"This sure brings back a lot of memories." Brendan chirped nostalgically as he snuggled up against the wall, a thick pink blanket covering most of his body. "Sonata and I stayed at Pokemon Centers for the first few towns we traveled through back in the day."

"Really? I thought you two were the type to set up camp in forests." Steven replied, taking a seat on the ground next to Brendan. He blew on his cup of vending machine hot coffee and took a small sip.

"We love camping! It's just that we weren't prepared to take on a wild Pokemon ambush in the middle of the night. We were still beginners then, after all." Brendan yawned loudly but his eyes remained open as Steven continued to focus on his instant coffee.

"Who knew she could have come this far?" Steven commented airily, more so to himself than Brendan.

"Hey! Look how far I've come!" Brendan demanded with one of his usual smiles. "I've had all 8 badges right here in my backpack for a while now."

The two went on conversing idly as the sky outside grew darker. Fallarbor Town's Pokemon Center was one of the smaller ones in Hoenn, and the few trainers that had stopped by for a short rest and a quick check up had gradually exited through the glass doors. Nurse Joy remained behind the counter with a large mug of warm tea, while a couple of Chansey walked around the tiny center with cleaning supplies to tidy up here and there. It wasn't terribly late yet, but with the winter months approaching, the sun had already bid the region farewell.

"She said she was going to take a quick nap…does she always sleep for this long?" Steven asked Brendan as the clock ticked on past 8:00 PM.

"Eh, she was always a sleepyhead." He replied with a chuckle, observing the snoozing figure a few feet away. "How much time did we spend chatting?"

"A little over…two hours." Steven confirmed after checking his wristwatch.

"Wow, seriously? Ha, looks like we're officially best buddies, am I right?" He heartily slapped the silver-haired man on the back, causing him to drop his paper cup onto the floor. "Whoops, sorry, don't know my own strength…it's a good thing you finished drinking that a while ago!" Brendan watched as Steven picked up the empty cup and crumbled it up into a ball with his fist, getting ready to toss it into the nearby trash can.

"Hey! I just remembered!" Brendan shouted suddenly, startling the Chansey who happened to be walking by. She scuffled through quickly as he continued to speak in a rather loud voice. "Sonata's asleep, but that doesn't matter. You can explain this ring thing to me! Come on, tell me the story!" Brendan demanded, eyeing the identical silver bands on a few of Steven's fingers.

"There's no story really…" Steven mumbled, hiding his fist behind his back.

"That's a load of Tauros!"

"Well, it's a pretty long story and—" Steven began, avoiding Brendan's intense stare.

"Alright, fine. Before your little love story," Brendan said as he wiggled his fingers magically, "you should tell me about your adventures with Sonata and Rayquaza! That's not too embarrassing for you, is it?"

"What do you mean by love—" Steven started indignantly, his cheeks flushing red at the sound of the word.

"Love story later, Rayquaza story now! You explained it to her a couple of hours ago, didn't you? Now I wanna hear all about it too!" Brendan insisted stubbornly, ignoring Steven's cries.

And so, Steven recounted the rather complicated tale once more, making sure to add in vivid details about all of Team Magma and Team Aqua's schemes. He spent a few extra minutes retelling the scene of the double battle at the space center before continuing onto the sudden disasters in weather all over Hoenn. He remembered the harsh rainstorms and scalding heat waves like they had happened just yesterday. Brendan interrupted at this point, telling Steven of his own encounter with the never-ending rain during his journey. Then came the part with Kyogre's rise from the depths of the sea and Groudon's earth shattering roars. Brendan nodded thoughtfully, recalling the multiple news reports and excited gossip concerning the event. It was completely different hearing the story from Steven since he was there to witness all the chaos first-hand. The chatter finally came to an end with the short visit from the legendary Rayquaza.

"Wow, that's amazing…" Brendan said with a wistful sigh. "Did Sonata remember any of this when you told her earlier today?"

"…no." Steven replied with a sigh of his own. "Actually, I've given up on trying to get her to remember the past a while ago." He admitted in a slightly strained voice.

