that you didn’t have it from before, I assume this must be a recent catch.”

“Yep, it was a gift from our big brother in Unova.”

Crisis crossed his arms, “Elgyem has not trained with the move all that much. Only people who train a lot are able to teleport hundreds of miles whenever they want to, and masters are said to be able to go around the whole world. We’ll be lucky if we’re even able to teleport more than 10 miles. If anything, we wouldn’t be able to go any farther than its line of sight.”

“Oh…” said Falt in a defeated tone.

“But that is not entirely true,” Crisis said. “If we have other pokemon pour their psychic energy into it, I believe it may be just enough.”

“I don’t know,” said Ceailean. “Will Solosis be enough? That’s the only other physic pokemon I know we have.” Solosis pouted, upset that Ceailean was implying that it wasn’t enough. Crisis felt his forth pokeball around his belt and considered whether or not he should reveal it.

“Can we ask Nurse Joy?” asked Topaz. “Their partner pokemon in the Kalos Region is Wigglytuff, so maybe they could have a psychic move that they can help us with.”

Crisis quickly removed his hand from his belt. “It is worth a shot. If you could please ask for us, we must continue here.”

Topaz nodded. “On it, I’ll be right back.” She slid out of her seat and hurried to the front desk.

“If this does work, our variance will still be less than ideal. Without an anchor in that area, we could be 50 miles off target at that distance.”

“Anchor?” asked Falt.

“Something that Elgyem would be very familiar with, like a landmark or important person.”

“Could we send someone out there?” asked Ceailean. “Show someone over a video call and see if Elgyem can track them through that?”

“As clever as you might think that is, that will not work either.” Crisis showed his phone to the group. “Mental wavelengths don’t travel through digital devices. Not these ones anyway.”

Raboot's eyes widened. It patted Ceailean’s shoulder. “Huh? Raboot?” Raboot held its paw on its chest, insisting that it could do the job. “Really? Do you think you could make it that far?”

“What is it suggesting?” asked Crisis.

“Um… Raboot wants to personally run all the way out there.” The table went silent.

“As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, there is absolutely no way you could run that fast.” said Crisis.

“No wait.” said Ceailean. “I’ve seen it battle back when it evolved. It moved so fast that I couldn't even keep track of it. That has to be fast enough for something right?”

“Even if it was that fast, there’s no guarantee that its stamina will last until it gets there.” Raboot faced Crisis and gave a determined face. It was adamant that it was the one for the job. Crisis hesitated, but Raboot stared with its piercing red eyes. Crisis sighed. “Fine, I will humor you.” He turned to Falt and Elgyem, “To create an anchor, Elgyem can create a temporary psychic imprint on Raboot.”

“How does it do that?” asked Falt.

“Physical contact should be enough.”

Raboot nodded and approached Elgyem, but it backed away slightly. It stiffened up and shyly tapped its arms together. Raboot took a deep breath and smiled. It offered its paw and formally introduced itself, wishing that the both of them can become great friends. Elgyem softened up a little and reached out to shake Raboot's paw. As soon they grasped arms, Raboot's fur flashed with a slight blue color.

“That was it.” said Crisis. Elgyem felt something though. Raboot was hiding it, but after linking, its emotions were on display. It closed its other arm around Raboot's paw and moved closer. It said Raboot was sad. Raboot was caught a bit off guard, but it smiled awkwardly, asking what it was talking about. Elgyem saw through Raboot's facade, but it let go, not wanting to press too hard.

Topaz came jogging back. “Nurse Joy will help us. Her Wigglytuff knows stored power and calm mind.”

Crisis perked up. “Yes! With a max power calm mind, stored power should provide a tremendous amount of psychic energy.”

“Everything is set then, right?” asked Falt. “All we have to do is pick a route to check.”

Crisis leaned over to Ceailean. “Is there anything you can recall about Christianson? Any sort of mannerism that may hint as to what route he may have taken?”

“He sure doesn’t like parties, that's about everything worth saying.” said Ceailean. “His Kalos League feat was told to me by Marie as well as what debt he owes to her father.”

“We must think of something. If we don’t, we’ll be betting this entire plan on a coin toss.”

“Wait, what if we got Marie to broadcast her location?” asked Topaz. Crisis and Ceailean looked at her, curious as to what she meant.

“Oh yeah!” said Falt, “Me and Topaz use it just in case we ever get separated from each other! If you’re friends with Marie on your pokédex, you can ask her to broadcast her location and we should be able to see which route they took.”

“Ask huh?” said Ceailean, somewhat nervously.

