Locke glowered out at the open sea with one eye. The ice pack was unpleasantly cold against his skin, still tender from where the devolution had connected with his blackened eye.

Another apology flashed in their mind, followed the by the soft clink of something dropping in the pile beside them.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

It looked like he was the only one standing between Katherine Fairburne and yet another crown. As a man of the proletariat, a little royal upheaval seemed well in order!

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke took the water with a gracious nod-he'll be needing it after this conversation.

"So you remember how those white-haired guys showed up in Mossdeep and started attacking a bunch of avatars? And how for some reason they fired at me too?" he started, wiping his hands free of dirt before cracking open the plastic top. "Well I sorta ran into them again-or I guess again again, after thing at the Liliycove museum. Did you see whatever report they made about that?"

Or would that be another story for today?

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Maybe there would be some kind of pity award for tenacity...

No, no, no-None of that negativity!

Fifteen was a good number-a perfect number even! Surely, this would be the one!

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke floated on his back, staring up at the clouds as he took a break from all the swimming. His luck may have been poor, but he could still enjoy the nice summer day. The sky was so clear it made them wondered if the dome was blocking out the clouds as well.

Hm? For a moment, it looked there was something above-

smack

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

As expected, he ended up walking to the back of the line again. But now that there was a stranger in the seat, there was nothing to distract him!

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke paused to work at a particularly stubborn root, taking the time to consider just how much he could handle talking about his time the alternate Vermilion. He'd hardly gotten through the broad strokes with angelo vestri-but in his defense, he'd been stressed enough by the meeting in Slateport the previous day.

The root finally gave, and they passed it between his hands a few times, before dropping it in the bag with a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Short or long version?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Well, at least we're not the only ones without any points..." Locke pointed out after a quick peek at the scoreboard. It didn't do much to lift his or Manta-Manta's spirits, but they were in it for the long haul at this point.

Is this why it's called a sunk-cost fallacy?

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Down, down, down! Another dive, another prize-but weren't there a few too many prizes in his pile now?

Locke recounted their treasures on the beach, while Fee-Fee made another solo trip beneath the waves.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke once again found himself unable to knock down Hideo Kino, but as they returned to the tank they were met by an even greater foe. The sweet face of Eris Halla stared back at him through the glass-both of them knowing all too well he didn't have the heart to dunk her.

But would taking it easy on the young girl be worth another trip to the back of the line...?

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke's attention was briefly pulled from his conversation with paxton concordas as Melody Miro exited the stage. She was replaced by a group that sounded like something he would've liked in high school, which both embarrassed and intrigued him at the same time.

With his gaze still fixed on his Delibirds, he listened as the lead singer broke into the first lyrics-



He knew that voice.

Where had he heard-



Whatever Paxton was saying now faded away beneath the lead singer's voice, ringing in both his ears and the back of his memory.



Something brushed against Locke's neck, right where they'd begun to feel phantom nails ghosting across it. They flinched forward, almost tripping over the flock of Delibird at their feet.

There was another invisible touch, this time a light bump against their cheek, followed by a mental nudge of confusion mixed with apology. Latias' concern was barely felt through the static filling their mind, broken only by a single name repeated by the crowd.

Adrian. Adrian. Adrian.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke hummed thoughtfully, their gaze flicking to the bandages still wrapped around Matias. Nothing to be concerned about, huh?

"I also got pretty roughed up recently," they admitted, lightly brushing over their nose-which had healed slightly crooked where it had broken against the white-haired man's knee. "And some…friends of mine didn't make it out either."

He wasn't sure how much another version of himself and a Legendary forced to rely on him for twenty-four hours could count as friends, but he liked to think of them as such. Even it made their loss hurt a little more.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Considering how the first and last time one his Pokémon mega-evolved went, it took a decent amount of convincing from the event organizers for Locke to carry on with the third round. Even after being reassured multiple times over that no Pokémon would be harmed by the transformation, he still opted to borrow one from the random selection being provided backstage.

A Misty Terrain rolled out like fog down the runway as Locke emerged arm in arm with a Gardevoir. The courier was now dressed in a simple, white, chiffon beach dress and a wide-brimmed, straw sun hat-both of which their companion seemed to be wearing with far more confidence.

Upon reaching the end of the catwalk, Locke turned slightly away from the crowd, shyly tipping the hat over their face to reveal the Mega Stone affixed to the pink ribbon like a jewel. Both the stone and psychic type instantly began to glow in response to their sudden bought of nerves, until the light broke into shimmering pink particles around the newly-transformed Gardevoir.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz