As it turned out, the nearest place I could take a nap was Eterna City, which was still a good day’s walk from where I currently was.

There were still a number of things I had to worry about before I could even think about taking a nap, as Professor Rowan had politely reminded me.

I still didn’t feel good about the situation with Kane and how he had escaped, but I could at least recognize the fact that there wasn’t much I could have done about the situation.

There would probably still be a fair amount of time that I spent worrying and obsessing about what I should have done differently, but it wasn’t my fault that Kane was as slippery as an Eelektrik.

For now, however, even more than a nap or trying to deal with Kane, the most pressing thing I had to worry about was the small pile of fur by my feet.

I carefully reached down and extricated Venus from the sleeping Growlithe. The poor dog-like Pokémon was so exhausted that it didn’t even stir as I pulled Venus onto my lap, and I sympathized.

While the Growlithe continued to snore, Venus yawned cutely, and looked up at me.

“Hey girl.” I said, stroking her fur. “You did really well today.”

She blinked a couple of times, then preened as if saying “Of course I did.”

“We’re going to be going to the Pokémon Center soon to get you fully looked at, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank you.”

I coughed as my throat closed with emotion, and my eyes stung with unshed tears.

“I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re my best friend in any world.”

Venus stared at me with wide, expressive eyes, then reached forwards and licked my nose.

I smiled down at her, and kissed the top of her head.

“You’re amazing.”

She purred happily.

All the talking had woken up the second Pokémon I had to deal with, and the little Growlithe looked up at me. It was hard to see its expression, considering the thick, rock-like fur on its head, but I could have sworn that the Growlithe looked scared.

I slowly knelt down on the ground in front of it.

Venus, continuing to be the absolute best Pokémon I could have wished for, carefully stood up and made her way over to the side of the Growlithe, draping her tail comfortingly over the back of the other Pokémon.

It seemed to help, and I sent my love to Venus with a quick smile.

“Hi there.” I said gently. “We didn’t really get a chance to actually talk earlier, but my name is Alina. This is Venus.”

The Eevee brushed her tail across the back of the Growlithe.

“I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry about what you went through. It was really scary, I know because Venus and I both went through something very similar.”

The way the Growlithe cocked its head made me think it was skeptical of that statement. Thankfully Venus purred as she looked over at the other Pokémon, and it seemed mollified.

“I’m not sure what happened with your other buddy, but I’m going to try and do my best to figure out what it's doing with Kane, and to try and get it back, okay?”

It still seemed very skeptical, but that was fair.

“The thing is, you have a big decision you have to make.” I gestured at the Rangers in the background. “These are Rangers. They’re really great humans, completely different from the one you met earlier. They all love Pokémon, and would be happy to try and get you back to your home, wherever it may be.”

The Growlithe looked over at Venus, who nodded a little bit.

“None of them would ever hurt you, I promise. But I also completely understand if you don’t trust them. The other option you have though, is we can let you go back into the woods and find your way back home yourself.”

Professor Rowan had briefly mentioned the possibility, and said that I should be the one to make the offer to the Growlithe, as it probably didn’t trust humans in general right now, but it might be willing to listen to me since I had helped it. A lot of Pokémon who had been rescued by the Rangers didn’t trust humans at all, and disappeared as soon as they were able to, and there was every possibility that the Growlithe would feel the same way.

“So we can heal you up, and let you go on your own way. But I don’t want to make the decision for you. You still have some time, so think it over, okay?”

The little Growlithe looked lost in thought, and I sat back patiently.

I was completely exhausted, and all I wanted was to take that nap, but I couldn’t relax just yet.

I owed it to the Growlithe to be fully present for its decision.

Eventually the dog-like Pokémon looked up at me, and whuffed.

I blinked.

“Uh, I’m sorry, but what does that mean?”

It whuffed again, and carefully stood up. I had applied a potion to its wounds, but that was really just an advanced bandaid, and the bites surely still hurt.

Venus rose with it.

The two seemed to have some kind of unspoken communication, and when the Growlithe looked at me again, I swore I could see a resolve in its eyes.

It whuffed, then took a deeper breath, and barked.

I was sure it meant to be powerful and decisive, but it came out as a soft “bork” instead.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

It was adorable.

It also didn’t actually answer my question at all.

“Um, I’m sorry.” I said. “But I don’t know what that means.”

Venus rolled her eyes, then primly stepped over to my side.

She carefully took a paw and batted at her Poké Ball on my waist. It only took her another couple of times until I got what she was trying to say.

“Wait.” I said, looking intently at the Growlithe. “Are you saying you want to come with me?”

It took another deep breath, and let out another tremulous bork.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I want you to know that it might not be what you’re expecting. I’m planning on tackling some of the Gyms around Sinnoh. You don’t really have any context for what that means, I know, but I’ll be doing some battling. It won’t be like the fight we just had, not at all, but there’s a chance you might get hurt if you come with me.”

The Growlithe hesitated, then borked again.

“But you still want to travel with me?”

It perked up a little bit and borked with determination, and I mentally sighed.

Why not? I thought.

“Alright, you can come with me if you really want to.”

The Growlithe wagged its stubby tail happily.

“First things first, are you a girl, or a boy? Or neither?”

It cocked its head to one side, then pawed at the ground twice.

