"Disqualified," Kevin repeated for what felt like the millionth time, the word's meaning completely lost.

"We heard you," said Kari, her voice sounding weirder than usual. She seemed to be getting a cold.

Kevin stared out at the ocean. "The hell. He was trying to kill you," he said, not that Kari wasn't already aware of the fact. He kicked a pebble as hard as he could and watched it soar into the deep waters.

"And you were beating the crap out of him when he'd already fainted. That's not allowed," Kari mumbled. She sank down to the ground, too tired to stand.

Kevin kept staring. "He planned that. He knew I'd pick you to beat him, and that I'd freak and attack him later. Especially after egging me on like that. He played me for a goddamn sap." He glared. "I thought he wanted to use me to get to the Shade."

Kari shook her head. "If his rant was any indication, he wants to see us all die personally," she muttered, sniffing. "I just wonder…"

"What?" asked Kevin, finally turning his glance to the turtle beside him.

She shook her head. "His vendetta. I can't imagine what caused him to hate humans that much. But whatever it is… Kevin, I think we need to be careful. He must've heard us talking to Chikoro; he knew too much not to."

Nodding solemnly, Kevin agreed. "Yeah."

They stayed there for a moment, silent. Somehow, it relaxed him, almost like he didn't want the moment to end…

But then, a thought struck him, and he couldn't help but ask, "Kari?"

"Yes?" she answered quietly. Kevin felt something twinge inside him, but he didn't know what.

"Um… Did you really, uh, come up with the Shades?" he asked.

More silence, though it was of the uncomfortable kind. Kari eyed the ground. "I suppose so."

Kevin looked at her, and she continued. "I mean… We both realized… He was the only one who could do something. I-I just…" A few tears escaped, landing silently on the ground. "I told him he could do it. I took the fleeting idea and went with it, and convinced him it was possible. I was… We were…"

"Two kids with a crazy ambition that somehow managed to work," Kevin finished. He gazed at the sky, noting somewhere in the back of his head that the Gardevoir constellation could be seen quite clearly. Wow.

"Ye-yes," said Kari. "But, I haven't told you any of this before—"

"No need. My mom told me an awfully similar story," Kevin muttered, revisiting the locked away memories of his early childhood. "My dad and Uncle Nick… You and the Shade… What, does that make me Aunt Lily, then?"

"I don't—"

Kevin sighed in frustration. "I know you don't. You don't need to understand, okay?" Kevin felt the twinge again. "I just… I think I…"

He could barely believe himself. Everything he was thinking was a blur. "I wish I was the one who got stuck in the lab with you instead." There, he said it. He expected it to make him feel better, but it only made him feel worse. Kevin sighed angrily and slumped down.

"Kevin," Kari said. He didn't want to look at her. "That's the stupidest thing you've ever said."

Kevin widened his eyes in surprise and turned to her reflexively. "What?"

"What kind of idiot do you have to be to wish for something as miserable as that? Horrible scars and lifelong respiratory problems aside, you can barely stand me for half an hour, let alone three years!" she growled.

He blinked. Then, without really realizing it, he started to laugh. It only took a moment for her to join him, in spite of her anger. When the laughter subsided, Kevin smiled.

"Our lives suck," he said.

"You only just noticed?"

Kevin grinned. Just one, happy moment seemed to dissolve all the sourness; make it seem like everything was okay. And it was moments like these, he noted, that he truly didn't want to end.

If only things would stay this way forever.

"So, what's happening now?" Chikoro asked the next morning, New Year's Day. He, Kevin, and Kari were currently wandering around the Pokémon League with nothing to do. Kevin shrugged.

"I don't know. There's got to be some other way to get to the Battle Frontier. I mean…" He glanced at Kari, whose face showed telltale signs of having some sort of flu. "The Shade didn't beat the league, either."

Chikoro shook his head. "I'm talking about that evil rat who tried to bash in Kari's head," he said adamantly, flipping his leaf. "What are you going to do about him?"

"Oh," Kevin muttered. "I don't know."

Chikoro scoffed. "He called your grandpa a 'psychotic furry'. Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"It does," Kevin growled, "but what am I going to do? Hunt him down, try and beat him up again? He was telling the truth when he said he didn't feel a damn thing." Kevin noted bitterly that that was how Chuno was able to fall from the Earthquake so dramatically – he couldn't feel anything from it.

