When Lance and I get back to the top floor, I hear the whine of police sirens pervading my ears. Several Rocket members are waiting outside in handcuffs and one of them, the one who checked me into the hotel earlier, flashes me a dirty gesture.

I guess I know where I'm not staying tonight.

Lance asks, "You going to be okay?"
    "Fine." I say.

"Thanks for your help." he says. "I know the month is a hard deadline, but I think I can help you out a bit. Let's just say you have it in the bag."

Confused, I reply, "Ooookay." Then I turn to go, moving away from the noise and the light into the twilight. I know exactly where I'm going but I don't want to be out after dark- especially without my Pokemon.

"Hey!" I turn around. I see Lance in the distance, waving to me. He points to my hand and nods. I hold up the satchel and he gives me the thumbs up.

The remaining contents jostle around in the bag beneath my right hand. Overwhelmed with curiosity, I pull just a single object out and murmur, "He can't be serious." Nudging it back in, I continue past the city boundaries into the countryside, where several trees have fallen just off the path. There are no trainers out, which isn't terribly uncommon (especially given the average age of this route's trainers) but I can't help but wish there was one around just so I knew that nothing horrible had happened in the day's frenzy. If Morty was affected, it's safe to say most of the region may have been within the signal's reach.

Still, there's a comfort in finally being alone. The sun draws close to my level and I relish the absence of sound, the feel of tall grass on my knees, all of it. I relish in the real Pokemon and try to banish the day from my mind.

"Hello?" asks a voice. I turn again. There's an Ampharos there. "You."

"What?" I ask breathlessly. I feel my hand shaking slightly.

"Trainer, I need help- it's my sister. I need to know where my sister is!" She falls to her knees. "Please, trainer, you have to help me!"

The Flaafy says sheepishly, "I'm very sorry, miss. We're all disoriented after the day's events." She drags her sister away into the brush and I struggle to recall where I've seen her before.

I press a hand to my head, feeling another onslaught of pain coming on, and decide to brave it out. I have to be close by now. Sure enough, in the distance lies a small but earnest building.

I knock on the door. "Hello?"

"Lake of Rage cabin rental at your service."

"So, I was wondering... do you have that cabin open?" I point outside the window to a small establishment by the water, so close it seems it might be swept away by the lake. I push some money over the counter tentatively.

A woman at the register throws me some keys.

It's only a two minute walk to the cabin, and upon opening the door, I don't regret a single cent of the purchase.

I kick off my shoes and look around the room, comforted by the familiarity of the place the best team of six I ever had spent our last night together.

It may just be memory playing tricks on me, but the place almost smells like it did the night we rented it. There's a distinct taste of lavender in the air and that smoky after-fire smell emanates from the fireplace, which still has piles of charred wood resting in it. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend that none of today happened and I'm just getting back from another day of grinding with the team.

My team.

Infinite timelines...

I think it's safe to say that out there somewhere, there is a universe where I didn't ruin everything, maybe even a world where Lilly didn't die tonight. I can barely imagine it. The faces of my teammates are so worn thin in my memory that it makes it hard to fantasize about.

Not tonight. Not after that.

Throwing my bag aside, I fall onto the bed and roll into the covers, flicking out the lamp and then lying still on the bed, facing upwards.

I stare up at the shadows on the ceiling until the world becomes strange to me. It begins to rain outside, slowly at first, and then the droplets pick up at an astounding rate. The tapping turns into a thumping accompanied by the grumble of reluctant thunder, and I imagine the bloodstains on the floor of the Rocket HQ slowly being washed away. I watch the raindrops roll down the window, backlit by distant lightning.

The universe is slowly returning to order, as it does. There's another flash of lightning accompanied by a subsequent roar of thunder, and a shadow cuts across my window. Outside on the lake, standing perfectly still on the water, is the outline of Suicune.

Not today. Not yet.

Exhausted, I finally fall asleep.

***

The next morning, I release a massive water snake into the lake with the stupid assumption that it might not kill me if I ask nicely.

Fortunately for me, Pisces doesn't seem to be in the killing mood.

"Has it been long?" she demands, her tone husky and solemn. "Why are we alone?"

