Somehow, I can’t shake the feeling that my uniform is tighter than usual. It’s uncomfortable and rubs against my skin, tempting every cell in my body to take it off again and fall back into bed.

  I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to get stuck counting through my team over and over again. My Poké Balls are lying next to each other on the bed.

  Four of them, because Coro has stayed with Fennel.

  A heavy sigh rolls over my lips as I close my eyes and recall the previous day. I wanted to give Toucannon the chance to get to know Unfezant better. He looked at her the whole time – probably like I did at Amethio when he was sick – and I still don’t know if it pained him to see me go or if he even considered following me.

  In the end, it’s nothing more than a fleeting romance. At least that’s the security I want to cling to. But not having him here with me in his ball leaves me with the strange feeling that I now have one less friend to rely on. Coro has so often tried to help when no one else could. Even when I’ve neglected him in battle because he’s less suited to that than to the little tricks in between, he’s still part of those who save me when things get dicey.

  This is now a task Ying has to take on alone. After all, I want to take it easy on Mirra, I can’t rely on Lum, and my Growlithe is more likely to set something on fire.

  The thought makes me smile. I have a good team. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, their own character, and their own way of showing that they care about me. It’s the comfort I need to face this day – a little balm before I prove myself to Amethio.

  Briefly, I suck the air into my lungs before clearing my throat and tucking my team into my skirt pocket. Immediately afterwards, I take one last look at the Rotom Phone to make sure I haven’t just imagined something. But the message I received last night is still there. A request from Amethio for me to meet him in the training room today. He’s going to test me. For sure.

  With a gentle nod, I take note of his short sentences once again before I push the Rotom to the balls and finally force myself out of the room. My hands are sweating terribly, so I have to dry them several times on my skirt. Meanwhile, the corridor passes me by until I reach the lift, which takes me up one floor. My destination gets closer with every step and my heart beats a little faster with every additional metre. The knot in my stomach, which is slowly forming and taking my breath away, turns my guts inside out. The last thing I want is to fail in front of Amethio.

  This is my chance to prove that I’ve spent my time in Unova doing more than just taking trips.

  Still, I feel everything inside me tighten as I step down the stairs to the training room minutes later and open the door. Stuffy air hits me and it takes two whole breaths before I push my way inside – to Amethio, who is already waiting for me.

  “You’re on time.” His statement only elicits a stiff shrug from me. He doesn’t let on whether he’s happy or whether I could have turned up five minutes earlier. In the end, I honoured his time and I think that’s at least better than being late.

  “You’re ... planning a training session?” Hands clasped behind my back to look more relaxed, I tilt my head. “With me?”

  Compared to me, Amethio is perfectly relaxed. His gaze sweeps over me, but reveals nothing more than he is aware of my every movement. “I want to find out how much you’ve learnt here.”

  It’s a short answer with a simple message: he wants to find out if I can hold my own without asking for help. If I can at least succeed in no longer being the weakest link in the Explorers, there’s a good chance he’ll give me some credit. Praise would be enough. Something that conveys I haven’t wasted my time.

  When Amethio finally lets Ceruledge out of its ball, signalling the fight, my hand immediately settles on my skirt. Ceruledge is strong, not to be underestimated and, above all, it is a Ghost- and Fire-type Pokémon. As much as I would like to send Raya into battle, Ying has far better chances.

  So I send her into this fight, holding my breath. For a second, she seems ready to take on the entire world. Claws raised and slightly bent, she waits for my first command – just like Amethio. He allows me to take the lead. It’s probably his way of giving someone like me a chance.

  “Ying, night daze!”

  A distorted sound of approval escapes her as she pushes through her back and gathers her energy. In the next breath, she seems to push the darkness away from her with so much force it chases through the entire room – even to my legs, where a gentle tingling sensation spreads.

  But before her attack reaches Ceruledge, it disappears into its own dark world, while Amethio raises his arms. The night daze seems to run through his whole body, raising the hairs on the back of his neck, but to my amazement, it doesn’t sweep him off his feet. It’s not like that time against Team Plasma. Instead, the dark mist winds its way through his hair, tugging at his clothes but leaving no damage behind. Ying has her power under control.

