“Do we leave her?”

Rayn and I take in the pitiful sight before us. A shivering young woman, sleeping under a tree, slowly freezing.

Leave her? At this rate she’ll probably die, and although I’ve made peace with Rayn’s need to kill to survive, I still want to prevent death if possible.

As I noticed before, there’s nothing I can give her that she doesn’t already have. What she’s lacking is, clearly, common sense. She should’ve run to Solaceon.

Have her travel with us to Veilstone? The idea is instinctually unpleasant. I stop myself.

Why does this bother me? She has her own food, her mother did not mention pokéballs, and if we stick to the Route there's a low chance I’ll need to protect her from an attack.

From what I heard last night, it’s a safe assumption she was working with Galactic in some fashion, probably as a grunt or something. That doesn’t really make her more dangerous to us.

…It’s the image. Thinking of her walking with us like she’s… our trainer upsets me deeply.

But my issues are no reason to let her die.

“Do you mind if we walk her to Veilstone?”

Rayn takes in Maggie’s sorry state. Curled up in the mud, shivering in her sleep, in the middle of Route 215.

He flicks his tail. “No.”

“She was probably a member of Galactic, a follower most likely.”

“Enemies?”

“They wouldn’t recognize her by sight, unless they knew her personally. Even if they did, not our enemies. Pokémon do not choose, but they’re also not held accountable. A depressing silver-lining.”

Rayn considers for a few seconds, then approaches Maggie.

“I will dry her. She may suffer light shocks.”

“Sure, I have a couple Cheri still. It’s necessary.”

Rayn proceeds to zap Maggie’s clothes in a barrage of tiny Thundershocks, steam rising from the heated garments. A few sparks leave light singes, which he seems upset by. He’s always been a bit of a perfectionist. He does manage to avoid hurting her.

After he finishes and Maggie still hasn’t woken up, I rummage through the duffel bag sitting beside her. At the top of a pile of clothes are several plastic containers of food, a large bottle of water, a thermos, and a wad of bills. No pokéballs.

I grab the thermos.

Holding it against my chest with one hand in order to unscrew the lid with the other, I eventually get the top off, letting it fall to the ground. The contents are still hot, and I smell coffee. Perfect.

“Hey Rayn, can you tilt her head back? I think this might wake her up.”

He slaps the star on the end of his tail to Maggie’s forehead, pushing it back. I pour warm coffee into her slightly open mouth.

A coughing fit ensues.

“Hey, you alright there?” I ask.

“*cough*What the hell was-*cough**cough*-that?”

“Coffee. You need to get up and get moving, or you’ll freeze out here.”

Maggie’s eyes flutter open. She sees us.

She screams.

I pull the thermos back to avoid having it knocked from my grip while she scrambles to get up, and decide to try a sip. I’m saving her life here, some coffee in return is fair.

…Pretty good actually.

“What… what do you want?” Maggie asks. She presses herself against the tree, keeping both of us in her field of view.

“Miss, if we wanted your stuff we’d just take it. You spent the night here, freezing to death, sitting under us. Clearly it’s you who wants something.”

Maggie’s frightened look slowly turns embarrassed. Taking the expression in, she really does look young. Barely more than a teenager.

I mean, I’m not even a year old, but that’s different.

“I… I don’t know. I heard a voice, your voice I guess, and… I didn't know where to go. So I just…” She shrugs.

How do I want to approach this? Rayn casually inspects the girl, looking disinterested.

Keep it simple.

“Look, Maggie right?”

She startles. “How do you know that?”

“My hearing’s quite good, I overheard some things.”

“…Oh.”

“Yeah. I heard you were kicked out, and Rayn and I are headed to Veilstone. I’m Cleo by the way. You want to come with?”

Maggie looks conflicted. “I… Veilstone’s not a good place for me…”

“Where did she think we were going?”

“You don’t get to talk, Mr. North.” I murmur, getting an annoyed look from Rayn in return, which I ignore.

“Well, it’s where we’re headed. You can come, or head to Solaceon. I wouldn’t recommend Celestic Town. No offence, but you don’t look like you’d make it there.”

