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 54: Life's Awkward Mirror

Serena put her feet on the chilled towel, and felt instant relief spread through them. It was currently a few hours before sunset, somewhere vaguely north-east of Mauville, and not thirty hours ago, she'd managed to tear her walking shoes on a piece of jutting rock. It hadn't hurt her, but her shoe was done for, and so May had led them to a town and a shoe shop.

New shoes meant having to break them in, though. As good a fit as the shoes were, feet hurt after too long a time in new shoes. This was no exception, which was why they'd stopped walking for the day already, while the sun was still decently high in the sky. A couple of their Pokémon were also out and about. Wartortle and meowth were playing tag with very low-powered attacks: Thundershock for the cat and Water Gun for the Water-type. Altaria was lazing, keeping half an eye out for stray attacks, and May's skitty was grooming herself after a job well done.

The pink Pokémon had used a really underpowered Blizzard on a towel: the same towel that was now loosely wrapped around Serena's bare feet for relief. Sweet, sweet relief. "Thanks May," Serena said sincerely.

"We've all been there." The oldest Maple sibling lobbed a regular towel. "Temperature right? Skitty's a bit uneven with Blizzard at the best of times. When she needs to control it, I mean. Yes, you are," she added before there was even a sound of disagreement.

"It's fine. I'm not picky," Serena said. "It – aah – just feels painfully good, you know?"

The older teenager chuckled as blaziken and braixen walked into view, bringing a bit of firewood along with them. "Yep. Doesn't beat a hot bath after days and days of travel, but it's a close second."

A shiver ran down Serena's spine at the memory. It had been a while since her last hot bath. "You're speaking my language now." A melodic thrill hung in the air. "And altaria's. Though she's gotten a bit big for regular baths."

May sat down. "Oh, now this I have to hear."

"When we met, and she was still a swablu, it was a nasty cold day and my knee was aching like you wouldn't believe. We barely made it to the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy hustled me to a hot bath immediately, with swablu hitching a ride in my hair."

May giggled. "Yeah, they do that. Famous for it. Some people say it's only for trustworthy people, but it's probably because it reminds them of nests or something." She twirled hair around her finger. "I was thinking about getting one a while ago, but I decided against it. Still looked up some stuff about them."

"They're a lot more common in Hoenn, yeah. But anyway, I get to this glorious, hot, painfully soothing bath," Serena said, a shiver of pleasure snaking its way up her back into her head. "And swablu, being curious, gets on the edge."

"And fell in, being a bit too curious," the older Coordinator finished for Serena, before casting a look at the Dragon-type. "Probably need a hot spring or something to fit her in now. If she wants to. Or a river."

The blue Pokémon let out another thrill; pleasant, but also declining the invitation. "You heard her. Think her wings wouldn't like it either. Shrivel up into nothing."

"Wet cat, except a Dragon," May replied sagely, and the mental image prompted both of them to giggle, and altaria to mock-huff. "She looks well taken care of, and I know they can be real terrors in a battle."

"You handled Lisia's well with that Sky Uppercut and Dual Chop combination from blaziken. That Pokémon can jump!"

"Yeah. Don't have any flying Pokémon except beautifly, so they have to be able to deal with opponents in the air. Venusaur's got a ton of vines, wartortle and vaporeon know Ice-type moves, skitty is skitty… Munchlax is the weakest at it, but I managed to teach him some weak electrical attacks… What?"

Serena wasn't going to mention that the way May had gone off had reminded her of Max's way of thinking, so she chose a different topic. "Yeah. Ducklett, altaria, and then there's mareep too, and meowth's learning to use electricity. I've got more trouble with bulky, up close Pokémon!"

"So like that machamp blaziken beat earlier? Not that they're any good at Contests…"

Serena adjusted the slightly warmer towel a bit, feeling the chill soak into her toes, right where she wanted it to. "They'd be the worst." Braixen sat down next to her, tail fur touching right hand, warm and comforting. "What is it?" she asked, before spotting a small graze on the starter's neck. "Thorn or branch got you? And the necklace, I guess." She had a spare necklace or two just for this kind of reason.

A quick swap of the cord was quickly done, and May helpfully threw a mild antiseptic spray, which the Fire-type suffered through silently before returning herself to her capsule. "She and altaria are your strongest Pokémon, aren't they? By power, I mean."

