The sky had faded from vibrant orange to a deep indigo, the last rays of sunlight barely clinging to the horizon as Caelan sat cross-legged near the campfire. He poked at the small flames, watching them flicker and dance against the cooling air. Beside him, Rattata sat on her haunches, nibbling away at her portion of food with quiet enthusiasm.

Although he now had a room to sleep in, the part of him that used to be Caleb felt far more comfortable eating outside.

It had been a long day of training, and though both were exhausted, the moment felt peaceful. Caelan tore into a piece of bread, chewing thoughtfully as he stared into the fire, letting his mind wander over the events of the day. He glanced down at the small bag beside him, its contents something he'd been looking forward to testing out.

"Rattata," Caelan called softly.

She looked up at him, ears twitching as she paused in her eating.

He reached into the bag, pulling out five small berries, each about the size of a tangerine, and laid them in a row on the ground in front of her. "I want you to try these. Just take a bite of each and let me know which one you like the most."

Rattata sniffed at the assortment curiously. Her whiskers twitched as she studied the colorful fruits but didn't make a move to bite just yet. She waited, likely sensing there was more to this than just a taste test.

Her assumption wasn't entirely wrong, but it was at the same time. He really did just want to see which flavor she fancied even if the berries themselves would serve a greater purpose in the future.

Still, he felt it was better to placate her curiosity than let her stew in unnecessary suspicion.

Caelan settled back against the log behind him, arms crossing over his chest. "Berries are a lot more than just food," he explained. "Each one has properties that can affect how you feel, how quickly you heal, even how you deal with different kinds of damage. The ones I got today are low-grade, but even at this level, they're way more powerful than you'd think."

Rattata's nose twitched again as she inched closer to the berries.

With this purchase, he was officially back to being broke again. The money he'd splurged with was the result of asking for an advance payment from his sparring contract, the amount he'd managed to get 40% of his salary upfront. That gave him just enough to spend on basic necessities—and use the majority of it on his Pokemon. He only had fifty bucks left now, but with the commission money from his battles coming soon, it wouldn't be long before he had more to work with.

"Go ahead," Caelan encouraged. "Try them. I want to see how you react, which ones you prefer. Eventually, I'll start adding them to your food to make sure you're getting their benefits."

With that, Rattata finally gave in to her curiosity, approaching the first berry—a red Cheri berry. She nibbled cautiously at its surface before pulling back, her nose wrinkling slightly from the spicy flavor. Still, she took a second, smaller bite before moving on to the next one.

Caelan watched her closely, his mind drifting back to the properties of the berries. The Cheri berry was known for curing paralysis and muscle spasms, an essential remedy during intense training. Earth had nothing like it.The berries could act as a natural solution to ailments that, on Earth, required specialized medicine.

Rattata moved on to the second berry, the deep blue Chesto berry. As soon as she bit into it, her face scrunched up in displeasure. The dryness of the berry didn't appeal to her, and she quickly abandoned it in favor of the next in line.

Caelan watched with mild amusement. "Not a fan of the Chesto, huh?" he murmured, noting her reaction. "That's fine. Not every flavor is going to be for you."

Next came the Pecha berry, a soft pink fruit that exuded sweetness. Rattata took a larger bite this time, her tail twitching in approval as the sweet flavor coated her tongue. She squeaked softly, seeming much more satisfied with this one.

Caelan nodded to himself as he observed. "Sweet berries like Pecha are pretty popular, especially for their ability to neutralize poison. Hopefully we won't see their effects the hard way."

Rattata moved on to the fourth berry, the Rawst berry. Its light blue skin didn't hint at the bitter taste that awaited her, but to Caelan's surprise, she didn't hesitate. She nibbled at the berry and then blinked in pleasant surprise. She seemed to enjoy the bitterness, taking a few more bites before moving on.

"Interesting," Caelan thought aloud. "You like bitter berries, huh? I'll remember that."

Finally, Rattata reached the last berry in the lineup—the bumpy yellow Aspear berry. She sniffed at it before gingerly biting into the sour fruit. She chewed slowly, considering the taste before swallowing. Her reaction wasn't as strong as with the Chesto, but she didn't seem particularly impressed either. It earned a neutral response as she settled down and turned back toward Caelan.

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"So, Rawst and Pecha are your favorites," Caelan noted, watching her carefully. "Bitter and sweet, huh? I can work with that."

He reached over to give her a gentle pat on the head, smiling slightly as he leaned back against the log behind him. "Eventually, I'll start mixing Aguav Berries into your food," he said, mostly to himself. "They're bitter like Rawst, but they also promote healing. Might as well make sure you're getting the best out of your diet."

Rattata chittered softly, pleased with the acknowledgment, then curled up at his side. She was clearly worn out from the day, and despite the food and taste-testing, exhaustion had caught up with her.

