Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.

A light breeze puffed from above, the light sensation grazing on the bare skin of Spiegel's exposed arms. He purred with content as his body relaxed at the cooling sensation.

"Mmhh… so tender." The young brown-haired man whispered in the low hush of his breathing. He nuzzled closer to his target of affection, his barely open eyes taking a smile-like form as they traveled on the length of those scarlet strands of hair. He pressed his hand on the soft of her arms and then smiled. "Flannery." Feeling brave and bold in his action, Spiegel edged closer, lips puffing out and eyes closing, ready for the contact.

A pair of strong hands halted the young trainer in his trails; a firm grasp like unbelievable firm and strong grasp. Spiegel hissed a bit in pain as the skin of his arms tingled with the grinding of those fingers against him.

"Come on, champ… I like you, but this is a stretch." A groggy, deep and male voice ringed true. The sound of this voice making Spiegel freeze and his eyes shot open. "Good morning, kissing-hopper." Ethan said with a little grin on his lips.

With the blue morning sky as a witness, the two of them are lying with the backs on the ground, the place where they slept after their adventure last night. Spiegel at first didn't notice, but in the effect of his delusional heated dream, he was holding and pinching at Ethan's body; and well, his left cheek is resting on the golden-eyed champion's arm.

"AAAARRRGGGH! W-WH-WAWAWA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Startled, desperate and embarrassed to no end, Spiegel jumped from their improvised grassy bed, his blue eyes trembling at the grinning form of his new friend.

Eyeing Spiegel with a neutral expression yet still holding a smug grin, Ethan shrugged. "You were the one cuddling me."

"NO, NO! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" Spiegel shot his arms to the air, still shivering from the warm sensation of Ethan's body.

"Guys… Please… not so loud." Max growled lowly, his lazy voice sounding out at the blond officer rolled to the side angrily.

Hearing a voice that is not coming from his involuntary human pillow, Spiegel relaxed even for a little bit. He darted his eyes to the right side, taking a proper look at Max sleeping peacefully on the ground. Taking his field of vision a tad bit more to the side, he saw even more people lying on the ground, a heavy/drunk sleep conquering their senses.

"See, nothing too outrageous happened." Ethan said with a chirp. "Relax man, we just slept here after all that… well, all of that." The raven-haired boy pulled his upper body up, his head pounding with the consequences of his reckless drinking, he hissed and frowned, holding his forehead with one hand. "These people know how to party, jeez…"

Feeling the terrified rush leave his body, Spiegel fell with his bottom on the grass, his hands still shaking though. "Seriously, Ethan… What happened? I remember my time with Flannery and all the places we went together, but then we met with you in that large tent and then… nothing…. I can't remember."

"That happens, when you try to defeat a champion in a drinking contest." Ethan hissed, pressing his fingers against his forehead, but still chuckling and grinning. "That was fun; you even had your own cheering fan. Cutie just kept clapping and giggling at your futile attempt to overthrow me."

Spiegel sighed, letting his upper body fall on the grass. He stared at the sky, smiling at the retelling of their contest. "You sure I didn't beat you?" His lips parting in a smug little smile as he asked that.

"I'm afraid you lost terribly. Your legs went all mushy after the second cup." Ethan let out a quiet little laugh, waving one hand at the other boy. "For someone so boisterous, you're quite the lightweight with alcohol."

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever…" Spiegel waved his arms back, getting a short glimpse of Ethan's forehead as he tried to look down. "I… liked it." He said with a warm happy hum. "I'm glad you two talked me into giving her a chance. Well… give me a chance."

"Nice date last night?" Ethan eyed down to grinning silly, he himself grinning at Spiegel's antics. "I told you would like cutie, she looks very funny and enjoyable to be around."

"To tell the truth… I loved it." Spiegel pulled himself up, taking his blue eyes to Ethan's golden glowing gems. "Every minute I spent with Flannery last night… I loved all of it."

