CHAPTER 273

Well, this place is surprisingly active, I thought as Princess hovered over the Ranger Outpost. From above, it was easy to see how far Eterna Forest stretched. It was, however, easy to determine where it began and ended. The hue of the forest's trees was darker than the ones around it, and they were larger in general. I could actually see the center from up here, or at least guess where it was. The further in you went, the taller and wider the trees grew until they reached a truly gargantuan size. It was difficult to think that I was looking at actual trees and not man-made structures. Something slept at the center, thousands of years old. The forest was their creation, and they were so powerful Bellatrix had called herself weak compared to them. I ignored the surge of dread within me and asked Princess to land me at the outpost. I definitely would not fly above Eterna Forest on my way to Eterna City— though I was only stopping there to sleep and buy TMs, so I wasn't planning on staying long or being busy like I had in Floaroma. After that, it would be back over Mount Coronet and toward Solaceon, where I'd stay before going to the Lost Tower and having a chat with Ruth and Mathilda.

Either that, or they'd try to kill me. Hopefully not. Thinking about it, barging into your house after saying you'd never come again and asking for a way to kill your kind for real was probably rude as hell, wasn't it? I was kind of out of options, though. Mars never had Dusknoir's Pokeball around, so trapping him in it like I had done to the Hunters' Weavile was a non-starter.

Anyway, there were a lot more trainers than I thought there would be present here, especially compared to how empty Floaroma had been. The number was even slightly higher than it had been when I had passed through the place, for some reason. Princess landed me in front of the Pokemon Center, like usual, and melted in a sea of red as I recalled her and walked inside of the building. The emotions were muted now. Just another few days— maybe a week— and I'd be able to ignore them completely. Right now, however, it was hard to do so when everyone was looking at me.

Well, not everyone. I wasn't the center of the world, but a good number of them, and it was loud. Knowing I'd definitely stay there a few days, I got myself a room and then started the trek toward the Ranger Station. Come to think of it, I don't know if Lurantis is on this side of the forest or the other. It would be really awkward if she was on the other side, so hopefully she'd be here. Trainers filtered in and out of the building with tickets to enter the forest in hand, or just to get to their classes. Honestly, it was insane to me now that they hadn't held any classes before this year and had only started doing so because the casualties were getting too high. Before actually entering the building, I released Sunshine and Mudsdale. The ground type was a nervous wreck, constantly shifting his huge legs on the ground and reflexively turning it to mud. Turtonator, meanwhile, was keeping his head up high and acting like nothing was wrong, but I was an empath. I patted the dragon on the arm and Mudsdale on the leg.

"You guys ready? Well, I have to ask if she's actually there first, but… this is it."

Sunshine boasted that he was, and Mudsdale answered with a quiet affirmation. At the very least, I wouldn't have to wait days to understand her like I'd done with Mudsdale, so that was a plus. An hour tops, Mesprit had said, and they had been accurate from the way I'd begun understanding Lucas and Dawn's Pokemon perfectly over the course of one lunch. I placed them back inside their balls and went through the same process I'd gone to get to talk to Mudsdale, and since I was pretty widely known at this point the process was very quick. Lurantis was here, though she'd come back from a mission to help get two trainers out of the forest around two hours ago, and she was resting up. Apparently she was a big help to the Rangers here, with how powerful she'd been, and unlike Mudsdale, it looked like she was committed to her work and her skill and had never stopped battling.

They led me into a garden far larger than the one Mudsdale had been in, which was a sign of how much funding the Rangers here got. Lurantis was… smaller than I had imagined her, being only slightly taller than I was. When Sunshine and Mudsdale had told me about her, I imagined her to be as tall as they were, but she was human-sized. Her entire body was adorned by pink leaves, and although her arms looked like scythes, that was only a trick. They were actually soft leaves, even if I had no doubt she had a way of sharpening them with a move of some kind. She had lost an arm during the battle with Saturn and his grunts, but there was no sign of that here beyond her new arm being a little… paler, maybe. It was clearly newer than her other one. Curious, large eyes looked at me, and a little Oddish was hidden behind her robe-like leaves. That must have been her son that she'd told Mudsdale about in their letters. As soon as I released her old companions, exhilaration bled out of her and she instantly ignored me. I smiled, watching the three meet again for the first time in months.

