Crossing Paths

The next morning, things went on as usual, but with a heavier atmosphere as everyone silently carried on their business without a smile. When everything was all packed and ready, the entire group continued on the path from where they last left it the day before. With Luna dawning her human disguise, the group was less susceptible to unwanted attention. On their way to Oxgard, where they were expected to arrive around noon, Aurora and Max tried their best to initiate some conversation, with the lucario doing most of the talking. After a while, they didn't talk much as their conversations always ended awkwardly, as the group looked like they were coming back from war at first glance.

{I don't want to sound annoying, but have you thought of any strategies against the gym leader?} Aurora asked.

"No, not really. Let's say that my mind was somewhere else."

{I don't blame you. We did live through something very awful.}

"Yeah, awful wouldn't even begin to describe it if you ask me."

{I agree.}

{I think I see something up ahead.} Scarlet mentioned.

In the distance, Max saw something that either looked like a house or an amalgam of houses. He didn't think much of it since he couldn't see very well from that distance.

"Well. I guess we finally arrived."

For the first time since the beginning of his journey, Max wasn't sounding very enthusiastic upon reaching a new town or city. He did, however, forget about the bad things for a bit to think of what they will discover in this new place. Obviously, with the thought of Jade potentially liking it, the thrill of something new quickly faded.

"Maybe you should take the appearance of a regular gardevoir," Max suggested to Scarlet.

{Yeah. Thanks for reminding me.} She replied, touching Luna before using her Trace ability to change into a green gardevoir.

As they calculated, it was almost noon when they arrived in front of the first house. Like many towns they've seen, only the first few residences revolved more around agriculture, but this town surprisingly seemed to have many more just like that. As he was proceeding, he was even wondering if Oxgard was just a farm-based community. He was luckily proven wrong when they arrived in the second part of town because the scenery changed drastically beyond that point. The second part of Oxgard appeared to resemble a small city on a slightly smaller budget, even though it was known as a town. Unlike the few people he encountered in the fields who were way too busy with their work to notice him, the town folk in this part of Oxgard were greeting him and his pokemon with smiles.

{The humans here seem to be quite friendly.} Luna commented.

To Max's surprise, he didn't hear Scarlet contesting or saying otherwise.

"Isn't this supposed to be where you say something like 'That's what they want you to think' right?" Max asked Scarlet.

{Huh? Oh, yeah. What you said.}

Not much to his surprise, however, she seemed to be well absorbed by her thoughts, given that it was pretty much the case with everyone else.

"Well, let's find a hotel so we can get some real rest."

{How long do you plan on staying here?} Scarlet asked.

"I don't know. As long as we need to I guess. Surely it will get quite expensive to stay in a hotel for an extended period of time, so can I count on you to help us with that?"

{You mean by finding money around town?}

"Yeah. I know I already told you not to-"

{I'll see what I can do.} She accepted immediately.

"...Thanks."

He then turned to his team behind.

"I know it may not sound very honest, but we really need it. I hope you girls understand." He reassured them.

{I don't give a shit about that.} Bonny replied.

{I honestly don't mind it either.} Aurora said.

He wasn't very sure about May, but he knew that Dusk would have to take a bit of convincing.

"Dusk, I hope it-"

{Do what you need to do.} The braixen cut.

Seeing that Dusk wasn't as innocent and pure as before pierced his heart, to which he couldn't help but feel responsible. Sighing, he kept searching with the girls until he came across a bed and breakfast.

"You know what? It's not the best, but it'll do. I don't feel like spending all day searching for a 5-star." He said, walking inside. "Besides, I doubt we'll be staying indoors for long."

Quickly renting a room with two beds, the group headed towards where they were directed and entered. Once inside, Max dropped his backpack and tossed it nearby before dropping himself face-first onto one of the beds.

{We're lucky that they didn't seem to be bothered by us.} Aurora commented.

{They probably thought that we'll be sleeping in our pokeballs, so they didn't think further than that I guess.} Bonny said.

{Good point. So, what now? Are we going to look for that gym leader or…?}

"I don't know, maybe later this afternoon or tomorrow."

{Maybe we can go check where we can find him or her first. Will that be okay? You could stay here and rest in the meantime.}

"That would make me look like a lazy ass."

{Normally, I would have half agreed, but given the circumstances…}

"*Sigh* I appreciate the thought, but staying here alone by myself will only make things worse. I need to keep my mind busy somehow." He said, sitting up on the edge of the bed.

Max then looked at Dusk and May, who looked far too miserable. He managed to stabilize the others, but those two seemed to get more depressed with each passing day.

"Say, you girls don't mind if I take Dusk and May for a walk, just the three of us?"

{I don't mind, but why?} Scarlet asked, as the concerned pokemon were looking at Max in shock.

"Just wanting to spend some time with them. I'll try to do something for everyone, but I want to start with them first."

{It's okay, master. We don't deserve your attention more than the others.} Dusk refused.

"I'll have to disagree and say that you do Dusk. You girls lived something that no one ever should, and I believe that May had it rougher."

{Well, for May, I can agree, but me…}

"You don't like violence, Dusk, and you had to endure a huge amount of it. Please, for once, can any of you just listen to me? As I said, I'll take time with everyone, but I have to start somewhere."

{But…}

{Just accept it, Dusk. Can't you see the effort he's putting in?} Bonny stated.

{Come on, Bonny. A little bit of tact never killed anyone.} Luna remarked.

{I know, but… we're all on edge here. At this point, it wouldn't take much for any of us to completely lose it.}

{Which is why the best thing to do is to try to live as we did in the past.} Aurora suggested.

{You mean like forgetting that all that bloodshed ever happened?} Bonny retorted.

{Well, more or less.}

{So you want to forget about Jade already?}

{What? No…}

{You know that's not what she meant, Bonny.} Luna defended Aurora.

{*Sigh* You're right, sorry. You know what, I think I need some time alone.} The lopunny said before heading towards the door.

"Be careful." Max wished before she left.

{Yeah, I think I'll do that too.} Luna said, doing the same.

{Well, I guess that's my cue to leave you alone with Dusk and May.} Scarlet said, preparing to teleport away.

{Do you want some company, Scarlet?} Aurora inquired.

{...I don't mind.}

With Scarlet accepting, Aurora got near her.

{See you later, master.} The gardevoir wished before she and Aurora disappeared.

Max then looked at Dusk and May.

"Come here, you two." He demanded, opening his arms.

With both getting in arms reach, Max pulled them into a single hug on the bed.

"I love you both, and I'm so sorry for what happened. You two are usually the most sensitive and innocent of the group. I wished I could have kept it that way, but it seems that life decided otherwise."

{But… we're still your beloved pokemon, right?} Dusk asked, worried.

"Of course, Dusk. Nothing in this world will ever change that." He reassured, petting them for a moment. "Come on. Let's see what this place has to offer to take our minds off things."

With the three of them standing up, they left the room as well. Having no knowledge of the area, they picked a random direction to explore. At first glance, this town looked like many others: Humans walking around, some with one or two pokemon by their side; residences and a few shops along the way, etc. Your everyday ordinary town in short. After a little while, he spotted something interesting in the distance.

"Would you like a snow cone?" He proposed. "Every girl loves it."

{What is that?} Dusk asked, not sounding very hyped.

{It's like ice cream, but instead of frozen dairy, it's shaved ice with flavored syrup.} May explained.

"Have you ever had one before?"

{Once, when I was with my previous trainer. Now that I think about it, I think he bought me one just so he could impress that human girl he met.}

"I get murderous feelings inside every time I hear or think of him."

{Sorry, I won't speak of him again.} The mawile apologized.

"No, that's not what I meant. It's not your fault that he's the perfect incarnation of an asshole."

{...Okay.}

"Well, this time, I'll buy you one and it will be because you deserve it."

Unknowingly to anyone, even to herself, May smiled a little.

"What flavor?" He asked while waiting behind someone who was already ordering.

{I don't know. I never had one.} Dusk answered.

{Watermelon for me.} May informed him. {It's the one I already tried and it was very tasty.}

"Alright. I'll go with blueberry, and I think I'll get you cherry, Dusk. It's a flavor that a lot of people like."

{Alright. I'm trusting you on that.}

As soon as the other client was done, Max ordered three standard-sized snow cones. When in hand, they sat on a nearby bench and began savoring their treats.

"How is it?" He asked Dusk.

{It's quite good.} She answered after a few licks.

"Glad to hear. It's not my favorite flavor, but cherry is almost always a sure hit. What about you, May?"

{As good as I remember.}

"Awesome."

Between that lapse of time, the three of them manage to forget about the world around them, too busy enjoying their snow cones. Unfortunately, it couldn't last forever as they reverted to their previous state once they were done.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Max commented.

{What now?} The mawile asked.

"I don't know, keep looking around I guess. If only there was a beach around here."

{Yeah. The one in CorsoCoast was fun.} Dusk approved.

"Well, might as well get moving if we want to try to find one."

{You really want to look for another beach?}

"Why not? Honestly, right now, I think we really need something to do… Something to raise our mood a bit. Or else… this nagging negativity... it's gonna eat us from the inside."

{...Alright.}

"Cool. Excuse me?" He asked the next pedestrian passing by. "Do you perhaps know if there is a beach around here?"

"Of course there is." The man replied. "It's even where the gym leader spends most of his time."

"The gym leader? You're kidding, right?"

"Why would I be?" He asked, looking suspiciously at him.

"N-Nevermind. Can you tell me where it is, please?"

"No problem. Go straight from here and walk for about ten streets before turning right. Keep going until you reach the end and turn left. Soon enough, you'll see the beach."

"Alright. Thanks a lot."

"Sure thing." The man said before continuing his walk.

"Isn't that convenient? We already found the gym leader." He said to his two pokemon, almost sounding upset from how down he was. "Do you girls want to go check it out?"

{Shouldn't we tell the others?} Dusk pointed out.

"We should try to get there first. No need to get them if we get lost."

{...Okay.}

"Let's go, then."

For the next hour, Max followed the instructions he received and had now made the last turn. They kept walking until they finally reached their destination. There was indeed a beach, but a lot more modest than the one from CorsoCoast.

