¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··June 20th, 2015

"Nori Carino, to the front office. There is someone here to see you."

Mrs. Stetcher's voice came in through the intercom just after 1:30pm. Her words filled Nori with an uncertain dread, despite her being one of the only people at the Gym who still treated him fairly. He could think of nobody who he would want to meet with now. Well, Lux, but that was a fantasy.

It was not to be, because the person waiting for him was a boring man in a boring suit with boring hair holding a boring suitcase. The very picture of an office worker. He offered a handshake, which the boy accepted. "Good afternoon, Mr. Carino. My name is Tom Peterson, from Special Trainer Development." Even his name was boring. "I've come here today on behalf of the Officials."

Nori sighed. Here it comes, he thought. The only thing he was surprised about was that it took so long.

"Do you have anywhere to speak in private?"

"Yeah, sure. There's a few places. The medical room is usually clear."

He led the man to the ever-familiar room, where a lot of events in his time here had happened. A lot of his talks with Betsy-Ann, and the first time he spoke with Arumi. Coach Norling, ironically one of few staff members in the Gym who could tolerate him despite his role in Betsy-Ann's dismissal, understood at once. He gave a wave and took his leave, allowing Nori to sit down in his comfy swivel chair.

"All right, this is about Kallisto, isn't it?"

Peterson shook his head as he calmly sat in one of the normal seats. "No, not directly. However, there has been growing concern among the upper echelon of your growing notoriety." He opened his briefcase and retrieved some papers from it. "An online petition to get you removed from your position has reached 12000 signatures as of this morning. Internal sources have indicated a protest in front of the Gym is likely in the near future. It has also come to our attention that you have been receiving death threats."

"It's Kallisto who caused all this," he cut in, crossing his arms and turning the chair the other way. "It's his popularity you should be worried about."

"Nevertheless, we want you to be aware that we're simply monitoring the situation for now. We haven't made any decisions yet."

He half-turned back. "So what's going to happen?"

"We're discussing our options."

"That doesn't tell me much."

"When we've made a decision, we'll let you know right away."

Nori turned back all the way and slammed his fists on the desk. "You're just going to fire me, aren't you? Why don't you just get it over with?"

"There have been some pushing for you to get fired. Others have been pushing to relocate you to Europe or North America. However, nothing has been decided as of this time. As I said, we're discussing our options."

Nori lowered his chin. As he was about to yell at the man, he felt a total lack of energy to do so. His lip curled. "All right," he muttered.

"Thank you for the time. I'll let you get back to work."

Not that he had a say in giving him the time. Nori got up at once and went outside ahead of Peterson. He gave a side-glance to the coach as he did so. The man swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, yet only said, "Sorry."

"That won't help, but thanks," the boy replied. This was not looking good for him. And why were they taking so long to decide his fate when it was inevitable? There were probably too many Kallisto-lovers for his few supporters to ignore. This was stupid.

This had been the first exhibition day since January that Nori did not have a battle lined up, nor did Volkner expect him to participate. Nevertheless, the boy reluctantly accepted three challenges, if only for the sake of his Pokemon. Pachi was eager to get into it, whereas the Demon came within a threshold of her old days in the two battles she participated in. After the Officials had visited however, he spent the rest of the day upstairs.

When things got too loud after the 5:30pm intermission, he decided to step outside. He sat on the grass near the Gym, allowing Pachi to roll around and play. He lost track of time, nearly nodding off at several points. He was soon snapped out of it by a voice.

"Hey."

He looked up expecting to see Volkner, but it was someone else. A large man clad in a dark purple, nearly black outfit with blood-red arm and leg sections.

"And you are?" he asked, barely looking at him. Pachi ran over with interest. Nori gave him an idle pat as he looked around. It was pretty much just him and this man.

"My boss's heard about your situation," the man said in a low grovel. "And she's impressed by your brutality."

Nori blinked and looked up at him. "You're a criminal, right?" he slowly inquired. Pachi stood ready, and although Nori saw a gun hidden beneath his uniform, didn't see any reason to be on guard. "Not that I really care to snitch."

The man was unflinching, only cackling sinisterly. Just as Nori thought. He dropped a scrap of paper into the boy's lap. "Call and ask for PHJ. The boss would be glad to have you."

