Sol's leg twitched as she slept and her lip pulled back in a snarl. Her claws shot out and swiped at empty air. She growled and turned in her bed, eyes moving rapidly behind closed eyelids. She was still for a moment, like a predator preparing to strike, then snarled loudly twisted violently. The move brought her to the edge of the bed and she fell out onto the floor.

The sudden feel of cold stone against her skin jolted her awake. In the darkness of her room it took Sol a moment to remember where she was and how she got there.

Sol couldn't remember the dream. She never could. The sensation of battle and fierce combat, of hunting and being hunted, and a gnawing exhaustion that persisted even after she awoke. No matter how long she slept she never felt rested as if she really had been fighting all night instead of simply dreaming.

Sol felt her way to the door. The hallway was pitch black and she carefully picked her way through the dark until she reached the front cavern. The stars twinkled merrily in the sky through the cavern's mouth, which confused Sol. Wasn't Jak going to wake her up once Eevee returned? Unless he never made it back. Or maybe they just thought she could use the sleep.

Sol sighed and rubbed her head. She wanted sleep, actual restful, peaceful sleep that left her feeling energized and recharged. But it didn't seem like she would be getting it. She sighed again.

Getting away was just what she needed, Sol told herself. Get away from the stares in town, the pressure and expectations, go somewhere no one knows her and shake away whatever's wrong with a trip to the mountains.

Sol climbed the stairs out of the cavern. She could see her breath in the air, a thin cloud escaping from her mouth. She rubbed her arms and hurried down the path towards town. Sol hated the cold. It wrapped its spindly fingers around, numbing her fingers and freezing her lungs. She hated the feel of walking on snow, crunching and shifting beneath her feet and upsetting her footing, the way it stuck to her fur and tracked everywhere to melt into frigid, unexpected pools she was always stepping in. Even inside there was no escaping the snow!

But at least the cold helped wake her up. What time was it, anyway? How long had she been asleep? When Sol reached Treasure Town, all the shops were closed and the houses shut tight. There were no lights in the windows, everyone gone to bed long before, so it must have been very late.

In Sol's experience, however, there was one place that was always open. Pulled by thoughts of warm fires and shelter from the biting wind, Sol trudged through the snow towards the Broken Shield Inn. It didn't take long for Sol to reach the building. She pushed the door open and found the inside to be even emptier than she had expected. Aside from herself, there were only two others to be seen; the Raichu manning the bar and a very sorrowful looking Gurdurr staring forlornly into his nearly empty glass.

"Well I'll be, it's not often a celebrity walk through my doors," the Raichu smiles at Sol, then winces. "Just please don't turn out to be the worst criminal Treasure Town has ever seen. You have no idea how hard that hurt my little inn. No one wants to stay in a place where Dusknoir once laid his head. Now I only have Gurdurr here to keep me company."

The Pokémon grumbled something intelligible in response without looking up. He swirled the clear liquid around in his glass before taking a drink. Sol crinkled her nose at the strong smell. It reminded her of the antiseptic Chimecho kept in her medical kit.

"Anything I can get you?" the Raichu asked.

"Something with a lot of caffeine."

"Right away."

The Raichu started on Sol's drink. Gurdurr heaved a tired sigh and once again the smell of his drink wafted over to Sol's sensitive nose.

"What is that?" Sol asked. "It smells like you should be cleaning floors with it, not drinking it."

Gurdurr blinked long and slow, then sighed again. "It helps ta take away the feelings, wash away the memories and lull me to sleep."

"Not to mention turns you into a bloody fool," Raichu said and placed a steaming mug in front of Sol. "Just because you can't remember your problems doesn't mean they aren't there."

Sol snorted. "Amen to that."

Gurdurr looked up at them with angry, bloodshot eyes. "If I wanted people judging me I woulda stayed home." He picked up his glass and stumbled over to a table a small ways from the bar.

Sol rolled her eyes and picked up the mug. She simply held it for a moment, enjoying the warmth that seeped into her fingers as well as the appealing smell that wafted up from the earthy brown liquid. She took a sip and couldn't stop her lip curling back slightly in distaste.

How can coffee smell so good yet taste so bad? Sol wondered. At any rate, she was willing to ignore the bitterness for the caffeine that went with it.

