Astra leaned against the rail at the prow of Mr. Briney's ship. The wind ruffled her dress, while the dimming sun cast an eerie reddish-purple iridescence to the gently sloshing waters down below. True to Briney's word, the trip had only lasted for about half an hour; the lack of any screaming icy islands in this direction allowed him to speed across the sea much faster than when they'd started from his cottage.

  Astra checked her PokeNav, sighing when it showed them rapidly nearing her best guess for the stretch of shore closest to the village. She'd had a moment of panic when she wondered whether the device could see her home, but thankfully the map only showed massive swathes of grey squares when she tried to peer into the forest properly.

  Only a few minutes left, now. She wondered what to say when she returned; how to impress upon them the true extent of humanity's domination, how to best address their distant, dwindling cousins in the Granite Caves, how humanity itself had aberrants capable of using Psychic power. Would they even believe her? She didn't know why they wouldn't, but the thought ate away at her. If nothing else, she could not just let the Abra colony rot away down there any longer.

  Shaking her head to dismiss the dark thoughts, Astra stowed the device away and went over to the cabin, arms folded to ward off the slight chill now in the air. "Thank you again, Mr. Briney," she said, poking her head in as the captain looked over at her, a faint smile lifting his face.

  "It's the least I can do after you saved Peeko," he replied, and the Wingull cooed softly from his nest in the corner. "Just don't go askin' for this sort of thing too often, especially at this hour. Any later and I couldn't've justified it, no matter how grateful I am."

  "I won't," Astra promised.

  Mr. Briney hesitated, eyeing the steadily dimming waters ahead.

  "Nearly there now, I assume," he grunted. "Any chance I could hassle you for an explanation before you go? I know you said you were comin' back on your lonesome, but...all this has me a mite worried."

  "Not much to say." Astra sighed, looking down. "I just...had a bad day. The world isn't what I thought it was, and...I just really need to see something familiar right now."

  "Ah," Briney said, nodding. "And your friends...?"

  Astra looked at him for a moment. She raised a hand, and a pinprick of purple light appeared on her finger. Mr. Briney blinked at it in curiosity and...that was it. Merely a somewhat rare novelty; something to be examined on its own merits rather than scorned or admired intrinsically. Astra could appreciate that.

  "An hour ago, they didn't know I could do this," she explained. The light flickered, then vanished. "Now they do."

  Mr. Briney waited a moment, then his face hardened. "Aye?" he asked, slowly. "And are they going to be havin' some problems now?"

  "No, no." Astra reassured. "But...thank you. It's me, really. I just...need to readjust. And I can't do it in Dewford."

  He nodded. "Understandable. We all have our ways of livin' in the world and dealin' with what it throws at us. If I can help you with yours, then I'd be happy to. That said, if I'm recallin' that map right, I think you'd be headin' out somewhere around here?" His expression reversed itself into a frown as he brought the ship to a halt, peering out at the endless array of stone spires. And then beyond, to the untouched beach that the stones were blocking off—as though they were spears raised up to guard the stretch of rough sand. "As much as this part of the coast is different from any other spire-ridden stretch of sea in any case."

  "This will be fine," Astra said, looking out at the mainland. If she had cross-referenced her trips to both Petalburg and Littleroot compared to the Village correctly, she'd be close enough to find a patrolling Kirlia fairly quick at the very least. "I can make my way from here."

  "You'll be teleporting across, then?" Mr. Briney asked. "Haven't known many who could do that, not that I've known many with your talents at all."

  "Yeah," Astra confirmed. She peered at him curiously. "Though, before I go, can I just ask: what gave me away? You didn't seem surprised at any of...this." She re-lit the Psychic light, twirling it in the air for effect.

  "Winter's Eye," Briney answered simply. "To most everyone, myself included, it's just harsh, howling gales. To psychics...well, they don't take it too well, as you found out."

  Huh. Well, at least it wasn't something she did. Sighing, Astra turned away—then paused. Looking back at Captain Briney, she saluted him the same way Brendan had done earlier this same day.

  "Permission to depart, Captain?" she asked, grinning cheekily.

  The captain chuckled, eyes wrinkling with mirth. "Permission granted, Cadet Astra," he said, returning her salute. "Enjoy your shore leave. Take care."

