Their diminutive homeroom teacher, Ms. Komoe, had started writing on the chalkboard as soon as the class had settled.

"Now that we're back in session, it's time for the yearly trip!" She squeaked out as she hopped off a step stool and walked behind her podium, temporarily disappearing. "Aren't you lucky?"

There was nearly an uproar, some people complaining about still having sunburns, but most people cheering.

"Where are we going?" Blanche asked after the class calmed down again.

"The mountains near Ambrette Town. It's not just for fun, however! We're going to be visiting the Glittering Cave to look for fossils and do individual research work."

There was a collective groan throughout the class, Rosa slotting into the collective nicely by slumping over her desk.

"Oh, don't give me that," Ms. Komoe chided, waving a yardstick that was barely shorter than herself. "You have to work hard before you graduate in a few months!"

Lenore raised her hand. "Isn't Ambrette Town on the coast?"

"It is. The weather conditions have lightened up since earlier in the summer," Serena said before the teacher could.

The class held a bated breath for a moment, all looking towards Ms. Komoe.

"...Yes, we'll be going to the beach on the second day."

An uproarious cheering broke out once again.

"But! But! But!"

The class calmed again for a moment.

"We'll be observing a Mantyke fever as they pass by the coast, meaning you'll only swim for a few hours."

"Back in Alola, people rode Mantine to get between islands," one of his (contrarily) paler classmates asked. "So does that mean we can-"

"You will not ride the Mantyke! They're babies, have you seen them? They might get hurt!" Ms. Komoe squeaked in a fervor.

"Right, I'm sorry…"

The teacher huffed and crossed her arms.

"They've been disturbed enough over the last three years, give them some time to readjust. You wouldn't want someone to annoy you if you were just walking around."

"Yes, Ms. Komoe," echoed the class.

"Good! Now, here are the permission slips and packing sheets, we're leaving Wednesday and will be returning Saturday."

Gin shot out of his seat. "But that's our weekend!"

"Gin, it's literally the first week back," Blanche said. "Plus, beach episode."

"Why does that matter? I can't sleep at the beach, it's sandy!"

Blanche, like everyone else in the class, looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Gin doesn't know how to swim," Lenore said off-handedly.

As the greaser shouted denials, Blanche settled back into his seat and read over the hand out. Sure, a beach trip would probably be nice. He hadn't gotten a chance to just take a breather in nature, as he only got out of the city to deal with Anomalies when they came. The mountains down there would be hot, but the forests nearby would give them some shade. And even if it was as scorching as the rest of the summer, the water would definitely be a fun way to cool… off.

Blanche's gaze drifted to the back of his hand, more specifically the bandages that had wrapped them for eight months.

Ah, shit.


"A school trip?"

Common sense dictated that after getting permission from his guardian that he should also call to inform his employers when he'd be out.

"Yeah. It's with every class in our year, too, so Shauna won't be sticking around either."

"...I see. Well, please be prepared to be called in if there's an emergency," Aveline said. "And you said you'd be investigating Glittering Cave?"

"It sounds kind of boring if I'm being honest."

"It's not at all! The natural crystal formations there affect the Ground and Rock-type Pokémon that live there cause all sorts of variation in their composition, making them more durable in exchange for conduction electricity much better. A similar phenomenon occurs in the horns of Rhyhorn, as they in particular enjoy eating crystals but their body expels it in the form of an offensive feature… I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"No, you're fine, I didn't know that."

"Well, I've not actually been there, I spend most of my time in FLARE. Dad- Professor Sycamore has a few samples from there, he showed them to me when I first enrolled in Pokémon Tech, but they're technically owned by the region's scientific association-"

"I'll bring you one," Blanche promised without thinking, his mouth moving faster than his brain. A second later, his brain agreed with the sentence.

"You'd do that?"

"Well, I'm going to go there anyway."

"Thank you in advance, then. I appreciate it."

"Hey, with my luck, I probably won't find any fossils, so don't thank me just yet."

"I see." Aveline laughed. "Have fun, but stay on alert."

"Naturally. Is the other professor in?"

"No, he was in Kiloude City last time he called me. The Royal Guard are still out for his head."

There was a joke about the French Revolution in there somewhere, Blanche knew, but he was sure that the connotations didn't apply. "It's unanimous in FLARE that he deserves it, right?"

"My dad's not a bad person by any means, but a bit of stress caused by his own actions is probably good for him."

"True that. Talk to you later, boss lady."

"You as well."


Blanche shuffled his duffle bag onto the room's floor and sagged. Checking into a train station along with a hundred other students, maneuvering through the crowd of people he vaguely recognized, getting stuffed into the few open cars like sardines, checking into the inn after a few hours of that; it took a lot out of him, to say the least.

Ms. Komoe had lined them up in pairs, and he'd been picked to room with Tierno. No complaints, even if the two of them made the room look small (as tiny as it already was) by comparison.

"Man, what a day," he muttered, dragging his feet on the floor and flopping onto the bed. "I forgot how much traveling sucks."

Tierno dropped his bag and stretched, nearly scraping the ceiling. "It wasn't that bad. At least we'll be walking around some tomorrow."

"Yeah…"

Tomorrow wouldn't be too bad, he hoped. Sure, it would be dusty, but he would be wearing more layers, not less.

"Do you think I have to swim on Friday?" Blanche turned his head to the side, scratching against the bedsheets. The anxiety dulled his senses, and the indecision was gnawing at him.

"Swimming is good for most of your muscle groups," Tierno reassured him.

"It's not about the muscles," Blanche groaned weakly. "You know how it is."

Tierno blinked.

"Are you feeling alright? Oh, you're sick! I can see why traveling would make you feel bad, then."

"That's not… that's not it." Blanche buried his face in the covers and exhaled. "It's obvious, isn't it? I can't exactly swim with these bandages."

"Yeah…"

The sound of head scratching reached his ears.

"I know I'm kind of a meathead, but you've been wearing those since we met, and in the same way. You don't need them anymore, do you?" Tierno asked.

Blanche nodded weakly. "Haven't since April."

"Is it a hard-to-break habit, or something else, B-meister?"

"It might be better if," Blanche stopped, pushing himself up and reaching for his collar. "It'll be easier to just show you."

He pulled the red tee over his head, revealing white strapped across his body as usual, leading into his jeans. He fiddled for a tag on his side, just low enough that it wouldn't scratch his elbow but high enough that it wouldn't catch on his belt.