“…No. Everyone knows me in Solaceon, I can’t…” She takes a breath. “I’ll come. Thank you.”

“No problem. Before you ask, I learned to talk by practicing.” I return the thermos to her duffel bag, wiping off the lid before capping it, then start heading back toward the packed dirt of the raised Route. Rayn quickly catches up.

Maggie hesitates for a few seconds, then follows behind us.

As we reach the road and start walking, I turn back to her.

“I just need to make one thing very clear. You are NOT, in any way, our trainer. Nor will you ever be. Got it?”

My tone clearly carries through to her, because she starts nodding frantically. “Yes! Of course! I would never…”

She doesn’t seem to know how to finish.

“…thank you for helping me.”

“You would never thank me?” I tease.

“No! I meant-“ ”Relax, I’m kidding.”

I turn back to hop beside Rayn. The muggy day is spent in quiet traversal.

-0-

We prepare to stop for the night at an old campsite atop a small hillock, and Maggie finds the courage to speak up.

She’s been following us quietly for two days now, as we traverse the Route. Through packed dirt and rope bridges over still water, we cross the damp terrain, scaring off the occasional Kricketot or Psyduck. Any Abra we spot immediately Teleport away.

I notice the Route is actually somewhat hilly, which wouldn’t normally result in an almost bog-level riverbed. The recent rain must be making it worse. In any case, as I finish eating, digging into my lovely Razz Berry supply, Maggie calls out tentatively.

“Uhm… Cleo?”

“Yes?” I turn toward her, Rayn instead choosing to lie down and close his eyes. We’ll still talk later, I’m sure.

Maggie gulps, clearly working herself up for something.

“There's something you should know.”

I think I know where this is going. “Ok?”

“I was… the reason my parents kicked me out is… have you heard of the Galactic Corporation?”

“Yes, they’re pretty well known these days.”

She flinches.

Maybe I shouldn’t make light of this. Personally, I’m not too worried about it. I remember the scene where Cyrus gives his speech to a crowd of adoring followers, and I know from my human memories that people can be convinced to do or believe terrible things when they’re in a group. Still, it’s important to her.

“I, uh… I used to work for them. Receptionist at Veilstone HQ. After what happened at Mount Coronet, everyone started hating us. Or…I guess that’s not true. Most already didn’t like us. When I went home and had time to think about it, alone… I knew on some level what the others were doing. I just chose not to think about it. Cyrus was just so…” she trails off.

Maggie seems lost in thought for a bit.

“I guess what I’m saying is, if you heard what I said to my parents… I did know. I did. The dream of a perfect world sounded so incredible, all of us working together… but that doesn’t matter anymore. If you don’t want to associate with me, then I get it. I’ll just... make my own way to Veilstone and figure something out.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She awaits my judgement, head bowed.

I mull over her words for a bit. Out among the trees, the distant songs of Kricketune are interrupted by a Honchkrow’s laugh, a cruel, mocking thing. The Route is momentarily silent.

“Why weren’t you arrested?”

“I still might be. I didn’t fight, or… or steal anything. I just worked the front desk. The police said something about ‘criminal conspiracy’ and a bunch of other stuff… Pretty much everything in my apartment was confiscated. For the investigation. That’s why I had to go back to my parents’, but…y’know.”

“Hmm. To be honest, Maggie, I pretty much guessed most of that. Not the details, but the gist of things.”

She stares at me, dumbfounded.

“I don’t know how you got yourself into it, or what you want to do next, but none of that really matters for our little arrangement. It’ll only be, what, three, four more days to Veilstone? Just keep being decent to us, and good luck to you.”

“And Rayn?” She steals a glance at him through the gloom.

A small flick of his tail.

“Rayn understands that the pride is not guilty of the leader’s sins.” Though personally I’m not sure if that translates to this case. She was there by choice, in a way. Even if she was manipulated and carried away by cult mentality. But there’d be no point to saying that.

“…Wow. A deviant Buneary and her predator are the nicest people I’ve talked to in weeks.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark!”

A smile emerges briefly, before being pushed back down. Maggie stares out into the wilderness night, almost pitch dark beyond our immediate vicinity.