Well, I guess it was time to leave again, then. I waved to the three of them and left.

—

Seeing Lurantis again had filled Turtonator with as much happiness as he'd felt meeting Mudsdale, but having the three of them here at once? That was what bliss was made of. Five minutes since they'd met, and the trio still couldn't stop smiling.

Turtonator, you old fool, Lurantis smiled. When Mudsdale sent that last letter saying that you were coming, I could hardly believe it.

Turtonator felt the smile on his face widen, but he embraced it instead of fighting it. And this… job. How have you been doing?

The little oddish squealed in her arms when he accidentally glanced at him. This one was jumpy and spoiled. Nothing like Sweetheart, though actually, perhaps she was still spoiled. Still, he could still get on the right path, if Lurantis eventually stopped babying him and taught him how to fight.

I've found meaning here, Lurantis said. The work is fulfilling, and the humans are good to me. It is not what I had before, but… I am happy.

Mudsdale cocked his head to the side and looked at Oddish. Little one. Don't be scared.

You suck, Turtonator! Stop glaring at him! Lurantis yelled, half-jokingly. I see you're still as bad with children as ever. Are you okay, Oddish?

Y—yeah.

So you do speak! the dragon bellowed. Lurantis slapped his arm and hissed. It was in her instincts, to threaten like a bug type would. She did, after all, look like one. Hah! I'm simply doing you a favor. It is no good for children to be shy. Where's the fire within him?

I'm sorry… Oddish muttered.

May the Tapus bring the sky down on your head, Turtonator, the grass type nonchalantly said.

I wouldn't call him bad with children if I were you, Lurantis, Mudsdale said. There is one of Grace's he's taken under his wing, and he is Togekiss' favorite Pokemon to verbally spar with. Not one day goes by without them having a fight about something, and I keep having to remind him he's an adult.

That little rascal is no normal child, Turtonator grunted. And I'm simply teaching her to respect her elders.

Togekiss, hm? Lurantis hummed curiously with a trill within her throat, like the rustling of leaves. Who's the other one?

Tyranitar, Musdale answered.

There was a flicker of doubt on Lurantis' face, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.

It's the truth. I saw the little one grow up myself, Turtonator grunted.

Grace is a powerful trainer, Mudsdale added.

I figured. One must have been, to capture Turtonator. Though you did leave some nasty burns on her face, Lurantis hummed.

Bah! I regret it now, but she understands, Turtonator said. No need to obsess over the past. I've always thought humans were strange about scars. They should be a mark of pride, not something you shy away from!

She'd sit you down for an hour-long talk if you said that in front of her, Mudsdale said with a hint of amusement. Isn't that right? Sunshine?

The dragon's eyes bulged, but Lurantis caught on immediately. For all Mudsdale appeared outwardly serious, he was an insidious one. He'd been spending more time with Princess recently…

A name?! she laughed. Really? You?

It was forced upon me during one of our negotiations, he grumbled.

He likes it, Mudsdale translated.

I can't believe it. Turtonator, with a name! She must have really made an effect on you. What convinced you to follow her?

Turtonator had joined Kamaile because of the camaraderie he'd found with him and his Pokemon. His old trainer had a good heart— too good, sometimes— but he'd been someone Turtonator couldn't help but begrudgingly respect, because there was strength behind kindness, or at least that's what Oranguru would say. It had taken him a while to understand it himself. There was some of him within Grace, or at least there had been. Who else would let half of their body be burned and not bear any grudges? She had cried about her scars for weeks, and yet not borne him any ill will, and even though she had known the surface of his story about losing his previous team, she had waited until he was ready with no complaints. That was someone worth following.

Strength, he lied.

Liar, both Mudsdale and Lurantis said.

His nose flared until Oddish squealed again.

