Liam heard a knock in his window. Given that his bedroom was about six floors up, this was unexpected. He was almost afraid to look at the source of the noise, but the persistence of the knocking told him that either it was a very eager ghost or—and somehow this seemed more likely—Claire was paying him an unexpected visit. Liam scrambled to put on a shirt and, after a moment's hesitation, unlocked his window and helped Claire as she climbed off her Braviary and into his bedroom.

"Took you long enough," Claire grumbled.

"Shh," said Liam. "My parent's room is right next door."

Claire smirked contemptuously.

"Afraid you're gonna get in trouble for having a girl in your room?"
"Actually, yes," said Liam, pushing his Houndoom aside to give Claire room to sit on his bed. "Especially a girl who's also trying to overthrow the Pokemon League. I'm not sure which one would freak out my mom more."

Claire rolled her eyes,

"So…" prompted Liam. "What have you been… up to?"

He was hoping that Claire would say her piece and get out as quickly as possible.

"Well," said Claire proudly. "There's a lot of stuff I… well, can't tell you, But everything's going very well. My dad put me in charge of something… really big. And more importantly, the complete jerk who used to be in charge is in trouble with my dad. So things are pretty amazing right now."

"Great," said Liam with a yawn. "I'm glad Nanzo's impending doom is going so well."

"That wasn't the point," said Claire, starting to get a little irritated with Liam. "Geez, you've really gotta twist everything I—."

Liam's PokeGear was buzzing. With a resigned (but not very apologetic) shrug, Liam answered the call.

"Hello?" he said.

He heard Chelsea's voice on the other end, which made him smile. Claire crossed her arms and feigned indifference to the interruption.

"Hey Chez. Yeah, Cass got to her flight okay. She said she'd email me when she got back. Yeah. No, nothing much. Just… talking with wanted criminals."

Claire blinked. Liam noticed with satisfaction that there was a hint of fear in her face, as if she half-expected him to sell her out on the spot.

"What?" Liam continued. "Oh, yeah, she's… right here. In my room. No, she invited herself. Yeah, I'll be fine. Okay. See you tomorrow, Chez."

He hung up his PokeGear and bent over to plug it in to its charger.

"So you told Chez?" said Claire.

Liam smirked at her evident annoyance.

"Yeah," he said, leaning back with a cocky smile. "Well, I didn't really tell her. She kinda just… figured it out"

"And you still like her, right?," said Claire.

"Yeah."

"And she's okay with… well, that you and I are…"

"Yeah, she's fine with it," said Liam. "She's the only one that knows, by the way. I have other friends that wouldn't take it so well."

"Like Grace Shaw?"

Liam nodded.

"And, to be clear, I think she has a point. I don't feel great about acting as confidant to my friends' enemy."

"I never did anything to them," said Claire sullenly. "I get why Grace… Mori can't stand me, and I don't really care, but Sylvia? Stephanie? Ruth? What did I do to—?"

"The thing at the Orphanage probably has something to do with it," said Liam. "What was up with that, by the way?"

Claire was eyeing Liam's Sneasel, which was peering down at her from the top bunk, with trepidation.

"That Pokemon really doesn't like me."

"I can't imagine why," said Liam, flicking Claire on the shoulder. "Anyways, you're dodging the question."

Claire gave a long sigh.

"Well, you remember when I came to the school, right? Well, when Jiu blew everything and got his butt kicked by Professor Werner, it was a huge mess. It took weeks to get the grunts back under control. I knew what they were saying about me. They thought I was too weak to take on the school. So, I decided to prove them wrong."

"You attacked a Pokemon orphanage to prove a point?"

"I wouldn't have done it if you guys hadn't been there," Claire mumbled. "Anyways, who cares about a Pokemon orphanage? Why don't they just release all those Pokemon instead of—."

Liam's Sneasel growled menacingly.

"Can we trade spots?" said Claire nervously. "I think your Sneasel is gonna—."

"Claire, most of those Pokemon are disabled. They couldn't make it in the wild."

"Well, tough luck," said Claire, scooting closer to Liam and further away from his Sneasel. "Some Pokemon are strong and some Pokemon are weak, and I don't see why it's our responsibility to—."

"Okay, two things," said Liam, holding up two threatening fingers for his uninvited guest. "First, most disabled Pokemon got that way because of something people did to them, so I think we have at least some responsibility to put that right."

"Yeah, but I didn't—."

"Second," said Liam through clenched teeth. "Who died and made you Arceus, getting to decide who's strong and who's weak? You never met Cass McCleod, did you?"

"No," said Claire. "But what's that got to do with—?"

"Cass was born with a disease that makes it hard for her to walk or do anything really physical. She's also the best Pokemon trainer I've ever met. She would kick your spoiled ass without breaking a sweat, so I don't want to hear anything from you about…"

Tears were welling in Claire's cold, blue eyes. Liam didn't feel particularly sorry for her, and he was sure she was only wallowing in self-pity, but he couldn't bring himself to berate someone who looked so pathetic.

"S-sorry," sniffed Claire. "It seems like I c-can't ever…. Do anything right."

She got up and moved towards the window.

"Claire, don't—."

"What's the point? The one friend I have in the… the whole world and even you think I'm some kind of…"

She shook her head, letting her blonde curls fall carelessly over her face. She reached for the handle to open the window.

"Claire, please…"

"What?" snapped Claire. "What can you have to say that could..?"

Liam put a hand gently on her shoulder. Claire shuddered at his touch.

"It hurts me to see you hurting. Even when you deserve it."

Claire was breathing heavily. Liam could still see the tears sliding silently down her face. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Liam and buried her face in his shoulder.

"You're the only one," she sobbed. "Nobody else… nobody would… would miss me. I came to tell you… that my dad p-put me in charge because… n-nobody else cares."

Liam noticed that his Sneasel was giving him a very judgmental look.

"Get over it," he mouthed.

"Will you promise me something, Liam?" said Claire, wiping her eyes.

"Maybe," said Liam.

"Whatever happens with Chelsea, will you still be my friend?"

Liam couldn't help but smile.

"No matter what happens," he said. "I will always be your friend."

Sneasel gave a sulky growl.