Another day, another mess to clean up. Simon spent what seemed to be a good part of his morning cleaning the basement lounge. That was after having his morning jog and breakfast of course, but Simon already knew it had to be done. After all, Anna might drop by that evening, so at least he had an incentive to do it.

Simon’s typical morning consisted of a five-kilometre jog in the park between 06h00 and 07h00, followed by a full breakfast and then on to what was planned for the day. Much like his pokémon side would suggest, Simon was one for a simple routine. At least he didn’t give slack on the timings that he met punctually.
This morning, Simon’s jog was less eventful than the previous afternoon. The only thing that could be noted was coming across a taillow and a growlithe, both within fifteen minutes of his home and each other. Having remembered to bring his gear just in case, Simon was quick to include the two pokémon as the first two pokémon caught. The growlithe he found was a little friendly towards him, but the taillow was a different story.

When Simon approached the flying-type, it proceeded to give out a defensive cry until he backed up more than two metres away from itself. Simon couldn’t help but look at the way that the taillow was struggling to fly, as though one of its wings was damaged. Indeed, the bird pokémon seemed to favor its right wing as it beat the air.
Simon approached once more, “I mean no harm. Just let me look at that wing of yours, alright?”
The taillow made a series of chirps and squawks that Simon knew meant, “It better only be that, pokémorph.”
“Hey, I already know what it feels like to be jumped. Just bear with me, okay?”
Another series of chirps, “How do I know I can trust you?”
“You have my word.”
The taillow chirped lightly in response, translated to, “At least you’re honest.”
Simon knelt down beside the grounded pokémon. He noticed a slight amount of blood matting down the wing feathers, “How did this happen?”
“I really can’t remember,” the taillow explained through its singing. “I think I clipped a branch out of recklessness.”
“Tell me about it; I’m not much different,” Simon chuckled a bit before asking his nagging question. “What are you doing this far from Hoenn?”
The taillow began, “A year ago, humans wearing black took me away from my trainer, Robert. I was then brought to some building deep in the mountains, where other humans in white stabbed me with needle-like things. I can’t remember how I got away.”
“Did the humans wearing black also have one of these in red?” Simon took a stick from off the ground and carved an “R” into the soft dirt. The taillow nodded.
In a frustrated nod of acceptance, Simon sighed, “The same bastards tried to capture me yesterday.”
“Bastards?”
With that, Simon realized what he had just said, “Sorry about that. It’s something that you pick up from being around humans for a little too long.”
“Oh.”
Simon took another careful look at the wing before pulling out a basic biofoam spray bottle from his small daypack, “Try to bear with me on this one, it’s going to hurt a little.”
The basic biofoam spray bottle is one of the most common items a trainer should carry besides spare pokéballs. Also known as potions by some of the younger trainers, they provide quick restoration to injuries should a pokémon centre not be within a day’s worth of travel.
“I already know what it’s like,” with a flick of its other wing, the taillow chirped. “Master Robert had a side pouch on his bag for those just in case.”
“It’s a stronger version than you may be used to, just so you know.” Simon applied a quick spray on the wounded limb. Almost instantly, the white foam on the open injury congealed and merged with the skin around it, while the substance that leached into the taillow’s bloodstream was mending whatever it so much as touched. At first, the bird pokémon tensed up at the pain, but then relaxed when it flexed its wing without any pain, save for that of the biofoam acting within its body.
The taillow waited for the pain to subside, then took flight at Simon’s shoulder height as he stood up, “I think I should thank you, pokémorph.”
“You can call me Simon.”
The taillow landed on his shoulder, “Ah, Master Robert never gave me a nickname.”
“What would be the chance that we might come across your trainer?” giving the taillow a steady grip, Simon began walking back to his place.
Simon could hear the solemn note as the taillow sang sorrowfully, “That’s what I’ve been doing for the past three moon cycles, but I’m not sure if Master Robert still remembers me or if he’s moved on to somewhere else.”
“Sorry I asked.”
“No, no, it was alright. I just don’t know if my master has forgotten me yet.”
“The only problem with being at least part pokémon: long memories.”
“You too?”
Simon simply nodded, “Well, until we find out about your trainer, you can hang with me for the time being. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
“I’m assuming that you’re a trainer?”
“Hey, unless you want me to be your new master, I won’t be putting you on the line. It’s even more awkward since I’m also officially my first pokémon.”
“I won’t mind a fresh start. I’m beginning to doubt myself here about Master Robert. Besides, how often does a pokémon get the chance to willingly submit to a trainer?”
Simon couldn’t help but feel like a sage in saying, “Only if you wish to, taillow. Only if you wish to.”