  I, though, am too distracted.

  As Zoroark’s barking scream rips through my marrow and bones, my gaze breaks away from Amethio and lingers on Ying’s blood instead. She staggers forward a few steps before turning around in a flash, ready to smash her claws against Ceruledge’s armour. But her opponent has already disappeared back into the depths of its dark sanctuary. Her red claws chase into nothingness and when our eyes meet, my next command remains stuck in my throat.

  My breath hitches. Heat burns under my skin. Ying’s injury was only caused by my lack of attention. I have to take this fight seriously. I have something to prove. I have to prove myself! The heart in my chest shouldn’t be pounding so damn painfully against my ribs, and my stomach shouldn’t be tightening up so much.

  But none of this stops just because it should be different.

  Instead, I feel burning bile in my throat. My eyes survey our surroundings, hurrying over every bump in the room until I spot a gentle wavering on Ying’s right side. But instead of giving her the opportunity to attack, only a warning escapes my lips. A command to evade, which she sluggishly follows.

  In the next blink, Ceruledge’s fire blade narrowly misses Zoroark’s nose. The heat ruffles her fur and as she takes a powerful leap away from her opponent, Ceruledge follows up with a psycho cut. While Zoroark writhes in the air, purple energy shimmers across the Pokémon’s swords, which it hurls in a fluid motion at Ying.

  Raising her arms, she fends off the attack with her powerful claws. Still, she lands wobbly on the ground and as she snorts twice, as if there’s not enough air in here, I clench my hands into fists. I feel sick. The sweat on my palms just won’t let up. If I were to reach for Coro’s ball right now, I could launch a sneak attack in the background. Amethio never said we’d fight fair.

  But as my hands grope for his ball, I’m overcome by the reminder that he’s probably enjoying his lunch at Fennel’s. Maybe he’s doing well just now. Much better than if he were here and I had to send him into this pathetic fight.

  How am I supposed to prove myself when my thoughts are thundering so relentlessly through my skull? I can neither overcome the trembling of my shoulders nor can I think of anything to calm myself. I have fought much tougher battles on Natural’s side – for sure. I can do better than this!

  “You’re stressed.” The rumble in my head emerges out of nowhere, and I have to stifle the gasp on my lips to keep from drawing attention. It’s been far too long since I’ve heard that voice. “You think you can cope with all the things you bottle up. And now you’re standing here acting like you can hold a candle to a real trainer. You’re weak, human girl. Weak and terribly stupid.’

  I want to reply, defend myself, say something to justify things. However, not a single sound leaves my lips. Only Ying’s warning voice lures me back into battle – into a situation in which Ceruledge disappears again with the help of phantom force, and Ying appears to be the only Pokémon in the room.

  What should I do? What can I do?

  What command can I give Ying as soon as Ceruledge reappears?

  Can I even find it in time?

  My eyes are burning. I hardly dare to blink. If Ying takes damage like this again, we’ll lose. Then I’ll have to stop this fight and Amethio will think nothing has changed.

  Why is it so difficult to take chances?

  A dry swallow scratches my throat. I had to face Ghetsis too, despite underhand tricks, and I was confident enough to at least not give up right at the start. What’s different here? What distinguishes this fight from all the ones I’ve fought so far? The pressure? The fear of not being enough?

  “Certainty,” replies the being in my head. “You know you can’t win. Just like against Ghetsis. You tried and still lost. Not to mention your Growlithe was injured. Are you sure you didn’t just suppress the negative aspects to give yourself courage? Did you not want to become oh so aware of your responsibilities?”

  “Shut up,” I hiss back. Sure, all those negative things happened, and it was my fault because I wasn’t strong enough for some battles. But we faced up to the problem and gave it our all. That’s what counts. The fact not everything always ends positively is simply part of the world we live in.

  “So why is this situation stressing you out so much, then? What are you running away from?” Deep laughter rumbles through my skull. “You could use my power if you don’t know what to do. Entertain me. Or what do you justify yourself with?”

  Amethio, to whom I want to prove something. Urgently.

  Toucannon, who would rather stay at the side of some damned Unfezant than turn down my offer and stay with me.

