Chapter 33: The Worlds Touch

“What took you so long?” shouted Marie as Ceailean exited the tree line. He was scratching his head as he approached the lunch table.

“I looked as thoroughly as I could but I couldn’t find it, maybe-” Ceailean reached into his bag, “Ah ha, it was here after all.” He showed his pokédex off.

“Wasted so much time C.” complained Marie. “Look how ready Scorbunny is.” Ceailean looked at it. There he saw it switching between various warm up routines while Noibat chanted like a hype man.

“Almost make it seem like you're rooting for me,” said Ceailean.

“Pfft, as if. We’re gonna win it, right Fennekin?” Fennekin yipped and gave a single firm nod. “S-See that! Fennekin practically has the same amount of enthusiasm as Scorbunny!”

“Coulda fooled me.”

“Ceailean, Marie.” called Crisis. “We are all set up. Just waiting on you two.”

“You set up for us?” asked Marie.

“Do not act so surprised. I simply provide my service towards the greater whole.”

“If you say so. Come on Fennekin, Scorbunny. The show's about to start.” Marie and Ceailean walked over to the agreed upon start point. Only to find there laid only a single folded chair on its side.

“Here will be your humble starting position. The Ol’ Love Garden will a right and two lefts once you are on the main road and-”

“This is it?” asked Marie.

“We have to use something in order to ensure that all participants have as even a start as possible. This was the most linear object that I could employ.” explained Crisis.

“Better than nothing I guess.”

Scorbunny then crouched down beside the folded chair, ready to run at any moment.

Crisis gestured to Decidueye. “Decidueye If you’d please.” It nodded and knocked an arrow, shooting it straight up in the sky. It flew so high it went past the clouds.

“What did you do that for?” asked Marie.

“When the arrow hits the ground, that is when the race will begin.”

“Oh okay, we’re goin’ right now.” said Ceailean, tossing everything unnecessary in his pockets onto the ground. Scorbunny fist pumped to him eagerly.

“Wait what? When did we agree on that?”

“We didn’t. Just get ready.” Ceailean urged as he matched Scorbunny’s pose.

“But wait! Y-You’ll train with Solosis right? W-What if-!”

“You don’t gotta worry about those questions if you just win.”

“I know, but just in case-!”

“You don’t sound particularly confident.”

“I’m just saying-!” Fennekin barked at Marie, its eyes full of drive. Marie caught her breath and said, “Okay Fine!” She looked up just as the arrow came back down from the clouds. The two watched closely as the arrow approached the ground.

3, 2, 1, go!

The two took off right as the arrow hit the ground. Noibat rooted for Scorbunny from the tree as Crisis watched with crossed arms.

“Come on Fennekin!” huffed Marie, “We gotta go! A right and two lefts, just like Crisis said!”

“Hey, thanks for reminding us!” said Ceailean, tailing behind.

“Shut it C! You don’t need another Pokémon!”

“When did either of us? We both know this is just a want.”

“Yeah! And I want it more!” Marie surged ahead.

Scorbunny urged Ceailean to hurry up, but he only smiled. “Let them, I’ve got a plan.” he said with a somewhat sinister tone. Scorbunny nodded and focused on keeping Ceailean’s pace.

Marie looked back and saw that she had a significant lead. “Look at that, give up already?” That was when she felt something shifting around on her head. “Huh Snom? I thought I left you to eat your ice cream.” Snom poked its head from Marie’s beanie, looking annoyed at the commotion. “Well, in case you missed it, me and C-” Snom didn’t wait around to listen. It blew off her head with an icy wind and landed on Fennekin’s head. “What? Don’t you still like riding in my head?” She then noticed that it had fallen asleep. “Don’t you still love me?!” she asked with an overly whiny voice. Fennekin smiled and sighed at the sight.

She ran and ran. The main trail appeared, but no sign of a right turn. No matter how far she went, it never seemed to show up. Soon her pace slowed to a walk. “What the heck, are we even heading the right way?” Marie took out her pokédex and navigated. “9 kilometers?! Why did I agree to this?” She looked up and down the road, “Well, they never said we couldn’t take breaks. Fennekin! Please stop! I need a break.” Fennekin was quite a ways ahead when it stopped. It came back to find Marie laying against a tree. It pawed her shoulder trying to get her to hurry.

“I know, I know. But I haven’t run this much since Lumiose. And this is way more than that.” Fennekin exhaled and decided to wait, pacing back and forth. Soon however, Ceailean and Scorbunny showed up way sooner than Marie had expected.

“Hey Marie,” waved Ceailean, “I see you’ve already burnt yourself out already.”

“Ha! As if! I just-” she tried to lift herself back up but felt a sharp pain in her leg. She took a sharp breath through her teeth. “Ow! Ow ow ow ow.”

Ceailean's smug smile immediately disappeared as he rushed over. “Whoa whoa, are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah. Bad leg again.” she groaned.

“You wanna call it off, we can-”

“No! I wanna keep going.”

“Well… you can’t.”

“Then we’ll just have the Pokémon go.”

“Will that work?”

“I’m about to try.” She gestured over Fennekin, “Alright, this is gonna be a little wonky. But-” she pulled out her pokédex and typed into the notes. “I was gonna get the plate called a Five Cheese Ziti, so here-” The pokédex then printed out a small receipt like paper with the plate name on it, “Take this, and C I’ll take that money now.”

“I never paid you?”

“I was gonna wait until we got there but here we are. Can I get it now?”

“Yeah sure.” Ceailean handed her 3,000 pokedollars. She folded up the money along with the receipt and held it in front of Fennekin.

“Take this. They should be able to do the rest. Remember, a right and two lefts. The building will have a big green sign with a vineyard, you can’t miss it.” Fennekin nodded and took the money. “Now hurry.” Fennekin backed up a step, but felt slightly concerned to leave her here all alone, so it quickly dumped Snom on her stomach. “Ack! Don’t put it there! That’s cold!” Fennekin gave the quickest of sorry’s and ran off.

Scorbunny tugged on Ceailean’s pants after seeing that they haven’t even got going. “Oh oh! Right! Um… I wrote this down earlier-” he took a piece of scrap paper and folded it in another bundle of money, “Here, that should be good. Sorry my plan didn’t work. You’re all I have to rely on now.” Scorbunny saluted and took off towards Fennekin.

Fennekin ran confidently one set paws after the other. But the swift steps of Scorbunny came by, passing Fennekin outright with a draft of wind. Fennekin was shocked at Scorbunny’s sheer speed, to which the latter looked back with a confident smile. It gained more and more ground until suddenly, it tripped, sliding across the ground for a few feet. Looking back, Fennekin was still quite a ways away. Scorbunny dusted itself off and ran again only to trip again a few feet later.

