Angel could genuinely say he’d never seen a rebuilding party before. Whenever a fire or electric type accidentally damaged something back home, the general mood of the repair party had been “Uuuuuuuugh.” However, the Viridian Pokemon seemed like they’d been dying to rebuild the sanctuary. They threw themselves at the work, planting new seeds, digging fresh ground for them, and even very carefully tinkering with the little stream to siphon off a little water.

Of course, Angel was glad to help; after all, this was his specialty. Shiftry helped where he could between making sure his tree was healing properly and profusely apologizing to the others. In fact, he probably spent more time apologizing than actually working, the surreal sight of him bowing to a Weedle or Pidgey becoming just a normal part of the day. The Ninetales was particularly helpful; she might not have technically been a psychic type, but she was more than good enough to haul around and plant cuttings.

There was only one person conspicuously missing: Rio.

Occasionally Angel caught a glimpse of purple in the trees and a fruit would ‘mysteriously’ roll into the glen, but he never caught a good look at her.

As everyone was winding down, Angel went to the edge of the glen with some of the others and looked out on their work. The scars of the day still lingered, barren soil sat where flowers once did, cuttings sprouted where bushes were, and the great tree had enormous bandages of leaves woven together covering its injuries. However, even now there was a pleasant sense that everything would be okay. The tree seemed fine, the new saplings looked healthy, and the river seemed clear as ever.

“[It’s so pretty,]” a Weedle said as he crawled onto Angel’s head.

“[Not as pretty as before,]” a Seedot countered a little somberly as she hopped onto Angel’s back.

“[Yeah, but this time we made it,]” a Pidgey added, landing on the Seedot, “[That means it’ll be even better.]”

More Pokemon wound up joining the unintentional dogpile-on-Angel party, and as they jabbered with each other he figured he had around a dozen of the little guys on him. “[Uh… guys. Getting hard to breathe here.]”

“[I know, isn’t it just breath-taking?]”

Then Shiftry started sniffling and patting his eyes. It was like someone had rung a dinner bell and they all rushed off of Angel to comfort the old guardian. “[Oh thank you my friends,]” he said tenderly as they swarmed him, patting one of them, “[I truly can’t thank you enough for your kindness. I’m so sorry I didn’t come for you. I swear, I’ll become the protector you deserve.]”

After coughing and cracking his back, Angel scooted over and commented cheerfully, “[My momma had a saying, ‘A day where nothing’s learned is a day wasted.’ Just make sure today isn’t wasted.]”

The Shiftry chuckled softly, the wind seeming to stutter with him, “[Well said, child. I’ll make the most of this chance you’ve given me to make things right.]”

Of course, the Pokemon didn’t understand what Shiftry and Angel were on about, they just hugged and comforted him.

About that moment the Ninetales walked into view, seeming to almost glide across the ground with unnatural grace. “[Well, if we’re talking about traditions, I had one to suggest,]” she said, psychically picking up the berries that had fallen around them, “[A toast to commemorate the rebirth of this sanctuary.]” With that she floated the fruit up to the other Pokemon, including Shiftry, as well as another floating up into the trees.

While everyone else seemed eager to join in, the Shiftry cradled the fruit in his hands thoughtfully. “[A human tradition?]” he hissed.

“[One I’ve kept longer than you can imagine,]” she countered coolly, raising the fruit towards him, “[To a new beginning, a beautiful land, its wise guardian,]” her ruby eyes flicked to Angel and she smiled, “[And to the heroes that made it possible.]”

Angel laughed and replied, “[I’ll eat to that!]” and immediately took his fruit down in one go. The others took their own bites, and even old Shiftry finally raised his berry and bit into it. A drop of something fell onto Angel; when he looked up, he caught a glimpse of Rio finishing off a small berry. Then she made eye contact with him and darted away.

Once everyone was done, the Shiftry declared, “[Come my friends, there’s more food in this sanctuary should you need it, and we must make better beds for us.]”

Most of the Pokemon followed him, but Ninetales and Angel remained where they were, the former calmly grooming herself. Also, a Caterpie scooted up to her and asked sweetly, “[M-Miss Ninetales, can I sleep in your tail?]”

“[Pick your favorite, darling,]” she replied, laying her tails down.

The Caterpie immediately crawled into and curled up within the gigantic mass of fur.

