The white sand of the beach glistens as the van rolls by Route 222. Now that the lockdown on Sinnoh has eased, a few children are running around on the beach, their parents keeping guard warily, most of them staring at the eternally dark sky.

"Ah, I can't wait to go to Lake Valor!" Serena remarks animatedly.

Alain glances at her from where he's at the wheel. "Remember, we're not stopping to sightsee. We're there for a short break and then we have to leave."

She nods compliantly. "Yep, sure, but I've had enough of being nearly kidnapped and attacked by a giant hand. It'll also be nice if we can bathe in the lake," she says longingly.

Dawn comes to life like a shark sensing a drop of blood in the water. "Did someone say bathe?"

Drew snorts. "Dawn, did a rat burrow in your hair and make a nest out of it?"

Dawn takes a look at herself in the rearview mirror and grimaces. "Damn it."

May slaps Drew's arm. "It's not like you look any better."

In fact, all of their hair is tousled from fleeing for their lives and grappling with the monstrous "hand thing" just the day before. Iris has it the worst, since she has the thickest hair, but at least she's deeply asleep and thus escapes from this conversation.

"Don't look at me," Dawn begs, covering her eyes. Years of her mother drilling in her that she must always look presentable in public is flashing through her mind. "I look horrible."

Paul rolls his eyes. "No one is even looking at you anyway."

Mairin blinks. "I am, though? I think Dawn's hair looks very… er…"

"You can tell the truth," Dawn says resignedly.

"Er, that is, ah, right! Original." Mairin settles with a crooked smile. There, she managed to say something that wasn't exactly a lie, and was even kind of a compliment.

Yet Dawn squints at her. "Coming from you, and knowing your bizarre tastes, I have to say that's not exactly very uplifting."

For once she hit the nail on the head.

Cilan smiles at the moping bluenette. "Dawn, you still look good. In fact, now that we've safely survived another ordeal, I dare say we all look the best we could possibly be in this situation!"

"Corny and cheesy… I can see why you're a connoisseur." Misty quips.

Over the course of their journey, Cilan had shared that he is a chef at the Striaton Restaurant, a Gym Leader and a connoisseur who is well-known in Unova. Unfortunately for Cilan, the only other Unovian, Iris, has pretty much dwelled in the countryside all her life so she's never heard of him and can't verify his words.

Cilan dips his head in a shallow bow. "Thank you? I think."

"We're reaching the lake in five minutes," Alain announces as he drives slowly through a dense forest.

They stopped at a gas station earlier – thankfully following the easing of the lockdown on Sinnoh, most people have resumed their normal lives which means the station was open – to refuel the van. The worker seemed surprised to see a bunch of kids traveling around but he didn't pry.

Following Volkner's betrayal, the others became more cautious and Dawn, especially, refrained herself from going out of the van in public to prevent a repeat of what happened at Sunyshore City.

Right now, Dawn regains her usual vigor upon hearing that they are nearing the lake. "Which means it's bathing time!"

May cheers.

Cilan shakes Iris's shoulders, gently stirring her awake. She rubs her eyes and then breaks into a wide smile. "Yay, the forest!"

She misses the lush greenery, the thriving wildlife, the vibrant berries and flowers…

Cilan smiles at how excited Iris looks as she presses her nose against the window, eyes sparkling in joy.

"I can see the lake!" Serena exclaims.

Indeed, from amidst the folds of the foliage emerges a glistening lake that reflects the black sky. Still its beauty cannot be dimmed, and the others can finally understand Serena's eagerness – the lake is truly breathtaking.

Alain stops the van and they all pile out, having a moment when they just take in the large expense of clear water before them.

Paul snaps them out of it. "What are we standing around for?"

Dawn scowls. "Thanks for ruining the mood."

He remains unbothered. "Someone needed to remind you guys that we still haven't found a single card."

He's really fixated on accomplishing their saving-the-world mission and going back to being strangers once all this is over.

Cilan claps his hands once, drawing their attention. "Paul is right. How about the guys cook, and the girls wash up, and afterwards we rotate except the girls will be doing the dishes instead of cooking?"

Something seems off about this proposal to May.

Then she folds her arms. "Isn't it better to cook than to do the dishes?"

She's right as after eating, most of them have food coma and want to avoid doing the dishes as much as possible.

