There were few things more exhausting than a performance, Moon decided, as she emerged from the interview with sagging shoulders. Even with all of the planning they'd done, even with everyone being in on it, even with...she looked at the clock. Ten minutes had passed since she interrupted The Masked Royal's interview. Only ten minutes and she had less energy than when she'd beaten the Elite Four.

But she wasn't free yet. Guzma was waiting for her, perched on a crate, while The Masked Royal leaned against a wall. The former was making a pointed effort in not acknowledging the latter.

"Not bad, kid." Guzma hopped off of the crate. "You almost had me believin' it."

"Woo! Not bad? That was great!" The Masked Royal gave a hearty thumbs-up. "People are gonna be talking about it from Akala to Ula'ula, oh yeah! I wasn't expecting the questions, but you nailed it, cousin."

"Thanks." Moon said, as Type: Null stepped up beside her. She wanted to keep her mask on for a little longer. Her reserves of social energy were tapped out.

The Masked Royal gave her a look, then reached into one of his armbands and retrieved a Pokédollar note.

"I always get myself a snack after a performance, but you look like you need it more, cousin. There's a vending machine down the corner with lots of tasty treats, oh yeah!" He held the note out and Moon gently took it.

"Thanks." She said again, then started to walk off down the hall.

"Yo. I'll go with." Guzma said.

"No thanks." Moon said, as she shuffled down the hall.

"Tch." Guzma shook his head. "I didn't wanna go anyway." He gave one look at The Masked Royal, then stalked off in the opposite direction.

Moon found the machine at the end of a hallway, an exit to her right and an entrance to the stage on her left. She looked over the vending machine and punched in the codes for two things – a candy bar for herself and a Pokepuff for Type: Null. She glanced at either of the doors, then slumped against the wall and sank to the floor. Type: Null sat beside her, accepting its treat, and she leaned her body against it.

What she really wanted was somebody to hug. If Mom were there, or Lillie…

She took a bite out of her candy bar like and chewed it lazily. She'd done well, she knew she had, and everyone would say so. But all that meant was that she had a lot of more of it to do. She'd have to battle Professor Kukui in the persona. She had to make other appearances, for practice. And at the end of it all, she'd have to make a public speech, with a live audience right in front of her, and actually deal with the consequences of her persona.

As it was, she didn't really know how much people would dislike her persona. They were separated from her by a screen. She hoped that the boos wouldn't get to her, but she knew that at least some of them would, until she got used to it. She'd have to make sure her Mom was around. And all of her Pokemon. And maybe a video call from Lillie. And the Guardian Deities, just in case.

She crumpled her candy wrapper up and tossed it into the garbage, and reluctantly pulled herself to her feet with the help of handfuls of Type: Null's fur. Her changing room wasn't far away and changing into her regular clothes was her best hope for refreshment. That was meant to be part of the value of her persona, wasn't it? Maybe the Champion's reserves had ran out, but Moon's hadn't. Probably.

She changed out of her Champion's outfit and tucked it all away as neatly as she could be bothered to. All of it was expensive, which meant she couldn't just throw it into a bag and hope for the best. She changed into her spare clothes, which amounted to a pair of shorts, some socks with sneakers, a light top and a baggy hoodie she could wrap herself up in. She looked at herself in the mirror, then pulled on her sunglasses and a hat to go with it.

Her hair would have been enough to let anyone know who she was, but she could deal with people recognizing her most of the time. As long as she wasn't dressed up as her persona, everyone but kids would be able to figure out that she wasn't performing. Maybe that'd even have some benefits as she went about her life – fewer people wanting her to say hello, or chat with them, sign autographs…

Not that she hated all of that. But she didn't have the vigor for it.

Moon reached for the door that would take her back into the world and realized that she hadn't made any plans for the rest of her day. She'd planned to chat with Lillie, then plan her interview, then do the interview, and then there was nothing. She'd have to get around to training her team some more, which would go better if one of the Trial Captains was available. And Type: Null was really starting to settle in with the rest of her team.

But she didn't want to visit anyone too extroverted. That ruled out Kiawe, Mallow, and Sophocles, who were all exuberant in their own ways. Ilima was probably busy with his duties, at the school or otherwise, and she'd already spent up Mina's time when Professor Kukui asked her to make the Lunala mask that she'd ended up not using. Her mom had taken it to get it framed, so it wouldn't go totally to waste, but still…

That left Lana and Acerola. Moon stared at the wall as she considered which of the girls to visit. And then the answer became crystal clear.

After all, Acerola was the one most likely to give her a hug.