The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 3 Epilogue 2: Sickness

Spoiler:

Chapter 1
The weather was already starting to cool, with mid-autumn bringing with it the first chills of winter. It was late October, when Chris found himself sitting alone around a campfire in a clearing off the trail that cut through Eterna Forest. Behind him, sat a small swag, next to his parked motorcycle, which was his primary form of transport while he travelled.

It was late in the evening of October 28th, with the quarter moon in the sky above, dimly lighting the forest, as Chris listened in silence to the cries of the wild Pokemon. He had only one reason to stay awake. When the clock struck midnight, it would be his eighteenth birthday. He didn’t know what he was really staying up for. It wasn’t like he was in a city where he could now find an open bar and get himself a drink. Even if he had stayed in Eterna City, most bars would be closed by midnight on a Wednesday evening. Even in Jubilife, he’d be struggling to find one open.

Honestly, Chris didn’t know why he was staying up until midnight. The year before, he had been in Blackthorn City, and Abbee at her home in Goldenrod, and she had made a point of messaging him at exactly midnight. And whilst deep down he hoped that would happen, if not Abbee, someone else, he knew he was being silly hoping for such a thing. But still, he waited in silence.

In the month since Chris had left his home in Blackthorn City, having bought his motorcycle, as well as other gear to live on the road like he planned, practically every night was spent like this. He used to let one of his Pokemon out of the Pokeball to keep him company, however found himself talking to them often, and more often seeming to want an answer back, even though it wasn’t possible. As such, he stopped, spending plenty of time with his Pokemon during battles and training, as well as other times during the day, but when he was alone with his thoughts of an evening, not letting himself project onto his Pokemon.

He’d occasionally fill time by texting, or even calling Justin or Charlotte. However, he also was self-conscious of potentially being a pest to them by constantly reaching out, and as such, limited his contact with them. They were his closest friends, and didn’t want to risk driving them away by being too clingy, and as such, isolated himself further. He found himself wishing that he and Abbee were in contact, however when he realised where his thoughts were going, quickly dismissed them.

Chris, dwelling on his thoughts, had been staring intently at the fire for the last half hour, with nothing else to take in around him, and nobody to see him staring off into space. His attention was pulled by his phone ringing with the alarm tone. He had set the alarm for midnight, and quickly dismissed the noise it made. He sighed to himself.

“Happy Birthday to me…” he muttered, scoffing at himself for even thinking that it was anything important, before standing to his feet. He grabbed a water bottle from his bag, and poured it over the fire, before kicking dirt over it for good measure. The fire hissed as the water evaporated into steam, and Chris found himself standing in near darkness, his night vision having been diminished by the firelight, and his eyes taking their time to adjust. He made his way towards the swag, removing his shoes, and climbing in. He zipped the door behind him, as he lay in his sleeping bag, still dwelling on the loneliness he felt. As he did though, he had an idea.

Chris had finished his last tournament in Sinnoh in Eterna City a few days earlier, and his original plan was to take a boat from Canalave City the day after his birthday to Vermillion City in Kanto. He had a tournament there on November 10th, and was going to be spending nine days travelling between Sinnoh and Kanto on the ship that would take him. Whilst the ship took a while, it was necessary for him to have transport in whatever region he visited, as it was the only way to take his motorcycle with him. However, just because his motorcycle had to go by sea, that didn’t mean he had to.

He quickly googled a Canalave based shipping company for a quote on shipping his belongings to Vermillion and found it to not be much more expensive than his ticket for the ship he was going to take and the cost for him to fly to Vermillion a week from that day. Whilst he’d likely have to stay in a city, given there being few places within walking distance of the cities where he could set up his swag, a few nights in a hotel would be a pleasant change of scenery from roughing it most nights like he had been for the last month.

Excited, Chris made the booking then and there, organising for his bike to be transported, buying a ticket to fly to Vermillion on November 8th, and booking a hotel in Jubilife for the next week, using up the bulk of the winnings from the last tournament he had won. It was nearly 1am when he finished, and too excited to wait until morning, he sent Justin and Charlotte a message.

“Hey, there’s been a change of plans. Instead of taking a ship from Canalave on the 30th, I’m going to be sending my bike across to Vermillion on the 30th, and spending a bit over a week in Jubilife, before flying out to Vermillion on the 8th.

As of an hour ago, I’m eighteen, and we can now hit up a bar. I’ll be in town, so keep Saturday November 7th free to find somewhere cool and have a few drinks. Justin, if that’s a weekend Candice is visiting, bring her along. Charlotte, you mentioned when I saw you last you were spending some time at home during November, and flying out halfway through, so you’ve got no excuse.

See you both then.”

Chris locked his phone, feeling much better than he did an hour ago, at the prospect of actually being able to celebrate his eighteenth birthday with his friends. He placed it in the pocket that hung from the wall of the swag, before closing his eyes, suddenly feeling much more exhausted, and going to sleep…

Chapter 2
It was nearing 10am when Justin awoke. It was a Thursday, however his classes started at 2pm, allowing him to stay up until a little after midnight that morning, and sleep in. His phone next to him was beeping with an alarm he had set to not let himself sleep in too late, and risk messing up his sleeping pattern. Whilst he had that morning to sleep in, between his heavy workload for his course, the extra study he put in, in addition to his job at the local Pokemon Trainer School, time like this was a once a week occurrence.

The small apartment Justin rented was already awash with natural light, though being well and truly into autumn, there was a slight chill, causing Justin to wrap himself tighter in his blanket, after he turned off the alarm. Looking at his phone, Justin saw he had received two messages. One from Chris at 1am the morning before, and one from Charlotte two hours previous.

“Hey, there’s been a change of plans. Instead of taking a ship from…” was the preview for the message from Chris, however the second took him by surprise.

”JUSTIN DO NOT LOOK AT CHRIS’ MESSAGE UNTIL YOU CALL ME!”

Justin did a double take, wondering what had caused Charlotte to abuse the caps-lock on her phone, before opening the message, and seeing nothing else. He quickly sat upright, before climbing out of bed, and getting dressed, before calling Charlotte.

”You’re finally awake,” Charlotte answered. Justin couldn’t help but grin.

“I have Thursday mornings off, so why wouldn’t I enjoy a nice sleep in?” Justin retorted, before getting serious. “What’s going on? Why can’t I look at Chris’ message?”

Charlotte was quiet for a second, before answering.

“Your classes aren’t until this afternoon, right?” Charlotte asked, though didn’t wait for a reply. ”Can we get lunch?”

A little over an hour later, Justin and Charlotte found themselves sitting in a cafe, having just ordered, and now waiting for their food. Justin noticed a few glances from people, who seemed to recognize the pair.

“Knowing my luck, someone will take a photo of us, and Silver Wing News will be telling everyone you and I are having some secret affair behind Candice’s back,” Justin joked, as Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“I could do better,” Charlotte retorted, earning a grin from Justin, though Justin wasn’t here for a casual lunch, granted he was always down for that.

“So what’s going on?” Justin asked. “Why can’t I read Chris’ message?”

“Don’t read it from yours. I don’t want him to see you read it and then take a while to respond,” Charlotte said, handing Justin her phone. “I’ve already read it and replied, so you can read it from mine…”

Justin looked at the message, reading through it quickly.

“It’ll be good to see him,” Justin said, as he handed the phone back, not having read Charlotte’s reply. “Honestly, I’ve been worried about him since the end of summer.”

Charlotte nodded.

“Same, and I do want to see him…” Charlotte explained. “But I’m kind of extorting him, and I want you to do the same…”

Justin looked at Charlotte, puzzled, as she continued.

“He’s burnt bridges with Dylan, Abbee, and I suspect Jon as well. And honestly, it’s not good for him…” Charlotte explained. “I’ve known Chris for years, even before the Academy, and whilst he has always been a bit of a loose cannon, the way he has been acting recently is different…”

Justin nodded in agreement. Chris hadn’t been himself, and honestly, Justin was worried about him.

“I know what you mean,” Justin answered. “After he and Abbee broke up, he just wasn’t himself. He was always one of the most fun-loving people I knew, but towards the end of summer, even when he beat Natasha King, he didn’t seem as happy as he would have been if it happened three months earlier…”

“I saw him a few weeks ago. We were both in Sunyshore City for different tournaments. He was still in the Junior Circuit, and I was in the Standard Circuit. And he seemed to be worse than when summer ended,” Charlotte explained. “Honestly, I think he’s lonely. He’s travelling alone, and cut off half the people who used to support him. And I think he’s isolating himself. Did you notice this was the first message he sent either of us that wasn’t on a Friday night?”

