"And that is all for the Mauville City contest! Thank you everyone for coming, and thank you to The Kirlia Girl for always doing her best!" The announcer proclaimed with an air of excitement as everyone cheered and began to leave the contest hall, the air filled with the voices of the contest-goers talking about their favorite

Wanona, however, was in her room thinking over everything that had happened in Lilycove City: Her treatment of Brenden, his dark expression, just...she had thought about all of it. She had been so lost in thought during her opening performance, that she had missed a part of her routine which in turn had made her opening performance not as appealing as it normally was.

Sighing, she looked over at her Kirlia and Altaria. They were eating the PokéBlocks that the Association provided them while they were all here with enjoyment. She smiled a little at the pair before a frown came to her face as she looked back at the mirror. Was she really happy doing what she was doing? Was the fans, the contests, the excitement worth the cover-up, the lie?

'What happened before that day that caused me to become...so bitter? So...angry? Brenden didn't deserve all the anger and bitterness I threw at him that day...not when he only did what he thought was right..it wasn't his fault I had health issues nor is it his fault that the League locks the challengers into the gauntlet to prevent an unfair advantage against the Elite Four and Champion...' she thought to herself, wringing her hands in self-disapproval. She should've been more considerate of his feelings and motivations, instead of acting from the lie she had told herself so many times.

Pushing away from the vanity, she grabbed her sketchbook and opened it up to look at her designs to quiet her mind. After a few minutes of looking at the similar designs for her outfits, and her mind not quieting down about her treatment of Brenden, she sighed in defeat and closed the notebook. "Something has to give. I can't keep doing this to him. He doesn't deserve unfounded anger and bitterness that sprung from a lie I made for myself. Especially when he did all he could back then." She said aloud, startling her Pokémon from their feast. Giggling a little, she recalled them into their Poké Balls and gathered her belongings.

Pushing open the contest hall doors, she took a deep breath of the air, before instantly regretting it and coughing a little. 'That's right. This is Mauville, not Lilycove.' She thought with a slight irritation and longing as she began to walk to her next destination: Fallarbor Town. Shivering a bit from memories of her first ever visit there way back when she had done her Trainer Journey, she tried to steel herself for the coughing she knew she would experience as she neared her destination.

Looking at the water as she exited through the left exit of Mauville City, she looked at her reflection and sighed. "It just isn't easy keeping up this lie of hating Brenden. I'd much rather just tell him that Wanona and Wally Petal are one and the same, that I don't hate him, that I understand him and that it isn't his fault for what happened at the League..." She said to the air, before shaking her head. "But if I do that...what will he say? How will he react? I practically would have been in front of him in every contest performance and never said anything to him except hurtful words whenever we did talk..."

Gripping her drawstring backpacks' shoulder straps tightly, she stood there debating, the fires of doubt, sin, and truth fighting each other in her mind and soul. Should she risk telling him, even if he rejected her apology? Would it be better he know the truth, or would the lie she had been spinning this entire time keep being spun? And then the memory of his dark expression at being accused of leaving her behind to become Champion...

Growling a bit in frustration, she kicked a rock hard and began walking with a purpose to her destination. "Why can't decisions ever be easy..? Especially these kinds of decisions..?" She asked, hoping and praying that Rayquaza, Arceus, just something would tell her the right path to make things right again...