The sun was casting an orange glow over Cortondo as it began to sink into the horizon. For many of the town's citizens, the fading sun gleaming overhead was a beautiful sight.

For others, it just seemed to reflect their current emotions all too well.

Katy sat on a viewing bench halfway up the stairs to the Battle Court. She sat alone here, guided by no other company than the orange skies. But with her former star Pokémon's Premier Ball sitting right next to her, she could feel as if she was still accompanied.

As if there was someone to echo all these feelings that brewed sitting inside the place that used to be a great spectacle of exciting battles. She thought back to the day the construction on this court was finished. The whole town pitched in to help, and it was a huge celebration when Katy was asked to cut the ribbon and officially commemorate Cortondo getting their own Gym.

Now, the Battle Court sat atop a structure where its viewing areas and little gardens were seeing more visitors than the court on top seemed to be. And Katy was still reckoning with trying to figure out just how much of that is her fault.

"I think it's just… time to face the facts," she said out loud. "This place doesn't spark the same joy it used to."

Katy looked up at the Battle Court. The sun seemed to be at the perfect point in the sky that looking at the top of the Court caused harsh sun ways to reflect back into her eyes, forcing her to retreat her gaze.

Even the universe wants me to stop looking up…

So instead, she looked down at her own hands and said, "I feel like I've been… trying, as hard as I can, to have fun battling again like I used to. So what's holding me back? Am I so beholden to Geeta's words that I dare not cross her? Does my reputation mean only the easiest Challengers will always come? Is it my own self-doubt eating me alive? Or… or…" A sniffle. "Am I really just past my prime?"

She dug into her satchel and pulled out the photo frame she'd ripped off the wall from her special room at the Soapberry.

The photo showed a much younger Katy, around 11 or 12, winning her first Gym Badge. She was proudly holding the Badge up to the camera. A spinning Pineco, a jaunty young Heracross, and a particularly excited Scyther were cheering alongside her.

It was one of Katy's happiest memories. So happy that it inspired her to start taking selfies with the new challengers to her own Gym, hoping to bestow those same happy memories upon those who fought hard and earned a Badge from Katy herself. Hoping to inspire the same things she felt back then.

…She hadn't even remembered to pose for a selfie after the last few battles. And none of the Challengers seemed to notice.

Gazing at the happy young Trainer in the picture just made Katy's hands tremble all the harder, and she could feel her eyes welling up.

"Maybe… maybe that little girl that beat all those Gyms… maybe she really is gone…"

She fiercely wiped her eyes and set the photo back down in her lap.

"I've always wondered what made you stay in your Poké Ball," she mumbled, addressing the Premier Ball sitting next to her. "I thought it was because you missed battling, but… is it because of that, or because of me?"

The Ball did not answer, even with the testy look Katy gave it.

"Come on, Lizzy. Please… please give me an answer, just for once," she bargained. "Do you—do you still think I'm a worthy Trainer for you?"

The Ball stayed silent for a few seconds. Then Katy saw it jiggle a bit. A noise came from inside. Katy wiped her eyes again as they widened, waiting to see if she was about to get truly get an answer…

If she was about to see her dear companion again…

"Katy?"

But just then, a familiar voice called out, causing the Ball to revert to dormancy.

"Huh?" Katy poked her head over the fencing. "Larry?"

"Are you… talking to somebody?" Larry called out from the road.

"Umm…" she quickly looked back at Lizzy's Ball. "No, not really. Just thinking out loud, I guess. Just... thinking things over."

"Oh."

"Hang on, I'm coming down!"

Katy grabbed the Ball and the photo, slid them back in her bag, and ran down the steps to greet her boyfriend.

"Hey you!"

She ran up to Larry, grabbed him in her arms, and gave him a loving peck on the cheek.

"…Hi."

Katy embraced him in a tight hug. Larry still wasn't used to a feeling like this. He wanted to put his arms around her like always… but something was making his arms stay still.

Katy seemed to notice this, and she stopped to look at him.

"Everything alright?"

"Umm… I have… something I need to talk with you about actually."

"Okay."

"Can we talk somewhere more private?"


The door to Katy's house flew open. With the windows drawn, light was beaming into the living room.

Larry had been to Katy's house quite a few times now. It always looked the same, well-kept and exceptionally cozy.

Venonat greeted Katy happily as she entered, and bounced up and down with an even happier cry when it saw Larry entering.

"Venonat's really taken a liking to you," Katy chuckled.

Larry wordlessly patted Venonat on the head. The little purple bug was the only one of Katy's tiny friends who hung around here still. Larry had asked what happened to all the rest of the Bug Pokémon he saw the first time he was there.

"They're all out and about roaming the fields and the trees now," Katy had explained. "It's mostly during the winter seasons that I offer some of the local critters warm shelter."

Katy hung up her jacket and hat on the rack and started looking to get busy in the kitchen. Larry, as he had been numerous times already, was awestruck at how gracefully her braided hair swayed whenever she took off her hat. He smiled momentarily, before it wavered back into a frown.

"Want any tea or coffee?"

Larry sighed deeply. "No thank you. I um… I'm not planning to be here very long, actually."

"…No problem." Katy felt something was up. It wasn't like Larry to turn down a drink or a sweet. Something must really be eating him.

But she decided not to focus on that and get her own cup ready.


Katy returned to the couch, where Larry was already sitting, with a steaming cup of chamomile tea, a favorite of both hers and Larry's.

"Alright!" she said rather perkily. "So what's up?"