"Would you look at that? We found it." Max said, looking at the low amount of people and pokemon around the beach. "That guy said that the gym leader spends most of his time here. I wonder if he's even here today."

{We could always ask again.} Dusk suggested.

"Good idea. Not really in the mood to relax I guess." He replied, engaging the beach with his two pokemon.

Wandering, Max then tried to spot who was looking more local, as some could be tourists. He then spotted a couple that was dressed locally and walking bare feet on the sand.

"Excuse me?" Max inquired, making them stop. "I've been told that the gym leader of this town spends most of their time here. Do you know if he or she's around?"

"The gym leader? Ah, yes. Theodore. It's the guy shaming everyone with his surfing skills over there." The guy said, pointing at someone a bit further above the water.

"Okay. Thanks." He said, leaving them to get closer to the water. "A fire-type gym leader surfing in water… that's peculiar."

They then waited for a little while until the supposed gym leader had ridden enough waves and returned to shore. The guy was a rather handsome man with long hair and a slightly dark skin tone in a tight surfing suit. Before he could even get near him, a few of the locals came to praise him.

"You were so cool!" One of them said.

"I wish I could surf myself so we could do it together." Another one said.

"Please, girls. At the moment, the ocean is my only love interest." He kindly told them with a smile.

Even after getting the cold shoulder, they were all still under his charm. With a bit of embarrassment and a nervous laugh, the man then took notice of Max, dawning a more serious expression on his face.

"Sorry, girls. Duty calls." He said while leaving the group of girls and walked towards Max. "Hey, you look like a potential challenger," he said, pitching his surfboard into the sand.

"How did you guess?"

"Trainer's intuition. That and you've been staring at me for a moment now with your two pokemon."

"I guess I don't need to explain why I'm here."

"Obviously, getting your hands on one of my fire badges, is it not?"

"Yes."

"Your mind is already looking over the horizon, I see. I can respect that. Alright, let me get my pokeballs and we can start whenever you're ready. I'm Theodore by the way."

"Max. So, there's no arena nor battlefield?"

"The entire beach is our battlefield. Just pick a spot and we're good to go."

"...Okay."

With him leaving to drop his surfboard and grab three pokeballs, Max walked a bit further up the beach, not wanting to bother with anything else.

"Quite odd for a fire-type gym leader to be so close to the water." Max pointed out when he was back.

"I get that a lot. I always had my battles on the beach before becoming a fire-type trainer. The truth is, I want to have my battles near the water as it reduces the risk of a life-threatening fire."

"Hm, smart," Max said, faking being interested.

"Over time, I discovered a passion for surfing, so I took that up as a little side hobby. But you're not here to listen to my life story, right? We will proceed at once. You know the rules?"

"Yes, but I only have these two with me. Is it okay?"

"Well…" Theodore said, rubbing the back of his head. "The rule is three maximum, but no rule for a minimum. I guess it's up to you, but you're putting a serious handicap on yourself."

"I'll manage. My girls are stronger than they look."

"Alright. Let the battle begin, then."

After they both synchronized their Ergo Watches, Theodore sent his first pokemon, a heatmor.

{Fired up and ready to fight!} The heatmor growled while exhaling fire from its snout.

"Do you want to start things off, May?" Max asked his mawile.

{...Sure.} she replied, getting in front of Max via a demoralized walk.

"Is your pokemon alright?" Theodore asked upon noticing that.

"Yes, don't worry about it." Max lied.

"...Okay."

When ready, May managed to get into a convincing battle stance.

"Honor to the challenger," Theodore said.

"Headbutt, May," Max commanded.

Executing his order, May charged at the heatmor with a Headbutt but missed as he dodged it.

"Counter-attack, dude," Theodore commanded.

With May only able to face the heatmor again, the fire pokemon replied with Fire Punch, which May took at full power.

"It's okay, May. Do it again, but combo with Steel Fang."

Getting up, May used Headbutt again but followed up with Steel Fang after the heatmor dodged again. To protect itself, the heatmor blocked with one arm, making May bite his rather sturdy arm. Taking little damage, the heatmor shook May off its arm, putting her on the defensive as she backed up towards Max.

"Tsk. We won't go anywhere like this. May, mega evolve!"

{Got it.} The mawile acknowledged.

With both focusing on the transformation, May took to the field in her mega form. The fight as well as May's mega-evolution had attracted the attention of beach folk and passing pedestrians alike, eager to see the outcome.

"Your power is doubled now. Go for it again."

{Huh? Which move?} May asked while looking at him, a bit lost.

"The last one."

{Alright.}

Facing the heatmor again, she immediately took a Flame Charge, unable to react in time.

"It's okay, May. Just get up and kick its ass."

Using considerable effort, May stood up. The heatmor charged at her once again, but not having another order yet, May dodged and countered with Pound, hurting him a little.

Getting a bit concerned with the state of the match, the Leader made an announcement. "Alright, stop! Time out!" Theodore intervened while doing a T with his hands.

"What is it?"

Before answering, Theodore returned his pokemon and walked towards Max.

"I don't know why, but I get this feeling that you guys aren't focused on the battle at all. You aren't giving proper commands and your pokemon isn't even putting half of her strength into her attacks. I don't know what's going on with you guys, but you're clearly in no state for a gym battle. Mentally speaking, that is." The leader stated firmly.

"What? But I want your badge." Max said, getting upset.

"I'm sorry, but if we continued, the outcome would have been the same. No way you would have won with your minds so out of focus."

"How do you know?"

"I have been a gym leader for a while now. You can actually learn a lot about your opponent and their pokemon just by battling them."

"..."

"I'm very sorry to end our match like this. Whatever seems to be troubling you, you might want to take care of that first. Then, I'll gladly give you a rematch. But you better do it soon. I'll be closing the gym for the winter in a few weeks, and since the climate here doesn't heat back up until late spring, I won't reopen it until the start of May."

"But…"

"Take care, dude. I hope you will resolve whatever problem you may have."

With a goodbye sign, Theodore left. The small crowd quickly dispersed, some a bit sad that the match ended so fast. One individual in particular, however, stood there for a bit looking at the Mega Mawile in the sand, before he too resumed his walk.

"Tss. Whatever. Come on, girls."

With May reverting to her normal form, all three of them left the beach to go back to the bed and breakfast.

{...I'm sorry, master.} May apologized.

"Don't be, May. It's not your fault, it's mine. I wasn't focused and made you fight without a plan."

{It was probably not the best time to fight the gym leader.} Dusk pointed out.

"I guess you're right."

For a couple of steps, Max sighed and tried to forget about it.

"At least you girls enjoyed your time a little."

{...Yeah…} May replied, feeling a bit guilty.

Max made a few more steps before his attention turned to Dusk.

"What about you, Dusk? I know a simple snow cone isn't a miracle remedy, but if it helps you, even a little…"

{It did, a bit. However, I couldn't stop wondering if Jade would have liked it, and… what flavor she would have picked.}

"I understand. I thought about it a moment too, but tried my best to tell myself that… n-nevermind."

{Do… Do you think things will be back to normal one day?}

Max was about to impulsively answer that he didn't know, but then he remembered the conversation he had with Aurora. As a trainer and a leader, he had to inspire others and make them believe that everything is going to be okay, even if he was skeptical himself. He hated lying, but he eventually learned that not all truth should be told. If he wanted to give them hope and the strength to get back on their feet so they can create that future themselves, he had no choice but to rearrange reality a bit.

"Yes, Dusk. It may take some time, but the best of times will be back. I promise you I'll do everything in my power to make that happen."

With her hearing him, he was glad to sense that he made her regain a little bit of hope and saw her smile a little. He did feel bad for telling her something that he wasn't even sure himself, but it was worth seeing her feeling a bit better. Sometimes he had to do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

"I promise both of you that."

After a couple more steps, Max noticed that May got awfully quiet for a moment now.

"Do you believe in me, May?"

Upon turning his head, he noticed that May had disappeared.

"May?" He called, stopping to look behind.

{What is it?} Dusk inquired, doing the same.

"May is gone." He told her, looking around to see where she could be.

{That's strange. She was here just a second ago.} The braixen said, looking as well.

"Let's head back. Maybe she went inside a candy shop or something." He said, turning around.

{That's strange. Even if she would have spotted one, she would have at least told you.}

"I know, she may have forgotten to do so, given the state she is in."

{That's true, I guess.}

~POVC~

Unable to see a thing and move properly, May had been caught by surprise from behind and was now being dragged somewhere. Whoever was kidnapping her, they didn't move very long before she could see again and was tossed on the ground. Standing as quick as she could in what seems to be a back alley, what she saw paralyzed her, as if a frozen spear pierced her entire being.

{I-It can't be!} She stammered.

"I see that you still recognize me. You may be a useless mawile but you're not a complete idiot, I'll give you that."

May couldn't believe it. She didn't know how he managed to find her again, but the mawile was in presence of her previous abusive trainer, the one that Max saved her from. She wanted to turn around to escape, but her path was blocked by a grapploct.

"Don't even try to run." The trainer said, releasing a crabrawler in front of him, nearly catching her in a pincer trap.

{...What do you want?} May growled, getting into a fighting position.

"Oh, you've gotten more aggressive now. Probably due to that dickhead of a trainer not disciplining you. I guess I'll have to work on that again."

{I'm with him now. There's no way I'll go back with you.}

"That wasn't a request." He assured her, looking at the grapploct behind her, who hit May in the back of the head, making her fall on her stomach. "Let's teach her some manners, for old time's sake." He said, making his two pokemon attacks her.

She wanted to retaliate, but the shock of seeing her previous trainer along with her demolished morale was what kept her on the ground. Immobilized, May was only able to endure hits while shielding her face. They hit her for a couple of seconds before their trainer stopped them.

"I'll be brief." He said, crouching above her. "I saw you mega-evolve earlier against that ugly-ass gym leader. Sure you didn't win, but maybe you're not as useless as I first thought. So I've decided that I want you back on my team. It just so happens that I got rid of another trash pokemon, so I have one space available for you to fill."