  "You too," Astra said. She looked toward the mainland, flared her power for effect, and vanished with a burst of purple energy and a loud pop.

  Appearing at the base of a tree, Astra sighed in relief. A green sea mirrored the blue one behind her, and she looked up at the canopy ahead with anticipation. A brief turn back for one last wave to the ship—which was already departing—and then the Kirlia took a single step and was all at once engulfed by the forests of her home.

  The sound of the ocean slowly started to fade as she walked, replaced by the faint buzz of insect life filtering through the dimming foliage. The forests ahead darkened as the sun's rays continued to fade, the shadows growing with each second. Astra brushed her hand against the bark of a tree, heard a twig snap under her shoe, and...stopped.

  She was alone.

  Slowly, Astra reached up, and removed the sunhat she'd kept atop her head all this time. She looked at the hands holding them, hidden within elongated sleeves, and pulled them up to reveal her five-fingered mirage. With a thought the illusion faded, and now only two fingers and a thumb gripped her hat. One reached up and felt at her freed scalp, brushing against her exposed horns almost tenderly.

  Looking down, she saw her shoe atop a broken stick, held on the end of her leg with a constantly maintained shred of telekinesis, aided by adhesives and with some paper balls and ill-fitting socks to act as filler. She lifted her leg and gently tugged the footwear free, then did the same with the other. Abraded against harsh concrete and then swaddled in cloth for so long, the feeling of dirt and grass underfoot was welcomed as an old friend.

  Then, at long last, her final illusion fell away. Astra saw the annoying spike of white in the corners of her vision vanish, and she knew now that her face was exposed to the world once more. She felt at the large bang of hair in the middle of her face, and couldn't have stopped the massive smile that crossed her face even if she wanted to.

  She was free.

  Giggling, Astra pulled out the hextet of pokeballs from her sash, twirling them through the air. They danced to an invisible tune, circling around her form before she finally tossed them all away, watching them arc through the sky. They all opened at once, a half-dozen electronic whines resounding through the quiet.

  Grovyle stood up, stretching out his arms as he reveled in his healed form. Beside him, Marill and Slakoth cried out in irritation and relief, their extended captivity leaving them restless and hungry. Nincada buzzed in dismay, running his claws over where Brawly's Pokemon had struck him down and lost Astra the match. Swablu circled over them all, chirping out in the sheer joy of freedom.

  Next to them all, the freshly added Aron also chirped in pure excitement, her wide gaze drinking in the foreign greenery as deeply as a nearly air-drowned Magikarp. Five sets of eyes landed on her at the metallic exclamation, and the Iron Pokemon soon found herself surrounded by curious teammates, each welcoming their new partner in their own way: Grovyle with a welcoming nod; Slakoth with a lazy wave; Nincada with a circuitous inspection of her form which finished with a contemplative buzz; Marill with an excited, demanding chatter right up in Aron's face; and Swablu had perched on Aron's back, giving her steel shell a cheerful brushing with her wings. Poor Aron seemed overwhelmed by the sudden attention, frozen stiff and staring at Astra plaintively.

  The Kirlia just laughed, brushing a tear from her eye. Many more threatened to spill, but it wasn't the time for that.

  "Alright team, listen up!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. Aron was saved from her startlingly large acquisition of friends as they all turned to Astra. She smiled at them, warmth and sorrow coloring her tone. "First off: I'm sorry."

  Confusion washed over her, exuded from the team. Grovyle's gaze sharpened, the frond on his scalp rustling expectantly. Astra nodded at him.

  "I had a really awful day today, and at no point did I treat any of you right," she said, bowing her head. "I challenged Brawly despite being near the point of collapse, and ignored the concern of those around me—especially you, Grovyle. I lost and left you, Swablu, and Nincada injured and unconscious all day, ignoring opportunities to heal you. Marill and Slakoth, I left you stuck in your pokeballs since breakfast, running through lunch and dinner without letting you eat, fight, or do anything at all. Aron...I'm happy you're here."

  Aron chirped.

  "Right. Moving on," Astra continued, drawing herself up. "Due to way too many discoveries and incidents, I've decided to take a break from challenging the gym to go back home. So to make it up to you, everybody gets to run wild for the next three days!"

  Grovyle nodded back, smiling at her as Marill and Swablu erupted into excited chatter. Even Nincada was buzzing pleasantly. Slakoth raised a claw, pointing a finger skywards.