"Say, Spiegel… Don't take this personally but I need to ask you something." Ethan cleared his throat, looking slightly discomforted at his own starting sentence. His golden gaze traveled away from his friend's form, taking a gander to the clear blue sky of this somewhat chilling morning. "You had… you got close with that girl, Zinnia, right?"

Spiegel's carefree smile died down, his chin falling down to his chest as his eyes got deflated of their previous joy. "How do you…" He asked, his voice coming out low and cold.

At the slight confirmation of his previous suspicions, Ethan sighed tiredly. "So that was you… damn, man… A pink-haired girl, looking all cutesy and sparkly, went after Brendan for a quick chat in that place he likes to hang out in Ever Grande. Anyway, she just babbled something I couldn't hear, but she made sure to leave a little present for him; a small disk."

"Pink hair and sparkly. That sounds like that girl I met after..." Biting his lower lip, he choked the words down, making Ethan raise a brow at his quirky reaction. "Violet, that description matches that evil person's looks."

"Evil… that's one way to put it." Ethan scoffed, brushing the locks of hair that has fallen in front of his eyes. "I whisked that disk away before Brendan could've seen the real little present that was inside." Shuffling a bit uncomfortably in his spot, Ethan took his eyes back to his friend, giving him a serious look. "I don't how or if you noticed it at the time. But she recorded a video of you and that Zinnia… well, having sex under the shadows of a large tree."

If he was not startled enough before, now Spiegel is completely dazed, furious and ashamed in some degree. He jumped from his spot, glaring down to Ethan but not really at him. "How she managed to do that? I-I… No one was there but us…" He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes and forming a tight fist with his right hand. "She was going to show that to Brendan… Why?"

"To stir trouble? Make the big stepping stone in their path crack and breaks?" He looked up, trying to gauge Spiegel's reactions. "I don't know Brendan for that long, but the guy has a little trouble with temper, even more so when the trigger is jealousy." In the glow of his golden eyes, a little glint of interest, a little twisted curiosity, flashed on as he opened his mouth again. "If she had her way, maybe the two of them would have broken off. Brendan would be a mess and your path clear…"

"And have Zinnia's feelings crushed? Get a chance at the expenses of her heart getting broken?" Spiegel spat back, this time his heated glare fully directed at Ethan. "I would choose ten times over to let Brendan stay with her than just make her life miserable like that."

A bright grin crossed Ethan's face as he gave Spiegel a pair of eye-smiles. "You're a good kid, Spiegel." He said with a teasing but friendly tone. "Okay, let's change the conversation to something less grim and aggravating. So, you and cutie, huh? I have to say, you guys looked very close at the end of the night."

Spiegel's frown died out, his lips parting in a little content smile. However, just as his expression had cheered up, his frown came back and his bottom went crashing down on the grass again.

"Hey… What's the matter? Just a minute ago you were all fluffy about your date and this girl." Ethan asked with a worried voice.

"What I am doing here Ethan?" He asked, pressing both hands against the upper part of his face. "She is amazing and funny… but this is not for me. Flannery she is… too much for someone like me."

"Seriously? Do you have an emotional switch inside of you or something?" Ethan is the one frowning now, shaking his head incredulous at the constant shift in moods of the other boy. "I can't answer something like that, stupid as it is. She is the only one that can say if you're good enough or not. The same way you decided that she is great. And from what I saw last night she was very content with the 'you package'."

"The 'Brendan package'." Spiegel retorted back, spreading his fingers in a way that his blue eyes could stare right back at Ethan. "She thinks that I am him. Sure, I asked her to call me by my name, but she probably took it as a joke or something of the sort. The fact remains, that she thinks that she had a date with Brendan, the oh so perfect champion of Hoenn… Not his crazy and twisted clone."