  Alder, who knows something about my past and whom I couldn’t ask a single question.

  I have the feeling that the best things are slipping away from me while time is running out. It seems like I have to do everything at once to get something done that I don’t even know what it is. There is this urge, this compulsion tensing every fibre in my body.

  “Domino!” Amethio’s shout sends a thunderbolt through my body. The world that passed me by before suddenly seems sharp again.

  However, I can no longer prove my worth in this fight. Ceruledge’s blade rests dangerously close to Ying’s throat. If this wasn’t a friendly fight, a test, she probably would have died without me realising.

  “I thought you took care of your training and did more than let Spinel wrap you around his finger!” Amethio’s brash words carry a kind of disappointment similar to my own.

  This situation here is strangely akin to my failure in the Battle Royal. It seems like I’ve taken twenty steps back to relive those awkward minutes; with that voice in my head and the fear of not finding a connection. I wanted to achieve something then too. Our information depended on my performance. Today, my entire self seems to depend on that failed battle.

  Why today?

  “You were careless,” rumbles the unknown presence in my head. “Watching you is very exciting, really. A stupid girl who can’t get a single word past her lips; who always gets her priorities wrong. You should have gone with Ghetsis back then. You should have forgotten about that boy, who’s at least as stupid as you are, and you should have taken Alder for a few words. And then there’s Lillie, who you didn’t confide in. Your father. And all those voices you never heard again afterwards. What do you think happened to them? Did you ever ask yourself that before it became just another unimportant point on your list?”

  Those Pokémon were a very present part of my nights in Unova in the beginning. Voices that completely disappeared after Ghetsis’ big announcement to the people. It was the last time I felt so much stress at once – so much fear and suffering. Feelings that didn’t originate from within me, but felt as if they did.

  “Child, what is truly important to you? Do you actually remember that?”

  “My memories...”

  “And yet you overextend yourself with your ridiculous attempt to become a professor. Not to mention how you want to help everyone as if they are lost without you. Do you have a saviour complex or do you want to feel more important than you are?” Renewed laughter spreads through my senses. “If you’d at least behave properly. Instead, you beg for help when you don’t know what to do. Like with Reshiram. That miserable Pokémon that stopped me from giving you some good advice on fighting Natural. You could have destroyed Zekrom if you’d let the Z-Mover run free. Just a little more effort on your part. Instead, you ran off without a plan and put everyone in danger.”

  My head is throbbing. I don’t want to think about it, not least because I have no clue how this power works. If it depends on my emotions, like in Alola, then I wouldn’t have been able to fulfil the requirements. After all, I wasn’t scared, nor did I seriously despise anyone. I wanted to help Natural, not hurt him.

  “And that’s your problem! It’s normal for you that Ying gets hurt because you live in a world like this, but everyone else is allowed to get away?” A deep snort sends goosebumps down my spine. “You haven’t become a day less naive. And here I thought you’d made progress after just over three months.”

  I thought that too. I really did. Instead, it feels like all those small steps forward were nothing more than my imagination.

  “Domino!”

  When Amethio’s hands suddenly settle on my shoulders, I snap out of the trance that the voice has pulled me into. My mouth is parched and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, but I can recognise Amethio in front of me. Ying and Ceruledge are in the background – the former much more cheerful than before. Amethio has probably taken care of her injury.

  “What’s with you?” His voice is softer than before, but I can’t answer him. There’s so much going on in my head that it’s like a muddled, dark lump.

  “Hearing mean voice.”

  In a flash, my attention chases to the side, where Mimikyu is sitting on the floor. Her costume head bobs back and forth with restraint, but her eyes convey no joy whatsoever. I don’t even want to know how and when she got out of her ball.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Voice?” Amethio’s grip tightens. “What kind of voice? Is it here? More than one?”

  “Be one,” Mirra replies in my place. “Mirra heard it too. Back then. Fighting evil woman, lit stone.”

  My skin seems to burn as I wrap my arms around my torso to soothe this strange chill. Simultaneously, I remember the day Mirra was ready to die for me. She got involved with that voice just like it did with Raya and me – a being I thought only I could hear.

