It wasn't even light out yet when I woke up the next day.

I stared up at the ceiling while Celeste breathed peacefully beside me. I had a lot on my mind, and was trying to sort through all the thoughts running in my head. When I started to get a headache, I decided to take a page out of Sabrina's book and started to meditate. I breathed in deeply through my nose, exhaling slowly out of my mouth, and turned my attention to Boomer, who hung on the ceiling light. I watched his body expand and collapse from his breathing, and began to look at the individual hairs that made up his fur. I started to count them, group them together, make patterns out of them, and felt my headache subsiding. Movement on the bed brought me out of my trance, and I saw Sabrina stretching.

"You awake Sabrina?" I whispered softly. She cracked an eye open and looked at me, her mouth turning up slightly. She started to reach behind her to grab her wand, curling her claws around it, and I smiled at her. I slowly pulled myself out of bed and went over to the window, sitting in the loveseat beneath it while she joined me.

'Sleep well?' She asked, the flame of her wand catching my eye.

"I did, until I had that dream again." I told her quietly.

'What's wrong?' She asked with a yawn.

"Nothing. Well, not one thing anyway. I thought about the dream, and the journal, and the Reapers, and Xerneas and Yveltal, and..." I said, stopping as she put a paw up to me.

'Sort thoughts.' She said with a small whine. I sighed and looked down.

"I tried. I did that breathing thing you showed me and focused on Boomer, but it distracted me. What am I doing wrong?" I asked her, thinking that maybe I wasn't meditating correctly.

'Expecting results. Not a conflict. Not a solution.' She said, crossing her legs and staring at her flame. I watched her and thought over her words, trying to decipher the Braixen's explanation. The problem was I wanted results, I got that much.

"I understand that I want it to give me answers, but how can I not expect that when meditation is supposed to help you organize your thoughts?" I asked her.

'It's not. It calms.' She said, never moving her gaze.

"It's hard to be calm when you have PTSD and are reliving what gave you PTSD. Will you help me, Sabrina?" I said, biting my lip. Sabrina smiled and flicked her eyes up at me, turning her gaze back to her wand and making it brighter.

'Dream?' She asked. I smiled gratefully and watched her flame.

"I saw it again, the creature who has been guiding me. It's worried about me. About a lot of things, actually. Things are happening faster than it can anticipate. It wants to protect me, but doesn't know how. I still don't even know what it is." I told her.

'The book.' She said next, not commenting on my dream.

"I want to understand it, it might have answers we need about all of this. Not just Mega Evolution but the Reapers too, and the legendary pokemon." I told her, pausing to start up. She put a paw up and looked at me.

'Wait for me.' She said. I was frustrated by her response, but I nodded, saying nothing as I looked at her fire. After a couple minutes, though it seemed like forever, Sabrina nodded and gestured me to continue.

"This would be easier if they were all connected. Like, if the being talking to me WAS Xerneas or Yveltal I could ask it about the events of the past, and about the Reapers and how they connect. I wish this was easier." I said, frowning.

'But it's not. Now what?' Sabrina asked, blinking slowly.

"I guess, just keep going forward. Maybe I should focus on a problem I can get results from." I said, looking over at Celeste. She still slept soundly, rolling over with her back to me. Sabrina said nothing, though her gaze followed mine and we watched Celeste. The more I learned about this girl, the more confused I was on how to help. Just as things seemed to be working, she falters and retreats into her shell again.

I sighed loudly and leaned back in the loveseat, not really caring if I woke Celeste up or not. I was putting myself into a frenzy again and you know what sucks about that? I knew I was doing it and couldn't stop it. My anxiety and desire to fix everything was getting the best of me, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. Why does this have to be so hard?

'Look' Sabrina said, interrupting my thoughts. I cracked an eye open and looked at her, turning my gaze to follow hers. I had to adjust myself in the loveseat to turn around and gasped at the sight.

The sun was rising, and with it, a new day was here. The blackness of the night sky was retreating, leaving a soothing mixture of dark and light blues to billow out above us. From the sun, ribbons of pink stretched out and mixed with the blues, leaving darker hues where the two colors touched. I hummed in content and stared out at the sky, feeling relaxed. Sometimes the simple solutions were the best ones.

"Thanks, Sabrina." I said, reaching over to put my hand on her leg. She said nothing, but I felt her paw on top of my hand. We stared at the sunrise together, and I felt my mind clear, if only temporarily.

"Are you certain you have what you need? I mean, I suppose I could part with a Ponyta or two." Count Parfum asked. I heard Celeste inhale excitedly, but she yelped as I flicked the back of her neck, kicking the dirt with my toe to check my shoes.

"I doubt a Ponyta will be faster than the Reapers. If we run into them again we're better off either relying on Genny or stealth." I said, narrowing my eyes at Celeste who gave me puppy dog eyes. She sighed and turned away, smiling at the Count.

