Gale stood there for a long, drawn out minute.

Then blinked furiously, rubbed her eyes, and walked past him, not taking her eyes off him until she got to the refrigerator. Upon reaching the appliance, she took out two fistfuls of ice, went over to the sink, and filled a bowl full of water.

Then she dropped the ice cubes into the bowl hard enough to splash water up into her face, lifted it, and unceremoniously dunked it over her head. Shivering from the chill and dripping, she continued staring at him.

Riven raised a brow so high it could slap god.

Honestly, he expected something like a gasp or a plethora of curses but this was… not what he expected. He reached out with a hand then pulled it back slowly, not sure whether to ask if she'd finally lost her shit, or to keep his distance in case the crazy was infectious.

"I- er… Gale. Why did you-" She kept staring and he kept stammering. "-Okay then. You're channeling your inner Espurr, I see."

"Are you real?" She blurted out. "You look real. You can't be real. You've been gone for nearly four years, it's not possible there's no way you'd be here unless I'm extremely delirious… Has to be the run… probably still asleep outside…"

Riven's gaze shifted awkwardly between Gale and her Mightyena about a good seven times. If there was something the testy dog could agree with him on, it was that her trainer had possibly lost her marbles for good. "Reason I call you crazy…" He whispered, grabbing her arm in the middle of her crazy tirade.

Gale looked down at it, dazed, then glanced up at Riven. Grey eyes blinked like a Sawsbuck caught in the headlights. He pointed to himself repeatedly, even drawing circles in the air around his face and mouthing, "it's me".

"You're touching me," Gale responded, an inch away from catatonic. Frowning deeply, he shook her and she swayed with the motion like a limp stalk of wheat.

"Yeah," Riven confirmed, arching another black brow. "Are you on some kind of drug?"

"That's right, maybe I do need to get drug tested," Gale said, breaking away from him to go sit down at the table. Upon which she went through several breathing motions.

Deciding that standing behind her awkwardly was a slight bit uncomfortable, he went through her fridge and helped himself to some juice instead. Maybe if he sat there long enough she'd realize something.

It took her a while to accept the fact that he wasn't, in fact, imaginary nor was she on some sort of hallucinogenic mushroom she may or may not have accidentally ingested. Actually, it took her several of her breathing exercises and four glasses of juice, the last of which Gale snatched from Riven's hands and drank herself.

"Stop stealing my food," she reprimanded with a glare and a raised finger.

"Are you finally sane again?" He asked blankly, going to serve himself more. "Or am I going to have to dig through your entire fridge."

"Don't- you know what? I don't know. You tell me. I hope this isn't a bad dream either," Gale breathed out. "Because if it is, it's not funny and if it's a ghost I'm going to kick its ass."

"The ice water dunk you took would have woken you up if it was, but all it did was get you soaked," he pointed out. "So… you're as awake as you can be. Why did you do that anyway? If I didn't know you I'd say you'd lost it."

"I was burning up from running all the way here from Lavaridge and two, I needed to make sure my brain wasn't just messing with me. It felt nice."

"You ran here from Lavaridge?"

Gale nodded dimly, fanning herself off with a hand.

Riven whistled.

That was a fairly long distance away. More than a few miles, really. He was surprised she wasn't dehydrated or passed out yet. Though the girl looked like she was about to check off the second option quite soon.

"Yeah, I forgot Emile's pokeball when I went on an errand in town. I kind of regret that now."

Riven chuckled, rolling the empty juice glass in his hands as silence fell. Anxiety gripped him as Gale stared at the table with a face he'd seen all too much on his own. No words came from out of Riven's mouth, and soon his own countenance matched hers. Once the humor faded away, all that was left was uncomfortable and awkward silences—grievances and the like.

The worst part.

He was afraid this would happen. Honestly, what could he say? 'I've been gone for three years, how's it going?' Or, 'hey Gale, you got taller, thanks for taking care of my pokemon for me, but I'm back now!' As if all this time had gone nowhere, or that it was inconsequential.

It wasn't.

Human relationships were such fragile, delicate things—intangible and complicated things that abided by ever changing rules, never working the same for everyone. They were frustrating to deal with and normally he didn't bother, but he couldn't do that to her. All this time he'd been alone in Kalos, depending only upon himself. Friends weren't something he had access to in three long years or something he had to deal with at all. Three years spent trying to figure out what to say to her when he returned. What to say to his pokemon for his absence.

Sorry wasn't enough. It never was.

Now that time had come and he was stuck, like a Magikarp out of water, gasping for air. An opening. Anything to get him out.

Finally, she spoke, tone rueful. Her tone pierced through him like a spear of ice. "You're back," Gale whispered, shifting in her chair. "You're really here."

"Yeah," Riven replied, swallowing. And looked away.

"Three years," she said. A smile crossed her lips. "And now that you're here… I-I can't say that it's the same. I mean, you got a haircut and look decent now. A girl could show you to her parents without them getting a heart attack now."

Riven smiled slightly, noting her attempt to lighten the mood and diffuse the tension. He did it often, after all. "And you got taller. I'm still taller than you but it's a start. Grew your hair out a little longer too."

And well… the rest of her had also grown.

Not the time for that.

"You look…nice."

"'You look nice?' At least some things don't change. You're still bad with small talk and compliments," Gale said, a tinge of amusement in her voice. Finally turned to face him, but mismatched blue and brown wouldn't meet her eyes. "Riven… Look at me."

