Arthur stumbled through the forest. The short, mousy-haired boy didn't know where he was going, what he was doing, or what the time was. He just knew he was very, very lost. The forest near Stow-on-Side was always a strange place, always dark, filled with Fairy-Types, and he heard it led to a nearby town; It always intrigued him, but his parents never let him into the forest. "It's too dangerous," they always said. He wished he'd listened.

He feels exposed, like any time he blinks, one of those Pokémon will appear and hurt him, or worse...

He pushes the thoughts aside, shaking his head "I can't think that! There's-there's still hope! I can find my way back!" He says to himself. "I-I can do this, just be brav-" 

A shrill sound rings out, like metal striking rock.

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound, coming from just in front of him. Arthur's trembling. He can't put his instincts to hide into action. He's only 9, and he feels so overwhelmed, so scared, so terrified.

Another of that striking sound rings out, and it brings him to his senses. He hides behind an old tree, twisted and tangled by the tides of time. He peeks out from behind, unable to contain his curiosity, wanting to see what caused that noise.

In the middle of a clearing, stood a single large boulder, and on the top of it, a Honedge, its blade stuck inside the rock. It looks frustrated, using its scabbard to try and knock itself out of the boulder. It's not working.

"A Honedge!" Arthur thinks to himself. He'd heard of them before, he read about them in a book. He liked that book. He always had a fondness for Ghost-Types, and swords were always cool! "...it won't hurt to help, right?" He asks himself.

The boy musters up as much courage as he can, and leaves his hiding place, approaching the Honedge. It notices him, and starts frantically motioning Arthur towards him. "D-Do you need help?" He asks. The Honedge shapes it's ribbon to form a check mark; Yes. 

Arthur, with surprising ease for a kid, climbs the boulder, and stands right next to the Honedge. Here, the branches hang low enough that he needs to crouch, lest they smack him in the face.

"How'd you get stuck here?" He asks, looking around. He doesn't see anything that indicates what could have caused this. The Honedge tries to explain, but Arthur can't understand it. "I can't understand you..." he says, dishearteningly.

"Whatever, I'm gonna help you out!" He says, turning into a cheerful demeanor. He grabs the Honedge by its hilt, and stars pulling. The Honedge tries to push itself out with its scabbard in an effort to help, but they just aren't strong enough.

"You're stuck in there good!" Arthur exclaims. The Honedge rolls its eye at the obviousness of the statement. Arthur, meanwhile, is observing his surroundings, and forms a plan.

"Lend me your cloth, I have an idea!" He says, with a grin.

The Honedge looks at Arthur suspiciously, a if to say it doesn't exactly trust him with a part of itself. "Come on, do you wanna get out or not?" Arthur asks. With reluctance, the Honedge lends him the cloth. 

"Alright! Now, let's see..." Arthur looks around, before spotting an old, twisted branch just right next to the both of them, a branch from the same tree he was just hiding behind. Seemingly to test something, he rubs the cloth against the branch. 

The Honedge looks quite uncomfortable with the action. The branch is quite rough in texture, and as a result, there's a lot of friction between the cloth and the branch. Arthur looks discontent. 

"Hmm..." He's thinking on how to solve this issue. The Honedge looks at him quizzically, unsure of what this boy's thinking. Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration comes to him! Arthur takes off his jacket, and puts it over the branch. He rubs the cloth over the jacket. The cloth glides over the jacket smoothly.

"Perfect!" He exclaims. The Honedge looks mildly worried. Arthur drapes the cloth over the jacket, as he sits on the branch. The branch is big enough that even with him sitting on it, it doesn't so much as bend.

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"Alright, ready?" He asks, sounding confident. The Honedge, less confident, gives a thumbs up with its cloth. "Alright!" He exclaims. He takes the end of the cloth, and with a bit of hesitation, jumps off the branch!

The Honedge, though unable to talk human, is clearly exclaiming in shock. Arthur's heart beats loudly as he hangs from the cloth, looking down at the ground, quite a long fall for a 9 year old...but his idea is working, The Honedge feels itself getting more and more loose from the rock, and starts getting excited. 

Arthur pulls on the cloth as hard as he can, using it as a pulley to pull the Honedge out of the rock, letting gravity do most of the work. With each tug, the Honedge gets closer and closer to freedom, until Arthur feels the Honedge come free! He is excited, before realizes; He's falling down.

"Ah!" Arthur shouts, closing his eyes and clutching the cloth tightly, he braces for impact...!

