The Nidoran was the first to wake up. Her ears twitched as we entered the clearing; then her eyes slowly opened. As soon as she saw our group she jumped to her feet and chattered anxiously. That woke up the Growlithe, who blearily opened his own eyes and stared at us in shock, then belatedly raised his hackles in a threatening display

Pausso jumped forward before either Pokemon could flee and started talking to them with a soothing tone. After a few moments the Nidoran sat down and tilted her head to the side, and a little later the Growlithe lowered the fur on his back. Both listened attentively as Pausso launched into a long monologue. I kept back by the tree line with Florence and Natu, waiting to see what would happen.

After a minute of two of speaking, occasionally punctuated by short sounds from one of the two wild Pokemon, Pausso fell silent. The Growlithe and Nidoran briefly looked at each other; then the Growlithe turned back to Pausso, barked out a few short sounds, and nodded his head.

I felt the sense of self-satisfaction from Pausso even as he turned around to look at me. T̷̹̈́ẖ̶̀e̴̛̲y̶̫͗ ̵̞̎ c̴͇̋o̷̜̾m̴̞̑e̶̝̿ ̸͈͝w̶͚͆i̵̪͠t̸̺̀ḥ̵̆ ̷̟͝ ṷ̷̾s̸̨̊.̷̢̽ ̸͖̓ Ẇ̵̮ḭ̴́l̶̘͑l̸͔̉ ̶̨̾ ẽ̴̠ẋ̸̖p̷̣͝l̶̲̄ả̸̳i̵̫̐n̴̝̈́ ̸̙͒a̷̝̿l̴̞̈́l̵̢̇.̷͇̈́

~

It turned out that we didn’t need the trail signs we’d marked out so carefully, because Growlithe led us straight back to the river in a much more direct route than the meandering path we had taken before. We spent less than ten minutes walking before we emerged back into the sunlit strip of land right by Lilac River.

I frowned as I looked up into the sky and judged the angle of the sun. It looked like we had spent several hours in the forest, much longer than I had realized. Well, we hadn’t gotten caught out at night, and that was what mattered most.

As we followed the river I noticed a large figure flying up in the sky. On a hunch I waved at it, and in response the figure banked and turned, then started descending inside Violet City’s wall. That settled it – Fearow had been out looking for us. This was confirmed when we reached the door to the city to find Edwin waiting for us directly outside of it, with his Pokemon already resting on the ground next to him.

“Do not tell others I gave you orders when I did not,” he called out severely as soon as we were in earshot. “That is an incredibly insubordinate thing to do. If you were my apprentices, I would put you on latrine duty all week for such an action.”

“I do not see why we would want to be your apprentices in the first place,” Florence muttered under her breath.

I ignored her and moved aside so I could gesture grandly at Growlithe and Nidoran, who had followed at the back of the group. “We got results, though! Look at this!”

Edwin straightened slightly and his eyes widened as he looked at the two Pokemon. Then he made a ‘hrmph’ sound and nodded. “I suppose I do not need to ask if these are actually the majū we are looking for. How in all the regions did you find them?”

“Psychic powers!” I said dramatically, swinging my arms out wide. Florence rolled her eyes at me, but Edwin nodded like that was a sensible answer. “Anyway, they can explain everything. But they want to explain to their parents too.”

“Of course they do.” Edwin rubbed his forehead. “A week ago I would never have expected that wild majū would just walk up to our gates and say they wanted to negotiate, but we must take what we can get. Come – let us gather everyone together.”

So we were ushered through the door and into the city, and Edwin led us on a whirlwind tour through the military division to collect all the interested parties. Through it all Growlithe and Nidoran stuck next to each other and as close to the center of our party as they could, with Pausso and Natu usually right by their sides and speaking comforting words. Anyone could see that the two wild creatures were massively intimidated by the scale of the city and the crush of people that inhabited it. That made it feel even weirder when the people of the city gasped in fear at the sight of our little cluster of Pokemon, or when they veered far out of our way and muttered to each other behind our backs.

In less than an hour we had gathered everyone together in the same warehouse we had first used to confront Arcanine and Nidoking. All of the trainers were there (except for Luca, who was staying with Piloswine at the medical center), as well as Finnegan, Isaac, and Tomo the researcher. But most people stayed back by the walls, content to watch and see what happened. Only General Finnegan stayed with our group as we moved further into the large building, ready to begin.