There was no way Scorbunny could just trip like that. It skipped formalities and tried to run again, only to get the same result. Scorbunny was very annoyed now. It looked straight at the ground and walked carefully. Nothing happened. Was it going crazy? What was going on? That was when Fennekin came up and gave a confident wink while passing by. Scorbunny gasped and sped up, only to trip again. It gave an annoyed groan and pounded the ground. Fennekin was now in the lead by quite a bit. Scorbunny got up and yelled straight into the air, running full speed ahead. Then two pokemon popped out of the bushes, quickly abducting Scorbunny by dragging it into the brush.

Scorbunny was thrown against a tree and found itself against the ghosts, Gastly and Pumpkaboo. It asked just what they thought they were doing. The two brushed it off and demanded that it hand over the bundle of money. Scorbunny refused. Gastly rolled its eyes and tried to pry it from Scorbunny’s paws. The two struggled for the bundle, dragging each other back and forth. That was when Gastly had enough. It looked directly into Scorbunny’s eyes, blinding it in a flash. Just like that, Scorbunny fell limp on the ground from Gastly’s hypnotic power.

The ghosts laughed mischievously to each other. Gastly picked up the bundle and nodded to Pumpkaboo, leaving in the direction of The Ol’ Love Garden.

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() Fennekin ran ahead at full speed. Finally, the first right in the path. Feeling confident, Fennekin looked back to check its lead, only to find Scorbunny was nowhere to be found. It stopped to see if Scorbunny would catch up. Nothing. A sudden worry flushed through Fennekin’s body. It waited and waited but nothing. A sudden rustle of bushes startled it. Fennekin considered checking it out, but then a thought occurred. Maybe Scorbunny could be taking a different path. It convinced itself of this and continued onward. But there was still that lingering worry that Fennekin couldn’t quite explain.

The first right came and went, then the left, and the last left had The Ol’ Love Garden right on the street corner. Fennekin’s breathing was heavy as it entered the parking lot. As it looked around, it saw a family just walking in.

The little boy looked away from their phone and pointed, “Oh my gosh mommy look! It’s a Fennekin! It’s so cute!”

“And a shiny no less. Those are really rare. Quickly, take a picture.” said the mother.

The boy began to record and moved close to Fennekin. “Hiiiiii! Can I pet you? Your fur is so pretty-” Fennekin backed away cautiously. “Oh come on, I’m friendly. I promise.” Fennekin backed away further, only provoking the little boy into a fit of giggles as they gave chase.

“Baby, come back. You’re scaring it.” warned the mother. The little boy ignored her and continued. The two weaved through the parking lot for a bit before Fennekin finally had enough. It spit out the bundle from its mouth and fired a psybeam into the air, startling the boy so much that he fell backward and began to cry. Fennekin looked at him somewhat guiltily as the mother hastily approached.

“Hayden! What did I say? I told you to back off!” scolded the mother. She took the little boy into her arms and quickly took him inside without so much as acknowledging Fennekin. It watched the whole time, feeling bad for what it did. It never wanted to scare anybody, its was just because-

Well, it didn’t know the answer. It would have to think about it later. Fennekin picked up the bundle and went inside. The restaurant was packed. The lobby was chalk full of people waiting. Lights all around gave the place a golden hue and conversations all formed into this loud droning noise. As Fennekin approached however, the loudest of all the people talking were the two girls up front behind the wait desk.

“Oh my gosh Julie, it's so frickin’ busy today.” one said while brandishing their hand to every syllable they say.

“I know I know, just try and get through it Thalia. Then we can party just like we planned.”

“Wait, look!” Julie pointed at Fennekin. “It’s another one!” Another one? Fennekin realized that Scorbunny must have already come and gone. It hurried to the side of the counter and gestured for the two to take the bundle.

“Seriously, why have I never thought of this? This seems so convenient.”

“That’s because all you have is a Gastrodon Thalia. That thing ain’t getting anywhere fast.” Fennekin tried again to get their attention by jumping up and down. “My, impatient today aren’t we?” Julie took the bundle and looked it over. “We got a Five Cheese Ziti this time. It’ll take about fifteen minutes, is that okay?” Fennekin nodded. “Okay, if you could just wait over there in the lobby, we’ll get it ready for you.” Fennekin nodded again.

It went over to the benches and made itself comfortable by them. While waiting, Fennekin noticed the little boy from earlier sitting across the room. Every so often, it would catch him glancing then quickly go back to mindlessly playing on the phone. Fennekin was somewhat doing the same thing. It wanted to make things right. After shaking off the shiver of anticipation, it made its way over. Slowly but surely.

About halfway across the room, the mother noticed it coming over. “Hayden look!” she whispered, “That Fennekin from earlier is coming over to see you.”

“N-No! I don’t wanna see it! It was mean!” pouted the boy.

“Look again, see?” The mother pointed gently at Fennekin, “Maybe it feels bad?” Hayden pouted and turned his head away slightly. Fennekin persevered and continued on. “See? You’re not so bad.” The mother said to Fennekin. It nodded at her comment. “Then come here, I’m sure Hayden would be thrilled.”

Fennekin caught Hayden giving another glimpse. It stood up against the bench and looked at the family. It was at this point that Fennekin started to panic internally. What was it supposed to do at this point? Would it just sit there until something happened? Things are starting to get a little awkward. Maybe it should just bow out and-

Suddenly, it felt a hand touch the back of its ear, jumping slightly. Hayden quickly recoiled back in response. The two locked gazes. Hayden could feel Fennekin’s quick breathing upon his leg as he reached out again, even slower than last time. When his hand was barely hovering over Fennekin’s head, it stood up higher and let him make contact. Hayden gasped, but kept his hand still. Fennekin moved around slightly trying to encourage him. Hayden began to grow a smile. He petted Fennekin more, scratching and exploring its features.

Fennekin’s eyes were a crystal red, it’s gray fur seemed like it had silver linings when parted, and it’s bright red velvet ears flaked with tiny embers gave off the scent of freshly dried laundry.

Hayden gave a slight chuckle, his eyes practically sparkling. “Whoa.” He whispered. Fennekin closed its eyes as it let Hayden take it away into bliss. But then a second hand touched it.

“It’s so warm, and soft too.” said the mother. Fennekin didn’t mind much and let her pet it as well. But now a third hand.

“You’re right Beth.” said the father, who had been silent the entire time. Fennekin was bothered by this slightly, but it touched it out.

“Excuse me? Is that your Fennekin?” asked a bystander. “My daughter would be absolutely delighted to pet it.”

“No, it’s not mine.” answered the mother, “It just came over and let me pet it. But I’m not sure-“

Another person looked over the wall behind the family and asked, “Is that really a shiny Fennekin? I can’t tell from back here because of the lighting.”

“Whoa! It really is a shiny!”

“Can I get a picture?”

“I want to pet it too!”