He idly pocketed the note. "If I have nowhere else to go, maybe."

The goon wasted no time in bringing out a large bird made of bright gray steel. The Skarmory spread its red wings as its trainer mounted it, and flew away over some buildings.

PHJ. Whoever that was. Suddenly, Nori could imagine a grim future for himself. No one wanting to hire him anywhere, the government refusing to give him aid, and not being able to get a single coin of pity from people in the street. A future where he was reduced to a beast. Struggling to survive each day on whatever he could forage from trash cans and the wild, while trying not to end up some hungry Pokemon's meal. At least if he became a criminal, he could live like a human being.

He thought of some badass outlaw gunning Kallisto down. No, of them horribly injuring Kallisto and everyone who wronged them before stealing all their Pokemon, and flying away in a massive airship or something. That would be worth it to see. But, would life be worth living like that? He'd have to commit terrible atrocities. He'd have to live in fear of the police, trying to stay one step ahead at each turn. He'd have to do things that would make him hate himself.

It just wouldn't be worth it. Then again, not a lot seemed worth it right now.

After 7pm, Nori was letting his Pokemon practice in the training room. The Gym would ordinarily be closed at that hour on a weekend, but exhibition day superseded this and it remained open until the usual time of 9pm. He was eventually accosted by a knock at the door, and none other than Kallisto Keravnos stepped into the room.

The Demon immediately stopped her workout and ran over to bare her fangs at Kallisto. Even Pachi fired a dirty look at the head Gym Trainer.

"Calm down, I'm just here to talk," he said, although he reached for his belt and sent out Raitora. The two Pokemon growled at each other, and for a moment, it appeared they were going to come to blows. However, all they did was exchange verbal unpleasantries. "So, Nori–"

"You've had your match, why are you here?" he demanded. It was victory by a wide margin, as usual. "Never mind. Did you get my present a couple days ago?"

Kallisto blinked. "I did. Thanks for the card," he replied, slowly. Never before had Nori poured that much heart into making one, not even for Lux or Claris Willins. Nor had he ever given that big a present before. Addressing them, the head Gym Trainer said, "The threats aren't serious. The police will handle them."

"How do you know that? What if one of your crazy fans tries to kill me? Or actually does kill me?" The head Gym Trainer turned away, rubbing his scalp. "What then? What would you do?"

Kallisto gripped some of his hair. "That isn't going to happen, and no fans of mine–"

"Stop BSing! This is all your fault and you know it!" The two Pokemon glanced up from their staredown. "Do you really think I deserve all this? If so, be honest and say it to my face! You're saying people will hate me if I keep acting how I am. I already knew that, I've been through it before! If you hadn't said or done anything, do you think they'd hate me as much as they do now? Do you think I'd reach that point eventually?"

That was the point of all this. That was what he would hoping Kallisto would realize. His friends already seemed to, but he wanted to hear it from him. Kallisto opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. He squinted, unable to give one. Silence was telling.

Nori took a deep breath. "I have one more question, then."

He remained quiet for the longest time. Maybe twenty, thirty seconds passed before Kallisto finally spoke up. "W-well?" he stuttered, shoulders tense as he blinked rapidly. "What is it?"

Nori's empty glare made Kallisto take a step back. These thoughts had been on his mind for the longest time. He didn't know what to think. But he threw a dozen words that not only stunned Kallisto, but the Pokemon as well. "If your life was like this, would that be one worth living?"

"N-Nori," the head Gym Trainer asked, hands trembling. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, think what it's like to be in my shoes!"

He recalled his Pokemon and stomped out of the room. For once, he left the head Gym Trainer at a complete loss for words.

"I can't take it anymore, Tono."

Kallisto paced restlessly around the trainer's lounge. Tono fidgeted uncomfortably in the chair. His best friend had asked to speak to him here in private, and he was unsure what to think of his behavior.

"I have so many questions and too little answers. He's defiant, I know. But now he's not even listening! What's going through his mind? Is he of sound mind at all anymore?!"

"Kallisto," he interrupted. "You need to make things right."

