I wake up the next morning to find Rune curled around my feet. He swishes his furry fox tail, his hands crossed out in front of him like he's pouting. Pich stands guard, her wings spread over him like a guardian angel of a sorts. I get up and rub her feathers, and she coos lightly.

At that moment, there's a knock on the door.

Who could it possibly be at... 10 in the morning. Is it really that late already? I give myself a mental note not to sleep in anymore, nor ever again. I mentally discard the mental note as my head hits the pillow again, the fluffy hotel pillow that's probably stuffed with fake feathers and I love it.

The knocking at the door returns, not only louder but much more aggravating.

"OPEN UP, WE BROUGHT YOU A FRESH APPLE PIE!" I hear a familiar voice yell. I look through the tiny peephole and see Shika standing with a pie and Ferro, banging on the door. "WE KNOW YOU CAN SMELL IT THROUGH THE PEEPHOLE! OPEN UP!"

I can smell it and it makes my mouth water. I open it up, standing there in my pajamas in a room of sleeping Pokemon.

"Didn't we say we'd come visit?" laughs Shika, "Yes, unfortunately someone has an odd way of asking to enter a room. She was probably still sleeping, you know."

Ferro shrugs nonchalantly, uncaring. I find myself cracking a smile. He sees it and immediately throws me a knowing look. Pich sees him come in and suddenly flaps up, waking Rune. Crypt comes from Chrona's side, mouth open in a huge smile complete with dangerous, industrial strength jaws, and Dusty comes out of the corner where he's been hiding.

"Where's Stella?" asks Ferro.

Everyone looks away, and his eyes fall. Chrona looks guiltily away and pretends she's still asleep, her petal hanging lazily in her face.

"Stella is... she's..." I stutter.

Ferro looks at me, and then mutters, "We should go get some pie."

"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault and-"

"Shhh. Lilly. Don't worry. Things... things happen. I'm glad she got to be happy before, well, you know."

"Happy?" I ask. "You think she was happy to be a part of this? I don't even know what I'm fighting for! I'm just trying to get to the next town on what, the off chance someone we know might be there? Might? How is that happy? How was she happy? How were we ever happy?"

"We were happy to be with our trainer. To live a bit longer, to make life count. We battled and died for her, didn't we? You meet new people. See new things. I know I was happy, even as well, one of the first to go." He shakes his head. "Can we have some pie now?"

"What flavor is it?" asks Rune.

"Pie flavor." says Chrona drearily.

"No, actually, it's-" Crypt takes in a deep sniff, "Chrona, it's apple! You love apple!"

She grunts, moving away from the little dinosaur. He cocks his head and runs after her, nipping at one of her leaves.

"Screw off, you little twit! I want to be alone." Chrona yells.

Rune snarls, "You really blame yourself for that?! Come on, Chrona. If anyone should feel bad, it's-"

I start crying again.

Pich slaps Rune with her wing and he falls backwards, yelling foxy profanity.

"Why don't we have some pie?" she suggests.

We all have some pie. It's terrible. I used to like apple pie, I think Ashley had us go to some terrible fast food restaurant this one time and we all got some there.

I push it away, looking down at my Pokedex, which is still making little Pikachu noises.

I promised I'd finish her story.

Why did I promise I'd finish her story?!

"So, now that you're done, where are you heading next?" asks Shika.

"Who the hell says I'm heading anywhere? What if I just gave up? I'm not kidding. Someone else can be the hero. This whole thing makes me feel sick and Juliet never should have died." I get out of my chair, everyone staring at me. "We won't die here, will we? We'll be safe. Everyone can be safe... and happy... and, and..."

"Lonely." Ferro finishes. "We don't belong here, Lilly. I, for one, want to go home. If you don't want to be the hero, then hell, I'll go on a journey."

"You don't need to. Bronze is already going at it." I say.

Shika sighs. "Good luck with that. We should go." She takes Ferro's hand. "Keep the pie."

I watch them walk away and curl up on the bed.

Rune brings me the map, prodding me with it over and over. "Lilly. Lilly. Lilly."

"No." I say, insistently.

"You've been laying here forever, Lilly."

"I've been laying here for five minutes." My voice is muffled by my pillow, but I don't care.

"Lilly, I know it's hard, but... heck, I need you, okay? We all do. We need you as our leader, teammate..."

"What if I don't want to be a leader?"

"You already are. You're a good one. Okay? Please get up. We have pie."

I look up at him forlornly, slowly lift myself off the bed, and take the Pokedex.

TEN NEW MESSAGES, it says.

They're all from Pikapad.

To a great friend and writer 3 -SummerSkyFallen

OMG HUGGING MY POKEMON RIGHT NOW -ArceusDivinity

Jules I know you said you were diff but I didn't know my soul sister was a Pokemon... just know it doesn't matter wherever you are now we're all working to make sure that pokes with your gift never have to get hurt again luv Ryu -Ryuquaza

It goes on and on.

"Are you okay, Lilly?" says Pich, ruffling her feathers.

I put the Pokedex down, closing Pikapad.

"Yeah. I am."

THATS RIGHT THIS STORY IS BACK! EXPECT UPDATES EVERY THREE DAYS :33