Caelan stared into the fire, letting its warmth soak into his skin as he contemplated the potential of the berries in his hand. It was incredible that such powerful healing agents existed so naturally in this world. On Earth, even the most advanced medicines couldn't match what even the low-grade berries could do.

The power the berries of the Pokémon world held was vastly underappreciated. On top of being a non-addictive painkiller, most of the healing berries were naturally forming antibiotics and antivirals. The other types of berries reduced the effects of certain Aura types, while others had even more bizarre properties.

And that? That was just the lowest grade. There were higher, more potent grades of the berries that basically gave temporary superpowers. It wouldn't be out of place that a low-grade cold resistance berry would give permanent immunity to the cold at the supreme-grade.

Low, Standard, High and Supreme were the grades people called them. But everything after standard was a miracle only possible in this world, in his eyes.

Of course, finding a berry at the supreme-grade was about as rare as finding a wild Mew.

But even if he would probably never see a berry of that grade in his life, studies showed that introducing even the low-grade berries into one's diet would show a minor uptick of abilities eventually. The Chople berry for example was something he was thinking of adding to her diet, as it would help her develop a minor resistance to her only weakness.

"But that's for another day," he muttered to himself, his gaze still fixed on the fire. "I think it's about time we turn in for the night."

With a quiet sigh, he extinguished the flames, leaving the embers to glow softly in the night.

✦✧-(Rattata)-✧✦

As she listened to the soft snores of the only person she considered family, her red eyes gazed into the comforting light of the midnight moon.

Despite the fatigue that had claimed her, her mind was far from being at rest.

Her thoughts, usually quick and instinctive, had slowed down considerably since the aftermath of her failure. For once in her life, her mind wasn't a mess of rapid fire reactions and feelings, but a cauldron for her thoughts to stew in.

Ever since Caleb had become whoever he was now, she had been ecstatic, even if she hadn't showed it much. Although she didn't fully understand what happened to him, she understood that he was fundamentally still the same person she once knew.

When they first met, Caleb was a wee little tyke, barely old enough to leave the nest. He was abandoned—something that still filled her with rage when she thought about it.

Back then, he wanted nothing more than to survive. In that aspect, he reminded her of her siblings. Each of them had accepted their place in the world—accepted that they would never be stronger than most other Pokémon. They slinked in the darkness, scavenging and taking every advantage they could without remorse.

To them, the only thing that mattered was survival.

That wasn't wrong, in her mind. Life was built on that basis. Survival was the foundation for which everything else stood.

But that's what she hated the most. They didn't understand that survival was the foundation. It wasn't the end goal, but the beginning for which life could finally begin. None of them believed they could be more than anything but a street rat, and it ate at her constantly.

Even her mother and father, the two strongest Pokemon she knew, had settled for living in the sewers of the city. She knew for a fact they could live on the surface, that they could take any part of the forest as their territory, but they didn't listen.

It was 'safe', they would argue. Going for more was 'too risky', they would reason.

And to that she said quite frankly—Fuck that!

She wanted to be more than that. She wanted more than that. For both herself, and the little ones who hadn't even seen sunlight before.

So when she found Caelan sniffling and sobbing on the surface, she felt a sort of affinity to him. He reminded her of her many little siblings, pathetically curled up in the dark as he cried for his mother.

It was probably stupid of her, but she… felt she had a chance here. Unlike her siblings, he lived on the surface. Every day, he saw what he couldn't have, and was furious about it.

He clawed his way through the darkness just like she did, but he didn't just give up like they did.

In time, if he had someone to protect him, he'd see the truth just as she did. That they weren't worthless. They weren't helpless. They deserved happiness, too, even if they had to struggle and toil to get there.

So while he grew, she protected.

When he declared his desire to become a Pokemon Trainer, she knew that this was it. The moment she'd been waiting for had finally come.

And yet… she almost squandered it.

Her battle with the other Pokemon had opened her eyes. She'd become, much to her eternal chagrin, complacent. If it weren't for the techniques he'd come up with, it would've been a complete loss. Yet, if she had been just a bit stronger, there was no doubt his strategy would've won them the fight.

It was not him, but herself, who was holding them back.

He believed in himself now. And she believed in him too. But it wasn't until he'd shown her—forced her to see her own potential—that she could truly believe in herself as well.

No matter what anyone said about her, she could accomplish far more than she thought.

She could feel her mind settle back into its reactionary state as her belief locked itself into place. The power within her core swirled to match her declaration, a reflection of the willpower that burned in her heart.

A technique flowed into her mind, her core guiding her as sinister energy surfaced on her fangs.

For she would bite and gnaw the path into the heavens, if that's what it took.