All of Adrien's pokémon had a story. "All pokémon have a story," Adrien liked to say. Still, like people, most didn't amount to much of interest. Stories they were, but nothing so captivating as Rocco's or even Plagg's. Allie had been given to him by Chloé, a thoughtful gift when they finally started school together. She wanted them to match, for them to be tied together by more than just their class and past. Of course, she wanted for more than that, but Adrien had always been clear with her in that regard, and she respected his decision, and respected herself enough to not stop trying. Adrien knew she would if he asked, but it felt cruel somehow, to ask her to shut that off entirely. Pretend she didn't feel anything. Even if it sometimes made him uncomfortable.

Of course when Alastair evolved, they didn't match much any longer anyway. Both from the same line, sure, but a sylveon and an eevee didn't make their teams very similar.

He got Emma the same way. Chloé helped name her, too, in a way that, like Allie, matched both their nickname schemes for their pokémon. It was more subtle that time, an amaura for her tyrantrum, but Adrien understood the purpose was the same. He didn't really mind. He thought it was cute that they had team similarities. And he thinks of her when he sees Allie or Emma and while that may have been what she wanted, he liked thinking about his friends, anyway.

Rocco's was a long story, a fun story, and Plagg's was sadder, more personal. With Kivva, he was there when she was born, and her story has been one he'd been in since the beginning. Tikki's was the only one he didn't quite understand fully.

But given recent events, with what Rocco did and with his own failure to mega evolve Plagg when it was so needed, he couldn't help but think about them. How they came into his life, changed it, shaped it.

Plagg was a grumpy, contrary crutch that Adrien could lean on when he stumbled. When something happens. A death, an attack, a fall. Good news, a party, a friend. Bad and good, Plagg kept him up so he could keep moving forward.

Rocco was a top-tier mom-friend. He made sure Adrien felt loved and made sure he knew he wasn't alone. In a lot of ways, Rocco filled the void that was left after Adrien's mom died. He didn't replace her by any means, but he helped alleviate the hurt of his dad pulling back, helped him understand, allowed him to be okay and let his dad do what he needed. Without Rocco, Adrien felt that his relationship with his father would be very different, and he feared it wouldn't have been for the better.

Tikki was less prevalent in a lot of ways, but so much more in so many tiny ones. She kept watch over the young ones, Kivva, Emma, and Allie. She picked up clutter and helped him dust or she sat on his head and buzzed her wings, tickling his ears before flying off with a giggle. She kept Plagg's grumpiness in check, making sure he didn't cause trouble for Adrien's dad and that he usually stayed out of the way when he shouldn't be somewhere.

She wasn't the one he clung to when he panicked, or the one who always stopped to remind him to smile. She was the one who made sure he had time to smile, the one who made sure he had space to breathe when he needed it. And she did it with such a calm assurance that he often took her for granted. Sometimes, he almost forgot that she was even there.

Thumbing her pokéball gently as he stood alone in an alley, the latest threat subdued with the help of the new heroes on the block, he hummed quietly. It was a tough one. We didn't have Mawile's raw strength. We're just lucky that the pidgeot was relatively tame as far as these things go. I wouldn't have wanted to fight the abomasnow with just this team. He shook his head. But that's good. They've got some experience now. It's not the worst these fights have to offer, but it did open them up to it. I don't think Alya's going to forget a Brave Bird aimed at her anytime soon. And Chloé's probably going to have a similar nightmare as me. Told her not to grab onto it. Not much I can do about it now, though.

I hate to say it, but I don't think we can keep this up. They're trying really hard, and I'm proud of them, but what if we have another like steelix? That took the combined fighting power of Marinette, Nathanaël, Alix, and my pokémon, plus Alix directing, and we still only barely pulled it off. I'd argue we didn't even, with what we had after. We could get the whole class together but without a mega pokemon I doubt we'd do much good against another one of those. Even Mawile barely had any effect on it. And that's not even the biggest problem. We need to think of a way to counter restricted moves. Earthquake was almost entirely responsible for what happened with the steelix, and we were all helpless. If another mega comes with an Explosion or a Hyper Beam, we could have even more destruction. The only reason we got out as well as we did with the steelix is that it didn't use Earthquake until the end there. If another one decides to use such a destructive move right from the beginning, how would we get around it? Even with Mawile we couldn't force our way in, but without her… I'm not sure we could get close.

