"Has anyone seen Whitley?"

"Outside, playing with Blake and the Eevees," Lunar answered.

"Huh?" Solar frowned, looking at Lunar strangely as she continued to read nonchalantly.

"Thanks," Winter smiled before turning heel and walking off.

"Lunar, how did you know that?" Solar asked.

Lunar simply shrugged. "Aura... maybe...."

Solar nodded. "Should we follow her?"

Lunar shook her head, staring down at the book in her hands. Solar smiled softly, flicking Lunar's forehead, causing Lunar to pout and flush a little.

Espeon stretched herself along Lunar's lap, curled up into a tight ball as she slept. Lunar carded her fingers through Espeon's fur.

It was quiet.

But it was also nice.

It reminded both of them of the times when they were in the Elite Four, relaxing as silence fell over both of them, focusing on their own tasks, usually Lunar reading some ancient book and Solar playing games, both amusing themselves and enjoying each other's company.

"Sol...?"

Solar hummed, not looking up from his game. "I'm tired...."

Solar smiled fondly, swiping his screens away. He picked up Espeon and returned her to her Pokeball. Then, he picked up Lunar and carried her back to her shared room between her and Winter. Solar gently placed Lunar on her bed and ruffled her long black hair. He placed the blanket on top of Lunar before climbing in after her, a low chuckle rumbling from his throat.

"Night," he murmured.

~~~~~

Winter giggled as the two energetic Eevees rushed up to Winter as soon as they realised she was approaching. Winter giggled, crouching down to greet the two Eevees with soft pets and giggles. "Hey, you two...."

"Vui! Eevui!!"

The female seemed to purr as she rubbed herself against Winter's side as the male yipped excitedly, prancing around.

"Come on, you two," Winter smiled sleepily, picking both of them up and heading toward Whitley and Blake, who were watching in silence. "Hey," she greeted them quietly.

"Hey," Blake smiled as Winter let the two Eevees out of her arms, letting them scamper off and play. "Do you need us?"

Winter shook her head, taking a seat next to Whitley against the tree. "Just tired and wanted to check in with those two."

"They're doing great," Blake smiled. "All thanks to Whitley of course."

"They're healing," Whitley murmured. "They seem pretty happy as well. It's already been a few weeks, they're probably going to be okay."

Winter didn't mention the hesitance from Whitley. "We've been here for so long and we've gotten close to nothing done simply because it's mainly the professors discussing with one another and they're purposely avoiding us so that we're not getting information. I could be doing so much work! Even the Legendary's Meeting has finished...."

"Yeah..." Blake nodded. "Keldeo and Genesect came back."

"Mesprit came to me," Whitley admitted. "We both agreed that it was probably best to release her though. We're still connected telepathically and all, we just agreed that it's easier, plus she's never really with me anyway. Nothing's really going to change."

"True..." Winter agreed. "How many slots do you guys need to fill up?"

"I have Samurott, Honedge, Keldeo and Genesect. International Police made me give back Kabutops and Gliscor after the PWT," Blake frowned. "So I need two more."

"I only have Artemis and Dake-chan," Whitley smiled, weaving a few flowers into a crown. "I really am hopeless," she giggled.

"Nah, you just had Blake to protect you," Winter brushed it off, ignoring the reactions that she couldn't see. "The last two people are Hikari, the support of the team, basically similar to Whitley if I'm honest, makes it easy to split into groups and also Yuuki, the instincts of the team who just has eerily accurate intuition. Hikari is obviously Adrian's partner and Yuuki's Cynthia's. What do you guys think?"

"I doubt that anything's really gonna help all that much," Blake sighed. "We're just waiting for Fate to connect us."

Winter sighed, closing her eyes and nodding with a smile. She leaned back into the tree and drifted off.

~~~~~

Winter noticed something wrapped around her body and a bit of weight on her lap. She slowly blinked her peridot eyes open, seeing a light blue blanket draped on her and the two Eevees dozing off in her lap. The sun seemed to have long set behind the sea, judging by how high the moon was in the sky.

Not wanting to disturb the Eevees sleeping in her lap, she moved her stiff neck around, checking her surroundings briefly before deciding she was safe.

Smiling down at the two innocent pokemon in her lap, her eyes narrowed at the scabbed scars that ran along both Eevees. Still, they were healing and they were safe.

Everything was going to be okay.

