Dawn rose over Kenalta the next morning. The twins packed up and prepared to check out of the pokemon center. They met their mother in the lobby, who already had her rolling suitcase beside her. The full understanding that this reunion was short lived kicked in. But there was still time before Veronica's plane would depart.

The three found a nearby bustling cafe where they were able to find a seat inside. Once the waitress came by to get the order of protein pancakes and eggs all around, Veronica figured it was a good time to pick her kids' brains.

"So," she started off. "You kids did amazing yesterday."

"Thanks!" Kristine happily responded. "Though I don't think I was perfect."

"Come on. Who would've thought Avery would use a ground type there?"

"We focused only on John because of his buff and switch strategy," Jason added. "I guess we should have altered our selection and not put our pokemon in that situation in the future."

"And who would you have gone with if you had to do it all over again?"

"I probably would have put in Dratini for Agility and Thunderwave, and the surprise Flamethrower!" Kristine leaned back with a confident smirk. "Maybe Fletchinder for Gale Wings and the ability to keep up with John's pokemon. Espeon for Calm Mind, and Machoke for Thunder Punch."

"Machoke against flying types?" Veronica raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, you should have seen Machoke against Scarlet's Braviary! He won!"

"Yes, but that puts Machoke in an unfavorable position. That also strains Jason and his pokemon because you know John would have focused on Machoke or ignored him completely. Machoke wouldn't have the speed to land surprise hits on Scyther and Farfetch'd. Jason raises a fine point in not wanting to put pokemon in an unfavorable position. It's something you don't want to do on purpose, contrary to what Scarlet thinks, but that's my personal opinion I suppose."

"And you," Veronica turned her attention to Jason. "How's Magikarp?"

"He's doing fine. Mom, I'm putting him in battles!" Jason explained, though he felt like he was on the defensive.

"It's true," Kristine verified. "Jason switched Jolteon out for Magikarp in a match in our tournament back in Valerie Bay. He didn't have to; Jolteon and Scorbunny could have easily aced the other team."

"You did so because you had some cushion with your lead thanks to Jolteon, but you got Magikarp in nonetheless. How did he do?"

"Two knockouts," Jason boasted.

Veronica's eyes widened a bit. "Wow."

"Mom, I really am trying my best," Jason quickly added.

Veronica smiled. "I know. It's okay. He is actively contributing and you are allowing him to do so. That's all it matters."

"I have a real good feeling about Magikarp's progress," Jason continued. "I don't know, I just have a hunch that an evolution is coming."

"I think we've both got good feelings about our teams," Kristine chimed in. "So far we're at our prime, and we're continuing to get better as we go along."

"I will say this," Veronica mentioned, as the waitress brought a cup of coffee, complete with cream and sugar. After taking a sip, she continued. "You two are gifted. Don't let that get to you because your mother said it. What you displayed yesterday was world class potential. What you are talking about right now is world class potential. Just always find ways to improve. Keep getting better."

"We will, Mom," Kristine assured her.

"We plan on competing in the Junior Circuit," Jason mentioned.

"You know that will be all over the extranet," Veronica added, taking another sip of her coffee.

"We're used to it," Kristine said. "With our final match in the Power Duo being on IPSN's flagship channel and all."

"IPSN will be all over PokeWorld," Jason added. "And with the Inventum Cup around the corner, won't we just be looked over?"

"Yes and no," Veronica lightly swirled her coffee with a small spoon. "You will be viewed as the trainers of tomorrow. If you win the Junior Circuit, you will be a household name, at least for a short while. But yeah, these are warmups compared to the Cup. That's the big one, of course."

"We'll be competing in the next one for sure," Kristine spoke with confidence.

"Some big names are competing in this one," Veronica recalled. "Ken, of course, the so-called Champion of Inventum. You have others, such as Phoebe who is one of Hoenn's best."

"Phoebe," Kristine thought she remembered the name from somewhere. "Isn't she heavy into ghost pokemon?"

"She is heavy into pokemon she can communicate spiritually. But she has worked with a lot of ghost pokemon."

This made Jason uneasy, and Kristine and Veronica noticed it.

"Ghosts," Jason muttered, shifting his eyes down at the table and back to his mom.

"There was an incident back in Cheron Forest when a gastly used Hypnosis to lure Jason against his will just for amusement," Kristine elaborated.

"I see," Veronica looked right at Jason.

"Don't forget about the frosslass cabin incident!" Jason spouted. "They do this stuff for fun and it's messed up."

