"WE SHOULD'VE WAITED A COUPLE DAYS!" Robert shouted over the roar of the wind, the blizzard intense.

"WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A CHOICE!" I yelled back to him, squinting through the seemingly endless white.

"WE ALREADY LOST THE PATH!" Alex struggled forwards, clasping her hand onto my shoulder, all of us barely being able to trudge through the snow. "WHAT NOW!?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I couldn't see my own breath through the blizzard anymore. The temperature in this mountain getting colder, Arcanine, Pyroar, and Ninetales the three Pokemon the only things keeping us warm. In these extreme conditions, we didn't want to waste their energy by trying to melt the snow around us completely, as the blizzard was still going strong.

"WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE ANY MAMOSWINES AGAIN!?" Alex shouted, and despite being right next to me, still sounded muted.

"BECAUSE WE'RE STILL IN THE SUMMER SEASON!" Robert yelled up to us. "IT'S NEVER REALLY THIS BAD APPARENTLY! THIS KIND OF WEATHER IS RARE DURING THIS TIME OF YEAR!"

"OH, I'M FEELING SO LUCKY RIGHT NOW!" I took another step forwards, only to find myself slipping. "WOAH!"

"ZENO!" Alex shouted, grabbing onto my arm. I dug my elbow into the snow, my feet trying to dig into the snow covered hill that sloped down. Arcanine barged through the snow, melting it as he went past. However, that only made things worse. The snow melted around our feet as he moved to help grab me with his mouth and Alex ended up slipping on puddles of water. I felt myself go weightless, then slammed into the snow, rolling downhill.

I tried digging my elbows into the snow, barely managing to slow myself down, seeing something else rolling down towards me. Alex. She slammed into me, sending us both tumbling down faster. As we rolled, I could see the occasional flicker of flames heading for us. I heard something big slide past us and grab onto me. Suddenly I was weightless, feeling very warm. I turned my head to see Arcanine's face, the back of my coat in his mouth as he skidded down the hill, running to gain control. Ninetales was here as well, Alex in her maw.

Arcanine began sliding, trying to regain control. Whatever happened after that I didn't remember, everything suddenly going black.

...

I drifted in and out of consciousness, until finally I was alert enough to hear the crackling and popping of fire. I opened my eyes, a small fire to my left, the heat feeling good on my face, I tried to move, but a huge lump of fur was pushed up against my right side. I breathed in, smiling as I recognized Arcanine.

I sat up, feeling hard stone wall against my back. I looked around and sure enough, we were in a cave.

"Oh thank Arceus you're awake," Alex rushed over, grasping my hand.

"Yeah," I smiled, then groaned, feeling my head. "How long was I out for?"

"A couple hours tops, I think," Alex didn't look very sure. Her coat was ripped in several places, Ninetales padding over to sit beside her trainer to keep her warm. I looked down at my own self, realizing my clothes had taken a beating too.

"I think I'm bruised in a couple places," I said, twinging as I pressed on my side. "Scratch that, I am. I don't think it's too bad."

"It isn't," Alex said quickly, looking away, a light blush spreading along her face.

I looked past her to the cave entrance, the blizzard still ongoing. "It doesn't seem like it's going to stop anytime soon. Looks like we'll have to stay here a while." I looked around the cave. "Where's Robert?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure he didn't fall with us and I'm hoping Pyroar stayed with him."

Arcanine shifted, head looming over me and he gave me a big lick.

I wiped away his slobber, chuckling. "Yeah, thanks Buddy. You saved me back there."

He woofed, laying his head back down.

"Hopefully it'll all blow over by tomorrow," Alex said, leaning against the wall beside me. "Hey, how long until the Kalos league tournament?"

I scrunched my face, trying to remember. "Clemont said about 3 weeks when we last saw them, right? So I'd say around 2 weeks, give or take."

"Well, we'd better hurry," Alex chuckled. "We have a lot on our plate to deal with," she lifted her hand, counting off with her fingers. "2 more gym badges, Team Radiance, Team Flare, the Cult of Chaos, and literally whatever else is out there waiting to screw us over."

I laughed, smiling. "Yeah, life seems to always want to ruin our day huh."

"So," I asked after minutes of silence. "This takes me back."

"The cave on Exeggutor Island," Alex seemed to be on the same wavelength as me. "Yeah, I remember. It's where you essentially rejected me, friend zoning me."

"Um," I didn't really know how to respond to that, but then Alex punched my shoulder.

