Chapter 5

Chains of the Past

AJ found herself seated across from Ethan at a rickety, rectangular table in one of the many break rooms in Professor Elm's lab.

After the disastrous conclusion of their battle in the park, few words had been said. The others had been miffed, and rightfully so, after AJ's out of control pokemon had nearly killed them, but it had been decided that they would go back to the lab to get their pokemon treated rather than head off to the pokemon center. It was closer, yes, but it was also less public, which was probably the bigger deciding factor. Ethan and AJ walking into a pokemon center together would obviously grab attention, something neither of them particularly wanted at that moment.

The others were around, just not with them right now. Sammy had volunteered to take their pokemon to get checked out, since he knew his way around the place, and Jade was with Lyra and Kris, messing around in the small kitchenette, allegedly making tea.

It didn't take three people to make tea, but it did take three people clearly making excuses to get away to make a situation even more awkward than it already was. At least Lyra's Marill was still there, cutting through some of the tension with an endless stream of nonsensical chatter as it yanked napkin after napkin out of the dispenser on the table.

Ethan, for his part, looked like a confused mix of stern and upset, like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to put on his Champion hat and lecture her, or if he could just be pissed like a normal person since she was a Champion, too. Though that last fact also seemed to be throwing him off.

"I am so, so sorry," she said softly, apologizing for what felt like the hundredth time since the end of their battle and aware that she was averting her guilt-ridden gaze from Ethan's own unblinking golden stare, but it was too hard to meet his gaze right now. "That wasn't… I didn't think that would happen."

She winced even as the words left her mouth. That was a terrible apology, and from the expression on Ethan's face, he knew it, but he was being the bigger person by preventing himself from calling her out on it.

"What," he started, his tone hard, before stopping himself and running a hand over the top of his hat like another might have over their hair. After a moment, he started again, tone softer.

"What is with that Hydreigon of yours? It seems…"

He hesitated, mouth working as though he'd forgotten how to speak.

"Untrained," Kris supplied bluntly, pulling out a chair and plopping down beside her friend, two mugs of steaming tea in her hands. She placed one in front of Ethan, holding the other up in front of her mouth but not drinking, instead examining AJ critically over the rim of the mug.

AJ noted that Kris had now decided to be part of the grilling rather than avoiding them - she seemed like the kind of person to force their way into things - and also that she hadn't brought her any tea. That wasn't very nice.

At her word, Ethan made a gesture of agreement, but from the look of bewilderment on his face, it was obvious he hadn't been able to bring himself to say it, as if he couldn't believe that it could even be true. After all, AJ was a Champion, just like he was. New, but still a Champion. What kind of Champion couldn't control their own pokemon?

Lyra rejoined them then, carrying a tray with several more mugs of tea that she set down in the center of the table, distributing the steaming beverages between herself, AJ, and Jade who was pulling out the chair at AJ's side. Elm's assistant sent a disgruntled look at the untouched mug in front of Ethan, then let her eyes flicker briefly to Kris before returning to her task. Kris didn't seem to notice.

AJ picked up her mug with a quiet word of thanks, taking a slow sip, using the opportunity to organize her thoughts. Mmm, chamomile? That seemed like the sort of thing Lyra would drink.

Ethan and Kris were still staring at her, expectant, bordering on demanding. Well, they deserved an explanation. They all did.

She lowered her mug to the table with a sigh, sitting forward, linking her ankles together under her chair.

"My Hydreigon," she began slowly, searching carefully for the words; she could never find the right words when she needed them, "is… a rescue. I saved her from a traveling menagerie, where she and a bunch of other pokemon were being abused. She… she hasn't fully adjusted yet."

The look of judgment had faded somewhat in Ethan and Kris's eyes, to be replaced by touches of sympathy and righteous indignation.

Ethan still looked a little confused, however, and he asked, "A menagerie had a Hydreigon? And they were abusing it?"

His tone was disbelieving, but he wasn't exactly calling her a liar; he just wanted more of an explanation. She understood the unasked question - How? Hydreigon wasn't the kind of pokemon a regular person could handle - you'd need to be an expert trainer to manage a pokemon of that caliber. And she'd mentioned abuse - you didn't abuse a Hydreigon. Well… you didn't abuse a Hydreigon and then walk away alive.

"She wasn't a Hydreigon at the time," she clarified, idly tracing her finger along the top of her mug. "She was a Zweilous. They kept her in a cage, showed her off to crowds, provoked her heads into fighting each other for entertainment, that sort of thing."

