Storming into the cave in anger, Kari made her way through the crowds quite easily. Kevin supposed that being a large, ferocious-looking tortoise had its perks in some ways. He couldn't help but feel a bit unsettled by Kari's behaviour, though. Why did she care what Nini did?

Kari soon arrived in the training area of the cavern. Nini was curled up with the Lucario tour guide near the entrance, fawning over him in a way that was both sickening and… kind of cute. It was probably nicer to be on the receiving end of it than to have to watch it. Kevin tried not to pay them much attention.

Stomping her foot, Kari sent a ripple through the ground to make a weak Earthquake. Kevin, Nini and the Lucario all shuddered collectively. Narrowing her eyes, Kari shot a look at the rabbit.

"What is your problem?" she asked rudely, stepping closer to the pair.

Nini looked utterly bewildered. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The turtle scoffed and sent a look to the ceiling. "One minute you're bawling about how life isn't fair and how you wish you could just go home and mope, and the next you're in this sickening fantasy that everything's all right now? You don't even know this guy, Nini! And you expect him to make you happy all of a sudden? And what about the team?"

Nini blinked slowly, and then stood up. Folding her arms in front of her chest, she sent a cold stare in Kari's direction. "I couldn't care less about the team. I hate battling anyway. But love makes everything better, Miss Kari. Just because your heart hasn't been graced with the emotion doesn't mean—"

"You know nothing about me. Hell, you don't even know anything about love! You're infatuated, not in love," said Kari sternly.

Kevin inched his way behind Kari. Why had she even asked him to be a part of this? All he had succeeded at so far was standing there, looking awkward. And it was obvious she didn't need any input from him in her lecture.

"Miss Kari, are you a Lopunny?" asked Nini.

"Do I look like one?" Kari retorted.

Nini pointed dramatically at Kari with a look of disgust on her face. "Exactly! My perception of love is different than yours! I said I'd only say it once, remember? My species has been this way for as long as anyone can remember, so unless you want to accuse us all of being 'infatuated', you should just leave me alone with my darling Lucaru and get out!"

Kari let out a low and threatening growl, causing Nini to falter slightly and frown. Without a word, the turtle managed to pivot on her back heel and gestured to Kevin to follow her. He did so reluctantly, not wanting to be in either female's presence at the moment.

The walk back was slow and quiet. Tension grating at him, Kevin attempted to dissolve the awkward silence.

"So…"

That was all she needed. In a harsh, low voice, Kari growled, "Honestly. Nobody thinks rationally anymore! Just wait, Cheri's going to decide she wants to speak Latin. Just because. And then she'll say, 'Oh, but it's the way my species is!' That's no excuse. Really—"

"Hey, Kari?" Kevin asked, interrupting her. She blinked a few times, seemingly stunned he'd cut her off.

"What?" Kari said, her eyes wide in confusion.

Kevin frowned and put his hands behind his head. "Um… You know you're different from other people, right? But… You should remember that other people are different from you." It was a different context, but Kevin thought quoting her fit pretty well.

She frowned. "Kevin…"

"I'm just saying. You called yourself defective, didn't you?" Kevin frowned as well, keeping his eyes at the nearing exit of the cave.

She stopped short. Kevin backed up a few paces.

"You said you weren't trying to be like him. And you're telling the truth?" Kari's blind eye seemed to be looking at him just as well as her other one.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "Yes," he said. There wasn't any clearer way to put it.

She shook her head and proceeded towards the exit. "I can't fathom why you hate each other so much," she muttered. Kevin let her walk ahead enough until she was out of earshot.

"…Because I have blue eyes and that makes me a freak. Uncle Mono hated me first." He then trotted to her side and walked out the cave.

"But Slick, I don't get it," said Mist. Kevin groaned.

Since Kari wasn't in the greatest of moods, he was the one stuck explaining why Nini wasn't leaving. He'd been through the story thrice already, and he was starting to get sick of it.

"Yeah," agreed Styler, "it doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't? I've told you everything. She never even liked battling in the first place," said Kevin irritably. He stretched his arms and looked out the window of the ferry, cringing at the sight of so much hazardous water. (They'd taken a different company's this time, to get a better deal.) He almost wanted to go in his Pokéball… But Lana was in the bathroom at the moment.

Mist frowned. "Why was Kari so upset?" she asked.

He blinked, then shrugged quickly. "I don't know," he muttered.

"Come on," said Styler, ruffling his feathers.

"Oui! Elle est ta petite amie, ta meuf, non?" added Cheri.

He raised his eyebrow. "Uh… what? No? Look, guys, if you want to know, ask her yourself. I'm not her best friend or— or her little friend or whatever you just said. I'm just trying to get to the Battle Frontier." Everyone seemed disappointed, but that didn't matter. Kari would kill him if he went and told everyone her secrets. And he wasn't going to do that to his only friend.

Kevin got up out of his seat and leaned with his back against the window, not wanting to see the churning waves any longer. He sighed with boredom; this boat trip was taking too long. He glanced around the small room, hoping to find something to do. All he could see was a radio, but it was better than nothing.

"Could somebody turn that on?" he asked, gesturing to it. "Just some music or whatever, I don't care."

Mist nodded and turned on the radio. Immediately, a song was playing, though Kevin didn't recognize it. It was… different, to say the least.

"…What is this?" he asked, his ears unaccustomed to the heavy baseline and synthesizer rhythms. He stared at the radio, perplexed.