Tierno watched evenly as Blanche began unrolling his bandages, the top layer dry but soon showing their dampness.

Blanche pointed at his shoulder after unwrapping far enough, as it had the least amount of straps on it. It was scarred, mangled almost, as if it had been torn apart and reattached muscle by muscle. Red and brown stitched across pale white skin.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Tierno asked without a hint of disgust.

Blanche blinked, then pointed again, gesturing. "All of my skin looks like this. I can't go out on a beach like this."

Tierno tilted his head. "Why?"

Had Blanche been moving, he would have frozen mid-step.

"What do you mean, why?" Blanche asked, anger slipping into his voice. It was harsh, directionless, but Tierno was its only target. "Don't you have eyes?"

"Of course. All I'm seeing is my bro, the B-meister himself."

He was dumbfounded. Was Tierno being facetious? A dull rage hung beneath his lungs, but like all rage, it went everywhere all at once. At the monster himself, towards the blind man in front of him, towards every person around him that could truly be called human.

"Don't be an idiot. You see these scars, don't you? Do you think I can just go out in front of people looking like this?" Blanche unlatched his neck and let the bandages start unwrapping themselves with gravity. They fell like ribbons, slipping off as he shook on frozen feet.

"Yes."

"Stop ignoring the problem- You're pretending not to see it so you can feel good about yourself!"

"I'm not, none of us do," Tierno said, shaking his head. "That's what you do."

"Oh, don't even try to talk-no-jutsu-whatever-the-hell the problem away. You see it, they're going to see it, and they're going to be disgusted!"

"Who are they?"

"Everyone! You, Trevor, Ariel, Serena, Shauna, Ariel, Rosa-"

"Do I look disgusted right now?" Tierno asked, his voice steely. "Because I'm not, Blanche."

"You are!" Blanche yelled. "You are, and you're just pretending you don't! It's easy to look at someone like me and say, oh, I couldn't care less, but in reality, people only do that when they want to feel justified in whatever they're talking about. In the moment, they'll see someone like me and just look away, or talk in hushed tones, or just make any excuse they can to leave, that's reality! If I was just some guy on the street, what would you think? I know what Shauna thought."

Blanche's breaths were starting to come out choked. Bandages fell from his face, obscuring his vision like falling sheets of snow.

"She thought I was just some creep that followed a couple of girls to school. And you know what? If I was them, I would have thought the same. No one has time for people like me, monsters like me. You couldn't even call me human."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say things like that." Tierno gave him the coldest glare he'd ever seen from the boy.

"I'll say the truth, because I'm the only one that can."

"It's not the truth, it's what you see. You have problems, Blanche. And I'm not making fun of you when you say that."

Blanche half-choked, half-scoffed. "Yeah, and so does everyone else. Everyone's just a sick bastard who doesn't give a damn about others, and I'm just the same."

He stopped, before yanking his duffel bag onto his shoulder, not even feeling the rope burn. "I'm taking a shower."

"Wait," Tierno said, holding out an arm and blocking him.

"I'm mad, Tierno, I don't want to get nasty," Blanche said. He didn't beg. He wouldn't. He would never admit that he was wrong, because to do so would be to tear down the few walls that he had around his ego. Every time he lashed out against someone, it was like a spine sprouting from his back, and he was faced with a dilemma that he never could answer.

"You're hurting."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"In your headspace, you're not fully healed."

"Again, no shit. Ding, ding, ding, would you like a prize?"

"I used to be fat. Did you know that? Three years ago, I was one of the most overweight kid in Vaniville Town. I didn't do anything in my spare time. I played video games with Trevor, I slept, I bought out entire stores of junk food in Aquacorde when I could be bothered to get up. I can't remember ever doing anything else. That changed. Do you want to know why?"

Tierno lifted up his shirt, unblocking his path but drawing him in regardless. Between the black cloth and layered muscles, dark splotches and stripes

"The Heavens Shattered, and I heard someone crying in the woods. I got up off the tree stump I was sitting on to walk. Not run, not jog. I walked. I couldn't manage anything else. And by the time they were Mended, I hadn't even gotten half-way. I can't remember anything else after that. I can't remember who it was that was crying. I think it was Serena, but I'm not sure because I wasn't strong enough to get there. I got angry, Blanche. I got mad. I didn't want to let my own body hold me back anymore, so I pushed it to the limit. And it hurt. My body ached for weeks, and I didn't weigh any less. I pushed harder. I stopped getting winded by just walking down the stairs. I pushed myself further than I'd ever thought was possible. I didn't let my body define who I was.

Tierno dropped his shirt and thumped his chest, looking straight at Blanche and never turning away.

"The strength I gained was what I found in myself, not all these muscles. Your limits are entirely in your head. No one else can hold you back but yourself. Your body does not define who you are. You, Blanche, you're a good person, and that's what I see when I look at you. Not your scars, not your hair, not your eyes. I see my bro, the B-meister himself. And your friends, the people that matter, that's what they see too."

Blanche was struck speechless.

"When Trevor sees you, he sees the guy that saved his life back in January. He's calmed down about it, but he really does think you're the coolest guy he's ever met. I'm hoping I'm a close second, but, eh, what can you do?" Tierno shrugged. "I don't know about Ariel, but she doesn't see you for your scars. She asks how your day was, and you do the same. You're her friend, simple as that. Shauna is Shauna, but she doesn't call you Mummy now because she thinks you're a monster, she does it out of habit, and even then she only says it when you really get her going. Serena is… difficult. I don't really get her all the time, she's changed a lot, but even I can see that she doesn't see your body first."

"Because she sees me as Calem," Blanche said bitterly, staring at a fixture in the wall and trying to clench his eyes shut.

"I don't know anything about that, so I won't say anything. I know what I know, and not much more." Tierno sighed. "But when she looks at you, she smiles, B-meister. Even when you're off in your own world, staring into space, she looks at you and smiles."

"That's not a good thing, you realize."

"I don't. But that's also not my place to pry. At the very least, she thinks of you as a friend. Anything beyond that… Well, I stick to dancing for a reason. Takes a lot more effort, but it's much less complicated."

Blanche actually laughed, even if it was in a sardonic sense. "I think you're on the right track with that."