“Is something wrong?” asked Topaz.

“It’s just that I haven’t spoken to her ever since she left. I’m… not sure what to say.” Falt and Topaz looked at him silently. That is when Miss Crimis reached over and held Ceailean’s hand.

“I may not have been there the whole way, but Marie must be hurting. This journey meant more to her than anything, right?” Ceailean nodded. “So just… say something that comes to mind. I’m sure however cheesy it is, Marie will appreciate that the message came from you. Speak your heart, Ceailean.”

Ceailean took a deep breath. “Thanks mom.” He took out his pokédex and opened the chat room. He closed his eyes in preparation, and began to type.

Dusker16: Hey

“More than that!” said Topaz.

“For once, I agree with her.” said Falt.

“You need to say something that really comes from deep inside. Something that you would probably never say if we were around.”

Ceailean pushed the two of them away. “I’m not done! Give me a minute!”

Dusker16: So… I know it's been a while. It must be lonely heading back there. I can only imagine. This journey must have meant the world to you. Do you remember that time we first met? I caught you watching pokemon battles on your phone. You were so embarrassed for thinking it was such an un-girly thing to do. But afterwards, you were adamant in wanting to become my friend. So much so that you kept coming back even after I pushed you away all those times. You were so persistent, and now, I am more glad than ever that you were. Without you with me on the journey, I never would’ve made it out of Lumiose. So that’s why I have to ask you something. Something very important. I need you to keep trying. Not for me, not for anyone, but for yourself. You’re allowed to be the person you want to be, and no one else can take that from you. I need your help. I’m gonna bring you back, but you have to tell me where you are. I think I can fix this.

Ceailean waited for a moment.

Dusker16: Oh yeah, send me your location. It’s a function on your pokédex.

The group waited anxiously. Ceailean noticed something changed. The messages were marked as read. They were viewed, but everyone waited. 10 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute. Ceailean felt like his chest was about to explode from the pressure. Falt, Topaz, Raboot, and Noibat gathered around the pokedex and watched in anticipation. Just then, a notification popped up.

Nums02 is now sharing their location

“Yes! I got it!” said Ceailean as he frantically navigated the GPS.

“Where? Where?” asked Falt and Topaz as he looked.

Ceailean finger came over the marker. “Balquenroque way.”

“That’s towards Santalune,” said Crisis. “Let’s get moving.”

Raboot bent down and began to stretch its legs. It hopped from toe to toe, cricked its neck, and twisted its back. “You’re really wanting to go huh?” asked Ceailean. Raboot gave a determined nod. “Okay, I’ll help you out.” Ceailean hit the navigate button on his GPS and zoomed out before showing it to Raboot. “This is the way there. Do you think you can remember it?” Raboot took the pokedex and studied it for a moment. It nodded and handed it back to him.

“Wait guys, I just thought of something, '' said Falt. “How are we gonna know when Raboot gets there? We don’t know how fast it is and I don’t think pouring psychic energy constantly into Elgyem is good for its health.”

Crisis groaned. “You’re right. I suppose we could have Raboot take Ceailean’s pokédex.”

“That won’t work. Raboot uses flame charge to move fast, it would incinerate the pokédex.”

Falt thought hard. “So what should we do?”

That was when Noibat came up with an idea. It called to Raboot, telling it to watch. Noibat ran out of the pokemon center and towards the battlefield. “Noibat?” asked Ceailean, “Where are you going?” The group followed it out. Once Noibat was in the center of the battlefield, it burst into dragon rush and yelled as loud as it could. Its voice echoed across the city. Even after Noibat's dragon rush dissipated, its voice echoed for a few more seconds. Noibat then pointed to the sky, then pointed to its ears. “You want Raboot to call for us?” Noibat nodded. “I suppose if Noibat will think it will work, you wanna try Raboot?” Raboot nodded as well.

“Then you must call like you have never called before.” said Crisis. “Balquenroque way is over 300 miles away, it will take a while before the sound of the call gets here and will require a lot of energy. Even if Noibat is listening closely.” Raboot told him not to worry.

“Alright Raboot, it's all you.” said Ceailean. Raboot nodded and lowered itself into a sprinters pose, facing the stairs down from the pokemon center. “Ready! Get set! Go!” Raboot's body ignited with flames as it immediately vanished in a burst of speed. A crack sharply sounded out, making everyone cover their ears.

“Ow! What was that?!” said Topaz in distress.

“Augh! That was a sonic boom! Raboot is that fast?!” said Crisis.

