Dill opens the door and suddenly my senses are flooded. It's bright, warm and smells slightly like the ocean, with a bit of pickle and something I can't quite place.

"I can't believe you're here!" Dill says, excited. "Did you see me on TV? I knew you'd find me eventually, but... it's only been..." He counts on his fingers, "Five months!"

"Five months..." I repeat. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

From a table near a window, Toxis gets up. I recognize him on sight, even in his human form- strong chin, decent amount of stubble, and eyes both tired and invigorated, as if he's holding off pain just to keep those around him from worrying. He pats me on the back. "Nice job making it this far, Lilly."

"Thanks. This is Chrona," I brush my hand over one of her leaves, "And this is Pich." Pich is pecking at an open jar of pickles. She gets one in her beak and tries to swallow, gagging. She spits it out, gasping for air.

"These are very large." she states.

"Yes, yes they are." I say, "Why did you try to eat them? You know it's bad for you to swallow something that large whole."

"Well, I thought now that I'm larger, I could try." She ruffles her feathers, closing the discussion. "These are your friends, right?"

"Yeah. Friends." I say, "A little more than that actually... teammates."

"Teammates." Chrona looks intrigued now. "What do you know about Mega Evolution?" she asks them.

"Well, we live really close to the Tower of Evolution, so I've been reading up on it. Only certain Pokemon are capable. Surprise, surprise, those are the ones that have recorded Goldeneyes to their names. The only exceptions seem to be Ashley and well, us, but I don't know if we count. We're not exactly normal circumstances."

"Hasn't stopped us from leading almost normal lives for the time being." Toxis says. "Have you seen Bronze? Is he looking for a way home?"

"Yes. We travel together a lot, actually. Uh... well, let's leave it at that for now." I say, breaking off as I think about Gaile's empty eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" Toxis asks, and although I know it wasn't meant to sound malicious I break down crying.

"I will cut you." Chrona warns. "Do not go there."

Dill whispers something in Toxis's ear.

"Oh." he says. "Oh yes, please call me Tom for the time being. It's my... human name."

"Being a human isn't that bad after all! We finally got the Chevy Impala I wanted! Plus, I can marathon my favorite shows and buy all the pickles I want." Dill says, a giddy grin across his face.

"Being a Trainer is really hard." I sit myself down on one of their chairs and sink into it.

"Kind of gathered that from personal experience." Dill said, then sighed. "Anyhow, you should get some sleep. It's late."

"How late?"

"Just past midnight? Why were you training this late anyways?"

I leer over at Chrona. She's spread out across the floor, snoring loudly. Even though it may just be her dreaming, I can't help but see the slightest bit of a smile peeking out from behind her enormous fangs.

"Don't ask." I say, taking a long sip of tea. My eyes start closing of their own accord... I really just want to fall asleep right now, but what about Rune and the others, back at the hotel? "I have... my Pokemon... hotel."

"Is Bronze with them?" asks Dill, seemingly getting what I was trying to say.

"Oh my Arceus, no he isn't." I say, getting up. "Pich, Chrona!"

Pich looks up at me from over in a corner of the room, where she's preening her feathers. Chrona is still asleep.

"Looks like they're already passed out." Dill mutters.

"Ugh. I can't just leave everyone at the hotel..." I say.

"Well, you can't just go back without a Pokemon. You know how dangerous it is. There's a reason you can't leave towns without one." Toxis protests. "You can borrow one of mine. This is Silver." He hands me a Pokeball.

I look at him, concerned. "I'm not... not really good with other people's Pokemon."

"Bad track record?" Toxis sighs. "Listen, I'll just walk you home."

He puts his hand on my back. "Dill, make another round of tea for when I get home."

Dill gives us a thumbs up. "Sounds good!"

Toxis slams the door with an enormous amount of force, and then he continues walking down the stairs as if nothing happened.

"That was a little much." I say, quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I always slam doors. It's a bad habit." he says. "I just... remember that I used to slam doors back in Johto, because I had roughly fifty pounds of muscle on each arm. Anything to remember home by."

I roll my hand over his Pokeball. "Who's Silver?" I decide to change the conversation, hoping it will help a little bit.

"Lapras." He says. "Dill has a lot of water Pokemon, we traded a few times." He still has that mournful tone in his voice. I realize that even I- even if I've been hiding it some- am still worried about home.

Is everything really fading that fast? I can't remember... I can't remember what Ashley's face looked like.

I look up at the stars, foreign and cold, and realize with a sinking feeling that I am scared.

I hand the Pokeball back to him. "I don't feel safe holding it. Last time I borrowed a Pokemon, I-"

"Being a Trainer is really hard." Toxis repeats. "Yeah, well- we've had our share." I look back at the cottage, fading in the distance, and see two little gray headstones near the cottage.

Toxis doesn't even look back.

"I want to go home." I say. "I need too. I had family, I had friends, I had a wedding-"

"I had nothing that I don't have here."

"You had a family."

"Dill's my family."

"So were we."

We walk the rest of the way in silence. He drops me off near the hotel, silently.

"Don't give up on us." I plead, but he's already gone. An ocean breeze blows over the city, silently, and I go back indoors. Walking into my hotel room, I find everyone where I left them- asleep.

I pass out as soon as I hit the bed.