Flame's Pov

I was in a hurry to leave my apartment in fear of Saturn asking me what I'm doing and what I've been up to. Keeping Flora a secret is my top priority from them, so I had to hide my appearance from Saturn to keep that from happening and not get forced to go back to work with him.

While in the air back to the stadium, he called me "What do you want, Ferrel?" I asked, pretending I didn't just run from him and pretty much attacked him.

"Stop calling me that!" I rolled my eyes "Where are you?!"

"Why does it matter?"

"There was a robber in our apartment!" I mentally laughed.

"What?!" I faked gasped, acting like I wasn't the robber of my own Pokémon. I was a good lier when it came to my family, but when it came to Flora, it's hard to even try to lie without starting to sweat "What happened?!"

"I was here getting some clothes when I heard noises in your room! I couldn't stop the guy because he used a Weavile to lock the front door with ice!" I snorted, sort of not amused that he ended up being there when I just wanted to look around. I honestly didn't expect to collect my own Pokémon I asked him to heal after leaving to see the meadow.

"What did they steal?!" I yelled.

"Your Pokémon!" I stayed silent on purpose for dramatic effect. Around this time I was over Veilstone city, flying slowly to be able to hear this damn phone call.

"Since you couldn't even do anything, I'm putting the responsibility on you! Get it done! Now!" I hung up and finally sped back to the stadium a few hours later. It was already very dark at night and I assume Flora may be asleep.

I walked into the stadium while fixing my messy hair and saw Flora and her Skiddo staring at a vending machine. I smiled and came up behind her while Skiddo was watching me. She jumped and looked up at me.

"Hey, Flower" she blushed and looked back at the vending machine.

"What took you so long..?" I pet her head.

"Sorry I took so long. I thought you'd be sleeping by now" she got a snack from the machine and walked back to our room. I followed behind, watching her not say a thing. Is she mad at me for taking so long?

We went back to our room and Flora went to grab something hidden on the other side of her bed "I'm sorry, Flower. I needed to get my racer" I looked at my bag "along with... huh?" She set a box beside me "What's this?"

"I got you a race suit! Try it on!" I looked at her smile. She must've been eager to show this to me. I smiled that she got something like this for me and opened the box to put the red suit on over my clothes.

"It's nice" I used a mirror to see how I looked "Where did you get it?"

"They were selling them in the stadium shop. I went there to get some water after I was training with my Pokémon" she took my arm "Togetic evolved!"

"She evolved?" She nodded happily and explained what happened "she found a shiny stone outside?"

"Yeah, someone must've dropped it because it was just in the middle of the grass" she held her chin "Lucky us" she chuckled and hid her hands behind her as she faced me while I made sure my red hair wasn't seen "So! You got your racer? Can I see it?" I chuckled at her excitement.

"Yes, but don't stand too close. He doesn't like strangers" she sat on her bed to give us space apart. I send out my Rapidash in a decent size room... might've been better to show him off outside.

Rapidash looked around and stopped at me before licking my face "Hey there, buddy" I chuckled and pet his head, then looked at Flora "Flower, this is my Rapidash. I rescued him while I was training in the Fight area" Rapidash looked at who I was talking about and stared at her while Flora's eyes sparkled amazed. 

"Wow!" She gasped. Rapidash went over to Flora and licked her face. She laughed and hugged his head "He's beautiful!" I watched Rapidash smiling with Flora, making me think back at how I obtained him.

"Rapidash... Do you know Flora?" I asked. He nodded "If you do..." I sat next to Flora "Do you know where our home use to be?" He nodded again. Flora cupped her mouth while I felt like I wanted to cry. This whole time this Pokémon really was from our childhood... "Is our home in that island?" He nodded.

"Flame..." Flora took my hands "Our home!" I smiled as big as her and took her cheeks "We can find our home with Rapidash! Do your other Pokémon know of our home?"

"I had them when I was found by my dad, but they never mentioned anything about that... not that they really could"

"As much as I want to go home and find our family, I still need my other Pokémon on my side" she frowned. I nodded.

"I know. You don't have to worry" I don't blame her for not giving up on her Pokémon. If my Pokémon were ever taken from me, I would be in the same situation. But one thing is for sure, I have to keep her away from Veilstone city as much as possible. That's where the Galactic hideout is.

"Why is he this color?" Flora asked "I saw Collide's Rapidash and it had red fire, but yours is aqua blue"

"He's a shiny, like your Buneary and Luxio"

"I see..."

"I think my parents got him for me... Some of my memory is coming back, but barely"

"Me too. I remember you and I riding on Ponyta's back when we found our friendship orbs" I dug in my hood to look at my orb. I still can't believe I found these... Team Galactic had been on the search for these for years, and we had them the whole time! Why were they even in our reach..? Why were they in that field?

