Party Over Here

"It's a party over here! It's a party over there! Get pumped! Get pumped!"

Lilly Acres brought the energy to her partygoers as she sang and dance on the balcony-turned-stage. Just a year earlier, she would never have imagined being the center of attention at a performance while popular trainers like Johnny Hawkins and Xander Hamilton were providing support in the background with their instruments.

Lillyvanth JX. The band's revamped name was a combination of Lilly's real name and the initials of Johnny and Xander's first names. Lilly was not too keen on it at first, but the name change had been necessary as they were down two members from their original five. Tyler West had quit the band last year when he transferred to North Saffron Academy and Laila Iglesias had left after getting a job at Cinccino City with her friend, Jennifer Klein.

Johnny had almost quit himself after everything he had gone through over the previous year. However, Xander convinced him to stay, and Johnny begrudgingly agreed on the condition that he remained in the background and let someone else take the reins when it came to leadership. Lilly had been more-or-less forced into the position of leader but as it stood now, she was thankful for that.

"Lilly! Lilly! Lilly!"

Lilly never liked being around too many people at once. Even now, she was a bit nervous, but made sure not to show it. She thought of the saying, "fake it till you make it" and relaxed. She was more than willing to leave her comfort zone if it meant that the shy and quiet wallflower Lilly, the younger version of herself who always hid behind Nadine and Elyse, remained in the past. That Lilly was dead and the new party-girl, pop-rock star Lilly had clearly proven to be vastly more popular. She would stand in front of everyone now.

"If you're pumped up, make some noise!" Lilly shouted into the microphone.

If there was one thing that she liked more than singing, it was dancing. Lilly had grown tall and willowy, and made sure her long legs were the main attraction as she bopped around the stage. She swung her sandy blonde hair around, the red highlights in it adding to her allure, and shook her hips in a fashion that elicited more than a few wolf whistles.

She peered out into the audience and suddenly Lilly's mind went blank. She nearly fell off the stage in shock when she spotted Mike Snowe entering the party alongside Loki Del Grove and Esther Moore. She was instantly aware that the partygoers' attention was about to shift from her to him, but that did not matter much. She was happy to see him more than anything.

"Lakers!" she suddenly heard Xander call her by the nickname he and Johnny had given her. "What's wrong with you?! Get your head in the game!"

"Kill the music for a sec," she told him.

He glanced at Johnny, who simply shrugged his shoulders and sat his drumsticks down. Xander sat his guitar down and went to work on adjusting the sound system. Once the music had been turned down, Lilly saw the confused looks on the faces of the partygoers and briefly wondered how they would handle what she was about to tell them.

"Hey, everyone!" she shouted into the microphone. "This has just turned into a welcome back party! Give it up for Mike Snowe!"

There were whispers of doubt for a split second while the crowd took the time to confirm that Mike had indeed arrived. Once they realized that it was him, the crowd instantaneously erupted into cheers.

"Hey, it's really him!"

"That's the guy isn't it?!"

"Man, this is unbelievable!"

Mike appeared to be baffled by the positive reception and Lilly hoped that she had not made things awkward for him. Fortunately, Loki had managed to fend off anyone who tried to bum-rush Mike. Lilly signaled Xander to take over the music as DJ so that she could have a break and flaunt the new and improved version of herself to the only person at the party who was unaware of how much she had changed. Forcing herself through the crowd, Lilly strutted over to Mike, Loki, and Esther.

"Long time no see!" she exclaimed as she embraced Mike in a hug.

"Thanks for the warm welcome, Lil," Mike said. "Wow, Loki was definitely right. You…look great!"

Lilly told herself that it should not be as hard to stand in front of Mike as it was. He had always been that short, goofy kid that made jokes and pulled pranks. She always found herself giggling at his antics, but otherwise not really taking him seriously.

Now they were roughly the same height and as shallow as it was, Mike's new appearance played a role in her reevaluating her perception of him. However, knowing what he had been through during the previous year was what truly made Lilly see him in a different light. She appreciated his determination to move forward with his life and felt that she owed it to Elyse to help him readjust to Saffron.

"I looked better before I had all this sweat on me," Lilly told him with a smirk. "Thanks anyway though."

"We saw that last move of yours when we walked in," Loki grinned. "Is that where the sweat is from?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she replied flirtatiously. "Anyway, we have drinks, foods, anything you want. Esther, you're going to get such a sugar high from all the candy I got. Oh, and Nadine's going to try to get Drake to battle someone when he gets here, so there's something to look forward to."