Now, as much as Angel wanted to eat and rest--this day was exhausting--now that he had the not-quite-psychic type alone, he figured this was a good chance to talk. “[So, Ninetales, I was wondering,]” he began, crawling closer to her, “[if you can use psychic abilities, does that mean you can--]”

“[Read minds?]” she asked, glancing up at him with a playful grin, only to shake her head, “[No. I’ve just had plenty of experience trying. What troubles you?]”

“[Well, I was wondering why Rio--the Nidoran--is hiding like she is,]” he explained, sliding over to a nice flat rock to bask in the setting sun, “[I mean, she did as much work as I did. And I know she’s not shy.]”

“[Ah no no, darling,]” Ninetales assured him, laying down, “[You just embarrassed her. It can be jarring when you think you’re better than someone, only to find yourself looking up.]” The surprise must have shown on his face, because she snickered and commented, “[You don’t spend much time around wild folks, do you?]”

“[Sure I did, I lived up in the mountains,]” he protested mildly, “[My town was surrounded by forest.]”

“[My dear, that and the deep wilderness are two different things.]”

Angel sighed. She probably knew better than him on that front. Argentbrook was all he ever knew. Though, now that he was thinking about the difference, he noticed something odd. “[You sure don’t talk like you’re a free Pokemon.]”

“[Freed,]” she corrected him, closing her eyes thoughtfully, “[Once upon a time, I was a family guardian.]”

Ooh! That’s kinda neat. What with her being a Ninetales, she must have looked after a lot of humans. Though… “[Why are you out here then?]”

“[Ran out of family.]”

Angel winced sharply. “[I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up anything.]”

She opened an eye, only to smile daintily, “[Relax. I’ve had my time to grieve.]” With a content sigh she looked up at the orange dusk sky, “[Life has too much to offer for us to dwell on pain. A universe of voices call, each more beautiful than the last, a web of paths all leading to new and fantastic places. My humans gave me a fantastic gift, one of a long life with which to enjoy myself and spread that joy to others. I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint them.]”

Even with everything that had happened, Angel couldn’t deny a strange peace falling over him as he followed her gaze skyward. “[Yeah… you’re right. Tell ya what, that unknown is what made me want to come out here in the first place.]”

For a while they just basked in the peace of the sanctuary, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sweetness of the air. It was a perfect, quiet moment of rest that he’d been sorely lacking.

Then Ninetales quietly asked, “[So what path are you on?]”

Angel kept his gaze skyward, thinking aloud, “[I dunno. I wanted to give it my best for the championship. Ya know, even if I didn’t make it, just to say I tried. I want to go as far as I can go. But now… I know that there are good trainers, but I might not find them if I try again. What if I just wind up starting over again?]” He glanced back down at her. “[What if I get captured by one of those weird masked people?]”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Ninetales inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. For a long while she was still as a statue, seemingly replaced with stone. “[I can’t answer that for you,]” she eventually told him, “[What I can tell you is that there is no Pokemon that unwillingly follows their human.]”

Angel recoiled away, tilting his head in confusion. “[Uh… I’m not sure about that.]”

“[Oh, there are bad relationships,]” she conceded, “[Those who obey their trainer just because they think they’re trapped. But so long as you are out of a cage, the door is open. The ball is just a leash; anyone can escape it.]” Her red eyes seemed to bore through him, “[You simply need to choose to.]”

He stared back at her for several long seconds. Did she… know what he did? Well, regardless, could anyone do that sort of thing at any time? If he had just started drilling away, would he have been able to leave then? He guessed it didn’t particularly help his debate of what to do, but that knowledge that he could just leave if things got bad was comforting. After a while, he shook off his bemusement and said, “[You’re good at giving advice.]”

“[Live long enough and it comes naturally,]” she replied with a giggle, then looked back at the Caterpie nestled in her tails, “[Mmm… poor darling. I think the others might need my tails too.]” With that she gingerly got up and headed over towards the others gathering at the base of the tree.

Angel deeply wanted to join them, just eat and enjoy the warmth of the day’s victory, but his thoughts turned up towards the branches.

Before long he’d crawled his way up the tree and spotted a glimpse of purple settled amid the canopy. It took a little searching, but he found some stronger branches near Rio and fluttered his way up to join her.

A gorgeous sunset greeted him. The sky was painted a deep orange, distant clouds turned scarlet, and the now-distant mountains he’d become so familiar with became an alien purple. The occasional bird Pokemon flew across his vision, unrecognizable in the strange colors of dusk. Rio was watching it from the branches, a content smile splitting her face.

They enjoyed the scene together for a while, just them, the wind, and each other. Then Angel commented softly, “[It’s so beautiful.]”