—

Making social media posts would have been hard, without Melody guiding me every step of the way. How was I supposed to know that the picture we'd taken wearing flower crowns should have been posted earlier? I mean sure, it was cute, but people followed me for battling stuff, not for random things I did with my Pokemon. Anyway, she'd forced me to post the picture along with a long-winded post explaining my absence, and people seemed to buy it on Chatter, at least. My silence had been spooking the board, so she'd basically ordered me to keep posting silly stuff. Honestly, I thought she'd have me post a long-winded apology after my silence, but instead I'd gone back to acting as if nothing had happened.

Since I was waiting for Sunshine, Mudsdale and Lurantis to finish their meeting, I'd asked one of the nurses about the high number of trainers still present here, and according to her, it was because of a new trend having popped up with trainers spending time in Eterna Forest in short bursts to grow faster than they would out of it. They were technically right on some level. Adversity was the trigger for massive growth in Pokemon, after all, and now that Pokemon in the forest were less aggressive than they used to be when we'd gone through for some reason, not as many people died or were injured going through it. I could see the sense in it, even though I'd personally never do it. I would honestly much rather spend time anywhere else but in the forest. Even Mount Coronet would be a better alternative.

I lazed around on the Pokemon Center couch for an hour to build up my tolerance to emotions, and then decided to go get myself a drink. I craved fast food, now that I hadn't had any in ages, but the Pokemon Center cafeteria would have to do.

"Chicken and rice? Pretty basic," I muttered in complaint. At least they had fruit salad for dessert.

The place was packed, since it was early in the afternoon. I shuffled my way through the queue with a tired yawn, but after grabbing my food plate, I felt a flash of rising anger to my right. Two kids were arguing about something through hushed breaths. There was anger, but also fear, anxiety, and… loss. I hummed, deciding to steer clear, but fate had other plans for me, it seemed. The girl shoved the boy at full strength, knocking me back. I balanced myself in order not to fall, but I only had one functional foot. I knocked everything I had on the floor along with the plate itself, which rattled obnoxiously. My hands instinctively went for my Pokeballs and my eyes scanned the two out of habit. Freshly bandaged wound on her arm. Deep and uncomfortable for her to the point that she couldn't move the limb properly, but can still shove. Boy, unwounded, but short of breath. Because of the fight? Five Pokeballs in total. Numerical disadvantage. My ankle—

Hurt like hell. I hissed when I tried moving it as pain throbbed within my cast. The pain centered me, taking me out of fight or flight mode, and my hand stopped before I could release Princess out of habit. My heart was pounding in my chest, my hair standing on end and my thoughts were going so quickly it was hard to keep track of them. I'd been ready for a fight to the death when there had been none coming at all.

"Look at what you did, you fucking idiot," the teen boy screamed before turning to me. "Arceus, I'm sorry, I—"

He gulped when he got a good look at my face and instinctively took a step back as fear bled through his skin. I stayed silent for a few seconds, mostly focusing on not getting overwhelmed by the sudden attention and waiting out the pain in my ankle. I shot the girl a look, but she averted her eyes instead and huffed. Her apparent companion stammered out a few words.

"G—Grace Pastel. I'm so sorry, I never wanted to—"

"Can you help me up?" I sighed.

He clasped my hand and slowly pulled.

"I'll clean all of this up," he said gesturing at the ground. "June, apologize already."

"You're fine," I said. "You guys were fighting, right? Just watch it next time, and don't shove people."

The girl— June— could only muster a nod, though I could tell she was being bitchy about it. The flash of pain in my ankle was subsiding, slowly but surely, so I hoped nothing had happened, but I'd probably have to go see a doctor just to make sure, which was annoying. Already, my recovery was going to take longer than usual, and I'd go fucking insane if it was delayed again. I let out a small groan and pinched the bridge of my nose. It was just one small mishappening, but it felt like a ton of bricks. I opened my eyes again and saw that the two were still frozen, looking at me with anxiety creeping up on them like a new layer of skin. Exploitable— no, stop.

"What's your name?" I asked the boy.

"Aiden Parks," he instantly answered. "Look, we're just in a really bad place right now— our friends—"

"Aiden!" June hissed.

"We were traveling with our group through the forest, and we got attacked by a Parasect and a bunch of Paras. Our Pokemon were already all hurt because we all underestimated the number of potions we'd need. I'm, uh, really sorry. If I can do anything for you, I'll do it."

