Once Onaga decided she’d rather get started on breakfast, she let Weaver carry Espeon into the break room so we could ‘have fun’ instead of sitting around a table. So, Weaver is finally getting around to teaching me to read.

I, however, appear to be a dirty cheater when it comes to remembering things. After all, I only need to pay attention, and the looks Weaver has been giving me are great.

Sinnohan has thirty-eight characters—with a whole eleven of them being vowels, reads right to left, and has no written spaces. Though it thankfully does have punctuation. And I’d asked Weaver what she had meant when she said she couldn’t teach me because she can’t make the sounds.

She proceeded to pull out a book, point at a letter, and say, “Wea.” Then the next letter, “Wea.” I’d gotten the idea by then, but she still pointed to another and, surprisingly, somehow said, “Wea.”

The translation thing is weird.

“I spent months learning this,” The weavile grumbles. “And I had Ryu teaching me. Even Espeon was having issues, and he’s a psychic, but you’re not even trying and we’re already on the third video.”

“I’m also not really learning it,” I say, shaking my head. “That will take months, maybe years, at least.”

“What do you mean you’re not learning it?” Weaver asks.

“I mean this is just memorization, which I have an unfair advantage with, but I'm not learning it yet,” I explain. “If I tried to read something I’d spend most of the time referencing my memory instead of reading, just trying to figure out how to read the symbols. I’ll have learned the language well enough when I can simply read it.”

Weaver blinks, looks at the dictionary she’d pulled out, up at the paused video on the TV, and back down to the dictionary, her eyes scanning over words. “Huh, I hadn’t thought of that,” She says, blinking again. “When did I become able to understand what I read that easily?”

I chuckle, “I can’t help you there, but that’s what I mean, you’ve learned the language. I feel like I’m cramming for a test.”

“Hmm, okay then,” Weaver shrugs, then flicks an ear and turns her head toward the hallway, “Morning Karlos,” She waves.

I turn to see a man I can only describe as a ripped dad smiling at us from the doorway. He has sandy-blonde hair, green eyes, and, while he's well-muscled, he is rather hefty-looking. "Weaver," He greets, waving back with a yawn. "Since Onaga isn't in here I'm going to assume something happened last night?"

Weaver gives him a nod, “Yeah.”

He sighs, “Guess I’ll need to ask her about it. Does she know you have the misdreavus in here?”

“Yes…?” Weaver nods, confused. Then she points to the still unconscious Espeon, “But they’re here to help him.”

That makes the man frown slightly, "Mmm, I'll go find her, then." He quickly steps out of sight.

"Must be seven o'clock," Weaver says, standing to stretch in a way I'd call impossible if she weren't so feline. "We should probably stop here for now."

“Sure, sounds good. I was starting to-” Hold on, “That was four hours?” I ask as she ejects the tape.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. You’ve got such a freaky level of focus that we’re already halfway through the video course,” She laughs, “And you didn’t even notice!”

I really hadn’t. “So…” I trail off, looking for something else to think about before my eyes land on Espeon. “Should we move him somewhere?”

"Probably outside if the sun is coming up," Weaver says. "But we should ask Ryuko first. Give me a second." And with that, she leaves the room.

I’m not sure how long he’s been asleep, so I don’t know if I should be concerned that he’s still splayed on his side, sleeping. He’s also still only giving off vague, small bursts of emotions right now, so I don’t think he’s about to wake up. I still need to get his story from Weaver, as she hasn’t told me much about him yet, but I can make some guesses.

He’s missing fur, I can see his ribs, and he was more of an emotional wreck than I was, and I died. Weaver said Onaga had adopted him, but that's obviously incomplete. Maybe I should get a better look at him again.

It hardly takes any effort to shift from space to not-space, and I still can't tell if his being so solid here is a psychic-type thing or not. His eye is closed, and those armor-like plates around him are still present, but there's the start of the typical sphere I've seen around almost everyone who's not a dim gray. I still need to figure out what the colors are about. And the uncomfortable thing with most humans.