Justin hadn’t noticed that pattern. However, as he remembered when Chris’ previous messages had arrived, he realised Charlotte was right.

“Do you think there’s something behind that?” Justin asked, as Charlotte nodded.

“Chris is the first to blame himself for something. Abbee told me he blamed himself and our rivalry when I injured Luxray, and I know he felt responsible for Jon’s history with Lance, before Jon found out about it, being family,” Charlotte explained. “And I know when Dylan seemed to be a little standoffish towards him, his first thought was he had done something to anger him, and apologised…”

Charlotte swirled the straw in her glass of juice, considering how best to explain it.

“But since everything with Abbee went to s**t, when he blames himself for something, he isn’t acting on it. Instead of making things right when he thinks he did something wrong, like he used to, it's as if something is stopping him…” Charlotte explained, and Justin nodded.

“His pride…” Justin answered. “It took a hit, and now instead of his common sense driving the train, it’s his pride, trying to protect itself…”

Charlotte nodded in agreement.

“Honestly, I think Chris knows he has acted out of line. He was this close to apologising to Dylan before he saw him with Abbee at the prom,” Charlotte explained. “And I think the reason he only reaches out to us on Fridays, is because he is worried if he sends a message more often just to chat, we’ll get irritated by him, and he’ll be even more alone…”

Justin sighed, as Charlotte continued.

“Which leads me to this,” Charlotte said, gesturing to her phone, which was still open with Chris’ message. “Honestly, I don’t think Abbee, Dylan and Jon are going to get an apology out of Chris, but thankfully, I don’t think any of them are stubborn enough to require it. I think that they will be willing to look past what has happened enough to give Chris a chance to make amends, even if it is just looking past recent history, and having a nice night out together…”

“You think you can convince him to invite the three of them?” Justin asked, as Charlotte shook her head.

“Not Jon. It would be too much. But Dylan and Abbee…” Charlotte said, before finally saying it. “I told Chris that I would only come if he invited Dylan and Abbee as well…”

Justin’s eyes widened at Charlotte’s tactic, as she continued.

“He has already booked for his bike to be shipped to Vermillion, a hotel in Jubilife, and a flight in a bit over a week…” Charlotte explained. “He has spent a fair bit of money trying to organise this, and I think that prospect of that going to waste could be enough to get him to swallow his pride for a night and invite them. Especially if you tell him the same thing…”

“But what if he just cuts us off, like he did to them?” Justin asked. “He’s my best friend, even if he’s going through a rough patch, and I’m worried about how he would cope if he cut off the only two of us who were still in touch with him…”

Charlotte shook her head.

“He won’t,” Charlotte answered. “I know him well, and I’m willing to guarantee, he wants to invite Abbee. Dylan not so much, but Abbee, almost definitely. But he is too proud to do it. But if both of us force him to, and he risks wasting a significant amount of money if he doesn’t, then I think his pride would let him do it…”

Justin had to admit, Charlotte’s analysis of Chris was accurate. His pride prevented him from inviting her and potentially mending that friendship, however if Charlotte and Justin refusing to come would potentially damage his pride further, he could very well oblige.

“And what if his pride won’t let him listen to this?” Justin asked. Charlotte shook her head.

“It’s got a grip on him definitely, but he’s still Chris,” Charlotte answered. “He wouldn’t let himself lose everything…”

Justin sighed. He knew that Charlotte was only looking out for him, and trying to help him out of this slump he was in. However it was risky.

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Justin asked, still on the fence.

“This is potentially the only chance we will get. He’s made it clear he is done with the Academy, so it’s not like we can try and help make things right next summer, and the longer this goes unchecked, the harder it will be to make things right…” Charlotte said. “It’s a risk, but what other option do we have that isn’t sit on our a**es and hope it all magically works out?”

She was right. And acknowledging that, Justin opened his phone, opening the message from Chris and typing a reply.

”I’m keen, but I’ll only come if you invite Abbee and Dylan. Regardless of what s**t happened last summer, they’re your friends too, and would want to be there to celebrate with us. It wouldn’t be right to get together and not include them. I want us all to be as close as we were at the start of summer, and I know you want that too. So sorry, but unless I know you invited them, I won’t be there…”

Justin pressed send, before showing Charlotte his phone. She glanced over the message, nodding her approval.

“How did he take it when you told him?” Justin asked, as Charlotte smiled weakly.

“Lots of swearing…” Charlotte replied. “The evening news friendly version being that it was none of my business and he could invite or exclude whoever he damn well pleased…”

Justin sighed, realising Charlotte had intentionally not told him that. The pair’s meals arrived, and they ate, chatting casually about Charlotte’s next tournament, and how Justin’s course was going, before both their phones buzzed. They looked, and saw a message in the group chat that included all five of the interns, which hadn’t been used since before last summer.

”I’m thinking of hitting up a bar in Jubilife to celebrate my birthday since I’ll be passing through. Saturday November 7th. It would be good to see you all there if you can make it…”

“I’ll let Abbee know what we’ve been doing…” Charlotte said, as Justin nodded, hoping he and Charlotte weren’t making a mistake…

Chapter 3
“Any idea why it looks like this?”

Dylan held at an arm's length the failed attempt at a student ID card, not wanting the still wet and runny ink to drip off onto his clothes. This was Jon’s fifth attempt, and whilst Dylan had other projects he was working on at the Academy, Jon was losing patience with the printer that had arrived that day. Given the fact each blank card cost two dollars, and Jon was no closer to any success, he figured it was time to swallow his pride and accept he was not as attuned to using new equipment as Dylan was.

Dylan looked at the test image that the printer had printed onto a blank card to make sure it was calibrated properly, before Jon attempted to print their template for their own cards. The test image was printed perfectly. Jon’s template however, was a smeary, wet mess.

“I don’t think it’s the printer,” Dylan answered. “I think it’s the file you’re trying to print…”

Dylan carefully took the card to the bin in Jon and Alyssa’s kitchen, and came back to look at the laptop that sat on the small dining table, plugged into the card printer. On the screen of the laptop was Photoshop, with the base design Jon had come up with for the cards.

The cards were largely a security measure. The plan was to use them as key cards, and have lodges only be able to be entered with the cards that belonged to those living in them. Whilst it seemed excessive, Jon realised that last summer, someone had let a swarm of Bug Pokemon into one of the unused rooms, which destroyed most of the bedding, though he never was able to figure out who it was. One of the perks of this system however was that it allowed Jon to narrow down who was entering communal spaces. He had asked Dylan about the technology, and after he had looked into it explained that each card, when tapped against a reader, effectively gives a password, however readers could be designed to respond to any number of passwords. This way, Jon could effectively track which keys were used to access which room, and should keys go missing, revoke access from that key in particular.

On the screen, Dylan could see the template, and after a few seconds, realised what the issue was. The indicator was the fact the magnification was set to 33%. He double checked the image resolution.

“You’ve got the image file at 4k resolution,” Dylan said to Jon, who nodded.

“Yeah, more pixels should mean a sharper image?” Jon answered, confused at how this was a problem.

“On a screen, yeah,” Dylan explained. “But this printer is rated to 300 dots per inch, and the card is less than three and a half inches on its long side…”

Jon still seemed confused, so Dylan got out his calculator on his phone and crunched the numbers.

“You’re attempting to print over 1200 dots per inch, when the printer can only handle 300, so it’s doing what it has been,” Dylan explained, as he did another equation. “Really, this printer can handle an image roughly 1000 pixels by 630, which should be plenty for what we are using it for…”

He opened the image tab, and pressed the resize image button, shrinking down the image, before double checking nothing was out of place as a side effect. When he was content, he saved the file, before printing it to the card printer.

He and Jon sat in silence for the thirty odd seconds it took to print, and when it beeped to notify them it had finished, Dylan carefully pulled it out.

“It still needs to dry a little more,” Dylan noted. “But that’s much better…”

Jon looked at the freshly printed card, before looking to the bin at his five previous failed attempts, and shook his head in disbelief.

“What would I do if I hadn’t hired you?” Jon asked with a laugh.

“Wasted a lot of money on bad prints…” Dylan answered, as Jon grinned. Before Dylan could respond, he felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out, and was surprised to see a message from Chris to the group chat that had been dead since last summer.

