Megan's POV
I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of deja vu as I walked through Slateport City alongside April and Adrian. I remembered the last time that I'd been there with Adam and Jason, with a contest on the horizon for me to compete in. And now, so many months later, I was back again, alongside my sister and her boyfriend, with the Grand Festival itself on the horizon.
April, seemingly aware of how I was currently feeling, directed an amused smirk my way and said, "Feels good to be here again, doesn't it?"
"You can say that again." I replied, nodding my head.
And indeed, it did feel good to be back in Slateport City, especially without the shadow of family drama dangling over my head. And that was without considering how many months I'd waited between Team Rocket's latest defeat and this current moment. I then directed a brief wary glance behind me. It would be wise to keep an eye out for Harley. After all, as far as I was aware, he still lived in Slateport City.
Fortunately, in the fifteen minutes it subsequently took for us to exit the main city and enter the path that led to where the Grand Festival was set to unfold, we neither saw nor heard Harley. So I allowed myself to relax as we continued down the path and towards where I could already see the entrance to the Grand Festival area. And as we continued walking, I found myself reflecting on everything that had happened in the months leading up to this point, after Team Rocket's latest defeat.
As I'd told Adam, I'd gone back home to Petalburg City. Much to my surprise, April and Adrian had already been present there when I'd arrived. In fact, they'd actually arrived about a week or so before me. April wished to spend the remainder of the considerable waiting time between that day and the beginning of the Hoenn Grand Festival with our family, just like I did. Meanwhile, Adrian had felt that it was high time that he properly introduced himself to Mom and Dad, on account of how he and April had now technically been boyfriend and girlfriend for multiple months.
And while Dad had apparently spent the first couple of days "playfully messing with him", Adrian had ultimately managed to make a good impression, all things considered. For even with Dad's "playful teasing" in mind, he and Mom had proven quite pleasantly surprised about how April already seemed to be involved in a love story so very similar to how their own had started. All that aside, they'd also been very proud of April and I, once I'd subsequently confirmed to them that I'd successfully won enough ribbons to qualify for the Grand Festival, just like her. And while they'd ultimately confirmed that they'd be unable to be a part of the audience in person, they'd promised to watch the whole thing unfold on TV.
In all fairness, with how hard I'd been training for this, I was willing to believe that I'd be able to put on a good show for my parents, regardless of where they watched the Grand Festival from. And as I had that thought, I let off a silent whistle at the memory of just how much work I'd put into my training, alongside April and Adrian. Not to mention just how tired we and our Pokemon had always been by the end of each day as a result. And with that in mind, I could already tell that it would be extra disappointing if I didn't even make it past the appeals round, after how much I'd put into training over the last few months for the Grand Festival.
Then I looked ahead, towards April and Adrian, who'd started holding hands in the time I'd spent reflecting. The sight of this, and the resulting reminder I received of how happy my sister was with Adrian, also reminded me of how I'd still not yet confessed to Adam about how I truly felt about him. And as I had this thought, I clenched my right fist with a determined smirk.
If I win the Grand Festival, I'll tell Adam how I truly feel about him immediately after I've been presented the Ribbon Cup! Yes, that will be a perfect time to finally confess! I mentally promised to myself.
And the more that I allowed this thought to fully blossom in my mind, the more I found myself hoping that it would become a reality. After all, what better way to put a nice little bow on the package of a Grand Festival victory?
I nodded my head, my earlier determined smirk now a fully confident grin as I turned my head to look around the area...just in time to see Adam and Jason standing near a food stand. My grin became even wider in sheer delight as I promptly rushed over in their direction. And within seconds, before they'd even noticed me, I had reached their position and subjected them to a tight Beartic hug, taking them by surprise!
"You guys made it!" I exclaimed happily.
It was at this point that Adam and Jason finally realized that I was there and responsible for their current predicament.
"Good to see you too, Megan." said Adam.
I chuckled and released them from the hug so that we could get a proper look at each other in our current reunion.
"In all seriousness, though...I really am glad that you're both here." I told them.
Adam chuckled and replied, "We wouldn't miss this for the world, Megan."
"You can say that again." Jason agreed. "And boy, does it feel good to see you again."
Then we all turned our heads to see April and Adrian come to a stop nearby, presumably having seen me rushing towards Adam and Jason, and had subsequently followed me as a result.
"Well, I'm sure that we all have plenty to catch up on." said Adrian. He then pointed in the direction of the massive main building in the center of the Grand Festival zone. "Especially while we're on our way to the main building to register for the Grand Festival."