I want to, but I can't.

Her mouth settled into a thin line, thinking of what to say. He preferred the truth and straight forward answers, not beating around the bush. It was obvious to tell what was on his mind, his face said it all. "I'm not blaming you," she said, tugging on his sleeve. Leaned forward, placing a reassuring hand on his arm this time. "It's not your fault. They understand too, you're the only that needs to still."

Riven faced her suddenly, eyes wide.

Gale scanned him as he did so. His pupils had always smaller compared to a normal person's, appearing as pinpoints instead of actual pupils. The windows to his soul were always cold and menacing, hiding secrets he wouldn't entrust to anyone. But now they were now full of regret, of guilt.

A feeling he'd probably never felt before, and it was tearing him apart. Just like it did to her.

Gale knew, now. Holding something against him that wasn't his fault would be selfish. Three years ago, she might've blamed him, but not anymore. Half a year ago, that'd changed.

"They do?" Riven asked in disbelief, feeling like a giant weight had lifted off his shoulders, leaving behind only jitters and frayed nerves. A hand still trembled.

"Yes." A slow nod. "They've matured too." Gale then smiled brightly. "They got so big! Well, Baron and Boagrius are the same as always. Haona grew to her full size already. Her fur is so soft and she even grew out her bang because she likes the way it looks. Also…"

Gale hesitated.

"Aine evolved."

He froze. "She-she did?"

Gale nodded sadly as his face fell once again, guilt flooding back in. "She was ready to evolve even before I got your letter. She just waited two years to finally do it. Evolved seven months ago. Stopped repressing it all of a sudden."

Riven's jaw clenched. He could read between the lines and what that sudden change meant. It was soul crushing. She was waiting for me… and I wasn't there. She gave up waiting for me. He closed a fist, fingers turning white from the pressure.

Gale looked down at the floor. Telling him the truth hurt. But he wouldn't appreciate it either way. If he saw her evolved form without knowing about her evolution, his mental state would just get worse. This way hurt less. But hurt none the less.

And that wasn't fair. Life was an unfair bastard.

Fair or not, I have to help him through this, she thought. "Hey. Aine doesn't hate you. On the contrary. She always says she can't wait to show you that she can kick Baron's ass now. Did you know she kicked him through my screen door the other day? She's incredibly strong. She's even come up with combo moves! Flannery is quite proud of her. You should be too. "

That seemed to help, his face easing slightly. "I am. I just… wish I was there to see it."

"You're still a trainer after all. At heart," she said, poking him in the chest.

He shrugged, taking it in stride.

"Want to play catch up? It might cheer you up. You look terrible."

"It's obligatory, isn't it?"

Gale grinned and trailed off, telling him about what had happened in the three years. About the way she started training with Baron and Aine, while running her flight service and raising Vizi. The more Gale went on, Riven seemed to brighten. Then did something odd.

Abruptly stopping, she tilted her head.

"What?" He asked.

You smiled, she noticed. The first, sincere smile she'd seen on him. Not a smirk, or a sarcastic grin. A true smile. "Nothing, you just seem a lot… happier. Kalos wasn't that bad was it?"

Riven's expression collapsed into dreaded disgust, like a kid who had to drink his medicine. "Kalos was… something I'd like not to repeat. And I don't mean before I wrote the letter. What came after was what was bad."

"What did you do and who did you piss off?" Gale snickered.

He laughed sheepishly, glancing towards the wall for a moment. "Ah, well... I did something incredibly stupid to not very nice people. Repeatedly. Mostly for shits and giggles and because pissing them off amused me greatly."

"Not very nice people… The grumpy kind or the-"

"I'm going to hang you by your entrails, strap you to a chair and start pulling teeth type," he finished. "Tried to kill me so many times I lost count. Key word, tried." He scoffed, a wry grin on his face. "I can't deny it was fun, minus the paranoia and general people wanting you dead thing."

That's the Riven I know. "You're the only person I know that finds fun in almost getting killed."

"Not true. Trainers all have a streak of insane in them. Speaking of which-" Riven raised a finger, then shot it at Evie, who'd grown reasonably bored, lying prone on the ground as she listened to the humans talk. She'd stopped snarling at the male that her trainer apparently knew. "When did you get a Mightyena?"

"A little while after the letter," Gale responded, calling out to Evie. The dark type came to her side, still eyeing Riven with reasonable scrutiny. She panted in happiness as Gale stroked her fur. "I found her as a tiny little Poochyena getting bullied by a bunch of trainers outside Lavaridge. By the way, I used Baron and Haona to beat their puppy kicking asses into the floor. Hope you don't mind."

"I'm not complaining." Riven crossed his arms, locking eyes with the hound. "If justice was served then it's all right. Putting shitty kids in their place is fun, after all."

"Mhmm. Oh!" Gale exclaimed, then ran off towards the back of the house. She returned, holding a small card in her palm. She held it up so he could read it.

Hoenn League Trainer Identification Card: Gale Serna

Location of Registration: Lavaridge Town, Leader Flannery

Hometown: Lavaridge Town

Age: 19

"…Oh. I suppose this one is my fault." He muttered, leaning back on his chair. "You didn't even want to be a trainer. What changed?"

