AN: I am alive. I finished this chapter (which is strangely long, even though I thought it would be short), and I am ready to write more. That means that by the end of this story, there should be a few new fics from me as well. Fwee. Anyway, enjoy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I've kind of got this reputation as a lying bad guy, you know," Kyle said, eyeing the clearing that was to be the stage for their public service announcement, or whatever Chikoro wanted to call it. At this point, his complaints were kind of rhetorical; after all, it wasn't like The Shade was going to bail at the last minute.

Chikoro sighed, his leaf flipping over to the side of his head yet again. "Whether the media thinks you're reputable or not, we need to catch Chuno's attention."

Kyle smirked. "Then why don't we just say, 'Hey, Chuno! We're going to Twinleaf Town, so follow us!'?"

"Because that's too obvious," Chikoro said, his eyes narrowing. "The whole point of this is to trick the guy into a false sense of security, while also attempting to get a better following for you. You got it?"

Kyle shrugged. "Whatever you say, kid. But if this backfires, I blame you. Right Kev?"

Kevin looked up. "Huh?"

"Arceus, you're spacing out again? Wake up already," said his brother. He stretched an arm. "I had no idea your brain was capable of that much thought. Or is it just completely empty?"

"You know, if you were nice, maybe people would actually like you," Kevin said, scoffing.

"No need. Plenty of people like me no matter what I do to get them to stop," said Kyle, shrugging casually. "You've seen Stella. I've almost fired her about twenty times and yet she still thinks I'm the best boss ever."

Kevin blinked. "Maybe that's 'cause you've never actually fired her?"

Kyle thought about this, his smirk disappearing. "Oh. I guess… that could be it."

Scoffing, Kevin straightened up. "Why do you keep her around anyway?

"Mostly because she does a lot of annoying technical stuff I can't be bothered with," he replied, putting on his sunglasses. "I mean, if I was the one who had to set up these public things, I think I'd go crazy. But she seems to like it."

As if on cue, Stella then appeared from the clearing. "Hey, boss! Ten minutes, all right?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said. He then turned to Kevin. "Are you ready?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah."

Kyle eyed him. "Really?"

"What, don't I look ready?"

"Well…" Kyle shrugged yet again, "You seemed pretty deep in thought, there. Is there something else you wanted to ask?"

Perhaps Kari's analyzing skills had rubbed off on him or something. Kevin tapped his foot, chuckling. "It's just… the reason all this happened, that's all."

Kyle, who didn't seem to be caring too much about what Kevin had to say, began to walk towards the clearing where Stella was. "What do you mean by that?"

Kevin chuckled again. "The only reason you got captured and became The Shade is because you wanted to find me when I disappeared. No offense or anything, but… A tiny little twelve-year-old like you wouldn't stand a chance travelling across the land on a journey like that. What made you do it?"

The Shade slowed. "Gee, I don't know," he said darkly, "maybe because mom was in pieces over losing another family member, and all I seemed to be able to do was sit there and let the Taillow stare at us like we belonged in a zoo. You really think that I would just do nothing about it?"

"All I'm saying is that you never did anything when I was around," Kevin said, becoming defensive. "You never seemed like the type!"

"Because you never let me do anything! You were constantly trying to prove that you could do everything all by yourself, and when you did want me to do something, chances were you'd beaten me up from a stupid battle and I was too weak to do it!"

Kevin heard a laugh from behind. The two of them whirled around to see Chikoro, who was starting to double over.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Kevin irritably.

"Oh, nothing, Slickky, I think it's just hilarious. Carry on, carry on!" said the Chikorita.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "You're really annoying, you know that?"

"Uh huh. I can't wait until we go to Twinleaf Town," he said, flashing a grin.

"Why's that?" Kevin asked.

"With any luck, I'll get Pokérus from a certain person," he mused. "I think Mr. Shade would like to meet her, too."

Damn… He didn't know if he wanted that to happen.

Kevin shook his head, waving his hand to the side. "Nah, we'll be too busy to have time for introductions. Kyle can meet her some other time." He hoped the message was clear to Chikoro.

"Are you talking about your girlfriend?" Kyle asked. "The one the rat mentioned? I really don't care if I meet her or not."

Kevin managed to keep a relatively straight face as he replied, "Good. And, uh, she's not my girlfriend. Really," Arceus…

"Whatever," said Kyle.

