“Zorro! Hey! Where are you going?!” Harper abruptly sat up, futilely reaching an arm out for the poochyena.

  But his hand grasped only air. His voice didn’t reach.

  Zorro had already vanished into the tide of bodies.

  “Zorro, wait! Come back!” Eve shouted as she darted in his direction, following the same path as him through the legs of the crowd.

  Their sudden departure snapped the entire scene into chaos. Shock rippled outward. Beartic and Brycen froze mid-step, stunned. Harper still knelt, staring in disbelief as if time had fractured around him. Bianca gasped, eyes wide as she failed to stop Caleb and Claire from running.

  “ZORRO! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!” Caleb screamed, voice cracking as he shoved forward. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

  “EVE! COME BACK!” Claire shouted behind him, her words breaking into sobs as tears began to stream down her face.

  The twins ducked under the police barrier, forcing their way into the fray. They pushed past legs and cameras, tripping over cables and stumbling through people too distracted by the breaking news to notice two children fighting to chase after their friends.

  “Move—MOVE!” Caleb barked at a cluster of reporters. One nearly dropped their mic. None stepped aside.

  The chaos of the crime scene swallowed them whole. The cameramen shouting, reporters gesturing wildly to their crews, and the flashing lights only made everything more disorienting. The twins struggled against it, but no one gave them room to breathe, much less run.

  “Caleb! Claire!” Bianca rushed forward, grabbing both twins in her arms. She dropped to her knees and pulled them close. “We’ll find Zorro and Eve. I promise—we will. They can’t have gone far…”

  Brycen turned sharply to Harper, his tone sharp and commanding. “Harper, go after them. Now!”

  Harper blinked up at him, still catching his breath. “What?”

  “You’re the only one small enough to get through that crowd!” Brycen pointed toward the trail Zorro and Eve had left behind, now rapidly closing in with people. “Don’t wait!”

  “He’s right, kid!” Beartic added, forcing his massive body through the sea of people, shoving shoulders aside with grunts. “I’ll follow as fast as I can, but you need to move now!”

  Harper gritted his teeth, forcing himself up onto shaky legs. His ribs ached. His head throbbed. The earlier fight still echoed through his body like aftershocks from an earthquake. But none of that mattered—not now. They needed him. Zorro needed him.

  He inhaled sharply, then bolted.

  Ducking low, Harper tore into the wall of people. Legs blurred around him, and voices shouted above his head, but he didn't stop. He zigzagged between heels and knees, slipping under coats and past security vests. A reporter nearly stepped on him, but he rolled through it, breaking into a full sprint.

  The pain still flared with every movement, but he bit down on it. He had to push through.

  The city’s iconic fog rolled in as soon as he made it onto the main streets. Even though he couldn’t see the two anywhere through the haze, sight wasn’t the only sense he needed to track them down. Despite the dank, gaseous scent of the cityscape, Harper managed to sense Eve’s perfume out, if just barely. The faint aroma of sweet roses trailed around the corner like a marker, one he intended not to lose.

  After running down a few streets towards Eve’s perfume, the smell began to grow stronger. Turning the final corner, he saw the eevee sitting and panting from fatigue. Eve turned her head to Harper, her face wet from tears.

  “M-Mr. Harper… I…” Eve sniffled as she faced the floor, her tears dripping onto the pavement. “I couldn’t k-keep up with him… I-I lost him!”

  Harper dropped to one knee, gently gripping her shoulders. “No, he’s not lost,” he said, steady and certain, even if part of him still doubted. “We’re going to find him. No matter what.”

  Eve wiped her face with a shaky paw. “B-But how? This city’s huge!”

  Harper hesitated. He didn’t have an answer—not a real one. He’d hoped Eve would lead him to Zorro, but she’d pushed herself to the limit. Now it was his turn.

  “We’ll do our best,” he consoled her. “I’ll spend all night finding him if we have t—”

  |[…guilt…]|

  A jolt hit him—subtle, but sharp. A pressure behind his eyes. A feeling that didn’t belong to him.

  ~What was that?~ Harper’s ears perked up as he rapidly looked in all directions.

  “…Mr. Harper?” Eve asked, lifting her head in confusion.

  “Shh,” he murmured, closing his eyes. He focused—not on the sounds, not on the street—but inward. Reaching.

  There. A faint thrum in the distance. Not a voice. Not a sound. A feeling. Drenched in sorrow. Guilt. It wasn’t sharp like anger or fear—just heavy. Lingering.

