I was drenched with sweat and my mouth felt like a desert. It was half past seven and the sun still hung in the sky, taunting me. It was a few days until the solstice; soon the days would start getting shorter instead of longer, but that wasn't much comfort now. My right leg burned and I was sitting down on a bench to try to relieve it. I'd reached the first of the tiny stepping stones in between Santalune and Lumiose — a little place called Mayelie Town — an hour ago, and I was looking forward to lying down on a bed and resting.

I checked my phone. Fifty minutes until the next bus arrived. Twenty minutes of walking to get to the pokemon center. I rested for fifteen minutes, browsing the internet until my phone hit 15% battery, and then started walking again.

I turned onto the main street and started walking. There was a smattering of people in the streets. I passed by thrift shops, bookstores, restaurants. There was a small part of me that was excited, but I was in an unfamiliar town and Jasper could have been dead for all I knew. I just wanted to get inside and hide.

The pokemon center was about fifteen minutes away now, according to my phone. I pressed the button at a pedestrian crossing and stood at the street corner, waiting for light to turn on.

"Hey," I heard someone say.

I looked to my side and saw a kid walking toward me. I think they looked about my age, but I was awful at estimating that. They had really light skin, significantly lighter than mine. They were dressed fairly androgynously, with a loose fitting tank top and shorts. The only thing that looked odd about them was their bright orange hair, with pigtails that looked almost like wisps of fire. It looked weird and artificial on them.

"Are you heading to the pokemon center?"

I looked at them confused. "How did you—"

"Your belt. Most trainers keep their pokeballs there. You look rough, too, like you just came from walking a lot. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

There was a weird sound, almost like rattling. It was coming from the button I'd just pressed. I looked across the street and saw that the crosswalk light was telling me to walk. I tried to think of something to say quickly. "I guess? If you're a trainer, you can go to the center without me."

I started walking across the street and they followed me. "I know, but I'd like to talk to you." Their tone was almost playful. It made me uneasy, and I started walking a tiny bit faster.

"I'm out here doing an errand for my family," they said. "My name is Micha. What's your name?"

I looked away from them and tried walking even faster. It wasn't actually much of an increase in speed. I was still exhausted. They caught up with me effortlessly.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that."

I tried to take a deep breath before talking. "What does your errand have to do with me?"

"They want me out here, talking to trainers, telling them about us. It won't take up too much of your time. It's really short."

I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I didn't know why, but it felt like my words were failing me. I took out my phone, just to make sure I was going on the right path — it was pointless anxiety, since it was just a straight shot there — and took that as an opportunity to gather my thoughts. After a few seconds, I said, "I'm not really interested in joining anything. I'm still not convinced you're not here to mug me." I reached my right hand down to my belt when I said that last part and held Violet's pokeball in my grip, to comfort myself. It was an empty threat, but I hoped it would scare them off. I just wanted to be alone.

"Whoa, there's no need for that. Look at me. No backpack, no bag of any kind, no belt at my waist. My pokemon aren't with me."

I looked at them and actually tried to pay attention to what they were wearing. Light greenish-blue top with a faded star design, shorts the same color, shoes, and nothing else. It felt weird. "What happened to them?" I asked.

They looked some combination of angry and sad. The look stayed on their face only for a few seconds. As their face returned to normal they said, "My family is holding them. They're training them for me."

"I'm sorry," I said.

They cocked their head and looked at me more intently. "How come?"

"You seem really sad about it. Will you see them again? I hope you get to soon. Friends shouldn't be separated like that."

A beat, and then another. "Thank you. I am sure they are safe, though. My family will take good care of them, maybe even better care than I could!" They put on this smile that looked weird on their face. I doubted it was actually authentic. We walked in silence for a second before they said, "I would still like to talk to you about us, and what we believe in."

I looked at my phone. Eleven minutes away from the pokemon center. I sighed. "Go ahead."

"We're called Team Flare and we want to make the world a better place. I'm sure you've noticed it. People are cruel, and thoughtless, and hurtful. The whole world is ugly — all the art and architecture and people are ugly — and we want to make it beautiful."

"How?"

"We're going to fill the world with our beauty. We want to fill it with our books, and our fashion, and our drawings, our kindness, our happiness. We want to fill the world and overcome all the badness until it's all wiped away."

They looked at me. I think they were waiting for a response. Seconds passed and I started biting my lower lip. I tried to think of a response. "How do you decide what the badness is?"

"I don't know. Bad art, bad fashion, that's all beyond me. I haven't had time in the past few years to really think about it. I was always doing something else, you know? Bad people, though, I know all about them. I know them better than I know myself."

A beat, and then they continued. "I left home. I don't really want to talk about how or why, but it was awful. Really awful." I nodded nervously and hoped they'd stop talking. "I wasn't very good at pokemon battles. I tried, I really did. I didn't have the style or the killer instinct, but my Beautifly loves them. I stopped getting badges, and I stopped battling. I found some bad friends. I wasn't really a good person. But then Team Flare found me. One or two of us left and they gave us food, and clothing, and a place to live. They saved me, and they saved my friends."

