Sophie received plenty of hugs and pettings from Bonnie whenever the little Eevee was ok with it, which, now that she trusted Bonnie more than any other human, was quite a bit. Bonnie couldn't believe what had happened to Sophie. Squishy had woken up from all the commotion and had translated the tale for Bonnie's benefit, leaving the girl teary-eyed and appalled.

"I'd never do that to you, I promise," Bonnie repeated over and over again. "None of us would. That's just mean, it's not right."

On top of pettings and hugs, Sophie was also brushed until she fell asleep, then she was gently placed down and all of Bonnie's Pokémon - including Squishy - curled up around her in a caring and almost protective manner, everyone slowly falling asleep along with Sophie.

The only one still awake was Bonnie, who was staring at Sophie sadly.

~•~

Word spread quickly among the Pokémon about what happened to Sophie, then the Trainers got wind of it. Everyone was sympathetic and caring towards Sophie, apologising on her old Trainer's behalf, chanting several times over that they'd never do something like that, everything they could. Serena even brushed Sophie again, much to the Eevee's delight. She loved all the brushing.

As well as this, Poipole was praised as a hero for rescuing Sophie and all the other Pokémon.  The two were the centre of attention and nobody had any complaints about this.

Well, there was a little annoyance from Chespin.

He didn't like that everyone was talking about 'Poipole and Sophie'. He was sorry for Sophie and was very glad that Poipole stepped in to help, of course, but he disliked that someone else was getting attention alongside Sophie. He was still the same hopeless old Chespin as ever and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards Poipole, no matter how much he supported the little Ultra Beast's actions.

He went over to Sophie, who was getting a drink from the lake. He knew they were all leaving today, so he figured that now was the time to finally tell her how he felt about her. He knew it was pointless to expect her to reciprocate his feelings or believe that anything could happen between them, but he wanted to be honest with her and get it off of his chest. This was his last chance to lift the weight from his shoulders.

"H-hey, Sophie," he smiled, a little nervous. She looked over at him and smiled back genuinely. "Hey, Chespin! What's up?"

The smile normally melted his worries away by sending him into a lovesick trance, but this time it only made him flustered. "Uh... I, er, just wanted to, um... here, have a Poképuff!"

He held out the Poképuff in his hands, but she shook her head. "No thanks. I'm... not too hungry right now. It's all yours, I know how much you like your snacks."

He grinned and ate it. She was right; he did like his snacks. But then he realised that something was bothering his crush and he frowned. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She didn't answer at first, but after a brief moment she sighed. "Is it that obvious?" "Not really, but I know you," he smiled a little, patting her back supportively. "What's up?"

"I just... I didn't think the story about my old Trainer would spread, you know? I don't mind too much, I guess... I just... I don't know..."

"I get it," Chespin nodded. "You feel exposed. Like everyone can see right through you. Like you're a safe and they just picked the lock."

She looked at him, surprised by his uncharacteristically intelligent and deep words. "Pancham and I are always trying to annoy each other, we sometimes take it too far," Chespin shrugged. "He's shared a ton of my secrets with everyone. That's how I feel when it happens... then again, I do it back, so I guess I'm just as bad as him..."

She giggled slightly. "I guess you're right. You definitely described it right. Everyone knows all the nasty little details. It's strange to open up about all of this stuff. I opened up to Dedenne and Bonnie about it because they found my Pokéball. I wasn't planning to tell you all. But here we are."

"It's always strange to have your secrets out there," Chespin agreed, nodding sadly. "How do you deal with it?" Sophie asked. "I usually just try to own it," Chespin shrugged. "Then again, most of my secrets are somewhat embarrassing things. If you don't give anyone a reaction when they mention it, people lose interest in it pretty quick. I don't see how that'll be useful here, though. Sorry."

"No, it's fine," she smiled at him. "That's actually pretty good advice, Chespin. I guess I just need to get on with it and soon enough it'll become old news that people don't really talk about."

"Yeah, that sounds right," Chespin nodded. "See? You'll be fine, Sophie."

"Thanks, Chespin," she smiled, then hugged the now blushing Grass type. He truly had gone as red as Braixen's Flamethrower attack.

"A-any time, Sophie," He stammered awkwardly, slowly hugging her back. Sophie giggled, making him smile slightly.

He then remembered what he'd came to do.

"Hey, uh, Sophie?" He pulled out of the hug so he could look at her face. She looked understandably a little confused. "Yeah?" She asked.

"Well, the reason I came over here is because I wanted to... Uh... tell you that I... I like you, Sophie... I really like you..."

She cocked her head, then opened her mouth to say something, but Poipole got to her first, hugging the little Eevee tightly. "I'll see you around, fluff butt!" It smiled cheerily, making Sophie giggle at the nickname. "Bye, Poip-... Wait, you're leaving?"

"You didn't know?" Poipole and Chespin asked in surprised usison. "Know what?" Sophie asked, looking at Poipole for answers.

"Sophie, didn't you hear? We're all leaving today! It's time for us to go!"