Pich sets me down and I almost faint right off the bat. I can probably recognize every feather on her back and her neck is probably sore from how tightly I was holding on.

"Lilly!" she protests, "Did you really have to keep doing that?"

"What?" I say, but even my thoughts are barely cohesive.

She sighs, ruffling her wings like she does when she's embarrassed, exasperated, or nervous.

"You were making these weird bleating noises the whole time! Speaking of 'what', what about all the constant squeezing? If I wasn't so well trained, I-"
That was around when I passed out.

I wake up in the Pokemon Center with Chrona staring over me. She places me under her flower and I feel at ease.

"She's up?" asks Pich from afar, possibly the other side of a room or something similar.

"She's definitely awake, if nothing else." Chrona says, mumbling the last bit.

Pich sighs deeply. "Sorry 'bout that."
"Where's the rest of the team?" I ask.

"Out doing fun stuff in the city. Apparently they're buying you a new outfit or something." Chrona mutters. "Pich is here because she felt personally responsible. Rune is here because he's a big baby who can't stand to be without his trainer for a few hours."
"It was a little more than a few hours." Rune complains. I can see his tawny gold fur from under Chrona's flower.

"Wait, did you say someone was buying me an outfit? Does anyone on the team actually understand human fashion rules?" I ask, teasingly.

"There are rules?" Pich mutters. "Does Nina know?"
"Oh yeah, and Crypt's with her. Nico is scoping out the gym for our challenge tomorrow. He'll be back any second now..." Chrona tells me just before the door slams open.
Nico enters the room as calmly as if he had merely pushed it aside. "Good evening. Is Lilly up?"
"Yes." I say, sliding down Chrona's side. Gravity is five times more intense than I remember it being. "Sort of."
Nico bows to me. "I scouted the gym, my lady." I feel my heart tense a bit with that- it's the term he used to refer to Korrina. "It's an electric type gym. Between my Bone Rush and Nina's ground-type attacks, victory will be certain. However, for the final match... I believe some Mega Evolution should be employed."
"You just want to Mega Evolve with Lilly, don't you?" Chrona smirks, a long, toothy sort of grin.

"That would be one benefit, yes. Speaking of Korrina," He looks up at me, as if he knows what I'm thinking about, "She did want to meet with you... today."
"Oh great. What time?" I ask, fearing I've already missed the opportunity.

Nico looks out the window of the room we're in, which appears to be a fancy hotel room of some sort. He turns back. "Well, now."
I smack my hand against my forehead and groan. "Curse my airsickness. You know what? Let's go. Right now."
"Lilly, you can barely stand up straight." Chrona points out.

"She can lean on me." Rune says. "Korrina probably has some valuable info on Goldeneyes. Or the gym. Or you. Or Johto. Or mega evolution. Or just about anything at this point."

I stumble over to Rune. "Let's go."
Nico nods. "She's at the Cafe Soleil."

"Should we come too?" asks Chrona.

"Pich, go get Nina and Crypt and keep them occupied until we get back." I say. She dips her head and flies out the open window.

"Chrona, hold down the fort."

"Alriiiiight. Leave the Pokedex here, Dill and I are going to use CrobatChat and watch that marathon of the TV show he likes all night."

There's a long silence.

"I have friends." Chrona says, taking the Pokedex out of my bag with a vine.

I get on Rune's back and find a comfortable position. "Let's go."
Rune grumbles in mock exasperation and we leave the room. I nearly bump my head on the doorframe. He punches some buttons on the elevator and I find out from peeking around his furry back that we are on Level 28. As we head down, several bemused travelers and their undersized Pokemon stare at us. I wave to a few (and almost slide off doing it) and someone from the hotel staff waves back.

As we head down the street, I lean further in. "Your fur is sooooo soft." I ruffle it with one hand, still holding on tight.

"I had some treatments on our vacation." he admits. "You think Pich noticed?"
"I didn't, but I'm so tired right now I can barely think straight."
"I've noticed."
"We're here." Nico cuts off our small talk and opens the door. "My lady, you really should get down."

I reluctantly get off of Rune and walk into the Cafe, feeling at least slightly less groggy. Korrina is sitting with her skater's helmet on. She waves to us from a table for four.

"Coffee?" she says with a smile as I sit down. She has her hands crossed behind her head and I feel like she would have her feet on the table if it weren't a public place.

"Never had any. Ashley was twelve, so really she had no reason to-"
The waiter steps by and she looks up. "Two frappuccinos, please." She looks at me. "This will help you perk up a bit, hopefully. You look like you ran all the way here from Shalour City."

"Trust me, she didn't." Rune says.
"Thank you." I say, ignoring him. "So, we have... a lot of questions."
"Right." She says, her face suddenly twice as serious. "Hazel!"

The other Lucario leaves the Pokeball. She runs up to Nico and hugs him tightly. The two both hold hands and sit down, sharing a chair. Rune slumps down in the other.

"Are they in a relationship?" I ask.

"Siblings." Nico clarifies. "Lady Korrina raised us from birth. Descendants of the Lucarios first known to activate Mega Evolution."

"That's a lot better than my pedigree." I sigh. "Just... just a lake full of dumb fish and snake monsters."

Korrina nods. "I don't know much about who I was as a Pokemon, but I do know I was a Lucario. One of the most common Pokemon for Goldeneyes, as you should probably know."

"Actually, I don't know." I say, nervously. "It's not exactly a topic anyone here has brought up."