  "Slaa...?"

  Astra blinked. "Oh, uh, three days plus tonight."

  His claw lowered slightly. "Koth?"

  She sighed. "Yes, my home village will have lots of food."

  Everyone perked up at that, a chorus of hunger ringing through the air.

  Astra grinned, raising a hand. "Ah, but first we have to get there, and we can't do that just standing around! Come on," she urged, waving her team forward as she gracefully broke into a dead run. "First one there gets the first bowl of Magikarp stew!"

  A series of cries answered her call, and Astra bounded into the forest with wild abandon. A swish of white wings circled overhead, Swablu letting out a warbling cry through the shadowy woods. To her left, Nincada scuttled forward with focused precision, darting across logs and divots with nary a missed step. Marill bounced along to her right, wildly rolling through the underbrush at great speeds until a spinout or tree crash lost her any advantage she'd gotten. Behind her, Astra could hear Aron charging through the path they'd made, the Steel Pokemon building up a fearsome momentum.

  Something darted through the canopy above, and for a brief moment she could spot Grovyle in the starlight, smirking down at her even as Slakoth clung onto his back.

  Astra just laughed. She just knew they'd pull off some dumb stunt like that!

  She laughed and laughed, running wild and free. Laughing even as her legs burned white-hot. Even as an unexpectedly familiar presence appeared within her range.

  Of course it would be him. Who else could it have been? The world moved in strange ways, but sometimes it felt a bit predictable. She grinned, and reached out.

  Ping.

  Pong.

  "Hey," Astra said, slowing to a halt and gasping for air. Her team gathered around her, hopping down from the trees—or, in Marill's case, smashing face-first into one to stop. "I could use some help, here."

  "Huh!?" they exclaimed incredulously, though they were already approaching at a far greater speed than Astra had been travelling. "What are you doing out here so late? The Borderlands are dangerous even in broad daylight!

  "Seriously," he continued as the glow of a lantern appeared through the brush and rapidly approached. "Are you asking for a Poochyena pack to make you their—"

  A Kirlia appeared from within the tall grass. One hand held a well-maintained spear of polished wood and sharp steel with great familiarity, easily brushing aside the stalks in his way. The other brandished a candle-lit lantern, shining a dim, flickering radiance across the clearing. He stepped through the grass and met Astra's gaze. He stopped, mouth dropping open in pure shock as he registered her appearance, eyes widening further and further as he looked at her myriad companions in turn.

  "—dinner?" he finished on pure reflex, openly gaping at her. Astra grinned weakly.

  "Hey," she said, giving a small wave to the Guard who had let her gather berries from the human roads for a cut that fateful day, and who had escorted her to Birch's lab. "It's me. I'm back. Sorry to disappoint you, but..."

  She shrugged, her fragile grin never leaving her face. "I'm going to need you to walk me home again after all. I wouldn't mind some dinner either," she added, huffing in amusement.

  The Guard boggled at her.

  "You're alive?!"

  Ah. Hm.

  That wasn't good.

  While Astra was ecstatic to finally be in contact with a familiar face, she wasn't quite up to a full-on conversation just yet. That didn't stop the Guard from trying, of course, though she'd managed to get him to lead her and her team back home during his attempts. But when the Guard began to run dry of his barrage of simple questions—

  Yes, she was alive. Yes, this was her team, no they wouldn't bite. Yes, even Nincada. She was indeed aware that other Nincada are pests. No, the humans weren't coming, the plan was still on, and she hadn't been exposed. Kind of. What did she mean by kind of? It's complicated but isn't an issue.

  —Astra had brushed past the more complicated questions to ask one of her own. Namely, why had he thought that she was dead?

  "About ten days ago there was a massive surge of power to the north-west," the Guard explained, watching Swablu playfully zip around Aron with obvious fascination. "It felt....angry. As if the whole world had earned the scorn of the stars. My elder said it was like back when the Alpha Mightyena was defeated. She thought that it had meant you'd failed and had to resort to emergency measures—that you were going to come back soon. But as the days dragged on..."

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  Astra's fists clenched, and she turned her gaze skyward, watching the brilliant star cloud overhead as the dusk brought it into view. Was there anywhere in Hoenn that had been spared the effects of her mistake? She sighed.