"Tell her the truth then." Ethan responded simply, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Remember what we told you yesterday." He casually pointed to himself and to the blacked-out officer on the ground. "The man who was here for her, that man was you. The person she had a great time yesterday with, that wasn't Brendan that was you. She might look at you funny at the first moment, that's true… But if this is to happen, this thing between you two, she will understand."

"Ethan… this is not as simple as; Hey Flannery, you know I dyed my hair and this is not the original color." He sighed deeply. "I am… different than normal. How will she look at me if she knows that?" He bit both lips with enough strength in his teeth to draw a faint line of red. "What if she knows that I am… a monst-"

"Stop!" A plank-palm latched on Spiegel's mouth, making his last word come out as nothing more as muffled sounds. "You're not a monster! Take that crap out of your mind, Jeez…" Ethan jumped onto his feet, stretching his arms up and long, letting a content yawn escape his lips. "Before long everyone will be up and about the place, a shame too, this place looks magical in this silent morning." He eyed his surroundings, mostly ignoring any person or Pokémon he caught in his gaze, totally focused on the aesthetic of this cozy little town. "Care to join me for a walk?" He brought his full attention back to Spiegel, giving the other boy a hand for support and a bright smile to go along with his offer.

Spiegel looked at the hand extended in front of him and then up to the grinning boy in front of him. He shook his head slightly, grinning back as his grim concerns floated out of his mind. "Why the heck not." He grabbed Ethan's hand and pulled himself up.

Following the lead of the golden-eyed trainer, the two of them wandered past the limits of Lavaridge town. While Ethan whistled lowly in a happy tune, Spiegel noticed a familiar path to their right, the path he went in with Flannery last night, and for a moment, he wondered if Ethan was aware of the place. However, his mind rested at ease as they continued to move to the other way, the little trail of dirt between the grass getting further and further behind their route.

Ethan slowly his pace enough to let Spiegel get at his side, his golden gaze shifting in a cautious manner to the boy's blue eyes. "Sorry for being blunt and all that, but I have to ask. How?" He asked with seriousness, his expression betraying no sight of hesitation on him.

While his question did give away much, no much than one word, Spiegel understood completely what he meant. He frowned, taking his gaze away from Ethan. Just thinking about this made him very uncomfortable, it is a painful subject, but it still is his reality. "I don't know." Was the first and truthful response coming out of the brown-haired boy. For a moment, he considered stopping just at that, but the eagerness on those golden eyes made him waver.

Ethan is a strange person, he is goofy and easygoing, yet he hides a ruthless seriousness inside of him that manages to catch anyone by surprise. Still, despite his quirks, Spiegel doesn't dislike him; far from it. In the span of a day, the odd champion managed to befriend him and even help with his predicaments. A rare person indeed.

Spiegel clicked his tongue and then sighed. Running his right hand on his forehead, he pushed his brown bangs out of his eye's line of sight. "I… Before being Spiegel, this person you see in front of you. I was something else." He scratched his nape, a cold shiver ruining up his spine as the words flooded out from his mouth. "They named me Deoxys, the Pokémon from space. All that I remember from before is fighting Rayquaza on the dark beyond and dying. How it happened or why, I don't know. But for some reason, I woke up with this body, with these memories… I had awakened as Brendan, almost drowning inside a flooded base."

Pressing his thumb and another finger against his chin, Ethan just stared at Spiegel as the blue-eyed boy told his tale. Not a shred of doubt showing in his golden eyes. He stood there, watching Spiegel in silence for a few moments, his lack of words and reactions making the other trainer very wary of himself, distressed by what he could say.

"Deoxys, huh…" Ethan said, still serious and quiet. "I heard that name from Professor Elm a few years ago, so that was you."

"So, you believe me? Really?" Spiegel is now the one staring at Ethan curious eyes. "Even I have trouble believing that some times, but you took everything as true that easily?"