Brendan raised his eyebrows, taking note of Steven's change in tone. "…are you sure? I mean, the reason you started traveling with her was to get her to remember it all, wasn't it?"

"I've realized that I've been stuck on the past for too long." He explained, trying to ward off his sudden tiredness by rubbing his forehead. "I did originally use the trip as a way to try and get her memories back. But I guess you could say that now we've been creating new memories."

"New memories? You're such a romantic, Steven." Brendan chuckled, pulling the blanket closer to his chin. "Speaking of romance, Mr. Stone, what about the rings?"

"Er, what about them?" he stuttered slightly, looking towards the vending machine on the other side of the room in an attempt to avoid the subject.

"Good idea! We can get some coffee while you tell me all about it!" Brendan announced with joy, abandoning his covers and making his way to the machine.

They found themselves seated on a wooden bench right outside the center with their paper cups filled to the brim. Brendan breathed in the aroma deeply, trying to ignore the cold breezes that bit at his face. The moon was high in the sky by then, and because they were at Fallarbor Town, the stars were even brighter than usual. The ash hadn't stopped falling either, although there was a lot less of it inside the town than on the routes surrounding it.

"We were near Petalburg Woods, and these twin girls challenged us to a battle. Afterwards, the girls started joking around about Sonata and me…and things just got out of hand." Steven stated nonchalantly, hoping his quick jumble of words would suffice.

"That explains nothing!"

"Okay, well, they assumed that I was in a relationship with Sonata, and Sonata played along with it. Then the girls started giggling about all the rings I had on and I, er, offered Sonata one."

"And she took it?" Brendan asked suspiciously.

"Um, I kind of put it on her finger—"

"Woah!" Brendan exclaimed with a clearly amused grin plastered on his freezing face. "Sonata may have been joking, but I have a feeling you weren't just taking part in the game."

Steven decided to focus on drinking his no longer steaming cup of coffee, but Brendan didn't take his silence as a no.

"Steven, all laughs and sarcasm aside," he said after clearing his throat, "do you have a thing for Sonata?"

"We're getting to be closer friends, I hope." Steven responded after yet another sip from his cup.

"Then tell me, are your cheeks turning red because it's cold as the North Pole tonight, or are you blushing?"

"He's probably blushing! He does it all the time nowadays!" a voice proclaimed as the glass doors closed behind her.

"S-Sonata!" Steven stuttered madly, clutching his coffee a little too tightly. The paper cup gave way and the rest of the dark brown liquid splattered on his hands and dripped onto the dirt ground. Both Brendan and Sonata were overcome with laughter at the sight.

"Did I scare you or something?" she asked in between laughs, unable to contain herself. "All I did was answer Brendan's question."

" So…you just got here, then? You didn't hear anything else we said before my question?" Brendan asked in a dreadful attempt at an innocent, unknowing voice.

"Yep, just arrived after waking up from my nap." Sonata responded curtly, taking no notice of her friend's strange inquiry. She was still full of pep despite having just woken up.

"I'm going to try and get some rest now." Steven announced with a weak chuckle, trying to excuse himself as quickly as possible. He didn't want Brendan bringing up anymore love related conversations, especially with the girl in question standing right beside them.

"Man, are you sure? You just drank some coffee." Brendan protested as Steven left his seat.

"I didn't get to drink much." Steven pointed out the crumpled cup in his hand and the stains on the ground. "Goodnight." He bid them a short farewell and disappeared into the center before Brendan could say any more.

Sonata gladly took Steven's spot on the bench and rubbed her hands together. "Why were you two out here anyway? It's cold!"

"Just having a good old man to man chat, you wouldn't understand little girl." Brendan said with a shrug. They burst into laughter yet again as Sonata punched his arm to retaliate.

"Aren't you sleepy?" she questioned, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Actually, it's good that you and I can talk privately."

"Hm? Privately?"

"I mean, without Steven." He explained, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, Sonata. When are you ending this travel thing with him?"

"O-oh…well, I'm not sure. We haven't talked about that yet—" she said slowly, wondering why Brendan was asking her such a question in the middle of the night.