"The Rangers," I muttered. "Did you not warn them?"

"We did, but they're incompetent," June growled. "They took one of their psychics and couldn't find them, even though we showed them the exact area they were in. Instead they showed up with someone else who needed help."

Passionate, this one. Somewhat like Pauline, but different in many ways. I hesitantly moved my foot and sighed.

"I'm going to go get checked out by a doctor and talk to my Pokemon," I said. "Stay here. It might take a few hours."

June frowned. "What do you mean, stay here?"

"Stay in the lobby if you want. I might be able to help you. Just be available."

"Do what she says," Aiden muttered.

It was time to put my money where my mouth was. I went to the human wing of the Pokemon Center, tired and angry, and while one of the doctors checked me out, I couldn't help but think about how close I'd been to unleashing Princess on these two kids. Maybe I'd been affected more than I thought? Really, I just wasn't used to being physically hurt outside of a life-or-death context, so my trigger finger was pretty itchy. The edge had worn off by now, thankfully, and I was back into a relatively normal state with no adrenaline pumping in my veins. I forced myself not to sense what the doctor was thinking as he looked at the newly-made X-ray I went through and felt a surge of excitement when I managed to. For my troubles, he reported that the ankle was healing fine and that my fall hadn't done any damage, but to be careful from now on.

Stolen novel; please report.

Not like I could have expected someone to get shoved into me, even with empathy.

I made my way back to the Ranger station atop Angel's head, though I wanted to wait for the entire team to be here to explain what was going on. I knew there were going to be protests, especially from Sunshine and Mudsdale. This was close to the same situation Kamaile had gotten himself killed for— helping two trainers whom Sunshine had wanted to leave hanging dry. If he had not, and he had made it through Mount Coronet faster, he would still be alive today beyond a shadow of a doubt, so I knew he would be… sensitive to this. I didn't particularly feel either way, really. There was no strong pull to help June after she'd nearly screwed me over, though Aiden had been more amenable and there was sympathy there. That did not mean I was completely void of compassion, and I didn't want trainers to die in the middle of the woods. We'd never gotten lost in there, and even then each day had been a terrifying affair. Maybe I'd be able to pick up other stragglers on the way, though a multi-day journey sounded annoying considering the fact that I had no one to Teleport them back if I did find them.

And I knew I would find them. I would only need to bring my empathy back to the level it had been as soon as I'd gotten the power, so basically bring it to its apex. Pokemon felt different than humans. There were quirks within them I didn't know how to put into words, but if I could isolate them and try to only feel people instead of every living thing, then I was confident I'd be able to get them back. Maybe I can ask the Rangers for their Kadabra, I mused. When I got back to the yard, Mudsdale was laughing more vocally than I'd ever heard him with Lurantis while Sunshine grumbled something under his breath in embarrassment. Looks like everything on this front's gone rather well.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" I asked in a teasing tone.

The dragon groaned, thanking me for finally arriving and freeing him from these two clowns. I approached Lurantis, who was carrying Oddish in a gentle hold in her arms. The grass type curiously stared at me, though he recoiled a little when I approached.

"It's okay little guy," I muttered. "Nice to meet you, Lurantis. I'm, well, Sunshine's new trainer."

The fire type grunted, saying that they had introduced me already, though Lurantis giggled at the name.

"Well, I still have to be polite, don't I?" I said, patting him on the arm, which Lurantis kept laughing at. "Glad you've seen how much of a softie he turned into. Anyway, um, guys. I'm sorry to interrupt. This isn't how I wanted to do this, but I made a decision earlier that I'm not sure you'll like. I'll need to release everyone for this, if that's ok? Will Oddish get scared?" I asked Lurantis.

The grass type shook her head and approved of my request. I dipped my head in thanks, releasing the entire team. After a short round of introduction where Lurantis tried to touch Princess' fur way too much and kept admiring how big Sweetheart was, I decided to get started.

I sat down and slowly explained the context of the situation, which Turtonator immediately dismissed as rash. It was rash. There really was no reason to be doing this except for me trying to forcefully put myself back together and see if I could get some enjoyment out of this. I figured I would when the longer we argued, the more set in stone my opinion was. I wasn't going to decide for them, however. I was going to bring it to a vote— where everyone would be able to chime in. Do we help, or not? The majority was the choice we were going to go with.