  “Of course, Pokémon can hear me too, as soon as they get near this or that aid.” Another giggle sends a shiver down my spine. “I thought you had more to offer. The fighting spirit only people in mortal danger possess. But it seems you’re much more ... boring than that.”

  “What do you want?” I squint my eyes far too tightly.

  “I want you to gather more light. I want you to put your life on the line and entertain me like you damn humans are supposed to do for us. But it seems to me you need a more worthy opponent. Someone who will force you to the brink of despair. Someone who threatens to take something away from you that is worth more than your own life.” A brief silence spreads before the creature finds words again. “I’m sure I’ll find someone who will make you dance for me. A few preparations, bright as the stars, and our game together can begin. Until then ... enjoy your incompetence.”

  And suddenly the tension disappears from my thoughts. The creature is gone. But it leaves my body bitterly cold, which simultaneously cannot compete with the burning heat under my skin. Everything is spinning and before I know it, my legs give way.

  As I hit my knees, a groan escapes from behind my clenched teeth. I have to blink several times to return to reality, to the here and now, where Amethio is crouching in front of me and frees his fingers from a glove to press his bare skin against my forehead. His touch feels pleasant and cools the fire inside me.

  He gives me a few breaths, during which Ying steals a bottle of water from Amethio’s things and hands it to me. I let the liquid trickle down my throat in tiny sips until I think I can speak again. Then Amethio comes back to the fore.

  “What is that voice?”

  There is no value in lying to him and perhaps it would be better if I explained the circumstances in a little more detail. So I summarise my situation to him, telling him about this creature in my head that has already driven me crazy on Alola. Mirra contributes her part, telling in laboured words how it gave her the courage and strength to use a power that doesn’t suit her at all. An attack that went against her nature and, therefore, almost completely drained her inside.

  There are endless minutes in which I tell him how this being knows how to trigger certain feelings in a person and how I have the impression I can only defend myself against it with difficulty. The last time it tried to overpower me in the Dreamyard, and if my mum hadn’t appeared somewhere in between, I might have given in.

  The only thing I don’t tell him is that this unknown entity has a plan to drive me insane even further. It’s knowledge he doesn’t need. I’d rather focus on controlling what I can and can’t hear. Once I figure out how to banish this thing from my mind, I probably won’t have to worry about its words anymore.

  Foremost, I must reduce my worries and stress. I have to learn to let things go and forget them. Then I can take the next step. If I think about it soberly, then I have a chance. I’ve become stronger, I’m sure. Now I just need to get good enough not to see my Pokémon hurt.

  “We should postpone this battle,” Amethio concludes. That also means he’ll give me a second chance. Sometime when I no longer feel like my insides are twisting into knots. “You should spend the next days training. Maybe with Zir or Conia.”

  “Do you think it will do any good?”

  “That way we can monitor your behaviour and see when those voices reach you.” With a barely audible sigh, he pulls to his feet. “You should get some rest.”

  “I’d rather get some fresh air.” It feels as if there is no more usable oxygen in this room. Everything is stuffy and hot and uncomfortable. “Maybe I’ll go into the city ... to clear my head and ... get some straight thoughts.”

  “You know we’re instructed to go in pairs?” He looks down at me as if I haven’t considered the simplest rule and I can’t blame him. I would go alone if no one else can spare the time. Amethio, however, allows no room for error. “I’ll accompany you.”

  》 WHISPERS《

  Holding a small box containing Fennel’s Dream Mist tightly in my hands, I try to follow the strips of light on the streets. The high-rise buildings only allow a little light to reach the ground unless you’re walking towards the park. This makes it seem a little dark everywhere – like in my mind, where I try to sort things out and give myself courage.

  However, I can’t find anything to cling to. In these seconds, not even Amethio seems interesting as he walks alongside me, his eyes carefully gliding over our surroundings as if there is danger around every corner. Maybe he’s just trying to distract himself, because there’s no conversation or anything else blossoming between us.

  I don’t have the feeling that things are getting any better when I drop my parcel off at the package station and harbour the brief hope Lillie will be delighted with my little gift.