"Cherrim if it's sunny, but yeah. They're the two I'd rely on if we, y'know… Would get in a fight. You'd have to do some heavy lifting."

May shook her head, loose hair escaping the tie. "Was thinking about Contests. It's always combinations or trickery with you, and even in battle you're more like that. Zorua's illusions, Weather Ball stuff… And it all looks so thought out. I know it isn't," the Coordinator added hastily. "Just how it looks, y'know. Because of your Showcases, I guess."

"Said the Coordinator with an Assist-using skitty and a munchlax that knows Metronome." She couldn't keep the dry tone out of her voice, remembering Max saying something like it in that same cadence before. "But yeah. Said it before: I still think I'm in a Showcase half the time. Maybe a quarter now. It's been a few months." Serena wondered how Violet was doing. "Definitely learning lots around here, though."

"Except you put that on hold because of what's happening here," May said. Eyes closed, and it didn't take a Psychic-type to read that mind or expression. "It's about a week to Fortree if the weather's good. Which it should be this time of year. Still not sure why we're not going to Nightwind, though."

"Nightwind?"

"Dark-type Gym place. About four days, but a lot more west than Fortree. If anyone's opposed…"

Serena hadn't known that. Just the location, though: they had told her about the Gym itself. Or maybe they had and she'd forgotten. "Just went off Danny and Max saying Winona was opposed. If anyone's able to help us, it's gotta be her, I thought."

"It's good thinking, and no harm done. Going there directly is through a desert. We'll get to the main fork in about half a day," May told her. "I only remembered because there's a Contest there Sunday after next." She got up, and Serena made to follow for a split second, remembering that she had the towel still wrapped around her feet before she could get up as well. "You stay here for a bit. I'll go hunt for some Berries. Should be some around."

The Kalosian nodded, noticing that blaziken didn't make a move to follow as May started walking. "Not taking blaziken?"

"He deserves a bit of rest," May called over her shoulder. "Be back in a bit!"

One look at the Fire-type starter told Serena that he didn't need or really want rest, but he stayed, trusting the other Pokémon to protect May.

~~§~~§~~

The weirdest thing about travelling in Hoenn, Serena felt, was that the seasons didn't make sense to her. It was halfway through November, just about, and while the nights were a bit chilly, it was about as warm as a regular day early in September back in Kalos.

Danny's reactions to Kalos weather suddenly made a lot more sense. She told May that, and to her surprise, the older teenager giggled wholeheartedly as they crossed through the thinly forested area they were currently in. "I think everyone in Hoenn's like that at first. I certainly wasn't too prepared for Kanto weather when I first went there. Brock at least helped us with clothing and some tricks to keep warm, but the first time walking in fast falling snow wasn't fun."

"Slippery?"

"Slippery and that time of month. Wasn't too long, thankfully, but you bet I took a long time in the bath after."

"Don't need a reason for that if it's cold," Serena said, shrugging, then looking around to see where meowth was at. The cat had wanted to walk along with them, and she wasn't about to say no. "Meowth? What is it?"

The answer was a bunch of hissing and spitting, and fur standing on end. Still, Serena couldn't hear anything.

It didn't stop May from sending out beautifly. "… Check," she said, softly, and the Bug-type flew away as May walked over. "Meowth don't react for nothing. Something's wrong."

Serena closed her eyes, willing the dream to end. It didn't. Her luck. "Someone found us?"

"What? No. Probably Pokémon trouble or something. Tropius herd getting frisky or something, maybe. Or some other Grass or Bug-types being territorial."

A bit of relief flowed through her, but Serena couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't true. Intuition or fear, she didn't know.

She shook her head, taking a deep breath. Whatever it was, she had to stay calm. Fear went nowhere. She'd known the danger going into Hoenn – more than just the average Pokémon journey. This was nothing she couldn't handle. "So, what do we do?" she asked after a minute or two had passed.

May looked at her as if she didn't fully understand. "If it's just some Grass or Bug-types, we just leave and send out braixen and blaziken. And if it's not, there's a bridge over a river in about a mile. Suspended."

A snide voice – Max's when angry – piped up in Serena's head about how that bridge could've already been destroyed, but Serena tried to ignore it. "Sounds like a plan. Destroy it if we have to?"

