When I woke up and checked my watch, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction seeing their names heading down Cycling Road. Yeah, they were winning. But I was right! I saw their departure coming from miles away. And now they had the honor of having huge targets surrounding them at all times.

Good riddance; that was a handicap I never wanted again.

Christine slept next to me, so I nudged her shoulder. She groaned slightly as she struggled to stay asleep.

"Wake up," I whispered, nudging her again. "Since when am I the one who wakes up first?"

"Are we training?" Christine's sleeping whispers asked the window.

"Not yet," I replied, and she moaned in annoyance. "I didn't get your opinion."

But she shrugged the sheets tighter around her, so I looked over at the other bed. Rose and Olivia slept peacefully with Annie in between them. They looked so comfortable that I knew I'd feel horrible if I woke them. So I looked over at the single sofa chair sitting in the corner, where Bailey sat and stared at me unblinkingly.

Fortunately, I'd gotten used to waking up to Bailey's stares. I carefully slipped out of bed and crept over to her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I wanted your opinion," I said, motioning toward the watch. "Before I ask the others."

"The others?" She repeated. "Us or them?"

I hesitated. "Both? The Challengers… They'd care more."

"Then you have your answer."

I frowned, undeterred. "Humor me. I know it's impossible for you, but you're part of this team and part of this competition. We're losing."

"Then if we're losing, we should stop losing."

I stared at her, not sure what I was expecting. Her cold eyes showed no interest in the watch; she hadn't even glanced at it. She stared at me and me alone. "Are you worried about me?"

Now she hesitated, and she finally blinked. "Not worried. I'm wondering if you know when our sixth will return."

I looked around the room. Stacy hadn't returned yet. Supposedly she was still with her family. "She'll come back when she needs to. I'm not worried about that. Are you?"

"Not worried," she repeated. I eyed her carefully. She certainly had bonded more with Stacy than any of the other Moemon. This was her way of expressing concern for her friend: cold, emotionless interrogation. "But she has no reason to stay with us now that she's found her family."

"With us?" I echoed, a smirk crawling up my face.

"With you," she corrected. Again, she blinked. "With this team of yours."

"Don't be worried about that," I assured her. "Stacy will return when we need her."

"Are we waiting to train until she returns?"

"No. It was just a long day yesterday. We have a Moemon Center to reliably use for the first time in nearly two weeks, so we'll start training soon."

"Not immediately?"

"I've got a few more distractions," I said, smiling. "Then we train."

That was the magic word. Christine woke up, yawning as she eyed us. "So we're finally doing it? We're finally going to evolve?"

"I haven't gotten your opinion on Sam and Drew leaving."

"Those two?" asked Christine, frowning. "I thought you all were sure they were going to leave."

"I was. I think the others still had hope they were going to stay a bit longer."

"But they left anyway. That means we're losing, right?"

"It's not about the competition," I said, sighing. "You all never seem to talk when I'm with the other Challengers."

"We don't care about the other Challengers," said Bailey simply.

"We care about the competition," added Christine. "We care about winning."

"Some of us," corrected Bailey pointedly. "Some simply want to survive long enough to leave."

I knew better than to believe her, but I suppressed a smirk to save face. "I don't suppose it's too much to ask for you guys to talk more with the others."

"Why would we?" asked Christine. "You said so yourself: they made themselves enemies when they decided to attack Olivia."

"I never said that," I insisted. "And they didn't attack Olivia." I paused, then I conceded. "I might as well have. Okay… I guess it is too much to ask."

"They'll leave soon," said Bailey. "We'll be alone able to train without them bothering us. That's all we need."

"Even if we're losing now, we'll catch up," said Christine, smiling determinedly. "We'll beat them. We'll show them they can't leave us behind!"

Not too much later, with our Moemon safely in their Moeballs, the Challengers still in the city met in a small diner away from the main road. The diner itself was filled with people due to having a celebratory "returning to the city" free breakfast, but some early birds managed to snag a large table and hold it for the rest of us.

I sat down amongst the earliest arrivals, and saw by the looks on their faces that news had already spread. None of them were happy, and Connor in particular looked furious.

