The evening’s celebration was remarkably similar to the party a couple of days ago. There was music, there were stalls that sold cheap food and drink, there was a bonfire and there was dancing. The difference was that the music was more upbeat and joyful and that generally, there were more old people, not only people roughly my age jumping around.

It was amusing, to watch some of the old-timers of town dance and realise that they had more spring in their step and grace in their limbs than many of the young people. They were enjoying themselves and grey hair be damned.

Another difference was that this time, Pokémon seemed to be actively and openly participating, not just on the fringes of celebration. Roselia, Roserades and Bellossoms could be seen dotted amongst the dancers, their sweet scent filling the air and other Pokémon were moving in the crowd, some almost invisible due to their size, others dominating for the same reason.

Considering for a moment, I decided to have Prince Charming accompany me, mostly because I didn’t fully trust Su to behave and Vio was still resting and sensitive to crowds to begin with. I called him out, and for a moment, he looked around, spell-bound by the commotion going on all around us.

“Well, Charm, are you ready to party?” I asked, a grin forming on my face. He turned to me, and stepped close, almost hugging me but not quite. Taking that as a yes, I started moving at the edge of the crowd, not quite willing to dive in, but also not in the mood to retreat into the dark again. That would only lead to sulking, and I had sulked enough for the day.

Finding a place, not too far, not too close to the dancers, I started to move to the rhythm of the music. Charm followed along, the flame on his tail soon brightening with the beat. It looked incredibly adorable and I happily reached out, touching his claws as the beat quickened.

“You don’t see that every day.” an amused voice from nearby noted. Looking up, I saw Kendra, watching with a wry smile on her face. Charm followed my eyes, stepping to the side and turning, taking an almost protective position at my side.

“Good Evening, Gym Leader.” I greeted, not certain why she had approached me. Others were dancing near their Pokémon, so I doubted that was the reason.

“What can I do for you?” I prodded when she didn’t continue talking.

“Nothing big. I just hoped that you and your partner have the time for a meeting tomorrow. I’ve got to get back to the grindstone and all that.” she replied, the grin on her face fading just a bit. Not vanishing entirely, but it looked like she wasn’t too pleased with the prospect of getting back to work.

“Certainly, I’ll tell Claire. What time do you have in mind?”

“Oh, just sometime in the afternoon. Call it three o’clock?” she suggested, getting a nod in return. “Excellent.” she turned, as if to leave, but turned back again after a second.

“One more question.” she added, the earlier grin back on her face, “Tell me, do you dance with your Charmeleon like that because you are unaware of its strength or because you are trusting it that much?” she asked, catching me off-guard a little.

“I trust him with my life,” I answered, without thinking too much about it. Considering the question for a few moments, I added, “He is my closest friend and my fierce protector. How could I walk between towns without him or any of my partners? They are family.” I explained, trying to express my feelings for them in words.

“Mhm, I see.” she nodded, turning away without explaining why she had asked. For a moment I considered pressing her but decided against it. I simply didn’t have any authority to question a Gym-Leader, and annoying her, if I wanted to get a badge from her, seemed like a bad idea.

No longer in the mood for dancing, I grabbed Charm’s claw and led him away, looking for one of the people I had met in town. Compared to Claire, I only knew a few other Trainers and none of them well but maybe I could find someone. Charm was a wonderful listener, but sadly, he rarely gave a verbal reply.

After walking a little, I noticed Henri, the winner of today’s tournament.

“Congratulations on your victory.” I gratulated him, reaching out to shake his hand.

“Thank you. Dani, was it?” he asked, as he shook my hand.

“Yeah. I’ve got to admit, your Mawile is incredible.” I sincerely praised, the fearsome strength of those jaws still etched into my mind.

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“Sally is pretty awesome, yes.” he nodded with a grin, “Your Kirlia isn’t too shabby either. I love the colouring, it’s rather unusual. How many badges do you have, if I may ask?” he complimented Vio with a sincere smile on his face, making me smile as well as I thought of my cutie.

“Two, so far. Hopefully, the Blossom Badge will be number three.” I admitted, noticing a look of surprise on his face.

“Not bad. I’ve got four myself, hopefully getting number five here. I was right at the cut-off for the tournament." he sounded almost apologetic when he mentioned his badges.

“Without you, I doubt anyone could have beaten Marci.” I shrugged, thinking of the powerful Magneton she had sent out. Given that Claire, Jeff and I had been the other contestants, I was fairly certain of my judgement. Vio couldn’t have beaten the Magneton and I doubted that Twiggy could have, either.

