Claire had half-expected Liam to brush her off. She had almost been hoping for it. That would have been a convenient excuse not to say anything. But now he was here, and they were alone, walking together under the overpass between New Court and Liam's house in White Gardens. Liam's Sneasel was watching her narrowly, but its trainer seemed almost pleased to see her. That, somehow, made it worse.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

He sounded so casual. She hadn't seen him in weeks—not since the beginning of January. She had her excuses. She had been busy—really busy. Busy keeping the grunts in line and trying to stop hints about their plans leaking out with the grunts who slipped away. Not that she could tell him that. And anyways, none of it really mattered.

"Liam, I have to—sorry, what was it you asked?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I just asked what was up," said Liam. "I can tell you're wound up about something. I figured you might as well get it out of your system."

Claire frowned.

"This isn't just… some dumb thing," she said. "I… I have to tell you something. Something really important."

"Okay, okay," said Liam, holding up his hands defensively. ""I was just… being a little impatient, I guess. You can go ahead. I'm listening."

She studied his expression carefully. He wasn't prepared for what was coming. She could hear the concern in his voice—the non judgmental concern of a friend. Her chest was so knotted and tense it was painful. She was going to ruin their friendship. But she had to tell him. She had to start somewhere.

"It's… I need to confess something."

Confess did seem like the perfect word. She felt like a criminal about to come clean to a judge. She reached down and pulled up a handful of grass. It was more an excuse to avoid Liam's eyes than anything else.

"What do you mean?"

Something had changed in his voice. It might have been suspicion. It may have just been concern. She couldn't tell. She was shredding the blades of grass with her fingernails, trying to find an excuse to back out. She didn't have to tell him. It was none of his business. It would ruin everything. She couldn't—.

"Claire, it's okay," said Liam. "Whatever it is... I don't know, maybe I can help."

"I wish you could," said Claire with a bitter smile. "Can you change who I am?"

"I wouldn't if I could."

"Don't say that," said Claire sharply. "You're only making it worse, okay. I—."

The loud bang of a nearby firework drowned out whatever she was going to say. She was grateful for it. It gave her a few more seconds. A few more fleeting moments of being his friend.

"Liam, I hurt Pokemon," she blurted out. "During the past year, I've… done it twice. Back in August, I hurt a gym leader's Pokemon to make her tell me where Rasmus was. And last month…"

She could see the anger flickering in his eyes.

"Last month I hurt someone's Pokemon because Rasmus couldn't get into their head, and we needed to know if—."

Liam had thrown up his hands despairingly at the word "we" and turned to walk away. Claire grabbed him by his sleeve.

"I know it was wrong," she said desperately. "I knew it was wrong when I did it. But I still did it. I was afraid of what the others would think of me if I didn't. I don't like hurting Pokemon. I swear I don't. I know you probably don't believe that. You probably think I'm sick and cruel and hurting Pokemon makes me feel good, but…"

She couldn't say anymore. She stared at the ground, waiting for Liam to explode at her. But it didn't come. There was only silence. A silence that seemed to go on for hours. And that was somehow worse.

"Liam," she said at last. "Come on. Say something."

Liam shook his head.

"So, what, you kick a Rattata and then come to me for pity? Did you expect me to feel sorry for you?"

"No, I—you don't understand."

"How did I know that line would come up?" said Liam, rolling his eyes. "That's always your excuse."

He was looking at her with undisguised disdain.

"It's not an excuse," said Claire. "It's the truth. I'm not the person that sat across from you in the cave anymore. I'm not here for your pity. I'm not telling you because I think—."

"So what do you want?"

Claire took a deep breath. Somehow, this was an even harder truth to tell. But she persevered.

"Forgiveness."

Liam scoffed.

"I'm the wrong person to ask," he said. "It wasn't my Pokemon you tortured."

He had said it. Said the word she had been too afraid to say. Claire felt her whole body trembling. She reached for Liam's shoulder to try and steady herself, but he stepped out of her reach.