"Well, they're rare. They come from Pokemon who can Mega Evolve, specifically Pokemon who have Mega Evolved most of the time, or those who were exposed to similar energy in other ways. Some say Goldeneyes can also be Pokemon from parallel dimensions, like those where humans do not exist. Legend says there are Pokemon who were once humans there, sort of like us in reverse."
I nod, trying to take it in. Should I be taking notes?
Rune seems to sense my concern. I hear his voice in my head- I wouldn't worry about it.

"So, do you think my friends and I are from some other world where Johto isn't..." I ask.

"Johto was destroyed by legendaries. It's unclear which few, but most agree it's where Yveltal, bringer of death, unleashed its powers rendering the entire area incapable of supporting life." Korrina tells me. "Either that or it was where the beam of destruction landed..."
"The what now."
"We have some weird mythology. Nothing you'll probably encounter. Then again, seeing as what you've already gotten yourself into, you might encounter it sooner or later. Anyhow, what else do you need to know? I'll answer your questions, and then you answer mine."
"After we get those frappucinos. I can barely-"
The waiter comes by with the coffee, just on time. It's covered in more whipped cream than should be legal, which is in turn topped in chocolate syrup. I begin drinking immediately. Korrina asks the waiter for three berry smoothies for the Pokemon.

"There we go." she says as he walks away. "So?" She taps her fingers on the table.

"Is there a way for me to get home."

"Find someone to get you on a plane and fly yourself over to Johto. There ought to be something there. Do you know what legendaries might have interfered to get you here in the first place?"
"Johto legendaries." I say. "Ummm.... Lugia. Ho-oh. Celebi. Definitely Celebi. My trainer in Johto was a Goldeneye, I think she used to be a Celebi."
Korrina stops drinking, swallowing abruptly. "Celebi?!"
"Yes."
"Celebi can't Mega Evolve. It's a legendary. Wait, wait, wait. How many of your old trainer's Pokemon were transported here?"
"All of them?"
"Everyone involved. Dear Arceus, that would take almost all the legendaries to do. I figured you were an Ampharos, but I just thought- and no, that other kid who challenged me, Bronze, he was one too? This is ridiculous. This whole time, I thought the disturbances were from her when it was no less than- how many Pokemon did your trainer have?"
I try to count it up but I'm drawing a blank. How many did Bronze say? "Uh... fifteen?"
"Fifteen rogue Goldeneyes parading around the region only a year before hell is set to break lose."
She puts her hands to her chest, like I've seen Lucario doing. It looks like she's praying. "I'm calm. I'm calm." There are tears coming from her eyes. "We're screwed." Hazel gets up and puts a paw on her shoulder. The waiter comes back over with smoothies.

"Are you alright, Korrina?" he asks.

"I'm fine. Get me a glass of the most expired apple cider you have." She replies, and he walks away at a brisk pace.

I sit there in silence for a bit. "What's going to happen in a year?"
"It's not a year anymore, but..." she gets out a small, slender smartphone and pulls up an image of a young woman in a poofy dress. "Do you know this woman?"
"Isn't that the champion of Kalos, Diantha?" I ask.

"That's not the only thing she is. She's an associate of Team Flare, along with the Pokemon Professor himself. She also happens to be one of five Goldeneyes in this region, three of whom are in positions of power."

"Wait, who?"
"Lysandre himself, me obviously, her, and two other names I'm not licensed to give out. Anyhow, Diantha is a Diancie Goldeneye, and Lysandre is a Pyroar Goldeneye. They're a legendary and a Pokemon incapable of mega evolution respectively, so together they're... dangerous." She narrows her gaze. "I'd like to ask that you stay wary. If you hear anything about Diantha or Team Flare, tell me."
I nod. "I have... well, a few months ago, I did see them in an alleyway. I don't remember much, but it was something about plans. Perfect worlds. Legendaries. Us. She summoned a crystal sword out of nowhere."
"She can summon swords out of crystal?" she says, shocked. "Well, I didn't know it would manifest that way. Thank you." She looks outside. "It's getting late. I believe that covers about everything."

"Wait, before I go, what's that about manifesting?"
"Powerful Goldeneyes can use powers from the Pokemon they used to be."
"I could use my electric powers again?" Something deep within me wakes up again.
She nods. "I believe Clement and I could set up something in a few days." she says. "Before that, you should probably try to defeat his gym."
I lay down some cash for the food but she pushes it away. "My treat."
I nod. "Rune, you ready? Nico?"
Rune looks up from his empty smoothie and Nico gets up from his chair after gesturing to Hazel.
"Yes, my lady."
"Yeah, sure."
"Thank you." I tell Korrina. "Thank you so much." I open the door and cold night wind blows in. It's beautiful outside tonight.

"You want to get back on my back?" Rune asks. "You can sit there and process that. Sounds like you have some real problems to deal with."
"I'm fine." I say. "Coffee fixes everything."
"Wish that was true." Nico said.

"Yeah, me too." Rune and I say in unison, and we walk back to the hotel together.

((SORRY FOR THE MONTH I MADE YOU WAIT HAVE 2000 WORDS OF PLOT
soooo I had this terrible writer's block and as evidenced by my angst over this story I felt like NEVER picking it up again. However I've spent a lot of my month-long break thinking about you guys and this book and thanks to the hiatus and my amazing fans, both old and new, I feel inspired as I did upon beginning this series. Hopefully this makes up for it. If it doesn't, I'm going to be updating ALMOST EVERY DAY for the next week. 
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE.))