A/N: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, Section J (20,000 – 49,000 words), prompt #27 – write an OC centric fic.

The Returning Storm
1. Sounds of Deafness

Arashi isn't particularly fond of the Oddish that find their way into her garden, but they're better than the bugs sometimes there. But grass type or bug: it doesn't really matter when her sharp eyed Pidgeotto can pluck them from between leaves and eat his fill somewhere out of her sight.

Otherwise those Oddish or the various bug types that creep in will eat her garden dry, and she can't have that. It's her life now, after all. Growing a little garden with a few varieties of berries and watching with her Pidgeotto from the days of old still by her side. Too well trained to be a garden guard, really, but Pidgeotto goes where Arashi goes and, for now, Arashi's not going anywhere.

Once upon a time they'd travelled together, but that was a thing of the past. Now, her life was growing berries, making sure they weren't prematurely eaten by wild Pokemon. Then she picks the berries and sends them with Pidgeotto to a herb-maker just over the hills, at a price cheaper than the main markets in town. It's not the most fulfilling work, particularly when she has no love for growing things. But there's not much else she can do for a living, and it's enough to keep on living.

Pidgeotto shrieks outside: a sound that, to her ears, is just above a whisper. It was an odd sound initially, but she's gotten used to it. She's gotten used to staying still as well. Gotten used to the difference between her Pidgeotto's "I've caught a snack" shriek and his "there's an intruder" shriek – because there is no need for a "there's a visitor" shriek because she never gets visitors – and his "I'm in pain" shriek.

That is his "I've caught a snack" shriek, so she leaves it alone and continues with her knitting: another one of those things she really is too young for, but is easy to do and passes the time well enough. And the more things she can knit, the less she has to send Pidgeotto into town for. And if she ever gets good enough to try and sell those as well, so can get the power connected and get a computer or something.

But she'd gotten good at passing time without things like that. Just like she's gotten good at not wrecking the garden by training her Pokemon for battles she's never have again. Just like she's gotten used to not having her other Pokemon around anymore…but she's sure they're happy somewhere, battling to their heart's content or being the wild Pokemon they'd been before she'd caught them.

But not Pidgeotto. That stubborn bird insists on staying with her, and she doesn't exactly have the manpower to drive away a bird who comes almost up to her shoulder at standing height. And she might have been lonely without him…but it would have been fine like that as well, she thinks.

She continues knitting, with only the ash coloured walls to listen to the soft clicks of her needles against each other.

.

Pidgeotto rips off the Weedle's poisonous horn and crushes it underfoot, then gulps down the rest of the body and gives a content squawk. He honestly preferred Caterpie because they didn't come with the poisonous horn, but Weedle were next to harmless anyway. Still, he preferred the few extra seconds and care it took to rip off the horn than having one, by rotten luck, scratch his throat and give him a bad case of poisoning.

He's done that a few times, soon after settling down in that little cottage and garden with his trainer, but not since then. He's gotten good at picking out and eating his fill of those little bugs, while before they'd have caught a big prey and shared. It doesn't suit him, per say. No more than it suits his trainer, but it's easy for him. If he's hungry and prey doesn't conveniently encroach his property, there's never a shortage of bug and grass types in the forest. If he's restless, there's never a shortage of sky. And he can still come back to his trainer, and help her out.

She'd been reluctant originally, but she'd caved eventually. Or given up. He didn't like that. He still doesn't. He's not too impressed with his once-comrades either, but he realises it's not so easy for them, stuck to the ground, to get in breaks from a suddenly monotonous life. Not like he who can cover a sixty mile radius in comfort.

Whatever battles he gets into in that wider world are done far out of the sight of his trainer. The Pokemon who wander into the garden are weak: weak enough to be attracted by the scent of the berries but unrepelled by the smell of the human that grew them or the bird of prey that guarded them. The slightly stronger and wiser Pokemon knew to stay away, to stick to the berry bushes that grew without care in the forests. The strongest ones were equally fools, but they were rare. Maybe once a year a Teddiursa would evolve into an Ursaring and think it can crush the barrier between him and carefully bred berries.

Pidgeotto can spot them coming from miles away, and puts a stop to them before they can get near the garden. He lets the smaller, harmless ones in. It's more fun to try and pick them out of the leaves. And it's good when his trainer's there as well, because then he can see her face twist into annoyance and her scent subtly change. She looks more lively like that. A little less each time he did it though. She was getting used to that.

And, somehow, it didn't have quite the same effect eating a raw catch in front of her. Probably because she'd had so much experience with that, back in the days they'd been travelling and training in the wild together. But those days were done and dusted and probably never coming back.

He's not sure he's fine with that, but he can deal with it. And he can squawk as loud as he wants and no-one will really care. The louder the better, really.

He squawks again, for no good reason except to send a few Caterpie trying to sneak up scurrying away. There was still an Oddish in the garden, last he saw. He was going to fill a little more his stomach up with that.

.

Arashi feels a sudden throb in her right temple and she drops the needles and leans back on the couch, closing her eyes. It doesn't quite make it better, but it's more comfortable that way. And if she gets dizzy, she doesn't have to worry about falling down. And it's not like she's in a hurry to open her eyes again either.

But it fades in a bit, and what restless spirit still lingers makes her open her eyes again. The light is too bright for a moment, even though it's afternoon and a slightly cloudy day, but her eyes adjust to it and she picks up her knitting needles.

A few loops have come out, and she sighs and carefully pokes them back in. Before, they'd have made her start all over, but she's gotten the hang of fixing it now. It's far easier than trying to save food that's been dropped on the floor – but knitting isn't as important as food either. She's not so quick to abandon food. Only if she can't hold on to it any longer.

There is a squawk from outside again: a warning this time. When it follows Arashi stands carefully and goes to the window. It's an Oddish, walking calmly through the grass to the berry trees. Pidgeotto is perched on the fence and glaring sourly.

He usually doesn't bother catching them unless they're in the garden soil, and the Oddish was still in the grass. But shes seen so many Pokemon flee at the sound of Pidgeotto's squawk that it surprised her this one is still calmly walking on.

She is even more surprised when Pidgeotto leaves his perch and, hovering just behind the Oddish, squawks again, a little louder.

When the Oddish still doesn't react, Pidgeotto pecks at his little blue body. Then the Oddish squeals and spins around, the leaves on its back bending backwards. And when it takes in the bird of prey that had snuck up on it, it makes a whimpering noise and falls on its back.

Pidgeotto lowers his beak for the catch – and then reels back as he is hit by a sudden burst of petals.

'Petal dance?' Arashi mouths to herself, surprised. Or some sound might have come out. She wasn't sure. It was too quiet for her herself to make out.

But she can't miss the blur of pink and red petals that send her Pidgeotto stumbling back. Definitely a Petal Dance. A Petal Dance from a surprisingly high levelled Oddish.

Pidgeotto screeches in pain. Grass type moves aren't particularly effective against flying types like him, but they can still hurt. And Pidgeotto is out of training. It's gotten unused to receiving attacks like that.

But it still annoys him. It's obvious in the way he shoots several feet in the air. 'Fly,' Arashi guesses, as Pidgeotto comes back down like a bullet.

He slams the Oddish into the ground with enough force to make the little cottage house shake.

And Arashi mightn't be fond of Oddish at all, but she can still feel a little pity for the crushed form Pidgeotto is picking himself off of.

But that is the world of Pokemon, and battles. There isn't room for everyone to try and live. The weak are crushed and buried. The slightly stronger ones are wise enough to run and hide until they are stronger still. And the strongest of them all fight: fight until they are victorious, captured, or dead.

Humans are perhaps a little wiser…and weaker.