It's so weird how one part of the route to Anistar City is basically a huge snowstorm, and the other normal and sunny. That aside, though, the three of us still continue onward towards Anistar City. Me for the Showcase, and Clara and Clyde for Olympia.

  "Hey, Clyde. We should practice for our battle with Olympia."

 "Sure."

  Clyde pulls out Quilladin's pokeball, and the brown and green spiky Pokemon appears. Clara takes out her Frogadier, and I assume they're going to battle each other.

  I watch their preparation with a strange pang of sadness. I still haven't forgotten my dream, and it feels like they're keeping something from me. Clyde, just like his sister, may have had a strange dream as well. And on top of that, I'm faced with the fear of never improving.

 "Petilil?" As I set out the picnic blanket and sit, Petilil hops over to me."Lil?" I gently pull her closer. At least I still have my Pokemon.

  "Meow....." Meowstic stretches next to us, her fur already messy like she's been active all day.

  "What have you been doing, Meowstic?"

  "Meowstic!" She purrs with delight, turning her focus to a nearby tree. "Meow!!" She holds her arms up, summoning and releasing several pink psychic orbs at it.

  "Is that a new move?"

  Meowstic proudly nods."Meow!"

  "That's so cool!"

  "Petilil...." Petilil pouts, seeming unenthusiastic about Meowstic's new move.

  "It's okay, Petilil." Petilil doesn't like using her other moves, the ones beside Petal Dance and Energy Ball. Maybe because Synthesis isn't an attack move? Or maybe she thinks it makes her look weak. "Defense is just as important as attack."

  "Lil...."

  "Meowstic!"

  Meowstic stares at Clara and Clyde's battle, unconcerned with talk about moves. Frogadier narrowly avoids Quilladin's Seed Bomb, and counterattacks with Water Pulse, which lands but isn't very effective.

  I notice Petilil watching as well, and I can only imagine what she's thinking.

  "This isn't working." Clara throws up her hands in defeat, looking frustrated."We can't practice for Olympia, seeing as she battles with her two Meowstic. "

  "Mrow?" Meowstic mews in curiosity.

  Just when Clara seems to have give up hope, she glances at us, then her eyes widen with realization."Hey......."She leans in close, stating into Meowstic's face."YOU have a Meowstic, with psychic powers and stuff."

  Oh, yeah. That is the case. "Ready for a double battle?"

  "Petilil?" Petilil stares in confusion while Meowstic jumps with enthusiasm. 

  I try to be reasonable, telling Clara that I couldn't possibly be as strong as Olympia.

  "Don't worry! This'll be great practice!"

  I fold the blanket and slip it into my bag as Clara and Clyde take their positions on the opposite side of the grassy field, which serves as the battlefield for now.

  "Lil...." Petilil looks doubtful, as am I. Our feelings, however, seem a complete opposite to Meowstic, who's raring to go.

  "Battle... Begin!"

   It looks as if we have a type advantage, but typing won't determine the outcome of this battle. After all, Clyde and Clara are quite strong. 

  "Frogadier, Water Pulse!" Clara's Frogadier sends forth an enlarged ring of water to hit both my Pokemon.

  Meowstic springs to action, dodging and pulling Petilil out of the way as well. "Petilil, Lil!" Petilil blows up at her, as if she claims she didn't need Meowstic's help. I don't like looking weak, either, so perhaps me and Petilil have this trait in common.

  "It's okay, Petilil!"

  "Quilladin, Pin Missile!" Quilladin's calls out its name, releasing sharp missiles aimed towards Petilil.

  "Psyshock!" Meowstic's Psyshock stops the missiles in their tracks, making a small explosion as they collide.

  "Petilil, Energy Ball!"

Petilil jumps and unleashes Energy Ball towards Frogadier, but the froglike Pokemon quickly dodges. "Smack Down!"

  Frogadier quickly grabs a nearby rock, then jumps and throws it at Petilil."Lil!"

  She lands on the ground, but still manages to get up."Okay. Meowstic, Charge Beam!"

  "Pin Missile!"

Quilladin's Pin Missile lands first, but Charge Beam lands on it second. The needles hit Petilil,and it's a supereffective move.

  "Petilil!" Petilil weakly manages to rise, and I can't have her ignore her other moves. "Petilil, Synthesis!"

  "Lil...." Petilil hesitates.

  "Mrow!" Meowstic fends off Frogadier, who speeds after her.

  "Lil..."

  "To have a chance at winning, you HAVE to use your moves!"

  "Lil." Petilil grumpily obeys, her body surrounded by a shimmering yellow light. Her tiny scratches and sounds disappear, and she looks as good as new.

  Me and Meowstic let out a sigh of relief. Now it's time to continue the battle!"Meowstic, Charge Beam!"

  "Frogadier, Double Team!" Did Clara neglect to tell me about her Pokemon's moves as well? 

  Frogadier becomes two, then three, and finally about ten more. "Huh?" I stare at the field in awe as the Frogadier surround my Pokemon, as well as the whole area!

  "Which one's which?" Clara teases.

  "Clara, you promised to-" Clyde hisses at her, before stopping himself from saying any more.

  Hm? Now what do we do? Either way, nothing will get accomplished just by being worried. "Meowstic, Petilil! Teamwork!"

  "Meow!"

  "Lil!"

 The two give a firm nod of understanding before glancing at each other, then at the mass amount of Frogadier.

  "Meow......" Meowstic lifts them up and holds them together, and Petilil attacks them all with Petal Dance.

  The shadow clones fade, and one Frogadier, the real one, remains.