“What I want to do next…” she whispers.

She looks up, toward the black sky. No stars can be seen.

“I wanted to work at Jubilife TV, once. Took that front desk job as a temporary thing, you know? Until I could make the trip.” She laughs a Honchkrow’s laugh.

“Now? Bartending, maybe. Hope everyone forgets one day… and I get to start over.”

There is silence again. I hear a sniffle.

I turn away, towards Rayn. “…Ok. Thanks for telling us, Maggie. Sleep well.” What else can you say?

Rayn cracks open a yellow eye, spotting me easily in the dark. He shakes his head minutely. No story-time today.

My rest is uneasy. No position feels quite right, always some minor itch or discomfort rising. Eventually, though, sleep wins.

-0-

It’s the sixth day of our journey through Route 215, and I’m starting to get a little sick of it. There was even less to see in the all-encompassing mists, but at least then there was a sense of danger, a need for alertness that drove us forward.

Maybe I’m misplacing blame. I do like to travel, but the proximity to our goal is making me anxious. We’re almost there.

Rayn’s attempts to sneak up on an Abra distracted me for a while, but inevitably he gave up and just ran down some Psyduck. I stopped watching at that point.

The noon sun heats the day somewhat, even blocked by clouds as it is. I’m following a distant Mothim’s path through the thin trees that surround our path when I spot a figure, far down the road.

A human. They slowly come into focus as we approach, and I begin to make out his features. Dark skinned, bald, and clad in heavy-duty grey Winter gear. He looks overdressed even for this weather. He raises his hand in greeting as we approach, and I spot a little yellow fairy on his shoulder. A Ribombee.

“Aloha, friends! On your way to Veilstone?” he addresses to Maggie.

She looks to me.

“Yeah, we are. Do you mind telling us if we’re far, still?” I answer.

“Woah, did not see that one coming!” he laughs, but turns to address me. “Not far at all, if you hurry you can get there before dark! I’m Jackson, by the way, and this is Ribombee.”

His words make my heart flutter, and I feel strangely nervous. Today.

I refocus on them.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Cleo. That there’s Rayn-“ he nods “-and this is Maggie.”

She raises a cautious hand, “Hi.”

I look to the Fairy Pokémon. “And you? Doing alright?”

She-I think- flaps her wings lightly, releasing a faintly pink wind. When the scent hits my nostrils, I’m reminded of traveling through Eterna forest with Rayn. The excitement of going, of setting out to see something I’ve never seen before.

“Huh. Sounds- or uh, smells like you’re having fun?”

Ribombee gives me a mysterious little smile. Bug Pokémon have always been weird with their communication, more difficult to understand than most others. It seems this one is no exception.

“Yeah, she’s doing fine,” Jackson says. He eyes us speculatively. “Say, two trainers meet on the road-““Not our trainer,” I cut in. Maggie looks like she was about to object as well.

“Sorry, my mistake. Just wanted to offer a friendly battle on the road… if you’re up for it?”

I look to Rayn. He’s eyeing Ribombee with suspicion.

“…Too strong. For now.”

I have the same impression. She may be small, but there’s a sense of danger about her. As if I might accidentally trade away my firstborn if I’m not careful.

Jackson notices our hesitation. “Oh, not against her! No offence friends, but she has a lot of experience. I meant our new addition to the team. I’m doing an Ace circuit, and we ran into a good prospect off the coast of Sunnyshore. Come on out, Prinplup.”

He reaches into his belt for a Great Ball. I hold myself still.

A red light flashes, and out comes a tall blue penguin. He assesses his surroundings, then gives us a shallow bow, flipper to his chest.

“Greetings,” he says. He speaks like Rayn, enunciating his sounds carefully and finishing one before he begins the next.

I turn to Rayn. ”Do you mind if I take this one?”

He locks eyes with Prinplup for a few seconds, but nods. “I sparred with Dusty. It is your turn.”

“Thanks. And greetings to you, Prinplup,” I answer, nodding in return.

Jackson looks around, then back to the raised dirt path where we stand. “Should we step off the Route, in case someone wants to pass?”

