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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 3 Episode 10: Forevermore

Spoiler:

“Honestly, I think you’ve got what it takes to get us off to a good start,” Jon said to Justin, as he called back Nidoking, and Justin returned his Lucario to its Pokeball. “And honestly, that may be exactly what we need…”

It was Monday of the tenth week of summer, and in a little over a week, the summer program would end. The students would return to their homes, with school starting a week or two later. Normally, the interns would leave too, with Justin preparing for his second year of university, Chris and Charlotte competing in the professional circuits, Dylan remaining at the Academy to help Jon with running the programs that happened during the year, and Abbee preparing for her move to Unova, where she had a job lined up as a trainer in the Nimbasa City Gym. However, one change to this plan had come in the previous few weeks, in the form of a challenge from the legendary former Sinnoh Champion, and founder of the College of the North Wind, Camilla Blakely. Instead, once the last of the Eon Academy students went home, Jon and the interns would be taking a flight to Jubilife City Sinnoh, Charlotte’s home, where each of the interns would take on the top five students from the College of the North Wind, before Jon would take on Camilla herself.

The challenge was less than two weeks away, and as such, the six of them were all working hard to brush up on their skills, and put up a hell of a fight, considering how tough they knew their opponents were.

“I’m glad you think so,” Justin replied. “I didn’t ask to be the first one challenged…”

Whilst it wasn’t set in stone that the battles would be conducted in the order they were challenged, Jon had a hunch that would be the way it played out, leaving Justin in a somewhat stressful position. The result of his match would determine morale for the rest of the team, which could play into how far they are willing to go to win their own respective matches.

Jon noticed the door to the stadium open, and Chris quietly enter, remaining near the door while Jon finished his session with Justin.

“Don’t let Melmetal worry you too much,” Jon said, referring to the Legendary Pokemon present in the video where the challenge was issued. Justin hadn’t seen the Pokemon before, and knew little of it. “I think that Legendary or not, you can beat it with your normal style of battling. If you focus too much on Melmetal, you risk letting opportunities from her other Pokemon slip through…”

Justin nodded, before thanking Jon, and making his way out of the arena, greeting Chris on his way out. Though he wasn’t fond of the way Chris had been acting recently, especially towards Dylan, Justin made a point of not letting the way he interacted with Chris change. For the last two years, Chris had been his best friend, and he knew that Chris was acting out because of his breakup with Abbee. The last thing he wanted was for Chris to think that they’d all turned their backs on him, even if he potentially deserved it, and to just get worse instead of better.

Chris nodded at Justin as he left, before awkwardly making his way towards Jon. The last time he had been alone with Jon, it was after Jon challenged Chris to a match to prove a point, and proceeded to wipe the floor with him. Jon had then told Chris not to come to one on one training, until he was ready to listen to Jon’s advice. Otherwise it was a waste of time. Jon made eye-contact with Chris, keeping his tone level.

“You ready to listen to me?”

Whilst Chris hated that he’d argued with Jon as much as he did the week before, on a point he didn’t even believe just to avoid admitting he hadn’t been battling at his best, he still found it difficult to give Jon the answer he knew he needed to give.

“Yes,” Chris said, though his tone was a little less remorseful and sincere than Jon would have hoped for. “I’ll do as you say, and change things up.”

“Good. Send out a Pokemon, and we’ll start,” Jon answered, not pushing the point further. He knew it was a big step for Chris to be able to say that, even if he didn’t believe it one hundred percent. He had seen in Chris in recent weeks, especially since Abbee broke up with him, his actions being dictated by his pride, and whilst Chris had always been somewhat of a proud trainer, it usually wasn’t the driving factor in his decision making. Recently however, with his pride damaged, that had changed…

Chris nodded, sending out his first Pokemon. As he did the week before, he opened with Lugia, knowing that the Legendary Pokemon was still young and relatively inexperienced, only having been caught a matter of months earlier. Jon had selected a Pokeball at the same time, sending out Scizor again. Jon had a hunch that Chris would send out Lugia and had been intentional about recreating the same opening matchup to Chris’ loss against him the week before.

”Begin!”

“Future Sight!” Chris commanded, as Lugia cried out, its eyes flashing briefly for a moment, as nothing seemed to happen.

“Double Team!”

Like the last battle, Scizor split into a group of copies, only one being able to take damage, with the rest disappearing.

“Dragon Rush! Try and hit as many as you can!” Chris commanded, remembering how using Lugia’s large stature in that way helped in the previous battle. Lugia became shrouded in the same draconic aura, before launching forward, and knocking four copies out of existence, though not hitting the original. Chris was fine with this though.

“Iron Head!” Jon commanded. Scizor leapt forward, carried by its rapidly beating winds, and slamming head first into Lugia, stunning it for a moment and causing it to flinch. “Brutal Swing!”

Lugia only just regained its senses from the heavy hitting Iron Head attack, before it took Scizor’s Brutal Swing, managing to hold onto its focus. Suddenly, there was a loud boom, as from behind Scizor, a telekinetic attack struck, slamming into the back of the Pokemon, which resisted the bulk of it. However, Chris hadn’t ordered that attack to knock it out, but simply break its rhythm.

“Grab it!” Chris shouted. Lugia let out a cry, as Scizor found itself grappled by a strong telekinetic grip holding it in place. “Now hit it with a Dragon Tail, then launch it!”

Lugia pivoted into a spin, and used the momentum to slam its large and heavy tail into Scizor, who was still held in place by Lugia’s telekinesis. Due to the telekinesis holding it in place, none of the power of the Dragon Tail attack was wasted knocking Scizor back, albeit, also damaging Lugia with recoil, hitting an immovable object. Once the attack had landed, there was a boom, as Scizor was thrown across the battlefield, hitting the wall on the other end and falling unconscious.

Jon had watched this match curiously. Chris had definitely been less impulsive, and strategized more. Between using Future Sight to distract Scizor enough for Lugia to land some heavy hits, and combining Lugia’s telekinetic prowess with the benefits of its bulky size, Chris had disposed of the Pokemon that had wiped out his three Pokemon in their last match. However, his battling was still very aggressive, and somewhat inconsiderate of the recoil it left Lugia with. Even then though, it was a drastic improvement.

“Better. Much, much better…” Jon said, before getting his next Pokemon ready.

The pair continued training, using the full hour, with all of Chris’ Pokemon getting some time to train against half of Jon’s team, the other half still tired from the session with Justin. It was nearing five when the session ended, though Jon addressed Chris before he went.

“Can we talk?” Jon asked, as Chris, who had turned to leave, turned back around to face him. He didn’t reply, but Jon took this as an affirmative.

“Look, I know that things didn’t work out the way you hoped with you and Abbee, and I know that you and Dylan were far from on good terms before he punched you…” Jon said gently, as he noticed Chris’ eyes narrow at the mention. “I see the way things have been playing out, and I don’t want you doing things you will regret. It’s a slippery slope. It can start with your attitude, and move to your words, then your actions…”

“Is there something you want to say?” Chris asked, his tone almost snappy.

“I just want you to ask yourself exactly why you make the decisions you do. Good or bad…” Jon said, trying to keep his demeanour approachable and genuine. “It’s a lot easier to make good decisions when you have a rough idea of why you’re making them…”

“Did you ask yourself why you were doing it when you hospitalised Lance?”

The question took Jon by surprise, and for a moment his temper flared. However, it was a valid question. Jon was subtly lecturing Chris about self control, when his history showed a lack of it.

“If I had, I wouldn’t have done that,” Jon answered, remaining calm. “I did because I wasn’t past some things in my life that had hurt me, as much as I thought I was, and in the moment when I intervened, the wires crossed. I took out my other issues on Lance, and I regret it. Before I met with you in Johto back in April, I actually visited Lance in prison to apologise for that…”

The last statement took Chris by surprise, and he was unable to hide that from Jon in that moment. He knew that Lance had saved the Academy as a method of fulfilling his own grudge with Mark Hill, however wasn’t aware Jon had any contact with his older, disgraced cousin.

However the shock of that triggered his mind into considering what Jon had said before. He knew that his lashing out at those around him, particularly Dylan, was the same as Jon’s reason for hospitalising Lance. There were things that had hurt him, that he wasn’t past, and the wires were being crossed…

However, he couldn’t admit that.

Jon noticed Chris’ expression shift back to the same bitter one he seemed to hold most days, as he turned and left. When Chris was out of earshot, he sighed to himself.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“So you’re training with Jon again?” Charlotte asked Chris as they ate lunch, Justin sitting at the table with them. It was Tuesday, less than a day since his training session with Jon, and a day before he had another.

Chris nodded at the question, though not particularly wanting to talk about the fact that Jon had suspended their sessions.

“Good,” Charlotte answered. “I know I gotta do some extra training for the challenge, but I have enough sessions as is without helping you with yours…”

“Thanks for being willing to do it,” Chris said, surprising Charlotte and Justin a little. Even though he had no direct grudge with the pair of them, his grudge with Dylan, Abbee and Jon had made him less than pleasant to be around, with both trainers trying to be the bridge between Chris and those he was pushing away.

The dining hall was full with students. Those who weren’t eating were helping to get stuff set up for the prom that Friday evening, directed by Abbee, who was assisted herself by Dylan. Charlotte looked around at the room, which was looking less like a dining room with each passing hour. The partitions to the recreation room and the hall were open, making it a large space, and whilst Jon had told Abbee specifically all three spaces needed to be usable for their intended purpose until the prom itself, Abbee had planned in great detail exactly how much work they could spread out over the week leading up, so that all they would be doing the afternoon of the prom would be removing things like the dining room furniture.

“They’re really going all out with this prom,” Charlotte remarked, before looking at Justin. “You figured out what you’re wearing yet?”

“Dylan, Abbee and I went into town on the weekend to the hire place to get our outfits,” Justin answered. “I asked him if I should have told you, but he said you’d already arranged to borrow his car today to go yourself…”

Charlotte nodded. She hadn’t arranged anything to wear for herself yet, and going to the hire shop on Tuesday afternoon suited her plans better, so she had asked Dylan the week before about borrowing his car. She turned to Chris.