There was more than just Zweilous, of course, she explained; the Curious Creatures Carnival and Menagerie Extraordinaire had had a host of allegedly wondrous and stupefying attractions and oddities to bedazzle the mind and ensnare the senses - and their guests' wallets. They'd had a pair of Mr. Mime, one of them Galarian, who they would have gambol about, slapping each other like jesters. A Delphox who would make rings of fire that shimmered in many colors, and a group of Furret who were forced to race around, jumping through the rings as they grew smaller and smaller. A dour-faced, emaciated Smeagle who painted caricatures of the guests.

None of that was bad on paper per se; she'd seen contest stars do as much. But there was a clear difference between a pokemon who'd been carefully raised and trained to perform, and a pokemon who was forced to do so under threat of abuse from its handlers.

It was obvious that the pokemon were being mistreated; they were thin, smelly and unwashed, and were threatened with starvation and whippings if they didn't perform, all of them fitted with shock collars to keep them in line. Most of the workers carried whips or long cattle prods with ends that gave sharp electrical shocks, or else employed other pokemon - mostly Toxicroak, a small pack of Mightyena, and a surly Drapion, though the owner had a particularly ill-tempered Tsareena who took pleasure in kicking others down - who would keep the others in line.

"Where was this?" Ethan asked, looking as though he was prepared to march over and put an end to this himself, and Kris spoke right on top of him, demanding, "And people just showed up to watch this?"

"In Unova, about a year ago. And some people did," though the show's turnouts were usually pretty small, and most of the people who did show up left quickly, looking discomfited, "though I'm pretty sure the whole traveling performance act was just a front to hide the illegal transportation and sale of stolen pokemon. They had way too many pokemon who were never put on display, and their crowds were never large enough to sustain them financially. It wasn't hard to figure out what they were up to.

"Anyway, when we found out, my friend and I - Hilda is her name, we traveled together for a bit - we brought it up to the police at the nearest city, but by the time they went to investigate, the menagerie had already disappeared."

She remembered the look of pure rage and indignation on Hilda's face when the police officer had told her they were still looking into things, but that the criminals had managed to escape. She'd been ready to march off after them alone, face down the entire group of them on her own if she had to, her all of fifteen at the time, not even a full year into her journey. They started later in Unova.

Luckily for them, Lenora, the gym leader of the city, had overheard the conversation with the inept police officer. Word had gotten around about the bizarre menagerie passing by the city and she'd been doing her own investigating, and agreed to tag along with AJ and Hilda, using her Stoutland to track the troupe by scent.

They'd caught them in the night, and upon realizing that Nacrene's gym leader had come after them, the criminals had abandoned all pretense of being performers and had launched into attack mode.

The battle had been something else. AJ was mainly used to official battles, the kind that followed guidelines set up by the League. She'd come across the odd poacher or two in her time, but that… It was violent. Bloody. No pokemon had died, thankfully - though several had been badly injured, along with many of the carnies and a couple of Lenora's gym trainers, and part of the forest had been set ablaze. Lenora and a gaggle of trainers from her gym had done most of the work. Hilda had taken down the ringleader and his trumped-up Tsareena.

It had been AJ who had set free the display pokemon who were kept in their cages rather than in their balls, an attempt to keep up the act of being a menagerie to anyone they passed by. Most of them had bolted the moment their cages were open, fleeing into the wild. Not Zweilous. It had flinched back, cowering against the inner wall of its cage, terrified of this strange new human who had appeared before it.

One of the carnies had come up behind her then, his Noibat swooping down out of the dark, a long electrified cattle prod in his hands. Pichu launched himself at the avian pokemon, knocking it out of the air, the two tumbling to the ground, but the attacker still had a weapon in his hand.

He lunged, but not at AJ, instead aiming for the Zweilous, shouting for it to get up and attack her, to obey him. Zweilous had cried out, both heads in screeching, terrified disharmony. AJ had moved without thinking, throwing herself in front of the cattle prod, taking the shock. She still had a burn scar on chest.

Zweilous had lashed out then, terror pushing it to the limit, but not at AJ. It's Dragon Pulse, issued from both gaping mouths, had blasted the carnie backward and through a tree. He'd broken his back in the fall.