"Yeah. River's slow, but the bank is steep as hell. You need help to get up. It's something, and there's a Center nearby," May told her, before grinning wryly. "One of the Joys there told me they have to repair it at least four times a year, just from Pokémon."

"What kind of Pokémon's heavy enough to destroy a bridge?"

"There's a cave complex on the other side, with golem, and skarmory are native as well. One of them goes low and-"

A shriek interrupted them. It was far away, too weak to affect them, but Serena recognised it nevertheless. Perish Song. It sounded familiar, but not really. "That doesn't sound good."

"No," May agreed. "It doesn't. We're going there."

That surprised Serena enough to make her have to half-jog to catch up with May, who was walking fast, ducking underneath branches as they headed off-path. "Wait, why?"

"Max ever tell you about my swablu?"

What? "You have a swablu?!"

"Had. He… Clashed with skitty. A lot, and no idea why. Talking didn't work." Another Perish Song, and this time, beautifly came fluttering towards them, veering around when the Bug-type saw them. "Mom suggested I release him. Just not a good fit, happens sometimes."

"You didn't release him here, did you?"

May snorted. "Course not. That'd be too convenient. I'm still not going to let a group of swablu get bullied. Did you see what Pokémon were bullying them, beautifly?"

There was a swaying motion from side to side; not a 'no', but not a 'yes' either. The Butterfly Pokémon followed it up with a burst of Psychic energy, releasing blaziken and chittering a bit.

"Ken, bla?" One fist slammed into an open palm, fiery sparks coming off. "Ken."

May stopped, holding out an arm to make Serena do so as well. "You're sure?" she asked.

"What is it?"

"Poachers. With Fire-types. That's why beautifly returned early." The Coordinator sniffed, and Serena did the same. There was a slight hint of burning leaves on the sparse wind. "This could be dangerous. You up for it?"

Not quite two peas in a pod, the siblings were, but Serena definitely saw the family resemblance. "Kinda figured it was more than just regular Pokémon a while back. Intuition, you know."

"Same. Didn't stop me from hoping it wasn't. What you got to deal with Fire-types?"

"Altaria, braixen. Ducklett, but she's not the best fighter." A snarl from near her feet. "If you're sure, meowth…"

"Right." They started walking again, blaziken leading the way. "I can do flashy and distract them with wartortle, blaziken, and beautifly. You hold your own." The Water-type appeared in a flash, taking up the rear.

Serena's starter followed suit. "I'll have braixen guard us. Make sure we don't get burned." She palmed altaria's pokéball as well, knowing that the Dragon had heard them.

"Good idea."

The scent of burning leaves and wood became stronger as they walked. It didn't smell like a full fire, though. Closer to a campfire, but a large one. The Pokémon she could spot in the trees – a few aipom and linoone mainly – weren't fleeing, but they were paying attention to what was happening. One of them noticed the group, and immediately hustled into the trees.

Then, suddenly, the forest cleared out, onto a fifteen feet cliff. At the bottom was a glade, with a tiny stream passing through, maybe six feet wide at most, and on the far side, a wall of fire about as high as Serena was tall was right next to it.

A skarmory cried alarm, and in a moment, wartortle and braixen hurried past the Trainers, jumping down into the glade as beautifly zoomed overhead and launched a Silver Wind. "To the right."

Serena looked there, releasing altaria, and the Dragon-type immediately intercepted a ball of fire with a Dragon Pulse of her own; the attacks meeting and exploding, braixen's psychic powers dissipating the worst of it for her and meowth. Three Pokémon rushed towards them: a simisear, a skuntank, and a salazzle. "Careful with salazzle, meowth!"

May had already slid down the slope and Serena followed suit after also dropping her pack against a tree, noticing wartortle making for the wall of fire, but being intercepted by a lairon and an Air Slash from the skarmory. A Water Pulse was returned, hitting the lairon dead-on.

Electricity crackled as meowth put a Thundershock into the skuntank, who reacted by launching globs of poison at the cat. It missed, and braixen grabbed hold of some of the poison to redirect to her opponent: the simisear. "Psybeam as well! Altaria, Dragon Pulse!"

