A/N: WHAT'S UP Y'ALL, HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR A LONG ONE. I'll keep the intro blurb short and sweet. There's a lot to reveal (haha that's the chapter name), so let's get going!

It was silent in the cab as it pressed southwards through the darkening sky and toward the Dynamax Statues. The cab lurched in the wind with each flap of Corviknight's wings. Sonia and Victor sat opposite Marnie and me, working together like they shared a brain. Sonia handed Victor complex looking machinery and Victor slowly assembled some sort of Satellite dish-looking thing. Victor looked up to see both of us staring at his machine, and muttered "Dynamax Energy Reader," quickly, wiggling the contraption in his hands.

"How many of those do you have, Sonia?" I asked.

"One can never be too prepared," Sonia said, pulling out a weathered notebook and flipping through pages under the flashlight from her phone. "'Course, this one's a special case. Gets more precise readings. Vic said that the levels were a bit too high for our more portable options."

"And you just carry this around?"

"Well, I was going to stop by the hotel and drop it off, but traffic was a nightmare, and I didn't want to miss the battle," Sonia replied. "Good thing, innit?"

"I'm already getting a lot of fluctuations," Victor said, as yet another crashing noise came from the site. A flash of pink shot through the cab and even I could see the LCD screen had picked up something crazy.

"Is someone having a Dynamax Battle there?" I asked.

"Not likely," Victor said, showing the readings to Sonia, who scribbled them down quickly in the notebook. "The loose energy lowers a bit once Pokémon start absorbing all the aura. Kinda like a sponge and water, if that makes sense?"

"Not really," I admitted. I looked to Marnie to see where her brain was at, but she just looked at me blankly.

"You know, it's funny," the cabbie yelled from atop Corviknight's haunches. "You lot are the second ride I've given out here."

"The second?" Sonia yelled back.

"Yeah, first was some kid, Beet, I think he said his name was."

"Victor, that has to be Bede," I said quickly.

"He did leave the box in a hurry, before you even called out Boltund," Victor replied with a nod. "But why would he come out here?"

I felt a phantom twitch above my left ear, where the rock had fallen on me back in the Number 2 mines. "He's doing something with wishing stars," I said quietly. "For Rose. Maybe it has something to do with the Dynamax Energy that's present there?"

"Don't think he needs to tear the bloody thing down for research, though!" Sonia said as another loud crash shook the entire cab. Corviknight cawed loudly and only after a few seconds of coaxing from the driver did it start to move forward again.

"Listen," shouted the driver. "I don't think Brienne's keen to fly much further. I can maybe get you to the park entrance and that's it!"

"You can't just fly right over it? I don't think the park's even open!" Sonia shouted back.

"I know a way in," Marnie said suddenly. "Little rough to get through, but it should still be there."

"Seems illegal," Sonia said slowly.

"Wouldn't flying in from the top be illegal too?" Marnie challenged.

Sonia blanched, but slowly her lips curled into an impressed smile. "Ooh, I like you," she said. Marnie shrugged and looked out the window again. After one more titanic crash, Corviknight started flying downward, and within a couple seconds, we were standing near the entrance of the Park. Sonia was right, the pathway was blocked with a couple chains, but that didn't stop Marnie, who signaled us to follow her as she jogged over to a thick set of bushes near the wall. Morpeko zipped in front of her, lighting up her cheeks to lead the way. Marnie pulled aside a bush to reveal a hole at the bottom, just large enough for a person to squeeze through if they crouched. Sonia took the branch from her and held it out for us to walk through. Victor was first, then Marnie, and then me.

"I wish Leon and I had this much fun during our gym challenge," Sonia joked once we were on the other side, but Marnie shushed her, looking quickly from side to side. Morpeko dashed ahead toward the shadow of one of the statues to get a better vantage point.

"There might be a couple guards around," Marnie whispered in explanation.

I frowned. "Wouldn't they be focused on the big—"

The earth shook again, causing all of us to lose our balance and my vision to go black.

The wall is breaking, a woman's voice said. Can you hear me? Two brilliant blue orbs shone in front of me, then blinked out of existence, swallowed by the black.

I opened my eyes. Marnie, Victor, and Sonia stood over me, a worried expression on each of their faces.

"The mural!" I cried.