"You're not lying, I can tell. What's more, you said that you woke up inside a flooded base. Their base, I assume." Ethan scoffed and shook his head as he said 'Their', his gaze never traveling too far away from Spiegel's face. "Coming from Giovanni, anything is possible. And adding your story to the pile just makes me one hundred percent sure about someone else too."

"That's it? Another story to the pile?" Spiegel frowned slightly. While he was dreading the thought of his new friend being outraged and repulsed by the truth, he couldn't help but feel disappointed by the lack of more appropriate response, he was not able to even get a look of disbelief from the other man.

"Don't take this in the wrong way." Ethan grinned, raising one hand in apology. "What you told me is fantastic, I mean, in the sense of impossible magical stuff fantastic. But, as much as I want to picture you as a floating tentacle menace, I can just see you, the dork who forgot he had no money as he went in his date." Spiegel rolled his eyes, taking one hand to his face to hide his embarrassment, just to enjoyment of his friend. "Anyway, I appreciate it. You telling me the truth and all that."

"Don't sweat about it." Taking one hand to his mouth, he coughed to cover his shyness. "Just consider this as a token of appreciation… for everything…" He trotted forward, making sure do take his face away from Ethan's point of view, but still, even without seeing his face, Spiegel can still feel the smirk on the boy's features.

Quietly stopping his steps, Ethan watched as Spiegel walked a few more paces forward. He closed his eyes and ran one hand in the back of his head. "If that is the case, I guess I owe you a token of appreciation myself. You did save me from that less than fortunate situation I was in."

Taking a short side-glance back at the golden-haired boy, Spiegel stopped and sighed. "You don't have to."

"But I want to do it." He sighed, deeply as if some hidden frustration and exhaustion were escaping through his lips. "Say, you have all of Brendan's old memories, right? For any chance, you knew about me?" As his words came out of his mouth so did his right slapped against his face. "What is up with serious talks and my inability to speak properly? Anyway, have you known me through… you know, fame or gossips?"

"Eeerh… I guess?" Spiegel turned on his heels, giving his friend an odd look. "Let me think… Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that story about you and Red." He noticed the shudder and jolt pushing Ethan's shoulders up as he heard that. "And of course, with that, the amusing tittle you got as the strongest trainer in the world. Not a fair tittle I have to say… How can you be considered the strongest if I've never battled against you?"

"Hah! I will take you on that at a later time." A sonorous laugh echoed as Ethan walked forward and slapped Spiegel on the arm. "You hit the mark in that first mention of yours. Red… Aarh…. freaking Red. Sometimes I curse the day I met that guy."

"You do?" Spiegel's blue eyes clearly show his surprise at Ethan's words. "Red is considered legendary by so many. In a way he is even more mysterious and mythical than Kyogre."

"Exactly... The famous legendary Red. A trainer without equal, the target of gossips and awe by everybody." A light scoff came out as Ethan frowned and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Guess what, he found his match. I beat him, I… won. But what does that make me? The guy who bested Red, that is it." Once again, his vexation, an annoyance buried deep inside the young champion's heart flushed out in his account.

"I don't get it... Beating Red, that makes you the strongest. Shouldn't you be happy about it?"

"The merit of beating him overshadows my own person. Nobody cares who I am, really. They just hang themselves to the fact that I interacted with Red." A sarcastic snort escaped his lips, as his façade broke down to a depressed mockery of his expressions. "I wonder if I lost to someone right now, would that person call themselves the trainer who won against the guy who defeated Red?"

Countless words rushed to the tip of his tongue, even his arm rise up and went forward onto Ethan's direction. Yet, Spiegel said nothing. He just watched quietly, frowning as if he was feeling his friend's anger and frustration himself.

"In a way, that is my punishment." Ethan exhaled deeply, his feet taking him closer to a nearby large tree as his head hung low. His right fist explodes against the sturdy old trunk, leaves rocking up and down from their branches as his blow echoed inside the old tree. "Nothing can stand firm in the foundations of a lie."