  He latched onto it. The signal was weak, but it was there. Fuzzy. Unstable. But real.

  His eyes snapped open.

  “Eve,” he said, rising to his feet as the tassels on the sides of his head lifted with a strange grace, reacting to the aura that had finally revealed itself. “I think… I think I found him.”

  Harper and Eve rushed down the roads and pavement, weaving through the late-night stragglers, barely slowing down as they dodged and brushed past pedestrians. A man in a long coat muttered a curse under his breath, clutching his newspaper as it nearly flew from his hands. A group of teenagers loitering outside a convenience store turned to watch, one of them letting out a low whistle.

  Eve nearly tripped over a loose crack on the sidewalk but caught herself just in time. Before Harper could ask if she was alright, the eevee shot him a look of determination, urging him to keep going. With a sharp nod, she surged ahead, tail low and eyes locked on the road ahead.

  As they ran, Harper let his aura sense extend outward—unrefined and flickering like a weak signal—but just enough to guide him through the heavy air pressing in around them.

  The air grew heavier as they neared the docks, thick with the scent of seawater and rust. The city’s noise faded, replaced by the distant groan of shifting boats and the occasional squawk of a Wingull. At the very end of the port, past rows of anchored ships, Zorro stood alone, staring down at the water, his lips moving in a near-silent murmur.

  “The car was too fast… I got lost… It’s my fault… He’ll never come back…”

  “Zorro! Why’d you run away?” Harper shouted, grabbing the poochyena’s attention. “You scared us all—”

  |[GUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILTGUILT]|

  Harper flinched sharply at the massive surge of emotions that struck his psyche when Zorro turned around. He faltered to the floor, catching his fall in time.

  “Mr. Harper!” Eve exclaimed before helping him stand. “Are you ok?”

  He held his head in pain as he stumbled back up, taken aback by the sheer density of Zorro’s emotional state. How could a single pokémon emit this much distress?

  Eve turned to Zorro, growling at him. “Why did you run away like that?! None of us want to see you gone agai—”

  “—HE’S STILL GONE!” Zorro suddenly cried out with a contorted face, startling the two of them. “I haven't done a single thing up till now! I should’ve tried to find him myself years ago!”

  The two were unable to respond to Zorro, confused by what he meant.

  Harper blinked, his brows knitting in worry. “Who are you talking about?”

  “I don't deserve to be here at all… I should've kept looking for him…” Zorro continued to mumble to himself, not hearing his question.

  “Zorro…” Eve slowly approached the poochyena. “Why are you talking like you're still gone?”

  The poochyena tilted his head down, trying to hide himself from their gaze. “Please… Please don’t call me by his name anymore.”

  Like Eve, Harper also began to make his way closer, not trying to aggravate the poochyena. “Zorro, we still don’t underst—”

  “I. Said. DON’T CALL ME BY HIS NAME!” Zorro’s eyes glowed as he raised his front two paws into the air, a dark crimson aura covered him before it began to swirl around. He brought his paws down to the ground, creating a surrounding force field of energy before quickly expanding as a sphere of Dark TE.

  The attack approached him and Eve at rapid speeds, yet his mind flew into a chaotic rush. He froze in place and his eyes opened wide with horror. The world melted in place, and the seaside port of the night transformed into a harsh, dry desert. As the blood-red energy advanced closer, he could feel the heat on his flesh, the sharpness of metal slicing his muscles, the impact breaking his bones.

  He was going to die again.

  There was nothing on the other side, he saw the other side and it was empty. Only absolute hollowness awaited him there. He was going to lose his second chance at life.

  He was going to die agai—

  “MR. HARPER!” Eve screamed, her body tripped onto the floor, unable to dodge the attack.

  Awoken by her voice, Harper impulsively grabbed Eve and jumped away from the attack. His back faced away from the poochyena and successfully shielded her in time. The two landed on the concrete ground far away from the attack’s vicinity as it dwindled down.

  "E-Eve! I— Are— Wait, are you ok?!" Harper let go of the eevee from his tight grasp, checking for any injuries. The opaque darkness singed the tip of her fur, but he thankfully didn't spot any damage further than that.

  Eve coughed a few times before she began to stammer. “M-Mr. Harper… but your back…”

  The energy that stuck to his back stung like it was seeping deeper into his skin. He couldn’t see what it looked like, but he had to tough it out. This wasn’t the worst pain inflicted on him in his life.