"Spending time with your pokemon and watching them train inspired me. Your pokemon are still yours though. The only ones registered to me are Vizi, Evie, Emile, Kyne, and Yukiko."

"Yukiko?"

"My Snorunt," Gale explained. "I won her in a battle. The trainer who caught her asked me to battle him. If I lost I'd go on a date with him, and if I won, he'd give me the Snorunt he was looking to sell. He was a really desperate guy. Pestered me for days."

Riven processed that and gave her a dirty look. "You used my pokemon to cheese that, didn't you?"

Gale tried looking innocent.

He hmphed, coming out like a half-snort.

"Your turn. Anything interesting happen in Kalos aside from the usual things that happen in your life?"

"You mean unusual?" Riven wondered. "As in, normal?"

Gale thought about it. "Yeah, I guess our normal is your unusual."

Steven said the exact same thing, Riven recalled, bemused. "Well, a Kalosian girl asked me out to dinner at a café."

"Oh? Was she pretty?"

Riven gave her an obvious look.

A devious little smirk appeared on Gale's face. "Did you seal the deal then?"

"I don't know what kind of deal you're talking about, but she gave me a translation of a police report on a bunch of random attackings," he replied, effectively slaying whatever Gale was going to say next.

"Ulterior motives as always." She frowned. "Did you at least get something out of it?"

At that, Riven threw out a pokeball from behind his back. A flash of light revealed a floating pair of blades, both of which were a deep crimson. Two yellow eyes opened, looking around the room before focusing on Gale.

She froze. Evie's fur then stood on end, beginning to growl lowly as she positioned herself between her trainer and the ghost.

"Calm down," Riven said. "He's not going to slice you into pieces. By the way, this is Efrain. He used to be a knight in the Kalosian war three thousand years ago. Now he's just a ghost."

"Wait, what?" Gale gaped. "He-he's a human?"

"Was," the ghost replied in a disembodied voice that sent shivers down Gale's spine. "Dying fixed that. And now… now I am what you see. A pleasure to meet you. Gale, I believe? You are prominent in his modern memories."

Gale turned to Riven. "What does that mean?"

"Ummmm… Well, how do I put this? That girl I told you about? That… erm, led to this." He gestured to Efrain with both hands. The ghost stared back at him blankly. "He tried to suck my life force out." Rolling up his sleeves, he showed her the fading constriction marks around his arms.

"Again, why am I not surprised?" Gale murmured. "If it's not trying to kill you, you can't be friends with it."

"This is an accurate assumption," Efrain added, earning a look from his trainer. "I now have skewed perceptions of trainers. Mine appears to be a high functioning lunatic. Do all of them deliberately prod aggressive Rhydons with a stick while saying, 'want to see something cool'?"

"No, NO. Definitely not. Your trainer's just messed up in the head." Gale giggled, addressing said scowling trainer. "I like him, even if he's a ghost, is scary, and also a pair of really sharp swords. He has a nice sense of humor. That goes a long way."

Riven rolled his eyes. "Glad to hear it. I'll make sure not to have him out too much so both of you don't rip on me constantly. I mean, how much abuse can a man take before it becomes too much?" He placed a hand on his face dramatically, raising his voice an octave.

"Asshat," the girl snickered. "So, he's…" She took out a red device from her pocket. A ray of blue light emerged from it, scanning Efrain as it did so. A digitalized holographic projection of him appeared in front of Gale as the pokedex gave out the details of his species, as well as a rundown of his particular moveset."Doublade, huh? Powerful pokemon. How did you catch him without pokemon of your own?"

Efrain and Riven looked at each other, then back at Gale. Nothing else had to be said.

"Well then," Gale sighed. She held out four pokeballs in her hands. "How you two tried to kill each other aside, I think we've been stalling long enough. You should see them now. Are you ready?"

Swallowing stiffly, Riven nodded.

"Okay then. You'll need this."

Handing him the translator, he put it over his ears, asking her to continue with a glance.

"Wait here," she said, exiting through the front door. Her Mightyena followed her outside, tail waggling behind her.

Riven waited in nervous anticipation for the next few minutes, thinking of a thousand things to say at once. When he heard the familiar sound of a pokeball opening outside, he closed his eyes and made himself breathe.

Calm down. She said they understand, there's no need to be-

The door opened, revealing a Gallade, an Absol, a Castform, and a Blaziken. Surprise colored their faces, the realization visibly sinking into each of them as they recognized who it was.

-Nervous.

Riven throat locked up, forgetting whatever it was he was going to say when he saw them.

At first, they simply stood there, having almost the same reaction as Gale, minus the bizarre ice water dunk and breathing exercises.

Haona was the first to move, trotting to him slowly as he bent down to face her. They remained still, until she thrust her head into his stomach. Riven smiled, ruffling the white fur on her head.

"Hey, White Queen. Careful with the horn, don't want to kill me so soon, do you?"

The Absol stepped back. "Maybe I should. You took forever to get back. I'll have to ice beam you as punishment."

Riven chuckled, glancing up as Baron approached.

The Gallade held a sincere little smirk. "About time. I need someone new to punch."

"Oh, don't worry. We're going to have quite the training session now that I'm back," Riven said, matching his grin. "Heard you got thrown through a window screen."

"Shhhhhhh… no one has to know," Baron replied, holding a green finger up to his mouth. "Glad you're back, trainer."