“Whaaaaat!?” shouted Falt

Ceailean turned towards the railing looking down on the city. He saw a scarlet blur race across the golden city lights. “Go, I believe in you.” he said to himself.

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

() Raboot raced across the streets of Cyllage City. Blurs of voices and lights zipped by as they passed. People jumped at the sight of it. Car horns honked and people yelled to get out of the way. Raboot slid over the hood of a passing car at an intersection, slid under cart vendors, and hopped over railings and outside furniture. It then jumped up, swung around on a tree branch and launched itself into the air. It landed on the rooftops and boosted forward, its flame getting more intense. As it ran, the roof tiles clacked with every footstep. It hopped from roof to roof until the city lights dimmed and the building grew sparse, being replaced with trees and forest. It rolled onto the ground and boosted onwards, it was now out of the city. Raboot gave one look back towards the city as it quickly faded from view. The road now was long and dark, peppered with occasional traffic, but it knew where it was going. It ran onwards because it had a job to do.

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

() The group watched as Raboot's' trail disappeared from view. After a moment, they realized that they were waiting.

“Um… how long until you guys think Raboot gets there?” asked Topaz.

“Even if it is able to achieve the speed of sound in a consistent manner, it would still take upwards of 30 to 40 minutes to reach their location. And even then, it would take that same amount of time for Raboot's call to get back here.” said Crisis.

“So what are we supposed to do?”

Crisis turned around and walked back towards the Pokémon center. “Wait.” The sliding doors closed behind him.

Falt groaned. “Augh! We’re kids, waiting is the last thing we would want to do!:

Topaz scoffed. “Speak for yourself! You must be a little kid if you can’t even handle waiting for 30 minutes.”

“As if you’re so mature!”

“6 minutes, Falt. Maybe you should respect your seniors.”

Falt clenched his fist. “Why you little-!”

Ceailean stepped in and pushed them apart. “Stop! All you two do is argue and argue. Like, if this is all that you two do with each other, why even go on a journey with each other?!”

“Ceailean!” shouted Miss Crimis, making the hair on his neck stand up. She grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him away. “Don’t mind him too much, kids. I’ll talk some sense into him.” She hurried him along to a nearby bench. As she did so, the twins looked at each other hesitantly. They weren't sure what to say to each other.

Ceailean sat down on the bench. “Mom! You saw what was happening. I can speak from personal experience, 60% of their conversations is them at each other's throat. If anything, I’m more confused that they haven’t fought each other at this point.”

“Ceailean.” said Miss Crimis with a sigh. “Sibling relationships are complicated. Maybe what you’re seeing is just something on the surface level.”

Ceailean observed the two of them. Falt started making slow laps around the battlefield, dragging his toes across the dirt. He hung his head down, deep in thought. Topaz sat on a concrete planter scrolling through a forum on her pokedex. Though, she wasn’t paying much attention, thinking too much about what was on her mind.

“Well, whatever it is, I just don’t get it.” said Ceailean.

“I’m sure that the two love each other just like any other family would. I don’t think petty arguments would change that. I mean, isn’t what you and Marie have similar?”

“Not really. I like to think our thing is… competitive? I’m not sure how to describe it. These two hurl insults at each other like mud.”

“Have a little faith, Ceailean. You don’t have any siblings so it may be a little hard for you to understand. But I believe this is nothing more than sibling rivalry. If the time came, I’m sure that they’d do anything for each other.”

“Maybe,” said Ceailean silently. He watched as Noibat and Elgyem talked to each other. Noibat offered its wing and Elgyem shook nervously. It must’ve read its mind because it jumped up suddenly. Noibat’s mind must’ve been an intense one.

Falt then grasped the sides of his head and turned around frustratedly. “Gah! I’m so bored!” He took out a pokeball and pointed it at Noibat. “Come on! Let’s get some practice in before we confront Christianson!” Noibat accepted with a smirk.

“Don’t practice too hard, alright?” said Ceailean. Noibat and Falt nodded. Ceailean sighed and leaned back on the bench and continued to wait.

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

() Raboot zipped through endless roads and trees. So much so that it could barely tell where it was anymore. But it had an image of the map in its mind. Left here, right here, there’s that bridge it saw. It had to have been getting close. It launched itself off the road straight into the air and tuck and rolled into the treetops. It boosted off as soon as it landed and found itself on the road again. But just then, the honk of a truck and its blinding headlights startled it. It yelled as it tossed itself back into the forest right as it passed by. Raboot watched it drive away and took a breath of relief before boosting down the road.