"Gloria! What happened?" Victor asked.

"What?"

"You just…passed out there for a second. Lucky Marnie caught you," Sonia explained. It was only then that I felt Marnie's arms around me, and I began to feel my cheeks grow hot. I flailed in her arms, but she held fast and helped me to my feet.

"The mural," I repeated.

"What about it?" Victor asked.

"It's there, it's…we have to go to the mural!" I shouted, sprinting towards the open space at the back of the park, just as another tremor shook the ground below us. I felt my vision grow fuzzy again, but I shook my head violently to clear it. No more visions. Not now.

"Gloria, wait!" I heard Sonia call, but I kept running. I heard the heavy thud of Marnie's boots running right behind me, and eventually, Victor appeared to my left. He looked concerned about my condition, which was fair, but I wasn't about to stop for anything. We zipped around one of the statues and I could see the giant bear in the distance. I picked up the pace, and so did Victor and Marnie. In the distance, I could hear a mechanical, rhythmic hum, but I tried not to focus on it.

Another crash rang through the park, louder still than all the other ones. This was followed immediately by a sickening crack, like the noise of a breaking bone. "How is Bede even doing this?" Victor shouted as we reached the bear statue. "How could he be making this much of a noise?" We zipped around the statue and stopped dead in our tracks.

"Bede!" I called out.

Sure enough, it was Bede, alongside a gigantic green and orange Pokémon who crashed into the wall of the wall of the mural once again before also turning around to face us. After the tremors from the last hit died down, we all took in the very bizarre sight. Bede, in his violet trench coat stood next to a mammoth-sized and shaped Pokémon, whose green and burnt orange skin evoked the image of a weathered copper statue, not entirely out of place among the stone statues that stood watching them destroy the mural. It had a long trunk swaying in front of its face with sharp-looking grooves of steel jutting out like the knuckles on a fist. Victor gasped and pulled out his Rotom-phone to scan the Pokémon.

"I'm sorry I missed your loss against Bea, but I had more important things to do," he sneered. "The chairman is expecting results and I intend on having them tonight. Copperajah, back to it, then." The lumbering Pokémon slowly turned around again and smashed its heavy trunk into the wall. There was another sickening cracking noise, and I noticed that there was a black seam that now rose up the center of the hideous mural, splintering into another series of cracks near the top.

"Gloria, that thing is a Steel type," Victor said quickly, looking up from his Rotom-phone. "Raboot can—"

"Got it," I said, grasping his ball and throwing it out. Raboot popped out of his ball, and with a quick order, started kicking small balls of fire toward the Copperajah. They barely seemed to even break the skin – Copperajah smashed its mighty trunk against the wall again. Another shock of pink light burst out, temporarily blinding all of us but Bede, who was still watching us, seething.

"I will not have the likes of you interfering!" Bede roared, pulling a Pokéball out. Marnie stepped forward, ready to battle him again, but Victor held up a hand.

"Let him bloviate," he noted. "We have to distract that Copperajah."

Marnie nodded and tossed out a Pokéball. Her Scraggy materialized in front of us. "Distract it," she ordered. Scraggy nodded and pulled up the loose skin around its waist in determination, then hobbled off to the Copperajah to give it a swift kick in the rear.

Copperajah roared in shock and pain when the blow was delivered, and quickly turned around to face its new adversary, but Scraggy held its ground. Marnie and Victor rushed forward, hoping to keep it occupied and maybe even subdue it, while Bede screamed in fury.

"How dare you!" he screeched, sending out a Pokéball of his own. "Psybeam, on all of them!" Duosion appeared, and started to glow with malice, setting its sights not on Scraggy or Raboot, but on Victor and Marnie.

"No, you don't!" I yelled. "Raboot! Focus on Duosion!" Raboot quickly changed tactics and kicked a couple fireballs at Duosion. The damage wasn't enough to knock out the Pokémon, but it was enough to divert the course of the Psybeam away from Marnie and Victor.

"Get RID of them all!" Bede shrieked, and Duosion shot another Psybeam at Raboot, hitting him square in the chest. It looked like it hurt, but Raboot shook it off and started hopping from side to side, waiting for my next command.