  Compared to then, this was nothing.

  “Ignore that! Are you ok?” Harper pressed, his face tight with concern.

  “I-I am, but—” Eve looked at Zorro with horror in her eyes. “—Z-Zorro… Why?”

  Zorro took a step back, his body shuddering as he shook his head in denial. “I-I didn’t mean to, I h-haven’t used that s-since… Mr. Harper, I didn’t mean to!”

  “Zorro, just tell us what’s going o— Augh!" he winced in pain. "We— We can't help you if you don't explain anything to us!"

  “B-But if I do, you’ll… you’ll…!”

  “Whatever it is, we won't do anything!” he definitively assured him. “I want to help you. We want to help you!”

  Zorro stared at him in silence as tears pooled beneath his wide, trembling eyes. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out—only a low, shuddering breath as if speaking the truth would unravel him entirely. His body shook, his legs nearly buckling beneath him.

  Harper took a slow step forward, hands slightly raised. “Scared of what, Zorro? Of us?”

  “I-I don’t know what you’ll think of me when you find out what I did,” Zorro choked, eyes darting between the two of them. “What I l-let happen…”

  “We’re still standing here, aren’t we?” Harper said, trying to steady his voice. “Whatever you did… we’re not walking away.”

  Eve narrowed her eyes, but her tone softened. “You hurt us, Zorro. You scared us. But… we’re still here. Just tell us the truth.”

  Zorro sniffled, wiping a paw across his face, but it only smeared the tears into his fur. “If I say it out loud… then it’s real. Everything I’ve tried to fix becomes real again…”

  Harper crouched down, gritting his teeth from the pain in his back, and leveled his gaze with the trembling Pokémon. Remembering how he felt that night with Beartic and Brycen, he gave a warm smile to the poochyena. “Sometimes saying it is the only way to stop it from eating you alive.”

  Zorro's eyes flicked up again, searching their faces for anger. All he saw was pain… and a sliver of hope.

  Suddenly, a flurry of black fog swirled around the poochyena and Harper shielded Eve again, covering their faces from the gust. When the wind finally died down, they were finally able to open their eyes. The moonlight shone brightly onto the seaport, illuminating where the poochyena was… but it wasn’t a poochyena anymore. Where the canine sat now had a black-and-red pokémon, a tuft of red fur stood tall on their head as a dark collar circled their neck. Zorro wasn’t a poochyena, but a—

  “—Zorua…” Harper breathed out, unaware that he was speaking out loud. “You’re a zorua…”

  The disillusioned fox forced himself to nod, ashamed. “I… I was his friend before he was stolen. We used to play together in the woods behind his house…”

  Harper was unable to grasp the new situation he had found himself in, but what he feared more were the young pokémons' emotions. One side screamed for unadulterated forgiveness and the other demanded closure.

  Eve shook herself out of Harper’s clutch and faced Zorua with an expression he had never seen on her face before.

  “…Why did Zorro never tell us about you?”

  "B-Because my mom said that our kind wasn't supposed to let anyone know about our identity… I told Zorro though because I really wanted a friend to play with…"

  “Then… were you him this whole time?”

  “Ever since he w-went missing,” Zorua forcefully coughed up.

  “T-Then it’s been years…” Eve’s eyes widened with dread before she shouted at him. “Where is he now!?”

  “I DON’T KNOW!” Zorua burst into tears as he collapsed to the ground, paws over his head with guilt. “Some Team Plasma b-bad guys stole him! I tried to chase the ones the police took away because I thought they knew where he was!”

  “What happened to him!?” Eve demanded, stomping a foot on the ground. “Why did you take his place?!”

  “They stole him because they w-wanted to free Zorro from Caleb! It happened while we were playing hide-and-seek since they knew he was Caleb’s pokémon!” he sobbed, his wails piercing through the ocean waves. “I-I was too scared to fight back! They stole him and I-I didn't do anything!”

  Zorua looked at Harper, truly looked, and his lower jaw trembled as more tears spilled out. “It wasn’t just that I didn’t fight back. I could’ve. I was strong enough. I knew some tricks—illusions, misdirection. But I-I froze. I watched them take him a-and I didn’t move. I let them take him. All I did was hide in the tree we always met at like a coward!”