"Frosslass was confused and misunderstood," Kristine defended.

"Sounds like an excuse."

Kristine sighed, and smiled, looking at her mother. "See this knucklehead?"

"Jason, you can't judge an entire type of pokemon based on isolated incidents," Veronica calmly pointed out. "Even if some ghost pokemon tend to be mischievous."

"Besides," Kristine faced Jason. "You have Dartrix. Do you know her evolution's types?"

Jason was dead silent.

"Remember that a bunch of zubat tried to kill Machoke when he was Machop. Does that make flying and poison types evil?"

"I think you ran your point, Kristine," Veronica interjected.

In a moment of saving grace for Jason in the midst of awkward silence and contemplation, the waitress returned with a serving platter of their meals. Once she served the meals and walked away, Jason wasted no time chowing down on pancakes and eggs.

"He'll get over it," Veronica said to Kristine.

"Yeah, eventually," Kristine nodded, grabbing her fork before digging into her meal.

After finishing breakfast at the cafe, Veronica insisted on covering the tab as the three got up and walked out.

"I still got a little bit of time," Veronica said. "Any last minute things you kids want to do?"

"There was one," Jason mentioned, glancing at Kristine.

"We were talking about walking over to the northwest outskirts of Kenalta before heading south," Kristine added. "Since, you know, that would be the closest we've been to home in a long while."

"Sure," Veronica smiled. "We're not too far away, after all."


The twins and their mother proceeded through the streets of Kenalta when distant hills and mountains came within sight. The asphalt gave way to the dirt path leading northwest. A wooden archway marked the boundary of urban Kenalta and the gateway between the coastal and mountain subregions of Inventum. Houses and farms dotted the landscape, giving Jason a sense of tranquility.

He gazed over yonder, lost in thought. He knew there were no mountains south of Kenalta, and hills were scarce and virtually nonexistent in the Sol Peninsula. Home was just two weeks away on foot give or take.

Kristine faced the open range. She looked back to see some of Kenalta's skyline. The urban sprawl was something she grew fond of. There was a lot of energy and liveliness from cities, she thought. Nonetheless, home is the ultimate sanctuary. It was so close, but a lot more work needed to be done.

Just seven more badges. And hundreds of miles to go.

"Home will always be there for you," Veronica spoke up.

"It was good to come out here," Jason softly added. He took a deep breath. "This is one reason why we are trainers."

Jason turned around, facing south.

Kristine stood by Jason, facing in the same direction. "Over that way is the Junior Circuit. We're going to do our best against all sorts of trainers and our friend-rivals. Then I'll beat you and take the top prize," she faced Jason with a cute smile.

Jason looked at Kristine. After a few seconds of silence, he cracked a grin. "You know what?" he patted her on the shoulder. "I love you, but it won't happen this time."

"You don't even know if you'd get to face each other, let alone the final round," Veronica added.

"Only if we beat everyone in our way," Kristine tapped the top of her own head.

"Well, just take it one battle at a time. And Jason, you don't seem annoyed."

"I put up with this every day," Jason faced Kristine with a smile. "I'm used to it."

Kristine gave him another playful smile.

Veronica laughed. After a few seconds of silence, she faced south as well. "It's time for me to go."

"We'll be back once we get those badges," Kristine, fighting back tears, walked over to hug her mother.

Jason did the same. "We'll make you and Dad proud."

"You already have a hundred times over," Veronica hugged her kids back. "I'll take good care of Fearow, and Swellow's pokeball."

Veronica let go and began to depart, rolling her suitcase with her. "Love you both. Keep in touch!"

"Love you too!" Jason and Kristine said at the same time, waving as Veronica walked down the road back to Kenalta.

"Well," Kristine looked on as Veronica took a right at the nearest fork and disappeared from her line of sight. "Let's get back to business, bro."

"Right," Jason patted his sister on the back. "Let's do this."


The twins made a straight line right through western Kenalta, joining a path to the southwest that curved southeast. With just an hour before noon, they were on the dirt path en route to the Sol Peninsula.

"The weather's going to be hot," Kristine pointed out. "Hot and humid."

"Like the beach in Richland Port?" Jason asked.

Kristine chuckled. "Worse."

"We have sunscreen in our bags. We should be okay."

"That's one thing. But we'll need to make sure we're hydrated like always."

"Right."

The twins traversed through heavily wooded areas. Anyone who wasn't informed of the area would mistake it as a nature preserve due to the vast range of trees and flora. In the early afternoon, they parked themselves in a shaded area and prepared lunch as their pokemon began practicing for future matches.