“What about you?”

Chris shrugged, poking at the bowl of pasta that was his lunch.

“Not sure,” Chris answered. “Might not even go.”

“Come on,” Charlotte said. “I even managed to convince the fifteen year old boys in my group that going to the prom isn’t going to make them less cool. Don’t tell me I gotta convince you too…”

Chris didn’t reply, causing Justin to intervene.

“Seriously, don’t be a buzzkill,” Justin said exasperatedly. “You’ll be the only one not there! And when was the last time we did anything for the fun of it?”

Chris couldn’t answer, so Justin spoke for him.

“Honestly, it was probably when everyone sat down together in the lodge, to watch and laugh at my commercial,” Justin answered, intentionally going for the self-deprecating answer to try and lighten the mood. Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh. “That was like six weeks ago!”

Now that he thought about it, Chris realised that was probably true.

“Justin’s right,” Charlotte agreed. “We’ve been working here and training our a**es off for weeks. Next week will be our last opportunity, so will probably be taking up most of our time, and then we go to Sinnoh for this challenge. After that, we go our separate ways until next summer. This is the last fun for the sake of fun thing we will be able to do…”

“Fine,” Chris sighed, partially to stop the tag-teamed lecture from his two friends. Charlotte grinned, before having a think of how she could improve her own plans.

“Then this afternoon, you’re coming with me into town to pick something out to wear,” Charlotte said, not giving him any reason to think he had a choice in the matter. She turned to Justin. “You’re coming too.”

“Why?” Justin asked. “I picked up my suit the other day?”

“I don’t know where this place is,” Charlotte said, conveniently forgetting the fact her phone could direct her. “And I figure you can help Ray of Sunshine over here choose something to wear…”

“And I don’t have a choice?” Justin asked.

“Nope…”

Justin sighed, before looking at his phone, and seeing he needed to start getting ready for his team’s training with Jon that afternoon. He looked over at Chris.

“If you bail on the prom after I come out to help you choose something decent, I’ll kick your a**,” Justin joked. Chris snorted in response.

“Good luck with that,” Chris answered. “It’s not like I’m telling you to come. Take it up with her.”

“I don’t care,” Justin said, as he turned to leave. “You’re locked in…”

Charlotte couldn’t help but grin, and for the first time in a while, thought Chris might be acting more like himself.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Charlotte’s good feeling about Chris being more like himself was short lived. Justin had his group’s session with Jon, before Chris had his, and the trio then left the Academy. He had been quiet, and scientifically speaking, a bit of a buzzkill since.

She drove Dylan’s car, with Chris sitting in the passenger seat next to her, and Justin in the back seat. He directed them into the carpark, which was looking emptier, due to it being an hour until closing time, where she parked the car. When she did, she looked over at the shop, before looking at Justin in the rear view mirror.

“You mind running ahead and organising for the cost to go on the Eon Academy’s tab?” Charlotte asked. “You were here the other day, so know how it all works…”

Justin knew that Charlotte was well and truly capable of doing that herself, even if she hadn’t been there, but was switched on enough to know she wanted some time alone to talk to Chris. Whilst Justin was making sure to not let the bridge between himself and Chris burn, by being there for him even when he was less than pleasant, he knew that when it came to laying down the law, Charlotte was better suited, and had the right sort of friendship with him to actually have results.

“Sure,” Justin answered. “I’ll see you in there…”

Justin climbed out of the car, as Chris undid his seatbelt.

“Wait a minute,” Charlotte said, before pressing the button in the driver’s door armrest to lock the doors of the car. Chris looked at her, not amused. “I want to talk for a minute…”

Chris remained silent, not making it any easier for Charlotte, figuring that this was probably going to be a lecture of some sort.

“I just wanted to say that I know you’re upset. You’re disappointed, and angry,” Charlotte began. “And embarrassed…”

She noticed Chris tense up a little at the last description, as she continued.

“Anyone would be given what’s happened this summer. And it’s okay to feel that way…” Charlotte said. “But feelings can change, and if you act out purely because of something as fickle as how you feel in a given moment, you’re going to do stuff you regret. Like Dylan did last week…”

Charlotte knew that Chris’ mood soured when he was being compared to Dylan, in that he wasn’t meeting a standard Dylan set. So she hoped that going the other way, and comparing him to Dylan in respect to a mistake Dylan had made, would have the opposite effect.

“I’m not saying you should go become best friends with Abbee and Dylan as soon as we get back. That isn’t healthy,” Charlotte said. “But don’t burn the bridge with them that you’ve spent this long building, because of how you feel now. You’ll find that you aren’t as angry about all of this one day, but have lost two good friends anyway…”

Chris sighed a little. Charlotte made sense. And whilst he was bitter and hurting, he did miss the good times he shared with Abbee, and even Dylan.

“Jon said something similar to me yesterday…” Chris said quietly. “He said to think why I make the decisions I make. Good or bad. I made a smart a** remark about him beating up Lance back on the S.S. Wishmaker, and he told me he regrets that, and has since reached out and apologised to Lance…”

This was news to Charlotte, with the only intern who knew of Jon’s contact with Lance being Dylan. However, Chris mentioning this stood to benefit her point.

“Maybe you should do that,” Charlotte said softly. “Apologise to Dylan and Abbee about the last few weeks, then just give them some space. It might be awkward, but maybe next summer, things could be better…”

Chris couldn’t help but remember the summer before, when he was worried Dylan was annoyed at him and his lack of preparation for the trip Dylan had organised to capture Pokemon for the Academy. Without there being any issues in the open, he had pre-emptively apologised to Dylan, and the pair had actually ended up on good terms, right up until the argument at the Firehouse. He then felt the now sadly familiar sense of shame at how things had changed, and how he had been acting. But to take action to fix things, would be to admit to everyone that he had screwed up.

Chris sighed, before pulling the tab in the door handle to unlock it, and climbing out of the car. Charlotte rolled her eyes, knowing that Chris was done with this conversation, before getting out of the car herself and following him into the hire shop. Chris entered a few metres ahead of her, causing a bell above the door to ring as he entered, ringing again when she followed behind him.

She noticed Justin waiting for them by the men’s section, looking over a potential suit for Chris.

“Everything sorted?” Charlotte asked. Justin nodded.

“Just find something you like, make sure it fits, and let them know at the counter,” Justin explained. “Jon will get billed for it.”

“Brilliant,” Charlotte remarked. “I don’t recall him giving us a limit, so this should be fun…”

Justin laughed, though knew that there wasn’t a huge variance in rental costs in the store, before following Chris back into the men’s section, leaving Charlotte to make her way to the women’s section and find a dress.

She spent the next little while looking through dresses, trying to find one she liked. Whilst she wasn’t the sort of girl who hated wearing dresses, choosing to wear suits instead to formal events, unlike Abbee, who was often seen wearing a casual dress of some variety, Charlotte’s day to day attire tended to be loose fitting tops over jeans or leggings, sometimes with a knit jacket or jumper during colder months. As such, she didn’t wear dresses often.

However, the struggle to find a dress wasn’t caused purely by that, but also the distracting thoughts of other things. Particularly the reason why she had decided to come to the hire shop that day in particular, and why she had coerced Justin into coming to help Chris. As she thought about these things, she noticed a dress on the rack a little to her left. She pulled it out to get a better look, before deciding that was it, and looking around for Justin.

“What about this?” Justin asked, holding a black jacket out to Chris, who looked at it for a moment, before shaking his head.


“No,” Chris said bluntly, though obviously distracted, and being difficult by default.

“That’s the sixth one you’ve rejected,” Justin remarked. “What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know…” Chris replied. “I just don’t like it…”

Justin put it back, before having an idea, conveniently timed with the sound of the bell by the door. He looked around the rack of jackets in front of him, as Charlotte approached them, holding a dress on a coat hanger.

“What about this one?” Justin asked, trying to sound genuine. He held in front of him a bright blue jacket, and a white vest. It looked atrocious, and Justin knew it. Chris glanced at it, as he did the six before, though this time his eyes widened.

“Dude, you think I’d be seen in that?” Chris asked, shocked that Justin had even suggested it. “I wouldn’t even let myself be buried in it!”

“I don’t think you’ll have a lot of say at that point…” Charlotte noted, causing Justin to laugh.

“Fine, if you don’t like that, why don’t you try this on…”

Justin grabbed the jacket he was actually going to suggest before intentionally showing Chris one he knew he would reject spectacularly. A dark maroon jacket, that seemed to be made of a soft material, much nicer than the polyester ones that were also on offer.

“Fine,” Chris remarked. “I’ll try this one…”

Chris grabbed the jacket, as well as the matching pants that Justin had grabbed from the rack, taking them with the white button up shirt Justin had already picked out, and making his way to the changing rooms. With Chris now gone, Charlotte spoke.

“You mind helping me pick out some shoes?” Charlotte asked.

“You know that I’m the last person you should be asking to help with that…” Justin answered.

“Well you’re all I’ve got right now, so you’re the last person I can ask,” Charlotte pointed out. Justin kicked himself a little for leaving that window for her, before reluctantly agreeing. The pair made their way to the women’s shoe section of the store, with Charlotte looking in one rack, and Justin looking in another.

“Anything in particular?” Justin asked, figuring the best he could do is suggest some that may work, and cut the time Charlotte would have spent looking by herself in half.

“Something that goes well with the dress. Size nine,” she answered. “But no stupid heels. I don’t particularly feel like breaking an ankle…”

Justin knelt on the ground, looking through the racks that stood a foot off the floor that contained different pairs of formal shoes. He noted one pair, pulling them out, and turning towards where Charlotte was to get her opinion. Behind him, he heard footsteps and a familiar voice he was not expecting to hear here of all places.

“They look nice, but I don’t think you could pull them off.”

Justin turned in shock, nearly giving himself whiplash, to see Candice standing over him, a wide smile on her face. Dropping the shoes, Justin stood, and near tackled her with the hug he gave, before kissing her.

