I woke up warm. I was comfortable, wrapped in something fluffy and dry. The gentle rocking kept me comfortable-

Rocking?

My eyes shot open and almost immediately closed from the intense light of looking directly into the sun. I winced and opened them again slowly.

This time, I laid eyes on the black and pointed carapace of a barbed bug monster inches from my face.

"Heracross!" It spoke as gently as it was loud.

"Ahhh!" I couldn't help it, I screamed. I flailed, trying to raise my arms to protect myself, but whatever I was wrapped in had me tightly bound.

"Hera!" The Pokemon also yelled, releasing me from its arms and dropping me four feet onto the rocky trail.

"Derek!" Someone called my name.

"Owww...." I rolled over on the ground, my arms having been freed in the fall.

I heard a snort, and I looked up.

Amy was standing off to the side of the dirt road, doubled over and laughing at my expense. Yuji was by them, a mix of emotions on his face but he primarily looked relieved.

Hana had sprinted over to where I had fallen, and she helped me up by the arm. I looked down at my now filthy sleeping bag that had been left in the dirt, and back towards the massive bug type that had been holding me. He was apologizing profusely, but Yuju waved him off.

It's the Heracross, the one Yuji caught. I thought we weren't letting it....

The memories of what had happened before I passed out hit me all at once.

My eyes darted to the sky.

Like earlier, I could actually see the blue clouds and the sun. There were no trees above us, and the sides of the roads only contained dense fields.

We weren't in the Viridian Forest anymore.

My knees went weak. Thank the legends...

Hana hadn't let go of my elbow, and seeing my fatigue she led me to the side of the road. She looked better than when I'd fallen asleep. She had tiny cuts and bruises on her face that had started healing. Her expression was full of worry, though.

"Hey, Derek," Hana said gently. "How are you feeling?"

I didn't respond at first, the fog in my brain slowing my thoughts. I slowly did a mental inventory, stopping through every injury I'd gained in the forest.

I felt dry and warm, but not as dehydrated as I'd been when running away. My back was sore, and I could feel the cloth of my shirt rubbing against the scabs from the bark of the Beedrill nest. My wrists and ankles had almost fully recovered from the String Shot bindings.

What I didn't expect was that I was only hurt physically. My bones were tired and my skin was scraped, but my heart felt lighter than it had before. Something about the tree, the experience I'd had there, had grounded a part of me that I hadn't realized was drifting.

I spoke, feeling my dry throat stick to the words. "I think.... ....I think I'm okay," I rasped.

Yuji handed me a water bottle and I gave him a grateful nod. The water was cold, recently refilled from somewhere, and its cool sensation soothed me down to my gut.

Hana was hovering over me like a mother Taillow, checking over my face for signs that I was safe and that I was telling the truth.

Amy surprised me, now that my thoughts had returned to me. I would've expected them to be the most down and out of us all, given their empathic abilities, but they weren't. Amy was grinning wildly, and they looked genuinely happy for the first time that I'd seen since we entered the forest.

"What happened? After the Beedrill?"

Yuji smiled and gestured to his Heracross. "Achilles defeated them quickly, and we had him carry you as we escaped the forest."

Achilles... I nodded to the Pokemon in gratitude. The bug type that I had only seen being fierce before bowed to me now, his muscular limbs flexing as he did so. His name definitely fit.

"You should've seen it, Derek" Amy beamed. "With him out, we could just rush through the forest, cause nothing wanted to fight him!"

I gave them a soft smile, but I felt my brow furrow. "But even if you were at top speed, you still would have had days..." I mumbled. I looked at Hana, who was still seated next to me on the side of the road. "How long was I out?"

Hana shifted uncomfortably. "Well, with what you just went through and everything, we didn't want to force you through the forest again. You mumbled a lot when you were out, and it seemed like you were in pain so-"

Yuji stepped up and put a hand on Hana's shoulder. He looked to Amy and gestured for them to finish the story.

