Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 19: Searching And Finding

Braixen avoided the charging houndour with a graceful twirl, but dodges were all she had done so far in this third battle between Serena and Evan. It was one each after Evan won the first with butterfree against cherrim, and then zorua made short work of stunky, and this third one was definitely tilting towards the younger Trainer so far.

Not because of skill; braixen was superior in every way, everyone could tell, but she had nothing to hurt the Dark-type with Flash Fire. Yeah, using her body to slam and scratch, but Evan had told houndour to only get in close when he said to do that.

It was the worst nightmare for the braixen line, houndour and houndoom. Max had explained that at some point. Water and Dark Pokémon were a close second, but at least they could be burned with enough effort. Delphox knew moves for it, but no braixen seemed to have the skill to learn Dazzling Gleam or Shadow Ball. "Keep it up, braixen!" Serena said, trying to sound confident to throw her opponent off.

It probably wasn't working, but being confident was important in every kind of competition, and battles counted as far as she was concerned.

A Feint Attack nearly connected, but again, braixen proved she was the faster Pokémon. It was close, though, and it wouldn't be long before Evan would pull something like his cousin and start trying to chain attacks.

Time to for Serena to pre-empt that. With mental apologies to whoever tended to the trees, she pointed at the nearest one. "Get a big branch and hit houndour with it!"

A loud creaking sound and one of the medium branches flew off, wavering in its levitation as braixen had to avoid another Faint Attack. It wasn't wholly successful, Serena saw as she turned back, but her starter kept her balance.

With a burst of focus, the branch flew in. It caught an Ember attack, but the Fire-type attack wasn't strong enough to immediately incinerate the branch. It helped that there'd been a rainstorm early that morning, too, and even now, it was a lot colder than the day before. Despite that, some leaves did catch fire, but that only made the branch scarier to look at as braixen directed it towards houndour, aiming for the snout.

It ended up hitting the black Pokémon on the right flank. There was a painful yelp, and an attempt at some Dark-type move that Serena didn't recognise, but braixen whirled the branch in immediately, taking the attack and also delivering a hard smash on houndour's snout, which caused a howl of pain. A follow-up sideswipe barely missed thanks to the Dark-type dropping flat to the ground.

And then Evan returned houndour, for some reason. "Not gonna win this," he said as ducklett put water on the branch. "Not without getting houndour's teeth smashed to a bloody pulp."

"They're tougher than that," Serena brought in, but she saw the point. "Had to try something." A signal from braixen, and her starter went back into the pokéball. "Did you know Max told me about this exact match-up? Braixen can't do anything until she turns into delphox. Except Solarbeam, but we're still working that one out." Slowly, and the weather would have made it a lot more difficult today too.

"Why'd he talk about this?" Evan wondered as he walked up. "Thought you hadn't seen Max in ages, 'n Danny caught his houndour in Johto."

"Team Flare used houndoom," Serena said darkly, and the boy made a sour face. "They can be kinda scary, but your houndour seems like a loveable stray type."

Predictably, that got her hand licked, and she moved it to behind the canine's ears afterwards. Houndour promptly leant into it and tried to get as much out of the scratch as possible. "She is. And she's a… A… She really likes food a bit too much."

Houndour barked enthusiastically at the mention of food, causing both of the humans to laugh. "Most people or Pokémon do. Especially our age. Right?" Serena asked, grinning at Evan, who rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. "Where are you going next, by the way? You said you needed two more? Cinnabar and Fuchsia?"

The boy shook his head, sitting down on the ground as the sun broke through the clouds overhead, instantly making it a lot warmer. "Fuchsia's pretty bad for me. Stunky, butterfree, houndour all have moves that can poison or stuff."

"Oh, she knows Smog?" Serena asked as she sat down as well, and a small burp of black smoke proved it. "Why didn't you use it in the fight?"

"And have you blow it up?" Evan replied. "No thanks. Max's vulpix did that already."

Of course Max did. It was right up his alley. "Does that mean you're not going to use houndour in Cinnabar then?" Serena wondered. "She has Flash Fire. That's a big help."