Tikki's pokéball shook gently in his hand. I have to figure out a way to keep them safe. He felt like he was back on that street seeing the fletchinder zoom by, seeing the little boy, barely a trainer, barely a teenager if that, staring down the raging heracross. He didn't care if they knew what they were getting into. He didn't even care if he was at all qualified to handle the situation any better than they were. He couldn't let them get hurt. Not while he was standing there. Watching. His hands sticky and warm and crimson and incompetent.

He closed his eyes, swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. I can do it. Marinette told you that you're clever. You're supposed to be clever. So why can't you figure this out? It should be simple. One move counters another. A trap laid at the same time. Turn their attack to your advantage. But no matter what way I turn it, we're just not strong enough. Not against something like steelix. I can try all day to find the right combinations but when you're overpowered so completely… What can I do?

The answer is simple I guess. Mega evolve. I need to mega evolve Plagg. Then we might stand a chance. Maybe. Even mega evolved Plagg will be more fragile than Mawile, but he will be strong. Evasion, deflection. We can do that. We've done that. But unless we can mega evolve, all we can do is dodge, and you can't win a battle that way. Not to mention Marinette's other utility pokémon. How many times has Misdreavus found the damn device in the first place? Or been instrumental in getting it off the pokémon? And Bisharp? Easily as strong as Plagg, definitely sturdier. And Ariados' web is so versatile. He raised a hand to cover his eyes. Losing Marinette was more than just a blow to morale. It was losing everything. We spent over a week working on combination work, all for naught. Well, not entirely, I did learn quite a bit from her. It's still frustrating to have so many plans flushed down the drain like that. She's half the team. I'm crippled here.

Everyone else is trying their hardest but it's not the same. I have to do a hard freaking reset and I'm not sure if that's possible anymore. More than once with that pidgeot I swore Ariados would tie up its wings or Misdreavus would pop up out of nowhere and terrify me. And the pidgeot. To make it hesitate.

Oh, nevermind. He pushed off the wall and grabbed his bag. He swiped at his eyes with a cloth a few more times as he walked out to make sure all of the makeup was gone. In some ways, having so many allies is a lot harder. I just can't think of how to work with the collective pokemon of nine different people. I can't plan. I can't make strategies.

Or maybe I'm just not as clever as I thought. Maybe I'm not as good of a trainer as Marinette thought I was. Maybe I'm just letting her down. Letting everyone down. Maybe it would be best if I sat out. Alix is a far more competent trainer than I am, and just as good at practical strategies. Better, probably, since mine are rooted in nothing more than looking pretty. Chloé is an amazing trainer, and she's beaten me more than a fair few times. And who can really look me in the eye and tell me Alya isn't twice the hero I am?

I mean, really. Marinette and I both started doing this because it was thrust upon us. She was in the school that day. She fought to get out, not to save everyone. Or maybe not. I'd believe it. Still, she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea when we decided to keep it up. And I only wanted to buy time when I first got dragged into it. Even then! When we decided to keep fighting, it was because there wasn't anyone else who could. None who showed their faces, anyway. With the class on the case… I'm no more of a help than anyone else. I'm no more important to the team than Chloé. Why should I even bother showing up, when all it does is put the one thing I can do in danger?

He rolled Tikki's pokéball in his fingers as he walked. Shaking his head, he chuckled mournfully. Or the thing I could do. When am I going to actually get something together with this performance? Especially if I keep this up?

Probably won't matter. What are the odds I'll be fit to perform by the fourteenth anyway. If trends keep up, that'll be two or three more attacks, and we're not going to be so lucky twice. The next one is going to be dangerous – a lot more than the pidgeot.

He stewed in his thoughts all the way home, collapsing in his desk chair and throwing his pokéballs haphazardly next to his keyboard. Considering for a moment, he released Plagg, then Tikki. He reached, briefly, for Rocco's pokéball as well, but lost his nerve before getting there.

He shook his head roughly. He let out a heavy sigh, Tikki and Plagg's gazed boring into him. He reached into his bag and dug out the Key Stone and Mega Stone. He fondled them briefly, thoughtfully, before turning to his pokémon. "We need to figure this out."