“[What the--!]” she yelped loudly and kicked him.

“[Ow!]”

“[How’d you sneak up on me!]” she demanded, breathing heavily and standing off with him.

“[Oh come on, how did you not hear me?]” he countered, rubbing his cheek on a branch, “[I must’ve woken up half the forest on the way up.]”

She huffed and puffed for a long while, shaking slightly as she glared at him. When she finally calmed down, she sat back down on another branch slightly further away from Angel. “[Still shouldn’t scare people.]”

“[You’re one to talk,]” he countered lightly, intending it as a joke. Though, after he said it, he realized he might have sounded bitter. Well, she did just kick me again. Taking a deep breath to ignore the stinging, he gave her the biggest smile he could and reassured her, “[You did good today. That was a weird situation and you took charge really well.]”

Rio huffed softly, shaking her head as she turned back to the sunset. “[Don’t make fun of me,]” she grumbled.

“[I’m not,]” he assured her, “[Why would I?]”

A strange shudder shook her and she looked away from him. “[You say that so naturally. Like it’s just second nature.]” A soft sniffle escaped her. “[Did your trainer teach you that, pet?]”

Moving slowly, he reached over to the next branch, trying not to shake hers. “[Being polite?]” he asked in confusion, “[I mean, I guess my whole town did. But it’s not like--]”

“[Oh cut the whole ‘sweet innocent me’ routine,]” she snapped, glowering at him, then starting to prance across her branch, “[‘Look at me, I’m so brave. I’m so perfect. I go running off into danger so well I left my legs behind.’ Stop trying to shove my nose in the dirt.]” She stopped with her back to him, nose in the air.

Ooh. Right. Ninetales said she was embarrassed. With a heavy sigh, he fluttered over and landed very carefully next to her. “[I wasn’t talking down to you, was bein’ honest,]” he encouraged her, still keeping a smile on, “[You were brave, braver than me.]”

“[How do ya figure that?]”

“[I’m used to the idea of being captured,]” he elaborated, “[But I bet to you it’s your idea of a horror story.]”

Rio’s eye flickered towards him for only an instant.

“[Am I wrong?]” he asked rhetorically.

For several long seconds, Rio kept her head high, refusing to make eye contact. Suddenly she deflated, slumping in place. “[Ya did what I wanted to do,]” she whispered, “[I mean, I don’t know how to say how much I wanted to help. Some of the folks that got taken are my friends. I just… just didn’t think I could.]” Finally she looked straight at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “[Then you just say, ‘fix my wings and I’ll be back in two shakes’. Ya didn’t even know ‘em, heck I’m guessin’ ya’d just had the worst day of your life. But up ya jumped anyway…]” she hung her head in shame, “[Meanwhile I just cowered and gave excuses.]”

Angel bit his lip a little, trying to think of something to say. Then out of nowhere he blurted, “[You were right behind me.]”

She chuckled bitterly. “[Sure, after you led the way.]”

“[Sometimes we need a pull,]” he encouraged her, then gently nudged her chin, “[Hey, everything turned out well. You kicked some serious Sandshrew butt and staged a jailbreak, all while riding a truck like a runaway Tauros. You were a hero.]”

Rio’s eyes sparkled and lip quivered, desperately fighting back those emotions. Then, out of nowhere she hopped forward and jabbed her head up against him. Her horn dug in a little bit, but he didn’t dare complain. If anything, it brought a warm, fuzzy feeling to him.

When she finally pulled away, she’d stopped crying, even if her fur was matted. Suddenly she hopped on his head and gave a playful kick. “[Stop making me feel things,]” she joked, then ran across him to the branch on the other side.

“[Nope. Ya gotta deal with it,]” he teased, fluttering himself around to find a new spot.

“[Butt-munch,]” she grumbled, then looked back up towards the mountains, where the sun was visibly starting to disappear, “[So, guess you’ll be off soon? Try to find a new owner?]”

“[Wellll… I dunno,]” he said, landing heavily and shaking the leaves below him, “[I mean, I do want to continue trying to get better at the battling thing. You know, get stronger, see the world, meet new people, make new friends. But… at the same time, what’s the point if I wind up with someone who doesn’t want me? Back home I had humans who loved me, humans I’d gladly do this with if they wanted to, but they just don’t. If I make it to Pewter, I dunno if I’ll find someone who wants me. Even if they’d be interested, some of them already have Pokemon. I don’t want that. I want it to be a special relationship, not just one more member of a team.]”

“[Someone’s picky,]” she teased.