On the ground, May didn't answer and was shaking in fear, still shielding her head.

"Answer me when I talk!" He ordered angrily while grabbing the base of her maw to lift her head.

Hurting her, a sudden burst of aggressivity raised inside her, just like when she lost control against that gardevoir and tried to bite his head. Having good reflexes, he managed to retreat his head in time.

"You little fucker." He growled, smacking her face against the ground.

Immediately, the grapploct hit her hard and sent her against the nearby wall. With no protection, she was exposed to real injuries and was bleeding from her nose.

"You seem to have forgotten who's boss here, so allow me to jog your memory." He said, starting to kick her.

~POVC~

"Shit! Where is she? May!" Max called out, searching around with Dusk.

{It's not normal. May wouldn't disappear out of the blue like that.} The braixen pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get worried."

At the same moment, Scarlet appeared near him with Aurora.

{Something wrong, master? I sensed you were in distress.} She asked, worried for him.

"You could say that. I'm probably worrying for nothing, but May sort of ran off."

{She ran off? Without saying anything?}

"I know. That's not like her."

{Right. I'll try to find her.} Scarlet said, closing her eyes.

She focused for a moment until she opened them again shortly after. She then looked at Max with a very serious expression.

"Well?"

{...You won't like this.}

"I won't like what?"

{We better get there right now.} She said, extending her hand at him.

{Hey! What about us?} Aurora intervened.

{We want to help too.} Dusk added.

{Alright, but we gotta hurry.} She agreed before everyone touched a part of her.

Teleporting and moving to another location in a fraction of a second, Scarlet appeared in front of a horrible scene; May being kicked and tossed around by someone they recognized. With his eyes going wide, Max dashed forward.

{Look out!} One of the trainer's pokemon warned.

He was about to react, but Max was already on him, punching him in the face as strong as he could after he turned his head. With the trainer being moved away from the hit, Max didn't give him a nanosecond to recover and went for another one, making him lose his footing thanks to a nearby wall. His pokemon were already on their way to defend their master, but Scarlet quickly immobilized them with Telekinesis, making them eat the dust on the ground. Back to Max, he didn't give the trainer a chance to breathe and assaulted his face with a barrage of punches. The trainer managed to escape the barrage for a bit, but Max grabbed his face and smashed it against the wall a few times. Trying to get free, Max hit him on the stomach with one knee before tossing him on the ground. In a flash, Max was over him, punching his head again relentlessly, totally lost in his own berserker rage.

"You fucking piece of shit! Don't you ever lay a hand on my girls!" He snarled with every hit.

Nearby, his companions were looking at him, almost in horror.

{Max. You should stop before-}

Aurora tried to reason him, but he didn't listen and kept punching. As the trainer's face was getting deformed, Max was almost drooling in utter rage and quickly grabbed his neck with his two hands, choking the poor guy.

"I'm gonna kill you! You're fucking dead, you hear me?!"

Under him, the trainer was helplessly trying to stop him, his efforts in vain as his lack of air was weakening him.

{Max, that's enough!} Scarlet intervened loudly, making him lose his grip with psychic abilities, moving his hands away.

"Don't stop me! He deserves to die!" He shouted, using all of his might to try to go against her power.

{Maybe so, but it's not up to you to kill him.} She firmly replied.

"Scarlet, Let-Go-Of-ME!" He ordered.

{No. I won't let you do that.}

"Why are you even protecting him!?" He growled, aiming his animosity at Scarlet.

{I'm not protecting him, I'm protecting you.} She argued.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?!"

{I won't let you cross that line, Master. Not you too. Not if I can help it.}

Not retorting, Max only glared at her whilst breathing heavily, gradually lessening his resistance against her.

{I don't want you to cross the red line and become a murderer. There are too many here as it is.}

Slowly but surely, she felt his anger and rage subside. As soon as she felt he was calm enough, she released him from her psychic grip.

"...Good job, Scarlet. The one time you don't want to kill someone is when they've shown that they don't deserve to live." He spat while standing up.

While doing so, he noticed how for the first time ever, the girls seemed scared of him.

"Grrr." He growled, turning to leave.

Also for the first time, no one felt like stopping him with Scarlet only staring at him with a mixture of sadness and anger as he walked away.

{Scarlet? Can you heal her real quick?} Dusk asked, holding May's head with her paws.

{...Of course.}

Staring at him for a few more seconds, Scarlet kneeled and began to use Healing Pulse on an incapacitated May, who was bleeding and had a few broken ribs.

{Will she be okay?} Dusk questioned.

{Yeah. She's hurt, but nothing too serious. I can only assume her injuries were probably caused by those two.} She mentioned, pointing at the two unconscious pokemon on the ground. {I highly doubt that that wimpy human did that to her.}

{What do you plan to do with him?} Aurora wondered, pointing at the unconscious body of the aggressor.

{I'll erase as many of his memories as I can. Worst case scenario, he won't remember who he is or how he got here.}

{Hm. It's better than killing him I guess but I will admit that I share a portion of Max's opinion. It wouldn't be much of a waste if he just disappears from this earth.}

{I want to destroy every particle of him the same as you, but I promised Max that I won't kill anymore. I just didn't want him to become that kind of human.}

{Yeah. As hard as it may look, you did the right thing.}

{If he ever crosses that line, it will be the end of him. His hands will be tainted and he will be changed forever, and not for the better. We would surely lose him.}

After a little while, she was done with May and moved to work on the other human's brain.

{How are you feeling?} Dusk asked, making May sit.

Not answering, she only stared blankly in front of her.

{Not too well, I see.} Aurora commented.

Soon, May began to sob and cry.

{It's okay, May. We're here with you, now.} Dusk reassured, hugging her. {It's okay.}

~POVC~

Not going anywhere, in particular, Max was fuming in rage. He was so angry at the guy who hurt his beloved May twice now, more so at the fact that Scarlet even stopped him from delivering justice. Passing in front of a public trash can, he kicked it as hard as he could, emptying its contents all over the ground. Luckily for him, no one was around to witness that.

"Fuck!" He growled loudly.

Continuing his walk down the road, he arrived in front of a park with a kids' playground and proceeded to rest his arms on the bordering fence in an attempt to calm down. A minute later, Scarlet and the others appeared behind him, with Aurora holding May. As she and Dusk went to sit on a nearby bench, Scarlet moved next to Max, resting her arms on the fence as well, despite still feeling anger in him.

{Do you understand why I interfered?}

"Yeah, yeah. So that I don't become a 'murderer'. Pff, it's barely murdering someone if they're a scumbag who deserves it."

{Yet, it still is. I didn't stop you for fun, far from it. It took everything I had to keep me from shredding him into pieces as well.}

"Why then?"

{First, because I promised you that I wouldn't do that anymore. Secondly, and I'll repeat myself, I don't want you to become a killer. Your story is already filled with so much sadness and hate. No need to add more to it.}

"It will only be a one-time thing. Besides, it's not like I would make it a habit or anything."

{And what about further down the road? You're just gonna wait for the next asshole to show up and kill him as well?}

"As long as he doesn't lay a finger on any of you…"

{There are others who will constantly try to hurt us, master, whether they be human or pokemon. That doesn't mean you have to kill blindly or resort to violence. If you really want to go through with taking their lives, then let me do it, but doing that would be breaking my promise. I don't want that, because I always keep my promises.}

"And if I promise you that he will be the only exception?"

{Shit, Max. Are you even listening to yourself? What is happening to you?}

"What is happening? I'm trying my best to be as nice as possible and not cause trouble, but shit like this keeps happening and I am getting sick of it. That's what is happening. If I can't trust life to bring justice and fairness, I'll do it myself."

{So committing murder counts as justice and fairness to you?}

"It does when it involves a scumbag like him."

{No. It. Doesn't.} Scarlet replied, getting a bit impatient. {One kill is one too many, I know you're better than that.}

Knowing he can't argue anymore, Max sighed in defeat.

{I know that it's hard for you right now. It is for all of us.} Scarlet assured, putting a hand on one of his shoulders. {But we shouldn't forget who we are. The Max I know would never talk or act like that.}

"Hmph, maybe you don't know Max as well as you thought."

{I do, and I know that it's anger and accumulated frustration that is speaking. A nice and very caring human would never resort to killing as an act of justice. Your reaction was understandable, and yes, he did deserve the beating you dealt him, but it is not justified when you act as an executioner.}

"Why are you so desperate to prevent me from crossing that line?"

Before answering, Scarlet looked at kids playing in the playground for a short moment.

{Because I don't want you to become like me, that's why. I know what it's like to have a path filled with bloodshed and suffering, and I don't want you to do the same. Nothing good will come out of that, and believe me when I say that; You will lose more than you gain. As I've said on the day we first met after we did it for the first time, I just want what's best for you, even if it means saving you from yourself.}

Again, Max sighed loudly.

"Are you even aware that he will just try that again?"

{I highly doubt that. I could even say that it's virtually impossible.}

"How so?"

{I erased all of the memories he had. He won't even know his own identity, so you could say that I 'erased him' in a way.}

"...Haha. Psychic-type pokemon sure are scary. Glad you're on my side." Max said, finally smiling a little.

{And I will always be.} She assured him with a hand on his arm.

"I appreciate that, thanks."

Scarlet knew that he still hadn't fully digested her suicide attempt yet, which saddened her a bit. Fortunately, she sensed some progression. She considered herself lucky as she didn't even expect forgiveness. Max then looked at Dusk and the others.

"Maybe I should apologize to them."

{Not now.} She said, stopping him before he could even move. {You really scared them. It's better not to impose yourself for a moment.}

"*Sigh* Can't blame them, I suppose. I didn't really act as an exemplary trainer."

{No, you didn't. It doesn't mean you're a bad one, though.} She assured, guessing his next statement.

"If you say so." He said, looking at the kids playing again.

{...What are you thinking about now?}

"Eh, it's strange how life works. Neither of us have ever experienced how it is to be that carefree, and yet, those kids don't seem to have a care in the world. Can't say I'm not jealous of them a bit."

