Two years ago, I developed a fondness for this ferris wheel. At first, it had been because it stood out, even in the unnatural landscape of the amusement park. Its spirals and gears also tickled the mathematical parts of my brain, and I could lose time watching it run, even now. As I was about to take my routine Friday ride, I saw the trainer that had helped me dismantle Neo-team Plasma. Walking up behind her, I tapped her shoulder, wanting to call out to her before realizing that I had actually never gotten her name.

"I love ferris wheels. Come with me, please. It's always better with a companion," I shot out awkwardly, averting my eyes from her face.

"Sure," she replied, looking a bit startled before recognition set in. We went to board, not speaking much as we waited in the short line. "I know we've battled some, but I've never gotten to properly introduce myself," she said, breaking the awkward silence as we got into the pokeball-shaped cart. "I'm Rosa," she stated, holding her hand out, as I stepped in after her.

I shook her hand. "My full name is Natural, but everyone calls me N," I said. I sat down on the bench opposite of Rosa, staring out the window for the most part as the cart slowly rose into the air. A few minutes into the ten minute trip, I broke our silence. I couldn't help it, since this was the first time I had ridden in the cart with someone since the first time I had met Hilda.

"You… you remind me of that other trainer, from two years ago," I said, purposefully remaining vague. "We rode this ferris wheel together, too. We were both trying hard to make our dreams come true. I know she did," I paused, glancing out the window as I held back a sigh. "I wonder if I'll ever meet her again," I added softly, but ending with an apology for the rambling.

"It's alright," she said, curiosity coloring her voice as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you talking about a trainer named Hilda, by chance?" she added, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, actually, how'd you guess?" I asked, surprised.

"She's my cousin, she's been out travelling for a while now to find some trainer she admired back when she went on her original pokemon journey. She never said his name or described him, just said she needed to find him. You're a strong trainer, and I know she had a run in with Team Plasma a while back, so it's possible it's you she's looking for."

"Oh. Um, are you two friends? I don't know if I'm the trainer she's looking for, but I would like to speak with her since she's been an inspiration to me." And I also owe her a massive apology for ditching her like I did…

"Hilda is my cousin," she beamed. "Like I said, she's been traveling, looking for someone. Just last week, she was here in Unova for a couple of days, but she didn't say too much about her journey, outside of letting us know she was going to Kalos. She talked with Bianca and Cheren about beating the gyms there, and learning about mega-evolution. You could probably speak to them to learn a bit more about her whereabouts, I was busy helping out around the region so I didn't get to speak to her too much myself, other than a quick chat when she was leaving Bianca's office shortly after I arrived."

"Hmmm," I replied, gazing out the window once more. "Can you remind me where Bianca's office is? I would like to speak with her or Cheren if possible"

"Bianca travels a lot for Professor Juniper, so I'm never sure when she'll actually be there, but Cheren is usually at his gym and training school in Aspertia. If you want to speak with one of them you'll have a better chance of catching him at an off time."

Speaking with him after all these years will probably be awkward, I winced internally. "Thank you, truly. After this ride ends I'll be on my way," I replied, hopeful despite my nerves feeling frazzled at the aspect of seeing an old..friend? rival? Whatever our relationship had been considered in the past.

"Of course, I can see that this is important to you, and I trust you. I hope your journey goes well!"

And with that, we continued the ride in silence, the rays of the lowering sun shining brightly on the horizon. I'm coming, Hilda. I'm sorry to make you wait so long.

The flight from Nimbasa to Aspertia had gone by relatively fast, and now I was standing on the lookout, gazing down at the mostly darkened town. The Pokécenter was the only thing really giving off any light. Most of the streetlamps were dim from this angle and casting all of their light downwards to illuminate the paths through the town, making the stones look like a golden ekans slithering through the town. Taking a deep breath, I started down the stairs of the lookout to head to the Pokécenter for what was left of the night.

After a quick talk with the Nurse Joy on duty, I headed up to my room for a quick shower. The warm water calmed the hurricane of thoughts, and relaxed my stiff muscles. After putting on some clean nightclothes, I set an alarm. Sinking into the sheets, I closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The shrill noise of the alarm was an unpleasant way to wake. Shutting it off immediately, I got ready for the day. I strolled down the stairs while eating a cereal bar. I could feel the dread growing in my chest and spreading down into my stomach. He's probably going to be rightfully angry, considering… Well, everything since that day. Sighing, I walked up to the door of the gym/school building and walked in.

"Hi, is gym leader Cheren here?" I asked the first trainer I saw.

Smiling brightly, she replied "Not yet. He should be here in about ten minutes. Would you like to challenge him?"