“So there really were two missing creatures?” Finnegan asked as he stroked his mustache. Then he shrugged. “Well, that makes things easier. Let us be done with this.”

Edwin nodded in agreement and pulled two poke balls out of his satchel. He started with Arcanine first, releasing her out into the room. Even as she materialized I could see the great dog’s nose twitching, and in the blink of an eye she had darted right across the room to stand above Growlithe and Nidoran.

Nidoran hopped backwards, clearly intimidated, but Growlithe wagged his tail and made a happy growling sound. Arcanine quickly sniffed him all over, sneezed, and barked out a few short sounds. Then she unceremoniously picked him up by the scruff of his neck and darted off to the back of the room where she laid down and started licking his fur into place, completely ignoring his yowls of protest.

Pausso was feeling amused, so I sent him a sense of curiosity. Ṭ̴͑o̴̢͌ĺ̵̥d̷̦̀ ̸̰̅ĥ̷̭i̷͇̅m̷̺͊ ̸̤̾s̵̫̉m̶̈́ͅẻ̴̠l̵͚̀l̶͓̒s̸̖͊ ̸̮̈ ĺ̶̲ỉ̷̧k̷͎̇e̸̞͗ ̶͇͝ ŕ̸͚á̵̢b̷̺̄b̶̝̕ī̵͚t̴̫̔s̴͈̔. he sent to me. Then he snorted for good measure.

Next Edwin released Nidoking closer to the front of the room, though he kept a steady hand on his ball, just in case. The sturdy Pokemon appeared already snorting and stomping his feet, ready for a battle, but he stopped short when Nidoran let out a shrill cry. His ears twitched rapidly as he spun around to look at her; then he stampeded forward eagerly and picked her up, crying “Doki!” as he held her close to his chest.

Nidoking nuzzled his daughter for a moment, letting out rumbling responses to her short, yipped words as he stood there. Then he grunted and turned around so he was looking at Arcanine. “Do, ni king nido,” he said shortly.

Arcanine stopped licking her son and got up onto her feet with a soft growl. “Cani, arca nin ca,” she replied, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. This made Nidoking snort angrily. He carefully placed Nidoran onto the ground and then settled into a battle stance, legs spread apart and tail out for balance.

H̴̝̚e̶͔̽ ̸̢̽ a̴̙̿ș̸̃ḳ̷͛ ̵̹̚ f̷͕̐ơ̴͓r̴̥̿ ̴̬̊ ạ̵͊p̴̫̃o̵̯͠l̸̲͆o̴͙̒g̵̢̿y̶̩̓, Pausso quickly explained. S̵̫̐h̶̝̀e̵̯̊ ̵͇̓ s̴̠̅a̵̡͛y̸̬͑s̷̠͆ ̴̣̈ h̷͓́ë̷͖ ̶̧̀ i̷̙͊s̶̘̃ ̶̩͝ ơ̶̮n̵͍̓ě̶̤ ̴̧͌ s̵̖͑h̵̻́ǒ̷̜u̷͙̒l̷̟̓d̴̛̬ ̷̛͓ a̷̋ͅp̸̈́͜o̶͕̕l̴̜͝o̷̫͒g̷͈̅i̴̺̐ž̴͕e̵̮̐.̷͙͘

I hurriedly translated for the others, but even as I spoke it was clear that it wouldn’t be our job to intervene. Growlithe had scurried away from his mother, back into the center of the room, and Nidoran had run forward to join him there.

“Grow, li lithe!” the little dog barked out hurriedly, and the rabbit echoed him with a fast “Ni, ran do!”

T̶̗̔ḩ̵̀e̸̩͊y̸̪͠ ̴̪͛ s̵̜̀a̸͔͌y̴͉̏,̷̭̓ ̸̗́ d̶̳͗o̸͔͌ ̵͔͊ n̶̤͠o̵͓͛t̴͚͠ ̴̨̀ f̵̪̃i̴̘̒g̵̩͛h̸͚͝t̸̛̘.̵̧̓ ̸̮̄ Ẉ̵́é̶̗ ̷͚̒ w̴͠ͅi̷͔̓l̷̺̽ḽ̸̊ ̶̺̉ e̵̛͓x̷̪̄p̸̭͆l̴͖͋a̸̺̒i̷̬͑n̸̪͆, Pausso thought, his curiosity coming through clearly.