“What’re you doing here?” Justin asked, before Charlotte rounded the corner behind Candice, a knowing grin on her face. He directed his question towards Charlotte. “Is this why you were so hell bent on me coming?”

Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh.

“Abbee sent Candice the invite when the prom got announced. Figured she’d surprise you if she could get some time off,” Charlotte explained. “I was originally going to bring her back to the Academy with me and surprise her then, but figured if Chris was needing to come here, I could get you here too…”

Justin looked at Candice, ecstatic to see her so unexpectedly. Her grin widened.

“I got Abbee’s message, and figured it’d be fun surprising you,” she explained. “Nobody has beaten Volkner that hasn’t beaten me since, so I put in for a week's leave.”

Justin hugged her again, still unable to believe she was here.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Chris walked over, holding the suit he had just tried on.

“Nice to see you Candice,” Chris said, forcing a grin, even though he didn’t feel like it. He liked Candice, enjoying her sense of humour and carefree nature. However, seeing his best friend surprised by a visit from his girlfriend, whilst Chris was still reeling from being dumped a few weeks earlier, stung a little. Candice grinned a greeting at Chris, as Justin looked at the suit.

“How is that one?” Justin asked, nodding towards the suit.

“I like the colour and the material,” Chris explained. “It’s just a little small.”

Justin nodded.

“We’ll find one a bit better then…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Okay, try now…”

Dylan’s voice was muffled, as he lay on the ground on his side, the top half of his body obscured by a cabinet which contained the audio desk for the hall section of the main building. Dinner had finished an hour earlier, and people in the building had started to disperse, meaning that they could make sure things were working without disturbing those who were having conversations over a meal.

Abbee pressed the play button on her phone, causing music to play through the speakers at the front of the hall. However…

“It’s only coming through the front,” Abbee said, raising her voice for Dylan to hear.

“That’s right,” Dylan called back, not wanting to get up, only to potentially have to crawl back in. “There are only two channels for the main fader. I have the others set to auxiliary.”

“You know I don’t have a clue what that means?”

The exercise was to have music playing through speakers in multiple rooms. Whilst the recreation room partition was opened for large events that couldn’t seat everyone in the hall, and whilst any voices through microphones could reach those sitting at the back of the double room without being obnoxiously loud for those sitting closest to the speakers, music would not have that same benefit. To have the main speakers loud enough to play for the entire triple room being used for the prom, those standing closest to the speakers would be deafened.

As such, with Jon’s permission, Dylan had attached some small, discrete hooks to the walls of all three rooms, allowing him to route cables along the walls from the sound desk itself, to additional speakers in those rooms. They had rented some speakers and necessary cables, setting them up, and now was the moment of truth.

“Look at the desk for the only black fader that is turned up,” Dylan called out. Abbee looked at the desk and saw that in line with the cable from her phone, inserted into the desk, was a black knob, sitting in a groove to slide up and down. The others were all pulled to the very bottom, implying there was no volume going through.

“I found it.”

“Look above it for four twist knobs labelled auxiliary one, two, three and four…” Dylan answered. “Pick one, and slowly turn it…”

Abbee looked up, finding the four knobs, before grabbing the first and turning it slowly. Gradually, she began to hear the music coming from the recreation room behind her, as well as the speakers in front of her.

“If it’s working, test the others!” Dylan called out, hardly comfortable where he lay, cables digging into his side. Abbee quickly tested them, and sure enough the four speakers they had rented and set up in the dining room and recreation room all worked, controlled independently.

“It works,” Abbee said. “You can come out!”

Dylan grunted and groaned, as he wriggled himself out of the gap behind the sound desk, while Abbee continued.

“It’s great they can be controlled independently,” Abbee began. “But is it too complicated? Like, let’s just say Charlotte needs to come over and turn off the music quickly to make an announcement? She has four dials and a fader…”

“Nope,” Dylan answered, before pressing a button near some dials labelled Auxiliary Master. The button itself was labelled Post Fader. “Pull the fader down now…”

Abbee obliged, pulling the fader down, and to her slight surprise, all the speakers went quiet.

“That button uses the fader as a master for all the channels it goes through. Main or auxiliary,” Dylan explained. “As long as nobody touches that button, that fader will control volume for all speakers.”

“I still don’t get how you know all this?” Abbee remarked, finding herself impressed by Dylan’s technical skills in whatever field he seemed to put his mind to.

“The first school camp we had here after the first summer, one of the kids had seen this and played with buttons,” Dylan explained. “Jon tried to use the microphone and it fed back like crazy, and neither of us knew how to fix it. So I did an online course to learn the basics. It’s actually pretty simple…”

“Still, I’d never have gotten this set up myself,” Abbee remarked.

“And I’d have never got the room looking as great as you have,” Dylan retorted. He was right. The rooms were all practically done in terms of decoration. Black cloth had been ironed out, and hung across the walls, blacking them out, and providing a neutral backdrop for white and blue fabric draped in downward arcs repeating across each of the walls. On one wall was a large banner with the Eon Academy logo, a large silhouette of Latios, with some plain text inscribing the name. Additionally, fairy lights had been hung from the ceiling, and whilst they weren’t overly bright, when the house lights were turned off, and they were turned on and synchronised, they provided a nice, white ambient mood lighting. Additionally, the outskirts of all three rooms contained foldable tables, decorated with table cloths and various ornaments, all waiting to be put into their proper positions when lunch finished on Friday, and the three rooms weren’t being used for any official purposes.

Abbee grinned at the compliment, before holding up her hand, Dylan responding with a high-five.

“Let’s make sure the levels are okay, so we can just turn the main fader up, then we’ll call it a night,” Dylan suggested, causing Abbee to nod. Firstly, they played the music again, with all the auxiliary speakers muted, getting the right amount of volume from the front speakers, before Abbee moved towards the first of the auxiliary speakers, as Dylan slowly increased the volume, Abbee gesturing up and down to help him fine tune it. After that, she moved to the next one, and repeated the process, until they had the music coming through all three rooms evenly.

“I’m going to strangle Victini…” Abbee remarked, as she and Dylan ate ice cream from their respective bowls. By this point the hall was empty, students opting to spend their time outdoors, given how nice of a night it was. Victini’s hunger for ice-cream was more legendary than the Pokemon himself, and made Latios’ thirst for beer look tame, and when Abbee looked in the kitchen freezer for the tub of ice cream she had bought herself at the same time as the one she bought for Victini, she found both were gone. Thankfully, Dylan knew Jon and Alyssa had some in their house, and whilst he couldn’t be sure that Victini wasn’t that desperate for a fix, he had a hunch Victini wouldn’t risk getting caught stealing by Jon, especially when Latios could be anywhere…

“You’ve had Victini for two years now, right?” Dylan asked. Abbee grinned.

“Two years, and honestly, I think he has me trained more than I have him…”

Dylan chuckled to himself, somewhat surprised that they were nearing the end of their third summer at the Academy. This Friday was the prom, and less than a week later, the property would be practically empty, only Alyssa and Amelia remaining until Jon, and then Dylan returned. He figured that Charlotte would spend a bit more time at the Academy between competitions, seeing as Deoxys still needed training, but given the fact that she came to the Academy a month earlier than normal, and in the month before that, had spent time with her classmates in both Johto and Hoenn, she had made a point of deciding to spend a month or two in Sinnoh with her family, seeing as the challenge was going to be bringing her home.

“You’re drifting off,” Abbee remarked, unable to hide the small smile. “What’s on your mind?”

“Just wondering how this is the third summer, practically over…” Dylan answered. “Like, I’ve been living here nearly two years now, and it doesn’t seem like it’s been more than six months…”

“I know what you mean,” Abbee answered back.

As they sat in the dining hall, they weren’t overly aware of the goings on outside, and neither of them had heard the sound through the open door of footsteps crunching on the gravel outside the main hall.

Chris had been coming to the main hall to try and find his wallet, having noticed the weight of it absent from his pocket, when he recognized Abbee and Dylan’s voices through the open door. He stopped shy of the doorframe, hearing them speak.

“I mean, two years ago, was when Dad died, and it still surprises me he has been gone for that long…” Abbee continued. “And a year ago was when Chris and I…”

Her voice quietened, before ceasing into silence, unable to find the words.

“I guess that I figured if we’d be able to get through to this summer, after living in different cities for the nine months between, we’d be fine,” Abbee said. “And that time just flew by like it was nothing. And now, when I was willing to consider the fact that this wasn’t just a glorified crush, and planned ahead with that in mind, is when it all just went pear shaped…”

Chris’ hands clenched into fists hearing this, bitter that Abbee was complaining about their relationship falling apart when she was the one who ended it.

“Do you regret what you did?” Dylan asked. Though he doubted that was the case, it seemed odd for Abbee to bring this up in the way she was.

“No, I don’t,” Abbee said, her resolve a little more obvious in this. “But I do regret the fact it didn’t work out, and that Chris now hates the pair of us…”

From outside, Chris felt his heart sink hearing that. Whilst he was angry that Abbee had broken up with him, and had his serious misgivings about Dylan, he didn’t hate her. He wasn’t even sure he hated Dylan at this point. So it shook Chris to hear that that was how Abbee thought he felt about her for breaking up with him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think he has been out of line with how he has been acting…” Abbee added, causing Chris’ temper to flare slightly. “Look, I get he is hurting, and is acting out because of that…”

“But at the same time, he isn’t the only one hurting…”

Abbee’s words had taken Chris by surprise. Since their breakup, Abbee had been working non-stop on the prom, and from Chris’ perspective, hadn’t seemed upset at all by the fact they broke up.

“I might have been the one to end it, but I did that because I felt like I had no better option. That if I didn’t now, I would have to in a year or two, when it would just be harder for both of us,” Abbee lamented. “I still lost something when I ended things. I still loved him, had my heart break in my chest when I told him that it wasn’t working, and seeing how quickly things just fell apart between us since…”

Chris felt a pang of guilt at Abbee’s words about him, and how she felt given the circumstances. He knew that a month or two ago, had Abbee been made that upset by someone else, he would have not taken it well. That was the reason why his friendship with Dylan initially fell apart. And now, he heard from her just how she felt given their breakup.

