Let's face it: it was a bad idea. Floaroma was a half day's walk away, and I started out at seven, running. I realized right as I left Jubilife that I was leaving the city behind for the second time – leaving Liana for the second time.

Liana and Lucas. This better be frigging worth it.

It was 9:30 when I arrived in Floaroma. Trust was still in his pokeball, resting so he'd be in good shape when we reached the Windworks. I only brought him out once, to help me get through the cave on route 204. Rocks to smash. Left hand. Still being careful with the right.

We took a ten minute break – Pokemon Center cafeterias are open late for trainer teams like us. The lady serving food came to check on me because I was so winded. I told her I was fine, with fingers still tingling and cheeks numb and knees shaking.

Bright side: now I had bragging rights.

Also, we were in Floaroma.

I stopped by a Pokemart to purchase a right-handed brace that would fit Trust, then set out again. The Windworks were another two miles to the east.

I ran along the river path. Starting again was harder than the journey to Floaroma. My lungs burned like never before.

The Valley Windworks is a major sight in Sinnoh. It's right at the bottom of Mount Coronet, so for miles around you can see the windmills rolling like so many little pinwheels in the distance. Up close, the closest windmills are like obelisks harnessing energy and moving it through wires into a blocky gray building: the Windworks itself.

From far away, I could see someone dozing against the front entrance to the Windworks. I got right in front of him before he noticed my presence.

"Hey."

The uniformed grunt opened an eye lazily and glanced my way. "H'lo."

"I'd like to go inside the Windworks."

He scoffed and stroked his dyed hair. "Can't. Problems. No one's allowed in. Come back later."

"The only problem here is Team Galactic."

He squinted at me. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Let me in."

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin."

"I'm serious."

A smirk. "Six on six?"

I knew Team Galactic grunts well enough to call his bluff. "Sure thing."

"Glameow, scare them off."

"Trust, it's yours. Watch the claws."

She pounced at him, screaming, but ultimately her little claws were no match for Trust's braced fist. Oneshotted.

The grunt turned pale. "Return." In a flash, he opened the door behind him and slipped through.

"No!" I shouted, charging at the door. But it shut with a click before I made it.

The key, I thought frantically, I forgot to get the spare Windworks key!

The key is in Floaroma.

Exhausted, I leaned against the door. Another two miles and back to run… My head spun just thinking of it.

"Lyn?"

I turned my head. "Looker?"

"Weren't you just in Oreburgh?"

"Weren't you?"

"Transportation is one of the IP's few powers," he said, putting a hand on my forehead. "Are you all right?"

"I've been running since Jubilife," I told him.

"Mew, Evelyn. Even if you are a runner..."

Trust pulled something out of my backpack and handed it to me. "Aw, thanks," I said, drinking from the water bottle.

"Are you heading in, then?"

My face fell. "No. It's locked."

He stared at me for a few seconds before realization broke through. "Right. I forgot. You didn't keep it, I did."

Huh?

He pulled out a key ring and picked a dull gray one from the bunch. "Remember this?"

The Windworks key.

I remembered now. I handed it off to him after going through with Lucas, last time. So that he could return there if he needed to.

"Can I send you in alone?" Looker asked, handing me the key.

"Of course. Stay out of the way."

"All right." It could have been a joke, another time, with another person, but I was serious here. Looker would be vulnerable in there. So he turned and walked back down the dirt path.

I turned the key in the lock. Trust and I were going in.

The grunt I'd met outside saw me first. "Perimeter breach!" he yelled, "BREEEEAAAACH!"

Two more grunts ran in. Hm. I hadn't bargained on any double battles.

"Zubat!"

"Glameow!"

"Trust, mach punch first. Get that type advantage. Ember on the zubat."

He seemed a little confused at first – hm, should teach him type advantages – but he figured it out fast, sprang forward to nail the glameow in the chest, and hit the zubat within moments of that. The glameow swiped at his back, achieving a shallow cut. Trust elbowed her.

"Do that again, but put fighting energy into it."

"Glameow, watch out! Fury swipes!"

"Leech life!"

The glameow turned around just in time to get nailed in the face with a mach elbow. Zubat spat a needle at Trust, stabbing him in the rear. Leech life always looked worse than it felt (this from experience fighting Galactic zubats).