"Sugar high?" Esther questioned. "Just how high up did you put the candy, Lilly?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Lilly responded in utter perplexity.

"And that's our cue to leave!" Loki immediately interjected and hooked his arm with Esther's. "Don't worry, Esther, I'll help you find the candy. Lilly, please make sure this party is better than the last one that Mike attended in Saffron."

"Talk about setting a low bar," Mike muttered bitterly as Loki and Esther hurried off to the food table.

Lilly found herself thinking of Elyse after hearing Mike's words. She remembered the difficulties that her friend faced at school after the federation's invasion of Mike's party last year. Lilly felt a twinge of guilt when she realized that as her life improved, Elyse's got worse. Through it all, she suffered in silence. Elyse did most things in silence. Her quiet nature made her cool, mysterious, and intimidating. Lilly's own past quiet nature just made her look uncool, unconfident, and worse of all, unappealing.

"Yep, that's the guy who killed that federation member and beat Craig…"

"Too bad he didn't finish the job and end Craig too…"

"I'm surprised he didn't. I saw the video, he went completely nuts on that dirtbag!"

People were not whispering anymore. They were just loudly talking even though Mike was obviously uncomfortable. At least they were courteous enough not to approach him directly with it. Lilly commended him for defeating Craig and personally thought that he had guts for standing up to him. She understood that he was entitled to his feelings about the situtation, but he also needed to look forward. She was the perfect teacher.

"I'll make you forget all about last year," Lilly boasted to Mike. "Trust me. Ain't no party like a Lillyvanth party!"

She took his hand and led him to the area of the yard that had been sectioned off for dancing. Lilly playfully bopped her head for a few moments, and it appeared to be effective in getting Mike to loosen up a bit. She shook her shoulders to the rhythm of the beat before giving Mike a light, but assertive nudge.

"Is this a dance battle?" he asked with a laugh.

"Maybe," Lilly replied. "Show me how those gymnastics moves look on the dance floor. I mean unless you don't feel up to the challenge."

"Alright then," Mike said with a resigned sigh and then grinned. "You might want to stand back for this."

Lilly motioned for the crowd to move and when Mike began dancing and the cheers erupted, she was reminded of the school dance during the end of their first year. She had been watching on the sidelines while Mike danced with the cheerleaders and crowdsurfed through the older students. Everyone had been chanting his name and he ended the night dancing with Relena. Lilly ended the night getting in her father's car and going home with no memories to look back upon.

"Not bad, Snowe!" she teased. "Better than an amateur, I'll give you that!"

She was to eat her words when Mike finished his dance by performing what she recognized as a standing double backflip. The crowd went wild and even Lilly was stunned at what she had just witnessed. Seeing that trick in person was much more visually amazing than watching someone do it on a video.

"Show me what you got, Lilly," Mike turned her words back on her. "Unless you don't feel up to the challenge."

He gave her a toothy grin and Lilly was taken aback for the first time. His long hair had fallen all over his head and face and his hazel eyes were dancing with life. Mike had never really been on Lilly's radar before since he had been in a relationship for such a long time. Even if he had been, she would have never had the courage to even approach him. Regardless, while she thought that rock chick and surfer guy could make a good combination, this was more about making an impact than anything else right now.

"Cool with me," Lilly replied. "Let me give you a proper welcome back."

She shimmied over to Mike, mildly impressed that he was keeping up with her movements. As she inched closer and closer, Lilly raised her hands before suddenly crouching down and popping back up. She decided to kick it up a notch and suddenly spun around. Pressing her back into Mike's chest, Lilly sensually ran her hands down her body and shook her hips as she dropped lower. The crowd's reaction spurred her on and Mike's reaction was priceless.

"Woah, Lilly!" he practically gushed. "I definitely feel welcomed back!"

"And I'm glad your back!" she confessed. "You like the new Lilly?"

"Absolutely!" Mike beamed.

By this point Lilly knew that she was dancing needlessly provocatively, but it did not matter to her. She had gotten what she wanted and believed that showcasing false bravado eventually led to actual courage. People like Mike, Elyse, and Nadine naturally commanded everyone's attention while people like Lilly had to work for it. Standing out was a struggle for people like her and she felt more appreciative of her success with that idea in mind. The crowd cheered her on once more.

"Lilly! Lilly! Lilly!"

It was music to her ears.