  "Lil!" Petilil attacks it with a quick Energy Ball, and Meowstic slams down the blue Pokemon afterwards.

  "Hm." Clyde seems doubtful of something, and Clara doesn't really seem to be giving it her usual pep. But this is CLARA, and this is a battle. Did she have another dream or something? Did Clyde have one as well?

  "Meowstic!" Meowstic is enthusiastic to keep going, and Petilil hops up and down, cheering for herself to have finally hit something.

  Maybe I'm just imagining it?"Meowstic, Psyshock on Quilladin! Petilil, let's use Sunny Day!"Watertype moves are weakened when the sun is merciless, and not to mention...!!

  Meowstic's Psyshock attack lands with ease, and Quilladin gives little effort to dodge it. Meanwhile, Petilil summons the bright sun, and Frogadier tries to land a quick Quick Attack, but thanks to Chlorophyll, Petilil's ability, she dodges.

  "Energy Ball!" Energy Ball hits, and Frogadier, to my surprise, goes down.

  "Yay!"

  "Lil!" Petilil does a little celebratory dance, and I glance back at Clyde.

  He smiles, and I see that his Quilladin is down also. Did we really win that easily?

  "Meow." Meowstic's enthusiasm fades, and she stares at Quilladin. I just assume that it's because the battle's over, and I lift Petilil and dance with her.

  "Time for yummy Poke Puffs!"

  I snuggle into my sleeping bag, happily falling prey to the world of dreams. However, before I can truly dream, I feel something prodding me in my side. 

  I open my eyes to see Meowstic looking down at me."Meow."She doesn't seem hurt or sad or mad or even happy.

  She begins walking away, so I wiggle out of my sleeping bag to follow."Lil?"Petilil, who was resting on my head, wakes up.

  Meowstic stops behind a tree, and in her paws is Clara's Holocaster. "What are you doing with that?" I whisper.

  "Meow." Meowstic activates it, which is completely astonishing, seeing as how I can't even use a computer.

 She pulls up a video out of a sea of videos featuring my own battles, like the one against Chloe. It's low volume, and I see Clara talking to Clyde in the field just before our double battle. 

 Meowstic holds it up, and I crouch down to listen closely. I hear some leaves rustling, along with the tiniest sound of hops across the grass. Must be Petilil nearby.

  "You sure we should head towards Anistar?" There's Clyde's voice! "The guy in my dream was talking about our hometown."

  "We can't let Millie know about this!" Clara..."To our luck, there's a Showcase there as well as Olympia! We can get all our answers from her!"

  I didn't notice them talking about this before... Clara continues, her voice slightly decreasing in volume. "Just play it off, Clyde! It's not like we're lying or anything."

  "Yeah, but..." Clyde's voice is full of doubt like the expression he had on his face when our battle concluded. "If we do have to go back home to Geosenge Town after that, what will Millie do when we tell her? And what if she needs to go to Couriway Town?"

  Clara stays quiet for a moment, and I gasp. I didn't know...."We can't just bring her along. She has Showcases, we have to stop Team Flare. Though the parting may hurt, these are the circumstances we have to deal with."

  "Clara...."

  The two break their conversation, and I stop listening to look at the video. Clara glances at Meowstic watching, her face a but shocked for a heartbeat, before the evidence of an idea quickly replaces it. "Olympia battles with her two Meowstic."

  Then I suppose everything that happened afterward was Clara just trying to play it off. "Lil..." And she succeeded. The only one who could see through the facade was Meowstic and Clyde, who pretty much was a part of it.

  "Meow." Meowstic then pulls up a link and shows me what looks like a Showcase location, but everything is outside. Below it reads Couriway Town.

  "So there really is a Showcase next to Anistar..." Like me, Petilil looks crushed, but Meowstic looks angry and betrayed.

  "Meow...." She growls.

  "Meowstic, I-"

  The end of the battle from earlier pops up, and Clyde taps Clara on the shoulder."You think she'll notice we went easy on her?"

  "Don't tell her anything. She's happy!"

  I was happy then, as was Petilil, but neither of us are smiling now. "Lil...." How could we have not known? Their fake smiles.... It really wasn't an honest battle.

  I've dreamt it, Clyde has dreamt it, and so has Clara. The video ends, and the three of us stay silent for a bit."Please put this back, Meowstic. "

  Meowstic quietly obeys, her expression still sour. She's embittered, and Petilil and I just don't know how to feel. Completely useless in this situation, it seems.

  "Petilil...." The leaves on her head droop.

  We could ditch the Couriway Showcase and go with them. There may even be a Showcase in the direction they're going to be headed towards. Showcase... If I had won the Coumarine Showcase, I'd have two Princess Keys. Then maybe in Anistar, I'd get my third and I could go with them no problem. The Master Class is ways off, anyway. But.... This is not the case.

  "Meow." Meowstic returns with a bland meow, looking irritated.

  "Let's not bring this up tomorrow. Let's go back to sleep."

  Clara and Clyde are thankfully still asleep, and I slip back into my sleeping bag peacefully. Thought's race through my mins on end. I feel completed hopeless. Worthless, even. 

  Still... Maybe if we could stop Team Flare... Find them and put an end to their tyranny. After all, why would I have this prophetic dream? To just sit around and do nothing?

  Yeah, that's it. I won't even bother Clara and Clyde in doing so. Meowstic and Petilil and me... Can stop them, so that way they won't have to go to Geosenge Town. I can be strong....

  I roll over in my sleeping bag to lay on my side. In my mind I let out a weak chuckle.

  Yeah, as if that'll ever happen.

                      Chapter 13.... End.... : (