The funeral takes up the rest of the day, and I don't learn what happened to the Mega Bracelet until Pich comes over and drops it on the bed.

I don't see Bronze afterwards- he comes, pays his respects, and leaves. I wait for him back at the hotel, but soon I realize with dreadful certainty that he's not coming back at all.

Groaning, lying spread across the bed with my stomach churning from how sick and disgusted I am at the death and myself for not doing anything, I try to fall asleep and simply can't. I toss and turn, begging myself to doze off so I don't have to think about any of this, and I just can't do it.

Pich looks at me, puts a wing around me, and says, "It's a pretty hard blow, huh?"

"I can't believe I-I..."

"Did you command the Pokemon that killed him?"

"N-no..."

"Would Bronze ever try to kill one of your Pokemon?"

"O-of course not..."

"Lilly, you need to be strong about this. I know you don't want to, but Crypt is going to be shattered and without Bronze's help-"

"I want to go back home." I say.

"If you want to go back to where we started, no one will blame you if-"

"That's not home. The Lake of Rage is my home and it's gone and I'm never getting back!"

Pich looks shocked. "Who says you're never getting back?"

I look up at her, sniffling.

"When I first met you, you were at least sure there was a way. Come on, you can't give up. Please."

I nod. "I don't know if I want to take on the gym yet. We're not strong enough."

"Strength." says Pich, reflectively. "Alright." She flaps away.

I run after her, not wanting a repeat of the Glittering Cave incident. "What are you doing?!"

"Grinding!" She says.

"What?! It's nighttime!"

"Chrona goes out every night when you're moping. I just thought I'd join her tonight." Pich says, not even looking back.

I curse my wayward Venusaur under my breath, racing after Pich.

"Route 12." I say. "You sure she's here?"

"She offered for us to come with her, but Crypt was mourning, Rune is too responsible and Mimsy is afraid of everything."

I get there, turn a corner, and stop.

She's attacking a hoard of Pinsirs.

One of the rarest Pokemon she could possibly run into and she manages to aggravate five of them.

One Pinsir is poisoned, another encased in a Leech Seed, and she's holding another back with a vine. "Yeah, come at me! How many more of you ugly freakshow bugs are there?!"

"Chrona!" I yell, "What are you doing?!"

"Getting something done!" She says.

A Pinsir dives at her, scouring it's horns across her flank. She tenses as dark green blood pours out of the wound.

"I can handle it." she says calmly.

"No you can't!" I yell back. "Pich, help her out!"

Pich dives down, shrieking, and a blue light encases her. She swoops past a Pinsir, cutting it with her wings. "Brave Bird?!" I say.

The blue light overtakes her, her wings becoming longer and gold feathers streaming out from her head. "That's not all I can do." She says, and launches a Heat Wave, knocking out another one. She lets out a shriek of triumph.

"Nice evolution." Chrona says, still bleeding, "But I can do better. Lilly! The Mega Stone."

"What do I do?" I ask, confused. I look down at the Mega Stone on my bracelet.

"Just tap it." she says.

I tap it, and a shell of gold surrounds Chrona. The energy I get from a flash, magnified tenfold, rushes from both of us and she emerges. She looks just the same, but somehow we feel more powerful. Something has overtaken both of us, linking us together.

The golden energy vibrates around us, filling the air with its hum. I reach out and so do her vines, knocking two Pinsir aside. Without even saying it, I give her a mental command and her flower sprays the poisonous pollen in a full circle, effectively knocking out the last Pinsir.

The Pinsir horde lays defeated around us. "Well." I say. Chrona pants, and then falls over, groaning. "You need some medical attention. We should probably get back-"

"I have some stuff in my house." says a voice from behind me.

I turn around to see a stranger in short pants grinning at me.

Chrona groans softly, blood trickling from the cut.

"I still can't believe you came out here without permission..." I say, annoyed.

"Yeah, but we mega evolved!" she says. "It was... I'msotired..."

"That wasn't Mega Evolution." the stranger says, "She's supposed to change form and a whole lot of other stuff. You know, it should be at least slightly easier for us Goldeneyes..."

"How the hell do you know who and what I am?!" I say.

The light from the cabin illuminates the stranger's face. He has ears far too pointy for a human's, blonde hair and eyes like the sea itself.

He climbs the stairs to his front door as I recall Chrona. It's a beach house with a Chevy Impala parked outside. Yes, I think I know where I've seen him from now...

Dill winks at me and opens the door with a broad sweep of his hand.

"Why don't you come on inside?"