"Flame Charge!" I said, and Raboot sped off to Duosion again, landing a fiery kick on the goopy green Pokémon and sending it crashing back to the ground. Bede quickly returned it before I could see if it was still able to battle or not, and soon enough Raboot stood facing Gothorita.

The two Pokémon stood facing each other, and I was suddenly more aware of the loud and rhythmic humming. It was getting louder, and as its sounds grew more distinct, I recognized it as the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the sky.

"Rock Tomb!" Bede spat, and I instantly felt my heart sink. I had seen this attack disrupt Hop so many times, and I knew that Raboot wouldn't have any way to counter it. I watched helplessly as three rocks shot up from the ground around Raboot and sped like bullets directly toward him.

But Raboot, somehow, was ready for the attack, and instead of hopping up, he crouched down low and spun around onto his back, so he was facing upwards. The rocks collided in midair with such a force that they seemed to congeal into one giant stone. Raboot kicked the stone upwards with all his might, igniting it instantly, and as the fiery ball shot back up, he hopped to his feet and began to glow a bright white.

The fireball hung in midair for a split second, and as it came back down, Raboot's white aura exploded around him, revealing his new form - Cinderace. He was much taller, with powerful legs and gleaming red eyes. He kicked the fireball up into the air one last time, letting it burn even hotter, and when it came back down a third time, he spun around with incredible speed and kicked the fireball with all his might, sending it careening directly into Gothorita, who stood watching blankly as the inferno overtook her. When the flames finally let up, she was on the dirt, unconscious.

"What?" Bede said quietly, shock covering his face. To his right, Marnie's Scraggy and Victor's Growlithe each landed powerful blows on the Copperajah, bringing it down as well.

"Give it up, Bede!" I shouted valiantly. "I don't know what your game is but cut it out!" Cinderace roared excitedly in a high-pitched voice.

"You don't know what my—you fools have that Dynamax detector right there!" Bede said, pointing at Sonia, who was too busy watching the excitement to do anything with her Dynamax detector. "You can see the power that lies behind this hideous mural! I have been given the opportunity to follow up on it from Chairman Rose himself, and you peasants think you can just stand in my way? How dare you!"

"Bede, what are you even talking about?" I asked. The steady rhythm playing out behind us was now overwhelming. Bede looked up and smirked, and I whirled around to see a large helicopter slowly descend upon us, shining a bright white searchlight on everyone in the park. I saw Sonia shrink away, back toward one of the larger statues, but Victor, Marnie, Bede and I were all frozen in the lights as the helicopter descended.

The black metal landing skids of the helicopter touched down, kicking up clouds of dirt and pebbles and sending them flying in every direction. Shadowy figures moved inside as the blades started to slow, but before the machine was turned off, the door slid open, and four figures spilled out. In the harsh white light of the searchlight behind them, they cast long shadows and were hard to identify, but as they walked closer, I was able to make out the four. Rose, in the center, led the way to us, with Oleana directly behind him, and flanking them with curious yet agitated faces were Herbert and Edward Buckingham. They all looked out of place, wearing their slick and expensive-looking outfits in such a rocky and rough-looking place. The four of them stopped and looked at the four of us, trying to piece together what was going on, and quickly, Oleana broke ranks and hurried over to Bede, a look of disdain on her face.

"What's going on over here?" Rose yelled over the roar of the helicopter blades. I glanced at Victor, and then Marnie, who both shrunk back and recalled their Pokémon to their Pokéballs.

"I knew the Chairman shouldn't have entrusted his Copperajah to you, young man!" Oleana scolded once she made it to Bede. She grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him back to the helicopter with surprising strength, taking a spare Pokéball from his hand and aiming it at the fainted Copperajah. Copperajah split into tiny red particles and was returned to its ball.

"I was—ergh—let go of me—I was doing him a favor, you glorified secretary!" Bede spat as he struggled in her grip. A great fire burned in Oleana's eyes for a moment, and I saw her hand tighten on his wrist. Her knuckles were white as pearls.

"I won't have you speak like that to me," she retorted, loud enough for Bede and me to hear as she passed me, but not loud enough for Rose or the Brothers Buckingham to hear.

"Cut the engines," Rose said to the pilot inside the helicopter, bringing his hand to his neck and making a slicing motion. Slowly, the engines sputtered to a halt and the blades began to slow down. The searchlight stayed on, but with my eyes getting used to the light, I could see that Rose was looking around at us more with confusion than anger.

