Holy cowsicles when is the last time I updated twice within a single week? Wild. Also no this is not chapter 50, it's chapter 49 bc prologue. We'll celebrate next chapter.

Reference page for teams is here: sta dot sh/02evswcs10v

"So how were the Ruins?" I asked Thomas. We'd turned out the lights in our room in the Pokemon Center, but I still felt awake. All our pokemon were sprawled sleeping across furniture, the upper bunks, and the floor between us, so we were trying to talk quietly.

"They were neat," he said. "They were about what I expected: a lot of columns and carvings. There was one bit I didn't understand."

"Which bit?"

"Well, there was an engraving on the back wall – sort of a triangle with jewels inlaid on the corners and in the middle – and I couldn't figure out how it fits into Sinnoh mythology."

"Oh, I know that one. The gems represent Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie on the corners and Dialga or Palkia in the middle."

"Oh, okay. I guess I didn't know Azelf and Uxie were blue and orange."

"Blue and yellow, but yeah." I realized something. "Did Looker and I ever explain that myth to you?"

"What myth?"

"The one Galactic is using to summon Dialga and Palkia."

"That sounds important."

"Yeah. Basically, if you bring the Lake Trio to Spear Pillar, you'll summon them. Like a pentagram, but just a triangle and no demons show up."

"Okay… so why's there only one spot in the middle and not two?"

"For radial symmetry."

"Oh."

"I'm kidding," I said. "It could be either, but if the Lake Trio is any indication, attacking one pokemon of a duo or trio is a good way of summoning the others. That's how Galactic got their hands on the Lake Trio so easily last time; they just had to bomb one lake, and the other two followed to save their friend."

"Really capitalizing on the pokemon's compassion here."

"They wouldn't be the bad guys if they didn't."

Thomas thought about it for a second. "Where do the orbs come into play?"

"Oh yeah, maybe that was it. The orbs control who gets summoned, I think."

"And Spear Pillar is…?"

"It's on Mount Coronet."

"Mm."

Our conversation petered out. I was still awake, thinking about Lucas and the tournament and…

"Hey, Thomas?" I said quietly.

No answer. I only heard the quiet breathing of our pokemon and – at this point I assumed – him.

Never mind then. "Good night," I whispered, closing my eyes.

I woke up in the middle of the night, having dreamt of a luxray. Instinctively, I knew it had to be Liana, but she looked different. I didn't recognize her.

Which, of course, meant I no longer knew her.

I rolled onto my side, and a light I hadn't noticed before turned off. Thomas silently placed his flashlight on the bedside table, next to his sleeping wooper, and slid a card back into his wallet. I considered asking him about it, but I fell back asleep before I could decide.

Round four: quarterfinals!

…okay, so I ended up losing to Tim Raines and his many eeveelutions, but the fact that I'd made it to the quarterfinals of the Celestic Tournament was wild. Thomas made it even further – he squeezed through the quarterfinals and got to the semis before getting trounced by an 8-badge trainer. Dawn and Lucas and I watched both battles from the stands.

"Damn. That was anticlimactic," I said as Thomas shook hands with the girl who'd defeated him.

"To be fair, it's a tournament," said Dawn. "Only one person goes out on a win."

Lucas and I, of course, didn't speak for the duration of the morning. I was too anxious about how he'd respond to try saying anything. Arceus only knows what his excuse was.

I had another time skip – I actually missed most of Thomas's quarterfinal battle. He had to tell me about it later. The thing is, I missed his battle because I was thinking about Lucas. I got muddled up in my worries and detached from the world, all because the Lucas problem was compounding upon itself.

Would daydreaming have the same effect? Unsure. For all I knew, it was literally just Lucas.

Great.

At any rate, we stayed for the finals, in which Kaitlyn Cabot defeated Tejal Vaidya. I could see Tejal's friends in the front row, cheering her on.

After the match, the four of us left the stadium more or less together – meaning, Lucas went on ahead and the rest of us caught up outside the stadium, where he was waiting with Looker.

"The orbs have been stolen," said Looker.

I blanked. "They– what?"

"Should we be talking somewhere quieter?" Dawn said, looking around at the crowd leaving the stadium.

"This is fine. Too noisy to be overheard," said Looker.

"What do we know about the theft?" I asked.

"At 2 am, a hooded figure infiltrated HQ, went straight to the vaults, and managed to escape with the orbs. They had a porygon-Z for teleportation. They only used firepower once, but…" Looker hesitated. "According to security footage, it was a luxray."

Ah yes, my old friend Liana. "Then it was probably Mars… wait, does HQ not have a TP block?" I said.

"We have the ability to block teleportation, yes," said Looker. "But this intruder was faster than our reaction time."

"That's… impressive."

"So now what?" wondered Dawn. "Do we know where they took the orbs? Somewhere we can break into?"

"I'll tell you when I know." Looker released a natu from a pokeball. "That's all the infomation for now."

He teleported out. "It's been a minute since we all went after Galactic, huh?" I realized.

"Yeah, cause things were going well," said Dawn sadly.

"Yeah… I guess we'll see each other soon?" I said.

"Sounds good," Dawn said. Lucas did not look pleased.

"Someday," I said to Thomas, "One of two things will happen."

"These things are?" he asked, dropping his bag on the floor and pulling out his wallet.

"One, I'm going to have an actual conversation with Lucas again," I said, kicking off my shoes and jumping on my bed. "Or two, I'll stop caring altogether."

"The second one sounds good," he said, sitting on his bunk.

"Does it?" I said, more desperately than intended.

He looked up. "I mean, it doesn't sound bad," he said. "And if you stop caring, that means you'll stop being hurt by his attitude toward you."