"Back to the grind," Jason said as he sat down beside a tree.

"Mmhmm," Kristine agreed, handing Jason a sandwich. "I don't know where our friend-rivals are, but we have to assume our next major battle could be against them."

"Considering I'm looking at one right now, I agree," Jason snickered, shifting his eyes right to Kristine.

Kristine looked down on him. "We may be training together by default, but you're okay, Jason," she jokingly responded.

"Yeah yeah," Jason played along. "We can still be friends. Or something."

"But seriously, which one of them do you think poses the biggest threat?"

"I want to fight Alex," Jason quickly stated. "We will be ready for him."

"I'm sure you guys will take him down."

Kristine pondered for a moment, arms crossed and one foot resting against the tree behind her. "You know who's really scary? Liz."

"Liz is very good," Jason gazed ahead to see his pokemon practicing their moves, from Jolteon using Agility to maneuver around a tree to Dartrix firing Razor Leaf at a line of trees before her. Magikarp splashed around in a nearby pond.

"Shoot, they're all good," Kristine added. "We can't take any of them for granted."

"I am curious as to where they are. Amanda and Bran should be behind us but I have no clue about everyone else."

"If I were to guess, Alex is way ahead. Liz might be ahead. Julian might be behind Amanda and Bran but if he skipped Valerie Bay altogether then he could be ahead of us."

"So we're about the middle of the pack progression wise."

"Probably."

Jason took a bite of his sandwich. "All eyes are going to be on the Junior Circuit. We have to be ready."

"You got it, bro," Kristine sat beside Jason. "But remember, one day at a time."

The twins made progress throughout the rest of the afternoon and early evening. After advancing roughly ten miles from Kenalta, they set up their tents for the evening, taking refuge separately. Jason and Kristine retreated inside their tents after preparing dinner and hanging out for a short while.

As the moon rose over the night sky, the twins eventually drifted off to sleep. Most nights go uneventful, most dreams insignificant if not unusual. Jason found himself in one that seemed too real.


White smoke covered his vision from all directions. It was hot, the sun beating down on him like Kristine described about the weather in the Sol Peninsula. A massive, intimidating roar could be heard from a distance, followed by sounds of a large explosion nearby. Jason could hear people screaming as if they were running for their lives.

A sense of panic kicked in, countered by resolve. The most frustrating thing to Jason was he couldn't see a thing.

Jason! He heard his sister's voice shouting for him. He ran to the direction where he heard her voice. A moment later, he found her. She wore a green bikini top and black shorts as she knelt down with one hand over the shoulder of what appeared to be a pokemon.

Jason ran over to get a better view of who Kristine was helping.

Oh no, Jason slid on both of his knees. Jolteon!

Kristine looked right at Jason, displaying a sense of empathy and determination. Above all, she showed courage.

Another loud roar ensued. A massive beam was fired in Jason and Kristine's direction.

Get down! Jason screamed. The last thing he saw was that he tackled Kristine to the ground.


Jason shot up from his slumber, his heart pounding and his body sweating profusely. He placed his hand over his ribcage in pain.

"Jason!" Kristine shouted from her tent.

"Kristine!" Jason shouted back.

Kristine got out of her tent and ran towards Jason's. "I'm coming in!"

"Yeah!" Jason had a t-shirt and pajama bottoms on. He wondered if Kristine would have barged in anyways based on the circumstances.

Kristine unzipped the entrance and crawled right in, wearing a white top and green pajama bottoms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jason's voice was shaky. "Are you?"

Kristine's hands were trembling. "Yeah. Jolteon?"

Jason looked over to Jolteon's pokeball. "He's fine. Probably sleeping soundly, right?"

Kristine sighed in relief. "Yeah. Yeah. What was all that?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. Just a real bad dream, I guess."

"One that we shared."

"Not the first time."

"Yeah, but Jason, that one felt real."

"I don't know," Jason sighed. "As long as you and Jolteon are fine, I don't know what to say."

"Right," Kristine began to back out of Jason's tent. "Try to get some sleep, okay? Jolteon is fine."

"Yeah," Jason gave a faint nod. "We're all fine. You sleep well too."

"Yep," Kristine exited the tent. She walked back to her own tent, her hands still trembling. She held onto her left wrist with her right hand, trying to calm herself down.