The boy beside her made an uncertain gesture. "And if the other Pokémon has it too, what then?" he asked. "Was trying to fight braixen like I'd want to do in Cinnabar."

That raised her opinion of Evan, honestly. It was probably his cousin's influence again, but that he did so and thought about it even when Max wasn't here… "You certainly gave me a good fight. Still think you should've continued the fight with braixen, though."

"We could have another one," Evan blurted out, looking surprised by his own words.

Serena suppressed a giggle. "Not now," she answered. "And don't you have an Egg to take care of?"

They glanced off to the side, where ducklett had now joined the guard poochyena near the Egg canister. "Didn't mean now. Isn't there a Contest in Cinnabar? We could go there together."

Oh, she knew what he wanted. "And how much of this is you wanting time with zorua?" Serena asked innocently, holding in a giggle when she saw Evan react to the accusation. He so wanted more time with her Dark-type. "If you can help me with Contest stuff… Sure." She saw him doubt. "Just in battles, Evan. No need to think of something yourself."

The relief was obvious. "Oh, okay. That shit's fine."

~~§~~§~~

The forest was dark, foreboding, eerie. All around Max, branches creaked under the stormy wind, harsh gusts howling through the trees, sending shivers down his spine as he walked.

There was something close-by, he knew it. He felt it. He didn't know what exactly it was, but it was a place he had to go to. Vulpix was beside him, helping him out by providing light: a Will-O-Wisp dancing on the wind; flickering but never going out.

Something had come through. Branches littered the path, small and medium, some breaking under Max's weight. A pair of trees had been uprooted: one by the side, the other needing to be climbed over. It wasn't hard, but a weight settled in Max's stomach as he did.

Time passed quietly, but as he went, something started to weigh on his mind. A slight feeling of fear, easily quashed, turned into dread reminiscent of the yveltal cocoon. Max pushed through it anyway: whatever was up ahead, he needed to go there. Vulpix agreed with a sharp but encouraging yip.

Dread morphed into terror, unholy screeching firmly stuck in Max's head. "Yveltal isn't here," he told himself, voice barely above a whisper. He stopped, steeling himself, taking a deep, fortifying, breath. "Yveltal is not here," he repeated, firmly, ready to face what was ahead.

Nothing was. Visibly. And nothing was visible. Utter darkness snuffed out Will-O-Wisp, and vulpix whined, before taking an audible deep breath and exhaling flames.

Max had a split-second warning until something purple slammed into his side, biting cold draining energy. Pellets of something hit the back of his knee, buckling it, forcing him into a kneel. He brought up his hand, and something else hit it: dark, cold, empty, lifeless. The arm dropped to his side, unfeeling, the rest of his body following as he was lifted into the air psionically.

"Weakling," a voice ground out, out of Max's sight. It was like nails on a blackboard except worse; the one word agonising already. "Easily led. Easily caught. Just like your friends."

Unnatural spotlights appeared, casting eerie light over…

Keith, wrapped in vines, tearing at and failing to get rid of some at his throat.

Jane, screaming soundlessly at blood flowing from her legs.

Serena, tied up, fire licking at her feet, kicking and stomping to no avail.

Ash, trapped in a shrinking cage of electricity, thrown around violently at every touch of the current.

Danny, frozen solid except for his hair, face oddly lit up, surprised.

They formed a five-pointed star; Max in the middle, moved around by unseen strings. "Weak. All of them. This one was more trouble."

Ralts. Bloody. Broken.

The corpse was thrust into Max's unwilling arms. His mind wanted to recoil, but he couldn't. "And now for you."

Agony. Max writhed in his bonds. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. He felt nothing but pain, building and building and building and screaming and…

"Max!" a voice like thunder obliterated the pain, the sleep, everything for just a moment.

Then, comfort; an embrace of warmth and love and friendship. "'pen?"

Max's throat was full and dry at the same time, but they understood. "Nightmare," Danny said from somewhere near Max's shoulder. "Really bad one. Couldn't wake you up at all."