"Yeah, that definitely sounds like an important task." Jason stated.
We then headed over to the Grand Festival zone's main building and went inside. We didn't have to wait long before April, Adrian, and I had gotten our ribbons and contest passes scanned and verified, and for the three of us, plus Adam and Jason, to receive the keys to our rooms in the dorm building where all of the coordinators and their traveling friends would stay.
"Enjoy your stay." said the receptionist. "And best of luck in the Grand Festival!"
"Thank you." I said. "I'm very glad that I made it in time."
"However, the rules for the Hoenn Grand Festival are a little different, compared to those of a regular contest." she continued.
I raised my eyebrows, with Adam and Jason doing the same. From what Adam and Jason had told me about the Grand Festivals in Kanto and Johto, the rules for a Grand Festival hadn't seemed entirely all that different from a regular contest. But apparently, Hoenn Grand Festivals had a little something that Kanto and Johto didn't.
"You know how regular Hoenn contests have the judges each give a score out of ten over the course of each performance in the appeals round and then add those scores together to make a total score for each coordinator? Well, for the Hoenn Grand Festival appeals round, all of the judges give one single total score together for each coordinator, out of 100 points total.
"Furthermore, due to how the Hoenn Grand festival usually sees anywhere between 250 to 300 coordinators competing every year, the coordinators taking part in the appeals all get randomly split into groups of 50 to 60 before the resulting groups then do their appeals on the 5 small outdoor stages surrounding the main stadium. And among those groups, the coordinators with the 64 highest scores are the ones who move on to the battle rounds, which all take place in the main stadium.
"And of course, the coordinators won't know who they're grouped with or what outdoor stage they'll be doing their appeals on until after registration for the tournament has ended. Then they'll all get randomly divided and subsequently shown the stage they'll be performing on, alongside their respective group members."
"What about the battle rounds?" Adam asked. "Anything about those that will be different in the Hoenn Grand Festival, compared to standard contests?"
"That, I'm afraid, is something you'd best wait for until after the appeals are done and over with." the receptionist responded. "That way, there's maximum guarantee that those who are learning those details will actually find that information of good use."
"Well, thanks anyway, ma'am." April said.
"You're very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day!"
"Come on, everyone. Let's go to the dorm building and get settled into our rooms." Adrian suggested.
And so, off to the dorm building we went. But as we were nearing the front door, we found quite the pleasant surprise nearby!
"Amber?!" I squealed, eyes widening in shock and delight as I promptly jerked to a stop at the sight of her standing not too far in front of me.
And in that moment, as she turned her head in the direction of my voice, I also noticed the other three girls that she'd been talking to there, prior to my arrival.
"Ashlyn! Skye! Christina! It's so good to see you!"
"MEGAN! APRIL!" they all screamed in delight as they promptly rushed over to us. Next thing we knew, we were all engaging in a tight group hug together.
"Thank Arceus that we all made it!" Amber yelled.
"You can say that again." I replied, then we all ended the embrace.
April and I then looked to Adam and Jason suspiciously. The fact that the girls were all waiting as a group for us seemed a little too convenient.
"Did you know about this?" April asked.
Adam chuckled nervously and said, "We might have..."
"Oh, we totally did." Jason admitted. "We thought that it would be a pleasant surprise for you to find out without us telling you."
"Well, you're certainly right about that." I admitted.
"And on that note, would you all mind if I went inside with Adam and Jason to start getting settled into our rooms? I'm getting the feeling that April and Megan will want to hang out here with their friends for a while." Adrian said.
April chuckled and replied, "You thought correctly. Feel free to come back out here to check on us if we're not in there with you in the next 30 minutes."
"Sounds good. Come on, boys. Let's give the girls their time to socialize together."
"No arguments from me." said Jason.
And so, into the building the boys went, leaving April and I alone with all of our friends competing in the Grand Festival alongside us.
"It really is great that we all qualified to be here." Ashlyn said.
"No kidding." I agreed, looking toward Amber and Skye. "I'm especially relieved that you two managed to make it."
"Like we said, we still had more than enough time to get all of the ribbons that we needed for the Grand Festival." said Amber.
"Yep. And with all of those months that we had to wait and prepare, Amber and I were both able to get our last ribbons with time to spare." Skye added.
"Considering how Amber and her friend Michelle almost missed out on the Grand Festival during last year's Johto contest cycle, I can imagine that she's feeling over the moon that she didn't have to go through that kind of suspense all over again this time around." Christina said.