Winter yawned, all the past restless nights were catching up. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again.

~~~~~

Winter instantly became alert due to the whines and whimpers of the two Eevees, hurriedly scampering off of her lap, scrambling over paws and the blankets in their haste. Winter sat up straight, staring at Lyra, Blue, Yellow and Y.

Winter rubbed her eyes, ignoring the slight sting that came along with it.

"Whi-Two and Lack-Two never caught those Eevees, so I want the girl!"

"Shh, shh," Winter cooed, taking the blankets off of her lap and holding it up. "Hide here," she coaxed them. Both Eevees eagerly leapt back into Winter's lap and Winter draped the blanket back over them.

"WINTER!" Lyra screeched, seeing what Winter did. "I want the female Eevee, hand her over!"

"Look, I just woke up, I'm in no mood to deal with any of this," Winter deadpanned. "Eevee doesn't want to go with you, so I'm not handing her over."

"She's wild, I'm free to do whatever I want with her!"

"If that's your logic then I'm allowed to do whatever I want with her and if I want to protect her and keep her from being abused, then that's what I'm going to do," Winter rolled her eyes.

"Lyra wouldn't abuse her Pokemon!" Yellow protested.

"But Eevee wouldn't be happy with her, now would she?" Winter countered. "Please leave me and the Eevees alone, the three of us literally just woke up."

Hearing the female Eevee whimper, Winter quickly threw the blanket off her lap and picked her up, cradling her. Winter hummed a soft tune, running her fingers through the Eevee's soft fur.

"I don't get you," Blue murmured, looking at the soft gaze in Winter's eyes along with the gentle smile on her lips.

"Lunar was right! Whitley, she's awake!" Blake called back inside before running down to Winter. The male Eevee perked up and leapt out of Winter's lap, running up to Blake. Blake crouched down, catching the Eevee as he jumped into his arms. "Hey, Eevee, enjoy your sleep?"

"Vee!" Eevee began to whine, looking back at the female Eevee and the female Dexholders.

Blake looked at them before pouting. "Come on, Winter just woke up, don't bother her."

"Lack-Two, why did you and Whi-Two never catch these Eevees?" Y asked. "You both care for them like your own, so why not?"

"That's their decision to make, not ours," Blake chuckled. "I can't speak for Whi-Two, but I took in this little one with the intention of rehabilitating him and then returning him to the wild. If he wants to stay with me, then I'm not against that either. Of course, I don't want him to stay with me out of obligation, so I'm not going to make him decide until it's time to let him go."

"I feel the same," Whitley spoke up, walking up to Winter and picking up the offered Eevee. "I'm going to protect Eevee, I'm not going to give her up to you, Lyra."

"Then fight me!"

"Pathetic," Winter spat, sitting up. "Don't you have any pride or shame? You're challenging a girl who's basically started out on a journey with nothing but a Foongus that can't be any higher than level 15 and a Zorua that's level 17."

"So? She has an Eevee that I want!" Lyra snapped.

"If you want Eevee, then battle me," Blake spoke up. "I'm not as powerless as Whitley or as strong as Winter, a nice in between if I do say so myself."

"Fine! One on one!" Lyra frowned, confident that she couldn't lose against such an unnotable Dexholder such as Blake.

"Yeah, yeah, chill," Blake rolled his eyes, standing next to Whitley.

"You shouldn't battle over something like this, Lyra," Blue scolded. "They're both right, there's no point in keeping a Pokemon who won't be happy with you."

"BUT I WANT EEVEE!"

"Lyra!" Blue frowned. I understand Winter's hate for you, oh my god, just stop being such a spoilt brat!

Winter sighed, pouting and curling up against the tree a little more. I'm tired, can I sleep already....

"Winter, are you tired? Want me to get Hibiki or Tsubasa?" Whitley offered.

Winter yawned, shaking her head, pushing herself to stand up. She swayed, feeling weak and unstable. She groaned, holding the tree to stabilise herself.

"I'll be back! I'm going to grab Hibiki or Tsubasa to help Kasumi," Whitley smiled before running off, Eevee in hand.

"Hey! I want that Eevee!"

Whitley came back a few minutes later with Adrian in tow. "Oh my god, babe!" Adrian rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Adrian effortlessly picked Winter up. "I know that you haven't slept for a while, but honestly, you're such a handful," he muttered affectionately.

Winter whined, snuggling closer to Adrian's chest. Adrian chuckled, turning to Blake and Whitley. "Thanks for getting me to get this one. And no reckless fighting over something trivial, get someone stronger to fight for you guys if you need to," Adrian told the two pointedly as he walked off, opposite direction of the house.

"Right..." Blake nodded. "Wait, aren't you heading back to the mansion?"

Adrian laughed, shaking his head. "No! Winter's going to sense the bad aura from the house and wake up, most likely due to a nightmare. She already has enough trouble sleeping as it is, so I'm going to take her somewhere quiet and look after her. Solar's team can probably locate us if you need us for any reason," with that, Adrian nodded as a goodbye and continued walking off.

"Keep her safe!" Whitley called.

Adrian chuckled and continued off, ignoring the gaze of jealousy burning through the back of his head.