...but the impact never comes. He opens his eyes, and realizes he's just inches above the ground. He looks up, and sees the Honedge doing its best to hold him up. "Hey, you saved me!" He excitedly says as he lets go of the cloth, landing on the ground safely.

The Honedge floats down, grabbing Arthur's jacket along the way. It puts the jacket on his head as it bows out of thanks. Arthur, not really knowing how to respond to a bow, bows back. "Ehe, it was no problem really," he says. The Honedge turns and leaves without a second word.

"H-Hey, wait!" he tries to call out to it, but there's no response. "...oh no..." he remembers that he's in the middle of Glimwood Tangle, lost, and alone again. He tries to follow in the direction the Honedge went. 

He's scared, very much so. He walks through the tall grass, shaking out of fear, too scared to call out for the Honedge for fear of something else hearing him. He hears a rustling behind him, getting louder and louder. "What do I do?!" rings out through his head. He has no Pokémon of his own, and knows better than to try and fight one barehanded.

He turns around, and spots something pink in the grass, before it disappears from sight. His eyes stay transfixed on the spot, too afraid to move, when he's pushed from behind. He falls onto his hands, trying to turn around to see what pushed him, catching sight of a group of pink menaces; a Morgrem and its gang of Impidimps, all cackling.

While the sight would normally incite annoyance in an adult, a kid like Arthur is terrified beyond his wits. "P-Please don't h-hurt me..." he begs, starting to cry. The little demons only continue cackling as they start to bully him, tugging on his hair and checking his pockets for anything shiny or tasty. Arthur tries to curl up into a ball to protect himself, but they just start poking and kicking him.

He's full-on crying now, sobbing and shouting for help as the little demons continue their assault. The Morgrem is laughing hysterically, pleased in the trouble it's causing. It's laughing so hard, it doesn't even notice that the number of Impidimp is currently down by one. Seconds later, another two are gone.

The remaining Impidimp notice, and flee, abandoning their leader. The Morgrem, realizing it's been left alone, looks around confusedly, before it looks up, and sees a Honedge coming down right on it, tasting the power of Steel, knocking it out immediately.

The Honedge floats to Arthur, concerned and regretful for leaving the poor boy alone. Arthur is still crying and curled up, too scared to move. The Honedge sheathes itself, and gently nudges him. Arthur flinches, expecting another kick. The Honedge touches Arthur's face with his cloth. Arthur, recognizing it, opens his eyes.

"You!" He exclaims, his voice shaky, tears streaking down his cheeks. "A-Are they gone? D-Did you fight t-them?" he asks, grabbing the Honedge's cloth. The Honedge nods, and Arthur pulls the Honedge in for a hug, fully sobbing now. "T-Thank y-you!" He shouts through many tears. The Honedge tries its best to comfort the lost and hurt little boy.

Nearly half an hour has gone by, and Arthur has passed out from exhaustion and fatigue. The Honedge stays by the boy's side, keeping him safe from any Pokémon looking to cause mischief. Another half hour passes, and a rustling sound gets nearer and nearer...

The Honedge stands his ground, ready to drive off more Pokémon. A torchlight shines on them, accompanied by two women suddenly exclaiming the name "Arthur!" in a worried tone. It seems to be his parents. Their hair and clothes are covered in leaves, and eyes are bloodshot. They look like they've been searching for quite a while. There is a Runerigus behind them. 

They run up to Arthur, and take him in their arms, tears of relief flowing, and tears of worry when they notice his scrapes and bruises. They seem to barely notice the Honedge. Thought it knows the boy is safe now, in his mothers' arms, it can't help but worry, still. It stays by their side, keeping guard, even if it's unnecessary.

Finally, the pair notice the sword. "...Honey, do you think...?" asks the first mother.

"No, probably not...these are bruises, not cuts..." replies the second.

"Then...it protected him?"

"Then we can only thank it,"

The second mother turns to the Honedge, and takes its cloth in her hands. "Thank you, so much for protecting our little boy," she says, grateful tears forming in her eyes. The first mother does the same. 

The Honedge, once again, simply bows. The couple pick up Arthur, and make to leave. The Honedge thought about simply staying in the forest, letting them leave. Its duty of protecting the child is done, it has repaid its debt, and yet...

It floats over in front of the group, though it says not a word. The Runerigus nearly takes this as a sign to battle, yet the mothers understand its intentions. "Come along, then. I'm sure you want to make sure he's alright," the mother carrying Arthur says. The Honedge nods, following the group as they leave, headed back for Stow-on-Side.