"Not today. He's an old… acquaintance of mine, and I need to speak to him."

"Okay, you can just wait in the gym area, it has benches," she told me, pointing down the hallway and into the plot of land behind the building.

"Thank you," I said, strolling away. I quickly walked over to one of the benches, settling in to wait. I retrieve a few pokéballs from my pockets, slipping them into place on my belt. To control my nerves, I started fiddling with my void cube.

Suddenly, I heard the door slam open, and saw Cheren rushing towards me. "You. Battle me," he said, pulling a pokéball out and calling forward a stoutland.

Startled, I called out my tentacruel, urging him to cast barrier. "We need to show him we're sorry, friend," I said to tentacruel. "Don't back down, we can do this."

"Stoutland, use thunderfang!" Cheren called, and tentacruel dodged it.

"Tentacruel, scald!" I called, as Cheren called for Stoutland to use thunderfang again. The two pokémon jumped at each other, meeting midair and bouncing off of each other as the moves hit.

Cheren suddenly called the Stoutland back, clipping the pokéball back to his belt before holding up both hands as a peace offering. I called back tentacruel, then walked up to Cheren, holding my hand out. We shook, and I could see the anger and hurt in his eyes.

"So, after just up and leaving us, where did you go? What have you been up to these past few years?" he asked, voice stiff. "I can tell from our short battle that you regret leaving, but that doesn't explain why you left in the first place. Just like that note that you left for Hilda didn't explain jack shit to any of us."

"Yeah, I was still a fairly naive asshole at the time. I don't regret leaving, but I do regret the way I left. I've mostly been travelling the regions, but this past year or so I've been helping Rosa and her friends disband Neo-Plasma," I said, seeing a bit of shock pass over his face, and his stance softened a bit. "She's the one that recommended I come here. I had no idea you had become a gym leader, or that Bianca was a professor's assistant, while I was away."

"Even leaving like you did, you still could have kept in touch," he said, sadness coating his words.

"I know. I should have. I just…" I trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. "I think I just needed to try and find my own path, after being under Ghetsis's thumb for so long. While there were times that advice from you or Bianca or Hilda would have absolutely been welcome at times, I needed to become a person with experiences of my own. The kind of person you could rely on."

Cheren shifted, crossing his arms loosely. "You know, Rosa did mention that an old Plasma member was helping them. I never realized it was you, though. While I'm still upset that you left the way you did, I can tell the past few years have done good for you. However, I'm not the one you really need to apologize to, nor is Bianca, though I'm sure she would appreciate hearing from you as well," he said. "Hilda is who you need to apologize to. She went to Kalos, on the off chance you might be there. She wants to visit their gyms and learn about mega evolution."

"Do you know where she's headed specifically? I've been hoping to see her, because I wanted to apologize for abandoning her." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart.

"My best bet would be Lumiose. There's a gym there, and Professor Sycamore is located there and specializes in mega evolution."

Lumiose. That's where I need to go. "Thank you, Cheren." I pulled him into a hug, and he returned it.

"I can help you get prepared for the trip there if you don't mind hanging around town for a little while longer," he said.

"Sure, any help is appreciated, and we can use the time to catch up. You can tell me how you became a gym leader, for a start," I replied, grinning at my friend. He smiled back, adjusted glasses that were no longer there, and began to tell me the story of how his past two years had been.

Meanwhile, in Kalos…

"Thank you, Professor Sycamore," I said, clipping my newly acquired pokemon onto my belt. It was a chespin, named Harmonia.

"Any more questions?" he asked.

"Um, yes, but this one is a bit more personal, though," I said. "I'm looking for someone." I pulled out the black and white picture I had of Natural and me, the one we had taken the last night I had seen him. "This is what he looks like," I said.

He narrowed his eyes. "Yes, someone that looks like that has been in here today. He was with two others, and they were here asking questions about mega evolution. As they left, they were arguing about which Pokécenter to stay at."

Of course Natural would want to know more about mega evolution. I wonder who his new companions were. His foster sisters? Someone else? "Thank you so much, Professor," I said. And with that, I turned and left, waving before I ran down the stairs.

At the first Pokécenter, I was told that he wasn't there, after showing Nurse Joy my picture. Thanking her, I left, starting the walk to the other Pokécenter in Lumiose. My stomach started churning in time with my thoughts as I wondered what our reunion would be like. Would he be happy to see me? Did he even want to see me? Have we both changed so much that we aren't even compatible as just friends? I thought we were heading towards something more that night, before he left…

Taking a deep breath, I walked through the door of Lumiose's second Pokécenter. "Hello, ma'am," I said, walking up to Nurse Joy. "I was wondering if you have seen anyone that looks like this here today," I added, before she could say anything. My nerve endings danced with unsettledness, causing my skin to prickle slightly.