"Mister Chairman, sir!" Bede said once Oleana finally released him from her grip. "I am doing what I can to find the wishing stars I know to be on the other side of the mural! I will be—"

"Bede, I never asked you to deface the mural," he said simply. "You're lucky if I am able to dissuade the police to come and arrest you, and the same goes for you four as well!" Rose looked at all of us, and I could see the concern in his eyes, but something about it seemed a bit disingenuous. As if there was something else he had expected to find here aside from wishing stars.

"But I know the rest of the stars are here!" Bede cried. "Why else would those Dynamax readings be so high here? I'm doing you a favor! I'm helping!"

Rose looked at the Brothers Buckingham, each of whom frowned. He turned back to Bede and stepped to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "My boy, you are reckless. Defacing historical artwork—"

"Defacing hideous artwork is means justified by the ends!" he argued. "You said it yourself, the next thousand years is at stake, and one pesky mural shouldn't stand in the way of progress!"

"Perhaps," said Rose, "but this was not the way to go about it." Bede opened his mouth to protest again, but noticed that Rose was not looking at him, having instead trained his eyes on the mural itself. I glanced back and looked at the mural as well. The Copperajah had blasted it hard enough, yet the wall remained intact. The bottom of the mural, where the field once sat, was now a spider's web of cracks and chips, and most of its neon green paint had crumbled to dust on the ground. Even the few flowers that remained on the wall looked strangely wilted. At the center of the mural was the worst of the damage; there sat a crater roughly my height in diameter. At the top of a crater, there was a large and deep crack that shot up into the top of the mural, splitting the sky of the tableau like a lightning bolt. Near the top, the crack splintered into five smaller cracks, and as the last gusts of wind from the propellers blew weakly against it, a few pebbles fell to the ground.

"Well, I suppose it was about time we had gotten the mural retouched anyway," Herbert huffed in annoyance.

"Shame, I rather liked this one," Edward said, glaring at Bede.

"I hope you realize that you will sponsor the artist we choose for the new mural," Herbert told Rose, and he turned around and began walking back to the helicopter before Rose could even respond, Edward following suit. "After all, your protégé is the one who's mucked it all up."

"Right," Rose said with a sigh.

"Should I start reaching out to our accountants to allocate funding for the project?" Oleana asked quickly.

Rose sighed again and looked at Bede with frustration. "No, we can let that slide for the night. What's more important is getting us all in the clear for breaking into a national park and defacing a monument."

Bede's eyes widened and his skin turned even paler than usual. "Mister—mister chairman, I—" he began.

"Not now, Bede," Rose said. "We shall decide how best to handle this when we return to Hammerlocke. Come along now."

"But, mister chairman, you told me that we must do the right thing at all times, even if it seems difficult or wrong!" Bede begged.

"I said this will be handled later," Rose snapped, going into his stern business-like voice. "We are lucky that the whole wall hadn't collapsed! I don't know what you were thinking, Bede, honestly. Mister and Miss Dixon, I'm terribly sorry about the whole affair, but thank you for putting an end to this nonsense."

Marnie cleared her throat conspicuously, stepping forward so she was right next to me. Rose glanced over and smiled…or was it more of a grimace?

"Yes, and to you as well. Mary, was it?"

"I know you know who I am," Marnie growled.

"Ah, there's that classic Spikemuth temper," Rose said. "I assure you that your actions have not gone unnoticed by me. Temper that temper though, and you might make something of yourself, even if your brother does not." Marnie exhaled slowly and nodded, averting her eyes and glaring back at the cracked wall of the mural.

No one spoke for a couple seconds, but the silence was shortly broken by the wail of emergency sirens off in the distance.

Rose smiled and turned his attention to Oleana. "Wonderful! Oleana, you and I will speak to the authorities about this…earthquake. We'll have to close out the park for a couple weeks to ensure the integrity of the wall stays, and we may as well begin plans for refinishing the mural. Maybe we can organize some sort of sweepstakes—"

"NO!" Bede screeched, pulling away from the Chairman and tossing out one more Pokéball. "Stomp! Break through! Prove it to all of them!" In a flash of bright white light, Ponyta exploded from the Pokéball and with a loud neigh, bolted toward the wall.