"And… she's been with me ever since," AJ concluded, still staring into her mug. "I've been trying to help her - to get her used to being outside again, to being in a party, let her know she's safe now, but… I don't know how long she was in captivity, and…"

And it wasn't going well. She had evolved not long after AJ had rescued her, and ever since then, she'd been a constant hassle. Not that AJ didn't care about her and want to help her - she did. She was her pokemon now, her friend, her partner… But she was also an out-of-control threat to almost everyone around her.

If she was out of her pokeball, and AJ wasn't around, she rampaged. If AJ was around, but strange pokemon or people were as well, she rampaged. She only ever seemed to feel safe and calm in AJ's presence - and over time, AJ had managed to get her to relax at least somewhat around Pichu and the rest of the pokemon who made up her main team rotation. Hilda was also apparently 'ok' in Hydreigon's book, and after a few months of careful work, both AJ's mom and Gary Oak had managed at least some level of acceptance, but only when AJ was there.

It had been decided, after talking things over with the Oaks and her mom, as well as an official diagnosis from Brock, who was still a pokemon doctor and world-renowned breeder despite also being Pewter City's Gym Leader - the man of many hats, some called him - that they would need to bring a specialist on board. Someone who dealt in the rehabilitation of abused pokemon. Someone who wasn't afraid to risk getting involved with a pokemon this dangerous.

And AJ had agreed, only… Well, those services wouldn't come cheap, and it wasn't long after she'd returned from Unova that she'd begun training in earnest for the Pokemon League Conference, and then after she'd won, she had her official Elite 4 challenge to focus on, and then her battle with Lance, and now…

There just hadn't been time.

She would have left her with the Oaks at the ranch like she did for the rest of her pokemon when they weren't actively with her, except that she would have gone wild and attacked everyone and everything around her. They could have kept her restrained to her pokeball instead, just until AJ returned for her, but something about that just felt hypocritical. AJ had saved her from captivity, she didn't want to be the one to then turn around and force her into it again.

"I know I shouldn't have chosen her in that battle," she concluded, finally looking up and meeting Ethan's gaze. "It's just… I thought, if anyone could handle Hydreigon, it would be another Champion. Your Tyranitar didn't have any issues blocking her Tri-Attack. I thought that if I could show her what a real battle was like, against an opponent who wouldn't flinch or run away, one where the outcome wasn't death or humiliation… I don't know. I thought it would help her relax a bit more, be more comfortable with the idea of pokemon battling and just calm down a bit around strangers. Instead I just made things worse. I'm so sorry. I should have said something to you before, or asked…"

"Yeah, you should have," he said, tone blunt, but then he softed a bit. "But I get it. Once you've seen that specialist, if you get to the point where Hydreigon can start having practice battles, give me a call. I'd love to help - and have an actual rematch, once she's up to it."

AJ smiled gratefully - both for his offer, and his acceptance of her apology.

"Thanks, Ethan."

"Yeah, me too!" Kris chimed in, suddenly downing her entire mug of tea in one go. She slammed it back down on the table, making Lyra wince. "I've got quite the Salamence on my team, you know. If he's going to maintain his claim as the best dragon in the whole Indigo League, then we're going to have to face you down at some point."

"Self-proclaimed title," Ethan said, tone flat. "And I think both Lance and Claire will have something to say about that."

Kris scoffed and waved her hand dismissively, as if Lance and Claire were nothing to be concerned about and not world-famous dragon tamers, one of whom had held the Champion title for nearly three and a half decades - ignoring the brief stint that her father had been the Champion.

Now that tensions had lowered a bit, AJ allowed herself to relax and take another sip of her tea. Sammy still wasn't back yet, but that was alright. She still needed to ask Ethan to see if they could get permission to go hiking up Mt. Silver, something that was more likely to succeed now that he was in a better mood.

At her side, Jade had seemingly clocked out of the conversation, instead messing around on her pokegear, oblivious to the fact that Maril had stolen her mug of tea and was now drinking it down.

Before she could ask about Mt. Silver, however, Ethan suddenly spoke up again, taking control of the conversation.

"Who was it you said you were traveling with again? Your friend from Unova?"

"Hilda?" AJ asked, and Ethan nodded, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Yeah, that's her name… why does that sound so familiar to me?"

AJ knew why, and opened her mouth to answer, but was beaten to the punch by Kris, who offered up a flat, "Wasn't that the name of Unova's run-away Champion?"