Legendary Pokémon: Myths and Mysteries

Ace Torres hardly ever smiled when he was alone or with people in general, but he could not help but experience joy whenever he glanced at that book nestled on his shelf. It was the first one he and Ellie had read together, and Ace was grateful to have a girlfriend who liked reading as much as he did.

It had been difficult getting used to having one person around when he had started dating Amy. Ace felt that he was a natural loner. His father, mother, and younger brother all kept to themselves and because of that, home had always felt like a safe haven where he could avoid the rest of the world. Then Amy came along, and things were mostly the same except for the fact that he had someone to avoid the world with.

"We're so much alike and so different at the same time, but that's what I like about us…"

Amy's words were hard to decipher at first. Ace thought they were completely similar and that he had found a kindred spirit when they first met. Over time, he started to see that they had quite a few differences even though most of their classmates treated them as a unit.

It was true that Ace and Amy were both loners who liked art, hated fighting, and dressed in dark clothing. That was what caused most people to write them off as a pair of freaks, but that was only surface level. Amy preferred being alone because she was shy while Ace preferred being alone because he simply did not like most people. Amy was naturally a free spirit while Ace made an active effort to be as nonconformist as possible. However, the biggest difference between them was that Amy was generally nice while Ace was generally not.

"You've been smiling a lot more lately," Amy teased as she walked into his room. "I guess Ellie's really been our missing ingredient, huh? What do you think, Pancham? Do you like Ellie too?"

Ace's newest Pokémon stopped doing his pushups to give Amy a resounding cheer in agreement before returning to his workout. Helping Ellie at her lowest point had led to Ace understanding himself a bit more, but he still had reservations about attending a party with people from school that he had conflict with.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked Amy as he reached for his black scarf.

"I'm honestly nervous," Amy answered. "Parties aren't really our thing, but Ellie's gone out of her way to compromise for us. The least we can do is repay the favor. Plus, it's at Lilly's house. We did have a lot of fun with her at that Night Slash concert last year."

"I'm just not sure I'm going to be exactly welcomed," Ace said while experimenting with different styles of wearing the scarf.

"Well," Amy started. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt if you were a bit more welcoming yourself, love. Someone has to extend the olive branch. Maybe it's time to tell Ellie about the real reason behind your issues with Mike."

"I don't like Mike, but I'm not going to try to turn Ellie against her friend," Ace replied. "She's already dealing with enough from Drake."

"Then maybe you should tell Mike instead?" Amy offered as she fixed his scarf to where it was draping evenly down his neck. "It's your choice. You don't have to say anything, but whatever you do, you're not going to go to this party and just scowl at everyone all night. At least try to have some fun."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "Let's just go."

While searching for his car keys, Ace absentmindedly touched the back of his head, and ran his hand through his curly black hair. He wondered if the scar had faded or if one had ever really formed after he injured the back of his head all those years ago. It had been nearly a year since he had even thought about the injury or the person responsible for it.

Mike snacked on the pretzels and took a seat alone at one of the many small tables propped up in the yard. He felt as if he had stepped into another world and was a bit overwhelmed. Loki had convinced him to come to Lilly's party and he had only done so in an effort to catch up with all his friends. During the first half hour at the party, he had nearly forgotten that. It was shocking how fast Lilly had managed to get his mind off track and even when she was back on stage, Mike could not help but focus on her. He figured it was the drastic change in her demeanor that caught his attention and tried to refocus his attention on his goal. Scrolling through his phone, he struggled to decide who to finally contact first.

"Loki was so wrong. The man bun definitely suits you…"

When Mike looked up and saw the emerald green eyes and the long, layered, spiky hair he nearly fell back in his chair trying to get up. He hugged Ellie the same way Loki had embraced him the night before and only let go of her when he remembered how much it had hurt him.

"It's good to see you, El!" Mike beamed. "Wow, you look amazing. First Lilly and now you. Loki was right, everyone's really stepped their game up, huh?"

"I'd say so," Ellie replied and then her smile dropped. "Listen, Mike, I'm sorry I've been pretty bad at communicating these last few months. Can we go inside and talk privately? I'll explain everything."

Mike nodded his head and followed Ellie towards the inside of Lilly's house. There were a few people lounging around, but it was otherwise empty. The loud music from outside could still be heard, but it was manageable. Mike was confused as to why he and Ellie needed to be in private, but he was so overjoyed to see his friend that he would have agreed to almost anything.