Casting my gaze around, I see four bright, human shapes and two smaller, dimmer orbs. Two of the bright spots are in the showers, and two are in the kitchen with a very hard-to-make-out silhouette next to them. One of the dim orbs is still in the sleeping quarters, with the other being where Weaver said the Operators worked.

I'm definitely glowing brighter now, a shifting ____ and ____ revealing the walls of the room. What's the difference? The Rangers look like they should be casting color, but they don't. And yet, they're brighter than some of the younger pokemon I've seen, and those pokemon cast color, so… Why not?

And then I have the two brightest things I’ve seen here, and one of them was a human… I think? I don’t know where to start with trying to learn about that.

Maybe I should move learning to read up on my priority list. I have the time, after all. And Weaver can point me to… Will they let a ghost into the library? Well, 'let,' I'm almost certain I can pass through just about anything, so it's not like a few walls will stop me from getting in. That feels rude though, and I don't know how people would react to me doing something like that.

"What are you doing, Smokey?" Weaver's voice echoes.

I move back to where she can hear me, “Checking on Espeon. And thinking, mostly. What are we doing with him?”

“Moving him outside, like I thought. Ryu will be trying to wake him up again, soon,” Weaver says, moving to pick the big cat up. She stops before she has her arms under the other feline, looking at me, “Could you carry him this time? He’s a bit awkward for me.”

He is nearly the same size as her. “Sure,” I say, creating a zone around Espeon- Huh, that’s an odd feeling. Maybe it’s because he’s psychic-type? Regardless, I can lift him rather easily, bringing the cat about a foot-and-a-half off the ground.

“I’m going to need to get used to that, with him around,” Weaver comments as she leaves the room, letting me float Espeon after her as I trail behind.

"What, floating objects?" I ask, and Weaver moves to hold the lobby door open.

“Yeah, although I think he’s been afraid to touch much of anything,” She replies, literally bouncing to the main doors. “Or he may have been too busy trying not to make Ryu worry, I’m not sure.”

“Trying not to make her worry? Not, trying to stave off an extra-spicy panic attack?” I ask, setting the pink cat down outside.

“There were some things on espeon that I read. You remember those papers?”

“Weaver,” I say, leveling the feathery weasel with a flat gaze, “I remember almost everything that’s happened to me since I woke up, and you reading that was only around thirty-four hours ago.”

“And you’re sure you aren’t psychic?” She retorts with narrowed eyes.

“No, but I’m pretty sure, at least.”

“Right… Anyway, espeon apparently do this thing where they pick someone and synchronize themselves to them. That includes letting the other person feel what they do, so I think that’s why he was holding it all back,” Weaver explains, leaning against the outside wall next to the doors. "How long until he wakes up, do you think?"

“I’ve got no idea,” I say, tasting the surroundings. “Nothing’s changed yet, though.”

▲▲▲

▼▼▼

I feel myself stirring out of a restful slumber, the first I’ve had outside my ball in some time. I stretch, feeling the sunlight fill me with energy as I idly seek out my anchor…

And start to flail, trying to find my footing as fragments of when I was last awake return to me. My anchor stabilizes, and-

Oh, she’s disappointed, slightly angry, and very concerned, meaning that I’m disappointed, slightly angry, and very concerned. And she’s standing only a few meters away. I turn my eyes on her, all three taking in the scene.

Ryuko’s second is leaning against the building behind her, one eyebrow raised as the weavile considers me. And there, floating too close to my anchor, is the maelstrom, free power and emotions orbiting around and falling into them without end.