Mist tilted her head. "You said music, didn't you?" Kevin blinked.

"Yeah, but…" He suddenly remembered he was ten years in the future. Music had to have changed over the last decade. Still, it was weird. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good, either. Deciding against voicing a potentially hazardous opinion, he opted for a different angle. "Um, I meant the song's name. That's all."

Styler answered. "It's called 'Trainer's Eyes'. You haven't heard it yet?"

Kevin frowned. "No, uh… I guess different stuff's popular in Hoenn." He walked over to the radio. "What else is on?"

He started to fiddle with the tuners, hoping to find at least something he was familiar with. He wasn't having much luck as bits and pieces of lyrics flew out of the speakers in a jumble.

"We're on the road to—"

"…all I've got to do is believe—"

"Golden smile and silver tears—"

"I don't care if he's not taking sides. He can be his own separate party, it's fine."

Kevin stopped messing with the knob on the radio and listened. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the Shade's voice speaking.

"You must be at least a little curious, though," said another voice. Kevin thought it sounded like the reporter from the previous interview, what with her overenthusiastic tone. "Our sources tell us that Slick has expressed disdain at a world like the one you want. What does that mean to you?"

"It means what you think it means. Apparently my goals aren't to his liking," said the Shade. He sounded quite bored.

The reporter just kept digging. "But if he's not a Naturalist, then what are this 'Slick's' opinions?"

The Shade sighed. "Would I really know that?"

"You implied in an earlier interview that you knew who he was after we told you what he looks like," said the reporter. "So? Were you bitter rivals? Childhood friends?"

"…You could say that," said the Shade after a pause.

Kevin scoffed. He'd only ever met his uncle once, and Uncle Mono was hardly a child then. Try forty-something. Wait… How old was the Shade supposed to be, anyway? That just made Kari's affection for him even worse.

The reporter tried a different angle. "I don't want to be putting words into your mouth, Mr. Shade, so I'll ask you to answer clearly. What is your relation to the Monferno known as Slick?"

If Kevin were the Shade at that moment, he'd have punched the reporter in the face and told her that it was none of her damn business. The lack of any sound effects told him the Shade didn't do the same. Instead, he seemed to be taking a breath.

"All right. We're family. As much as he tries to deny it sometimes." Kevin raised an eyebrow. The other way around would be a bit more accurate, wouldn't it?

"But how are you related, Mr. Shade? Is he your cousin? Nephew? Long lost son?" Kevin stifled a laugh, though he was having difficulty.

"Long lost— seriously, Roxy?! Stell, what did you— No! I'm not discussing any more of this with the public," the Shade said sharply. Kevin laughed as the interview ended, cutting off with a hasty thank you and quickly turning into some other people talking.

Kevin grinned. "Oh, I bet that killed him… Long lost son!" He laughed again.

Mist wandered up in front of him. "Slick!" she said, getting his attention. "You never said anything about this!"

Kevin blinked. "About what?"

"About you being related to the Shade! The Shade! Why didn't you tell any of us?" Huh, so Mist was a Shady fangirl too? Who would have thought?

Styler nodded vigorously. "Yeah! And I thought you were a Naturalist… I'm so sorry!"

Blinking more, Kevin raised an eyebrow. "S-sorry… I didn't realize it was that important," he muttered. Mist, Styler and Cheri crowded him, all asking questions. Cheri pushed herself to the front.

In very clear English, she said, "What is the Shade to you?"

"Wha— Oh, you mean… He's my uncle," Kevin said. "Um, he kind of hates me, though. Calls my dad and I demons and stuff." Kevin could hardly believe he was saying it. But… He trusted these three. At least, he trusted them enough not to go parading the information around.

They all stared at him expectantly, so he continued. "Um, it's a long story, but basically, uh, his sister is my mom and— You know what? He just hates us. Nothing else to it." They continued to stare, but he didn't have much else to say.

"Wow…" Mist breathed. "So, if you don't agree with his ideas… You don't want Pokémon to have more rights?"

"Ah! No! I mean, um, yeah, we should have more rights and stuff, but he wants to make it so that Pokémon are superior to humans, and that's bad," Kevin said, noticing he was sweating.

Mist frowned. "But isn't that what the Naturalists want?"

"I thought they just wanted to go back to being wild Pokémon with no ties to humans," Kevin said in confusion. That's what was explained to him back in October, wasn't it…?

Styler interrupted. "No, no, the Naturalists want to cut off human influences entirely. And I mean entirely, the leader's out for blood. But the Shades just want equal rights for Pokémon and humans." Cheri shook her head.

"Mais non! Les Naturalistes only want les Pokémon et humans to live separately, et le Shade est le bloodthirsty one," she said quite confidently.

"No, the guy who wanted everyone to be separate was some human guy from before the Shades even started. And the Shade's never killed anyone!" Styler said, turning to the squirrel below him.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone actually know what's going on at all?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Nobody said anything. "Great. Well, I guess I'll just have to ask the Shade myself when I get to the Battle Zone."

At that moment, Lana arrived back from the bathroom. She'd been in there a long time. Kevin noticed she looked pretty down on herself as she sat down on one of the seats and tried to smile at them all.

Kevin sighed. They were almost at Canalave City now. It was only a matter of time until they beat Byron and made their way to the next gym, wherever that was.

But Kevin was determined. The League wouldn't be a piece of cake, and they had to do decently enough to get to go to the Battle Frontier. Only three more badges. Three more and a league.

And then, he'd get to confront his uncle once and for all.