”I’m thinking of hitting up a bar in Jubilife to celebrate my birthday since I’ll be passing through. Saturday November 7th. It would be good to see you all there if you can make it…”

Dylan tried to hide the shock, however Jon picked up on it quickly.

“Everything alright?” Jon asked, nodding towards Dylan’s phone. Dylan passed it to him, allowing him to read it.

“Chris just invited the rest of us interns to celebrate his birthday with him…” Dylan said, Jon seeming equally surprised. Whilst there hadn’t been any open hostility between Chris and Dylan, or Chris towards Jon since the night of the prom at the end of summer, they were far from on good terms. Whilst Jon wanted Chris to move past the grudges he was holding, he knew that was not likely. Or so he thought.

“Are you going to go?” Jon asked.

“I’d have to take time off work,” Dylan answered, though Jon wasn’t buying it.

“Consider that weekend now paid time off,” Jon answered quickly. “Do you think you will go?”

Dylan was quiet for a moment, before shaking his head.

“Honestly, I don’t see anything good coming from it,” Dylan answered. “I get that I hit him, and I really shouldn’t have. But he made it abundantly clear before that he had a problem with me, and it honestly seemed like he wanted a fight after the prom. I just don’t think me going and seeing him is worth the trouble at this point. Chances are he put it in the group chat to appease Charlotte…”

Jon sighed, and whilst he understood why Dylan was hesitant, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed.

“I guess I’m just worried about him,” Jon said. “And I think this may be the only opportunity we get to fix things with him…”

“We?” Dylan asked. Jon shrugged.

“I’ve done all I can to be civil with him, and let him know he is welcome back here. Though that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him act out the way he did last summer if he does come back,” Jon said, adding the latter part so there was no confusion. “But I don’t think that’s enough. Meanwhile, he seems to have an axe to grind with you, and I figure if you two can find a way to work things out, I don’t see why he and I couldn’t as well…”

Before Dylan could answer, his phone, which was still in Jon’s hand, buzzed. Jon looked, and saw it was Abbee calling him, before handing the phone over to Dylan.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Dylan said, before walking out the back door. He answered the call, hearing Abbee on the other end of the line.

”Hey, did you see the message?”

“Yeah, I was just talking to Jon about it,” Dylan said, looking back to make sure none of the kitchen windows were open. “I think he wants me to go…”

”You don’t want to go?” Abbee asked, though her tone wasn’t at all shocked.

“Not particularly,” Dylan answered. “$20 says he invited us to appease Charlotte…”

”Her and Justin told him they wouldn’t come if he didn’t invite us,” Abbee explained. ”She called me just before to tell me…”

“Exactly,” Dylan answered. “He doesn’t want us there. Everyone would be happier if we didn’t go…”

”I’m not sure I agree with that…” Abbee said quietly. Dylan was surprised to hear this.

“You honestly think he wants to see us?”

”I don’t think he particularly doesn’t want to see me, at least,” Abbee explained. ”Look, I know Chris well, and honestly, even if he wanted nothing more than to reach out, and make things right, he would struggle to do that, not because he thinks we are in the wrong, but because it’d hurt his pride to admit he acted poorly. I think that whilst Chris may not want us there, there is just as much chance that Charlotte and Justin saying what they said just forced him to do what deep down, he wants to do. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have budged…”

Dylan remained silent, trying to understand her assessment of Chris, who had been nothing but antisocial towards him most of last summer. She continued to explain.

”Honestly, I think with Chris in the state he has been in recently, getting an apology out of him is impossible. But at the same time, I think enough time may have passed that if we can be around him, and it be civil, eventually we’ll all be able to move past all the stuff that was said and done last summer. Not necessarily all be friends again like we were, but it will be a start. And we aren’t without blame either,” Abbee continued. ”He might have acted out most of the summer, but I dumped him, and then got pretty close to you during the prom, in front of him and everyone else there. And you did give him a black eye. Even with me breaking up with him, he was about to apologise to you before he saw us at the prom. I see this as an olive branch, even if he had to be pushed into offering it, and given what we did to him, I think we owe it to him to take it…”

Dylan sighed, before answering.

“Look, I don’t have an axe to grind with Chris. You’re right, I did punch him when he didn’t deserve that, and we probably should have been a bit more mindful during prom…” Dylan explained. “I’m just worried because he has a history of making a scene, and escalating things. And I don’t want to see you disappointed if it happens again…”

“Let’s do this once, for him,” Abbee said. ”Take this opportunity, and try to make amends. If he rejects it, we will leave him alone, and stop holding our breath that things will go back to normal…”

“Okay. I’ll go…”

Dylan was surprised when there was silence on the other end of the line, before Abbee cursing.

”S**t, I forgot…”

“Forgot what?” Dylan asked, as Abbee muttered to herself on the other end of the line.

”It's a bar, and I’m not eighteen until January…” Abbee said, her voice plagued with disappointment. ”They won’t let me in…”

“What if I can get you a fake ID?” Dylan asked, double checking the windows were still closed, and Jon couldn’t overhear.

“Where?” Abbee asked. “Do you know someone who looks like me?”

“No, it’ll be your details, just with your birthday being a year earlier…” Dylan explained. “We just got a card printer and are making Eon Academy IDs to be room keys. I’ll make one for myself, and one for you that makes you eighteen. Then we’ll use acetone on your League ID card to make it hard to read parts of it, your birthday included, and you can order a new card later. You try to use the League ID, and when they don’t allow it, show the Eon Academy one to verify it. I’ll show mine if they have a problem with it.”

”And if that doesn’t work?”

“I gotta try and sweet talk the bouncer…”

Dylan ended the call after a few more minutes, before entering the kitchen, where Jon remained. He was looking over the freshly printed card, now that the ink had dried and wasn’t transferring.

“I think this is it,” Jon noted, nodding towards the cards.

“Want to make a couple of actual ones?” Dylan asked. “Myself, Abbee, Justin and Charlotte will all be here next summer? We can make those ones now?”

“We don’t have photos,” Jon said, though Dylan shook his head.

“There will be recent photos on their Pokemon League Profiles,” Dylan explained. “And they’ll be more professional than anything we could try and take…”

“Good point,” Jon said, not having considered that. A few minutes later, Dylan had opened a web browser, and found the public Pokemon League Profiles, quickly downloading the four images, and beginning to put them as well as dates of birth into the template. He made his own one, printing it, before replacing the photo and details in the template with Abbee’s.

“Do you need me to find Abbee’s birthday?” Jon asked, though Dylan shook his head.

“January 26th,” Dylan remarked, Jon figuring it made sense Dylan had it memorised.

Dylan inputted Abbee’s birthday, however made sure the year was 2002 instead of 2003. He pressed print, and waited as the printer began to transfer the image onto the blank card in front of it.

When the machine beeped to notify them it was finished, Dylan forced himself not to react when Jon reached out to take the card, inspecting the quality.

“Careful, the ink still needs a moment to dry,” Dylan said, trying to get Jon to not look too closely at it, however Jon brushed his concerns aside.

“It’ll dry faster out in the light anyway,” Jon noted as he inspected the card. It only took him a moment to notice that according to this card, Abbee was older than both Chris and Charlotte, however said nothing. He knew Dylan wouldn’t be making a fake ID for Abbee to buy alcohol, and figured it was for her to get into Chris’ birthday party. He grinned at Dylan, before handing the card to him.

“Looks good,” Jon said. “But I’m not sold on the design. We might need to reprint before next summer…”

Dylan nodded, before taking the card, and putting it with his own. He started working on the others, as Jon spoke.

“So is Abbee wanting to go to Chris’ birthday?” Jon asked, as Dylan began working on Charlotte’s card.

“Yeah,” Dylan sighed. “And I told her I’d go as well…”

“Good,” Jon said. “Hopefully you guys can work everything out…”

Chapter 4
“So why this place?” Charlotte asked, as her and Chris entered Paradise Lane, the bar Chris had picked to be the venue for his eighteenth birthday. “It’s cool, but I live in Jubilife and had never heard of it…”

She had to admit, she liked the venue. Whilst the lighting was soft, relying on vintage looking, long filament globes in industrial styled fittings to give a warm glow, the bar itself wasn’t dark like a nightclub, with their coloured, flashing lights.