"No kidding." Amber admitted before directing a brief glance towards me. "Considering how Michelle had Carley as a genuine enemy throughout her time in Johto, it really feels nice that we've all been able to befriend Christina and make amends with her, don't you think?"
"You're certainly not wrong there." I admitted.
"And I'll certainly be happy to stay friends with all of you after this Grand Festival, regardless of which one of us wins." Christina declared.
"And we'll be happy to have you." said Skye.
The rest of us were all quick to voice our agreement, too.
"I should have expected to see you around here somewhere." a new voice said from behind us.
Eyes widening in surprise, I turned my head to look behind me. My eyes then narrowed venomously at the sight of a very familiar and unwelcome figure standing not too far away. Even though the sound of his voice had already been a dead giveaway, I would have recognized that long purple hair and scowling face anywhere.
"You're awfully bold, Harley." I growled. "Showing your face to me after what you tried to pull against my family."
"Your mom deserved it, after what she did to me." he snarled. "But don't worry. My anger doesn't extend to you or your sister, little girl." He then directed a brief glance towards Christina, who looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Can't speak for my daughter, though."
I noticed April and the others (apart from Christina) narrow their eyes. Clearly, they could tell exactly what Harley was insinuating, and they were not happy. I was just as aware of what Harley was trying to insinuate.
"If you knew anything about your daughter, you'd already be well aware of how she's moved on from being angry at me and my sister ever since we found out about how the reason for her anger at my family and I was something false that you trumped up and never even truly existed."
Harley narrowed his eyes and replied, "I'm well aware. She took her mother's side of the issue after I was kicked out of my house. I'm just surprised that you and your sister were both willing to forgive her, considering that your mother never apologized to ME."
He seriously still thinks that Mom should be apologizing to him? Despite him doing all of the antagonizing and Mom having not done anything to justify the lengths he went to? The nerve! I thought to myself.
"Considering that you were the primary instigator for pretty much the entirety of your feud with my mother, and did far worse things to her over things that are hardly worth getting worked up over, I daresay that you should practice what you preach and apologize to HER first! And considering how your daughter was smart enough to realize the pointlessness and wrongness of her enmity with me upon becoming aware of how the original reason never actually existed, you really shouldn't be so surprised that I was able to forgive her."
"You can lie to yourself as much as you want. But your mother fired the first shot, plain and simple. And I won't apologize unless she does first. As for my daughter? You and your sister both know fully well that you two more than deserved the scorn from Christina during the time that you assumed your father was guilty. And the scandalous actions that even you two were willing to believe he was up to? It made perfect sense for his character, considering the way he was before he settled down with your mother."
April then stepped forward and took a position to my left, saying, "Really? Despite my sister and I having nothing to do with those actions that you were framing our dad for? Or with the deep cover antics that my dad got up to in order to send your plan crumbling in ruins? Considering how petty and self-righteous you were in starting your self-destructive feud with our mom over something that anyone with a brain wouldn't have considered that big of an issue, I suppose it only makes sense that you'd think that it was perfectly reasonable for someone to get angry over something that never actually happened and remain angry over such, even after the truth about it being nonexistent had already been exposed."
Amber then stepped forward to my right and added, "Yeah! For a man who claims to hold no anger against Megan or her sister, it sounds awfully hypocritical of you to have been happy about your daughter to have originally had misplaced anger against them over a nonexistent sin of their father that you personally trumped up and used your own wife as an unwitting pawn for!"
"It's not hypocritical!" Harley snarled, his eyes now narrowing even more hatefully than they'd already been. "And to keep things on topic, I'm talking exclusively about my daughter's anger towards you and your sister, not my own. I simply said that you cannot deny that my daughter's anger towards you and your sister was justifiable and deserved, given that you did not know the full truth at the time and therefore qualified as being considered guilty."
"Despite them having absolutely no direct involvement in it whatsoever?"
Hearing this, all of our eyes widened as we turned our heads in time to see Christina step in between her father and I, an angry look on her face that would have looked perfectly at home on a Gengar using Mean Look.
"Christina," Harley stated calmly, "While you were on your journey, you called me yourself when you'd first met May's daughters, and you said how angry you felt about them. Remember? Yes, they had no direct involvement, but you can't deny how you felt about them at the time."
"And I've since had time to realize how irrational I was." Christina spat before pointing her finger accusingly at her father. "Which is something that you clearly still fail to understand about your equally irrational grudge against their mother!"
