Whatever Brendan and Lisia had been talking about did not end on a good note.

The front door of Lane's house slammed open not two seconds after May knocked on it. Brendan strode right past her and Steven as though he'd already been well on his way out before they'd even arrived. Lisia slowly followed him out.

Their expressions had been switched. Lisia now appeared as Brendan had when he'd stood with May on Charles' dock just an hour ago – her eyes were downcast, and her face was pale. Brendan, on the other hand, had the same irritated set to his jaw that had previously been donned by Lisia; he looked as though he were holding in a scream.

May looked between the two of them.

"Is everything okay?" she asked even though the answer was clear.

Brendan unclenched his jaw long enough to say, "Yes."

Lisia said nothing.

When the group's pokémon were summoned, Brendan went straight to Tropius, and Lisia to Salamence.

Yesterday, they were calling each other by their pet names. Now, they couldn't even look at one another. Brendan had said that they'd had arguments before, but May doubted any of them had ever been as bad as this.

"Don't make that face," Steven said gently. "They'll be fine."

"But they –"

"They'll be fine," he repeated. "I'm sure they can work it out for themselves."

"Still…" She felt partly to blame for whatever it was that was going on between them. Maybe if she'd managed to protect Lisia back in Fortree, her friends wouldn't be fighting now.

Steven was studying her. "I hope you're not seriously thinking that you are somehow responsible for this."

She looked up at him, surprised. She didn't think she would ever not be surprised by how easily he read her.

At the sight of her expression, he smiled and winked at her. Her chest felt light. He was much more stunning when he wasn't hiding behind a mask.

"You guys coming or what?" Brendan called from the back of his Tropius.

"We're coming," Steven said. His hand brushed hers as they turned towards the others.

Heat blossomed within her from the brief contact.

Not even an hour had passed since their kiss, and yet things had changed between them in ways she could not entirely put into words. Their relationship had shifted from safe, familiar territory into something not yet explored.

But strangely enough, she wasn't reduced into the hyperventilating, anxious mess she so often was whenever she encountered something unknown. She was, instead, charged with the same energy she used to feel whenever she'd won a battle. She hadn't thought she could feel this way ever again.

Steven Stone, the man who captivated actresses and nurses and girls who worked the cable cars, had kissed her.

Underneath the light of the stars, the group took to the air.

Brendan's focus went right to the moving ground below, and May could feel Lisia shift behind her as she, too, tried to get a better look at the ground. Despite having just been in what appeared to be the worst fight they'd ever had, her friends were directing their full attention onto the search. Now that they'd finally seen what they were up against, they were just as motivated as May was to stop the threat. No more were they asking for coffee breaks. They were serious.

They flew for hours, occasionally spotting other search parties soaring through the clouds, scouring the ground, or gliding along the surface of the ocean. When the first rays of the sun broke over the horizon, several of the search parties descended to the ground, and new, rested groups took to the air.

May decided to follow suit. "Let's pull back for now," she told her friends. "Just for a little while."

"Fine with me. Where're we landing?" Brendan asked.

May withdrew her nav and opened the map. "Well, we're on Route 127. So how about we go to…"

"We could go to my house in Mossdeep," Steven suggested.

"That works." May put her nav away and signaled her Salamence to descend. Tropius and Skarmory followed.

The city was quiet, save for the crashing of waves against the rocky shores. Either the residents were hiding after hearing what had happened to Fortree, or the early morning sun had not yet roused them into waking.

Once the pokemon had been withdrawn, Brendan and Lisia reverted back to the way they'd been in Pacifidlog – the former tightened his jaw, and the latter lowered her gaze.

"Right this way." Steven headed toward the house. Brendan and May were right behind him.

"Wait, May." Lisia grabbed May's arm. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Oh. Uh, sure." May glanced over at the guys. They'd stopped walking when Lisia had spoken, but only Steven had turned to look over.

"Go on without us," May told them. "We'll be right behind you."

Steven glanced at Lisia.

"Alright," he said. And as Brendan resumed walking in one direction while Lisia began walking in the other, Steven leaned in towards May and said in a voice so low and soft that nobody else but she would hear, "Don't you dare blame yourself."

Then he turned and walked away.