"I could feel your emotions, ya know, because of," they gestured towards their brain, "all this. And you were not in a good place. So we talked about it and decided to keep you under. Pennywise knows Hypnosis, so any time I could feel you start waking up..."

"He made sure I didn't."

Amy nodded. "Though we stopped once we left the forest, and figured we'd let you wake up on your own."

They all looked a bit upset about it, but Hana looked especially troubled. It had been her idea, definitely. Yuji had Amy explain it because he knew it made her uncomfortable, but I could see the guilt on Hana's face.

I struggled with how I felt about the whole situation.

On one hand, I really didn't want to be in the Viridian Forest any more, but on the other... ....I guess, looking at it from their perspective, there wasn't really another option.

I thought about the new lightness in my chest. Part of that freedom came from the immediate safety of being out of the forest. Because of what they'd done, I hadn't had to face what would be potentially another week of darkness and danger.

"And this guy carried me the whole time?" I thumbed over to Achilles the Heracross.

Yuji nodded. "He only ever sat you down when we fought, and that only happened twice."

"Thanks," I gave a grateful look to the Pokemon and he bowed again. "Nobody actually answered my question, how long have I been out?"

Amy reached for their Pokegear to check the date, but Hana spoke without looking up. "Two days." Her shoulders slumped with more guilt.

My eyes popped open with surprise.

Two days was a long time to be asleep, but that wasn't what was surprising about that number. We were supposed to take nine days to get through Viridian Forest. Counting our three days of travel we'd gotten in beforehand, they'd cleared the forest in a little over half the time we'd planned.

I looked back down the road in the direction we'd come from, and in the far distance, I could see the dark shadow of the forest. We'd already made decent progress into Route 02, and we'd probably make it to Pewter within a day, or two at the absolute maximum.

"Holy shit, guys," I said in genuine awe. "How the hell are you still standing?"

Yuji shrugged. Amy walked over and plopped down next to me. "We just wanted you safe, dude," They said casually. "And I've been feeling so refreshed ever since Achilles joined the group! He's always radiating confidence and energy, it helped a lot with all the panic."

I turned to where Hana still hadn't looked up from the ground. I glanced at the other two and motioned for them to come closer. Both humored me and sidled forward. I weakly wrapped my arms around all three of their shoulders, startling Hana and pulling us all into a hug.

Amy melted into the hug, and Yuji hesitantly but happily joined in. Hana stayed stiff and uncomfortable, but made it very obvious the hug was appreciated.

I closed my eyes and said, "Thank you all, so much. I'm okay with what happened, and I'm so thankful to have you all as friends. You guys were just looking out for me."

Yuji gave a grunt of acknowledgment, and Amy nuzzled into our sides. Hana burst into tears and finally accepted the hug. The other two pulled us all closer.

I patted Hana on the back, and I looked back toward the forest.

The shadow of the Viridian Forest was clear in the distance, but it was behind us.

----------------------------------------

We traveled for another two hours, though I definitely slowed our progress by walking mostly on my own. My back had been scrapped up more than I'd noticed in the adrenaline of the forest, and every step sent uncomfortable stinging and soreness lancing across it.

Achilles offered to carry me again, but I turned the Pokemon down. He'd done enough for our entire group the last few days.

The Heracross was hilariously different than we'd expected after catching it in such a violent way. Yuji explained to me that he was actually very docile and polite, but the Pinsir had been antagonistic towards him, causing their feud. Hana had almost released the Pokemon to help find me, but Achilles had convinced them not to do so.

The north side of Route 02 was nearly identical to the southern side we'd passed through to get to Viridian Forest, with wide plains and tall grasses flanked by a distant tree line. It was peaceful, almost too peaceful compared to the last few days.

I kept my eye out for interesting Pokemon, but my Pokedex had a similar selection here as the south side of the forest. Nothing there had caught my eye, either. The forest had a good selection of grass types, but I was not headed back there anytime soon.

Well, I almost had... A cold chill up my spine accompanied memories of a mischievous smile and a snapping branch. I shivered as I thought about the ghost type that I had desperately offered to join my team. I'm glad I got away from that thing.