Some of the yes votes surprised me. Angel and Honey had been expected. They had been designated as my conscience, after all, and they were the most kind-hearted of the team. Honey just wanted to help in general, despite having called the place a forest of death, and Angel wanted to get the lost children back to safety. Princess and Sweetheart were a lot more surprising, however, and Turtonator looked at them with an astonished expression, as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened.

And it was not some childish reason like Sweetheart wanted to try out her new strength. There was a desire to help me here, not the trainers lost in the forest. She wanted me to figure out if this was going to work or not in a bout of maturity I hadn't expected from her. Princess' vote was admittedly somewhat fraudulent. Going against me—truly going against me in decisions like this; decisions that mattered—was not something she liked doing.

The no votes, I had expected, really. Sunshine, Buddy, Mudsdale. For the ground type, it was mostly dredging up past trauma that was the issue. I gently ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry about this," I muttered. "But I feel the wind in my sails. I'm on the verge of something— I just feel it. I need this. We're strong, too. It won't be nearly as dangerous as the first time I went through. I doubt they ran off too far away, but if they're too deep in, we won't keep going."

I turned to Sunshine.

"You're pissed at me."

The dragon wasn't shy about outwardly showing his emotion. The temperature around us had raised slightly, taking me back to when I'd used to talk to him in Hearthome.

"You won't be able to help much," I confirmed his fears. "But you'll still be there. Team Galactic isn't here anymore, Sunshine. They're trapped like Rattata in Veilstone, unable to move and biding their time. It'll just be the wild."

And he was far more skilled than he had been back then. Lurantis chimed to the side. Over the last twenty minutes, I'd basically come to understand most of her words, which she found fascinating and kept harassing me about to know what my secret was. She'd even convinced herself I was hiding a psychic somewhere to translate everything, which had added some humor to the sour mood. A nice change of pace, if anything, despite the tense mood right now.

"You want to come?" I said, slightly disbelieving. In retrospect, Mudsdale had said she'd thrown herself into Ranger work, and she had integrated herself far better than he had here.

There was a slight sigh from Oddish, as if this was a common occurrence. Lurantis reiterated that this was her job, and that she'd meant to go on one more patrol before the day was over anyway. Plus, she wanted to spend more time with her two friends, so she was killing two birds with one stone here. Her familiarity with the area would certainly help, if they were more than a day inside of the woods. I had considered flying above the forest and scanning it that way, but that was probably a bad idea for multiple reasons. I'd need to be close enough if I wanted to sense stuff, and Princess would need to go slowly— at a walking pace— to actually let me feel things out properly. That would leave us open to attacks from below.

"Look, if it helps, I'm on a tight timetable anyway, so any longer than four days without— without Princess feeling anything, and I'll give up, okay? Can we do this? Please?"

Turtonator's stare softened a smidge, though he gave me a tight, frustrated nod. I smoothed the deal over by convincing one of the Rangers to lend me a Kadabra, which as it turned out wasn't very difficult when you were considered an ACE in training and I was going in with the explicit goal of rescuing people, so I was kind of doing their job for them. Not that this was their fault, really. With the amount of people going into the forest at once, they were understaffed. Rangers were often rotated between bases so people wouldn't have to spend months in the same intense environment, and during this time of the year the number of them in Eterna Forest was always lower because the number of trainers had been supposed to be lower too— or at least that's what one of them told me. And good luck convincing the people taking it easy on the other side of Mount Coronet to come back here. She handed me Lurantis' Pokeball temporarily as well, so with Kadabra I technically had nine Pokemon in total, which definitely felt weird. I still didn't know how many Pokemon I wanted as a final number.

I'd recalled all of my Pokemon, though Lurantis was still out and carried Oddish in her arms and kept cuddling him against her chest and telling him how much of a cutie he was. There was something strangely endearing and relatable about that, and I felt a twinge of nostalgia at the fact that I could no longer carry any of my Pokemon in my arms. The grass type handed her son over to another Ranger in some nondescript office, and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Again? You're overworking yourself," he said. "I'll take care of him for you, though."

