"Hey, get up," said a voice above Calem. He did his best to look up, his heavy eyelids only opening halfway. It was hard to see details of the person's face, but Calem recognized him from his clothing and outline. Knowing he was safe, he laid his head back in the sand. His clothes were soaked through, so when a wave came up to his legs, he didn't so much as flinch.

"I said, get up."

The person looking down on Calem gave him a light kick to the shoulder. It wasn't enough to hurt, but still had some force. Calem let out a small grunt. He did his best to turn onto his back.

"What are you...doing here?" asked Calem.

"I should be asking you that, seeing as how you just showed up to my home unannounced."

"What?"

Calem turned his chin upwards and saw buildings. Due to the weird angle, it took him a bit to realize what he was looking at. They were homes. Not many and they were rather small, but sturdy looking. He was in Sandgem Town, in the Sinnoh region. He made it to his destination. He closed his eyes to rest.

"You know, when I was told there was some rampaging pokemon that killed a guy, I wasn't expecting to find you here."

"Rampaging pokemon...oh!" Calem shot himself up. Looking out at the ocean, he saw a sharpedo swimming around in circles rapidly. He remembered that Charizard had gotten too tired to fly, so he released Sharpedo to finish the trip. Though he didn't remember ever making it to land, so he assumed Sharpedo pulled his body to shore. The pokemon seemed to have been having fun while he rested. Calem pulled the pokeball from his pocket and aimed it.

"Sharpedo, return!"

Once Sharpedo was back in his ball, Calem sat again.

"Well, I guess that's one problem solved," said the man next to Calem. "Now, tell me why you're here."

"Huh...oh, right. I...need your help, Lucas," said Calem.

"Obviously. You just show up randomly half-dead. Not like you would've been wanting to help me with anything," Lucas said as he began walking back towards town. Calem stood up and tried to follow, but he only made a few steps before collapsing on his stomach. His exhaustion finally getting to him. The last thing he saw was Lucas pulling out a pokeball and shaking his head.

"Just wanted a nice day to relax," he said.

When he awoke, it was well into the evening. Calem opened his eyes to see the moon rising through a window. He was in a small room that he didn't recognize. Though it was clear to be someone's home.

For a moment, Calem forgot about the events of the previous night. He forgot strangers coming into his home. Forgot about fleeing his region. Forgot about him being a fugitive. Those thoughts were gone the moment Lucas came into the room with a bottle of water. Seeing the Sinnoh resident reminded him of everything.

"Drink this," said Lucas. Calem did as he was told, chugging the bottle until empty.

"Where am I?"

"At my family's home, in Sandgem. Mind telling me what you were doing lying on the beach fully clothed?"

At the mention of clothes, Calem looked down to see he was shirtless. He was also in a pair of shorts that weren't his.

"Look, Lucas, I...I need your help."

"You said that earlier. Help with what?"

"This will sound crazy, but in Kalos, I'm wanted. I had to flee the region and came here. I need to hide."

"Yeah, I know you have a bounty."

"I know I should've said something before you brought me here, but I-wait, what?" Calem looked Lucas in the eyes. "You know I'm wanted?"

"Yeah. I found out a couple weeks ago."

"A couple weeks?"

"Well, you weren't wanted publicly. I don't know how Kalos works, but here in Sinnoh the league will issue bounties and wanted lists a little while before letting the public know. Usually it's to try and catch criminals discreetly or prevent panic or both. Though sometimes, they'll issue warrants on someone and keep it private so they don't look bad. The only people who get to know are bounty hunters and Gym Leaders."

"So, I'm wanted in Sinnoh too?"

"Seems that way, since our Leaders were told. Possibly in other regions as well."

"Damn..." Calem laid back down. He couldn't think straight. Being wanted in Kalos was bad enough. But if he had to go into hiding everywhere he goes, he doesn't know how he'll manage.

"What did you do anyway?" asked Lucas.

"Nothing!" Calem abruptly sat back up. Lucas laughed.

"Relax, I know. A guy like you couldn't have done they say."

"You know why I'm wanted? Can you tell me?"

"No. I can't."

"What? You just said you know what happened!"

"I'm refraining from telling you not because I don't know it. I'm not telling you because I don't want to."

"Why not?" Calem wasn't asking in a soft or even pleading way. He was upset and it was obvious. Lucas grabbed a chair and sat beside Calem.

"It's better if you find out on your own, hopefully a while from now. Because once you find out, you'll just give up on everything," said Lucas. Calem said nothing more. He wasn't sure what Lucas meant, but he didn't want to question him. He watched silently as the boy got up and head towards the door.

"One more thing," said Lucas. "We washed your clothes and put them in the bathroom. Once you take a shower, meet me outside."

"A shower?" Calem said as he looked at this body. Tucking his head down and smelling himself, he realized he definitely needed one.

In addition to smelling better, Calem felt better after his shower. His skin was no longer grimy and his fingernails had nothing under them. Plus his hair was free of grease and had no knots. He was able to run his fingers through his hair without needing to wash his hands immediately after. Once dressed back into his clothes, he headed downstairs.