"Bede!" snapped Rose.

"Cinderace! Stop it!" I cried, but Cinderace was just as shocked by the events as I was, and by the time he even made two steps forward, Ponyta had reached the wall. The horse spun around and kicked its hind legs forward into the crevice where Copperajah had been boring away at the wall. There was one last sickening crack, and suddenly I felt my vision blur again.

Now. Now is the time for our truth to shine forward, said the voice in my ear. The voice was one I had never heard before tonight, yet her tone was still intimately familiar, as if I had known her all my life.

"Wh…what?" I asked, looking around me.

"What?" Marnie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Protect your companions, the voice said, her voice now urgent. Needing no further instruction, I sprang into action.

"Cinderace! Get back!" I shouted. "Sonia! Victor! Back up! Bede, get your Pokémon out of there!" I pulled Marnie's arm back towards me and she lost her balance, falling into my arms as I pulled her back a couple feet.

"Gloria, bloody hell!" Marnie grumbled, but before she could force me to let go of her, the mural began to rumble, with a loud and jarring growl ricocheting from statue to statue. Ponyta immediately scampered away, back towards Bede, and the dark crack up the center of the mural began to glow with Dynamax energy. My wristband buzzed more violently than I had ever felt it buzz, and I screamed in surprise. Victor and Marnie screamed in surprise as well, also reacting to their Wishing stars. Behind us, there was a loud explosion, but even the sound of that was nothing compared to what came next.

The Dynamax energy glowed so brightly through the crack that the light it gave off was a pure white. The cracks started to grow, and soon the spiderweb had splintered across the wall, and just when it looked like it was all ready to crumble, it stopped. The light shone forth brightly, and all was dead silent save for the sirens for a moment. Then, somehow from behind the wall, came a deafening howl, louder than the helicopter had been and completely drowning out the noise of the sirens behind us.

The walls of the mural blew apart, with rocks flying everywhere. Large boulders tumbled from the wall and came to a rest, and a powerful wind carried everything else almost all the way to us. The larger rocks scattered at our feet, but dust and pebbles whipped all our eyes and faces and shoved us to the ground like we were made of paper. The white light was now completely blinding, and all I could see was Marnie's head directly in front of my own, looking into my eyes. She was terrified, and I felt her hands grasp onto mine tightly as we tumbled to the ground.

All was then silent. The light faded, and for ten seconds, I couldn't see or hear anything. All I could sense was Marnie on top of me, breathing heavily.

Your companion is not with you, the voice said with mild confusion. I shook my head and snapped to attention. The dust was still settling, and the dim light of the setting sun was just starting to sift through the wreckage of the site. I looked at the wall and saw in its place a large black hole. There seemed to be something large just inside it, but instead I focused on two smaller figures standing tall on top of one of the largest boulders. The two haggard wolves stood, one in blue fur, and one in red. The one in red sniffed around the rubble, searching for something, but the blue one stared hungrily at me.

"Y-you…" I whispered.

Yes, she replied. I could see the wolf nod her head from her place on the boulder. I am happy you have opened your heart to me. There will be much to discuss.

"But I…" I stammered.

"You what?" Marnie asked. I looked down to see her looking up at me. She had a shallow cut on her head, with blood starting to trickle down her cheek.

"I…"

I understand your confusion, but all will be clear soon, I heard the wolf say in my head. Her voice was fainter somehow. I looked back up, but she had vanished, and so had the red wolf.

"…hey," I squeaked.

The wolf's voice was now a whisper, fading away like a dream. Help your friends and find your companion, and then meet us at the spot we first met when the time comes. There you will see us again, Gloria.

As she spoke her last word, I felt a strange weight leave my body. The world seemed to be brighter now, although that might just have been from the dust finally settling. The sun, just barely in the sky now, was peeking over the statues and I could finally see the larger figures that had hidden behind the wall.

"Holy shit," I heard Sonia mutter in disbelief.

"What is that?" Victor asked, rising and walking a few steps in front of me.