Spiegel's brows jerked up with interested, and while he feels a bit ashamed of somewhat ignoring Ethan's distressed mood, he cannot help but wonder what lie would that be.

"Forgive my weirdness. Hearing you talk about your problems made me want to share a few of my own problems as well." Letting his chest go back to its rhythmical pace of rising and lowering, Ethan calmed himself, taking his eyes back to the non-existent road. "Let's press forward with a bit of haste. We still have a lot of ground to cover before we get there."

Spiegel hummed quietly and began to follow Ethan's pace again, then he stopped and tilted his head as he looked at his friend's back. "Get where? I never heard of a 'walk' that had a destination… Where exactly are we going, Ethan?"

Ethan did a half spin, chuckling quietly as he noticed the suspicious glare he was receiving from the other boy. He smiled and pointed behind, over his shoulder with his right thumb. "To Rustboro, of course." His declaration came out as the most obvious thing in the world, despite him having not said a word about it before. "Oh, you did bring your Pokémon team with you, right? I wouldn't want you to miss all the fun." While Ethan tried to play his most innocent act as he waved Spiegel to come with him, the crooked smirk on his lips gave away his smugness.

"Even with all the laughs and then the serious talk that makes you look so relatable, you're still a sly bastard, aren't you?" Spiegel laughed at his own naivety, he slapped his forehead as in a memento to never trust someone, especially Ethan, so blindly. "Why are we charging right to a thief infested place, in ceremonial clothes no less, with just the two of us?"

"Because we can take it." Ethan replied normally, still looking at Spiegel's blue wary eyes. "Sure, I got myself thwacked for my cockiness last time, happens from time to time. However, now there are two of us and… and, I am reeaaaaally pissed off."

To say that Spiegel looked nervous and uncertain about this whole ordeal is an understatement. Even if his gaze never left the one coming from those golden eyes, his fingers are curled tight in a trembling fist with his arms stiff as if they were made out of wood.

Ethan sighed, taking one hand to the back of his hand as he looked down. "If this is about cutie, don't bother being angry. As soon as she wakes up, she will know that you didn't just bail out on her." He glanced upwards and noticed the ever-confused expression on Spiegel's face, he couldn't help himself but grin with a bit of friendly malice. "You don't remember about the letter either, do you?"

The little breeze grazing the woods in the morning suddenly felt like a full-blown blizzard at Spiegel's skin. He froze in place, eyes open and mouth trembling shut. "What… Letter...?"

"Hahah. Man, you really should not drink." Ethan turned around; arms crossed behind his head. "Hehehe, to think you wrote such a passionate text without the coherence to remember about it. What a legend." Getting back at his fast pace of steps, Ethan got back in his tracks; but now he is walking while whistle and hum happily.

"WHAT LETTER, ETHAN?!" Spiegel jolted after the raven-haired boy, arms flailing in the air. "Stop walking and answer me, dammit!"

Tiptoeing across the empty hallway of his house, Brendan made his way from the bathroom to the living room, holding his breath as he passed by his parents' room, just to make sure he would not wake anyone.

Silly of him for even thinking that on his father part, since Norman was the one who taught him on the martial ways, and the old master is the earliest of birds to wake up in the morning. Truth to that, Brendan found his father standing in front of the counter that separates the kitchen from the living room.

"That is a nostalgic sight." Norman commented with his stern voice, a tiny little grin creeping in on his serious face.

Brendan took noticed to where his father is looking, which prompted him to take one hand and scratch the back of his head, grazing slowly on his new haircut. "Wanted to try something new… I guess it would be old/new, but yeah."

"The smaller length, it suits you best. Although, your mother will complain about the change." His father chuckled behind one hand. "She was rather fond of your long hair, talked about it all day when she saw it the first time."