"It defied my abilities," gardevoir added as he lifted Max up, but this time, the grip was everything it hadn't been in the nightmare.

He landed on wobbly feet, but Danny and gardevoir were there to support him. Vulpix and houndour also joined in; their tails against Max's calves telling him they were there. "Time?"

"Close to dawn," Danny told him, temporarily abandoning his hold as Max tried to open his eyes. Light filtered in, and he saw a blurry teenager move back, something in his hand. "Drink up."

The water did much to help Max's throat. "Thanks," he whispered, making to sit down and feeling gardevoir letting him. The grass was cold against his legs, but that was good. "You want to know?"

"Only if you're up for it."

He wasn't, but he had to, and so he did.

"Scary stuff," Danny drolly summed the dream up, mostly because he was probably trying to not get caught in it. Max knew that much. "How'd you know what hit you?"

That was a weird question. "I saw the Shadow Ball just before it hit. Bullet Seed just fits, and, well..." Max trailed off, gesturing towards gardevoir and himself. "It's a guess, but I remember you saying that Dark-type energy felt empty, and this really did, so it's probably Dark Pulse."

"It sounds like it, though obviously, there are differences in sensation. Dreams aren't always that literal."

"You kinda need to have an idea of what to feel to feel it in dreams," Danny countered, before making a face. "Does that sentence even make sense? Arceus, it's too early for this," he added on, speaking more to himself at the end. A shake to get rid of the confusion. "These nightmares aren't normal, though."

"And yet, there are no Pokémon capable of dream manipulation in at least a mile radius, and there haven't been since I felt the distress," gardevoir said. "Unless there are non-Ghost, Psychic, or Dark-types that can do so."

"Don't think so," Max said, trying to think of one. He didn't find any, and vulpix took advantage of his silence to snuggle in under his hand. "But I don't know everything either. Contrary to popular belief."

Danny didn't take the bait. "I know I ask this every time, but… You going to be okay?"

"Should be, but… Can I get a bit of alone time now? As much as you'll let me."

Gardevoir answered by returning himself, probably heading back to sleep, and Danny sighed deeply, but chose to not comment. Instead, he released dusclops – houndour padding over as well – and started discussing something in a voice so low Max couldn't hear it.

A twinge of phantom pain in his shoulder made him remember the first attack. He'd seen it coming. There had been room to dodge it. It had hit him on the shoulder, so ducking should have been enough.

Human bodies weren't great at shrugging off a lot of attacks like Pokémon could, but the solution was simple, Max realised as two of vulpix's tails tickled the inside of his arm, demanding attention. He gave it. Dodging was definitely an option and it wasn't even too hard.

How to train for it, though...

~~§~~§~~

Danny woke up from a needed afternoon nap to strange sounds nearby. He shot up, hand on his belt, but he instantly realised that he would've been woken up if something was happening.

A deep breath to calm his nerves and he looked for the source of the sounds, getting up in the process. What he saw was… Not what he was expecting, for sure.

Max, falling flat on his belly as he tried to avoid a weak Shadow Ball from… deerling? "What on earth are you doing?"

"Deerling is practising Shadow Ball and I'm dodging them," Max said as he got up. The front of his shirt was stained green and brown, and Danny saw a small tear in there as well. He was also not wearing his glasses, and sweat was sliding down his face pretty freely. "It's… It's going okay. For both of us. It—"

A quick jump to the side, and another Shadow Ball impacted the ground, sending up a bit of dirt near where Max's feet had been. Danny traced the trajectory, revealing ninjask flying overhead, coming down after a whistle from his Trainer. And the attack had been fully behind Max, with no way he could've spotted it. "I think I can guess what brought this on," Danny said, choosing to ignore Max's blind dodge. "I would've liked it if you had told me of this before. Just so we can take precautions."

Max's Bug-type landed on an outstretched arm, buzzing merrily when a hand went to his head. "I'm out if I get hit three times, Danny. And I took off my glasses and everything so I don't break them." He gestured over to the left, where drapion and sceptile were looking like they were carefully testing with X-Scissor – a move drapion had started to pick up recently, but still had a lot of trouble with. "On the stump."

