I imagined Gia to be dancing to this song later; click on it once you get to the dancing part. That's it!

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Truthfully, I'm not sure what to make of our current predicament.

Gia clearly likes Piers; more than she had been letting on, and definitely more after Marnie and I caught them fangirling about each other's music. After that, it wasn't much of a secret that the two had crushes on each other. Bleh; romance.

She knows we can't stay in Galar; we both know that. Heck, Piers and Marnie know it too. All of SPIKEMUTH knows it!!! This puppy love isn't going to last, and she should pack it up and shove it under a bed before it gets her hurt. Sure, we both have a soft spot for Galarian Zigzagoon now, and maybe Gia's been into punk fashion lately, and Marnie's been the sweetest friend a Meowth could ask for

"Oh, who am I kidding?" I hissed, turning away from my notebook of personal thoughts and feelings (it's NOT A DIARY). Neither of us wanted to leave Spikemuth; even the rest of the team had grown accustomed to the little town. Salazzle had become like Mother Linoone to the wild Zigzagoons, Espeon had befriended Piers' Malamar, Toxie was absolutely smitten with his Toxtricity, and Shelgon was like Team Yell's new mascot.

I sighed, shutting the notebook and flipping off the switch to Marnie's tiny lamp. Carefully hiding the book (alright, fine, it's a diary) under the pillow laid out for me, I clambered onto Marnie's bed and curled up next to her. For the first time since coming to Spikemuth, I fell asleep by her side.

********

"Have you guys seen Gia lately?" Marnie asked one morning as she shuffled into the kitchen. Piers was making breakfast--a rarity, considering Gia did 90% of the cooking around the house, and he shook his head. "Haven't seen 'er all mornin'," he admitted with a smile, sliding some Kalosian toast Marnie's way. "Said she had t'go do somethin' or other out front."

"Outside?" I questioned. "In this weather?" Piers stopped smiling at that. The weather had been uncharacteristically bad the past few weeks; rain and thunderstorms nonstop around Circhester Bay, which always ended up passing over Spikemuth at some point or another.

"Pierth liketh to go wath da rain thometimeth," Marnie commented around a mouthful of breakfast. "Maybe thee went t'do that."
"Maybe," I sighed, hopping onto the kitchen counter.

I knew Gia better than anyone; whenever she had a problem, she always turned to loneliness as a workaround. It wasn't healthy over long periods of time. "We should go and find her," I announced, hopping back onto Marnie's shoulder. "She shouldn't stay out in the rain anyways."

"If you girls're down, I'll go with ya," Piers said, turning to Marnie.
"Sounds like a plan to me," she swallowed, before tossing her plate in the sink and running back to her room.

After Marnie and Piers had gotten dressed, done their hair, found which studded jacket belonged to who, tugged on shoes and gave Morpeko her late-morning snack, we exited the apartment and began the long walk to the entrance of Spikemuth.

"Gia's been doin' this a lot lately," Marnie said after a few moments of walking in silence. "Disappearin' the minute she gets up. She hasn't even been helpin' Team Yell that much anymore. Whattaya think she's up to?"

"Yer guess is beyond me," Piers shrugged. "Meowsie? She ever done stuff like this before?" I stayed silent; it wasn't my place to say, or my story to tell. But, I couldn't just leave them without an answer; they'd be suspicious. "Well, yes," I said slowly. "But not disappearing." Not exactly lying, but not telling the whole truth either.

The duo seemed to buy it; Piers shrugged and Marnie just gave me a pat on the head. We kept walking and walking, passing by various Team Yell members who waved at us, and a few tourists who had wandered in here looking to escape the coming rainstorm. I could hear the distant rumble of thunder as we approached the mouth of the town.

The moment we rounded the corner to the main road, I quickly motioned to hide behind a crate. Gia was there, standing not ten meters in front of us, watching the rain start to fall. "Why are we hidin'?" Marnie whispered, and I shushed her, peeking over the top of the crate. She hadn't seen us; good.

She had pulled on a too-big black hoodie; probably to escape prying eyes. Tight denim shorts, and when she dropped the hoodie I noticed a sleek, Dark-type uniform tank top. She carefully folded the jacket and placed it on a crate next to her, and then she walked out into the rain.

Forgetting for a moment I was supposed to be watching in secret, I ran over to the doorway to get a closer look. Marnie and Piers were soon to follow. They watched as Gia stood in the middle of the grass, looking around to see if anyone was watching. Then, graceful as a Swanna, she began to dance.

She was beautiful; her movements delicate, precise, meaningful. Every leap, every twirl, every flick of the hand was done with the utmost grace and told a story as she moved. Ballet had always been her favorite type of dance, because she could use her emotions as fuel.

I saw sadness as she spun, anger with her striking movements, despair in her arabesques, and hope as she leapt, twirled and moved all around the field. And as her dance grew longer and the storm grew fiercer, I could make out tears on her face alongside the rain.

