Trevenant howled as it lunged, its voice echoing through the skeletal woods. Quilava leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the swipe of its claws. Its red eye left a streak behind it, locking onto Sam. He was forced to scramble away to make sure the hostile Pokémon didn’t get close.

“Trevenant, wait!” he yelled.

But the wild Pokémon just snarled and jumped after Quilava. Each slash of its jagged hands forced her to hop, and when it adjusted its pattern, she had to spin to avoid a solid hit to her side.

“Quil!” she shouted, squeaking. “Lava!”

“Quilava’s right!” Sam yelled as he pushed to his feet. “There’s no point in fighting! Mahogany’s Gym Leader, Pryce, is coming this way! He’s going to try to force you out of your home if you don’t stop these attacks!”

But Sam’s shout did nothing. Trevenant continued to chase after Quilava, who gained a grim expression on her face.

A backward Quick Attack saw her avoid a dual-handed swipe, but the ongoing assault made it clear she couldn’t keep up a pure defense forever.

The sight confirmed Sam’s first thought that negotiation was impossible. All his shouts had mustered in Trevenant was an increased need to win; if someone else was coming here to attack it, then the wild Pokémon needed to eliminate them before further company arrived.

Swipe after swipe, Trevenant swung its claws at Quilava, pushing her toward the forest while Sam stumbled backward in an effort to keep up. She was currently interposed between him and the hostile Ghost Type, and if there was ever a moment where she wasn’t in the way, Sam was sure the Trevenant would change targets and attack.

Another swipe barely missed Quilava, and Sam bit the inside of his cheek. They had come to help Trevenant just as much as they had come to help Quilava, but though Sam didn’t want to fight, he could at least recognize that not doing anything would be a mistake. He might have once said he’d do anything to ensure Quilava would evolve, but in the face of such a furious Pokémon’s attacks, he’d rather his friend be safe.

“Flamethrower!” Sam shouted.

They would have to do this the hard way—exhausting Trevenant and forcing it into a position where it had no choice but to talk. So, in accordance with Sam's shout, Quilava’s flames blazed to life. In the middle of one of her jumps, she twisted in the air and opened her mouth. Shooting out, a wave of fire raced forward and spread across the ground.

Trevenant froze.

Its reaction wasn’t one Sam expected. For a moment, that burning in its eye stopped, and its singular, red iris shrunk out of fear. It leaped back, leaving the ground and letting Quilava’s move flow under it. It then failed to land on its many legs, hitting the ground on its side, and its scowl vanished, replaced by an open-mouthed look of fear.

For a second, it almost looked young.

Haunted.

Quilava’s Flamethrower might not have hit, but it had brought Trevenant to the same moment that had likely started all of this in the first place.

Finishing her attack, Quilava landed on the ground as well. She didn’t continue her assault, and these ashen woods became silent. Silent, specifically, save for the sound of Trevenant’s heavy breathing.

But just as quick as that moment came, it passed, and that same, hateful expression crossed the Trevenant’s face. Still, on its side, its gaze burned with the same intensity as Quilava’s move, and the Pokémon jabbed its hands into the ground like stakes entering someone’s heart.

With its influence came a brand new move, one that saw roots break through the forest floor. Ash was thrown into the air as they churned the ground and rushed toward where Quilava still stood in place.

“Run!” Sam yelled.

She scrambled backward and jumped, allowing flames to wreathe her body. Her Flame Wheel allowed her to pick up speed as she did her best to roll away.

But even with that fiery move, Trevenant continued to control its roots with ease. This entire, dead forest was its domain. In her attempt to flee, a root burst out of the ground directly in her path, and it lashed out and wrapped around her to pin her to the floor and prevent any further movement.

Escape was pointless. Like bands, the roots whipped out and latched onto Quilava. She cried out in alarm. They squeezed her, pressing her fur against her body, and when they finally retracted, they left patches of moss and ash that left marks across her body.

“Forest’s Curse,” Sam whispered.

It was Trevenant’s signature move, one that made its target a Grass Type.

Its effect in this battle hadn’t been what Sam was expecting. It wouldn’t hinder Quilava or open her up to super effective attacks. Rather, the activation of the move pinned her down. It stopped her escape just long enough for her to look up and see Trevenant’s eye gleaming above her.

She tried to jump, but Trevenant had grown used to her tricks. A claw carved into her side, sending fur into the air and slicing through her scarf, which dropped its contents and floated to the ground.