“Honestly, I just wish that things could be the way they were last summer when Candice visited,” Abbee said quietly. “But the longer things go like this, the less I believe that’s possible…”

Unable to hear anymore, Chris left. He walked back to the lodge, thinking over what he had heard, on top of what had been said to him by Jon and Charlotte over the previous few days. By the time he reached his room in the lodge, he had made up his mind. He could apologize to Abbee, but chances are, she would struggle to believe it. He knew it would come across more as him trying to make things right with her, and working things out so they could get back together, than simply apologising for how he had been acting, and being okay with potentially gaining nothing from it. Being his own worst critic, Chris knew that he was too proud to apologise if he didn’t expect to get something from it, and in his line of thinking, the others saw it the same way, Abbee especially.

To make things right, Chris knew he had to apologise to Dylan first. He stood nothing to gain from apologising to Dylan, only to put his own pride on the line, and accept fault for letting things get so bad between them. If he couldn’t do that, why should Abbee think his apology to her is genuine, and not just to recover what had been lost?

Chris made the decision. Before summer ended, he’d apologise to Dylan…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Chris’ decision to apologise to Dylan proved to be a lot harder to follow through with than he originally thought. Dylan and Abbee’s groups shared classes, which eliminated the large portion of instances when Chris knew exactly where Dylan would be. And whilst Dylan did teach the Raising Pokemon class for all groups, he wouldn’t be teaching Chris’ group until Thursday, and Chris didn’t think it would be a good idea to apologise whilst Dylan was running a class.

Chris had tried to talk to Dylan during their mutual free time in the afternoon, however realised it was also hard to nail down Dylan to talk to him, given the fact that much like the last six or so weeks, and especially since the fight between them the week before, Dylan was going out of his way to avoid Chris.

As such, it got to ten o’clock, Wednesday evening, when Jon had called all the interns to meet with himself and Candice in the lodge lounge room. Dylan sat with Abbee on one couch, Chris with Charlotte on another, and Justin on his own. Jon stood at the front of the room, Candice standing with him, as those present wondered why he had summoned them.

“You’re probably wondering why I have you all here…” Jon began, looking across at each of their faces, and was pleasantly surprised to see Chris looking more like himself at the start of summer.

“Something to do with the challenge?” Charlotte asked, and Jon nodded.

“Candice here, being a Sinnoh Gym Leader, knows a few people in the Sinnoh Elite Four, both past and present, a couple of which, being former College of the North Wind students…” Jon explained, as those present realised why Jon had gathered them. “As such, she was able to get a little bit more information about the trainers we are battling than we originally had.”

“Such as their teams?” Chris asked, earning a chorus of agreement from Charlotte, Justin and quietly, Abbee as well.

“Unfortunately, no,” Candice explained. “Weeks before they uploaded that overdramatic video challenging you, Camilla had all records of her top five students Pokemon removed from the internet. The only way now to find out would be to use the League Database, which would be considered cheating…”

“Nothing that game breaking,” Jon agreed. “However, Candice was able to find out about the sort of training they undertake, so we have a better idea of what we might be up against…”

Jon handed over to Candice, taking a seat on the couch next to Justin, as she began to speak.

“So I’ve learnt two key facts about the training regime of the College of the North Wind,” Candice explained to the group, before raising a finger. “The first is that the College of the North Wind hire researchers from Jubilife University to analyse individual Pokemon of their trainers…”

Dylan’s eyes widened hearing this.

“What this means is that when a student at the College of the North Wind battles with a Pokemon, they know exactly what their individual strengths and weaknesses are. For example, I have a Sneasel, and based on decades of research, Sneasel as a species are known to be quick, and better physical attackers,” Candice explained, those present nodding in agreement. “However, generally speaking, their attack power in special moves is on par with a Zubat. Rubbish to say the least…”

Jon and Dylan both understood the implication of this, with Justin on his way to putting the pieces together when Candice explained it.

“Jon has trained you all to know roughly speaking what attributes are relatively strong and weak in common Pokemon in competitive circuit. You could see he has a Blaziken, and know it is more suited to being a physical attacker,” Candice explained. “But that assessment is based purely on averages, and is glorified guesswork at best. It’s the best you can do at a moment's notice, and most of the time, it works. But what if Jon knew that his Blaziken was in the top percentile for special attackers, and you went up against him?”

“I’d try and avoid having my Pokemon get in close quarters, but then get picked off from a distance,” Charlotte answered, earning a grin from Candice.

“Exactly,” Candice confirmed. “Now I’m not saying all of their Pokemon are within the top percentile on random attributes that go against the average. Camilla isn’t the sort to encourage them to only battle with genetically perfect Pokemon. If that were her attitude, she wouldn’t have been made Champion of Sinnoh. What I am saying is to keep your assumptions in check going in. Just because a species of Pokemon is generally slower than your own, don’t assume that it is until you know for sure…”

There was consensus from those present, understanding what this information meant. Unlike the Eon Academy, which didn’t have the resources available to know an individual Pokemon’s exact strengths and weaknesses, and by extension, had to rely on species averages, the College of the North Wind could train a Pokemon to maximise and utilise their natural strengths, whilst also covering their natural weaknesses. And if a Pokemon’s strengths were uncharacteristic to their species’ average attributes, that allowed for tactics that are harder to predict.

“The second bit of information, is less secretive, and more something you guys could figure out on your own,” Candice explained, before following with a question. “Where do you hear of the most College of the North Wind graduates?”

“The Elite Four,” Abbee answered. “Justin said that Cynthia was Camilla’s protégé, and that at least a dozen current Elite Four members worldwide are graduates of hers…”

“Exactly,” Candice confirmed. “So let’s say I set my sights on becoming an Elite Four member, or even the champion, and for the sake of making this quick, I don’t want to spend years as a Gym Trainer or Gym Leader…”

Chris was the one to answer, recalling the first time he and most of his classmates met Steven Stone in their first summer. Steven had been questioned about his role as champion by the students, and explained how a new Champion is found should the current one step down.

“When the Champion steps down, the first people the League will consider will probably be Elite Four members, Gym Leaders, and those who have beaten the Champion in recent years,” Chris answered. “Steven told us during our first summer.”

Jon felt himself breathe a slight sigh of relief that his hunch about Chris working past his issues was seeming more and more realistic. Chris was focused, thinking more, and acting less. A large step up from his actions over the last few weeks. Candice nodded in approval.

“It’s rare that a non-Elite Four member takes the Champion spot when a Champion retires, however if the current Champion recommends them enough and they have beaten the Elite Four, it happens. That’s how Cynthia got offered the title. Normally it goes to an Elite Four member, such as when Lance became the Indigo Champion,” Candice explained. “And becoming an Elite Four member is similar. They look at Gym Leaders, and people who have beaten the Champion in recent years-”

“So if you don’t want to spend years as a Gym Leader to get into the Elite Four, or become the Champion, it is a prerequisite to have beaten the current Elite Four and Champion?” Chris asked. Candice nodded.

“This is the attitude Camilla trains her students with,” Candice explained. “Unlike Jon, who teaches you to battle with the intent of you taking on tournaments against other trainers with similar goals, like the High Seas Tournament, Camilla trains her students specifically to be able to take on the Elite Four and Champion. Effectively have their team of six Pokemon, be able to withstand and win against twenty-six Pokemon over five battles…”

“Goddamn,” Charlotte muttered. Jon nodded in agreement.

“It’s a different beast,” Jon explained. “To beat the Elite Four, you practically need to have one Pokemon trained to wipe out an entire team of powerful Pokemon. The saving grace of this is that the Elite Four tend to have a common type, some champions as well, but at the same time, most of them have a dual-typed Pokemon that will cover one of their weaknesses, or even a Pokemon or two that are a different type altogether.”

Thinking over his battles with Steven, he came up with an example.

“Steven is a Steel Type specialist, and whilst Blaziken, thinking purely in terms of type advantages would be able to handle his Registeel, Aggron and Armaldo, Steven’s Skarmory would prove a threat with it’s Flying Type to Blaziken’s Fighting, so whilst Blaziken could hit hard, it also would be getting hit just as hard back,” Jon continued. “Then Steven has his Claydol, which is Ground and Psychic type, which would make it difficult for me to rely purely on Blaziken to take down his entire team…”

Candice nodded, appreciating Jon filling the gaps in her explanation.

“As such, Camilla trains her students to handle long winded battles, taking on multiple subsequent Pokemon with only one or two at most. Additionally, trainers need to rely on moves outside of their Pokemon’s type to be able to take down hypothetical walls like Steven’s Claydol to Jon’s Blaziken,” Candice asked, before curiosity got the better of her. She turned to Jon. “How would you handle Claydol with just your Blaziken?”

Jon took a brief moment to think over the question.

“My tactic with Blaziken relies on it staying out and building momentum,” Jon explained. “I would likely send out Blaziken straight up, since it has the advantage and I am trying to end Steven’s team with one Pokemon. So it comes down to whether Steven started with Claydol or not…”

Jon began counting on his fingers, seeming to be simulating a battle in his mind.

“If Steven sent out Claydol first, I’d let Blaziken take a hit, and have it use Swagger to confuse Claydol, then go on the defensive with Protect, until Claydol hurts itself, and follow it up with Assurance,” Jon explained, Chris having a flashback to Jon using that same tactic to have his heavily disadvantaged Scizor beat his Charizard. “If Steven opens with another Pokemon, I will probably stall a turn or two with Protect, so Blaziken’s Speed Boost makes it quicker. If Steven opens with Skarmory, I’d have Blaziken use Bulk Up a few times once it is fast enough to use that move and safely dodge Skarmory’s attack at the same time, then use a Blaze Kick or Flare Blitz to finish Skarmory. Anything else, I’d be doing the same thing but with Power-Up Punch, and by the time Claydol makes an appearance, using Shadow Claw…”

“All of that in a minute?” Charlotte asked, finding herself shocked at her mentor’s skill.