It continued on for a while more until something caught its attention. It immediately tried to stop, but it skidded across the ground farther than it thought it would. The slick polished stone road was making it hard to stop. It continued to skid, eventually seeing a fruit cart that it was on a collision course with a fruit cart. Raboot started to panic, eventually waving its arms about and even purposely falling on the ground to stop itself. It tumbled and rolled right up until it was just inches away from the wheel of the cart. Raboot strained itself to roll the opposite direction and took a gasp of air as it did so. It was much more out of breath than it thought it was. The entire run was catching up to it all in an instant.

“My my! Are you alright, dear?” asked the old lady running the cart. Raboot raised its paw and gave an exhausted nod. “You must be careful next time. Take a run on the sidewalks, the main roads around here are made of slick stones in order to beautifully reflect the moon's light. Great for the aesthetic, not so great for your footing.” Raboot nodded. The old lady then handed over a sitrus berry. “Here, you look exhausted.” Raboot graciously took her up on her offer and began nibbling on the berry.

After a few minutes, Raboot was back up on its feet. It thanked the old lady for the food and boosted away. “Be careful out there now!”

Raboot went back to where it noticed something. There it found a very familiar luxury car. Its glossy black exterior was unmistakable. This was Christianson’s car. But where was the man himself? Raboot approached cautiously. The car was parked in front of a local Cafe. Raboot jumped up to look inside the windows, no one was inside. It then moved over to the cafe, making extra sure that its body was hidden behind the decorative glass paint. It reached up and took a quick peek inside. There they were in the back corner of the cafe, eating. Marie looked unenthusiastic while Christianson typed away on his phone. Probably boring business stuff humans did. Marie took a slow glance towards the window Raboot was peeking from, making it quickly sneak back down.

Was it allowed to show itself to Marie? Maybe, but showing itself could complicate things. It decided to play it safe. There was only one thing left to do, call in the cavalry. It took a deep breath and cupped its paws around its mouth.

“What are you doing?” Raboot screamed and jumped. To its side was a small child holding an ice cream. Raboot shook its paws at the child and exclaimed that it wasn’t doing anything. The child tilted their head curiously. In hindsight, maybe calling the cavalry wasn’t the best idea. Raboot quickly darted off before the child could ask anymore questions.

Raboot found itself on a nearby hill overlooking the small town. It looked pretty with the small outline it made on the side of the mountain with its golden lights. Raboot hardened its resolve and took a deep breath. It called towards the sky as loud as it possibly could, telling Noibat and the others that it found them. It yelled and shouted, even jumping as high as it could to increase the chance that it could be heard.

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

() Noibat stood in the center of the battlefield with its eyes closed and ears perked up, concentrating hard. Ceailean, Miss Crimis, Crisis, Falt, Topaz, and Nurse Joy all stood behind it waiting for something to happen.

“Do you hear something yet?” asked Falt in a whisper. Noibat quickly shushed him. Falt raised his hands and backed away.

Topaz tapped Ceailean on the shoulder and pulled him aside. “So just what are you planning to do?” she asked in a whisper.

Ceailean leaned towards her ear. “Something pretty stupid.”

“Do you need us to do anything?”

“No, I’m all we’ll need. If anything, you don’t even really have to come.”

“Like heck! I’m seein’ this to the end. And plus, Elgyem is going with you, which means Falt has to go too, so I gotta go as well.”

“You’re going because Falt is too?”

Topaz hesitated. “Well… someone’s gotta be around to make sure he isn’t being an idiot.”

“Uh huh.”

Noibat’s ear twitched. It was super faint, but it could hear Raboot's’ voice in the air. It called out to everybody to get ready.

“Noibat hears them!” said Crisis. “That’s your cue, Nurse Joy!”

Nurse Joy thrust her hand towards Wigglytuff. “Wigglytuff, use a full power calm mind!” Wigglytuff nodded and concentrated. In its head, it imagined a drop of water rippling through still water. But it kept concentrating, eventually imagining a stream of laminar flowing water pour into the still without so much as a splash. Wigglytuff opened its eyes with a smile. A pulse of energy flowed through the ground with a loud boom. A red aura surrounded it.

“What was that?” asked Falt. “That seemed so much more than a calm mind.”

“It's a trick I learned from a trainer a while ago,” said Nurse Joy, “Apparently, if you concentrate hard, you can have a boosting move max out the power it's able to provide. But they said that it takes an immense amount of stamina, takes too long, and is too gimmicky to use in battle. It's more a trick to use to show off at town fairs.”