"Glameow's down. Ember."

Trust shot a bundle of flames at the zubat, nailing him in the wing. Too easy.

"Return."

"Trust," I said, beckoning to him as I walked toward the grunts. They started to edge away. "Hold up," I said, "Where's the other grunts?"

The one I met outside shifted nervously. "This was it."

"Did the others leave?"

The one with the zubat – a guy shorter than me – shook his head. "It was just us. I swear."

"Fine." I walked past them, Trust at my side.

"Where are you going?!"

"You know where I'm going," I called back over my shoulder.

I remembered these corridors. Admittedly, it wasn't a hard building to navigate. Just a few turns before I reached the control room.

I saw Mars in the corner, leaning over a computer. The Windworks keeper was nearby, looking exhausted but okay.

Charon was there. Old man in a lab coat. Red-tinted glasses. He looked over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "Well!" he said, "You got through those worthless grunts, I see."

I ignored him. "Mars, speaking for both the daughter of this man and for Sinnoh itself, please leave the premises."

Mars glanced up, looking exasperated. "We're here for reasons much larger than a little girl."

"I know. That's why I said Sinnoh itself."

Mars's gaze narrowed. Wait, hold up, too far, shoot.

"Then what are our plans?"

"You're trying to be the bad guys of Johto and Kanto," I said with a serious façade. "Gain power. Take over the region. And you're doing it under the mask of a legitimate corporation. But guess what: we're gonna see through you. You won't get away with this."

"We'll see about that," Mars said, smirking – she bought it. "Anyways, clearly you're an annoying brat who doesn't know her place, so here are the stakes. If I lose, Galactic leaves the premises. When you lose, you leave the premises."

"Deal," I said.

"Keep on working; this sideshow's not for you," Charon told the Windworks keeper, who was watching. Shooting Charon a tired look, the keeper turned back to the screen.

"Zubat."

"Trust, it's yours." I nodded to him, and he darted out.

"Bite."

"Wait on it, then mach punch. Follow with ember."

They were a pair of blurs, the exchange lasting maybe a second. Trust blasted a second ember, knocking the zubat from the sky.

Arceus, he even beat Mars's in a few blows.

"Purugly, fake out."

"Take the hit. Mach punch."

He flinched when Purugly clapped her paws in front of his face, but came back strong. Purugly was still close by when Trust returned to his senses and charged in with a mach punch. The cat tumbled and rolled back onto his feet.

"Fury swipes."

"Mach punch."

But I'd forgotten how lethal that Purugly's fury swipes were. Trust yelled, claws scraping his face and hands.

"C'mon, mach punch…"

He struck out blindly in the direction of the claws, punching Purugly square in the nose. It made an ugly sound. Purugly fell back, nose bleeding.

"Ember!"

And he was down.

"Return," Mars said, sounding stunned. I jogged over to Trust; the scrapes weren't too deep, but they had to hurt.

"Thanks, Trust," I whispered, pulling him back into his pokeball.

"Beaten by a kid," Charon chuckled.

"You hush. We're moving out." Mars glared at me. "Things will be different next time. I can promise you that."

She stalked out as promised, Charon close behind.

The keeper stood, suddenly showing concern. "Is my daughter all right?"

"Team Galactic didn't touch her. She should be fine," I reassured him.

We practically chased Galactic out in our hurry to reach the exit. When the keeper reached the main entrance, a small creature shot through the door at him. I whipped out Trust's pokeball before realizing it was a little girl.

The voice muffled by his lab coat said, "Daddy, you're okay!"

"Annie…" His voice was about to choke. Putting away the pokeball, I slipped out the door to give them privacy.

"Wait!"

The little girl ran after me. "Are those people gonna do more bad things?"

"They have plans to, yes."

"Oh…" Annie looked let down. "Are you gonna stop them?"

"That's what I'm aiming for."

"I want to come too."

I shook my head quickly. "It's dangerous. And your dad wants you to stay safe."

"What about your dad?"

"I'm a trainer. It's a dangerous thing to be. He understands I'm doing my best to stay unharmed."

