There was no telling how long Angel and Haru just stared at the pokeball’s remains, dumbfounded. The Dunsparce gaped like a beached Magikarp, totally shocked with himself. I… didn’t know that was even possible.

Suddenly, Haru laughed and shoved Angel off of him. “Guess I don’t need to keep you then,” he said as he got up, “Later Dumbsparce.”

“[What?!]” Angel frantically rolled back onto his belly in time to see his trainer start walking off. “[No no no no no I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so sorry,]” Angel squealed as he fluttered after him. You can’t leave me! We’re supposed to be a team.

Just as Angel was about to reach him, Haru spun around and caught his head in both hands, holding him at arm’s length. “What are you doing? You’re free now,” he said, then grunted as he shoved Angel back, “Get lost. You’re not mine anymore.”

“[No,]” Angel squeaked, hurrying past his trainer and landing ahead of him, planting his drill into the dirt and ‘standing’ up straight, almost looking him eye-to-eye, “[Catch me again.]”

Haru scoffed and walked past him, “I said ‘get lost’. I don’t need your dirty butt.”

Angel attempted to fly after him, only to feel a tug on his tail and flop onto his back. His tail was stuck. As his trainer started fading into the treeline, Angel screamed after him, “[You can’t leave me here!]”

No response.

Eventually Angel yanked his tail free and got himself flying after Haru as fast as possible. He was pretty sure he could still see him. “[At least take me home,]” he pleaded, flapping his tiny wings as hard as he could, “[Please! I won’t survive out here.]”

Haru glanced back, then took a sharp turn and started running.

No! No no no. Don’t do this to me.

Angel tried to follow as best he could, but he lost him. Despite that, he kept frantically flying in the direction Haru had gone, hoping to maybe catch him, all the way crying out and pleading for him to stop. His chest hurt from all the work, and he started flying closer and closer to the ground until his tail was dragging.

Then he saw a human-sized shadow and felt a spark of hope. “[Haru!]” he called out and flew straight at him. As exhausted as he was, he barely bumped the figure.

It felt soft and fluffy.

Angel immediately dropped to the ground and looked up with fear. Slowly the enormous feathered figure’s crested head turned around and it let out an angry, “[Who?]”

The Dunsparce shuddered and slowly started to slink away from the Noctowl, “[S-sorry. I-I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll go away now.]”

Its eyes snapped open, glowing a terrifying blue and Angel felt an unnatural touch across his body. “[I agree.]”

Suddenly, Angel was flung into the air and sent sailing over the forest, the trees racing below him. His screams could have been heard from the moon, and it only got louder as he started to fall. His exhausted wings did their best to slow him down, but they didn’t really help.

He crashed through a tree, hitting every branch on the way down, breaking several of them, before finally landing on his belly. Green worm-like Caterpie rained around him, all shouting in confused panic.

“[Sky falling?]”

“[Sky rock?]”

“[Monster?]”

“[Monster!]”

“[RUN! MONSTER!]”

They inched away from him as ‘fast’ as they could to the bushes.

Angel, meanwhile, watched the stars in his eyes. Someone tell the spin to stop worlding… In his daze, he could have sworn he heard giggling… or maybe that was just his brains leaking out of his skull.

When his senses returned, the first thing he was aware of was pain. All over mostly, but especially in his right wing. He briefly tried to flap it and was rewarded with stabbing agony. Was it broken? It felt broken.

Groaning, he slowly leaned back to look around. Where am I? This wasn’t anywhere near the main path of the forest. Oh gosh, he’d been in his ball when they entered the forest. Which way had they walked to get here? His breath quickened and his chest tightened. The trees seemed taller than before, and he was suddenly acutely aware of all the noises around him. All the chirps and cheeps and chattering and were those howls? Oh no, oh no no no. Momma told me to never go into the wilds alone. She said it was dangerous. That wild Pokemon would eat me.

No. No panic. Deep breaths. It took a while to calm himself down, but eventually he started to consider what he could do. Okay, first thing’s first. Which way’s home? Uh… maybe I can see Indigo Plateau from here?

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Getting back on his tail, he took a second to brace himself, then pushed as hard as he could. He breached into the sunlight and looked to the horizon, but didn’t recognize any of the hills in sight. Without his wings, Angel landed pretty hard.

Oookay. Um… Haru said Pewter was to the north. Which way’s north? Well, Mount Silver was north of home. But how could that help me here? After several long seconds of thought, he remembered he never saw the sun rise or set over it. Okay, he could work with that. The sun was starting to set a little bit. Uh… which way did the sun set? West? Right, west.

With that in mind, he started slinking his way north through the forest. Alone.

Every whisper of the wind, every crack of a twig put him on edge. The light of the sun came and went as he found cracks in the trees, all the while he tried to stick to the shadows. If that Noctowl was anything to go by, there were big Pokemon in Viridian, and he didn’t want to be eaten. Beyond that, Angel was absolutely exhausted.

A ferocious growl made him yelp and frantically drill into the dirt. Then it happened again and he realized it was his own stomach. Oh yeah, and I’m hungry. Very very very very hungry.