"So, you get what I'm saying? When we go to the beach on Friday, don't look at anyone else. Don't go looking for people that won't like you. Just look at us, okay?"

Blanche's voice was low. What could he say? That Tierno was wrong? All he did was hate himself. It didn't matter for what reasons as long as he could. Some days it was because of his body. Some days it was because of his mind. Some days it was because of what he knew of his past. Some days it was because of what he saw in his future.

Anger is only an output, a result of something much greater. Hatred. Any hatred possessed, either towards others and oneself, funnels into action and emotions like the flare of a lighter making contact with gasoline.

That wasn't who Blanche wanted to be. He didn't want to be someone who struck out against others because he kept funneling his own hatred of himself inwards on an infinite loop.

And so the boy with no name spoke.

"Alright."

Tierno clapped him on the shoulder, pushing him to the tiny bathroom's door. "A nice shower always helps me cool down from a work-out. Try just cool water, a little less than lukewarm."

Blanche smiled, and he wiped his face with the back of his bare arm. "Thanks. I think I'll do just that."


Blanche wiped his forehead with a dusty bandage, knocking loose some of the gravel that had just crumbled into his hair.

Glittering Cave was an interesting side. The tunnels were narrow, the air crispy, and the shiny rocks cool to the touch.

A crystal clonked him upside the head, sending him into a crouch while he groaned.

Their classes had split up along the tunnels, their tour guide explaining to them that before Kalos was resettled by the UR, many Carbink, crystalline Rock and Fairy-types, resided in those caves. They hollowed out the mountain as both a living space, and to transform the earthen minerals into their food source, some of which was left behind to give the cave its name.

There also happened to be a large amount of fossils in the area, as Carbink didn't eat the bones but rather, worked around them. Earth shifted over time, meaning that some kept turning up even hundreds of years after.

First of all, they were to analyze the components of the crystals there, and fill out a questionnaire about their properties.

Blanche had gone off on his own to do so, trusting that no place that a school would take them to could possibly be dangerous.

He was wrong, he obviously figured out, as that would require the system to be sane.

Must be Serena's aura or something, he thought. She was probably growing the crystals just by being around them, or something else that was equally ridiculous.

"Hey, Russ, use Rock Smash!" Gin shouted somewhere in the cave system.

Another wave of gravel silently crumbled onto him, along with a full rock.

"No!" Ms. Komoe squeaked much further down. "Young man, we will be having words about this!"

He'd been prepared that time, his reflexes realizing that Gin being excited about something was never something to ignore. It rolled off his hand, almost like an oval, and dropped to the ground next to him with a small crack.

Blanche looked down at it, looked around, and quickly swept the Dome Fossil into his bag.

Was it ecologically irresponsible? Well, maybe. If restoration tech was as efficient as he thought, then it was a moral obligation to take it to a lab at some point, and it's not like the cave was running out of fossils any time soon. Though… it was technically part of the cave's ecosystem and not everyone could take a souvenir or it would soon be a pile of plain rocks and rubble.

He quickly moved to the side of the cave to check out the crystal formation like he was supposed to and pulled his clipboard out of his bag.

It wasn't transparent, it was translucent because it wasn't entirely clear… it was tinged blue because of, uh, chemical reactions caused by components during formation? They glowed because of…

Blanche scratched his scalp with his pen, lost in thought. Glowing crystals didn't happen naturally, that's right.

"Heeeee-eeeeeey, Leader," Rosa said, sliding up to him across the floor. "Whatcha doing?"

"Our schoolwork," he said, like it was obvious, because it was.

"Oh, right. We're taking a test when we get back, right?"

"Probably." He could have just said yes, but he didn't feel like giving a commitment.

"Couldn't you do it without the sheet? Oh, and the answer is residue from AIAM fields."

Makes sense, he thought. "How does that work?"

"Oh, well, you know. It's like static electricity," she explained with a dismissive wave. "It just sticks around for a while, like how there's a ton of residue all over the Earth. That's what causes the… eh, I don't actually know all too much about it, you should ask the Professor."

"What does it cause?"

Rosa held a finger over her lips. "Shhh… Professor Juniper told me by accident, so I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

He thought about that for a minute. AIAM field residue implied that there had been a field large enough to cover the entire planet. And people said all the time that when the Heavens Shattered, the world was swallowed in darkness… Dialga and Palkia were involved in some way, that was the consensus, but few confirmed anything.

A creeping black mass appeared in his mind, red-eyed and inky. Team Galactic had been disbanded to his knowledge, he hadn't looked it up since he was back in Swellowtail City with Ariel.

Could he say that he thought it was Giratina? Hadn't Aveline theorized that the residue wasn't caused by it?

Oh, he thought.

She leaked the official theory and hadn't realized it because she was scared of him when she had. Would that get them in trouble? Rosa would probably ask where he heard that, and he wouldn't be able to answer without risking the Professor's position.

"Ah, that's fine," he said, looking back at his sheet to hide the depth of his thoughts. "Just curious."

Just curious and just a liar who always takes the easy path.

"It's all good!" She laughed, poking his nose and laughing harder when he recoiled in surprise. "Are you excited for the beach? I wish we got to go during the summer, but this is just as awesome."

"N-yes," Blanche said, the other parts of his brain autocorrecting to his own shock. He'd almost said no on principle, but found himself actually anticipating it. "I think it'll be nice," he added hesitantly.

"Totally! I've got a new swimsuit and it's kind of tight but-"

Blanche held his hand to his nose to check for blood, before sighing, thanking whatever god was out there for their favor, tuning her out, and returning to his worksheet. Whoever said that he couldn't multitask?


Blanche wasn't exactly sure why he expected to get a full night's rest on a trip with a collective of main characters, but was quickly disavowed of that notion.

Gin had shown up at their door and told him to come to their room to hang out.

Tierno had a fairly strict sleep schedule and had already retired for the night, but Blanche told him before leaving.

They stopped to pick up snacks from the dinky old vending machines before heading back to Gin and LaRusso's room, where he found the karate kid and Lenore already trying to decide on which movie they would watch.

"We should watch Banette: the Haunting 2, Ghosts of the Past! It's one of the best horror sequels ever made," Lenore insisted, snatching the remote.

"I don't like horror movies," LaRusso said, shuddering. "Can't we just watch Destroy Hard?"