Fennekin stepped off the bench and looked around. A lot more eyes were on it than it had realized. The lobby quickly began to get crowded. Full of people reaching their hands out, holding phones with bright lights, and the air was loud with repetitive praise. Eventually, Fennekin was backed into a corner. Panic ensued. It could barely see in the rapid flashing cameras. Then a voice rang out.

“Ziti for our special little Fennekin!” shouted Julie. The crowd did not depart however, continuing to cram further into the corner infected with their self interest. Fennekin couldn’t take it anymore and changed ahead, bobbing and weaving in between various pairs of legs. The crowd scrambled as they tried to regain sight of it. Before Julie even saw it, Fennekin jumped up and grabbed the bag of food.

“Wait wait!” pleaded Thalia, “I wanna get a picture before you leave!”

“Me too!” said Julie.

Fennekin ignored them and ran through the crowd. And not wanting to take any chances, it blasted open the doors with psybeam. While it escaped, everyone in the lobby was left in a coughing frenzy as smoke from the explosion filled the room.

Hayden was quick to have covered his nose with his shirt. He watched the crowd and felt a slight understanding for Fennekin. “Go, little Fennekin.” he said under his breath.

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() The world was spinning. The forest was blurred together into a mush of green. Even the sound seems to swirl around together except for the loud mumbling of a certain pacing Pokémon.

Scorbunny rubbed its eyes as it regained consciousness. It was in the middle of the forest and covered with leaves and sticks. Before it shook them off, Pumpkaboo came by, mumbling what seemed like nonsense. Practicing what to say to Solosis in order to seem impressive or what not. It paced back and forth, not paying much attention to Scorbunny. Now was it’s chance.

It carefully moved the leaves and sticks off itself and retreated into the bushes. Pumpkaboo recited more lines, imagining Solosis absolutely swooning over it while leaving Gastly in the mud. It smirked at the thought. As it swung around, it saw the leaf pile in tatters. It gasped and checked all around the area. But once it became clear that Scorbunny was gone, it screamed into the sky in a panic.

Scorbunny was down the road when it heard the scream, laughing mischievously when it did. But not long after, it ran into something. It apologized for not looking where it was going, but all sentiments were gone once it realized who it ran into. It was Gastly, and it was carrying a bag of food. The two gasped at each other's presence. Scorbunny leapt up and tried to tackle it, but it phased right through. Despite that, Gastly was taking no chances, quickly running away with a whimper in its voice.

Scorbunny slid against the ground and turned back to Gastly, giving chase. Gastly took one glance and saw Scorbunny coming up with surging speed, catching it off guard. But before Scorbunny could catch up, Pumpkaboo came barreling out of the trees, tackling it to the ground. The two fell into the trees on the other side of the path. Gastly let out a sigh of relief, only to hear a loud scream. It looked back to see Pumpkaboo get launched into the sky with a trail of embers behind it. Gastly almost stopped in awe of the spectacle.

Scorbunny then bounced straight up to Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo saw a smirk on Scorbunny before it’s face was used as a platform to bounce it even further into the air. As it soared, it set its sights on Gastly and dove in for the attack. Gastly was practically whimpering in fear, making a split decision to hide behind the bag of food.

It waited and waited, but nothing happened. Slowly it opened its eyes, only to see nothing. But that was the problem, Scorbunny and the food were nowhere to be seen! Gastly searched all around the immediate area in a panic, only to hear Scorbunny call for it at the top of hill, sticking its tongue out tauntingly. Gastly grit its teeth in anger and gave chase. But Scorbunny was long gone. Gastly gave up the chase just as Pumpkaboo tiredly caught. It asked what happened, huffing away the air.

After explaining, Pumpkaboo sighed and casually sank into the ground, becoming a shadow and zipping away towards Scorbunny’s location. Gastly ran after it.

Scorbunny was chuckling to itself on how it managed to get away from the ghosts. Why were they even after it anyway? To try and impress Solosis again? Like that would ever work. It snickered at the thought. A shadow passed by. Scorbunny looked up at the sky, curious to see if it was a flying Pokémon. But then, Pumpkaboo shouted at Scorbunny to stop, adding on a barrage of bullet seeds.

Scorbunny yelled in surprise and skidded to halt, using the food to block the seeds. They all ricocheted off with the sound of loud whacking plastic. Pumpkaboo quickly stopped and shouted at Scorbunny, telling it to be careful. Scorbunny shot back saying that it was the one that attacked. Suddenly, Gastly grabbed Scorbunny by the ankles and pulled it to the ground. It dropped the food, which was swiftly retrieved by Pumpkaboo.

Gastly dragged Scorbunny across the ground while it tried in vain to escape. Every kick just just phased through Gastly’s face. If only it could get a chance to ignite its feet. As another kick phased through its face, Gastly decided to bite at Scorbunny’s foot. Scorbunny felt a chill go down the back of its head and it tried even more desperately to get away. Gastly picked this up immediately and moved closer, chomping at its feet with teeth that sounded like snapping metal. Gastly’s eyes grew a dark purple and a shadowy face projected off of it and passed through Scorbunny. Scorbunny tensed up and screamed in fear straight into the sky. It was so loud and high pitched that even the Ghosts were knocked back a bit having to cover their ears.

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() Noibat’s ear twitched. Immediately, it sprang off the tree it was resting on and flew towards the trail. Crisis raised an eyebrow at its behavior, but didn’t have much time to think about it as a groan flew through the air.

“Ahhhhhhh… Why did I think a race was a good idea?” said Marie, laying on a bench chair holding her hip and biting her thumb.

Ceailean was sitting next to her. “Sorry for suggesting it.” he said while scratching his head. Marie only sunk into the bench and groaned some more. Crisis sighed and continued to watch the horizon.

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() Gastly and Pumpkaboo stood on the path confused. They watched Scorbunny rock back and forth with its knees up to its face. Pumpkaboo glared at Gastly and asked what weird stuff it did in order to make Scorbunny act like that. Gastly only shrugged. Pumpkaboo sighed and made its way down the trail. Gastly then moved up and said that it could carry the food the rest of the way. Pumpkaboo said it could do it. Gastly was adamant however, insisting that Pumpkaboo hand over the food. Pumpkaboo moved a little faster, still refusing.

The two went back and forth for a bit before Pumpkaboo ran off in a fit. Gastly gave chase asking why it was so petty. Pumpkaboo asked if it thought it was so stupid? It would just give the food to Solosis and it would prefer Gastly. Pumpkaboo looked back to see Gastly grumbling, shocking Pumpkaboo that it correctly guessed. Gastly moved up and grabbed the food, but Pumpkaboo held firm. The two tugged on the plastic bag until a sparkle in the sky caught the ghosts attention.

