"Do you have any threes.?"

"Non. Do you have any ones?"

Alan the Alakazam gave the Gardevoir a disapproving look before levitating one of his cards to Deborah while also taking one from the deck. Deborah continued to smirk on as her cards at hand were considerably less than the rest of her opponents; Alan, Mira, and Amos.

It had only been a few hours since Margaret had withdrawn from their group and left to seek out Xerneas, yet her absence left the remainder of the group anxiously in the Pokémon Center. Danny had especially felt the loss of his adviser and friend weighing down on him. In order to take everyone's mind off her departure, Mira had challenged them to cards, specifically Deborah and Alan, to see if the humans could outsmart the Psychic Types. Danny had refused to play and instead watched his friends get left in the dust in their own challenge.

"I seriously regret ever asking you Pokémon to play," Mira grumbled as she did her best to hide her cards from her opponents.

"You're only saying that because you're losing," Deborah said with a sneer.

"Pretty sure it's because we've lost every round and the game has mainly been circling around the two of you!" Amos pointed out just irritability.

"Fair enough. Less talk. More fishing."

"Fine, how about fives?"

The Gardevoir let out an angry hiss and was forced to relinquish her cards to Amos. Danny caught her even hissing under her breath in Kalosian, "Merde!"

"Language, Deborah," Mira suddenly snapped irritability.

Both the boys looked up at this, surprised. Neither of them knew an ounce of Kalosian. Deborah's lip curled with fury at being told what to do while Danny spoke over her, "You speak Kalosian?"

Mira gave a small sheepish smile and explained with some embarrassment, "Well... just the cuss words. White and Sky wouldn't be happy if I told you, but you know, they met with a lot of shady characters. They couldn't risk offending them by cussing to their face, so they would pick up foreign cuss words. But for the record, this was mainly White who did this. If Sky did do it, he stopped after I came along. How about it, Alan?"

The Alakazam raised his head as Mira adressed him. His gaze swooped over the humans and Deborah before grunting telepathically, "He stopped once Mira was left in his care. Even before that he swore very rarely, but if he picked up of those foreign cuss words, that might explain why."

"Alright, well, to be blunt, you three really are just one messed up family," Amos admitted. "Foreign cussing to avoid outright disrespect, bringing the little sister to meet with gangs, and am I missing anything?"

"Having a big sister who was probably the most despised yet hardcore champion in Unova?" added Mira.

"A big brother who's basically two people in one body?" Danny threw in with a small smile.

"Well at least I can say I had an interesting childhood, unlike you cultured people! Growing up with toys instead of weapons, what kind of nonsense is that?"

The humans laughed until they saw the looks of annoyance and disapproval. Mira was the first to speak again and said hurriedly, "This conversation does not leave this table, or else we're all gonna die. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Danny added gratefully. "And I think what we're trying to say is this; no more cussing, Deborah. Kalosian or not."

Deborah's lip curled and hissed, "We'll see. You all are just postponing the inevitable."

"How's that?"

"Give me your twos, and we'll find out. Mira. Give me your twos."

Mira looked at her cards only for her to scowl and hand over her card. Deborah had hidden her hand under the table and revealed that she had got rid of her entire hand now with that last card. Mira threw down her cards and declared, "I'm done! I'm never playing this game with you again! ANY OF YOU!"

"Woah, Little Miss Mirs, did I come at a bad time?"

Hope had approached the table without anyone noticing. He was smirking at Mira, which Danny had to admit was a brave (or stupid) thing to do.

"What do you want, Hope?" Mira snapped furiously as she leaned back in her chair and ignored him. "I'm not paying you squat, mainly because I don't have squat. Pester someone else like Amos or Danny."

"Gee, thanks," Danny muttered while Deborah hissed something in Kalosian (most likely something vulgar, but since he didn't speak the language he had no way of knowing).

"Well, you know, you guys are paying me to keep my ears open and eyes peeled, and I believe it paid off," Hope told her whole pulling an envelope out of his sleeve and holding it out to them. "Now, that will be twenty bucks at the least because of all the strings that were pulled to get here!"

"What is it?" asked Amos as he took the envelope from Hope and began opening it.

"That's five extra bucks for that answer."

"Is there anything that you think about that's not money?" Danny asked while raising an eyebrow. "I'm running out of cash because of you!"

Before he could respond, Amos suddenly handed the letter to Mira and said hesitantly, "I think this might be for you, Mira..."