I inspect our surroundings in turn. Sucking mud and unpredictable footing. I need to be able to move.

“Nah, I’m good right here, thanks.”

Jackson smirks. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

Yeah. His little plot was pretty transparent.

“Alright, Maggie right? You want to be our ref?”

She startles. “Me? I’m not- I’ve never done that before.”

“It’s fine. Just signal the start, and call it if you see anything dangerous. I’ll step in if it’s necessary, but it won’t be. You’ll do great.” Jackson gives her a winning smile.

Maggie seems to miss the vibes he’s putting out. “Yeah, ok. I can do that.”

We take our places. Prinplup and I about ten meters apart, Rayn behind me. I leave my satchel with him. Jackson and Ribombee mirror Rayn while Maggie stands between us, off to the side. She has to stand at the very edge of the wide road to be at a safe distance.

I examine Prinplup. His stance is neutral, flippers to the side and the left foot slightly forward. Right-handed probably. My heart beats in anticipation.

“Alright, you good Prinplup?” Jackson’s voice calls out.

He nods.

“Uh, this will be a one-on-one battle between Ace Trainer Jackson and Cleo. Standard League rules apply, uhm… isn’t there something about Ace battles?” Maggie asks.

“Doesn’t apply here, this is a friendly. Don’t worry about it,” Jackson answers.

“Ok. Trainers, are you ready?”

We nod. I take a deep breath.

“Begin!”

I dash forward.

“Quickdef,” Jackson calls out instantly.

Prinplup does nothing. Hmm.

I reach Prinplup and immediately Quick Attack away, narrowly dodging a countering Metal Claw.

My lip curls.

“Not bad. Area,” Jackson commands.

Prinplup shoots out a beam of Bubbles, and I hop sideways. The Bubbles linger for a few seconds as I run around him, before popping explosively. I can comfortably stay ahead of his slow turning speed, but this is an Ace trainer’s Pokémon. It’s not going to be that simple. A plan forms.

Rushing in for Prinplup’s unprotected side, his turning suddenly accelerates. As expected, I’m faced with a wall of Bubbles.

I release my Thunder Wave.

Like drying my fur from the rain, the curtain of water pops into steam, and Prinplup’s surprised face is revealed. I Jump Kick him in the chest.

I follow him as he topples, kneeling on his stomach. With my position, I unroll my ears into his face in a Double Hit. Then again- a Peck to my forehead breaks my rhythm. A Metal coated flipper slams into my gut, and I cough out my breath. Before I know what’s happening, a jet of water is shooting into my face, throwing me away to scrape through the dirt. I release a Thunder Wave in desperation.

“Good job! Focus water.”

My head is swimming. Shit my ribs hurt. Get up.

I look to Prinplup. He’s having trouble standing up, spasming occasionally. The Water Gun carried the electricity. This is my chance.

Hop up, and sprint towards him. His eyes are on me.

My focus sharpens.

I glance to his left quickly, then back to him. As I prepare to make the last jump, I lift my right leg first, and push with my left, starting to hop sideways.

Then I slam my right foot back down, and jump straight for him instead.

He falls for it. Having seen my ‘tells’, he swipes out with a Metal Claw to his left, leaving his front completely open.

My Quick Attack hits dead-centre, but he somehow manages to shift his body sideways, turning it into a glancing hit.

Go down already!

I Low Kick his one stable leg, and he falls.

I draw my foot up and prepare to kick, only to see Prinplup’s mouth already roiling with water, ready to fire.

Fuck.

His neck twitches. He sputters.

I Double Kick him in the face.

His expression is pained, but his eyes are still focused. I kick again.

He interposes a flipper to protect himself, but it’s not enough. The impact smashes his arm into his own face, and I hear a crack.

Oh, shit. I immediately hop back.

I look to Maggie. She snaps out of her trance. “Oh! The battle is over! The winner is Cleo.”

I turn back to Prinplup. He’s slowly getting up. I exhale.

I would ask if he’s alright, but I’ve learned from sparring with Rayn that would be an insult to his pride.

I nod instead. “Good battle.”

Prinplup takes his flipper away from pressing at his face, and I notice a crack in his beak.