"Steven told me about the battles you both had with Team Aqua and Team Magma, and the incident with Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza." Brendan stated sternly as Sonata shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "You know how I've been worried about Team Tornado since we first butted heads with them. And now they've been attacking more and more trainers."

"I know, but…" Sonata stared at her lap, unable to verbally express the strange feeling inside her.

"You and Steven are the only ones who know about Rayquaza's location. He wouldn't even tell me about it when he was explaining the story today." He continued, drinking the last of his coffee as Sonata quietly sighed.

What Brendan was saying was completely logical, but at the same time she couldn't help but want to completely ignore his words. It wasn't that she saw Team Tornado as a joke; on the contrary, she had been slightly worried about their plans ever since their first meeting, despite her carefree attitude about traveling in the open. But the danger that Team Tornado was posing wasn't strong enough to make her want to quit, at least not anymore. Sure, she was unsure about not only spending time with Steven, who was a stranger to her at the time, but also about how to deal with Team Tornado. She was lucky they hadn't been able to do much damage to her and Steven so far, but how far would their luck go?

And yet, she still didn't want to end her journey, regardless of the amount of luck they were riding on. She was a traveler at heart, of course, being a Pokemon trainer and all. But that odd, nagging feeling inside her chest wouldn't go away, even with Brendan's reasonable points. Was it the feeling of being on the road? The intense battles? The beautiful scenery? Or was it…

"Steven."

"H-huh?" Sonata looked up, startled from her thoughts.

"He told me that he's given up on trying to get your memory back." Brendan went on, tossing his empty cup into the trash bin right beside the bench. "And since that goal's been erased, is there really a reason to keep traveling like this? I know you're having fun, and I'm sure he is too, even though you can't remember much…"

She flinched at that fact, the guilt welling up in her stomach.

"I'm not saying you should stop traveling permanently. But until this Team Tornado thing gets sorted out, why don't you take a break?" he suggested.

"Thanks for thinking about me, Brendan." She answered finally, offering him a tiny smile. "But…for some reason, I don't want to stop."

"Why?" he questioned sharply, his voice firm.

"I'm not sure." Sonata mumbled, narrowing her eyes at Brendan's sudden display. The smile disappeared from her face as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Why are you and Steven both so insistent on traveling like this?" he demanded, staring her straight in the eye. "What are you going to do when all of Team Tornado shows up?"

"…we'll find a way to deal with them, I'm sure." She managed to say, burning under his look.

"And just how are you so sure?" he persisted as she squirmed.

"We've beaten them every time so far." She told him simply, but her voice was still wavering. "Um, and, we're former champions so—"

"You don't even remember being a champion."

There was a painful silence in the air. Brendan suddenly realized the effect of his previous statement as Sonata crossed her arms and shifted her gaze to her feet. There was no resent in her half-hidden expression, a more solemn look rested on her tired face.

"I'm sorry." He said immediately, reaching towards her. "I shouldn't have—"

"It's alright. I know you're just looking out for me." She let him hold her hand and giggled slightly at his genuine concern for her. "Thanks for everything Brendan. Even the for the times I don't remember…you've helped me out so much since we first met in Littleroot."

"So…" he began weakly, already half-expecting what Sonata had to say next.

"But I know I can handle Team Tornado." She said firmly, letting go of his hand. "I'm not a helpless little girl, you know that."

"It's not a matter of whether you're helpless or not, Sonata. It's the threat that Team Tornado's posing." Brendan leaned back in his seat, knowing that at this point, his words would do no good. "Anyway, can you explain what's going on, exactly?" he asked curiously, changing the focus of the discussion.

"What do you mean?" she answered as she sat up straighter, honestly confused.

"You're gonna keep going, even though I've warned you about the possible dangers." He waved his hand in the air. "But why?"

"I want to keep traveling with Steven." She said swiftly, having repeated the same idea several times before.

Brendan let out a small laugh at her seemingly normal response, causing her to look at him with bewilderment. What in the world was so funny? He put a hand on her shoulder before speaking once more.

"Do you really want to keep traveling?"

"Of course I—" she began indignantly, wondering why in the world Brendan was asking the same question over and over again.

"Or," he cut in, stopping her dead in her tracks, "do you want to be with Steven?"