“Whoa, maybe I’ll try it one day!” said Falt, amazed. He then turned to Elgyem. “Are you ready?” Elgyem nodded.

Crisis walked over to Falt. “Just so you know, pouring this much power into Elgyem will put an immense strain on its body and mental state. It will probably be extremely exhausted once we come out the other side.”

“You tell us this now!?” asked Falt. Elgyem held out its arm in front of Falt. It was determined to go through with it. Falt sighed. “I guess you already made up your mind. Just… don’t try to push yourself too much, okay?” Elgyem nodded.

Ceailean took out a pokeball. “Solosis, we’ll need your help too!” Solosis popped out of the pokeball and spun around in the air excitedly. “Ready to give Elgyem your psychic power?” Solosis nodded. It floated over next to Elgyem and began to glow red with psychic energy. Elgyem concentrated and also glowed with red psychic energy. Wigglytuff then glowed with bright pink psychic energy.

“Huh? Why does Wigglytuff’s psychic energy look different?” asked Topaz.

“It's an indicator of a pokemon's psychic potential. Like a power scale. Red is the weakest, blue the middle, and pink is the strongest.” explained Crisis.

“How do you know that?”

“Team Harmonious’ leader has a psychic pokemon that I've trained side by side with for a long time.” Solosis’s energy then started to get drawn into Elgyem's body, transitioning both their energies into a deep purple. “See now, its purple. Which means their energies are transitioning between the weak red and the middling blue.”

“Get ready guys!” said Nurse Joy.

“R-Right!” said Ceailean. “Mom, are you coming?

“Yeah! I gotta make sure my little boy doesn’t cause too much trouble.” said Miss Crimis.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Ceailean, Miss Crimis, and everyone else gathered around Elgyem.

“Here we go.” said Falt. “I believe in you.” Elgyem nodded.

“Wigglytuff, use stored power!” said Nurse Joy. Wigglytuff held its hands up in the air and shot a huge laser straight into the sky. “Hopefully this is enough energy for you all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.” Nurse Joy bowed and walked back towards the pokemon center.

“Wait, but she didn’t Elgyem the energy.” said Falt, “She just just shot it into the sky.”

Crisis put his hand on Falt’s shoulder. “Patience, Falt.” He then looked up into the sky. Confused, Falt looked up as well. Suddenly, a flash of pink sparkled in the sky right before a huge beam struck the entire area they stood on with a large boom.

Falt and Topaz both yelled, scared of what was happening, but Crisis held them in place. “Steel yourselves, this process should be harmless.”

“S-Should be?” Topaz asked with shaky breath.

“It is inter-dimensional travel after all, I am not going to pretend that I know all that much about it.” Topaz began to whimper in fear.

Ceailean looked at Crisis with an unamused look. “Way to give comfort, Crisis.”

Crisis sighed. “Ah yes, I apologize.”

Elgyem and Solosis’ psychic turned blue then quickly to pink. To hold so much power was exhilarating for Solosis. It was probably more than enough to beat Noibat whenever it wanted. There was a little itch to mess with Noibat, but it knew better and focused on giving Elgyem energy. Elgyem looked up into the sky and began to speak in a droning voice.

“Elgyem? Are you alright?” asked Falt with concern in his voice. The wind began to pick up, bowing away from Elgyem’s direction.

“It cannot hear you. Siphoning so much psychic energy blocks out every sense in its body.” said Crisis.

“Will it be okay?”

“As long as it remembers what it needs to do. Have faith, Falt.” Falt nodded and continued to watch.

Elgyem’s eyes glowed pink and its voice grew high pitched. The wind suddenly increased in intensity, making everyone have to harden their stance in order to keep their balance. Ceailean shielded his eyes with his arm. The psychic energy poured out of the ground and glowed brightly.

“Uh, Ceailean?” asked Miss Crimis while tugging on the shoulder of his jacket. “W-What’s happening?” Ceailean turned around and the sight shook him to his core. The city around seemed like it was melting. Buildings became puddles, lights became oil streaks, and the sky turned into soup.

“Crisis?!” shouted Topaz. “Is this what it's like to teleport?”

“It's definitely a unique experience.” said Crisis. Suddenly, the ground beneath them broke away into a black abyss. “We… should be okay…”

“You don’t even sound confident!” shouted Ceailean.

Topaz began to hyperventilate. “By Arceus, we’re gonna get torn to shreds! We’re gonna end in a different dimension! We’re gonna disappear!”

“She sure does have an imagination.” said Miss Crimis.

