Well, hi there, hello. If you've clicked on this, you've reached the third and final installment of the Paldea Trilogy, though certainly not the mere third of the series. Or the final. This is, however, everything the first two books have been building to.

Obviously, we continue the story from where we left off: Volo is back. Akari, too. And now Paldea and the world are set for a storm that needs stopping…if Juliana can pull it together! Without further ado, let's get to it!

Author: Epicocity

Rating: T for language and violence

Pairings: Amourshipping, Hop/Gloria, Arven/Nemona

DISCLAIMER: As typical, and as unneeded and obvious, I don't own.


Love in the Time of Tearing

The Third and Final Book of the Ancienverse Paldea Trilogy

Book Thirteen of the Ancienverse

Chapter 1

A Ploy

"Careful with that crystal! We don't know what damaging it could do!"

Clemont's almost uncharacteristic shout drew Gloria out of a deep reverie. The sound of lapping, cutting waves and the churning of engines almost overpowered his voice, but wasn't enough to silence him entirely. Those who heard him obeyed, showcasing the respect that the preeminent inventor commanded. Gloria, for her part, sighed and leaned back over the railing, feeling the leather-bound book in her hands.

"Find anything good, Gloria?" She felt an arm settle around her shoulders, pulling her close to the owner of the voice. It was an embrace she was quite familiar with. Had it been under any other circumstance, she would have melted into it. Instead, she offered another sigh.

"Depends what you mean by 'good'," Gloria said. The wind picked up, flapping aside some of the pages in the journal. Messy writings and hasty drawings could be seen, some of which looked like ramblings at best, but Gloria found herself coming back to one drawing, in particular. "I don't think any of it is good."

"Mm, not surprising," Hop said. His arm slid off her, his hands clasping to the railing and tightening. "Not every day you find a crystal in an old abandoned temple with a person inside of it and a Pokémon's remains near it. Enough to shake you to the core."

"I'm more concerned about what she left behind," Gloria admitted. She held the notebook up, showing off the picture of a man labeled only as "Volo". It was an odd picture, one that appeared to be drawn with equal parts loathing, obsession and care, as if the artist, no doubt the Akari sealed inside the crystal, took great care to depict him. "This journal talks about so much that she's been through, fighting this Volo, and it feels like they didn't just leave it at that."

"So, you're worried that if she left something like this behind, then he must have, too."

"Seems a reasonable conclusion, yeah?" The couple turned, facing the place where the crystal containing Akari's body was anchored down. Some workers were busy keeping it secure on the turbulent waters, while Clemont was using a hastily invented machine to scan all over the base. Watching him made Gloria's stomach pitch, feeling bad about having roped him into something like this, and something so clandestine at that. "Hop, you think she's alive in there. I mean, really? Or are we just…?"

"I'd say so. Not that I'm an expert." Hop walked forward, as if approaching the crystal, but appeared to think twice about it. "We'll know more once we reach Paldea. Unless you've changed your mind."

"Not a chance! Come on, Hop, you know me!" She elbowed him, but he took it graciously. Their interaction garnered Clemont's attention, the man throwing a raised eyebrow in their direction. It made her uncomfortable once more. "We're not turning back. I roped in Clemont, and he roped in his friend Sophocles to make sure we could do this without a massive crystal drawing attention. There's no stopping that."

"Not sure we need all the secrecy, though." His bitterness was duly noted and summarily ignored. Gloria looked away from him. He had made more than clear how much he disliked the skulking around and keeping things from everyone. "You know we could trust Ash and Lee and all them."

"No," Gloria insisted. She fully shed Hop's embrace to lean over the wide ocean. A storm was coming, rumbling in her very bones. The sheets of rain dancing on the ocean were visible ahead and she could smell the salt on the air. "They have enough to deal with. And besides…I don't want to waste their time."

"Waste their time? Pretty sure this thing sounds right up Ash's alley!" Clemont's voice entered the discussion, making Gloria wince. She couldn't deny he was right, and Hop's smug expression suggested that he was basking in that victory. Still, she clutched tight to the notebook. "I don't much like keeping a secret from him, either. But you have your reason, yeah?"