Skuntank intercepted the Psybeam with agility it didn't look it should have, but the Dragon Pulse exploded close to its face after a ball of flame only just intercepted it, winds whipping up, disrupting the smog salazzle was trying to create. Sludge Bomb was sent back at altaria, but the dragon flew up and over, quickly pushing a Disarming Voice before diving at the Alolan Fire-type.

"Braixen, meowth, team up and attack from range!"

Simisear intercepted the Flamethrower, but Serena knew they didn't have Flash Fire, so that was fine, and Pay Day hit the mark as skuntank shot a Shadow Ball straight at the duo in return. Meowth was immune to that, only being pushed back a bit by the kinetic energy and nothing more, and braixen threw the cat out of the way with her psionic powers to make a Flame Burst miss. The ball instead dropped not too far from Serena, a few embers landing a few feet away from her.

Meowth landed near a smokescreen that the salazzle had thrown down, and altaria covered him with a Disarming Voice sent in front of him while the cat got up and used Double Team. "Braixen, keep skuntank busy. Meowth, Slash that simisear!"

Her starter jumped, twirling in mid air as she summoned flame at the end of her stick and launched it forward with a psionic twist to control it. It veered around the attempted interception by the Unovan monkey Pokémon – a spray of Embers that aimed to blow it up – and pushed into a barrage of Sludge not too far from the skuntank's face. This time, however, there was no explosion; the stream of fire instead pushing into the skunk and causing it to howl in pain.

"Nice work!" May yelled, apparently having looked over, and Serena took a moment to glance over her shoulder to see it wasn't like that. Instead, blaziken had just sent a toxicroak flying backward into the lairon, causing both Pokémon to jumble together.

"Dragon Pulse there!"

Altaria did so, but before it landed, Protect went up, blocking both the Water Gun from May's wartortle and the green energy. It allowed toxicroak to get back up again, immediately heading for blaziken again before the other starter could Blaze Kick the seviper that was flinging earth at beautifly, trying to ground the Flying-type.

"Meooooo!"

Skuntank had managed to bodily slam into meowth, sending the cat flying, and it landed… Right near salazzle… Who immediately used Attract on the cat. "Altaria!"

The Dragon's furious dive, looking to Peck the Poison-type away from the cat, was too late. Meowth, immobilised by the fake love, got hit by two attacks in quick succession: Flamethrower and Sludge Bomb.

Braixen did land a nasty Psybeam on simisear, but it lasted. Meowth didn't.

Serena threw herself to the side as braixen dodged a Flame Burst that travelled on to her, and got up as fast as she could, grasping for the right pokéball as Altaria turned around, swooping in and releasing a fine blue Mist to disturb the Smog that the salazzle was starting to create around her and meowth's location. Braixen created a Fire Spin as well, sending the tornado straight at skuntank and forcing the other two Pokémon to deal with that.

It gave her enough time to return meowth. "Get that simisear!"

Psybeam and a trio of weak Dragon Pulses all went for the red Pokémon. Skuntank intercepted the Psybeam, but paid for it by also taking two of the Dragon Pulses, while salazzle's Incinerate took care of the third one before launching a venoshock at braixen. The fox-like Pokémon danced out of the way with a cartwheel, using some psychic power to send a hail of rocky pebbles from the cliff at simisear before adding a spray of Embers with a wave of her stick.

Altaria screeched – slightly Perish Song-infused – which caused the salazzle to freeze for just long enough, meaning the attack she was building arrived too late, and a hot spray of rock and fire washed over simisear. It did a bunch, but not enough to knock it out.

Then skuntank came out of the ground near braixen, trying for a Night Slash that the Fire-type desperately ducked under as she tried to summon fire to repel the heavy Dark-type. It didn't work; the attacks too fast, and all she could do was roll away, to the side, using psionic powers on herself the moment she could to jump up. It caused a Flame Burst to hit, and would've made a Sludge hit as well if it hadn't been for a last minute swipe of her stick to part the goop away.

"Altaria!" Serena shouted, and the Dragon-type answered with a louder Perish Song screech than before, causing legs to tremble, her stomach to sink, sharp and soft pain in her head…

But it worked; braixen having used a trick picked up from xatu to dampen the sound coming into her ears. She rolled to the side, taking Serena out of the line of fire, and started running, summoning a Flame Charge as she did. She didn't meet the skuntank head on, instead jumping up and over before blindly releasing the flame behind her, hitting the Poison-type right on the butt.

