I remembered the first time we met. Four long years ago. Back in Kalos during the beginning of spring. Santalune Forest. I hated that place almost as much as Viridian Forest. Totally wasn't a fan of forests. Hundreds of trees everywhere, the canopy shrouding everything in darkness like permanent night. I was lost, wandering for maybe two hours, pissed off, hungry.
Then I found you – a tiny little egg nestled under a tree. I didn't know what you were, who you were, so I kinda just kept walking, assuming your family was somewhere nearby. Until I heard the cracking, the hatching. I watched you come to life. I watched you break free and enter this world. I watched you breathe your very first breath. And I watched you watching me.
Franchesca, my Petilil.
I don't know what it was about you – and you'd probably laugh in my face for saying something so corny – but the moment our eyes found each other, the darkness all around us seemed to brighten, like you were born knowing Sunny Day. You weren't, but still. A forest never felt so magical.
I waited for your family to show up, a group of Petilil or Lilligant, to usher you away. Except no one came. Just you and I. A baby Petilil and a nineteen-year-old pokemon trainer. I kept waiting. And waiting. Couldn't let you out of my sight. I wanted to make sure no wild pokemon made you their lunch.
Your sparkling brown eyes still staring at me, you made that cute squeaky cry you used to do when you couldn't talk yet. My body moved on its own and the next second I held you in my arms, the leaves on your head resting in my hair. In the chill of the forest, you were the only warmth.
You meant a lot to me, Franchesca. And you meant a lot to the others, too. You were like a daughter to many of my older grass pokemon. A best friend to Darleen, my Steenee. A big sister to Hersi, my Oddish. A passionate fan of Kenya, my Primarina, when she hated her singing voice. The one friend Cecilia the Trubbish and Reese the Muk truly needed when no one could stand how they smelled.
That's why… I won't give up my search. I'll find you. We'll all find you. This family abandons nobody.