"Which is terrifying," I said. "That even though he means so much to me now, there may be a time in the future where I feel nothing for him."

"Oh." Thomas looked at his wallet. He opened it and pulled out his picture of April – the one he was looking at last night, I realized. Of course. "I see what you mean."

"It feels like a waste, you know?" I said, sitting cross-legged. "All the caring and… and trying I've been doing. Giving up on him would mean none of that mattered."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," said Thomas. "You've learned things about yourself, right? And about what you like in a person, and what you want from a romantic interest?"

"Have I? Hard to say."

"You probably have. I know I learned a lot from April," Thomas said, waving the photo in the air. "Maybe you haven't isolated the lessons into words, but they're there."

"So that's all he is, huh?" I said glumly. "A life lesson, wrapped up into one smaller-than-average, moody boy."

"Well, no. There was a time when he made you happy, right?"

"Yeah."

"So he was important to you during this phase of your life," said Thomas. "Maybe that's enough."

"That makes him sound so insignificant. A phase."

"Yeah, I don't know why phases are viewed so negatively. They're small in the long run, timewise, but they define your life during that period. He's important to you now, and that doesn't have to be downplayed."

I considered it. "When did you figure all this out?"

Thomas held up the picture of him and April. "I was literally thinking about this last night."

"Are things… are you feeling better about her?"

"Actually, yeah." He smiled at the photo. "I wouldn't say I'm entirely over her. But the feelings are definitely ebbing… which might just mean I'm at a high point and everything will blow up again soon. But I've been thinking about things like this and… well, feeling better about them."

"That's good!" I said, feeling happy for him. "A recent development?"

"Last couple weeks – since I had that breakdown at Lake Verity."

"Congratulations," I said.

"Don't congratulate me yet. I'm only partway there," he said.

"That's not the only thing you're only partway to," I added.

"Oh?"

"You only have a fraction of the badges you ought to have."

"This again."

"We're going straight to Canalave tomorrow."

Except we weren't. I looked at the date and realized, very suddenly, that Tricia's birthday was in three days.

Thomas went ahead and started flying over to Canalave the next day – it would take him a few days to reach the city by noctowl, during which time I'd be in Twinleaf anyways. So we said goodbye to Dawn and Lucas (nothing new to report, sadly), and then I teleported home and spent the rest of the day there. Tricia wasn't available Sunday, but Megan was. I ended up going to her house and playing board games with her all day.

Megan… I hadn't thought about my feelings regarding her in a while – or, okay, I'd been trying not to think about it. I apprehensively overanalyzed my emotions while around her all day and came up with nothing conclusive. I definitely enjoyed being around her, despite my concerns.

That night, I went down to the lake to train with my pokemon. Faith and Hope flew around over the surface of the lake, Prom periodically leaping at them from the water and scattering the giggling children in every direction. I got Trust and Def to spar with each other – in part because they were nearly the same size, but mostly because they were matched in ability for now. Trust was still adjusting to his new limbs, and Def was more of a defensive player. Coeur observed.

A cool late-November breeze washed over the lake surface, rustling the treetops and making for a calm environment (broken only by the shrieks of glee and splashes from a togekiss, haunter, and buizel). Clear skies displayed a full moon hanging overhead.

"Def, what are you doing?" I asked. He was fighting oddly offensively.

"Sparring." He and Trust paused what they were doing.

"Sure, but you're… well, it's like you're trying to fight like someone else."

"I don't normally fight up close," he said.

"Sure, but you can do it in a way suited to you."

I jogged over and talked him through defensive stances and dodging, trying to remember what Maylene had taught me months ago. "As a gallade, you can sense the opponent's emotions, right?" I said.

"Oui."

"If they're angry, they'll probably fight more wildly and swing wider," I said, demonstrating with a wide punch. "You can frustrate them by evading at first, and start attacking when you have the advantage."

"D'accord." Then, "So je ne dois pas to fight according to typical sparring?"

"Nah. I mean, you could, and I could teach you more of what sparring means for Prom or Trust, but if you fight according to your own strengths, you'll be even better at it."

"D'accord."

Trust and Def went at it again. I went back to Coeur, who was scratching at her mane. Def now fought more evasively, swinging only when he was entirely in the clear. Trust still got hits in, but I could tell from the development of their movements that they were improving at the same rate.

"Great job, you two!" I said happily.

I glanced at Coeur again. She was looking out over the lake and the pokemon playing in and above it. She turned to look at me, and then the moon, and then Def.

"Eevee," she said for the last time.

Def suddenly looked at us and got punched in the face. Coeur let something fall from her mane and backed away from it. The moment I realized it was her everstone, she started to glow.

Trust and Def and I froze. Hope and Faith swooped over and Prom joined us soon after. We were all tense as her form shifted and grew taller and leaner – but, to be fair, we all knew her choice already. It was nighttime, after all.

Coeurage emerged from the evolutionary glow, her new fur black as night, apart from the gold rings on her head and limbs. The usual red eyes of an umbreon were a shade of red-violet, and her irises had retained the lavender flecks.

"Congratulations," I said to her, scratching behind her ears. She'd finally done it. A few of the others chimed in with congratulations of their own.

I felt a psychic shift in the air. "Can you hear me?" said Def.

"Yeah," I said back.

"Coeurage, can you hear me?" he said frantically.

I glanced up to find Def looking horrified. The rest of my team seemed confused but concerned. Coeur looked around at the team, like she wasn't in on what was happening.

Then it hit me: Coeur was a dark type, immune to psychic. We'd lost telepathic contact with her.

My friend Tim got married and this was supposed to be his celebratory cameo lol. It's a lil late but it still works I think.