Trevenant’s fingers dug into her, and Sam could see Quilava weaken. Whatever attack it had done drained her and reinvigorated it, but after only a single taste, Trevenant continued the attack’s movements. The swipe sent Quilava flying, where she slammed against the trunk of the trunk of a nearby dead tree.

Her body went limp. Quilava fell to the ground in a puff of ash.

“Quilava!” Sam yelled.

He tore across the ashen field to reach where she laid. He breathed in heated air as he cupped her body.

Quilava was breathing, but softly. A creaking noise filled the air as the tree she slammed into broke and hit the ground.

Except, that noise continued even after the withered trunk came to a rest. Sam looked up with a hateful gaze of his own, staring right at the Trevenant.

The sound hadn’t just been the dead tree breaking. It was also the Pokémon’s splintering laugh.

“Quilava...” Sam whispered, clutching his friend. “I’m sorry. I was too desperate for your evolution. I should have known we needed to ask for help.”

Pryce might have been marching toward this place at that very moment, but the man was too stubborn. He would have never listened. No, there were others Sam could have turned to. The local Ranger force would have at least heard Sam out, and even if they had turned him down, he could have maybe used Morty’s name to get them to assist.

And with them, this situation would have never happened. They would have never approached Trevenant on their own. They would have never left everyone else behind. Quilava wouldn’t have faced an opponent above her level. Trevenant wasn’t the Pokémon of a trainer. It was a wild Pokémon, and when it fought, it fought seeking a finish.

Quilava whimpered Sam’s arms, whining under her breath from the pain of slamming into that tree. Slowly, Sam reached into his pack to pull out an emergency ration—a healing Sitrus berry. He held it to her mouth and squeezed. Its juices trickled into her throat.

As the berry’s healing effect did its work, her breathing quieted down as she slowly got better. Sam turned to face the Trevenant, standing up.

It was watching them. It wore a blank expression on its face, no longer laughing.

“You did this,” Sam said. “But this is my fault. So I’m not going to let you hurt her.”

He stood up, positioning himself between her and Trevenant. The wild Pokémon only stared as Sam clenched his fists and tried to take up the best stance he could.

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

“Quilava was here on my behalf. She was here to try to help you. We wanted to warn you about Pryce. To tell you that you needed to run and not attack! But now... You hurt her.” Sam grit his teeth. “I don’t know how to fight, but if you get any closer, I’ll do so to make sure you won’t hurt my best friend.”

He glared.

Also, he felt really stupid.

But what else could he do here? All of his friends and other Pokémon were elsewhere. They were defending them, expecting to win, but after only a single move, she—

Ugh.

If Sam ran, Trevenant would catch up.

If Sam hid, Trevenant would find him.

The only answer he had to rely on was to go against all common sense and defend his Pokémon, himself. But he didn’t need to win. He didn’t need to last. He just needed to delay long enough for Xavier, Redi, or any of his team members to get here, and then they’d be able to work together to escape.

Porygon’s Teleport would be a miracle, really. He just needed to wait.

But as Sam stood there, knees pointed in and fists wrapped around his thumbs, Trevenant stopped paying attention to look at a point behind him, staring at where Quilava laid on the forest floor.

Her eyes were closed, but her nose twitched. Still unconscious, her ears flicked up as if listening to something.

Then, her head snapped up, she opened her eyes, and she took off running.

The rest of the forest where everyone was still fighting was to the south, but Quilava began to dash to the north, charging directly toward the center of the grove. Neither Sam nor Trevenant were able to immediately respond, as both of them needed to process the sudden and complete turnaround in Quilava’s state.

And then, Trevenant’s single eye widened. The truth hit it all at once.

Quilava, a Fire Type, was running to the dead center of these burned woods. She was running right toward that blackened stump that served as the heart of this lost grove.

It roared, its voice a mix of both panic and anger. Completely ignoring Sam, Trevenant took off running. Six leg-like roots, arranged like the legs of a bug, stomped through the ash to carry it after her in a mad charge north.

Panicking, Sam gave chase. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what was going on. Quilava had been seriously injured, and her scarf laid behind them. Still, she was running as if she hadn’t been injured at all, ignoring the Trevenant that was furiously chasing after her.

In its race, the Trevenant had no method to attack from range. Clawing at the leafy bits on its arms, it tore away chunks of wood that resembled seeds that it tried to throw. However, Quilava wasn’t just running. She regularly gained bursts of speed with frequent uses of Quick Attack. The Leech Seed Trevenant threw didn’t even reach her, but it did force Sam to hop to the side when whipping vines exploded out of where the seeds landed on the ground.