"May wronged me when we were kids! And she didn't even say sorry for it after I confronted her about it! She's deserved everything that I've done to her since then, including this! I just don't understand how you can possibly be friends with the daughters of a woman who committed such a travesty against your own father. Does family mean nothing to you?"
"Wronged you? That's an awfully extreme way to describe having an understandable fear of your Cacturne and having a merely favorable opinion of your cookies. And considering how you were so quick to use Mom as a pawn in your petty revenge scheme, turn your back on her the instant that she responded in the way that any reasonable person would react if they were in her shoes, and didn't even have enough faith in her and I to let us know the truth about what was going on, family obviously can't mean much to you, either!"
Harley snarled, his fists now clenching as his teeth started gritting even further as he shouted, "My enmity with May goes back much further than that incident with my Cacturne and cookies, Christina! But that's another story for another time! Like it or not, my point about you still stands!"
"Your point about me being angry at them, yes." Christina hissed. "But not about said anger being justified! And clearly, this incident that you mentioned that happened before the bit with your Cacturne and cookies is just as flimsy of a justification, considering how you didn't think that it was worthy enough of a reason to get me to share your anger at her family, and had to completely invent a false reason to artificially create anger at them in me instead. Not to mention use Mom as a lowly tool behind her back!"
"I didn't use her at all. You and your mother getting angry at May and her daughters was just an added bonus to my plan. Your mother assumed Drew to be genuine when he was engaging in his deep cover antics entirely on her own, without any assistance from me. And so long as she had no reason to believe that I or anyone else in our family had fired the first shot or likewise suspect the truth, I thought that you and your mother's unwitting help would allow me all of the power that I'd need to get May to finally break."
"That goes to show how little you actually care about Mom and I! If you really loved us, you would have told us the truth and let us willingly help you with full knowledge, instead of keeping us in the dark and using us."
Harley then let out an exhausted sigh and explained, "This is exactly why I never told either of you. You're right. I did, in fact, know that you would never play along with my story for Drew if you knew it was false. But even still, I was certain that you and your mother would still stand by my side if I failed, understanding my motive for May. But instead, she kicked me out. And here you are, automatically siding with her. Bottom line, May started all of this, and I'm just finishing it. Yet you and your mother are blind to the vindication of my actions, and that honestly hurts me.
"But the most painful part of all of this? You've become friends with the daughters of a woman who wronged your own father. And contrary to what you might think, it was very much a genuine thing worth reacting in the way that I did. But like I said, this pain isn't their fault. It's yours, Christina. You've stood by their sides for all of these months, instead of supporting me when I needed you most, like a proper daughter should. I thought that I'd raised you better than this...but clearly, family means nothing to you! But you've made your bed, so you'd best go and lay in it. You turned your back on your family, so enjoy being alone and unloved for the rest of your life."
Harley then turned around and started walking away, leaving all of us standing in silence with a mixture of rage, shock, sadness, and disgust. I was among the ones who were directing a look of rage and hate in Harley's direction.
But then I heard the sound of Christina whimpering and sniffling. I turned my head to see that Christina had stepped back into a position directly between April and I. Judging by the look on her face, it was clear that her father's words had really hit her hard. The sight of this was all that I needed to see, and I placed a reassuring hand on Christina's shoulder, my earlier rage giving way to a look of sympathy.
"You okay?" I asked.
Sighing, Christina hung her head, then started sobbing as tears began falling down her cheeks.
"No...I'm not." she admitted. "As hurt as I am to hear Dad say that to me...he's right. I did betray him. After I learned the truth about his actions regarding your father, I could have sided with him...or with you and April. But that was an impossible choice, a no-win situation. No matter who I chose to side with, I'd lose the other's trust forever."
April and Amber then each placed a reassuring hand on her shoulders, alongside me.
"You made the right call on siding with Megan and I." said April. "Not to mention presumably with your mother."
"Agreed." said Amber.
"Considering that all he does is lie and continuously blame others for things that are his own fault, not to mention abandon you and your mother for doing the right thing when the truth came out, it's all the more clear about how choosing to befriend and bury the hatchet with April, Megan, and the rest of us was truly the right thing to do." Skye added.