Before Riven could nod in response, he saw Boagrius take a deep breath and held his hands out, yelling, "Wait!"

The Castform went silent, dipping to the side in the air. It was hard to tell if a cloud with a face was tilting its head for obvious reasons.

"Boagrius. I know you have your dramatic tendencies, but I was kind of hoping you wouldn't shout the house down. So, can you keep the auditory destruction down a little?" Riven pleaded nicely.

"IMPOSSIBLE! THIS IS A JOYOUS OCCASION!" The Castform boomed, shaking the walls. "I CANNOT CONTAIN MY HAPPINESS! WE HAVE MISSED YOU, TRAINER."

Yup, completely ignored.

The amorphous cloud of dramatic energy and all things obnoxious raced around the room, spinning in circles as he did so, summoning small clouds near the ceiling which released tiny amounts of snow into the air.

"Mhmm," Riven nodded painfully, wondering how long his eardrums would last at this rate. He saw the Castform about to take another deep breath and braced. Gale had already preemptively covered her own ears while giving the Castform a glare about the usage of weather manipulation inside her home.

Boagrius opened his mouth and Riven cringed. Oh, here it comes.

"Welcome back," the cloud pokemon beamed, in a shockingly normal voice.

"Thanks," Riven said, surprised by the normalcy of the voice. "That was a surprisingly-"

"NORMAL VOICE! DID YOU LIKE IT?"

"Yes," the young man answered, twitching. "Yes, I did."

"EXCELLENT!" Boagrius exclaimed before floating outside and starting a rain of snow flurries in his apparent joy.

Riven slumped his shoulders, mouthing his apologies to Gale for saddling her with that for upwards of three years. It came as no surprise she kept him in his ball most of the time. A puff of flame got his attention afterwards, and he finally focused on Aine, who now stood over six feet as a powerful Blaziken.

A mane of golden feathers reached down the length of her back, coming out front to cover her chest and the upper ridge of her stomach. Red feathers covered the rest of her body, except for the arms and feet, which were protected by extremely strong fibers, allowing Blaziken to minimize the impact of blows and kicks that could blast through a fortified concrete pillar easily.

Bright blue eyes proudly looked into Riven's. "I evolved!" Aine said, still that happy fire type he remembered.

"So you did," Riven smiled.

I'm sorry.

Aine came over to him and gave a crushing Ursaring hug. She was stronger than she envisioned, as Riven felt the air leave his lungs and his back crack enough times to compose a symphony with. While the pent up stress leaving him felt particularly amazing, turning blue in the face from oxygen deprivation did not. He patted her on the back, struggling for air. Aine released him, panicking as he doubled over.

She panicked over him like she'd broken a plastic toy, not sure what to do.

"You hugged him too hard," Gale laughed, finding a Blaziken fretting over him fairly hilarious. "He's not too durable, for all his bravado. Hehe."

Riven glared at her, to which she laughed a fair bit harder. He stood up to full height, disappointed when he saw Aine standing taller than him. "Now, that's not fair," he complained. "I remember when you were a tiny thing, then a not so tiny thing with very loud battle cries. And now look at you, a big girl. That can throw certain scrubs through windows," he smirked, sending a not so subtle jab at Baron.

The Gallade punched him in the shoulder lightly. "I didn't use my psychic powers," he retorted.

"You mean you didn't use your bullshit," Riven sang. "That's good. Looks like you followed that all this time. Did it help?"

"I use my technique more than my psychic abilities," Baron shrugged. "It helped me teach Gale how to fight."

"He taught you what?" Riven asked, eyes wide.

Gale whistled innocently. "Baron taught me how to fight like you. Just like you taught him. I'm not an expert or anything, but I can defend myself fairly well now. Just ask some of the guys that thought I was defenseless without pokemon. Grope me? I don't think so. They don't have balls anymore."

"Good. Everyone should learn how to defend themselves." Riven still found it strange though. "I've heard of people teaching pokemon, but not pokemon teaching people. Good job Baron, the disciple becomes the teacher."

The psychic fighter gave a curt bow. "Maybe you should teach her now."

"Not happening," Riven refused. "She's your student. Take responsibility, at least to make up for getting thrown through a window for fucks sake."

Baron groaned.

The Absol grunted at Gale, who responded with a blink. Held out a hand, then went off into the backroom again.

Wonder what other surprise she's going to throw out, Riven wondered idly, giving Haona a neck scratching.

An egg being the surprise was like a sucker punch in the stomach, though. Riven eyed the baby pokemon to be with a high degree of suspicion. "You're not going to make me take care of this, are you?" He asked. "Because I can't."

Baron fidgeted. Riven noticed.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Gale looked down at the egg, then gestured to Baron with a smile. "Someone played a game of Gardevoir adventures in Mossdeep."

Gears turned in Riven's head as he slowly spun on his heel, glaring burning holes into Baron, who peered off to the side, noticeably embarrassed.

"You dog."

Evie wrinkled her nose at that comment. Riven huffed, eyelid still twitching. "Any other pleasant surprises I should be aware of, Gale?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Excellent. Now, before I apply copious amount of bleach to my brain, I want you all to meet Efrain, your new teammate." The Doublade hovered in the air from behind Riven, curling a sash as a sign of greetings.