"I thought I'd go in the order of how everyone... caved in." I tell her, looking across the lake and past her in some attempt not to provoke any remaining hostility.

"I easily could have eaten you right now." Pisces warns, but then her expression grows warmer. "It almost feels as if you trust me, or something equally ridiculous."

"Thanks. Can we talk about something less morbid?" I ask.

"Very well." She says, still looking incredibly smug. "It's beautiful in the mornings here." She flares her gills. "Even then, this sunrise has to be some kind of anomaly. The entire sky is red as blood."

"You know us Goldeneyes. Anomaly is basically our middle name." I say with a soft smile. The sunlight, though vibrant in color, provides pale warmth. I feel like I'm sitting just outside of range of a campfire, staring out at a heat I can't grasp.

"So, is Basil next?"

"About that." I say, now looking directly upwards.

Her eyes grow wide. "He didn't."

I don't know what she's inferring, but I say hoarsely, "I- I think the others can explain it better." I feel the bile rising in my throat again. "You know what? Screw the order."

I throw out another Pokeball and out comes Fang, his mouth curving up into a joyous grin. "Pisces! You're okay!" he exclaims, dashing towards her and moving onto her back. "Oh man, that was crazy. You have no idea what I saw down there. It was terrifying."

"Even for you?"
    He looks down off her back, and then slides off. His ears are back and his tail is half tucked. "Pisces, I don't think I can play this up any more. I'm not as strong as you think I am."

Pisces flashes me a look. I mouth later and send out the rest of my Pokemon.

Reginae comes out still lying on his side. Rose and Ten look fine if a bit disgruntled.

"You wouldn't believe the dream I had. I thought for a bit- no wait, not a dream." Ten looks ashamed. "Certainly not a dream."

"It's over, though." Reginae insists, pulling himself up onto all fours.

"Not quite. Signal's gone but we have a lot to contend with. We need the last two gyms done in one month."

"That's fast, even for us." Ten shivers. "Grinding as winter sets in... certainly not going to be fun."

"I don't want to fight again. Not after that." Reginae shakes his head. "I could have hurt you. I thought I was going to."

I wait for Rose to say something snarky but she just sits and watches the sunrise, intense in her silence. I get the feeling this is going to last a while.

"Well, if you hate grinding, do I have news for you!" I spill the contents of Lance's satchel into my hand with a wide grin. In my hand rest twenty candies perfectly contained in cute blue wrappers that seem to shimmer maliciously in the morning light.

"Rare candies!" Fang exclaims, then he cocks his head sideways. "How did you get twenty rare candies?!"

"Lance." I laugh. "So who wants one?"

I unwrap one each for Fang and Reginae, who begin crunching away at it. Reginae seems to be taking a more laid back approach, but Fang cracks his open with his jaws and swallows.

"Wai, so do league memersh have unlimited accshess to these?" Reginae says over a mouthful of candy.

"I doubt it. They're kind of illegal."

Reginae spits his out. "Um... could have told me that before I started eating the candy."

Fang rushes after it and eats it off the ground, making Ten wince. "Kind of spicy. Not bad!"

"We just got fed illegal contraband and that's what you're wondering about."
    "Relax!" I say. "In large quantities- read, twenty or more taken at once, rare candies cause aggressive behavior and can be poisonous. Plus there was a huge level spike that made the league almost impossible to beat and criminals started getting ahold of overpowered and therefore frankly quite dangerous Pokemon. In small doses, they're about as dangerous for you as painkillers."   
    "The league champion gave us steroids. Unbelievable." Reginae continues. I try not to chuckle, just happy to have my Reginae back.

"They're legal in Western Unova." Pisces adds.

"How do you know that?" I ask. When she gives me an incredibly suspicious expression in response, I decide not to pry further. "Alright. Reginae, you take five, Pisces take three, and then we should be set for the ice gym. I'm saving the rest for later, or at least administering them overtime."

"This feels like cheating." Reginae says, taking another candy. He spits out the wrapper and begins sucking on it resentfully.

"You want to go there? I've had all my loved ones ripped from me, I've been traumatized more in the past two years than the average adult in a lifetime, and now I'm responsible for preventing the collapse of an entire universe, not to mention probably exterminating a friend of mine who has by now most likely been altered beyond recognition by a criminal organization. As far as I'm concerned, cheating is the new fair game. Now pucker up."