“Maybe. She is an incredibly experienced trainer, even if she never travelled and only works in the power plant.” he shrugged again, “Anyway, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we’ll battle again some time.” he bid me farewell, giving a glance at Charm, standing protectively behind me.

I’m looking forward to the re-match. Maybe we'll meet at the League Conference someday.” I grinned, already looking forward to winning against him that day.

We both went our own way and for the next few hours, I enjoyed immersing myself in the hustle and bustle. Simply letting go, not having to worry about wild Pokémon suddenly attacking, was relaxing. I didn’t keep Prince Charming at my side the entire time, after a bit, he got to go back into his Pokéball and rest, while I decided to dance with a wide variety of people, locals and trainers alike.

Finally, after a long night of singing, dancing and partying, Claire and I returned to our tent, slightly tipsy but very, very happy.

“Let’s look at the stars for a while,” Claire suggested, as we approached it. Instead of heading in, we opened the flap, pulling our sleeping bags and the mat we used as padding half out of the tent, so our heads stuck out. Lying on our backs, almost cuddling in the narrow space, we looked up, enjoying the countless stars in the sky. It was weird, a part of me was convinced that the sky shouldn’t look like it did. But how could that be?

“Thank you, Dani.” Claire suddenly said, startling me out of my thoughts.

“Mhm?” I mumbled, shaking off the weird images of a lit-up sky, bright enough to drown out the stars above, “What do you mean?” I asked, not quite following her train of thought.

“Thank you for pushing me. Without that, I might be content to simply follow the official Routes, get the Badges for the certification I want and leave it at that. You push me, and that pushes Twiggy, Myna and Nuts along. For that, I’m grateful.” she explained, and I had to chuckle a little.

“You mean to thank me for putting you in dangerous situations?” I asked, feeling rather amused.

“And protect me in them. Don’t think I forgot how you pushed me into that hole, shielding me from the Zubat.” she reminded me, before falling silent again.

I wasn’t certain how much time had passed, I might have dozed off for some time, looking at the stars. But at some point, there was a rustling sound, waking me up and making me look around. Next to me, Claire acted in much the same way, appearing to be a bit dazed as she looked around.

“What’s going on?” she asked and I could imagine the sleepy expression on her face.

“I don’t know.” I admitted, a frown on my face.

“Look, over there.” she suddenly whispered, pointing at something in the darkness. Following her arm, I thought there was something, but I couldn’t see it clearly. Before I could figure out what she was pointing at, she crawled out of her sleeping back, making her way over to the rustling creature.

Following along, cautious and more than a little suspicious, I only caught up after she had reached it, and knelt down right in front of it, observing the curious critter. To my shock, the critter happily moved forward, crawling onto her lap without any reservations.

“Look, Dani, isn’t it cute?” she asked, turning around so I could somewhat see the silhouette. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, it looked so very similar to the symbology used in the festival, but that couldn’t really be true, could it? But no matter what I thought, the leafy, hedgehog-like creature happily sitting on Claire’s lap was incredibly similar to the Shaymin in the myth.

Utterly flabbergasted, I stepped forward, only to feel a sudden, almost stinging sensation of rejection. Swallowing, I stepped back, merely observing, wondering why it was so happy on Claire’s lap, as she was gently petting it.

Part of me wanted to go back to sleep but at the same time, I wasn’t sure I could leave Claire with an incredibly powerful, potentially hostile Pokémon, not in good consciousness. I might not be able to help, but at least, I would know that I had tried.

And so, I remained nearby, after quietly getting my Pokédex and scanning the Pokémon on her lap. To my suprise, it didn’t give me a clear match, merely recorded the data for later analysis. Not certain what else to do, I kept watching and observed, trying not to fall asleep until the sky slowly turned bright.

When the first rays of the sun crested the horizon, landing on the Pokémon in her lap, it stiffened for a moment, hopping up and nuzzling against Claire for a moment, before turning to look at the sun. There was a brief flash, as it started to glow with the same light the early morning sun shed and changed, similar to evolution, but far quicker.

Instead of the leafy hedgehog, there was now a small, green-and-white deer, looking up into the sky. The bright red flower it had worn the whole time was now woven into Claire’s flower crown, looking almost as if it had been supposed to be there in the first place.

Before I could decide on a course of action, the small deer suddenly hopped up, jumping into the sky and running away. Running, through the sky.

“What just happened?” I finally asked Claire, who looked after the deer, a tear running down her face.