Riley was so proud of Pupsky! He'd known and loved it his entire life, an now it was finally evolving! He held up his PokeDex to his evolved buddy. "Number 11, Barksky. Normal- and Ice-type. The Loyal Pokèmon. Barksky are extremely loyal and protective, and are excellent guide-Pokèmon. Their sense of smell is unrivaled, and they tend to cry to the moon at night. They build friendships easily, and it is believed that if both their tails are wagging, they are around a friend. This often proves true, which makes them very reliable for search-and-rescue missions and such."

"Your Pokemon evolved!" the backpack-lugging man smiled, happy. "How cool! Good luck getting down the cliff! Here, this is your prize money." He handed both young Trainers a handful of money.

They approached the bridge that crossed over the river that they'd seen from the top of the cliff, from Eclisse City. "Wow..." Lilly panted. "That was an intense route... I sure hope they repair the tram soon." She spun around happily as she skipped across the safe bridge. "Hey, looks like we made it!"

Riley looked around at the medium desert town. It was bright and hot, the complete opposite of its uphill partner. "We should check in at the Pokemon Centre," Lilly added. Riley nodded. She was right.

The Pokemon Centre in this town was attached to a dust-covered parking lot that had only a handful of cars parked in it. There were also a couple motorcycles parked in their designated spots, too.

Riley and Lilly both gave their Pokemon to Nurse Joy. Riley had currently had 4 Pokemon, and Lilly 3.

Lilly sat down with her cold drink that she got from the vending machine. "Let's compare our PokeDexes! If I can't beat you in battle, I can at least beat you at something!"

Riley agreed, and booted up his PokeDex. He'd caught four Pokemon: Burndillo, Darwing, Concealpillar, and Pupsky, who had just evolved into Barksky. Two of those Pokemon had been given to him, not caught, but Riley was grateful to have them on his journey with him anyways. Aside from that, he'd seen plenty other Pokemon. He'd seen Lilly's Elelel plenty of times. He'd seen her Hermiflage quite a bit as well. Her Stoaf, now Stoath, Riley hadn't seen as much of, but e had seen it. However, he'd seen Stoaf in the wild before he encountered a Trainer that had one.

The Team Delta Grunt that blocked his way in Tempura Forest had an Eevee, which Riley thought was absolutely cute. There was the Pikachu that Riley saw, as well as the Raindeer that he scanned with his PokeDex on Route 1's Nature Bridge. In Suncoast City, Riley encountered a couple interesting Pokemon as well. Worum was a very, very common Pokemon, but the one he'd found in Sandra's Gym was the first he had the chance to scan with his PokeDex.

Riley remembered being perplexed by Asterfish's ability to use its broken-off appendage to attack. He also remembered being surprised to find that Darwing had multiple forms. He was also surprised that he couldn't catch a Maskalmon because he didn't have his Tag Package yet. Getting to Eclisse City, he remembered spotting some intriguing Pokemon at the airport. Many looked like pet material, but he saw a pair of Trainers engaged in a battle while they were waiting for the plane to arrive.

One of them used a strong-looking green and white Pokemon that looked like a tall woman wearing a fancy dress. The other fought with a large, black cat-like Pokemon that had fire on its waist. They both looked so strong. Riley would be that strong one day, and he couldn't wait for it!

Riley recalled the Team Delta Grunts from Eclisse City's amusement park and their Pokemon. He also smiled, remembering Lillie and Saturnius. Where had they gone off to? Hopefully not into trouble again.

Riley returned his memories to Suncoast City, where he remembered seeing the Pokemon playing around in the pool where the motel manager, Gym Leader Sandra's father, gave him his Mysterious Souvenir. He took it out of the side pocket of his bag and observed its odd detail.

The object's form and details reminded Riley of the pedestals that he'd seen, both in the forest and in the cove off of Route 5. Was there a coincidence to be drawn?

The young trainer remembered Goslaire, the sleek and graceful Electric-type Pokemon that Elric used in his Pokemon Contest against Riley. He also remembered Maskoon. Maybe, with hard work, Concealpillar, like Pupsky, would evolve.

He recalled Toxock and its two forms, and Corvekt and its unique and unfamiliar Pokemon Battling style.

"Your Pokemon are all refreshed and ready for adventure yet again!" gleamed the always-joyous Nurse Joy.

"Thanks, Nurse!" Lilly grabbed her three PokeBalls, and RIley's four. She handed Riley his Pokemon's PokeBalls and turned to Nurse Joy, smiling, "Have a nice day!"

"Let's check out the Tyrantrum fossil!" Lilly urged, jumping up and down on her feet!

Riley smiled, chuckling, as he was forced to walk next to her as she dragged him to the attraction. It was the beginning of spring, the end of summer, and the fossilized titan had gained quite the following, apparently.

"Come on! Let's climb it!"

There was, indeed, a staircase inside the Pokemon's bones that had been built to seem like it was part of the structure, even though it was clearly not. Lilly's steps were shaky at first, but her excitement pushed her further and further up the fossil's body until she didn't care that she could see the ground far, far below her! And it was no short climb, either!

Riley was forced to follow, unable to abandon his best friend when she was just so happy. He wanted to experience whatever was making her so exuberant alongside her. He ran up the carved-out staircase and met Lilly inside the Tyrantrum's jaw. There was a railing that had been built around the fossil's big, sharp teeth. Like she did in Eclisse City, above that dangerous cliff face, she spread her arms out across the railing and peered out at the view. She could see the whole desert town from up here in the dragon's mouth.

The sun was setting on the hilly horizon. It had a couple times while Riley and Lilly had been on their journeys, but they were so busy adventuring day and night to stop to notice it. Chinocko was so big, but now that the two young Pokemon Trainers were on their region-wide challenge, the Chinocko Region seemed to get smaller and smaller. Or maybe the two of them were just growing and growing.

"Riley, I'm just so excited," sighed Lilly. "We've been at this for so long, and we're making really steady progress through our Pokemon League Challenge." She turned around from her viewpoint to look Riley in the eyes. "But try not to lose focus of the reason Professor Maple sent us on this journey. We have to help as many Pokemon as we possibly can. I know we haven't really come across any big opportunities to help Pokemon, but if we do, promise me you'll take them in a heartbeat."

Riley put his hand over his heart and nodded.