Topaz closed her eyes tightly and wrapped her arms around Falt. “Make it stop! I don’t wanna be here anymore!”

Falt struggled to breath. “Urk! Topaz… you’re gonna make me suffocate before anything happens.”

A deep boom sounded out and the world rapidly stretched apart. Noibat, who had remained relatively calm through the entire experience, held its wings up in the air to give the illusion that its wings were 30 feet long. It laughed hysterically. Solosis growled, sarcastically saying that at least Noibat was finding fun in this.

Just then, it felt like everyone fell down a trapdoor. The space around them whirred and swirled. Ceailean tumbled through the space, hearing breaths and voices screaming as if being echoed down a tunnel. Then just as suddenly, Ceailean found ground again. He fell on the ground, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Everyone else came about through pink flashes. Crisis fell flat on his back. Miss Crimis fell face first into a bush. Solosis fell into a nearby pond with a big splash. Once it came back up for air, it yelled seeing as Noibat fell straight on top of it, plunging them both back underwater. Falt and Topaz rolled over each other like a rug until they stopped. Topaz kept screaming with her eyes closed.

“By Arceus, I’m gonna be sick!” said Falt. He tried to move, but Topaz wouldn’t let go. He couldn’t hold it in anymore and turned his head away as much as he could before throwing up. This snapped Topaz out of her fit and she quickly pushed him off.

“EWWW! You sicko!” she said while getting as far as she was comfortable away from him.

“Glad you’re okay too.” Falt managed to say before throwing up again.

Crisis stood up and watched the scene before him. “That was… massively unpleasant. I do not blame you, Falt. Let it all out.”

Falt got up on his hands and knees. “What about Elgyem?”

Ceailean quickly looked around and saw Elgyem floating in the middle of the area they landed in. The energy left its eyes as it began to fall. Ceailean gasped. “I gotcha!” Ceailean reached out and caught Elgyem in his arms. Elgyem's head nodded into Ceailean’s chest like a sleeping baby.

Falt struggled to his feet and dizzily made his way over to Elgyem. “Elgyem! Is it okay?!”

Ceailean gave him a worried look and shrugged. Crisis made his way over and gave it a quick check up. He gave a relaxed sigh. “It's just exhausted. Give it time and some rest, it should wake up soon.”

“Oh thank Arceus.” said Falt. He then gave a wet burp and covered his mouth with his fist. Ceailean and Crisis quickly took a step back. Falt held out his hand. “Nope, don’t worry, I think I’m alright now.”

“I’d like some help too, please.” said Miss Crimis from inside a bush.

Ceailean sighed. He held out Elgyem to Falt. “Could you please?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Falt took Elgyem from Ceailean and cradled it in his arms. Ceailean then made his way over to his mom and pulled her out of the bush, taking care to flick the leaves and twigs out of her hair.

“Thank you, son.” she said. “Where are we anyway?”

“That’s a good question. It looks like we’re in the middle of a random forest.” said Crisis.

“Thanks, captain obvious.” said Topaz.

“Our most pressing concern is figuring out whether or not our teleport was accurate. I do not think I have to say how dangerous it would be to be several miles away from civilization without camping gear.”

The reality began to set it for Topaz. She could hear all the creepy crawly sounds of the night time pokemon all around them. The thought terrified her. She quickly took out two pokeballs and opened them. Dewpider and Cottonee both popped out, both confused as to why. Topaz then held them both tightly and fell to her knees. “We’re in the middle of nowhere and there are scary pokemon everywhere! You two will protect me right?!” The two Pokémon couldn’t answer as Topaz squeezed all the oxygen out of them.

A voice then called out to them. Ceailean looked to see that Raboot was standing up the hill just above them. It was calling them over and pointing in a direction. “Raboot! You’re here!” said Ceailean. Raboot nodded. It observed the group and tilted its head curiously. It asked where Noibat and Solosis were. Noibat called out from behind some trees. The two walked out miserably, sopping wet. Solosis groaned and blamed Noibat for how they looked. Noibat, without a word, gave Solosis a wet slap of its wing, making it stagger back.

“You called because you found Christianson, have you not?” asked Crisis, “Where is he?” Raboot pointed back to where it was earlier, but this time more urgently. It said that Christianson was leaving. Noibat quickly got into action, flying up and past Raboot. Raboot followed close behind, boosting ahead.

“I hope you are ready for this, Ceailean.” said Crisis. “Whatever you are planning, I will be rooting for you.”

“It’s a hail mary, but I think it should work.” said Ceailean. “Let’s go guys!”