As he was helping himself to poached eggs and bacon, along with a small bowl of assorted berries on the side which he shared with the taillow, Simon found himself watching the morning news cast while eating breakfast. Anna was on, buzzing away the paparazzi as she left New Bark with her totodile.
“So much for the media then, huh?” Simon made a weak attempt at a smile as he watched the screen. “Oh well. I’ve already been on the television, so I guess it’ll be alright with her.”
“Why is that?”
Simon made reference to the television with the movement of his snout, “It’s just this girl who’s starting out her training career, and she wants to be left alone by the cameraman.”
“I think that there’s more to it than that,” the taillow became rather intrigued, almost suspicious.
“I won’t hold it back from you, but the two of us got our trainer’s licenses together.”
The taillow made a gleeful look with its eyes, “Let me guess: you’re also in love with her?”
Simon paused with a piece of bacon a little more than halfway to his jaws, and then he looked over to the taillow while blushing, “There’s nothing holding it back anyways. You’ll be getting a chance to meet her.”
“You people are very strange. Do you know that?”
“I haven’t heard that line since my primary school years.”
Watching a little more, Simon was thankful that the news report on the two Rockets that he pummeled didn’t come on again. He didn’t need the reminder of what happened, nor that he was a target of priority on the Team Rocket agenda. He just had to watch his back a little more often and practice harder on his techniques. Basic stuff that he could easily do with the amount of free time that he had.

Having finished his breakfast and setting the dishes in the dishwasher, Simon went downstairs to clean up the basement from the night before. At least it wasn’t much to worry about immediately.
He really couldn’t complain about the self-applied chore anyways; his human brother Kyle was not the type who’d clean up after himself. At least he was out of the house by then. Still, it was always something interesting to do when your friends tend to leave things behind when they leave. Quentin’s pokédex was still there, along with a set of headphones. Whatever, Simon figured that Quentin wasn’t going to change a whole lot anyways and laughed at the thought. That might not end up being true anyways.
The taillow took a quick flight around the room before landing on the back of the couch, “You’ve got quite the nest down here.”
“Well, what can you do since my bedroom is down here?” as if to explain, Simon made a nod towards the door at the back of the room.
“Whatever suits your human needs, I guess,” shuffling along the back of the couch, the taillow followed Simon. “Master Robert wasn’t much different either.”
Simon couldn’t help but smile, “Are you likening your master to me, or are you actually serious?”
“Just trying to keep my mind off of my master.”
“Well, if you want something to do to keep your mind off of it, you’re free to do it.”
The taillow tilted its head in confusion, “Now how would that work?”
Simon was listening, even though he was pulling out a light rucksack and a few dry bags, “As long as you’re occupying yourself, you won’t have to think about what was on your mind.” Simon went back into his room to get a few articles of clothing – notably a spare track suit, quick dry pants and a pair of hiking boots.
Dropping down beside Simon’s rucksack, the taillow was taking keen interest, “And that has worked for you?”
“So far it has,” within two minutes, all of Simon’s spare clothing was tucked into one dry bag, with enough room for a parka should he need one and a pouch of jerky and trail mix.
The taillow watched how diligent Simon was with packing his rucksack, “I’ll think about giving it a try.”
“I’m pretty sure that by now you would have dropped calling your original trainer master,” With a pause, Simon was giving a doubtful look at the taillow.
“If you’re accusing me of lying when I got injured at the park, I’m telling the truth. But it isn’t just that.”
Simon’s expression changed to intrigued, “Go on.”
“I’ve been in constant pain since nine months ago. I don’t know why, but all I know is that I’ve grown stronger, not to mention larger,” The taillow then pointed to its right with a wing and its beak. “I recall being a lot shorter than that coffee table there.”
“Yeah, that is awkward. You said something about getting needle injections at some lab?”
The bird-type looked down at its feet in reference to a shrug, “Whatever it is, I’ll have to endure it.”
“Well anyway, I’d suggest you try to get your mind off of it,” Simon gave a comforting hand on the taillow’s back. “You’d be putting yourself in more pain by thinking of it.”
The taillow looked up, a slight twinkle in its eyes, “You know what? I’ll accept you as my new master, seeing as you care a lot for what you collect.”
“As you wish,” Simon unclipped a pokéball from his belt and held it out in front of the taillow. After two pecks on the ball itself, the ball opened and the taillow sublimated into light, flowing into the ball before it sealed. “Just please don’t refer to me as master,” Simon added with a roll of his eyes. Then he went out to do his four-hour driving test, locking the door on his way out.