Blanche was positive that LaRusso got the name wrong, though he couldn't pinpoint why. Was it the whole "never say die" business?

Lenore snorted. "4Kids ruined that movie, didn't they? They replaced the scene with the broken glass with big containers of jelly donuts exploding."

"It's a good movie. Oh, you guys are back. What's up, B-man?"

"Still got some rocks in my hair," Blanche said, running a hand through it and feeling only a few bits of sand. "Thanks for that, by the way."

LaRusso shrugged, one of his arms laying on one bed's edge as he stole back the remote and started scrolling through channels. "I see a cracked rock that only needs a little push, I gotta hit it."

"Also, it was real funny," Gin added.

LaRusso nodded stoically. "That too. Hitting things is what I'm good for."

"Could you teach me how to do that?"

The three Espers looked at the not-quite fourth strangely.

"I mean," Blanche said, "Can you teach me how to punch stuff?"

I need to get stronger. I need to get better. Ballet is good for muscles, but it's not good for fighting form. I should have just gone to a dojo or something, but I wanted to see what Tierno did instead. I can't rely on my Gears like it's all I have. I need to use this body because it's my own.

"Why are you asking me?" LaRusso reclined his head and threw back his headband, though his eyes stayed on Blanche. "I'm not a teacher. You're better off asking Gin."

"Then you can both teach me how to fight. I… I'm not an Esper like you guys. I can't put energy into my moves like you can, but if you both get caught up in a brawl again, I want to help. I'm sick of letting other people do all the work."

And he really did. It was his body, it was a part of him, and by God, he was going to bend it to his will and make it do what he wanted. Ass-kicking only went so far with cool weapons and encouraging words.

"I didn't think you needed help." LaRusso pushed himself up, pulling his uniform straight. "But if you want to practice, right now's the time."

"Oh, we're sneaking out? Sick, let's go!" Gin shot up, slinging his jacket back over his shoulder. "Come on, Lenore, we've got to teach Blanche the ways of manly combat!"

The spirit medium rolled her eyes, adjusted her shawl around her neck, and stood up as well.

When the thought occurred to him, Blanche asked, "Wait, where are we going?"

"Dude, haven't you ever seen a movie?" Gin shook LaRusso by the shoulder. "We've gotta train on the beach!"

"Or a junkyard, in my experience," LaRusso said, deep in thought while rubbing his chin.

"But we're only a little bit away from the beach, not even a ten-minute walk, I'd say. Sooo, off we go!"


The waxing moon hung above them as they trekked down the empty boardwalk. The air was cool; not chilly, but not lukewarm.

A few clouds hung in the sky, but Blanche was still impressed by the view. He could see into the water even as it thickened out and the waves folded in on themselves. It really was beautiful, there were no other ways to put it.

The three Espers formed a line. Gin kicked a line in the sand with his hi-tops, separating him from them.

"Okay, so the thing with Espers is that we got type weaknesses and strengths like actual Pokémon."
Blanche nodded. "I don't have to worry about that stuff, but I get that."

"Do ya? Hey, Lenore, do the thing you do to scare Russ."

The spirit medium stepped forward, gliding out of line and straight towards him.

He held up his arms, stammering out denials and explanations for why he wouldn't hit a girl, before she literally ghosted past him, moving through him with a faint chill and forcing a shiver down his spine. He looked behind him, only to see that she had disappeared entirely. When he looked back, she was with the others, standing exactly where she had been a few seconds ago.

"My illusions are like Ghost-types, no matter how long they last," she explained calmly. "They can burn up, get shocked, be encased in ice, but they won't ever be stopped by someone or something just standing there, unless they're using their aura for something. It's like how Normal-types have immunities to Ghost-types. The same is true the other way around, naturally. If I had more than just Ghost-type aura, I could make more physical apparitions."

"Same goes for me and Russ," Gin admitted, laughing awkwardly. "Well, sort of. It's more about how we fight for the two of us."

Blanche was honest, and just said, "I don't get it."

Gin suddenly jumped forwards and punched him in the gut, black muckish haze floating upwards as Blanche bent double and wheezed.

"See, we can-"

"You actually hurt him, idiot," Lenore said with an exhausted exhale.

"Ah, shit. My bad." Gin pulled him up and patted him on the back.

He hadn't expected to get punched out of nowhere. That was just a dirty way to fight. Seriously, what a Sucker… Punch…

"So," Blanche wheezed, "Your aura kicks in when you fight dirty?"

"Just about, yeah." Gin pressed his palm to the back of his head, not having expected him to collapse from a punch like that. "Russ has the same deal, but only when he uses martial arts."

"Is that like, a mental thing?" Blanche rubbed his stomach. Dry, thankfully, but a bit achy.

"Dunno. It just kinda happens." Gin scratched his cheek as a wind blew from across the ocean. "Might be one of those subconscious things that the bartender is always talking about. So, you wanna see if any of that works for you?"

Blanche shook his head. "It won't. I don't have aura like you guys, I mean. You couldn't call me an Esper."

"How do you know that? Training aura's like building a tower- There's a big blue sky out there, and there ain't a ceiling."

"No, I mean-"

Blanche cut himself off and took a tense, deep breath.

"I think I can trust you guys with this. I don't have aura, period. That's not me being mean to myself, I can lie to myself about other things. It's part of the whole amnesia deal."

The three Espers looked between themselves and shrugged.

"No big deal," Gin said.

"If you still want to learn how to punch things, I'm down to help," LaRusso said.

"I'm probably closer to your level," Lenore said, stretching her arms. "A spar between us would be a lot more even."

"Yeah," Blanche agreed.

"And if you try to say no because I'm a girl, I'll have you know that I punched out Russ the last time he said something stupid like that."

"Yeah…"

"Ready?" Gin pushed LaRusso across the line. "Russ, teach him some stuff about ass-kicking."

The karate kid shifted into a lower stance that certainly wasn't karate and inched closer.

"Wait, shouldn't I learn forms before-"

Blanche's head, along with the rest of his body, was quickly pressed into the sand after an impromptu judo throw.

"Sawk and Throh taught me a thing or two," LaRusso said simply.

He groaned, digging his head into the sand as he felt his stomach churning from being tossed like a salad. Knowing he was in for one of the most, if not most strictly comfortable, productive nights of his life, he pushed himself back up.