{Hehe, yeah. I get what you mean. In a sense, nothing prevents us from going there and enjoying what we never had.}

"Indeed, but it's already too late for us. It just wouldn't be the same."

Max then felt her hand touching one of his.

{We'll get through this, somehow.}

"I hope so."

{At least we have each other.}

"...Yeah, that's true."

Both of them stayed there in silence for a minute before Max left the fence.

"Well, might as well get back to our room and see what we can do next."

{Should we go gather the others?} Scarlet questioned.

"I don't know. I think I'll walk alone a little more before heading back indoors."

{Alright.}

With Max moving on, Scarlet motioned the girls with her head to follow. Without really knowing where to go, they wandered through the town and looked around, visiting different shops while they were at it.

{Maybe we should go shop for some new pokeballs while we're here.} Scarlet suggested, next to him. {Some of the girls surely would like to be alone in a secure space.}

"Not a bad idea."

{Do you want me to scan some humans to see where to find a shop?}

"Not now. I want to enjoy my walk, so it won't hurt to search for a little bit."

{...Alright.}

"I'll tell you if I'm starting to lose patience."

With Scarlet nodding, they then proceeded onto the sidewalk and began their search. However, out of nowhere, a silver luxurious car stopped in front of them after only a few steps. Wondering if it stopped for him, Max looked intently at the vehicle to inspect but also to admire it. After stopping the engine, a gentleman wearing a suit stepped out and engaged them from the other side of the car.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you perhaps happen to know a young man accompanied by a red gardevoir? The description I was given matches yours, but you have a green gardevoir with you. Could it be a brother or a relative of yours?"

"Well…" Max started, looking at Scarlet. "She is actually a red gardevoir, so I think you got the right guy."

"She is?" The gentleman replied, a bit confused.

"Yes. See, she dawned the appearance of a green one to not attract too much attention."

"Ah, is that so? Interesting, I've never heard of a gardevoir having such an ability."

"Well, she's very special." He said, looking at her with a smile.

"Very well. I'll take your word for it but forgive my rude introduction. My name is Mike and I've been tasked to invite and escort you to Spencer's residence. It would be a pleasure for you to accept."

"The Spencer's? Who are they?"

"I believe you're the trainer that saved young Dimitri from a group of ferocious mankeys if I'm not mistaken."

"Dimitri? Oh, you mean that kid we encountered. Yeah, I kind of did. Or more specifically, she did." He said, pointing at Scarlet. " My pokemon more or less do all the work while I just reward them in some way."

{Don't sell yourself short.} Scarlet said, hitting him with an elbow.

"In any case, the parents of young Dimitri would like to personally thank you for that, Lady Spencer to be more precise."

"Well…" Max started, looking at Scarlet, unsure.

{It's your call. If anything, I'll make some heads explode.} She said, making Max look at her funnily. {Relax, I'm just kidding. Jeez…} She retorted, a bit exasperated.

He then looked at the other girls.

{Same here. I don't sense any malice in him.} Aurora stated.

"What kind of thank you are we talking about?" Max asked the elegant man.

"That, young man, is for you to find out once we're there." The gentleman answered with a small grin.

"...It's not that I don't want to, but some of my pokemon are still wandering around town."

{If you accept, just go with Aurora, Dusk, and May. I'll go get Bonny and Luna in the meantime. Just call me as soon as you arrive wherever he brings you.} Scarlet suggested.

"Alright."

With a caring smile, Scarlet teleported away.

"*Sigh* Well, if they insist, then I accept."

"Marvelous! Just hop in the back."

As Mike sat back in the car, Max did the same, sharing the back seat with Aurora and Dusk, May sitting on him.

"I'm Max, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, mister Max," Mike said as he put the car in drive.

"If he leads us underground, be ready to mega-evolve," Max whispered into Aurora's ear.

{Don't be so dramatic, he's legit. If he had bad intentions, either he truly believes that himself, or a strong psychic-type pokemon is behind this. But I doubt that's the case.}

"If you say so. So… it's quite peculiar that Miss Spencer wants to thank me in person." Max mentioned as he directed the latter statement towards Mike.

"Maybe from an outsider's point of view, yes, but Lady Spencer is a very grateful person. As soon as young Dimitri was brought back home by the police, he told us the story of a pokemon trainer with a red gardevoir saving him. Naturally, Lady Spencer wanted to find you and reward you properly. You saved her son, after all."

"I see."

"She even asked the police officers to find you, but to no one's surprise, she was refused, as they pretended to have too much work already. The police force here is quite lazy, so as an alternative, she asked me this morning to come to look for you."

"Wow. She kind of gave you the hardest part of the job."

"Not at all. I also wanted to find you, but I'll admit that the task sounded very challenging at first."

"So she sent you to look around this town hoping that you'll eventually stumble across me?"

"It's quite crudely explained, but yes, you could say that."

"And what if you never found me?"

"You were already on your way here, so all that I needed was a bit of luck to be at the right place at the right time. The criteria wasn't all that peckish. All I had to look for is a trainer in his early twenties walking around with a red gardevoir. I didn't see anyone matching that description the entire day until now that is, so I took a gamble to know if you could at least point me in the right direction. Turns out that my intuition has yet to fail me."

"Wow, you went through a lot of trouble just to find me."

"I admit that it took a bit of work to get the result."

After that, Max didn't say anything else and looked through the window, displaying quite a melancholic face.

"But maybe all of this is a bit too sudden for you," Mike added.

"Huh? No, no. That's okay. It's just that… there's a lot going on in my head right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe it wasn't the best time to bring you here. Should I call Lady Spencer and say it's not a good time for you?"

"No, it's okay. If thanking me properly could make her day, then so be it."

Mike couldn't help looking at Max periodically through the windshield mirror.

"You don't seem to be an ordinary trainer. It's rare to encounter one such as you given the decline of that profession here in Rados."

"Yeah. I've heard that a few times, actually."

"Well, I'm very glad that you were okay with taking the time to meet lady Spencer despite you not feeling well."

"Eh, it's no biggie."

"Will it be… too indiscreet to share what could make you so gloomy?"

Hesitating to answer, Max sighed, still looking outside.

"It's…"

{You don't have to answer if you don't want to.} Aurora assured, putting a paw on his shoulder.

"No, it's okay," Max said, turning his attention back to Mike. "It's just… A pokemon in my team recently died."

The inside of the car went silent in an instant. One could feel the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"...I'm… terribly sorry to hear that," Mike replied, almost horrified.

"It happened a couple of days ago, in fact."

"Oh, I'm… I'm very sorry if I sounded insensitive."

"It's alright. It's something that's bound to be brought up from time to time."

Feeling bad for his mistake, Mike stayed silent for a moment.

"I don't know if it could compensate, but lady Spencer is a very generous person for those who she believes deserve it."

"Ah, it kind of reminds me of myself. Too bad good guys like us don't have it easy."

"At least you don't seem alone."

"...Yeah. Every day, I tell myself that I'm more than lucky to have them," Max said, rubbing Aurora's hair.

"Master Spencer always said that as long as you have something to hold on to, you can't fall. He is quite inspiring."

"I see. Well, I used to have seven pokemon to hold onto, but one fell."

"At least you still have six."

"True," Max agreed, rubbing May's head with the tip of his fingers.

After that, the ride was quite silent. He drove for another few minutes and was now leaving Oxgard's perimeters before taking a road through a thick forest. They continued for a short moment before arriving in front of a huge iron gate. Pressing a button in the car, Mike made the gate open and got through it before it closed behind them.

"You guys don't joke about security around here, like pretty much every rich person."

"Indeed. Wealth always attracts envious eyes. You can't see them, but we have a few houndoom on our property to scare off any potential intruder."

"That's a nice choice. Houndoom inspires fear in many people, as they can be very aggressive and rumored to have a burning bite that hurts forever."

"I'm not sure about forever, but they can decide how long it will hurt."

"Well, then you should hope not to face one that is in a bad mood."

"Our boys and girls are very sweet pokemon. They're rarely ever in a bad mood."

For another few minutes, they navigated through the road built through the woods until they exited it and arrived at a very large clearing, where Max spotted a large mansion further.

"Wow. That's a huge mansion," Max commented, a bit amazed by the building.

"A two hundred million dollar mansion on a kilometer of land. And if it's not enough, we can always buy more," Mike boasted slightly.

"You don't say."

In front of the mansion was a huge fountain-like many rich residences had, and there were gardens all around the mansion with the road surrounding it being made of reddish-orange bricks. As he was turning around the fountain, Max noticed a few other well-dressed butlers working outside.

"We are here. Welcome to the Spencer Mansion," Mike said while shifting the car to park.

Before Max could even touch the door, a pretty green-haired maid opened it for him.

"Thanks?" Max said, stepping out of the car with his companions.

"You're most welcome." She replied with a smile.

Max didn't know if it was a sincere smile, but couldn't care less at the moment. After Mike stepped out as well, the maid took the car to park it somewhere else.

"This way, if you will," Mike instructed, passing in front of Max.

He then followed him over the few steps to a double wooden door. Not knocking, he simply opened it.

"Please, after you," Mike politely said with a hand pointing inside.

"Well, here goes nothing." He said, entering.

The inside was like any mansion you could think of. Too much space and stairs, with the main one being in front of them in the oversized main hall, leading to a second floor with a separation to the right and left.

"My lady, I finally managed to find our guest," Mike said out loud.

Shortly after, high-heeled footsteps could be heard from above. After a brief moment of waiting, a woman appearing to be in her fifties walked down the main staircase. She was well dressed in a fancy straw hat and was slightly slimmer than average. She also had silver curled hair and a modest amount of jewelry, which surprised Max a little.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She engaged with a rather honeying voice. "I just couldn't imagine myself going on without at least meeting the savior of my son." She continued, speeding up her descent a little.

"It's no big deal, Ma'am. I just did what anyone would do."

"But you are the one who was at the right place at the right time."

As soon as Max was at arm's reach, the lady extended her arms and pulled him into a hug, making his face pressed against her chest, where he couldn't help but get a good whiff of her nice perfume. Behind, Aurora and Dusk couldn't help but to giggle softly.

