The weather was beginning to clear up by the time May and her friends flew out of Sootopolis, just hours after they'd arrived. The dark gray blanket in the sky had broken up into smaller bits, and through them, the rays of the sun shone down onto the ocean like dozens of spotlights. Cops had returned to the area; groups were hovering through the skies and surfacing from the ocean.

May turned to look at her friends. "Shall we?" was all she said.

Her friends nodded, and the three of them turned to join the search.

As the hours passed, the clouds above them were swept away entirely, leaving a clear, blue sky in their retreat. May switched between Salamence and Swampert, the sky and the water, to cover as much area as she could. She'd stocked up on pokéballs in Sootopolis, and one of them, she hoped, would be the one to catch Wally.

Steven was still on her mind – how could he not be? – but the thought of him no longer gripped her chest in fear. He would come back to her. And if he didn't, she'd find him. It was as simple as that.

She was back on her Salamence when the Wailord drifted into the area.

Even from her place in the sky, May could make out the Wailord's light blue silhouette rise from the darker ocean waters. Divers swam out of the way asit broke through the ocean's surface and, with the force of an erupting geyser, shot a stream of white water through the holes on its head.

May would always be amazed by how big these pokémon were. The Wailord was bigger than most of the islands within the area.

"That's not one of our guys," came a voice next to May. She looked over and found that Chief Lucia had flown nearby on his Charizard. He was frowning down at the Wailord.

That's when she noticed that there was a trainer sitting cross-legged on the Wailord's back. She hadn't seen him at first – compared to his goliath of a pokémon, he appeared to be no bigger than a grain of sand.

"Could be part of the press, or a traveling trainer," Chief Lucia continued. "I'll tell him to leave the area."

"Thank you," May said. But as her Salamence began to fly away, the Wailord fired another stream of water through its blowhole. This time, the water was shot just inches from May's face.

She flinched back in surprise. Her Salamence turned back toward the Wailord and growled.

"Champion May!" Chief Lucia flew to her side. "Were you hit?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She looked back down at the trainer on the Wailord. She couldn't make out his features, but his head appeared to be turned up in her direction."I think this guy's trying to get my attention."

"Probably part of the press," Chief Lucia concluded. "We'll make sure he gets out of here."

"Wait," May said. "I want to see who he is first." The Wailord had just showcased an incredible precision, having shot water so close to her from such a far distance. Its trainer, whoever he was, was very, very skilled.

Together, she and the chief flew down. Their pokémon landed onto the Wailord's back.

"Excuse me," Chief Lucia called as soon as he and May dismounted. The trainer was still sitting, his face covered by an air mask. "Are you aware that you almost hit our champion?"

Bracing his hands on his knees, the unidentified trainer rose to his feet. His small figure was dressed head-to-toe in a black wetsuit, and his face was covered by an air mask.

"Sir. Can you please remove – yes, thank you," Chief Lucia said as the trainer reached up to take his air mask off.

The mask fell onto the Wailord.

"May," the trainer greeted. He reached into one of the wetsuit's pockets, produced a pair of glasses, and placed them on his face. "Just the person I wanted to see."

May blinked. After running into so many failures, it took her a few seconds to realize that something good was happening.

"Charles," she said.

Chief Lucia looked at her. "You know this guy?"

"Yes. He's one of our former champions."

"Oh. Uh…" Chief Lucia tipped his hat at Charles. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Good afternoon." Charles smiled at May. "I've been looking for you. I'm glad I was able to find you so quickly."

"You've been looking for me?" May repeated. "Charles, I've been looking for you."

Charles frowned. "You have?"

"Yes! Pacifidlog was completely empty, and I thought something bad might have happened, and…" She shook her head. "Charles. Where on earth have you been?"

"Hold on a second," Chief Lucia said. "He's from Pacifidlog? The very town we've been looking for?"