"How are you feeling, Arthur?" asked Max, giving me a weak smile. "You look like you slept well."

I smiled proudly. "I had an amazing rest, thanks. And I'm doing as well as I can. I forgot how tiring it was to walk around this city, and we did it in an afternoon!"

"It's a huge city," Rebecca agreed, nodding. "Far too big for us to see everything." She looked pointedly at Jack. "We'll have to skip some things."

Jack nodded absentmindedly, absorbed by the small menu. He gave me a slight glance, and as his eyes returned to the paper they glazed over.

Eventually, the others arrived. We exchanged pleasantries, ordered, and made some small talk about our impressions of the city. It wasn't until the conversation died down that Connor finally spoke.

"How dare they?" He seethed. "What kind of game are they playing?"

We glanced at one another. "Is there something wrong?" asked Max curiously.

Connor looked up at him, his face contorted in rage. "Max, you saw your watch, right? You know where they are?"

Max hesitated, and then he nodded in confirmation. "Sam and Drew, then."

"Sam and Drew," Connor spat. "Unbelievable. They just left without a word. Without anything! They snuck off in the middle of the night!"

"They're cowards," agreed Thomas, shaking his head. "Just walking off like that. It's ridiculous!"

"Exactly!" Connor said. "It's ridiculous! Where do they get the right to just abandon us? They lied to us, too! They said they wouldn't leave for a few days!"

"I don't think either of them explicitly agreed-" said Laura.

"It doesn't matter! We all agreed to stay! Now they're racing ahead, and we're supposed to rush to catch up!"

"We don't have to rush," argued Garrett. "We're, what, a few hours behind at most? They barely slept, so we're basically even."

"A few hours could be the difference between victory and defeat!" said Connor. "All this effort wasted because we made the stupid decision to sleep!"

"Connor, it's not a big deal," said Max. "It'll be fine. We're in no hurry."

"We're losing," Connor said with finality.

"So what are you going to do?" I asked. It felt wrong to speak up. This conversation sounded eerily similar to something they likely had in Vermillion City when Quinton and I battled a gym leader and left in the middle of the night. Far too similar… "Are you going to stay or leave?"

Connor blinked at me, and then furiously tapped his watch. The watch rang once, twice, three times. Nothing. He growled at it and looked back at me. "No answer. They won't even talk to us."

"You haven't answered my-" I began, but Connor gave me a dismissive wave of his hand, pushed his seat out so hard it nearly tipped over, and stormed out of the diner.

"Wait, Connor!" Thomas said. "Shit… I don't know what he's going to do."

"He might leave you behind," joked Garrett. "Better follow him."

Thomas frowned. "Dude, I don't want to be put in this situation! I'd like to stay, too! But Connor and I talked a lot about our plans. If Drew and Sam really left, we'd have to leave as well."

"Then go for it," I said dismissively. "If you want to leave, leave. Don't feel obligated to wait for us."

Thomas gave me an apologetic smile. "You'll be fine. I'm not worried for you." He patted my shoulder, said goodbye to the others, and followed Connor.

That left the rest of us in an awkward silence. We looked from one another wondering who'd be the next to speak.

"So…" I said, feigning curiosity. "What are the rest of you guys planning? When will you be leaving?"

"I still need to train," said Laura, smiling reassuringly. "I need a few more days."

"I don't really need it, but it couldn't hurt," said Max.

"Honestly, Arthur, I might be leaving soon as well," said Garrett. He didn't look apologetic. I still remembered our talk ages ago. He truly wouldn't ever travel with me again. "Maybe by tomorrow night? Not sure. I don't want to fall behind if I can help it."

"That's fine, man. Like I said, don't feel obligated. It's still a competition."

"A stupid competition," Garrett said, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"And you two?" Max turned to Jack and Rebecca. The former had finally put the menu down and was frowning at the table. "You wanted to see the city?"

"My plans haven't changed," Jack said reassuringly. "I'll be staying and sightseeing a few more days."

Rebecca stared at him incredulously. "No we aren't." Her voice lowered. "We talked about this yesterday."

