We awake in Olivine at the lovely seaside hotel next to the tavern. Despite how boisterous the neighboring facilities are, the little establishment carries itself with dignity. The slightly vintage feel to it makes me feel at home, despite it being almost as far away from home as it could possibly be in the region.

When we manage to get up and get ourselves together, Fang drops me a menu. He gestures silently to the buffet. "So, can we eat? I mean, unless we're going foraging in the wilderness. Do you do that?"

"No, Fang, we do not forage for berries." I push the menu back. "Why would we even..."

"How do you keep all of the food for the team, then?" He asks, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"In my bag, obviously..." I look into my bag and realize that I've never really seen the bottom of it. "That's actually a really good question. Does anyone know what these bags are even made of?"

"Synthetic fiber and dark magic!" calls Ten from the bathroom. "Someone probably made a deal with Giratina itself to create it."

"Since when does Giratina dispense its powers so that people can shove extra cans of Oran Berry substitute into their bag?" I ask. "Let's just assume it works on the same principles as almost everything else that doesn't make sense in this world."

"What principles? There are principles?"
"That's what I mean." I sigh, zipping my bag back up.

"Have you ever tried asking someone else about this? What about professors?"

"It's just more or less normal for us." I shrug. "Why, what would you do about it? If you told anyone, they'd just tell you that Pokemon did it. They wouldn't specify which Pokemon either, because they're really helpful. This goes double for the professors. Professors are the absolute worst."

"That's harsh. They've made really valuable contributions to science." Reginae says. "Not like I personally look up to any of them, but I think that anyone who's last name just so happens to be a tree is definitely a reliable source."

"That's because you are a plant." I tell him. "According to 'science', I don't exist and neither do kitsune. It took me two months to realize that I was a Goldeneye and two more to realize kitsune were real and I owned one. Plus, if professors are so great, shouldn't they be doing their own field work? Why would you send a bunch of kids to do it for you?"

"Fair point." Reginae opens the door into the hotel hall. It's only three floors tall and there are only fourteen or so suites per floor. Despite that, it has to be one of the nicest places we've ever slept just because of the sheer amount of love gone into anything. Clefairy roam the halls, brushing things off with tiny feather dusters and a whole menagerie of Pokemon follow performing maintenance of all sorts.

A Sandshrew tottles along behind the bulk of them, carrying two buckets full of wrapped and candied Oran Berries through the corridors. When he sees me, he holds one bucket up. "Hungry?"

"Am I? Thank you so much." I pet his head and take a few, unwrapping them and distributing them among my team members. I take one more and pop it in my mouth.

"Oh... thath so good. Oh my Artheus." I say. The sweetness is overwhelming, but it doesn't feel forced or fake. Instead, it lights up my whole mouth with every bite. It tastes like liquid happiness.

"Don't speak with your mouth full of berries." warns Reginae, crunching away on his own anyways.

I nudge him playfully and he swallows, shooting me a look far more bitter than any berry.

Even the clerk at the front waves cheerfully as I leave, telling me to have a nice day. You'd think it would be common courtesy to say that to your guests, who are paying you to sleep after having said nice day, but a lot of the hotel owners in Johto are jerks. Don't get me started on other industries. Let's just say that Johto has a nasty reputation for being a rundown region or "discount Kanto" and save for a few tourist spots where everything is spruced up to look somewhat better, that's absolutely the case.

Not like I'd know, because like most Johto inhabitants, I'm too poor to go to Kanto.

"So. We have to do some more grinding. Anyone have anything slightly more bearable to do today so I can think of a reason to wiggle out of it?"

"We should go sightseeing! I hear the Lighthouse is super cool." suggests Fang. He looks upwards dramatically. "Only then can I truly stand at the top of the world."

I try not to snort at this. "If you think the Lighthouse is a fun sightseeing venue, I don't know what to tell you."

"I'm just going to go out on a limb and say... it's with tons of hostile Pokemon?" inquires Reginae.

"Yup." I say. "Actually, mainly trainers, but still... hostility through the roof."

"Judging by that, we're probably going to have to go on a fetch quest up there to progress any further."

"Also true." I say. "There's an Ampharos up there who's sick. We have to go up there then go all the way across the ocean, fight a gym there, meet up with Eusine, then go back and then we get to fight Jasmine."

"Sounds like a lot of work for a gym battle." Ten says.

"You don't say!" I laugh dryly. "Everything here is a ton of work."

"Are we going to go or not?" Fang repeats.

"We're going! Chill out a bit, will you?"

Fang smiles and prances along beside me as we pass through rows of little shops and large, messy bars full of tough-as-nails sailors. It strikes an odd contrast but all in all the town is pretty nice (and probably has amazing seafood- I make a mental note to use the money we earn today to get some). Towering above all of it, perched on a hill, is the Lighthouse. While it's not lit up during the day, it still stands in impressive contrast to the small and cozy town.

Eventually, we come to the steps of the Lighthouse. The other Pokemon charge ahead, eager to race each other up the stairs and begin their training for the day (luckily, they all have each other this time) but I hang back. Ten flutters down beside me, folding his wings.

"Are you alright?"

"This brings back memories."

"It'll be news to me. I didn't live this long."

A dullness thuds within me at the thought of his last death but I try to ignore it. "This was when Khrys and Sky became a couple." I tell him.

"Weren't they already?" asks Ten.

"Yeah, but it wasn't really official up until this moment. I think it was late fall then as well. Funny to think about, isn't it?"

"If funny is the word you want to use for it."

I sigh. "There really are no words. I just want to keep looking up at this forever. I want to cement the moment in my mind and never let it go again, but..."

"You can't?"