"Feels like I do," Gloria said. She was tempted to open the notebook again, but refrained from doing so. Her hair was carried by the growing breeze, the rain all but imminent. "Reading this notebook, seeing Akari in this crystal, I feel like I actually know her. Understand her. It feels very personal to me, and that includes this quest she went on. The quest to stop this 'Volo'."

"And all of it leads to Paldea? I suppose that makes sense."

"More than sense, unfortunately." Hop's editorializing earned him a glare from his girlfriend. "Study enough of the sea currents, especially as they pertain to Legendary Pokémon and you can start to form a web of connectivity. In this case, it's not farfetched that, somehow, this crystal broke off into some water somewhere and drifted all the way to Galar. How long it's been there, though, we can't say."

"At least fifty years, unless someone else made notes in here. And given it seems Akari's last known location was Paldea, and her worry about something she left behind and unfinished…" Gloria let the thought hang. They didn't need further explanation.

"Land ho, mateys. There be a lighthouse welcomin' us aport!"

"Then that'll be the professor's lab. Take her in quiet!" Hop shouted before dropping in volume, himself.

Undeterred by the storm around them, the ship entered the gray, rainy haze. It obscured them from all but the most keen-eyed Pokémon, making them secluded from any spies on the shoreline. If secrecy was what they had hoped for, Gloria was sure they had achieved just that. It made the waters choppier than hoped, and more than once, Akari's crystal was jostled, but showed no signs of lasting damage.

A shiver ran up Gloria's spine as they approached, the docks slowly becoming visible in the mist. Something about the storm felt unnatural, and from their sluggish movements, the sailors all agreed. Hop and Clemont were no different, but they kept their eye on the prize, one which revealed itself when they finally slid into the docks and laid anchor.

"Impressive," Clemont commented, peering through his spectacles to the array of books and reports scattered at the seaside haven. "I'm amazed the famous Sada and Turo had such an open lab here."

"I don't think it used to be," Hop pointed out. He was the first to jump ship. "These things look long abandoned. Probably when they shifted their research to Area Zero. It's what they're most known for, after all. Sonia had to pull some real backchannels to find rumors of this place."

"Then let's see what it's made of! Time's a-wastin'!" Hop rolled his eyes at Gloria's enthusiasm, but she didn't have the heart to tell him what was really eating at her.

And, in fact, it continued to eat at her.

As their motley crew settled in to the abandoned lab, they made themselves at home, pouring all their efforts into establishing a base. It started with hooking Akari up to the various computers, and finding all of the necessary codes to use them. Then came the tests. And the defenses. And the research.

Soon, Gloria had found that nigh on a week had passed. A week in which she barely slept and Hop hardly ate. Clemont was more mature about it, but still found his nose dug in a book like the rest of them. The nights grew long and the days longer. Secluded in their own little corner of Paldea, the trio continued their deep research into the girl sealed in crystal, coming no closer to answers.

Yet Gloria could never shake the feeling that the threat was moving ever closer.

Her very heart pounded with the sensation, and all too often she combed through every inch of the journal, as if it would provide her with a sudden answer. It did no such thing, and as days and nights melded together, it became a messy haze of nebulous words on a page.

At that point, Hop did start to notice, watching her with such concern it made her want to snap at him. He never said a word, but she supposed he didn't need to. He hadn't signed up for this, and she was spinning her wheels on some wild chase to nowhere. It was only her pride that refused to let her admit it.

And after a week passed, and Gloria found lunch tossed to her on an old and ratted couch, only then did she and Hop have their first real conversation. The air around them, however, could not have been thicker with tension.

They ate in silence for a long while, staring around the dilapidated lab. Dusty picture frames of bygone days remained, but the books had all but been picked clean through. It left the only living thing as the two of them. Knowing she couldn't stall much more, Gloria leaned forward. "How is she?"

Hop breathed out, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. In the broken lighting, he looked markedly mature, his years of expertise shown in full. The longer she stared, the more she realized he wouldn't have looked out of place with glasses. He wasn't in a mood for humor, however. "Alive, far as I can tell. Though I'm no expert."