“I visited a few last weekend when I was here, trying to find one I liked, and this ticked the boxes,” Chris explained. “There is a nice beer garden that’s undercover, but heated, so you can get some fresh air, even if the weather isn’t great. And the music isn’t too loud out there that you can’t hear yourself think. That and it wasn’t too crowded last Saturday night…”

Charlotte nodded, appreciating Chris’ judgement. She had been worried they’d be in some nightclub, where her shoes stuck to the floor from all the spilt drinks, and the bathrooms reeked of vomit. This was much nicer…

“Any word from the others?” Charlotte asked.

“Justin had some meeting for a group project this afternoon that went overtime, but he’ll be here soon,” Chris explained. “Abbee and Dylan only arrived in Jubilife this afternoon, and needed to go to the hotel they were staying at first, so will be here a little later…”

Charlotte was surprised at how okay Chris seemed talking about Abbee and Dylan in the same sentence as a hotel. Granted they both knew the pair would likely split a suite with two bedrooms, given Chris’ reaction to seeing them dancing at the prom, she would have bet for sure that Chris would have taken this the wrong way.

“Since it’s your birthday, I’ll buy you a drink,” Charlotte said. “Then we can find somewhere to sit down, and save some space until the others get here.”

Charlotte bought Chris a beer, and a cider for herself, before the pair made their way into the beer garden, finding a booth in the corner. The beer garden was spacious, paved with red bricks, and furnished with lots of natural wood. Pine beams surrounded the edge of it, holding up the roof that protected it from the elements, whilst trellis connected the beams, acting as a support for the lush, leafy plants that covered them. Like inside, the lighting was warm, from the vintage globes, but not overly bright.

“Hey guys,” called out a familiar voice, and they looked up to see Justin approaching, a drink in hand, and making his way through the different groups of people, some of whom seemed to recognise him, before he sat down in the booth with the pair.

“Good to see you,” Chris said with a grin, shaking Justin’s hand in greeting. “What’re you drinking?”

“Rum and cola,” Justin said with a grin. “I can’t stand the taste of beer…”

“Yeah, I’ll be real, I’m not a huge fan,” Chris said, struggling not to laugh. He was beginning to wonder whether everyone who said they liked the taste, Latios included, were just in on a giant hoax to disappoint people when they were old enough to drink it. “I think I’ll be trying something different next…”

Not even twenty metres away, on the other side of the beer garden boundary, Dylan and Abbee walked down the laneway towards Paradise Lane, Abbee nervous at the prospect of using a fake ID to illegally enter a bar.

“Calm down,” Dylan said quietly. “If you look like you know you’ve done something wrong, they’ll catch you…”

“Run me through the plan one more time?” Abbee asked nervously.

“I’ll go first and use my driver’s licence to get in,” Dylan explained. “Then you will use your League ID, which has half your birthday rubbed away, and try and get in. When did you use the acetone?”

“A week ago, like you said…” Abbee replied. Dylan had realised pretty quickly after devising the plan that if they used the acetone the afternoon of Chris’ party, the smell would give away that the card had been tampered with. A week gave it plenty of time to air out, and hopefully not give them away.

“Good,” Dylan answered, before continuing. “Any bouncer doing their job won’t accept it, so offer your Eon Academy ID. If that doesn’t work, leave the rest to me…”

Abbee nodded, taking a breath, and trying to remain calm as they rounded the corner, and the bouncers came into sight. The pair approached the two bouncers, both large men, though Dylan matched their height and bulk, who stepped to obstruct the door.

“You two got ID?” the first one asked.

“Yeah, give me a second,” Dylan said, getting his wallet out, and handing the bouncer his driver’s licence. He looked between the photo on it, and the young man standing in front of him, before handing it over to him, and nodding. Dylan didn’t move, waiting for Abbee to be checked.

Abbee handed over her League ID, and the bouncer inspected it. For a moment he held it closer to the light above him, before realising that lighting wasn’t the reason he couldn’t make out the date of birth. It had been rubbed away, presumably by the purse that Abbee kept it in.

“I can’t read your date of birth. It’s been worn away,” the bouncer said, handing it to her. “Do you have anything else? A passport, or a driver’s licence?”

“I left my passport at the hotel, and I don’t drive. It gives me anxiety…” Abbee said, sounding a little embarrassed, though Dylan knew her well enough to know she was performing. “My work ID has my date of birth? Will that work?”

Without waiting for an answer, she removed the card Dylan had given her that afternoon, which put her age as eighteen, and handed it to the bouncer. He quickly looked it over, then shook his head.

“Work ID alone won’t cut it,” the man said. “You could have printed this yourself…”

“She didn’t,” Dylan interjected, irritation clear in his voice. “I have mine here, and it all matches up…”

He held out his licence, as well as his own Eon Academy ID, showing the information was accurate. The bouncer continued to shake his head.

“My point remains, if this was provided by your employer, you could have printed it yourself, and put whatever you want on it…”

Dylan’s eyebrow raised at the remark, and his gaze remained on the bouncer.

“You see where this ID is from?” Dylan asked, however didn’t wait for an answer. “The Eon Academy…”

“Yes but-”

“The same Eon Academy that saved an entire island by being wiped out from both a meteorite, and a rampaging Legendary Pokemon. The same Eon Academy that brought to light corruption in the Hoenn Department of Defence,” Dylan said, his voice raised a little, however his tone spoke more. Not aggressive, but also far from complacent. “And you’d accuse employees of the Eon Academy, the same ones who saved countless lives twice, of using their position to print fake IDs?”

“I’m not accusing-” the bouncer tried to interject, though Dylan turned to Abbee.

“Abbee, how many followers does this venue have?” Dylan asked, as Abbee quickly unlocked her phone to begin searching, and Dylan turned to the bouncer. “Abbee and I are two of the five trainers who saved the island, and were here in Jubilife embarrassing your College of the North Wind, and the other three are inside, wondering why the hell we aren’t there yet…”

“Twenty thousand,” Abbee said to Dylan, who looked at the bouncer and scoffed.

“The five of us have a hundred and fifty thousand followers between us,” Dylan continued. “And I’d imagine if we went public about being accused of fraud by this venue, it wouldn’t be a good look…”

“Is that a threat?” the bouncer asked, his tone now becoming less pleasant. Dylan laughed to himself.

“Me and countless others using our right to leave a review?” Dylan asked. “If you’re in the right, that should give you nothing to feel threatened by…”

The bouncer held Dylan’s gaze, as Abbee held her breath, not knowing this was Dylan’s idea of sweet talking that he had mentioned. Finally, the silence was broken by the other bouncer.

“Let it go,” the other bouncer said to the first. “How many fake IDs have you come across from a person's own workplace? Besides, Jon Drake seems like the sort to kick a** if they were using his school to make them…”

“If she’s underage-”

“If she’s underage and has an ID with her name, picture and address on it, but with a false age, she and the supplier of the ID are culpable. Not you or the venue. Your job is to make sure the ID is hers, and says she is over eighteen,” Dylan argued. “The ID is hers, and says she is over eighteen…”

“It’s not worth the trouble,” the second bouncer said to the first. “Let her in…”

The first bouncer glared at Dylan, before relenting.

“Give me one reason to think you’re trouble, and you’re out of here,” the bouncer said to Dylan.

“Is that a threat?” Dylan asked mockingly, as the bouncer’s eyes narrowed.

“Watch it,” the second bouncer said to Dylan, not on his side, however not wanting the trouble that was brewing. “I said you two can go in. Act like a f**kwit and you’re gone.”

Dylan scoffed, before going in, Abbee following close behind them. When they were finally out of earshot, Abbee breathed a sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Abbee said. “Don’t you think you might have pushed your luck by antagonising them?”

“Nope,” Dylan answered simply. “People don’t become bouncers because the pay is good, or it's what they aspire to. They become bouncers to fulfil a messed up need they have to be in control, and let everyone else know they are. Most of them are bullies, and rely on being bigger, and the reputation of bouncers, to have that itch met. But people like that are easy enough to put in their place if you are willing to push back harder…”

Inside, Chris, Charlotte and Justin were chatting, with Chris returning from the bar, this time with a rum and cola to match Justin’s, though couldn’t help overhearing the gossip from the booth next to them.

“There’s a couple outside arguing with the bouncers,” one girl said. “Something about her using her work ID, and them not trusting it…”

Charlotte couldn’t help but smirk hearing it, most times attending places like this since she turned eighteen herself, having seen someone overly drunk being thrown out of the bar by one of the somewhat large gentlemen who worked as security.