  The silence that washed over the three of them was damning. For a minute, all Harper and Eve could do was watch as Zorua continued to wallow in shame. The facade was up, but the hurt left behind still hung in the air, and his gasps and sobs echoed around the docks.

  “I…” she corrected herself as she slowly inched towards the Dark-type fox. “Zorr— Zorua, I—”

  “—Don’t touch me!” Zorua shuffled away from her in fear. “I hurt you too much! I don’t wanna hurt you again! Not after I stole Zorro away from your family!”

  Eve froze for a moment, ears flicking back, before stepping forward again with quiet determination. “Zorua, no… I—”

  “I d-didn't know how to tell your family that Zorro was stolen! I-I didn't want any of you to be sad so that’s why I pretended to be him a-and Ididn’twantanyonetobemadatmeforstealinghisidentitysoIdidn’ttellanyone—”

  Eve cut through Zorua’s sputtering with a nudge of her head on his neck, placing a paw on his back and pulling him into a hug.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “E-Eve?” Zorua sniffled.

  “You miss him,” She whispered, calming Zorua down. “You miss him like we all do. I’m not mad, and I don't know why I should be mad at you.”

  “B-But I— Y-You’re really ok that I wasn’t Zorro the whole time?”

  Without warning, Eve swiftly pulled him into a tight embrace by wrapping her paws around Zorua’s back. As she hugged him, her body began to shine brightly, overshadowing the dim electrical lighting of the seaport. Harper briefly covered his eyes from the initial flash, but when they adjusted to the light, he realized that the brightness wasn’t an aftereffect of a move like he initially thought.

  She was evolving.

  Through the radiating luminescence, Eve’s body grew larger, standing taller than Zorua and Harper. Her tail shrunk to become less bushy as her large ears rounded out more. The distinctive fur collar around her neck seemed to dissipate into the air, manifesting instead as two vague shapes that Harper couldn't make out—one resting on her neck and the other winding its way toward the base of her ear. From each of the shapes, delicate strips unfurled like tendrils of mist, gently coiling around Zorua's body beside her paws.

  When the light died down, Eve's new ribbons glowed a pink hue onto him, and his eyes widened in realization at her. With a warm smile, she let go of the fox and leaned back.

  “You’re still family,” Eve answered simply, her voice now slightly deeper, more mature.

  Her words were what Zorua needed to hear. He cried louder into Eve’s new fur, relieved as if freed from the weight of pressure he endured for years. Eve hugged him again with the aid of her new ribbons, one of them soothing his head with a caress. Over time, his sobs gradually reduced to a quiet snivel.

  “He’s calmed down now,” Eve remarked to Harper, who had stood in utter shock the whole time.

  “I— That’s great, b-but you evolved!” Harper stammered. “How’d you evolve into a sylveon?”

  “A… A sylveon?” She looked down on her body as her two front ribbons twirled into a spiral. “I… I don’t know, Zorua was so heartbroken but I didn’t know how to tell him how I felt until I felt something… pure… deep inside me. It was like I didn’t need to tell him, but let him feel what I felt instead, and that’s when I felt my body change.”

  Zorua nodded, wiping a tear from his eye. “She meant everything, b-but I don’t get it, I don’t deserve it… Why?”

  “It’s… because I also haven’t been truthful to the both of you,” he admitted, glancing at Zorua and Eve before returning his gaze to the Dark-type. “I understand that you want to hide the truth because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life… or at least my whole life here…”

  Harper wanted Beartic and Brycen to be the next to know his true identity, but he changed his mind when Zorua revealed himself. Their similarities were a near one-to-one ratio, and the disillusioned fox desperately needed someone to connect with. He clearly understood that right now was the moment. This was the start. He was going to reveal everything over again, just like he did with Nate.

  However, this wasn’t out of desperation to be known.

  This was to help someone who needed it.

  “The truth is… I—”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of Eve’s feelers reaching out towards him. When he raised his head, he saw Zorua holding on to another of her ribbons as it gently wrapped around. She lifted the free ribbon closer, urging him to grab it.

  “Eve?” Harper uttered.

  “I… I think I can help…” she responded, nudging her ribbon on his paw. “I feel Zorua’s pain, but he’s feeling better when he’s sharing it with me…”

  “Are you sure it’s ok?” Harper hesitated, stopping himself from reaching forward. “This must all feel so new for you…”

  She gave a reassuring nod. “I’m sure.”

  As soon as Harper held onto her ribbon, his psyche connected with Zorua and Eve’s emotions. A blend of sensations coalesced from the two and continued to grow as his own merged into it.