It was a sunny day on the south-western coast of Kalos, and Blanche slumped onto his beach towel like it was the worst day of his life.

He was clearly being dramatic, as he didn't even wince when a bit of sand scraped against his arms. Hot, powdery, and all too willing to fall in the exact place he was going to put his head.

He never understood how people would run around in the same, play beach volleyball or whatever game Rosa had dragged the others into, and then traipse right over their towels without even dipping in the ocean first to knock off the sand.

The umbrella was nice though. The chill atmosphere in the shade gave him the mental space to think.

The day hadn't started out too bad. He showered around one in the morning, tired out and exhausted, but the smile that burned onto his face was impossible to pull off. It was a smile of satisfaction, of knowing exactly what he was doing with his life, and of knowing what he wanted.

Somewhere off to the side, Tencent barked and jumped into the air, hitting the ball back over the net with its nose.

Naturally, it hadn't lasted the short rest he got before Tierno accidentally woke him up at four in the morning to do his daily routine.

No disrespect, of course. Blanche was completely confident in saying he loved the big fella like a brother. Tierno was just that cool.

From what he'd figured and the fact he was already awake again, Blanche asked to join Tierno on his daily run.

An hour later, Blanche collapsed on the bedroom's floor for a power nap, soaked with sweat for the second time that day. And it wasn't even six a.m. yet.

He took another shower after he'd recovered and Tierno had finished up. Afterward, he wrapped his face in bandages, and only his face.

A plasticky tracksuit was still a bit much for the summer, but he'd live until they got to the beach and he changed his clothes. No one noticed during breakfast, as they were all too busy clambering through the suddenly-small continental breakfast room. It was only his hands that would have looked different, showing the scar tissue on his palms and knuckles.

Was it that people saw and didn't care, or just didn't care, period?

Then, a few tables away, someone tripped near Shauna's seat and spilled their orange juice.

Naturally, that person was Gin, who didn't seem annoyed at all when a coin struck him with the energy of a thunderbolt behind it and blasted him into the next dining room.

"Damn," the greaser grunted, standing up. "You can kick some ass, I bet. Can I-" He was distracted by the girl sitting with Shauna, presumably her assigned roommate. "Oh, babe- I mean, Whately. You, uh, go to our school too?"

And just like that, Blanche had a headache.

Because naturally, the Plasma grunt had come all the way to Lumiose-3, transferred into their school in specific despite likely already being qualified to be a Trainer, and in that time, had started a thing with Gin of all people.

At least it wasn't Ariel.

He blamed Serena. That theory about aura being magnetic seemed way too accurate sometimes.

Somehow they all got to the beach in one piece after everything had been cleared up and cleaned up, where Ms. Komoe ensured they all knew when to meet back up before setting them loose.

Now, Blanche really, really just wanted to find a tide pool or something and just look at it for a while. A puddle would have sufficed at that point. Something natural enough for him to get a feel for and appreciate the locale, but nothing that would require him to change.

The same applied to a lot of things in his life, to be truthful.

Eventually, Tierno noticed him (allegedly) staring off into space, dragged him over to the changing rooms, and gave him a pep talk.

"Do you remember what I said, B-meister?" Tierno's stance was more open, more trusting. He probably didn't think Blanche would run off if he pushed him, and Blanche didn't want to prove him wrong.

"Uh… believe in myself?"

Tierno laughed. "Not quite, but you should do that anyway. Are you going to get changed?"

"Yeah," Blanche muttered.

"Are you scared of showing who you are?"

"Yes. My personality isn't the best part of who I am, if you haven't noticed," Blanche said dryly.

"Your personality is fine, trust me. I've been friends with Shauna for years."

"That's… not quite what I meant."

"You're trying to go on a tangent," Tierno said suddenly. "Don't. Don't try to avoid who you are, it won't help in the long run."
I never intended to stick around in the long run, said a small part of himself that he violently squashed.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered again.

"Hey, eyes up! Confidence, B-meister!" Tierno tapped his knuckles on Blanche's chest. "You're going to be all muscled up too, and here's a word of advice: The more effort you put into yourself, the more attractive you are to mature people."

"But I wasn't doing all that to be attractive."
"And you know what? You don't gotta be. You're improving for yourself, and that's just as awesome. Now, get changed. What are you going to do when you come out?"

"Look at the people I care about?"

"Yep!" Tierno clapped him on the shoulder one last time and flashed a thumbs-up as he walked off.

Blanche shifted his bag off his shoulder, looked inside, and shuffled into the bathroom.

There's a certain level of doubt everybody feels when they meet someone new. For Blanche, he wasn't sure if he would be feeling that or not. He knew them because they didn't hide who they were. Would they know him?

He stepped out, wearing nothing but slides and bright red swim trunks. Sickeningly pale, practically mirroring the sun's rays.

His head poked out from around the corner, pressing his shoulder against the wall of the alcove. It wasn't hot or cold, just sort of there.

That would be the nerve damage, he realized. He still had a good sense of touch in his fingers, as they were already the most sensitive part of the body and happened to be the least scarred past the knuckles.

With a deep breath, he pushed himself out from the shade, feeling a warmth on his skin he could never remember feeling before.

There was a gasp and Blanche flinched, shutting his eyes tight and breathing faster.

Someone wolf-whistled.

"Damn, B-man, you're shredded!" Someone else, Gin had appeared next to him, grabbing his upper arm and pinching the muscle mass. "Hey, Russ, check this dude out!"

Blanche flushed under the scrutiny. "You guys really don't have to-"

Ariel started clapping, smiling sweetly. There were no words. The understanding between all of them was obvious.

"Yeah, B-meister!" Tierno cheered, giving all of his enthusiasm.

Trevor clapped, reserved as always, but Blanche had the feeling he had little to say.

Serena had this odd look on her face. Somewhere between recognition and deja vu.

Shauna was red, probably from the general heat of the day.

He couldn't really tell if she was looking at him or behind him, because he was staring at the sand as he idly kicked it.

"You don't have to clap, really, it's not dramatic or anything," he muttered.

Rosa practically bowled him over, bounding over with Tencent to latch onto him. "Do you want to play volleyball? I was thinking that we'd be down a player because you wouldn't want sand in your bandages, but I bet you're really good at it! You just have to promise to be on my team, 'kay?"