His team seemed perplexed that a pair of floating swords could be considered a pokemon. That much was understandable, seeing as how they'd never left Hoenn. The ones with hands waved, while Haona raised a paw. Boagrius was still off… doing things.

Finishing introductions, Gale handed Riven back his things, including Charles and his trainer bag. The belt felt nostalgic, even though he had a newer one now. Rummaging through the bag, it was apparent that Gale hadn't touched anything non perishable in there. The extra dawn stone he picked up continued to glow inside, not losing its luster whatsoever throughout the time he'd been gone.

He returned his team, ceremoniously clipping their pokeballs back onto his belt. Felt strangely complete once he did, even if he wasn't a trainer anymore. At least not in the Hoenn database.

Heh.

"Hey, Gale."

"Yeah?"

"Can I get a ride to Mauville?"

"Going to visit Amy?"

Riven shook his head, tone slackening. "Not exactly, although I wouldn't mind. Irene might just tear my head off though. Just felt like seeing the remnants of an old place long since used. You know, curiosity and all that. I've picked up some odd habits. I blame Steven."

Gale sure did find it odd, but dismissed it nonetheless. She figured whatever he was interested in would surface eventually. Things usually went that way with him. Trying to get him to talk beforehand was an exercise in futility. It was infuriating to no end when he talked in circles to avoid giving you a straight answer.

"Sure. We can travel like we used to!" She said raising a fist. "I think you'll be surprised with how much has changed."

"Oh?" Riven remarked. "I doubt that. I've been to Lumiose. I've seen some impressive things already."

"Just wait and see," she hummed. "I'll need a few things before we had out. One of them being a shower, I'm sticky from all the sweat and humidity. Wait here, stop digging through my food, and try not to touch any kitchen appliances. Toasters and ovens already shoot sparks around you."

The trip to Mauville took two days with the rests in between. In the interim, Gale had shown Riven how much Vizi had grown. When she emerged from the pokeball, the now evolved Fletchinder furiously pecked Riven on the head, chattering indignantly at him for everything he did. She wasn't thrilled to see him again after she got hit in the head with a pokeball while eating one day, then suddenly ending up in a different continent entirely. She'd grown accustomed and eventually liked the change, though.

The firebird was large for her size, indicating she was about ready to evolve soon. Emile had taken her under his wing like a daughter, teaching her how to fight in the air. Kyne had helped also, showing her how to maneuver, being a smaller, more streamlined bird than the former.

Emile's tutelage would help far more when she was a grown Talonflame than as she was now. Still, it was equally as difficult to believe as Aine had been, seeing that annoying little Fletchling as a confident Fletchinder. She flew alongside them as they went towards Mauville, spinning wheels of flame in the air and occasionally diving with the speed her species was known for.

Talonflame were highly revered pokemon in Kalos, and many a League challenger carried them, valuing their speed and strength above all else. Being birds of prey, however, meant that they were quite a bit more difficult to control and trainers that had no prior knowledge of dealing with birds often gave up when they were Fletchinders, due to their unruly nature.

Gale, however, was a flyer and did have experience. She could handle it, and handle it she did. Vizi's newfound predatory instincts and aggressions were much more muted in the presence of older and stronger birds, particularly Emile, who boasted fairly large talons and a much larger wingspan than her. Explained why she was so mellow, instead of the hyper aggressive, thrill-seeking behavior the falcons usually displayed in Kalos.

Flannery probably gave her tips on how to control the fire side of her though. The gym leader had been doubtful of her ability a few years ago when she first started out, but now she was known as one of the best fire specialists in Hoenn. She wasn't quite as known as Kalos' Malva, or Johto's Blaine, but she was formidable. Her league team was ferocious, with flames hot enough to turn hydro pumps into boiling clouds of steam the moment they touched.

Gale had told him that Flannery had been reasonably jealous and practically made her promise that should Vizi breed, she'd entrust her with an egg—which was the least she could do for all the useful training and advice the gym leader had given her in return.

Riven also found out that Gale had five badges to her name, having had no trouble with Emile and Kyne at the forefront of her team. She did lose to Winona though, which was more than could be said for him, seeing as how he never even got the chance to face her.

Now, he said Mauville wasn't anything surprising compared to Lumiose. A statement that was completely true about four fucking years ago.

As of right now, it was a gigantic city that covered about four times its original size and the surrounding land mass. The interesting part was that it was less like an open city and more like a huge shopping mall—an indoor city whose lights lit up the cloudy sky above, just like Lumiose.

Well, it wasn't nearly as bright as the city of light, but it was close enough.

Riven didn't quite gawk, but he was astonished to see such a radical difference in the landscape. Gale shrugged with an air of "I told you so" as she returned Emile and Kyne. Vizi settled on her shoulder where Gale wore a falconry shoulder pad.

I'm not going to lie that looks pretty awesome.

Gale snapped her fingers to break him out of his daze, taking the lead to go through the city gate. Once inside, heads turned as they saw Gale walk with a Fletchinder on her shoulder, more so because it was a foreign pokemon, and such a sought after one. Fletchlings and their evolutions fetched unbelievably high prices in other regions because of their battle prowess, keeping in check the powerhouses and walls that were fighting and steel pokemon.

"We should find a place to stay," Riven mentioned, still peering at all the shops and indoor streets.