"Alive…" Gloria started to glare at something unseen, her foot tapping. "So, if we can get her out…"

"I don't know if we can do that," Hop said. He, too, leaned forward, but didn't bother to take her hands. There was something unexplained, and Gloria didn't feel like prodding. "Think about it. She's been inside that thing for years and we've no idea what that crystal is. It could be linked to the Paldean phenomenon of Terastallization, it could be a healing incubator, or a parasitic thing. I have a feeling it's related to a possible Legendary Pokémon, given their capacities, but I couldn't say."

"And you're the expert…"

Hop continued in spite of her grumbles. "And with so little knowledge, if we chance removing Akari from within it she could…"

"Then what the hell are we doing here, Hop?!" Gloria slammed her fist down on the couch. "I need… We need answers for what's laying in Paldea, and she has them. There has to be a way to get her out, and I'm gonna find it. You said Terastallization, yeah? Maybe if I can-"

"Damn it, Gloria, do you even hear yourself? This isn't like you!" Hop brought himself to his feet, towering over her. In any other situation, she would have found herself attracted to his mature physique. However, in this case, she glared up at him. "You're pushing away and going one track here. And usually, I love getting wrapped up in zany troubles with you, but this time I think you've gone a bit mad."

"Someone has to…" Gloria muttered, sitting back. Her fingers picked at a loose filling on the couch, words finally coming to her that she hadn't spoken since their discovery in the Crown Tundra. "Something's coming. I know it. We might be the only ones who know it. And we know from the Darkest Day, that if we don't step up to the plate… If I don't step up to the plate, then I'm not doing my job as a Champion."

"Gloria, I thought you as a Champion meant you wanted to be a…" Hop scoffed, rapidly running his hands through his hair in frustration. "You don't have to do this alone, you know?"

"I know that!" Gloria snapped. This time, she met Hop's eyes, surprised that despite his tone, all he held for her was concern. Had things been different, perhaps just the two of them could have been enough to forget all her worries. It wasn't, though. "I know we're not alone, but if I drag Ash and everyone into this crystal mess, they'll focus more on Akari than what's to come. That's who we are. Saving those who need saving. We can't have that. Not long term."

"Then what's the plan? I'm presuming you have a plan. You might be a wild child Champion, but you have to have some idea besides chaos."

"Chaos?" Gloria squinted at Hop, her foot beginning to tap. Hop's eyes filled with alarm, recognizing the telltale gleam that leapt into her eyes; the very same that had been there the day they explored the Slumbering Weald. A grin started to form on her face, matched only by Hop's shaking of his head. "Say, Hop, what do you think Ash and a bunch of Champions would do if, say, the Champion of Galar were to go missing indefinitely?"

"Oh no! Bad idea, Gloria!"

"Brilliant idea!" Gloria jumped to her feet, slapping her hands on her boyfriend's broad shoulders. He fidgeted, hands in his pockets and fingers fiddling with something while he shook his head. "Think about it, Hop! If a Champion goes mysteriously missing and no one knows where she is, but she shows up in Paldea like a rumor, people are bound to wonder why. They'll turn their eyes towards Paldea and start investigating. At the same time, whatever's going on will be none the wiser that we're looking into it and I get the chance to maybe find some things out we couldn't stuck in this lab."

"Feels overly complicated to me."

"Hop, have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

"All the time." His blunt answer didn't deter her in the slightest. Knowing that, he held her gaze and they watched for a good long while, parsing out Gloria's haphazard plan. It certainly had all the hallmarks of a crazy Ash plan, but Gloria knew it to be the right call. When Hop relented with a sigh, he knew it too. She had to resist the urge to pump her fist. "But I'm only allowing this on two conditions."

"Not that I need your permission…"
"One, stay in contact. If we discover anything, you need to know, and vice versa."

"Sounds fair."

"And two!" Hop reached over, taking her in the tightest hug imaginable. His mouth was right next to her ear, and his voice came out in a whisper. "Come back safe."

Gloria smiled, and her arms returned the hug. She was certain, looking towards the unknown future, that she would have no trouble keeping that promise.

X X X

Present Day

"Oi, Gloria, are you even listening to me?!"