~~~~~

"Lunar, Solar, where's Winter?" Acacia asked, breaking through the silence in the room.

"Who knows," Solar smiled, carefree, pretending to notice the tension in the room.

"Solar, Lunar, we don't have time for these sort of games, just tell us where she is!" Fall snapped.

"Oh, we have no idea to be completely honest," Solar pouted. "Went off with Adrian for some reason, never really spoke to us about anything."

"OH MY ARCEUS! JUST TALK TO US!"

Solar still ignored the atmosphere, continuing playing the game on his Skysmitter.

"Lunar, talk. Where the fuck is Winter?"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Blake snapped.

"Lack-Two, we need to find Winter, so hush."

Blake stood up abruptly, glaring and silencing the room. "They don't know where your Winter is," Blake spoke condescendingly, taunting the Skarians for losing one of their own. "So stop harassing other people who either, don't want to give you the information or honestly do not know."

"But Adrian specifically said, ask Solar if they needed to find her!" Lyra screeched.

"For fuck's sake!" Solar yelled. "Doesn't change the fact that we do not know where Winter currently is, nor do we care to find her!" Lunar grabbed Solar, trying to calm him down.

Solar simply shrugged Lunar off, eyes wild.

Lunar wanted to cower back, knowing exactly what was happening. Still, she stood her ground, refusing to back down. "Solar!" she cried. It was still a normal speaking tone to most, but loud enough for Solar to register that something wasn't right with her. Still, he shrugged her off.

"Not now, Lunar."

Lunar got out of her seat and pulled Solar's back by his hand. "Calm down," she murmured, but Solar was seething, scaring Lunar. "Sollie, please calm down..." she whispered in his ear.

"We want to know where Winter is, are you two going to try to locate her or what?" Acacia spoke firmly.

"I told you that I'm not going to tolerate anyone disrespecting Solar and Lunar, didn't I?" Blake retorted.

"Lack-Two--"

"Didn't I?" Blake repeated.

"Lunar, get Solar back into his room for now," Whitley murmured. "I'll handle Blake."

Lunar nodded and began to drag Solar, but he didn't move. Lunar snatched Gardevoir off of Solar's belt and released her without letting Solar stop her. Gardevoir used Psychic on her trainer, dragging him back before any further damage could be done.

"Lack-Two, Whi-Two, what are you doing?" Fall growled. "Do you have any idea what Lunar's done?"

"I said it before, even if it's fair game to insult Lunar in Skaria, you are not in Skaria, have some professionalism please, even if you're mentally 5 years old," Blake spoke coldly.

"But Lunar, she-"

"I frankly do not care," Blake glared.

"Lack-Two!" Black scolded. "You need to respect other--"

"All I see are people unfairly attacking a girl who's already been kicked to her knees, had her title stripped from her and openly scorned by the people who used to love her," Blake said coldly. "I'd be damned if I didn't try to help Lunar and Solar."

"Why have your allegiances changed?" Black growled. "When did they change, Lack-Two, Whi-Two?"

Whitley wanted to remain strong, but in the face of all those piercing gazes, she found herself being protected by Blake again.

"What allegiance?" Blake laughed humourlessly. "I thought that we had no allegiances here, that we're all good and we're all Dexholders, that we're all working to protect our own regions. What am I doing wrong by trying to defend who should the second and third strongest in Skaria? Defamation? Of who? Myself? You must be kidding."

"Lack-Two," Yellow tried to step in helpfully. "You're right, there aren't any sides, but we can't risk making enemies out of any of the Skarians."

"Correction, we can't risk making enemies out of Winter," Blake rolled his eyes. "Strategically speaking, what can Professor Acacia, Summer and Fall offer that Winter can't? No offence to anyone, but pleasing Winter and getting information out of her would be much more useful, don't you think?"

"Lack-Two," Green growled. "Watch your tongue."

"We can't please all the Skarians. Take Lunar out of the equation because she's the cause of the issue and we have Winter and Solar against Professor Acacia, Summer and Fall. Due to Lunar, there's a disagreement between the two parties. Winter and Solar are supporting Lunar whereas the other three want her gone. Now tell me, can you make both parties happy?" Blake challenged everyone in the room.

"You can't," Silver stated simply.

"Exactly, and who is the better party to please?" Blake questioned.

Everyone knew the answer and yet they all remained silent.

"I'm not saying that everyone should suddenly love Lunar, but without even knowing what Lunar did wrong, we're all blindly shunning Lunar out and that's not right. Winter's not asking for much when it comes to Lunar's situation, only respect where deserved," Blake spat.