"We did," said Jack firmly. "We said we'd stay and walk around the shops."

"We decided that yesterday before we were told that the shopping district was roped off."

Jack raised his arms, gesturing to their surroundings. "Not everything's closed."

"Fine," she conceded, failing to hide her annoyance. "We'll spend today sightseeing. But tomorrow, we'll plan on leaving."

Jack frowned. "We still need to train as well."

"We don't have enough time. I guess we'll cut our sightseeing short."

Jack wasn't happy with that. As he gave his girlfriend a stern look, Laura coughed loudly. "Guys. Not at the table, please."

Quinton had been staring at his watch intently, barely listening to the argument. Suddenly, he smirked. "They're at the gym."

"Who?" asked Garrett. "Thomas and Connor?"

Quinton nodded slowly. "How?" Max asked, stunned. "Did they sprint across the city?"

"By how fast their names moved, it's likely."

With that, Rebecca got up suddenly. "Jack, please," she pleaded.

But Jack kept firm. "Bek, relax. We'll be fine."

Garrett got to his feet as well. "Okay guys. Sorry, but I'm sure you'll figure this out." He waved goodbye and left.

"Would you all please stop leaving!" said Max. "Our food's coming soon!"

Rebecca took Jack's hands. "Jack, please. We can't fall behind."

"We still need to train," replied Jack.

"Then let's go and train!"

"We still need to eat as well."

"We'll grab a snack along the way. Jack…"

Rebecca's pleading eyes finally softened him. Jack slowly nodded, defeated. "Okay guys. I guess our plans changed. Sorry…"

"Sorry," Rebecca said, barely containing her joyful satisfaction. "Seriously, guys, good luck! We won't leave yet, so you can still join us if you want to!"

Rebecca pulled Jack to his feet, and the pair waved at us before exiting as well.

"Then there was four," I said dramatically.

"Well, I'm hungry," Laura decided. "And I'm waiting. I want to make sure I'm ready before I fight Erika. I care more about my Moemon than this competition."

"I still want to learn more about this city," added Max. But even he looked saddened. "But I suppose I won't be here as long as I wanted."

"Oh Max…" Laura sighed. She stared at him intently. "When?"

Max shrugged. "Look at all these empty seats… this table was full not a half hour ago. Now everyone's racing off. I don't want to be left behind."

"Neither do I, but I don't have a choice."

"Garrett's heading South as well," Quinton informed us. "And Jack and Rebecca are heading West."

"That'll be seven of us," I noted. "More than half will have beaten Erika by the end of the day. We're the losing half."

"Don't say that," Max whimpered. "You'll make me feel more anxious about staying. Can we enjoy this meal, please? Avoid talking about the race."

"I think we can do that," said Laura.

We couldn't. When our meals were brought to us – and most of them were unfortunately sent back – we received a call from Connor. He and Thomas were at the gym facing Erika's trainers. They – in Connor's words – were giving us the courtesy of informing us they were leaving. He wished us luck, said they'd try to say goodbye to anyone along their way out of the city, but made no promises. And that ruined the conversation. We ate in silence for the remainder of the meal, awkwardly said goodbye, and went our separate ways.

I went to the Donavan house first. Another smaller crowd had gathered to watch three people in white decontamination suits scavenge. Assistant Chief Miles and the other officers had disappeared, so I had only one place that I could find them at. After watching the forensics team myself for a few minutes, I went west to the police station.

The makeshift barricade surrounding the station had been removed, and multiple police cars and government vans neatly lined the parking lot. The streets had been cleaned as well, although the bullet holes remained. Nobody patrolled the roof, and the floodlights had shut off. It looked like it should.

As I climbed the steps, the front door suddenly burst open and a pair of policemen followed by a pair of hospital workers sprinted out of the building. They took the steps two at a time before climbing into one of the nearby vans, slamming the doors closed, and speeding off down the road honking furiously. As I watched this spectacle, I caught the front door before it closed and walked inside once they disappeared.