Danny opted to take his friend's word for it. "And if they hit your head?" he asked.

"They don't attack at the same time, deerling aims for my legs and ninjask for my torso. Or back," Max allowed, smiling as he sent his flyer back into the air. "And they're really underpowered. C'mon, feel it."

The Ninja Pokémon zipped over, creating a bit of purple energy between its pincers, holding it and inviting Danny to touch.

With a sigh, and mentally steeling himself, Danny did so, but it felt… Not normal, but he'd been hurt more from froslass accidentally not holding back her aura when she was blissed out from Danny's caring for her or from random sparks jumping over from their Electric-types. "Huh. You weren't kidding."

"Of course not. You'd have my head if I went for full power," Max said, and there was no humour anywhere in his face. Not that today had been a day for that; not after what had happened just before dawn. "I think you should do it too. Just for safety. We've been attacked too many times."

Danny refrained from pointing out that most of the times they'd ended up injured somehow, it was from something that wasn't easily dodged. Max's memory was better at those details than his, and it had probably already been dismissed as an argument. "I'm not against it, but maybe when it's a bit cooler? After dinner has settled? Or in the morning."

"Why?"

"Feel how drenched your shirt is first, then we'll talk," was his answer. Max obliged, and Danny quickly knelt by deerling. "Go get Max a bottle of water, okay?" he told the newest addition to their teams. "You're sweating like mad. Dehydration is real, y'know."

In response, Max took the shirt off, using the relatively dry lower bit to clear away the sweat near his collarbones. "Okay. Didn't even think about that," he admitted, looking a bit sheepish. "Guess you're right." He sat down, as did Danny, and ninjask soon landed beside Max, just before deerling ended up coming back with the bottle. "I think it's a bit too big, deerling."

Carrying a bottle by the cap with teeth had to be uncomfortable, but deerling didn't seem to think worse of Danny for it. Instead, he found a place in the sun and curled up, eyes on the group. "Is it just Shadow Ball or..."

Max drank deeply from the water first. "It's the easiest," he said afterwards, shrugging. "There aren't a lot of attacks that you can use from range, that keep their power mostly intact over a distance, and that aren't dangerous in some way."

"Bubblebeam?" Danny said, offering the first thing that came to his mind as an alternative.

"Medium range at best on poliwhirl, and it's a lot about pushing the bubbles out fast. Which can hurt." Another shrug. "Can work later on, but it'd require practice for poliwhirl as well, and this isn't her weather."

Danny ran through the moves on his team. "Pin Missile on ferroseed could work," he offered. "I think that's it, though… At least for my Pokémon. I don't think you've got a lot of better options."

"Dragon Pulse works, but shelgon is all or nothing," Max said honestly, and Danny had to agree. "Bullet Seed is faster, but also smaller, and harder to tune down. Sceptile could do it, but… X-Scissor. Which you really want to get for the next Gym, you told me. Giving drapion another turn?"

It was his turn to shrug. "Maybe. With the right opponent, sure. And we've got time to get it worked out."

Max nodded. It would be at least nine days before they'd get to the Gym, because of what was coming up in eight days. "Sceptile could use the practice as well, and I'm overdue on using him. The last time was in Goldenrod."

"Still surprised you didn't use him in the Fairy Gym. Seemed somewhere he could go to town if you'd wanted to."

"Baltoy was also overdue, and meowstic was just a good idea after that slurpuff set up Light Screens. You know she's good at getting around those." The rest of the water was drained. "No plan survives enemy contact and all that."

~~§~~§~~

Lumiose City was groaning under an early summer heat wave. Clemont's collection of heliolisks loved it as they absorbed the sun for even more electricity than usual, which was needed to keep the air conditioning in the Gym working, but that was about it. The walk from home, early in the morning, had been hot already for days, and going back was worse. The showers saw a lot of use these days, and Bonnie had told him it wasn't much better in Laverre, where she was training for her next Gym Badge.