All of this had started because he blew up at him in public last exhibition day. Nori hadn't even done anything to warrant that outburst, at least at the time. He was not insulting him like Radovan or Haruna had been. Even if Nori had done things in the past to deserve a public lecture, it was mistimed if not misguided altogether.

Kallisto sighed. "He asked if my life was like his, if would it be worth living. What do you think?"

"Absolutely not," was Tono's reply. He had nearly been to that place himself before. "It is getting to him. The fact that he has hung on for as long as he has speaks volumes about his inner strength, but everyone has their limits."

"Do you think he might...?" he worriedly asked. "You know?"

"Anything is possible." Tono did not believe Nori Carino was the type to quit, let alone on life. Yet that was the problem. If he would not do that, what else would he do?

Kallisto processed this for over a minute. Eventually, he nodded. "There's only one thing to do. I need to talk to him. Publicly."

He quietly nodded in approval. That would be the way. "So what do you think about this main event?" Tono asked, shifting the conversation away. "Two rivals from Hoenn who have traveled all the regions of the country. They are having an all-out battle in public for the first time in six years, never able to meet during a League conference. Do you believe the reason is they have a ceiling?"

"I don't know, I'm not thinking about that right now." Kallisto sighed. "Thanks. I need to go get ready for this. I just hope Volkner will let me get it off my chest right now."

Tono lowered his head. He could understand that much, but the fact it was an issue in the first place was cause for concern. The pressure was now starting to get to Nori Carino, that much was evident. Yet having known Kallisto for many years now, he could see that his best friend was starting to feel it as well.

He wouldn't dare say it, but Tono was aware the resolution of this situation would come down to who cracked first, and how.

Shortly before the main event of the evening was set to commence, Nori was told to come to the arena over the intercom. The boy reluctantly decided to answer the call, for lack of anything better to do. But he decided to take his time getting there, given there was only one person who would request such a thing. Eventually, he entered from a balcony, peering down at the restless crowd below.

His suspicions about who wanted him here were instantly confirmed. "Thank you for coming, Nori," Kallisto said, walking to the middle of the arena to address him. "I have some things I want to say to you."

Nori didn't reply, save for a blank expression. What could be going through Kallisto's mind?The only thing to do was listen and find out.

"The past few months," he started. "I've been treating you more poorly than I should've. There's been things I should have and shouldn't have done. And yes, there have been some things I did that would've gotten anyone else arrested and charged. For that, I cannot apologize enough to you."

This was nothing he hadn't heard before, besides him doing it in public this time.

Kallisto took a deep breath. He quivered before speaking again. "However, there's someone else who needs to apologize."

This was going to go just like last time, wasn't it? Nori had heard enough. He pulled himself up, swinging his legs over the railing. A collective of gasps and shouts rang out from below as he brought himself over the banister.

"Nori, no!" screamed Kallisto.

"Nori!" Volkner shouted at him from below.

"Don't do it, man!" urged Ollie.

Eddie took a proactive approach. "Magnezone, stop him!" He threw out his Pokemon, who rushed forth and hovered below him. The boy listlessly waved at hovering set of ovals and magnets. Confused, it looked back at its trainer.

"Nori, what are you doing?!" shrieked the head Gym Trainer.

"Um, sitting on the railing?" he replied, gripping it tightly. It quickly dawned upon him on seeing the Pokemon below his feet. "Er, did you think I was going to jump?"

"Yes!" came the anguished reply of Kallisto.

"Well, I'm not." Nori swung his legs back and forth. He'd always wanted to try this. Hadn't they ever heard of like, sitting on the edge of a cliff before? He liked doing things like this in Veilstone, as long as there wasn't water below. There were sighs of relief and stares of disbelief. Kallisto gripped his skull, knees quivering like jelly.

It was interesting he mentioned that, however. It tied in to some of the things he'd been looking into. "But did you know over 30 people commit suicide in this country every day?"

Kallisto snapped to attention. "He's right. It's the second-highest in developed nations around the world."

Nori looked down at the head Gym Trainer, as much as he could with the still-vigilant Magnezone in the way - probably good of it to be there just in case, at least. He wasn't sure what Kallisto was doing talking along with him, but continued. "There's a lot of different motivations behind it. Like honor."

"Finance," Kallisto cut in.

Nori shrugged, and let him play along. "Bad grades."