Ahead, Quilava soon burst from the border of the dead woods, that central stump now within sight. She ran through the open space between the barren trees into the grove. Trevenant shouted once more, but it didn’t shout out of anger. This time, it shouted out of plain desperation to get her to stop.

Sam had to stop running when he reached the edge of the trees, leaning against a leafless trunk to catch his breath. There, all he could do was watch Quilava come to a sudden stop. Trevenant almost immediately caught up.

Quilava did nothing but throw back her head, closing her eyes in focus. Motes of Will-O-Wisp popped up around her and began to spread out, but as Trevenant approached her, none hit it.

It grinned, recognizing Quilava wasn’t going to bother with any defense.

More and more flaming wisps spread around the empty grove. Trevenant raised both arms at once to finish Quilava off with a final slash.

Sam yelled, but Quilava didn’t listen. She just sat there and continued to spread her move.

But right when Trevenant was ready to end this all, she opened her eyes and looked at the Pokémon with a smile.

Trevenant, eye widening, jumped back.

The entire clearing had changed with Quilava’s Will-O-Wisp. Except, Sam could see the flames were tinted black. They hadn’t just been created with Fire Type energy. So used to combining it with other moves, she had used the energy of Curse to fuel them as well.

Now, instead of conjuring light, they cast shadows, illuminating the grove like purple fireflies and making it seem like they were in the middle of the night sky.

But more than that, they revealed something else was here.

Stretching out of the stump in the center of this clearing, a massive shape reached up and covered the grove with its branches.

It was a ghost, but specifically, it was a spirit. A silhouette of an enormous tree covered the entire sky. It was transparent, allowing Sam to see right through it. Yet, its enormous leaves still cast a shade, and he could pick out countless berries growing off its branches.

This tree might have failed to match the sheer grandeur of the trees of the Ilex forest, but it still towered over the rest of the trees in this forest. So much larger than anything else, Sam had to wonder just how old it had been. How far had its influence stretched in these woods?

But it had been burned down.

Sam looked around the clearing. Without its presence, this place was empty. Perfectly flat.

You know, with it gone, this would be the perfect place for some kind of construction.

It was a morbid thought, but it helped him understand why humans might have started this fire in the first place.

Pure selfishness.

But for the Trevenant, the loss of the tree hadn’t just been the loss of its home. Sam recognized the look on its face. He hated how familiar it was, but he’d seen this expression in the mirror so many times before.

It was an expression of mourning, the kind of face someone would make upon losing a loved one.

“This battle is over,” a voice said.

Sam almost jumped when he heard Xavier speak up beside him. The other boy stood at his side, silently staring ahead.

“W-what do you mean?” Sam asked, clearing his throat in an attempt to gather himself.

“Back in the woods, the Pokémon stopped attacking,” Xavier said. “All at once, they stopped coming after us and began to move this way.”

The crunch of footsteps over ash told Sam that Redi had come to a stop at his other side. And, now that Xavier pointed it out to him, he could see Ariados. Murkrow. Furret. Venonat. Pokémon of all forms and types that had gathered to witness this moment.

“Quilava.”

Quilava said her name, slowly walking over to Trevenant and sitting down next to it. At the sound, it flinched, as if expecting the battle to continue, but all it found was her calmly sitting by her side. She too, was now staring up at the spirit of the tree.

“Quilava,” she said again, this time more softly.

She used her nose to nudge Trevenant, trying to get it to move ahead.

At her prodding, slowly, the Trevenant stood up, wobbling on its many legs. It was no longer able to stare at the tree. It wrung its hands as its sole eye, minuscule, focused on the ground and on the ash.

It cautiously approached the base of the tree, where it stood there in front of the origin of the spirit’s shadow. It paused in front of the bark of that blackened stump. Compared to even just these remains, the Trevenant looked small. It was larger than any member of Sam’s team, but next to such a massive trunk, it almost looked like a child.

When Sam closed his eyes, he could picture it.

A Trevenant—

No.

A Phantump, its pre-evolved form, flitting through these woods, carrying a harvest from this very tree. It would bring those healing berries and its own genuine well-wishes to take care of every sick and injured Pokémon it could find.

The Pokémon that now surrounded this grove hadn’t worked under Trevenant with the intent of revenge. The forest fire had hurt them. The forest fire had caused them to mourn. But they wouldn’t have gone after travelers.