Charles looked between the both of them. "I see that I may have caused a little commotion. But I can assure you that there's no need to fret. Everyone's nice and safe." He gave May an assessing look. Whatever he saw in her face made his frown deepen. "I can see you're fretting regardless, my dear, so allow me to explain."

May nodded. "Please do."

"Alright. So…" He removed his glasses to rub water droplets off the lenses. "Not long after you left, our nurse got that message at the pokécenter."

"Message? You mean the emergency broadcast?" May asked.

"I believe so." Charles put his glasses back on. "It was about the blue orb, yes?"

"It was, yes."

"Very good. So after we heard about that, I thought it was best that we all move somewhere else. There was, after all, a possessed youth on his way to Kyogre.I feared what would happen if he took the route that went through our town."

May felt her brows draw together. "How did you know he was trying to get to Kyogre?" The broadcast hadn't mentioned anything about that.

"I was once the keeper of the blue orb myself," Charles explained. "Once, when it was stolen off of me, my predecessor told me – no, screamed at me - everything that could go wrong if I didn't get the orb back." He chuckled. "She was trying to scare me into finding that orb as soon as I could, and it worked. I searched day and night for that thing until I got it back. So I knew exactly what it was doing to the boy it possessed, and what would happen if it got to Kyogre.

"Anyhow, I didn't want to take any chances. As you know, our town is small, and certainly not in the best location to fend off any attacks. We'd be destroyed in an instant. Everyone else agreed with me, and we all decided to relocate, just until this whole thing came to an end.

"I was planning on traveling to Slateport alone to inquire about temporary housing when another, more convenient location opened up for us. One that didn't require traveling through strong currents, or around dozens of islands." Charles beamed. "One that's very well hidden."

May didn't doubt that last part – they'd searched everywhere for the missing townspeople.

Charles paused for a moment. "But I'm rambling, aren't I? I've come here at the behest of your friend. He told me you'd be around here."

"My friend?"

"Yes. I believe he said his name is…" He furrowed his brows. "Stefan?"

May felt her heart begin to pound. "You mean Steven? Steven Stone?"

"Ah, yes. That's it - Steven. Had a bit of nasty fall, that boy -"

May felt her heart sink.

"-but he seems to be alright now." He peered at her over the edge of his glasses. "Would you like me to take you to him?"

May didn't even have to think. "Yes. Please."

"So you know where Steven is," Chief Lucia said to Charles. "What about the rest of Pacifidlog?"

"Why, they're all in the same place, officer."

"Hm." Scratching his chin, Chief Lucia looked between May and Charles. "If you don't mind, Champions, I'd like to tag along. For my own peace of mind, and for the sake of our pending search, I want to see for myself that everyone's nice and safe."

"That's quite alright with me, officer," Charles said.

May nodded. "Same with me."

Charles raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled. The scene around them shifted as the Wailord beneath them began to turn.

Chief Lucia returned his Charizard and, after reaching for the radio clipped near his shoulder, began filling his subordinates in on the search's latest development. May decided to do the same with her friends, who were so far away that they appeared to be just green and white dots above the horizon.

She returned her Salamence and dug out her nav.

"You're going to get Steven?" Brendan repeated as soon as she told him. "So you found him? Where is he?"

"I didn't find him yet. We just heard from Charles – he came to find us, by the way – that he can take us to Steven –"

"Woah, woah, back it up a sec. Charles? As in, the former champ?"

"Yeah." May looked over at the older man, who'd sat back down and was idly stroking his Wailord's head. "He says he found Steven, and he's taking me and Chief Lucia now to see him."

"Wow. This is…" He released a disbelieving laugh. "This is great! Hey, Liz!" May assumed he moved his nav away from his face because his voice became faint. "Come over here! We've got good news!" His voice was clear again when he spoke next. "Ha. You see, May? Things are finally looking up. And I told you Steven was fine."