Five minutes after Simon got back from his BDL exit test, the doorbell rang. It was Quentin with all of his gear. Save for his pokédex.
“Good thing I was cleaning up,” Simon chuckled a bit as he handed the two missing items over to Quentin. “You left your pokédex and your headphones here last night.”
Quentin face palmed himself, “Thanks Simon. I really need to break that habit.”
“Caught anything yet?”
Replying, Quentin shrugged his shoulders, “Nope, I have yet to even get ready.”
Noticing that they were still out on the front porch, Simon made a faint gesture into the house, “Come on in!”
“I’m guessing you did catch something, right?” Quentin’s ears perked up on either side of his new hat.
Simon tilted his head from side to side, “I wouldn’t say caught, but I did accost a growlithe and a taillow this morning.”
Static discharge left Quentin a little numb in his surprise, “What? You got to be kidding me! A pokémon that’s not native to here?”
“It says it was taken from its first trainer by Team Rocket and somehow managed to get away.”
“That’s odd.”
Simon continued, “Would it also be rare that something might have been done to the taillow?”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me when it involves Team Rocket?” a smirk stretched across Quentin’s snout when he set his backpack down beside the front door.
Simon couldn’t help but do the same, “Got to wonder what they’re up to right now.”
“Whatever. We can kick their asses anyways.”
“Right now I’m just waiting for Anna…” Simon caught a glimpse of Rachel’s car pulling onto the driveway. “Looks like Rachel is here.”
When Simon opened the door again, he wasn’t expecting Isaac, Lillian and Kurtis to have come along as well, “Come on in! I wasn’t expecting you guys to come.”
Isaac nodded with a draconic smile, “It was Anna’s turn to be in the spotlight this morning.”
Simon nodded after the fact, “I saw the news, Isaac. At least that fluke yesterday is no longer on.”
“I still wouldn’t let my guard down,” having already taken off his hiking boots, Kurtis was one of the first to make his way into the living room, leaning over the balustrade overlooking the front entrance.
Isaac gave him a peeved look, “Kurt, are you taking my advice as your own?”
Kurtis just shrugged his shoulders, his wings bracing upwards in doing so, “I don’t see why not.”
Lillian raised her hand to her ear in dismissal, “Right…”
“Well anyways,” Simon butted in, “anyone for a drink?”

By late noon, all six pokémorphs were sitting out on the back porch, enjoying the sun in padded patio chairs. Simon had already introduced his pokémon to his friends - especially the taillow, who was now more at ease with being among them – and mentioned the coincidence that he and the taillow shared.
He later added, “Basically. It seems to be of benefit on the upside however.”
Isaac and Lillian, the more intrigued of the five, chose best not to carry on. It was clear to them that Simon had the benefit of an advisor pokémon at his side. In fact, it was beneficial for all of them.

