Eve turned over the pinap berry in her hand, checking its ripeness and for any bruising. She held it up to her nose, getting a strong summery, exotic smell from it. She put this last one in her bag along with the other ones she had already carefully picked out.

'That'll be eighty pokédollars please,' the middle-aged man at the counter said. Eve rummaged through her bag and handed the money over to the smiling man.

'Thanks!' Eve said, but just as she turned to go the lights all throughout the cool, stone building went out. A chorus of sighs filled the market. This was the third time this week that the power had gone out, and it wasn't even the weekend.

'Someone needs to get that gym leader of ours to stop using so much of the city's power,' the man remarked, a grimace barely visible on his face in the darkness. Eve clenched her fists and marched out of the market. She made her way up on to the solar panel walkways that Sunyshore was famous for and over to the gym. As she approached the automatic glass doors, they stayed shut, unable to open from the power cut.

She peered inside and saw Volkner and his Electivire working on some of the equipment in his gym. She thumped her fist on the door, causing the two to turn around. Volkner turned back around and Electivire made his way over to the door, forcing them open with his big arms. Eve strode in and up to the gym leader.

'You can't keep using all the power to work on your gym puzzles! The people in this city need power you know,' she said looking down at Volkner's blonde head. He turned back again and smiled.

'I'm sorry, I've been getting so many good challengers in the last six months since we got the new champion. I feel like I have to change things up to keep trainers on their toes, ya know?' he said, standing up and wiping his forehead of sweat. The gym was roasting, with the day being a sweltering one, and the electronics heating up from all their use.

'Can't you at least take it easier on the power then? Until you get it done I'm sure a simpler puzzle will make do,' Eve suggested. Volkner looked down to the ground and mulled it over for a moment.

'I don't know how I feel about my little cousin telling me what to do, but I suppose that's a compromise,' he said, finally, 'I'll go work on getting the power back up. Oh yeah, pop by my house tomorrow morning, I have something I want to give to you.'

'Oh cool, what is it?'

'It's a surprise.'

'Ugh, you know I hate surprises.'

'You'll appreciate it, don't worry, just be patient.'

Volkner chuckled. Eve made an over the top angry face, but then laughed as well. She said goodbye to her cousin and Electivire and made her way back home. The day had cooled slightly, as a chilly sea breeze blew in and the sun was setting. She stopped and watched the Wingull and Pelipper begin to settle on Pokémon Rock. She always liked the rock, because she thought of Munchlax (which the rock resembled) as a friendly and cuddly Pokémon. After a few minutes passed the streetlights came on and power around the city returned. Eve continued walking back home, exchanging waves here and there with people she knew as they went by.

In a shady spot of the city Eve came across a house with police tape covering it. This house belonged to Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic, or at least he used to be before he disappeared. She peered into a front window. It was mostly empty now, from what the International Police had confiscated. The official statement was that he had left the region, but there were rumours that he had gone into a different dimension ruled by a legendary Pokémon. Whatever had happened, Team Galactic were disbanded. Some of the original members now work for a company headed by the commander known as Saturn to actually research new forms of energy, others banded together under Charon as more of a gang and the remaining ones went their own way, just like-

'Eve?' a voice said behind her. She turned around to see a red-haired girl behind her.

'Mars,' Eve said coldly, 'that's what you go by right?'

'Look, I know how everything looks, but I'm not a commander of Team Galactic any more I-'

'I don't want to hear it. How can I ever trust you?'

'We can talk about this Eve, I'm here now-'

'And why are you here?'

Mars didn't reply, not having a truthful answer that Eve would like. Eve stepped aside and gestured towards the door of Cyrus' house.

'I hope you find what you're looking for,' Eve said and walked past Mars, not making eye contact, and went straight home. She opened the door and stepped dejectedly inside. The windows were open, letting in the breeze that wafted the smell of curry in.

'Hi Eve, did you get the-,' Eve's mum started, but then noticed tears welling up in her daughter's eyes and ran over and gave her a big hug, resulting in Eve bursting into tears. Tangela jumped down and waddled over, looking concerned over her. 'What happened?'

Eve lay down in her bed, thinking about Mars. The two had been friends when she used to live in Floaroma Town. They grew up together. But that all changed when he showed up. Cyrus. Mars was enamoured by him, everything he said about a new world. Join Team Galactic! Create a new world, devoid of imperfections. Lead it as a part of Team Galactic! Eve couldn't forget it. That was when Mars distanced herself, and eventually left to go join Team Galactic. Eve was heartbroken that her best friend would leave her for them. That trust was broken.

She tried to turn her mind to other things. What was Volkner's surprise for her? Hopefully it wasn't that Mars was back. Could he have seen her around and invited her over to talk things out? Could she even face Mars again after the outburst earlier? Okay okay something else.

Eve opened her laptop and put on some reruns of Pokémon Contests. They always comforted her, she had watched them since she was young. She loved watching Dawn, knowing she would one day become champion really adds something to the few performances before her becoming champion. Every few weeks she would come back to Hearthome City to perform in the Master Contest and Eve always made sure she would be home to watch it. Her mum would always say without fail that Dawn was good but not as good as her mother, Johanna, who was also a well-known Pokémon Coordinator when she was younger.

She continued to watch the reruns, with the laptop being the only source of illumination in the room. Her mind didn't stray away from what she was watching which calmed her down significantly. The night rolled on and Eve found herself drifting off, and eventually she fell asleep, laptop still playing until it ran out of battery, and the room was dark and silent at last.