May said nothing about Steven's supposed "nasty fall." Instead, she said, "You guys stay here and look for Wally. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Sounds good. We'll be here." The line disconnected.

The chief was still talking to his subordinates through his radio. May walked closer to Charles.

"What do you mean by 'nasty fall?'" she asked. "Is Steven okay?"

Charles looked up at her. "He's alright now, though Nurse Beverly doesn't want him traveling just yet. She thinks he may have a mild concussion, so –"

"Concussion?"

"A mild concussion," Charles corrected. "And she isn't one-hundred percent sure. No need to look so alarmed, my dear. Aside from that, he's in tiptop shape – no broken bones or missing limbs."

That did little to make May feel better. "So what happened to him?"

Charles patted the spot next to him. "Come sit. You look like you're about to fall over."

May sat.

The wind pushed her hair back as Charles' Wailord began to pick up speed. She felt as though she were on a moving island as they passed by dozens of rock formations.

"Yesterday," Charles started, "sometime during the afternoon – must've been around three or four - Wailord and I were heading out from… where the others are. I figured that the boy with the blue orb must've been in the area, what with that brewing storm and all, and we needed to be on the lookout just in case. So just as we were on our way out, something crashed into the water not too far from us. We went to go investigate, and, well, I suppose you already know what we found.

"Imagine my surprise when we dipped underwater and lifted your friend and his Skarmory back to the surface. Luckily, they were still breathing, but the poor things were out cold."

May felt like was the one who'd crashed into the ocean and was on the verge of drowning. She forced herself to keep breathing.

"We brought them back to the others," Charles continued. "But by golly - what a commotion your friend caused! He was unconscious the whole time, but that didn't stop all the women from trying to take a good, long look at him. Gus and I had to keep ushering people away from the nurse's tent so that she could work on him in peace.

"He finally woke up a few hours ago. Seemed a little confused at first, but once he got his bearings, he insisted that he get back to you right away."

I won't leave you. Not again.

"But like I said," Charles went on, "Nurse Beverly isn't letting him go anywhere just yet. She wants to give it a few more hours to see if he remains stable. He seemed pretty anxious, though, so I offered to go find you myself. That's when he told me you were still probably around here.

"His Skarmory's still being healed too, though it's taking Nurse Beverly a little longer than usual, since she doesn't have her usual equipment with her. But even the poor pokémon should be good to go in no time."

May swallowed back the tightness in her throat. Stupid Steven. He was supposed to have found his way back to her, the way he always did. Why did he have to go and get hurt instead?

Charles reached over to pat her hand. "Don't you worry, May. He's perfectly fine. You'll see."

She nodded. Though she was rattled by this news, she knew that Steven was okay. Both Wallace and Charles had said so. She trusted them, and she trusted that Steven was as strong as she always knew he was.

The Wailord continued to cruise along. Chief Lucia was standing towards the back of the pokémonand was surveying the passing islands. The remaining members of the search party, still flying through the air behind them, now looked as small as flies.

"Charles," May said. "Why didn't you tell anyone that you were evacuating Pacifidlog?"

Charles' response was quick and matter-of-fact. "I didn't think anyone would notice we were gone."

Her immediate reaction was one of disbelief. Of course someone would notice that an entire town was gone. All of Hoenn had noticed.

But her disbelief swiftly crumbled away, and understanding took its place. She realized she couldn't blame Charles for thinking that way. If she hadn't sought him out for a Master Ball, nobody would have ever realized that Pacifidlog had been vacated. And she herself had always thought of the town as its own isolated world, separate from the rest of Hoenn. Nobody had noticed that the nation's champion had hid there for two years. Why would anyone have noticed if its occupants relocated for a few days?

"Sorry," she said. "I should've had one of the Elite include Pacifidlog in their patrols. It's still a part of Hoenn."

"It's alright," Charles said. "I can handle Pacifidlog on my own. You just focus on the rest."