As he continued he kept an eye out for anything that looked tasty, but he wasn’t seeing much. It was a long, lonely crawl through the undergrowth. He was no stranger to rough land, but he was too tired to drill through the worst of it. It wasn’t just things like fallen trees or giant rocks that stopped him either; an unusually large bush could stop him. If his wing wasn’t hurt maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. But between his injuries, his natural slowness, and especially his hunger, he was starting to wonder if it was worth even trying to find a city.

Then he spotted a tree, a big beautiful tree covered in golden Grepa berries. It was a gift from Arceus. He scrunched his way to the base of the tree and looked up at the delicious fruits, so tantalizingly close. He couldn’t smell the berries, but assumed it was because they weren’t cut. Thankfully, he was okay at climbing trees. He wasn’t fast, in fact a Caterpie could make it up the tree and down again before he got close. Maybe it would be quicker to just jump for it? Meh, I’m tired. Besides, once I’m up there I’ll be able to eat as many as I like.

At long last one of those delightful treats were within reach. He leaned back away from the trunk and grabbed onto it. Funny, it didn’t give like a fruit. Or taste tangy.

Then he lost his grip and fell off the tree, taking the fruit with him.

Only for them both to stop mid-fall. A long white wire extended up to the branch the Grepa had been on. Then several tan ‘fruits’ dropped out on similar wires and stared at him with huge black eyes. “[Release her,]” they hissed in unison.

Kakuna. Oh shoot.

The one he was holding onto gasped, “[Heeeeeelp.]”

A chorus of buzzing erupted from the tree.

Angel immediately dropped to the ground and spun up his drill, “[Sorry sorry sorry I didn’t mean it.]” He started tunneling into the dirt, continuing as he disappeared, “[I thought you were fruit I didn’t mean it I’m sorry.]”

“[It wants to eat me,]” the one he’d bitten rasped.

“[INTRUDER!]” thundered a swarm of buzzing Beedrill as they emerged from the tree.

“[That’s not what I said,]” Angel whimpered as he dug deeper underground. He dug until he couldn’t see sunlight, and then dug deeper.

Furious buzzing continued outside, leaving him waiting for the Beedrill to dig after him. After all, they had drills too, didn’t they?

His heart formed a furious drumbeat as he sat in hiding, hoping beyond hope that they didn’t come after him. Slowly but surely, the buzzing subsided. Maybe ten minutes later his heart finally stopped pounding.

Maybe they understand I didn’t mean it. Mustering his courage, he poked his head out of the hole. He was greeted by a chorus of buzzing.

NOPE!

So, for a very long time he hid underground, waiting for them to calm down again. He had no idea how long. Then he gradually started digging away from them, listening closely to the world above for any sign that they were following him.

Eventually he popped back up to the surface and looked around. No Beedrill. Taking a deep breath, he crawled onto the surface and, giving one last glance towards the Kakuna tree, started squirming away as fast as he could.

Of course, he was still starving. He became slower than ever, inching blindly north, no faster than those Caterpie. The sky turned orange and he continued desperately creeping along. Before long his thirsty throat and mouth joined his stomach in protest.

As he went, a random acorn fell on him. It didn’t hurt much, but it was just enough to make him sniffle. Though, having his bandanna on did a little to comfort him. If I make it home, I’m giving Grandma Akari the biggest hug I can give without arms. Another acorn hit him. Scratch that, I’m gonna figure out how to evolve just so I can grow arms!

Then a tiny flicker of hope caught him: the distant rumble of a river.

Again, when its glistening blue waters appeared it seemed like a gift from the heavens and Angel rushed towards it. However, when he reached the bank, he slowed and reared up, looking around himself and into the water for any sign of danger. I’m not getting jumped by a pack of angry Feraligatr or something. Thankfully, he didn’t see anything.

Maybe it was just the hunger, but that water was the clearest and tastiest he’d ever had. After that first gulp he dunked his whole head underwater and gulped it down until his stomach was ready to burst. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he flopped against the bank and closed his eyes. That feels much better. Maybe… maybe a little sleep would help me get out. Maybe if I can just think clearly I can fix this. He curled up, tucking his tail up to his mouth.

A deafening drumroll hammered on his ears and echoed into the forest.

Angel screamed in terror and started scooting for the woods. “[Whyyyyy?]” he whimpered as he went, “[What did I do?]”

More staccato rapping rippled through the forest.

He ‘ran’ away until he couldn’t hear the river anymore. By the time he calmed down, the sun was gone. His muscles ached. With a miserable sigh, he drilled his way into the dirt and, after making sure his little tunnel was stable, laid his head down. This would have to do.

Now that he was secure, though, a deep wave of sorrow and homesickness washed over him.

This was supposed to be my dream. I just wanted to be part of a trainer’s team. All I wanted was the chance to give it my best shot. I know that I’m not the strongest Pokemon, that even back home there were others would be better for a team. I just thought that maybe I could become strong, or at least we’d have fun trying. We could see new places and meet new people and Pokemon. We could learn from each other and see how far we could reach.

I just wanted to try.

Tears poured down his cheeks, turning the soil below his head to mud. Eventually, he passed into a rough, shallow sleep.