  It wasn't just pain anymore—there was comfort in it too, like the weight of it was easier to carry when they held it together as if the sensation of shared joy doubled and shared sorrow being halved was made visceral.

  “Everyone in Pokéstar Studios believes me to be an amnesiac riolu with the talent for filming, but that’s a lie. I’ve been lying to everyone about who I really am.”

  Zorua and Eve remained silent, intently listening with their full attention, not wanting to disrupt him. Feeling calmer with their presence, Harper continued on.

  "I'm not an actor with an innate talent for acting. I've had years of experience before I showed up from all the auditions and training I put myself under back in Los Angeles, the place where I came from, and a place I can never go back," He nodded his head downward, his breath quickening as the memory of that day returned. "I… I lived in another world before—"

  Eve’s ribbon gripped tightly on Harper’s paw, throwing his focus towards the warm, comforting sensation that grew more sincere. Her and Zorua’s faces winced in concern as if bracing themselves for whatever truth was coming next, uncertain but unwilling to turn away.

  “—Before I… I died,” he revealed, watching their eyes widen in shock. He continued on through their stunned silence. “I used to work in a movie studio like Pokéstar, but a bomb meant for a prop tank went off in front of me. When I woke up, I found myself in this body near Route 20. My injuries were still on me, and this scar is my only reminder of that day,” Harper looked down at his chest, feeling the sides of his past injury. “I’m… trying to move on the best that I can, and hiding who I am and what happened isn’t going to help.”

  “You’re telling the truth…” Eve whispered, her voice barely holding together. “Is… Is this what you’ve always felt this entire time?”

  Harper stopped himself from nodding and shook his head with a faint smile instead. “Not until recently. I wanted to tell Beartic and Brycen about who I really was but I didn’t know when, but after hearing Zorua out, he deserved to know first.”

  Zorua lowered his gaze, his ears folding back as his voice wavered. “Why?”

  "Because, in a way, I know I'm not alone anymore," Harper responded, placing a paw on Zorua's shoulder. "You can take your time, but keeping the truth to yourself forever isn't going to help. Telling Eve and me was the first step and you did a great job, now you need to tell Caleb and the others."

  Zorua hesitated, wiping his eyes with the back of his paw, before facing him again. “Ok, I… I will.”

  Harper breathed out his nose with relief before asking another question. “Would it help if Eve and I were beside you when the time’s rig—”

  “Yes,” he replied instantly,

  “Alright then, just tell us when you feel ready, ok?” Harper calmly responded.

  "Thank you, Mr. Harper. And thanks, Eve," Tears began welling up in Zorua's eyes again, not of regret or shame, but of the solace he finally received after so long. "C-Can we stay here a bit more? I don't wanna leave yet."

  Harper briefly glanced over his shoulder in the direction where Pokéstar Studios was. He didn’t think it was the right time to head back, even if everyone was waiting for them to return. Zorua had just revealed a truth he’d been hiding for so long, and he didn't want to rush his feelings. He made a mental note to his future self to apologize for delaying their return.

  “Sure, we can stay here a bit longer,” Harper answered as he sat beside Zorua, with Eve following suit. “We’ll go back once you feel ready.”

  When Harper turned to his side, Zorua looked up at him with a soft, fragile smile—nothing like the practiced ones Harper had seen during filming. This one wasn’t put on for the camera. It wasn’t part of a role.

  This was Zorua smiling as himself.

  Harper sat with the two by the end of the docks until the sun just began to peak out of the horizon. The pain from his last battle and injury from Zorua’s outburst was now a dull and distant memory. While it ached every now and then, he bit through it regardless like he always did.

  During the time of reflection, Zorua explained the rest of his story, filling in what they didn't know. The entire time, he told the truth with a relieved tone as if freed from the mental weights that held him down.

  They first met each other when Zorro began exploring and bumped into him while he was training his illusions. Because zoruas were never meant to reveal them, he made Zorro swear to keep his location a secret. He kept his promise, but that didn't stop the poochyena from showing up nearly every day after that.

  Before his kidnapping, Zorua and Zorro always played together in the forest behind his house nearly every day. They always met up at the same spot underneath a large tree to spend time together secretly. Their routine never changed until the day Team Plasma showed up.