“A boy?”

He barked happily.

“And would you like a name? I’d rather not call you “Growlithe,” but if that’s what you want I’m okay with it.

The head cocked over to the other side, and he pawed the ground once again.

“Okay, so that’s a yes on the name?”

He barked happily.

Let’s see what I got.

I stared at the Growlithe.

He stared at me as the seconds ticked by.

“It’s been a long day!” I said defensively. “I’m not on the top of my naming game right now. We can sort it out later if you’re okay with that.”

The Growlithe huffed, but seemed to accept it.

I fished a Poké Ball out of my bag, and held it out to him.

“This is-”

The Growlithe didn’t bother to hear me explain it, and almost as if he knew what to do, reached out and pressed his nose against the center button.

A flash of light and three shakes of the ball later, and I had a new member of my team.

I let the Growlithe out again, and he practically vibrated with excitement, tail wagging like a helicopter’s blade.

Venus looked vaguely amused, and I had a sinking feeling that I had just gotten in over my head.

Again.

Unfortunately Professor Rowan and Commissioner Jenny both had actual jobs to get to, and with a few last words of support departed back to their homes.

I had resigned myself to a grueling hike to Eterna City when one of the Rangers was kind enough to let me teleport with their Kadabra to the Pokémon Center in Eterna City.

I knew it was a mistake to take them up on the offer when they smiled apologetically and pushed a paper bag into my hand and said: “Just in case.”

Venus, Zetian, and the as-of-yet unnamed Growlithe went into their Poké Balls, then the Kadabra laid a hand on my arm.

The world looked like a kaleidoscope for a second, and I felt like I was turned into spaghetti and run through a food processor. What was at once a nanosecond and an eternity later, I was standing in a small, red and white tiled room.

I barely got the paper bag into place in time.

A couple moments later a door opened, and a figure in pink nurse’s scrubs stepped into the room.

“Welcome to the Eterna City Pokémon Cente- oh no. Not again.”

The nurse leaned out the door.

“Hannah!” He called. “Can you get the pills to help with teleportation sickness? We got another one.”

/^\

After taking a dose of pills from the nice nurse and drinking a full bottle of water, I was feeling better. Not great, but better.

Apparently most people got sick after their first teleport, which at least made me feel like I hadn’t done something wrong this time.

Venus, Zetian, and the Growlithe were handed off to the nurses for a checkup and healing after the battle, and I made sure to warn them that the Growlithe was rather skittish around people.

They had assured me that they would be alright, then disappeared into a back room, leaving me alone.

I sat there for a minute or two before sighing and getting up, brushing some of the dirt off of my tights and skirt.

A short walk around the Pokémon Center later, and I found who I was looking for.

Ted looked awful. Physically he was fine, but worry was etched all over his face and he was slumped down in his chair.

“Hey.” I said softly, sitting down next to him.

“Hm? Oh, hi Alina.”

“How’s Rakkyo?”

Ted sighed. “Not great. The nurses say he’s stable, and will recover fully.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

His mouth twitched. “But the damage to the muscles for his wings was severe. It will be several months of rest and physical therapy before he’s able to fly again.”

“Oh god, I’m sorry.”

Ted shrugged weakly. “I managed to talk to him a little bit about it before he fell asleep again. After a bit of arguing, he’s going to be going back to Professor Birch’s lab in Hoenn to recover.”

That was a shame, Ted was becoming a good friend, and I enjoyed having somebody to talk to while we traveled.

“So when are you leaving?”

Ted’s face set in a hard expression. “I’m not. Rakkyo was insistent that he goes back to Hoenn on his own to recover.”

I blinked. “Wait, what? Why?”

“Because he’s a Giratina-damned Dragon.” He said with a sigh, as if that made any sense at all.

At my blank expression, he continued.

“Dragons are proud Pokémon, and despise showing any weakness at all. It makes sense for when they’re in the wild, if a leader of a dragon flight appears weak, they’ll be overthrown quickly.”

“And he doesn’t want to appear weak before you.” I said as comprehension dawned.

“Like a fool.” Ted shook his head. “The thing is, even though I’m his Trainer, I don’t actually have much of a say in the matter. If I went with him, he would act like everything is fine, and completely ruin his recovery.”

“He’s that stubborn?”

“Oh yes. You should have seen him when he was a Vibrava, I swear the trouble he would get up to…”

Ted trailed off before sighing again. “I don’t want to let him go alone. He’s been by my side for almost ten years. But if I go with him, he and I both know that he won’t take the time he needs to heal.”

“Are all dragons like that?”

“Most of them, yeah. I’ve heard Goomy aren’t, but I’ve never seen one so I can’t be sure.”

“Oh.” I sat next to Ted in silence for another minute or so. “Do you want some time alone?”

“Yeah.” He said softly. “No offense, but I need to figure out what I’m doing. I’ll send you a text when things are more sorted out.”

“Sounds good. Take your time, Venus and the others are in with the nurses now.”

Ted stirred. “I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to ask-”

I waved him back down. “It’s fine. None of them were as hurt as Rakkyo was, they should be good after a checkup and maybe some potions. You just worry about Rakkyo and the others.”

He nodded, and I could see the exhaustion in the way his shoulders slumped.

“I’ll talk to you later.”