Noibat observed from above. Scorbunny was a little ways down the trail and the ghosts were fighting over the food that it was supposed to deliver. Noibat immediately exploded into dragon rage and dove upon the ghosts. Pumpkaboo silently sunk into a shadow and sneaked away, taking the food with it. Gastly screamed in fear right as Noibat crashed straight into it, sending up a large explosive dust cloud.

Pumpkaboo rematerialized further back the trail and saw Gastly flying back. Noibat was quick to land just down the trail from Pumpkaboo and called out to it accusingly. Pumpkaboo nervously turned its head and asked how it could help. Noibat wanted to know what happened. Pumpkaboo slowly put the food down and assured it that nothing in particular happened, certainly nothing that involved the ghosts. Then Pumpkaboo let out a nervous hiccup, startling the Scorbunny that Pumpkaboo just realized it was near. Noibat quickly exploded into dragon rush and charged. Pumpkaboo panicked and quickly tried to counter with bullet seed, only for them to vaporize in the dragon energy. Noibat plowed straight into Pumpkaboo, sending into the forest so far that trees shook violently several layers in.

Noibat calmed down and tended to Scorbunny. It asked what happened. Scorbunny grabbed Noibat by the shoulders and quickly explained everything like a crying toddler. Once it was done, it wrapped its arms around Noibat and bawled into its chest. Noibat was stunned. It had never gotten a hug like this before. Seeking comfort in a vulnerable state. It almost forgot what it should do. A warm feeling spread throughout and Noibat offered its embrace. The two stood for a while until Scorbunny’s tears dried up. It rubbed its eyes and thanked Noibat. Noibat scratched its head sheepishly, not really knowing what to say.

But then Gastly called out from down the trail. Through either overconfidence or delusion, it confronted Noibat. Scorbunny stepped back a bit, fearing the ghost. Noibat readied itself for battle. Gastly went on about the situation. It just wanted to impress Solosis, but they wished to steal Solosis away. It couldn’t let that happen, not after all the time it invested.

Noibat slumped its wings, looked Gastly right in the eyes, and told it to get a life. Gastly was fuming. It told them it wasn’t planning on hurting them, but now it was going to bring out its secret attack. Over Gastly's head, a purple ball formed. Once it launched the attack, Noibat intercepted it with air cutter. The air blades however broke apart upon contact. Noibat barely had enough time to react, defending itself with dragon rush and getting launched straight into a tree, blasting it apart.

Scorbunny gasped at the immense power the attack had. To think this somewhat unassuming Pokémon packed such a punch. It shuddered as Gastly approached. Still, it was able to pick up the food, not willing to let Gastly have it. Before Scorbunny could turn tail, Pumpkaboo shadow sneaked it from behind and pulled on its ears. Scorbunny immediately writhed in pain as it tried to escape its hold. Gastly was face to face with Scorbunny, wearing an absolutely maddening smile. It told Pumpkaboo that it wanted to tie up one last loose end. It formed a shadow ball of its head, ready to blast Scorbunny point blank.

Scorbunny screamed for help, but no one came. Gastly chuckled to itself as it lowered the shadow ball to Scorbunny’s face. But then, an air cutter blasted all the pokemon away from each other. Scorbunny made sure to use itself as a cushion for the food, skidding to a halt. It looked over and saw Noibat on the trail, staring down where it had just shot with a face full of confidence. Scorbunny thought it looked so cool.

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The ghosts struggled to get up. Their goals being the only thing that kept them motivated and unified. Scorbunny shouted at them to just stop bothering them. Noibat walked up and casually told it that the ghosts probably wouldn’t stop. They seemed to be bullies after all. Here and now is the only way they’ll learn their lesson. Scorbunny gave one last glance at the ghosts and nodded. It placed the food down off to the side and slapped its cheeks. Scorbunny wore a new determined look as the fear washed away little by little.

Before they approached, Noibat pulled Scorbunny in for a plan. Scorbunny nodded and ran towards the ghosts. Gastly commanded Pumpkaboo to protect it while it charged another shadow ball. Pumpkaboo sprayed bullet seed along Scorbunny’s path. It dodged it all and got up to Pumpkaboo, jumping up with a back flip blaze kick. Pumpkaboo’s face barely dodged the flaming feet, it sighed in relief, only to take a direct hit from an air cutter. Noibat gave a shout of encouragement. Scorbunny covered itself in a shroud of white and kicked at Gastly, only to phase right through. Noibat facepalmed

Gastly, somewhat taken aback, giggled at Scorbunny’s mistake. It threw its shadow ball at Scorbunny in retaliation. Scorbunny panicked and immediately bounced straight up into the air. The shadow ball careened into a tree, blasting it apart. Gastly grunted in disappointment, but saw another opportunity.

Scorbunny took a sigh of relief. It looked back to where Gastly was only to see that it was gone. Gastly astonished Scorbunny from behind, flinching it along with a short high pitched scream. Gastly cackled as a ball of dark streaks exploded out of it. Each one lashed upon Scorbunny something fierce and knocked it out of the sky into the ground. Noibat burst into dragon rush in order to help, but it found that it was stuck. Looking down, a dark shadow with red glowing eyes was grasping its feet. Noibat was then dragged into the shadow, becoming one with it. The shadow moved erratically across the ground, shaking violently with each new direction it went.

Scorbunny sat up. Gastly was slowly approaching from down the trail. It sent another scary face to wash over Scorbunny. Scorbunny’s vision became blurry, but what it could see was all too familiar. A gigantic silhouette like that of wicked tree branches, each step shaking the ground beneath it. A cold sweat ran down Scorbunny’s face as it tried to back away from the burning red eyes that started it down. Fear was taking hold once again. The dark lashes form around it again, ready to rip into Scorbunny until it was nothing but ribbons.

Gastly cackled as it approached charging payback. But then the shadow zipped in between the two Pokémon and exploded. Pumpkaboo flew into Gastly’s face and the explosion knocked Scorbunny back a bit. Noibat collapsed to its wings and knees, breathing heavily. Not even really knowing how it got out of that shadow. Using its sonar, it quickly made its way over to Scorbunny, only to find it shivering up a storm. Noibat asked what was wrong. Scorbunny shuddered all the way through its response, saying that they were going to kill it. Noibat was confused. The ghosts just seemed like misfits, nowhere capable of killing anything. Scorbunny corrected it, saying that Tyranitar would do the deed. It would recognize a lashing like that from anywhere. It was Tuviere all over again.

Noibat tsked and looked back in the direction of the ghosts. Though still obscured in dust, Noibat could still hear them bickering with each other. Noibat grit its teeth, angry at the implication that they don’t even know what they did. Tuviere was this buzzword it kept hearing over and over. At that Cafe, in Camphrier, and now here. It figured it could just keep to itself, but now that event was being used to hurt its friends.