And finally, they did exactly that.

The Growlithe started the story. You all know how this began, he said in his own speech (which Pausso relayed to me, and I translated for the others). The clans disagree on who owns the berry grove. When the grove started running low on fruit, it led to trouble.

I grew tired of seeing everyone argue back and forth with no conclusion. So I said I would talk to the others. I would help the two sides reach an agreement that everyone would be happy with.

That was how I met her, he said, turning his head to briefly nudge Nidoran’s shoulder.

I wanted to help too, Nidoran said, twitching her nose as she spoke. I thought all the fighting was silly. Why argue over berries when we can simply grow more? If both clans worked together, we could tend to the grove and grow trees, like how grasslings nurture the forest or how humans grow their food.

He agreed. We started talking on our own, away from the others. About how to grow trees, and what else the clans could do if they worked together. About our hopes and dreams.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

And, well… she glanced up at Growlithe shyly, then looked back and forth between the two fully-evolved Pokemon. Eventually, we fell in love.

This caused an immediate reaction in the room, even before Pausso finished relaying Nidoran’s words to me. Nidoking roared angrily and thrashed his tail wildly through the air, and Arcanine’s tail shot up in a straight line as she yipped a series of fast-paced sounds.

Let us finish! Growlithe howled over the noise. After a few moments the two parents quieted down, and he continued. We wanted so badly to find a compromise so that the two clans would stop fighting and we could be together. But nothing we came up with worked. You both refused to consider any compromise on who owned the berry grove.

So eventually, well. The Growlithe looked down, lowering his tail so it hid between his legs. We decided to run away.

I told him to lie, Nidoran said steadily, not looking ashamed at all (granted, I had no idea what an ashamed rabbit would look like). Tell each side that they had won. If we could get everyone in one place, we could make sure they all learned the truth at once.

We both went to the meeting place early that day, Growlithe said, relaxing a bit. We wanted to find someone to pass on a message for us. When we found the ghost, we thought our problems were solved. We told her everything, and she told us she would make sure you were told what you needed to hear.

The message was simple, Nidoran said. We could not bear to stay while our families fought each other, so we were leaving, together. If our clans could reach a compromise, we would return.

And then we left, Growlithe finished simply. We had no idea how bad things would get. We wanted to make you stop fighting, not for the fighting to get worse.

After that, the room fell mostly silent, apart from my voice repeating Pausso’s rendition of Growlithe’s words. For half a minute or so, Nidoking and Arcanine looked too shocked to speak.

That didn’t last very long. Out of nowhere both evolved Pokemon started yelling at the same time. Pausso couldn’t keep up the translation with the two speaking over each other so much, but he didn’t really need to; it was clear from their tones and body language what was happening. Both clan leaders were scoffing and telling their children that this was ridiculous.

Nidoran and Growlithe fired their own words back at their parents, which led to what looked like a full-out argument. Pausso brayed a few words, I assumed in an attempt to calm everyone down, but the others ignored him completely. I glanced over my shoulder at the rest of the trainers in the room to see confused looks on all the human faces. The Pokemon were mostly attentive though, their eyes flicking quickly from one wild Pokemon to the next as they all argued, and Corsola looked downright entertained.

Then Growlithe shouted something above the noise, and the group went silent. Pausso took that opportunity to translate for me. S̸̲̄a̸̼̅i̵̲͛d̴̤̽ ̶͕͐ ī̶͎f̷̟͌ ̷̢̀ p̵̗͝a̷̫̓r̷̜̎ė̵̞n̷̠̍ẗ̴̜s̸̫͛ ̶̙͆ t̴̰͝ŗ̸͋y̷̹̐ ̷̗̓ t̸̛̖o̵͙̓ ̸̱̾s̷͍̚ë̷̜p̷̭͗a̵̯̽r̷̡̾ạ̶͛ṫ̵̼e̷̻͋,̵͚͆ ̵̧̀ t̴̩͂ẖ̷͗e̴̛͎y̴̘͝ ̶̥̈ l̵̩̓e̴̫͗t̷̺̀ ̴̝̀ t̵̝͑ḧ̴̤e̷̞̓ṃ̸͠s̷̹͐ē̸̡l̵̻̈́v̴̰͑ẹ̸͋s̸̹̉ ̶͎̓ b̷͇͐e̴͔͗ ̷̘̋ c̵̕ͅạ̶̄p̷͔̓t̵̪̓ȕ̴̬r̵̬̃e̷͍͠d̶͘ͅ.̴̛̫

I blinked. “Wait – captured? Like, with poke balls?”