A few moments later however, Charlotte realised who was being talked about when Dylan and Abbee entered, and she remembered the fact that all three of them had overlooked. Abbee was underage. She also wished that the group they overheard talking hadn’t referred to her and Dylan as a couple, even if it wasn’t necessarily true, with Chris in earshot. Her eyes widened, as she stood to greet them, Justin following her, and Chris, after a moment's hesitation, standing as well.

“What did you two do?” Charlotte asked quietly Abbee as she hugged her. Abbee gestured at her to not say any more.

“I’ll tell you later,” Abbee said, before making her way to Justin to hug him.

Dylan, while Abbee was hugging Charlotte, and Justin was approaching her, looked towards Chris, who looked at him with a somewhat cold expression. He sighed internally, before swallowing his pride. He reached out and offered his hand to Chris.

“Happy Birthday,” Dylan said casually, before dropping his tone a little. “And sorry about what happened last summer. Punching you, I mean. I had just got some bad news, and wasn’t in a good headspace…”

Chris nodded, taking Dylan’s hand, though not offering more than a simple ’thanks’ in return.

Dylan turned to greet Charlotte with a hug, before shaking Justin’s hand, genuinely happy to see the pair of them again, while Abbee approached Chris.

“Happy Birthday,” Abbee said, trying to sound friendly. “I really appreciate you inviting us…”

Chris nodded, though didn’t show much emotion in that.

“I’m glad you could make it…” Chris said, and Abbee was pleasantly surprised when she found herself believing it.

Once all greetings were out of the way, the group sat around the table in the centre of their circular booth, Chris sitting on the end, with Justin next to him. Between Justin and Abbee sat Charlotte, with Dylan sitting on the other end, opposite Chris.

“How did things go in Canalave?” Charlotte asked Dylan. “Any answers?”

“Well, I don’t have NF2,” Dylan answered with a grin. “I’m still a carrier, and if by some s**ty luck, I have kids with someone who is also a carrier, our kids have a one in four chance of getting it. But honestly, this is the best news I could have hoped for…”

“Thank God,” Justin exclaimed, having been worried for Dylan, seeing how his friend, who was usually stable and reliable, had started to come undone with the worry.

Before anything else could be said, or Dylan tell the rest of the story from Canalave, their table was approached by a barmaid, who was taking orders.

“Can I get you guys any drinks?”

Her tone was professional, however Justin, who was used to being recognized in the street, could see in her eyes, and how she looked between them, that she knew exactly who she was serving.

“Pale ale for me please,” Dylan said, handing his bank card to her, before turning to Abbee. “You want anything?”

“Lemon, Lime and Bitters please,” Abbee said to the waitress, before telling Dylan she’d get his next one.

“I’m good,” Justin remarked, not being much of a drinker himself, with Charlotte chorusing her agreement.

“Another rum and cola,” Chris said casually.

The waitress quickly took notes, before leaving, returning a few minutes later with their drinks. Once she was out of earshot, Charlotte turned to Abbee, asking the question she asked earlier.

“What happened out there?” Charlotte asked. “And how did you get in?”

Abbee grinned, before producing her Eon Academy ID, and sliding it on the table towards Charlotte, as Dylan glanced over to make sure they weren’t being watched.

Charlotte read it, realising that this ID listed her age as being a year older, older than both her and Chris.

“Jon gave you this?” Charlotte asked, and Dylan snorted.

“No, I did,” Dylan explained. “These are key cards we are going to use to get into buildings at the Academy next summer. When Chris sent through the invitation, Jon and I just had the printer for it arrive, and were trying to make it work. So I did a few test runs of the printer…”

“Jon didn’t notice?” Justin asked, being a legal student, and wanting to join the police, not feeling overly comfortable about it. Dylan shook his head.

“He looked at it closely to see if the printer was working, but didn’t pick up on it,” Dylan answered. “He was going to look up Abbee’s birthday before I printed it, but I told him when it was, and he took me at my word…”

“Then, Dylan went full Karen on the bouncer when they weren’t happy with me using a work ID, threatening to have the five of us complain about this place online, and organise a review bomb…” Abbee said with a laugh, before sipping her drink. Charlotte scoffed in disbelief.

“I mean, it wouldn’t have come to this if we had realised you wouldn’t be allowed in here…” Charlotte said. “Sorry about that by the way…”

“No harm done,” Abbee said, though noticing Chris had remained quiet, and they had taken the attention away from him, seeing as this was his birthday celebration. She turned towards him. “So what have you been up to?”

“What I planned,” Chris said casually, taking another sip of his own drink, which was already getting low. “I got home after the challenge, and got ready to leave. Bought the rest of the gear I needed, and got my motorbike licence, as well as the motorbike itself. After that, I competed in a few tournaments in Johto until the end of September, then took a boat to Sinnoh, and competed a few times here…”

“How did you go?” Abbee asked, and was surprised when Chris grinned.

“Undefeated,” Chris answered, leaving the others, Dylan included, impressed. “Granted, I was still forced to battle in the Junior Circuit, and I’ll be battling against Charlotte in the next tournament now that I’m eighteen, and I can’t guarantee I will stay undefeated…”

Charlotte laughed at the comment.

“Because I’m terrifying?” Charlotte asked.

There was a chorus of answers to that, Chris answering no, whilst Justin, Dylan and Abbee all answering yes. Charlotte grinned.

“You’ll agree with them soon enough,” Charlotte said to Chris, nodding towards the others, as they laughed.

The group continued to talk, albeit there still being little to no direct conversation between Dylan and Chris, with the other three driving the bulk of the conversation. Whilst Charlotte was talking about her travel plans, and the competitions she was signed up for, the barmaid from earlier stopped by, inquiring about more drinks, which Charlotte, Justin and Chris all took her up on, leading her to walk away, and return later with more drinks.

Whilst Chris was being somewhat quiet during the chatter, Dylan was the first to notice his struggle to pay attention, and slight slur in his speech, having seen it plenty growing up with Bill. However, he knew that things would only become tense if he mentioned it, deciding to leave it, figuring Chris was behaving himself, and they actually seemed to be on good terms.

Chris had been trying hard by this point to keep the peace, and maybe undo some of the damage of the last summer, and had actually been enjoying having Abbee around. Whilst he had considered apologising early on, especially when Dylan had apologised to him, the voice in his head had made it impossible for him.

”If you roll over now and apologise, he’ll just go back to looking down on you…”

As the night went on, he suppressed the urges he felt to avenge his damaged pride. The urge to make a snide remark, and humiliate Abbee and Dylan, the way they had humiliated him. He knew this was wrong, and did what he could to fight it, trying to distract himself with the conversation, and when they were particularly strong, simply trying to remain quiet. However the mistake he made was also distracting himself with another drink…

It was nearly 10:30, when Chris returned to the booth from the bar, a little uneasy on his feet, carrying what Charlotte, who alongside all others present at this point, was aware of Chris’ intoxication, counted to be his eighth drink since they arrived. However, as intoxicated as he was, he was behaving himself, and being pleasant, which they weren’t going to complain about, given how they half expected that night to play out.

Abbee nudged Dylan, who stood, allowing her to pass him and get out of the booth. As Dylan remained standing, Abbee looked to Charlotte, before gesturing to inside, where the lights had dimmed, and the music was now playing louder, where a dance floor was growing in population.

“Let’s go dance!” Abbee said to Charlotte, seeing how much those on the dance floor were enjoying themselves. Charlotte scoffed.

“When have you ever seen me dance?”

“Come on,” Abbee pleaded, though still grinning. “Do I need to buy you a drink first?”

Chris, feeling tired, heard Abbee ask Charlotte to come to the dance floor with her, and couldn’t help but remember the night of the prom. Walking in to apologise to Dylan, to find he and Abbee, holding each other close and slow dancing. As he did, he felt the jealous anger, and humiliating embarrassment that he felt on that night, rising up again. Whilst he had been fighting every urge that plagued him throughout the evening, the emotions he felt and the alcohol's effects made fighting it too difficult for him, and finally, he spoke.

“Dylan not good enough for you this time?”

Chapter 5
“Dylan not good enough for you this time?”

There was silence in the group as Chris spoke those words, with varying reactions. Abbee looked at her feet, embarrassed by the comment, while Dylan glared at Chris, more so for taking Abbee’s willingness to make amends with him for granted. Charlotte sighed in exasperation, as Justin tried to defuse the situation.