Someone draped my sleeping bag across my shoulders, and I looked back to see Achilles standing there with a polite grin. I smiled back. He'd noticed my discomfort and pulled it out without being asked. He'd also been carrying the majority of our bags as we hiked.

"Thanks," I said, offering him a fist bump.

The hulking bug looked at me with confusion. I chuckled and pulled his fist up to meet mine. "Like this."

His yellow eyes widened and he smiled. "Cross cross!" Achilles said.

I looked back toward the front of the group and saw Yuji grinning from ear to ear. My friend was normally so stoic, but every time one of us had a good interaction with his new Pokemon, his goofy grin grew three sizes.

"Hey, Yuji," I called. "You've been wanting a Heracross for a while, right?"

"Yes!" He spoke without looking back. "He was one of the first Pokemon I ever decided to seek out for my competitive team. Achilles is a great step toward my ideal lineup."

If a beetle could blush, Achilles would be bright red. He began mumbling to himself, of course only saying his own name, and bowed his head to the ground.

I furrowed my brow, thinking about the rest of Yuji's potential team. So far, he had a Rattata and a Heracross, two very physical Pokemon. His style seemed to be hitting fast and hard.

We stopped for the night shortly after that. The sun was beginning to set and the plains made any spot we chose equally good for camping. None of us decided to set up our tents, instead electing to sleep under the sky for the first night in a while. After laying out our bedrolls, the others got started on heating up dinner while I stepped a ways away from camp.

I pulled Artis' ball from my belt. Hana had handed it over earlier. She'd been the one to pick him up after the Beedrill attack, but she hadn't let him out since then. She didn't want him to panic with me gone, or later unconscious, so she'd elected to wait for us to leave the forest and for me to wake up.

I pulled at the sticker on the front of the ball, where it was torn and dirty. The sticker was kind of like me and Artis. Just a few weeks ago, it had been shiny and new, it hadn't been exposed to the wild yet. Now, we all had a few more bumps and tears than we'd had before. I silently promised that once I started winning matches, I was going to get Artis a new Pokeball. It was going to be something expensive or more fitting, like a Luxury Ball or a Dive Ball.

I clicked the button on his ball, and he appeared in a flash of red light.

I'd had a whole conversation planned, ready to explain what had been going on the last few days, but I didn't even get to start delivering it before my Spheal lept forward, tackling me to the ground. His heavy body kept me pinned as he started to lick my face.

"Pfft, hey-" I tried to talk but Artis continued his onslaught. I could hear him whimpering as he did so.

I let him go on for a few minutes before I rolled, pulling him off of me and into a hug.

"I'm sorry, buddy." I gripped tight around his big blubbery body and he nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I not-so-subtly wiped my face off on his fur, trying to get the Spheal drool off of me. "That was scary, huh?"

Artis yipped in my ear and pulled back. His big eyes were obviously worried. "Pheal!" He yelped.

"Yeah, I know," I said. "And I came out mostly okay. We're gonna be okay."

I looked him over as he barked his response. The gash from the Beedrill stinger had mostly healed and was nothing more than a pink line now. He'd gotten plenty of rest in his ball.

"I have a plan, bud, on how to make sure this doesn't happen again. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis rolled backward and tipped excitedly. "Sph-spheal!"

"I thought you'd be interested. I've been thinking a lot about everything that's happened, and I've decided we're going to make some changes. First off, we're not turning down anybody's help anymore. If somebody offers us any kind of help, we're gonna take 'em up on it and make it up to them later. I wanna make it clear, we're not taking handouts," I overemphasized, and Artis nodded accordingly. "But if somebody wants to help us, we're gonna make sure we do our best to pay 'em back. Clear?"

He nodded, eyes focused.

"Okay, second, we're changing how we train. I know Yuji had us focusing a lot on physical stuff, and we'll keep doing some of that, but we're going to focus on getting you a bigger range of moves to use first."

My reasoning for the second change had become clear when I asked Yuji about his search for a Heracross. His style of training had been developed for the team he'd been planning for his journey. He'd always planned to have Pokemon that relied on martial prowess and physical strength. It should've been obvious that it wasn't going to work for me and Artis.