Getting into Cherrygrove without being seen was rather easy, keeping the tinted windows of the burgundy SUV up to prevent onlookers from seeing inside the vehicle. A slight bit of concern came from driving so close to the police department, since Team Rocket made a habit of using vehicles registered in Kanto, but beyond that, everything was alright.
No, she didn’t go unnoticed. A small child who couldn’t have been more than six was being typical of his age. The look of shock and awe went across his face as she lowered her sunglasses further down her snout, before he was distracted by his mother calling him on the other side of the playground. She left without a trace, trying to keep to the mission.
Gabrielle had been smart enough to scrap the uniform for the time being, adapting to the surrounding environment. It just made it easier to blend in, knowing that she shouldn’t allow herself to be seen in the more familiar parts of the city. Besides, that was not where the prison was.
Making way to an abandoned warehouse that made for a safehouse, Gabrielle parked inside. Stepping out of the SUV, she was greeted openly by a red-headed Caucasian who was just an inch shorter than her.
“I’m Malcolm,” the agent held out his hand, “the safehouse operator here.”
Gabrielle hesitated, “Malcolm?”
“Just Malcolm.”
She then shook hands with him. “Gabrielle.”
“Pleasure,” It was becoming obvious that Malcolm had begun to stutter in his speech. “I must say that I didn’t expect a pokémorph to be the replacement… especially one as graceful as you.”
“Speak for yourself, Malcolm. Anything in inventory that’s worthwhile?”
“We’ve already received a shipment of assorted firearms from our supplier in the Black Market. Pistols, sub-machine guns, carbines, a few of the new modular rifles…” Malcolm paused, unsure as to what to properly say. “Look, if it’s to get those two agents out of prison, remember that you’re on your own out there.”
Crossing her arms in lack of interest, Gabrielle dismissed the comment, “If Giovanni hasn’t informed you yet, I’ve been given authority of Johto. That is, as soon as we get Walther and Hans out.”
“We?”
“You know how the Boss is about his favourites.”
“Of course.”
“Good. All that’s needed is the schematics and the appropriate time.”
“I will get those to as soon as possible.”
“Better.”
Gabrielle had left Malcolm cold. There was something that he couldn’t place on her that made him feel so terrified. It wasn’t her appearance at all, but that cold gaze she gave, that gave him shivers. Even her silence was disturbing him.
Odd, Malcolm thought. All of the other agents that came through here were rowdy and gung-ho. This one is silent… what did they do to this one?

Anna had made steady progress during the first day of the hike to Cherrygrove from New Bark Town. Even the paparazzi that had been annoying her since she left the house had lost track of her within an hour. This was due in part to the fact that Anna decided to take the route less taken, both figuratively and literally, which was more northerly than what the pre-teen trainers usually take.
Without having to be harassed by some maniac with a camera anymore out in the wilderness, Anna and Simon were quite at home with their surroundings. Conifers and deciduous trees on either side of the overgrown dirt road, interspersed with some open long grass that was guaranteed to be crawling with bug-types. Other than that, there wasn’t much to see during the morning for either of them.
No, Anna did observe a few bug-types roaming around, as well as a couple of pidgeys in mid-flight. However, nothing major happened until that afternoon when Simon pointed out something that appeared to be beyond the forest canopy. She didn’t look up in time to see exactly what it was that Simon saw, even though he noticed a glittering trail left by whatever was up there, like it was giving off some form of golden dust in the sunlight.
“Hmm…” Anna stood there for a minute before moving on, “If only I knew what you saw.”
The totodile remained silent, gazing up at the sky above the path from within Anna’s arms. Whatever he had seen must have been something special to keep him quiet.