"What an odd place we found these... These are quite special on their own"

"Are they? What are they meant for?" Should I even tell her that they belong to the two of Sinnoh's legendary Pokémon? "The Unown gave me back my necklace, so I'm sure those ruins was a place we visited in our adventure" I nodded.

"Yeah, and that woman gave me mine-" I froze. The woman from the contest hall... the one with the green eyes I've seen in my dreams often "wait... My mom?" I lost a bit of air.

"W-What?" Flora slowly cupped her mouth.

"The woman that gave this to me. That's my mom!" My jaw dropped as my eyes watered "That had to be it! Why else would she give this to me?!" Flora herself started to cry "and that lady who gave you Togetic! They want us to visit the resort area to visit them for a reason... They're our mothers!" Flora burst out in sobs.

"You're right... There's no other reason. Why didn't they say anything?!" I pulled her into my arms to cry on my shoulder.

"We probably wouldn't believe them if they say something random like that. I think it was best that we figured it out ourselves" I held her tightly "oh Arceus..." I sniffled.

"I wondered why she gave her daughter's Pokémon... and why Togetic hugged me instead of attacked. My mom... returned her after all these years" she pulled away from me, so I wiped away her tears.

"We don't have all our memories back, but eventually we will understand what happened to us and what we ended up doing. If we ended up in those ruins, there's a chance we were away from home longer than just a night"

"We're bad kids" we chuckled together. I felt strange when meeting Ella back in Flora's dressing room. Just seeing her made my body feel warm, like I was safe. It's a strange feeling, but I think it's a feeling a child feels when they're with their parents. I had forgotten that feeling since meeting my adoptive dad, who never really gave me affection. He isn't my real parent, but after saving my life and protecting me until I became an adult, I swear to make him happy and help him achieve his dream of forming a new world... A new world where those I care about and I can live in together.

I dreamt of my childhood with my real parents. I remembered our conversations on the dinner table and watching them dancing together in our living room. It gave me so much joy to see... I loved it so much that I always got Flora to dance with me as well.

"Flame~" I heard Flora speak. Something felt heavy on my body while I was sleeping in bed. I groaned a bit and slowly opened my eyes, freezing in shock when seeing Flora sitting on top of my body "Wake up, sleepy head!" She laughed "today is the race! You should practice before it starts later today-" she stopped and looked down at me "something moved" I panicked and grabbed her shoulder to throw her on the bed and got on top of her. Her eyes widened.

"Don't do that!" I felt so hot all over. I felt so embarrassed that I stormed to the restroom and locked myself inside. Dammit... Why did she end up sitting on me like that!?

We left our room once getting ready for the day. I carried my race suit in my bag to put on later while I walked to the practice fields with Flora carrying a picnic for later. Her cheeks were red the entire time after I left the restroom.

"You alright?" I leaned into her to see if she was hot. She flinched and jumped away.

"I-I'm fine" she nervously laughed "I'm sorry about this morning" I cleared my throat and pretended nothing happened.

"It's fine... Let's just go" we went to the practice track together. I stared at a few people on the track with their racing Pokémon while Flora sat between some flowers on the grass and sent out her Pokémon to relax with her. I smiled at her love for flowers and was prepared to take out my Rapidash before seeing Collide come up to me.

"You ended up joining after all" he faced me with that annoying smirk of his "What Pokémon are you going to end up using?"

"You'll be surprised" I snorted "Maybe you should focus on yourself instead of me. Don't think I'm letting you anywhere near my Flower" I end up keep calling Flora mine...

Collide just laughed and looked to the side when news reporters came up to him for an interview. I ignored them and put on a mask over my mouth and nose to protect me from the wind, as well as the bandana that'll hide my hair. I would hate my red hair and face to be seen, just in case I end up on tv for my team to see. I didn't have to worry during the contest since I had a masquerade mask before.

"You there" I looked at the reporter lady with a mic calling me while still in front of Collide "Are you champion Collide's rival?" I looked at her like she was stupid, but the mask hid my expression.

"What's it to you?" I was annoyed. I could feel Flora watching me from a distance.

"Are you a new racer? What's your name?" Giving away my name isn't an issue when it comes to my team knowing who I am, since I went by a different name to them.

"Flame" I told her. She looked a bit surprised to hear it.

"Weren't you in a recent Pokémon contest?" I just nodded, surprised to be remembered after only one contest "And you're going to participate in the famous Pokémon race of Sinnoh! How does it feel?!" She pointed the mic to me.

"It doesn't matter much to me as long as I can win ahead of that prick over there" I pointed at Collide glaring at me.

"So you are rivals! So you're thinking of winning first then? Have you ever raced before?!"

"No" everyone looked at each other confused "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my Flower"

"Flower?" She looked behind me to look at Flora watching us.