Instead, I pulled out my Pokenav+ and opened up the notes I'd made over the last few years, before I'd decided to take on Kanto. I'd abandoned them to the depths of my cloud storage when I decided to make my way in a different region. It hadn't occurred to me to look through them again as I'd been trying to learn from my friends and wouldn't be running into the majority of Pokemon that I'd picked out for my team. I had, however, always planned on having a Walrein on my team.

I flipped through the notes, years of planning running back into my mind. They weren't nearly as organized or detailed as Hana's notes, but they were mine. And there was no reason I couldn't repurpose some of them for other Pokemon that I could run into in this region. I did feel a pang of disappointment as I passed the pages for Flygon, the other Pokemon I'd considered for my starter. Finally, I reached the earliest pages containing everything I had for Spheal.

"Alright, bud, I have some long-term plans for what we're going to set up for you. I'd eventually like to get you to use some of the powerhouse moves for your line, like Surf and Blizzard, but those are a long way away. For now, we need to get you up to speed on using your water type moves."

Artis lolled his tongue to the side, breathing in happy pants. "Spheal!" He barked and an Aqua Ring formed in the air around him.

I scratched behind his ears as he released the move. "Yes, buddy, that's very good. You're getting a lot quicker at that. But I was talking about using your water to attack. We focused a lot on ice for the Viridian fight, but now we need to get your Water Gun up and working. Once we get that figured out and perfect your Powder Snow, we can move on to Brine and Aurora Beam. Does that sound good to you?"

Artis narrowed his eyes in determination, and got to work without answering me. He leaned his head back like he was about to exhale a Powder Snow, but no cold mist leaked from his mouth. Instead, he breathed out, and something akin to a sneeze of water sprayed out. He looked down his snout, confused and disappointed.

I laughed. "Good first try, buddy, but let's start by focusing on transferring the energy that you use for Aqua Ring to your mouth...."

----------------------------------------

The next morning I woke up naturally, rested, and in a place I recognized for the first time in a long time. The blue sky was cloudless above me, and the March chill kept the air a comfortable cool. Artis was pressed into my side, snoring loudly. We'd stayed up late last night training his moves. I might've still been too injured to train, but he'd been cooped up in his ball for days and had energy to spare.

My nose twitched. Something was cooking.

I looked over and saw Yuji attending a small fire in a ring of stones. He'd pulled his black and white hair up in a bun and was wearing his tracksuit top open over a white t-shirt. It couldn't have been more than twenty or thirty minutes after dawn, but he was relaxed and awake.

I scooted out of my sleeping bag, careful not to wake Artis, and made my way to the fire. He nodded as he noticed I was up, and used a pair of tongs to turn some sausages.

"Ya know," I whispered in mock disgust, "It's kind of awful how much of a morning person you are."

Yuji smiled. "I've always been an early riser. It's the best time to get some training in, and it leaves you energetic for the rest of the day."

I sighed. I couldn't disagree with him, having now done his routine.

"That doesn't make it less annoying! Some of us have to work to look that good in the morning."

"But counterpoint," He held up his pan. "Breakfast."

I conceded the point and took a sausage. We fell into a comfortable quiet for a few minutes, letting the popping of the oil do all of the talking.

Surprisingly, it wasn't me who broke the silence.

"Derek," Yuji said in a low tone, "You are aware that Hana only had your best interest in mind?"

I looked over at him in surprise. "Yeah, I already said I was okay with how the forest went down. Does she still feel guilty about that?"

He shifted uncomfortably. Personal talks were not his forte. "That, and other things."

When I shot him a 'go on' glance, he continued. "After you were taken, it was some time before we were able to leave. Admittedly, I had... ...negatively impacted that process. I left in the wake of the Beedrill, attempting to find the direction the hive was traveling in so that we could rescue you. I was gone for over an hour and when I returned, I found that Hana had discovered why, specifically, the Beedrill had come to our camp."