  But as soon as we hit the streets of Castelia again, I remember something I’d almost forgotten. A gift – or rather a task – that I still can’t do anything with. Another detail I haven’t told Amethio because it seems so insignificant that he can’t possibly be interested in it. But it’s all I can think of right now and it’s the lifeline I reach for.

  “Have you ever heard of Dream Mist?”

  Slowly, his attention wanders in my direction. “It’s a kind of dust that creates illusions. A few researchers from the Explorers are looking into it. Them and ... Fennel, who exchanges information with Spinel.”

  A sound of agreement escapes my throat. “She made a ball that can make you connect with a chosen Pokémon in your dreams.”

  He raises his eyebrows. It must be something he didn’t know yet.

  “She gave it to me so I could test it and ... report back to her. But I don’t know who I should do this to. I mean, you invade the Pokémon’s dreams. Or vice versa. I don’t remember.” I clear my throat briefly. “Anyway ... would you have any use for a ball like this?”

  He immediately shakes his head. “But maybe it would help you make a decision. You could share the things bothering you with a Pokémon.”

  “Nothing is bothering me.”

  “Then none of this would have happened in the training room.”

  “It could have happened at any time.”

  “You’re stressed.” He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like I’m wearing a warning sign in front of my forehead, telling everyone how anxious I am and how I’m behaving. I can’t say I enjoy having it rubbed in my face.

  “I’m just tired,” I finally reply. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  Silence spreads between us and although I should probably be nicer, I can no longer bring myself to pretend everything is fine. We both know how little truth there is in that. Yet I cast a barely perceptible glance up at Amethio, who seems to have been looking at me for a while. His attention is fixed on me, as if he wants to make something very simple clear to me. A kind of gesture I can’t categorise. Still, I use the seconds to stare at him and suddenly it seems as if there’s no reason to stay silent any longer.

  “I ... just don’t know where to start,” I begin, before turning my attention to the path ahead of us. “This adventure is all I wanted. In my father’s hands, it always seemed like I would miss out on my life if I didn’t escape. Then I realised I had to fill in those gaps in my memory. Sometimes I have dreams ... maybe they are flashbacks, and the illusion of Munna made me realise some things. But that’s not enough. Now Ghetsis has disappeared without a trace and the only person who seems to know anything is a man called Alder, who is also friends with my father.” I let out a sigh. “I don’t know whether I should seek him out to discover something, or whether it’s a stupid decision.”

  “Because he might try to bring you home?”

  I nod weakly.

  “If that were the case, he would have acted already,” Amethio states. “The Rising Volt Tacklers know we’re here and they’ll have told your father. He could have contacted Alder. The chances of him forcing you into a corner are slim.”

  “And if he doesn’t know much about me?”

  “Isn’t that better than nothing?”

  Sure, it would be better. Then again, there’s this fear I won’t be satisfied with the amount of information available. I want to fill every gap in my head, but I know Alder can’t possibly do all that for me. At best, he knows something about my previous stay here in Unova – before we moved to Alola.

  It’s a small step I should be grateful for. But my curiosity won’t let up and the puzzles keep coming.

  “Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to get the truth from my father,” I start again. “I wish ... he wasn’t so dismissive about this.”

  “He’ll have his reason.”

  “Can you have a good reason for denying someone any memory of what happened?”

  A curt shrug of the shoulders sweeps over Amethio. “Maybe he’s trying to protect you from something.”

  “Aren’t I old enough to decide for myself whether I need to be protected from something or not?”

  “Everyone has a different opinion on that.”

  He’s right, and I hate him a bit for it. It’s no secret my dad guards these memories like they’d kill me if I found out about them. I can even imagine him keeping all these things to himself because he wants me to look ahead. But knowing there are holes in my head that seem important makes it impossible not to keep looking back. How are you supposed to look ahead when everything that is part of you is in the distant past?

  In the end, I let out an agonised groan. “No matter how I turn things around ... nothing seems good enough. I don’t know what to focus on and where I need to take smaller steps. I want to take big leaps, experience everything at once, and yet there are feelings and perceptions and dreams and demands and expectations and thoughts and so much more I can’t control. And as if all that wasn’t overwhelming enough, Toucannon stays with Fennel for now to get to know her Unfezant better. What if he leaves me? What if I’m suddenly no longer important to him because I’ve failed as a trainer?”