Blanche shuffled back as much as he could, partly to get out of her face and also to think. Sports weren't… Well, he didn't hate them, and he wasn't likely to tear anything by playing. He'd knifed a living clump of vines and lived, he really couldn't get that hurt.

Unless he pissed Shauna off, of course, and that was only a matter of time.

"Uh, yeah, sure, but don't you guys have to get changed first?" Most of the guys had been wearing their swim trunks since that morning, but it was obviously different for them.

"Oh, that's right, but I'm wearing mine under my shirt, just left me-"

"Rosa!" Shauna shouted, rushing forward and firmly keeping the other girl's arms at her navel.

"What?" Rosa continued to try to pull off her shirt.

Somewhere behind him, Blanche heard Gin faint with a sputter.

What an idiot, he thought.

A short scuffle later, the rest of the guys finished changing and it was the girls' turn.

They decided that out of him, Trevor, and Tierno, he would be the best judge.

He pointed out he didn't know what he would be judging, and if he was guessing right, that Shauna would probably prefer the job.

Obviously, that wouldn't work, Rosa told him, since she would be one of the "contestants".

His inner Gin said, "You know some weird people, man."

And unfortunately, he couldn't think of a single exception. Well, maybe Chespin, but that didn't help his case.

Blanche remembered exactly what Rosa was implying as the group of girls entered the changing room, at which point he decided to go look in a tide pool again.

His outer Gin, as in, the one who had recovered and was standing right next to him and preparing to wolf-whistle, asked, "Hey, where're you going?"

Blanche clapped a bare hand on the surprisingly-lukewarm leather.

"I entrust this task to you, my wise mentor," Blanche said, before walking off without another word.

That brings us to later that day, with Blanche sleeping sprawled on his stomach beneath an umbrella as the others continued having their own fun after he retired.

It was a good life he lived. The idea was obvious in the back of his mind, even if he would never assume it aloud. The people he cared about cared about him.

And he asked himself, are these my friends? Am I their friend? Is it really me they care about?

The sound of cheering reached his ears as the volleyball struck the sand, clapping from Rosa's team and frustrated, yet enthusiastic replies from the other.

He smiled and settled in for a dream. It wasn't exactly a peaceful world, but it was his now. Maybe it wouldn't hurt too much to relax a little.

"Oh, wow, everyone, look at the Mantyke pod!"

So much for that plan, he thought, pushing himself up to walk towards the wake rather than running like anyone else.

It was a very cool sight to see, even if he would have denied being the artistic type. There was a mist of glittering seawater following as Mantyke and Mantine, blobs of light and dark blue, crested over the distant waves and passed south. Other Water-types seemed to follow the pod, like a shell of Seaking and Goldeen, and he was fairly certain he saw a Barbaracle surfing on one of the muddier Mantine.

It was a reaffirming experience to Blanche, in an odd way. He was in the Pokémon world, and yes, it was batshit crazy and incredibly dangerous (to him, at least) and there was something certainly off about the government and the Heavens Shattering, but… to deny that there was beauty in the world when it was plain to see would just be pointless.

He could be an angsty jackass when he wanted to, but all in all, life was good. He may have had to risk his life against crazier and crazier stuff every other week, but he could live with that. At least then, he was helping people instead of doing nothing.

The pod's passage was forecasted to continue until well into the evening, but their school had that odd thing called curfew on trips, meaning they only had a few more hours to splash around.

And naturally, there were two Water-type Espers throughout their year who conscripted Serena into building a sandy arena for them to have the ultimate water gun fight.

Rosa couldn't just let that one rest without getting everyone else involved…


Blanche sat up in his bed not-so-late into the evening as someone knocked on the door. Neither he nor Tierno had prepared for bed so early, just idly watching whatever channels looked good while they cooled down from the beach. He swung his legs over the side and answered the door, waving off Tierno.

Shauna stood outside the threshold, her demeanor changing quickly from neutral to impatient. In the blink of an eye, she shifted to cross her arms and tap her foot.

"Hey, get Tierno. We're hanging out in Serena's room and… Ariel insisted you come too. She did, it was her, not me! Don't get any ideas, stupid."

Shauna had a few too many tendencies for it to be justifiable. There was acting like an archetype unconsciously and then there was acting like a cliche.

"You watch too much television," Blanche sighed, before turning his head. "Tierno, let's go hang out with everyone."

Tierno hopped up, dropping his dumbbells back into his bag. "Okay, let's go! Are we heading to the arcade?"

"No, we're just going to hang out in our room. N-not that I want Bl- the ex-mummy over here to be in my room or anything!"

Shauna was currently trying to convince Tierno of something (exactly what, he wasn't sure, but he had a pretty stupid guess), not noticing when Blanche facepalmed with a meaty thwack.

"Anyway, ex-mummy, can you go buy drinks? I heard the specialties in this inn are really good."

Blanche shrugged. "Yeah, alright. What's you guys' room number?"

"Why would I give that to you, creep?"

He blinked.

"...How come you get to call me stupid when you say stuff like that?"

Shauna seemed to notice that whatever book she was doing things by had stopped applying, and her skin tinged red.

"Forget I said that; It's room 108. Come on, Tierno!"

As Blanche was left alone in the hallway, a thought occurred to him.

Girls… were quite a bit strange. Actually, no, that was just Shauna. Well, Serena too, through no fault of her own. And Rosa could be called a bit too enthusiastic… sometimes. Eh, most of the time. All the time. Ariel was nice, but in the same way caramel is sweet compared to sugar. That alone wasn't exactly normal.

He started scraping the bottom of the barrel as he tried to look for an ounce of normalcy.

Aveline was another archetype, but that also wasn't her fault. She had some sort of memory thing like he did, but she wasn't completely screwed over so he assumed he'd been the only one to have strange demonic dreams. Also, if he did approach her, her dad would probably have an actual reason to be running from the police soon enough.

Lenore was her own sort of main character, having to deal with Gin's inability to avoid musical numbers. It was almost a weekly occurrence in a certain cantina.

Naturally, he wouldn't actually be interested in any of them. That would be weird. They were his coworkers or otherwise involved with complications.

Blanche sighed, then shook his head and mumbled, "Shit like this? It's why I swore off dating."

He then resolved to not think about it if he could. It was better to ignore whatever feelings he might have had for the sake of stability.

Wasn't it?

The front desk wasn't too busy that time of night. He greeted the clerk, asking for their specialty drinks.