It could get unnerving, standing in front of a crowd of reporters and other spectators. Even if there were someone else there doing all the talking, for some reason everyone would choose to look at the person standing there awkwardly. But… it wasn't like Kevin was all that interesting, right?

If he had his way, he'd let The Shade have his own one man show and watch silently from a hidden tree branch. But Chikoro insisted that the public would only buy the speech if Kevin was there confirming each and every sentence he said. So there he was.

The speech itself was almost entirely made of crap. Kyle had announced that both The Shade and Slick had totally made up and become friends, culminating with Slick's decision to support The Shades in all their endeavours, yadda yadda, stuff like that. Meanwhile, Kevin had stood there nodding, occasionally adding in with "Uh huh," and "Yeah,". Eventually, the spiel came to an end.

"So that's that," concluded Kyle. Any questions?"

There were about a hundred questions, from the looks of all the scuffle. Kyle seemed to be used to it, though, as he pointed to one of them casually.

"Yes, what brought Slick to change his mind about The Shades?" asked a young woman.

Kyle turned to Kevin. Well, great.

Kevin faked a smile and pat his brother on the back. "Well, you know, I wasn't really all that mad at him… it was a family argument thing, and all that."

"So he didn't threaten you, then?"

Kevin grimaced. "I love your reputation," he muttered.

Shrugging his brother's hand off, he replied, "Deal with it. Anything else?"

There were only a few more anxious reporters after that. One woman bustled to the front, shoving her microphone into Kyle's face. "Yes! Mr. Shade, what does this mean for the future of Sinnoh? Has Slick joined The Shades? Are you planning anything else like this?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "No, Slick is not joining The Shades."

"Oh, why not?" asked the reporter.

"Because he's not," Kyle said, glaring at her. "And don't bother asking any of The Shades why, because we're not publicizing that information. And as for planning future events—"

"You'll have to wait and see, 'cause my uncle here is going on a little vacation for a week or two," Kevin added.

The reporter opened her mouth to speak, but Kyle said, "I'm not telling you where, either!"

"So that's all," Kevin said. "You can go home now."

He knew they probably weren't going to leave so quickly, so he turned around and dragged Kyle along with him. He hoped nobody would follow them, but he couldn't be sure, so they began to walk back to The Shades' Headquarters.

Along the way, the two of them didn't talk much. They didn't need to; things seemed to be going according to plan. They'd left Stella at the clearing, hoping the media would turn to her for details on the vacation spot. It was a bit of a gamble. But, as Stella assured them, Roxy, the reporter who was always interviewing Kyle (and the one who had just shoved her microphone in his face) apparently always went to her for information. Kyle wasn't too thrilled when she mentioned that, but he supposed it would be the best way to get "confidential" information to the media, and then Chuno.

Longing for some way to break the silence, Kevin decided to try and strike up a conversation. "Hey… why don't you want me to join The Shades?"

Kyle chuckled. "The Shades don't suit you. We're activists. That requires the ability to form a persuasive argument. You can't even write your name."

"For your information, I can too. Er, well, I can write "Slick" now, but… Like you're good at it! When have you ever written anything?" he retorted.

"Loads of times, you moron, nobody would take me seriously if I were like you. Anyway, maybe when you actually age a bit, I'll consider it, but for now, no." Well, fine.

There was nothing else said for the remainder of the walk. Not that Kevin couldn't think of anything else to talk about, he just found it difficult to have a decent conversation with his brother that didn't end in Kyle insulting him, subtly or not. So, it stayed that way, the journey being eerily quiet with nothing but the sound of their footsteps, but even then, that was muffled by the grass.

Eventually, they made it back to the base, where Chikoro was waiting. As they stepped into the underground room, the Chikorita cleared his throat. He then hopped onto the old leather couch and sat down.

"Well, then, I already called Pidgeot Express for us. Are we all good to go?" he asked, flipping his leaf.

"Hold on," said Kyle. "You called the Pidgeot Express?"

"Yeah," said Chikoro. "So?"

Kyle frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said that The Shade and a couple of his friends need a flight to Twinleaf, stat. I told them to get here as fast as possible," he said. "That's what Stella told me to say."

"Damn it," The Shade said, grimacing, "that means they'll send… Gah!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Whatever. Thanks, kid."