"Someone like Lunar doesn't deserve respect! She chased after a taken man and slept with him by warping her looks with that wretched Zoroark of hers! And then when she was challenged by that man's girlfriend, she ordered her Umbreon to attack Crescent! Not to mention she worked for Team Shade as an admin, fighting and scarring Winter! That's just the notable things, there's so much more that Lunar's done that makes her so despicable!" Fall roared.

"Lunar would never do anything like that!" Whitley yelled, unable to keep silent any longer. "I don't care what you say or what the media says! I'm never going to believe something like that because Lunar's not like that! Lunar is not a cheater, Lunar is not a whore! She's not that desperate! And she would never stoop so low as to work for Team Shade!"

"She's right," Blake glared. "What's despicable is how you three turn a blind eye to all the great things that Lunar has done and her personality and let your thoughts be swayed by biased words from the media."

"She has you wrapped around her finger like she wants you to be! You're being lied to!"

"We're not!"

"RED, DO SOMETHING!"

Silence fell over the group. All the non-dexholders knew that it wasn't their place to interrupt and had all left, all but Lyra. They all looked to their leader, Red. He had no choice but to pick a side.

"Summer, Fall, I understand you two are upset," Red's steady voice travelled through the room, making everyone think they knew which side he was going to take. "But Bl-- Lack-Two is right. Winter, Solar and Lunar all have information that we want and pissing Winter off means that all three of them are going to refuse to share the information they have. Adrian would take Winter's side and we can't risk that."

"Besides, your hatred of Lunar is unprofessional. She's here because she's been invited and Solar's here as upon Winter's request and as an official Gym Leader. Your behaviour toward Lunar and at times, Solar and Winter is questionable towards everyone who doesn't know what happened, making you both look like children who have no control of their emotions. For the sake of representing Skaria, please stop attacking them," Red requested eloquently, something that was rare to see.

"Lack-Two, Whi-Two, thanks for bringing this to my attention," Red smiled.

"And finding Winter and Adrian?" Green grumbled.

Red shrugged, frowning as his normal cheery aura returned. "Winter has really, really bad insomnia and Lunar said that Winter couldn't sleep. Something like 5 hours in a week or two, I don't remember."

"Winter doesn't feel safe enough to sleep here," Blake offered the information quietly, mainly for Red's ears despite the fact others overheard. "So Adrian dragged her off somewhere to sleep before she collapsed."

"Thanks Lack-Two," Red grinned.

"Doesn't feel safe? But why?"

"Probably Summer, Fall, Acacia, everyone who wants to hunt her ass down..." Blake muttered to Whitley, getting a giggle out of her.

"Who knows," Red shrugged casually. "But it's probably better to leave her alone until Adrian comes back with her."

"If we can figure out what Adrian and Winter has that we don't, maybe we can narrow down who the other 8 could be," Platinum spoke up. "Suggestions?"

"Winter's super strong, isn't she?" Emerald exaggerated.

"Don't know about Adrian," Platinum muttered. "Then again, he is Alola's Champion."

"I don't see them having much in common," Blue mused. "But they are cute together."

Red, Blake and Whitley said nothing to dispel the thought despite knowing how untrue it was.

"Whi-Two, you know Winter well, how would you describe her?" Green asked.

"Oh, umm..." Whitley hesitated. "She's really... brave, strong and courageous, I guess...."

"Adrian doesn't seem hard to read," X shrugged. "The happy, go lucky type. Flirtatious, bold, party type."

"There has to be something special about them," Platinum frowned. "Whi-Two, we need more information."

Whitley squeaked in surprise, hearing her pseudonym again.

"I don't know! Maybe she did something to prove that she was worthy! It's been so many years that anything could've happened and I-"

"But none of us have done anything?" Gold whined, cutting off Whitley's ramblings. "We've done so much and yet we're not anything special? How is that meant to be fair?"

"You've never..." Fall hesitated before speaking again. "Winter, she goes to extreme lengths just to ensure the safety of her team...."

"Protective?" Platinum frowned. "We're all protective of the things we love."

"As in, Winter commonly puts her life on the line for it," Whitley clarified quietly.

"It's nothing that none of us wouldn't do-"

"Wow, she's so brave!" Red cried. "Sometimes, I hesitate to put myself in front of the line of fire for my Pokemon yet she's willing to throw away her life? Winter's amazing!"