Ethan's eyes brightened with recognition, and AJ must have made a face, because both of their gazes refocused on her, looking suddenly intent.

AJ sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, that's her. Hilda White. We traveled together for a bit."

And it only had been for a bit - less than a full year. Hilda had been a brand new trainer then - in Unova, trainers started their journey at the age of 15, not 10. It was believed by Unovans, and much of the world for that matter, that this was a much better age to receive your trainer license, as 15-year-olds were obviously more mature and better able to take care of themselves and their pokemon.

That wasn't wrong - statistics of trainer injuries and deaths in their first year of their journey proved that - but AJ couldn't imagine having to wait an extra five years to start her journey. She would have gone mad.

But though they'd only journeyed together for a short time, AJ still considered Hilda one of her better friends. They'd met not long after Jade and Sammy had decided to end their journeys, leaving AJ alone and lonelier than ever. Hilda had been a much welcome companion in those first few months without her best friends around.

Still, Hilda's rise had been meteoric - she'd won Unova's Champion title at the age of seventeen, just a few months before AJ herself had, which meant she not only beat AJ to the punch in terms of age, but also in terms of how long she'd been on her journey. Going from newby to Champion in a little over two years wasn't just unheard of - it was generally considered to be impossible. Until Hilda did just that.

Only, immediately after she won, she renounced her title and disappeared. Nobody knew why. Nobody knew where she was. It had been a scandal, with journalists having a field day, claiming the girl had been too young, that she hadn't been able to handle the pressure, that 'green' trainers like her shouldn't even be allowed to challenge the League, nevermind that she had done so and won.

This had become something of a sore point for certain parts of the population; that the 'newer' generation of trainers was weak, and Hilda was often used as an example of that. AJ herself had already been on the receiving end of that scrutiny, as had Ethan she knew, as well as Iris, who had taken over as the new Unova Champion in Hilda's place, and Leon, the next youngest Champion after Ethan who was from Galar and in his mid twenties.

The reason that so many new Champions were so young wasn't because the newest generation was more talented, it was argued, but because everything was supposedly easier nowadays than it ever had been before, which bred the sort of weak will that caused Hilda to run away.

AJ had called her a couple of times, both after she'd won and disappeared, and then again a couple of days after AJ herself had become the Champion, but her friend hadn't answered. Something had gone on in those last months, she knew. Something involving a criminal organization known as Team Plasma, who had lead a series of coordinated terrorist attacks throughout the region. AJ had known, mostly through reports from her mother, that Hilda had been involved in that in some way, though how specifically she didn't know. All she knew is that it was over now, Hilda had become the youngest Grand Champion in world history, and then had renounced her title almost immediately and disappeared.

She'd received one message from her since they'd parted ways, on the night she'd beaten Lance, congratulating her on her victory, so she knew Hilda was alive. But where she was, or what she was doing, she had no idea.

"Are you two still in contact?" Ethan asked, and before AJ could say 'no, sorry, and I have no idea where she went or why she ran, her business his her business', he continued with, "Something's come up and I think she could be a big help. I got in touch with Iris already, but… well, from what I've been told, Hilda was right there in the thick of it, so…"

"The thick of what?"

Ethan frowned, seeming to think it over for a moment. He glanced sideways at Kris, but the other woman was busy making faces at Lyra's Marill, making it laugh.

Finally he sighed, then shrugged.

"No reason why I should keep it from you. You're my fellow Indigo League Champion, after all - no doubt you're going to hear about it before long. What do you remember hearing about Team Plasma?"

AJ blinked. She had literally just been thinking about that. Could Ethan read minds?! No, no - that was dumb.

"Uh… not much, I guess. Hilda and I weren't really in contact for much of that. Something about a cult of self-professed pacifists who preached against pokemon battling, only it was actually just another group of people stealing pokemon, right? They convinced people to release their pokemon, then abducted them. Why do you ask? They were disbanded a little over a year ago, right?"

Ethan nodded along throughout her summary, then grimaced at the last.

"If only. Seems like some of them have migrated over here to Johto and have been stirring up trouble here over the past couple of weeks. Mostly in Goldenrod, though some have been spotted as far as Olivine and Azalea, preaching about the evils of pokemon battling. If that was all it was, then fine - but considering their history, well… the League is getting a little nervous."

"I haven't heard anything about that in Kanto…" AJ said slowly, wondering if that was true or if Lance hadn't bothered to tell her yet.