Much as she didn't want to, it was hard to ignore with how loud Hop's voice was. Standing in the docks and staring up at the glow of the crystal, she tried to pretend her boyfriend wasn't yelling at her. His face being in front of her made that impossible. "Yes, Hop, I hear you already!"

"Oh, good, because for a second I thought you were deaf!"

"Rilla." Rillaboom's short comment earned him some thanks from Hop, who took a laptop and began scanning through whatever was on the screen. It offered Gloria a reprieve and she stepped away, hoping to find some solace.

"Gloria, we're not done!" Her face twitched, but she didn't stop walking. Hop caught up in no time, however, leaving behind the computers, Clemont and everyone else to join her. He looked no more pleased than when they'd started. "It's been two days and you still haven't told me anything beyond the basics of what happened. You dropped a bomb on all of them but you're acting like-"

"Oh, come off it, Hop. They're adults, they can handle it."

"Not all of them," Hop reminded her. It was the first thing to make her stop moving, eliciting a sigh from her lips. That gave Hop the opportunity to get in front of her, pleading with her directly. It served as an unfortunate reminder of where they were standing now, a fault she knew was her own. "Gloria, you made me a promise."

"And I came back safe," she snapped back. Hop didn't relent.

"The other part of the promise," he stressed. His finger jabbed right at her chest, his eyes burning so hot she was surprised it didn't melt her face right off. "We made a deal that if you were going to do this, you would stay in contact. Then you just stopped. When was the last time, a week? Two weeks?"

"I'm here now, all right."

"Yeah, and you're caring more for that damn crystal than anything else!" Hop's shout echoed, halting all other activities on the dock. It should have embarrassed Gloria, but she instead found herself puffing her chest with indignation.

"The hell I do!" She reached out, shoving Hop back. Something fell from the pockets of his lab coat, and he scrambled to pick it up, allowing her to cast a shadow over him. "I'm worried about all of Paldea. Or haven't you noticed the skies?"

"I have, but it's not just about that. Ever since we found her you've been going mad, mate. You know that. And you should have brought in the others earlier."

"Oh, I am not rehashing this, Hop." Gloria turned away again, wanting out of the conversation, only for her arm to be gripped tightly by Hop's hand. He pulled her close, to the point her back was against his chest. "Let me go."

"So, what, you can put yourself in more danger?" His genuine concern made her soften, realizing where all of this was coming from. "You never expected that Volo to still be alive, even if it made all the sense. If he'd done differently, you might not have been here. And now I'm worried we're stuck in a situation there's no going back from.

"Gloria, mate, you know I love you. I don't want you-"

Gloria cut him off by placing her lips on his. It shocked him enough into silence, and when she withdrew, she found her opening to pat him on the face with the warmest smile she had. "Hop, thanks for the concern. I didn't mean to worry you, but what I said a few months ago is still true."

"What? That you need to do this? That you connect with her?"

"Now, more than ever," Gloria admitted. Though she didn't voice it aloud, the image of Juliana swam in her mind. After everything she had been through, the young student reminded her so much of the girl sealed in crystal, at least as far as Gloria could glean. Perhaps that was why she had been so adamant about doing something. It felt important that she did, and Gloria felt it important she be by her side. "This is something we need to handle. Ash and Geeta have the whole Zero Expedition planning going on, and Serena is managing the Academy. So, my job is to make sure things don't get worse.

"So, is there anything you've found to suggest they will?"

Hop drew back, his expression torn. Whatever conflict went on behind his head and under his curly locks resolved itself quickly. He jerked his head over to a computer, one of the few not running diagnostics on Akari's crystal. "Progress has been slow. Which, yeah, research usually is. A reason you're not into it, of course." Gloria kicked him. "But it feels slower than usual. Every time we might get close to something, the computer has an error."

"Well, yeah. It's old."

"According to Clemont, not so much," he said. Gloria looked over to the inventor, absorbed in his own work. "There's something else, like a system locking us out. We've had to resort to old notes on paper over anything digitally archived. And there's not much there. I don't think the professors were too keen on it."