Focus, her mind had to tell her as she watched him leave, as she felt something that was either nervousness or excitement form within her. It's time to focus on Lisia.

Her friend was sitting on the steps that led to the shore. May walked over and sat beside her.

"So… what did you want to talk about?" May asked.

Lisia stared out into the ocean. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"You mean… right now?"

Lisia nodded. "Yeah."

"Because of Brendan?"

"A little. But mostly because… well, you know."

"Know what?"

"That someone like me should never have come in the first place."

"Don't say that, Lisia."

"Why not?" Lisia's eyes hadn't moved from the ocean. "Weren't you the one who tried to tell me how dangerous this would be?"

"Well, yes, but –"

"Then you should be glad that I'm leaving."

Lisia was right – May should have been glad. Her friend was finally realizing just how dangerous this whole thing was, and was even volunteering to leave the frontlines. This is exactly what May had wanted.

But she wasn't glad. Not in the slightest. How could she be, when her friend sounded like this? When she sounded so… so defeated?

As Lisia continued to look at the ocean, May was reminded of the last conversation she'd had with Wally. She was reminded how he, too, hadn't been able to look her in the eye.

She'd already turned her back on one friend. She'd be damned if she turned her back on another.

"You can't leave us, Lisia," May said. "You're part of our group."

"It would be better if I wasn't. If I hadn't been with you, then Aunt Win – I mean, Winona – wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"That wasn't your fault."

"You must be joking. Of course it was my fault. I literally just stood there."

"Things happened so quickly. You just didn't have time to react."

"Everyone else did."

"Not me," May said. "I wouldn't have gotten out of there if it hadn't been for Steven. He saved me. Twice."

"You would have found a way to save yourself. You're the champion. You're strong."

May shook her head. "Not as strong as you think. If I was, then this whole mess never would've happened. Fortree wouldn't have fallen, and Wally wouldn't have –"

Don't you dare blame yourself.

She shut her mouth.

It was terrible, listening to Lisia blame herself for what had happened, and knowing that she carried such immense guilt over something that she could never have controlled.

No wonder Steven hated it whenever May did the same.

"We can't change what happened," May tried instead. "But we can keep moving forward."

"You can. But not me."

"Lisia –"

"What do you suggest I do the next time we see Wally, May? Summon one of my pokémon? What good will that do? I don't know how to fight, and everyone knows it." Her gaze dropped to her hands. "I can tell by all the looks."

"What looks?"

"The looks on everyone's faces when they see me. Roxanne's. Glacia's." Lisia finally glanced over at her. "Yours, too, when we were in Littleroot. When I told you what pokémon I had."

May went hot with shame. "Lisia, I didn't mean to –"

"Don't get me wrong, May. I don't blame you. Any of you. I know I'm a joke."

"How can you say possibly say that? You're the nation's biggest contest star."

Lisia's gaze found its way back to the ocean. "But what good is that here?"

"We want you here. Brendan wants you here."

Lisia's hands tightened into fists.

"Lisia, why are you so mad at him?"

"I'm not."

"But you were."

"I wasn't," Lisia insisted. "Just… frustrated. With myself, and with Winona, but only when she mentioned my uncle. So I lashed out at Brendan. I didn't mean to, but I did. And I really wish that I hadn't, because he then he kept apologizing for… I don't even know what. Stupid things. Things that weren't even his fault.

"So I kept lashing out. I admit that I was getting a little annoyed with him, and honestly, a part of me wanted him to bite back. I certainly deserved it. I even wanted Winona to yell at me again. She shouldn't have brought my uncle into it, but she was right about everything else. I mean, did you see those scratch marks on her? I never meant…" Her voice wavered, just on the verge of cracking, and she had to take in a deep, steadying breath before continuing. "I should've been the one who'd gotten hurt, but instead, I got a badge.

"But I guess I should be glad now, because now, Brendan is actually mad at me. Finally, right?" Lisia's smile was brittle. "You wanna know what I said that finally made him so mad?"

May said nothing.

"I told him that we should break up."

"Did you really mean that?"

"Yes."

May felt a pang of remorse for Brendan. "I didn't know you felt that way about him."

Lisia shook her head. "It's not as though I don't love him. I do. It's just… I realize now that we were never going to last."