Ethan nodded as though he had expected that.

"Yeah, I don't think it's spread much further just yet. I'm hoping we can nip it in the bud early. I mean if it's just some remnants looking to start over with the same ideology but without the crime, then that's fine I guess. People can have their beliefs. I just don't want another episode like what happened in Unova here in Johto. Especially not after that attempted Team Rocket resurgence a decade ago."

Team Rocket, one of the oldest criminal organizations from the modern era, had been a big name around the world during her parents' time, but especially here in the Indigo League. It was said that her father had helped put a stop to them - one of his three-thousand heroic exploits - though their leader had vanished without a trace. They'd tried for a comeback in Johto ten years ago, around the time that Ethan would have been starting his journey, but nothing came of it and it had fallen apart fairly quickly - but not before they managed to hijack the radio tower in Goldenrod and cause some chaos.

"So I guess what I'm asking is…" Ethan continued, then hesitated, looking uncertain for a moment. "If you have Hilda's contact info, can you give it to me? Or send her a message on my behalf? I'd like to talk to someone with a bit more hands-on experience with Team Plasma if I can."

AJ bit her lip, and at her look of uncertainty, Ethan raised a hand.

"I just want to say that, whatever it is you originally wanted to ask me for, that has no bearing on this request. Whether you help me get in touch with Hilda or not, I'll still do my best to help you out. I promise. Champion's honor."

AJ laughed.

"No, no, that's not… I mean, thanks, and I trust you. I doubt you'd go giving her contact info to the press or anything."

Ethan made a face that had AJ laughing.

"The only issue is… well, I mean, Hilda didn't just ghost the rest of the world - she ghosted me, too. I've only had one message from her since her disappearance, so I don't know that giving you her contact info will do any good."

"Hey, once is already once more than I've ever heard from her," he said jokingly. "Any little bit would help. And it's not like I lose anything from trying."

That was true enough, and she didn't think Hilda would mind. Well, if she did, she could always just ignore him. She seemed to be doing a pretty good job of ignoring people lately.

With that, AJ pulled out her pokegear and rattled off Hilda's contact info. At the same time, she hurriedly composed a message to her friend, letting her know she'd given her info to Ethan and letting her know it was for a good cause, she promised, please don't hate her.

"Perfect," Ethan said, looking slightly relieved. "Now then - let's get down to business. I think I've put you off long enough. What is it you needed my help with?"

"Oh," AJ said, suddenly remembering why they'd come down here in the first place. "Um, well… Ok, so this is going to sound a little random, but… Do you think you could grant us League clearance to visit Mt. Silver for a bit?"

Ethan stared, completely nonplussed. Then he blinked. Then frowned.

"Um…" he said slowly, scratching at the side of his head. "I mean, I… guess I can, yeah. I'd just need to make a phone call. But, um, like… why?"

AJ took a deep breath. Suddenly, her reasons for wanting to go to Mt. Silver felt incredibly childish and silly, especially in the wake of discussing pokemon related abuse and crime syndicates and Champions who disappeared off the face of the earth. How would he react? After their failed battle, would she just be giving him another reason to think she was incompetent?

But she told him. All of it - both Sammy's story about the trainer Ethan had met and how that sounded sort of like a description of her father, as well as how she just wanted one last hurrah with her friends before she officially took over for Lance.

She thought he'd understand that last bit - and from the look of understanding on his face, he absolutely did. But she included the first bit about her father anyway, because she thought it'd add an air of authenticity to her request and make it seem like the trip was more important than it actually was.

Unfortunately, one could not mention Ash Ketchum, even in passing, without his name eclipsing everything and anything within a five mile radius. She could literally see the moment when it clicked in Ethan's head, who she was and who that meant her father must be, and he realized she was saying the man he'd met on the mountain might possibly have been her father - the one and only Ash Ketchum. His eyes grew wide.

"Wait," he said, sounding suddenly winded. "Are you…? Do you really think…?"

Kris had returned her attention to the conversation then, distracted by Ethan's reaction but having missed AJ's explanation and now looking back and forth from Ethan to AJ with a look of curiosity.

AJ bit down her impatience and shook her head emphatically.

"Honestly? No, I don't. I think that man's been dead for nearly two decades now. But it seemed like as good an excuse as any to get away for a bit, and… well.. Why not?"

Still lost, Kris turned to look inquiringly at Ethan, but he seemed to be regaining his composure.