Ahead of us, and in the light of the dying sun, four statues stood, each facing the bear and the witch Pokémon. Two royal looking men stood in the background, one with long hair and one with short hair, and in front of them stood the same two wolves, only they were gigantic. Any matted or unkempt hair was brushed or smooth away, elegantly carved into the stone. One of them held a giant sword in its mouth, and the other's mane spread out before it in the shape of a kite shield. They were perfect replicas of the wolves that had just spoken to me, only their appearance was the regal form they had taken in my dreams.

My jaw dropped and I stared at the beasts, looking just as lifelike as the ones who were just there before them. Marnie pulled herself up and dusted off her jacket, then reached out to help me up as well. I took her hand and shakily stood but didn't let go once I was on my feet. Instead, the two of us stepped forward slowly, as if in the presence of royalty.

Hop.

"Oh, hell," I said, suddenly letting go of Marnie's hands and checking every pocket I could for my Rotom-phone. She quickly hid an expression of surprise and disappointment as I pulled it out and dialed Hop's number. It began to ring.

"Come on, come on, pick up, Hop," I muttered.

"That's what you're on about right now?" Marnie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…I can't explain it, but it's very important," I said apologetically. She squinted her eyes at me.

"Alright, I guess," she replied, slowly lowering her hand.

As I waited for Hop to pick up, I looked around the area. Sonia had pulled Victor aside, and they were assessing the damage on the smoking scrap of metal that had been her Dynamax detector. Rose was in an animated but hushed discussion with the brothers Buckingham, who looked furious for some reason. Bede sat next to his Ponyta, dumbfounded by the turn of events.

"Hey, it's Hop! Not here right now, leave a message!" came the voice of Hop's canny email message. I groaned and waited for the beep.

"Hop, it's me. I…I haven't seen you since before the match, and I want to know that you're okay, but…damn, Hop, I need to talk to you. It's really important. We're at those statues on Route 6 and…well that mural that we saw? The one with the…look, I have no idea how I'll even explain it but it's really important. I'll send you a picture. Please, call me back."

"You most certainly will take no photographs!" screamed an exasperated Herbert, which caused Marnie to also whip her phone out and take a quick photo purely out of a sense of retaliation. "You…you worms! Do you know who you are rebelling against?! Delete that now, you whelp!"

Marnie shrugged. "Don't think it's gonna matter much either way." As she said that, the calvary had finally arrived. Curious onlookers, barely contained by equally curious police officers and Macro Cosmos employees, rounded the two statues and stopped dead in their tracks, shouting and gasping at the newly uncovered statues. Reporters tried their best to muscle up to the front, while everyone scrambled to take pictures and video of what they could see.

"I suppose we can't write this off in the papers as an earthquake, then," Rose said dryly. "No matter! Everyone, into the helicopter! Not you, Bede. Oleana, take them back to Stow-on-Side. Miss Dixon no doubt has some fans waiting to see her continue her journey without this whole thing hanging over her head like a guillotine."

As if barely inside my own body, I felt myself being dragged to the helicopter as Macro Cosmos employees rushed forward and surrounded us. Time seemed to slow as I was hustled into the helicopters by Rose's men, and once everyone was in the helicopter, the doors slammed shut and the engines roared to life. The pilot jerked his hand around the cabin, pointing to a bunch of headsets with comically large headphones. Marnie grabbed me a pair alongside hers and sat down next to me. The small trickle of blood down her face had dried and she scraped it off with the palm of her hand. I slipped the headset she gave me, and the world turned completely silent. With a sickening lurch, we were hoisted into the air. I looked out the window as we climbed into the sky, but the chaos of the crowd was too much. Only Rose was visible, being blocked off from most reporters thanks to the help of his employees and police officers.

The ride back was silent. The brothers Buckingham ignored us, speaking instead on a private channel in their headsets so that we couldn't overhear. Sonia tried to make conversation a couple times, but none of us were interested, and soon, she got very invested in something on her phone. Victor kept glancing at me with a worried expression on his face, but now that the adrenaline of a gym battle and…whatever it was that just happened, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. Before I knew it, I had leaned over onto Marnie's shoulder. At first, she tensed up, but after a couple seconds, she loosened up a bit and let me stay there. Ever so slowly, she slid her hand from her lap to my thigh, and then to my hand, where she squeezed it tightly. She made to let go, but I squeezed back, and she kept her hand there in mine. It was warm and soft.