Noibat shouted as loud as it could and exploded into its largest dragon rush yet. Dense purple energy climbed to the tops of the trees. The dust was blown away in an instant from its radiant purple light. The ghosts stopped arguing to see Noibat's eyes staring back, now filled with a drive to hurt.

Scorbunny saw the illusion wash away as it got overtaken by the purple light. Its eyes set upon Noibat, filled with awe. Noibat told it that it may not know what happened at Tuviere, but it did know how it is affecting Scorbunny. Noibat assured Scorbunny that it would stay by its side until the end. They would grow strong together so that way they could face any problem life may throw their way. No more feeling helpless, it was time to stand up for yourself.

Scorbunny’s eyes sparkled. Noibat offered its wing. Scorbunny grabbed it through the dragon rush energy, though it didn’t hurt. It felt empowering. Scorbunny was imbued with a new hope. It closed its eyes, jumped in place, moved its neck, and let its arms flow freely. Once it was done, it stared down the ghosts along with Noibat.

The ghosts were majorly intimidated. Pumpkaboo had to snap Gastly out of it, telling it in a panic to charge up another shadow ball. Once Gastly started, Scorbunny rushed ahead with quick attack. Pumpkaboo instinctively moved in front of Gastly to protect it, but Scorbunny phased straight through. Pumpkaboo laughed at Scorbunny’s foolishness, but that was the plan. Scorbunny’s feet ignited into flames and it roundhoused Gastly straight across the face, sending it flying into a tree. The shadow ball dropped down with nothing more than a pop. Pumpkaboo realized its mistake and moved to intercept, only for Noibat to dive in and plow Pumpkaboo's face into the ground with dragon rush. It then made a back flip jump and sent an air cutter into Pumpkaboo.

The area was no longer bathed in a purple light. Scorbunny looked up to Noibat and gave it a thumbs up. Noibat gave back a similar gesture. Gastly then rushed out from the bushes going for an astonish, but Scorbunny reacted quick enough to dodge with quick attack.

Gastly clenched its teeth. It then saw Pumpkaboo moving with shadow sneak, having it decide to charge a shadow ball right this instant. Scorbunny was initially confused as to why Gastly would expose itself, but that was when Pumpkaboo dragged it into its shadow, Scorbunny only giving a quick yelp. Noibat took notice and said it was on its way. The shadow was moving around too fast for it to be precise, so it decided to put all the power it had into this one attack. It burst into dragon rush and flew down as fast as it could, slamming into the ground with all its might.

A huge explosion ensued. The force cracked and split the ground apart. Gastly struggled to float upright while holding its shadow ball. Pumpkaboo flew right out of the ground, Scorbunny in close pursuit. Once Pumpkaboo reached its peak height, Scorbunny moved to use it as a bounce platform once again. It planted its feet into Pumpkaboo's face just a little harder this time and jumped as high as it could. Pumpkaboo was sent careening to the ground, landing next to Gastly with almost a perfect imprint of itself in the ground.

Gastly gasped. It was seriously considering whether or not what it was doing was worth it. But then it spotted Noibat on the ground, breathing heavily trying to recover from its last attack. Gastly grinned as the shadow ball was so full of power now that it could barely hold its shape. It proudly announced its ultimatum to Noibat. Surrender or be blasted into next week.

Noibat looked up into the sky and grinned. It nonchalantly put its wings behind its head and told Gastly that it should’ve paid attention. Gastly looked up as well, only for Scorbunny to javelin kick the shadow ball right into Gastly. The two sank underground from the force and the shadow ball exploded. The ground blew apart as purple light erupted from the cracks. Noibat had to cover its eyes from it, crying out for Scorbunny in hopes that it was okay. Shortly after, Scorbunny jumped out from the dust, doing a little trick in the air before skidding to a halt with a three point landing.

Noibat jumped up and down, giddy at how cool Scorbunny just looked. Scorbunny blushed a little and assured Noibat that it was nothing special. But as the dust cleared, Gastly and Pumpkaboo started to crawl out of the hole in the ground. Both had yellow sparks flying around them, a tell tale sign of paralysis. Scorbunny groaned and asked if they were just begging for more. Gastly said nothing, instead focusing all its efforts into forming one more last ditch effort shadow ball. Scorbunny and Noibat readied themselves to battle once more, only for a blue beam to hit the ghosts from behind. The explosion made the ghosts fly to their feet, both fainted for good.

Scorbunny and Noibat both pondered as to who it was. That was when Fennekin jumped out from the dust, food bag in its mouth, and raced down the path. It gave Scorbunny an encouraging glance as it ran. Scorbunny screamed towards the sky, having completely forgotten that it was in a race. It frantically looked around the trail for the food. Noibat reminded Scorbunny as to where it was. Scorbunny quickly thanked Noibat and ran over to the food. Noibat told it to wait. Scorbunny ran in place as it asked what was up. Noibat crossed its wings and told Scorbunny that it got this. Scorbunny gave a warm smile along with a thumbs up before running up along the trail, scooping up the food as it went. Noibat gave a sigh of relief, deciding to wait a moment before flying back.

----------------------------------------

() Crisis scanned the horizon. Nothing. Checking the time on the phone it showed 2:20pm. As he put it back in his pocket, he listened to the bickering between Ceailean and Marie.

“C! Come on! Go that way!” commanded Marie.

“Do I really have to do this?” asked Ceailean. Marie was riding on his back and using his hair to steer.

“It hurts to walk right now and I wanna see Fennekin when it crosses that finish line.”

“You can do that from the bench though.”

“Up here is better. I want to be able to see Fennekin as soon as possible, all the way to the end.” said Marie, triumphantly raising her fist to the sky. “Now hurry up and go that way!”

“You know I can just…” Ceailean faced away from the trail.

“Noooo! Turn around!” Marie said, tugging on Ceailean’s hair.

“I ain’t turnin’ til you’re nice to me.”

“It would seem our guests of honor have arrived!” called Crisis.

“Really?” said Ceailean excitedly, “Where?” He turned around to see Fennekin racing down the grass.

“Ha! So much for not turning around!” teased Marie. “Go Fennekin! You can do it!”

“Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.” Ceailean turned right back around.

“Ugh! You’re useless! I don’t need you!” Marie pushed herself off Ceailean’s back and limped her way over to the finish line, saying ‘ow’ with every other step she took.

Ceailean looked back towards the horizon. Scorbunny was nowhere to be seen. “Come on bud.” He said under his breath. Fennekin continued to run down the grass alone. Until only a moment later, Scorbunny came over the hill. “Yeah! That’s right! Come on, let’s go!”

“Give it up C!” said Marie, “Can’t you see how far ahead Fennekin is?”

“But look! My boy is zoomin!” pointed Ceailean.

“Rival had stated that it was a female though…” Crisis thought to himself.