She thanked him, closing the door and turning to me, as if she'd been waiting to talk to me alone.

"What is it?" I asked.

She muttered that there really was no psychic, though that was only a passing thought. Lurantis let me know that she appreciated me taking in Mudsdale and Sunshine with me and reuniting them together, but then she wondered what my intentions were after I left here.

"Well, Sunshine is coming, that's a given," I instantly said. "But Mudsdale… well, it'll be up to him, really. The team really likes him, but he was happier here in those few hours you spent than he was with us, even if we did help him heal. So…"

Lurantis didn't sigh, but her body loosened slightly. She explained that despite appreciating what I'd done, she would not have come with us no matter what. She actually liked this job. She enjoyed Ranger work in all of its facets and had made friends here who helped her get through tough times, both human and Pokemon. And of course, there was Oddish, who she'd found in Eterna Forest and whom she loved more than anything else… yeah, it was easy to see that she was never going to agree to come, even if we'd taken in her kid with us.

"You don't have to worry, I wasn't going to steal him away or anything," I said. "Not my style. I captured a Pokemon against their will once, and vowed to never do it again."

Lurantis' eyes glimmered with curiosity as she quickly tried to guess who it had been. Her first guess had hilariously been Princess because of how haughty she was. I realized then that no one had told her she'd been my starter.

"No, no, it was my Jellicent," I laughed as we walked out of the Ranger building. "He tried to kill me a few times after, but I won him over. It shouldn't have been like that, but… yeah."

The grass type tilted her head, saying that for a ghost he was pretty non-threatening and generally quiet.

Yeah, she hadn't seen him in action yet.

Once out of the station, I released Kadabra out of her ball and greeted her.

"Hey. You've been assigned to me for a… rescue mission, you call it?"

Goodness me, the psychic said with a very audible groan. A retrieval mission, she corrected. And I already know that. Did you think they would just have handed me over without warning?

"Well, I was just making sure," I grumbled.

What a strange friend you've made, Lurantis, Kadabra said. Regardless, I am no fighter, given the fact that I was trained to specialize in Teleport explicitly. At most, I have minor psychic powers, but they are not that reliable for threats in the forest. Please keep me in my Pokeball until I am needed. Surely a trainer of your caliber would not need me otherwise, she finished with a tint of sarcasm.

Had I… just been sassed by a Kadabra?

"Um, okay?" I hesitantly spoke.

Thank you. That way I can have some peace and quiet and make some time to study ergonomics. You would not believe how inefficient human-made systems are. You and your 'breaks'. Utter nonsense.

"You have fun and do that," I said, recalling her.

Lurantis giggled, introducing her friend and calling her a real piece of work.

"She's kind of fun, though. Arceus, I can't wait to get a psychic."

The grass type teased me and said that my tricks wouldn't work on her with the biggest, shit eating grin on her face.

I could see why Sunshine had called her the bright spot in their team.

—

Aiden and June weren't in the lobby, nor were they in the cafeteria. Damn it, did they flake? I'd told them to stay put. Had they not believed me? I'd said it'd maybe be a few hours, anticipating difficult negotiation, but it had only been one and a half! I groaned as I stalked through the halls upstairs.

"Fuck it," I sighed, closing my eyes, and the headache came back in full force as hundreds of flaming, colorful wisps appeared in my mind's eye.

Aiden wouldn't be easy to pick out, but June? June's emotions were quite unique in the way they flowed. It was difficult to explain. It was not just about shade, though every emotion had a different one, and it helped since I knew from her similarities to Pauline that she would stay feeling a certain way longer than others. I isolated for anger, frustration and— loss, for she feared her friends to be dead. A part of her already thought them to be, really, and she'd been bracing herself for impact, which was partly why she had shoved Aiden, I imagined. There was also texture to consider. Grainy, smooth, crinkly, bumpy— these were a lot harder to make out, but I found myself guided toward room 428 on the fourth floor. Two people were inside of the room, arguing about something again.

