Armand woke up to a worried sounding voice. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes he turned to see Aviana whispering into a walkie-talkie, a frown on her face. Silently getting out of his sleeping bag, he made his way towards her, Dustox following him.

"...and she was there, Kaia," Aviana was saying, a shaking hand over her mouth. "She...she was so close to me and I...I just froze. I didn't know what to do, and thankfully Treyton stepped in for me. I hoped that I never had to see her again, but when she showed up...everything came flooding back to me..." She let out a choked sob and tears began to roll down her face. "Kaia, I...I just can't live here anymore."

"I know, Aviana," another voice was heard from the walkie-talkie. "I promise you that once that boy is back home, all of us will leave. We will find a way to leave without the Elite Four finding out. Oriana is already looking for one, and if Damon can disappear from Pandora for three years, then we can leave too. Stay strong, my Beautifly."

Aviana let out a small chuckle at this. "I will, my Altaria."

Aviana sighed and put her walkie-talkie away, wiping her eyes.

"'My Altaria'?"

She jumped and turned, but relaxed when she saw Armand standing there.

"I take it you heard us then?" she gave him a small smile.

"Just near the end," Armand replied before walking away from the camp and sitting on the ground. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Aviana hesitantly nodded and joined him, Swanna settling itself in her lap.

"Back when I was fourteen, Trinity and I were best friends," Aviana began, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "We always trained together and we had the same goal as well; to be part of the Elite Four. Through the years we became closer, and even began dating. However, when we were both twenty-three, the current Champion of the region passed away mysteriously, and Pandora soon took charge as the final Elite Four member. She fired the past Elite Four members and took on three more; Weylyn, Sena, and Trinity. At first, I was thrilled for Trinity that she managed to achieve her dream, while I was stuck on gym leader duty, but something changed. The Elite Four became more power-hungry, and soon the entire region was under their control. What they said went, and no one could have dreams anymore. At the beginning of this, word was soon out that Pandora's younger brother, Damon, had vanished. A search was sent out to look for him, but after a year they gave up. During that year, whenever I would see Trinity, I noticed that she had completely changed. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer anymore, and she treated me like...like garbage. Made me question my self-worth." She felt tears form in her eyes and she let them fall. "Luckily, Treyton and Kaia found out what was happening and saved me from her. If they weren't there, I don't know what would have happened to me. I cut off all ties with Trinity and the Elite Four and switched to communicating through a walkie-talkie so she wouldn't be able to track me." She sighed and a small smile formed on her face. "It took me another year to trust again, but when I was able to, I began dating Kaia. That's why I call her 'my Altaria'."

"I-I don't know what to say to that," Armand honestly replied. "I'm really sorry that you had to go through all of that, and I hope that Salma and I can do something about the Elite Four."

Aviana gave a defeated laugh. "It would just be easier to send you, Salma, and Carnol back home. Us gym leaders will find a way out of here."

Armand gave no answer and the two of them sat in silence until Aviana stretched and stood.

"Let's head back to camp," she said, holding a hand out. "I bet Treyton and Salma are already awake."

Armand took the hand, stood, and followed her back to their camp. Just as she had thought, Treyton and Salma were already awake and looking at the map. Treyton drew something with a red marker while speaking and Salma nodded.

"What's going on?" Armand asked as he and Aviana joined them.

"I'm just drawing the way to Sraxa Town on here," Treyton replied as he rolled up the map and gave it back to Salma. "The gym leader Oriana already knows you're coming, as well as her sister Calla."

"You told them about us? Why?"

"I trust them, they're my cousins."

"Makes sense to me," Salma stated with a shrug. "Come on, Armand, let's get going. The sooner we get to Sraxa Town, the better."

After packing up and waving goodbye to Treyton and Aviana, Salma and Armand headed off through Somern Forest.

"So, where were you and Aviana this morning?" Salma asked. "We didn't see you when we woke up."

"I woke up to her talking to someone through a walkie-talkie," Armand replied. "She seemed upset, so I just consoled her."

"Wow, look at you being nice for once."

Armand just sent a glare her way before walking faster.

"Armand, wait! I was just kidding!"

***

A woman with purple-greyish hair and purple eyes entered the common room in the League building, a Jellicent by her side.

Trinity looked up from the book she was reading and greeted the woman.

"Pandora, what a surprise," she greeted sourly. "Why are you in here?"

"I take it the search for the missing Ionian boy didn't go well?" Pandora asked as she sat down at the same table. "You seem to be in a miserable mood."

"Not only did I not find him, but I also found Aviana down there," Trinity replied as she closed her book with a huff. "She was with Treyton, ugh, and they both seemed to be lying to me about something." She huffed again. "Even with all of this power, I can't get her back. I also heard from Sena that Aviana's now dating that bug gym leader."

"She was probably too scared of you," Pandora smiled. "Honestly, who needs her, or any of the gym leaders? We are always stronger on our own."

"Do you think I was using my strength and position as an Elite Four member to make her do things she didn't want to do?"

"Now, really? Who wouldn't want someone to tell them what to do every day?"

"Hm...I guess you're right about that. She's missing out."

"Anyways, I came in here to give you information. Sena said that her brother is hiding something from her, but she can't get him to talk. And from your report, I can see that it's the same for you."

"What are we going to do then?"

Pandora gave her a smirk.

"Why, bring them in for questioning, of course."

***

"Damon? What are you doing?"

Damon turned to face Carnol who was looking at him strangely.

"The gym leaders in this region use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other," he replied before going back to what he was working on. "I guess they're scared of the Elite Four as well. I'm working on something to intercept their walkie-talkies so I can gather more information on everything."

"Do you need my help?" Carnol asked. "Whenever there was something wrong with any piece of technology, I would always help out my dad or Xenala with it." A look of sadness crossed his face before he joined Damon's side.

"Well, that's helpful," Damon smiled. "Yes, you can help. And hopefully, this will lead us to some good news."

"You know, you never did tell me why you ended up living here," Carnol began, hopeful at starting a conversation.

"Because you don't need to know, and never will," he replied. "Eventually, you'll be home and I'll be here, and we'll go our separate ways. It's easier this way."

"Why don't you just come back to Iona with me?"

Damon stopped and looked at Carnol.

"What?"

"I think it would be better if you just come back to Iona with me, so you don't have to live out in the woods anymore," Carnol explained.

"I can't just leave my home," Damon answered, turning his attention back to his work. "Yes, it's shitty here, but I want to do my best and get us back to the way we once were."

Carnol didn't reply to that and they both continued to work in silence.