"Yeah I guess she's right. The supplies are awesome though! Thanks so much! I guess the sooner we get there the better. Thanks again!" She said, turning on her heel and walking towards the gates. I nodded at Count Parfum as I turned to follow after her, the sounds of him and Captain wishing us luck boosting my confidence slightly. Boomer and Sasha floated above us, keeping a firm eye and ear on our surroundings. As much as I enjoyed our stay here, it felt like we had been here for far too long. We had almost completely lost sight of our mission to investigate Mega Evolution.

"Ugh I'm overthinking shit again. Maybe we'll have some normalcy when we get to Ambrette. Celeste?" I said, looking up to see her staring at the glade. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was at a loss for words. Celeste took a deep breath and reached into her bag, rummaging around in it. At first, I thought maybe she stuck Mitsy's pokeball in there and she was going to call her out for comfort. Then I saw a flash of purple and furrowed my brow in confusion as she instead lifted out a large object. She held her fossil in front of her and let out her breath, her fingers gripping it tightly.

"I dunno why, but something is telling me that I'd feel safe holding this." She said, pulling the fossil close to her.

"You mean, your voice is telling you to cuddle a rock for safety?" I asked. Celeste laughed, genuinely amused by my comment. It was a pleasant sound, and one that I didn't realize I missed.

"No, I haven't heard from ghost mom in awhile." She said, making me snort.

"Ghost Mom? Really?" I asked, taken aback by her sudden name.

"This is gonna sound weird but like, I feel like the fossil itself is trying to reassure me. I look at it and feel safe and loved. Aldith, do you think fossils are alive before we revive them? Do you think they can hear us?" She asked, taking a step forward. I tilted my head and looked at my own bag, reaching inside and pulling out my dark teal fossil. I brushed my fingers over the wing-like imprint on it, humming in contemplation.

"You mean, like an egg? I can't say for sure. From what little experience I have, Genny has told me and Colress that she does remember bits of the past." I said, making Celeste gasp.

"Genny is a prehistoric pokemon? That's so cool!" She said, and I chuckled at her.

"Well, sort of. For lack of a better term, Genny is more of an abomination than a prehistoric pokemon. I don't remember all the details but Colress said that he used a fossil of an apex predator related to Kabutops to form the base, then filled in the gaps with other pokemon DNA. Sort of like that one movie where all the pokemon went rogue." I said, putting my fossil away.

"But why?" She asked as we got close to the glade. I sighed and crossed my arms, holding my biceps.

"We were trying to make a pokemon as strong as a legendary, remember? You know how you asked about Mewtwo earlier? We decided that going strictly organic is what screwed Team Rocket. We partially revived the fossil so we could outfit it with electronics because computers are easier to manipulate than organic life." I explained.

"So, Genny isn't real?" Celeste asked sadly. I smiled and shook my head.

"Of course she's real. And we have Vixen to thank for that." I said, making Celeste confused.

"Huh? I thought Vixen was fighting Team Plasma?" She asked.

"She was, but when she met Colress she didn't know he was in Team Plasma. Colress is a nerd, he likes knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and at the time he was focused on bringing out the power in pokemon. Vixen's bond with Lola made her really powerful, and that convinced Colress that letting pokemon have free will wasn't such a bad idea. The theory was he could manipulate that free will and make a pokemon stronger than if he just forced it to act like a computer." I said. Celeste chuckled awkwardly and faced the glade.

"That's...sweet in a morbid kind of way. I like Genny though, so I guess it worked out." She said, taking a step inside. I bit my lip as I watched her, and with a quick glance to the Noibat above me, I took a deep breath and walked inside.

"Wow, Wulfric works fast for a man in his seventies." I said, marveling at the scene before us. What once was a bloody wasteland reeking of death, was now a calm and peaceful landscape teeming with life. You would have never guessed the tragedy that occurred here not even days ago with how serene everything was. Trees that had been torn down were suddenly alive again. The dirt beneath us didn't even seem disturbed until we walked upon it. Celeste made a quiet sob and fell to her knees, and I was at her side instantly.

"This...this is so beautiful. Could Xerneas have done this? How close is it?" She asked, looking around as tears fell down her face. I smiled and looked along with her.

"I don't know. It's possible, we're not close but we're not far from it. I watched firsthand how Kyurem created a massive blizzard that engulfed an entire city, and that was when he was under our control and most of his power was being diverted elsewhere. Who knows what life itself personified is capable of?" I said, sighing as Boomer landed on my back. He and Sasha hummed in wonder as Celeste slowly stood up, displacing Sasha a bit when she landed on her head.

Life finds a way, and we keep moving forward.

TBC

So, to explain where I've been would be a chapter in and of itself. It's easier to just say now that I have more time on my hands, I'm gonna try to crank these out at least once a week now. With two more games released since X and Y I've got a lot of material for new stories, and I am itching to start again. I hope you guys are ready to continue the journey with me, and to those of you who are new, welcome. I can't promise exactly when updates will come, but I will make a more serious effort from here on out.

See you guys in 34!