"You girls don't get it!" Christina suddenly yelled, then turned to me. "Look, you, your sister, and your friends are right about one thing. The reason why I chose to side with you and April? It was partially because I wanted to show you that I wasn't like my father. That I wouldn't hold a grudge over a lie, or over something petty. But looking back on it now...that was a selfish choice. I didn't know it at the time, but I guess I was just trying to protect my own self-image. I chose myself over my father, my own flesh and blood. And regardless of his actions, he's still my father, and I still love him. Growing up, he was the perfect dad to me. So turning my back on my own family just to save myself? That's the worst betrayal imaginable. I was selfish and foolish. And now...I truly am all alone, just like he said. And I have no one to blame for it but myself."
Upon saying this, she collapsed to her knees and continued sobbing. For what felt like an eternity, the rest of us stood silently by her and watched. But then I shook my head, got down on my knees, and started patting her reassuringly on her back, a look of sympathy remaining on my face as I waited for her to vent a sufficient amount of her immediate grief before I tried talking with her any further. Amber and April followed my lead, getting down on their knees and patting a shoulder of their choice. Ashlyn and Skye, meanwhile, walked around so that they were directly in front of us before getting down on their knees as well.
But eventually, Christina's sobbing started to subside into sniffles and short gasps. I then decided that I'd allowed just enough time to pass to allow Christina a clear-enough head for what I was going to say next.
"Christina," I said. "I know it might currently feel as if your father's right. But as bad as you might feel right now because of what he said, he's not entirely correct."
Suddenly, Christina snapped her head towards me, a half angry and half sad look on her face, screaming, "HOW?! I've broken all ties with my family! And my friendship with all of you girls was built on a selfish lie!"
"Answer me this, then." I stated. "Have you broken all ties with your mother?"
"Well...I know that she kicked my dad out of the house after learning the truth. But that was the last that I heard from her.
"Have you tried contacting her yourself?"
"N-No. But with her silence, I just assumed..."
"Then making an attempt at contacting her is one of the first things that you should do after we finish this talk. All things considered, she might be feeling alone and in need of someone in her corner, just like how you currently feel. And if neither of you makes the first move, neither of you will know for sure whether or not you're truly alone in this."
April nodded her head in agreement and added, "You're dad's always been a bit of a manipulator. For all we know, those hurtful words he said immediately before he left could just as easily be another manipulation on his end, resulting from his inability to accept when he's wrong. And if you don't even try to check his claims, then you'll just automatically be letting him win without any resistance."
"They're not kidding." said Skye. "Especially Megan. When you've got trouble of any sort, family-based or otherwise, someone's got to take the first step and speak out about it in order for any chance at resolution. Ignoring your problems won't make them go away, and only directly voicing them aloud will allow anyone else the chance to know about them and try to help you resolve them. Believe me, I know. I've had family problems, too."
Christina sighed, hanging her head as she asked, "But why are you girls even trying to help me? Even after everything you've just heard? I became your friend for a purely selfish reason! It wasn't because I legitimately liked you girls, it was because I just wanted to be seen, in your eyes, as a better person than my dad. Our whole friendship was built on a lie, so why don't you hate me, too?"
"The selfish reason that you've now brought to light isn't the only reason why you chose to befriend me, April, and our other friends. I can tell from how you're reacting that a part of you genuinely did want to be better than your father. But I'm certain that, deep down, that same part of you was genuinely sorry and wanted to be our friend. And even if I didn't believe that, acting the way that you were apparently expecting us to act after this revelation would make us no better than your father. And from what I understand about your father, he's really not the kind of person you currently seem to want to be." I said.
"No kidding." said Skye. "I mean, seriously? Consider your options. Either you become a girl with proper morals who knows right from wrong, admits to her mistakes when she's in the wrong, and has an entire group of friends to keep her company. Or you become a complete recreation of your father with no friends or loved ones in your corner, entirely as a result of refusing to let go of a petty grudge with no basis in reality, admit to your own flaws and wrongdoings, or accept that the loneliness and misfortune that led to it was entirely your own fault."
April nodded in agreement and added, "And trust me, your thoughts about how the 'true' reason behind your father's feud with our mom likely being just as flimsy a reason for anger as her reaction to his Cacturne and cookies? Megan and I have actually been told about that true reason in the months since the Wallace Cup, and you're entirely right about it being a flimsy reason for a feud. Heck, Mom has even told him more than once that she wasn't even the person involved in that incident, yet your father still refuses to believe that it wasn't actually her."