"So, what's up?"

"Listen, Mike," Ellie started. "You know I always have your back no matter what, right?"

"Yeah, definitely," Mike said. "I've always known that. So, stop beating around the bush and tell me what's going on. Whatever it is, I can take it."

"Okay," Ellie replied. "Okay, no more stalling. I'm in a new relationship. We've kind of agreed to keep things discreet, at least among our families, so that's why we don't really have any pics together on social media. I'm dating Amy Spade and-"

"Amy Spade?!" Mike interrupted in disbelief. "Wait, since when are you into girls?"

"Um, since always," Ellie said matter-of-factly. "In fact, you're the first person to actually be surprised. I've never been the most feminine girl our age after all."

"That doesn't mean anything," Mike told her. "Can't make assumptions off that. But hey, I'm cool with it, you didn't have to hide that you're dating Amy from me. Never imagined she'd ever break up with Ace though."

"That's the thing…" Ellie continued. "She didn't break up with Ace. I'm…dating Ace too. We're a throuple…"

"You're joking…" Mike whispered incredulously.

"I'm not…" Ellie told him clearly.

"You're telling me that I live in a world where I have no girlfriend and Ace Torres has two?!" Mike remarked, his eyes widened in the sheer absurdity of it all.

"It seems like that's the case," Ellie affirmed.

"That settles it then," Mike declared. "I'm going back to Cianwood…"

Mike and Ellie stared at one another for a moment and then burst into laughter. Truthfully, Mike was a bit overwhelmed by the information, but he wanted to make an effort to take it in stride. It was hard to believe how much things had changed, but he figured that the sooner he adapted, the better it would be long turn.

"So, you're not mad?" Ellie asked him once they composed themselves.

"I've never had a problem with Ace," Mike said clearly. "I accidentally knocked over his water bottle during our first year, but I tried to pay him for that. I think he has another side to him though. He visited me in the hospital after the federation invasion."

"He did?" Ellie asked in a tone that told Mike that this was the first time she had heard of this.

"He didn't tell you?" Mike questioned.

"Nah," Ellie shook her head. "Ace is the type that likes to be lowkey with his good deeds. That's what drew me to him after all. I want you both to be a part of my life, so I'm glad this conversation went well."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Well…"

"Hey everyone, the party has gotten even better! King Drake has arrived!"

Xander's voice was booming on the microphone and Mike immediately shifted his attention back to the party. He and Ellie walked out of the kitchen and returned to the backyard. They found Drake, surrounded by admirers, sitting on top of one of the tables as if it were a throne. To complete the picture, Garchomp and Darren Hernandez stood next to his right and left respectively, like two knights ready to serve their monarch.

"It really wasn't a struggle at all," Drake told a pair of third years. "Pewter has a good battling team, but they struggle with the speed. Sam Kripan's Piloswine was strong, but even with the type advantage, Garchomp made quick work of him and won us the game."

"No way!" Darren said as he suddenly locked eyes with Mike.

"What are you talking about dude, you were there," Drake told him.

"No, genius," Darren continued. He nudged Drake. "Look!"

Drake looked up and instantly leaped from the table without another word. The speed in which he ran at Mike and embraced him in a hug almost caused both boys to fall over. Drake kept them steady, and Mike was amazed by the strength of his thin friend.

"Do I need the bow before you, King Drake?" Mike teased.

"Man, that's just a dumb nickname Xander came up with," Drake retorted and gave Mike another hug. "The real king is back!"

"More like the court jester," Mike responded with a bit of self-deprecation.

Drake let out a laugh, but his face fell when he looked to the right of Mike. He was caught off guard by the sudden serious expression on Drake's face since the only thing next to him was Ellie.

"I see you decided to show up," Drake said, the jovial tone in his voice now gone. "Where's your lover? Or I guess I should say lovers in this case."

"Listen, Drake," Ellie started. "I know we're not cool right now, but I'm not going to have too much more of you disrespecting me."

"He wouldn't have any reason to disrespect you if you wouldn't have abandoned him after he broke his arm and was almost murdered, now would he?" Darren said, walking up.

"Hey, this is a conversation between me and my friend," Ellie shot back. "So, Darren, you can butt out and go back to PokéTheater."

"He's not your friend anymore," Darren scoffed.

"Is that so?" Ellie asked, her green eyes meeting Drake's blue ones.