Simisear had finally been knocked out by altaria, too, Serena noticed as red energy lanced in the corner of her eye, while salazzle was now busy with her dragon. And with skuntank also preoccupied… She brought a pokéball up to her collarbone, turning slightly. "Get out of the battle area and start making it rain. As much as you can."

Ducklett did, fluttering up, hopefully unnoticed.

The air was getting a bit hazy from the Fire-type moves being used and the smoke and smog, and it was making her throat hurt. "Altaria, surprise!" Serena shouted.

The surprise was one Dragon Pulse delivered straight at skuntank's face, followed by a Fire Spin from braixen, before her Dragon-type went back to salazzle, tucking wings against her body and going into a sharp dive with Disarming Voice building up to stop the Flamethrower it was about to use at venusaur – when had that Pokémon appeared?

It worked, the attacks blowing up in salazzle's face, causing a huge burst of hot wind. Serena threw an arm up and turned away for a moment, allowing her to spot May's blaziken still sparring with the toxicroak and wartortle taking aim at the skarmory she'd seen before.

Altaria cried for attention, but it was braixen who needed it, with her starter suddenly locked in hand-to-claw combat with skuntank. Attacks traded at close range, viciously: Dark Pulse and Embers and Sludge and the start of Fire Spin and then a Dragon Pulse slammed into the back of the skuntank. "Nice!" she yelled, and braixen followed it up with a boosted kick away, using psychic powers on herself to help get out from half-underneath the Dark-type.

Then she heard something.

Venoshock passed inches from her face as she threw herself left, skidding onto hard but slightly wet soil, breath knocked out of her. She heard May shout for venusaur to help, saw mareep and cherrim come out, but salazzle was already…

"Ri-aaaa!"

Scythes of wind slashed into the ground, a harsh Hurricane literally blowing salazzle away. The Dragon didn't stop there, following the Poison-type, launching two Dragon Pulses and following it up with more Hurricane, three powerful beats each hitting dead centre.

"Xen!"

Serena shifted her attention to braixen, who was glowing an eerie red-violet as she manipulated a tornado of fire despite the rain that was coming down. It reached easily thirty feet into the air, and skuntank wasn't fast enough to dig underground. It was engulfed in flame, and all braixen did was feed more and more and more fire into the storm.

Good.

An arm on her elbow, and she was heaved up. "You okay?" May asked, concerned, then stern. "Blaziken, venusaur, get them."

With a mighty throw of a pokéball, the venusaur reappeared near the poachers, whose path behind was blocked off by an angry dragon gouging the ground. It felt good to see that happen. It felt…

Serena shook her head, before taking a deep breath. She felt what she'd realised. Dry mouth. Raw throat. Another deep breath. "Serena?"

She managed a smile. "Been better, y'know," she quipped. "But it didn't hit me. That's enough, braixen," she added, louder, and the tornado and red-violet glow subsided. A soft white remained, but only for a second, before it vanished entirely. "Is that…"

"Everstone must have come off. Somewhere in that fight with skuntank on the ground." A nasty screech sounded from the other side of the glade. "That's… One way to keep them in place."

"Yeah…" They did deserve it, but… Maybe? "Venusaur, can you Sweet Scent?"

"Think that'll work?" May asked as the Grass-type obeyed without delay, sending a cloud of soothing pollen wafting over the poachers and the enraged Dragon-type next to them. "Huh. Looks like it does."

"And it deals with the poachers. Not their Pokémon but…" Both girls looked around, seeing a glade much destroyed and a couple of Pokémon lying around. The rest had probably been returned. "Cherrim? Can you cancel ducklett's Rain Dance?"

The drizzle petered out, replaced with the previous weather. Mostly. Cherrim did like the sun, so probably overdid it a bit on making the clouds disappear. Serena didn't care much, instead walking over to where braixen had been in that fight with the skuntank.

