Chapter Fifty-Two: Looking Within

"What do you mean, you want us to leave?" Brian asked. "I'm certainly more than willing to help you look for the last fragment, and I'm sure Katsu is, too."

"Of course I'm willing to help!" Katsu said as he absently tried to flatten his wind-styled hair against his head; he'd been trying and failing for the last ten minutes, ever since he and Eve had returned the white rock.

Eve's hair was even messier than Katsu's after their ride back on Aiden, but she paid it no mind as she replied, "I'm glad to hear that you're still willing to help, because I'll need it. But not right now. Look, if I remember correctly, Sunnyshore City is just an hour or so south of here, if you fly. You can make it there before the sun sets. Just grab a hotel room and wait a couple days, or else grab a flight home and wait for me to call you."

"And what exactly are you going to be doing that we can't help you with?" Katsu asked.

~That's what I'd like to know,~ Hannah said. She and all of Eve's other pokémon were currently out of their pokeballs, since Eve figured they might as well know what was going on. ~The more help, the better, in my opinion. I don't want us falling into another ambush without backup.~

~Oh, I won't be alone. I'm letting Hope come, since she already knows who Mew is anyway,~ Eve said in pokémon speech to Hannah, and then in human language she answered Katsu, "Now that I have three of the fragments – and I mean really have them, since Hope's feather isn't really helping at all yet – I feel like I just might be able to find the general location of the last fragment. Maybe. I need to at least try, but it's going to take some long, long hours of searching. Who knows what region it might be in, after all?"

Brian frowned. "Just hours and hours for possibly searching all of the regions? Not days or weeks? That seems like an under exaggeration. Does this have something to do with your secret method of transportation again?"

Eve nodded, though as she did so the method of transportation in question wiggled her gooey pink body uncomfortably. ~I don't know about this… I think I'm about done helping, Eve. The guilt is starting to catch up with me. Poor Arceus will be so upset with me. It's been fun, of course, and I've enjoyed helping you, but… I think maybe my help has gone far enough.~

~Oh, please don't back out on me now!~ Eve said, looking to the ditto to show to the humans that another part of the conversation was going on, unheard by their ears. ~I mean, I don't want to force you into anything… I'm already ecstatic that you helped me find Shaymin. And it's not like I'm asking you to show me the way or anything – I'm just asking you to do what any dragonite could do. I'll be the one finding the way. If you could just put up with me pointing you in one direction or another for a couple days, then I promise I won't ask you for anything else.~

Mew seemed to melt slightly in the ditto equivalent of a sigh. ~That's fine, I suppose. But after that, I think I'll let you figure the rest of everything out on your own while I go back to my usual wandering. That way, there's no way Arceus can blame me for helping out any more than I already have.~

Eve slumped slight. ~Well, I'll be sorry to see you go.~

~I'll be sorry to see me go, too. I haven't had this much fun watching humans – or watching anyone, for that matter – in a couple decades,~ Mew said. Then, cheering, she added, ~But at least it shouldn't be for too long. Only one more missing fragment, and who knows? Maybe you'll figure out a way to get the feather out of your human friend's hair. Just because I can't think of a way to do it, doesn't mean it can't be done. And once you have all of them and summon Arceus, you can bet I'll be around!~

Brian cleared his throat, and Eve looked up at him as he said, "Mind if I interrupt?"

"Oh, yeah, we were pretty much done, anyway," Eve said.

"I just want to say this – Katsu and I can't stop you if you're wanting to go off by yourself again. Or, not quite by yourself, I suppose," he said as he looked off in the direction where Hope was training; she hadn't wanted to bother with the details of what the group was doing next. "But as soon as you have a lead and know where you're going to end up, then call us. Neither of us is going to like waiting around while you search the world."

Eve smiled. "It'll be the first thing I do, once I figure stuff out," she assured him. "After all, I won't be able to do anything until you show up."