“I hope you know that you shouldn’t have let things go that far,” My anchor says, radiating her disappointment, disapproval, and sadness through our connection. “Now, I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want honest answers. Understood?” She isn’t happy. Oh no. No no no no no! I don’t want to fall into- into…

The maelstrom is pulling everything away. Hadn’t they said something about eating the emotions? Oh! That must be why my dreams faded to something so pleasant after I fell unconscious, I thought I’d been lucky enough to gain control, yet the pull the maelstrom is exerting is so strong that I’d need to actively attempt to keep my emotions contained at this distance.

It’s still a bit uncomfortable, but they haven’t been cruel, or even particularly unpleasant. No, the maelstrom is simply odd, I can feel them, yet at the same time I can’t find their mind or emotions. And despite that, their body sits there in the ether, suspended by the void hanging from their neck, permeating through the rest of their body.

And thankfully, despite their gnawing presence, the flow through my anchor is unaffected. Or, doesn’t that mean… Oh. Miss Ryuko is frowning at me, evidently able to feel some of what I am. I extend my reach slightly to peer deeper.

‘Nine Sages, it’s coming through a lot stronger now.’ ‘-need locations, times, activities, people-’ ‘What is he doing? Wait, are you-’

She’s exasperated now.

And she's also evidently aware of me, her eyes narrowing. I send my affirmation and regret along our connection, nodding ashamedly.

“Right, that’s fairly natural for you,” Miss Ryuko mutters. “Don’t think we won’t talk about this if it becomes an issue,” She fixes her eyes on me, letting me feel the conviction in her mind. She then steadies her breathing, and continues, “Right, let's start with 'why' then,” She says, bringing out a notepad. “So, why were you hiding how you feel?” I don't need to exert myself to feel that she believes she already knows.

"B- Because it hurts…" I timidly say, sending a fragment of the pain from my memories down the connection. I feel her receive it, though she doesn’t visibly react.

She hums, moving the writing utensil along the paper, “I assumed as much, but my knowing that is all I’d need to start finding some way to help.” I shrink back a little at her words, I can’t refute that. “And you shouldn’t be worried about bleed-through,” She says, making me wince as I realize how much she’s picking up on at the moment. “I was ready for that when I took you in. Now, do you know what country you’re from?”

“Yes, Johto,” I nod, sending affirmation.

“Good, I’m going to start listing them off and I want you to stop me when I say the right one,” The human says, standing slightly straighter. “Sinnoh, Orre, Kanto, Johto-”

“There,” I say, nodding again.

“Right, and I already asked if you had a trainer,” She mutters, once more moving pen across paper. “And why were you hesitant to return to them?”

Oh… How do I get that across? I send ambivalence and then the anger I felt in those last moments with Mitsuaki as I protected him, when I became more to protect him.

When he abandoned me.

Even as I feel the rage course through my system, it doesn't spiral out of control, the all-consuming hole in reality that is the maelstrom pulling the emotions away after I’ve processed them.

“Hmm, that felt complicated…” Ryuko says, turning her eyes on her second, Weaver. “Do you think the two of you together could get it across?”

“Of course,” The weavile says, pushing off from the wall to move toward me. “So, what happened?” She asks with the same gentleness she’s had since Ryuko told her to make me welcome.

“I- My trainer and I had been making our way through Johto,” I begin, doing my best to ignore the outpouring that remembering it causes until it’s all pulled away by the maelstrom. “It was only us a- and our team at the time, and when we were attacked-”

I stop, allowing the anger to dissipate before continuing, “I was sent out, and once the humans saw me they started pushing harder, trying to get all of Mitsuaki’s pokeballs. They were- were going to hurt him, so I did my best to stay calm and store power for a combination we’d been working on together. And I wanted to protect everyone so I kept pushing for more, but it- I lost control of it, and by the time the pain from the backlash stopped I was- it was too late, and I realized I was e- evolving.”

Pain, isolation, and disgust rise from the memory of that moment, as vivid now as they were then. I need to stop, to let- to let the maelstrom pull it all away again. I realize I'm not breathing once my lungs start burning, and make a conscious effort to do so.