I felt touched at first when Yuji admitted he'd run off into the woods to save me, but then I frowned. I thought the Beedrill just showed up by chance. We did everything the Rangers had said to, right?

Yuji kept going. "When the sun rose, Hana realized that our camp had been exposed to the sky. Since she had picked the campsite based on the widening of the trail and given that we had stopped at night, she hadn't checked to make sure that the canopy still covered our camp."

He grimaced as he finished, and grabbed his water to take a long drink.

Damn. That connected a lot of dots. An open canopy combined with the huge bonfire we'd built to keep the ground Pokemon away would be a beacon to Pokemon flying over the forest. We'd accidentally led them right toward us.

I looked over at Hana, who was still asleep in her bedroll. Even in her dreams, she was frowning with her brow furrowed. That would've been a lot for anyone to take on, especially since it led to my capture.

"That's not really her fault, though," I protested. "We all slept there, and nobody noticed it. We all made the same mistake-"

"I didn't say she was right," Yuji interrupted. "I agree with you, and Amy and I both said as much. She seems determined to ignore us, though, and take the blame onto herself."

A hand patted me on the back, and I looked up to find Amy standing behind me, bleary-eyed and drowsy.

"Stop worrying so much," they said. "I can't sleep when your emotions spike like that."

I started to apologize but they waved me off. "I've been keeping an eye on her anxiety. She's doing a lot better now that you're awake, and I think she'll come around in a few days."

Amy grabbed a sausage from the pan and sat down next to me, all three of us enjoying our breakfast.

Hana was very annoyed when she woke up to find that everything had already been eaten.

----------------------------------------

"Nobody told me Pewter City was underground!"

Yuji sighed. "Derek, it's hardly underground. The city happens to be based in the quarry that it was founded around. It's still exposed to the sky and it's basically at sea level."

"Look at that!" I argued, pointing at the steep drop-off into the quarry a quarter mile deep. "It's practically in a canyon!"

Hana shoulder-checked me gently as she passed. "'In a canyon' would still be above ground."

The quarry in question was a series of massive rock walls that surrounded three-quarters of Pewter City where they'd cut directly into the mountainside. We were coming from the south side, the only side without the walls, but had come over on a large hill that displayed the entire city to us.

It was much bigger than Viridian City and had significantly more interplay with the local environment. Large low houses were staggered among rocky ridges and hills, with winding paths connecting the larger streets and buildings. All the way across the city on the north side, a massive domed building stood under the shadow of the northern wall. It was impressive, tough, and chaotic.

It was mid-afternoon by the time we finished walking the meandering trail down toward the city, following the flow of the hillside. The trail deposited us right onto the main road, letting us walk into the third city on our journey.

Hopefully, it would be the place I would get my first badge.

I had no immediate plans for after Pewter, and we'd made it through the Viridian Forest quicker than we'd budgeted, so I was in no rush to sign up at the Gym. Instead, I pulled out my Pokenav+ and helped us get to the Pewter City Pokemon Center. Traveling the streets was very different than in Viridian City; People seemed to be significantly less friendly, and the winding roads meant that more people were crowded into smaller sidewalks.

Eventually, Yuji pointed out the bright red roof of the center and we pushed our way through the crowds. I thought we'd have a bit more space inside, but the lobby was also full of people. The far majority were obviously trainers, Pokeballs and athletic clothes present on almost every person.

"What gives?" I asked as I pulled the others into a loose line for the front desk. "This place is crowded, did we come on like a busy day?"

Yuji grunted in displeasure, glancing around at the crowd. "No, I think that is just how it is at the beginning of the season here."

Hana winced as someone pushed past her. "Rock types have a lot of abusable weaknesses, so Pewter is known for being the first gym for a lot of different trainers. Unfortunately, I doubt the crowds will be going away anytime soon."

I looked down at Amy, and noticed that they had gone pale again. Their face was tense, and sweat was starting to bead on their brow.

I leaned over to Yuji and Hana. "Can you guys work on the rooms? We can leave our trainer cards with you, but I want to get Amy out of the crowd."