"The winner of the contest... I see" the reporter smiled "Can we have a look at who you will be racing with?" I nodded.

"Sure" I sent out my shining Rapidash that everyone gazed at. He seemed to feel nervous, but felt reassured when I pet his head "My parents gave me this Pokémon when I was young. I believe in his talent. I won't lose" I looked at Collide glaring hard at me, which ended up making me smirk.

Flora's Pov

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect my Flower" Flame ended up saying to the reporter lady. I was shocked to hear what Collide had betted against Flame. It was rude to assume I would kiss a jerk like him! My heart beated hard when hearing Flame defend me. Even if he never raced before, he's going to work hard to protect me...

Flame started practicing racing with his Pokémon and Collide left the scene, leaving me alone with the reporters who were talking to them. I had a mask of my own to make sure there won't be any dust flying in the air for me to inhale.

The reporter started asking me questions, but I didn't want to comply with them. I politely declined speaking to them and enjoyed my time playing with the flowers on the grass with my Pokémon before it was time for the big race.

"Flame didn't even want to eat the lunch I made" I pouted while eating the food I bought in the stadium where the race was going to start. I looked at the amount of racers getting ready while I ate my sandwich "Do you think he's too nervous to eat?" I asked Buneary.

"May I sit here?" Someone said to me. I looked up at an old man with a slouched back, thick glasses, and scary eyes looking down at me. I just nodded and put my attention back at the track. Who is this guy? He looked oddly familiar "That guy with the blue Rapidash looks to stand out out of everyone" he said to me "do you know of him?" I'm getting weird vibes from him.

"He's my best friend" I forced a smile, hiding that he was creeping me out. The race was about to begin. I focused hard on Flame on top of his Pokémon and dashed off so fast when the buzzer went off. It's like he teleported! So cool!

"He seems to be very talented" the man said. I nodded "You would think a talented guy like him would work on his anger issues" I looked at him confused "He's a talented young man. I've seen the contests as well. For a smart boy like himself, he actually has some problems"

"Excuse me?" I grew cautious "who are you?"

"You're the young lady who defeated Commander Mars and Jupiter, correct?" The more I looked at him, the more I recognized him to be the one with Mars in the Windworks!

"You!" I stood up, glaring "What do you want?"

"I heard many complains of you. I heard about you in the meadow. Your Pokémon were taken away from you, weren't they? Wouldn't you want them back?"

"Where are they?" I glared so hard that it started to hurt my head. Even the old man looked frightened and uncomfortable. I hated getting angry. There was always a feeling behind me that I could never shake off. Like a shadow taking over me.

"If you would like them back, I suggest you follow me" he stood up and walked to the exit. I looked back at how fast Flame was racing, right behind Collide. Flame...

"I have to go..." I took Buneary with me and followed the old man outside where a helicopter was parked "Where are my Pokémon!? I'm not going to ask again!" The old man peaked at me before the doors opened on their own, showing my Shaymin inside "Shaymin!" I shouted.

"Shaaa!" It cried.

"Your other Pokémon couldn't fit inside, but I have this rare Pokémon here. It would be valuable to sell, but I'm more interested in your friend. If you hand him over, I'll gladly give them both back to you" the old man said. I looked at him like he was crazy.

"You mean Flame? What's he got to do with this?!" He lifted his head as if he realized something.

"I'm guessing you don't know?"

"Know what?!"

"He's important to Team Galactic. He has no choice but to come and serve us" I turned my hands into fist, shaking "He's very smart, you know. That's why he's useful" I looked at Shaymin crying for me.

"I can't give him to you!"

"Why not?"

"Because he's not mine to give! It's his choice whether or not he wants to serve you, but I won't let that happen! You people are crooks and I won't stand for it!" He snorted and tossed a Pokéball at me with Tropius inside and let Shaymin's cage open so it could jump into my arms "You guys!" I sobbed, holding them close. I have them... I have everyone back...

"I see involving you was pointless. You have been trouble for Team Galactic, so in return for returning your Pokémon, leave us alone. We are in the middle of an important mission and don't need kids like you interfering. If you were smart, you'd go home" he walked back to the stadium, leaving me. I dropped to my knees and looked down at my Pokémon. I felt a heavy burden in my heart...

"Shay..?" Shaymin cried to me while Buneary wiped my tears away. I didn't notice I was crying.

"I have you all back... This is all I ever wanted from this journey. No matter how much I would like to continue, there would be no point" I hugged them again "I feel like... I feel like I need to go home now" I frowned up at the stadium "If I stop interfering with Team Galactic, they'll leave us alone. They know where I live, so I can't take the chance for them to take you away from me again" I sent out Tropius "Come on... Let's go home" I looked back at the stadium and saw the reporter lady siting there watching me. There were no cameras, just her. She must've seen what happened. I ignored her and flew back home to restore the meadow.