"I'm just kidding," she was smiling, laughter in her eyes. "Lighten up a little."

"Yeah, okay," I nodded, leaning my head back.

A couple more minutes passed. Then, "I meant what I said then."

I looked at her, waiting for an explanation. She took a deep breath. "I didn't care how long I would have to wait and be by your side, waiting. Because I loved you..."

"But now?" I asked, feeling conflicting emotions.

"Now," Alex shook her head, pulling her knees in as close as she could. "I like you Zeno, but I'm not sure about my emotions enough to know for sure if it's love. During those 6 months after Alola, I had time to think. I know we definitely rushed our relationship, especially when you were revived, I just let my emotions control me, not really trying to understand them."

"It's just," she looked down. "We both share similar pasts, having families that weren't good for us, no matter how we try to justify it."

"Alex," I bit my lip, unsure, then went for it. "What exactly happened with you and your family?"

Alex stayed silent for a minute, then spoke. "They were fine during my early childhood. But then they lost their jobs and things went downhill from there. Both mom and dad got angrier, more prone to losing their temper. They got into drinking and drugs, beat me and my brother. I took most of it, I had to stick up for my brother anyway I could."

"I didn't know you had a brother," I said.

"Yeah," Alex's eyes seemed distant. "Hartley. He's only a year younger than me. He was always the good child, rarely the one they focused their anger towards. Me on the other hand, I let myself get blamed for anything he did wrong and was pretty rebellious." she sighed. "One time I was nearly beaten to death. I have a scar on my right side from a shard of glass. That was because I had tried to leave home. No one found out about that until the second time I tried running away, beaten again, but this time Hartley was able to call for help."

Alex rubbed her arm and I put a comforting hand over hers. It took a moment for her to realize I did that, so she smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "I recovered by the time my parents were sent to jail. Hartley and I were sent into foster care, but since I was old enough, I got a Pokemon and set out into the world. Alola ended up to be the place for me, since I was able to meet so many new friends."

"I did a bit of researching before we left Alola and found out my parents had been released from jail," Alex went on. "I thought, since you were leaving to make things right with your father, I should try reconciling with my parents. It was fine for a while, I visited them on occasion, catching up with my brother where he lived. Even got him over to see my parents," Alex closed her eyes. "Once I tried living there with them, that's when things went downhill again. Began demanding more of me, blaming me for all their troubles. Eventually, I just got fed up and left before they resorted to violence again."

"And I ended up here in Kalos," she finished. "My brother didn't want me to leave again, but Hoenn isn't my home anymore. I'm glad I left though," she looked at me. "Because I was able to be reunited with my friends."

I held out my arm and she accepted as I pulled her into a hug. "We're a family. You, me, Robert, all our Pokemon. And I think that's a family better than what you grew up with."

"Yeah," her voice was muffled as she held me tight.

When she pulled away, I said, "Since we were talking about it, I guess it's only fair to share what happened during the time I returned home."

Alex sat cross-legged now, listening.

"Giovanni," I started. "He knew he couldn't change me at that point, but he didn't care about what I had to say either. I don't even know why I was fooling myself, but I had to try. He gave me one option though. If I could find and take down various Team Rocket bases in Kanto and Johto, he would consider ending Team Rocket entirely."

"By yourself!?" Alex sounded shocked.

"Well, I think that was his intention," I shook my head. "Wear me down and bring me back into the fold someway or another. But I found help."

"Who?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Funnily enough," I cracked a smile. "My brother."

...

"Was told I could find you here," I said, leaning forwards on the railing, overlooking both Kanto and Johto, the gates to the Indigo League behind me. "Heard you stole a Pokemon from Elm's Pokemon Lab."

"Heard you were a trained assassin," the teen next to me said indifferently. "And that you were the one who caused the Goldenrod Incident," he turned his dark eyes on me. "What? Father decide he doesn't like me being out on my own?"

"I don't think he even cares," I shook my head. "Look, I changed, a lot. I only came back because I'm trying to make things right with him."

He snorted. "Good luck with that," he turned his head to look back at the city below, the sun setting in the distance. "So, what do you want then, Zeno?"

"Your help," I looked at him, standing straighter. "There's a chance that I can end Team Rocket. Giovanni has tasked me with trying to take down all the bases here in Kanto and Johto."

"You realize there's barely any chance at all he's telling the truth, right?" he glanced at me.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "But even so, what would be the harm? We would still be taking down Team Rocket. What do we have to lose?"

He sighed deeply, deep in thought. Finally, he stood, his Feraligatr lumbering over to his side. "Alright, fine then, brother."