Chikoro shrugged. "No prob. Shall we, then?" He gestured to the exit. Nodding, Kyle proceeded up through the tunnel once again, with Kevin and Chikoro behind him.

Back outside, there was already a Pidgeot waiting. Though, as Kevin noticed, he wasn't a light tan with yellow and red plumage, but entirely gold. He was clicking his beak impatiently, and seemed unable to sit still. As soon as he saw Kyle, he spread his wings wide and trilled. "Mr. Shade, hello! Isn't it such a beautiful afternoon?"

"Fabian," said Kyle, flatly. "Hi. Look, I need you to fly as fast as you can to Twinleaf, so cut the chatter, okay?"

The golden bird shrugged his feathers, sighing. "Oh, Mr. Shade, you know I'm the fastest Pidgeot the world's ever seen! A little talking won't slow us down at all! And besides, there's so much to talk about!"

Kevin scoffed. "I agree, Mr. Shade, what's wrong with a little conversation to pass the time?"

"Believe me, Kevin, talking to this guy is the last thing you want to do, ever," Kyle said, his voice assertive.

"You could be a little more social, Mr. Shade," mused Fabian before ruffling his feathers. "Well, if you insist, I'll take your nephew with me and you can fly on Sandra... who should be getting here soon, I don't think I outsped her too much."

Kyle agreed without hesitation. "Good. Kev, you and the kid go on ahead, all right?"

Seeing nothing wrong with this, Kevin agreed and awkwardly climbed onto the back of the bird that would be taking him and Chikoro to the southern end of the region. He helped Chikoro up as well, though he only did so because the Chikorita had no arms.

"All righty! Prepare for takeoff!" shouted Fabian. He crouched, shot the sky a keen glare, then, like a bullet, flapped his wings once, suddenly taking the three of them about five feet in the air. In another instant, they were moving at a near breakneck speed over the treetops, faster than Kevin had ever gone.

Chikoro, who obviously was not expecting such speeds, nearly fell off. "Holy— Dude! How fast are we going, here?"

"Mach Two," Fabian sang. "I'm the fastest Pidgeot who ever lived! The fact that the gods blessed me with these golden feathers proves it!" Well… somebody seemed to be full of himself.

"Um… if you say so," said Chikoro, unconvinced.

The Pidgeot laughed. "Well then. Kevin, was it?" Kevin blinked, unused to anyone but Kari and Kyle calling him by his actual name. "So Mr. Shade's your uncle? Somehow I doubt that."

Not knowing what to say, Kevin muttered, "Uh… why?"

"Because I distinctly remember Ms. Stella telling me that this so called 'Kevin' you claim to be was Mr. Shade's brother. Now, before you get all paranoid, it's her that leaks all the info, not me. I'm just curious; which one is it?" Maybe this was why Kyle didn't like Fabian.

Kevin frowned. "And if I don't answer?" he asked.

"They're brothers," said Chikoro.

"Gah! Why does everyone keep doing that?" Kevin said indignantly, punching the Chikorita lightly on the head. "You and Kari just can't keep stuff secret, can you?"

Fabian seemed amused. "No worries, no worries. For whatever reason, you don't want anyone to know, so I won't tell a soul," He beat his wings, something he hadn't done since they'd lifted off. "Though I am wondering what this whole 'vacation' story is about. Of course, if that's confidential, you don't have to say."

"Good, then we won't," said Chikoro.

Kevin hit him again. "What is your problem? You could at least be consistent!"

Wincing, Chikoro glared at Kevin. "I am being consistent! There's no reason to cover up the fact you and The Shade are brothers. But we do want to stick with the vacation. Nothing our little angel already knows is dangerous."

Kevin stared at him. "Wait, so you think—" He remembered Fabian was in their presence. "Um, you think he knows we're brothers?" He hoped that by "our little angel", Chikoro was referring to Chuno.

"I think there's nothing denying it. Did he ever actually call you 'Shady's nephew' or something like that?" Chikoro asked.

"No…" Kevin said, "just… you know, 'Boy' and stuff."

Chikoro's expression darkened. "Hmm. Don't forget he knew your name, too. I think it's a pretty good theory."

Kevin shuddered. "I guess," he muttered, feeling sick as he remembered the rat's intentions to crush Kari's skull. Then, with a start, he realized Kari and Kyle were going to have a reunion very, very soon. "Oh, crap."