"You have no idea how grateful I am. My son… he's the last thing I want to lose. I will do anything to keep him safe, even if it means sacrificing my entire fortune."

"Ghoos shing schat ish won'p be nesheshary," Max tried to say.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The lady apologized, freeing him. "I got a little carried away there. I just got too excited to meet you."

"Actually…" Max said, rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe you'd want to thank the real heroes here."

"Oh? Is it not you?"

"Well yes, but actually, no. One of the real saviors is a psychic-type pokemon, so you don't mind me calling her here?"

"Not at all. I'm really eager to meet everyone."

[You can come in, Scarlet.]

As soon as she heard him, the gardevoir teleported inside the mansion, still in her disguise, along with Bonny and Luna by her side.

"Oh my!" The lady exclaimed, impressed by his pokemon.

"Here they are, the girls who saved your son."

{Where are we?} Bonny asked, looking around.

"And the one who you should thank the most is her," Max said, presenting Scarlet while Aurora explained the situation to Bonny and Luna.

"Isn't she supposed to be a red gardevoir?"

"Oh, yes. You can show her I guess."

{*Sigh* Fine.}

With very little enthusiasm, Scarlet used Luna's ability and changed into her normal appearance.

"Oh! My! She's absolutely gorgeous!" She exclaimed, eyeing the gardevoir.

"She is, isn't she?" He agreed, making Scarlet all flustered.

"I suppose I should thank all of you then."

"Well, more to-"

"Then on behalf of the entire Spencer bloodline, both present, and past, I hereby thank all of you. I simply can't say it enough." She said, slightly bowing to them.

Raising her head, she wiped a small tear.

"H-Happy to hear that we did something that meaningful," Max replied, a bit embarrassed. "Well, now that the thank you part is done, I guess it's time for us to-"

"Are you hungry, by chance?"

"Hem… I-"

"Then I wish to invite you for dinner. After all, you do deserve a little feast. That could be a good start to show our thanks."

"Well…" Max hesitated, looking at Scarlet.

{I don't especially trust them that well, but it's your choice. I will admit that I am a bit hungry though.} The gardevoir mentioned.

Max then considered the offer.

"...Do you have food for all of my pokemon?"

A big smile appeared on the lady's face.

"Of course. And if we don't have what you need, we'll improvise."

"That's neat."

"Oh, silly me. With all that emotion, I forget to introduce myself. My name is Helene Spencer, wife and spouse of Aristide Spencer, both owners of this lovely mansion. A pleasure to meet you." She presented herself with a slight bow.

"Nice to meet you as well."

"Excellent. Mike? Would you be a dear and undergo our dinner preparations?"

"With pleasure, my lady." Mike agreed with a nod.

"Thank you." She said with a smile. "Would you like me to show you around in the meantime?" She asked Max after Mike left.

"I… don't want to be a bother…"

"Ah, nonsense. Think nothing of the sort. I'm also certain that Dimitri will be happy to see you again."

"Well… I guess so since I'm not that busy..."

"Splendid!" Helene exclaimed happily.

With Helene as a guide, Max and his companions were led through the mansion, taking in the luxurious scenery around them.

"What do you do exactly? For a living, I mean." Max asked, curious about where her fortune could come from.

"Oh. Well, I don't like to boast about it a lot, but I was once a top model, and a very popular one. Fashion companies and designers alike were almost at war with each other just to have me. I still have the looks to continue, but it just takes way too much time and energy out of me."

"Really?"

"But that's just a small portion of the fortune I bring here. Most of that revenue comes from my husband, Aristide Spencer. He is a very influential investor and bank owner, you know. No need to tell you that this mansion, as well as this acre of land, is almost pocket change for him." She explained.

"I see."

{You were right when you said that that kid was coming from a rich family. These guys are loaded.} Scarlet mentioned.

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Pardon me?" Helene inquired, not sure if he spoke to her.

"Ah, sorry. I always forget to tell everyone, but I can perfectly understand my pokemon."

"Oh. That's fantastic! Have you spent that much time with them?"

"Well, not really. This pretty gardevoir here, named Scarlet respectively, altered my brain to be able to understand the pokemon language. The process was rather dangerous though."

"Is it, now? I'm sixty-eight and this is the first time I've heard of something that peculiar."

"Sixty-eight?" Max repeated, surprised.

"Why yes. Do I look older?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I would say you look fifty-five at most."

"Oh, aren't you just the charming one?" Helene replied, going slightly red.

{No wonder she was a successful model.} Luna commented.

"Anyway, the girls and I… we're very close. Maybe it was a prerequisite to attempt something as complex as knowledge transfer."

"Perhaps. But I agree that it's a very useful ability. When I was younger, many trainers wished to be able to do that to understand their pokemon better."

{We kind of cheated since we used a rather… unorthodox method to achieve that.} Scarlet mentioned with a grin.

"But did I hear you correctly? You said, girls?" Helene inquired.

"Y-Yeah," Max confirmed, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Are they mostly female?"

"If by mostly you mean… all of them, then yes."

"Is that so? That's quite peculiar as well." Helene said, not even having back thoughts.

"Yeah. Destiny decided that I encounter only female pokemon during my travels to fill my team."

"I see. I hope you take extra good care of them since a lady needs much more attention than the opposite gender."

{Let's pretend that there is nothing sexist in that statement.} Scarlet commented, looking a bit unamused.

"I do. I spend all my time and energy on them."

"Wonderful. Pokemon are wondrous creatures who deserve our love and attention."

"You got that right."

Over the next half, an hour, Max and his companions visited the rooms and toured the outer wings of the mansion. In addition to bedrooms, the group saw an exercise room, oversized bathroom, music room, and even a personal library, where they were trying to gather as much information on the other regions as possible. Helene mentioned that everyone should have at least a minimum knowledge of different cultures.

"And finally, here we have our little indoor pool," Helene said as they led them into a huge all-glass room with a huge pool in the middle.

{They seem to have everything here.} Scarlet commented.

"The only thing that is missing is a greenhouse, with which you could be self-sustained," Max said.

"Oh, we do have one, but it's outside. I can show you if you'd like, but I figured that it wouldn't be as interesting as everything else."

"That's okay. I'm not especially passionate about agriculture."

"Haha, I figured as much. We pretty much went everywhere except for Dimitri and Vicky's room."

"Vicky? Who's that?" Max wondered.

"Oh, right. There is someone you haven't met yet. We can start with her since we pass in front of her room before Dimitri's."

"Sure. Is she Dimitri's sister?"

"Not exactly. You'll see." Helene said with a smile, turning to take another hallway.

They walked for a few minutes before arriving in front of a door that had the label 'Vicky' on it.

"Vicky? Are you up?" She called through the door after knocking three times.

While hearing clawed feet coming towards the door, it opened on its own and revealed a slightly taller than average sneasel as cold air was radiating from the room.

{What is it now?} The sneasel grumbled.

"Do you want to welcome our new guests?"

Vicky the sneasel eyed the newly arrived group, focusing a bit more on Max. After showing a disdainful expression, she closed the door without a word.

"What a cute and charming pokemon," Max commented sarcastically.

"*Sigh* You'll have to excuse her. She has always been hard to deal with, but it got worse when…"

"...When?" Max questioned, wanting to know the rest.

"I'm sorry. It's not something I should talk about right now. Today is a nice and wonderful day, so let's not ruin it with depressing stories."

"...Okay, then." Max conceded, not insisting.

As Helene and Max's companions moved on, Max looked at Vicky's door for a few more seconds before joining them.

(Looks like we stumbled across another problematic pokemon.) He thought.

[But she's not really a concern right now, right? You have yourself to worry about first.] Scarlet pointed out in his head.

(Yeah, you're right.) Max simply answered.

Another minute later, they finally reached Dimitri's bedroom.

"Dimitri, darling? There is someone who wants to see you." Helene said through the kid's door.

"Coming." Said a childish voice behind it.

As soon as the door opened, Dimitri's eyes widened when he noticed Max.

"Max!" The kid exclaimed, rushing at Max for a hug.

"Oh. Nice to see you too," Max said, a bit surprised, gently patting the kid's head, which made a few of the girls giggle.

"Thanks again for saving me."

"No problem. I couldn't just leave a future pokemon trainer alone like that. However, I do hope you take it easy from now on."

"Yeah," Dimitri replied, breaking the hug. "Mom scolded me hard." He added in shame.

"It's normal. She must have been worried," Max said, looking at the mother.

"Oh, I'm not proud of what I've done. I may have raised my voice more than I should've. I apologize again, my dear," Helene said, looking regretful.

"It's okay. Now I know that I shouldn't have run off alone like that."

"We could've always brought you to where pokemon are tamed and nice instead of you having to run away."

Max grimaced slightly at the mention of the word 'tamed'.

"I know, but I was certain that you would have said no."

"Good heavens! Why would you think that?"

"I… I don't know. I was just so eager to have a pokemon and become a trainer."

"You have the rest of your life to do that. No need to rush things."

"I know, but I want a pokemon so badly."

"What about Vicky?" Max proposed.

"...Not her," Dimitri said, looking uneasy. "She… scares me."

Max then looked at Helene again.

"*Sigh* I suppose that we can't really help it after all," Helene said in dismay. "Before Dimitri, I had another son, Frederick. He was our eldest child who did so much for our family, but… not too long ago, he got involved in an accident and… didn't survive."

"Holy sh… damn!" Max exclaimed. "That's harsh. What kind of accident?"

"A car accident. He had just received his driver's license and was going out late at night to celebrate with his friends when he was rammed in the side by a good-for-nothing drunkard. Five young adults were in that vehicle, and only two managed to survive, neither of them being Frederick."

"Tsk. I guess assholes exist everywhere you go."

{Language, little pup. There are children present.} Luna advised.

"Er, right. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. Words can't even describe how I felt that day. You can be sure that we hired the best lawyers in the region to toss him in prison for as long as possible."

"Note to self, don't mess with those who have money," Max commented.