A crowd was starting to form. Nadine, Nat St. James, and Kat Lee among others had approached them and even Lilly had jumped off the stage and made her way over. Mike found himself already at his limit. Change was something that was inevitable, that much he knew, but Ellie and Drake being at odds with one another was an anomaly that should never exist. He quickly stepped in-between his warring friends and glared daggers at both.

"Look, I don't know what's going on," Mike told them. "But whatever it is, it stops now."

"What's going on is that Ellie is a traitor," Drake said. "You had to leave the city because of what happened on your birthday last year. Relena was in the hospital and I was trying to come back from an injury while Ellie was off frolicking with Ace Torres!"

"You told me that you wanted to focus on recovering and getting better," Ellie retorted. "And you weren't even alone! You had Nadine, Loki, Johnny, Darren, so many people."

"That's not the point!" Drake seethed. "It's about loyalty, Ellie. No one has a problem with Amy, but Ace has done nothing but shit on us for years, especially Mike. That asshole convinced his friend, Keller Trayne to become the new mascot just as a middle finger to Mike. Yeah, Ellie, I told you I wanted to focus on recovering and getting better, but so what? Me, Mike, Elyse, Relena. We had one the worst days of our lives that night and we were all trying to recover from it. Nothing even happened to you when the federation crashed Mike's party, so you don't even have that excuse!"

Mike's eyes widened when he realized that Ellie had not told Drake that she was almost assaulted by Gino Dunlap at the party. He suddenly remembered that he was also not supposed to know either and had to conceal his reaction. In any case, simply stopping the argument was his priority at the moment.

"Drake, chill out," Nadine told her boyfriend.

"You had the nerve to say that dating Ace is like dating Craig," Ellie seethed. "You had the nerve to suggest that I was angry because I didn't become team captain. Worse of all, you had the nerve to suggest that I didn't care about Mike!"

"I'm only calling it like I see it," Drake defended. "What are you going to do about it? Go whine to your freak boyfriend. He knows a thing or two about being melodramatic when you don't even have real problems."

"Okay, this is stopping now!" Mike shouted. "Where's Ace? We're going to settle this right now and end this stupid feud between me and him."

"Also, if you two are going to be arguing the whole night," Lilly interjected. "You can leave my party and take that shit elsewhere."

Nadine took Drake by the arm and guided him back over to the table where Garchomp was. Darren and most of the crowd dispersed, and Mike let out a sigh of frustration. He turned to Ellie and saw the look of barely contained fury on her face.

"Give me his phone number," Mike demanded.

"He's outside in his car with Amy," Ellie said. "I was going to text him to come in after I told you the news, but then this happened."

"Okay, then I'm going to talk to him," Mike replied. "Text him and tell him that I'm coming out to the front to talk to him. Whatever's going on with you and Drake ends tonight…"

With the noise of the party in the background, Mike took a second to relax. It was easy to remember his training when there was no conflict, but much harder when he had to actually deal with a difficult situation. Mike had half a mind to find out where Loki had snuck off to and just ask him for a ride home. He had been back for less than a day and was already involved in new drama. Things were apparently worse than Loki had described them yesterday.

"That has to be the one…" Mike said to himself when he spotted the modernized black hearse parked across the street from the house. "Yep, that's definitely it."

He approached the creepy car with his goal of finally making amends with Ace and ending the conflict between Ellie and Drake in his mind. As he got closer, he saw the door on the passenger's side open and saw Amy Spade for the first time in ages. She walked up to him, as nervous as ever, so Mike stopped moving hoping to put her ease.

"Hi, um, Mike," Amy greeted.

"Hey, Amy," Mike greeted back and gave her a warm smile. "It's good to see you again."

"You too," Amy replied. "Is…she okay?"

"She's a little upset," Mike admitted. "But I'm about to fix everything with Ace and then I'm going to go back in there and lock Ellie and Drake in a room until they hash things out."

"Thank you," Amy said with a slight smile. She took a deep breath. "Tell Ace…I'll meet him inside."

Amy made her way across the street and Mike was left alone in front of the intimidating car. He lightly knocked on the window on the driver's side. After a few more moments of standing in front of the door, the window slowly came down and Mike looked into the black eyes of Ace Torres.

"Long time no see," Mike greeted with a resigned sigh.

"Hasn't been long enough," Ace remarked dryly.

"Didn't know you had a sense of humor," Mike said. "Look, I'm guessing Ellie told you everything that just happened in there. So, can we please just hash this out so everyone can move forward with their lives."