"Well, you're not wrong." Christina admitted. "I don't want to be like my father. And yes, Megan, that's part of the reason why I tried befriending you in the first place; to prove that I was being the bigger person and not hold a grudge. But like I said, it was still also primarily to protect my own self-image, and that was selfish of me. Yes, I really did come to see you as a true friend eventually. And that sentiment did come to extend to your sister and the rest of your friends here with us, too. But that doesn't matter anymore. Now that you know the full truth behind my original intentions, you probably feel just as betrayed as my father does. Which means that my actions have destroyed all trust that you have in me, right?"
"That would be true if we'd first heard about your more selfish intentions from a secondhand source and then managed by sheer happenstance to hear you provide confirmation of such at a time when you were trying to keep it hidden." I explained. "Not to mention if either A: We'd been led to believe that those were your ONLY intentions behind befriending us, and B: You'd ultimately chosen to side with your father and join back up with him not too long ago, during our little talk with him."
"But ultimately, you came clean to us willingly and still chose to side against your father in the end. Not to mention, as you yourself admitted to and agreed with us on, you also had more genuine and selfless intentions to go alongside your selfish ones. And the part of you that had more genuine and selfless intentions appears to have won out over the side of you with more selfish intentions." said April. "And Megan and I know our friends here well enough to have good reason to believe that they'll still be just as willing to trust you and remain your friend as we are."
Ashlyn, Skye, and Amber all nodded their heads in agreement.
"You heard them." said Ashlyn. "We'll totally still be your friends. And the fact that you had selfish reasons alongside the selfless ones won't make you any less worthy of our friendship. We're all only human, after all. And at the end of the day, what really matters is that your selfless reasons behind befriending us are what ultimately won out."
"And don't even worry about your association with Harley tainting Megan's ability to be your friend." Amber said. "Trust me, I'm associated with far worse people in my family than Harley, and she and the rest of the girls are still willing to keep me around as their friend. With that being the case, there shouldn't be any problem with us keeping you around as our friend, too."
I nodded my head, then grabbed onto Christina's hand before standing up, helping Christina to her feet in the process. And with the rest of the girls also standing back up to full height alongside us, the first thing that we all did was to subject Christina to a massive group hug.
"You're not as alone as your father wants you to think." said Skye.
"You may have lost your dad. But regardless of whether or not you've lost your mom as well, you still have all of us." Amber added.
"And you're all the better for it." said Ashlyn. "After all, judging from what we all know of your father, he's hardly much more than a petty, manipulative bully who only cared about you and your mother as tools to use against May, and was set on you sharing fully in his losses as well as his triumphs, whether you wanted to or not."
"And if turning your back on him is the only way to avoid becoming a bitter, washed up has-been who's forever tainted by a petty grudge and refusal to face reality, so be it." said April.
"But the most important thing to remember is that we'll never turn our backs on a friend in need. And regardless of what your father so hatefully wants you to think, we ARE your friends." I stated confidently.
Throughout all of this talking, Christina looked visibly stunned, clearly having well and truly expected us to turn our backs on her over such an ultimately minor detail as her long-abandoned selfish reasons for befriending us. But then, as she fully processed what we'd said and how we were, even now, still hugging her, she let a warm smile come on her face, complete with tears of joy sliding down her cheeks as she fully realized how she truly had real friends in us. And then, as her tears of joy started really picking up, she allowed herself to add her own embrace into the mixture. For several minutes, we remained locked in this tight group hug.
Once we finally ended the hug, I gave Christina an additional reassuring pat on her shoulder and said, "You don't need to doubt our reasons to be friends with you anymore."
Amber nodded in agreement and added, "Regardless of what your father selfishly wants you to believe, our sincerity to you as your friends is well and truly genuine. And so long as you continue to trust us and remain our friend, anything that your father tries to claim to make you think otherwise will be nothing more than the lies that they truly are."
Hearing this, Christina smiled warmly and nodded her head. And while she didn't say anything out loud, the look on her face was all that we needed to see to know that she well and truly believed us, and would have no reason to ever doubt our friendship with her again.
Author's Note: Our heroes all reunite in Slateport City for the Grand Festival and all of those who are competing have registered.
Christina also has a falling out with her father, and the girls all learn the true reason about why she befriended them. Thankfully, the girls aren't angry at her, and still fully accept her as their friend. They all know that even though it all started out of a selfish lie, Christina did have a change of heart eventually, and ultimately made the right choice to side with her true friends instead of with her father.
So even though she's destroyed all ties with her family, Christina's not alone, with her friends staying by her side, despite hearing the truth behind her initial reason for befriending them...and that shows true loyalty.
Make sure to stay tuned as the appeals round begins in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!