"Well, like I said earlier, Vicky always has been hard to deal with, but Frederick somehow managed to get along with her pretty well. Whenever she was with him, it was the only time where she was genuinely happy. They even had the idea to start a journey in Alola together as Federick loved the weather there, with her being his first pokemon. Both were eager for Frederick to turn eighteen so they could go, but unfortunately… he never did. I can't even imagine how much pain and sorrow Vicky felt when she learned about the death of her future master. I don't think she'll ever recover from this."

{Oh no! Poor thing!} Dusk exclaimed, feeling sad herself.

"That's horrible," Max agreed, imagining the pain she must have been in.

"It is. Only two years remained before they were able to finally begin their journey together. Now, she would spend her days isolated in her room."

"I miss him. He always told the best jokes at dinnertime," Dimitri said, also sad.

"I know. We all do," Helene said, hugging her son.

{That explains her attitude.} Scarlet commented.

"I guess everyone has their fair share of trauma," Max added.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Helene apologized, breaking the hug. "We sure didn't make a good first impression."

"Don't worry about it, we also had a similar experience recently."

"I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"...I'll tell you later," Max said, briefly looking at Dimitri.

"Very well then." The mother replied, understanding. "You can play again in your room, son. He will join us for dinner, so you will be able to see him there."

"Awesome. I can't wait for you to try our dishes, Melinda makes the best food ever!" The kid claimed.

"Really?" Max replied, faking being impressed.

"Melinda is our head chef. She is indeed really good at her job."

"Can't wait to see that."

"See you later, Max," Dimitri said before going back inside his room.

"Well, I guess this concludes the tour of the inner part of the mansion. Would you like to see the garden as well?"

"Sure, why not."

"You'll see. I'm not one to brag, but our garden is simply magnificent." Helene affirmed, leading them somewhere else.

"I know someone who will love it," Max said, looking at Dusk, who smiled a little.

Walking through the mansion, they arrived at a back door and went outside onto an extravagant patio, which was overlooking a giant garden that contained flowers, tall bushes and such. It almost looked like a maze at first glance.

"Wow. You managed to buy the Garden of Eden?" Max commented in awe, amazed by the beauty and variety of the flora.

"Haha, not really. Hours upon hours of work were put into this. I'm really proud of it. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy I had in my youth anymore, so it's mostly our maids and butlers who take care of it."

"I see."

"Your pokemon must be a little bored, so why don't we let them explore a bit?"

"Good idea. What do you say, girls?" Max asked his companions.

{It sure is pretty here. I wish to see more.} Dusk shared.

For the first time since the incident, Dusk showed a bit of joy and enthusiasm, which soothed Max's heart a little.

"Then don't be shy. Go ahead," Max encouraged her.

{Well…}

Obviously, she was a bit shy about getting around on her own and hesitated.

{Come on, Dusk.} Bonny encouraged as well, gently tapping on her back. {I can go with you if you want.}

{I can too.} Aurora said, joining both of them.

{Thanks.} The braixen expressed, smiling shyly.

Then, the three of them walked down the patio and went on their own through the garden.

"You can go as well," Max said to the rest.

{I'm not really much of a flower girl.} Scarlet mentioned.

"I know, but having your own space is good from time to time. Now that I don't have pokeballs anymore, none of you can have those moments anymore. Well, except for you of course."

{Yeah. I can be alone whenever I want.}

"True."

{What do you say, May? A little walk through the maze, just the two of us?} Luna proposed to the mawile.

{...Alright.} She agreed before the two pokemon left for the garden as well

May didn't feel like doing much, but maybe something small and simple like spending some time alone with Luna could benefit her.

"How about we take a walk ourselves?" Helene suggested to Max.

"Alright."

Not wanting to do much more either, Max was mostly forcing himself at this point. With Max, Helene, and Scarlet together, they took their own paved road and began strolling.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen mister Aristide yet," Max mentioned.

"Ah, and you won't for a while. He's on a business trip and has been for two weeks now. But he's just about wrapping things up, so he should be back next week at the latest."

"I see. Does he know about me?"

"All he knows is that a man named Max saved his son from a group of wild pokemon, but nothing else."

"Alright. I just don't want to scare him if he sees a stranger in his home."

"Don't worry. Even if he did, he would have guessed that you were invited here."

"Haha, true. With the security you have, you can't really stumble in here randomly, much less break-in."

"Indeed," Helene concluded before they went silent for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's obvious that you're a pokemon trainer, but is there a reason why you travel with your pokemon without pokeballs? You mentioned not having those earlier."

"Oh, that. Well, they used to have their own pokeballs, but…"

Upon seeing him stopping and feeling bad, Scarlet put a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring way.

"Does it have a link to what you didn't want to talk about inside?" Helene asked.

"...You can say that."

"If I were to guess, I would say that whatever happened, it was very recent."

"I suppose that it's obvious with the long face I have."

"It sort of is, yes. I would understand if you're not ready to share something that seems painful yet, especially when it's none of my business."

"Well, it's not that I don't want to talk about it. Heck, I even mentioned it to Mike on the way here."

"Haha, that's Mike for you. I don't know how he does it, but he seems to have this mysterious power that makes others able to trust him easily. He knows how to make people comfortable with his words."

"I noticed."

For a short moment, nothing else was said.

"...You're right. It did happen very recently, a couple of days ago to be precise."

"Oh my. Whatever it is, I can tell you're still grieving."

"Yeah. Long story short, there was a psychotic gardevoir that we crossed paths with and fought a couple of months back. I don't know how she managed to find us again, but she probably followed us and tried to get her revenge on us for kicking her dirty ass."

"A psychotic gardevoir? That's very strange," Helene said, a bit concerned.

"Indeed, we were just that lucky. Anyway, this time around, she targeted Scarlet and managed to capture her."

[That's where she made a huge mistake. She wanted to torture me for a bit Instead of killing me right then and there.] Scarlet said out loud.

"Oh my. That must have been terrible."

[She didn't really have the time to do anything, as Max and the others came to save me. This time, he was the real hero.]

"That's a relief."

"Yeah. The battles were bloody, and we managed to turn the tides long enough for some of us to escape. Well, I thought we did, but then… it happened." Max relayed.

"What?"

At this moment, Max had a hard time continuing, as the memory was slowly reemerging.

{I can tell her if you can't.} Scarlet proposed.

"Thanks, but… I can do it. In our team, there was a seventh member, Jade. She was another gardevoir and… while trying to protect me… she… got killed. Impaled straight through the crest by a gallade."

Upon hearing him, Helene stopped, not believing her ears.

"Oh my god. That's… Horrifying doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Yeah, I know." Max agreed, stopping as well.

"I had no idea. I just… oh lord. No one should ever go through something like that." Helene stated, in shock.

"Especially when it happens right in front of your powerless eyes."

Unable to contain her sadness, tears began to form in the woman's eyes.

"You poor, young man." She said, hugging him. "I'm so sorry to hear that. What a cruel fate you've been given."

"And it's all because of me because I didn't see him."

"Don't say such a thing!" Helene exclaimed. "I'm convinced that it's not."

[Listen to us, master. When will you understand that you're not responsible for her death? It's something no one could have foresaw and it all happened so fast. Like I said, if you want someone to blame, then I say that we're all at fault. It was each one of us' responsibility to protect each other, but we let our guards down at that exact moment and paid the price for it.]

"What else should I do then?" Max argued, breaking free from the hug. "If no one is at fault, then how should I justify that tragedy? It's just not fair how shitty things are." He added, getting emotional.

{I know that master, but… there's nothing we can do besides accepting it.}

"Easy for you to say, you didn't even like her." Max accused.

{Excuse me? You're seriously going to play that card?}

"Don't you even try to deny that now."

{Fuck you, Max. I know you see me as a monster, but I'm also in pain here. I've been having regrets too, you know!} Scarlet said loudly, getting emotional as well.

"About what?"

{What do you think? The last memory she had of me was getting on her for growing closer to you and telling her to keep her distance. I was mean and unfair to her and I didn't have the chance to apologize! Because of me, the last thing she felt before dying was rejection and neglect. So, yes! I have regrets too, not that you could tell.} The gardevoir shouted with angry and watery eyes.

By seeing how sincerely sad and tormented she was, Max felt like an asshole.

"I… I'm sorry, Scarlet. I think it would be better for everyone if I just leave." Max announced, turning to leave the property.

"Max, dear. You don't have to feel that way." Helene said, trying to dissuade him.

[Let him be.] Scarlet told her, wiping her tears away. [When he's like that, there's nothing we can do besides waiting for him to calm down.]

"Just what kind of journey are you on?" Helene asked the gardevoir, flabbergasted by how broken this group seems to be.

[It used to be pleasant and normal, now I'm not sure if it can even be called a journey anymore.]

"I can't believe it. That amount of pain is inhuman." She replied.

[Yet, he's doing his best to endure it all on top of everything else that's happened to him.] Scarlet mentioned, looking at Max walking inside the mansion to head back to the front entrance.

"Looks like luck just isn't in your favor."

[Hmpf, and that's just from a couple of days ago. Sure, it's horrible on its own, but we all bear scars from our pasts.]

"That's so sad. Is there anything I can do to help?"

[Maybe send someone to go get him later. We never know where he will end up in that state.]

"Can't you sense where he is and teleport to him?"

[Yes, but privacy is something sacred between us. If he wants to be alone, then I have no choice but to respect that. He probably would've just refuse even if I suggested otherwise.]

"I see your point. I really hope you all can stay for dinner. I believe you'll really need it and I can't just let you go without a proper thank you. I'll go tell the cooks to work extra hard to make this meal memorable."

[Thank you, but I'm not the one that makes the choices here. We try to get as much unanimity as possible when we do, but most of the time, master has the last word.]

"Is that so?"

[He has saved most of us in one way or another. We practically all owe him our lives. I don't know if it's my love for him or if it's a gardevoir's instinct, probably both, but I would give my life to save his in a heartbeat. After all, Jade did just that.]

For a brief instant, none said anything else.

[I'm sorry for the uproar we are causing. Unfortunately, you didn't choose the best group to invite in here.]