I shivered. I wasn't good at battling either, I wasn't very smart, and part of me worried that they just described what my future was going to be like. The more they talked the more I felt almost sick — their hesitation, the way they carefully talked around their past, the defocused look in their eyes... I couldn't pick out quite what it was, and something told me I really shouldn't try to think hard about it.

We reached another street corner, and I pressed the button for the pedestrian crossing again. They were looking at me and seemed to be waiting for me to speak. I wished they'd just leave, and I wished I could feel safe saying that I wanted to be alone. "Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be with your family and your pokemon? You don't really look like a recruiter."

"You're right, I'm not a recruiter. I'm not that official, or that trained. I'm just here giving my story to people. I want to be with them right now. I should be, and I'm trying, I really am. I want to help them change the world, but I have to do this first. I have to prove myself, and show Team Flare that I truly appreciate them."

"What do you mean, prove?"

"They've been so kind to me. It's the least I can do. It's the least any of us can do. There are so many of us who just joined, so many more out there who should. We've been asked to find people, people like us, who can join the team as well."

"What do you mean, 'people like us'?"

The light turned and we started walking again. They shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think there's actually words for it. I've never been able to describe it. It's just... people like us. Isn't it obvious to you?"

I shook my head. "No, it isn't," I said maybe a little too forcefully. "I don't understand." At least, I didn't want to. I didn't want to be like them, I didn't want to be like anyone. I didn't want to have people think they knew me, and I didn't want to be fated to have anyone else's future. I just wanted to be myself. I missed Violet so much.

"Don't you just walk past someone sometimes and think, They're like me. I don't know anything about them, but something tells me they'd be safe?"

"I..." I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I wanted to say 'no', but that wasn't true. I thought of Jasper. That vague feeling was the only thing that let me decide he could travel with me. I tried and tried to think of another reason, but I couldn't.

They put their hand on my shoulder. I recoiled. "I'm sorry. It's just... I know that face. I know what it looks like, and I know what it means. I'm sorry."

I looked at them and I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. What kind of a face was I making? I had no idea what my face was ever doing, so how could they know what I was thinking?

"That's the face you get when you're thinking about someone you've lost."

I felt like I'd been slapped. I didn't know what to say. This conversation had gone on for too long. I had to get out of there. I thought I could see the pokemon center's roof in the distance, but I wasn't sure. It was directly up the street, anyway, but with my leg I couldn't exactly outrun them. "I don't know that for sure. He could still be alive. He could..."

My voice faltered. Theirs didn't. "It's okay. Everybody tells themselves that they're still around. It's easier that way. Sometimes it makes us feel better. That way the people we lost, the people we care about, it's like they're just absent, instead of gone. We all want them to still be here. We understand."

I gripped my cane tight and stopped walking. I couldn't look at them. I looked down at the sidewalk and pretended there wasn't water coming out of my eyes. "No, I mean it. I don't know for sure that he's dead. He could still be out on Route 4. He could be at the pokemon center, right now. You can't be so certain about this. I'm not making it up this time."

"This time?"

I stood there. I didn't know how much time had gone by. I didn't say anything. I stood there, and then I started walking again without a word.

They kept up easily with me. "He's not the first person you've lost, is he?"

"Stop it," I said quietly, so soft they probably didn't hear me.

"Team Flare is full of people like us. We think alike. We love alike. Our lives have been full of all this pain and we can help each other. We connect with each other. It's why they seek us out specifically. They want to keep us safe. It'll be okay."

"You can't promise that."

"I know I can't, but—"

I almost screamed, "You know nothing about me. Stop assuming that you know who I am!"

They were agitated too. They spoke with their hands, and frustration dripped from every word. "You don't understand. We can help you. Do you want to stay alone? Do you think other people will protect you? We're together because no-one else cares. You think a normal will help you? How's that been working out so far?"

There wasn't a crowd yet, but I was scared there'd be one soon if we kept this up. I didn't care if this was the nuclear option and I didn't care how much trouble I'd get into if I was seen; I unclasped Violet's pokeball from my belt and held it in my free hand. "Leave. Now."

Micha buried their hand in their pocket. I was scared they were lying, that they did have pokemon, and that we'd be fighting in the middle of the street. Instead they dug out a piece of paper and dropped it on the sidewalk. "That's my number. Call me if you ever change your mind.

They walked away with the final word. I watched them reach the corner and turn out of sight. I put Violet's pokeball back on my belt, then picked up the piece of paper, stuck it in my pocket, and started walking again. I planned on getting to the pokemon center, releasing everyone in my room, and being part of a hugpile while I tried not to crash too hard. I was so tired.