"No, I think I'm already letting go." I admit. "I don't want to, but every second I stand here in this new reality, I can feel part of them washing away... and it hurts. It hurts so badly."

"I'm still here." Ten assures me. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. Didn't you say you saw some kind of vision in Illex?"
"I think they're safe, wherever they are. They're not gone."

"Then they'll be looking for us too."

"Of course they will." I tell myself.

"Good." Ten's wings fan out. "Then let's fly!"
My team is missing a member in formation without Luna. Fang is more than capable than holding the spot where she once held her ground, but there's still the painful and constant realization that she will never occupy it again. I don't want to think about it and yet it haunts me no matter where I turn.

You can't cry again. Not in front of the team. They don't cry.

Clay, solitary loner no longer, takes assistance from flying Pokemon as we move floors and laughs with Rose. He is gentler than I imagined. I can see it in the way he holds her, in the way he laughs, in the intense focus of his eyes. He knows how heave he is, what he could do if he wasn't careful.

Reginae waits at the end of every floor so that I can put him in his Pokeball and take him out on the next floor. "Takes you longer every time," he quips.

"You're just impatient." I snap.

"Am I?"

"Is the sky blue?"
"It was looking like it might rain today."

I withdraw him and open the Pokeball again, like I promised. That's all the help he's getting for me. D'spinas buzzes from above, "This is the last floor! Hurry up down there!"

Clay is facing a trainer. I definitely didn't give him permission. Pokeballs out and ready to switch if needed, my eyes suddenly glow gold.

"You need to get out of there."

My words echo in my own mind.

Out.

It's not a conscious retaliation like Reginae's, but it's just as powerful. Instead, it's a lack of trust, the telltale signs of a bond too fragile to hold...

Clay turns around as I'm forced into my own body.

"What the..."

The other trainer wastes no such time. "Water Gun, now!"

Their Krabby obeys, water gushing forwards from its mouth at an insane velocity.

"Clay, look out!"

The torrent hits him and it doesn't stop for minutes. I watch in agony as it rinses him, as I feel- even with the tininess of our bond- the pain surging its way through his whole body. It goes on for what seems like minutes and I stand unmoving as he moves his hands up to hold it back. Even the movement is weak.

Finally, Clay emerges from the blast, dripping with water. My Pokegear beeps loudly several times before stopping altogether.

"Ashley." Clay says, his voice stern as if simply emerging from a Tackle.

"It's okay. I've got Potions. It's going to be okay." I move to his side and begin spritzing them on.

"It was always real." he mutters angrily. He's not coughing up water nor is he showing any signs of distress but a murky clay-like substance is oozing out from his innards. It makes me sick.

"You've done terrible things, Ashley..." he mumbles. There are golden flecks in his eyes. I bend down beside him, out of Potions, and his hand reaches out to my own shoulder, stopping short and landing on my leg instead. "Don't let them get hurt."

His grip loosens and his hand falls away. He finally stops moving and the Pokeball's light turns a dull gray color, signalling its deactivation. My eyes burn with tears but at the same time I am so hollow by now that I can hardly feel a thing.

I barely knew him.

He hated me.

I should've just kept him in there, and yet... he offered to help.

Behind me, Rose glows gold and her shell cracks, flaking away and becoming an ethereal dust. The shattered pieces reveal a plethora of triangle patterns hidden beneath the shell. Wings sprout from her back, her neck elongates, and her nubs lengthen to a crown of horns about her head.

"He's dead," she says. There's so much emotion in every syllable and yet she's barely forcing them out. They're a quiet whisper against my ear, trembling with unthinkable remorse and anger.

"Rose! I-" I turn around, my heart beating even faster. Fear replaces sadness and my mind runs through all the ways she could kill me, Goldeneye or otherwise. Could she break my mind with Extrasensory nearly as quick as I've seen my own team be manipulated?

"Don't spare me." her eyes are full of ice and silence. "This is what happened to Sunny and Luna too, isn't it?"

"We were just trying to protect you. You're too young to have to deal with this." I say, backing up. I'm still holding Clay's body against my own, like some kind of terrible toy instead of one of the dead.

"Not anymore." Her Extrasensory takes Clay's body from against my side and her small wings fan wide, making her look so much larger than she is. Another flick of her stubby hand sends me flying against the wall. I feel the wind rush from my body and then she soars off, even while holding the amazingly heavy Geodude.

My entire body aches with pain. Ten rushes past me, flying after Rose.

"Woaaah. That was sooooo screwed up." Fang mutters. "You know, it may just be me, but I think she's a little bit psycho."

I get to my feet and begin climbing the ladder. The rest of my team stands below. Reginae and D'spinas flank the entire team, protecting them, while I ascend to Jasmine.

"H-hello! Oh my, it's been so long since another human's been up here... you want to challenge me, don't you? I'm so sorry, but I don't think I can do that right now. For now I have to care for Amphy and all of that... I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine." I tell her. "I'm guessing if someone got the medicine he needs, you'd be able to receive challenges again?"
Her eyes widen with fear . "You'd do that?! But... the ocean..."

"I can handle the ocean." I tell her.

She brushes Amphy's fur tenderly, a sad smile alight in her eyes. "I understand this must be a difficult undertaking, but I can't leave Amphy here alone." She moves the Ampharos's face upwards slightly so that the two's gazes meet perfectly. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him. I just want him to be safe and happy."

I give her a sad smile and pat her back. I have the feeling that Jasmine has never lost one of her own Pokemon, or at the most, she's lost a very small number. "I've got you. Things are going to be okay."

"You think so?"

"I know so." After all, it's the way the game is programmed to run. If only we could all be so lucky...