“He hated- When Mitsuaki saw what had happened, what I’d become, he pulled me back into my ball and threw me at the other humans, I didn’t see where he went after that, but- but-”

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The sorrow and self-recrimination of the days that followed and the constant anger, apathy, and purposeful pain from the last four months begin to drown me again.

Why wasn’t I good enough? Why did he throw me away? What did I do wrong? Was I wrong to want to protect him? How could I have done things better? Why is- How should- What made- How can- Why can’t- Why? Why? Why? Why?! Why?! Why?!

I’m- I’m not falling anymore. I glance up at the maelstrom and see their eyes filled with concern and sympathy. I breathe slowly to center myself, then reestablish my anchor.

“He left me, he threw me away because I disgusted him,” I whisper. “He used me to let him escape, and- and-”

“I think that’s enough,” Weaver says softly, her eyes staring through me. “Um, Smokey? Do you have that trick of yours working yet? That’s a lot to communicate…”

“Not all that well, no. And it won’t work in the sun, in any case,” The maelstrom, Smokey, says, their voice ringing with layers of emotion and untapped power. “Why can’t you just write it down?”

“That- that never crossed my mind,” Weaver admits, shrugging. “But it’s not like I can hold a pen without…” She trails off, staring at one of her hands, her pupils dilating to the degree that her irises vanish. “Oh. Uh, one second,” She says, vanishing through the doors in a blur of speed.

“Uh-huh,” My anchor says, confusion and amusement flowing into me. “I wonder what idea she’s had now?”

It wasn't the weavile's idea, but I don’t have the chance to say anything before the dark-type returns with the same alacrity with which she left, now holding a sheaf of paper and a pencil. She sets the papers on the ground, maneuvers the pencil over them, and snaps the thin piece of wood in two.

“Uh…” She says, looking at the remains of the implement.

“Were you…?” Miss Ryuko begins before chuckling, “You were. I suppose there’s enough that you finally felt the need to, then. Here," She says, handing her second a metal pen, "Don't put too much pressure on it."

The weavile carefully takes the pen, places it on one of the papers, and frowns as it punches through the delicate sheet.

“Here, set one on this and try,” Smokey says, and a plane of energy shimmers into existence.

I haven’t had much experience with physical manipulation yet, but it's rather obvious that they're achieving the effect with sheer force, not even bothering with constructing a base construct first. I don't know if that implies a great deal of control, strength, or resistance to the always painful backlash.

I feel some pride and burbling amusement flow down my anchor as Miss Ryuko puts a hand to her mouth, covering a smile and stifling a sigh as she watches what Weaver is doing. After fifteen seconds the weavile stops, having written five large symbols on the page, a frown crossing her features. “I… How do they make this look so easy?”

“‘Heís… thre…’” Miss Ryuko reads, still smiling. “It’s a start, and I’m going to hang this on the fridge when we’re done here.” The smile drops off her face and she sighs, “Well, it’s obviously complicated. I could tell just from the way you were feeling when talking about it,” She says, frowning as she looks at her second. “Weaver, you can stop that for now, I’m pretty sure it’ll take too long at the moment.”

“But I-”The weavile cuts herself off, staring at the slip of paper. “I… okay.”

Miss Ryuko sighs, rubbing at her forehead, “I don’t want to say it, but we’ll probably need to wait until we can communicate better to talk about your former trainer.” The human growls, startling me, “I hate this. Weaver, don’t let me forget to talk to Espeon about it, and the same goes for you,” She says, speaking first to her second, then to me. “And remember that Weaver and I will always be willing to help, okay?” She tells me, then turns to the weavile, “Right?”

“Of course,” Weaver says, performing a human salute.

The human’s eyes soften a little, “Good. Now, let’s move on to the next question. Do you know where your captors moved through to get to Almia?”

“I… believe Kanto and Sinnoh,” I tell her, though she doesn’t understand.