"What the hell?" Kristine muttered, still in dismay. "Jolteon…"


The twins were able to sleep soundly for the rest of the night, waking up to an overcast at dawn. After putting on her trainer gear, Kristine walked out, the dream still on her mind. The overcast sky was able to distract her for just a moment.

"Looks like it's one of those days when the weather won't make up its mind," she said to herself.

Moments later, Jason emerged from his tent in full trainer gear. With an uneasy look on his face as if he was preoccupied with his thoughts, he simply gave a nod to Kristine.

"Morning," Kristine lightly waved and smiled.

Jason looked up towards the gloomy sky. "One of those days, it looks like."

"Yeah. It's a little chillier but it'll likely warm right up later in the day."

After a quiet moment, the two readied protein bars before getting packed up and headed out for the day. On flat terrain, they figured they could cover at least 20 miles with small breaks in between as well as lunch and training. As the day progressed, the twins traveled alongside flat fields and farmlands. The occasional farmer stopped to glance at them from afar. Jason and Kristine figured that was a sort of custom across Inventum, particularly in sparsely populated areas where the sight of pokemon trainers could be a highlight in someone's day.

The twins continued south. They planned their lunch around noon, preferably in a secluded area with some shade and a nearby source of water.


"Man, I'm already late for the day!" a young trainer wearing a red shirt, black shorts, and a black cap further south muttered in frustration as he frantically began packing his belongings. Billy was a fresh trainer with dreams of competing in next year's Inventum Cup. With just over a month off training, he still had yet to earn a single badge, having lost decisively to John just a week ago.

The anxiety had kicked in. He figured if he can train his team and get badges in Viceport and the Azure Islands below, he can salvage a rocky start to his trainer career, double back to Kenalta, and have a rematch with John.

He was desperately trying to become what he envisioned was a great trainer almost instantaneously. And for that, he used his hard earned money from working at his family's farm north of Kenalta to purchase a thunderstone inside the city. A single one was several hundred dollars, but he did spend most of his childhood up to this point saving for trainer expenses.

But he quickly found out he couldn't just force the thunder stone on his starting companion, Eevee. He wanted to just be like that trainer with the jolteon he saw on TV too. But Eevee had other ideas, and outright rejected the thunderstone when Billy presented it to him.

Still, Billy had kept the stone just in case. Only three known pokemon evolution lines required the use of a thunderstone, so he considered it as a sort of investment rather than trying to get a refund from where he purchased the stone.

Keeping it secure was a challenge of its own. Billy was not the most organized individual in the world. His clothes were just shoved inside his backpack, and the lack of orderly placement leaves less space, often causing items to poke out or even fall out as soon as he would open his backpack. As he quickly put away his tent, he tried to zip up his backpack. The zipper, as usual, would be stuck roughly 95% through. Rather than reorganizing his belongings to create more space, Billy deemed it was good enough, and power walked towards the nearby path. For whatever reason, he stuck the thunderstone inside the main opening where his clothes are, rather than safely securing it in a side pouch, or even in a pouch on his pokeball belt.

The result was as expected if anyone observed how Billy packed. As he forced himself to abide by a strict schedule he believed successful trainers followed, the thunderstone slipped right out of the backpack, bouncing and landing just beside the base of a tree. Oblivious to his investment falling out, Billy made his way back on the road, continuing south.


The twins made their way to a wooded area off the path for their lunch and training break. Jason found a water stream nearby to let Magikarp out and replenish his and Kristine's water canteens. Afterwards, he walked back to where Kristine was setting up for lunch.

"You know," Kristine said after releasing all of her pokemon. "We have a birthday next week."

"Already?" Jason seemed surprised. "Has it been that long?"

"Yep. Considering we became trainers like what, three or four months after we turned twelve?"

"Which means we'll be 14 by the time we compete in the Inventum Cup after the next."

"Yep. Assuming we qualify by then."

Jason chuckled as he looked over to his pokemon ahead. "Sis, we will qualify by then."

"I don't doubt it," Kristine also looked ahead, observing her team. "One step at a time. And with careful planning, we will get there."


Meanwhile, Growlithe ran a circle around all other pokemon, including Magikarp as he successfully jumped over the nearby stream. Bored and full of energy, Growlithe thought he'd practice his speed and responsiveness to different attacks. Pikachu was close by, honing his Thunderbolt against a tree.

"Growl!" Growlithe jumped in front of Pikachu just as Thunderbolt was unleashed. He quickly used Protect to deflect the attack.

"Pika," Pikachu seemed annoyed.

"Growlithe!" Growlithe playfully barked.