Brian's brows momentarily knitted together in a scowl, and then understanding dawned on his face as he said, "Do you mean to say-"

"-that you're the person I need to summon the pokémon of Purpose?" Eve finished, grinning. "Yes, I think you're exactly the person. I still don't really agree with your political philosophies, even now that you aren't doing them with Team Rocket's more malicious backing… But even so, there's no doubting you're committed to getting your ideas to affect the world."

Brian half-smiled back, but mostly his face housed surprise. "I'm honored you'd trust me with the responsibility."

Katsu chuckled a bit. "No need to be so serious about it, Brian."

"You didn't think it was an honor when Eve asked you?" Brian countered, perhaps slightly embarrassed.

Katsu shrugged and smiled at Eve. "Sure I was. But I'm just saying that she wouldn't have even let you come along if she didn't trust you already. Right, Eve?"

"Um, of course," Eve said, blushing slightly. She was telling the truth; it was just awkward to say such things aloud.

Brian perhaps saw her embarrassment and decided that the conversation had gone on for long enough. "Katsu and I should best be going if we want to make it to Sunnyshore by dusk," he said as he pulled out a pokéball, let out his skarmory and got on the metal bird's back. "You coming, Katsu?"

"Go on without me. I'll catch up in a couple minutes," Katsu said.

Brian frowned momentarily, wondering what Katsu was up to; however, he didn't press the issue, and in another moment he and his skarmory were flying south.

Eve frowned as Brian left, just as puzzled as he had been. "Did you want to talk to me about something, Katsu?"

"Yeah," Katsu confirmed. "I was just wondering… During your talk with Shaymin, there was something you weren't saying… At least, you weren't saying it so I could hear. What exactly is it that you have to do to get Hope's feather?"

Eve's breath caught in her throat. Of course, Katsu wouldn't make a big deal about it. He would know that no matter how desperate Eve got to finish her quest, she would never do anything as terrible as what Giratina was apparently trying to bait her to do. Still, it wasn't something that was easily said aloud, even to a good friend like Katsu.

Seeing her reluctance, Katsu prompted, "If you don't tell me, I'll ask Hope. I'm sure she won't mind telling."

Eve sighed. "It's just- I'm not sure how to say this, but- well, Giratina made it so that I can't get the fragment of Death until Hope, um… Well, until she dies."

For a moment, Katsu's mouth literally dropped open. "But… What? Why? Did it, did Giratina want you to try to get Hope killed? Or just make it impossible for you to finish what you're trying to do?"

"I don't know," Eve said, rubbing her temples. To be honest, Giratina's stipulation had been weighing heavily on Eve's mind, especially in the short time since she had acquired the Life fragment from Shaymin. "Giratina said I didn't understand Death, and so she wouldn't give it to me."

"So what are you going to do? You know, when we find that last fragment?"

Eve shook her head. "I don't know. Just wait, I guess… And maybe never get the chance to finish what I've started. Or maybe I'll look for some way around Giratina's condition. What other choice do I have?"

Katsu let his tropius out of its pokeball and climbed onto his back. "I don't know." He lightly kicked the tropius with his feet, and in a couple powerful flaps of his leafy wings, Katsu and his tropius took off to join Brian and his skarmory.

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~Okay, turn around, we're going back to whatever continent we just left,~ Eve said, tapping Mew-dragonite's hard hide. ~It was hard to tell for sure at first, but I definitely feel like going this way is wrong. So it's gotta be somewhere back there… It's not a great lead, but at least I know the continent.~

~You sure?~ Mew asked. ~We've been searching for three days now… It'd be a shame for all this searching to go to waste with a wrong guess. And as I said, as soon as I drop you off, I'm leaving you to your own devices.~

Eve scowled. ~Are you saying that I'm wrong? But I'm pretty sure-~

~I'm not saying that,~ Mew said, a mischievous tone in her voice as she banked, turning until they were heading back towards the last landmass they had passed. Eve felt Hope shift slightly behind her, at first sliding almost as if she would fall; unlike Eve, she had no idea what was being said, and therefore could not have expected the sudden turn. Mew continued, ~Personally, I'd say it's a decent guess, if that's what your instinct is telling you. A pokémon's instinct is never wrong.~

Eve guessed that this was Mew's way of confirming her guess while leaving wiggle room for interpretation, so that Arceus couldn't blame her. After all, Eve wasn't technically a pokémon, and so Mew could just as well be saying that her instinct could be wrong.