"I don't understand."

Lisia's mouth tightened into a grim line. "Do you remember what Annette said," she started, "when we saw her in Mauville? About people growing tired of me?"

May frowned. The actress certainly had a way of weaving herself into the conversation, even when she wasn't present.

"People aren't growing tired of you, Lisia."

"They are. I can tell. There are newer, more interesting performers on the rise. The crowds at my contests are growing smaller and smaller. Eventually, there's going to be no one left. And when that happens, what will be left of me? Contests are all that I know. I only just realized how little I know about everything else when Wally came for me, and I did nothing. Outside of the contest hall, I am nothing.

"But Brendan… he's everything. Smart. Funny. Strong. I told him that he could do better than me, because he can. He doesn't think so now, obviously, but he will eventually." She shrugged. "So we might as well end things now before they can go any further. It's less painful this way."

Why hadn't May noticed sooner that her friends harbored such low opinions of themselves? More importantly, why did her friends even think this way at all? Steven, Brendan, and Lisia were three of the country's most prominent and influential figures, but they certainly didn't think so. She was almost angry.

She understood then what Charles must have felt while she'd cowered inside his home.

"Lisia. I don't think you're being very fair to Brendan. Or to yourself." She waited until Lisia glanced over at her before continuing. "First of all, Brendan isn't stupid. He knows who you are beyond the stage. When he first told me that he had a girlfriend, do you know what he said about you?"

May took Lisia's silence as an invitation to keep going.

"He said that you were someone who could help my get ready for the Devon Party. That's it. He didn't even say your name. Any other guy would've been quick to say that he was dating the nation's biggest contest star, but not Brendan. He doesn't care about any of that.

"And Lisia, the end of your career is not the end of your life. Even if you were nothing, then what's stopping you from becoming something? What's stopping you from fully earning the badge that Winona gave you?"

When the girl still didn't say anything, May stood up and started down the steps. "Come on," she called over her shoulder.

Lisia rose to her feet. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where there's space."

Lisia had been so focused on the search during the flight here. She clearly wanted to help. And May would make sure that she did.

She withdrew her Swampert's pokéball.


"I've gotten word that the evacuations to Mauville are complete," Phoebe said.

"Great, thank you for the update," May said. She turned back to the shower she'd just been standing in and turned the water off. She'd nearly broken the handle off its glass door when she'd heard her nav ringing on the counter across the room.

She cradled her nav between her head and her shoulder while she started drying herself off with a towel.

With Fortree's residents tucked away in Mauville, May had one less thing to worry about. Still, she couldn't help but think of the frantic Fortree woman she'd run into, or the stunned silence that had settled over the rest of the residents as they'd crowded the ground floor of the Weather Institute.

"Do you know how they're doing?" she asked. "The residents, that is."

"I imagine they're still settling in. Wattson and his students are helping them though, so everything should be fine now."

"That's good," May said, though that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

Did they feel safe now? Did they know that she would never fail them again?

She made a mental note to visit them at some point.

She wrapped the towel around herself. "Have you heard anything about Pacifidlog? Or Wally?"

"No, nothing yet."

May shouldn't have been so disappointed, given that their search efforts had yet to reap a single success. But she was.

"Everyone's still looking," Phoebe continued, "but…" She sighed into her nav. "The whole thing is so bizarre. How does an entire town just disappear like this?"

"I don't know." May had been trying not to think that the worst had happened. "We'll be rejoining in the search as soon as we can," she said. "Call me if anything else comes up."

"Will do."

May hung up, dressed herself, and then walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

Steven was facing away from her. His attention was on the flat screen TV mounted against the wall.

"Hey," she said.

He turned to face her. "Hey."

She looked past him and saw what he'd been watching. A young reporter was on the screen. She gestured behind her, and then moved out of the shot. Piles of black wood covered the landscape.

Piles of black wood were all that remained of Fortree.

Something in May's expression made Steven abruptly turn back towards the TV and raise the remote control in his hand. The screen went dark.

"You didn't have to do that," May said, though a small part of her was relieved that he had. "I can handle it."

He shrugged. "It was starting to bother me, anyway."

Not true. But she didn't press him.

She wandered over to the kitchen table and took a seat. The plates of bacon, pancakes, and eggs that had been on the table when May and Lisia walked in were still there.