Marie took a closer look. Scorbunny was gaining pretty fast, which filled her with uncertainty. “F-Fennekin, hurry! Scorbunny is gaining!”

Fennekin looked back to see a very determined Scorbunny approaching much faster than anticipated. Fennekin got serious and doubled down on its efforts, full sprint towards the end.

The grass beneath Scorbunny’s feet singed as it’s running grew more intense. The finish line was in sight, it was so close. Fennekin would never back down however, using all it had just to keep ahead. The two were neck and neck. Crisis began to tap his arm with his finger in anticipation.

“Scorbunny go! You’re so close!” urged Ceailean.

“Fennekin, come on! You can do it!” shouted Marie, jumping in place and almost falling over to the pain.

Crisis realized something. “Decidueye!” Decidueye nodded in understanding and rushed forward. Scorbunny and Fennekin tossed themselves past the folded up chair, extending their limbs as far they would go. They made the cross, sliding to a stop in the grass. The two laid down trying to catch their breath. Scorbunny’s feet were steaming from the moist grass and Fennekin’s ears were huffing out embers.

“Yeah! Scorbunny won!” exclaimed Ceailean.

“Yeah! Fennekin won!” Marie said at the exact same time. The two looked at each other accusingly. “Nuh uh! Clearly it was Fennekin who made it first!”

“You’re crazy if you think Fennekin has anywhere near the same long jump as Scorbunny!”

“Gonna be like that huh?” Marie took out Fennekin’s pokeball, “How ‘bout we battle for it?”

“You know what? Maybe I will. But don’t you think this will end like last time-!”

“Please!” shouted Crisis, “I ask that you quell your conflicts for now. Lest you feel like invalidating all of your Pokémon's efforts if we’re just going to settle it with a battle?”

“But-” said Marie.

“Additionally, I do not have the utmost confidence in your Pokémon's abilities as of now.” pointed out Crisis. Marie and Ceailean took a second look at their Pokémon. They weren’t even able to stand, they were that exhausted.

“Look at Scorbunny!” Ceailean rushed to its side. “What happened? It looks like you got tossed down a cliff.” Scorbunny only chuckled slightly, implying that the assumption wasn’t too far off.

“Fennekin too!” Marie fell to her next to it. “You look like you had to run through a stampede.” Fennekin slumped into the ground and groaned.

“I suppose we can only guess as to what happened out there,” said Crisis.

“Then how will we settle it? We can’t battle for it. Maybe rock, paper, scissors?” asked Ceailean.

“Fret not. That is precisely the reason why I had employed Decidueyes help earlier. With its pristine eyesight, it would be able to inform us as to who the true winner is.”

Marie stood up. “You’d really be able to do that?” She asked Decidueye. It nodded. It walked over, Ceailean and Marie stood over their respective Pokémon as it did. Standing between the two Pokémon, it closed its eyes and spread its wings. It then scooped up Fennekin and held it up high, declaring the winner triumphantly. Scorbunny slumped down slightly in defeat.

“Ha! I told you Ceailean! Eat it!” shouted Marie.

Ceailean plugged his ears with his fingers. “Tsk. Some eyesight you have.” Decidueye then gave him the death stare. Ceailean turned away. “Ahem. J-Just don’t hurt yourself with all that ego, aight?”

“Like I’m ever gonna live this down.” said Marie. “So I get to catch Solosis, right?”

“Have you forgotten what we had to do in the race? You just get to feed it your food first.”

“That’s it?! Why is that the reward?”

“You know, just in case we got the same… item?” The two stared at each other for a bit.

Crisis cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should plan things out more carefully next time.”

Marie sighed, “We wouldn’t have had to if that stupid app didn’t go into maintenance.”

“Speaking of which.” Crisis pulled out his phone. “The service had returned halfway through the race. I even got 500 pokedollars in store credit.”

Marie collapsed onto the ground and groaned. “We coulda just waited 30 minutes?!”

Ceailean walked over to Scorbunny and kneeled down beside it. “Hey, I know you gave it your best. That’s all that matters.” Scorbunny looked away, discouraged. “We’ll get ‘em back one day, I promise you that. But I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, I had a little plan that guaranteed our win.” Scorbunny looked up to him curiously. Ceailean shushed it. “I’ll tell soon. For now just wait.” Ceailean smirked and offered his hand. Scorbunny accepted it and Ceailean plopped it on his head. “Let’s go look and see now. But now that I think about it, where is Solosis?”

Marie made her way to the lunch table and saw Solosis napping on it. She covered her mouth and said, “That’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.” Snom then poked out of her beanie, seemingly gave Solosis a 6/10, and went right back inside.

“Should we wake it up?” whispered Ceailean. Marie shook her head no.

Suddenly, something caught Decidueye’s eye. It quickly knocked an arrow and shot it into a shadow ball. The explosion shocked everyone in the group.

“Decidueye? What did you spot?” asked Crisis, covering his eyes from the wind. That was when a couple of voices shouted. The ghosts had appeared over the hill, rushing down to confront them all. “I suppose they are not in a negotiating mood. Be ready Decidueye!” It nodded and readied itself for battle. Scorbunny groaned and offered to battle as well. That was when something flew past the entire group.

The ghosts stopped in their tracks when Solosis itself confronted them. It asked just what they thought they were doing, clearly in a cranky mood. The ghosts stammered and fabricated the best reasoning they could, which was to simply proclaim that they were doing nothing. Solosis was skeptical to say the least, saying that the two were getting on its nerves. The ghosts were devastated, quickly bowing down asking for forgiveness. Solosis had enough. It grabbed the ghosts with confusion and tossed them away into the forest, the swift crackle of branches and leaves indicating how far they were tossed.

“Solosis?” asked Marie cautiously, “Are you okay?” Solosis yawned and groaned. “I guess not that great huh? But uh, we got you food.” Marie held up the food bag Fennekin got. Solosis immediately perked up and rushed over, snatching the bag from Marie and plopping it on the lunch table. “Dang, you’re really into this huh?”

“Save enough room for two Solosis.” said Ceailean, brandishing Scorbunny’s food bag. “I have also brought some.” Solosis gasped and went over to take it, only for him to hold out his hand. “Ah! Not so fast.” Solosis became confused as to why. “I know I know, but we just couldn’t make it in time. You’re gonna have to try Marie’s first.”

“Yep yep! Over here Solosis!” waved Marie. Solosis looked at Ceailean with uncertainty.

“In due time, Solosis. But please try Marie’s first.” said Ceailean. Solosis sighed and begrudgingly made its way over to try Marie's food. Scorbunny was now scratching its head. Why was Solosis seemingly more eager to try Ceailean’s food first? It didn’t have time to think too much as it had to focus on staying on his head as he moved.