"Isolation."

"Social anxiety."

"Workplace issues."

"Relationship issues."

"General depression."

"Bullying," Nori sharply added.

Kallisto winced. "It doesn't help that mental health care is a mess," he stated, wisely ending it on that. "But what are you trying to get at, Nori?"

Nori leaned back, waving his feet. "I told you, think about it."

"Oh. Yes." He actually did think about it?! Kallisto turned to the crowd to address them. "Nori Carino and I have our disagreements, yes. But you shouldn't brand him a pariah because of that. There's a lot of good to be said about him. He has a strong heart and won't accept inequity. And don't forget, he's going to be helping Pokemon no one else can or will. Nori has his flaws, sure. But everyone does, myself included."

"A lot of this is their fault," Nori said, pointing to the audience and hoping Kallisto would get the hint. "In their case, it's for me being different."

Kallisto silenced their boos, unloading on them. "The ones who needed to apologize were you. All of you who ever have should be ashamed! He's a twelve-year-old boy, for love of the gods. He has his whole life ahead of him, and you're robbing him of it by treating him no different than career criminals! That may be the only path left for him if you do!" He spoke with angered passion, as if he were a raving protester on the side of the road. "I know there's not one of you here who doesn't love me. But just because Nori hates me doesn't mean he should be scorned!"

And there were murmurs. Nori heard several apologies coming at him from below. This was not what he had been expecting, nor what he was hoping for. But he didn't hate it, either.

Kallisto looked back up at him. "There it is, Nori. Is that what you were looking for?" he pleaded.

A shrug. "Sort of."

"So can we finally put this all behind us?"

Nori turned himself around and got his feet down onto the balcony. "Not yet. But thank you."

With those genuine words, he left the arena.

What Nori had been hoping for was for Kallisto to realize what he had done to him. For the head Gym Trainer to realize all the grief his own actions had called Nori. He hadn't been expecting anything. Instead, Kallisto had partially apologized again and blamed the public. That was going to alleviate some of the pressure, yet he did nothing to address his role. There was something off about it all, and he wanted someone else's thoughts.

After everyone else had left after 10pm, Nori accosted Volkner as he was heading out the door. "So what did you think?" he asked.

"About Kallisto's apology?"

"Yeah."

"Hard to place. What about you?"

"About the same." It wasn't much of a first step, but it was something. More than he'd ever done before. "But I don't know."

Volkner scratched his cheek. He looked up and snapped his fingers. "He said he was sorry. But it felt he was sorry for you, rather than at what he'd done."

Nori crossed his arms, holding himself. "That makes sense, now that you mention it." The boy sighed, sitting down on a seat. "I guess Kallisto does have a conscience. But is that the only reason why he said what he did?"

"I don't know." Volkner sat down across from him. "One thing to say to you. Sometimes you need to do things you don't want to. Even if you don't like him, don't go looking for trouble."

The boy leaned back. He wanted to keep being himself. Part of him wanted to keep fighting this until Kallisto got what he deserved. But was that even possible to accomplish?

"I guess," he admitted. Today was the tiniest victory. The most important thing right now was himself, not the injustice. Not being on Kallisto's bad side anymore was a start. The public hopefully being off his case was even better. Yet something was bothering him. "It does bug me it took him this long to do anything."

The Gym Leader nodded. "Should trust your instinct on that one."

So it wasn't wrong to think of it that way. He added, "Plus it's just an apology. He's saying things, but not doing things to make up for it."

"Yeah." The Gym went to leave and had nearly made it out the door. He halted and came back. "By the way, have you noticed something about him lately?"

"Not really."

"Kallisto's been more high-strung than usual."

Nori blinked. "Today?"

"Since the 6th." The Gym Leader turned around. "Don't know what it is. He's been snapping at and lecturing challengers and the others more."

Nori had been avoiding Kallisto as much as possible. From what little he'd seen of him, he could get that. His actions contradicted themselves. He came to talk to Nori, but ended up hearing him talk and saying nothing? He went to apologize, but really didn't? He acknowledged the death threats, but completely brushed them off? He'd all but killed Nori with his denouncing, but wanted him to live anyway?

"Is he going crazy?" the boy wondered.