By the time we reached Stow-on-Side, it was completely dark. The helicopter touched down in the gym plaza, much to the chagrin of the gym security, and even Bea, who had just now been leaving the gym. As we left the helicopter, she looked at me and nodded with a smile. I smiled back and felt a gentle pull on my hand. Marnie had let go and was walking with Victor and Sonia back to the Pokémon Center. She was blushing.

We reached the PC and as soon as we entered, we were swamped by everyone inside, but as quickly as everyone rushed us, they soon backed up. I saw Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar, as well as a few other tough-looking punks in pink and black surrounding us and pushing everyone out of our way. Maybe they weren't so bad after all, I thought to myself. Sonia pulled Victor aside to go over what little data they had managed to save, but Victor, also feeling the weight of the day pushing down on him, convinced her to go over it the next day. Sonia frowned, but quickly buried herself in some supplementary notes. She looked focused but excited, like she was putting together a puzzle and had just found a bunch of missing pieces that had fallen on the floor.

Finally, after what felt like years, we finally found ourselves on the two bunks we had been using. Marnie and I sat on opposite ends of the bottom bunk I had previously been sleeping on, while Victor scanned his phone in his bed, one bunk over.

"You can't give that research junk a rest for once?" Marnie asked with a yawn.

"Marnie, this might be the archeological find of the century! To think, those perfectly preserved statues were…oh. Oh my."

"What is it?" I asked.

"There's an interview of Rose from tonight. Just popped up."

"Let's see it," Marnie said. Victor held the phone out towards us so we could all hear.

"…tragedy is what it really is. A disadvantaged youth who couldn't take the pressure of the gym challenge, acting out of goodness knows what reason…"

"He sounds so sad about it," I said, but Victor quickly shushed me.

"And as a trainer you yourself endorsed, that must bear some weight on you," a male reporter said.

"Yes, it weighs on me heavily," Rose agreed. "Bede was—is a very talented trainer. We are still unsure about how the league will respond to his actions, but it must act fairly. We will have an investigation into his actions and motives and see what is best done when the time comes."

"And what of these newly revealed statues?"

"I suppose it's…" Rose began, but then stopped, mulling over his response before continuing. "The truth of the matter is Bede has defaced a public space, and one of great historical significance to all of Galar. There is no way he could have known what was behind the wall. As for what's underneath, I suppose we'll all see in due time, won't we?"

"And regarding reports of Gloria and Victor Dixon also being here as the wall fell?"

"It is true. They were celebrating Gloria's stellar gym victory with me when the chaos started. I remember Bede telling me he had to study the mural and asked them to come with me once we could hear the crashing noises south of the city. I assumed they would want to know about the safety of their friend during what we could only assume at the time was an earthquake. They both will be unavailable to comment, this has been a very traumatic experience for the lot of them."

The clip ended there, and the three of us looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to think.

"That's not what happened at all," Victor said.

"Did he really just throw Bede under the bus like that?" I asked.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Marnie muttered darkly.

"Hold on," Victor interrupted, indicating his phone as it began to vibrate. "Mum's calling. Better get this one over with quickly." He pulled himself out of the bed and walked out of the room.

"Tell her not to call me, I won't pick up until tomorrow!" I called out after him, and then leaned against the bed frame, stretching out next to Marnie. She saddled up so she was right next to me.

"So, tonight was…a lot," she said slowly.

"Yeah."

"After the wall crumbled, you were talking to someone."

I froze. "I… I was?"

Marnie shrugged. "You seemed like it. I dunno, I could barely see straight, your head probably wasn't screwed on tight either then." She scratched her head awkwardly then set it down, brushing my knee. I felt a surge of electricity shoot through the both of us, but Marnie kept her hand right next to my knee.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, probably. My mind's been all…all over the place recently."

"Are you…are you okay?"

"Me? I'm fine. Totally fine. Great."

"You're great, huh?" She looked at me, eyebrow cocked. She leaned closer.

"Are you? You looked pretty hurt back at the park…"

She nodded and pressed her fingers to the cut on her forehead, which was now completely dried. "Yeah, believe it or not, I've had worse."

"That I find hard to believe."

She smiled a rare genuine smile and leaned in, so we were only inches apart. "Fine, this was admittedly pretty rough, but I gotta stay tough for Team Yell. I have an image to protect, after all."