Yuji quickly nodded, offering a hand for my bag. Hana similarly grabbed Amy's and the two promised to text us when we had rooms.

I grabbed Amy by the hand and slowly led them through the sea of people. They kept up with me, but multiple times I was afraid that if I let go of their hand I would lose them in the crowd. We made it out of the front door of the Pokemon Center and a block away before the crowd dispersed enough for up to catch our breath.

Amy shot me a grateful look. "Thanks, Derek," they panted as though they had just done a run. "Everybody in there was a lot. A ton of them were anxious, some were angry, and the rest were just generally unpleasant. All the conflicting emotions were rough."

"No problem, Ames. I figured we could do a little bit of shopping and grab some food for the others. That way you wouldn't have as many people on your mind."

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Amy took off their beanie and pulled their dark hair up into a ponytail, letting the wind cool off their stress.

The two of us started wandering the area around the Pokemon Center, which happened to be very inconveniently placed in reference to either the gym or the Pokemart. There were a few smaller shopping centers for normal people, gift shops and boutiques and the like, that we slowly drifted between.

"Hey, Ames?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of things do Yuji and Hana like? Like, if I wanted to get them thank-you gifts, what would they want?"

They thought about it for a minute. "Hana is pretty obvious, she likes accessories. Hats, scarves, jewelry; anything she can throw onto an outfit. Yuji... ...He only ever really talks about martial arts, workouts, pins, or old movies."

One of those was not like the others.

"Hang on, pins?"

Amy glanced up at me in confusion. "Yeah? Haven't you seen the inside of his track jacket? He's got like thirty pins in there."

I blushed a bit. "I can honestly say that whenever he's taken that thing off, I was not looking at the jacket."

Amy wrinkled her nose. "Gross."

"What? He's hot, sue me."

"Eh, I don't think about people like that." Amy pointed at their brain. "I'm more of an emotional-connection kind of bean."

"Bean?"

"Non-binary. ENBY. Bean."

"Oh." I considered it for a moment. "I guess that makes sense. I also think I need an emotional connection to people, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate someone having a nice figure. He works hard to look that good."

"Yeah, I guess he does," Amy sighed. "Anyways, he's got a lot of different pins, so that might be a good thing to get him."

"Cool, cool, cool," I said, letting the conversation die down. I already had an idea for what I wanted to get Amy anyway.

The way I saw it, I didn't have a lot of money, but I owed my friends a lot. Not only had they taken me and taught me the ropes on Kanto, but they'd saved my friggin' life. I could afford to spend at least a little bit of my budget on getting them thank-you gifts.

----------------------------------------

Amy and I walked around for about an hour popping in and out of shops before Hana sent us a group text that they'd gotten a room, singular. Apparently, the Pewter Pokemon Center was significantly busier than the Viridian City one on an almost year-round basis, so the Center had to squeeze more people in per room.

I sighed wistfully thinking about how nice my private room in Viridian had been.

On our way back, Amy and I picked up some takeout for the group, making sure to get a double order of dumplings to prevent the food thievery that had happened last time. When we made it back to the Center, it was just as crowded, but fewer individuals were actively trying to check in or see the counter. Instead, dozens and dozens of trainers loitered in groups of three to twelve around the center, taking up every available seat in the building.

I didn't recognize any of the trainers here, but that made sense. Living in Hoenn, I would've only seen coverage of the best of the best, trainers who would've made international news. The people who were in this Center were going after the rock type badge in the early season, hardly a veteran trainer move.

We made our way into the crowded elevator and it creaked and shook the entire way up to the fourth floor.

As we stood in the group of trainers, someone behind us said, "Man! Who has food? That smells awesome."

I turned and there was a heavier-set person with dark skin and green hair, wearing a purple and orange vest and leaning in towards us. I was a decent height, but they had easily four to five inches on me. They had a small group of people with them, maybe half the people in the elevator. I glanced down at their belt. I noted three Pokeballs.

"That's us, sorry about that." I gave an apologetic smile.