“Just remember I battle Steven on a weekly basis,” Jon replied. “And the best-laid plans of Minccino and men often go awry…”

“So you’re telling us we are up against trainers who are trained specifically to be able to take on twenty-Pokemon, with their six?” Abbee asked, sounding a little crestfallen.

“I am, but you’re not seeing the positive,” Candice explained. “Anyone know?”

“With the exception of Chris, none of us rely too heavily on a single type of Pokemon,” Justin answered. “And the conditions of the battle haven’t been set in stone. Camilla has given us an advantage…”

“How so?” Chris asked.

“She issued the challenge, with no parameters on the way the battles are conducted, and we accepted before she could set them,” Charlotte explained. “Her students are used to full six on six battles, like in the Elite Four. We battle three on three, which is the tournament standard, only being different if both trainers agree to it before the battle.”

“So we are well within our rights to request a three on three battle, which means that theoretically, you can battle your challenger, without doubling up heaps on Dragons,” Justin said to Chris.

“Couldn’t she just deny the request?” Chris asked.

“It wouldn’t be a good move for her,” Jon explained. “She issued the challenge without specifying the format and we accepted. Whether that was intentional or an oversight, it doesn’t matter. And if we request a tournament legal format and she rejects it, it wouldn’t be a good look for her school. It’s common courtesy that if the challenger doesn’t specify a format, the challenged has the right to choose, presuming the format is legal.”

Abbee looked over at Dylan, who was deep in thought, the gears in his head turning as he put together pieces of information he had heard that evening.

“We’ve gotten a little side-tracked, but Justin answered the question before,” Candice continued. “Their tactics focusing on taking on the entire Elite Four and Champion will be useless against you, because your teams are varied. Additionally, you will be able to request blind selection for the first Pokemon, like you train with here, since Camilla hasn’t specified anything, simply challenged you. So out of the gate, three things could happen…”

Candice held up her index finger.

“The first is that your opening Pokemon is advantaged against your opponents. You are more likely to win the first match-up, but they can choose their next Pokemon to be advantaged against yours. However, you will have the lead, and be able to do the same thing if their second Pokemon beats your first, and if it is knockout for knockout, you will win,” Candice explained. “The second is that the ground is level with the first two Pokemon, in which case your skill level will play more of a role, and I know that you’ve been trained to not rely on type advantages as much…”

“But they haven’t,” Abbee said, the thought only then coming to her mind. She took a moment to articulate it. “Think about it, they’re trained really, to be able to have a single Pokemon take down an entire team. Like Jon’s Blaziken against Steven’s team. But how will they decide what that single Pokemon is?”

“They’ll use type advantages,” Jon answered, not having even considered the point Abbee was making.

Abbee turned to Candice.

“You said yourself that they focus on using moves outside of their Pokemon’s type to provide better coverage, like Jon’s Blaziken using Assurance against Steven’s Claydol,” Abbee continued, sounding more and more confident. “It sounds like they rely heavily on type advantages, and probably focus on getting them for themselves…”

Candice nodded.

“Exactly. If the opening matchup was neutral, neither side having a real type advantage, we aren’t being unreasonable to believe that you guys are better trained to be able to handle that. In which case, if you can take down their first Pokemon, we wind up with the same potential play out. If it’s knock out for knock out, you will knock out their last Pokemon before they knock out yours,” Candice explained, before raising a third finger. “The third scenario is you guys begin with a disadvantage…”

Little more needed to be said about that scenario. They all knew how much more difficult the battle would be if they started with a type disadvantage. Jon stood to his feet, joining Candice at the front of the room.

“So any ideas?” Jon asked. “You’re all just as good at this as I am, so let’s hear it…”

There was an awkward pause as the trainers present considered their options.

“We need to not lose our heads during the battle, and forget what we know, and we know something pretty huge…” Charlotte explained, Jon inclining his head, the gesture telling her to continue. “We know each of them has a Legendary Pokemon, and will use it at some point. They had them present for the challenge video, and to have them there and not use them would be pretty embarrassing…”

“How does that help us?”

“Think about it. Let’s say that you’re up against your opponent, you open with Ampharos and they open with Sandslash,” Charlotte began, before focusing her gaze on Abbee, increasing the volume of her voice, and the urgency in her tone. “Sandslash beats Ampharos, and you have three seconds to choose a new Pokemon!”

“Poliwrath!” Abbee replied, feeling the pressure that Charlotte put her under.

“Wrong,” Charlotte answered. “So wrong. You know why?”

Jon grinned, having understood Charlotte’s logic.

“Because you know they have two Pokemon left, and one will be Shaymin. You send out Glaceon instead. It will be just as strong against Sandslash as Poliwrath will be, but will also be a threat to Shaymin, which leaves your opponent with two options,” Charlotte explained. “They can either send out another Pokemon to dispose of Glaceon, or send Shaymin out disadvantaged and still have their final Pokemon in the battle be a surprise. If they send Shaymin out, they risk Glaceon doing some serious damage to Shaymin before you even send out Victini. If they don’t, you know it is a ninety-nine percent chance that Shaymin will be the final Pokemon, and can choose your final Pokemon to allow for that…”

“It’s a slightly more psychological version of Chris’ Roar tactic from last summer,” Justin noted. “The one where he had Ninetales use Toxic on Dylan’s first Pokemon, then Roar to force that Pokemon to retreat and Dylan to have to lock in his second Pokemon…”

“You really are terrifying,” Jon said to Charlotte, earning a grin. “But that is important. We need to not let the pressure cause us to miss opportunities like that hypothetical that Charlotte raised…”

The group spent another half hour discussing potential tactics to run, albeit with Jon, Candice, Justin and Charlotte being the middle of the discussion, with Abbee and Dylan not talking to Chris and vice-versa.

As they discussed, Chris waited for the conversation to die down, and the others to leave, hoping to find himself and Dylan as the last ones there, though wouldn’t have cared one way or another if Abbee were present, giving him the opportunity to apologise. However, when the meeting did end, he realised that he would have been better off being the first to leave, waiting out for Jon, Justin, Charlotte and Candice to leave as well, given Dylan and Abbee’s gravitation towards the communal areas of the lounge, and coming back to try and apologise. This realisation spurred by the fact that he didn’t leave, and given the grudge that existed, Dylan being the first to retire for the night. When Dylan said goodnight to the others there, Chris kicked himself internally, wishing that he could just find the right time to say sorry.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was shortly after seven Friday evening when Abbee found the first of the students wandering into the main building, which she had spent most of her free time that week decorating. Music played just loud enough that conversation required raised voices, but not too loud that it was impossible to hear anyone more than two feet away.

She wore a simple, sleeveless, lilac coloured dress, which rested just below her knees. Opting to keep her style for the evening on the simple side, she had straightened her jet black hair, leaving it down and holding it out of her face with a plain silver headband. On the other side of the room, chatting to Jon, who was equally dressed up, was Dylan, wearing a pair of black slacks, over a white button up shirt with a black tie. He wore a black suit jacket over the top, with a pair of black dress shoes, that he seemed to have only polished a few hours earlier.

“You’ve done really well pulling this together,” said Alyssa’s voice from behind Abbee, causing her to spin around, and the hem of her dress to flourish a little with the movement. “Especially seeing as you only took charge because Jon and I had to go to Kanto…”

Not expecting Abbee’s sudden movement, a group of boys who sat on chairs at the edge of the hall, behind Alyssa, quickly looked away, trying to hide the fact they had been gawking at her for the last few minutes since she had entered the hall. Abbee didn’t blame them. Alyssa, who usually opted for a mix of comfortable yet professional attire when she did Academy work, and generally speaking, wasn’t working from home, in which she opted for whatever was comfortable, had chosen a forest green dress, which only served to flatter her already appealing figure. The neckline was round and modest, and whilst the dress itself was sleeveless like Abbee’s, the straps were wider, covering most of her shoulders. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a loose bun that didn’t seem to have taken her too long to fashion, yet added to the overall effect significantly.

“You look stunning!” Abbee exclaimed, taking in the sight in front of her. Alyssa couldn’t help but redden a little.

“It’s always nice to be a trophy wife once in a blue moon,” Alyssa retorted. “Honestly, I can’t remember the last time Jon and I dressed up like this, so I might have gone overboard…”

“Go overboard any time. You can pull it off,” Abbee answered. Alyssa grinned.

“Stop dodging the subject. I was saying you did well pulling this together,” Alyssa repeated. “Seriously, everyone here is going to remember tonight for years, and they have you to thank…”

“Not just me,” Abbee answered. “Dylan helped out so much. It wouldn’t be half as good if not for him.”

“Dylan did what you told him to do,” Alyssa answered. “He’s great at being given a task and doing it exceptionally, but being the creative mastermind is hardly his forte. So I think you deserve the credit here…”

Knowing this was a losing battle Abbee shrugged.

“I do what I can…”

On the other end of the hall, Dylan and Jon spoke, as quietly as they could, not wanting to be overheard, but knowing the volume of the music would make quiet and subtle conversations possible.

“So you’re still wanting to go to Canalave after we finish in Jubilife?” Jon asked Dylan. He nodded, prompting Jon’s next question. “So what are you going to do? Find his address in a phonebook and just show up?”

“Hell no,” Dylan answered. “He may have a wife and kids that I’m not aware of. How do you think Alyssa would take it if you had a guy arrive at your door claiming to be your son with another woman?”

“He’d want to hope I have my will on hand to add him to it then and there…” Jon joked, earning a grin from Dylan.

“Exactly…”

“So you’re going to contact him before you go?” Jon asked.

“I already have…”

This took Jon by surprise.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing yet,” Dylan answered. “I sent an email. I told him I was Nicole Squier’s son, and that she has told me that he is my father. I told him I live in Mossdeep, Hoenn, but will be visiting Sinnoh in the next few weeks, and if he is okay with it, I would like to meet him. But if he would rather not, part of the reason I have sought him out now is due to a diagnosis that his family’s history may be able to help in, so if he would rather not meet, I’d appreciate it if he could answer some questions for me via email, and I’ll leave him alone…”

Jon felt himself grow in sympathy for Dylan. It was one thing to be willing to contact his father that likely doesn’t even know Dylan is his son. But having to prepare a contingency plan in case his father doesn’t want to see him, is a lot to ask.