"I w-wanted to ask someone I thought might f-f-forgive me," said Claire. "I guess that's actually n-n-no one."

"What made you think I would—?"

Claire collapsed into the grass. She was gasping for breath—straining against the painful tightness in her chest. She wanted to curl up in a ball and die. She hated herself—hated herself more fully than she ever had before. She had finally done it—she had failed everyone, just like she always knew she would. She remembered what the Grandmaster—no, not the Grandmaster. He had just been her dad then. She remembered what her dad had said on her first day of middle school.

"Claire, you're not a child anymore. You're becoming a lady. And you need to take some responsibility. There are lots of people in the world that don't pull their own weight. They mess things up for everyone else and expect the responsible people to clean up their messes. Those people are worthless. Don't be like them, Claire. Grow up to be a woman that's worth something."

"Worthless," she mouthed.

She had failed him too. She was failing him by asking their enemies for comfort and forgiveness. He didn't know who she really was. He hadn't known for a long time. There were only two people in the whole world who really knew her. One of them was standing over her with his arms crossed, glaring down at her with contempt.

The other was Rasmus.

"There's no… p-p-point," Claire sobbed. "Everything I d-do… everything is… worthless."

"Claire."

She whirled around to face Liam's voice. It was so much closer than she had expected. He was sitting in the grass beside her, looking at her with a strange expression. It wasn't anger. It wasn't hate. It wasn't even contempt for her weakness. She wasn't sure what it was.

"Claire," he said. "You want me to be your friend, right?"

Claire nodded. She couldn't say anything. Her cheeks were stained with tears and there was snot dribbling down her face.

"Then I have a question for you. Team Power is moving soon, right? You don't have to tell me when. Maybe in a few days, maybe in a week? So why does it matter? When that happens, we're back to being enemies. What good is my forgiveness if you're gonna throw away our friendship anyways?"

"I…"

She didn't have a good answer. She didn't have anything. Just him. Her only friend in the whole world.

"Liam," said Claire quietly. "Is it already too late for me?"

She already knew the answer. But she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted to hear him give up on her.
"Chez doesn't think it is," he said.

His face was just inches from hers.

"But you do."

He shook his head.

"How could I give up on my friend?"

He was still so naive. Still holding onto a hope she knew was pointless. She felt the strength coming back into her legs.

"Claire, don't go back," said Liam. "Please. You don't have to. Stay with me. I'll sneak you into my bedroom. You can sleep on my top bunk. Me and Chez will vouch for you. We'll protect you."

"What if they send me to jail?" said Claire wildly. "What if they take away my Pokemon, and… and…"

She dug her nails into her palms.

"You're not a coward," she muttered. "You're not a coward, you're not a coward, you're not…"

It wasn't working. It hadn't worked for a long time. Ever since she had met him.

"I'm too afraid," she said. "I… can't do it. I'm sorry."

She climbed to her feet and reached for the Pokeball that held her Braviary.

"Claire," said Liam, catching her by the arm.

"What?"

The sharpness of her voice surprised her. His grip was firm, but not painful. Her eyes met his.

"I think… I think we both know the next time we meet, we'll be enemies," said Liam. "So, I just wanted to say… I've liked being your friend. And I hope—I mean, I don't know how it could be, but—I hope this isn't the end."

Liam's face wasn't particularly expressive, but Claire could see the affection in his eyes. They were alright. The rest of him was scruffy and slouchy, but his eyes...

"Tell Chez I'm sorry," said Claire. "But I really mean it this time."

She kissed him softly on the lips. She wasn't really sure why she didn't. He wasn't attractive. She wasn't in love with him. But she liked him. And she liked that he liked her.

"Goodbye, Liam Holbrook," she said. "We're enemies now."

"We'll see," he said. "Bye, Claire."

She climbed onto her Braviary and soared away into the night.

Author's Note: And we're back! I took a month off to participate in NaNoWriMo, which I completed successfully. I hope to finish this story by the end of the year, which should give you a hint to how many chapters are left to go. Thanks for reading.