It wasn't hard to find the Everstone, or the reason it had come off: there was no necklace left. There was maybe enough twine left for an armband, but only on the thinnest part of braixen's arm, and the fox walked up to see what was left of her necklace. "You okay?" Serena asked, giving her starter a quick once-over. Scrapes, one cut on her neck – maybe the same graze from earlier that week, just fully opened now – and the twig looked a bit blackened from too much fire, plus being tired from the fight and losing the Blaze boost. "You did great. That Flame Charge was perfect."

Braixen grabbed the Everstone and relaxed, allowing the weird evolution-cancelling rock to do its work instead. "Xeeeeeeeen," she cried, sounding bone-tired. "Brai, bra?"

"I'm fine. I think," Serena replied, smiling tiredly. "Didn't get caught too much." Her hand went to her side, touching her Pokénav by accident. "May? Can you call the Pokémon Center so they can get the Rangers or Jennies or whatever?"

"Why can't you do it?" May shot back from near the poachers.

"Don't know the name of the Center and you're more famous!" An urge to giggle overtook her, and when it subsided, May was there. "It's true, you know."

"Yeah, and you need to deal with that altaria, so sober up."

Right. Deep breath in and out, just as taught.

~~§~~§~~

It took Umbra five seconds to accept them once they had turned up at the closed Gym, but the moment they went inside to talk, May and Serena met a… Complication. Two of them, instantly recognisable even if Serena had only heard of them.

"What are you doing here?"

"Not ratting us out like your brother?"

"Liza, Tate, please," Umbra said as a houndoom carried a bag of sweets over from some kind of alcove on the side of the Gym arena. Serena gave it a rub between the horns, and received a satisfied canine pant in return. "If she's here, she's not going to rat you out. People change their minds and we need every ally."

The Gym Leader duo seemed unimpressed; Tate more than Liza, who at least seemed to give May a slightly curious look. "She's right, Tate. I don't like it, but Umbra's right. As usual." Then, the look hardened. "What changed your mind?"

Serena turned to look at May. That was something she didn't know herself. She knew Max had thought May was responsible for the attempted kidnapping in Johto, and apparently Gary Oak had questioned her on it, but that was then and this was… Different. But even when May and Max had been face to face, it had been close to a fight.

"I…" May started, before gulping, steeling herself. "Do you have a Pokémon that can tell if I'm lying or something? Read emotions or minds or whatever?"

Serena was too slow to catch any change of expression, and wordless communication passed between the twins. Actual wordless communication, not the thing Max and Danny had had going on at times. This looked way beyond that. "It's painful, you know."

"Active mind-reading like you're asking is hard," Liza explained, ignoring her brother's half-taunting. "Kadabra can probably do it, he's good at it, but you're going to feel echoes for an hour or so."

"I've had worse," May said matter-of-factly.

The Gym Leader sighed. "On your mind be it," she said as she sent the kadabra out. A quick explanation followed, and after a moment's concentration, May was enveloped in psychic light, head to toe. "So what made you change your mind?"

"People trying to kidnap Max and telling him something he told me. Then seeing him rescued from torture. And me fucking up two times on trying to connect with him. I just want my brother back."

Tate looked at kadabra, and scowled. "Not the whole truth."

"Lots of small stuff too. Stupid rules that don't help, weird coincidences. You want me to talk about all of them?"

"That's truthful enough," Liza interjected before Tate could say something. "Talking about all the details would be too much. Release her." The glow vanished. "How was that?"

"Not what I was expecting, that's for sure." May shook her head. "Easier than what Max's gardevoir did, but worse now? That just left me with a vague headache, this is more… All over?" She accepted a water bottle. "Thanks kadabra. I'll be fine."

"Now that that is out of the way," Umbra said pointedly as she sat down on the lowest row of the bleachers, inviting them to do the same. "You realise that someone will have spotted you coming in and that I'm about to get questions on why exactly you two are visiting when I'm not open for battles."

Serena shrugged as she sat down herself. Only Tate decided to stay standing, looking as standoffish as Max when angry with Danny. "I wanted to see a Contest, and there's one here in a couple of days, and I've got a zorua and I'd like to know more about their illusions. You are still allowed to tell people about Dark-types, not?"

The Gym Leader smiled. "Good story. That'll pass scrutiny for now." She turned to May. "You'll have to participate to throw off the trail. And prepare a good story on why you're with a friend of your brother's when he's still being sought. Now," she continued before anyone could interrupt. "How much do you know?"