A low clicking sound got Norman's attention, he drifted himself away from the counter over to one of the cabinets. Taking two mugs in his hands and placing them at the side, he took the steaming coffee jar out of the machine and poured it on the mugs, one for him and the other for his son. He brought both together with him to the large wooden table in the living room, setting one in front of a free chair, and taking the other with him to the head of the table.

Accepting his father's invitation, Brendan sat down on the chair and took the heated mug of coffee on his hand. "Dad, I need to talk to you. Deep down, this is not something that I wanted to share or even think about. But it is not fair for me to let you in the dark."

Norman just raised a brow at that, not saying a word back as he waited in silence for Brendan to continue.

"Yesterday, that was the first day I saw you and mom after the years you went away. Two days ago, I had no idea you two were back in Hoenn or that I had a sister." He looked down at the colorless vapor coming out of his coffee, watching its peaceful rising to try and find some comfort for himself. The heat of the mug prickling the skin of his finger with enough pain, that forced Brendan to leave it down at the table again. "Gosh, this is so hard and strange to say."

"The Brendan we met months ago, that was not you." Norman said with an unpreoccupied tone, his words startling Brendan with the surprise. The old master saw the look of 'how did you know' on the face of his son, so he raised a hand to stop him before he could ask. "If I said that I noticed from his behavior, that would be a lie. That person, he was like you in… everything." Norman allowed himself to a soft smile, closing his eyes as he remembered about that day. "That night, I heard a strange noise coming from Birch's lab, so I went outside. Letting the shadow of the night cover me, I followed Wally to the woods and there I watched their exchange; That boy, he looked lost, pained and focused in a bad idea." He brought his eyes to Brendan, his question coming in the form of that glance and not words.

"He found me and we fought… that was bad, pretty bad. He is not dead though." Brendan glanced down to his mug again, watching the steady flow of steam doing little to take away his frown. "Does mom knows about this?" His gaze drifted up slowly towards Norman's face and the older man just shook his head.

"It is not my place to share this with her, but don't tarry too long to tell her. She is air-headed and easygoing but she is not stupid." Norman sipped on his cup, hissing quietly when he failed to noticed how hot the liquid still is.

"I will. I don't like to lie to her as much as I don't like to lie to you. Still, I cannot trouble her with something so confusing in a time like this." A long tired sigh escaped his lips, the younger man taking his mug back in his hand but not raising it up to his lips. "First I will gather with everyone in Ever Grande, the League is preparing every trainer they can to help. And while this Rainbow Rocket Team had the upper hand in their attack, I am more than confident that we can push them out of every little place they had sunk their fangs in."

Norman watched his son in his speech; he carefully studied the boy's expression, his body language and even the tone of his voice. Proud washed the old master from the inside, he trained Brendan as harshly as he could, he pushed Brendan far past his limits even worse than what he did with Wally. Still, the growth of this man in front of him, how much mature he sound now compared to before, is nothing but outstanding.

A quiet hum came from Norman; he nodded with a small pleasant smile on his lips. "This is troublesome times. So many places have fallen to their hands, from little towns to the biggest of cities." He growled in exasperation, a rare thing for the composed master to do. "I watched in first-hand the brutality of their ways."

"Petalburg?" Brendan asked already knowing the answer, but Norman still nodded in response. "Even Littleroot… And I was not here to do anything."

"No one can blame you of not expecting a criminal assault on such a large scale, nevertheless in such a small town as our Littleroot." Norman retorted back glancing at his son with serious eyes. "Brendan, it doesn't matter what you did or not did on the past. Put your focus on what you can do in the present." He hummed as if agreeing with himself. Crossing both arms in front of his chest. Norman took his eyes up, staring at the ceiling but with his mind wandering to somewhere else. "Petalburg, Littleroot… They tried to rob people of their freedom and failed. Yet there are places where they succeed." Once again, an angry growl came from the old master, a deeper frown appearing on his features. "From what I heard, Mauville City got sieged twice as hard as Petalburg. But Rustboro… the news coming from there are the worse of any other city."

