As usual, it's a lot of fun to be back on the road, especially with Bronze. I missed his company- just being around him brings back every good memory I have from the old days. It scares me sometimes- how much of him, Ashley and the team I remember in comparison to what was before that.

His eyes, the cool confidence in them ready to flare up to defend anyone and everyone he loves... he hasn't changed at all.

He never would. He's Bronze.

His fighting style is the same, and it reflects across all his Pokemon. They're all unique, but they have that bit of Bronze to them, like they keep a piece of his soul even when he's just Bronze and they stand on their own.

Pich looks nervous as we approach an oddly clothed trainer- she's been challenged to a 'Sky Battle'. It's a terrifying prospect for me, not just her- have my Pokemon fight up in the sky? No help? No callbacks? "I'll be fine." she insists, but her eyes and emotions echoed across our bond plead the opposite. I still make the call and let her fight, and as soon as the battle starts she's flying loops around the other trainer's Emolga.

She lands three Twisters before it hits her once with a ThunderShock, and then her heart pauses. I can feel it- she's falling downwards, and I try to flash to her, to feel her reassuring soul brush against mine, but for a second I just can't.

"PICH!"

It's not my voice that wakes her up. It's Rune's. She soars upwards, gripping the Emolga in her claws and hurling it down. She spreads her wings, victorious, and then collapses. Rune drops his stick, flees his battle, and runs to her, helping her up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chrona, her large eyes intimidating and cold as she watches them, then turns away back to Crypt, who's excitedly showing her his huge Bite and asking her to host a 'biting contest' between him and Gaile.

She just sighs and her flower lets out some pollen, settling in a golden mist around her. She looks... pretty awful. I feel some of her pain, it's anguish and loneliness coursing through her.

Of course he loves her. I'm just never going to get over it.

Just... stop. Stop stop stop. He doesn't like you.

I cut away from her, and it takes me a second to realize there are tears in my eyes.

"Chrona..." I say, and she looks up at me, her eyes unreadable.

"Do you need something?" Her flawless, icy facade hits me like a brick. Even knowing it's all an act, that inside she's dying, I feel myself being taken aback by it.

"No." I say.

Gaile and Crypt finish their 'biting contest' (good Arceus, what is wrong with those two hooligans) and then go on to fighting.

"Do the golden eye thing!" demands Gaile.

"Actually, I'm..." I struggle for an excuse, holding myself back from the pleasure of rushing through the route with him, "Looking for a new teammate."

"We can help!" Gaile says.

"Help Lilly!" Crypt cheers.

They're off in the other direction, and I'm left alone to think about the love triangle and what it means for the team.

Arceus, Mew, and Mewtwo, this better not progress into something awful...

"Hey! HEEEEY!" Bronze is waving his hands like the derp he is. "These people want a double battle!"

Chrona looks up, vines out but Mimsy gets in the way. "May I fight, please?"

Chrona goes back to moping as I nod. Sorry, I mouth to her.

It's fine, she says by the way of the flip of a leaf and a backwards glare.

Mimsy and Pacifica take on the 'Brains and Brawn' duo together, which I find cheesy and kind of odd. It's a psychic boy with his Meditite and then a Black Belt with a Machoke. They're not terribly good fighters, and they keep bickering over strategy- "We can't just charge in!" "Yes we can!" "What about type advantages?"

In the mean time, Pacifica and Mimsy make short work of them. Pacifica has changed a lot since I last met her- she no longer looks like a mental asylum ward on the verge of sticking a knife through your neck. "Hey, girl. Nice style." She winks.

"Is she a valley girl?" Mimsy asks as we continue into the cave. "Valley girls are terrifying."

"I don't really know what to think at this point. She definitely is... something."

Mimsy looks very unsatisfied by this and goes back to aimlessly drifting. The cave is very bright, and is lit almost entirely by an oddly blue hue. It's easy to see why it's called "Reflecting" Cave- all the walls are almost mirrorlike, with odd distortions. Once or twice, I swear I see an Ampharos staring back at me from the twisted mirrors.

Bronze is looking up, mouth open. "Caves here are so fancy."

"You got that right." I laugh. From deep in the cave, I spy a faint sparkle.

I chuck a Pokeball as hard as I can.

It clicks. "Woah, you're eager for a catch." Bronze says.

I run after it and pick it up, holding it in my clasped hands like a jewel. "It's not just any catch, silly."

It registers in my Pokedex with a ping and then a little jingle. Yes! Exactly what I wanted. I grin, holding it up to show Bronze.

I just caught a shiny Woobat.

"Shiny? Wow... that's really great. I've never encountered one, so..."

I give him a sideways glance and then say softly, "My team's full." I hand him the Pokeball.

"Wow... thanks." he says, a bit softer. "I'll-"

"Don't let him get hurt. They don't live long in the wild, but you know teams are risky. We both know that firsthand. Their games aren't to be played around with."

"I know, Lilly."

"Just... trading them and..."

He presses up against me, his bronze eyes gazing deep into mine, into my soul, and then he kisses me. Everything melts away for a moment, our faces reflected back in a million ways across the mirrors that will never be perfect as this moment.

"THAT AIN'T THE ONLY SHINY THING!" yells a familiar voice, echoing into the cave.

Covered in blood, Chrona drags herself towards us. She's glittering bright blue, and pollen dust is everywhere. Before our eyes, her flower blooms,rising up on a thick trunk, her leaves getting longer and her whole body growing to colossal size.

That's around when she passes out.

I pull away from Bronze. Shruikan and Rune are fighting again, hopefully in a 'bro' type of way and not legitimately trying to kill each other, Pacifica and Pich are gossiping, and... Crypt is holding a Pokeball between his teeth, dangerously close to crushing it.

"We should probably..." I start.

"I know." He finishes. "Believe me, I know."