"I can check us both into a pokemon center, that way you don't have to pay the fee. The nurses might think it very suspicious though. Older trainers of the opposite sex traveling together… They don't want certain things to happen," Gale said, reddening.

"No need," Riven replied. "I'm a registered trainer too. Kalos league though, so technically I'm a foreigner."

"Wait, huh? I thought you-"

"Got a new one," he said, waving a dismissive hand through the air. "Took quite a bit of favors to get a legit one, but I have one now," he said casually. Pointed to the sign that had directions to the center and walked ahead, stopping in front of it.

Gale watched him go up to the sign, scan it, nod once, and continue on his way. He came back, poking his head out the corner after a moment. "Hey, crazy girl. You're not going to just stand there, are you?"

She shook her head in disbelief, gripping the bridge of her nose. Vizi made a sound that was the bird equivalent of a snort. Gale scratched her chest feathers, cooing at her. "Hold on, it's not like there's anyone trying to kill you."

Riven's face was complete deadpan.

"Nevermind…"

They made their way into the central plaza of Mauville, which rivaled the size of Centrico, only it was overshadowed by the multitude of shops and was practically a huge park, with a two story replica of Prism in the center; the actual thing dwarfed it in comparison, but you had to give them points for trying. Besides, when he'd last seen Prism, it kind of had a huge hole in it and the rest of Centrico was totally wrecked.

Wonder if it's fixed now.

Checking into a shared double, they set their travel bags down. Like Gale said, the nurse at the front pulled Gale aside and murmured something into her ear. Riven pretended not to notice the unsubtle warning of no-sex-in-the-room policy that'd he'd clearly seen violated during his first visit to Petalburg.

Man those days were rough.

Dumping their belongings in the room, Gale sat on the bed across from Riven's. They both stared at each other.

"It's night time." Riven mentioned idly. "Don't think we'll be able to go where I planned to go. I'd go alone but I wouldn't be able to get rid of you if I tried." Gale smiled smugly. He scoffed. "So I won't. Having backup is always nice too. Boned and shit out of luck is something I'd like not to repeat."

"I sense that's a recurring issue with you also?"

"Pretty much. So, what now?"

Gale pursed her lips, staring off into a random corner of the room in thought. An idea came to her as a mischievous little smirk appeared. "Bar."

"Excuse me?" Riven asked. "I heard you say, 'bar'. Just to clarify. You said bar, right?"

"Mhmm."

"You want to go to a place full of sexually starved males and females that serves alcoholic beverages to engage in irresponsible and very disoriented behavior usually involving the pelvis area with said males and females?"

"Not quite like that!" Gale clarified, waving her hands. "I'm not looking for those kinds of things." She sighed heavily. The exhaustion she'd been hiding came flooding back out in her voice. "I've been waiting years with bated breath for you to come back and relieve me of your pokemon's worries. I've shed too many hairs and spent too many days frustrated and exhausted beyond belief. Some days I even screamed at the top of my lungs because of it."

She went silent before continuing, blowing a breath upwards. It lifted a bang of brown hair, which fell back in place as she shrugged. "I even kept the letter, you know."

"I had a feeling you would," Riven said, understanding.

"Anyway, I think I deserve getting a little drunk after that entire ordeal. I'm twenty one now, so I can. I was saving it up for something like this. Now that you're back, I don't have to worry about some creep taking advantage of me."

"Fair enough, even though I'm sure Baron taught you well enough to beat some ass even when you're drunk," Riven accepted. It was her choice, after all. "I'm just going to let you know right now. Hangovers suck. They're practically the antithesis of pleasant. You wake up sensitive to sunlight, your head feels like a Machoke focus punched it, and your body feels like shit and a half. Not fun at all."

"I… didn't peg you for an alcohol guy," Gale said, surprised. "Learned something new today."

"Slow down there. I'm definitely, really not." Riven wrinkled his nose at the memories. "Beer tastes like Rhyhorn piss, hard liquors might as well be corrosive acid down your throat and wine is a Kalos thing. And I've had enough of Kalosian culture for quite some time. The only things I somewhat like are the drinks that taste more like juice than alcohol. Informants and other information brokers love bars and fancy restaurants. Getting drunk was inevitable. My first hangover made me want to die."

Still, despite the warnings of doom and peril, Gale wanted to go to the local bar anyway; the Leaping Mawile. Riven obliged her, but already told her that it wasn't as great as trainers and Slateport college students made it out to be. Not even close.

Thing should be renamed to liquid self abuse. Liquid courage my ass.

The bar was noisy, of course, and as one could probably guess, full of single girls and guys trying to find someone to take home. Or to a hotel. What was interesting was that bars also had a prominent battle scene, attracting trainers looking for more… elevated stakes than normal. Some offered pokemon in wagers or larger sums of battle money. The highest gamblers wagered rare stones and even TMs. Most people just came to drink though.

The two sat down at a table in a corner of the room. Riven ordered a mix rum drink with pecha, magost, sitrus, and mago berries mixed in. It was called the Clefairy Paw and was really expensive in Kalos, mostly because some of the ingredients used had to be imported from other regions. Not here though. The alcohol really was muted from the sweetness, and got people really drunk if they didn't watch themselves.

Gale ordered a more traditional drink, cringing at the bitterness of the taste. "Gah! This tastes terrible."

