"I had my suspicions," said Vasilio.

Liam had almost walked past him in the darkness. He was leaning against the wall of the alley that ran parallel to New Court on the far side of the road. It was usually deserted at night, which was why Liam had taken that way.

"Yeah, well, I don't have any excuses," said Liam. "I'm not really even sorry. I was sticking by my friend because I didn't want to give up on her. Not that it made a difference, but I had to try."

"I didn't say I was mad," said Vasilio. "I'm not Mori, remember?"

"Why'd you follow me, then?"

"I just wanted to find out for sure," said Vasilio. "See for myself."

He put a hand on Liam's shoulder.

"I won't tell Chelsea about the snog, by the way."

"She can read my mind," said Liam glumly. "Not that it was my choice, but—."

There was a buzzing sound, and a short, angry redhead materialized beside him.

"Bro, why did you let her kiss you?" said Chelsea fiercely.

"Chez, I had no idea that was coming," said Liam, raising his hands defensively. "I'm not used to being spontaneously kissed by girls I'm not dating."

Chelsea peered at him narrowly, and Liam knew she was checking her words against what she could find in his head.

"Were you watching too, Chelsea?" asked Vasilio.

"I saw the end of it," she muttered, still looking suspiciously at her boyfriend. "I almost teleported over and smacked Claire. You sure you didn't enjoy it?"

"Maybe a little," said Liam, wincing under Chelsea's wrath. "Chez, come on, you can't ask me a question I'm supposed to lie about while you're actively reading my mind."

Liam noticed that Chelsea's scowl was starting to look rather forced, and she soon broke into a fit of giggles.

"You've suffered enough," she snorted. "But seriously—you're never allowed to kiss anyone else ever again."

She kissed him on the cheek.

"We'd better get back," said Vasilio. "And come up with an excellent lie to tell Mori on the way."

"I hope you have a good one," said Liam with a wry smile. "Because I sure don't."

Mori had already been summoned home, so the lie proved unnecessary. Liam didn't see much of her for the rest of the break, and he had a suspicion that her outing with them on New Year's night had been unauthorized from the point of view of the "parental authorities." Mori's absence was felt—a good chunk of the international community went south for company meetings and island vacations over Lunar New Year, and finding things to do (and people to do them with) was a challenge.

It was Chelsea's idea to violate Miss Snyder's strict "no students wandering the Nanzo region" policy on the last Thursday of vacation. Liam had spent an entire afternoon worrying—about Team Power, about keeping Team Virtue afloat, about getting badges—and Chelsea had finally had enough and decided to knock one thing off his list. She had never teleported as far as Hempshear, but she was confident that she could, and it took only a quarter of an hour's persuading to make her boyfriend believe that she could too.

Hempshear Old Town was crowded with tourists—mostly nationals on vacation or visiting relatives. There was also a noticeable presence of police and trainers in the uniforms of the three teams, but nobody appeared to be on edge. Liam and Chelsea found their way easily to the Three Pagodas. Timur was there, leaning against the stele as he played an improvised tune on his fiddle. His eyes were closed.

"You're not supposed to be here," he growled.

Chelsea laughed uncomfortably.

"Uh, yeah, guilty," she said. "My boyfriend wants a rematch, and I figured teleporting couldn't be that dangerous, right?"

Timur stopped playing his fiddle and set it aside.

"Perhaps not."

His gruff face broke into an indulgent grin. Chelsea visibly relaxed.

"Is it a double battle again?" Liam asked.

"Four against four," said Timur. "And I hope you have improved."

Liam hoped so too.

"Murkrow, Sucker Punch on Bronzong! Houndoom, Fire Blast!"

This time, Murkrow got in the hit before Bronzong could set up Reflect, and Houndoom's Fire Blast tore right through its defenses. Scizor's U-Turn glanced harmlessly off Murkrow.

"Aggron and Skarmory," came Chelsea's voice in his head. "They're gonna go all out. He figures he can't wall your Houndoom, so—."

"Got it," Liam thought. "I'll just have to take the Aggron first."

As Chelsea predicted, Timur sent out Aggron and Skarmory. Skarmory would have the first move.

"Skarmory, Rock Slide!" shouted Timur. "Aggron, Earthquake."

This was worse than Liam had expected. But, with Chelsea feeding him advice, he was quick to adapt.

"Houndoom, Fire Blast on Skarmory!" he called. "Murkrow—."

"Reflect is still up," came the voice in his head.

"Right," he muttered. "Murkrow, Haze!"

It was a close thing, Murkrow dispersed the rival team's protective shield while Houdoom's Fire Blast just managed to knock out Skarmory before the deadly Rock Slide fell. It was a strong play, but with a price: the seismic shock sent by Aggron's heavy tail left Houndoom seriously wounded.

"Scizor," said Chelsea's voice in his head. "Bro, he's gonna try and finish off Houndoom with Bullet Punch before he can move."

"What about Aggron?"

"Stone Edge."

Liam gritted his teeth. Murkrow wouldn't last the turn.

"Scizor, go!" said Timur. "Bullet Punch. Aggron, Stone Edge!"

"Houndoom, return!" called Liam. "Espeon, go! Murkrow, Foul Play on Aggron!"

Murkrow dove at the massive Pokemon, cloaking itself in borrowed power and crashing through its heavy armor. The counterblow, however, was brutal. A volley of sharpened stones burst from the ground and hurtled at Murkrow like spears. Liam forced himself to watch as his Pokemon tumbled from the sky in a dead faint. It was a painful trade. Liam prayed it wouldn't be for nothing.

Espeon weathered Scizor's Bullet Punch with ease and crouched low, eager to avenge its comrades. As Liam sent Sneasel to take Murkrow's place, he suddenly realized that it had been over a month since he last battled with Espeon, and he was having trouble remembering what moves it even had.

"Chez, what moves does Espie have now?" said Liam in his head.

"Set up Reflect," said Chelsea. "And bro? Earthquake again. So don't use Dig."

Liam was glad Chelsea was second-guessing his decisions.

"Espeon, Reflect! Sneasel, Foul Play on Aggron!"

The shimmering, transparent wall appeared to shield Liam's team as Sneasel lunged at Aggron. Foul Play hit hard, and Liam could tell Timur's Aggron was barely hanging on.

"Aggron, make the land tremble!" growled Timur. "Scizor, tear Espeon apart! X-Scissor!"

Even with the protection offered by Reflect, Espie was in rough shape. Yet Liam could almost taste victory. Aggron wouldn't survive another turn, and Scizor couldn't carry the battle alone. He had the upper hand. All he had to do was not lose it.

Scizor slumped to the ground, its armor singed and smoldering. Houndoom gave an exhausted snort. Sneasel staggered, but kept its balance. It was over. They had won. Timur recalled his fainted Pokemon and beckoned them over to the shadow to the stele.

"You fought well," said Timur, taking a badge from his leather jacket and holding it out to them. "And did what was necessary to achieve victory. You have earned the Stele Badge. A great warrior is never forgotten. Take pride in your skills, and they will remain sharp."

His eyes fixed on Chelsea.

"I look forward to facing you in the future, young warrior. To pit one's mind against someone who foresees your every move… is an interesting challenge."

Chelsea blushed, and even Liam felt a little embarrassed. Timur hadn't been fooled for a moment. He knew she was helping Liam, and he accepted it. After all, there was no rule against getting advice from friends or reading your opponent's thoughts. Timur was a sportsman, and would rather take a defeat than shame himself and his opponent by complaining. That, Liam thought, was a value he wanted to imitate.

It was practically straight out of The Analects.