Pausso flicked his trunk up and down. Ì̴̞ ̶͋ͅ ṭ̷̌ò̸̦l̵̤̆d̷̰͐ ̵͔͘ t̴͖̀h̵̹̉e̶̳͛m̶̭̅ ̶̣̂ e̷̢̾a̶̲͠r̶̜̒l̸͇̓i̶̜͌e̷͓͊r̶̛̻.̵̠̐ ̷͙̅ H̵̬̉è̸͉ ̸̱̽ s̵̜̓a̸̗͝y̴̫͂,̶̺̈ ̶̢̀ b̷͎̽ȅ̵̙t̵̝́t̸̤̔è̸̩r̵͓̅ ̶̪͠ t̴̟̏ô̵̖ ̵̮̆ l̵̯͝i̶͚͛v̶̤̒ë̷̘́ ̶͉͠ w̸̜͆i̴̢̓t̸͌ͅh̴͕̊ ̴͍̔ h̸̩͘ů̷̫m̵̘̉a̴͔͘ń̵̘s̴̢͋ ̶̩͝ t̴̡͂h̶͝ͅa̴̧͛n̶̮̕ ̷̖͠ l̷͔̄ì̴̩v̸̯̋ë̷͔ ̸͇͗ à̷̰p̴͇̏a̵̗͊r̵̩̐t̵͈̏.̴̿͜

Suddenly Arcanine turned to look at Nidoking and growled out new words in a low-pitched voice. Growlithe whined and pawed at the ground, but his mother ignored him. She deliberately spat a small ball of fire at the floor, then held her head high and looked at Nidoking with a challenging air.

S̶̞͝à̴̩y̶̦͂s̷̘̿ ̶̼͛ h̷͎͊e̷̩͘ ̷͇̉ ĥ̷̺a̷̳̋s̶̺̍ ̶͔̓ c̷̮̉o̶͐͜r̶̙̚r̸̡̛u̶͇͑p̴͚͋t̷̘̅ȩ̴̌d̷̲̅ ̷̮̈́ c̶̩͂h̵̍ͅi̴̿ͅl̸̮̄ď̶͍r̵̜̋e̴̲̚n̵͚͂,̸̺̊ ̴̻͂ a̸̺̔n̷̤̈d̴͉̚ ̶͉͂ -̴̟́ ̷̂͜ ó̵͇h̴̩̏ ̵̣̔ n̶̞͋ȯ̴͇, Pausso thought to me. His thoughts were interrupted as Nidoking gave a wordless roar and charged forward to grapple with Arcanine, gripping her mane in both hands and attempting to lift her up into the air. Arcanine replied by pelting him with flaming embers that pounded against his chest and head, leaving burnt marks and soot wherever they landed.

I gulped and looked back over at Edwin, who was watching the fight with some level of alarm. “What are you doing?” I hissed as I gestured wildly at him. “You have the poke balls! Return them!”

Edwin cursed and fumbled with the balls, trying to aim them correctly. Florence interrupted before he could press the buttons, though. “Wait – look!”

Growlithe and Nidoran had both charged towards their parents as soon as they started fighting. Growlithe howled and jumped back and forth, trying to draw the attention of the larger Pokemon, but had no luck. He looked over at Nidoran and yipped shortly.

Nidoran nodded her head once. She ran forward so she was closer to the two fighting Pokemon, almost underfoot. And then an amazing thing happened.

She started to glow.

Several people in the room, both humans and Pokemon, gasped as Nidoran’s body was covered in the brilliant white light of what had to be evolution. The two fully-evolved Pokemon stopped fighting, and they backed up several steps to give Nidoran room. Growlithe stayed close by, his tail wagging in excitement as he watched the process unfold.