"But there must be something, right? They have to have suspected something like this could happen. Not like crystalline structures pop up out of nowhere or weird beasts resembling Pokémon just manifest." Hop was silent. "Right? Hop, tell me I'm right."

"I don't think we can say either way." The sheer flabbergasted expression Gloria wore didn't shake Hop from his all-too-serious trance. "I'm starting to wonder if the professors were in their right mind at all, or if a place like Area Zero eats away at the mind."

"Oh, come off it. Eating away…?" Hop didn't waver. Gloria swallowed. "Hop, what did you find out? Because we're heading into Area Zero, either way."

"The notes were scant, some of them talking about fleeting visions, but the professors couldn't care less about Terastallization," he admitted. He clicked around on the screen, showcasing some low-resolution images of crystal firmaments and a mysterious Pokémon. It amounted to little, though Gloria archived it for what Juliana might make of it. She focused more on all the crystal that looked to be the very bedrock of the Crater. No, of Paldea, itself!

"Hop, is this what I think it is? Crystal that stretches to the core of this region?"

"I feel like that's what lies at the core of Terastallization." Hop glanced back, looking at Akari's hidden crystal. "I'm no expert, but given the way it's erupted, I think the crystal stems from an almost parasitic force, drawing energy. Maybe it's a defense mechanism. Or maybe the Pokémon who has created the crystal just needs to absorb power."

"That'd just be another Eternatus."

"And that's what worries me. That this network of crystal is intent on sapping life, and you're heading for the core of it."

"And Akari?" Gloria asked, joining him in looking. "I've observed Terastallization, and all I can see is that the crystal shattering could end her life. Though given what you just said, it's a miracle she's alive at all."

"That, I'm not sure about, but it's clear the crystal has resonance properties." It was enough of a kernel for Gloria to think upon. She sighed, and Hop sighed with her. "But Gloria, whatever the case may be for the crystal, I don't think it's what you have to worry about."

"I know. Those Pokémon…"

"Even more than that." Hop once more took her by the shoulders, staring deep in her eyes with each word more and more imploring. "Those notes, they slowly seemed like they descended into madness. At times, they felt even more inhuman. As if the professors were seeking something beyond mortal comprehension and reach. If it wasn't for their son being mentioned, I'd have thought they lost all humanity.

"Whatever it is they managed to find in the Crater, it may very well be the most dangerous thing in the region. And likely whatever this Volo is after."

"Is that so…?" Gloria's mind flashed through the info, musing on each part of it until a smirk crossed her face. Hop was suitably alarmed by the look. "Well, then we have a goal. And we know just who we'll need to bring along on this little expedition. Hopefully, Juli finds herself up to the task as well. Goodness knows we'll need a mind like hers."

"Gloria, I hope you realize how mad you sound right now."

"That's a good thing, Hop." She leaned forward, another peck landing on his lips. "If I wasn't barny, we would have never left Postwick."

"As you so love to remind me." Hop chuckled, hand shoved back in his pocket and fiddling something. "Wouldn't have it any other way, though. Guess we have to focus on the expedition, then. Save everything for later."

"Time for preparations!" Gloria said, pumping her fists. "If Area Zero is the answer to some of Terastallization's mysteries, then Akari needs to be there. You and Clemont will need to prep her for delivery, while me and Ash and Geeta put the team together. We've got this in the bag.

"After all, we have the strongest trainers in the world gathered in Paldea!"

X X X

"Let me get this straight. You want to lead a potentially life-threatening and dangerous mission to the very heart of the Great Crater of Paldea with a small party comprised at least halfway of students?" Ash flinched at Malva putting it like that. He wasn't the only one, with a couple others on the screen flinching as well. "Please tell me this is a joke."

"Hardly," Geeta drawled. Her fingers rapped the table and her expression hadn't changed since the meeting had begun. Ash wasn't claiming the same, but he was also inclined to keep his mouth shut. For more reasons than one this time. "People have long led expeditions into the heart of Area Zero. I'm sure most know our esteemed Professors Sada and Turo were the last and most successful."

"And you haven't fully heard from them since the debacle with Rose."

"Communications have been sparse, yes."