“I'm going to start listing countries again, let me know when I've said the right ones,” She says, taking a breath before, “Sinnoh,” I nod. “Orre, Kanto-”

“That’s all of them,” I say, nodding again and making sure to send a feeling of finality to make it understood.

“Right, now I need the time frame…”

▲▲▲

▼▼▼

I managed to get the general outline of when, where, and how Espeon got from Johto to here, and it's about what I expected, aside from everything he feels when he thinks about parts of it. I should have realized something was wrong when his emotions only came through in small bursts.

The misdreavus was helping, however, so I'm hopeful that he'll get better. It presents a problem though, in that once Misdreavus left, Espeon closed himself off again.

I glance at the front desk of the lobby, seeing Weaver still scribbling away. She has a look that tells me I’m going to need to comfort her soon, one I remember very well from when I taught her to read. She’s getting frustrated at her inability to do something she thinks should be easy.

Now that she’s started, though, she should be able to communicate complex things much more easily. …once she gets the hang of it.

I return my gaze to the floor, continuing to mop the accumulated dirt from so many boots marching over it, and, deciding that I might as well try, attempt to find Espeon through his bond. It doesn’t work, as I’m not a psychic and he’s closed it off, but I can hope he felt me trying.

There's a knocking of something on glass, and I blink as I look up at the obvious trainer standing outside the main doors.

I don't personally have anything against trainers, it's a decent career path for some, and, like people in general, most are decent human beings. But then you always have that one. The one who just has to ruin it for everyone else.

I digress. The one standing in front of the doors looks like one of the good ones, with how close he's standing to the croagunk. Speaking from experience, that takes trust. Croagunk tend to be violent when their personal space is breached. They- no, she, with the lower placed abdomen markings. She looks healthy, with no dry or cracked skin, well-developed muscles, no excess fat, and bright red rather than orange toxin nodules.

I hope her trainer knows what that means. For his own sake.

The man himself looks like he’s spent more than his fair share out in the wilds, too. He’s got the healthy build most good trainers have, and he’s probably from Sinnoh, with a sharp face, naturally white hair, and tanned skin.

Setting the mop in its bucket, I head for the doors. “They’re not locked,” I say, pulling one of the objects in question open. “What do you need?”

“Well,” The man says, now looking a bit nervous. “I had some questions about… recruiting?”

Ah, the polite way of saying he wants to take a pokemon with him, also the legal way, as we can’t truly stop the pokemon from going with someone if they want to. “I’m going to assume you know the basics.”

“No battling, no capturing, don’t harass the pokemon…” The man says, trailing off as he tries to remember. “I know there were two more, but that’s not the question I had,” He says, lifting his pack off his shoulders and turning it around, revealing the joltik stuck firmly to it.

Ah, that's a bit different. “Well,” I begin, quickly trying to recall the details about invasive species. “We could stop you from moving them out of the country, and if you don’t have a valid trainer license then you would have issues when trying to leave. But if they want to go with you there’s not much we will do about it, so long as you don’t break any laws around capture or training,” I inform him, pausing to review myself before continuing, “There are some protected species you shouldn’t interact with, but joltik are invasive, so it's honestly encouraged. Especially if you can point either us or them toward the other.”

“Yeah, okay. I thought I was remembering right, but something a friend did had me questioning myself,” He says, nodding in relief. “You catch all that, buddy?” He asks, addressing the joltik. “You can come with us after all.”

The arachnid lets out a buzzing, chittering sound.

“Okay! And, um…” The man articulates, glancing up, then farther up, “You know there’s an espeon on the roof, yeah?”

“I knew he was around here somewhere, yes,” I deadpan.

The man chuckles, “Right, yeah. Oh! Before I forget, I’ve been camping in the western forest, and there’s a troupe of wartortle laying siege to a swarm of beedrill a bit northwest,” He tells me. “It’s something to see, but I thought you might want to know.”

