I rummage through my bag, looking for the precious stones that Gaile had personally requested earlier. "You sure you want to do this?" I say, "From previous experience, evolution is a really serious thing. You can't just decide on a whim."

"Humans don't evolve, silly!" Gaile laughs. "You couldn't have had experience."

I blow out my cheeks a bit, wondering if I should even go there or not. I look at Crypt, who just cocks his head as if to say, 'Well, don't ask me, it's your creepy past.'

I just say simply, "If you really want to, by all means, go ahead, Gaile. Just know you can't get who you were back."

I pull the three stones out- a Fire Stone, a Thunder Stone, and a Water Stone.

He shakes his head. "Put them back in."

"What?! You're not doing it?"

"Nah," He insists, "I'm totally doing it. I just have to close my eyes. Put them out in a different order, I'll take the one I can feel."

I've always known the stones generate a bit of energy within them, besides that which the Pokemon uses the evolve, which is why a Fire Stone will always be warm to the touch, and you get a static shock just from touching a Thunder Stone. Still, choosing on that- or just on a gut feeling... seems kind of risky. I don't pull the Fire Stone away, even though I know Rune will be furious if he chooses it.

I just wait.

Crypt nudges him, but Gaile sits perfectly still, like a wise old priest deep in meditation. Then, with a quick slap, he chooses the Thunder Stone, and his whole body lights up like a firecracker, becoming spiky and golden yellow, bristling with electricity.

"What do you think?" he says in a cocky, swaggering tone.

Crypt gnashes his teeth. "I think I can still beat you!"

"Wanna bet?"

A blast of fire comes from nowhere, zooming right between them and disappearing before touching the wall. "Please, control yourselves." Rune says, maintaining his 'leader tone', which is code for 'bored and insensitive'. "We have to get to Geosenge before nighttime. Lilly already made the reservations. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to try out your new skills while we grind on the way there."

"We're grinding?!" They both say at once, then scramble past me to the edge of the small town. I breath in the sweet scent of the nearby ocean one last time. Good bye, Juliet... I think.

Then we're off.

Some numb part of me forgot how good this feels. I yell with joy as I catapult into the fray, yelling battle orders in every direction. Wild Pokemon turn from reclusive to rowdy adversaries with a swish of grass and then let us pass, defeated.

My eyes are gold, I'm Rune, twirling our stick and setting the grass ablaze, now I'm Pich, soaring overhead, now Gaile, testing out our lightning speed and new bond. He's surprised, as they all are, but more focused on getting used to his reflexes. He's so fast at the moment that he ends up running into rocks, and when I flash to him, it's amplified. At one point, we go for an aerial foe- a Sygilyph, much like the one that killed Kimiko, and out of my need for vengeance and his uncontrollable power we hit the ground hard and rocket straight up, colliding with it in a burst of crackling lighting. It retaliates with a Psybeam, but we're back down, out of range, then up again in time for a Bite to one of it's wings.

The energy inside of us is wild, fierce, and dangerous, just on the edge between an asset and a liability. We could explode any moment if either of us lose focus.

I missed my electricity so much.

I flash back to myself, my eyes returning to their regular bright blue. We're here.

It was a really quick grind, at least in my head, but the sun is already setting.

Right, the reservations!

"We're late!" I say with alarm.

"Oh what?!" Gaile bolts after me, staying close to my side. I can tell he just loves the extra attention. Mimsy is floating lazily in the background, meandering around the small town. It's full of little houses, a quaint place if I ever saw one, but the hotel sticks out like a sore thumb. It's huge, extravagant, and a bright white color that makes all the little wood houses look dull and mundane. 'Hotel Marine Snow', reads a sign.

Personally, I'd rather stay in a wood house. I love the smell of wood, the comfy warmth of a cabin, and... we were in a cabin the night before... that battle. Thunder of a different kind flashes through my mind, natural thunder in a violent storm. The huge, intimidating Gyarados opens it's maw and roars...

No. I have other things to worry about. I'm not going to think about that.

Bronze.

Right.

I walk to my hotel room after checking in, a bit tense but otherwise fine. It's not too late, is it?

Bronze is standing outside the door. "Lilly, this is really important!"

"What?! Did we miss dinner? I'm really sorry, I was so excited and-"

"More than dinner. I was talking with a few people around here, and I think I've found us a way home."

I gasp. "You what?"

"Shh, just... come on inside. You guys come too." He gestures to my Pokemon.

Inside, his Pokemon are lazily waiting around- Shruikan, Iris, Pacifica, and a new Absol.

"This is Nephthys, by the way." Bronze says.

Nephthys, the Absol, nods quaintly, closing her eyes as if meditating.

"Do you have Chrona with you?" Bronze asks.

"Well, yes, I-"

"I'm right here." Chrona says, walking forwards. "What do you need?"

"Can I have a look at that?" Bronze says, reaching for her neck, where her Mega Stone is hanging.

She recoils as if he hit her. "No! Don't touch it!" She almost growls the words. Bronze draws his hand away.

"Sorry."

"What do you need her Mega Stone for?" I ask.

"Look, so before you joined the team, back in Ecruteak, Ashley met one of the gym leaders. His name's Morty. He told us all Goldeneyes are reincarnations of Pokemon able to mega evolve, which is why Ashley was such a shock for him."

"So you're saying..."

"I looked up 'mega evolution', went through a list of the Mega Stones that they've discovered so far... Only two Pokemon from our original journey were able to mega evolve."

"You?"

"No, not me. You and Rage."

"Who's Rage?" I ask.

"The Gyarados that killed you... we think that he might be here too. Listen, don't worry about that. We need to think about you. We don't have many leads, but the mega stones seem to be linked in with the Goldeneyes, so we need to find as much information on them as possible."

"I can do that." I say.

"The next gym leader is a mega evolution expert." says Rune.

"How do you know?"

"Pich and I were looking it up, for strategic reasons. She doesn't do it in gym battles, but she may be willing to help us if we beat her." He says, tapping his stick on the Pikapad.

"Well it's settled then." Bronze says, and his is suddenly low and ominous- "Right now, we have some very pressing matters to attend to."

"What else is there?" I ask.

"Dinner."