  "Well, I'm still here," she said, lamely.

  "Looking better than ever, I might add!" the Guard exclaimed, grinning at her. "I don't know what kind of crazy vanity craft you're wearing, but it's incredible! Congratulations on evolving. I didn't know you were so close. It's only been a dozen days, hasn't it?"

  "Two weeks," Astra replied, blinking. Had it really only been that long? So much had happened; it felt like a lifetime had passed. "And...thank you."

  "Week?"

  Astra stared at the Guard, who looked back at her in genuine confusion. Oh. Right. Hm. She didn't need future sight to see that she was going to be gaining some newfound empathy for May soon.

  "Human term for a group of seven days," she said, ducking under a partially fallen branch. The Guard made a face.

  "Why seven?" he asked, baffled. "That's such an awkward number to group. Why not six? Or ten?"

  "I know, right!?" Astra exclaimed, throwing her hands up. Finally, someone to complain with! "Don't even get me started on months!"

  "Heh. You must have seen a lot out there. So much so that...I didn't recognize your voice, you know," he observed, to Astra's surprise. "Becoming a Kirlia shifts it a little, sure, but...the human world must be something else for you to change so much."

  Astra blinked. Her voice...? She couldn't quite tell by herself—had the tone of her soul shifted to match the experiences she'd lived? She could imagine it a little deeper, perhaps. Richer. Weary, darkened by the stain in the sky and the sorrow beneath the earth.

  She wondered what she'd sound like at the end of all this.

  "Humanity is more complicated than you could possibly imagine," Astra responded, perking up as more signals started peppering themselves into her awareness. They'd reached the outskirts, inhabited by Kirlia who preferred a more isolated lifestyle away from the concentrated gatherings further in.

  The outskirts didn't usually have massive, spiky wooden barricades separating them from the forest, though. Astra stared at them as they drew near. Had the village expanded the walls all the way out here? She turned to the Guard, prodding him to explain.

  "Hey, if the humans wanna come take a swing at us, we gotta make them work for it, yeah?" he said, grinning at her. "We're still working on them, but I'd like to see a Mightyena try to get through that!"

  Astra looked at the walls again. Imagined the Exploud from Rusturf screaming full-bore and pulverizing the wood through sound alone. Wondered how much more powerful he would have been if he'd been trained by a human. Considered that a trainer wouldn't simply just have one strong Pokemon—nor would there be only a single trainer.

  She thought about metal tubes and fire in the sky, flitting across the air faster than she could blink.

  "I'm sure it would be a spectacle," Astra flatly replied, blinking. There were a couple of villagers loitering around inside, either running last minute errands or simply enjoying the twilight. One Kirlia was standing watch at the entrance itself and was openly gaping at her. Behind him, a growing susurrus began to emerge from the sparse crowd, questions and remarks of astonishment floating through the air, which only grew in fervor as Astra's Pokemon came into view.

  She stopped, the Guard coming to a halt a moment later.

  "Eh?" he asked, frowning at her. "What's up? Oh, uh, nerves getting to you?" he checked, glancing at the crowd.

  "No," Astra said, turning to face him. "I just don't have the time to do a whole procession through the village. I know where I am now; I can teleport back from here."

  "Oh," the Guard said, a hint of disappointment creeping through the simple acknowledgement. "Right. I guess I'll see you around, then?"

  "I still need you to do something for me," Astra said, looking at him. He perked up, focusing intently on her. "I can't take my friends with me. Can you bring them to the central plaza and get them something to eat?"

  He blinked, looking back at the gathered menagerie, all of whom were looking right back at him. "I have no sparking idea how I'm gonna explain that, but sure," he said after a moment.

  "You hear that?" Astra asked, turning back to her team. "He's going to help you get some food. I have to go somewhere; so you all behave yourselves, alright?"

  Grovyle gave her a firm nod as the others chirped and chittered their assent. "Gro, vyle vy."

  Astra smiled. "I'm counting on you," she said, returning Grovyle's nod. Then she turned back to the Guard. "One last thing, after you do that."

  The Guard sighed. "Alright, lay it on me," he said, rolling his shoulders. "One sodden ember of a night, I tell you."

  "I need you to gather every single Elder together at...the main plaza? I don't know. It's an emergency."