“Someone’s had a little bit too much to drink,” Justin said, forcing a laugh. He turned to Abbee. “If you want to dance, I’ll come with you.”

“No it’s fine,” Abbee said, appreciating Justin trying to defuse the situation. “I saw what Candice put you through at prom, and wouldn’t want to bring up bad memories.”

Justin laughed, probably more than was necessary, however wanted to take the focus off Chris and Dylan. Charlotte, getting the memo, spoke next.

“Abbee, I’m sorry, I haven’t even asked about your job yet,” Charlotte said. She was lying. Whilst she hadn’t spoken to Abbee about her job that evening she had been in touch, and knew most of the details. Really, all of them but Chris did. “How’s Nimbasa City?”

“It’s great,” Abbee said. “Honestly, it seems like it never sleeps. And the Gym is great to work at.”

“How is it being a Gym Trainer?” Justin asked. Abbee grinned.

“Honestly, it’s harder than people give it credit for. No Gym Trainer battles all out. They need to be able to provide the right amount of challenge for challengers to make sure that the Gym Leader’s time isn’t being wasted by people who are nowhere near ready,” Abbee explained. “I’ve got Ampharos and Electabuzz that I battle with there. Electabuzz still needs work, but Ampharos more than makes up for it. But Victini is getting restless…”

“What’s Elesa like to work for?” Charlotte asked, curious about the Gym Leader. Most of her public image were photoshoots, albeit some that other Gym Leader’s wouldn’t dream of doing. She had a very active presence on social media, however nobody really knew what celebrities were like based purely on their social media.

“She runs a tight ship. Hell, I started a few weeks earlier because one of her former gym trainers was caught with drugs, and she didn’t want the bad PR for her gym, so she fired him,” Abbee explained. “She made it abundantly clear from the beginning that it doesn’t matter if you’re the best battler in the world. If you can’t do basic things like show up on time, respond to calls in a timely manner, or stay focused during work hours, then your battling ability in her eyes is worthless. She has reasonable standards, and if you meet them, she is lovely to work for. If you don’t though, she will make it abundantly clear that you need to get your act together.”

“Sounds like Jon,” Justin answered. “But with calendar shoots…”

Chris remained quiet, too intoxicated to notice the glares he was receiving from Dylan. His attention was piqued however when the barmaid walked past. He called out.

“Excuse me,” he said, his voice slurred. “Can I get another rum and cola?”

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Justin asked, however Chris wasn’t having a bar of it.

“It’s my eighteenth birthday. If I can’t have a little too much now, when can I?” Chris asked, before looking back to the barmaid. “Another rum and cola…”

“Make it a water,” Justin said to the barmaid, knowing the last thing Chris needed was more alcohol. However, he also knew places like this only cut people off when they were barely able to walk, vomiting, or generally making a nuisance of themself, otherwise seeing Chris as having potential for more sales.

“F**k off,” Chris said loudly to Justin, who was taken aback. “I’m getting a rum and cola!”

His voice was raised, gathering the attention of those immediately around them. Justin, knowing how likely it was they’d be recognised as Eon Academy staff, especially in Jubilife after their win over the College of the North Wind, didn’t object further.

The barmaid left in a hurry, before returning with Chris’ drink, which he quickly began to consume, much to the concern of those around him.

“How’re Jon and Alyssa?” Charlotte asked Dylan, wanting to change the subject, and remembering Jon being referenced before Chris’ minor outburst.

“Doing well. Right now, they’re frantically researching kindergartens in Mossdeep, since Amelia will be in three-year-old kinder next summer, and they know if they leave it any later, they’ll be trying to figure out stuff for next summer’s program at the same time,” Dylan explained. “He’s currently got eighty people already registered and paid for next summer, and thinks that he might have to cap registrations at a hundred a fifty.”

Justin whistled his admiration.

“It’s gonna be busy next summer. Honestly, he might need to get some of last summer's assistants on as interns themselves…” Justin noted. The summer before, whilst the five of them had been interns, their groups were at twenty people each, compared to the seven they had the summer before. As such, Jon had offered two older, returning students from each group a discounted fee for the summer, if they assisted their team leader in their duties, and helped with training during the more practical sessions.

“If they do come on as interns, I hope they’re ready for Jon to play therapist…” Chris muttered, before taking another gulp of his drink, which was already getting low.

“It’d definitely help having a few more interns there,” Charlotte said, ignoring Chris’ remark. She knew he was after a reaction, and didn’t dignify him with one. “Honestly, it became tricky last summer trying to keep track of my entire group, even with Wes and Christy helping me out…”

“Yeah, same,” Abbee agreed. “And at this rate, if we have a hundred and fifty students between four groups, we’d be at just under forty students each. That’s practically how many students were there during 2019…”

“He’ll figure something out,” Justin said. “I’m sure it’ll be great…”

Chris scoffed in disbelief, which Abbee, Charlotte and Justin ignored, opting to keep talking amongst themselves if Chris was going to be unpleasant. Dylan however, wasn’t of the same mind. Jon had taken him in when he thought he may potentially be homeless, and had helped him tell the police about Bill, before sending a message by breaking Bill’s nose to leave him alone. He had given Dylan a home and a family the last two and a half years, and helped him to achieve things he personally didn’t see himself ever doing. Making amends and keeping peace in this group were important to him, but not as important as being loyal to Jon.

“You got something you want to say?” Dylan said to Chris, who turned to face him, seeming to struggle to not sway with the drunkenness. “Sounds like it…”

“You his bodyguard or something?” Chris asked Dylan, as the others realised there was no stopping this now. “What’s it to you?”

“If you don’t have the balls to say what’s actually on your mind outside of snide little remarks, then just shut the f**k up,” Dylan said, his tone level, and gaze bearing down on Chris. “You wouldn’t be half the trainer you are now if not for him, so show some f**king gratitude…”

“I’m twice the trainer you are, and you live with him, so I doubt that’s true,” Chris said, though was the only one who genuinely believed the first half of that statement. “Jon used dirty tactics to win his semi final match, then took the Grand Final match from someone who had relied on even dirtier tactics for practically every match before that, only fluking her way through the semi finals. He got the first place prize through a mixture of dumb luck and cheating, and extorted the fourth place prize out of the league in addition, and used it to buy a school. His title as High Seas Champion couldn’t be more hollow…”

“Chris, that’s enough,” Charlotte said angrily, shocked at the hostility of his words. Dylan, furious at Chris hearing this kept his gaze level, not wanting to dignify him with the explosive reaction he wanted.

“Hollow title or not, he still dragged your dumb a** out of a cave when you nearly got yourself killed…” Dylan said, as Chris’ eyes widened and he began to see red. “I know Jon, and I know he’ll never give up on you, with this little phase he thinks you’re going through. But honestly, I think he should…”

“Motherf**ker…” Chris said angrily, as he stood to his feet quickly, knocking over one of the empty glasses on the table in front of him. Dylan stood as well, albeit much more stable on his feet, while Justin stood to his feet, grabbing Chris’ shoulder, who tried to shake him off.

Chris shook off Justin’s grip, which was awkwardly placed already given his position in the booth, before making his way towards Dylan, everyone present knowing why.

“Chris, don’t,” Abbee called out, and for a moment, she thought he had listened. He seemed to slow, and stop. However, his legs seemed to give underneath him, and he half collapsed, grabbing onto the table to hold himself steady, as a wave of fatigue hit him out of nowhere. Justin, thinking it was the amount Chris had to drink, came out of the booth, putting Chris’ arm around his shoulder, and lifting him to his feet.

“Goddamn, he had a bit to drink, but not that much…” Charlotte said, as Abbee shot Dylan a look.

Dylan saw the look Abbee gave him, and sighed. Whilst Chris was now more pleasant than he had been since his first snide remark, he knew she was right.

“Darkrai, stop…”

Chapter 6
Chris had stood to put Dylan in his place when all of a sudden, he felt his energy leave him, and seemed to struggle to focus, let alone stay awake. His legs had given way underneath him, and he held onto the table to remain upright, before Justin stood to help him to his feet.

Charlotte had said something, that he struggled to remember already about how much he had to drink, and he wondered if he were sensitive to alcohol, this being his first time having any in a considerable amount. However Dylan spoke next, seemingly to someone else there that none of them were aware of.