“Yes, let’s.” said Crisis. Everyone else hurried up the hill as fast as they could.

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

() Noibat flew up within the branches of the tallest tree on the hill. Raboot ran up just under it. Noibat asked where Christianson was and Raboot answered immediately by saying that he was driving away, pointing down to the street. Noibat looked and saw Christianson’s car pulling out of the driveway. Raboot asked what they should do. Noibat smirked, it told Raboot that it had an idea. Raboot nodded, pledging its full trust in it. Noibat told it to watch and flew full speed towards the car. It closed the distance, focusing on the car until it suddenly flashed Dragon Rush for just a moment-

and allowed itself to get hit by the front end of Christianson’s car with a loud BAM.

Raboot was so stunned that it couldn’t even react, frozen in disbelief. What was Noibat thinking?! But as Noibat tumbled to the side, the car's tires screeched to a halt and Christianson stepped out of the car.

“What did we hit?!” asked Marie from inside the car.

Christianson squinted at Noibat. “A pokemon.”

Marie gasped. “Is it alright?”

“I’ll check, stay here.” Christianson closed his door and walked over. He knelt down by Noibat. Raboot watched from behind a tree anxiously. Noibat played dead as best it could, but the hairs on its back stood up as it sensed Christianson’s presence looming over it. He gently grabbed Noibat’s wing and lifted it up, seeing if it would react. Noibat was getting goosebumps as it felt Christianson’s touch.

“Wait a minute, I know you.” said Christianson. “You’re Ceailean’s Pokémon!” Noibat was shocked. It tried playing dead a little longer, wondering how in the world it was recognized. It couldn’t have been the only Noibat around here. But before Christianson could say anything else, Ceailean called out from the forest.

“Hey!” he shouted, his voice slightly echoing over the hills.

Christianson looked over his shoulder. “So, you did show.” Noibat’s eyes flew open and it backflipped out of Christianson’s grasp, startling him slightly.

Ceailean however, paid him no mind. “Marie!”

Marie’s eyes widened. “Huh?!” she said, surprised. She turned around on her seat. Snom poked out the front of her beanie, curious as well. “Ceailean?! How did you get here?”

Ceailean couldn't hear her from inside the car, but he continued on. “Do you remember our promise? The thing we said we would do to protect each other? You had me promise to never to leave your side, and I had you-”

“-promise to never leave your side either.” finished Marie. She slumped back in her seat and curled her knees up to her chest. “But, we both know we can’t keep those promises, right?”

“Things are different now, Marie!” said Ceailean, stepping closer towards the car. “Would you really call us the same people we were back in Snowbelle? All of our accomplishments, all of our mistakes, even within the month we’ve been on this journey, the experience created a whole new us! Why should we let anything stop us now?”

“But what am I supposed to say?” asked Marie.

“You’re the Marie that refused to hide during Tuviere! You’re the Marie that charged headfirst into danger as soon as you found out where Snom was! You’re even the Marie that became somewhat of a teacher to other trainers! An Inspiration!”

Marie gave a slight gasp. “I am?”

“We’re not little kids anymore! It’s time we take our own lives into our own hands! Take control and fight for what we believe in! We only lose if we quit!”

Marie had a revelation. “If we quit?” She turned back around and looked at Ceailean. Was her only option really convincing her dad? There had to have been more. To keep fighting? What could she do? She was stronger now, much stronger. It would take more than a few words to force her to do anything. Her Scolipede could carve out mountains!

Marie shook her head. No! She didn’t want to threaten him with violence. Despite everything, she wouldn’t want to stoop that low. Then maybe, fight, battle, pokemon, explosions, dad. Then her last thought settled on her mom. There, lying in her deathbed, she reached out and said, “Become the you you want to be. I, for no one else.”

A single tear streamed down Marie’s cheek. “I for no one else.” she said to herself. It was a strange phrase her mother said sometimes. Whenever she beat her at videogames, whenever she would sometimes steal candies for her from convenience stores, and whenever she would hold her when she cried. Marie would always say the phrase made no sense back then, but now, it felt like it meant the world.

“Ceailean! I-” Marie reached over and tried to open the door, only to find the handle wasn’t connected to anything. “Darn child locks!” Marie then moved to the front seats, only the doors to lock themselves. Marie tried to push the door lock buttons, but they didn’t work either. She slammed the windows with her hands. “Christianson! Let me out!”

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

() “Sorry to cut your little reunion short, Ceailean.” said Christianson, putting his car keys back in his pocket. “But I think you’ve said enough.”