Get me out of here. Blake rolled his eyes in exasperation.

~~~~~

Silver's eyes glanced back and forth, wondering why he was there again. He loosened his tie a little bit more, staring at the canvasses of beautiful paintings left unsigned, only able to be created by the nimble hands of a talented pink haired artist.

He was hoping to see her.

It was stupid, he knew that it was unlikely for her to even show. Yet he was there, standing there like a pining schoolboy, hanging on to the slither of hope that she'd show up.

There, a flash of pink.

Silver didn't hesitate to give chase. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but he didn't care.

He caught her hand with a smirk, seeing her disgruntled face hidden behind a mask. Without exchanging a single word, he lead her into another dance.

Nothing in her icy blue eyes showed anything, but the coy smile on her lips told an entirely different story. Silver smirked, watching her eyes flicker hesitantly.

He should've seen the signs.

Because she slipped out of his grip so effortlessly, casting a teasing smile at him over her shoulder before continuing to dance off.

Silver sprinted after her, like he always had.

Yet all he saw was a glimpse of pink and the flash of the wings of an orange and grey bird,

and then, she was gone.

~~~~~

"You know, Snowflake, you slept for soooo long!" Adrian whined. "You're so cute and innocent when you sleep."

Winter playfully pushed Adrian as they walked back into the mansion. "I probably can hold out for another month without sleep...."

"That's not healthy!" Adrian scolded. "Snowflake, you need to sleep more regularly!"

"I can't help it if i can't let down my guard around these assholes..." Winter pouted.

Adrian ruffled Winter's hair, kissing the crown of Winter's hair and scrunching his nose up in distaste. "We both need showers and when we leave, I want to dye my hair again, can you help me?"

Winter nodded with a chuckle. "Kay," she smiled as they walked into the kitchen for a drink.

"Welcome back," Lunar murmured, loud enough for Winter and Adrian to hear as they walked past.

Winter filled a glass with water and downed it quickly, her peridot eyes glancing at the people in the next room carefully. She ran her fingers through her greasy pink hair.

"Oh," Winter frowned, looking down at one of the Pokemon on her belt. She walked over to Solar, smiling shyly. "Hey Sollie," she waved.

"Hey," Solar gave Winter a smile.

"Can you take care of Phoenix for me?" Winter asked meekly, holding out a regular Pokeball.

"That's what took you so long," Lunar hummed.

"Sure, no problem," Solar grinned, taking the Pokeball. Winter beamed, bowing slightly to Solar to show her gratitude. Solar waved her off with a laugh. "Did you have any dreams?"

"If you mean prophetic dreams, then no, nothing because Cygnus sucks. If you mean any other types of dreams then nope, nothing either," Winter shrugged. "Honestly wish I could've slept a bit more, but that's useless, I have other stuff to do."

"Us too, Winnie," Solar mumbled.

"Anything major happen?" Winter asked.

Lunar hesitated before shaking her head. "No, nothing."

Solar breathed out in relief.

Whitley sighed and Blake pursed his lips, but neither mentioned anything either. Adrian noticed, but didn't say anything, deciding that some things were honestly better left unsaid, especially if Blake didn't want to talk about it. Winter didn't seem to notice anything off, probably still too drowsy to really take note of these little things.

"Winter, wasn't Hisoka the Guardian Pokemon?" Blake asked. "That's what the Skarian Dex says."

Winter shook her head with a little laugh. "No, blame Summer or Fall, one of them wrote the dex entries."

It wasn't well known, but Dexholders were usually the ones who filled out the Pokedex with the entries.

"I don't usually touch dex entries, but most of them, especially the ones about Hisoka, Cygnus and Kaarinim are a trio of Legendaries in Skaria. They're most perfectly classified as the Pokemon of the Past, Kaarinim, the Pokemon of the Present, Alerian and the Pokemon of the Future, Lumauria."

"Tell us more!" Whitley pleaded, curious to hear.

"Oh, well Alerian is known to be the Guardian Pokemon because of what he did to protect us. He used to be a Psychic type, but was transformed into a Dark type because of the power he used to protect Skarians."

"This wasn't too long ago," Solar noted. "Two years, I think? It was when we defeated Team Shade for the first time."

"Thing is, the trio are just really protective," Winter admitted. "They're not the Guardian Pokemon (Alerian), or the Seer Pokemon (Lumauria) or the Constellation Pokemon (Kaarinim) like they've been classified as. They have a huge sense of justice and right from wrong and protective. Hisoka did what he could to protect me."

"And Cygnus, I guess she can see into the future, but that's not all there is to her. She's known to have four formes, two light, two dark, two Pokemon, two human. A feather from her can bring happiness or despair depending on what forme she's in, she's like the controller of Fate and Destiny."

"And Kaarinim," Winter sighed. "She's beautiful and always looking at the stars, almost like she's the personification of stars. The stars hold so much to our past and also our future, just because she stares at the stars, just because she's reading the stars really don't mean much at all! She's just being herself, reading futures and reminiscing the past."

"If the Dex entries were wrong, why did you never bother correcting it?"

Winter's eyes flickered up, shock filling her features before being replaced by petulance. "Why should I? It's not my problem that you two idiots got the Dex Entries wrong."

"Because you're a Guardian! You know better than we do!"