"Well, I do feel a little better, knowing that a former champion has been watching over the town this whole time." She hadn't had the time to give this realization much thought until now, and the full weight of it finally settled upon her. She looked at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He nodded, clearly having expected this question, but he didn't say anything. Not at first. He stretched his legs out and leaned back on his elbows. He stared up at the sky as though his answer was written somewhere in the vast, cloudless blue.

When he did speak again, his voice had lowered.

"I didn't want you to know who I was," he said. "I didn't want anyone to know who I was."

"Why not?"

"Because I was ashamed. I still am. That time of my life… well, I don't remember it too fondly." He looked over at her. "I know I called you cowardly. But I think in that moment, I was really talking to myself."

He shook his head, and then turned his gaze back to the sky. "I ran away too, you know. When I was the champion. I wasn't as young as you were, but I was still young enough to not fully realize what I was getting myself into.

"When I went to Ever Grande to battle the League, I was just focused on getting to the top. It never occurred to me that once I was there, I would have to do more than just battle the occasional challenger. Just like that, I was responsible for everything. For keeping the blue orb out of the wrong hands. For the safety of hundreds of thousands of people." He gave a small smile. "And just a few days after I became Champion, I found out that my wife was pregnant with our first child.

"I was terrified. There were too many responsibilities at once, and I didn't know how to handle any of them. So I…" He released a deep breath, and his entire body seemed to deflate. "I didn't. I stayed away from Ever Grande. But most despicably, I stayed away from my family."

May wanted to offer words of comfort, but she couldn't. Not when she was guilty of committing the same crime. Instead, she asked, "Where did you go? Pacifidlog?"

He shook his head. "Pacifidlog hadn't even been built yet. I hopped from town to town, traveling all over Hoenn, never staying in one place for more than a few days. I admit that I was trying to distract myself from all the responsibilities I was running from. But the distractions didn't last very long. I'd already battled every trainer out there, and I soon saw every sight, every pokémon, that Hoenn had to offer.

"But one day, a traveler from another nation told me about mirage spots, and that there were some located right in Hoenn. I remember thinking to myself that there was more to this world – no, more distractions – after all, and I vowed that I would find one.

"Eventually, though, the League got its first promising challenger in a long time, and Drake – he was a member of the Elite even back then - took me back to Ever Grande, where I finally lost my title. It was only then that I realized just how much of an embarrassment I'd been. I was the champion for years, and I hadn't done one thing for the sake of the country. But," he said, sitting up to rest his elbows on his knees, "I was an even bigger embarrassment of a husband and father. When I finally returned home, I found that my infant son had grown into a child, and my wife had grown resentful of me. A month later, she ran off with another man, leaving nothing but divorce papers behind. I haven't seen her since. And I don't blame her one bit."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah. I'm rambling again, aren't I? Well, what I'm trying to say, May, is that I know what it's like. I know that being the best is a terrifying, stressful thing to be. But I promise you – hiding away from it all is much, much worse, and I couldn't let you continue to do that."

He said nothing else then, allowing her some time to process everything he'd said, everything he'd hid from her for two years.

May had always regretted becoming champion. But it never occurred to her that while she was blissfully hiding away in Charles' home, she was doing something that she'd end up regretting much more.

Ever since this mess with Wally happened, she had wondered if she should've just stayed in Pacifidlog. But the regret she was seeing in Charles now, this regret that was so much more raw and bitter than her own, finally put an end to her doubts.

For the first time, she was glad she came back. She was glad that she was able to reunite with her friends and family before she lost them. She was glad she was able to do what Charles hadn't.

"Thank you, Charles," she said.

He nodded.

A companionable silence fell between them. Nothing else needed to be said, not between two people who truly understood what the other had gone through.


A short time later, the Wailord began to slow down, and Charles rose to his feet. "We're just about here," he said.

May stood up as Chief Lucia moved over to join them.

The chief looked around at all the open, uninterrupted blue. "Where's here?"