A shiny object on the ground at the base of the tree Growlithe protected from Pikachu's Thunderbolt caught the canine's eye.

"Growl?" Growlithe picked up the mysterious stone with his mouth. He turned around to show it to Pikachu.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu became mesmerized by the stone's glow. Feeling allured, he approached it.


"Hey," Jason pointed out to Kristine. "What does Growlithe have in his mouth?"

"Probably a stick or something. It's what canine pokemon do," Kristine spoke before looking up to see what was going on. She muttered an expletive, to Jason's surprise, before getting up to walk in an urgent pace to Growlithe and Pikachu.

"Since when did you start to curse?" Jason looked up at Kristine. Then he connected the dots. "That's not a stick!"

Pikachu sensed untapped potential within the thunderstone. It was an unexpected moment, but one that presented itself. He could willingly reject this power if he so chose. But like Kristine, he wanted to be the best of the best. The power of the stone called for him, and he wanted to answer. He even had the knowledge of what exactly the thunderstone would do to him. His form would evolve, and Kristine would no longer refer to him as Pikachu.

There was no thought of consultation with his trainer. Impulse took over on a whim. Pikachu knew this was his calling, and reached out to the thunderstone held by Growlithe, ever so happy and oblivious. Pikachu reached out to the stone with one hand.

"Pikachu!" Kristine yelled out. Speaking of planning, this was something she was completely unprepared for. But no one would have expected a spontaneous evolution by stone to occur.

The thunderstone reacted, transferring its mysterious energy to Pikachu. A glow ensued, causing Growlithe to drop the stone and dash away out of panic. All other pokemon stopped to witness Pikachu's transformation.

"Oh wow!" Jason approached the glow.

"Pikachu…" Kristine was dumbfounded.

The glow ended. Raichu emerged, taller and more robust than his previous form.

Kristine was speechless. She stood before Raichu, as Magikarp watched from afar and all other pokemon approached the situation. Growlithe sniffed Raichu, feeling responsible for showing him the stone. The thunderstone was reduced to no more than a mere rock with a faint outline of a lightning bolt etched into it.

"But you didn't have to…" Kristine fell on her knees. "Why. Why did you evolve?"

"Kristine," Jason walked up beside her.

"Rai…" Raichu looked over to Kristine in immediate regret. He broke down into tears.

"Did I push you too far?" Kristine wondered. She looked around to her team. "Did I push any of you too far?"

"Kristine," Jason repeated, speaking louder and more firm.

"It's not what I wanted," Kristine said to him.

"Yeah, and if we solely had everything our way, Swellow would still be on my team," Jason offered his hand to Kristine. "Get up."

Jason's stern tone and resolution got Kristine's attention. She took his hand and got up, instinctively going to brush off her knees before realizing it wouldn't be necessary.

"Right," Kristine took a deep breath. She needed to be a leader for Raichu and her team. She walked over to her newly evolved pokemon and got on her knees once more.

"Forgive me, Raichu," Kristine softly pleaded. "If this is what you wanted, then I will support you. Always," she leaned in to give Raichu a hug.

"Rai," Raichu hugged back. Still sobbing, he repeated his name over and over, possibly apologizing and explaining his standpoint to Kristine.

"It's okay," Kristine tried to calm Raichu down. She suspected part of her getting upset over Raichu's evolution was that she and Raichu never got a chance to discuss this. Nonetheless, both she and Raichu felt out of line for their spur of the moment actions, and were making amends over it.

In the heartfelt moment between Kristine and Raichu, Jason noticed movement nearby. Getting a clearer look, he noticed a trainer rapidly moving towards them.

"Hey uh," Billy stopped as he assessed the situation. He noticed the deactivated thunderstone on the ground. "Hey, that was mine! Why'd you use that!?"

"Huh?" Kristine was caught off guard, as was Raichu. Neither let go of each other.

"Hey bud, let's just talk this out," Jason walked in between the trainer and Kristine and Raichu.

"What?" Billy scoffed. "You gonna claim finder's keepers or something?"

Just then, Jolteon walked over to Jason's side, just in case the situation escalated.

"Wait, you're…" Billy began to recognize the twins. "You're them. The Kyar twins!"

"Yeah, that's us," Jason nodded. "Listen, we didn't know the thunderstone was yours. We had a bit of a spontaneous evolution here."

Kristine stood up, brushing off her knees. "We promise."

Billy observed the situation, noticing Raichu. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Yeah. I believe you. Sorry."

"It's fine," Jason smiled. "What's your name?"

