"Show me the paper Cyria gave you," I say.

"I burned it by accident during the fight," Avia says. She isn't acting like Avia normally does. Either she's acting odd, or she isn't Avia, or even a clone of Avia. But then what is she?

"Well isn't that convenient? Well then, tell me what my paper says," I say.

"It... I don't remember," she says. Darn it. I can't let the conversation point drop now, I need to push further.

"Oh come on. I know you remember. We recited these papers tons of times before we got here," I say.

"Your paper says, 'You can do it, Jiro. I love you'," Avia says. Well then, she's obviously a fake. Now let's see if I can end this without a fight.

"So you are the real Avia! I move my face close to hers. "I think I'd believe it more if I had another kiss," I say. She closes her eyes and moves her lips toward mine, meanwhile, I bite her neck. She screams, and flails a bit, but ends up being unconscious fairly quickly.

Well, that's two fake Avias down. But if there's already two fakes, who knows how many others there are. I look back at the second fake Avia, but see a zorua where she used to be. So that was a zorua, then. Our client... Our client must be a zorua, then, and this must be her clone. No one in their right minds would just wander in here, right?

Now we just need to find our client. But right now I should go back to Avia and Cyria, just in case they need my help.

"I-is it safe?" A weak voice asks. I see a zorua slowly walking toward me.

"Yeah. You must be the one who asked for a rescue team, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's me. So you're the hero who came to save me? Well then, I just have to give you a little something," she giggles and walks over to me. Once she's next to me, she kisses me on the cheek. The other zorua was a clone of her, that means they had the same personality. The other zorua thought that the best way to keep from figuring out her identity was to kiss me... So that means that she's probably a massive flirt. Well, this may not end well. Avia, Cyria, please finish your fights soon, I really don't want to be stuck with her for too long. Not that I particularly mind being kissed, but when you think of the implications of the sentiment, it just ends up as a confusing mess. I have no idea if she's actually interested in me, if she's just flirting for the heck of it, or if she's just thanking me. And spending more time with her may only serve to confuse me more. Either that, or make it really awkward if Avia and Cyria see us. I don't image most pokemon like knowing that their friend was being kissed while they were fighting.

"So shall we leave?" The zorua asks.

"The thing is. I have two friends fighting their clones right now. They have plans to defeat them, and will win, I'm sure. But I'd hate to get in the way of those plans. So we may have to wait here until they come and get us," I say. I sound more sure of the words I say than I actually am. I believe them, yes, but feel guilty about it all the same.

"So then, what's your name?" The zorua asks.

"I'm Jiro, and you?"

"I'm Gelia. But my friends call me Gills," she says.

"Gills?"

"Yep. I can hold my breath for five minutes underwater. So they started calling me Gills. The name ended up sticking," Gelia says.

"So how did you end up in here anyways, Gelia?" I ask

"Gills, please. We're friends, aren't we?" She asks. Moving her body close to fine, and nuzzling me a little. I take a step away.

"Sure... so Gills, how did you end up here, anyways?" I ask.

"Wait. Why did you back away?" She asks.

"Um... I asked my question first..."

"Fine, I ended up here because I wanted to see if the cave truly did make clones. Now answer my question."

"Because I'm not comfortable with being that close."

"And why not?"

"It's nothing personal."

"So what's your reason, then?" I need a reason. A lie, a truth, something. If not, who knows what she'll do...

"I... I... Just don't-"

"Oh, I get it! You're shy, aren't you? Well then, if that's the only problem, we can solve that, no problem." I... I need something... I've got it!

"Well, you see. I made a promise to a friend. I promised him that I wouldn't show any interest in any girls until I could prove to him that a specific girl we know likes him as more than a friend. It's odd, I know. But I always hold to my promises."

"Oh... I see. Good for you, then. I hope you're able to prove it to him soon."

"Yeah, but please don't tell anyone about this. My vulpix friend is the girl, and I really don't want her to know."

"Oh, of course. Your secret's safe with me!"

"Thanks."

"Jiro!" I hear Cyria's voice yell. I look towards where the voice is coming from, the cave hides most of the figure, but I can tell that it's Cyria, and there's a four-legged pokemon following behind her. I can't quite make out the pokemon. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! I found the client, and defeated her clone!" I say.

"Good job!" Cyria yells. She moves closer, and I can finally see the pokemon next to her, it's Avia. Thank Arceus. When Avia reaches me, she nuzzles me a little.

"Don't even try to kill me again. It's not fun, fighting one of your best friends. Almost killing him..." Avia says.

"She had it pretty rough. I'm sure you can imagine what she feels like, you did have to fight Avia, after all. It must have been hard to hurt her, hurting someone who looked so much like Avia, acted like her, and had her memories," Cyria says. Now I feel bad for having no problem with attacking her with no remorse. I'm a bad friend. "Anyways, let's head home, shall we?"

"Yeah. That sounds nice," Gills says. Gills is a really weird name, now that I think about it...

After we reach the guild, we say goodbye to Gills. Then, the three of us head to bed.

"Jiro," Avia says after I have been trying, and failing to get some sleep for several minutes. "Are you up? I can't sleep. Don't worry, it's not about having to hurt the clone you. I'm fine, really. But I'm just too nervous about the expedition selections tomorrow. I know Chatot said we don't have much of a chance, but I really can't help but be anxious. Plus, we did do a very hard mission today, and everything worked out perfectly. Maybe Wigglytuff will see that, and select us. I guess we won't really know until tomorrow, though. I wish I could just get to sleep so that I wouldn't have to spend all this time waiting... I guess you're not awake, are you? And yet, it still feels like you understand me. We really are team Beyond. I can feel emotions beyond my own, sometimes, I swear that I feel yours too. I don't know, maybe it's just me, maybe I don't actually feel anything. But every now and again there's this little spark. Like we feel the same way, you know? I'm just rambling now. I can't make sense of any of this. Well, goodnight, Jiro. No matter what comes tomorrow, we'll still have one another. And with great friends like you and Cyria by my side, well. Well maybe we don't need to go on this expedition. As long as we're all together." Avia stops talking, and her breathing begins to follow a familiar rhythm.

Sleep. I try to match my breathing with hers, and find myself instantly becoming tired. Maybe she's right, maybe we are connected in some way.