"Oh lord, no! You're more than welcome here, especially after what happened to you."

[No offense, but I don't like having others pity me. It was a daily occurrence even before I met Max.]

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect."

[*Sigh* Maybe it's best for us to just leave.]

With a long face, Scarlet turned to go get the others.

"What are your plans?"

[Taking a break from traveling for a bit, probably here in Oxgard. We've already rented a room, so we'll be fine.]

"...What if…" Helene started after Scarlet moved a few meters. "You could stay here." She proposed, making Scarlet stop and turn back to her.

[What do you mean?]

"I know it may sound sudden, but I can't just let you be on your own like this. That would be criminal and I would be constantly worried. I may not know all of you personally, but you deserve better than a plain hotel room."

Scarlet was a bit surprised by the sudden offer. Helene barely knew them, yet she wanted to shelter them already. Despite sensing no malice in her, she couldn't help but be a bit suspicious, wondering why the woman wanted to help that much. She decided to not pay much attention to that, as it was probably just her paranoiac side.

[I can't decide for the group. You should ask everyone first.]

"We could ask around the table later? Surely everyone will think straight when their stomachs are full."

[...I guess. I'll think about it. In the meantime, just let them relax for a moment.] She finished, floating away.

~POVC~

Inside the building, Max was traversing the mansion and went directly for the front door before spotting Mike.

"Is there a problem, Sir?" Mike questioned upon stumbling across him.

"Not really. I just need to be alone for a moment." Max answered, not even stopping.

"Will you be back for dinner?"

"I don't know, so don't bother waiting for me."

"But…"

Now out of earshot, Mike began to wonder what might have gotten into him. As he was on his way to the garden, Helene entered at the same time.

"Is everything alright, lady Helene?"

"I'm afraid not, dear. I think we might need to do much more for them than we initially planned. They really need a place where they can settle down for a bit, especially that young man, Max."

"Yes. He told me about a pokemon he lost on the way here. A true tragedy." Mike said, walking beside Helene with his hands behind his back.

"Indeed. I proposed Scarlet, the red gardevoir, to stay for a while instead of renting a room."

"Did she accept?"

"Not yet. She has to make a consensus beforehand with her friends, and of course, Max."

"Given the circumstances, I wouldn't blame him if he refused. He seems very lost, like he's about to give up hope."

"It's one thing to lose someone close to you, but seeing them die brutally in your arms, powerless to help them? It's enough to drive a man insane."

"There are not many other types of psychological pain that can compete with that."

"Poor him. I suppose the only thing we can do is to make our home as welcoming as possible. Maybe our generous actions and attitude will convince him."

"You can count on me for that, lady Helene."

"Thank you, Mike. I never doubted it. I am grateful to have you as part of the family."

~POVC~

Now outside, Max backtracked in the same direction he arrived in the car, but on foot. It took him a little while to reach the gate, this time with a houndoom standing guard.

"I need to pass, please." Max requested.

The houndoom didn't move.

"Look buddy, I'm not really in the mood right now, so please, just move aside."

The houndoom glared at Max for a short moment before standing up and walking near him. The pokemon then took a few whiffs of him.

{Blegh! You stink.} The houndoom commented before passing by, with Max noticing that it was a male.

Cursing under his breath from unnecessary comments, Max walked closer to the fence, to which it automatically opened, allowing him to leave in the direction of the town about an hour away in walking distance. Upon arriving, the sun was only starting to set. He then roamed across the town, lost in his thoughts and paying little attention to his surroundings. However, the only time he did pay attention, he found himself walking in front of a building, which seemed to be a bar. He then stopped, thinking that it was destiny that caused him to pass by and notice the place.

"*Sigh* I really need a drink." He mumbled before going inside.

~POVC~

In the meantime, Max's companions were still in the garden, everyone finding a place to either relax or nap. As it was getting late, they got called by Helene.

"Dinner is about to be served. You can come in if you want."

After she got back inside, the girls did the same one by one and headed towards the dining room, which was very spacious with a very long table in front of a large fireplace, which could probably host forty humans or more. Helene sat in one of the two chairs at the head of the table while Scarlet and the girls sat nearby, with one chair being adjusted for May.

"Are you sure you want to proceed without Max?" Helene asked, not happy by the absence of their trainer.

[We don't really want to, but there's nothing we can do about it.] Scarlet replied with crossed arms. [Forcing him or insisting too much will just make him angrier.]

Scarlet then sensed Helene's worries.

[But he's strong. It'll take more than skipping a meal to keep him down, and he's not stupid either. He will probably ask for a big breakfast tomorrow morning.]

"I still kind of feel bad for offering you this without him."

{Well, we can always just leave without eating anything.} Bonny proposed, her chin resting against her paws.

{Don't be ridiculous, Bonny.} Aurora said. {This isn't the first time he's been like this. The least we can do is show our gratitude by eating what they took the time to prepare for us.}

{I was just saying.}

{I think we should save some food for him, just in case.} Dusk pointed out.

{I suppose we could if there is a fridge here.} Scarlet said.

The atmosphere then went thick for a few minutes before Mike came out of the kitchen.

"Dinner is ready to be served, lady Helene." He announced.

"Fantastic!" Helene exclaimed. "I hope you'll like what we have." She said to the girls while motioning Mike to bring the plates.

With a nod, Mike snapped one finger and a few maids entered the dining room with carts of food. Immediately after they started placing plates in the center of the table, the girls' mood changed a little, as everything was looking so delicious that even Scarlet was impressed. Not by the amount or the potential quality, but by how they managed to serve meals tailored to the diets of everyone present. Slightly cooked dark meat for Luna, nuts and salad dishes for Bonny... She even spotted plates with food specifically for gardevoirs.

[That's… wow. I'm not easily impressed, but still…]

"These are the most high-quality dishes you'll ever eat. It's a bit expensive for regular people, but we can enjoy it as much as you want." Helene said with a smile.

However, she noticed that none of them was taking anything, just staring at the buffet.

" Well don't be shy, dig in."

With a bit of hesitation, the girls each took a plate of their favorite food and began to take bites.

{Oh. My. God!} Bonny exclaimed. {I think my mouth is in love!}

{This is definitely the best steak I've ever eaten!} Aurora followed.

Not having smiled for a little while, even May was slightly smiling. Seeing how everyone was enjoying it, Scarlet took a bite herself. Just like the other dishes, the quality of the food was unbelievable, but she chose not to show it. Next, she just looked at the others and Helene who were all enjoying their meals. Scarlet was about to take another bite, but stopped and dropped the piece on the plate again.

"Is something wrong? Is it not prepared to your liking?" Helene asked, noticing her.

[...We shouldn't stay.] She said with a serious tone.

"You shouldn't? How so?"

[It's too dangerous. That psychotic gardevoir, the one Max talked about, she's still out there, probably waiting for us to lower our guards again and strike when we least expect it. If we stay, we'll be putting everyone here in danger. She's not afraid to use the lowest and cowardice methods to get her way, so I don't know what she could do to you.]

Upon hearing her, the girls stopped eating their meals as well, flabbergasted. This was the very first time they heard Scarlet care for another being besides Max.

"I doubt that our houndooms will allow that. They have been trained well enough to fend off intruders of all shapes and sizes, so they would be on her the second she approaches our property." Helene assured.

[I doubt it will be enough. Sure psychic-types are almost powerless against dark-types, but she will find a way. You don't know how twisted those monsters can be.]

For a moment, a silence settled.

"You can still wait for tomorrow to make a move. I doubt she will try anything tonight."

[The chances of that are low, I admit, but never zero. Are you sure you want to take that risk?]

"You saved my son, so yes. Besides, this isn't the first time we've danced with danger."

[Really?] Scarlet said, a bit skeptical.

"Yes, but that's a story for another day."

[What about your son? She won't be afraid to use him as leverage if she needs to.]

"I'll have a few of the houndooms sleep with him tonight. If anything, they'll be able to protect him until you arrive."

[...I suppose so.] Scarlet conceded, taking a piece of her meal with her hand, playing with it with her finger.

"I'm in your debt. I can't abandon you."

{I can also lend you my support. I know her scent by now and I could spot her before she even gets close.} Luna proposed.

{That's a good idea. And since you're nocturnal, a night sentinel could be a big bonus.} Aurora affirmed.

{I think you guys are heavily underestimating that monster. This is serious.} Scarlet retorted.

{We are not.} Aurora replied. {Yes, we all are aware of the risks, but we need a place to stay. No matter if it's here or somewhere else, we are exposing everyone around us to that danger.}

{I don't really care about others.}

{Why do you care for everyone in here then?}

{...}

{At least here we have better security.} Luna pointed out.

Sighing, Scarlet stood up from the table and left, looking a bit upset, creating more silence in the diner room.

[We're… so sorry about that.] Dusk apologized out loud telepathically.

"Is that gardevoir really that much of a threat?" Helene inquired.

[She wouldn't react like this if she wasn't. Maybe Scarlet's right.]

{In any case, I doubt she will come back anytime soon. We've shown her twice already that we are not to be underestimated.} Aurora mentioned.

{Who's to say that she won't recover her strength and rebuild her army before exacting her revenge?} Bonny questioned.

{If it's really what's gonna happen, it won't be for a while. She's all alone again and in pretty bad shape.}

{...I guess you're right.} Bonny conceded.

{But if you're really worried about their safety, we can go back to that room we rented earlier.}

{That would be more reasonable.} Dusk shared.

{But let's at least be grateful and accept their gift for us.} Aurora mentioned.

Dusk noticed that Helene was a bit lost, all too used to Max understanding them. She then explained to her their plans for the next day.

"I see. You all seem pretty determined."

{We are sorry.} Aurora apologized.

"It's alright." Helene understood by the face Aurora was making. "It's your choice and I can't really change it for you. I'm just glad that you at least ate dinner with us."

[It was really good, thank you.] Dusk said gratefully.

~POVC~

It has been a few hours since Max went inside the bar. It was getting late and he was sitting at the counter, slowly emptying glass after glass and getting drunk. Since it didn't seem to be a very popular bar, only a few humans were there, with two having a pokemon with them.