"Billy. Billy Traverson. I'm from a small town just north of Kenalta, in the mountain subregion."

"You're probably ten days away from our hometown," Jason added. "It's really not so far if you think about it."

"I saw you two on TV that night you won the Power Duo," Billy mentioned. "Jason, the way you and Jolteon fought inspired me. That's why I used my money to buy that thunderstone."

"I'm sorry about that," Kristine stepped forward. "I can reimburse you."

Billy shook his head. "It was five hundred dollars. Surely you don't have that, so don't worry about it."

"Hold on," Kristine walked over to her backpack she placed beside a tree. A moment later, she approached Billy with a wad of cash.

"Five hundred," Kristine presented. "Take it."

"Wha- no," Billy stepped back.

"Five hundred is a lot," Kristine began to persist.

"It's only fair," Jason added. "We know how much five hundred can cover. But if you don't mind me asking, who were you gonna use the thunderstone on?"

Billy pulled out a pokeball and brought out Eevee. "Like I said, you and Jolteon inspired me."

"An eevee," Kristine was in awe.

"Eevee!" Eevee greeted, with Jolteon and Espeon approaching him.

Kristine took a couple steps further. Billy slowly accepted the cash.

"Eevee rejected the thunderstone," Billy explained. "I don't know why. I thought Jolteon was the best of them all."

"That's entirely subjective," Kristine quickly countered.

"You can't force an evolution," Jason added. "Jolteon here evolved because he wanted to. I told him he didn't need to if he didn't want to. Evolution stones trigger when the eligible pokemon has a willingness to accept them. They're just nothing but shiny stones otherwise. Maybe Eevee has a different calling."

"Well," Billy rubbed his chin. "Eevee is quite active when the sun goes down."

"Work with him and see if he's Umbreon waiting to be unleashed," Kristine smiled. "Or anyone else for that matter."

"Right," Billy said as he and Eevee locked eyes on one another. "I'm sorry, Eevee. We'll figure out what you really want."

"Eevee!" Eevee happily barked.

"Thanks so much, Jason and Kristine!" Billy bowed his head. "I should get going. I'm behind schedule!"

"Take it easy!" Kristine suggested. "Don't overdo yourself. Please."

"Yeah," Billy recalled Eevee. "Not the end of the world, right?"

"Not at all," Jason reaffirmed.

"See you guys around!" Billy began to depart.

"See ya!" Jason and Kristine waved.

All twelve pokemon had their eyes on the twins.

"Team," Jason addressed his pokemon. "Do as you please. I'm gonna need a minute."

Jason walked away from the group, cracking up laughing. Then he began sniveling as if he just broke into tears.

"Jason?" Kristine walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

"He purchased a thunderstone because of me!" Jason laughed, tears rolling down his eyes. "We had a one in a thousand chance of Pikachu becoming Raichu at this very moment because I inspired a trainer! Man these last few days have been something, right?"

Kristine could witness Jason's mental collapse unfolding right before her eyes. It appeared they may be moving along a little too quickly for them, particularly Jason, to soak in the events that transpired these past few days; the Fearow Hill incident, their mother's surprise visit, the truth of their father's death, the gym battle, and now this. Jason carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he needed to put all that weight down, just for a little bit.

Kristine put her hands on Jason's shoulders. "Breathe. In and out. Slowly."

Jason did just that. He started to regain control of his emotions because of the simple breathing technique.

"We're taking the day off," Kristine insisted. "Let's make camp right here. If you need to walk around and blow some steam off, that's fine. If you need to talk, that's fine too."

"Yeah," Jason took another deep breath. "Thanks, sis."

"No, thank you." Kristine patted his shoulders.

Kristine walked away to address her and Jason's teams. They were able to relax for the rest of the day in serenity. A little peace and quietness were all that was needed to freshly process what transpired and prepare for the challenges ahead.

As for Raichu's evolution, Kristine was able to accept the sudden change with pride. They were able to put the moments of impulses and emotions behind them and simply move on. Kristine became increasingly excited as the day progressed about implementing Raichu's newfound strengths into her team. She recalled a petty argument between her and Jason many months ago, just a day before they officially became trainers. Oh, how Jason got the last laugh there. Hopefully he totally forgot about that.

The twins made preparations to continue their advance to the Sol Peninsula. With their birthday just around the corner, they knew it was a significant milestone not just in age but as trainers. And with the Junior Circuit over the horizon, they are not the only ones preparing for it. They'll have to be ready, more than ever.