Lucas' sister was on the couch watching TV. Upon seeing Calem, she got up and ran to him.

"Um, are you Calem, from the Kalos region?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm guessing you're Lucas' sister?"

The young girl nodded. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly ajar. It had been a while since Calem met a fan. He never knew how to interact with ones like this.

"Is your, um, brother outside?" he asked. The girl nodded. Calem gave her an acknowledging nod, then walked away. He could feel the girl's eyes aimed at the back of his head.

"About time," said Lucas when he saw Calem emerge from his house. "You got a flying type right? I'm assuming you didn't swim all the way here."

"Yeah, Charizard."

"Good, bring him out, we're going somewhere."

Lucas turned his head towards the sky and whistled. A shadow flew over Calem and he looked up to see a rather large flying pokemon coming straight towards them. It was mostly white in color, with red and blue triangles on it's underside, and had a rather ovoid body. It flew to just a few feet above the boys before pivoting to the side, landing next to its master, who climbed onto its back.

"We'll be flying pretty much across the region. Can Charizard handle that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he's gotten enough rest," said Calem as he grabbed his flying pokemon's ball. It was warm to the touch. After seeing Calem let his pokemon out, Lucas took off.

"Charizard, we need to follow him."

Charizard let out a a bit of fire from his nose.

"I know, I know, I'm asking a lot of you lately, but it's serious. Just follow him and I promise I'll let you rest for a whole day. Deal?"

After letting out another small huff, Charizard bowed for Calem to climb on and took off like a jet after Lucas and his togekiss.

The ride was a fairly quiet one. Not quiet in the sense of their being no noise, but quiet as in no one said anything. Both Calem and Lucas didn't speak a word. The two pokemon rarely cried, aside from Charizard letting out some roars to keep wild flying pokemon away. It was mostly the wind rushing past that was heard. The flight was also monotonous. Lucas had no deviations in his flight path, until he took a sudden dive.

Calem was forced to hold onto Charizard as tightly as possible, as his pokemon followed Lucas' to a T. As he flew down, Calem took in the area. It was a small part of a much larger island. There were tropical trees, multiple expensive looking homes, a giant pond, and a large grand building with a purple roof.

While he had trained in Sinnoh for a little while, Calem wasn't able to explore the whole region. After landing and taking a look around, he guessed he was in the resort area. Despite hearing so much about it, he never got to visit. He wished the timing was better. After the two boys withdrew their pokemon, Lucas started walking towards one of the homes.

"Follow me," he said. With Calem right behind him, he walked past the front gate of the residence and walked to the front door. Calem said nothing, but gave Lucas a questioning look when he turned to him. "Relax, I sort of own the place."

"How can you afford a place like this?" said Calem as the two walked in. The inside was just as extravagant as the outside. All the furniture, from the large plush couch to the small coffee table, was exquisite.

"I pretty much got it for free. The last owner bought it to retire here, but when that one group I told you about showed up, they scared him off. Even after they were long gone, he still wanted to get rid of the place. Aside from some taxes, he practically gave it to me," Lucas sunk into the couch when he was finished.

"So...what are we doing here?" asked Calem, still standing.

"Figured it's better to hide out here as opposed to Sandgem. Not to mention the foot traffic."

"But isn't this place less conspicuous? It is the Resort area after all."

"It's basically a resort in name only. Mostly retirement homes for seniors. With some exceptions," Lucas gestured to himself.

"If you say so..." Calem made his way to an armchair to sit. It was as comfortable as the couch looked.

"I already know the answer, but, how you feeling?"

"Terrible. Just this time last night I returned home after being gone for over a year. Then a couple hours later a group of guys bust my front door down looking for me."

"Bust your front door? Damn, Kalos bounty hunters don't play around. They're way more cautious here. If they so much as breathe too much on an innocent person they can get their licenses revoked."

"I just wish I had some way of knowing who's behind them."

"You were the Champion but don't know?"

"What does me being Champion have to do with it?"

"Bounty hunters work under the league directly. How did you not find that out?"

"I had the job for a couple days before leaving. I didn't get to learn a whole lot."

"Well, for future reference, most bounty hunters are in direct order of the Elite Four. In any region. So, try not to deal with any."

"Wait, so does the champion order them around or any member?"

"Any of the members can issue a bounty, as long as the other three okay it. However, the Champion can issue a bounty with only two other members giving approval. Seeing as how you're wanted in more than one region, I'm guessing a Champion ordered it and passed the information to the other leagues."

"Which Champion?"

"You see, that's the question we should figure out..." said Lucas while yawning. "...tomorrow. I'm going to bed. There's a couple guest bedrooms, just take your pick or sleep on the couch."

Lucas got off the couch and headed up the stairs. Calem wanted to talk more about his problem, but felt it was better to let Lucas rest. Despite sleeping earlier in the day, Calem was still exhausted. Moving to the couch, he lied down and felt his body become dead-weight. Knowing he was wanted in most regions was a scary thought, but having a Champion be behind it was even worse. He'll be sure to talk to Lucas more in the morning. Hopefully, the two can think of a plan.