***

Several substance abuses later, we bust into the gym and Reginae looks around with manic excitement in his eyes. "I'm feeling pretty aggressive right now."

"That's probably the candy speaking." I admit, having some admittedly late second thoughts as Reginae engages a trainer in battle before I can get to him. Moments later, there's a Seel lying unconscious against the wall and a large quantity of suspiciously innocent flower petals lying on the ground.

"If I die later, this is entirely your fault." Reginae calls from a distance, still smiling.

"Do you think we're going to need Pisces?" asks Ten. "Reginae seems to be doing-"

There's another thud. I hear cackling in the distance. "That's right! Call my type terrible again. Tell your loved ones that they can shit-talk my type all they want over your corpse."
    "- a job." Ten finishes. "Should we stop him?"
    Rose casts me a glare that I know well, having been almost a teenager for a few years in New Bark. It's the you are dead to me face parents pull when you do something incredibly stupid and then lie about it.

"He's having a good time." I tell her.

Rose throws her hands up in the air but says nothing.

"It's just a matter of time." Fang admits. "He'll burn himself out, right? Right?" His voice echoes throughout the room, which is empty except for a few disgruntled trainers.

"Shit."

When I finally skid across multiple ice puzzles and approach Pryce, Reginae is already there and engaged in battle with a Seel. Reginae swings around and Iron Tails it in the back. The Seel slides into a wall, turns, and uses Ice Beam. Reginae slides out of the way.

"Your Pokemon is very energetic." Pryce says, narrowing his eyes as I approach. "Especially for a grass type in an ice gym."

Feeling my stomach clench, I snap back, "Look, you're the one who's using a Pokemon with a secondary type that negates your advantage. What were you trying to do, screw with fire types? You can't do that. Fire types are literally the most powerful type in the-" I hesitate, careful not to say game, "-world."

"Including dragon types, which are basically legendaries? I'll have you know ice types are super effective on dragon types." Pryce says, clearly unconcerned with the Pokemon battle. His Pokemon seem to be managing fine without him, and might even be winning if Reginae wasn't on rare candies.

"I'm not going to say you're wrong, but you are so incredibly wrong. Have you ever fought a Typhlosion?" I ask.

"I have, and I've won. I'll have you know my other two Pokemon have water and ground typings, which are strong against fire... but regrettably both weak to grass types."

"You're kidding."

"You had no idea." Pryce says as his Pilloswine falls against the wall with a pained snort. Several leaves are embedded in its rear. "The only other ice types in this region are Delibird and Jynx, my friend. One of those Pokemon is useless and the other one is downright offensive, and frankly, I'm not sure which."

Reginae sends a storm of petals flying after a Dewgong, Pryce's final Pokemon, which retaliates with a thin but glorious beam of energy. Reginae shakes the frost off like a wet dog, then charges it. It winces but Reginae doesn't let up until it simply stops moving. I cringe myself but there's no way I can break my resolve now. Still looking confident, I hold out my hand to Pryce. "Well, I believe that justifies your decisions. Can I have my badge now?"

"You won't be able to defeat other gyms like this." warns Pryce, pressing the badge into my hand. I move it into my badge case.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"Good luck with Clair." he says as I turn to leave. My team follows, looking very confused but all in all satisfied.

"I think Pisces would have had fun." Fang points out.

"Pisces would have destroyed the building. I don't think her head would fit in the room." Ten clucks. "Think that's a deliberate architectural choice? It's sort of like a kiddie gym. You must be this short-" he throws up a wing, "-to enter."

"Whatever. Where's Reginae? Is he okay?" asks Rose. Her voice, too, seems to echo throughout the area as she moves past us. We all start picking up the pace and Fang slips on the ice several times. Regardless, it's not long before we see the exit.

When we get outside, Reginae is there, shivering slightly. He turns to see me and begins glowing blue, the leaves around his neck lengthening into petals and his head leaf disappearing altogether. When he finally finishes evolving, he kneels at my feet and then crumples to the side with a thud.

(A/N: more lighthearted chapter this time around. Hope you enjoyed this because there are still more feels to come in the last... 6 chapters of this arc.)