  He stared at her. "What?"

  "Can you do that?" Astra asked again. The Guard blinked.

  "No, no, well, I mean, yeah I can, but..." he stumbled, trying to reorient himself. "Night's basically fallen already! And if it's an emergency, why weren't we rushing? What's happening?"

  Astra just looked at him, staring straight into his eyes. She raised a hand and waved.

  To her side, an illusion formed. A Kadabra, old, withered, and so very tired, joined them. The Guard gaped at Echo's visage, spear dropping from suddenly lax hands. The din of the crowd beyond the gate grew drastically.

  "We aren't alone," Astra said. Echo disappeared. She nodded at the gobsmacked Guard, smiled at her Pokemon, and then turned away. With a pop of displaced air, she vanished from the outskirts.

  She reappeared with a thunderous crack atop the stage she'd occupied those two weeks ago, facing down the whole of the village as the plan was unfurled to all. Now all that unfurled was a growing wave of silence as Astra beheld a throng of her people flowing through the colossal plaza that occupied the heart of her home. She could have teleported directly to her grandpa's cave, but...that wasn't how she wanted to go home.

  Astra watched the nearby Kirlia below jump in shock at her appearance, saw their faces flash through confusion, curiosity, realization, then...disbelief. The reactions rippled out, a growing wall of silence spreading as every stupefied person alerted those next to them of the irregularity. Butchers and tanners rushing to finish the last of the day's toil dropped their products to the ground; wood carvers and grass-weavers halted their projects; wax-splattered candlemakers and dust-ridden stone carvers froze in shock, deliveries hanging limply from their hands.

  There couldn't have been more than fifty; the gloom of night was hardly prone to the great crowds of day. Yet their eyes weighed heavily on Astra, them staring at her as she stared right back. Idly, she wondered what it was that had so readily reminded them of who she was.

  It was probably the dress, she decided. No vanity project in the whole of the village would look anything remotely like the human clothing she had donned, be that in design or sheer size.

  A ping drew her attention, and she turned to see an Elder standing next to her. Not Grandpa, unfortunately, but she recognized him as one of his friends that he brought over on occasion, the one he played the black and white stones game with.

  "You've returned." the Elder said, eyeing her with surprise and concern. "We'd thought..."

  "That I was dead," Astra finished. She glanced at their audience, who were listening to their every word in rapt silence. "I heard. I'm not."

  "So I see." He flashed a wry grin, which fell into a grim line. "Does this mean the plan has failed? How much time do we—"

  "It hasn't," Astra interrupted, and the Elder blinked. "There's just been...some heavy complications. We do have an emergency, though. I already sent a guard out to contact the other Elders; you should do the same. Rouse the village; we've got some distant family in critical danger out there."

  The Elder's eyes widened, then his brows scrunched together in confusion. "Distant family...?" he muttered, puzzling through her words. He shook his head. "If it was important enough for you to return and demand me to disturb the peace at twilight's edge, I will concede to your urgency. What should I tell them? And what will you do?" he continued, looking at her questioningly.

  "Tell them what I've just told you. Do whatever you have to to get them here—we need everyone. Tell them..." she hesitated, then looked at her fellow Kirlia, her eyes intense as a shrieking thunderstorm.

  "Tell them that if we do nothing, then a quarter of a thousand hatchlings will die."

  Another silence, the dim susurrus of burning curiosity deadened with horror. The Elder jerked back, reeling as if struck.

  "I..." he started, faintly. Then he closed his eyes, breath shuddering in his lungs. "I see," he said, his voice small. "It will be done."

  "As for me..." Astra paused, continuing to stare at the Elder intently. "Where is he?"

  Silence once more.

  "Home," he answered at last. A faint smile broke through the horror, brittle and brilliant. "I am happy that you are well."

  Astra nodded at the Elder, who then vanished with a pop. She looked around the stage once more, to the deadened crowd watching her every move, then walked to the stairs and left the plaza in silence. There was someone she had to go see before she could allow herself to fall apart.

  Her home was not too far from the plaza, the hill being placed only a few minutes walk from both the clearing and the gate closest to Route 102. The village was relatively quiet at this hour; most had finished their tasks or chores for the day and had left the streets to those who preferred to gaze upon the moon and stars. She walked under the starlit boughs, the comfortably soft dirt pathways growing ever more familiar even as those Ralts and Kirlia who waked at night parted like grass before her.

