Chapter 1

Autumn

"Marcia!" her mother's voice called from beneath the ocean sounds.

"Marcia!" her father's voice echoed.

"Go away…" she muttered, just loud enough that only she could hear. For the past six months, that was all Marcia had wanted. She just wanted everyone to go away. Why was it so hard for everyone to understand? All she wanted was to be left alone with her Pokémon… Why didn't anyone in the whole Hoenn region seem to understand? Not the reporters, not the psychiatrists, not her friends, and especially not her family.

Why did they make her push them away?

She felt her warm, brown eyes prickle with tears. Every time she thought about her eyes, she remembered the confident luster they used to hold…

Anyway, it was hard enough before, when she could just sit locked away in their house on Slateport beach and only leave for doctor appointments or to go to her tree house/secret base, but then her parents tried to send her to school.

School. What in their right minds made them think that was a good idea? She'd been homeschooled ever since she was little; her and Maurice in a classroom of two. Then Dr. Little starts spewing things like "adapting," "normalcy," and "routine" and—all of a sudden—her parents are gung-ho about the whole "school" thing.

She hated school. Everyone there recognized her and either wanted her autograph or tried to pity her. People immediately spirited her to the cool kids' table at lunch and offered her notes so she could catch up. Which—truth be told—wasn't nearly as bad as when people tried to pity her.

It just made Marcia so mad. Not the pity—she knew they were just trying to be nice—but the fact that they knew what happened to her and she didn't.

They'd seen it—on TV or their PokéNavs—but she'd been there when it happened and she couldn't remember.

It was bad enough that she jumped at her own shadow, that she had to take medicine to prevent panic attacks, that she couldn't stand the thought of being around people—but being unable to remember why?

That was the worst.

Just a year ago, she'd been a Contest Star. She was going to be the next Grand Contest Champion. She and her Pokémon were held a one-way ticket to stardom.

As she huddled in the orange twilight of her island secret base, her Pokémon pressing against her, she tried once again to remember how it all went so wrong…

Autumn: A Year Prior

"Today is the day," Marcia cheered to her Pokémon as she spun in her contest dress. She examined her reflection again. Her coffee-colored skin devoid of blemishes, her warm brown eyes glittering like they always did, her dark hair curled carefully atop her head… she radiated the simple elegance she was going for.

She looked around at the female competitors in the room, each at their own station, and shook her head. This was only her second season as a Competitor and she already had a better grasp on it than most of these girls. They wore gaudy outfits and flashy makeup. They didn't understand that their appearances should add to their Pokémon's appearance, not highlight their own.

Marcia's outfit was simple: a long, red evening gown with orange lace bunched up like fire around her right knee and draping to the floor with matching gloves. She wore a gold necklace and matching, simple earrings. As for makeup, all she added was some mascara and dark lipstick and she was ready to go with nearly half an hour to spare!

Most of the girls around her would be scrambling to finish their outfit at the five-minute warning, but all Marcia had to do was wait and relax.

Her vulpix, Pixel, leapt into her arms the second she sat down. The Pokémon looked up at her with shimmering, worried eyes. Her ribbon—a pretty bow that matched Marcia's outfit—bobbed as she pawed her trainer nervously.

"It's okay, Pixel," she assured the beautiful Pokémon, "I know you're the most junior member of the team, but you have this contest in the bag! Haven't we been training all year?" They really had. Marcia had handpicked Pixel from a breeder and put her on a strict diet. She'd trained Pixel to use her moves in a way that stressed her beauty and used only the best products when she bathed her.

Pixel muttered nervously but seemed to settle down.

"Hey! Missy!" a girl called her, using her stage name.

Marcia looked over to the tiny blonde calling her and struggled to remember her name as she replied, "Hey… Patty!"

"Did you hear about Lisia's new talent?" the blonde replied. Marcia was just glad she remembered the girl's name.

"No," she answered truthfully, "I've been too busy training my Pokémon."

"I heard he's real hot stuff!"

"In more ways than one, I'm sure." If Marcia recalled, this was the same girl who'd flirted with the judges all season last year. Marcia wasn't sure if she was really trying to get an advantage or if she was just a flirt.

Still, Marcia knew to take Lisia's scouting seriously. Last season, the only reason she hadn't won the Grand Contest Spectacular was because one of Lisia's Competitors one-upped her.

"What about her?" Marcia asked Patty.

"Him, actually," Patty was quick to correct, "He's from Mauville. Do you know him?"

Marcia rolled her eyes, "Just because Slateport is only a bike ride away doesn't mean I know everyone in Mauville."

"I know, I just wanted to cover all my bases. Rumor has it the golden boy moved all the way from Kalos!"

Another girl pitched in, "I heard he only uses Fairy Types! Isn't that exotic?"

Marcia didn't thinks so, but that was probably due to the fact that her partner was a mawile.

A third jumped in, "My cousin's friend told me he's related to Champion Diantha!"

"The actress?! No way!"

They chittered on for a while as Marcia tuned them out. She settled into her pre-contest nirvana. She imagined the raucous audience's cheering, the skeptical judges knit-picking, the Pixel's burning moves' warmth, and the end result: her hoisting Pixel onto her shoulders and waving at the audience as the judges presented her the prize for her Normal-Rank Beauty Contest Victory.

She barely had time to revel in her inevitable victory when Patty called, "Missy!"

Marcia opened her eyes to find Patty right next to her, "Yeah?"

"Aren't you worried about Golden Boy?" she inquired.

"Nope," she answered without thinking. "Wary? Maybe. Watchful? Definitely. But worried?" She huffed a laugh, "Nothing worries me."

"Wow…" she heard a rookie breathe.

"She's so cool," another muttered.

Then the five-minute warning announcement came and the other girls scrambled to finish getting ready. Marcia smiled.

She smiled because she'd told Patty nothing but the truth.

Autumn: At the Present

She'd told Patty nothing but the truth. What if those rookies saw her now? The ones who thought her fearlessness had made her so cool…

Would they laugh at her? Pity her? Pity the girl she'd been that day?

Marcia hated this girl she'd become, the one too afraid to remember. How was she supposed to move on if she couldn't remember? Why couldn't her pesky, traumatized brain get that?

Pixel nudged Marcia's hand with her nose, even prettier than she'd been that day. She surveyed her other Pokémon. Tough Girl Mitzi the Mawile, Clever Boy Dexter the Breloom, Cutie Pablo the Eevee, and Cool Kid Leif the Grovyle. Each one stared at her with anticipation in their eyes.

Each seemed to be asking her, "What now?"

"Good question," she muttered in reply, "I have no idea."

Then she looked up at the Kalos Map Sebastian put on her wall what felt like a lifetime ago…

One day, you and I'll go to Kalos and I'll show you all the sights. Every time I think up somewhere to visit, I'll put it on… this map.

Suddenly, an answer came to her.

It wasn't a plan—it was barely an idea—but it was a start. Maybe… maybe all she needed was to get away for a while. Maybe Dr. Little was wrong about structure and school. Maybe all she needed was to go out into the world and find her courage.

So she grabbed her PokéNav and bought a boat ticket. She grabbed her ready-packed travel bag and her wallet out of her purse. She ripped the map off the wall. She recalled her Pokémon, jotted a note on her favorite stationary, and padlocked her secret base's trapdoor. She pinned the note to it, knowing Maurice would find it after he ditched their parents to come to her secret base.

She read it one more time:

Dear Family,

I've gotta go. School and structure won't help and neither will you. Don't take that the wrong way; I still love you.

See you later, Marcia.

Then she was gone.