Arceus, I was scary. I'd make an excellent stalker, really, which… wasn't a good thing. I knocked on the door, and their anger flickered and winked out like a dying flame, leaving way to surprise and anxiety. I knocked again, more forcefully this time, and finally, Aiden opened the door.

"Hi," I said. "I thought I told you to wait in the lobby?"

June scoffed. "How even—"

"Not now, please," I interrupted.

The skinny teenager in front of me nervously shuffled like a kid caught misbehaving, though June only glared at me. Her eyes were red— she'd been crying. Angry crying? I used to do that, once.

"Can I come in? I said I'd help," I pushed.

"Sure," Aiden sighed.

Thankfully, June said nothing, only clutching her wounded arm and swaying back and forth like she was trying to comfort herself. I dragged the seat on Aiden's desk and sat with a tired groan.

"How many people is it?" I asked. "And what are their names?"

They both looked at me as if they hadn't expected me to get right into it.

June spoke up. "Three people. Daniel Hall, Arthur McDowell, and Edith Thurmond."

Arthur? He shared a name with my dad. Not that it mattered, it was just an observation.

"Okay. Did you stay on the path? Follow the signs?" I continued. "When did this happen?"

"Hmhm. We were about twelve hours in, but then, well, we got attacked," Daniel said. "June and I managed to run back, but she got wounded. This was yesterday."

Twelve hours. Good, it would be quick, then, relatively speaking, and I knew around when to start looking. Since it had only been a day ago, I doubt they strayed far.

I have a better picture of things now.

"Okay. Now I'm going to guess you were fighting about going back in to help. June here wanted to go back to find your friends, but you… don't seem like the type to say no. Too compassionate. You told her to stay back while you went off on your own because she's injured and you aren't. Then you fought, and she shoved you."

Her injury wasn't much, anyway. A deep cut, sure, not nothing debilitating. Still, they were friends, so he worried for her. Really, the truth was that he had a crush on her, but she didn't know despite reciprocating, and the guilt of shoving him was eating her inside. It wasn't my place to intervene, though.

"You… how did you know that?" Aiden stammered.

"Call it a guess," I shrugged. "Anyway, I said I would help, so I'm going into the forest today—"

"Let me help!" June yelled.

Three Pokeballs by her side, and two for Aiden. "How many badges?"

"We all have two… Roark's and Byron's," the girl answered.

"We wanted to get a third before the year's end, which was why we took the plunge and decided to go through the forest," Aiden sighed. "We never should have gone."

You'll slow me down. Protecting you will be a hassle. If something happens to you, that blood is on my hands. All reasonable things to say, really. Plus, with them there, I wouldn't be able to just bullshit another excuse about me being able to sense their friends… though I could just say that Princess was the one who did it, just like I'd done with Lurantis. Yeah, that worked. If it had been me, in their position, I would have asked to come too and I knew I would have despised someone who would have told me no. After all, we had quite literally delayed calling the Rangers when we went to save Cecilia on our own in Mount Coronet. Legendaries, we'd been in over our heads, then. It was a wonder we hadn't died.

"I have rules," I said.

"You can't take her, she's injured!" Aiden hissed.

"Fuck you, Aiden!"

I leaned against a palm and waited, though as soon as I did, the fighting stopped.

"I'll play nice and make this as safe as possible for you, but I have rules," I repeated. "Be mindful of my Pokemon and try not to be rude to me around them— they won't hurt you, but I'd like this to be free of any drama, really. Two, if we spend more than a day in there, someone will show up every morning to talk to me. She's my therapist, but these sessions are private, and I'd like it if you didn't try to snoop. I know you're curious about me."

They wouldn't be able to hear thanks to Chimecho anyway, even while staying close, but it'd be better for all of us if they didn't try.

Aiden frowned. "How is a therapist just going to show up—"

"That's my last rule. No questions about me, please. If you can respect all of that, then you can come. Oh, and also just let me deal with the fights. Your Pokemon will just get in the way, so keep them around as a last line of defense in case anything slips by Princess and Honey— that's my Togekiss and Electivire."

"We know…" Aiden murmured.

Oh? My nicknames had finally started to stick around, it seems. That was nice.