  I shake my head quickly. My tongue feels loose and I can no longer contain all the words bubbling out of me. “What if my time runs out before I’ve got my head in order? And what if this makes me so chaotic and confused that Coro is glad he doesn’t have to be with me anymore? Who’s saying I’ll ever find answers and when will these dreams stop, the ones that stress me out, and then, when I want to grab them afterwards, they just disappear?”

  I clutch one hand far too tightly to my chest. “And then there are my thoughts, which keep jumping from one thing to the next, and sometimes I feel bad about replacing the important things with silly banter. Instead of worrying about my past, I’ve been roaming the region with Spinel. Instead of taking better care of my team and worrying about how to stop sending them into fights because I hate seeing them hurt, I took it as a given. I simply tried to get stronger with them. But then there’s the question of whether that’s really enough and whether it improves anything for me. And also ha-”

  My endless babbling stops immediately when Amethio puts a hand on my shoulder. Hastily, I shift my gaze to him and when he shakes his head gently and halts, it almost seems as if he has the answer to all my questions.

  “You think too much.” Four very simple words I can’t counter and which he uses to reprimand me a little. “It’s normal to only think about the things deemed important at a moment. You were travelling with Spinel to get to know this region and clear your head of the study material for your exam. Then, you encountered an illusion that represents a part of your past. Instead of worrying about it, you need to collect these fragments and slowly piece them together. You should take every opportunity to find out more when you get the chance.”

  I swallow dryly. When he says it like that, it seems simple. As if I don’t have to worry about anything because everything will fall into place. I just need more patience. Calmness and composure I simply don’t have, but that I should learn.

  “Worrying about everything at once won’t get you anywhere. And it’s important ... to take breaks.” He says it as if he can barely admit to himself that this is the case.

  It elicits a small smile from me, because exactly what he says is one thing I have criticised him for. He needs to take breaks and look after himself. Advice I need to take to heart myself, no matter how hard it seems. Amethio is right. The fact everything is hitting me at once here and now is probably because I can’t stop trying to prove something to him – to everyone. I exaggerate things to get quick results and in these seconds, I can only agree with what Spinel said a while ago: Amethio and I are very similar on some levels.

  We both have goals and we bite hard. We want too much at once and yet nothing seems to work. I have no clue what’s going on in his head, but I think today I’m one step closer to understanding him.

  “Your Toucannon won’t leave you,” Amethio finishes.

  “What if he does?”

  He sighs. “Some paths part over time. You cannot be sure you will have the same companions until the end.”

  “What would you do if Ceruledge left you?”

  He averts his eyes. “Ceruledge is like Zoroark. It won’t leave. Ever.”

  “Really?” Pursing my lips, I put my hands on my hips. It’s strangely liberating to talk to him like this about everything gnawing at me. As if there’s no longer any need to keep all these things bottled up because he’s listening to me. “And what about Corviknight?”

  Only slowly does he turn his attention back in my direction, and though his face seems rigidly, I think I detect a hint of a bitter gleam in his eyes. “Then I’ll release it.”

  “Is that why you always say ‘it’?” Because he doesn’t want to commit to his team, knowing that saying goodbye will probably only hurt more? I could understand that, really.

  But he shakes his head gently. “I’ve never bothered with such ... trivialities.”

  “You’re not interested?” I move closer. “I’d be very interested to know what you’re travelling with!”

  If Amethio wasn’t so stiff, he would probably roll his eyes. Instead, he waves me off and continues on our way to nowhere. All I can do is run after him and hope I will eventually solve the mystery behind his Pokémon. Of course, many people don’t care about the gender of their Pokémon, because for some, they are just a weapon in gym battles. Others simply like the idea of owning a Pokémon. That’s why there are so many people who don’t give a Pokémon a name – because they are just one of many. For me, however, these are elements that set a Pokémon apart from others.

  Toucannon is a boy. So when he sees a pretty lady of the Flying-type, a Pokémon like Unfezant, I can tease him wonderfully with his little romance. What’s more, there are Pokémon whose gender is associated with certain behaviours. Male Unfezants, for example, are proud and always keen to look good to please the females. They know their colours. Just as a male Toucannon pays more attention to its beak than a female, who sometimes puts it in the dirt and uses it to warm her freshly laid eggs.

