Dee.

Minutes Later.

By the time we put our stuff in the room Mark had gotten, he had called his family and gone. Tess said that he'd had Gardevoir Teleport him all the way back to Celestic Town.

We all sat on the couches, and Volkner got right to it. "Team Galactic stole Riolu and Astro?"

Both Riley and Amber paled, but nodded.

"They-I dunno how-they knew taking Riolu would get a rise out of Astro..." Riley admitted. "Astro, he was what they really wanted..."

"That's so sick," Flint muttered.

Volkner glared at him. "Shut it, Stone."

"I'm serious!" Flint insisted. "Not only kidnapping someone's pokemon, their partner and best friend, but to do it to provoke another one! How low can someone even sink, dude?!"

Riley clasped his hands together in front of him, biting his lip. He didn't want to make a scene like he had before.

"My sister's trying to get the whole Pokemon League to try and uncover Team Galactic," Volkner told us. "I told her how Cynthia's Gible almost got stolen and she got mad, so Crystal's gonna go ballistic over this-"

"Can we change the subject?" Amber and Riley pleaded in unison. Riley's voice was strained and hoarse.

Volkner stopped. "Uh...yeah. O-of course."

Nobody could really think of what else to talk about. Tess asked, in a fake cheery voice, "Where's your egg, Riley?"

We knew what happened. Riley smiled a fake, dead smile.

"Finally hatched." He was practically whispered. "Just the other day. It wasn't a Mime Jr. like Lucian's; it hatched into a Piplup."

Flint smiled. "That's great!" He told Riley. "Piplup like you much?"

"Heh, enough...Aron's happy to be a big br-brother..."

Both Riolu and Aron had been excited to be big brothers. All talking about it did was upset Riley, and probably Amber, too. He closed his eyes, and dropped the fake smile.

"I'm sorry, you guys..." He apologized. "I can't...I won't pretend to be okay with it. It's dishonest."

Tess raised her eyebrows. "Riley...nobody said..." She bit her lip. "Nobody told you that you have to do that! You and Amber, you have every right to be angry and upset, and the rest of us respect that!"

Out of anyone, I didn't expect her to raise her voice. I was genuinely surprised.

Amber sighed. "We are mad, Tess..." She told her. "And upset. But, there's nothing we can do about...Astro and Riolu, they're long gone. So being angry, it...it's just hopeless."

Never had I heard her so...despondant. Amber and Riley hadn't spoken to each other in days, and yet they were on the same page. Amber pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins and sighing again.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better. Riley, too. For all the shit I gave him, the big guy really had a soft spot in my cold, hard heart. But for all my limited affections, I knew nothing I said would lift their sorrow.

You're not alone;

Together, we stand.

After the awkward silence passed, Amber stood up. She shook her head.

"I have to go home," She announced timidly. "I'm not going to travel, not without my Astro."

I'll be by your side,

You know I'll take your hand.

Amber started towards the flight of stairs to the second floor. Tess stood up, panicked.

"Amb!" She squeaked. "Amber, please, wait!" We both hurried to stop her.

And when it gets cold,

And feels like the end.

When she got to the door, I grabbed Amber's arm. "Amber, what do you think you're doing?! 'Going home'?"

Her gold eyes were clouded with the beginnings of tears. Amber blinked. "...Yeah, Dee."

There's no place to go,

You know I won't give in.

"B-but you left home because you didn't want to be there!" Tess pleaded. "Amber, please, we're your best friends, and we-!"

"Astro was half of why I left!" Amber thundered. "Yeah, I hate my dad, but I can tolerate him! Astro needed to go out, and he needed room to grow and become more than just the talking Riolu! And when I gave him that, he was taken away from me!"

Keep holding on, because you know

I'm here for you, I'm here for you.

"That wasn't your fault, Amber Lynn Daniels!" I pressed on. "You know it isn't! Team Galactic jumped us, and not one of the five of us could have stopped it!"

"I could have carried Astro's pokeball, like a responsible kid!" Amber screeched. Tears trailed down her cheeks. "I'm a shitty pokemon trainer, Deadra Thompson, and a mediocre coordinator! I never had any right to be a pokemon trainer, because I'm just a stupid, flighty, prissy teenage girl!"

Keep holding on, because you know

We'll make it through, we'll make it through.

Amber covered her mouth, sobbing hard. She almost doubled over, she was crying so hard.

I never knew Amber had such a low opinion of herself. Amber had always been the confident, social girl that everybody liked...

There's nothing you can say,

And nothing you can do.

I pulled Amber into a hug. She rested her head on my shoulder, and for the second time in a week, I felt her tears burn into the shoulder of my favorite camo jacket.

"...If that's all you feel you can do, then nothing me or my sister say will change that..." I murmured in her ear. "You don't live in Twinleaf Town anymore. You live halfway across Sinnoh now. We won't be neighbors anymore. We might barely see each other. Are you really okay with that...?"

There's no other way

When it comes to the truth...

Amber wrapped her arms around my back, taking shaky breaths. She didn't know how to answer.

"It doesn't matter how far away your family moves, Amber," Tess promised her. "Me and Dee, we don't care if you leave the entire region, if you have to. The moment you say you need us, even just to have a sleepover and spend the night, we're gonna drop everything just to do it. Because that's what best friends do, right?"

Amber finally lifted her head, nodding. "Thank you guys...so much...I'm sorry I'm a bother to you."

"Shut the hell up, kid, you aren't a bother," I laughed. "We'll see you all the way back to Veilstone, okay? It would be cruel if we made you face old man Cyrus alone."

I let Amber into the room, and she got her belongings. We hurried downstairs, to find Flint and Riley in a shouting match.

"...I've already caused enough trouble, alright?!" Riley insisted. "All I do is cause problems for other people, that's why I started out traveling by myself!"

"What about Amber?! And Dee?!" Flint demanded. "You three are like-like-like the Unholy Trinity! You could convince Amber to stay, she...she really does like you-!"

"I don't mean shit to Amber!" Riley bellowed. "She hates me, I know it! If I were to drop dead right now, she'd be more than relieved! Goddamn..." He was redfaced and panting. They had apparently been at it since we left.

Amber gasped. Riley turned tail and ran, pushing right past us.

Just like Amber, he had been crying, as well.

"That's not true...I don't..."

This was more than a petty argument between friends. Riley genuinely thought all he did was burden me and Amber. That Amber hated him, probably over something trivial.

What a [expletive deleted] moron, Riley Davis was-and still is.

{I can think of ten good reasons why that was unnecessary.}