Gary raises a brow. "But we need Cilan to whip up the meal."

May grins. "Not that I'm praising myself, but I'm a decent cook."

"Oh?" Cilan asks, intrigued.

Gary snorts. "You're just saying whatever to get out of doing the dishes!"

May glares at him. "I'm not. Grasshead, you tell them."

Drew sighs, but concurs. "June's cooking isn't too bad."

"Will it kill you to admit that I'm good at it?" May mutters.

Serena glances between the two. "Say, you two have cute nicknames for each other as well," she teases in a tone quiet enough only for Drew's ears, reminding him of the time when he was poking fun at Steven.

The effect is instantaneous.

Drew's ears turn pink, and he coughs, turning away. "Er, let's just have the girls cook."

Gary spins around, glaring at his comrade. "What?! You're giving in like this?"

He eyes Serena suspiciously. "Did you whisper something to him?"

She waves both hands, blinking innocently. "What? Nothing!"

Drew has regained most of his composure. "I was just in the mood to, er, wash the dishes." He says unconvincingly.

"Then go it yourself! Why dragged us down with you!" Gary roars.

Misty smirks. "There, there, no need to throw a tantrum."

"Kids will be kids," Iris tosses as she saunters by. "Come on, girls, let's get cooking!"

Dawn follows after them, pumping her hands. "This will be my chance to learn how to cook!"

Paul rubs a tired hand across his face. "You mean you don't even know how to cook? Great. Food poisoning, anyone?"

Dawn bats her eyelashes at him sweetly. "I can tell that you're simply dying to try my food. Don't worry, I'll save a lot for you."

"You're really out to kill me, aren't you?" Paul grouses, flinching a bit at the "dying" part.

Dawn only laughs sinisterly.

Mairin bounds after the older girls, and then turns back to face the dejected guys.

"Aren't you guys washing up?" She asks curiously, but her words come across more like chasing them away.

Cilan musters a smile. "I, for one, can't wait to taste the delicious aroma of –"

"Oh, shut it," Gary snaps, stalking towards a discrete corner of the lake.

" – May's cooking." Cilan finishes lamely, thrashing the long evaluation that he had originally intended.

Ash glances at him sympathetically, having been on the receiving end of Gary's numerous outbursts over the years as his involuntary childhood friend. "Tough break, huh?"

Cilan sighs, trudging after Gary. "You can say that again."

Towards the end of the meal, the boys' mood starts plunging.

Delicious as it may be, the numerous plates, cutlery, bowls and pots are practically nagging at them to wash them.

"Where's Alain?" Mairin asks suddenly.

The guy is so quiet most of the time that the others have not noticed his absence. He kind of fades into the background, actually, and sometimes vanishes for short intervals without the others really realizing.

But Mairin has always noticed whenever he slips away. She just assumes he needs some time away from their rowdy group. She wants to ask if she can join him, but wonders if her presence may be a nuisance. After all, if he disappears to avoid the chaos of the group, doesn't that mean he'll hate her and her clumsy curse tagging along?

"Darn him, is he trying to get out of washing duty?" Gary flops onto the ground.

"Or maybe he's peeing in a bush." Ash suggests.

Gary makes a face. "Ew, Ashy, not everyone is like you. Besides, taking a leak in the lake is much more preferable."

Dawn sends him a look of horror. "That's so gross! You're polluting the water! The water which, by the way, we're drinking!"

He cocks a brow. "And pissing in a bush isn't harming the environment? Doesn't Iris pick berries from bushes anyway? So we're choosing between eating or drinking piss?"

Iris wrinkles her nose. "Now you're making me imagine watering the plants with urine. AH, THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

Dawn purses her lips thoughtfully. "Would you guys rather pee in a bush or in the lake?"

Misty looks at her weirdly, but answers. "The bush. I can just not eat the berries. But we need water to survive." Oh yes, ever the realist even in this hypothetical scenario.

"Hold up a second," Serena cuts in, feeling bad for Mairin as they've digressed wildly from the topic, "let's go back to Alain first and then talk about pee. No, wait, why are we talking about pee when we're eating?"

Ash scratches his head. "Yeah, good point."

May glances at him. "Excuse me? Weren't you the one who first brought it up? And made me lose my appetite?"