"R…right." I could barely speak over the jazz drum solo my heart was playing on my ribcage. I felt myself leaning closer to her as well. The scent of autumn was overwhelming.

Marnie looked me over and nibbled on her lip. "You took a fair number of scratches too, you know. You're pretty tough yourself."

"You're not the only trainer in the top five, you know."

"Guess you've earned your spot," she said. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Of course, you did spend the whole helicopter ride conked out on my shoulder, so maybe I ought to toughen you up."

"Yeah, I'd love to take a lesson from the girl who held my hand the whole way back," I joked breathlessly.

"Didn't hear you complain about it." She moved her hand from next to my knee to right on top of my hand and the second our hands touched, my heart jumped right into my throat as she moved her head closer to mine. Her lips slowly parted, and I felt myself leaning into her as well.

"Well, the good news is that Mum bought Rose's lies hook, line, and…oh my," Victor said, bursting back into the room. Marnie and I both lurched back and I whacked my head on the wooden beam of the bed frame with a dull crack. "Do you…you look like you two need some space."

"No, it's all good, Vic," I grunted, rubbing my head. "Doin' fine."

"Yeah, just need to head to the bathroom," Marnie said, her cool veneer not doing an adequate job of hiding a blush that was as deep as mine. "Good night if you're asleep by the time I get back in, Gloria."

"Good night, Marnie!" I said with a forced laugh as she stumbled out the door. Once the door shut behind her, I glared at Victor. "Thank you for killing the mood with precision accuracy, Vic."

"I'm sorry," he said with a laugh. "I didn't know your friendship was that close."

"Me neither," I exhaled. My heart was spinning like crazy, but it finally had decided to recede back into my chest, at least.

"Eh, I'm sure you'll get another time," he said with a shrug and a wink. "You're an obnoxious pain in the arse most times, but Marnie does surround herself with people like that. You're just her type. Now I'm going to bed. If you two are gonna stay up, at least be quiet about it." And with that, he turned off the light, walked over to the lower bunk next to mine and slipped under the covers. I did the same in mine, and as my heartbeat finally started to slow again, I felt my eyelids start to get heavy.

After a few minutes, the door opened again, and Marnie returned. She quietly walked over to her and Victor's bunk and glanced at me. I shut my eyes tightly.

"Gloria, I know you're still awake," she whispered, bemused. I opened my eyes again and saw her leaning over Victor. I wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or was actually playing it cool this time. She seemed content either way and quickly walked back over to me. I had just managed to pull myself back into a sitting position when she rested her hand under my ear and guided me forward, kissing me firmly on the lips. I closed my eyes and looped my arm around her back. We stayed together, lips locked, for an amount of time that felt like both a second and a century until she finally pulled away. My eyes fluttered open and despite the darkness, Marnie's emerald eyes glistened brightly, shimmering under their own light. She gave a quick smile and blinked, rising off the bed and quickly walking to her bunk.

"Sh-should I look into that?" I whispered meekly.

She reached the ladder of the bunk and turned around. "Dunno," she giggled. "I'm still lookin' into it myself." We awkwardly looked at each other for a while, each with a grin the size of a Wailord on our faces.

"What, so you were just a big old dork this whole time?" Victor asked, turning around and grinning sneakily. "No wonder she's crazy about you, Marnie."

Marnie gave him a harsh shove and clambered up to her bed, while I threw my pillow at his face. Victor, meanwhile, laughed his head off and threw my pillow right back. I caught it and looked back up at Marnie. She had already turned away, but she twisted around and sneaked a glance at me before finally tucking herself in. I felt sleep creeping in, and I leaned back and let it take over me.

A/N: Look, I have no idea what happened. I blinked and suddenly this chapter was 7,000 words long. I was going to save the Big Damn Kiss at the end of this chapter for about, ohhhhhhhh, like 15 to 20 chapters from now, but Gloria's been pining over Marnie for well over two thirds of the story at this point and there are more interesting ways to do romance than the old "will they/won't they," even if that is a reliably fun trope. I'll save that for another time and another fic. Don't worry though, drama lovers! The ship may have set sail but the waters ahead may still be rough...

NEXT WEEK: SHADES OF PINK