"Well, if you're going to keep bringing up the fact that I'm a Guardian, then how about," Winter paused, glaring at the two briefly. "I'm too busy with my Guardian duties to change the Pokedex! With you two, it's always about my status as a Guardian and the supposed 'rights' that comes along with it! Can you look at me for once and not be reminded that I've been branded with marks?"

Summer gasped, horror filling his face whilst Fall's filled with rage.

"I see what you mean," Whitley murmured. "We've been branded with these marks that bring us despair, that makes us suffer for everyone else's happiness. Whatever little peace and happiness we have, we're sure to treasure it, knowing that our fates aren't so kind."

"How dare you?"

The Guardians understood what Winter meant, but Whitley was the only one able to comment without riling anyone else up.

"It's an honour to be chosen as a Guardian, so many people wish to be chosen and you dare to refer to your sacred mark as a brand like a stupid farm animal?" Fall roared.

It was a fact that the Guardians usually came to terms with rather quickly. The purpose of their rebirth was because something was about to happen, something that would cause depression and despair throughout the world.

Their job was to prevent it, even at the cost of their lives.

"Summer, Fall, you'll never understand," Winter sighed, turning her back on them. "There's no point in explaining, really."

"Winter, how dare you!"

"Summer, Fall," Cynthia spoke up. "I think that it's best to leave Winter alone."

"Shut up! She doesn't understand how blessed she is! She's so lucky to have all of this and yet she still complains about it! She gets to meet and befriend all sorts of rare Pokemon, coexist alongside them, communicate, protect and yet she...."

"Our lives aren't blessed, they're cursed, but that's okay. It's our purpose and we're all happy to die over and over for the happiness of everyone else," Whitley whispered.

None of them could agree more.

"If only our lives were so beautiful," Winter muttered. Adrian grasped onto Winter's cold hand, ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine.

"Babe..." he sighed.

"Think what you want, Summer, Fall," Winter rolled her eyes. "I need to discuss something important so if you'd kindly--"

"Battle us!" Fall demanded. "Battle us and if we win, then listen to us and the things we have to say! Stop brushing us off as if we're useless! All the other Dexholders are working together fine with Dexholders of the same Region, but we're not! Listen to us for a change!"

"I don't have time for such childish games," Winter responded.

"We don't care!" Summer protested.

Winter rolled her eyes and stood up. "Adrian, let's take out the trash."

Adrian chuckled, nodding as he stood up. "Whatever you say, Snowflake."

Winter turned around sharply, walking outside. Everyone soon followed behind, seeing Winter taking her spot on the battlefield. Adrian strolled to her side, casual and unbothered by the tension knowing that Winter only asked him to battle with her so that she wouldn't embarrass the other two Skarians as badly.

"Babe, who are you using?"

"Kairi," she murmured.

Adrian nodded, taking out a Pokeball himself. They waited until Summer and Fall were standing in place before they let their Pokemon out, Kairi, who was curled up in a ball, slowly waking up from her nap and a lone Wishiwashi, fluttering about nervously in the air.

"Alright, let's go Helioisk!"

"Cryogonal, I'm counting on you!"

It was obvious that Summer and Fall instantly went for type advantage, that was assuming that Wishiwashi was a water type as they were unsure with Alolan Pokemon.

"Cryogonal, use Ice Beam on Dragonair!"

"Heliolisk, Thunderbolt on Wishiwashi!"

"Wishiwashi, use Protect!"

Winter stayed quiet, not calling anything. Wishiwashi swam through the air, using Protect in front of Kairi so that she was also shielded. The drowsy Dragonair yawned a little, trying to wake up the best she could, but it was hard, her opponents weren't anything to really be concerned about. She could fight them half asleep.

"Fall, let's take care of the tiny fish first. It doesn't matter how high level it is, it can't be that strong!"

"Keep Kairi busy for me!"

Winter and Adrian played into their plans, unbothered.

"Cryogonal, use Ice Beam to trap Kairi!"

Kairi did nothing but look at Winter when she was encased in the ice as if asking It's alright for me to sleep now, right? Without waiting for an answer, Kairi curled up in a tight ball, hiding her head and began to doze off.

Of course, that looked like an extremely protective stance, perhaps making the Dragonair look a little scared.

"It's an easy win for Summer and Fall now."

"There's no way they can lose."

"That fish stands no chance and that Dragonair's so scared that she's hiding."

"That tiny fish was meant to do something?"

"Looks like it's me and you, Wish," Adrian sighed, looking over at Kairi with a fond smile. That Dragonair never had enough sleep and probably required more sleep than a Slaking.

"Helioisk, use Thunderbolt!"