Anna was quick to find that her luck was turning up for the best later, although it was not in the most favorable circumstances. Because Anna took a more northerly route to Cherrygrove from New Bark Town, she wound up closer to mountainous terrain than she anticipated. The clashing of an ongoing battle was going on, which was made even more distinct by the sound of scraping metal, throaty roars and metallic screeching.
Simon had also picked up on the sounds and was beginning to shake a little.
“Don’t worry Simon. We’ll keep our distance if we come across them.”
“…dile…” Simon was still trembling in her arms, nuzzling in further.
“I know. I’m a little scared as well. Better together than alone, right?”
Simon buried himself deeper into Anna, feeling a little more secure but still shaking.
“If you’re really this afraid, do you want me to put you back into your pokéball?”
Simon nodded vigourously. At that, Anna unclipped one of the pokéballs on her belt and allowed Simon to get himself inside.
“You’ll be safe, I promise you.”
It took about ten minutes for Anna to root out where the clash was occurring, keeping a steady pace while trying to remain low when she came to the edge of a nearby clearing. Ducking between trees, she finally peeked out from behind an oak tree. The sight brought the look of disbelief upon her face.
A large metallic bird, over six feet long from beak to tail, was exchanging blows with a massively-built bipedal reptile, nine feet tall and bearing a horn above each brow and snout like a triceratops. The bird was a skarmory; the other was an aggron. Both species have been known to be extremely territorial by nature.
She knew about how territorial the two species were through her studies, but the sheer sight of a territory dispute was a rare sight. It was rarer still that anyone would see an aggron in Johto.
As hardened steel wings beat upon dense iron hide in fly-bys and claws raked metal armour at points of opportunity, Anna silently watched, observing every technique each pokémon used. Five minutes in, she had taken out her digital camera to film the fight, as well as a few well-timed snap-shots without flash. After fifteen minutes, the skarmory was appearing to be the victor, so Anna packed up her camera and went to move away. Bad move.

The skarmory had picked up on the movement in the brush and, having made the victor, abandoned its foe to investigate the intruder to the battle. Anna tried legging it as soon as she heard the metallic screech behind her, only to trip on a stray root on the ground and falling.
“Oh shit…” Anna quickly picked herself up and darted around the tree the root was part of. The skarmory was still behind her.
The skarmory came close to snatching her twice in fly-bys as Anna tried to get away. Hearing the screech a third time, Anna turned to face the metal bird as it dove for her again. Feeling her hope had run out, all Anna could do was shield her face with her arms to brace for the inevitable.
It never came.

Anna heard a sudden roar as a solid-sounding strike had put the skarmory to the ground unconscious. She looked up from her braced arms. It was the same aggron that had was locked with the skarmory, by the looks of the battle damage associated with razor-sharp metal wings that lined its front. It slowly turned to face Anna, its eyelids drooping, revealing a solid streak of dull red coming down from both eyes. Weakly, the beast nodded with a pseudo-smile before limping away, a trail of blood being left behind.
“Wait!”
The aggron strained a growl as its paces slowed down, giving a long glance back towards Anna. “Humans have to be so persistent, don’t they?”
The two of them stood facing each other for what seemed to be an age before Anna opened up with what she had to say, “I don’t know how to repay you for that.”
At those words, the aggron somewhat recoiled as though it had never heard of such a thing before shaking its head, “I don’t think you can, human.”
Anna was quick to pick up on the body language, and then got an idea, “Look, you’re nearly spent. And by the look of how much you’re bleeding, you won’t last until tomorrow without aid. Let me get you healed up.”
“You really think I’m that gullible, human?” The aggron made a gesture as though it were laughing a bit, “I already know that you want to catch me using the bait.”
It was only until the aggron started feeling faint that it realized that Anna was being honest.
Setting her backpack down, Anna unzipped the pouch where she kept a spray-bottle of advanced biofoam, known as a super potion to younger trainers. It is ten times more concentrated than basic biofoam.
“This is going to hurt a bit, so bear with me,” Anna began applying the biofoam to a large gash across the aggron’s lower right arm. After three sprays, the aggron gave a slight twitch as the biofoam began acting on the wounds it sustained. All that was left after a minute was rapidly diminishing scar-tissue, due to the aggron’s size.
“Better now?”
“I still think your trying to con me into being yours.”
The pokéball that Simon was in shook a little, getting Anna’s attention. The aggron backed off.
Anna raised her hand, palm facing out towards the aggron, “Don’t worry. I’ve already got one in here.” Anna then let loose the pokéball, which opened up to let out the totodile, “You can come out now, Simon.”
Simon immediately fled behind Anna’s legs as soon as he saw the aggron. Not much was helping his nervousness at all when the aggron stepped forward lightly in a manner that would suggest shaking a forelimb, since Simon began whimpering.
The aggron lowered its head in defeat, “Looks like I have no choice but to join you then. By the look of it, you’re still a little young.”
Simon eased off of the fabric of Anna’s jeans with a stumped look made with his eyes.
“If only I knew what you said,” Anna sighed, noting the somewhat somber look to the aggron’s face. “But thanks for saving us.” While Anna could not understand what the aggron was saying in the matter that the Simon she had met the previous day was able to, but the eyes told everything.
“No,” the aggron shook its armoured head before offering a hand. “I should be thanking you.”
The gritty texture of the aggron’s hand pressed into Anna’s as they shook, however imbalanced the sixes of the hands were, “If we cross paths another time, please, stay with us.”
“Indeed. Let us meet again.”
As Anna and Simon walked away, something made the aggron tick from its past. “Arceus, don’t let that young one in her arms come to any harm. I beg of you.”

Unsure if his small prayer of hope would be answered, the aggron took it upon itself to abandon its new territory and follow Anna at a safe distance.

By late evening, Anna and Simon had covered forty-two kilometers, with only twenty or so more left between them and Cherrygrove. When they came to the next clearing, they stopped. There was no sense in continuing on throughout the night.
Making haste, Anna had pulled out her waterproof sleeping bag from its valise and laid it out flat on the hard ground, letting it air out. Since it was a clear that there would be no rain for another few days, Anna and Simon simply laid back to look up at the stars. It always seemed to be a unique quality about both being out in the bush and looking up to balls of superheated hydrogen giving off light from light years away. It allowed for a smoother mind as Anna had felt, much better than the compact and strainful lessons at schools and laboratories. It was something she had inherited as a child from her uncle on her mother’s side, the well-known pokémaniac who lives in a lighthouse three hours out from Vermillion City in Kanto. Because of this, she almost knew a little too much for someone of her age.
Simon sat in Anna’s lap, doing the same thing. Like Anna, the totodile was pondering about the day’s events, and most of all what he had seen that afternoon before the clash that got him scared. A bird of some sort, with a profile similar to a stork-like fearow. But the thing looked to be very high up, and fearows don’t give off a shimmering trail of gold that dissipates into air. The image had burned into Simon’s mind, leaving him just as perplexed as Anna was when he pointed the bird out to her.
Anna was thinking about the other Simon that she had made an acquaintance of the previous day. Odd that it turned out to be that way, first having met Gabrielle and now him and his friends.  No matter how hard she tried to put the thoughts aside, she couldn’t stop thinking about that totodile pokémorph.
The two of them stargazed until the early signs of sleep began to set in, forcing Anna and Simon to get some rest for the night.

**

At early light, Anna was suddenly woken up by a burning sensation on her left arm. Simon had gotten her attention by biting it playfully.
“Ow! I’m up already!” Simon let go of Anna’s arm, leaving behind a couple of bite marks. Anna couldn’t help but smile, “Excited to get going are we?”
Simon nodded with a toothy grin.
Anna chuckled, “That’s the spirit!”
Within fifteen minutes, the campsite was packed up and the two of them had a cold breakfast before moving out. Like during the previous day, Simon piggy-backed on Anna’s shoulders, nestled between Anna’s head and rucksack. He already knew it was going to be a long walk ahead.

The aggron from the day before resumed its distant vigilance at first light, eating a collection of sitrus berries from a nearby tree before moving on. Continuously haunted by the past, the armoured pokémon had been restless the night before and was weary of its surroundings as always.
My child, a faintly audible voice kept echoing in its head. The dull red marks running down the sides of the aggron’s face slowly gained a shiny lustre as tears were shed, rusting the iron in the pokémon’s hardened hide further.
Still feeling as though a burden had been placed on it, the aggron continued alone. Only the sound of its footsteps interrupted the sounds of the life around it.

Once again, nothing happened for much of the day. Anna made a successful catch of a sentret and caterpie, both fairly common in the area, and Simon spent most of his time still on Anna’s back.
They idled quite a bit at noon with a large lunch. The sentret wasn’t sure what to make of its new master, and the caterpie, being new, was still bewildered by Anna. Even Simon was acting a little shy around the new pokémon in the group. It didn’t help at all that the sentret was nervous either.
Anna simply sighed, “Well, no one said it would be easy being a trainer.”
Almost as if on queue, the sentret darted off without warning. While to her knowledge sentrets are quick to detect danger, Anna was still surprised at the suddenness of the pokémon’s actions.
“What?”
A second later, the sentret poked out of the long grass, waving the rest of the group over urgently. Simon and Anna exchanged glances before cautiously approaching, almost forgetting the caterpie.
“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”
“I don’t know Simon.”

Ten minutes of following its senses, the sentret stopped. The trees were dense on either side of the clearing it found itself in, providing enough cover from the sky to cast a perpetual semi-twilight on the undergrowth. Lichen covered trees, both standing and fallen, and ferns were present all throughout the clearing, covering some of the fungi that coated rotten wood on the forest floor. The occasional rock was also present, the largest being six feet wide. When Anna and Simon caught up, the sentret pointed out towards the rock. Behind it was a gruesome scene.
A man-sized wolverine-like pokémon, with a beige underside and blue backside, was barely keeping alive. A dark read stain on its paws and the side of the ribcage looked fresh, even as the blood pooled out onto the side of the rock and into the soil underneath. It was wheezing every breath, and blood was also pooling in its mouth.
“Oh God,” Anna began to feel nauseous. “Not again…”
Anna reached for her canister of advanced biofoam, but found only air. She had left her bag at the clearing, along with whatever was in it.
“Damn. I’m going to be right back Simon.”
“Hurry. I don’t think she will last much longer.”

Time was definitely not on Anna’s side, even while running to the clearing to pick up the bottle and run back. The typhlosion was going into convulsions with the pain that was wracking through its body, making it a real challenge to get in even a spray of the advanced biofoam without getting scorched by the critically wounded pokémon. It was too much for the pokémon to handle in the end when some of the substance made its way into the open hole in its side, leading it to fall unconscious for the time being.
“Please don’t let me be too late…”
Applying more of the biofoam to the typhlosion’s wound, Anna was keeping a constant check on its breathing and heartrate. Even these were rapidly going as well. It got to the point where Anna found herself doing CPR on the typhlosion.
“Come on… Come on…”
Twenty chest heaves, two breaths, repeat – every two cycles, check pulse. This process went on for a full ten minutes, with Simon and the sentret watching in faint hope. By then, the wound in the typhlosion’s side had already healed completely. A slight sputter came from the pokémon’s mouth as blood that had been expelled into its lungs surged up into its throat in a coughing motion.
Then it weakly opened its eyes, “My children…”
Once again the sentret scampered off, Simon following shortly afterwards.
Anna gave the typhlosion some berries and water before bringing it to its feet, “There, you’ll be alright.”
Anna was still surprised when the typhlosion began acting frantically, “No. Not without my children…” At that, Anna was pushed back when the pokémon she had just saved from death bounded off in the same direction as her two pokémon. She had no choice but to follow.

Having marginally remembered to get the kit back at the clearing, Anna was nearly lost save for the direction she knew the three pokémon went. So there she was, trying to make it through a fern-covered area, where rocks, fallen logs and burrows were quite common, while running. Only when the sentret popped up in a comical fashion did she begin to find her way through the undergrowth. At another clearing, she quickly realized what had gone on. A couple of poachers were after the typhlosion’s offspring. When she refused, they shot her. The two men in question, wearing woodland camouflage, were now sprawled on the ground, having taken a serious beating. It left Anna rather confused. There was no way that the typhlosion could have beaten these poachers without tearing apart their clothing.
The sound of jaws clamping down on metal answered Anna’s question. The aggron from earlier – there was no mistaking the rust stripes on this aggron’s face - was happily gnawing away at two hunting rifles. As for the typhlosion, it was preening the two cyndaquils – small echidna-like creatures the same size as Simon and with the same fur colour pattern as their mother - that had been taken from her.
Anna couldn’t help but smile. She then turned to face the aggron, “So you followed me?”
The aggron nodded.
Anna glanced back to the unconscious poachers, “Are you really sure you want to make that choice?”
In a persistant manner, the aggron strode over and tapped twice on one of the pokéballs on her belt. It opened up and converted the aggron into energy, bringing it into the pokéball before closing again. It wasn’t much, even though Anna knew that it will be awkward for her as a new trainer to have such a powerful pokémon at her side. She mused with the idea that it would probably be a surprise for the other Simon in Cherrygrove when he finds out.
“May that aggron help you out, human,” the typhlosion looked up from her young ones. “I don’t know how to thank you enough for saving my life, and the aggron my children.”
As usual, Anna had no hint of what the pokémon was saying. She was able to pick up on the body language very well however, “Kindness is a virtue that doesn’t beg to be rewarded.”
One of the cyndaquils was tugging away at its mother. Setting the small basic pokémon down, the typhlosion somewhat remarked as the cyndaquil approached Anna with caution and curiosity. When it was within a metre of Anna, the pokémon sat up on its hind legs and persistently looked up, letting off small gouts of flame from four spots on its back in a happy manner.
Anna expressed her concern with a little nervousness, glancing back to the typhlosion, “I’m not sure about this.”
“My dear child, is this what you want to do?”
The little cyndaquil nodded.
“This makes me question what those poachers did in the half-hour they had your offspring.”
“Arceus only knows what.”
“Do you mind it though?”
The typhlosion simply shrugged her shoulders, “Under the promise of keeping him safe, but I think your aggron friend understands that just as well.”
Reading it to be a sign of acceptance, Anna unclipped another pokéball from her belt and held it out to the amused young one. Like the aggron, the cyndaquil double-tapped the button, effectively allowing itself to be captured.
Nodding her head, Anna swore, “I promise to keep him safe.”

The two poachers were still unconscious when Anna made off with one of their ATVs, ramming the other into a small but surprisingly deep swamp before driving off. It served them right for trying to make off with something that wasn’t theirs, in her mind. Simon couldn’t have had any more fun than sitting up in Anna’s lap as she made her way out of the forest. Even Anna was enjoying the ride as well, laughing about old memories of wanting to be a pokémon ranger. It was still in her, even above doing research like her uncle and even Professor Oak whom she had met way back when she was a child. Foliage ripped past, the sound of the 50cc four-cylinder engine giving off a rapid synchronized beat as they moved along.
Reaching the forest’s edge, the city of Cherrygrove was visible, and so was the highway. So she deftly drove along the treeline to get as far away from the highway as possible before taking down a dirt road. Anna followed that for a few kilometers until the tank ran out of fuel, by which she was a mere two five kilometers outside of Cherrygrove. There was no point in continuing on driving the ATV; people would question where she had gotten the ATV anyways, knowing that she made the news the previous day. It was around 3:00 p.m. that Anna ditched the ATV at the side of the road, minding to turn it off and leave the keys in the ignition if anyone wanted it. Then it was an hour-long roadside hike to Cherrygrove, with her first stop being a telephone booth along a residential street.
At the phone booth, she began flipping through the pages of the regional phonebook, first looking for Cherrygrove and then looking under “R”.
“Regena… Regena… ah, there it is.” It couldn’t have been more obvious – there was only one family in the city with that last name. Simon’s adoptive family.
After dialing Simon’s phone number under a collect call, Anna waited while the operator made contact. Five rings later, the static of a phone being picked up echoed through the earpiece.
While the voice was distorted by the phone, Anna could make out Simon’s voice on the other end, “Hello?”
“Hey Simon. It’s Anna.”
Simon was a little surprised, “We were beginning to get a little worried.”
“I took the more northerly route from New Bark. I lost the paparazzi for sure, but I don’t know if it’s ideal for me to simply walk into town with you guys.”
“I can pick you up if you want.”
“That would be great actually.”
“Whereabouts are you?”
“Marien Estates, east entrance.”
“Great! I’ll be there in ten minutes!”
“Thanks, Simon.”
“See you then!”
“Bye!” then Anna hung the phone on its cradle, ending the call.