She picked up a piece of bacon and started eating it.

"The food's probably cold by now," Steven said, tossing the remote on a nearby sofa and moving to take the seat across from hers. "I can make a fresh batch if you'd like."

"That's okay. I'm fine with this. But thanks." She looked around the room. "Lisia and Brendan aren't back yet?"

When she and Lisia had returned from their training session on the beach, Lisia had immediately asked Brendan to go on a walk with her.

"Not yet," Steven said. "But this is a good thing, isn't it? That they're on speaking terms again?"

"Yeah, it is. Did Brendan tell you why they were fighting?"

"Yes, but only because I kept asking."

May raised her brows. "You were that curious about it? I thought you said they could work it out themselves."

"I did. But yes, I still wanted to know what happened. Lisia is, after all, the niece of my closest friend. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel at least a little concerned about the state she was in."

"She'll be okay. She's much stronger that anyone gives her credit for."

"So are her pokémon, evidently." And then, to clarify, "I saw you two training out there."

"You did?"

"For a little bit. You were gone for a while, and, well, we were starting to worry." He grinned. "We nearly had a heart attack when we looked outside and saw that you'd both summoned your pokémon. We'd thought that something had happened." The grin faded. "We'd thought that Wally had shown up."

"I would have gotten you if that were the case."

"I would hope so." He leaned back in his chair. "Still, I was surprised. I didn't know Lisia had an interested in battling." He paused. "Neither did Brendan."

"She didn't," May said. "At least, not until today. She wants to help."

May was still impressed by what she'd seen of Lisia's pokémon. Even though they'd been trained for the stage, they had the potential to deal some serious damage on the battlefield. Their moves were, predictably, beautiful and stunning enough to appeal to a panel of judges, but they were also, surprisingly, powerful enough to knock May's Swampert back a few times.

"It will take time before they know how to use their moves effectively in battle," May had told her friend. "You're going to have to really work with them."

"I will," Lisia had said. And May knew, from the determined set of her jaw, that she'd meant it.

May ate another piece of bacon and studied the man across from her. It was strange seeing him here, even though this was his last time she was here, the place had been dark and lifeless, like the discarded cocoon of a bug Pokémonthat had long grown wings and taken to the skies. The last time she was here, she didn't think she'd ever see him again.

She looked down at the table. A plate of eggs now occupied the spot where his letter had been.

"Steven," she said.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you say goodbye to me when you left?"

He didn't say anything, and when she looked up, she saw that he'd gone very still.

"Steven?"

"I really hurt you, didn't I?" he asked.

"No, you didn't."

"I did. I heard it in your voice, when we were in Rustboro. I saw it in your face last night." His jaw clenched. "I'm sor –"

"Steven, don't," she said. "You've already apologized for this. It's fine. I'm fine. I promise."

He looked like he was going to argue with her, but then he shook his head. "You're right. All I've done is apologize to you. What I should be doing is proving to you that I'm serious when I say that I'm never going to leave you again."

"You don't have to prove that to me, Steven."

"But I will. With time, of course."

She sighed. "Alright."

"Now, back to your question." He folded his hands in front of him. "You deserve an answer, and here it is: I didn't say goodbye to you, May, because seeing your face, or even hearing your voice, would have stopped me from going."

He'd spoken in such an easy, matter-of-way that it took her a few seconds to fully register the depth of his words. But how much depth was there really, when, as usual, his tone and expression gave away nothing?

"What…" She cleared her throat. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hmm." He rested the side of his face against his fist. "Not that I would mind doing this, but… Do I need to remind you about last night?"

Her face warmed. "I remember last night."

"Glad to hear that. Do you remember what I'd said?"

"You said a lot of things."

"Oh? Like what?"

She pursed her lips. "You're really not helping me out here, are you?"

"Nope." He was grinning. "By the way, that color looks gorgeous on you."

She realized he was talking about her reddened face. "You're making fun of me again."

"I'm not."

"Yeah, alright." She remembered then what he'd said last night, after he'd teased her about Annette Harrison.

I've always really liked someone else.

"Steven," she said. "When exactly did you…?"

"Start having feelings for you?" he finished.

"Well, yes."