"You'll see in a bit." Charles pointed forward. "Just watch."

They all looked straight ahead.

May saw absolutely nothing. "Um… I don't think –"

"Shh." Still staring straight ahead, Charles held an arm out towards her. "It's coming."

She saw something then. There, in the water, just a short distance in front of them. It was thin, flat, and white, almost as white as the crests of the waves that surrounded it. As the Wailord moved even closer, this thing grew taller and wider, like it was some giant creature rising from the depths. Waves crashed and rolled onto its surface, and May realized that what she was seeing was the edge of a sandy shore.

Chief Lucia squinted. "What in the…?"

Bristles of sea grass sprouted from the expanding dunes. Next came full-grown palm trees, one-by-one, scattered along the shore. And then, in the blink of an eye, there was a thicket of dense trees that covered the entire stretch of land like one big, dark wall.

Within seconds, an entire island, invisible to them just a moment before, had materialized right out of thin air.

May's hand had risen to cover her mouth. "Is this…?"

"A Mirage spot?" Charles finished. He grinned. "Why yes, it is."

Chief Lucia stared at the island, his mouth agape. "I thought Mirage spots were a myth."

"That's certainly no myth, officer."

When the water became too shallow for the Wailord to swim any further, it turned around until its tail was facing the island.

"Follow me," Charles told the others, and as they walked along the length of the pokémon's back, the Wailord raised its tail. With Charles leading, they all walked onto its tail, and it slowly lowered them into the waist-deep water.

Charles returned his Wailord into its pokéball, and the group waded onto land.

"Beautiful, don't you think?" Charles asked as walked up the beach. He proudly gestured to the island's flora as though he were giving a house tour. "You should try some of the berries here. There are some that you can't find anywhere else in Hoenn."

Chief Lucia had his nav in his hand and was snapping photos of the island. May looked around her in disbelief.

"Charles," she said. "How did you find this place?"

"It just appeared to me, the same way it appeared to you now. Funny, isn't it? I spent years looking for one of these islands, and finally found one when I wasn't even trying to." He looked back at her and shrugged. "Perhaps it only appears when you really need it."

They walked further up the island, and through the area where the trees thickened and the sand was cool and shadowed. Finally, when they reached the other side of the island, Charles stopped.

"Here we are," he said.

And May saw them. The people of Pacifidlog. Sitting in the grass, talking amongst themselves. Lounging on beach towels, soaking up the rays of the sun. Standing along the shore, fishing rods lodged in the sand beside them. Emerging from tents, which had been scattered and placed underneath the shade of the trees.

"Well this," Chief Lucia said, taking off his hat, "is a huge relief."

May agreed. The people in Pacifidlog were really, truly fine.

But where was -

"Right this way," Charles called over his shoulder as he headed towards one of the tents. May and the chief continued to follow him.

A group of women was sitting not too far from the tent. One of them was Lane, who smiled and waved as soon as she spotted May.

Curled up in front of the tent was a sleeping Typhlosion. As Charles approached, the pokémon woke up, stretched, and leaned forward to affectionately nudge the man's hand with its nose.

Charles pat its head. "Hey there, Ty."

The pokémon made a rumbling noise in its chest, and then stepped aside to let the group pass.

Charles lifted the tent flap and walked inside, Chief Lucia behind him, and May going in last.

"Oh, you're still awake," Charles said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks," came Steven's voice, and May felt as though she were back at the Devon Party, back when she'd heard his voice for the first time in years. "Did you find –"

His words were cut off as May stepped out from behind Charles and Chief Lucia. His eyes flashed to hers.

"Well," he said. "Guess you found her."

He was sitting on top of a cot and was wearing clothes that were different than what May had last seen him in; he was wearing a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and top few buttons undone, and a pair of pants that were a few inches too short.

He smiled, and within her, relief seeped into every remaining bit of tension.

She'd found him. She'd found Steven Stone again.