"Wow, Ash, you've made the impossible happen." Drew deadpans, May punches him in the arm, causing him to wince.

"Er, good point again." Ash says sheepishly in response to May's words.

"I think I saw Alain walk into the forest a while ago." Cilan says quickly to prevent further derivation from Mairin's question. Their group really lacks focus. And he has no idea how they can get into an argument over the act of relieving oneself.

(Cilan considers himself too much of a refined gentleman to use the four letter "p" word… pass water, that is.)

"Maybe he's walking to clear his head? Though he left everything behind, including the communication device, so we can't contact him." Cilan says.

"Well, he better get his ass back here soon," Gary grumbles, determined to drag down anyone and everyone he can into washing the dishes.

Here's my chance! Mairin thinks.

She stands up, almost toppling over. "I'll find him," she volunteers.

"Are you sure? Maybe one of us should come with you…" Serena begins. She has grown to care a lot for the petite girl, and seeing how clumsy she can be, Serena is worried that she'll get lost, or worse, trip and roll down into a ditch somewhere…

"It's fine, I have this after all!" Mairin waves the communication device. There's no signal in the forest so phones are pretty much useless. "If I get lost, I'll call Cilan."

And thus the redhead ambitiously ventures off to look for her Kalosian friend, the others casting her gazes ranging from concern to skepticism to disinterest.

As Mairin strolls through the forest, her mind wanders to their latest debate. Their group never seems to stop arguing. It's almost fascinating for the redhead, since they somehow patch things up afterwards.

Case in point: Cilan was going to call Cynthia and give her an update, so he asked the others whether he should tell her about Volkner.

An incensed Dawn snapped that of course he should, still bearing a grudge that Volkner's action had put her friends in danger.

Cilan then pointed out that technically Volkner didn't do anything wrong as it wasn't a crime for him to report a missing person, and reminded them of Cynthia's words – how Volkner was on the verge of being pushed out of his Gym Leader position as it was.

Dawn faltered, her resolve weakening, but Misty intercepted the conversation and argued that regardless, Cynthia should know about the incident.

Gary, who just seemed to hate the league, fired back that there was no need for the league to know everything as that would merely "feed their complacency", and thus instigated another round of argument.

In the end, Cilan did not call Cynthia as the argument was left unresolved when Mairin fell inside the lake and was fished out by Misty.

She supposes that was a good thing as she still can't decide what is the best course of option – to tell, or not to tell?

Now that she thinks about it, Alain was absent during that debate, too.

Maybe she can ask for his input.

"Alain?" Mairin asks, looking around for the familiar brooding guy. He's always brooding.

"I'm Alain, who always looks edgy and gothic. I have terrible taste in fashion and no one should come within five feet because I'm oh so scary. Sup." She imitates his deep voice, holding a solo conversation.

She giggles.

Then screams as her foot steps on empty air and she's plunging down.

"Gahh!"

Mairin is soon stopped in her tracks, thankfully, but then she belatedly realizes that she has somehow landed perfectly onto a pit.

She glares at the hole. Now where had that come from? It wasn't there a moment ago, she swears.

She tries to pull herself out, but fails. Her butt is stuck.

"Ugh!" She hollers in vexation, flailing her arms.

Someone grabs her hand and pulls her up. She finds herself staring into azure blue eyes.

"Alain! There you are," Mairin grins. "Where were you?"

"Have you guys heard the news?" Alain's face is tense when he asks the question urgently.

Mairin frowns. "What news?"

She's still holding onto Alain's hand, which is freezing cold.

"The boy who was kidnapped into the portal – Joey Williams – has been found unconscious, but alive."

May is sobbing.

Half with relief, half with hope.

Drew pats her back, sweating bullets at the sight of May's tears. Yeah, he knows she's crying tears of joy, but he can't handle her crying regardless, though there's no way he will leave her alone no matter how uncomfortable he is about it.

"I thought I would never see them again," May bawls. "But now that Joey guy has returned. Doesn't that mean my parents might, too? I miss them. I miss Mom, I miss Dad, I even miss his horrible cooking and his habit of leaving dirty socks lying everywhere. Oh, Arceus, I need to tell Max."

"I'm sure he already knows. It's all over the news." Drew says.