"No problem, no problem," They had a wide grin and pulled out their Pokegear. "Just let me know where you got that, it's got me starvin'."

"Uh, sure. Amy, do you remember the name of the place?"

"General Pix's Place, like two blocks down."

"Hell yeah, brother." They started typing when they caught themselves and stopped. "Sorry my guys, I totally forgot to introduce myself before gettin' in your business. I'm Terry, Terry Parkers."

"Nice to meet you, Terry." I precariously balanced a container of soup in one hand to offer a hand to them. "Derek Tracy, he/him."

"Same here, brother." He shook my hand, and looked down at Amy. Terry cleared his throat before speaking. "And uh, hi to you too."

I raised an eyebrow. Amy was blushing.

Huh.

"Amy, she/they." They offered a hand, the same as I had, but Terry hesitated before gently shaking their hand. His massive hand dwarfed Amy's in comparison.

There was a beat of awkward silence.

The elevator dinged.

"Well, sorry to cut it short, but we have to get this food to our friends," I said quickly, stepping off the elevator. "Nice to meet you, Terry, and the rest of you," I added, noticing that none of the rest of his group had spoken up or introduced themselves.

Amy stepped off, and Terry was more than enamored. He didn't hear me until the doors started closing. Terry looked up and said, "Yeah, hope to see you guys around! Maybe we'll battle or somethin'-"

He was cut off by the doors closing.

I looked down at Amy, and they were doing their best not to look at me. I could see scarlet blush running up their neck, and their ears were bright red.

"What was that about an 'emotional-"

"Derek," Amy interrupted. They groaned into their sleeve. "Don't tease me about this. It's the worst part about my brain thing."

"The worst part-? Oh!" My eyes widened with realization. "So you weren't necessarily the one who-"

"I don't know. All I know is that when emotions are directed at me, I feel them a lot stronger than I normally do. So maybe I felt something, maybe I didn't, but he definitely did."

"Oof." I struggled to come up with something more coherent than that. There were layers to that problem that I had neither the expertise nor experience to help with.

We awkwardly and appropriately walked to the room in silence.

When we knocked, Yuji opened the door. He'd taken off his track jacket and thrown on a simple t-shirt.

"Welcome to home base," he said, gesturing to the rest of the room. "This is where we'll be staying for basically our whole stay in Pewter."

The room was about the same size as the one I'd had in Viridian, but instead of a queen-sized bed, nightstand, and desk, the room was only equipped with two twin-sized bunk beds.

I groaned. "If it's not too late, I dibs bottom bunk?"

Yuji nodded. "That's fine, I prefer sleeping up top anyway."

Amy chuckled at the unsaid joke, but I shot them a look and they kept it quiet. Hana was in the attached bathroom, freshly cleaned in pajamas with her hair pulled up in a towel. She waved at us as we started unloading the food.

"At least the water's hot," she said, joining us on the floor for dinner. "And the beds are still comfy, even if they're on the small size."

Amy slapped Hana's hand away from the dumpling container, grabbing it first. I rolled my eyes and pulled out the second order, handing it to her.

"Well, that's something. Oh hey," I said, remembering my own purchases. "I grabbed you guys some things while we were out. Just some small thank-you gifts for everything you guys have done the last couple weeks."

"You didn't have to do that, Derek," Yuji spoke up first.

Hana looked apprehensive. "Are you sure? I know you don't have a ton to spend-"

I shook my head. "Nope, none of that. You guys are my friends, and I wanted to get you something to say thank you."

Amy rolled their eyes and took a bite of chow mein. "I already tried to talk him out of it when we were in the store, he's not gonna stop now guys."

"Exactly, Ames. That's why I'm giving you yours first."

Amy choked on their noodles. "Ack- When did you get something for me? I was with you the whole time!"

"Did you really think I was going to get something for the two of them, and not something for you?"

They looked away. "I guess not? I don't know, I just didn't even think about it."

I reached into my plastic bag and pulled out a small leather strip with a series of wooden beads. I'd already taken the tags off of everything when we'd been waiting on our food. Along with that, I pulled out two small plastic dropper bottles.