The rustling sound of wood shifting and then hitting the ground came alive, as Brendan jumped from his seat with his eyes wide as saucers. "Rustboro! Goddammit, how could I forget?" He turned around and dashed back to his room. His previous concern from noises had all but disappeared from his mind, as his steps echo as loud as a crazed alarm.

In the most rarities of scenes, Norman is looking startled and somewhat scared from Brendan's reactions. He watched as his son went back to the hallway, but decided to wait for him right here in the hopes that the boy would not just jump from the window of his bedroom.

Brendan appeared on the hall again, his pace faster than before. Zinnia who looks just lost and dazed from sleep, appeared on the door too but did not walk past it, she thought of going after him but the only thing covering her body right now is the white sheets wrapped up around her.

"Brendan!" Norman called as his son stepped inside the living room, the boy is livid and terrified at the same time.

The young champion jolted his head back to his father, his red eyes glowing as never before as panic is all but consuming his entire being. "I need to go, now." He slammed his hand against the wall, cursing loudly even in the presence of his father. "Mr. Stone, he… He is still there in Rustboro. How could I forget about him? Steven is going to kill me." Letting out a loud growl akin to a raging beast, Brendan stormed out of the house. His haste being so much that he even forgot to close the door behind him. Not only that, Brendan forgot to change the shirt of his sleeping clothes, he forgot to put his socks before he put his shoes on. He might as well have forgotten what kind of red he is seeing the world right now.

Fighting with the white cotton wrapping itself around her legs, Zinnia wiggled her way into the living room, her eyes looking everywhere for Brendan but only finding a trouble Norman staring at the open door. "Brendan?" She asked the older man.

Norman took his eyes to the almost naked girl, to which he chooses to ignore that situation of hers, and then he sighed. He sighed deeply as he pushed his mug of coffee away from him. "Trouble has found its way back to my son." Zinnia looked puzzled and extremely confused by his words, something that made Norman sigh again.

With the chirping sound of the birds and the warming sunlight touching the pale skin of her belly, Flannery stirs on her bed with a little yawn escaping her soft lips. She turned to the side, facing the intruding sun, her eyes slowly going up to the window and the view of outside. Little bits and parts of last night coming to her mind, his words, his cute silliness and even his smile dancing around her thoughts. She squealed and giggled, spinning happily around her mattress.

Doing that for more than ten minutes, the fiery Gym-Leader finally decided to grace the floor with the sole of her feet. She went to the bathroom to wash her teeth, humming happily while she was at it. Then she skedaddled to her kitchen with the biggest smile on her lips. In a way or another, she could not take his face away from her mind.

"And he is just outside too." She mused to herself, a daring little mischief popping on her head. What bad could it do, right?

Flannery decided to steal a free glance on Brendan, or like he asked her to call him, Spiegel. She tiptoed towards the living room of her home, going as slow and quiet as possible to not alert the boy who is probably sleeping on the grass thanks to his drunkenness of last night. A silly concern of hers in truth, as if she was trotting away inside her house, no one outside would be able to hear her.

Nevertheless, the fact that she is alone in the house didn't push her away from her skilled sneaking tactics. That is until her eyes landed on a folded piece of paper lying in front of her front door.

She kneeled down and took the interesting looking note in her hands. To her surprise, it was not just a note, but a folded letter wrapped inside a colorful envelope with all kinds of little Pokémon pictures living up the edges.

'From a stupid guy to an amazing girl' It reads on the front of the envelope.

Flannery giggled, her cheeks getting a warm tint of red on them. It seems the surprises with Brendan are not ending so soon.

With all the care in the world, she peeled the envelope open and took the letter in her hands. Before taking her eyes to a single word written in there, she made sure to fold that cute envelope and put it in a safe place.

Letter in hands and sat on her favorite chair, Flannery took a long breath, expectation filling her chest with giddy feelings. Smiling like a silly little girl, she unwrapped the folded paper, finally peeking inside of it.