Ceailean then pointed a pokeball in his direction. “Then I’ll say no more, let’s settle this!”

Christianson scoffed at the absurdity. “No more! Marie already lost! I’m not gonna deal with a line of people challenging me for the same thing!”

“It’s just me.”

“Who cares?! I took my deal, I plan on sticking to it!”

Marie slammed her hands on the car window again. “Ceailean! Help me out!” her muffled voice called through the doors.

Ceailean raised an eyebrow at Christianson. “Noibat! I have an idea.” Noibat readied itself. “Use air cutter on the car and free Marie!” Noibat nodded and threw a blade of air at the door.

“Wha-! Hey!” He took out a pokeball and brought out Rhyperior, blocking the attack. “How dare-!”

Ceailean pointed his pokeball again. “Then force me to stop, Christianson. Or are you saying you’re too insecure to enforce your ideals?”

“This fuckin kid,” he said under his breath. “Fine! What do you want?”

“I defeat you, you let Marie go. You defeat me, I give up everything. My pursuit of Marie, my journey, everything! Simple enough for you?”

“Me?” Christianson laughed. “Ceailean, buddy o’ pal, you don’t even the slimmest of chances.”

“Try me.”

Christianson’s smile quickly went away. “Ugh, whatever. I’ll finish this quickly. Whatever it takes to get you out of my hair.”

“Fine by me, I’ll only need one chance.”

“Cocky aren’t you?” Christianson then pointed down towards the depths of the forest. “There is a clearing not far from here. It’s part of a national park, we should be able to battle it out freely there.”

“Lead the way.” said Ceailean with a determined look. Noibat flew onto his shoulder and Raboot ran up to his side. “Ready guys?” The both of them nodded. Christianson beckoned him over and Ceailean and his pokemon followed him into the forest.

“Hey! Let me out of the car first!” shouted Marie. She slumped down on her seat and crossed her arms. “You could at least let me watch.” Then there was a knock on the window.

“Marie! Are you in there?” called Topaz.

“Seriously, how does he drive with a tint this thick? I bet he couldn’t even see the outside.” asked Falt.

“Falt?! Topaz?! You two are here too?” said Marie.

“I can hear her! Marie, can you get out?” asked Topaz.

“Christianson must’ve modded the car so that it can’t be opened from the inside! I’m stuck here!”

“Wait just a moment!” Topaz pulled the pin off her hair, letting it fall down to her shoulders. “This trusty thing always helps me get through doors at home!”

“Wait, does that explain how my secret cookies keep getting eaten?!” asked Falt.

“L-Let’s focus on now, I’ll get you out of there!” said Topaz in a jittery voice. The three waited a moment before something clicked.

“Whoa! Did you actually do it?” asked Falt.

Topaz’s shoulders slumped. She turned around with a guilty look. “Nope, I broke it.” she said while holding her snapped pin.

“What the heck?! I thought you had it!”

“I thought I did! But I guess car locks are a bit different.”

“Well maybe you shoulda thought about that! Now we have no way of getting to Marie! Short of breaking the window!”

“Oh yeah, let’s just throw tons of shards of glass in Marie’s face! Don’t worry about the cuts, I’ll pay you back 300,000 for the window!” shouted Topaz sarcastically.

“I wasn’t saying it for real!”

“Sure sounded like it, dingus!”

“You’re a dingus!”

“Children, if you would please!” shouted Crisis. The two stopped arguing and looked at him. “I will have you two know that I am in the possession of a Pokémon that has the skill of lock picking.”

“Who?” asked Falt.

Crisis let out a Pokémon. “Decidueye, I need your assistance.” Decidueye popped out of the pokeball. The lighting of the café behind it made it look like a cloaked man covered in shadow with glowing yellow eyes, scaring Topaz a bit. “We need to get into this vehicle, how long?” Decidueye walked over and took out several arrow quills of varying sizes. It picked one that matched the size of the key hole, put it partially inside, and took a look inside of the mechanism. It then gave him a signal.

“4 minutes. Not ideal, but it would seem we’re not in a hurry.” said Crisis. Decidueye got to work.

“Whoa, how did you teach Decidueye that?” asked Falt.

“All Pokémon are capable of learning human skills, depending on their physique and the tools they have. When you are in my line of work, having such skills is necessary.”

“What, do you rob banks?” asked Topaz.

“Do not be absurd.”

“I was only kidding.” Topaz then tried to look back through the window. “We’ll have you out of there soon, Marie. Hang tight.”

Marie looked back through the glass. “Please hurry, I don’t wanna miss a thing.”