"I told you at the hospital last year that we don't have to like each other," Ace told him. "We can just avoid each other and be civil if we have the misfortune of crossing paths. What's the issue with that?"

"The issue is that Ellie is my best friend, so we'll have the misfortune of crossing paths often," Mike explained. "Drake is also our friend and we don't need to be at each other's throats when there's still a gang of psycho motorcyclists out there trying to kill us. So, let's just get to it. What is your problem with me? Is it the stupid water bottle that I knocked over three years ago?! 'Cause if it's that, dude, you need to get over it."

"It was never about the water bottle…" Ace glared daggers at him. "It started way before that. You really don't remember do you?"

"No, I don't," Mike said getting increasingly frustrated. "But I can already see that I'm wasting my time trying to convince you to get on the same page as me. How about this? We battle and if I win, you tell me what the hell is your problem. If you win, you can keep being a child about all this."

Mike knew that a part of him was trying to rile Ace up so that he would accept the challenge, but another part of him was being serious at how he viewed Ace. For all his scathing commentary about the immaturity of Mike over the years, Ace was currently proving that he was the one being childish about his inability to get over a grudge.

"Alright," Ace said as he finally stepped out of the car. "I'll battle you. But we have to do it somewhere private."

"There's a park around the block," Mike said. "All the kids are at home so we can battle there."

"Get in the car…"

Mike was hesitant about getting in a creepy car with a creepy kid in the dead of night. He had been in worse situations and had escaped with his life intact, so he decided to go for it. As soon as he got in, Ace started the car and Mike wanted to say something but bit his tongue. It took less than a minute to get to the empty park and Mike briefly wondered if he would get a chance to encounter any dark or ghost Pokémon.

"We'll make this quick," Mike explained as he reached for a poké ball. "Just one-on-one. That way we won't be gone from the party for too long."

"Understood," Ace replied and tossed a poké ball in the air. "Honchkrow, stand by for battle."

"Crobat, let's go!" Mike called out as he tossed the ball.

The bat and the bird materialized, flapping their wings just above the heads of their respective trainers. Mike briefly wondered if Electabuzz was a better choice but saw that an aerial battle would cause less damage to the park.

"Cross Poison!" Mike commanded.

"Sucker Punch!" Ace retaliated.

Crobat dashed at Honchkrow, only to be smashed by one of his wings and sent spiraling through the air. Mike cursed himself for not realizing that Honchkrow most likely carried a move like sucker punch in his arsenal. He decided to wait for Ace to make a move before he tried another cross poison.

"Night Slash, quickly!" he commanded.

"Confuse Ray!" Mike countered. "Then use, Cross Poison!"

The purple orbs emerged from Crobat and flashed in front of Honchkrow before he could land a hit. Honchkrow began flailing through the sky above and took a hit from the purple X-shaped attack.

"Honchkrow, get it together!" Ace shouted. "Night Slash!"

"Screech!" Mike called out.

Honchkrow regained enough sense to slash Crobat with his glowing wing, but now without taking damage to the ears by the bat Pokémon's shrieking. Mike figured that Ace was going to use another sucker punch if he went on the offensive and did a direct damage attack.

"Crobat, fly up higher!" Mike shouted. "And then come down.

Crobat flew up and Honchkrow chased after. She was too quick and as fast as she went up, she came crashing down.

"Air Cutter!" Ace commanded and it was clear that he was aware that Honchkrow could not match Crobat's speed.

"Keep flying!" Mike told Crobat. "Up and down!"

"Honchkrow, stop aiming where it is and aim where it's going next!" Ace ordered.

Crobat was constantly moving through the sky which meant that none of Honchkrow's attacks could hit. Ace was seemingly frustrated, and Mike figured it was time to put Crobat's new move into action.

"Brave Bird!"

A burning aura enveloped Crobat and she dashed at Honchkrow like a missile. The attack hit Honchkrow in the middle of his body and he went crashing towards the ground below. Ace recalled him to his poké ball before he hit the ground and risked serious injury. Mike had won.

"Figures…" Ace mumbled.

"Alright, a deal is a deal," Mike said as he recalled Crobat. "Now, what is your issue with me?"

"I lost," Ace replied, his usual emotionless voice shifting to a more aggressive one. "But at least it wasn't in front of everyone. I know how much you like an audience."

"Stop the riddles!" Mike yelled, grabbing Ace by his collar.