"Yes, I believe so," she said. Facing upwards, she squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on something. "Yes, someone that looks like that has been here. I can't give out room information, but if you want to take a seat in the waiting area, I can get a message up to him."

"Oh, thank you so much, I would appreciate that! I'm hoping to surprise him, so can you just tell him he has a surprise visitor waiting for him?"

"Of course, just take yourself a seat or grab any items you may need and I'll make sure someone gives him your message." As she turned to arrange that, I wandered over to the waiting area, choosing a seat out of view of the pathway to the paid rooms. Avoiding the sleeping bags of trainers that either couldn't afford a room or didn't want to pay for one, I sat in my chosen seat and pulled out a book to attempt to read as I waited for a reunion that was two years in the making.

Wally's PoV

Just as Brendan was getting into the shower, we heard the room's phone ring. None of us had called our parents yet to let them know we had settled into a new city yet, so I had no clue while we were getting a call.

"I'll get the phone," I called out to May, striding across the room and picking the cordless phone off the reciever. "Hello?"

"Hello, can I speak with Wally of Petalburg?"

"He's speaking," I replied, recognizing the voice of the receptionist on the other end of the line.

"Sir, you have a surprise visitor waiting for you down here in the waiting area. Will you see them, or would you like me to give them a message that you aren't available?"

"Tell them I'll be right down," I said, slightly confused as to who it could be as I hung up. I had told my mom in the last city that we were heading to Lumiose, so maybe she was here to surprise me? She had done it once before, when Brendan, May, and I were in Sinnoh. But then it was for my birthday, and it's not time for that yet…

Shrugging, I let May know I was heading down to the waiting area for a moment. I grabbed my pokémon and room key, then walked down the stairs to the waiting area. I looked around, not recognizing any of the few people sitting down. The brunette that was reading a novel looked up briefly, then jumped up suddenly.

Before I knew it, she was running up to me, arms wide. "Natural!" she shouted, "I've been looking for you for so long, I'm…" she trailed off, arms dropping as she got closer.

"Um, who's Natural? My name is Wally."

"Oh. Uhm, I'm sorry." Her voice was just above a whisper. "I—I just… Well, you look almost exactly like the guy I'm looking for," she said. I could see her eyes filling with tears. The girl grabbed the strange pendant around her neck—was it a model of an atom?—and her tears started to fall. "I've been looking for the guy that gave me this necklace for two years now. I thought I had finally found him, but it's just another dead end. And I wound up bothering a stranger, too. I'm sorry," she said, turning around to leave.

I caught her wrist, pulling her back before she could. The girl, surprised, looked into my eyes. "Wait, who are you looking for? Maybe my friends and I could help." The hope that lit her eyes through the silver lining them confirmed the gut feeling I had that I could trust her, and I could feel the pokéball containing my gallade warm slightly and knew that he trusted her as well. "What's your name?"

"I'm Hilda of Nuevma, and I'm looking for a friend that suddenly left Unova a few years ago. He left me a note saying he had to leave, but didn't say if he was ever coming back. I had to help with some detective work, but once I was done with that, the detective told me that who I was missing had been spotted in a far-off region. And since then, I've been on a journey looking for him." She pulled a black and white photo from her pocket, showing it to me. It was of her, and a guy that did look remarkably similar to me. The two had their faces squeezed together, happiness evident in their eyes. I could tell that they were close friends with a deep connection. "This is what he looks like, so I can see why the Nurse Joy thought you might be who I was looking for. Are you sure you're okay with helping? I don't even know if he's actually in this region, I mainly came here because I thought he might be interested in learning about this region's pokemon."

"Of course. If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can find him. And beside, my friends May and Brendan are hopeless romantics, if they think they smell a love story brewing they'll send me to Nurse Joy for not helping," I replied, adding a joke to relive some of the tension I saw in her shoulders.

She laughed nervously as she gathered her belongings, and said, "Okay, thank you for the help. Where to now?"

I motioned for her to follow me. "We're staying in room 210 right now, I can introduce you to my friends and we can brainstorm something up." Hopefully Brendan is already out of the shower by now…

We walked up the stairs in silence, and I slid the card into the door. Peeking in before I opened the door all the way, I saw a fully-clothed Brendan sitting on the couch with May. I swung the door open the rest of the way, calling out to them. "Hey guys? I made a new friend, and she needs some help."