  Everyone has their characteristics and if I can add a nickname on top of that, then it’s not that difficult to recognise how damn valuable our partners are.

  Maybe one day Amethio will learn to appreciate that, too. Or maybe he won’t. At least I can try to make him realise these things. It would also give me a little more time with him. Who knows when he’ll throw himself back into his work and I won’t get to see him for weeks again.

  Only the thought makes me sigh wistfully. Now that I’ve got all the pressure off my chest, the mess in my head isn’t cleared up, but I dare to waste a few thoughts on unimportant things. Because it’s okay. It’s important. And my thoughts around Amethio, which make my stomach twist like a Caterpie has tied knots, don’t have to be anything reprehensible.

  However, I can’t engage him in further conversation until I spot Juniper’s light brown mop of hair.

  She’s strolling down the street, her head visibly in the clouds, and she has to blink twice before she notices Amethio and me and stops instantly. In the very next breath, she chases in my direction to grab me by the shoulders and shake me.

  “Domino! You’re fine!”

  I have to grab onto her wrists to stop her.

  “Why didn’t you get in touch? I heard you ended up at the Elite Four separately from that guy! What happened after you went with Ghetsis?” She doesn’t give me a second to catch my breath and answer her.

  “Do you know all the worries I had? Ghetsis ... and this so-called Shadow Triad at his side ... it’s no joke. I really didn’t know whether I should storm into the cave again or ask someone for help first.”

  Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Amethio looks at me from the side, as if Juniper is going to bring up one or two things I deliberately left out of my story to him. If Juniper wasn’t here right now, I would probably catch a comment or two from him.

  But now that it’s all over and nobody has to worry about Plasma anymore, there’s no reason not to include every detail. So I take a few minutes to tell Juniper how I got into this situation, why I stayed and what decisions I made to keep Natural safe.

  She listens to my every word with maximum attention. Her hands slip from my shoulders. Sometimes she shakes her head, then opens her mouth, but doesn’t make a sound. Even after I finish my story, it takes her a moment to collect herself.

  “He had a gun?” It seems to be the only thing that’s stuck with her. “Domino! Firearms are illegal. They are ... incredibly dangerous. Let’s be honest, it’s already problematic anyone can get a Pokémon, but firearms? He could have killed you on the spot if you’d made even one mistake.”

  Anyone with even half an eye open is probably aware of this. You can’t just buy guns. The only place to buy them is the underground black market in some cities, which most people will never see. The military is by far the only exception to this rule, and even these people hand in their weapons when they leave the training camp. I looked it up. They’re building on Pokémon. Most of them are already strong enough to wreak havoc. Anyone still looking for a tool to murder in between must be either corrupted or insane from the get-go.

  “She tends to not think much before she acts.” In the end, it’s Amethio’s sharp comment that pulls me out of my thoughts and elicits an outraged gasp from me.

  “I’ve thought about it a lot!” I protest. “Maybe not when I threw myself from the top floor of the tower with Ghetsis, but certainly when I had to decide to watch Natural live or die.” Snorting, I put my hands on my hips. “Generally speaking ... you don’t even have to think about it. You ha-”

  Before I can justify myself any further, warm arms envelop me. As if out of nowhere, Juniper moves closer, presses herself against me and places a hand on the back of my head. This close, I can almost rest my chin on her shoulder – she’s only slightly taller than me – and although I should probably say something, I can’t think of anything.

  In these breaths, this closeness feels like a mother’s embrace. At least that’s how I imagine it.

  Being allowed to be so close to someone else gives my body a calming tingle and when I finally put my hands around her too, she strokes my hair a few times.

  “You’ve done a good job, Domino. Many wouldn’t have been brave enough to rush to this boy’s aid.” She slowly detaches from me. “This Natural-boy was very lucky that there was someone who cared about him.”

  Maybe that’s true.

  Maybe I did a good job and don’t have to justify my decisions. In the end, everything worked out and maybe, just maybe, things are fine the way they are right now.