“Darkrai, stop…”

Chris looked up at Dylan, who was still staring at him, however as Dylan said the words, Chris felt his focus begin to sharpen back to the alcohol dulled point it was at when he originally stood, and his energy came back to him.

“A**hole,” Chris muttered, before moving towards Dylan again and feeling his energy leave him again.

“Dylan, what’re you doing?” Charlotte asked, shocked at the effect Chris seemed to be under.

“Sit down Chris, and it will stop,” Dylan said to Chris, his tone indicating he was past the point of reasoning. Chris scowled at Dylan, when he felt his strength return to him, before sitting down, Justin letting him go into the booth first, so he could sit on the end himself, and be a barrier if Chris were to try and get physical again.

When all were seated, in awkward silence, Chris staring daggers into Dylan, Charlotte was the first to speak.

“What is Darkrai?”

Dylan looked around the booth and saw there was a space between Abbee and Charlotte. He looked to Abbee.

“You mind making some space,” he said casually to Abbee, as he moved more towards the edge of his seat, and Abbee obliged, moving closer to him making enough space for someone else in the seat between her and Charlotte. “It might be better if none of the other patrons notice, so it’ll be between you and Abbee…”

Charlotte had no clue what Dylan was talking about, before noticing in her peripheral vision something unusual. A shadow on the seat next to her that didn’t seem like it should be there, given the lighting of the room. Her pace went pale as from the unusual shadow, rose what she could only describe as a living nightmare. It seemed to be made out of black tattered fabric, with a large red growth, reminiscent of a large, lower jaw. It had a single blue eye, though she wasn’t sure if it had a matching one on the other side that was covered by the dense wisps of fog that seemed to appear as hair on the Pokemon’s head.

After a few seconds when Chris, Charlotte and Justin all had a moment to take it in, Dylan gave a command, as Darkrai melted back into a shadow, and merged with his own. There was stunned silence, before Chris of all people broke it.

“What the f**k was that?!” he asked, shocked at how terrified he was of the Pokemon.

“Darkrai. A Legendary Pokemon,” Dylan explained. “I captured it when I was in Canalave…”

“You have a Legendary Pokemon?” Charlotte asked, shocked at the revelation. “How come you didn’t tell us?”

Dylan grinned.

“You never asked…”

Whilst Justin felt the same, he had done the same thing with Regieleki, and knew it would be a bit rich for him to protest.

“When I was in Canalave, I was talking to my dad, and he was telling me about one of his patients. A fifteen year old boy who nearly a month ago went to sleep, and just wouldn’t wake up. He was trapped in an endless nightmare, and they had no idea how to wake him up,” Dylan explained. “I asked if it could be a Pokemon causing it, and he said he had asked the League about it, but they said it was impossible. If a Pokemon was using Hypnosis or Nightmare on him, the Pokemon, even if it were Legendary, would have to sleep, and stop using it…”

Justin nodded, understanding the reasoning, as Dylan continued.

“But I remembered when you had your nightmares Charlotte, and I was too quick to write off it being caused by a Pokemon, because it seemed like a Pokemon causing it would be near impossible, so I looked into it…” Dylan explained. “I went to the Canalave Library, and spent a day researching Legendary Pokemon, and found a section on Cresselia…”

“Cresselia as in the Pokemon Brad Jenkins has?” Charlotte asked. Dylan nodded.

“One and the same. It was all pretty basic stuff, and it said that Cresselia’s feathers could prevent nightmares, but there was something else,” Dylan explained. “It said the presence of Cresselia keeps the terror of the new moon at bay…”

Justin and Charlotte’s eyes widened at the ominous message, as Dylan continued to tell the story.

“I knew I had heard of the terror before but it wasn’t in any of the books. I asked one of the librarians, who mentioned having read a lot of books from the Pokemon Mythology section about it, and she had heard of it too, but couldn’t remember where. Then I remembered where I heard it,” Dylan continued. “That morning, I had been approached by a homeless man who seemed mentally ill, and he’d said ’He took the one that stops the terror. He took her away, and now it comes for us…’. Then he seemed to recognize me and accused me of beating her...”

“Was he talking about Cresselia?” Charlotte asked, and Dylan nodded. “He must have seen the video of you battling Brad…”

“I thought he was just rambling when it happened. But then the librarian found the book where she’d read about the terror of the new moon. A really old children’s book, talking about a spectre that puts naughty children into a never-ending, nightmare filled sleep…”

“Sounds like a great kids book…” Justin muttered, causing Dylan to grin.

“So I called Brad, and asked him some questions. He told me that Cresselia would lose control of her powers six hours either side of the peak of the full moon, and that he caught Cresselia on an island north of Canalave, the same time this kid went to sleep, which happened to be five hours after the peak of the new moon…” Dylan said. “And he told me there was another island nearby…”

Justin’s eyes widened as he put the pieces together.

“So Darkrai here would lose control of its power around the new moon, but Cresselia being nearby would protect Canalave against that…” Justin said, largely for the sake of processing it himself. “But when Brad captured Cresselia, it wasn’t there anymore, and Darkrai lost control during the new moon, and put this kid to sleep?”

Dylan nodded gravely.

“And when I found out, it was twelve hours until the new moon,” Dylan said, as Charlotte swore to herself. Chris even seemed enthralled by the story, though struggled to hide it in his drunkenness. “And last time Darkrai put one person to sleep, and I think the only reason it didn’t put more to sleep as well was because it had less than an hour to do it before it regained control of its abilities…”

“So what did you do?” Charlotte asked, though having a solid idea of what happened next.

“I got my dad to take me on his boat to the island Brad caught Cresselia on. When we were there, we found a few of Cresselia’s feathers. Full Moon Island. Then we went to New Moon Island, which was identical to Full Moon, but mirrored…”

“No way…” Justin said in disbelief. “How is that even possible?”

Dylan shrugged.

“I got to the island half an hour before Dakrai would have lost control, and captured it. Just. For a second I thought I wasn’t going to get off the island…”

“So why is Darkrai in your shadow?” Charlotte asked, and Chris grunted in irritated agreement.

“As far as I know, I am the first human Darkrai has seen. When I got back to Mossdeep, Steven took some photos of it, and sent it off as well as a report of what happened in Canalave to some experts in Pokemon Mythology and after a week or so they realised what Darkrai was,” Dylan explained. “It’s really quite placid by nature, but isn’t used to being around people. So during my day to day errands, I’ve had Darkrai in my shadow, so it can get used to people, without them seeing it and children bursting into tears at the sight of it…”

“Or so you can talk s**t and not take responsibility for it…” Chris muttered, earning a nudge from Justin.

“In the two months Darkrai has been tailing me, you’re the first person it’s done that to,” Dylan said. “Take a hint…”

Chris’ anger flared, however knowing how quickly Darkrai had incapacitated him, and seeing how Charlotte and Justin were siding with Dylan, he remained silent.

“I’m getting another drink…” Chris muttered, and Justin, not bothering to try and stop him, stood, letting Chris past, so he could make his way to the bar…

Chapter 7
It took three more drinks for Chris to be cut off by the bar, and when he tried to argue, he got the attention of the bouncers. He had made it back to the table, swearing to himself, albeit loudly, and had only just sat down when the two bouncers arrived, telling them to leave. Chris attempted to argue with the bouncer who had let Dylan and Abbee in earlier, however was promptly grabbed and lifted to his feet, Justin and Charlotte quickly stepping to their feet to follow behind them.

Whilst Dylan hadn’t dawdled, his display with Abbee’s ID had given the other bouncer little patience for him, and as he stood, he was promptly pushed somewhat towards the exit. He turned to glare at the bouncer, who had a look of smug satisfaction.

“You’re done,” the bouncer said. “Out…”

“I’m moving a**hole…” Dylan retorted to the bouncer, as he started to walk. He felt the right shoulder of his shirt grabbed by a rough hand, and pulled. In response, Dylan shoved his shoulder into the bouncer, shaking his grip off.

The bouncer, now given the excuse he was waiting for, went to grab Dylan with both hands, however felt his energy drain, and a sudden shocking wave of lethargy. He stumbled for a second, before collapsing to the ground, Dylan stepping over him.

“Congratulations buddy,” Dylan said as he stepped over the large man, laying on the ground who was struggling to stay awake. “You threw us out…”

Letting go of Chris, the other bouncer saw what had happened to his colleague, and turned to face Dylan. However, when he was two metres from Dylan, he saw Dylan’s shadow shift, and between them, something emerged that looked like a living nightmare. He stopped dead in his tracks, being stared down by Darkrai’s single visible pale blue eye.