"Malva, it's not a bad plan." Cynthia's cool tones, spoken in a way that almost feigned disinterest, made Malva's pursed lips slip. On another part of the screen, Paul sat up and took a break from sipping on his orange juice. "And unfortunately, it's the best we can start to cobble together with everything going on here."

"As if Paldea hasn't produced an entire laundry list."

Ash found his hands tightening on the conference room table. Had he the strength, he felt he would have been able to tear a chunk right out. Pikachu leaned over in concern, and Ash likewise attracted the attention of Clavell, who despite his dress looked out of place in a conference between League attendants. That was enough to make him release his grip, though the hold on his mind remained.

That wasn't helped by the recap of events he had experienced coming from parties both in the room and over the screen.

"We're well aware of the damage caused, and have fully pushed relief efforts. Don't worry, we don't require any assistance from your side of the League," Geeta assured Malva. That didn't change her view on the matter whatsoever. "There have been natural disasters opening up in four corners of the region, and the Elite Four have been dispatched to take care of the issue. Other local communities and Gym Leaders are dealing with the strange Pokémon."

"And the prisoners?"

There it was. Ash resisted the urge to pound the table.

The prisoners. The ones set free from Zero Prison. Matori. Colress. Some other faces of people he couldn't name. They all came before him. Ash's hand felt his chest, still sore from the bruising and beating he had received from the one calling himself Fidel. Not that Ash thought that was his real name. The revelation of Des's identity as a man named Volo threw everything he thought into doubt. With it came the heaviness, too; heaviness of the failure sitting firmly upon his shoulders, even if no one else would say it.

Ash had had one duty, and he had failed in it.

"Some of the worst have vanished with Phantom Zero," Cynthia said. She looked as annoyed as Malva at this point, but Ash didn't have to guess why. The appearances of Akari and Volo had to have thrown everything she knew into flux. "Others, surprisingly, elected to stay behind. The small-time criminals are being wrapped up easily, however."

"A small solace in light of a bigger threat. Ash, what're your thoughts on all this?"

He didn't say anything, still too angry at himself to come up with a logical solution.

"Hey, idiot, she's talking to you." Paul's kind, dulcet tones made him abandon his pursuit of thought. Ash blinked, noting the eyes of the room on him.

"I'm with Geeta's plan." Paul snorted. Malva rolled her eyes. It was clear how typical they thought it was. He looked up, scanning every eye in the room. "Whatever problems Paldea is facing, they're coming under control, but they've gotta be tied to Area Zero. Cause otherwise, why would Volo go there?"

"Pika!"

"Volo…" Cynthia's anger was palpable, but reined in enough for the conversation to continue.

"We gotta get in there, and we gotta do it soon. We don't have time for everyone to show up here. Especially if his guys are out there, you gotta focus on them."

"You have a point, Ash, and I'm inclined to agree with it," Malva said, leaning so close to the screen her glasses lost their tint entirely. "However, that doesn't address the issue of the children taking part."

"Ehem, if I may," Clavell said. The stiff timbre of his voice allowed him to interject easily, and when he adjusted his glasses, no one spoke a word against him. "I agree with Mr. Ketchum's assessment of the subject. And as far as children go, can we really consider them as such?"

It was the heaviest of questions, one bringing silence to the room for more than a few seconds. Malva's lips were back to being pursed, and her eyes were back on Ash, until she let loose her greatest sigh. "I'd want to honor this League's vision, and Diantha's particularly, when in regards to children and the danger they shouldn't have to face.

"That said, I suppose we can't deny those who wish to help the opportunity to."

"Precisely," Clavell reiterated, nodding as he went. "After all, while she is no Primera, Nemona is still a Champion-ranked trainer. Her strength would be invaluable in the Crater. As would anyone who can prove the strength to match her."

"Plus, we'd need Arven, anyway," Geeta mumbled. "I've already employed Miss Penny as well. There's really very little choice but to allow them to accompany the Crater team."

"Yes, I understand that. As I understand that children who become trainers obliterate the difference between the two," Malva continued. She was starting to rub at her temples. "How, then, can you mitigate the risk so Paldea doesn't become a walking disaster site?"

