Disclaimer: These characters belong to Game Freak, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company.

May God bless you all.

Penny lay in her bed. She had been pretty much not there (though physically there) the whole time they were with Iono. When she had first joined this group, things were okay… well better than okay. She had Florian, Mela, and Eri. Even though none knew who she was, it was nice to have some people she considered friends around.

But, now… they were heading back to Mesagoza. All the Team Star bases had been defeated and there was only the "big boss" left. At first, she was sure she could just tell them, but now… how was she supposed to tell these people she had worked with over the last year that she was the one who started the entire organization in the first place. How could she tell… him?

Penny shot up.

"No!" She told herself.

She sighed and decided to get up and have a walk around the hotel.

Maybe a good walk would help clear her mind.

"Wow, that was a good one." Said Eri. "You sure have a lot of energy." She told him.

"Thanks, Eri." Replied Florian. "And thanks for working out with me. It's good to have a partner again."

"Again?" Asked Eri. "Do you have someone you usually work out with at the academy?"

"Yeah, Ms. Dendra actually." He told her.

"Wait, that muscle-obsessed Battle studies teacher?" She asked.

"The very one. She's a great workout buddy." He told her. "For some reason though none of the other students seem to want to exercise with her."

"Oh, there's a reason." Said Eri quietly.

"What was that?" Asked Florian.

"Um… don't worry about it. Well, I'd better head back to my room." Said Eri.

"Yeah, I actually have a call to make so think I'll hang around the lobby for a bit." Florian told her.

"Okay, good night." Said Eri as she left.

"Night." Florian.

Florian went over to a chair in the lobby. He took out his Rotum phone and made a call.

"Hello, hey Vic it's Florian." He said.

"Yeah, got all the badges so… what really!?"

Florian was so engaged in his conversation with Victor that he hadn't noticed at first the short red/blue-haired girl approach him.

"Hey, Florian." Said Penny.

"Oh, hey Penny." He said. "No, wasn't talking to you Vic."

"Oh, you're on the phone I'll go…" Said Penny as she turned to leave.

"Hold on Penny, you're from the Galar region right?" He asked.

"Yeah…" She said.

"Hey, Vic do you know anyone named Penny?" He asked. "Really? Hold on."

"He says his sister Gloria has a friend named Penny." Said Florian.

"Wait that's Gloria's brother?" Penny asked. "Yeah, she's like one of my few good friends from there."

"Hey, Victor it's Penny." She said into his Rotum phone. "How's Gloria?" She asked.

"Oh, well with Hop a good amount nowadays." Said Victor.

"That makes sense." Penny answered.

"Anyway, I better get going. Got a lot of legendaries to catch." He said.

"Bye Vic." Said Florian.

"See ya God willing." Victor said as he hung up.

"So, you know them huh?" Asked Victor.

"Yeah, went to school together back in Postwick." Said Penny as she sat across from him. "Wait how do you know him?"

"We got to talking after I joined a social media group about legendary pokemon." Florian replied.

"He's actually in the Crown Tundra now, apparently they found these caves that contain multiple legendary pokemon from multiple regions." He told her.

"Wow." Replied Penny.

*Yawn*

"Well, I guess I better go get ready for bed." Florian Said. "We gotta head back to Mesagoza tomorrow."

"Don't remind me." Said Penny to herself.

"What?" Asked Florian.

"Don't worry about it." Said Penny as she got up.

She and Florian walked back to her hotel room together. She had her own room, unlike the others which was a few doors down from his on the same floor.

"Well, good night." Said Penny.

"Yeah, see you in the morning God willing." He said as he left.

Penny watched as he walked to his hotel room and went in. She sighed. Tomorrow she would have to do it. There was no way around it. She would have to reveal who she was and where she went and…

Suddenly a strange realization came to her head.

"How did he?" She asked herself as she went into her hotel room. She thought more on it as she was in bed. She went over many conversations in her head she had had with both he and Juliana. Yet nothing she remembered could explain…

…How Florian knew where she was from.

"Woohoo!" Yelled Nemona after her defeat. Florian would have found this strange but… this was Nemona after all.

He had just beaten her after taking on the elite four.

"Next time I'm gonna win." Said Nemona as their friends began to gather around.

"You know, I never get tired of hearing you say that." Said Mela.

"I never get tired of saying it." Nemona responded.

"Anyway we should probably head to the cafeteria, I'm hungry." Said Florian.

"Good, you'll eat and be recharged and we'll battle again." Nemona said.

Florian laughed as they headed back up the stairs. Towards the academy. He had done it now. Beaten the Gym challenge and the elite four and Nemona… again. However, these were all really just stepping stones. A much bigger challenge now awaited him.

And he couldn't wait to face it.

The Acadamy at night wasn't booming, but it wasn't vacant either. The library was open 24/7 and there were snacks that you could grab at the cafeteria, despite it being closed. However, Florian was currently out at the schoolyard, which was pretty much empty. It was around 10:00 pm and even Ms. Dundra had finished her evening workout.

But Florian had gotten a text to meet with the leader of Team Star, who ended up being Cassiopeia herself. So here he was, waiting by one of the battle courts, for the leader of Team Star to…

"Hello, Florian…" Said a mysterious voice behind him.

He turned around and saw a short girl which her hoodie over her head, obviously trying to mask her identity.

"Before I reveal myself… I just want to say… I had to…"

Suddenly the mysterious girl stopped as she found herself embraced in a hug from Florian.

"Hi, Penny." He said as he hugged her.

At first, she was shocked… however, he felt her body relax and her tension slowly leave.

"You knew?" She asked quietly as her head rested on his shoulder.

"From pretty early on, but I didn't figure out you were the Team Star leader until that last base. See the old Director said that the leader got sent back to the Galar region for a while. Once Cassiopiea revealed her identity to me as the leader… I put two and two together."

"Hmmm, you're smart." She said quietly.

"Thanks." Florian replied, the two still in their hug.

"So are we gonna battle?" Asked Penny.

"If you want to." Florian replied.

Penny sighed as her head still rested on his left shoulder.

"I really, really, really, really…"

"…don't."

Thank you all who made it to the end. I know this was a short chapter but I think the idea was finished. It didn't make sense to start the next part of the journey yet.

May God bless you all.