Flannery, our time yesterday meant so much to me, so much so that I need to put my mind in order, my thoughts in a paper or else my heart will explode.

Recently, I found myself doubting my place in this world. So much pain, so many bad things happening around me… I lost sight of hope.

With my heart broken and reason almost slipping away from my grasp, I decided to wander aimlessly and follow the first person that called to me.

Funny thinking about it now. I came to Lavaridge on my lowest, hating everything around me. Then, a strange girl jumped on me, out of nowhere a girl found me.

You found me.

My word… this must be looking so corny right now. We met just a few hours ago and here I am going about such deep stuff. Well, I mean it.

Yes, you didn't read it wrong nor did I misspelled it. We first met yesterday. I asked you to call me Spiegel because that is who I am. I am not Brendan, I once maybe had been part of him, not anymore.

I am sorry for not telling you this in the first moment, but I was not in the right place in my mind. This secret, I will share with you, if you choose to.

Again, I enjoyed your company and the time we spent together. Even if you choose to never speak with me again, I am glad to have met you. I am glad to have seen your smile, to hear your cute giggles.

Most of all, I am thankful. I am thankful that a crazy girl jumped at me, hugged me out of nowhere, she cried against my shoulder. A fiery goddess that turned to ashes the evil lurking inside of me.

Thank you, Flannery. You saved me from myself.

Flannery folded the letter back into the tiny piece of paper that came out of the envelope. She looked down at it, stunned if anything else. This was unexpected, intense and somewhat weird. For a crush and an enjoyable night date, things took a fast turn, a way to fast turn with how strangely deep his letter looks.

The young Gym-Leader found herself on the edge of two hard choices. Brendan… Spiegel is clearly broken, despite how youthful he sounded and looked last night. To take someone like that closer invites a lot more than just cuddling and lovingly times, she knows that, she has seen that before. Still, in his best that he showed her in their date, he was so cute, funny, smart and so much more.

Flannery sighed, pressing her fingers on the soft paper in her hands. Does she want to be with him so much that she would endure the heavy burden inside of him, the burden that he spoken so openly in his own words?

'I want to try…' She bit her lower lip, thinking about their alone time in her special spot, the sweet sensation of their quick kiss still lingering in the tip of her lips. "I will try." She stood up from her chair and darted to her room.

In true Flannery fashion, the girl hurled herself on the monster pile of clothes in her wardrobe. Putting on the best set of casual but still charming clothes that she owns; a pair of long jeans almost the same as she was using yesterday and a buttoned dark grey shirt. Flannery rushed back to the bathroom, arranging her trademark hairstyle and washing her face a second time to look even better.

Broken, whole or lost. It does not matter to her. Flannery will get to know this boy and then she will decide. With that clear plan in mind, the fiery trainer of Lavaridge went to her front door, a sparkling smile on her lips.

The clicking sound of the doorknob turning announced her departure. Silence befell the house as the girl went forward on her quest. Sitting on top of the chair, the little piece of paper rustle by itself, little by little unfolding itself but just slightly. Pieces and bits of the words making themselves apparent as more and more of the letter opened itself; the little rays of sunlight dancing in slowly but surely, going on in the patience little pace of the morning sun.

In a point, the letter stopped unfolding, and the rays of light stopped going forward. It stopped almost as if intentionally on top of just a piece of text. The little glow faint, pretty and colorful; this little glow shining on top of a little sentence and nothing more, the glow marking the words: You found me.

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Mr MogiGaming chapter 29 . Sep 18 – A good Holy Crap?

Guest chapter 28 . Sep 29 – That is a fact that I am very well aware, which makes the situation even trickier for everybody. How can you stop two beings like Dialga and Palkia? Even worse, if you don't stop them something even stronger (and evil) will come. But hey, that is a problem for the main characters to deal with, I am just here as the narrator. ;)