Mira looked puzzled as she looked down at the writing. Danny watched as her eyes darted from side to side over the words. When she looked up, she had a rather confused yet surprised expression on her face. She then turned to Hope and asked, "How did you get this?"

"Do you want the long or short version?"

"Just answer the question!"

"Well I got it from a guy who knows a gal who knows a guy, and so on and so have you. Basically I got it through the grape vine. Whoever sent it pulled a lot of strings to get it here."

Danny took the letter from Mira and was surprised to see such a weather beaten note. It was crumpled up and had dry splashes of water smudging the ink. The words were hastily written, but still eligible.

You want to know my secret identity? You better be at the Anistar Showcase a week from now. This isn't a request. Be there.

-Zoroark of the Showcase

"Isn't the Zoroark of the Showcase that one girl that wears the mask all the time?" Danny asked as he re-read the very small note. "Maya, or something like that?"

"Yeah, but we weren't that close," Mira replied. "Margaret knew her better than I did, nobody else really got to know her. Why is she sending this to me?"

"It might not be for you," Amos said slowly before looking to Hope and asking, "Did the person want this note sent to you specifically? How did you know this was for us?"

"I was told it was to go to the red head, but I knew she already left, so you folks were next in line! Come to think of it, I did think it was strange that the sender knew exactly where to send it since I've never met anyone like the Zoroark of the whatcha-ma-call-it- Mirs?"

Danny looked around to see Mira had a stunned look on her face as if she just realized something. Startled, Danny set the letter down and repeated, "Mira? Something wrong?"

"I...I think I just figured it out," Mira said while her voice faltered. "What if... what if Maya was White all this time?"

There was a stunned silence around the table. After a moment Deborah scoffed, "Seriously? It took you all that long to figure it out?"

"You mean its true and you knew?" Danny questioned his Gardevoir with annoyance and shock.

The Gardevoir gave them all exasperated looks as if they were idiots for taking so long. She shook her head and snorted, "Oh please, I've known since the first showcase, and the ones afterwards just confirmed it. Her absence from all showcases featuring Maya, the Ivysaur that was clearly Green Ivy, the Zoroark in disguise of a Fennekin, and then the Mr. Mime."

"In our defense, we can't tell most Pokémon apart," Amos told her bluntly and irritably.

"Obviously. I also noticed that the time she spent staying up late days before a showcase, no doubt practicing for said event. Maya has never been seen without gloves, even wearing them throughout the cooking stage of her last showcase, much like Whitney Gropius, who is usually seen wearing gloves. Also, in case you haven't noticed, Maya has not been in a single showcase since Whitney Gropius's disappearance. Shall I continue?"

"You didn't bother to speak up early?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"You never asked. Besides, it's not my problem."

"B-But why didn't she say anything?" Mira stammered as she ran her hands through her dirty blonde hair. "All this time and she didn't even-"

"Isn't it obvious? It's simple, she was embarrassed," Deborah snorted. "Do you really think someone like her would just come it and enter? Be honest, at least one person would've poked the bear. Not to mention she wouldn't rise at all compared to the publicity she gains as Maya."

"But do you guys know what this means?" Amos interrupted the conversation excitedly. "It means she's escaped, and that must mean she's not the only one!"

"I don't know, I would still take this with a grain of salt," Danny said warningly. "This entire thing seems like it's very convenient, like she knew exactly where to- wait, who did you tell that Margaret was in contact with you, Hope?"

Hope gave a sheepish smile as he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, "Well, this business is all give some and take some, sooo... maybe I let it slip about who was all asking..."

"I know what you're thinking, Danny, but I don't think this is a trap," Mira suddenly defended Hope seriously. "Who else would use Maya's name to encourage us to go to a showcase of all things? If White has been Maya all along, who else would she have told? She never told any of us... did she?"

They all turned to look at Deborah, who started levitating the cards absent mindedly and shuffling them. When noticing everyone was looking at her, Danny asked her suspiciously, "Who else knew about this, Deborah? Something tells me you weren't the only one."

Deborah's lip curled into a smirk and admitted, "No, I don't think I was. I should say I'm a hundred and one percent positive I wasn't the only one. Fiona knew since she could keep a secret and had an Ivysaur, and I think the madman figured it out later since he is the only one with a Mr. Mime. Basically almost everyone who is no longer with us knew. But Mira is right, Team Flare wouldn't care for something as small as Gropius secretly attending showcases, but of course, I believe this is your call."