A bright light filled the battlefield when Wishiwashi let out a piercing cry as if calling for help. Small shadows pierced through the light, rushing toward the centre, the source of the light. Then, a mighty roar broke the light, revealing a giant deep blue fish in place of the tiny Wishiwashi.

"Evolution?"

"What?"

"How?"

"Kairi!" Winter called.

Kairi instantly got up and smashed the ice around her with her tail, looking awake and alert, feeding off of Winter's impatience to get the battle over and done with.

"Summer, Fall, you think you know me so well, don't you?" Winter taunted. "Well, then how did you come to the conclusion that trapping Kairi in a cage was going to do anything? You know how strong Kairi is and yet you underestimate her."

"Not to mention Wishiwashi," Adrian rolled his eyes. "You know that I'm a strong trainer and none of it is without reason. Winter and I lead off with Kairi and Wishiwashi for the same reasons, to test our opponent to see how serious they are, if they're going to underestimate us for our 'weak' Pokemon."

Summer and Fall glared, grunting in disapproval.

"Kairi, use Dragon Rush!"

"Wishiwashi, use Bulldoze!"

Kairi cried, surrounded by a purple and blue force as she charged to attack Cryogonal. Wishiwashi began to rampage, charging toward Helioisk with a brown aura surrounding him.

And that was all it took for the battle to be over.

Winter walked out onto the battlefield, smiling softly at Kairi, who curled up into a ball again with her head laying on her body, lazily looking at Winter through half lidded eyes and Wishiwashi, who reverted back into solo form.

"Hey, well done you two," Winter praised before falling to one knee, bowing her head low. "Thank you for fighting with me."

"Yeah, thanks Kairi, Wish," Adrian grinned, feeding Wishiwashi a Roseli Berry and Kairi a Magost Berry. Winter stood up when Kairi nonchalantly nudged her cheek and Winter smiled, holding her close.

"I don't get it. If you don't want people to underestimate you, why don't you just evolve your Dragonair?" Gold asked.

Winter shook her head. "Kairi doesn't want to evolve and I'm perfectly fine with that. I didn't catch her as a Dratini to make her into a powerful Dragonite, I caught her because she wanted to come with me after I saved her. She's happy like this and so am I."

"That's dumb. You should try and make your Pokemon as powerful as you can."

Winter rolled her eyes and pet Kairi until she recognised the signs of the Dragon Pokemon being asleep. She returned Kairi and turned to Adrian. "Thanks for dealing with me and my childishness."

"Anything for you, Snowflake."

Winter playfully slapped him, unable to hide a smile, ignoring the broken looks on Summer and Fall's faces.

It's hard to look at people the same after they've taken you trust and run away it it.

* * * * *

Ignore the Dexholder's ages that I listed please. Because if that was canon in this book, Red would be 9 years older than Winter........ Talk about awkward. Ages aren't actually all that important in this book to be completely honest, all you need to know is that everyone is over 10 and legally allowed to be trainers I guess...

I honestly don't know...

Also, I'm pretty sure I won't have a chance to elaborate on this due to everything that's going to be happening, but the last line was referring to how Winter thinks of Summer and Fall.

At the start, when they first met, she was indifferent toward them but didn't really care about them. Over time, she came to care for them, her rude jabs becoming slightly endearing and was concerned for their safety, so much so that she risked her own life to get them out of Team Shade's base when they were unconscious.

She gave them her only means of escape (Obsidian aka her Garchomp) because she cared for them and wanted to protect (Instincts stolen from Hisoka or her Alerian which is an OC) them so badly.

But then everything with Lunar happened. Summer and Fall used to love and admire Lunar, basically her (borderline hardcore) fans. But after hearing about Lunar's scandal (details revealed later, probably not long later depending on if I decide to move it up), they turned their back on her and began to scorn her.

And Winter wasn't able to forgive that.

Lunar's scandal is actually the biggest reason that there's a rift between the Skarian Dexholders. Summer and Fall think that they can make Winter understand and that they're mainly on good terms. But Winter thinks otherwise because she finds it hard to look at them the same after learning how easily swayed they are.

I know that Summer and Fall seem like assholes, but that's mainly because of their beliefs and honestly, I feel like it's kinda valid, except that Lunar has done almost none of the things she was accused of in her scandal. But since no one believes that Lunar didn't do anything, Skaria's point of view is valid.

And not sure if I mentioned this, but Solar pulled a Wallace (if you've read Ruby and Sapphire Chapter of Adventures Manga) and surrendered his spot as the 3rd member (second last battle before Winter, before Lunar) of the Elite Four just so that he could stay close to Lunar and make sure that she was doing okay.

Oh and just to be clear, Winter may or may not be (the characters themselves actually don't know either) stronger than Solar and Lunar (separately). None of the three know who's the strongest, but Lunar figured out that Winter was one of the Leaders and told Solar, so both of them decided to lose their fights and let Winter challenge the previous Skarian Champion (who was weak) and win to become Skaria's new Champion.