He had never understood how some of his colleagues liked battling outside if there weren't Pokémon-related reasons for it. Heliolisk was the only one of his that was good for it, and even that was risky if there was a Fire-type to take advantage of the sun if it was like this.

And battling outside in the rain? He wasn't keen on repeating that bout of pneumonia from when he was ten.

Clemont leaned back in his chair, looking at the mess in the adjacent workshop. Clembot was in parts currently, needing an upgrade to the hardware after a bit of an incident, and there were a couple of Clemontic inventions here and there, but one thing caught his eye.

A medal, behind glass, hanging beside a variety of pictures of him winning robotics contests.

Team Flare was finished, but… Others weren't. The recent news around Phlis had proved that; the fact that they'd been linked to Team Rocket was incredibly surprising to everyone. Thankfully, the Gym hadn't used any of their products, but new stories were breaking almost daily. Like today: something about how there were overrides in some of the specialised security equipment.

Clemont turned to the paper on his desk, spotting an article opposite the news about Phlis, and a picture of an obviously agitated woman in her twenties caught his eye, prompting him to read it.

A minute later, he put the paper down in mild disbelief. One of the Elite Four members in a far away region had been pushed out of her role, and half of the article was just quotes from random politicians about how she wasn't up for the job? Normally, he wouldn't have thought about it too hard, but here… There was something more going on. The Gym Leader knew it.

The reason for the dismissal was all official-like and revealed nothing, but that was nothing to someone with connections. He'd been with Professor Sycamore when that news had broken, and as luck had had it, Sycamore had spoken to Oak of Kanto about what was happening in Hoenn recently.

It had been strange how he had just given Clemont all that information, but a reminder of who was wrapped up peripherally in that whole mess had explained everything. He shook his head sadly. They had the worst kind of luck.

Sycamore had opined – and Clemont had agreed – that there were too many instances of too coordinated attacks in the last two years for it to be what the government in Hoenn was claiming. There was some machine involved too, Clemont had offered with Sycamore concurring – Pokémon didn't do things like this without reason, and as much as there were old stories of Pokémon attacking a city… They were older than even Ramos was.

Actually… Could he make a machine that would attract Pokémon and send them into a frenzy? Was it difficult, or was it something every average Jean could do given enough time and a few items?

Clemont stood up and started to pace. How to send Pokémon into a frenzy wasn't hard to figure out, but usually it was certain Pokémon, not certain Types. You used magnetism to do things to magnemite, harsh high-pitched sounds to disable most canine Pokémon, but an entire Type was something different. It suggested there was something innate to them that others did not have, even if they did know moves of that type.

That wasn't too strange. The same type affinity was well-studied, but that seemed lacking in its simplicity. And it didn't explain why it had only been three Types so far. It was the best lead Clemont had, though.

Actually, there was probably someone somewhere who had tried the whole actively controlling Pokémon thing. "Rotom?" he spoke up, and the Ghost-type appeared, having been hiding in one of the dormant machines in the workshop. "Go search for Pokémon being controlled against their will. News articles or videos."

A happy little dance ended with rotom sinking through the floor, and Clemont resumed his pacing.

It wasn't real control. That was clear. The attacks in Hoenn that happened involved too many Pokémon, and you needed Legendary-grade levels of power to control all of them. Or ancient artifacts, he amended, remembering the groudon and kyogre scuffle that he'd read up on at some point. Neither of those options were all that common, and the Gym Leader felt safe dismissing them as options. That left something to attract Pokémon and send them into a frenzy, as he'd reasoned earlier.

Maybe it was attraction that was the key? Was it possible to create something that would cause Pokémon to come looking for them? He'd read something about a room in the parliament building in Hoenn being completely destroyed. Was there something all Pokémon of a Type really lo…

"Of course!" Clemont exclaimed loudly, and his voice resounded in the workshop. "The Unovan Gems." Did he still have one of those? Elesa had shown him one when she had been over for a well-earned holiday a few months ago, and she'd left it here, but had he used it or…

Clemont walked over to his odds-and-ends cabinet, and he found it immediately: a sharp-edged vivid yellow rock lying beside a case of Thunderstones and an old multi-purpose knife, somewhere around knee height. Touching it gave the sensation of very localised pins and needles in his fingertips; a very low-power electrical current or probably an imitation of that was the most likely explanation for it. "Now, how to approach this..." he mused, casting an eye around for his toolbox and some materials.