Riven bobbed his head and lazily drank from his own beverage, moving a hand to say that he told her so. Set it down on the table, licking his lips. "That's why I get these. They taste great and you get drunk quickly. Skips the disgusting aftertaste phase."

Following his advice, Gale ordered a similar drink, but with a berry and fruit mix. It was a little more sour but she seemed to like it much better.

"So, what did you want to come to Mauville for?"

Riven swirled his drink, taking a steady breath. "What do you know of New Mauville?"

"Not much? Only that it closed like thirty or so years ago. It's abandoned now. I heard it has dozens of underground levels, but only the first two have been able to be opened by thrill seekers that trespass occasionally. Oh and it's home to a bunch of electric pokemon. Still runs on the old city power grid or something."

"Yeah, that's what people usually know. I don't think it shut down for no apparent reason though. The terms behind its closing were… strange. They don't quite make sense if you really dig. An old power plant like that suddenly closing out of the blue? Bullshit. Something must have happened in there."

"Something tells me that you're planning to do something illegal again," Gale guessed. "You have that glint in your eye."

"Which one?"

"The pretty one. Mostly because your brown eye is too dark to tell."

"Ah. Well, I was planning to-"

Their conversation was cut off as a glass slammed down on the table in front of Gale, startling her. At the foot of the table was a tall man with short, dirty blonde hair and a trainer jacket. On his belt were four pokeballs. He didn't appear to be drunk like most of the guys around.

"Hey. What's your name, beautiful?" He asked, smiling wide.

Gale held back a tiny sigh, not quite rolling her eyes but nearly there. Another one. Sometimes I wish I was a guy. "Gale, and you are?" Riven was internally grinning as he saw the evident annoyance in her facial muscles. This guy was quite the confident trainer apparently.

"Ace trainer Malcolm," he said, placing emphasis on the ace. He bowed to her, completely ignoring Riven who was sitting right across from her. Riven didn't mind it though, he found it quite amusing. These guys were everywhere and he'd dealt with more than he'd like to ever again. This time they weren't giving him shit, though—a small blessing. Gale was the one getting hit on. It was kind of like watching those nature documentaries on two wild pokemon and seeing what they'd do. Television was interesting at times.

So were humans. Courtship was even more so, mostly when the attraction was one sided, like it was here. Top quality entertainment. Popcorn worthy, at that.

"What brings a beautiful woman like you to Mauville? Where are you from?" Malcolm inquired. "I'm from Lilycove myself. You a trainer too? I see pokeballs."

A friend of his with an equally potent aura of douche came over to the table, eyes peeling open upon seeing Gale. "That's the girl with the Fletchinder! She had it on her shoulder and was walking around with it! Holy shit, she's hot. I mean the Fletchinder too but damn."

Gale went still and a slight slump of her chest signaled a silent curse in her head.

"Oh?" Malcolm said, licking his lips. "A Kalos pokemon? My, my those are rare. Especially with someone with a body like…" He looked her up and down. "-that. A true Hoenn gem. Stunning, above average in height, trainer, and has rare pokemon. Did I mention you're gorgeous?"

Gale was trying so hard to control herself she was turning red in the face. Riven almost choked on his drink when Malcolm turned on his charm further and proceeded to compliment her over and over. It was when Malcolm sat down next to her and put an arm around her neck did Riven really start giggling.

The fit finally drew his attention to him, but a hostile kind of attention.

"Something funny, friend?" The ace trainer bit out, eyes narrowed.

"No, no," Riven chuckled, holding up a hand while he tried to unsuccessfully compose himself. "Please continue… aha-hah."

"Oh, I get it. You were trying to get her first, huh? That's why you're laughing?" He ground out, tone shifting into a typical alpha male's. His little comfort zone was in danger, after all. Had to protect his dignity. "Got no game, do you?"

Riven channeled his inner cocky asshole and gave the biggest shit eating grin he could muster. A single finger jabbed in his direction. "I see. This is where you start showing off your bravado to impress the girl into thinking you're a big, strong man who can protect them. Right? You also brought your douche friend here to look for girls for you to pick up. The alpha and the beta. How fitting. Do you suck each other's dicks too?"

Nostrils flared, and Malcolm rose in his seat. "What was that? Can you repeat it, punk?" He growled, coming over to where Riven sat.

"I can but I don't think you'd have the intelligence to understand it," Riven said, twisting the stake further.

Malcolm knocked over Riven's drink, spilling it across the table. Riven looked crestfallen at the sight. "Such a waste. Is that it though? Just going to spill my drink? Disappointing." Crossing his legs, Riven rested his face on his fist.

About to reach for a pokeball, the bartender called out from behind the counter, "hey, fucking idiots, take this shit outside. You break anything, you buy it!"

Conceding, the ace trainer set the pokeball back into his belt. His jaw clenched as he locked eyes with Riven, still smiling widely. He lifted his chin, facing Gale once again. "Screw this guy, come with me. I'll rock your world."

Gale gave Riven a quick glance before smiling coyly. She got up to leave with him, probably about to wait until they were outside so she could beat him into the dust.

As soon as she stood up, the ace trainer's hand slid behind her back and firmly latched onto her behind, which he felt up. Gale's expression completely changed, turning into silent anger. Grey eyes were ferocious like storms. Even the bartender saw it.

The douche friend of his had even had the common sense to back away as well.

And it was at that moment, Malcolm knew, that he fucked up.