Volkner shrugged. "Could be," he casually and unhelpfully quipped. "Anything else?"

"One thing." Maybe this was nothing. "It only occurred to me recently. For the longest time, Kallisto always called me Carino. Just like he calls Ollie and Eddie and just about everyone else by their last names unless they ask not to like you or Tono. But he stopped at some point."

It was a weird thing. He'd forgotten exactly when Kallisto started with it, besides being after one of their arguments. But it stuck out to him. And he notably still called him Nori. Why?

Volkner scratched his cheek. "Hm. Strange indeed. Anyway, good night."

"Night."

The truth was, Nori didn't know what to think anymore. Was he going crazy? He was actually thinking of things like joining criminal gangs, murder, or just giving up and going home. He still had his sound mind holding him back, but how long was that going to hold?

And as for Kallisto, Nori wasn't sure what to make of him anymore. Had he really realized his mistakes? Or was he just trying to avoid responsibility like always? And what was going on in his mind? All he'd seen pointed to one thing: he still needed to be wary of the head Gym Trainer.

¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··¨··..··June 21st, 2015

Kallisto asked to have Sunday off, a request that Volkner had granted. Nobody could blame him after what happened. Tono received a call from him after lunch, right as he was leaving the bathroom. Thankfully, he had just washed his hands.

After a bit of small talk, the conversation went where he expected. "How is he?" his best friend asked.

He did not have to speak his name. "If you mean Nori Carino," he asked to clarify. "He has not spoken to us since this morning, and it was only a hello."

"Figures," he groaned with concern. "I didn't ask yesterday, but what did you think of yesterday?"

Tono hummed. His initial thought was to not say much about it, when he recalled a conversation from last month. Kallisto stated he wanted a friend to say things others would not. Someone to be a voice of reason. Even Nori himself had agreed that was what true friends had to do sometimes. Tono had been trying to do that more for Kallisto as of late. It was time to do so once more.

"Kallisto, your apology rang a little hollow, and did not address some of the core issues," he informed. "If you are truly concerned and want in his good graces once more, I suggest you make a more genuine effort. Take a different approach than you have been. Words are not enough at this point."

He sighed. "I'm not wrong about Nori needing to change. I know that. I want to help him see that before it's too late."

"Kallisto." Tono pulled his glasses up, rubbing an eyelid. "That assertation of yours is what caused all this to happen in the first place."

There was a dread-filled pause on the other line. "Yes. And I know I took things too far with calling him on it in public. I never thought people would take it this seriously."

"Did you not?" Tono inquired with a measure of bewilderment. "You know the respect you carry, and that your word is sacred to many. You have not only exploited that several times, but subtly admitted to doing as such yesterday." Kallisto knew full well what he could and could not get away with. He was a master of towing the line.

A light chuckle. "I knew people would hate him for it," he confessed, trying and failing to find his sense of humor. "I just didn't think the entire nation would get on his case about it."

"And now you do." On the contrary, Kallisto was almost certainly aware, merely being horrified at the results. Yet Tono saw no sense in addressing that part of the matter. "That said, if you are set, be as tactful as you can. And remember, he is likely going to spurn your advice once more. Ultimately, you may end up having to respect his decision." He tapped his fingers on the wall before adding, "That said, I believe this is a bad idea."

"Maybe, but I want to make one last try at this." A brief pause. "Anyway, we'll talk more tonight. Thanks for this."

"Anytime, my friend." Tono hung up and pocketed his cell phone.

This was a delicate situation. He was fully aware of an ironic fact. If Kallisto insisted upon not respecting Nori's opinion, that was a decision to be respected as well. His best friend was certainly aware of the potential consequences - at least, Tono was hoping he was. But if he was set, all Tono could do was stand by his friend. Even if he had a bad feeling about this...

A/N: Happy New Year! So now that it's stated in fic, did you notice that Kallisto started calling Nori by his first name at some point? There is a reason for it back then, but the reasons for it now are more interesting to think about.

This took more time to edit than expected. This chapter was also originally supposed to take the story to its next major turning point. I split it and added content to better pace it and not take away from the events that happened here. But that will be next time. And yes I know the statistic is less than in real life but that's by conscious design due to considering several factors.