He'd barely picked up a screwdriver before rotom reappeared, looking far less happy than earlier. That answered the other question: someone had done so, meaning it was possible.

And if it was the case that Pokémon were being forced with the help of something like this, he could probably get word out to Hoenn. Diantha would probably know who to contact, and after Geosenge and the award ceremony, the barrier that Clemont had felt towards the Grand Champion had all but disappeared.

Funny how that worked.

~~§~~§~~

As Danny had expected, Max had abandoned the campsite early on the anniversary of that day. They hadn't spoken about what he would do, but they didn't really need to. Danny knew he couldn't comprehend the grief, but he could sympathise perfectly well. And though he had come a long way from the broken-hearted pre-teen in the days after both losing ralts and kirlia, Max would still sell his soul for a chance to turn back time to stop what happened.

Which had made it all the more confusing that Max had left the green Friend Ball behind.

So far, Danny and Max's gardevoir had chosen to ignore the donphan in the clearing, but with lunch come and gone, and Danny's stomach full… "Did Max take any food with him?"

"I don't know," the gardevoir replied, psionically grabbing the bowls that houndour and helioptie had eaten from and putting them right next to Danny. "Like you, I was asleep when he left. I'm not even certain I know where he went to, though I have my suspicions." A calm red gaze held Danny's. "You appear slightly agitated."

"I know," Danny said, sighing. "It's not the first time he's left without leaving a note or saying anything, and I hated that. Kinda hoped he'd broken the habit." Another sigh, deeper. "Guess I can't blame him today. Still don't like it, though."

"You are wise beyond your years for realising that," the gardevoir complimented, causing Danny's face to threaten to explode with heat. "Nevertheless, if you want to talk to him… I could attempt something."

It wasn't hard to figure out what gardevoir meant. Not when Danny thought Max's back-up plan if he wasn't able to become the Grand Champion was to take over a Psychic-type Gym somewhere. Of course, it was probably not even a fully formed plan, but that was beside the point. You picked things up around someone like that. "If you think you can Teleport to him."

"I believe it to be possible," the Psychic-type replied softly, distantly. "Though I don't think I can or should take more than you with me."

Swampert was duly instructed to keep watch over the area alongside helioptile and houndour, and Danny waited patiently for a signal from the gardevoir that he should grab hold of an arm or something.

Three minutes or so passed before red eyes appeared again, but this time, they were focused on something far away, far out of Danny's sight. "Grab hold."

The moment he did, gardevoir hurtled them into nothingness, black overtaking Danny's vision. When he felt grass under his cheeks and hands, he realised it was because he'd reflexively closed his eyes, but opening them was surprisingly hard because with that realisation came the sour feeling of overusing muscles. In all his arms and legs simultaneously.

"Danny!?" Max shouted from nearby, and he felt Max try to get an arm under one of Danny's before a gentle sensation did it for him. "Did you get attacked?"

"No," gardevoir answered, and even that lone word sounded strained to Danny's ears as he struggled to get up himself. "An attempt at doing something I shouldn't have, perhaps." A generic sense of frustration emanated from the Pokémon; distinctly foreign and very telling. Control for the Embrace Pokémon was normally ironclad. "I don't believe I could have done it had you been much further."

Danny got his hands underneath him with Max's help, managing to push himself up enough for a sideways glance; and the bit of what he saw was familiar. "Here?" he ground out while getting on his knees. "Not what I expected."

And a bit unwanted. The memory of the scyther cutting into his arm flared vividly in his mind.

"Here," Max agreed as he walked into Danny's view: shirtless, and were those… what? "Dodge drills gone wrong. Least I took off the shirt before it got torn."