"Enough," May replied. "Government did it, they send Pokémon into a rage or something, and one guy at least is responsible for some of it. Paulson."

"He's one. He's kept a lower profile for a bit," Liza told them. "Reginald thinks it's because they think your brother wants revenge for what was done to him?"

"Not that we can blame him. I'd like a piece myself. Oh, it'd be so sweet." He took a step back. "Siiis."

"Thanks kadabra. And yeah, that's the shape of it. They're ramping it up too now, I think. Didn't that politician's house near Rustboro nearly get attacked a couple days back?"

"It did. It was strange, but many of their choices have been," Umbra opined. "Plans within plans, twists and turns, as Sidney would say. Albeit more whimsically." Then, to Serena. "Serena? You look like you've got something to say?"

Did she? Yeah, she did. "It's about Max and... And revenge. He wants to, but… He's scared too. He thinks it's a trap and doesn't want to get caught when last time was so close. And…"

"And what?" Umbra asked kindly after Serena had trailed off for a moment.

"Sorry. Thinking if I should keep his secret."

"We know about the Mega Evolution. Reginald told us," Tate said. "And how it was from anger and rage and desperation. Didn't say why, but well… May mentioned torture."

"You don't have to tell us," Liza added. "The details of what happened aren't important."

Serena thought everything through for a moment, then decided it she didn't agree fully. With a silent apology to Max for what she was about to do, she took a deep breath. "It was torture. Physical only, using a controlled Psychic-type. She… Max recognised her. It's his gardevoir's mother." And she was going to leave the other connection out. That was too personal.

To her surprise, Liza sent out a shuppet, who immediately snacked on Tate. "He's the gardevoir line Trainer between the two of us. And the more emotional." She smirked. "Call it a pre-emptive strike."

"I hate you and everything you do," Tate said in a pretty mellow voice. "And you'd think Reginald would tell us that they have ways to permanently control Pokémon instead of just sending them into a rage."

"Man keeps too many secrets for his own good," Umbra muttered, disapproving. "Sidney didn't say it was the mother, but the rest I wanted to tell you today, Tate, Liza. I promise." She waited as the twins accepted her statement with nods. "But I think I want to change my plans. It's high time to start raising hell, League Politics Act be damned. So I was planning a protest, right here in Nightwind, the day before the Contest. I'd hoped to get you to talk too," she told the Gym Leaders. "But since you're here… How about Hoenn's newest Top Coordinator?"

May looked surprised. "Me? Do what?"

"You've said before that you were attacked, right? Slateport, if I remember, and by a houndoom, which is why you gave mine a good long glance. Which is understandable and neither I nor houndoom think less of you for it," the Gym Leader said, adding the last breezily, as if discussing the weather. "But if even you're now thinking that the government's going too far with all this… That's a statement. And one that would have a lot of people looking."

"She's right," Liza added, Serena turning to look at the other Gym Leader. "You're no Steven, but people do listen to Top Coordinators. And you've got a personal stake in it."

"I…" May undid her ponytail, shaking it loose, before retying the hair. "I'm not sure if I…"

"Listen, May," Tate spoke up, still quite airily, but less than before. "You're one of the best people to talk about it. Because of what happened, and because of who you are and what you did. If you need help figuring out what to say, Umbra's got a way with words. And, being honest…"

"This doesn't get us into trouble. Sorry Umbra, but if we can avoid it…"

"Understandable," the Dark-type Trainer replied instantly and easily. "We do what we feel we can. I'm not about to begrudge anyone that. And I suspect you're probably going to want to find Reginald and pump him for information now."

"Got that right," the twins said, together. "Any idea where he is, Umbra?"

"Give me a day to ask around, and let's also give May a day to think about it, okay? I might still want one of you to speak and may need to convince you." She turned to Serena. "I'd ask you to speak, but I think I'd get Kalosians after my head for that. And you're not that well known, no offence. In a few years, maybe you'll be a Top Coordinator yourself." Umbra clapped her hands once. "Houndoom, go fetch my zorua and zoroark, will you? One lesson on illusions, coming right up."

Author's Note: Been way too bloody long. Happy 2022, everyone!

Some regular vanilla travelling - by anime standards, probably - and a bit of plotting. Nothing bad's going to come of this, surely.