Marie took the food out of the bag. “Now Solosis, I present to you, the Five Cheese Ziti!” Solosis looked it over. It was a huge amount of food. The pasta was a Rigatoni covered with a layer of baked cheese as orange as autumn. The radiant heat steamed over to Solosis’s nose and it began to drool. It looked to Ceailean once more, who gestured to dig in. Solosis gulped and scoped up a section with its psychic power. Upon lifting it, the cheese ran down as an orange ooze. It took a bite. After a moment, it fell in love, digging in as fast as it could.

Marie sat down on the bench and rested her head on her hands. “It’s good, isn’t it? I find this to be the absolute best that The Ol’ Love Garden has. I get it every time I go.”

“But you never get anything else.” said Ceailean distantly, “How are you so sure about that?”

“Shut it C! I don’t have to explain anything to you. A person of your standards could never understand the culinary masterpiece that is the Five Cheese Ziti.”

“At least I’m able to cook for myself…”

Marie blushed slightly and pulled her beanie further down her head. “S-Shut it C!”

Soon after, Solosis finished up. It slouched down and relaxed. “Whoa, you ate that so fast.” said Ceailean. “D-Do you even have room for this?” Solosis then remembered about the other dish. It picked itself up and flew around in circles above the table as fast as it could. When it stopped, it was clearly out of breath, but it stood firm and assured Ceailean that it was ready for the next dish. “Alright, if you’re sure.”

Ceailean presented his food. Upon opening it, it was less than pleasing to look at. There was sparsely any sauce on it, possibly because it was painting every other surface of the bowl. The noodles were wrangled around and the clear top looked like it had been bashed against some rocks due to the creased plastic. Solosis was unimpressed.

“What happened? Did you actually get tossed down a cliff?” Ceailean asked. Scorbunny scratched the back of its head in guilt. “Well, it should still taste the same. Mind giving it a try anyway?” asked Ceailean. Solosis sighed and nodded.

“Really C? A Fettuccine Alfredo? Such a basic choice.” said Marie, waving her hand in front of her face.

“Don’t think you’re so sophisticated just because you moved from this to the Ziti.” shot back Ceailean. “I’d know you come back to this sometimes.”

Marie groaned, “Ugh… why did I ever invite you to come with me? Eight year old me is so cringe.”

“Well, as long as you see it as cringe, it means you’ve learned.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll just stop inviting you to things, huh?”

Ceailean slumped his shoulders. “I don’t think that's the lesson…”

Solosis then finally took a bite of the food. It froze. The rest of the noodle fell back into the bowl. Solosis carefully looked at the food for a moment. Seemingly puzzled with the situation, it took another bite just to make sure. Yes, this was it. This had to be it. Despite its less than appetizing state, the same flavor was still there. It was the food that Solosis had been looking for so long.

Solosis showed no restraint. Eating up the pasta and taking the sauce on the bowl up with its psychic power. Marie’s mouth was ajar and Ceailean laughed at the spectacle. Soon the food was done and Solosis laid upon the table, fully stuffed.

“Turns out Solosis likes it after all.” said Marie. “But were either of our foods the right one-” Solosis came to a realization. It floated up and tugged on Ceailean’s shirt, urging him to do something.

“Okay! Okay! I got it! Just give me a second.” said Ceailean as he tried to keep up with Solosis, who was spinning him around by his jacket.

Marie shot straight up and slammed her hands on the table. “Huh?! Just like that?! Not even gonna build up anticipation?!”

Ceailean chuckled, “I guess that's just not Solosis’s style.”

“Ugh! I can’t believe I wasted my money like that…” Marie said as she slumped back down on the bench.

“But- That was my money!”

“Yeah, but now it's mine. No take backsies. Fennekin, did you manage to bring me back the change?” Fennekin lowered its head to the ground sadly. “Ahhhh man… they musta held out on you.” Marie reached her hands while her head rested on the table. “Come‘re, it's not your fault. Let me get you cleaned up. I bet you don’t like it when your pretty gray fur is a mess.” Fennekin hesitated a bit, but shook it off and joined Marie’s embrace.

“Solosis! Come on.” said Ceailean as he struggled. He then started to laugh to himself.

“You seem like you’re having fun,” said Marie.

“No haha! It's just that I had this ingenious plan. Remember back I couldn’t find my pokédex.”

Marie looked at him suspiciously. “Yeah, why?”

“I may or may not have lied about that.”

Marie stood up. “Huh? What did you do?”

“Marie. I want you to think for a second. Having been exposed to the internet way more than I have. Just what crucial thing did you forget?”

Marie thought for a moment. Ceailean gestures for her to hurry. “Stop rushing me!” Ceailean then backed away with hands up defensively. “Umm. Uhh. I give up, what?”

“Come on, did you really think the app was the only place The Ol’ Love Garden would’ve posted their menu?”

Marie’s eyes grew wide. She smacked her forehead and squeezed Fennekin tightly, uncomfortably squishing it. “Oh! By Arceus!”

Ceailean laughed. “Yeah! I just used my pokédex to scroll through the menu and showed Solosis all the pictures until it found the one it ate!”

“That’s cheating! You cheated! Crisis! He has to be cheating right!?”

Crisis crossed his arms. “From my point of view, you were just as capable as Ceailean to perform the task he had. It is just unfortunate that you were unable to take advantage of it as well.”

Marie groaned. “Ugh, fine whatever. Fennekin, let’s go.” She then stormed off. Ceailean began to laugh again but was thrown for a loop by Solosis again tugging at his coat.

“Alright already! You’re makin’ me dizzy!” pleaded Ceailean. He reached for his duffel on the bench and pulled out a pokeball. “Now are you sure you wanna come with me?” Solosis pondered a bit. It showed the plastic bowl to Ceailean. “I can’t promise you we’ll have it every day. But should a special occasion arise, you bet we’re all eating take out.” Solosis’s eyes sparkled. Without hesitation, it swooped in and pressed the button of the pokeball. Solosis was sucked in and after a few shakes, the ball popped with a sparkle.

A devastated cry from the forest rang out. Ghastly and Pumpkaboo had been watching. They ran out with the goal of freeing Solosis. That was when Noibat flew in between them and the group, cloaked in a massive dragon rush.

Ceailean covered his eyes from the light. “Whoa Noibat! That’s the largest I’ve ever seen it. You must’ve gotten stronger somehow!”

“Without Ceailean’s help?” asked Marie, “I didn’t even see it train.”

The ghosts stopped in their tracks, in awe of Noibat’s power. Noibat stared them down and told them to just give it up. Tears came to Gastly’s eyes. It wailed into the ground and threw a fit. Pumpkaboo joined soon after, both rolling around in the ground balling. Noibat’s dragon rush dissipated as it looked down upon them in disappointment. Scorbunny called from atop Ceailean’s head and it asked where it had been. Noibat’s wings slumped and it asked whether or not Scorbunny would believe that once it found out the ghosts escaped, it spent too long looking around the area looking for them instead of coming back to camp. Scorbunny sighed and Noibat nodded in confirmation.