They gave him an odd look, asking if he'd already checked in. A strange question, almost like they didn't recognize him.

He held up his room card, nodding along.

With the exchange of 2,000 (way too much money for a bottle of soda), they gave him the glass container with no other questions asked, remarking that they thought they recognized him.

Is this allowed?

He walked through the first-floor hallway, supposedly towards their room.

Nah, that'd be stupid. Who would sell a bunch of teenagers happy juice?

That Blanche wasn't wearing his trademark bandages was not factored in.

So there he was, standing at Shauna's door a minute later, offering the bottle only marked with a brand name none of them recognized.

"Must be a local thing," Shauna said, peering closer at the cap. "What's that, a cork? This isn't, y'know, that kind of drink, is it?"

"Why would they try to intoxicate high sch- uh, Trainer School students?"

"You seem like the kind of guy to have a fake ID," she said, turning on her heel and walking back into the room. "Hey, guys, look at this awesome soda bottle!"

Shauna and Blanche are simultaneously the most clever and least intelligent people in most rooms they enter. Sometimes they take turns, like they're passing an Idiot Ball.

Seven was a crowd for sure, but they all squeezed in-between the small desk chair and the twin beds. One of the few included amenities was a stack of coffee cups and a broken machine, but they luckily didn't need the latter.

Shauna was still trying to open it, but corks aren't exactly made for opening with hands.

"Give me that," he said, rooting around in his pocket for his second pocketknife, more of a multitool than the first.

"I… got… it," she struggled out, still trying to pinch her fingers on the seal and pull it out.

Trevor raised his hand with a suggestion, but Tierno shook his head and pulled it down.

"Tencent can probably open it," Rosa said off-handedly.

The Pokémon barked, poking out over her shoulder from its sleeping spot on the bed.

"He'll probably eat the glass too," Blanche said, "Shauna, I have a corkscrew, just give it here."

"I said I got it," she snapped, pulling extra hard before losing her grip and sprawling backward. "Agh!"

Serena picked up the bottle from beside her without a word and handed it to Blanche.

He screwed in the corkscrew, only slipping a little bit before he yanked it out.

Now, because Blanche isn't a total idiot, he had the bottle pointing a little away from him, if only to prevent the bed from staining when the bottle exploded.

And it did. Carbonated fuzz poured outwards, splashing onto the hardwood. Must've been Cherry Cokeleon, he thought, as he redirected the blast from all over everyone else to himself.

Face splattered with totally, definitely soda, he drank straight from the bottle until he could stop.

His throat burned and the aftertaste was strong, reaching up through his nose and straight to his brain, but it wasn't bad.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, only spreading the mess further but the reflex occurred regardless. In his perfectly logical mind, it must have been a local soda. Old fashioned sodas still sold in bottles tended to have a kick, like spiced ginger ale. They were in the right climate for ginger to grow locally.

Blanche passed off the bottle, grinning crookedly and reaching for a paper towel.

"Soda," Trevor reaffirmed, before massaging his forehead. "Sure."

Rosa poured herself a full cup, not even finishing the hand-off before she drank it all down in a few gulps.

"Woo, that's fresh," she coughed, looking the slightest bit dizzy. "Fruity too." She passed the cup to Tencent, who chomped down on it, cardboard and all.

Shauna took the bottle, peering at the bottle's lip with an intense focus, then glanced at Blanche before quickly pouring herself a cup and practically throwing the bottle to Serena.

Serena caught it with a swift motion, pouring a cup for her and Ariel, who sat across from her. Almost inverse to his expectations, neither reacted with anything more than a mild distaste.

"Take one down, pass it around," Blanche laughed as they served the bottle around again. "This soda is really good. It's like, grape ginger ale or something."

"Yeah, totally," Shauna muttered. "Give me the bottle, this cup isn't big enough."

"It's my turn!" Rosa said, tugging the opaque glass away and pouring more of her own.

"Give it, I didn't get enough."

"Cause you spilled half of it," Rosa pouted.

"Did not! That was Blancheeeee-right?"

Given Shauna's size, she didn't look like she could hold anything well, least of all the tons of sugar that must have been mixed into that soda.

I mean, what else could it be? Blanche thought.

"Hey, Ariel, this reminds you of communion, doesn't it?" Blanche joked, leaning across Tierno.

The blonde tilted her head, handing her cup to Audino then folding her hands in her lap. "What's that?"

"Eh… Never mind."

That's right, he thought, Lord Helix- God, I can't believe I can think that without laughing- isn't a direct copy of the god I'm thinking of.

It was actually rather funny on second thought, and he burst into very, very ineloquent giggles. That would be the proper word to describe it, no matter how emasculating it felt to him.

Four Holo Casters buzzed at once, the special pattern making the alarm all too clear.

"Whoops! FLARE time! Go, go, Power Rangers," Blanche shot out of his seat as if responding to a fire alarm.

Rosa whooped and followed suit, nearly lifting a grumpy sleepy-looking Shauna clear into the air as she ran for the door.

She moved a bit sluggish, but Serena actually checked for the message.

"It's an Anomaly by the beach," she said, standing. She stumbled ever so slightly, Blanche nearly missed it.

"You's alright, Serena?" Blanche asked.

"I'm fine. Just…"

She stumbled again, holding out her arms for balance.

"My AIAM fields are a bit wobbly…"

"Hey, come get your girlfriend, Shauna," Blanche looked to the door to get someone else to help her down to the beach, only to find that Rosa and Shauna had already disappeared. "Eh? Aw, man. Welp, guess I'm working late tonight, guys." He gave Tierno a low high-five as he passed, prepared to catch Serena if she fell. Even under the effects of whatever ginger ale that was, his brain still recognized that protecting their powerhouse was important. "Get some sleeps, Ariel. Make sure you don't leave," he wiped his mouth again, the urge to giggle tickling his throat, "Snrk, the oven on."

She looked at him strangely, as if he wasn't acting quite right. "Um, I won't. Good luck, then?"

"Thanks, you're's the best," came a slurry of words in reply as the second pair of FLARE Rangers left the room.


As they got onto the boardwalk, Serena stumbled into him, arms flapping robotically and frantically at the same time. He sort of caught her, catching her wrists and almost instinctively moving one around his shoulder. They were close enough in height that the support would actually help.