"Right," he said slowly, "yeah, no - I see what you mean. And I get it. Wanting to get away for a bit, that is. This can all be just…" He made an obtuse gesture with his hands, motioning to everything around him. "...A lot. But yeah, I can give the League a call and see if I can give you an exemption. I do have to warn you, though. Mt. Silver is not a normal mountain. You'd better go prepared, or don't go at all."

"I've been up snowy mountains before," she said with a wry smirk, thinking of Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh and the few grueling weeks she'd spent scouring its peaks, but Ethan shook his head grimly.

"Mt. Silver isn't like other mountains. It's… wild. Untracked. Other regions may have bigger mountains, or taller, or more famous - but it's how unknown Mt. Silver is that makes it dangerous. There are no trails to follow, no maps or guides. The pokemon there are tough - probably the toughest in all of the Indigo League, and they aren't used to people, so they tend to lash out fast and hard. And there's something about the mountain… I don't know what it is - something magnetic maybe? - but radio frequencies, internet connection… Nothing passes through to the outside world. You'll lose all connection to the outside while you're there, so if you run into any trouble, there's no calling for help."

AJ had heard many of these things before, and had dismissed most of them after she'd decided to make the trip herself. After all, she was a seasoned adventurer, and she had Jade and Sammy with her, along with all of their pokemon. They could handle whatever the mountain had to throw at her.

But in Ethan's voice, she could hear something… different. Something solemn. Something almost awed. It was like he respected the mountain, was wary of it. Like it was a challenge. A threat.

AJ found herself frowning. Now that she heard Ethan talking about it, she felt a little less certain. Maybe she should take some extra precautions. The problem was, almost no one was ever allowed to go there, so there was little research that could be done about the place.

"Are there any legends about the mountain?" AJ asked. "Usually places like that have some kind of… I don't know, lore or mythology associated with them. Like the folktales about Lugia in the Seafoam Islands, or Ho-oh and the Burned Tower in Ecruteak."

Those were the ones Ethan would be the most familiar with. Johto had more legends than Kanto did. At best, they had the occasional legendary bird sighting, and something about an alien pokemon people claimed came from space down in the southern isles, but that was really it.

But Ethan shook his head.

"No, nothing. There have never been any myths or legends about the place, and no legendary pokemon sightings either. It's just a big, lonely mountain in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing to see at all. That's why I went there - I knew I wouldn't be bothered by anyone. But it's also why I didn't get why you wanted to go, but…"

He shrugged as if to say it was whatever, and AJ nodded.

"I'll make the call," Ethan promised, rising to his feet. "But I'd suggest you wait until morning before heading out. It isn't all that far from here to the mountain if you fly - maybe just a few hours - but you'll want all the daylight you can get. It gets cold at night, and the pokemon get nastier."

"Sounds like a plan," AJ agreed, though internally she was disappointed that they couldn't go ahead and leave right now. "Guess we'll set up camp out in the park, if that's alright."

She knew they could stay at the Pokemon Center, but considering how much Elm's aids had been staring…

"You could always stay here in the lab," Lyra offered with a smile. "We have bunks for the researchers who stay overnight, or who are just visiting. I'm sure the professor won't mind!"

AJ did her best to hide her grimace. The last thing she wanted was people taking more 'secret' pictures of her while she brushed her teeth or slept in a cot.

Seemingly reading her mind, Ethan chimed in again.

"I can do you one better. How about you guys come crash at my place?"

"You have a place here?" Jade asked, confused. "I thought you lived in Goldenrod."

"I do," he said. "But my mom lives here in New Bark Town. We've got plenty of space - Kris is already staying there with me, but I'm sure she won't mind a couple of extra guests, especially not ones as famous as AJ."

He winked at her to show he was joking, but she wasn't amused.

"I mean, I don't want to impose…" she said, hesitant. "We're totally fine camping for the night."

"You've got days of that ahead of you," Ethan said, waving her off. "Trust me, it's fine."

She glanced at Jade who nodded, looking excited at the prospect of not sleeping outside tonight, and AJ sighed, accepting.

One night at a stranger's place wasn't the end of the world. Ethan's mom probably wouldn't be weird like the aids had been; her own son was a Champion, after all.

And then tomorrow, finally - finally - the mountain.

No more delays.

Sorry this chapter was short - and also, like, entirely exposition. Next week we're into the mountain proper.