  “After Zorro was stolen, it took me days to make an illusion of his form,” he explained as his fur softly shimmered, shifting between his black fur and a poochyena’s gray fur. “I never learned how to change my eyes, but I didn’t want to keep his family waiting…”

  Upon seeing his illusion ability again, a faint memory of how the ability worked ingame appeared in Harper’s head. He knew it usually broke after a move hit the illusion once, so how come it never broke when he sparred with Zorua? When he got his answer, he couldn't help but feel bad for not being able to help sooner.

  "When I first met Zorro, my illusions weren't always the best, but he always loved seeing them. I started training them to impress him, but… My reason for training my ability changed after he was stolen. No matter how tiring it was, I forced my illusions up because I didn't want to be caught…"

  Every battle he was in was a fight to keep his identity safe. With how battle-ready he portrayed himself to be for every spar, Harper came to realize how great at acting Zorua was in his own right. From their first encounter and battle together, he would never have known that it was Zorua in a strong illusion that he had fought against.

  At this point of their talk, people were beginning to show up, mostly sailors and captains starting their morning shift in the docks. Zorua felt ready to return, so they made their way back to Pokéstar Studios through the streets of Virbank.

  Not wanting to return to everyone in his original form, Zorua changed back to a poochyena, his eyes still remaining the same color despite everything else being identical. Meanwhile, as Eve had evolved into a sylveon, they had no way to hide her from the few people they passed by. Judging by the passerby’s reaction to her new form, a sylveon wasn’t well known to the public. They quickly dodged everyone before anyone could take photos, as Harper didn't want any additional attention on them.

  During their brisk pacing, Harper noticed that Eve’s ribbons were beginning to twist around each other, her face matching its energy.

  “Is… Is Claire going to be okay with my evolution?” she asked hesitantly. “I evolved before she could make her choice, so what if she doesn't like it?”

  Harper held onto one of her ribbons, unfurling the tension. "It's going to be okay. We'll explain everything the best we can, but I wholeheartedly believe that Claire will love your new form."

  “I… okay, Mr. Harper,” she slowly nodded, a growing sense of confidence radiating through her feelers.

  Once they had made it to the front gates of Pokéstar Studios, Harper spotted a large figure in the distance making its way towards them. He soon made it out to be Beartic, who ran on all four legs at breakneck speeds, skidding once he got close enough as he stood up.

  “Kid! Everyone’s been waiting for you this whole time! What were you— What happened to your back?!”

  Harper turned slightly to hide it from Beartic’s line of sight. “It’s nothing. Just a light scratch, doesn’t hurt.”

  “You didn’t get that injury when we fought Neo Plasma, so where did it come fro—” Beartic froze when his eyes met Eve’s. “Wait… Is… Is that you, Eve?”

  She sheepishly nodded as she faced the ground, her feelers drooping downward.

  “You evolved… and into an eeveelution I’ve never seen before…” Beartic muttered, blinking in astonishment before shaking his head. He then turned to Harper. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do to everyone.”

  When Harper nodded, Beartic faced Zorua, who was still in his poochyena form. He knelt on his knees and stared at him with a stern, yet concerned expression.

  “Thank the Twins that you're ok, but please don't pull that off ever again, ok?” he sighed with relief.

  Zorua silently answered like Eve, with his tail tucked between his legs.

  Beartic let out a slow breath, then reached out and gently ruffled the fur on top of Zorua’s head. “You gave us a scare, but you came back. That’s what matters.”

  Zorua didn’t speak, but he leaned into the gesture just slightly—just enough to show he was listening. His ears twitched, still lowered, but there was a flicker of calm returning to his body.

  “C’mon, let’s go,” Beartic motioned with a wave of his paw as he turned toward the entrance. “Everyone’s waiting for us.”

  “Where?” Harper asked.

  “The meeting room,” Beartic answered, his tone carrying a hint of urgency. “Professor Juniper’s arriving soon, and she heard from Bianca about Zorro running away, so you need to explain what happened—on top of Eve’s evolution.”

  “Are… Are we in trouble?” Zorua asked, his body briefly trembling.

  Beartic shook his head. “No, you aren’t. We were all just concerned. Now, let’s go back to your trainers—they’ve been waiting all night for you two.”

  As they walked to the office building, Harper glanced over at Beartic multiple times before looking away.

  “What is it, kid?” the polar bear asked, finally noticing his lingering gaze.

  “Did… Did you know the whole time?” Harper asked, his voice low with unease.

  “About what?” he replied, raising a brow.