"So what brings you to this here fine establishment so late?" The Raichu asked. "Or so early, I suppose."

Sol shrugged.

"I see. Tell me if you need anything else."

"Wait," Sol said. "What's your name."

He chuckled. "Raichu, of course."

"Why is it that some Pokémon have their own names, but others stick to their species name?" Sol wondered aloud.

Raichu smiled at her. "For most of them, it's just their egg name."

"Their what?"

"Egg names. Most folk don't take a name until they evolve for the first time, then they choose their own. Others just get so used to being called based on what they are that they just keep doing it. Or they get impatient and take a name before they evolve."

"Really?"

"At least that's how it works in the towns. I've heard somewhere that the ferals have to earn their names."

"Ferals?"

"Wild Pokémon, if you're trying to be polite."

"And how do they earn a name?"

"Fighting, I assume. I don't know all that much about it, but what else do ferals do besides attack folk?"

Sol was getting annoyed with the tone Raichu took. She doubted he had even met a 'feral', as he called them. It kind of reminded Sol of what Jak had thought about humans at first.

"And then there's the clans," Raichu continued. "Right bunch of weirdos, them. And dangerous too, so I hear. All the violence of the ferals but with organization like a town. Thank goodness there aren't any around here."

Sol was getting the impression that Raichu didn't actually know anything. The way he started almost every sentence with 'I heard somewhere', how he looked down upon everything that wasn't town life. When he started on about how the clans drank blood as some sort of initiation ritual and hunted down anyone who tried to leave, Sol was dead certain Raichu lived on gossip.

"You'd best be careful," Raichu said. "A lot of the clans are made up of Lucario and Riolu, and I heard they like to kidnap folk and force them to join."

"I'll be sure to watch out for them."

Raichu didn't catch the sarcasm in her tone and left cheerfully. Sol shook her head and went back to her rapidly cooling coffee. It was an interesting concept, though, Pokémon choosing their own names after they evolved. It was also kind of sad. It was like they were discarding all that they were before and becoming someone else completely. Eevee did say it was a bit like a funeral when someone evolved.

Sol's thoughts wandered. Would Eevee take a new name when he evolved? Assuming he decided to evolve at all? Jak and Ren already had names, but Jak was from the wild and Ren- actually, Sol had no idea where Ren was from.

"Hey, you," the Gurdurr said, slurring his words. "It's all yur fault."

"Of course it is," Sol said, turning on her stool to face the Gurdurr. She definitely wasn't in the mood for a fight, but surprisingly, the Pokémon didn't move from his seat. He barely seemed aware that she was there or that he had even spoken to her.

"Boy's going ta get himself killed, filled with foolish dreams of saving the world. When he winds up dead 'cause of some feral, it'll be all yur fault," he muttered to himself. It was an odd experience to Sol, having someone throw blame on her for something that hadn't happened, but at the same time she didn't think he was actually even speaking to her.

"Don't mind him," Raichu said, coming back over. "He gets into his cup and mutters all sorts of nonsense."

"Right..." Sol said. "Is someone named Espeon is staying here?"

Raichu nodded. "Yes, but she's be asleep by now."

"Can I leave a message here with you to give to her? That me and the others will be going on that trip of hers?" Sol knew that the team hadn't talked about it yet, but they were going whether they liked it or not. She'd drag them there if she had to.

"I only work nights, but I'll see that it gets passed along."

"Thanks," Sol said, then hesitated for a moment. "I don't suppose... Dusknoir's old room, is that still the way he left it?"

Raichu gave her an odd look. "I guess. Business has been slow lately, so no one's rented it out since he left. Why?"

"Can I have a look at it? Just for a minute? I need to check something."

"I don't see why not," Raichu said and stepped over to the key laden board. "Just try to keep quiet. Folks are trying to sleep up there."

Sol nodded and took the key. Gurdurr mumbled something unintelligible as she passed by on her way to the stairs. She didn't quite know why she was doing this. She had barely even thought about Dusknoir since Dialga had brought her back. It was a topic she avoided, since it would lead to thoughts of Grovyle and Celebi.

Sol twisted the key in the lock and the door swung open on well oiled hinges. She had been so excited the last time she had been here. How naive she had been, enthralled by a flashy story and blinded by her own arrogance. She had no such illusions now.