Danny looked away from his Pokémon to see Mira and Amos looking to him for an answer. The decision was his. He was the leader, but he was still cautious. It could be a trap, but at the same time, it could be the real deal.

"So, Mira, have you been practicing your routine by any chance?" Danny finally spoke up, looking to Mira with a small smile.

*~*~*

"Do you have any idea where Xerneas will be?" Emmaline asked Margaret as she rolled out a map of Kalos onto the concrete floor of the abandoned hotel room.

"Not a clue," Margaret admitted nervously as she knelt down on the floor and traced her finger along the route lines. "I never tried looking for her before... where have you looked?"

"I've been searching western Kalos in places with historical landmarks, but nothing. I don't think Xerneas would reside in northern Kalos, it's just too cold. Team Flare had been searching all the same places as I."

Emmaline paused before asking, "You said you knew Xerneas, not only that, but you have a connection to her. Where do you think she would most likely be? Of what you know of her, where would she be willing to hibernate?"

Margaret bit her lip and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose once more. She thought back to her time with the stag-like Pokémon. The first thing she remembered was the clearing in he forest, with a crystal blue pond in the center. It was the first place she made the connection with her.

"I think she'd be in a forest," Margaret murmured, moving her finger to eastern Kalos. "You said you checked western Kalos, and there isn't many landmarks in southern Kalos. That leaves eastern Kalos. What do you know about the forests there?"

"There isn't as many forests in eastern Kalos as the rest of the areas," Emmaline explained. "However... I know there are strange legends concerning one forest."

"Legends? Any in particular?"

"There's an unnamed forest in this area here north of Kiloude City and south of Snowbelle City. There is one forest route, Route 20, but this forest is different. It's darker than Route 20, which is surprising since the route is so ominous, but it's beauty is as if it came straight out of a fairy tale. People have tried to go deep into it, but they come back claiming to have seen spirits."

When Margaret looked up to give her a skeptical look, Emmaline quickly continued, "I'm not making this up, I swear! It's just a story!"

"There's no such things as ghosts..." Margaret said quietly, more to herself than Emmaline. She thought for a moment before saying, "I think we should take a look at that one. I think there may be connection between these so called spirits and the Pokémon of Life. What do you say?"

"I'm all for it!" Emmaline agreed, taking the map and folding it up again. "You know, I'm glad you're here. I know you're just here because of Xerneas but... I hated searching alone, and I think we actually have a shot now."

Margaret's mouth twitched before she replied softly, "No one should go on these journeys alone. It's easier when there is another to help. I think you've been on your own long enough."

Emmaline looked surprised but smiled nevertheless. It seemed that the tension of the search washed away for a moment. But then the map was in Emmaline's pocket and she said hopefully, "Well, we should get a head start before it gets dark. You know what they say; we're off to see the wizard!"

~~~

Ok I have a LOT of explaining to do. You guys seriously have no idea how much guilt I'm carrying because of the lack of updates, and I'm so sorry for that. School has been a nightmare these past weeks, it's been so bad that I spent Spring Break catching up on school. It sucked.

But I'm going to be completely out in the open for one of the main reasons why there were no updates, and if you follow me on Instagram and read my posts, you may already know what I'm about to tell you.

Apart from SWS3 and TDOBH, I am writing my first entirely original Wattpad series. I started writing it last fall, and I've enjoyed planning and writing it! It's something entirely new and exciting for me, and I really want to share it with you guys!

But here's the thing; I want to enter in the Wattys for this series, and I also want to submit this work to the Wattpad Talent Scouts. However, the Wattys start in June(?) and I have yet to publish this story because I'm still working on some areas of the first few chapters. I'm already at, I believe, seven completed chapters of the book, and I want to publish some time late May or June.

Because of this, I started setting my small amount of free time aside to work on this series instead of SWS3 and TDOBH. I realize I'm probably biting off more than I can chew, but I'm at that point in my life where I need to show my writing skills in an area that's not just fanfictions and stupid essays.

Will I quit SWS3 and TDOBH? No. I've come too far for that.

Will I skip a Thursday update or three? With the way my school life is going, it shouldn't be a surprise anymore.

Again, I greatly apologize for the small hiatus. I thought I could make it up during Spring Break, but that turned into another week of school. You can contact me on my backup account CosmoWriter, where I'm writing my original story most of the time, and I post most often on Instagram with my art. I'll be on my main account for the next few days to see comments and such, but after that I'm going to be switching between accounts.

I'll try to update TDOBH as soon as I can, but until then, I'm going to cut this off. I'll see you all around.