Under the stars, the chirping of Starlies had been replaced by the even more incessant chimes and rings of Kricketots singing in the dark shrubs and weeds in the distance. It was getting dark out and the sun was like a dying candle surrounded by a lake of dark blue and a handful of Shiny specs.

Lucas stared at Dawn, whose hands were on her hips as she gave him a satisfied smirk.

A Poké Ball lay on the grass in front of them, swaying side to side. 1... 2... 3...

It pulsed a bright, victorious blue.

“There! Simple, right? Though I’m sure you’ve seen that a million times during your own playthroughs…”

“Playthrough? What the hell are you talking about?”

Dawn laughed, smiling and winking at those who would get it.

She walked over to the ball sitting on the grass and picked it up. When she came back, she pulled a white rectangular box with a Poké Ball printed on it out of her marshmallow bag and gave it to Lucas—the same type he’d seen in the store earlier.

“Are these all for me?” he asked, shaking the box as the sound of hundreds of balls rattling inside showered his ears.

“No, I just want you to look at my box of Poké Balls,” Dawn said, shaking her head in disappointment.

“Are you being... sarcastic?”

“Yes, you idiot. Those are all yours. Why else would I give them to you?” she scoffed. Lucas folded his arms.

“I don’t know...”

“'Course you don't, thats why I'm here," Dawn smiled, rolling her blue eyes. “Anyway, I’ve shown you most of the basics. All of them, actually. Which means I have to get going now, Lucas. Heh, looks like I won't be here..." The girl twirled her hair, readjusting her beanie.

Lucas nodded, looking to the side. “We could go together. To Jubilife. I’m an assistant too now, right? I could help you...”

“Thanks... but no. You need to start your own work, Lucas. I’m gonna be meeting with the Professor in town later anyway, and if he sees you’ve made absolutely no progress following me around, he’ll be pretty upset.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I know. I just thought... we could go together is all...” Lucas sheepishly confessed, gripping his scarf. He’d already gotten used to having her around, and something felt wrong about her leaving.

Besides, who knew what shocking things could happen in the forest? Better to be in a pack.

But as the moon waved its hand in the dark blue sky, and the echoes of not-so-distant howls and growls of the wild densely populated the air, so did their time together end.

For now, at least.

“I–” Dawn cut herself off, her cheeks turning even redder than they were in the cold. Maybe she was just getting a bit colder because of the night. All business. She had a job to do. “I... have a job to do, Lucas. I can’t be late, and I can’t let the hours go by. It’s not just the Professor I have to see. There’s someone else. He’s my partner and–”

“Who? You have a partner?"

“Paul. You don’t know him, he's older than us and he goes to the Pokémon School. I might as well tell you the whole deal: I have some super important research documents in my bag that the Professor told me to deliver to Paul before I meet up with him later.”

“Shouldn’t I know about this too? Hold on, it’s better if we go through Route 203 together! It’s dark and dangerous–”

But the moment he said that, another bright blue flash flickered in his face. Emerging from the fading light, letting out a beautiful heart-melting melody, was a large angelic creature covered in cottony clouds.

“That’s the thing... I’m flying there.”

“You have an Altaria? WHAT?” Lucas’s mouth was agape, like he was trying to swallow a basketball whole in his pie hole.

Wait...

Like he was trying to swallow a pie WHOLE in his pie HOLE. (OOOOOOHHHH!)

“That was pretty funny,” Dawn said. “She’s not mine. She belongs to the Pokémon School. If you make yourself useful, maybe you can climb the ranks, and they’ll trust you enough to lend you a Pokémon.”

“Wait, if you’re fourteen, that means you got your license this year too! How on Earth can you fly? Don’t you need the Cobble Badge for that?”

“Well, yeah. Or...”

Dawn pulled out a sleek plastic card from her coat pocket and handed it to the boy.

“Provisional license... your middle name is–”

“NO!” She snatched the card viciously as Lucas laughed his head off. Red-faced and irritated, she hopped on the big blue heavenly bird, which mightily flapped its nimbus wings and effortlessly hung in the air.

“It’s been fun, Lucas, but we both have work to do. Maybe I’ll see you in town, but for now... bye.”

And with that, the Altaria took off into the dark navy sky, leaving behind a trail of sweet harmonious whistles.