They flew on in silence for a while before land came back into sight. And as they neared the shore to land, Eve said, ~So this is it, Mew? You're really set on leaving?~

~For now, at least. But don't worry! As I said before, we'll see each other again once you get all the fragments!~ Mew said. ~Maybe even before then. I don't see any problem coming to see you again, just as soon as there's no way I can help you cheat your way to another fragment. Once you have this fragment, I'll probably at least visit, even if you can't get Hope's fragment.~

Mew descended to the ground with gentleness surprising for a pokémon as large as a dragonite. Eve shakily got off – she'd barely had any chance to stretch her legs these past few days, due to how hard she had pushed herself in this search. Hope jumped off as well, but if her legs were sore, she didn't show it.

~Mew? Can I ask you one more thing before you go?~ Eve said, her feet sinking into the sand of the beach Mew had landed at.

The dragonite body tilted its head inquisitively as Mew looked down at Eve. ~Of course. Anything. Doesn't mean I'll answer, though.~

~Why don't you use your true shape more often, when there aren't humans around?~ Eve asked. ~I still only ever saw you as yourself when you were angry at Giratina.~

A deep, rumbling hum came from the dragonite's belly in Mew's version of a laugh. Then, she quickly shrunk and changed until she was once again the tiny pink floating creature that Eve had seen in the cave. ~My dear Eve, this form is no more my true self than any other pokémon's form. If anything, I am defined more by who my children are than who I first was. Is that all you needed to ask?~

Eve nodded, a smile on her face. "You know, when you first met me in your ditto form, you said you wanted to hear my voice. And then later, you brought me to Suicune, which helped me to learn to let myself speak again. You've done a lot for me besides just that, but if there's anything I've gotta be thankful for, it's being able to talk again. So thanks! And I'll do my best to find this last pokémon soon, so that you and me and all my pokémon can play again soon. That sound like a plan?"

~Indeed it does! And I'll hold you to it, too!~ Mew said cheerfully. ~Until then, stay safe!~ Mew's body suddenly shifted into that of a hovering tailow, and in a moment she was flying out over the sea. And then, her body undulated once again, and a small carvanha was diving into the ocean, with what could only be a grin plastered on her toothy face.

Eve watched the waves from the carvanha's splash dwindle to nothing in the wake of the larger, stronger surf that surged towards the beach. Once no more could be seen to indicate that the mother of all pokémon had ever been present, Eve put her hands on her hips and looked around. She couldn't dwell on her friend's departure. The pressure seemed to be mounting, and Eve felt like she could waste not a moment on anything else other than the task at hand.

There were bottles and other trash items washing up with the surf; Eve guessed there had to be some sort of city nearby. Sure enough, when Eve looked around, she could just barely see the skyline of some coastal city to the southeast of her. Since it was still early afternoon, Eve figured that she'd have time to reach at least some suburb of the apparently large city. And as soon as she did that, she could figure out what region this was and call Katsu and Mark, so they could make their way here as soon as possible.

Eve let Blight out of her pokéball, wanting an extra set of eyes around – preferably a set that could go undetected if any humans caught she and Hope by surprise. She'd had too many incidents in the past to take things lightly anymore.

"Blight, stay invisible, please," Eve said as she started walking down the beach, towards the distant city. Hope followed. "You're lookout for today. Got it?"

Blight grinned, and then her gaseous body faded into nothingness. ~Sounds good to me,~ her disembodied voice replied.