"What?" asked the Chikorita.

"Um…" He was so screwed. "Hey, Fabian, how much time do you think we have on Kyle?"

The bird flapped his wings majestically. "I'd say we'll arrive approximately ten minutes before Mr. Shade. That is, unless Sandra's been practicing and catches up sooner."

That meant ten minutes to find Kari and get her out of there before Kyle got to Twinleaf. That was going to be a challenge.

"Uh, thanks," said Kevin.

"What's crap, though? Slickky!" whined Chikoro. He seemed to get childish whenever he couldn't somehow deduce something.

Kevin sighed. "You know what."

"Huh? Oh…" said Chikoro in understanding. "You know, you should tell her he's coming too."

"No," said Kevin.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds interesting," Fabian cooed.

"It's not," Kevin assured.

Chikoro rolled his eyes. "Says you."

"Yeah, says me. Now shut up."

The grass type surprisingly obeyed and there was no more chatter for the rest of the trip. Even though silence was what he wanted, Kevin found it hard to think. And that was bad, considering concentrating on coming up with a plan to keep Kari away from his brother was the most useful thing to do as of that moment. But no. Kevin cursed his lack of self-discipline as the group began descending towards the tiny houses in the quaint town of Twinleaf.

As soon as they landed, Kevin hopped off Fabian and went straight up to what he assumed to be Lana's house. Impatiently, he stepped up to the front door and jabbed his finger onto the doorbell, not bothering to wait for Chikoro to follow.

An old woman answered the door, looking curiously at him. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice making her sound like she was about to crumble into dust.

"Uh…" Kevin said. He glanced behind the woman, only to see nobody else behind her. In fact, the interior looked practically untouched. It was clear that she was the only one living there. "Wrong house, sorry," he said before pivoting on his foot and shuffling away.

Chikoro, who had successfully dismounted, smirked at him. "Moron, do you really think it's smart to try and get to Lana's without the house number?"

Kevin glared. "Nobody told me what it was! Fabian just dropped us off here, so…"

"Hey, hey, they just told me Twinleaf Town, so I brought you here. You never said anything about a house number," The Pidgeot said, ruffling his feathers.

"It's number twenty-six," Chikoro said, "and I was planning to tell you that as soon as we arrived, but you just charged off like a Tauros," He grinned. "It's hilarious how dumb you are."

"Screw you," he muttered. "Anyway, we should really get to that house," he nodded to Fabian. "Thanks for flying us."

The Pidgeot bowed. "Anything for the little brother of The Shade! Until we meet again!" Then, quite suddenly, he beat his wings and was off to the skies once more.

Kevin blinked. "Little brother? …Guh. Let's just find the house," Kevin said, unimpressed. Chikoro agreed. Within a few minutes of combing the relatively barren streets of the town, the pair of them discovered the small house and were welcomed inside.

Hardly bothering with any sort of reunion, (after all, it had only been a few days) Kevin made his way to the back door, figuring Kari was probably in the backyard, since she wouldn't exactly fit in the house all too well. He was right; there she was, decidedly bored amongst the many deceased plants in the garden.

Upon hearing the door open, the Torterra looked up. Seeing Kevin, her eyes widened. "Back already?" she asked. Her voice was croaky. Not that it hadn't sounded like that before, but she still sounded sick.

"Um… yeah," Kevin said. His memory instantly became a blank as he tried to remember why he was there.

Kari seemed confused. "Kevin, did you even… I mean, have you…?"

"I… I need to talk to you," he blurted out. Yeah… yeah, he did need to do that. Probably.

"Okay," Kari said, frowning. "What about?"

Damn, what was it again? It was… Kyle. Oh yeah, that. "About K—"

He heard the door open behind him. "Hey, Kevin, the kid said you went back here, are you—" the speaker faltered. Oh, of course he would… Kyle always had to go and ruin everything…

Kevin watched Kari's expression turn from thoughtful to stunned in a heartbeat. He imagined that his and his brother's faces both looked the same. Kyle's more so, though… He probably should have mentioned something before. But Kevin didn't.

The moment of nothingness seemed to last forever. Come to think of it, it was much like being in a Pokéball. There was no telling how long one spent in one of those.

Finally, somebody broke the silence.

"I hate you."

What a lovely day this was turning out to be.