“[I mean, not like I’ve been fantasizing about this my whole life,]” he pointed out, scoffing, “[I’m not sure with all the head injuries, but I think I remember things differently.]”

They both chuckled softly, then watched the sun as it continued disappearing behind Indigo Plateau. Just as the last hints of sun disappeared, a little flash of green erupted from the top. Rio immediately hopped with excitement, “[Woah! What was that?!]”

Angel, on the other hand, frowned and reared up. “[I thought the flash was only a thing on the ocean,]” he thought aloud.

Then, as the sun disappeared the green lingered… then got higher and higher. It curled and twisted through the sky, moving incredibly quickly, faster than anything Angel had ever seen before. Squinting, he realized that it had a shape, a looooong serpentine body that curled around itself as it flew. A very distant roar touched his ears, barely louder than the wind.

“[Is that a Pokemon?]” Rio asked, “[I mean, it’s gotta be one of us, but I’ve never seen ‘em before.]”

“[Yeah, me neither,]” Angel muttered, “[They’re flyin’ real high though.]”

Then, as his words rattled around his own head, an idea hit him. Something so obvious that he felt stupid for not coming up with it earlier. “[That’s it! That’s what I should do!]” He fluttered his wings, laughing gleefully. “[Hahahaha! Who said you needed humans to be a trainer?]”

“[What are you babbling about now?]” she asked, still watching the mysterious traveler.

“[They’re called Pokemon trainers. Not ‘humans who train Pokemon’. If a human’s not gonna join me on this journey, why not just do it myself?]”

Rio flinched so hard she nearly fell off her branch. “[Ah! No no no, come on, leg up,]” she whimpered as she got back on, then gave him a glare, “[Now run that by me again. A Pokemon… being the trainer? I don’t think it works like that, bud.]”

“[Why not? All the trainer does is teach their friends how to do these battles and look after them during their journey,]” he chimed, fluttering over to her side, “[I told you how to take down the Sandshrew. I’ve helped raise some of my brothers and sisters. I’m already on the journey. And I’ve watched enough about Pokemon trainers to know the other stuff like the badges I’d need. I’m not just gonna become a trainer, me and my friends will become champions!]”

Rio was in shock, gaping like a beached Magikarp as she tried to come up with a response.

Meanwhile, ideas danced across Angel’s mind and he turned to look back out at the emerald Pokemon, “[I don’t know who you are, green-y, but you’ve lit a fire in my mind and I’m gonna glow bright enough that you can see me all the way up there. YOU HEAR ME?]” he called after them, bellowing at the top of his lungs, “[I’M GONNA BEAT THE MOUNTAIN MASTER, THEN I’M GONNA CHALLENGE YOU!]”

For the tiniest split-second, he could have sworn he saw the green serpent turn towards him, then it continued on its journey, disappearing over the horizon.

Then, as he was still riding the high, even more good news landed as Rio begged, “[Take me with you.]”

He spun around with surprise, “[Seriously?]”

“[What, you think I don’t dream of adventures too?]” she demanded, mocking being offended, then prancing across her branch, “[Showing off what Pokemon can do when we ain’t tied down by a human? Making fools of ‘em at their own game? I love that idea.]”

Angel couldn’t believe his excitement. Here it was, his second chance. “[So is it a deal then, partner?]” he asked, fluttering down to Rio.

“[On one condition,]” she said, hesitating momentarily, “[No Pokeballs.]”

He stared at her in disbelief. “[Rio… I don’t have any hands.]”

A massive cackle erupted from her and she nearly fell off the branch again from laughing so hard. “[Ehehehe, okay, okay, alright. Good point,]” she relented, then flashed him a much more genuine, heartfelt smile, “[Then yeah. Yeah, we’re partners.]”

They sealed it with a gentle headtap. Together, their eyes turned North, to the edge of Viridian Forest where their future waited. I may have had a false start, but you know what? This feels better. This feels like me. I’m gonna reach the top of Indigo Plateau, then I’m gonna face the master of Mount Silver. I don’t know if I’ll beat them, but I’m not coming home until I can say I’ve pushed myself as far as I can go.

“[Oh, can I add one more condition?]” Rio suddenly interjected.

“[Uh, sure.]”

“[Please don’t grab me with your mouth again.]”

Angel frowned and looked back at her with exasperation. “[I. Don’t. Have. Hands.]”

“[YOUR HEAD IS AS BIG AS I AM!]”

“[What was I supposed to do? Grab you with my wings?]”