  “About me being researched,” Harper responded, his eyes fixed on the ground. “Brycen knew, and he didn’t say anything. Did you know?”

  Beartic stopped in place before turning around. “I… I didn’t know, truly. I’m sure Brycen had his reasons for not telling you, but I’m sure he meant nothing ill by it.”

  “I wanted to ask him more about it sooner, but because of the Neo Plasma grunts and everything…” Harper trailed off, thinking back to their nighttime battle.

  The polar bear nodded in understanding. “I see, we’ll talk with Brycen about it when we can, but for now, let's not keep everyone else waiting. I’m sure they want answers as much as we do.”

  As the four of them made their way to the offices, he noticed Eve walking a little closer beside him. Her feelers brushed against his paw, while Zorua kept his head low but his pace steady. They weren’t the same as when they left, but thankfully, they changed for the better after overcoming the worst.

  Now, Harper wanted to know what Brycen’s deal was.

  The meeting room still smelled like recycled air and cold metal. Chairs were pushed out of alignment, and a few papers were scattered near the corner of the table. No one had bothered to clean up after last night.

  Harper stepped through the doorway, Beartic right behind him. His eyes moved across the room until they landed on Bianca at the far end, crouched between the twins. She was trying—saying something quiet, steady—but it wasn’t landing. Caleb and Claire sat frozen, their cheeks streaked with dried tears, eyes empty.

  At least until they saw who was behind him.

  “ZORRO!”

  “EVE!”

  The twins immediately rushed to the entrance, hugging their partner Pokémon with desperate relief, their grips tight as if afraid to let go.

  “Don’t ever do that again!” Caleb demanded, his face scrunching up as he blinked back more tears. “I don't want to lose you a second time!”

  Claire tilted her head into Eve’s, holding onto her gently, her fingers trembling against the soft fur. She was aware of her evolution but didn’t let it distract her. “I don’t know what I’d do if you were lost…”

  At first, the two pokémon remained silent in their trainers’ embrace, but the longer they remained in it, the harder it was for them to keep their composure. Soon enough, Zorua began to cry first, pushing his head into Caleb’s pajamas. Eve followed a moment later, using her new appendages to wrap around Claire.

  Bianca watched the twins with relief, glad that the immediate danger was now over. That didn't stop Harper from noticing the Assistant Professor’s curious fascination at Eve’s new form. He continued to stare at her, remembering again that she had been studying him, watching him, this entire time. He didn't know how to feel about her anymore, but he hoped to God that she could explain herself.

  He also hoped for the same with Brycen, who stood reserved beside Bianca. Learning that he was being secretly researched was one thing, but for Brycen to let it continue was something else entirely.

  “Harper, Beartic, you're back,” he said as he approached the two, his usual composed demeanor softer than usual. “I am glad to see that you have found Zorro and Eve.” He reached behind his back, pulling out Harper’s whiteboard and pen before handing it forward. “I want to properly apologize now that the incident with Neo Plasma is behind us. Will you allow me to do so?”

  Harper reluctantly agreed with a nod, taking his whiteboard and slinging it around his neck.

  “Thank you,” Brycen responded, turning back to Bianca, who still had her razor focus locked onto Eve. “I would like to talk with my pokémon in private before Professor Juniper arrives, I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Huh?” Bianca blinked twice before turning sideways, adjusting her glasses as shame filled her eyes. “O-Oh, of course!”

  Leaving the twins and their pokémon to their business, they walked to another, smaller meeting room. With a lock of the door, Brycen sat on the floor with crossed legs, matching Harper’s line of sight. Harper remained standing beside Beartic, his posture tense, taken aback by the sudden humility in the Gym Leader’s actions. Despite that, Harper remained silent, watching as he shifted in place. After Brycen cleared his throat, he began to explain.

  “On the day that Bianca gave her pitch for the show, I knew this was a scheme for them to attempt to research you. Gym Leader Cheren had an interest in you and likely told her and Professor Juniper about it. They wanted to observe you in a natural setting without your knowledge using ‘Sonamu’s Sunrise’ as a front.”

  Harper’s digits gripped the edge of his whiteboard tightly.

  “My curiosity for your skills was my own undoing. I let them research you because I wanted to know myself. I intended to stop them if they went too far, and yet, it has brought us to this situation.”