Hope suddenly spoke up, surprising Eve; she'd barely heard her talk at all these past days, outside of the training they did whenever they'd landed to rest and eat. "Where are we going now?"

"I'm not sure," Eve said. "That city up there, I guess. I just don't know where that is. Or where we are, for that matter. You have any idea?"

Hope shrugged. "I'd guess Sinnoh, maybe. Or Hoenn. Then again, we've been flying from place to place for so long that I can't say for sure."

Eve sighed, disappointed that Hope hadn't known. For all her flaws, she was intelligent, and Eve had hoped that maybe she knew enough about world geography to know where they were based on which directions they'd been flying. "Guess we'll find out up there, then."

"Why don't we fly on Thistle?" Hope asked, unusually talkative.

"Two girls on aerodactyl-back are much too strange to go unnoticed."

"Aiden, then."

Eve grinned slightly. "Do you think an arcanine is any less unusual and noticeable?"

In response, Hope smiled. It was a small smile, but for the first time that Eve could remember, it was most positively and definitely there, in a non-cynical way. "Guess you're right," she said as she turned to look out at the sea, that strangely friendly expression still inexplicably present on her face.

For a few moments, Eve was just sort of stunned; then a smile came over her own face.

Maybe I'm actually about to bring on the apocalypse – this has to be the end of the world. I never thought that I'd see Hope smile. Not in a million years.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As it turned out, the city that Eve and Hope had found themselves near was Lilycove City, one of the largest cities in the Hoenn region. Upon arriving in the suburbs that evening, Eve and Hope checked into a small, out-of-the-way hotel, then proceeded to call Mark and Katsu. The two boys arrived by plane late the next day, and soon the two of them were hard at work searching through libraries for any scrap of a myth that might pertain to the last fragment. Occasionally, Hope helped them when she wasn't training; she had the perseverance needed for the hours of fruitless researching, which greatly sped up the task.

Meanwhile, Eve was doing the one thing that her three friends could not: scouring the land in search of even the faintest tug of the last fragment of existence. She'd done much the same in Sinnoh while looking for Giratina, and so she had the task down to almost an art. For the most part, she limited herself to flying on Thistle, though she occasionally switched to Aiden or even Pebble when Thistle grew weary.

She and her pokémon had been doing this for nearly a week when Thistle spoke up one evening, as she, Eve, and all Eve's other pokémon sat around a fire, snacking on some pecha berries that Hannah had found.

~Hey, Eve?~ The nearly five-month-old asked. ~What was it that Shaymin was saying to you when you met?~

"What do you mean?" Eve asked as she reclined against Aiden's side. "He said a lot. What in particular are you talking about?"

Thistle's tail twitched as she chewed thoughtfully on her berry. ~He said something about you needing to find your purpose. But don't you already know what that is? I mean, we wouldn't be doing all this if you didn't… Right?~

Eve took a bite out of her own berry, chewed, and swallowed before answering, "Of course I know why I'm doing this. I need to find the five fragments. We've already got four of them – now we just have to find the fifth."

This answer contented the young pokémon, but brought new questions to the mind of the oldest pokémon present. ~That is what you're doing, Eve, and you know that,~ Pebble said, his deep eyes gleaming from the spot where he was coiled in front of Eve. ~You are avoiding the 'why'. Surely that doesn't mean you haven't taken Shaymin's warning seriously? You told all of us that he told you to be sure of your reasons for doing this.~

Eve looked away from his dark eyes. "Well…"

~You do know your reasons for doing this, right?~ Pebble prompted when Eve trailed off. ~This is not something to be taken lightly. You could – no, you will change the world irrevocably, should you obtain all five fragments. Such power cannot simply sit without being used. And if you don't know what to do with it… Perhaps it will be the one to use you, rather than the other way around. You must realize how important it is for you to be sure of yourself and your intentions.~

"I know, I know," Eve said, still not meeting the dragon's eyes. "And it's not like I have no idea why I'm doing it. What I wanted to do was correct the imbalance that Celebi showed me. I wanted pokémon and humans to be on more equal footing again, in a world that could support both of them with as little conflict as possible. I wanted things to go back to how they were when there weren't pokéballs, when humans truly had to befriend a pokémon in order to earn its trust."