The expression on Steven's face changed. The smile left his face in an instant, and he abruptly stood up from the cot.

Charles was looking at her, but his words were directed towards Chief Lucia. "How about the rest of us head out and give these two a minute alone?"

Chief Lucia was fidgeting with his hat. "Uh-huh. Fine with me."

"I'll come back to talk to you both in a bit," Charles said to May and Steven. He followed Chief Lucia out, as did Pacifidlog's nurse, who May hadn't even realized was in the tent until now.

Steven stepped towards her, reached for her face, and wiped wetness away.

She immediately touched her face. To her horror, she felt tears there.

"Oh." She turned around and scrubbed her eyes with the back of her arm. This was embarrassing. She hadn't cried in years. Why did she have to cry now in front of Steven?

"Hey." Steven turned her back so that she was facing him.

"Sorry," she said, still wiping her eyes. "I just…" Her breath hitched, and more tears spilled over.

Arceus, this was even more embarrassing now. There was no reason for her to cry. She hadn't cried when Steven was missing, so why was she crying now that he'd been found?

She tried to compose herself, but every breath she took was going down her throat like gravel, and the flow of tears refused to ebb.

Steven's hand was on her arm, lowering it away from her face. He held her face in both his hands and, with his thumbs, wiped away the tears.

"It's okay," he said. "It's okay."

She could hardly see him through her tears. "Don't ever disappear like that again."

"I won't. I promise." He tucked her head into his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

He continued to hold her like that, letting her tears soak into the fabric of his shirt.

"I have to say I'm surprised," he said lightheartedly once her breathing began to even out. "I didn't think you'd miss me this much."

"Of course I did." She sniffled. "I…"

I love you.

"I was worried about you," she said. "I know it wasn't that long but I…" Her voice wavered.

He held her tighter. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head against his shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"I told you I wouldn't leave you again."

"You didn't. Not on purpose."

"No," he agreed. "Never on purpose."

She pressed her face against his chest. "I can't believe I'm the one being comforted right now. You're the one who got hurt."

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" She leaned back to look at him. Her vision had cleared. "Charles said you had a nasty fall, and that you might have a concussion. Here, you should sit." She took his hand and led him back to the cot.

"I don't think I have a concussion," he said, but he allowed her to push him back onto the edge of the cot. He pulled her down so that she was sitting beside him and wrapped an arm around her. "The nurse just said she didn't think so either. I did have a bit of a headache when I first woke up, but it's gone now."

"Really?" She searched his face for any cuts or bruises.

"Really. And I was planning on flying back as soon as the nurse finished up with Skarmory." He nodded towards the corner of the tent, where a small foldable table had been set up. On its surface sat Skarmory's pokéball and multiple bottles of potions. "Shouldn't be too much longer."

"So what happened?" May asked.

"I don't remember everything. All I remember is seeing a flash of light, and then feeling Skarmory swerve beneath me. I think the lightening startled him, and he lost his balance. Usually, we're more careful when we fly, but…" He shook his head. "That thunderstorm came out of nowhere."

"It was Wally," May said, and then she explained everything that had happened in the short time Steven had been missing.

He frowned once she was finished. "Interesting. I never would have guessed that Wally has that much power."

"Yeah, not very ideal, is it? But at least we finally found Charles."

"Does he have a Master Ball? I forgot to ask him."

"I haven't asked him, either," May said. "My mind has been a little… preoccupied." She turned to face him. "Are you sure you're okay? Your head really doesn't hurt anymore?"

"I'm sure, and no, it doesn't." His eyes raked over her face. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

He reached up and wiped at the tear tracks that still shone on her cheeks. "Are you really?"

"Yes, as long as you don't fall out of the sky and into the ocean again."

He laughed. "I'll do my best not to do that."

"Good." She reached up to rest her hand over his. "We were supposed to be doing dangerous stuff together, remember?"

"Of course," he said. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Together."