Piers and Marnie were spellbound as they watched; how could they not be? Gia was enchanting when she danced; it was why she never did it in front of people. It was as physically demanding as it was emotionally. Especially when it came to ballet.

"She's amazin'," Marnie breathed, watching as her movements diminished into soft waves, before slipping into a flawless curtsy. "Why don't she do it as much?"
"Because it's therapy," I said, before quickly shutting my mouth.
"Huh?" Piers asked. "Whattaya mean, 'therapy'?"

"I shouldn't have said anything," I said, turning away. "It's not my place to talk about it." And it wasn't. Dance was Gia's outlet, ever since singing was taken from her. "You can't just say somethin' like that an' not follow up on it," Marnie said loudly, momentarily forgetting Gia was there.

Quickly shushing her and glancing at Gia, who was still frozen like a statue in the rain, I sighed. "Does this got anythin' to do with Gia not singin'?" Piers asked, and I knew I couldn't deny it. "Yes," I admitted. "Dance became her way of expression once singing couldn't."
"What happened to her?"

I looked at Piers and Marnie's faces, silently begging to know. "Okay. I'll tell you," I sighed. "But you can't tell a-ny-one what I'm about to tell you today. Is that clear?" The siblings nodded, eager to learn more. Stealing a quick glance at Gia, who was walking away to the cliff overlooking the bay, I began.

"Years ago, back in Kanto, Gia was a part of a group of Team Rocket operatives that stole as a group, rather than individuals. We're still part of that group now, but we're often sent solo or in pairs instead of altogether.

In that group, called Alpha Squad D, there were nine operatives, including Gia; Andy, Toni, Carlos, Reggie, Arianna, Sidney, Scarlette and Lavinnia. Andy, Lavinnia and Gia were easily the best of friends, but they were equally close with the others. The problems began when Toni and Carlos' cousin, Reggie, joined Alpha Squad D.

Instantly, both Andy and Lavinnia were absolutely head-over-heels for him. And when Reggie chose Andy over Lavinnia...well, she wasn't too happy with her crush choosing another guy instead of her. She got jealous; really jealous. She already kind of 'broke up' with the friend group when she found out Andy was gay, and one night she just kind of...snapped.

She got up one evening and said....well, she said a lot of bad things about Andy. Insults, put-downs, whatever you want to call them. She insulted his heritage, his looks, his personality, and challenged him to a battle; Delcatty versus Purugly. He accepted.

We all tried to stop them, but Lavinnia just wouldn't let it go. The fight didn't last long, with Delcatty being victorious. Everybody knew Andy was stronger, physically and inside Pokémon battles. But Lavinnia's Purugly didn't accept defeat; she wouldn't. Without warning, she attacked. Gia pushed Andy out of the way out of reflex and then...

...Purugly slashed her in the throat."

I choked up before I could go on. I remembered that night in vivid detail. There was so much blood; so much, too much. It was a crimson ocean that reeked of salt and copper. Gia was so lifeless, lying there on the floor. The screaming...I couldn't forget it, no matter how hard I tried.

Everyone was horrified by the sight; Sidney almost got sick on the spot. I was still terrified, even now. But, my audience was waiting for me to go on. Slowly, I took a breath and kept going.

"Andy went berserk when he saw Gia fall. He would have torn Lavinnia to pieces had Gia's life not been on the line. He tried, too, after we were sure she would make it. She was rushed to the med bay and had to undergo countless surgeries just to keep her alive. Her vocal cords were beyond repair, and most of the flesh of her throat was missing, but the claws had just missed her windpipe. It was damaged and very fragile, but not punctured.

She had to have her vocal chords transplanted from a donor; some young operative who died in a blimp accident. When she came out of almost 36 hours of surgery, she couldn't speak. Her entire neck was covered in bandages, she could barely move, and when she tried to speak...she couldn't. All we could hear was heavy breathing. It was torture, seeing her like that. Unable to speak, to communicate. She could barely even look at me for the first month or two. It was a hard time for all of us.

We all knew sign language because Scarlette was deaf, so we all could communicate with Gia. And she took lots of physical therapy-well, vocal therapy, I guess-to get her voice back in shape. It took months. And even after all this time, her voice is still weak. That's why she doesn't sing; she physically can't. If she tries, she risks hurting herself again."

"How old was she?" Piers asked softly.
"Thirteen years old," I whispered. "Andy was sixteen, Lavinnia the same age as Gia. She was so young when it happened. She doesn't want to do anything that could make her relive that nightmare." I walked back over to Marnie, who picked me up and gave me a tight squeeze. It felt nice.

"You comin', bro?" Marnie asked as she turned to go back to the apartment. "I'll be there in a moment," he replied, watching Gia watch the bay. I shrugged; men had motives I would never understand. "Suit yourself," I said, before Marnie turned and walked back into the city.