Aiden lifted his head from his paws and looked back at Eve, concern in his gaze. ~Wanted? Not want? But isn't that what you still want now?~

Eve sighed, put her pecha berry on the ground, and put her head in her hands. "I'm not sure anymore. I feel like deep down, that's still what I want, but…"

~But what?~ Hannah asked.

Eve shook her head. "I'm just so scared of humans. It's gotten better, of course… But every time I think about making things equal, part of me is shouting at me that it can't work. It's as if Entei is in my head, roaring constantly that pokémon and humans are too different. Pokémon will always be too powerful for humans to be safe without some sort of protection. And humans will always try to manipulate pokémon to their own ends, inevitably giving them wounds that will never heal. Scarring them, like… Like…"

Blight floated forward slightly, her normally mischievous demeanor replaced by solemnity. ~Like how they scarred you?~ she said quietly, finishing what Eve had been unable to say.

Eve nodded. Then, wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked up and said, "But I don't want you all to worry about that! I'm fine, really. I just want to keep searching for this last fragment. I'm sure by the time we find it, I'll finally be sure of myself. It's fine. Really, it is."

~Except it's not fine, is it?~ Hannah said, just as quiet as Blight had been. All Eve's other pokémon looked at her with almost a grim resignation in their eyes, as if they'd done all they could to avoid this moment. ~You're not okay, Eve. You've been trying to hard to keep us from worrying. Pushing yourself to go straight from getting Giratina's fragment to Shaymin's fragment to this last one… You've barely let yourself have a break.~

"But that's just because the fragments are urging me on! It's instinct!" Eve insisted. "It's really hard to ignore."

Aiden began to make a whining noise. ~But it's not only that,~ he said. ~You have nightmares. You've had them since you got away from Team Rocket… And then they went away for a while, but now they're worse than ever. We've seen you tossing and turning at night, and, and… You cry, and you tell them not to hurt Basil, and not to hurt us, and not to hurt Suicune, and not to hurt you, and… We can never do anything about it, except nudge you enough so that the dreams will go away for a while. I hate it, Eve! I want to protect you, Eve, but I can't! Not when it's something like that!~

~We all want to protect you!~ Thistle insisted. ~But you won't let us! You keep on denying that you're even hurt!~

Tears once again began to well up in Eve's eyes. She quickly wiped them away. She hadn't realized that she'd been unconsciously revealing the turmoil of her dreaming mind. To hear it now was a shock. "I'm so sorry – I didn't want you all to worry, but now you're all worrying more than ever."

~Quit worrying about whether or not we are worried for you,~ Pebble said, a deep hum coming from his body that was both stern and comforting. ~You must come to terms with this. Perhaps the nightmares will always be there, and perhaps you can do nothing to stop them. But if you persist in your refusal to admit their existence to both yourself and those around you, then I fear for what will happen to your mind! You can't continue like this. You are losing sleep. Pretending that you're as fine as ever is only wearing you down more, and making the nightmares worse. It is possible that one day, you will fall asleep only to awake forever in the nightmares that plague you.~

At this comment, an image from one of Eve's many nightmares flashed vividly to her senses; it was as if she was suddenly in the scene that had haunted her for so many nights. Basil was in her arms, bloody, burned, and dying, and she was trying to hold onto him, to keep him from dying, to keep him from slipping from her grasp. But people were crowding around her, reaching for Basil, smothering her – even the slightest touch from them seemed to burn, as if they were demons, not humans. To her dreaming mind, humans and demons were the same. They were agony, suffering, loss, death, injustice, and hatred.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the vision vanished. Eve saw that her arm were crossed tightly against her body, and her fingers were digging into her arms; she tasted blood in her mouth, and she guessed that she had instinctually bit down on her tongue to keep a scream from coming out. Wordlessly, she forced herself to relax and found that she was trembling now. Still shaken up, she curled herself up against Aiden's side, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"How am I supposed to do what I know is right when my nightmares won't even leave me alone when I'm awake?" she asked. "If I get this power… How can I let humans even live, when part of me just wishes they'd all go away?"