The Parelle League has taken full advantage of the break in the clouds to instill hope in the civilians, and of course, faith in the league as they promise to cure Joey, who is currently recuperating at Sinnoh Regional Hospital.

It's a risky gamble publicly declaring that they will be in charge of Joey's recovery since if anything happens to him, the league will be held responsible. Yet if he makes a complete recovery, their reputation may also be salvaged.

While May and Drew are having their moment, Ash finds himself staring into the lake.

Alain has said that he wants to hit the road soon just in case their presence summons another hand thing, and the girls need to wash up in a while, so if he wants to take a closer look at the lake, now is his only chance.

The tranquil waters are mesmerizing, and Ash finds himself hooked. It's almost as if he was lured here by something…

He continues staring, and staring, wondering what exactly compelled him to walk here.

But slowly, rising from the middle of the waters is a wobbling shape carved from mist. It gradually morphs into a small figure…

Ash's heart thumps.

"Oh!"

He jerks, and the image evaporates. Or perhaps it was never there in the first place and his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone was here."

Ash turns around, where Serena stands with her clothes, towel, soap and shampoo in a large ziplock bag.

"I was just going to put down my stuff," she explains.

Inwardly, Serena's heart is racing a mile. She's alone with Ash for the first time, and she's very conscious of the piece of fabric in her pants that she carries around with her all the time. The material is all frayed out now since it's been ten years since she received it, but her heart… her heart has never changed.

She opens her mouth to ask Ash a question she's been dying to blurt out since the first day they met days ago.

Are you really the one whom I've been looking for?

Then she closes her mouth, noticing the dazed look on Ash's face.

"Is something the matter?" She asks worriedly.

He looks out of sorts, and buried in deep thoughts.

"Huh?" He blinks. "Oh, hi, Serena. No, I was just thinking about something."

Serena nods. "Yes, we've been through a lot these past few days, haven't we?" She finds a clean patch of grass and places her belongings. "My mom wasn't kidding when she said I should go and have an adventure."

She snorts. "Then again, I bet she wasn't talking about this kind of adventure."

Ash chuckles, and then sits down. He doesn't feel like heading back to the group yet.

"How did your mom react to finding out about the mark?" Ash asks, curious. Both Gary and Misty don't live with their parents, and Brock… Ash's heart clenches painfully.

Brock's parents left them when he was young, and he was tasked with taking care of his nine younger siblings. Ash wonders how they have been coping since his death. He vows to visit them once this whole journey is over.

Serena ponders over Ash's question. "She was mostly anxious that I wouldn't wake up, you know?"

He nods. Delia had the same reaction.

"And I guess she was hiding her fears." Serena smiles sadly. "Now that I think of it, she was probably really sad and scared to let me go, but didn't want me to get affected by her emotions as I was quite excited."

Serena's dad works in the very distant Johto, so he's seldom home and thus her mother is now living alone without Serena around. Serena bites her lips, hoping that her mother isn't too lonely. Calling her regularly just isn't the same as seeing her in person.

Ash hesitates. Was that how his mother felt? He recalls her being overly peppy, even for her, and how she kept occupying herself in the kitchen. She cooks to relieve stress.

Looking back now, he feels kind of stupid for not having noticed that.

"I think my mom felt the same way." Ash reveals, leaning back on his arms. "I didn't know a thing, and just…" He trails off.

Serena glances at him, saying with rapport, "we suck."

"Yeah."

They exchange a small smile tinged with yearning for their family.

Crunching footsteps make them both turn.

Iris's unmistakable mane of indigo hair is a mess, and she's carrying her toiletries with her.

Ash stands, dusting off his pants. "Guess that's my signal to leave."

Iris claps her hands. "Wow, someone magically became more aware! I thought you were totally gonna stick around and watch us bathe."

"I'm not a pervert," Ash replies exasperatedly, but with a good-natured smile.

"Anyway, I'll tell the guys not to come so you guys can quickly bathe."

Serena's gaze follows the raven-haired boy. Even his back view is so familiar.

One day. One day she will finally pluck up her courage and get the answer to the question she's been carrying with her for a decade.

Until that day comes…

"Aren't you coming?" Iris calls, already stripping off her clothes.

Serena replies, "yep, give me a moment!"

… Serena will just have to practice being patient.