"Waiter! Another shot please." Max called after pushing an empty glass away.

With a stoic face, the barman only gave him what he ordered and got back to whatever he was doing.

"I've been saying this for years now. Pokephilia should be banned worldwide."

As he was pouring alcohol down his throat, the word 'pokephilia' got his attention on the TV standing in a corner between a wall and the ceiling.

"What will it change? Whether it's legal or not, we won't be able to prevent these kinds of incidents."

The show that was airing seemed to be a talk show between three men and a woman.

"That's where a law banning pokemon training is needed."

"Are you serious? What's next, banning the pokemon themselves and removing them from the regions?"

"That's something that is physically impossible, I admit, but something must be done about this."

"What exactly do you mean by that? And why are interactions between humans and pokemon suddenly becoming a problem?"

"You watch the news like everyone else here, right? Then you must have heard that another trainer has been raped by their pokemon. And don't even get me started on that girl they found dead in the forest near Zino City. She had half of her face and skull burned off, for crying out loud! How much more of this do we need to see before we take action?"

"Let's not forget another similar issue; abusive trainers who physically and/or mentally torment their pokemon."

"Trainers abusing and beating their pokemon is one thing, but sexually assaulting and raping them is another."

"And how is it different from when humans rape each other? Last I checked, we don't render socialization between us illegal."

"It's completely different. We humans can learn, we can think and have judgment, unlike pokemon who act mostly out of pure instinct like wild animals."

"Ah, I was waiting for someone to say something like that…"

"Could you please turn that shit off? Those four clowns are getting on my nerves" Max demanded the barman.

"Some are still watching." Said a random guy not far from him.

"Pff. So what? Feel free to give in to their shitty thoughts and opinions. Those idiots don't even know what they are talking about. They don't have a single clue of what pokemon really are, but I do. I've seen what goes on in the real world here."

"Who the fuck cares?" The man said.

"Not someone like you, that's for sure. Another shot." Max called.

"Sorry, but that will be enough for you for tonight."

"Argh. Whatever." Max growled. "It tasted like shit anyways." He added, standing up from the stool and headed outside after paying his tab, hardly able to stay on his feet.

After almost falling a few times, he pushed the door open and was now outside. It was close to midnight, so there was barely anyone outside at this time.

"Those stupid talk shows are all the same. Idiots upon idiots coming together, running their mouths about things they don't understand, claiming that they know everything. 'Oh look at us, we're on TV, so everything we say must be true'. Bha! Whatever. Why am I even bothering?" He said to himself, walking down the street while trying to keep his balance.

"I wanna be the very best… like no one ever was…" He started singing softly. "To catch them all is not my quest… to train them… is a loss… To take care of my pokemon is... What I want the most… I'm just a careless wanderer... And oh, I feel so lost..."

While singing inaudibly, he passed in front of a back alley, which led to a conspicuous dead-end. However, for Max, it was a shortcut to go somewhere else.

"What are we…? Who are we…? What am I?"

It was at that moment where he lost balance completely. He tried to hold on to something, but there was nothing besides a pile of trash on the ground, on which he fell. He was now on his back, gazing at the sky on top of the trash bags.

"Trash. That's what I am."

Hearing a noise, Max turned his head, only to see Scarlet sitting on a closed dumpster.

"...Heh, you must be enjoying this, aren't you?"

Not answering, she floated down from it without touching the hazardous ground and moved next to him.

{This is probably the saddest thing I've ever seen, and that's saying something. Here.} She said, presenting him with a hand.

"Why? I'm right where I belong."

{Don't be ridiculous. I'll never accept anyone seeing you that way, especially yourself.}

"Eh, you always knew how to prove people wrong."

Not reacting, Scarlet kept her hand in front of her. Max then got annoyed after a moment and took it.

{You didn't go easy on those drinks as I can see.}

"Why? Did I piss myself?"

{Fortunately, no, but you do look wasted.}

"You don't say."

{Let's sit somewhere more sanitary.}

Holding one arm, Scarlet led him to the nearest place where they could sit, which happened to be a small concrete staircase in front of a red door. After helping him sit, she did the same by his side.

{So, had fun?}

"A real blast. I burned all the money you got us to try and forget my existence for a moment."

Scarlet then realized that Max was doing the very thing she was afraid of.

{I'm sorry. I'm the one to blame here.}

"Haha, yeah right. I'm the responsible one here, I'm the real culprit. At this rate, we might even forget what we are accusing each other for."

{If only we could…}

"Ah, you're telling me."

{...We should have been there for you too, I should have been there for you. If only I could endure a little bit of suffering, I could have been able to help you.}

"And have the roles been reversed? What would even be the difference?"

{Your health and sanity are much more important than mine.}

"And yours are more important than mine. See? We can't win this game by going back and forth. It's rigged, I tell you."

{I… I've lived long enough in this world, but you, master, still have so much to live for. You have so many years ahead of you.}

"What about you? As far as I know, you're not a thousand years old. Unless you are and you didn't tell me."

{I'm serious, master.}

"And so am I, that's what's so fun about this, haha."

{*Sigh* Helene proposed that we stay at her home instead of renting a room here.}

"Is that so? Why and what did you say?"

{Since trouble seems to always find us, I told her that it was best for them that we don't. Qsalyla is still out there and no one knows when or where she will try to take her revenge.}

"Are you sure about that? You guys kicked her dirty ass pretty hard back there. I'm sure we could see your guys' footprints on it, haha."

{So I thought the first time we encountered her. If she is that vengeful, she'll keep trying until she succeeds.}

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little? You guys are way too strong and terrifying for her."

{Eh, I could almost see that as a compliment.}

"Even if it wasn't, it's the truth. Oh, speaking of the girls, where are they now?"

{Back at that bed and breakfast, where our stuff is.}

"*Sigh* I should get back to them, but…"

{But what?}

"Are they… still afraid of me?"

{Not anymore, so don't worry. They mostly just got surprised by this sudden behavior, especially since you never get that aggressive.}

"Yeah. I did lose my cool a bit." He said, mostly to himself, ashamed of what he had become.

{We all know that it's because you're in pain, so they didn't hold a grudge against you.}

"Now that I think about it, maybe it was more than just a recent event."

{What do you mean?}

"For a split second, all of the pain and rancor I've bottled up all my life, it felt as if I had released a portion of it in that exact moment."

{I'm no expert in human psychology, but it's very plausible. Only something that strong could make you do something like that.}

"Eh, but regardless of what happened, I'm a monster."

{Don't say that.}

"I wanted May's old trainer to die a gruesome death by my hands. Looks like I'm no better than he is, haha."

{I don't blame you one bit. He would've deserved it anyway, but keep in mind that there's a clear difference between wanting someone dead and actually killing them. Like, two sides of the same coin.}

"If you say so. Too bad we can't buy or do anything with it."

{You're not a monster, master.} She insisted with a hand on one of his thighs. {You're just in pain and living through something that's very hard on your mental state. Compared to the other humans who've had it easier than you but turned out bad, you are a saint. You're very strong and resilient, but even the toughest people in this world have their breaking point. The same goes for pokemon.}

"Eh, mine is easy to find."

{And what if that was the case? Would you rather be happy about Jade's death?}

"What? How can you say that?" Max asked, upset.

{As I thought, no. Let me rephrase that; would you rather not feel anything, like you didn't care at all?}

"I…"

{You have the right to be sad, master, because it's proof that you do care. Why don't you let yourself have these feelings? And I will say it again and again. You. Are. Not. Alone.} She emphasized, taking one of his hands.

Unable to reply anymore, Max looked at her in her beautiful sapphire-like eyes, expressing intense love and compassion. Her eyes and devotion for him were enough to warm up his heart and make him love her even more as if he had just fallen in love again. Scarlet smiled after sensing that in him. Unfortunately, his pain and sorrow quickly ruined the moment by engulfing these newfound feelings.

"Let's… just go join the others back in the room," Max said, trying to stand up.

{Let me help you up.} The gardevoir proposed while standing up.

"I can do it myself." He assured her.

However, as soon as he was on his feet, he lost balance and had to hold on to the fence next to him.

{Really now?} Scarlet said with crossed arms.

"Yeah. Just… help me, but don't rub it in, you know. I still have my sense of pride here."

{Haha.} She laughed softly. {You're way too honest when you're drunk.}

"Not true. I still can lie and say that the sky is green."

{But you're a bit annoying as well.} She teased, presenting him one hand.

Sighing, Max took it and began walking down the street with Scarlet faking not helping him.

{I hope you don't do that too often.}

"I don't know. It isn't unpleasant to forget about my troubles for a moment."

{You know, my powers can do just that. Without the lower I.Q. and awful smell of course.}

"You would like that, wouldn't you?"

{Huh?}

"Nevermind. I know your powers can do absolutely everything like some sort of god, but I can't always rely on you. I have to figure out something on my own on how to deal with things."

{*Sigh* If that's what you want. Let's try not to go with activities that get you wasted, please. I don't really want to find you at the bottom of a dumpster next time.}

"Could be a bit kinky, don't you think?"

{Err! You're gross.} Scarlet replied in disdain.

"Mission accomplished then." Max jested, making Scarlet roll her eyes.

With her helping him, it took them roughly half an hour before reaching the bed and breakfast room they rented. After passing the calm and empty hallway, they entered inside, where the whole group was waiting.

{That's a relief. At least he's still alive.} Aurora said upon seeing him.

{Oomph! That smell though.} Bonny exclaimed, venting the air by her nose.

{Let's just open a window.} Scarlet said, using her psychic powers to do so before helping Max sit on the only chair in the room.

{You okay, little pup?} Luna asked, noticing his absent-minded face.

"*Sigh* ...Girls, I have something important to tell you all."

{What is it?} Aurora asked.

Lying against a wall, even Scarlet was wondering what just popped into his head.

"You won't like it." He announced, making the girls look at him worryingly. "I've been thinking about it during the past few hours and... I have made a decision. I'm… putting an end to this."

{What… What do you mean?} Dusk asked, almost looking scared.

"...I give up. I'm done being a trainer."