He folded his arms. "To be honest, I'm not sure exactly when myself. I can say, though, that you certainly caught my attention the moment we first met."

"You mean, that time in Granite Cave?"

"Yes."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Why do you say that?" He looked genuinely confused.

Were they remembering the same thing? "Because I was dirty and sweaty and gross."

"No, you were a new trainer who'd searched an entire cave for me."

"I was," she agreed, "in addition to being dirty and sweaty and gross. It took me forever to find you in there."

"I know. I was impressed that a stranger would go to such lengths just to deliver a simple letter."

"I had to. The president of Devon asked me to."

"He wouldn't have cared if you didn't. But I, of course, am glad that you did. Every time we ran into each other after that… Well, I think my admiration for you grew more and more. I'd never seen someone so hardworking before." His expression sobered. "Back then, I'd come to really care about you. If I'd had to see you one last time, all while knowing it would be the last time, I would not have been able to go."

"But what about now?" she couldn't help but ask. "Do you… do you care about the person I am now?"

Was the person she was now enough to make him stay this time?

She'd said something that made his mask slip. He looked at her with surprise.

"Well, this is new," he said quietly. "Do you think you're a different person than the one I met in Granite Cave all those years ago?"

"I know I am."

She remembered seeing the photos of herself on the walls of her family's house and thinking that she looked like a stranger. Now, she knew the girl in the photos was a stranger. That girl was ambitious and stubbornly optimistic. That girl had so much left to achieve.

That girl was not May.

Steven was silent, waiting for her to offer an explanation.

"I don't remember how I used to be," she admitted. "But I know I wasn't the way I am now. I see photos of myself before I became Champion, and I look so different." She looked down at her hands. "I remember telling myself that I needed to act a certain way for interviews and cameras and everything, all because I wanted to look more mature than I was. But that wasn't the real me. The real me got lost underneath all that… that fakeness. And now I'm… this. Just a… a husk of someone I used to be. Someone who hasn't been the same ever since she became the champion." Quieter, she said, "I wished I'd never even become the champion."

Steven still didn't say anything, and she couldn't bring herself to look up and see what his reaction was. As the silence grew, so too did her regret. Why had she said all of that? This was the first time she'd ever acknowledged aloud that there were two versions of her. He probably thought she was crazy.

"Um… That was a lot, wasn't it?" she asked, lightening her tone. "Sorry, didn't mean to get so serious there. Just… You can ignore all of that. So, uh…" She looked at the door. "Brendan and Lisia should be coming back soon. Why don't we –"

"Let me start by stating the obvious," Steven said.

It was her turn to be silent.

"But first, I want you to look at me."

She looked at him.

"I do like you now," he said. "Do you think I would have kissed you if I didn't?"

"Well… no." She felt stupid now.

He smiled. "You're still the same person, May. For one… You used to throw yourself into danger back then, and you still do so now. But that's something we're working on changing, isn't it?"

She shrugged.

"You're just as hardworking now as you were back then," he continued. "You're still someone who would trek to the bottom of a cave to deliver a letter to someone she doesn't even know."

"How do you know I would do something like that now?"

"I know because you're someone who often has to be convinced to take even the shortest of breaks. I know because you're someone who routinely throws herself into danger to save everyone around her. I know because you're someone who, even after embarking on an all-night search, taught her friend how to battle just to boost her confidence."

He paused for a few seconds and simply watched her, making sure that every word was sinking in. "You haven't changed, May. You're so much more than a 'husk.' And if you make light of yourself…" He reached across the table and brushed the side of her face. "Then you make light of my feelings for you," he said. "And I won't stand for that."

She let herself lean into his touch. If a man like this, a man whose intuition often proved true, was saying that she hadn't changed, then how could she possibly think otherwise?

His hand moved to her chin. He stood up, leaned in, brought her face close to his. When their lips touched, the sensation she felt was no less powerful, no less intense, than what she'd felt the previous night.

The front door flew open. "Honeys, we're home!"

May jerked back.

Brendan and Lisia stood in the doorway. They each had an arm wrapped around the other. And they both shared the same shocked expression.

Brendan, however, was quick to recover. His mouth curled into a smile fit for a super villian.

"Well now," he said. "What do we have here?"