While the façade looked normal, the inside looked like the war had never ended. Officers dodged around each other rushing chaotically around the building. People shouted at each other from across the room, and others typed furiously on computers. An older officer stood at the front and barked orders at younger men, his face purple with rage and a half-smoked cigar smoldering in his mouth. His words were indistinguishable from the cacophony that filled the room, but despite that the unfortunate young officers nodded rapidly in understanding and took off in random directions.

I made sure to avoid his gaze, making my way several small groups of officers on the other side of the room. I passed the hospital, only all of the beds had been removed and replaced with rows of computers. I also noticed that there were several non-officers: various nurses and firemen and even civilians scattered around the room. Because of their presence, nobody paid me any mind, and I managed to maneuver to the surprisingly empty back hallway.

I barely glanced at the doors leading to the branching rooms; I knocked loudly on Chief Harmen's office door. Nobody answered, or they answered so quietly I couldn't hear them over the noise. So I cracked the door open and knocked once again before poking my head inside.

The room had barely changed; its conversion to a private planning room had remained even after the war. The only significant difference was the large wooden desk sitting in the corner facing the blue-colored map of the city. Chief Harmen himself was the single soul occupying the room, sitting at the desk. His brow furrowed in concentration as he stared at a large computer screen, and he mouthed the letters he slowly typed.

I coughed loudly and rapped at the door, and that finally got his attention. He blinked at me for a few seconds, and then he grunted in recognition.

"Arthur," he said gruffly before he turned back to the screen. "Close the door. How have you been doing?"

I obeyed, stepping closer to his desk. I surveyed the room and found a stack of small metal chairs leaning against the wall. I took one, unfolded it, and sat on the uncomfortable thing. He certainly didn't sound like he cared, but I answered anyway. "Considering what happened, I'd say I'm doing well. I've been eating well, sleeping well, and I'm back with my classmates."

Chief Harmen looked at me again, this time with relief. "I'm glad to hear that," he said genuinely. "What happened to you… no one your age should've witnessed."

"Which part?"

"Everything. You should've left the moment the speech was interrupted."

I stared at him, not liking his lecturing tone. "Your men shouldn't have let me get kidnapped."

His eyes flashed regret, and then understanding. "I know. I could save one of you, but my men let two fall into the hands of those gangs."

"So I couldn't have left," I stated. "I didn't want to be there. I had to."

"You're right…" he let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I forgot… it's been a long week."

"I know. You look like you aged twenty years. Just please don't lecture me about what happened. I wasn't in control."

"I won't. Again, I'm sorry." He took one more look at his computer screen, shook his head, and tapped a button. The screen faded to black, and he stepped away from his desk. "I suppose you want to talk about that night."

"There are a few things I want to talk about," I admitted. "That being one of them. But do you know where Assistant Chief Miles is? He had an investigation he was talking about."

He watched me with complete understanding. "I suppose you want to know who destroyed the Donavan legacy?"

"I just… might be able to help."

"It's a delicate issue. It is the only occurrence of arson the entire war, and the only victims are both dead and heirless. But it was under the protection of the police, and it was a deliberate attack against a rich and powerful man."

"Can I talk to you instead?" I asked.

"This is Miles' case," he muttered and pulled out a radio. "Assistant Chief Miles, are you available?"

Miles' voice crackled over the speaker. "I'm available, sir. Is it urgent?"

"Arthur is here to discuss your case."

"Ah, I saw him walking passed the house just a bit ago. I'll still be there if he has any information."

"He'll be there." Chief Harmen shut off the radio.

"I hope I'm not getting his hopes up," I admitted. "It isn't much…"

"Anything may help. The forensics team will likely determine the cause. But, again, this is Miles' case. This isn't why you sought me out." He stood up and walked over to the pile of chairs. He took one and placed it directly across from me. "It was an awful night, and many awful things were done."

"Not just that night," I said, watching as he sat down. "The entire war."

"Such is war. But the police kept out of it until there needed to be a winner." He paused suddenly, looking to the ground and grimacing. "As Challenger, you could've chosen a winner. You decided to remain impartial-"

"Are you saying that any of this is my fault?" I demanded sharply.