"Don't touch me!" Ace shouted shoving Mike with enough force to knock him over. "Don't you ever touch me! Seeing you on the ground reminds me of myself. We met before our first year, three years before that. You probably don't remember that we were in the same class when we were nine years old."

"What?" Mike said as he got to his feet. "I would've remembered you."

"Oh yeah?" Ace challenged. "Would you have remembered the prank war that you and your dumbass friends got into that year? Drake and Loki at least had the courtesy to pull their pranks away from other people, but not you. Mike Snowe has to have an audience after all. So, you caught Drake and Loki walking down the hallway and you flour bombed them in front of everyone."

"I remember that," Mike remarked. "My mom grounded me for stealing the flour and eggs out of our house for that classic prank. What does have to do with you?"

"The thing about flour is that it gets everywhere," Ace replied. "And if you add things like eggs and other liquids, it becomes sticky and hard to get off. So, when you hit Drake and Loki, you also hit anyone who happened to be standing near them. Like me…little quiet nerdy Nathan Torres. It got in my eyes and I slipped and fell with everything that I was holding falling and getting stuck to me including the cards that I was using for my math project. Someone walked up to me and said…"

"Sorry about that…Ace…" Mike finished at the realization that he had been the one to say those words after noticing the ace of spades stuck to the front of his shirt. He remembered offering the boy a hand up but took off running when Drake and Loki started chasing him.

"Everyone thought it was the funniest thing ever," Ace continued. "Then you took off and the crowd followed you. I got up, covered in flour, and the blood from the back of my head that had busted open when I fell."

"I…" Mike uttered, completely horrified at what Ace described. "I…"

"You what?" Ace questioned. "Let me guess. 'It was just a prank, bro.' Is that what you're going to say to defend yourself? That's what your type always does. You pull stupid pranks, tell stupid jokes, and make a fool out of yourselves and people just eat it up. That's probably why Ellie didn't feel comfortable telling you or Drake about what happened to her at the party. Because you don't take anything seriously."

"She…told you?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"And you know what else?" Ace continued, ignoring Mike's last question. "Just because you don't beat people up and call them names doesn't make you any less of a bully. Drake compared me to Craig Kelton, but I think that comparison fits you better."

"Look," Mike started. "I'm sorry about what happened, I really am. It was a stupid prank, and it went too far. I was an immature nine-year-old who wanted to impress my friends. But I have never gone out of my way to hurt people like Craig has."

"I had to get seven stitches in the back of my head and change schools for the rest of the year because I was terrified of coming back," Ace shot back. "And you didn't learn a damn thing. You were still pulling stupid pranks years after that. Being less of an asshole then the next guy still makes you an asshole. So, you and your friends can make fun of me for being a freak, but just know that I'm literally Ace because of you…Don't worry though, I'm not going to tell Ellie."

"Why not?" was all that Mike could say.

"Because as much I hate you, I care about her more," Ace replied. "And you know what, even after all that, I still thought that Craig went too far with you which is why I visited you that day in the hospital. It took every fiber of my being to do it, but that's the difference between me and you. I don't have my head up my ass when it comes to crossing the line. You would've never visited Craig if something happened to him…"

Mike just stood there, unable to respond. Ace had verbally destroyed him on every level, and he could tell that the other boy was somewhat relieved to finally get everything off his chest. He stood there as Ace offered to drive him back to the party and he stood there as Ace finally got fed up and took off in his car.

As he walked down the street and around the block towards Lilly's house, Mike's mind swirled with feelings of guilt, anger, and regret. He wanted to know the truth regarding Ace's animosity towards him, but he wondered if he should have taken his advice about just avoiding each other. Mike always hated bullies and only now realized that he had become to Ace what Craig was to him. He made it to the front of Lilly's house, but was too ashamed to even show his face even though no one even knew about the conversation he just had with Ace.

"Mike…?"

On the sidewalk, just a few feet where he was standing, he saw Relena Serene.

A/N: Wanted to get this out as a celebration for the new year so hooray for that! Yeah, this is going to be a two parter, but looks like we were introduced to some familiar characters this chapter, other characters reunite, and of course, we got a big reveal. It turns out our protagonist isn't exactly squeaky clean. Wonder how he moves forward from here?

The P.O.V. characters for this chapter were Lilly Acres, Ace Torres, and Mike Snowe (twice).

As always, feel free to message me either on the forum or privately any time! Happy New Year once more!

Until next time!