“I sent it this morning,” Dylan explained. “I figure we will be on a plane to Jubilife in a week, and likely done with the challenge in a week and a half from today. If he needs time to get accustomed to the fact that I am his son, I need to give him as much as possible…”

“I really hope he is willing to see you…” Jon remarked. “I get that you have plans to find out whether you are likely to have inherited those genes from him, even if he doesn’t want to meet, but it would be good for you to have family that you’re on good terms with…”

Dylan nodded. Whilst he would play it off as not caring if it did happen, he didn’t know how he would take the rejection if Brent didn’t want to meet him.

It was a little over half an hour later when Justin entered the hall, having taken a little too long to fix his blonde hair so that it looked nicely messy, without looking like he tried to make it look nicely messy. After that, it was a simple matter of getting into his pressed slacks, shirt and jacket. His slacks and jacket were an ultramarine blue, as were the high-top Converses he wore, clean as they were, in contrast to the formal look of the rest of his outfit. Whilst he wore a matching tie over his white shirt, it was loose, with the top button of his shirt unbuttoned, and simply sitting in place under the knot of the tie.

Justin looked around the room, spotting Abbee by one of the drinks tables, and making his way over to her.

“You scrub up well,” Abbee remarked, somewhat loudly to be heard over the loud music playing. Justin grinned.

“I’ll have to get myself a proper suit when I get back to Jubilife,” Justin remarked. “I still wear the one my parents bought me for my cousin's wedding when I was like fourteen…”

Abbee couldn’t help but laugh at the sentiment. She had a hunch that most guys his age fit that category.

“If you keep starring in commercials, you should be able to afford the best of the best,” Abbee laughed, Justin groaning at the recollection. She was right though. He earned more for that stint than he had earned the six months before.

Realising he was getting side-tracked by the conversation, he remembered why he came over to Abbee.

“Is Candice around?” Justin asked, looking vaguely around the room, though not knowing what to expect to see Candice wearing, and with the room being as full as it was, figured his chances of spotting her were slim.

“Not yet,” Abbee answered. “She didn’t come with you?”

“No, she said she wanted to surprise me…”

Almost as if on cue, Justin felt a tap on the shoulder, causing him to turn around to where Candice stood behind him.

Her black hair, normally parted and braided to either side, was instead tied back and styled into a messy ponytail. She wore a pale blue, satin dress, of a similar length to the one Abbee wore, however with a large, single strap going over the right shoulder, the neckline asymmetric, going down under her left arm, leaving her left shoulder bare. Justin couldn’t help but gape, causing Candice’s already wide grin to somehow widen even further.

“Tell me again how I wound up with you as my girlfriend?” Justin asked. “Because something really doesn’t add up…”

“I think what he is trying to say is that he likes what he sees…” Abbee interjected cheekily, intentionally making her translation of the comment to sound a little creepier than Justin had intended. Justin went red a little as Candice burst into laughter. She hugged Justin, before kissing him on the cheek.

“Well, that’s mutual,” Candice said. “Towards Justin I mean. Though you look really nice too Abbee…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Come on, we’re going to be the last ones there…” Charlotte said to Chris, as the pair walked out of the lodge, making their way towards the main hall.

“Don’t blame me, I was ready half an hour ago!” Chris argued. He was right. He wore a maroon wool blend jacket with matching slacks, and a black button up shirt, opting to not wear a tie for the event, with a pair of dark brown, pointed, leather shoes with thin laces. Justin had ironed the clothing for him, knowing Chris didn’t care enough to do it himself, but being too invested, having helped him choose something to wear, to let him discredit it with his own lack of caring.

“Well I didn’t ask you to wait for me,” Charlotte retorted, conveniently leaving out the fact that she had spent the last half hour in front of the mirror, trying to figure out if she was happy with how her hair was. Her blonde hair was cut a little above the shoulder, as any longer, like Abbee’s or Alyssa’s, got in the way too much. It was fine for day to day life, but the lack of length made it difficult for her to style it any differently than she normally did. In a moment of desperation, she ended up finding an older top in her suitcase, that whilst patterned, had a base colour the same as the dress she wore, cutting a long strip out of that, and folding it into itself to create an improvised hairband, using it to style and hold her fringe exactly where she wanted it, whilst keeping the rest of her hair in place, and tying it off into a bow.

“You suggesting I should have shown up by myself?” Chris asked.

“Why not go with Justin?”

“So now you’re suggesting that I, the guy who got dumped two weeks ago, show up with his friend and his friend's girlfriend?” Chris asked. “I don’t know what’s worse…”

Whilst Chris was referencing he and Abbee’s breakup so flippantly, Charlotte was actually happy. Chris seemed to be acting more like himself tonight, before he and Abbee broke up, using himself as the butt for jokes, and responding to criticism with humour instead of lashing out. Then as the pair walked, he said something that was definitely out of character.

“You look really nice,” Chris commented casually as the pair walked, nodding towards the dark red woollen dress she wore, taking Charlotte by surprise. “It suits you.”

“Thanks,” Charlotte replied awkwardly, not knowing how to feel about it all. Not even a week earlier, she had been forcing herself to not think about how she felt about Chris, given the way he had been acting, not being in line with the person she thought she had feelings for. Now, he was being himself again, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high, especially since Chris and Abbee had broken up not even three weeks ago.

The dress itself was a soft woollen material, dark red, with sleeves down to the wrists. It was a little shorter than Charlotte would normally wear, however she had liked the colour and feel of it, as well as the floral patterns subtly stitched around the hem and waistline, enough to be willing to wear it.

The pair walked towards the hall, Chris continuing to wonder how he could apologise to Dylan. Dylan had, as he had been doing for most of the summer, avoided him the last two days. Not always directly, as Dylan had spent a lot of time helping Abbee with preparations for the prom, and been surrounded by people, all working to make it happen, and on the odd chance that he was alone, Chris never found out quick enough to talk to him before he had gone somewhere else.

The pair arrived at the main hall, where the music could be heard well and truly from outside, walking through the main door, and finding themselves in a dark room, illuminated only by the soft glow of the fairy lights that were draped across the ceiling space, absolutely full of people. With the exception of Dylan, who stood at over six feet tall, Chris and Charlotte struggled to spot any of their friends in the crowd, unsure of what they were wearing and by extension, what to look out for.

By Dylan, stood Jon and Alyssa, both of who waved at Chris and Charlotte when they saw them gesturing to the pair to join them, whilst Dylan quickly but subtly slipped away into the crowd of people.

“I almost thought you guys weren’t coming,” Jon remarked.

“We aren’t that late are we?” Charlotte asked, though before Jon could answer, Chris interjected.

“I was waiting for Charlotte. Didn’t want her arriving by herself,” Chris answered, earning a glare from Charlotte. Jon grinned.

“Well aren’t you such a gentleman?” Alyssa asked, albeit a little patronisingly. Chris grinned, much to Jon’s relief.

“Are the others around?” Charlotte asked. “I can’t make out anyone in here…”

“Abbee is frantically trying to make sure the food comes out on time,” Jon explained. “Dylan just went to help her.

“What about Justin and Candice?” Chris asked, wanting to know where at least one other friendly face was. Alyssa grinned.

“Candice is quite the dancer,” Alyssa explained. “And as her boyfriend, Justin has an obligation to join her out there…”

Alyssa nodded towards the cluster of people dancing around towards the middle of the room closest to the front of house speakers.

“In there somewhere,” Alyssa asked. “You might need to wait for Candice to want a drink…”

“Not Justin?”

“As long as Candice wants to be in there, I think Justin is kind of stuck…” Alyssa remarked. Charlotte looked over at Jon.

“What are the chances of seeing you in there?” she asked, trying to remain serious, but struggling to hide a grin.

“I’ve tried,” Alyssa answered for Jon. “He danced at our wedding, but really hates it.”

“Boring…” Chris said loudly, earning a look from Jon.

“So I’ll see you out there?” Jon answered. Chris looked over towards the group of dancers.

“Oh, I think I see Justin,” Chris said loudly. “I’ll talk to you later!”

Chris quickly left, leaving Charlotte with Jon and Alyssa, who seemed unable to hide a smile from her face. She noticed Jon watching her, before reverting her expression to her standard one.

“What?” Charlotte asked Jon, who simply shrugged back at her.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“I think it will take Victini a while to forgive me…” Abbee said to Dylan, as the pair both sat on chairs on the outskirts of the room. They each held a paper plate with various bits of finger-food, that had been taken from the large trays that sat on the tables around the room. Whilst there were dining tables actually set up throughout the room, Abbee had opted not to sit at them, due to the conversation they invited. Given the fact that her reason for overseeing the prom was to avoid thinking about what happened with Chris, and the fact that for the last week, she had been interacting with heaps of different people each day, trying to pull this together, she was only halfway through the night, and feeling socially burnt out. If she sat at a table, she’d be forced to make small-talk with the others present. But on chairs off to the side of the room, she and Dylan could talk amongst themselves, something that didn’t drain her anywhere near as much.

“I’m sure nobody would notice if you let him out of the Pokeball,” Dylan answered. “I mean, if he likes to party…”

Abbee sighed. She did feel bad Victini was missing out, and whilst she had considered leaving him in the lodge with his weight in ice-cream and YouTube queued full of his favourite videos on the TV, she knew that given Victini’s history of prying in people's minds when he knows he shouldn’t, and stealing ice-cream, she couldn’t say for certain that if she did do that, he wouldn’t make an appearance at the prom of his own volition.