  Stares and whispers followed in her wake as she denied all pings, her thoughts hollowing out even as a knot in her very soul twitched and juddered as she went. She passed by a still-lit bonfire, a roasting Magikarp nearly falling into the fire as the Kirlia holding it gaped at her, much to their Ralts' vocal protest. She saw the gate in the distance, now grown into a giant thorny fortification meant to dissuade a dozen Mightyena. A bridge passed underfoot, the river's comforting burble following Astra as she went.

  At last, at the end of a well-trodden dirt path, was a jarringly steep rock hill topped with grass. Smoke poured out of the chimney atop the rock, and inset into the stone at the end of the path was a simple entrance blocked by hanging vines. He never had gotten around to getting a door.

  Astra stared at the vines. She reached out, slowly, shakily. Grasped a handful, then pushed them aside.

  Cool air brushed past her as it was sucked in, and she could see the light of the central fire playing out along the furthest edge of the entryway. She walked inside, each step taken as though the floor would give out at any second and leave her falling and falling and—

  A ping so familiar that she could never refuse it.

  "Who's there?" a voice called. Aged. Scratched. Heavy. Laden with sorrow immeasurable.

  So tired that Astra could weep.

  She walked forward and turned the corner.

  Resin candles lay half-melted and unlit along the edges of the main cavern, the richly painted walls obscured by dancing shadows. Stone tables and chairs lined the walls, the tools and pots atop them scattered in senseless clutter. The alcoves in the walls, stuffed with keepsakes and personal treasures, were doused in darkness, invisible to the eye without the sun or candlelight.

  The pit in the center of the room was alight, flames licking the metallic pot resting on the stone platform above. The smell of Magikarp and Oran stew tickled her nose, savory and sweet.

  A Kirlia sat before the fire, back to the entrance and hunched over. Through the shadows Astra could make out the wrinkles in his coat and the fading green of his hair. At her continued silence, he grunted and spoke again.

  "Is that you, Elder?" he asked, referring to the Kirlia Astra had spoken to at the stage. Did he not recognize her presence anymore? Had he even checked at all? "I have already told you, I am fine, and there is nothing to grieve. I am in no mood to play Encirclement," he said, groaning as he stood up. He growled, voice toned with stubborn belief. "Your time would be better spent telling those fools that Astra would never —"

  He turned around.

  Their eyes met.

  Astra saw her grandfather pause, confused. Then his breath caught, his eyes darting to her dress, her backpack, her horns. He stood there, staring at her in dawning realization and desperate, burning hope.

  "Astra—?" he asked, then stopped.

  She had already crossed the distance between syllables and, before he could say another word, pulled her grandfather into the biggest, most desperate embrace of her life.

  She stood there, hugging him, feeling his gasp of surprise, then the feeling of his arms wrapping around her as tightly as they could, holding on despite the tremors rocking her form.

  "You're back," Grampa whispered.

  "I'm back," Astra giggled back, sniffing.

  "I knew you would be," he murmured into her shoulder. Not the top of her head. Never again would she feel that particular sensation. "You've gotten taller," he noted.

  Laughter ripped itself from her throat, a touch of hysteria coloring the sound.

  "Sorry you couldn't be there," she gasped, drinking in the sound of his voice, the warmth of his breath, the smell of his hair.

  "It is alright," her grandfather continued, stroking her back. "All that matters is that you've come back to me.

  "Welcome home."

  Astra broke. A keening wail erupted from her mouth, tears falling like rain as a decade's worth of stress and terror, compressed into two weeks, at last escaped into the world. She fell to her knees, pulling her grandfather with her, as she screamed in absolute safety at long last. The first true respite she had known for a long, long time.

  They sat there, her grandfather whispering sweet reassurances as she sobbed.

  Both in stress, and in joy.

  Astra was home.

  Take comfort with those you care about in the coming days.

  The times are hard, but stay determined. Take what means you must to keep it together and improve your lot. Others will not do it for you.

  Thanks as usual to my editors Fuzzy, Cat, Slain, and Irony. , .

  Not the big honker I had envisioned, but perhaps I should stick to shorter stuff.

  Next time, some explanations and plotting.

  See you later, and tell me what you think!