After all, she has already been waiting for ten years. What's a few more days, weeks or months compared to that?

"Veilstone City, here we come!" May is in a good mood. She makes a camera lens with her fingers, saying in a hushed tone, "attention, all tired van travelers who are out to save the world, it's time for the programme you've all been waiting for. Presenting… May's expedition!"

Drew rolls his eyes. "Gee, she's at it again." He says to no one in particular.

May ignores him. "Looking out at this beautiful scenery –"

"Beautiful? All I see is grass, grass, and more grass," Gary interrupts.

"Don't forget trees." Misty adds. "I'm so sick of the landscape. I kinda wish the hand thing would pop up once in a while to spice things up."

Cilan smiles stiffly. "I'd rather it not. Too much heat will overwhelm the natural flavor of the dish."

May lowers her arms, pouting. "Hmph. Fret not, folks, because May's expeditions will return another day!"

Drew's lips twitch. Cute, he thinks.

Dawn lets out a loud sigh. "Guys, we have a very pressing problem."

"Here we go. The drama queen has spoken, everyone, so let's keep quiet." Gary drawls.

This earns him a fierce kick to the back of his seat – for some reason, while they weren't looking, he had claimed shotgun again.

"What happened to taking turns?" A dismayed May hurled at him.

He only smirked. "Too bad, suckers."

This thus turned most of the girls against him.

"So what's the emergency?" Mairin asks, racking her mind. Did Dawn leave something behind again? The last time they stopped at Route 222, Dawn lost her lipstick.

Lipstick.

An unsympathetic Misty said that it was just as well.

Dawn proceeded to share that she had brought six other lipsticks so there was "no need to worry".

Mairin didn't have the heart to tell her that no one else was worried, and that was that.

In fact, Mairin just finds it a waste of money. At her orphanage, having enough food to eat is already a problem, so no one can afford the luxury of makeup.

"Our clothes." Dawn complains. "What are we going to do about our dirty clothes? We can't do the laundry when we're constantly on the move!"

"That's actually a reasonable concern." Cilan remarks.

"You make it sound like I'm irrational all the time," Dawn folds her arms.

"You don't say." Paul comments dryly.

Dawn huffs.

"What did you guys do with your dirty clothes anyway?" Alain asks. At everyone's behest, he has continued to drive the van. Cilan volunteered to switch with him if he gets tired.

"I wore them back!" Ash declares proudly.

Indeed he is decked out in the same t-shirt and shorts he has been wearing since yesterday.

Everyone shoots him looks of disbelief and disgust.

"Excuse me?" Misty asks, incredulous.

"What? It's not that gross." Ash defends himself.

"Yes it is!" Dawn shrieks, scooting away from where she's sitting beside him – Ash, Dawn and May are sitting in a row, with an aisle between Ash and Dawn. With Serena's recent teasing, Drew has opted to uncharacteristically sit behind May instead of beside her.

May told himself firmly that she wasn't disappointed. Not at all.

"Oh, come on," Ash complains. He sniffs at himself. "I don't stink."

"Or so you think." Dawn retorts. "I keep smelling some strange scent – like leftover tuna that has been broiled in vinegar and slapped with baked bean sauce!"

"That sounds oddly specific." Cilan muses. "And an unparalleled food combination."

"Please tell me you're not going to whip it up." Iris begs.

Cilan's lack of reply is forbidding in itself.

"Oh, the smell may be my socks." Ash divulges with an awkward laugh.

There's a long pause.

"You should walk the rest of the way to Veilstone," May suggests. "It'll be good exercise and all, you know?"

"If someone comes with me, I will," Ash says, genuinely considering the idea.

"I volunteer May."

"Drew should go."

Drew and May both say immediately. They turn around, glaring at each other through the tiny crack in the seats.

Gary cackles. "Why don't both of you go?"

"Shut up." Both of them speak simultaneously again.

"Wow, what a match made in heaven, huh?" Gary snickers.

Drew's lips press into a thin line and he glances away.

"Cat got your tongue? Tsk tsk." Gary's having too much fun to stop.

Seeing how red May is blushing, Dawn kicks Gary's chair again.

"For Arceus's sake –" Gary begins, whipping around.