Larry didn't answer right away. In fact, his eyes seemed like they were glancing everywhere but in Katy's direction, like he didn't want to be captured by that cheerful smile. Finally, he began to speak, when Katy interjected.

"Oh! Wait, is this what you were trying to call me about earlier? I am so sorry I didn't pick up the phone!"

"Oh… no. No, it had nothing to do with that, and… it wasn't anything important anyway," he lied. "Certainly nothing worth interrupting a Gym Battle for. How did it go?"

He finally looked Katy's way, where he saw her smile slowly dither. But she quickly put it back on.

"It went… alright," she lied. "Another loss on my end, but nothing I'm going to fret over."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

A bout of silence followed, both of them looking at the floor rather than each other now. Larry may have looked like he was just spacing out, but in fact he was in deep thought, trying to figure out the best thing to say next.

"I almost got fired today."

Katy nearly choked on her tea. "I'm sorry, what!?"

"I got… chewed out by the boss pretty hard today. I'm in the clear thankfully, but… well let's just say, I'm on pretty thin ice right now."

"What happened?" asked Katy, setting her cup down on the coffee table.

Larry exhaled, knowing this next part wasn't going to sit well.

"Well… the thing is, this is… something I've kind of been keeping to myself since our relationship began, but… Even though I've tried really hard to stay on top of everything, I've fallen very behind on my paperwork." Katy blew steam from her nose.

"I've been missing deadlines, Geeta pointed out some errors I've been making more consistently, and Rika—" He shuttered this part, deciding he shouldn't lay the blame for this on anyone but himself. "—and there's been even more assignments that I've just been leaving completely off-track."

Katy huffed angrily and put her arms to her sides.

"Why would you keep all that a secret from me? No wonder you've been looking even more tired than usual lately, and in so much pain too! You could've told me all of this and I would've gladly cancelled a few dates so that you could catch up—"

"Katy. Katy." Larry held out his hands to shush her. "Listen. You're mad, and you have every right to be. But… please let me finish saying my peace first."

Katy wanted to protest, but she got the message and sullenly nodded. Larry clasped his hands together as he prepared to say the next thing, which he knew would go down even harder.

"Do you remember how I told you what happened in my last relationship? How we both didn't have time for each other and ended up drifting apart?"

Katy had a feeling like a stone dropped into her stomach. Apprehensively, she nodded again.

"Well, there's a bit more to it than that. You see, I had only just been made a Gym Leader and was having trouble figuring out how to balance training and battling with still doing all of my salary work. And Helena, meanwhile… She turned down a promotion that would've put her in the Johto region, just for me. At first, I thought this was a good sign for our relationship, but she never looked happy after that, and I… I realized that all of my frustrations, and my stress, it was…"

He sighed. "I was wearing her down just as much as I was myself, even if she didn't want to admit it. So we didn't just drift away from each other… I let her drift away from me. I pushed her to take that promotion, move to Johto, and be happy again. She didn't agree. A fight broke out. And the next morning I woke up, she was gone, and that was the end of things. … We never said a proper goodbye to each other."

Katy had listened to all of this with a mixed feeling of sadness and trepidation. She felt sorry for Larry the more she heard this story, but… she also felt her heart starting to rise as she worryingly began to wonder why he was telling her this right now.

"I think ever since then, that's what I've regretted the most. Wishing there was a real sense of closure. So…" Larry gulped. "I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'm going to do right now, what I should've done then."

Katy gulped too. "Larry… what is it you're trying to say?"

"I just… I really thought I could make it work this time, juggling everything. I tried so hard to balance it all out but…" He looked down at his own hands. "I underestimated just how much harder it would be now between having my salary job, being a Gym Leader, and being part of the Elite Four. I wanted to make it work, to make… us work. And I promised I would. But… but…"

His hands seemed to tremble as he found himself at a loss for words. Katy was looking distressed, sensing what Larry was getting at. Not knowing what else to do, she took Larry's hands in hers, and pulled him towards her, face to face.

She couldn't hide that her eyes were welling up. Both their hearts were beating really fast now, and Larry had to steady himself so he could keep speaking.

"Katy…" he could feel himself choking on the words. "Being with you these past few months has been… the best time of my whole life. And I wouldn't take any of that back. And I mean that. Truly. You've made me so happy."

Tears were starting to come down Katy's face. "Please… Larry, I know what you're going to say… Please, please don't…"

"Katy, listen to me…" Katy put her hands over her face, unable to bottle her feelings as she started weeping. Larry wrapped his arm around her, trying to console her. "Listen, Katy… This… This isn't just a decision about me and my own happiness, okay? It's… it's also about yours."

Katy quieted herself to listen. Larry could feel his throat closing in on itself. And he could feel his own eyes starting to gleam.

"The truth is, Katy… I can't—I can't devote myself to you and have all the time for you the way that you want me to, and the way that I wish I could too. And, you're such a wonderful, special… beautiful person. You… y-you deserve to be with somebody who can give all of themselves to you, and treat you like the princess that you are."

"Larry…" Katy was having even more trouble speaking than him. "Why are—why are you saying all the sweetest things now? That's not fair!" she tried to say with a playful smile, betrayed by how wet her face was.

"I… I… I'm sorry, Katy," Larry said sincerely. "I'm sorry for everything."

He embraced her in a huge hug. Ironically, it's the first time Katy could ever recall him being the one to initiate a hug.

"But you know that, no matter what… I'll still be around. I'll be here for you, always. As your friend."

She hugged back, and let herself cry as much as she needed. Larry felt tears streaming down his own face. And the two of them sat there in each other's arms for what others would've called an eternal moment.

Eternal, because neither of them wanted to leave it.