~I ask you again, Eve,~ Pebble pressed, slithering around the fire so that he was closer to his trainer. ~Why is it that you are searching for the power? Fate calls you to it, but what will you do with it if Fate ceases to guide you? If the choice of what to do with the power is yours and yours alone, what is it that you will do?~

"I don't know!" Eve shouted, squeezing her eyes shut as she curled even closer to her arcanine. "I just don't know anymore! Sometimes I wish they'd just go away! All of them – all the humans! I can't trust any of them! I want to, but I just can't!"

"Is that really how you feel, Eve?" another human voice suddenly said, causing all of Eve's pokémon to jump in surprise; they'd been so focused on Eve that they hadn't noticed the new arrival.

At first, Eve's reaction was much more violent than that of her startled pokémon. Her mind was still halfway stuck in the waking nightmare, and the sound of a human was too much for her at the moment. She cried out for a moment and practically smothered herself against Aiden's side.

Eve, Mark didn't mean to scare you, Tim said as his voice rang out through Eve's head. Please calm down. You know we aren't here to hurt you.

Still Eve clung to Aiden's side. The shadowy people in her dream had said the same thing. They didn't want to hurt her. But they couldn't help it. It was their nature. They couldn't so much as touch her without burning her.

Eve suddenly felt Mark's hand on her shoulder, and jerked away from it; Aiden growled at Mark, perhaps venting some of his own frustration at being unable to soothe Eve's nightmares by making Mark into part of the problem.

Mark immediately withdrew his hand, though he kept his eyes trained on Eve as he sat himself down on the ground about a foot away from her. He was dangerously close to the fire, but he hardly seemed to care. "Eve, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come out of nowhere like that. But I missed you, and I wanted to see you again. I wanted to make sure you were all right. Guess I just made it worse."

He paused, and saw Eve's body relax ever so slightly. Encouraged, he continued, "I called Katsu earlier today – he told me that you all had made it to the Hoenn region, and that you were off looking for the last fragment."

He's had me slaving away all day in order to find you, Tim commented. He had me teleport all the way from Johto to this continent, which is difficult even for an abra as incredible as me. And then he only gave me a short break before we started teleporting from place to place, just searching for your presence with our minds. I'm exhausted.

Once again, Eve relaxed. She still was tucked against Aiden's side, yet she no longer gripped his fur. Mark could see her back heaving up and down, as if she was crying or shakily trying to regain control of her panicked breathing.

"Eve, you can't really want us to disappear, can you?" Mark asked, though his voice was more calming than accusatory. "Me, Katsu, Brian, Hope, Jenna, Cynthia, your parents… Are you that frightened of us?"

Eve's head shook slightly back and forth.

"Then why are you wishing for us to be gone?"

Eve shook her head again, as if to contradict that she had ever made such a wish. She remained facing away from Mark, but now she was simply resting against Aiden's side, as if she were too exhausted to even keep herself upright.

Then Eve felt herself being grabbed by Mark and pulled against him in what he meant to be a comforting hug. As always, paranoia entered Eve's mind and dominated her thoughts – it wasn't Mark holding her, but someone less trusted, more harmful. He would kill her, kill Basil again, kill all of her pokémon – she couldn't let that happen. With the strength of pure terror fueling her, she pushed away with all her might.

But with a power even stronger than that of terror, Mark somehow managed to keep hold of her. Aiden leaped to his feet and growled at the distress his trainer was going through; all of her other pokémon watched tensely, part of them as angry as Aiden and while another part wondered what would happen next.