I handed the over, and Amy looked at me with a raised eyebrow, not sure what they were looking at. "Those are scented oils. Uh, I think it was lavender and mint? The lady at the shop said that they helped with headaches, and you could apply them to the bead on the necklace so that you could smell them while we traveled."

Amy uncapped the purple oil, taking a deep inhale. Their face broke into a big grin. "Thanks, Derek." They leaned over and latched onto my arm, giving me as big of a hug as they could while sitting. I pulled them close and squeezed them tight before letting go.

"Yuji, you're next!" I declared. "Amy told me you like collecting pins, and helped me pick out this one." I slid the pin across the carpet towards him.

Yuji plucked it off the ground and did something I hadn't expected. He started tearing up.

"Oh, dude, is that okay? I didn't-"

Amy put their hand on my arm and shook their head. "It's okay, he's happy."

I looked up, and Yuji's smile caught up to his tears. He quickly stood up and stepped over the food, pulling me into the biggest hug the guy had ever given me. I heartily returned it. We held the hug for over a minute, and I worried I wouldn't be able to breathe. He was a lot stronger than me, after all.

Eventually, he released me, still not saying a word. He wiped his eyes and pulled his jacket off his bed, pinning his new pin onto it. He presented it proudly.

The pin itself had only cost me a few bucks. It was an enamel rendering of a small purple Rattata holding a pink, blue, and white flag. Something so little had brought him a lot of joy, and it made me happy too.

I turned to Hana, who had a big grin on her face. Everybody in the room had been very obviously touched by Yuji's tears, and there wasn't a dry eye among us.

"And last, but not least, is Hana." I rummaged around in my bag. "To be honest, it was hardest to shop for you, and I had to pull up the footage from the Giovanni fight in order to get the right color."

I pulled out a cotton scarf, the same light green color as Hana's battling outfit that she'd used for her gym fight. It had definitely cost the most, but for me, It felt like the least creative gift. I had wanted initially to get her a new notebook or something similar, but Amy had pointed out that she already had all of the organizational tools she would ever need in her laptop.

She still gave me a big smile and gratefully took the scarf from my hands. She ran it through her fingers to feel the texture and gave it a nod of satisfaction. "Thank you, Derek. It's perfect."

"So, uh," I said. "That's everything that I have to hand out. I figured you guys would appreciate something, even if it was small."

"I hope I never get you for Secret Santa," Hana said absentmindedly as she wrapped the scarf around her neck.

"Don't give me the credit, I just financed it. Amy basically picked out the presents."

The bean in question grunted. "Nope! I just told you what they liked. You go everything else on your own."

"Ames! You're makin' me look bad. I gotta keep up my 'aloof cool guy' persona."

Yuji chuckled. "Derek, I appreciate you dearly as my friend, but you have never been aloof once in your life."

We all laughed. That night was the first one since the forest that we'd felt fully safe. We had full bellies of food that we hadn't cooked ourselves, warm beds with comfy covers, and running hot water.

There was almost nothing that could ruin the moment.

Almost.

----------------------------------------

I sat up in my bed, dripping sweat.

I looked around in panic, searching for the danger. My senses were in full panic mode.

I was in a dark room, moonlight streaming through the window next to me. Gentle snoring came from the top bunk across the way.

I was in the Pewter Pokemon Center, in our room.

My breathing was shakey, and I was on the edge of hyperventilating. My nose and forehead were numb as my adrenaline pumped, and I could hear the dull roaring of my own pulse in my ears.

I went to adjust my blankets, but my hands were trembling too much. I had no grip strength.

What the fuck? I thought- I thought I was okay. Something's wrong... ..I- I shouldn't be panicking like this.

Across from the foot of my bed, the door handle clicked.

The door creaked open.

A pair of yellow and red eyes floated in the darkness, menacing and alight with cruel joy. It smiled, showing its bright white teeth.

"He he he he..." A ghostly feminine voice giggled.

I screamed.