I pull away from his grasp after several long minutes to mingle with the others. Though seeing Bronze being himself again is the best gift of all, there are so many others I'd like to meet. There's so much I don't know about the team, after all. There were no deaths in my only modestly sized stretch as a member.

Meekly, I approach the kitchen where Shika is wearing an apron and cooking some sort of delectable pie. Already, there's all sorts of goodies on the table, including Poke Puffs, macaroons, blue cake, eggnog for some strange reason, some very fancy wine with a picture of a Furfrou on the label, and a hot apple pie. I cut myself a slice and pick up one of those tiny plastic forks.

A quick bite confirms that it's just as good as I remember Shika's cooking being. Ferro waltzes up and throws an arm around my shoulder. "Nice to see you again! It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Sure has," I say quietly.

"There was at least one time when we at least planned something, wasn't there?"

"Probably."

"Want some pie?"

"Already on it." I say, holding up my slice. Taking another bite, I whisper, "Mmm... so sweet."

"The secret ingredient is love. Also lots of cinnamon. You just can't do apple pie without cinnamon."
I nod vigorously, finishing the slice with only a few more bites. "This is the best."

"I know! I help Shika with the cooking sometimes." he brags. "You know, when this is all over... you. Me. Johto. Apple pie."

"How would we cook without opposable thumbs, exactly?"

He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I dunno. I say we work it out then."

Shika yells from the kitchen. "Ferro, where did you put the cinnamon?!"

"Welp. I gotta go. You have... fun." he says, hastily waving before running into the kitchen and basically diving towards the spice drawer.

Empowered by the warm reception, I approach another friendly face. "Hey, Chompers!"
He almost drops his pie when he hears my voice. "Shi- I mean, shoot. H-hey Lilly! Nice to see you again!" He narrows his slightly beady eyes and readjusts his glasses. "By the way, it's Chris..."

"Right. Human names. How's the research lab?" I ask.

"Fine. I heard Bronze lost Iris, from the fossil. Absolutely terrible. Did you... is yours?"
I try to think of a proper word to describe Crypt's condition. "He evolved. Training him has been interesting."

"Oh, I know all about that! I've been working with all sorts of fossil Pokemon. I actually have six of them on my team right now. It's terrifying, honestly. You go from vendor trash to working with prehistoric demons... pays well, at least." he says nervously. "Do you see that?"
"See what?" I ask.

"That." he points accusingly at the back of a ginger haired man, one of the tallest and possibly oldest people here. There's something uncanny about him, but I can't say I recognize anything yet. He turns around and catches my gaze for seconds and I feel my heart stop. My breathing speeds up in panic as he turns away.

"He's been watching you for a while. Kind of creepy, honestly." he says. "What's wrong? He's an ally, you know-"

I try to duck away towards Bronze and he corners me, his eyes pale and sickening. I slam backwards into the glass of the penthouse, which luckily for me does not shatter though inside I am shattering quickly and one touch could break me into pieces.

A Gyarados silhouetted by lightning.

A bone shattering bite.

Everything fading into nothingness, trying to hold onto anything as my feeble body lies in a pool of my own blood...

He grasps my hand very firmly and kneels down before me. I can feel him shaking intensely, holding back hollow sobs. "I'm so sorry."

"So you're... him." I withdraw my hand from his vice grip.

The ginger man reaches out for it, his hands desperate as I was in my last moments. "I had them too. Nightmares every single night. Please... please forgive me."

I stare into the eyes of my killer, the feral instinct to destroy him or run away pounding deep in my chest. My teeth clench as I suppress the urge to strangle him on the spot. "I understand." I lie. "I know you weren't in your right mind. All of the Goldeneyes have a beast within us, and sometimes that beast is more powerful than we'd like to admit. Regardless, I think... it would be best if our paths never crossed." I spit the last word. "Ever."
He doesn't get up. He just keeps sobbing on the floor, his hands over his head. I look at his red hair and try to garner up sympathy to say anything, but I look at the moisture left by tears on his hands and the floor and all I can imagine is hot red blood on the side of a lake.

I walk away only to run into Bronze again. "Lilly." He holds me tightly. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He looks back at Rage, "Did you hurt him?"

I look up into his eyes and shake my head. "Dear Arceus, I'm so scared."

His grip around me tightens and I sink into him, my tears staining his jacket. "It's fine. I'm never letting you go again."

My fingers find their way into his pockets, which are warm and have spare change in them (someone is too proud for a purse). In their own strange way, they're oddly comforting. "Should we..."

"Oh. Census of the Pokemon we'll be working with?" Bronze asks.

"Sounds good to me." I say.

Slowly, I pull my hands out of his pockets and look around the room. "Ahem." I say, but no one seems to hear over the ruckus.

"Hey!" Shauna calls from the top floor, part of which hangs over the first floor. "Everyone, listen up!"

Everyone does look up, and then seizing the silence, I say, "We're going to do a quick census before training tomorrow. Can everyone send out their Pokemon?"

Without hesitation, bright light fills the room as a menagerie of creatures burst out into the open. I'm surprised to find the determined steely gaze of over fifty Pokemon meeting my own. Some are enormous, such as Crypt from my own party, who might be just a tad too big for even the two-story penthouse, while others are terribly small, such as a Minccino who can't be more than a few months old curling around Millie. Regardless, they're all ready for battle.

Shauna addresses the crowd. "I know not all of you know me. My name is Shauna. I'm a Goldeneye like all of you." As if to prove it, her hand flies forwards and in front of it forms her signature Fleur de la Mort, though she doesn't fire a Hyper Beam from it. "However, unlike you, for most of my life, I was alone. When my powers started awakening, I was terrified. Seeing this team has made me reconsider what family means." She smiles. Her own Pokemon are there by her side. Luna lies majestically before her. Faye sits on the railing while Escargot is ducking to avoid the ceiling. Thistle stands before all of them with his arms pressed together, cautiously watching Shauna.

"This is family. Something deeper than blood forms the connection between us and our Pokemon, and even more rarely, between us and those we travel with. Like Pokemon, we've had our share of fights, and our fair share of losses, but we're warriors. In two days, I'm going into one of the most dangerous situations in my life. If I was alone, I would never be able to do this, but thanks to all of you, we do have a fighting chance."

Bronze yells, "Let's show these bastards that Johto KICKS ASS!"

A cheer goes up from the crowd all at once, and I yell with them amongst bestial howls and Crypts prehistoric roar. Shauna stands above us all as her eyes glitter with joyful tears.

Someone knocks on the door, and before we can open it, an angry voice rings on the other side. "We've received complaints of excessive noise from this suite. One more strike and so help me, I will kick all of you out of the penthouse."

The cheering stops immediately and several Pokemon flicker into their Pokeballs. It appears that the motivational speech is over. "Alright, everyone away for now." Bronze says. "After all, we're saving the real fire for Team Flare."