It was a quarter to seven when Kai appeared in front of the Hawthorne mansion’s gate, huffing from the effort.

  The mansion was part of a community situated on a hill, which was both the highest point and the wealthiest part of Viridian.

  From there, it was possible to overlook the whole city, something Kai had to admit made for an amazing view.

  Looking down at the city, he saw buildings and houses so tiny they might be mistaken for toy models; from the open windows, he could see the people moving around like little dolls, but when he looked at Viridian as a whole, a different image occurred to him. The city lights shone as the trees swayed with the wind, blending together and creating the illusion that Christmas had come early this year.

  Christmas.

  At the mention of the word, he felt as if his insides were tied in a knot; it was suffocating, like his body was trying to fight an infection of his mind, a memory threatened to come to the surface, carrying a bag full of emotions for him to consume, but just as the bag began to open, he stuffed the memory inside of it and closed the lid.

  The feeling vanished as quickly as it appeared, and his body adapted with practiced ease.

  He ignored how the bag seemed to have grown bigger, turning his attention to the roads in front of him.

  It had to be said that this was a truthfully rich neighbourhood, for what he heard, even the Mayor and Gym Leader lived here.

  Everything here was clean, well-maintained, and fancy.

  Sidewalks were of an almost offensive whiteness, the kind that made him question if he should even walk upon them.

  The streets, born narrow and fanciful inside the mansions, reflected each owner’s sense of decoration, adopting many colors and adornments before blending together to form the main road going downhill.

  His first time here was when Jo had forgotten what he later discovered was a school project inside the secret base, and he came to give it back to her.

  The address was inside her notebook, so it wasn’t hard to find, but he was surprised to discover that she lived in this place.

  Jo didn’t tell much about her family, so he only knew that she didn’t live with her parents, while Rick and Sammy weren’t in her class at school, and also didn’t know much.

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  She was deeply embarrassed when he appeared at her door, and begged him not to tell the others, to which he agreed.

  Things got awkward for about a week before she returned to her usual self around him.

  Afterward, he got her full name, Joana Hawthorne. At the time, she looked at him as if measuring his reaction to the information, but there was none.

  Joana may be an unusual name, but it was not like he would be using it when talking with or about her, while Hawthorne meant nothing to him.

  For him, it was weirder for someone in Pokémon to have a surname at all, so this one didn’t bother him in particular.

  He knew that she didn’t feel comfortable with him coming here, but he had things to discuss with her, so he rang the bell on the gate.

  ***

  Ten minutes passed before Jo finally appeared before him.

  She looked distraught, her eyes red and puffy, most likely from crying, he thought.

  She seemed to notice his gaze, for she looked away, trying to hide from him.

  “I was… helping out in the kitchen by chopping the onions and… some got in my eyes.” Jo forced a smile while trying her best to look natural.

  She is such a bad liar, he thought, as a smile crept onto his face.

  “Yeah, onions can be difficult to deal with.” He humored her lie and unadvertedly made eye contact with her “shadow”, who was over at the door.

  The tall elderly man, whom he knew to be her butler, looked at him with hostility.

  It was an uncomfortable gaze full of scrutiny.

  He suddenly felt deeply aware of his unkempt hair, a mess of dark green that had been crudely cut to shoulder length; he felt his dirty, sweaty clothes stick uncomfortably to his skin, and his status in society surface to his skin.

  It was a gaze that didn’t so much say, but screamed that he shouldn’t be here, that he didn’t belong in this place, or deserved to be talking with his Young Lady.

  Kai felt all of that, but gazed back, doing his best to look defiant and unbothered.

  The staring match continued for long enough for Jo to notice. She groaned audibly and looked at William before turning to Kai.

  “Hey, let’s talk over there,” she said while pulling his arm with one hand and pointing at the edge of the community with the other.

  He looked at her and saw she was struggling with her emotions; she had the troubled look- a mix of fear, pain, and annoyance- of someone who was experiencing a new horrible feeling and didn’t yet know how to deal with it.

  Kai paused for a moment, his face full of confusion and surprise.

  He only planned to have a brief conversation with Jo today, to invite her to come with them to the forest the next morning to catch a Pokémon.

  It was something simple that could be conveyed in less than a minute; anything more would be just a waste of time.

  It was late, and he still needed to go back to the base and prepare for the following day.

  The best move, the most efficient, was to say what he needed, see if she agreed, and then go back.

  But he felt weirdly compelled to go along with her right now.

  For some reason, seeing Jo like this was painful.