“He does, but we have a hundred people here, and if I let Victini join the party, they will want to let their Pokemon join in…” Abbee remarked. “Even if I set the rule that only Pokemon less than two feet tall could attend, that is still a hell of a lot of small Pokemon filling the place. And if I’m seen breaking the rule, other people will too…”

Dylan nodded, appreciating her reasoning. However, as she considered this, she had a thought…

“You don’t think Latios is floating around, invisible, do you?” Abbee asked, somewhat concerned, and looking up.

“Doubt it,” Dylan answered. “He is too big to not bump into things, and this is a prom, not a keg party…”

Abbee choked on the drink she was sipping from when Dylan said it, struggling to keep it down, causing Dylan to stifle a laugh.

“Sorry,” Dylan said apologetically. Abbee brushed it aside with a hand gesture.

“If making me laugh is the worst thing you do, I think I’m pretty lucky…”

Dylan grimaced a little hearing this. This summer, he did more than make her laugh.

“What about making you cry?” Dylan asked quietly, struggling to make eye contact. “I totally blew up on you, in front of a bunch of strangers. I’d say that’s worse…”

Abbee sighed as she recalled the memory.

“Yeah, it hurt…” Abbee answered. “But I deserved some of it. You told me to leave it be and I ignored you…”

From the other side of the room, Chris sat with Charlotte, Justin and Candice at a table, Justin recovering from the hour long dance session that Candice had roped him into, herself somehow completely unaffected by the strenuous exercise. Whilst the four were eating, and chatting, Chris’ attention was on Abbee and Dylan, who sat at the opposite end of the room. He had been debating with himself whether he should go over and apologise to Dylan. Whilst it wasn’t ideal, if he had to apologise to Dylan with Abbee there, he planned on doing it. However, every time he worked up the nerve to attempt to go over, another reason would come to mind.

”There’s still heaps of people, and if he takes it badly, everyone will see…”

”The music’s too loud, and I’ll have to yell for him to hear me…”

“He might just want to have a good night without me…”

He watched the pair from where he sat, torn…

“And the fact is, that we worked past it,” Abbee continued, surprising Dylan a little when she reached out and took his hand. “Everyone has a fight every now and then, or says something they regret. But it’s how they act after that, that really says it all…”

Whilst Abbee was saying this about the rough patches in her and Dylan’s friendship that summer, her mind was on her and Chris’ relationship, as well as Chris’ grudge with Dylan. She would have been okay with there being an issue, if after the fact Chris had been willing to resolve it and work past it, but so far, he hadn’t, and she didn’t think he would…

“And honestly, between when Dad died during our first summer, and now Chris and I breaking up, you’ve been such an amazing friend,” Abbee finished. “I’d have to be pretty self-centred to hold that incident against you, in light of how much you’ve had my back…”

From his table, Chris saw Abbee take Dylan’s hand, and couldn’t help but remember their near-death experience in Meteor Falls, the summer before. When they were trying to find a way out of the cave, and Chris told Abbee how he felt about her. And how she held his hand the same way.

After what felt like hours of looking towards Dylan with remorse, he felt a bitter feeling of jealousy rising up in him, and any desire he had to apologise to Dylan, fizzling out of existence.

“I’ve had to stop using Regice in the Gym,” Candice explained to those at her table. “Even though it’s a pure Ice Type and most trainers have Pokemon strong enough to beat it, I am winning too much-”

“I gotta get some air,” Chris said quickly, and without waiting for a reply, stood from his seat, and made his way towards the front door of the main building. The music seemed to grow unbearably loud, and the room claustrophobic, all the while, his anger, at Dylan, and at himself rising rapidly.

He got outside, and quickly turned a corner, before leaning back against the old brick building, breathing heavily. In his chest, he felt an ache, and a sick feeling in his stomach, as his hands clenched into fists.

“Why…” he muttered to himself, his voice breaking a little, though he knew the answer to that question. He stood outside, trying to find a reason to go back inside. Some way to convince himself to be okay with what he was seeing. However the more he tried, the more difficult it became.

“Chris…” called a familiar voice from the doorway to the building. Charlotte walked out, not seeing Chris anywhere in sight, before walking around the corner of the building, and seeing him standing alone.

Dylan and Abbee spoke quietly, though the conversation nowhere near as deep as it was. However, Abbee still held his hand, and Dylan wasn’t going to do anything to cause her to let it go. As they spoke, the song playing through the building ended, before the next one started to play, this one much slower and much more mellow. Unlike the dance music that had been playing before, this was a different type of dance music. After a few moments, Dylan recognized the song as one by a band called April Sunsets, remembering the conversation he had with Isabelle when he drove her home after Abbee had attempted to set him up with her.

“Let’s just say that if Forevermore isn’t the song played for the first dance at my wedding, the wedding isn’t happening,” Isabelle had said, when Dylan was surprised at her recognizing the band.

Dylan looked over at Abbee, and was surprised to see the music had captured her attention as well. At first he wondered if she knew the song too, however realised that wasn’t the case when she spoke.

“Come on, come dance with me…”

Dylan was surprised to hear Abbee say this. He wasn’t confident at all dancing, and tried to object.

“I’m about as uncoordinated as half a Spinda…” Dylan answered, earning a chuckle from Abbee, though she kept her gaze on him.

“Well lucky for you, it’s a slow song, and I think half a Spinda could pick it up,” Abbee replied, trying to reassure Dylan.

Dylan wanted to say yes. More than anything. Except…

“What about Chris?” Dylan asked. “I know you guys aren’t together, and he’s been acting like an a**hole lately. But I think him seeing this would just hurt him, and I’m not sure I want to do that…”

Abbee sighed for a moment, looking away from Dylan.

“You really are a great guy, thinking about Chris even after everything that’s happened…” Abbee said quietly, thinking over what Dylan had said, before seeming to come to a decision. She looked at Dylan. “But the fact is that it could have been Chris I was wanting to dance with tonight. And it’s because of him that he isn’t anymore. Heck, even though we’ve broken up, if he had been a bit more civil about it, and with you, and not acted out as much, I’d have happily still danced with him tonight…”

Dylan felt her grip on his hands tighten, as she continued.

“I’ve put so much time into making this a night to remember for everyone, and I’d like nothing more than to be able to look back on tonight, and remember that I got to dance with my best friend…” Abbee concluded. “It sounds like the first verse is already over. Are you going to deprive me of that?”

Whilst this was what Dylan wanted, more than anything, he had a bad feeling about it. However, seeing Abbee, and how beautiful she looked, he broke. Despite himself, he nodded, as Abbee stood, holding onto his hand, and leading him out onto the now somewhat emptier dancefloor.

Awkwardly finding a space, Dylan was surprised when Abbee let go of his hand, and draped both her arms over and around his shoulders, before gesturing for him to put his hands around her waist.

“Just follow my lead,” Abbee said, looking up at Dylan with a smile.

From where they sat, Justin wasn’t able to see Dylan and Abbee on the dancefloor, until he noticed Candice’s attention drawn to something behind him, a wistful smile gracing her face. He turned to see the pair of them, before looking back at Candice. Despite his muscles, and his shirt being uncomfortably damp with sweat from the work out Candice put him through, Justin spoke.

“You want to join them?” Justin asked. Candice looked at him slightly surprised.

“I thought you were dying after last time?” Candice asked. “Something about passing out?”

“Well if this is the last thing I do, I think I can go being content,” Justin said with a grin. Candice couldn’t hide the laugh.

“So smooth…”

Justin held out a hand to her, which she eagerly took, before joining Abbee and Dylan on the dancefloor.

Outside, Chris hadn’t been able to bring himself to make eye-contact with Charlotte, scared of what she would see. Nothing had been said so far, Charlotte knowing Chris well enough to know that he wouldn’t say what was on his mind until he wanted to.

“I know that I brought this on myself…” Chris said quietly. “Abbee breaking up with me, and going straight towards Dylan. I tried to tell her to ignore the things that worried her, because I wasn’t willing to budge. And I was a d**k to her best friend…”

Charlotte said nothing. It was big of Chris to admit this, to her of all people, and whilst she didn’t like seeing her friend and rival in such a broken, and self-pitying state, she didn’t want to risk him forgetting this by consoling him, and telling him it wasn’t true, when she knew that it was.

“I know that I brought this on myself…” Chris said again, his voice breaking under the strain of holding it all in. “So why does it hurt so much? Seeing her happy with another guy…”

Charlotte sighed, before moving over and standing against the wall Chris was leaning against, standing next to him.

“It hurts because you love her. You wouldn’t care otherwise…” Charlotte answered, Chris unaware she was speaking from her own experience. “And for longer than you’d like, it will still suck…”

Chris remained silent, though thankful for Charlotte’s honesty.

“But, if you’re willing to try, you’ll eventually find yourself okay with it. Happy for her, even,” Charlotte continued. “It’s just a matter of surviving until then…”

The only sound Charlotte could hear from Chris was the strained breathing, as he refused to let her see just how much he was hurting from what he saw.

“And I’ll have your back until then,” Charlotte said, surprising Chris a little. “If you want to call it a night, and watch a movie in the lodge or something, I’ll keep you company. Or if you want to go back in there, and try and have a good night, I will stick by you…”

“Really?” Chris asked, struggling even more to contain his emotions.

“Really…”

Chris cleared his throat, before taking deep breaths trying to compose himself.

“Let’s go back,” Chris said. “Honestly, I don’t want other people seeing them, and noticing me disappearing.”

“You don’t need to give two s**ts about what other people see or think,” Charlotte warned. “Do you actually want to go back in there?”

“I do…”

From the sidelines of the main hall, Jon and Alyssa sat on chairs off to the side, both watching those on the dancefloor, particularly the two pairs of dancers they were most invested in.

“I think they’re good for each other,” Alyssa said quietly to Jon, nodding towards Dylan and Abbee. “The sooner they both admit it, the better off they will be for it…”

“You’re right,” Jon said, though his tone betrayed his worries. Alyssa looked at him, prompting him to continue. “Their timing couldn’t have been much worse…”

Jon looked between the dancefloor, and the door outside, where a few minutes earlier, he had seen Chris leave in somewhat of a hurry, and Charlotte not far behind him. From where he sat, he saw Chris and Charlotte enter the room, side-by-side, Chris with a newfound determination, which Jon saw die in a moment, when Chris saw Dylan and Abbee slow dancing on the dancefloor. He saw Chris’ hands turn to fists, as Charlotte saw what he saw, a look of resignation crossing her face. Chris glared at the dancefloor, unbeknownst to those there, as Charlotte grabbed him by the wrist and took him outside.