"I already told you," Clavell said, raising his hand, "by admitting students to the Expedition Team that can prove themselves capable of matching Nemona. Think of it as a League sponsored tournament, but with only one opponent to be fought."

"Knowing Nemona, she'd rise to the challenge."

"Or she'd fight all day," Ash said. He found a little grin starting to come back to his face, liking the implication of Clavell's suggestion. "She'll love it."

"Yes, I believe so. And in that way, we take a smaller, elite unit of students determined to protect their school and their region. Minimal danger."

"You've given this thought, Director," Malva said. She was relaxing now, the smallest of smiles playing on her face, and Ash knew the director's simple idea had managed to win her over. "I'm inclined to agree, though I doubt you need my permission. I just don't want this blowing up in your face. Or any of ours. What do you plan for the perimeter of the Crater, should anything go awry?"

"We have an idea," Geeta said, her eyes asking Clavell to continue. That was the only implication which made him uncomfortable.

"Yes, er… Given the events that transpired here, it's made clear that Des, or Volo I guess, managed to manipulate the lives of many students. Most particularly those in Team Star."

"Aren't they just a bunch of punks?" Paul asked. It seemed more to Ash that he was just pretending to care about that particular aspect. His face looked like he was already focusing on something else; likely the same thing as Cynthia.

"Yes, a great failure of the Academy. My own personal failure that I didn't see they were hurting sooner. And children who really aren't all that bad. Their very leader is one of the most excellent students in our STEM track, and I believe the others are no different." Clavell took his glasses off, cleaning them with agitation as he continued. "From what Miss Juliana tells me, they only ever seemed to antagonize the Academy in an attempt to protect it from Volo. I'm sure, given the chance and some convincing, they'd be willing to step up. Though as yet, said student is…struggling."

That was one way to put it. Serena's own observations seemed to note that despite Juliana's grand bravado in front of the crystal, she had just as many doubts as anyone else. In particular, Ash could see the doubt to have the strength to do anything. Perhaps it had been her world being shaken, or her priorities realigned, but Juliana was not the same girl Serena had first met. And from everything spoken, they needed her now more than ever.

It was, after all, each of their responsibilities.

"Very well. I approve of your measures taken," Malva said, nodding. "Focus on preparing your expedition team, and make it quick. For our end, we'll focus on the prisoners. Perhaps Y or Alastair will know something. They find information quicker than the rest. I'll put Alpha Squad to task."

"I think there are a great many things to look into. Particularly regarding Volo. Paul, I'll look into more here, but soon as the Expedition ends, I'm heading home. Be ready for that."

"Why are you telling me?" His intentional obliviousness was not missed.

It did, however, mark an end to the deliberations around them.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu scampered down Ash's shoulder, his silence shed and replaced with worry for the trainer whose lap he began to sit in. Ash reached up and scratched behind his partner's ear. "Chaaaa…"

"I'll be okay, Pikachu. Just…got a lot to deal with." Ash turned his head, his eyes watching Cynthia berating Paul. The faces were too similar. Eerily so. Yet they couldn't belong to people so different, and it made him wonder how different Akari was to Dawn. More than that, it made him wonder what drove Volo to such extents of madness and to the depths of the Great Crater. Nothing was provided an answer, and Ash started to fold his hands. In the end, he supposed it didn't matter.

All that mattered was stopping Volo before Paldea was ripped apart.

And that responsibility, Ash knew, was something he had to wear, or risk losing everything he had gained along the way. Because if I can't do this, protect all these people and Pokémon, I've got no right to call myself a Pokémon Master.


Author's Note: As is typical for final book of a trilogy, this one opens with a notable lack of our protagonist. I wanted to use that to both set the stage and fill in some small gaps. Hopefully this explains Gloria's actions, while establishing her own springboard and the importance of Juliana joining the expedition. Likewise, it sets up Ash's own current arc.

What? You thought I'd just ignore all these characters and leave them stagnant? Nay!

Well, anyway, next time, we get caught up with Juliana as we dive full bore into the story. Until then, please give me feedback with a comment or a review and, until our next chapter, Dare to Be Silly.