Kari looked up, her eyes dull. "You could try beating him emotionally. He seemed to be close to snapping in the match," she offered.

"Close to?" Kevin said incredulously. "He was totally nuts. Anyway, it's not like I can talk him to death or anything." He looked around the league's lobby.

"It was just a suggestion," said Kari groggily. "I feel like hell," she said before slumping to the ground again.

"You look like hell," Chikoro agreed.

"Shut up," Kevin told Chikoro. "Do you want to go to the Pokémon Center or something, Kari?"

Kari nodded weakly. The three of them then headed to the section of the league containing the Pokémon Center, with Chikoro going over the failed first round along the way.

"No Guard Machoke," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Sure, he's not as much of a troll as his evolution, but he can still do some serious damage if you're not prepared," Chikoro looked up to Kevin. "Hey, what if the battle continued, and he knocked out Kari? What would you do?"

"I'd send in Styler," Kevin said, not really paying attention. Kari was moving at an exceptionally slow pace, even for her.

Chikoro nodded, then said, "Okay, but No Guarders usually pack Stone Edge, don't they? Wouldn't that be a bit risky?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Machoke's too slow. Styler would be able to get in a Brave Bird before he could blink."

"But, what if he had a focus sash?"

"What? Uh… Aren't sashes for leads? Anyway, I doubt Chuno was so crazy prepared that he actually thought of a strategy you wouldn't find anywhere and everywhere." Kevin felt he knew what question was coming next.

"Well, what if you had to fight, instead?" Bingo. Kevin thought for a moment before replying.

"I'd be dead," he said.

Chikoro looked surprised. "Huh?"

Kevin glanced at Kari. "My sucky defense wouldn't stand a chance. Add that to Machoke's decent bulk, and unless I was seriously overpowered, I wouldn't be able to take him down before getting hit with Dynamic Punch, let alone Stone Edge."

Chikoro pondered this. "So, you're a sweeper who can't sweep, is that what you're saying?"

"No, I just can't take a hit. So long as I can dodge, I'm fine." Chikoro's presumptuous nature was getting really annoying really fast. Kevin looked at Kari again to check her condition. She really did look sick. He frowned. "You okay?"

"Kevin, I am probably the farthest I've ever been from okay in my life, aside from the time I got glass in my eye," Kari mumbled, and though she was trying to be snarky, it came out as more of a tedious exhaustion. Kevin grimaced.

"Come on, the Center's just around the corner here, okay?" And sure enough, the trio rounded the corner and the Pokémon Center was in sight. Kari gave a strangled breath of relief and made her way over slightly quicker.

Upon finally getting to the counter, Kevin took the liberty of telling the nurse Kari was sick. Nurse Joy, who seemed to be a little wearier of him than she was when Kevin registered, called over a Chansey and led Kari into another room for a checkup. Kevin sighed.

He tried to think of something to make waiting less of a pain, but for some reason Kevin's mind kept wandering off into cynical thoughts about Kari getting a terminal disease. Chikoro was still prattling on about battling (and his terms, which had been fairly standard before, had gotten more out-there – Resto-Chesto? The hell?), something that Kevin would usually find interesting, but he just wasn't in the mood. When one of the Chansey assistants emerged and walked over, he sat up, anxious.

"Your friend is going to be fine," said the Chansey sweetly. "Right now, she just has a moderately severe case of Pokérus."

"Eh? Hey, no fair! Why can't I get Pokérus?" said Chikoro indignantly. Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"You want to get sick?" he asked.

Chikoro shook his head. "No, Professor Elm said it was good for you! I mean, aside from making you sick, training's supposed to be faster. I heard some rich guy even paid money for his Pokémon to get infected!"

Kevin was still incredulous. In his opinion, nothing was better than pure, ruthless grinding, ever. He shrugged, then turned to Chansey. "Hey, uh, how long will she be sick?"

"Have you heard of the humans' Chicken Pox?" asked Chansey. Kevin nodded. "It's like that. She'll be sick and contagious for a while until the symptoms wear off. After that, she'll be okay and she'll never get it again."

Chikoro scoffed. "Which means if I want it, I'd better get it, quick!"

Kevin glared. "So you're just going to go up to her and tackle her or whatever until you manage to get sick? Uh, no." Kevin got up. "I'm going to go see her."