The room was mostly bare, but Dusknoir had never kept many things here to begin with. Sol carefully searched the room. She didn't expect to actually find anything, though. Whatever had been left behind would have disappeared once the time line had changed, just as her belongings had. But, Sol's things had returned when she did. She doubted Dialga would have brought Dusknoir back, but everyone's memories of the ghost Pokémon had returned. That meant some shred of him still existed, that he wasn't completely gone.

Was it possible that by bringing Sol back, others were dredged up too, if only by association? People remembered Grovyle and Dusknoir, Celebi lived on in the minds of Team Wanderers, so in at least some small way they had been. But the more Sol thought about it, she really hoped they remained gone from existence. This wasn't out of any spite, except for maybe in the case of Dusknoir. Celebi had been severely wounded and surrounded by enemies. Sol couldn't possible conceive of a way she could have escaped. That meant she was either captured or more likely dead. Grovyle had gone through the portal to the future. That portal had been created by Primal Dialga, so it would have led straight in the middle of enemy territory. Who knew how many Sableye were waiting on the other side? Dusknoir probably killed him the moment they arrived.

Hardship and pain was all that was left for Grovyle and Celebi. Sol thought that perhaps it was best if they disappeared and never had to suffer through it.

Or maybe I'm just lying to myself, Sol thought as she searched through the dresser drawers. Giving reasons why I'm planning a vacation for myself like a selfish coward instead of finding a way to help them.

Sol stared at the wood bottom of the empty drawer, shoulders hunched forwards and her mind elsewhere. She winced as a sudden pain ripped through her skull.

What are you even looking for? Something to alleviate your guilt? You let yourself be chained and it's your fault the Celebi was injured. You weren't on guard and it's your fault that Grovyle threw himself through the time tunnel.

Sol gritted her teeth and gripped the edges of the drawer tightly, trying to fight through the sudden headache. The world spun around her and she thought she saw a flash of white and red in the dim lighting. Thankfully, it only lasted a short while. Sol's exhaustion doubled.

"I guess the coffee was for nothing," Sol muttered and slammed the drawer. She was about to leave when she heard the clink of something hitting the floor. She turned back and searched around the dresser until she a found an odd reddish stone no bigger than a coin, circular in shape with a hole in the center. She must have knocked it down when she shut the drawer.

Sol inspected the stone on the palm of her hand. Anyone could have left it there. A former patron, one of the cleaning staff... They must have misplaced or forgotten about it. No one would miss it so she took it with her and left the room.

Gurdurr was still at his table, now with a fresh drink. Sol paid for her half finished and drink and made the walk back to Sharpedo Bluff in the bitter cold. No one was awake when she arrived, which was good. She didn't feel like explaining where she had been.

Sol lit a candle in her room and tossed the stone from hand to hand. She was looking forward to going to the Shaymin and she hoped she'd be able to stay awake long enough to enjoy it. It wasn't like she was waking up in the middle of the night. Tonight had actually been a rarity. She went to bed when the others did and slept on through to morning, but it never had any impact. She was so sick of being tired all the time.

Sol sighed. Then was struck with a sudden idea. She grabbed her bag and rooted through it before pulling out seed with a green core. She placed the stone on her table, got into bed and blew out the candle. She rubbed a finger along the seed's hard shell and hoped it would work. Sol was pretty sure it was the dreams keeping her from feeling rested, so she'd just have to make sure she didn't dream.

She snapped the seed above her head and let the powder fall on her face. She quickly fell asleep with a smile.

While we're on the topic, what do you all think about evolution? I'm not saying anyone will or will not be evolving, but I'm curious about what you think of it.

Darkrai6543: I'm looking forward to Shaymin Village as well. I have a few big ideas about it...

Mister L (Or maybe an imposter. It's impossible to tell ;) ) : Glad you're liking it, but sorry to say that all of Eevee's past won't be revealed for a while. And I found your joke a lot more amusing than I should have.

ckrier.3000: No need to worry about this story dying. I have no plans to abandon it any time soon! As for the letter, well it's only a matter of time before Sol's impulsiveness gets her in trouble.

Unnamed Generic Guest: All will be revealed, so hang in there.