Plagg stuck out his tongue and turned away; Tikki tilted her head. "Listen, guys. You both know that we can't pull it off without mega evolution. The only reason we even survived Houndoom was because of Rocco." He bit his lip, casting his eyes towards Rocco's pokéball. "Obviously, we can't rely on that. It wasn't an okay thing to do in the first place." Plagg gave him a meaningful glance. "And I'm not even going to consider letting him out to use it in a more controlled way, no. Rocco has… things to work through. We all do. And anyway, it's a moot point because so long as we all agree that he can't go all out…" Adrien trailed off to get Plagg's affirmation. "Good. Since we agree on that, we can't risk letting him out at all. He's not healed. He can't get involved in a fight if it's not zero-risk."

Tikki nodded eagerly, Plagg a bit more warily. "So, we need to figure out mega evolution. It's the only viable solution. Even if I quit to focus on the performance, I'm just leaving my friends in a losing battle."

Tikki pointed to herself. "Ladybug?" She nodded. "We tried training it remember? She couldn't help us. She doesn't know the secret."

Plagg shook nonchalantly and vocalized something. He looked at Tikki. Some idea. Tikki nodded thoughtfully. Plagg looked more quizzical than anything else, as if he didn't actually intend for her to consider what he said.

Tikki flew up to the computer. "Okay, what are you trying to show me?" She fiddled with the mouse a little, but gave up after a few attempts. Instead she gestured to herself again. Adrien furrowed his brow. "Not Ladybug… not you?" Tikki shook her head. Pointed to one of her spots. "Ladybug themed?" She nodded. "Alya's blog?" An enthusiastic nod. Adrien pulled up the website. It had a collection of info, some Ladybug related, some on him, most on the case as a whole. Tracking the police investigation, all that was released to the public, and speculation and ideas of her own. Things she pursued on her own. Looking at it more thoroughly – less focused on attack to attack and more on her investigation – Adrien was actually impressed.

He turned to Tikki. "What about it?"

Tikki pushed the mouse around until the cursor was – almost, sort of – hovering around one word. "Devices?" Tikki nodded. "What about them?" She made a big movement with her hands, like an explosion. "Yeah, they make the pokémon mega…evolve. The secret. Whoever is making these devices knows or is trying to figure out the secret." Tikki nodded enthusiastically. "But how does that help me? That's kind of self-evident, it's not going to help the investigation."

Tikki shook her head with a little yell and scrolled down, choosing this time to just point at the picture of the pidgeot flying far above the city. "The victims?" She nodded. "You think they might be able to help us?" Another nod. Adrien frowned. "That seems unlikely. The victims were all not in the right state of mind. That's what makes them act out in the first place. Whoever's behind this isn't targeting bad pokémon. I doubt we'll get much useful help out of them. I'm not the best at interpreting you guys anyway, even you. I'm not sure I'd understand a thing another pokémon tried to tell me. Not anything so complicated, anyway."

Tikki pointed to Rocco's pokéball. Which, Adrien had to admit, was a great idea. "Still," he said, "what do you plan to learn from them if we find them? You really think they'll be able to tell us anything Mawile couldn't?"

Tikki buzzed. "…We did ask Mawile about mega evolution, right?" A shake of the head. Adrien sighed. "Well, that's one step to take, I guess. Most likely she won't be able to tell us anything that Marinette couldn't, though." Tikki shrugged. "Better than nothing. Keeping as we are clearly isn't getting us anywhere, so we may as well, right?" Tikki nodded and gestured again to the screen. "What about it?"

She made a broad gesture. "The whole blog?" She threw a pen at him. "Alya?" She bounced. "Yeah, I'll get Alya in on this, too. If anyone can pull something from it it's got to be her."

Tikki threw his phone at him. "Right now? Really?" A nod. "We won't have much time. I thought we'd just start tomorrow." Tikki frowned. "Fine, fine. I'll text the girls."

AA: Alya, you up to visit Mari rn?
AC: um always y?
AA: I'm gonna get Rocco to ask Mawile about mega evolution.
AC: we havent done that yet?
AA: not that I remember.
AC: well damn
AC: meet you at maris room in 20
AA: I'm gonna invite Juleka and Nino too.
AC: might be crowded
AA: Tikki wants to ask the other victims too.
AA: I've no clue where they might be if Mawile doesn't pan out.
AA: probably want the team.
AC: u realize "the team" is the whole class and not just us right
AA: the team I trust most.
AA: minus Chlo. just bc I know she doesn't get along with Marinette.
AA: I'll probably still text her for help if we do have to find these guys.
AC: theyre not that bad anymore
AC: chloes cool
AC: sort of
AC: in her way
AA: anyway I gotta text Nino and Jules.
AC: yeah i need to get ready l8ter dude