“We're aware of the beedrill, but, unless it becomes a bigger issue, we'll just let them keep at it.” Then I sigh, “I do need to ask to see the tags you purchased for camping now, though.”

“Oh. Uh, sure. One second,” The man says, reaching a hand into his bag as Joltik scurries up his arm. The man is experienced, I'll give him that, he didn't react at all to the bug-type climbing him. "Here,” He says, attempting to hand me the yellow tags.

I wave him off, “It’s just one of those things we’re required to ask about, I only needed to see them.”

“Ah, I get it,” He says, stuffing the laminated slips back into his bag. “And you said something about pointing you to some joltik?”

“We need to find all of them that made their way here,” I say, deciding to lean on the door instead of just standing in it. “It’ll probably take until the end of Summer to wrap that up. So, you know where we can start looking?”

“Yeah, I found this guy,” The man gestures to Joltik, who has made their way to his head, “And a bunch more around the fence of one of those wool farms to the south of the city.”

Hmm, that makes a good deal of sense, we would probably be getting a call about that in a few days then. "Thanks for letting us know. Is there anything else you need? Anything you've seen that might need dealing with?"

“Nah, not that I’ve seen. It’s mostly been an enjoyable vacation," He says, hoisting his bag. Then he stops mid-turn-around, "Actually, do you know if there's somewhere relatively marshy around here? Stinger is ready to evolve, and she'd prefer to do it somewhere like that."

"You'll need to head to the southwest edge of Haruba to find something like that, sorry," I tell him.

“Yeah, I figured,” He nods. "Guess we might have to put that off until we're back in Sinnoh, then," He says to Stinger. "We'll head to the Great Marsh and make a day of it, sound good?"

The amphibious pokemon waves her head side to side in equivocation before nodding, croaking out, “Cro-gunk.”

“Well, thanks for the help then,” The man says as he finally finishes turning. “Hope you have a good rest of your day!”

I watch him go, then shake my head in disbelief. The first real walk-in we’ve had in months, and they’re a trainer doing the smart thing and checking. It’s unbelievable how mundane that feels right now. I close the door and turn to go back to cleaning, then stop at the sight of Weaver.

She's holding a paper up to me, reading 'heLLo,' and 'iM sorrY.'

"You don't need to be sorry," I tell her. "Just making the attempt is more than most pokemon do, you'll get better at it."

“Weave,” she says, still sounding a bit despondent.

“I’M FUCKING DONE WITH YOUR SHIT!” Katie’s voice hammers through from the back.

I exchange a look with Weaver. It sounds like Katie hit her breaking point, as that was all in Unovan. “I think we should check on that,” I tell my partner.

“Weavile,” She agrees, visibly burning off her emotions in a black cloud as she heads deeper into the building.

I follow, slightly worried about what could have sent Katie over the edge. Looking into the radio room, I see that she's not talking into a comms unit, but holding one of the phones, and I get the feeling she must have slammed the receiver onto the body of the device, given her white-knuckled grip. Katie looks like she swallowed a lemon, and her foot is beating a hole into the floor.

She sees me in the doorway and sighs, “I guess you heard that, then.”

“Yeah. What happ-” I’m cut off as the phone starts ringing.

“That. That is what keeps happening,” Katie growls, taking a shaking hand off the phone.

“Who is it?” I ask, stepping into the room.

“A woman calling the emergency line to complain about a raticate, growlith, and chatot that stole her food. In Pueltown.” Katie visibly tries for calm as she looks at the ringing phone, “She won’t stop calling, and hasn't stopped insulting me since I told her we can't help. Could you pick it up, I need to contact the police in Pueltown to report an abuse of the emergency system.”

“Of course,” I tell her, reaching for the receiver.

I hold the receiver to my ear, “That was extremely unprofessional, hanging up like that! I demand to speak to someone higher up!” A woman’s voice grates on my ears.

“You’re speaking to her now,” I say, calmly. “Area Ranger Onaga Ryuko.”