But he couldn't help but worry anyways. Looking at this girl and her father, I understood that. He couldn't help but worry – it was in his nature. He couldn't help but care.

"Then… I'll help this way," she said, running to the riverside. "BUIIIIIIIZELLLLLLLLL–"

A splash upstream. The pokemon swam over and surfaced next to Annie. She started to talk to the buizel quietly.

"She's been friends with that buizel since she was crawling," her dad told me. "Which has only been a few years, but still most of her life."

Annie and the buizel approached us. "Buizel's gonna help you fight the bad guys."

"Whoa, what?"

"I can't go," she explained, "but he can. Take him with you."

"Is… Are you okay with that?" I addressed the buizel. He nodded solemnly.

"You need to hurry to catch them," Annie urged me.

Suddenly conscious of my heart beating, I pulled a ball from the pocket I hadn't touched since I first filled it with empty pokeballs. I presented it to him; he touched his nose to the button, and the pokeball sucked him in.

I held the sides of my head as the line connected. This wasn't going to be fun.

Megan picked up first and started to speak, but I cut her off. "Let's wait for Tricia," I said.

"Her internship started tonight, remember?"

"Oh," I said, "Right. Of course."

I silently cancelled Tricia's end of the call.

"Are you in Jubilife already?" Megan asked.

"Floaroma."

I watched her do the calculations. "That's over forty miles from Oreburgh, isn't it?"

"41 from Oreburgh to Floaroma." Calculated out of curiosity-slash-waiting for Trust to go through the heal station.

"But you hadn't battled Roark by last night."

"Yeah."

"What time does the gym open?"

"10."

"41 miles in 14 hours?"

"45 miles."

"45?"

"Took an excursion to the Valley Windworks. 2 miles from Floaroma."

"Did you ever stop?"

"Several times."

"Then… you ran."

"Partway."

"How far is partway." She did not ask it.

"Jubilife onwards."

She was staring away from the screen in a way that made me think there was a map. "Did you find Dawn and Lucas?"

"Yeah."

"And now they're…"

"Jubilife."

"But you met up with them?"

"Yeah."

"Do they know you're in Floaroma?"

"I… Maybe."

"You didn't tell them."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you didn't tell them?"

"Didn't tell them."

Megan turned back to the screen with the camera. "Evelyn, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"I've noticed. I'm one of your best friends for a reason."

Annie and her dad popped into my mind. "I know," I sighed. "I'm not ready to say it yet."

Megan looked at me sadly. "All right… But when you are, talk to me."

"Kay."

"So what's happened lately?" Megan moved on.

"Since last night? Well… I beat Roark really fast this morning. Then we went at a normal pace to Jubilife, and I started running after that."

She made a face. "Why?"

"I'll… tell you next time I call."

"Go on."

"So then I got to the Windworks and did what I needed to do there, and this little girl recruited a buizel for me."

"Wait, you mean…"

"I have a buizel now."

"Oh, cool. Did you name him?"

"Not yet. I asked if he had a name, and he kinda considered it for a sec and then shook his head. Usually that means the pokemon has a name that can't physically be pronounced. So I've heard," I added quickly.

"Wow, you're a conscious trainer," she commented.

"…huh?"

"Thinking about your pokemon to that degree."

"Well… yeah. I'm supposed to care about them. As a trainer."

Megan shrugged. "Sure."

I thought of something and smiled a little. "Likewise with friends."

"What?"

"Nothing."

There was a pause while we both tried to figure out what to say.

"Megan?"

"Yeah?"

I kept trying to word it in my head. "If… If something happened to me and… for whatever reason I stopped talking to you… would we still be friends?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like if something happened. And then I didn't call you for a month."

"Like if you got sick and couldn't talk to me?"

"No. If I didn't call you of my own accord. Chose not to."

"Evelyn," she said, "You'd still be my best friend. If anything comes up, you can always talk to me."

Arceus, Megan. "Okay."

"…is there something you want to tell me?"

"Hm– Oh, not right now, it was…" Technically it had already happened. "…hypothetical."

"Oh, okay."

"So… how are things in Twinleaf?"

Not much was happening in Twinleaf, so we ended the call fairly soon.

Eterna, I decided. I'll tell her there.