“Should you go out there?” Alyssa asked, having seen the same thing, and realised what was going on.

“Not right now,” Jon answered. “He needs a minute…”

As they danced slowly, Dylan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the irony of the song that played. Abbee, who had been resting her head against his shoulder felt the movement and looked up, a questioning look.

“It’s ironic…” Dylan explained. “When I was giving Isabelle a lift home that night, she was telling me how she wants this song as the first dance when she gets married…”

“I still can’t believe she turned you down,” Abbee remarked. “Maybe she was pretty with a good sense of humour, at the expense of her brain…”

Dylan hesitated, before thinking ’screw it’ and telling Abbee.

“She didn’t turn me down,” Dylan said quietly. “I turned her down…”

Abbee looked up at Dylan in shock.

“You turned her down?!” she exclaimed, losing her timing for a moment, and stumbling. Dylan caught her, helping her regain her footing, before she continued the question. “Why?”

Before Dylan could answer, he felt the phone in his inner jacket pocket buzz, and whilst it was on silent, the length of the buzz was the one he recognized to be an email. He went silent, realising what this could mean. Abbee, who felt the buzzing through the physical contact she maintained with Dylan, having known he had contacted Brent, understood. As the song concluded, she released her grip on Dylan, as he reluctantly released his own.

“Go read it,” Abbee said, content to not know the answer to her question while Dylan was working through this situation. “Good luck…”

Dylan nodded, before leaving the dancefloor, and making his way towards the door outside. Jon, who had been looking at something on his phone, looked up a minute later to see Abbee by herself, talking to Candice and Justin, and Dylan nowhere to be seen.

“F**k…” Jon muttered, earning a look from Alyssa, as he stood from his seat.

Outside, Chris’ breaths were deep from rage, as Charlotte tried to reason with him.

“He’s probably been interfering however he can…” Chris ranted. “S**t, I remember last summer, I apologised to him because he seemed to have a problem with me, and I figured I did something wrong, but I’d bet anything he was angry that Abbee and I were close…”

“Chris, stop it,” Charlotte said. “Dylan wasn’t trying to get between you and Abbee!”

“How do you know that?!” Chris shouted at Charlotte, who felt her own temper rise.

“He turned her down the New Year’s Eve before,” Charlotte hissed, not wanting to make the same mistake Chris was making by letting everyone around hear this. “He turned her down, even though he liked her, because he was worried she might not have been in the best headspace for a relationship. He turned her down for her sake. So do you really think if he did that, he would hurt her by trying to break you two up, just to get with her himself?”

It wasn’t until the words left her mouth that Charlotte realised her own mistake. The kiss that Abbee and Dylan had shared the New Year’s Eve after their first summer was not her business to share, nor was the aftermath of that. Additionally, this had the reverse effect on Chris than she intended.

Chris and Abbee hadn’t been discreet about their relationship that summer, with practically all students knowing the two interns were dating. The reason he took it so badly when Abbee broke up with him was the thought that everyone at the Academy knew he had been dumped. And now, everyone seeing the girl who broke up with him, slow dancing with another guy, stung his pride even further. And to know that Abbee dated him, after being turned down by Dylan, who she now seemed closer to than anyone, shattered his pride, leaving him feeling like the second option, that was tossed aside when the first preference was viable…

Both trainers' attention was drawn to the door opening, and Dylan stepping out, phone in hand, furiously reading an email on his screen.

”Dylan,
Thank you for reaching out to me. If I am being honest, I saw you and your name on the news during the incident at the Whirl Islands, and wondered if you were related to Nicole. You seemed to be the right age, that if you were her son, I had a feeling you may have been mine. I’m sorry for not reaching out to you. I figured you were content with how things were, and a hunch wasn’t enough for me to justify uprooting that, or potentially being wrong and causing problems.

If you’re going to be in Sinnoh for this challenge, I would love to meet you and get to know you better, as well as introduce you to my family, if you’re comfortable with that. Please find my phone number and address enclosed, and call when you have a moment to talk further.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Brent Asht-”

Dylan had walked towards Chris and Charlotte, seeing in his peripheral vision that people were there, but not noticing who they were, and as he passed, felt something hit his hand, causing his phone to go flying out of it, into the grass on the side of the path he walked on.

“Chris!” Charlotte shouted angrily. “Stop it!”

Dylan looked at Chris, for a moment, feeling a rage burning, however quickly curbed it at Jon’s threat.

”This is your first and only warning. If this happens again, I have to let you go…”

Taking a deep breath, and not letting himself lose his cool, he looked at Chris, bearing down on him with his gaze.

“What?” Dylan asked, his tone telling Chris he was willing to talk, but not happy about it.

“Chris, drop it!” Charlotte repeated, walking over to Chris and grabbing his arm.

“You’ve always liked her, haven’t you? I bet it p**sed you off so much when her and I were together…” Chris said bitterly, not averting his gaze for a moment. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re half the reason she broke up with me…”

“What do you honestly think I did?” Dylan asked, his tone patronising. Chris glared at Dylan, knowing he had no answer, but refusing to back down. “Ask her yourself when you get your s**t together and she actually wants to talk to you. I didn’t say a bad f**king thing about you…”

His rage and shattered pride not curbed, Chris continued to glare at Dylan, as he added one more thing.

“Everything that went wrong between you and her, heck between you and everyone who you burnt bridges with here-”

“Dylan, stop, you’re not helping,” Charlotte pleaded, looking between the two of them.

“You brought it all on yourself…” Dylan condemned. “Swallow your f**king pride and move on…”

Chris was shaking in rage, as Dylan sidestepped past him, intentional to not bump him, as he picked up his phone to walk towards the lodge.

“Chris, leave it,” Charlotte said, walking to stand in his line of sight, and getting in his personal space. “Fighting with Dylan will just make things worse…”

Ignoring her, Chris turned on his feet, and started walking towards Dylan, rolling up his sleeves, and curling his hands into fists.

“Chris!”

It wasn’t Charlotte who called out his name, though where she had placed herself stopped Chris from seeing him walk out of the hall. Jon. Chris slowed to a stop, before looking over his shoulder to see Jon making his way over from the doorway. Ahead of them, Dylan had blended into the dark of the night. Jon reached Charlotte, before putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Go wait inside,” Jon said. “Try and have a good night.”

“But-” Charlotte tried to protest looking between Jon and Chris.

“Go…”

Charlotte knew that Jon wasn’t going to relent, before giving Chris a meaningful look, telling him to let it go, before making her way back into the hall. Jon made his way to Chris, putting his hand on Chris’ shoulder, which Chris quickly shrugged off.

“We need to talk.”

“I’m sick of talking,” Chris snapped angrily, however Jon pounced on him.

“No, you don’t get a say in this,” Jon returned, raising his voice. “Dylan gave you a black eye last week, and you were about to go and pick a fight with him again.”

“He sucker-punched me like a f**king coward!” Chris shouted.

“And he was reprimanded for it,” Jon answered. “He not only had to cover half your work as punishment, but is now effectively on probation. I told him if it happens again, he’s gone. And now I’m giving you the same warning-”

“I didn’t even touch him!” Chris shouted.

“No, but you’ve gone out of your way to pick fights with him. He might have hit you first last week, but you picked the fight. Twice in two weeks, and if I hadn’t have come out, I know you would have gone and hit him,” Jon said. Chris attempted to argue, but Jon didn’t give him the opportunity. “Don’t bulls**t me! You weren’t going there to apologise to him just then. You were going to hit him! And if nothing changes, it will just happen again!”

Chris couldn’t make eye-contact with Jon hearing that, knowing it was true.

“Chris, you can’t control what other people do, that’s just a sad fact of life, believe me…” Jon said, his voice quieter, but still stern. “You can control how you react to it, and that can make a hell of a difference to the way things play out…”

Chris felt the familiar feeling of knowing Jon was right, but not being able to bring himself to admit that. To admit he was such a mess…

“Of course you side with him…” Chris muttered, causing Jon to raise an eyebrow.

“What?” Jon asked, visibly confused.

“Of course you side with him!” Chris shouted. “You don’t have to be a f**king genius to see he is your favourite!”

“I don’t have favourites, Chris,” Jon replied irritably. “I’d be tearing into him just as hard if the roles were reversed. F**k, last week, you picked a fight with him, and he hit you. Who did I punish out of the pair of you?”

Chris didn’t reply, as Jon continued.

“The fact is that all of you, Charlotte, Abbee and Justin included, all need different things from me. Dylan had spent most of his life living with someone who wasn’t even his family, that would get drunk and hit him. So I let him live here, and tried to give him the healthy family dynamic he missed out on, because that’s what he needs from me…” Jon continued. “You on the other hand, need to be told this, and need it to be made unmistakably clear, so there is no misunderstanding. Swallow your damn pride, and stop blaming everyone else for your problems. Otherwise, they’ll just grow, and grow, and you’ll find yourself dealing with them alone…”

Jon was shocked when Chris snorted in derision at his words. He felt his own temper flaring, as Chris answered him, a bitter venom in his words.

“I don’t need a f**king thing from you! You’re a battler who was lucky enough to win a big final against a reformed cheater who didn’t know what she was doing, and spend the prize money on his own school! You’re not a life coach! You’re just as f**ked up as the rest of us!” Chris said angrily. “And after this challenge in Jubilife, I’m done. Find some other idiot to help run this place…”

Jon was shocked into silence by the ferocity of Chris’ words, feeling as if he were face to face with Lance, back on the S.S. Wishmaker. Chris turned to go back towards the lodge, and once Jon found himself able to think clearly, he sent Dylan a message.

”Keep clear of Chris. He isn’t in a good way…”