“Ugh, finally! I thought you people were supposed to be organized. There are these pokemon that stole half the food from our event and you need to catch them, it was very expensive!”

I give the phone a sidelong look as I wonder just what this woman thinks Rangers do, then reply, “Where in Vientown is this taking place?”

“Excuse me?! I’m in Pueltown, we rented out one of the parks for this!”

Uh-huh, sure. “Which park exactly, ma’am?”

“Edwin Park,” The voice says tersely.

“Okay then, ma’am. Now, I’m likely going to tell you the same things our operator told you. This is the Vientown emergency line, we do not catch pokemon, and you should stop calling this number.”

“Excuse-”

“This line,” I say, speaking over the woman, “Is reserved for immediate response to situations involving a pokemon being in danger or a pokemon putting someone else in danger, and it is not to be called unless such a scenario is taking place. Pokemon stealing food is not an emergency and should be reported to the local rangers on the civilian helpline. Have a nice day."

I hang up the phone.

“I’d say you’re justified in simply hanging up on her if she calls again,” I tell Katie once she’s done with her report.

“Okay. Okay, yeah,” She says, her hands still slightly shaking in anger. “I don’t know if that’ll stop her, but thanks for trying.”

“Anytime. And I mean that, anytime. Yeah?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… everything right now,” Katie sighs. “I hope that Top Ranger manages to get something done about it.”

I nod in agreement stepping out of the room as the phone starts ringing again.

“Is she alright?” Karlos quietly asks from his office door.

“Probably not,” I admit. “She’s getting more stressed every day.”

“I've noticed. And she hasn't really been able to do much else but work and sleep…” He trails off, thinking. “What about a movie tonight? I know it’s not much, but it’s something, at least.”

“I don’t think anyone will say no,” I tell the man, half shrugging. “If it’s for her though, maybe let her pick the movie?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Karlos nods. “Oh, and would you empty the shredder bins in here?” He asks, gesturing into his office.

“Yeah, give me a few minutes to finish mopping the lobby first.”

▲▲▲

▼▼▼

My anchor moves through the building beneath my feet, calm as she has been since she saved me. I can’t help but wish she had been the one to raise me, to teach me. She won’t abandon me.

Yet the voice of experience says otherwise. It whispers that she is only the next risk, the next potential wound. I aggressively smother that voice. I've felt who she is, and she cares too much to do that.

She tried to reach out, unable to truly feel the anchor, yet attempting to anyway. I allow myself to fall farther into the bond, washing away the harsh edges of thoughts and memories I want to avoid. It’s not as effective as the maelstrom, but it’s still easier now.

My eyes begin to move, tracking something in the room below me, just out of reach.

‘-to fix it?’ ‘Katie needs a vacation, not just-’ ‘-Probably need the misdreavus’ help-’ ‘There you are.’

Oh no, she’s felt me pushing again. I hope she isn’t-

‘-Still so frail-’ ‘I’m glad you’re feeling better.’ ‘He’s too young for-’

Her concern, empathy, and a calming pulse of certainty flow from her to me. I respond with affirmation and uncertainty. I am feeling better, but I don’t want her to experience what I am.

I don’t enjoy drowning in fear, anger, pain, and apathy, and I'm certain she wouldn't either. She doesn’t deserve it.

I never, ever felt this way about Mitsuaki, he’s… he was a friend, at one point. But it’s everyone else I miss more, Flaaffy, Elekid, and Magnemite. We- We’d been working so well together, we were almost to the third badge!

But Mitsuaki, he- Why?!

NO! No, no no no no nonononono. Focus on Miss Ryuko, she loves me. …But she likes all pokemon, doesn’t she?

I’m starting to hyperventilate. It doesn’t matter if she feels a connection to all pokemon, she’ll hug me if I ask. That’s what’s important. Focus on that.

I’m starting to miss the maelstrom already.