I watched with great interest as Nidoran’s body grew longer and taller, easily doubling in size, and as a short tail grew from the base of her spine. That white light – she was in her energy form, wasn’t she? But she was physically changing in a permanent way through something happening to her form. We hadn’t been taught the science behind how evolution worked in school, and I had never witnessed it before, but now I wished I had made the effort to learn more.

The white light finally faded, revealing that Nidoran – no, Nidorina – now stood a few inches taller than Growlithe. He didn’t seem to mind, though; the little dog just wagged his tail and barked incessantly as he raced over to lean against her side and nuzzle her affectionately. She grumbled happily and nuzzled him back, then turned to look at the two parents.

“Rina,” she said clearly, her short tail thumping as she spoke. “Ni, na do rina!”

S̶͕͋a̷̼͆y̶̘̓s̴̬͑ ̶̨̓t̶̪͘i̷͎͋m̶͓̈e̶̺͘ ̸͈̎ǒ̸̩f̸̨͗ ̷̜̓ f̴͇̀í̸͖g̸̬͐h̸͇̅t̵̀ͅĩ̸̙n̷͍̂g̵̨̿ ̴̯̿ i̵̗͆ṣ̵͘ ̷̠͗ o̴̰͗v̵̰̽ę̶̿r̴̭̔, Pausso thought to me. N̸̻͂õ̷͜w̷̘̑ ̶̭͆ i̴͉̾s̴͉͘ ̴̬̇ ṭ̴̃i̶̢͠m̴̗̀e̸̩͌ ̶͖̚ f̴͎͛ō̵͓r̵̫͐ ̵̠̑ c̴̛̬o̷͔̔m̴͔͘p̸͚̍r̴͍͌ǫ̷̈́m̴͍̓i̶͕͆s̷̩̄e̷̺͑.̵̹̔ ̸͖͌ F̴̝͌o̸̥̅ȓ̵̳ ̵̹͝ p̵̘̾ȇ̴͔ä̵ͅc̶͎͐e̴̞͊.̵̱͠

I translated for the others in the room, then watched in awe as the two evolved Pokemon actually backed down. They had been at each other’s throats mere moments before; now they were willing to listen?

Pausso must have noticed my confusion, because he glanced back over at me. E̷̥͆v̴̢̽o̷̳̿l̸̼̐u̴̐ͅt̵̛͜i̵̬͒o̶̹͗n̵͌͜ ̷͇̽ o̷̙̚ȗ̴͉t̷̮̚s̷̲̕i̷̱̒d̴̳̋e̸̞̓ ̵̏͜ b̷̬̈a̶͎̎t̶̗͝ṭ̷́l̵̖͝e̴̼͑ ̸̺͂t̴̥̃a̵͚̓k̵̢͝ę̸͊s̶̞̈́ ̸̻̚g̸̜̈́r̵̜̉e̶͍̐â̵̺t̷̘͑ ̷̕ȑ̷̪e̷̱̎s̴̯͑o̶͚͆ĺ̴̗v̴̻̐ë̷̤́, he explained. Ť̸ͅh̶͔̅ȅ̸̲y̷̮̿ ̵͈͂ ṷ̴͂n̵̥̑d̸͐͜e̸͋ͅr̸̼̃s̵̠͐ẗ̴̻́ą̸̀n̸̗̕d̶͖͐ ̶̗͋ s̶̛̙h̸̔͜e̶̜̊ ̴̫͂ s̵͕̄e̵̡̽r̶̲͛i̶͍͗ǫ̵͝ṵ̸̎s̴͓̍.̴̱͘ ̶͋͜ W̵̳̓ï̸̟l̶̈͜l̷̦̅į̴̇ǹ̸̼g̴̣͋ ̴̩̅ ṭ̵͠ö̴̳ ̵̘͝ l̷̦̃i̶̋͜s̴̛͍t̵̗̑e̸͔̋n̶̰͝.̸̨̈́

And he was right – they were willing to listen. Sure, it took several hours of discussion. There were hang-ups around what would happen to all the Pokemon that had been captured and how stewardship of the berry grove would be managed. There was still a great deal of bitterness on all sides about the damage that had already been done, and finding a compromise everyone could agree to was a painful process.

But as the sun set on that long, eventful day, the two wild Pokemon clans and Violet City finally reached a truce.