" – Stop fighting." Paul growls out, completing the rest of Gary's sentence on his own. Which was not what he wanted to say.

"Uh-huh. Someone is pissed. Wow, I'm terrified." Gary mock-whispers in a tone that everyone can hear.

"Gary." Dawn says warningly. After all, pushing Paul's buttons…

… Is something only she gets to do! He's stealing her thing!

"There's not a moment when you guys aren't squabbling. Even six year-olds are less childish than you lot." Although Paul is chastising them, his tone is still as impassive as ever. "If you want to do laundry, you better do it now. There's no river or any convenient body of water to wash clothes in Veilstone City."

Dawn presses one finger against her bottom lip. "Say, Paul, don't you live in Veilstone?"

"No." He doesn't even take a second to consider.

"No, you don't live there?" Dawn asks, confused.

"I'm saying no to whatever request you're about to ask." Paul states flatly.

"But you haven't even heard me out!" Dawn protests.

"I don't need to. It's obvious that you were going to ask if you could do laundry at my house."

"You're right, that was one of the things I wanted to ask."

"One of the things?"

Dawn clasps her hands and channels her puppy eyes at Paul. The guy doesn't even budge.

"Paul," she sing-songs, dragging out his name.

"No way in hell." Paul curls his lips in disgust.

Gary and Drew both choke at Dawn's cutesy act. Ash looks frozen. Even the girls, who have been rooting for Dawn until now, cringe in horror.

The only two unaffected are Cilan, who thinks of Dawn as an endearing little sister, and Alain, who's mostly amused by the others' reactions.

"Dawn wants to go to your house and have a nice rest because she is tired from fleeing from monstrous hand things," Dawn pouts, saying her words in a nasally high tone. "Pretty puh-lease?"

"AHH!" Drew screams, yanking at his hair. "Make her stop. Arceus, say yes, Paul, if only to make her shut the fuck –"

"Pauuuul," Dawn is relentless. There's an evil glint in her eyes.

" – UPPPP!" Drew screeches.

"Drew, that was the best imitation of May's scream I've ever heard," Alain mentions wryly. "Granted, it was also the only imitation I've heard."

Gary covers his eyes. "Oh, my eyes, my poor eyes, they need to be cleansed! My ears must be washed! I'd rather walk across an ocean of fire than listen to this torture!"

"Go ahead and do it then," Paul snaps peevishly.

May whimpers. "Dawn, why do you have to make us suffer as well?"

"But if Paul just listens to Dawn's request," Dawn won't stop using that squeaky, sugary voice of hers, "then Dawn will very happily shut up."

"Just stop with that third-person thing," Misty begs. She can't stand it.

"No!" Dawn stomps her foot. There's not an inch of shame to be found on her face. If anything, she's thoroughly enjoying this. "Dawn will keep chanting, 'Paul, Paul, Paul,' until he says yes."

Paul closes his eyes, holding onto his last thread of sanity.

"Paul, Paul, Paul…" Dawn drones on, making good on her words.

"Fine." Paul hisses.

Dawn pauses.

Everyone heaves a sigh of relief.

But the bluenette isn't quite done with her fun yet.

"Pinky promise?" She blinks her eyes rapidly, holding out her pinky finger.

Paul looks murderous.

Dawn opens her mouth. "Then Dawn has choice but to chant 'Paul' agai –"

Drew grabs Paul's hand and shoves it into Dawn's, forcing them to hook their fingers together.

"There! Now shut up." Drew growls.

Paul practically rips his hand away the second Dawn smiles sweetly and says, "gladly."

Misty shakes her head, stunned.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Dawn laughs, a twinkling sound that somehow sends shivers down their spines instead.

"Oh, you're hilarious, Misty. I only have good sides."

A/N:

Veilstone City coming up in the next chapter! These two will be the last of the "relax and chill" chapters, afterwards we'll see more action. I had a blast writing the last scene and editing it.

No review this time T~T Reading your reviews and replying to them has always been very exciting and fun for me, but I don't want to pressure you guys to review if you have nothing to comment. Knowing that there is at least one person (hopefully) out there reading this story (who is not me LOL) makes me happy, but if you do leave a review, it'll make me a thousand times happier. It can be about what you liked or didn't like so much, what you hope to see more of, even what you think may happen next etc.

See you all next time!