“We’re leaving,” Dylan said, his gaze fixed on the bouncer. He nudged the bouncer on the floor gently with his boot. “He’ll feel better once we’re gone…”

The remaining bouncer scowled at Dylan, as he and Abbee left, Darkrai dissolving into Dylan’s shadow, following Charlotte, Justin and Chris who were both now by the entrance. Abbee spoke quietly as they walked out of the bar.

“Was that a good idea?” Abbee asked, though already knew the answer. “We’re pretty recognizable…”

“I read the reviews of this place on my phone while we were in there. Most of the reviews, even the good ones, complain about the bouncers being a**holes,” Dylan answered. “I’d be willing to bet it’d take more than putting one heavy handed bouncer to sleep while we were leaving peacefully to look bad for the Academy…”

“I hope so…”

They walked, Chris stumbling, out of the laneway, finding themselves on a main street, with a park nearby. As they walked in the cold night air, Chris began to increase his pace, on a course for the park.

“What’s he doing?” Charlotte asked, as Justin began to increase his own pace to keep up with him.

Chris reached the nearest tree, before vomiting violently at the base of it, holding himself up against it, as he continued to retch. Abbee winced as she heard the sound of Chris’ retching, and the splash of the contents of his stomach, mostly liquid at this point, splashing on the ground.

“Some wild Pokemon’s going to get drunk off that themselves…” Dylan noted, as Charlotte groaned at the image Dylan brought to mind. Abbee sighed.

“I honestly thought we might be able to work things out…” Abbee said sadly, as she looked over towards Chris, who was now on hands and knees, still retching, but now with an empty stomach, whilst Justin awkwardly tried to keep him company. Charlotte grimaced, thinking about how much Dylan and Abbee put themselves out to be here.

“I’m sorry for dragging you two out here. For making him invite you guys…” Charlotte said. “Honestly, I thought he might have grown up a little and could work past his issues. But I guess not…”

“Don’t apologise. I’m glad you guys are looking out for him,” Abbee said. “Honestly, I pity him more than I’m angry with him right now. Really, I want to see him being his old self again…”

“So do I,” Dylan said, however his expression was grim. “But honestly, at this point, I think he needs to hit rock bottom before he can change, and I think he might have further to fall…”

“I hope that isn’t the case,” Charlotte answered. “But I can’t say I think you’re wrong…”

Abbee nodded, before looking down the street intersecting main street, where they stood on the corner.

“Our hotel is this way, and our flights are tomorrow morning,” Abbee said to Charlotte, before looking at Chris. “Will you guys be okay getting Chris to his hotel without us?”

Charlotte scoffed at the question.

“I don’t have the first idea where his hotel even is, and there’s no way a cab will take him there. And I don’t think he’s in the right mind to tell us where,” Charlotte answered. “I talked to Justin about it before when we were leaving the bar, and he said Chris can crash at his place, though he will kick his **s if he makes a mess…”

“Do you want some help getting him there?” Dylan asked, though Charlotte shook her head.

“We’ll get him there. You guys have done enough,” Charlotte said. She went to hug Abbee, before Dylan. “Dylan, I’ll be spending a week at Jon’s when I’m competing in Hoenn next. And Abbee, I’ll come see you when I’m in Unova…”

“Looking forward to it,” Abbee said with a smile, which in and of itself surprised her, given the way the night had come to end.

“Stay safe,” Dylan said to Charlotte, before nodding towards Chris. “Get in touch if you need help.”

Charlotte nodded, as Abbee and Dylan called out their goodbyes to Justin. Then after that…

“See you Chris,” Abbee called out.

Chris, having stopped retching finally, but not wanting to get up, remained on his hands and knees, eyes teary from the vomiting. He heard Abbee and whilst he wanted to call out and apologise, he couldn’t. However instead of that being from pride, it was from shame now instead. He remained silent, unable to bring himself to look at her, as Abbee and Dylan turned down the side street, making their way towards their hotel.

He heard Charlotte’s footsteps on the pavement, approaching he and Justin, before she spoke.

“You empty?” Charlotte asked Chris, her tone far from impressed. Chris groaned in the affirmative, as Charlotte and Justin got under either side of him, and helped him to his feet, thankful that he had managed to avoid getting vomit on his clothes.

As they walked, Chris teetering in and out of consciousness, Charlotte continued to speak.

“Do you know where your hotel is?”

Chris groaned, struggling with the effort.

“Other side of the city,” Chris croaked, confirming Charlotte’s suspicion. She groaned, before looking across to Justin.

“You still cool for him to crash at your place?” Charlotte asked. “I don’t particularly feel like walking him across the city…”

“Yeah…” Justin said, though his tone didn’t seem optimistic. Whilst Chris did seem to have emptied his stomach, he wasn’t optimistic that there wouldn’t be an encore performance overnight.

Charlotte tried to remain silent, however after ten minutes of sore shoulders carrying Chris, who couldn’t walk on his own, and the smell of vomit in his breath, she finally snapped.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Charlotte asked. “Honestly, what?”

Chris remained silent, as Charlotte continued.

“You were having a good time! Everyone was! Honestly, why did you have to start talking s**t to Dylan, and talking s**t about Jon?!” Charlotte berated, her voice rising, and her tone evident of how tired she was of Chris and the way he’d been acting. “I’ve been trying to have your back since Abbee dumped you. So has Justin. And we’ve been trying to make it a little easier for you to get to the way you were. But honestly, I gotta ask, do you enjoy being this person? Because if I’m being honest, I don’t want to be friends with you if you’re gonna keep acting like this…”

“Charlotte,” Justin said, agreeing with her, but thinking she was being way too harsh on him, considering he was unlikely to remember this conversation the next morning anyway. “That’s enough…”

“No, it isn’t enough!” Charlotte yelled. “He needs to wake the f**k up and realise that if he doesn’t get his s**t together, he is just going to die sad and alone!”

“Charlotte!” Justin said loudly. “Enough!”

Charlotte went to continue, however was stopped by the sound of sobbing coming from between her and Justin. She looked at the drunken mess that was Chris, being mostly carried between them, who was looking at the ground, tears dropping, visible in the streetlights, and sobbing pathetically to himself.

“You went too far,” Justin said to Charlotte, though she refused to accept that.

“What’s your deal Chris?” Charlotte asked, though her tone was far from sympathetic.

“You think I like this?” Chris asked, his voice still slurred, and now even harder to understand through sobs. “That every time I do something like this, I don’t just hate myself a little more?”

Charlotte was quiet, letting Chris continue.

“I want to make things right. With Abbee, Dylan, and especially Jon. I know that I owe him…” Chris wept. “And I was so glad they came tonight, and actually were giving me a chance…”

“So why blow it?” Charlotte asked, her tone now less accusatory, and now a mixture of pity and exasperation. “Why make b***hy remarks about Abbee and Dylan, and disrespect Jon like that?”

“I don’t know…” Chris sobbed. “It’s like I have this sickness in me, that won’t let me just let things go, even though I know I need to. And every time I think I’m close to doing that, it just fights me, until I am just too tired to fight back, and just let it win…”

“I think you’re telling the wrong people this…” Justin said quietly. “You should be saying this to Dylan and Abbee…”

“Even if I could, do you think they’ll want to listen after tonight?”

Charlotte grimaced. Part of her wanted to have one last try, to get Dylan and Abbee to meet them as soon as they could, and hear Chris out. But she knew that Chris would likely blow that opportunity, and that their patience for him would eventually reach a limit. She remembered what Dylan said about Chris.

”At this point, I think he needs to hit rock bottom before he can change, and I think he might have further to fall…”

Charlotte felt sorry for Chris, purely for how much he hated himself, it becoming incredibly obvious to Charlotte and Justin. But she could see now Dylan was right. Chris has further to fall, before he can finally have what it takes to actually fix things.

“I don’t think they’ll listen to you after tonight,” Charlotte agreed, with Justin glaring at her in protest. “But Dylan wasn’t just talking about Jon, when he said he wouldn’t give up on you…”

“Really?”

Charlotte sighed.

“Give them some space. And take some time to get your s**t together. Then try and talk to them…” Charlotte said, before figuring they were reaching the point of diminishing returns. “Come on, let’s get you into bed…”