Danny focused on Max's left side, but he couldn't see any broken skin; just bright red skin from where something had hit. Splotches made clear what the attack had been, and a quick look around indeed revealed the sceptile, looking about as contrite as the serious Grass-type ever did. Other Pokémon around were Mega manectric and Max's three other Psychic-types. Two of which hadn't been on his team that morning. "Why get your other Psychic-types and leave gardevoir behind?"

The shirtless teenager kept silent, instead looking for his shirt and finding it not long after, walking less surely than usual. Meowstic, however, did say a few syllables: ones that caused Max to shoot her a look that stated he disagreed with her doing that. "You wanted to forget?" gardevoir interpreted, having recovered a bit, though still sitting down. "Why?"

Still, Max didn't answer, but Danny had an idea. "It's not forgetting. It's keeping so busy that you don't think about it," he told gardevoir as he got to his feet. He swayed a bit, but kept standing without aid from any of the Psychic-types nearby. "And then crashing into an exhausted sleep, too tired to even dream. You've been using the Mega bond to keep awake." Now that Danny was able to focus, he saw his friend's tired look; the drawn face and the movements that were just off. Had he even taken a break or had it been hours of non-stop dodging? Today, Danny didn't know. "I still don't get why you left gardevoir behind."

"It is like meowstic told us. He wanted to forget. I am a link to my brother." The green-and-white Pokémon rose, decidedly lacking his normal grace. "If he wanted to give you a way to join him, I was always the one left behind. And I accept that."

Sincerity pulsed in the area, and Danny had no reason to not believe the gardevoir's words. It was how he was; occasionally self-sacrificing and with empathy boosting his understanding of others.

In the former, the Pokémon and Trainer were definitely a great match. "Okay, but if Max wanted to do that, he could've told us." Max froze as Danny turned on him, expecting to be told off and seemingly resigned to that. "Knowing you… You probably forgot in your hurry to get away." A careful nod was the answer, and Danny let out a deep sigh. "I know how much you hate today. I wish it'd been different, but…"

"We both know wishes don't always come true," Max finished softly, smiling wanly. "But… How did you find me then? Did you..."

"Yes," gardevoir answered the unasked question. "And I came away with a newfound reverence for my mother."

Max genuinely laughed. "Three Teleports, two with a passenger, the other one to someone she'd only met twice, all between Mauville and Izabe," he said, effortlessly picking up on what was being referred to, saving Danny the trouble of asking. "She's incredibly skilled at it."

"It is a talent of hers, but that she was capable of doing so to someone who she had only met twice before… It is astonishing." An arm went out to Max's shoulder. "Should we head back now?"

"Ye – No," Danny corrected himself, remembering why he'd come here in the first place. "Did you have anything to… For arceus's sake, Max," he finished when he saw the sheepish look on his best friend's face. "Not eating, dodging drills for literally hours, and using manectric as a crutch? You're going to crash so hard." He crossed the distance, taking the arm that was on Max's shoulder and wrapping his hand around it. "Take me back. I'll throw some food together and bring it back here so he can at least crash on a half-full stomach."

"Why this course of action?"

"If manectric reverts back, Max is going to drop like a stone. Diantha's gardevoir might be capable of Teleporting an entire suite of people and Pokémon, but you're not at that level. I'm not taking the risk."

"Point taken," gardevoir replied, but through his hand, Danny felt there was more to the answer. He looked up into red eyes, both of them knowing the other knew. "A goal to strive for."

And the world dissolved effortlessly after those whispered words.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Skilled Psychic-types have the ability to Teleport to a person they know well. It is uncommon, and it requires a connection of sufficient strength, but otherwise, it is exactly the same as a regular Teleport. The same range restrictions apply, and Trainers using this report that there is no difference in sensation either. The nature of the ability does mean that it is niche; often the only one with a sufficient bond to port to is the one who is in need of transportation. It is, however, a very useful skill to have for Pokémon that are part of a family with smaller children that are prone to toddling off on their own.

Author's Note: Apologies for the day delay: events conspired to make me not be home most of this weekend.

Meanwhile, over in Johto, we're closing in on the eighth Gym. It's going to be a doozy.