"You'll be helpful, though. I'll need you to guide me to the exact path you took, so look alive," I smiled. Uselessness was one of the most insidious feelings someone could feel. Best to pull them out of that with the truth. "Are my rules okay?"

They both agreed instantly.

"Well, we can go after I restock on potions, then," I smiled. "And you know what… you said you were running low, right? I'll get you some too. This is important, okay? Never go through a place like this without the appropriate number of potions. That's a really dumb risk. It's always better to have more than not enough, even if that hurts your wallet. And also, you should…"

—

I had not missed this place at all. The trees were almost suffocating, with the sheer amount of foliage forming a canopy so dense almost no sunlight made it through save for a few rays here and there. The forest smelled oppressive too, with the scent of nature and leaves being so thick you could choke on it. The occasional noise had used to scare me, once, but I did not waver at all. I hovered slightly above the ground on Princess with my good foot hanging off her in case I needed to quickly dismount. Electivire, Jellicent, Lurantis, Turtonator and Tangrowth were also all present. I still didn't feel secure about letting Sweetheart walk out and about given the fact that she still forgot how large her tail was half the time and I didn't want her to accidentally crush all of Aiden or June's bones or collapse a tree. Mudsdale was no fighter, and the ground here would be hard for him to walk on. It was already difficult for Sunshine, too. The vegetation was so deep my two new companions were walking ankle-deep in foliage, and they were constantly whispering about me while their Pokemon followed behind them. Marill, and Ducklett for Aiden. Magnemite, Spinarak and Geodude for June. Solid teams all around, for second-badgers.

Well, so long as they were keeping themselves busy and safe, they were doing more than I could ask them to—

"Incoming," I muttered. "Five— seven— eight Pokemon."

Both Aiden and June froze behind me as Honey blurred in front of them, ready to spring up a Protect. Buzzing could be heard soon enough reverberating through the forest, but they took a minute to actually get here despite the fact that I was actively gimping my empathy. Eight Beedrill with stingers as long as my torso dripping with poison showed up, though they stopped when they actually saw what they were dealing with. They hovered in the air, hissing between each other. Probably expected the usual weak prey. It was honestly surprising that they hadn't just run off. There must have been a colony nearby with their Kakuna.

"I have no quarrel with you," I declared. "If you want, we could go around if you don't ask us to make too long of a detour. This is an urgent matter. I'm looking to save a couple of kids who got lost here. I will not harm you."

There was hesitation, and the title Bellatrix had given me so long ago mattered here. Most were clearly inclined to let me pass, though two disagreed.

"You can't beat me," I said. "This doesn't have to come to a fight."

One of the Beedrill's stingers glowed—

He was restrained by Princess' Psychic instantly. I had told her going in that we were going to do as little murder as possible, but the other Beedrill instantly swarmed the attacker and turned on him, stabbing into his tough carapace with glowing and poisoned stingers. They were going to kill him for endangering the hive. Sunshine could only laugh at the display of cowardice and underhanded means.

"Stop!" I yelled.

They did not. It was as if they were all overtaken by duty to protect their hives. I barked out a few orders, and Angel grabbed all of them with a tight hold and darkness-coated vines while Princess encased the wounded Beedrill in a stone box made of Ancient Power.

"Put them to sleep," I sighed.

Sleep Powder wafted off Angel's vines, and each Beedrill slowly crumpled to the ground. I hopped off Princess and limped toward the wounded Beedrill while Lurantis muttered something to Sunshine. Arceus, walking with a broken ankle in this environment was absolutele hell. A barrier appeared around me before disappearing after a split second, and the Ancient Power turned to dust. Beedrill was a bloodied mess, with transparent, yellowish blood seeping out of multiple holes.

"Are you going to behave?" I asked. "I can heal you. You'll have to strike out on your own, but at least you're alive. Don't attack me, or I'll leave you here, and you'll slowly bleed out, or something else will make you their next meal."

The bug type mustered a weak nod, and after confirming that he meant no harm through my empathy, I sprayed him with two potions. He flew off as fast as his exhausted wings could take him, and I let out a satisfied sigh.

I was smiling.

"Legendaries…" June muttered.

"Let's keep going," I said. "Angel, put me on Princess again."