Eve's panic remained at its peak for maybe ten seconds. Then, slowly, it began to fade. Within a minute, she was no longer actively struggling against Mark. In another five minutes, she had all but collapsed in his arms, her energy absolutely drained.

Yet in that state of half-wakefulness, she realized something. His touch didn't burn. He wasn't trying to hurt her. Nothing was wrong. If anything she felt… safe. Protected. Nothing could hurt her, so long as she stayed here, in his arms. Miraculously, she trusted.

And something else filled her, too. At first she confused it with the relief of feeling safe, but she quickly realized it was something more than that. Something more than she had ever felt before. A feeling so absolutely foreign to her in this specific form that if took her a minute to realize what it could possibly be.

Then she understood. Before, she had never loved Mark. Perhaps she hadn't needed to love anyone just then. Back when she had first met him – and when he had most certainly fallen in love with her – she had liked him as a friend, and admired him for his determination and beliefs.

But now she understood why he had insisted on holding her close to him, even when an angry arcanine was just waiting for the opportune moment to attack without hurting his own trainer. She knew now why he'd been so shocked when she hadn't trusted him when he and Jenna had come to rescue her. And she also knew that, for the same reason he had did and felt those things, she could no more want him or any of her other friends gone than she could want to destroy existence entirely.

She didn't move to return his embrace upon her realization, nor did she say anything. Yet as she stayed in his arms, Mark knew what she was feeling, and he hugged her all the harder.

Love… it's a strange thing, Eve thought, a tear or two of happiness trickling down her cheeks. I didn't know that humans could communicate without words, just like pokémon can… It's nice.

Another five minutes passed, then ten. Neither pokémon nor human said a word. After nearly half an hour, Mark relaxed his grip, and Eve let herself slide to the ground beside him. She was exhausted, and so she leaned against his shoulder; Mark, in turn, put his arm around her and pulled her close. He still said nothing. Eve had her eyes closed, and perhaps he couldn't even tell if she was awake or asleep.

~Pebble, I know why I'm doing this now,~ Eve said, her eyes still closed as she reclined in Mark's grip. ~I suppose it's the same reason I originally started trying to find the fragments… Except even then, I wasn't really sure what my reasons were.~

The dragon's eyes once again glinted as he leaned across the fire, silhouetting his face as he looked closely first at Mark, and then at Eve. ~And what are your reasons?~

~It's not to bring balance, though perhaps I'll need to do that, too,~ Eve said. ~But what I really want… I want to protect all of you, like I couldn't do for Basil. All of you pokémon, and all the pokémon I've ever known. But not just them – I want Mark to always be safe. And Brian and Katsu, too. Hope, and Cynthia and Jenna, and that Rose girl who was one of my guards back at the Indigo plateau… And that other Rose I knew, the really shy, really nice girl back at Earl's pokémon academy… And everyone else who has been kind to me. I want to make a world where they can be safe. Safe from what happened to Basil… and safe from what happened to me.~

The dragonair gracefully withdrew his head from its place above the fire, then curled his body into tight coils. ~In that case, we should all get some rest. For tonight, at least, I don't think your nightmares will worry either your mind or ours.~


So, sorry about the delay... But I'm officially moved into college now! ^_^ Anyway, so far, it looks like writing is going to be one of the top things for me to do in my down time, so hopefully I won't be putting things off to the last minute as I've been tending to do...

I wrote the first half of this chapter at random times while I was distracted by other stuff, so I didn't like it as much... But for some reason, I got really worked up while writing all of that last section. Guess I just don't have enough heart-to-heart moments in this fic. And I was feeling as if Eve's pokémon had been sort of marginalized in the last few chapters, which is how all that got started... And then that happened. Pretty nice, I guess. And plus, now that Eve is all sure of herself, I need not mince words while Eve continues on with her quest! She can be sure of herself! Yay!

Thanks for reading!