Gale wrenched his hand away from her bottom, twisted it over herself, elbowed him in the kidney, then smashed his nose into the nearest table; followed by shattering her glass over his head. He tried getting up but got a right hook to the jaw so hard he passed out.

"Pervert," she hissed, brushing herself off. "I was going to wait until I was outside to kick his ass, Bartender, but he groped me inappropriately. Put it on my tab, please." Gesturing to Riven, she moved her head towards the exit, giving the okay to leave.

She stormed out of the bar, furious. Riven followed stoically, who then lost it completely as he exited the doors. Gale raised her hands in the air, yelling, "I just want to drink in peace and these asses follow me everywhere! God!"

Riven caught up to her, still crying from laughter. He clapped like a drunken Sealeo. "That was golden."

"Can I be a boy?" She heaved. "Life would be so much easier."

"Sorry, but no. I have a feeling this happens almost as regularly as I tend to nearly get myself killed. Am I even half right?"

Gale blew out an exasperated breath, all but confirming that."When I'm alone? Yeah. A lot. Most guys aren't that brave though."

Riven sucked his teeth. "Those people are pretty desperate. Pseudo confidence that translates to arrogance often results. For girls it's obvious seduction attempts."

"Well it's annoying," Gale spat, gritting her teeth. She was still miffed about it for the next few minutes as they walked around the city but mellowed out quickly. They sat down on a nearby bench. She released Evie, ordering her to ice fang the next douchebag that got any ideas. The dog loyally nodded, sending a sudden dip of the head towards Riven, as if asking to do it to him first.

"No, not him. I actually don't mind that one."

Evie looked downright disappointed, grunting before settling in between Gale's legs below the bench. The Mightyena vigilantly focused, growling at every guy that happened to pass by them. She also took disapproving glances at Riven, daring him to try anything.

"Don't think she likes me," Riven mused. "I sense she has some trust issues. Given her story though, I can see why. Does she dislike male humans?"

"Yeah, a bit. You've made a lot more progress than other people though. Evie says you smell different," Gale mentioned absently, rubbing the undersides of the Mightyena's jaw. "She may have trauma though. She's really protective of me and I don't have to keep her in her ball too much. It's nice having a pokemon that doesn't knock everything over. Emile, Kyne, and Vizi drive me up walls sometimes. Yukiko isn't problematic, thankfully."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen a Snorunt before. Up close at least. Can you show me with she looks like?"

Gale reached for her belt and released Yukiko onto the floor in front of them. The light faded to reveal a small, triangular pokemon with two cyan colored eyes and a wide perpetual smile on its face. It had two tiny fists for hands, looking more like mittens than hands.

Yukiko shook slightly upon realizing where she was. Gale picked her up, holding the ice type in her arms. The pokemon settled, letting out a small "sno" before almost instantly falling asleep.

"I wish I could sleep like that," Riven said. He touched the triangular head of the Snorunt, who snuggled further into Gale's chest. "Must be the 'cushioning'."

Gale gave him a look and huddled together further, embarrassed.

"I was joking," he clarified. "My bad. I know I'm a bastard, you can insult me if you like."

She shook her head, choosing to stare at him for a long minute.

Noticing, Riven raised a brow. "Something on my face?"

"You seem… different," she said, slightly unsure how to phrase it. He seemed far less broody than he used to be, and that jittery paranoia that he used to have wasn't even noticeable. He was relaxed and at ease. It was jarring, but it was a welcome change. "The old you would have broke that guy's knees. Thanks for not stepping in, I really needed that."

Riven gave her a small, assuring smile. "Baron taught you well. Besides, it was one of the most entertaining things I've witnessed in a while. You ruined his beautiful douchebag face and are going to make him piss blood tonight at the same time. Two for one, heh."

Gale laughed, then stood up abruptly. "You said you wanted to go to New Mauville, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I need something to take my mind off things, are you up for a little trespassing?" The flyer suggested, grin growing further.

Riven furrowed a brow suspiciously. "Isn't suggesting stupid things to do my job?"

"Usually. Tonight I'm subbing in for you. So, you want to go? Or not?"

"That a challenge, trainer?"

"Why? You scared?"

"Quaking."

They ran towards the nearest open spot to the sky they could find and flew south, no plan, no preparation. Just them and their pokemon. Abandoned facility exploring, just like cave exploring. This was going to be fun.

Sorry for not updating faster than I previously said. Went back home and Thanksgiving stuff and all. Haven't been able to get on the computer for like three days. This was mostly a retouch chapter. Not much action or anything, just as the title said.

In case anyone was wondering, New Mauville was apparently a research facility of sorts. It was also a power plant. Now, I always found it weird that it was shut down with no explanation. And with all the events surrounding the gathering of mega evolution energy from pokemon to fuel certain things in the games( the ultimate weapon and the rocket from the delta episode) there seems to be some shady shit going on there. Considering the tower of mastery was built quite a bit ago, mega evolution must have been kept secret for a while and only came to light by some sort of accident. It wouldn't be surprising to assume that someone experimented with this in there. I mean it was a power plant.

Also, Gale knows something about him she still can't quite come to terms with.

See you in the next chapter and thank you for reading!

PSA: Dead week and Finals are going on. Expect the next chapter in two weeks and a half probably. It's half done but the editing takes time and exams are a priority. Christmas break should increased the update frequency.