He shook his head, grinning. "Been a while since we really got to hang out. Where do we start?"

I shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me. I know of a couple of places, sure, but not enough of Johto's side."

"Fine," he put his hand on my shoulder. "On the way, you can tell me all about how you went through this whole personality change."

"Fine fine," I grinned, which he seemed surprised by. "Hey, thanks for helping me, Silver."

Silver ran his hand through his dark red hair, straightening his jacket. "What are brothers for, even if one was a murderous assassin."

...

"Silver huh," Alex shook her head. "What kind of name is that?"

"Don't really know," I laughed. "Anyway, we spent most of our time tracking down Team Rocket from intel I barely remembered and places he thought he saw Team Rocket at before. In the end, we never did get them all, though Giovanni probably wouldn't have cared either way. After returning to Team Rocket's headquarters for a brief period, I met up with Jessie, James, and Meowth and came here."

I thought for a second, then added, "Oh, Silver is my half-brother. Pretty sure we don't have the same mother."

"For someone like Giovanni, that makes sense," Alex shook her head. "Look, back to what we were talking about before our pasts," she took a deep breath. "I want to know if my feelings for you are real, so at some point, I want to become more than friends."

"I..." I leaned my head back. "I do too. We have a good thing going here, but maybe it'll become more," I grasped her hand. "Let's just let continue on our journey, making friends, seeing new places, and become even greater friends, alright?"

"Sounds good to me," Alex nodded, yawning. "Man, I'm tired."

"We should get some rest," I winced as I stood. "Me especially." I grabbed my backpack and pulled it closer, digging out some food we could eat without too much trouble. "Here."

"Thanks," Alex accepted the food and after we ate, lay with our Pokemon for the warmth and comfort.

...

"Zeno," Alex shook me awake. "Zeno."

"What?" I said, instantly alert, sitting up, trying not to wince at the pain in my side.

"Look," she said.

Around us in the cave were Pokemon. There were two Abomasnows, a couple of Snovers, Sneasels, a Delibird, and two different types of Pokemon that I didn't recognize.

"What's going on?" I asked, getting up. Arcanine and Ninetales were already up, both looking slightly agitated.

"I don't know," Alex looked as confused as I felt.

One of the Pokemon I didn't recognize flew over to Alex. It looked like a Ice Bug type Pokemon with flowing wings and beautiful blue and white eyes with long eyelashes. Two soft looking antenna floated from her head and she looked like she was wearing a fur coat. She let out a sound like that of wind chimes, but softer and more mysterious sounding.

"I think she wants us to follow her," Alex said and the Bug Pokemon smoothly floated over to the cave entrance, looking back at us. Alex and I shared a look, deciding on the same thing. In less than a minute, we had our things gathered.

Thankfully the blizzard had stopped, but the snow outside was still a over a foot thick. A river roared somewhere to our left and the Bug Pokemon gently flew ahead of us.

"Here," I helped Alex onto Arcanine's back and Ninetales ran alongside us. Whatever was agitating all these Pokemon couldn't be good. My suspicions were confirmed when far on the other side of the river, right in front of one of the snow covered mountains, a blast of energy shot into the sky.

"What is that?" Alex wondered.

"No idea," I looked at our guide and sure enough she was crossing over the river. "But we need to find a way across this river. Whatever's going on over there can't be good."

...

"What was that?" Eve demanded.

Kamake was busy tapping on her device, forehead creased. "Energy became too unstable, had to be released in order for both to remain synced."

"Damn," Eve ran over to the computer monitor, checking the outside area. "Something like that was bound to be seen," she whirled around, pointing at Enzo. "Form a couple squads. I don't want anyone coming to investigate around this area. Look out for Zeno and his friends especially. They tend to show up when they're not wanted."

She turned to the computer monitoring the vitals and syncing process, both hands clenched on the table they sat on. "C'mon. We're so close. No one will interfere with this, I won't let them. I will bring you back for sure, mother."

So more was learned of Alex's past and what Zeno was up to during that 6 month period between HBoD and LDOC. I'm not planning on doing really any flashbacks focusing on both Zeno and Silver, but who knows? I might always end up doing that anyway. Also, we're nearing the end of what I call the Life Arc, where Zeno and Alex race to where Team Radiance's secret base lies. Will Cassandra, the deceased former leader of Team Radiance be revived? Who knows. With me, as you all know, anything and everything is possible. So until then my wonderful readers! Toodles!