Burgundy reluctantly took Georgia's advice, splitting off from her friend in order to do a little bit of soul-searching, as awfully cliché as the phrase sounded. Initially, she intended to go somewhere new. Hoenn, perhaps, or maybe Johto. But a tiny part of herself, a part that she ignored frequently, knew that nothing would change by going there. So she reluctantly bought plane tickets to Kalos, mentally thanking the PCA for increasing her monthly stipend as part of her promotion in rank. She had to tackle her problems at the root. She'd procrastinated on it for years, pinning the cause of her misery onto someone else, someone who she didn't love, someone who she could keep chasing in the hopes that she would find something fulfilling along the way.

But instead, she'd lost herself entirely.

She wasn't at all ready to face her family, the real heart of the matter. She wasn't ready to poke into the emotions she'd buried under hatred years ago. She took great pains to circle around Laverre, where her family lived in ignorance of her return to Kalos.

She wondered if Winslow had left on his journey. Had he gone on his tenth birthday, the way most trainers did? Did he begin his journey late, just as she did? When she last saw him, Winslow already yearned to be on the open road with a pokeémon by his side, but that was now approaching five years ago. Perhaps things had changed. And what about Ruby? Five years was over half of Ruby's life. Burgundy wondered if she would even recognize her younger sister. Would Ruby know who she was?

Burgundy attempted to bury those types of thoughts-no matter what she did, she always ended up falling into the same line of thinking. How pathétique. But it was hard not to think about. She was surrounded by the language of her parents, for one, and every small child hanging off their parents, begging for just a bit of their parents' attention, even just an indulgent smile, reminded Burgundy of her own childhood.

She returned to battling, picking up a few gym badges here and there. Each gym presented its own challenges, ones that sometimes frustrated her to the point of tears and unnecessarily snippy remarks. For a while, she contemplated returning home when she had no other gym leaders left to defeat. She would return home to challenge Valerie. She picked up a few new pokémon, training each of them into a premium brand.

Yet she began to miss the profession she left behind-something she would never admit aloud and only began realizing in retrospect. She never mentioned her license to any trainer she met, but she barely bit back the evaluations that came unbidden to the tip of her tongue even in the midst of battle. Whenever she passed other trainers, she found herself assessing everything she could determine about their bonds. In idle moments on the road, she even went so far as to match wild pokémon to the people she knew. A mischievous Kelfki for Georgia. An easygoing but stubborn Espurr for Bianca. An unusually poised Noibat for Cilan.

She supposed she had her answer. Being a professional trainer was all right, but something was missing. She dropped her original plan and promise-making a mental note to figure out a new one later-and took up residence in Santalune City, where the local connaisseuse, Inés, accepted her as an assistant. The older woman hadn't even taken a glance at Burgundy's qualifications, choosing instead to focus on the content of her character. Burgundy had, reluctantly and in still-hesitant Kalosian, explained the journey that led her to Inés' doorstep, leaving out any mention of her family. Inés had laughed several times throughout her story, causing Burgundy's cheeks to redden in embarrassment. But when Inés gave Burgundy her approval, she figured she must've done something right.

Inés, Burgundy soon found, had methods contrasting sharply with just about everything she ever experienced. The PCA's curriculum focused heavily on lecture and self-study, forcing Burgundy to tote around an e-reader wherever she went. Inés occasionally pulled a book off her shelves, instructing Burgundy to read a chapter here and there, but mostly put Burgundy to work.

"The PCA is useful," Inés conceded, "but they aren't infallible. One can know all the theory in the world, but what use is it if you cannot apply it? Non, we'll have none of that here. You must learn to develop your intuition, chérie. That is something you cannot measure in rank. It must be cultivated over time."

Burgundy relished the freedom Inés' tutelage offered. Unlike the other connoisseur she had worked with, Inés often asked for Burgundy's opinion during evaluations, which forced Burgundy to practice each time Inés saw a client. She offered praise when Burgundy brought up something new-in fact, Inés frequently left out certain details in the hopes that Burgundy would pick up on them-and she eventually began to allow Burgundy to lead evaluations. Burgundy had never been given such responsibility before, and the quality of her evaluations, along with her confidence, skyrocketed under Inés' tutelage.

"If I'd known your fixation would just switch from Cilan to Inés, I would've told you not to call me," Georgia grumbled once, but Burgundy knew that her friend was pleased, too. It just wasn't in Georgia's nature to say so. "Well, as long as you're fine with what you're doing, then I don't really care. Do what you want." Burgundy had only offered Georgia a saucy comment in response.

For the first time in a long while, she really was happy with what she was doing.

"Well done, chérie," Inés said after one particularly difficult evaluation that Burgundy had led. "I believe your evaluation is correct as it is." Burgundy's eyes widened in surprise-Inés' additional comments had lessened over time, but she almost always had one little thing that Burgundy had missed. "Perhaps I'll let you take some cases on your own. How does that sound?" Inés' eyes twinkled merrily.

"Really?"

"Oui. I think you're ready, Burgundy." Burgundy beamed as elation bubbled up from within. "You've made tremendous progress, both in language and in evaluations." Upon reflection, Burgundy realized that Inés was right. She had come a long way from the interview punctuated with filler sounds as Burgundy scrambled to find the right words to convey her thoughts. She still sometimes needed to compose her evaluations in her native language, but the evaluations were much richer in detail. The language that once felt so heavy and awkward on her tongue was now natural and spoken without hesitation, a striking contrast to the times Inés had gently pulled her aside after a client's departure to help with her phrasings. After living in Kalos for over a year, Burgundy finally felt the sense of belonging she craved.

Perhaps it wasn't the home she originally wanted, but Burgundy figured she could call Santalune home, too.