“Likewise,” he says, then winces.

“Damn. Great battle Prinplup. If it weren’t for that Thunder Wave, we’d have it. You too Cleo.” Jackson approaches, looking Prinplup over with a critical eye. “Didn’t even know Buneary could learn that.”

“Thanks. You guys are really good. I was overconfident in the beginning, Prinplup almost laid me out then and there.” There’s still a painful soreness in my ribs.

“Sorry for the screwup, guys,” Maggie says, dejected.

“Don’t worry about it, Cleo clearly knows what she’s doing,” Jackson answers dismissively.

The casual acknowledgement has me straightening up despite my aches.

“Ribombee, do you mind?” Jackson asks the Pokémon on his shoulder.

I hear a high-pitched giggle. Ribombee flies in front of Prinplup and holds her tiny hands out. Motes of pollen begin to drift from her fine hairs, gathering in a fluffy ball. She infuses it with the alien energies I associate with Bug and Fairy types, then offers the resulting Pollen Puff to Prinplup.

He accepts with a bow, then eats it. The effects are uncanny.

His beak seals the crack with a beige fluid, which quickly hardens. After seconds, no trace of the injury remains. Even his movements are unimpeded.

Ribombee turns to me, and offers me a Puff as well.

“Thank you very much.”

She smiles, and I smell the feeling of enjoying watching Rayn’s battle against Dusty. Arceus, Fairies are weird.

The Pollen Puff, though, is simply delicious. Rayn approaches me where I sit.

“Good fight. He was skilled.”

“Yeah… I really can’t wait to get to the Gym. My strategy of knocking them down then going all out is clearly not enough.”

Rayn nods, but says no more.

After a couple minutes of rest, Jackson approaches us where we sit.

“Here.” He holds out fifty dollars.

“Thanks. Would you say Prinplup is at a third badge level then?”

“Sure. I’d take him to a third badge challenge,” he says. I accept the bills and stuff them in my satchel, before hoisting it back on.

Rayn scowls. We suspected Dusty wasn’t really at that level, but it still sucks to have it confirmed.

“We’re already stronger than we were then, Rayn. Long way to go, still.”

“Yes.” Sparks race along his body for a moment.

Jackson claps his hands, gathering everyone’s attention. “Well, this was great. Nice battle Cleo, good to meet you Maggie, Rayn. We’re going to head out, make some progress today.” He turns to Prinplup. “Want to walk with me awhile, talk about how the battle went?”

“Of course,” Prinplup responds. Jackson gets the gist of it.

“Wait!” Maggie calls out.

Jackson turns back to her with a smile. “Something up?”

She fidgets for a bit.

“How’s Veilstone doing? With the whole Galactic thing?”

“Oh, that? The building was still off-limits when I left, with police going in and out every day. Most people seemed to move on decently well. A few were really scared by the whole sky thing a couple weeks ago. And the time thing.” He shudders.

“And the… Galactic members?”

“Arrested, I think. There were rumours of fights in the nightlife district. Don’t know much about it though, I didn’t visit that part of town. You should be safe, if you’re careful.”

“Yeah… thanks.”

“No problem. Listen, why don’t I give you my phone number. If you need anything, or just want to talk, give me a call.”

“Sure,” Maggie answers absentmindedly. They exchange phone numbers.

I don’t think he’s going to have much luck there. Pretty sure she missed what he was really saying.

Prinplup gives us a final butler’s bow, and Ribombee another mysterious little smile.

Then they’re off.

Rayn watches them leave, pensive.

“When next we face an Ace, we will fight a proper battle,” he vows.

“It’s a promise.”

My battle proved that we aren’t deluding ourselves, aren’t walking into the Zubat cave to die. We can be good at this. Are good at this.

But it also proved we can still get much, much stronger. And if I want to change the way people think about Pokémon throughout the Region, the world, I’ll have to.

We set off again, our pace redoubled by Rayn’s and my determination.

Maggie lags behind at first, nervous. She’s clearly ruminating on Jackson’s words. But rather than be left behind, she settles herself, raises her head, and catches up.

We reach Veilstone at sunset.