"Thanks, Calem," she said, voice moving between even and unsteady.

"You really gotta stop calling me that, Serena," he said, shaking his head even as their cheeks were so close together. "I'm not Calem, he's not… around, and I can't be him."

"But you're him, you wear the same hat," she said, voice wavering. "And you're the same height and you have the same body type and you don't talk the same way but you got lost so that makes sense and-"

"I'm not him," he exhaled hotly. His breath smelt bittersweet, he couldn't make out anything else. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You'll remember eventually," she said, smiling with a renewed self-assurance, though she stumbled on the next step.

Blanche's mood swung from a warm high to a depressing low with a single sinking word, but he kept walking. No point talking more about it when he could barely articulate his thoughts in his own damn head.

As they climbed to the peak of the boardwalk, Blanche saw the other two in morph. Not full morph, though, because for some God-forsaken reason, Rosa had on her helmet and her swimsuit; that was it. Tencent was still standing next to her, looking at the…

An enormous Mantine crested over the horizon, angled the same as the rest in its pod, but developing an arc towards the mainland.

"Urp," he coughed, his throat becoming that much dryer all of a sudden. "Motherf- No, no swearing."

He fiddled with his holster for a good half-minute while the other three Rangers just stared at him.

"Right!" He whipped out his hand like a car dealership balloon. "Clemontic Gear Access: Shield!"


AIAM FIELD PATTERN: GREEN

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Geranium

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI SHIELD

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"All of their vitals are off," Aveline said, appearing clearly worried to the usual two technicians. "But, um, send it through. Their heart rates are accelerated and their AIAM fields aren't steady. Geranium, why are you stumbling?"

Serena's point of view had appeared seconds earlier. "My AIAM fields are destabilized."

"What? Why? Is it something like the Anomaly from outer space?"

Blanche coughed, "No, we just drank some weird soda at the inn. That's why Dahlia is half-naked. Not that I would know, I didn't look. Okay, maybe a little, but-"

Aveline shared a look with Clemont and Michael.

The latter moved his headset aside, cleared his work area, and slammed his head into the desk. Repeatedly.

"Getting. Too. Old. For. This."

Clemont shook his head, pushing up his glasses. "Back to you, Rangers."


A sand dune rose out of the beach, weakly slapping at the Mantine as it hovered and twirled above them, as if looking for something it had stepped on. In a manner of speaking, of course, it didn't have legs.

It put them all in its shadow, as head to tail it reached from the dunes, incredibly close to the commercial areas of Ambrette, all the way to the water's edge.

The sand collapsed to the side, with Serena stumbling in the same direction and falling into the sand.

The lights still on in town blinked off as neighborhood generators exploded, and Shauna rerouted electricity out of them and around her like a ribbon of crackling light, before sending it skyward.

And missing its body entirely as it shifted to its left, not even dodging the attack as it brushed between its stinger and its wing-like flaps. The Anomalous Mantine dipped to the side, digging a huge gouge in the smooth sand and throwing up a dune of seashell-filled debris.

Blanche looked at his surroundings, looked at Rosa raising her arms and Tencent starting to glow, and made the intelligent decision to run for cover behind the changing rooms.

"Come on!" Rosa cried as the sky above them started to shimmer with purple, occasionally flashing green. "DRACO…"

Shauna and Serena had clearly gotten the idea by then, doing the same thing and sliding over next to him on either side. There was being confident in your aura's ability to protect you, and then there was believing that getting hit by an asteroid was a fun party game.

"METEOR!"

Wood splintered and a tin roof caved inwards. Rubble fell from around them, fading back into wispy aura as the buffeting ended.

Blanche still couldn't think straight, but he still had some of his mental faculties. He saw a red emergency life ring buoy attached to a few dozen feet of sturdy enough rope, and for some reason, thought of bullfighting.

"Clemont," he slurred as he tugged the preserver from its rack and ran back around the now-concave shelter, "Can I fly yet?"

"Still working on that- Can you guys lighten up on the property damage?"

Rosa was expected to laugh awkwardly at the remark, but she instead giggled like a madwoman.

Blanche had a witty comment in him somewhere about being surrounded by crazy, but he was too busy trying to loop the rope around Mantine's body while it weakly floated above the warzone-lookalike ground, stunned from the sudden onslaught. His initial plan was probably to wrap the rope around its neck, but seeing that it didn't have one and the feelers on its forehead wouldn't provide the most support, he found a third or fourth wind as he repeatedly breathed the same bitter air. He'd managed a vertical and a diagonal with both sides of the rope forming an hourglass shape around its body and pulling them taut.

Well, it pulled the ropes taut. Blanche was just along for the ride.

His feet scrambled without his input as he left the ground and it floated back up, twisting around to look at the source of the nuisance.

Blanche, panicking, pulled on both sides of the rope, yanked the joints of its wings up.

The SHIELD protected him, yes, but it was also an exoskeleton. That provided very little strength, however.

It was almost a miracle, through the sum of his efforts that summer, his adrenaline rush, and the inability to think clearly, that he could pull the wings up enough for it to belly flop.

Blanche collapsed to his knees, pulling even tighter as to not be thrown off.

This was not his best move, as it settled for trying to roll its enormous body in the sand to try and get rid of him where it could not see.

He felt himself pitching left, looked at Shauna just standing there, likely as dumbfounded as he usually felt, and loosed the left wing and tightened the right.

Like a balloon, Mantine lifted again, this time hurtling to the right of the beach, doing a full flip in the air without throwing Blanche off.

This cycle repeated, as it tried to stop, drop, and roll the most stubborn of life forms off of its back. To his muscles, it went on for hours, heaving and hoing. At some point, he was certain that he blacked out from either exertion or just general blood-something-levels.

In reality, it was only a few minutes, just enough for the sound of a giant Pokémon crashing around on the adored public beach to finish waking up everyone in the neighborhood.

There was still silence as it finally stopped flapping, all of its muscles relaxing at once, and allowing its impromptu rider to catch a breather.

Blanche looked out across the crowd of first responders, angry townsfolk, and students who had just come to watch. His leg was still firmly placed on Mantine's unmoving neck, er, head, holding up the rope that had led it to create a trail of destruction across the beach.

His voice crackled through the LADY's interface in an exhausted, empty deadpan, reaching the other Rangers and technicians clearly.

"I'm totally getting fired for this, aren't I."