  Brycen placed his hands on his legs and bowed forward, tilting his head downward. "This was a violation of your privacy fueled by my desires. I should have told Professor Juniper to end her secret plot sooner. I sincerely apologize for everything; I broke the trust you gave to Beartic and me that night."

  He raised his head, and his eyes held a rare weight of regret. “I hope you can forgive me for this…”

  |[Penitence]|

  He looked down at his whiteboard, then back to the man on the floor who had once been his mentor, his protector, and still was, in a way.

  A deep breath steadied his nerves.

  Harper loosened his grip as he watched — no, felt the Ice-Type Trainer express his sincere apology. Despite the frustration of realizing that the TV show's production wasn't being true to its original intention and how Brycen basically let it happen, he knew it wouldn't do him any good to hold a grudge. Beartic was right in that Brycen had no ill intention in concealing the truth, and Harper knew he wasn't without fault either; his stubborn choice to keep his identity a secret had ultimately pushed the veteran actor to take the actions he did.

  Not wanting to see Brycen on the floor anymore, Harper urged him to stand back up by pulling his arm up. When he stood back up, Harper began to scribble down his side of the apology.

  *I forgive you. I should’ve been more truthful soone—*

  “No,” Brycen moved his hand over Harper’s whiteboard, stopping him from writing any further. “I understand that you wanted more time to yourself. I didn’t want to pressure you into telling the truth, but at the same time, I also didn’t wish to see you be affected by your… panic attacks. I foolishly assumed that the Unovan Research Team would spot something that I didn’t, and I now see what a stupid decision it was. If those grunts succeeded in kidnapping you…”

  With a single sigh, Brycen continued on, straightening his posture as he met Harper’s gaze. “I promise that when Professor Juniper arrives, I’ll make sure that everything she has on you will be erased in its entirety. Once she agrees, which she will, we’ll take a break away from Pokéstar Studios.”

  “A break?” Harper raised an eyebrow, glancing at both Beartic and Brycen. *A break where?*

  “Anywhere,” Brycen simply answered. “After what happened here last night, I would like to spend some time away to get it off of our minds. While I do want to stop by Icirrus City, we can travel wherever you’d like, I assume that you wish the same.”

  Brycen was right. Harper wished to see what the rest of Unova was like. So far, his only experiences had been during his trips to Undella Town and Humilau City, but those were primarily for filming purposes. As much as he loved Pokéstar Studios for allowing him to live out his dream, he still wondered about life outside of film production in the Pokémon World.

  And with the tension around here, Harper wanted to get out of it all, at least for a short while.

  He also had another reason to leave, one that gave him the perfect place to tell his entire story in private. If they were going to Icirrus City, then he wanted to tell the truth in the one place he knew had a direct connection to his experience with the Pokémon series, especially from playing Pokémon Black.

  *When we go, I want to go to Dragonspiral Tower.*

  “Dragonspiral Tower?” Brycen repeated, glancing at the equally curious Beartic before looking back at Harper. “How come?”

  *Because—*

  Harper hesitated for a moment before continuing his response, reading it out loud for Beartic as well.

  *Because I want to tell you everything about myself there.*

  “Because I want to tell you everything about myself there.”

  Both the Ice-type experts’ eyes widened.

  Brycen was quiet at first, processing the words with a depth Harper hadn’t seen before. His expression didn’t shift immediately, but something in his eyes did—a quiet acceptance.

  Beartic let out a breath through his nose, slow and steady, before placing a large paw on Harper’s shoulder. “Then that’s where we’ll go,” he said simply. “And when you’re ready, we’ll listen to every word.”

  Brycen gave a firm nod, patting Beartic’s arm in agreement before facing Harper. “Dragonspiral Tower it is. If that’s the place you feel is right, then we’ll respect it. Whatever your story is, Harper… we’ll hear it in full. For now, let’s head back to the other meeting room,” he concluded as he stood up, adjusting his kimono. “I’m sure that Professor Juniper has arrived by now. There is a lot that we need to discuss with her.”

  Without any more words needed, they walked back through the quiet halls, the echo of their footsteps filled the space between them. He didn’t know what kind of answers Professor Juniper expected from him—or if he would get the right ones from her. However, for now, he was no longer running from the truth. Not about who he was. Not about anything.

  When the three turned toward the meeting room door, he heard the low hum of voices on the other side. It was time to face the others, to help Zorua reveal the truth to himself.

  Harper made a mental note to thank Zorua again for finding the courage to speak up.

  For both of them.