He held his hand out peacefully. "I didn't mean it like that. The last war, a Challenger made the decision, and we respected it due to Jared's esteem. You did not have the time nor desire to make your own decision, and again we respected it."

I scoffed. "Funny. I don't remember much respect from the countless people I told."

"I'm sure I didn't help, the way I reacted." He gave a small, empty chuckle. "I suppose I just wanted the responsibility not to fall on me. I've made too many terrible decisions, and this would've been the most devastating to get wrong."

"And did you?" I asked.

He looked up at me, studying me. "If the leadership remained throughout the war – if the Donavan Tower hadn't fallen – the outcome would've been quicker and more peaceful. I have no doubt Kevin, Greg, and Mary Beth would've come to the Celadon Gym if the fighting slowed into a stalemate. They respected one another and – despite what others say – they were honorable.

"But… the tower fell, and new leaders rose. Karen disappeared, and even if she surfaced I could never have convinced her to step down. Marcus – as you know far too well – was a crazed man. Kevin could've been convinced to step down as leader and disband the Kanto Kings. You may not believe it, but he considered the possibility greatly after the First Celadon War. Greg as well. I even recall Mary Beth mentioning it. All of us discussed it at one point and another…

"But Marcus became a crazed man beyond reason. He became the new leader of the Kanto Kings, and unfortunately there was no one else to claim the leadership role if he fell. If he won the war and became the de facto power in the region, the entire world would've suffered.

"Karen had no reason to continue leading. She was fierce, and her men respected her greatly, but she had no experience. She didn't care for Greg's political power; the Celadon Saviors would have no future.

"So there was no other choice. The police sided with Mary Beth's Moemon, because they promised to step down from power and disband the Mewtwo's Apostles officially. They would end the war and resign to remain in the shadows. It isn't the perfect outcome, but of the three it's certainly the most workable."

He stopped again, staring at me. His eyes were hardened yet tired; he seemed to be struggling with finally answering my question. "Did I make the right choice? Yes. It's for the benefit of the region. If Moemon gain power, then it's well-deserved. Humans never would've reached this point without their help and guidance."

He got to his feet, looking down on me. "I made a lot of decisions that final night. I killed several men, I watched several more die, and I sentenced Marcus and Karen to death. But the only thing I truly regret about that night was that you were there to see it all."

I headed toward the Donavan House feeling wholly unsatisfied and insulted. We didn't say anything else. He showed me the door without caring what I had to say next. And I simply left, confused and hurt by his words. What had I done to deserve that comment? I was innocent!

Along the way, my watch rang. "Hello?" I said absentmindedly, holding it to my face. "Who's this?"

"Who is this?" Connor's voice repeated, confused. "Didn't you see my name?"

"Not really…"

"Well, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to let you know that Thomas and I beat Erika, and we're heading out if you wanted to meet us."

"Can you stop by the burnt house?" I asked. "I'm heading there now, and I'm kind of in a hurry."

He hesitated. "Well… we're already at the entrance."

"Oh… then… good luck."

There was a pause, and then Thomas' voice came through. "Hey man, are you okay? We saw you were in the police station. You didn't get in trouble."

"No. I was just talking with someone I met during the war."

"You sound confused."

"I'm fine."

"Well… we'll see you soon, I hope. In Fuchsia or Saffron or wherever you catch up. Good luck!"

"Goodbye, Arthur," Connor added, and then he hung up.

I checked my watch. Nobody else had stopped by the entrance. If only they'd waited a few more minutes, I'd have finished with Miles and headed over there. Now I looked like an asshole, although judging by the lack of well-wishers I wasn't the only one. Laura and Garrett were still in the city – and Max was close by the entrance – but nobody moved. They at least gave us plenty of warning, but nobody gave them the courtesy of saying goodbye in person.

This competition had changed us all for the worse.

Arthur:

Christine the Charmeleon

Stacy the Staravia

Rose the Roselia

Olivia the Dewott

Annie the Aron

Bailey the Banette

Quinton:

Melody the Metang

Wendy the Quagsire

Lucia the Lucario

Willow the Sudowoodo

Mary the Flaaffy