Chansey led Kevin to Kari's room while Chikoro pouted and stayed behind. Along the way, Kevin wondered about the validity of Chikoro's claims – if Pokérus was supposed to make someone train better, what was the point if you were too sick to move, anyway? It seemed pretty counter-productive.

Chansey opened the door for Kevin, then wandered back down the hall, presumably to check on another patient. Kevin smiled weakly at the Torterra. "Hi."

Kari blinked. "Hi yourself," she said.

"So, uh, they said you had a good disease?"

"Pfft. No I don't. I threw up. I don't think I've ever done that before." She groaned and turned her head to the window, which showed a view of an overcast day with a few light flurries. "Want to know the best part? Apparently, I have to stay out for it to be cured. It doesn't go away if you're shoved in a box where you can't feel anything."

Kevin smirked. "No kidding?"

"Really. I almost laughed when they told me that. Anyway… Sorry for the inconvenience."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize. It's not like I have any plans right now, anyway, aside from figuring out how I can get across the ocean relatively soon."

"Right. Well, until you figure that out, I think I'll stay here and do nothing, if that's okay with you." She paused before adding, "I still think it's funny that if this had happened a few months ago, you wouldn't have given a damn at all and you'd be on your merry way."

"Yeah, well, you've been useful to have around," he replied, winking at her. Kevin waved and walked out the door, closing it on his way. When he re-entered the waiting room, Chikoro came bounding up to him, excited.

"You'll never believe this!" Chikoro said. "Look!"

A piece of paper was shoved into Kevin's face. Kevin sighed and yanked it from the Chikorita's vine. "What is it?"

"That," announced Chikoro, "is a certification thingy that says you're allowed to take the ferry to the Battle Frontier!"

Kevin stared at the paper, the incomprehensible symbols staring back at him. 'What? Where'd you get this?"

Chikoro grinned triumphantly. "Professor Rowan saw me, and he was all like, 'Give this to Slick', and I read it, and it says you can go! Seriously, why does Kari hate this guy?"

"…Why is he giving me all these free handouts?" Kevin asked, turning the page upside down as if that would help him understand it. (It didn't.) He glanced back in the direction he'd come from. "I was just saying I needed to find a way to the Frontier…"

"Dude must be psychic, then," said Chikoro, his grin turning devilish. "Ooh, I know, wish for me to get Pokérus! Maybe Rowan can do that, too!"

Kevin laughed. "Yeah, no. Come on, let's go tell Lana and the rest of the team."

Kari wasn't budging. At all.

After puking again, the nurses ran some more tests and decided her case was too serious to leave alone. Thus, they told her to sit outside all day (in the winter) and recover "naturally".

Kevin was ticked off, but one look at Kari told him she really couldn't go anywhere. He would have waited for her to get better, but seeing as Nurse Joy couldn't say an exact time for when Kari would be cured and her guess was in two weeks, he didn't think he could wait that long. It didn't help that the Shade had told him to hurry over way back in November.

So, it was go now and meet the Shade alone, without Kari, or wait forever and risk the Shade getting impatient. Fantastic.

"You really should go," Kari had said. "I'd rather reconcile with him on my own, all things considered."

She had choked on her last words, and upon being asked about it, she'd replied, "Oh, nothing. It's just that I told him to go and leave me behind, too."

Of course, that made Kevin feel guilty, but after that she had insisted that he go to the Battle Frontier without her, not taking no for an answer. Eventually, Kevin gave in, and he boarded the ferry to the Battle Frontier, leaving Lana and the rest of the team behind to look after Kari.

…Except for Chikoro, who had given up his dream of catching Pokérus when he decided that "An epic clash between two super-famous Pokémon" was more worth it. Apparently, once grass types wanted something, nothing could change their minds.

So there Kevin was, on a three hour boat ride to a tropical island somehow north of the coldest city in the world. Huh.

"This is it," he muttered to himself once the boat had left port. He could hardly believe what was happening.

"Yup," said Chikoro, gazing out the window in glee. "Best New Year's ever, am I right?"

Kevin laughed a little. "Guess so," he said.

In truth, his stomach was churning with nerves, and the sensation in his throat was getting uncomfortably close to sourness. He doubted he was ready; he had hardly prepared and he still didn't know anything about the island they were headed.

But, hey.

This was it.