“Suppose I should get you cleaned up too Scorbunny.” said Ceailean, “And Noibat… is that wood in your ears?” Noibat reached up and grabbed a piece of bark from its ears. It only shrugged and flicked it away. Ceailean smiled, “Come on, why don’t I wash you up too?” Noibat backed away, waving its wings in denial. “Is that how it's gonna be?” Ceailean cleared his throat and pointed urgently, “Noibat! Look out!” It turned around expecting another attack from the ghosts, only to find them still balling. It was only when Noibat heard chuckling from behind did it realize it had been duped. “Come‘re ya lil rascal.” Ceailean grabbed Noibat before it could fly away, but that didn’t stop it from trying from his grasp.

“Feisty huh? You’re getting a wash whether you like it or not.” Realizing its defeat, Noibat then went limp. “Don’t play dead. Stop being such a baby. In time you’ll realize how good it feels to take a shower.” Noibat blew a raspberry. Scorbunny could barely hold back its laughter. Seeing Noibat so pouty was funny to it. Scorbunny assured Noibat that everything would be okay, to which Noibat only sighed.

----------------------------------------

() “Are you all ready to proceed?” asked Crisis as he heft up a backpack to his shoulder.

“Yeah! Almost ready!” answered Marie. “Fennekin please could you-” Fennekin yipped in protest, wanting to remain in Marie’s arms.

“You need help?” asked Ceailean.

“Please?” Marie stood up and began to stroke Fennekin’s new glistening fur. “I’m not sure why Fennekin is feeling so attached today. As much as I love it, we gotta hurry and pack if we wanna make it to the Pokémon center before nightfall.”

“Mh-hm.” Ceailean made his way over. Scorbunny was having fun by trying to touch Solosis in the air, jumping high up and down. Noibat laid sleeping upon a tree branch. Ceailean then finished packing. “Come on, guys! We’re ready to go!” The Pokémon stopped and all went over to Ceailean. Scorbunny jumped up on Ceailean's head and rubbed its face into his hair. “O-Ow! I know your fur is as smooth as butter but doing that on my head is like getting a noogie.” Scorbunny ignored this and continued to feel itself, amazed by its fur. Noibat landed on his shoulder and looked at its own fur in disappointment, seeing that it was more poofy than slick. Solosis floated in circles around Ceailean, excited for the journey ahead.

“Okay Crisis, we’re coming!” called Marie. She then looked to her side. “Um, C?” She pointed to the ghosts. They approached solemnly, each holding a bouquet of flowers. They then bowed down and desperately offered them to Solosis. Solosis gave a cheeky grin. It approached the ghost and invited them to listen closely. The ghosts brought themselves close and Solosis revealed the truth. It had never really liked them in the first place. The ghosts were shocked. Solosis could barely contain its chuckling. It continued on, saying Gastly was overly rambunctious, annoying, and just plain lame when it tried to project confidence. Then it immediately went into Pumpkaboo, saying it was silent, boring, and such a shut in. Each insult was just another stab through the gut. Then Solosis finished off by saying it just used them for food. They looked like they would physically melt. They dropped their flowers, which scattered in the wind.

“Whoa,” said Ceailean, “Just what did you say to them?” Solosis looked back, stuck its tongue out, and winked. “Won’t tell huh? How ‘bout you stay in the ball for a while before you cause anymore damage.” Ceailean returned Solosis back to its ball, while it chuckled mischievously. Ceailean then looked at the ball. “Consider yourself lucky that I’m letting you off the hook this easily if it's what I think you were doing.”

“What do you think it was?” asked Marie.

“Uhh, nothing to be worried about. You know… grown up stuff.”

“You’re only three months older than me.”

“Yeah, like I said. Grown up stuff.”

Marie sighed. “Whatever. Why do I even ask?” The two walked towards Crisis. “What was the point of the race if only the right food mattered?”

“It was still fun, wasn’t it?”

“While I was oblivious I guess.”

Ceailean chuckled. “Next time, we won’t lose.”

“If there will even be a next time.”

“Don’t be like that. How ‘bout this.” Ceailean put his hand on his chest. “Since you won, I solemnly swear when we encounter the next Pokémon, I'll let you catch it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it seems only fair.”

Marie chuckled slightly. “Thanks C. Speaking of catching though, I just got an idea.” She turned around and looked at the ghosts, still frozen from shock. “Why don’t I just take one of the ghosts?”

“You think that team dynamic will work while I have Solosis?”

“I’m sure they’ll work it out.” Marie took out a pokeball and approached them.

The ghosts stood in shock. Then, rustling in the bushes gained a tiny bit of their attention. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw a Misdreavus peeking at them, wondering what they were doing. It’s red eyes sparkled with cuteness. The ghosts were immediately flustered and ran up to introduce themselves. Misdreavus was startled and it ran back into the forest with the ghosts giving chase.

Marie stopped in her tracks. “Awww… They went away.”

Ceailean crossed his arms. “Just gonna break their hearts again huh?” he said under his breath.

“What was that?” asked Marie.

“Nothing, just more grown up stuff.”

“Ugh… how long are you gonna use that excuse?”

“Til I’m bored.”

“I could hit you really hard.”

“But then who wins in that regard?”

Marie sighed. “Whatever. We’re holding up Crisis.”

Ceailean gestured her up the hill. “After you.” Ceailean let Marie pass him. When she did, Scorbunny rubbed its face in Ceailean’s hair again. “Ow! Why?! It doesn’t feel that good, does it?”

Marie looked back. Scorbunny gave her a thumbs up. Marie smiled and gave back a thumbs up and walked ahead. Then her arm started to ache. She looked down to Fennekin. “Fennekin, my arm is getting tired. Could you please-?” Fennekin yipped in protest again, snuggling deeper into Marie’s arms. “Okay… I didn’t think you’d be so bummed out about the race. But you heard Ceailean right? We get to catch the next Pokémon. You can make a new friend.” Fennekin buried its face into Marie’s vest, which made her worry. “Fennekin? D-Did something happen in the race?” Silence. “Do… Do you wanna tell me about it?” Silence again. “Well, you know where to find me.”

Listening in was Snom. It considered going out and saying something, but it didn’t know what to say. It didn’t know what happened in that race either. It curled up under Marie’s beanie, concerned as to what Fennekin could be thinking.

As Marie stroked her fingers through Fennekin’s fur, it began to nod away. Through tired eyes it looked at its paw. A full gray. A seemingly dull color to be. So why did it attract so much attention? It thought of the boy Hayden. Would he have acted differently if it was a different color? Or was it just that he acted like that with all Pokémon? Fennekin’s head swirled with these thoughts as it drifted away into a deep sleep after a day's hard work.