No, they had agreed to follow its orders only out of thanks.

Beneath the tree, the Trevenant shuddered, its eye wavering. Something akin to sap began to drip from a crack on its face.

“It's crying,” Redi whispered.

Ursaring let out a mournful growl behind her.

The Trevenant slowly brought its gaze up only to collapse. Its claws fell forward, dragging down the blackened bark, as tears—real tears—poured from its face.

It was sorry.

Sam didn’t need to understand Pokémon to understand what Trevenant was going through.

It was sorry that it had let this happen. It was sorry that it went against everything it had once stood for. It was sorry that it had never said goodbye.

It was sorry that—

Trevenant froze, and the same claws that had just run down the bark now furiously dug at the ground. Almost possessed, it tore away at the ash, then fallen wood, and then dirt.

The Trevenant stopped moving.

Peeking out from the exposed forest floor was the barest hint of green.

This section of the woods would not remain dead forever. It would regrow.

To that revelation, the Pokémon of the forest began to cry out. They shouted their names, sending their regards, and one by one, they began to leave.

An Ariados chittered its name before scurrying off, an uncountable number of Spinarak following it.

A pair of Girafarig bowed their heads before leaving side-by-side.

Furret called out their names and ran off. An Exeggutor’s heads called out before it turned around to leave.

And, within the trees themselves, that Honchkrow from before, the one Xavier seemed to have failed to catch, tipped its feathery hat before flying away. Its flock of Murkrow flew off behind it, and Xavier watched them go, memorizing the direction they left.

Sam had to turn away. At his side, Redi covered her eyes with an arm. Above his head, he could hear the noise of Haunter openly weeping.

As more and more Pokémon left these woods, a giggle cropped up nearby, and that wild Mismagius appeared once more just to bow her head and disappear into the shadows. From behind her, Misdreavus joined Sam by his side, smiling despite the injuries that were obvious on her body.

She looked up at him. Faced with the scene in the grove before her, happy tears entered her eyes.

Eventually, the forest was clear of all other Pokémon, likely moving off to avoid the ire of Pryce’s march. All that was left was Trevenant, still kneeling, and Quilava’s Will-O-Wisps, which were beginning to fade away one at a time.

With each one gone, the image of the tree became a little weaker. The massive spirit started to disappear, beginning to move on and fade away.

Although, as its absence grew, even though Sam had no way to confirm, he swore he heard a phrase whispered in the wind.

“Thank you.”

And to the Trevenant,

“I’m proud of you.”

With that final message, the grove was finally empty. Only Trevenant remained, its tears fueling the new growth it had exposed beneath it.

Then and only then did Quilava look satisfied. From where she had been seated, she stood up, turning from the Trevenant, and began to walk away. The tree had moved on, and Trevenant had calmed down. It no longer possessed the same maliciousness from before. Now, it could mourn, having the proper chance to say goodbye.

However, as she moved back to Sam, with each step she took, a glow intensified around her form.

The Trevenant tore off her scarf, Sam realized. And she just helped that tree move on.

Her body shifted as the light around her became blinding. Sam could hear Xavier mumble under his breath at his side.

“A Typhlosion?” Xavier whispered. “No. It’s not right.”

Quilava’s body lengthed. Her fur became darker. The flames that came from her head and lower back now came from around her neck, burning off of her like her now-lost scarf.

Though Sam could not see any further differences with the obscuring glow of her evolution, he knew they’d succeeded when he saw a single, specific detail.

Her ears.

It was dumb, but the two variants of Typhlosion possessed different ears. A basic Typhlosion from Johto tended to have ears that pointed up, but Quilava’s new form saw ears that flopped to her sides.

By the time she reached Sam, the light had broke, and she stood on her hind legs, smiling down at him with a height that was slightly above his own.

“Looks like you won’t be able to ride on my shoulders anymore,” he said, barely able to speak.

To that, Typhlosion laughed. Then, she drew back her head to cry out her name.

That night, all around the world, those attuned to spiritual matters felt something. Ghost Types and Ghost Specialists and Channelers and real ghosts all stopped whatever they were doing to look up at the sky.

Something was different. Something was there that hadn’t been there before.

Quilava hadn’t just evolved into any Typhlosion. After months of hard work and so many weeks of dedicated training and research, she had finally done it. She had evolved into the variant she and Sam both sought.

Here, in this slowly returning grove, the long-lost Hisuian Typhlosion finally made its appearance in Johto.