Susan stayed a good distance ahead of the twins who had returned the vulpixes to their balls which I still need context for. Jennifer, refused to let me go. I had tried to tell her to let me walk and I struggled to get out of her grip but she adamantly refused. To be fair, I had caused a lot of issues by myself. But in defence, how on earth was I supposed to know those things would happen! A god damn city got attacked by flying ships! I got brainwashed by a machine. And I even almost got kidnapped! That last one I probably should have seen coming considering that guy was an entitled asshole. And then there was the latias and latios incident. Okay, that one was on me for helping.

But no, according to Jennifer, I’m the unreasonable one for wanting to go about myself.

Can I please be put down? I ask again to which my response was a tightened grip. I just sighed and I heard Oliver barely hold back a laugh. I know he couldn’t understand me, but he clearly worked out what I asked and saw Jennifer’s response.

I would occasionally look forward into the forest and see Asra glancing at me but would quickly shift her gaze away upon me looking at her. Every, single, time, it made me feel unreasonably happy that I caught them looking. And I still have no idea which part of me wants to be with her. Why couldn’t I be given a manual on what this body will react to? Would make my life so much easier. The stroll through the forest was nice though. I was pretty sure I even saw Snow and Dawn watching us. I guess that makes sense. This would basically be their territory. With nothing else to do, I decided to ask about Sune and Lumi.

So, how exactly did Sune and Lumi catch themselves? I ask looking at odd pokeball on Jennifer’s hip.

“Well.” She begins before seeming unsure. “I should start with what the pokeballs they are in do.” She says grabbing the shrunken sphere. “These are called relocator balls, or for what ever reason, rec balls. Still no idea why they ended up with that nickname. But their purpose if for well, relocating wild pokemon. Rangers use them a lot as they allow large pokemon to be captured without having the, ‘effects’, of a normal ball. They are solely used for removing troublesome pokemon to new habitats without causing to much issue. The captured pokemon can be released with a simple switch rather than it needing to be broken.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Now then, our father had actually sent us these back in Lumiose and I was waiting for a better time to offer it to you. And last night, as we were preparing to head out to help you, those two vulpixes went through my back without us noticing and pulled out a few pokeballs and, when we heard the sound of them opening, we saw them get captured. They seemingly refused to be unbound from the pokeballs and as I cant understand them, I still don’t know why.”

I just look to Jennifer with confusion. I would defiantly have to ask Sune and Lumi why they did that.

“Oh, and um, I guess.” Jennifer shyly starts as she reaches into her bag with one hand. I try to escape her one handed grip but to no avail. “Its not that bad being carried is it?” She asks as she pulls back her hand that now has a pokeball. The, rec ball as they apparently nicknamed. “But um, do you want to try being captured again?” She timidly asks as she moves the ball closer and expands it. I respond by trying to move away from it causing her to shrink it and place it back in her bag. I notice she seemed a bit hurt by that reaction.

Let me think about it okay? I will ask Sune and Lumi what its like and I will let you know. I tell her to which she quietly nods. She seems hurt about it but doesn’t want to push it. She still won’t put me down though. So, resigning to my fate, I’m carried back to the cabin I had dashed from only what felt like a few minutes ago.

At the walking pace we moved at, we returned to the cabin in the forest and atop the roof, I saw the sylveon looking at me with a curious look before running out of sight. I still didn’t know the names of some of them. Susan was standing just outside of her house alone with her back to us. She silently turned to us and I could see the tears in her eyes.

“Does the name Johnathan Hawthorn mean anything to you?” She asks somewhat struggling to keep it together. I notice Jennifer tighten her grip slightly and her muscles tense up a bit and as I look at both twins, their faces show a bit of sadness in them.

“Uncle Johnathan died in a cave in while searching for something with his crawdaunt.” Oliver confesses. “Or at the least is what we were told. It happened about 9 years ago.”

Susan just stands there silently. Not responding as she looked down to the ground. For several minutes the silence stretched on before Susan asked something.

“Did he ever tell you how old he was.” She questions while raising her head to look at us.

“I mean he never told us but I would have guessed about 30 to 40.” Jennifer responds confused. “Why does that matter?”

“Well.” Susan says with a small smile while small tears ran down the sides of her cheeks. “Despite what you might think, he had a lot more secrets than he ever told you it seems.”