This allowed Solar and Lunar to inconspicuously get close to Winter without anyone questioning it. They then went on a training camp together (think I've mentioned this a couple of times) and started working on actually making Winter strong.

They were also able to share information about the Guardians and freely discuss because they were alone. Solar and Lunar barely disclosed anything about their Guardian selves, but Winter eventually figured out who they were, which is why at some point she said she wasn't sure about Solar and Lunar's identities, but knew they were Guardians.

Did I mention that Hunter (Winter's Gallade) has a crush on Solar's Gardevoir?

Oh, to burst your bubble, Solar and Lunar's teams don't really have any of the usual 'couple' Pokemon. Lunar has both Espeon and Umbreon, Solar has both the female and male Meowstics.

Yes, they're gonna get together.

Right, Winter and Solar don't usually flirt when Lunar's around because Winter knows that they like each other and Solar doesn't want Lunar to think anything's happening. This is actually why I've made Winter and Adrian flirt so much XD

Speaking of Adrian, he's REALLY changed from the first version of the book.... I guess it won't really hurt to say some stuff about his old design.

So he had beach blond hair because his personality just reminded me of an extroverted surfer or something like that. But then I realised that both Adrian and Solar had the same hair and were too similar in design, so I changed it to black with red highlights. THEIR EYES WERE ALWAYS DIFFERENT, JUST SAYING.

He met the group when Winter lost Hunter. There was a funny situation with Spiritombs, Kairi and protective older brothers (read Obsidian) really, it was funny. He actually didn't have much of a role and was the last Guardian to be introduced.

I decided that I could work on his character despite how bland it was and make a dynamic with Winter to rival Winter's and Silver's relationship. Truth be told, Adrian's character hasn't changed all that much, but it has been explored and more sides of him has been revealed. I honestly like the relationship he has with Winter, it's more fun to work it and flows easier compared to the awkward scenes of Winter and Silver.

Honestly, Silver and Winter are too similar in character so it's hard to make things work between them in a book, since it's literally repetitive and just... idk. But with Adrian and Winter, they have enough contrast that scenes are able to move much easier.

And to be completely honest, if we were to have a couple like Silver and Winter in real life, it would probably crash and burn since neither are willing to bow their heads at each other, apologise for mistakes and stuff like that.

But hey, this is my book. If I want to ship them together, I will find a way to ship them together.

Oh and if you're wondering why Red is having a lesser role these few chapters, it's actually because of the Kanto and Johto Dexholders. Especially because Blue has Moltres, Red's trying to stay close to Moltres to prevent (too much) separation anxiety and to try and win him back from Blue. Other times, it just really hasn't been Red's place to say much as other characters were better off to say stuff and he was probably more interested in listening to what they had to say.

And Cynthia, basically the same thing. We know that she's a Guardian, but her place isn't exactly beside Winter and her gang. Whitley and Blake's positions aren't meant to be either, but they've been fighting with Black and White (who are actually just confused and a little frustrated and honestly mean no harm) and just being overall rebellious.

Right, might as well talk about Black and White. They just want the best for Black and Whitley, but after knowing about their fights because of their differing backgrounds, they're confused as to why they're suddenly clinging on to each other since Blake actually did some pretty terrible stuff to Whitley (will be discussed later in the book).

They should be happy about Blake and Whitley's friendship, but they just don't understand how both of them changed their opinions on each other so quickly and developed such a strong bond and are worried that they'll crash and burn really soon since the foundations of their relationship is (probably) built on towers of salt and sand.

Sometimes when they scold the younger two, it's just out of parental concern and love, like paying respects to elders and stuff, but Black and White (lowkey) take Skaria's side whereas Blake and Whitley take Winter's side on the Lunar situation. It's subtle jabs at Lunar that make Blake lose his patience and since Whitley's just kinda following him around, she just goes with him.

Good thing Blake and Whitley have similar thoughts on the situation though.

Umm... if there are any other characters and things you'd like me to explain, leave a comment, I guess. If I can't explain it, then I'll say so and I'll probably explain why (usually because there's a plot point made out of it).

Sorry I wrote such a huge A/N for this. Things just lead to one thing and another, but I don't think these things would affect the plot too much. It's hard to weave things like this in the plot to be honest since Winter isn't the type to think too hard about the past and I don't like the 'dreaming' flashback thing.

So, after two filler chapters (this chapter got a little out of hand I admit, especially since I had writer's block and had the urge to make Winter tired, even after sleeping for several days straight), I think it's time for Whitley to add to her team and for another Legendary to find their Guardian, don't you agree?

XD

Until next time~