Amanita carefully tiptoed around the fermenting fruit lying on the ground, four-year-old arms barely long enough to touch the lowest hanging fruits. Her Gramma had instructed her to pick berries to give to the Pokemon in their daycare, but she told her not to wander too far from the house. She turned her head, and through her curly burgundy bangs could make out her house. She didn't understand why she had to stay so close to the house when their berry trees were near the edge of their ranch. But something was around, she'd figured. Gramma and Granpa kept talking about a wild Pokemon lurking by the farm when they thought she wasn't listening. Jun was fine, they'd said, he had Pokemon to help him, but what about Amy, she's too young?
Amy pouted, arm straining to reach a Pecha berry just out of her reach. Her tiny fingers could just brush the bottom, but she couldn't reach, but Pechas were a must, that Riolu loved them!
Suddenly the branch seemed to droop, just enough to allow Amy to pluck the stubborn berry with a gap-toothed grin. But why did the branch droop? Was it tired?
A yellow shape grasping the thought-of branch caught the little girl's eye, and she followed it up an unfamiliar arm, until she had fully turned to be faced with the unexpected helper. At the sight of it, she couldn't help but start giggling; it was a Pokemon, but such a funny looking Pokemon! He had pointy yellow ears and squinty eyes and a big funny nose over a white mane around his neck, like a clown ruffle! Amy giggled and giggled, before smushing her tiny hands against her mouth to smother the giggles; he had just helped her, laughing at it was rude!
She shook her head and held out the pink berry to the Pokemon as thanks. He didn't take it, but his other hand slackened, and a shiny thing tumbled down. Amy blinked at the shiny round pendulum. It was pretty! And shiny. And...
Amy felt her mind start to blur as she watched it start swaying back and forth...back and forth...
The basket of berries slipped from the little girl's slackened hand, and she stepped forward, ignorant to the fermented berries she now stepped through as the Hypno enticed her to follow him into the bigger trees of the surrounding forest...
So shiny...
~...~
Jun looked out at the berry orchard again, eight year old features contorted in confusion and worry. Gramma had sent Amy out nearly two or three hours ago to pick berries for the Pokemon. Amy should have been back from the berry field ages ago, the berry trees weren't that high, at least not the low branches...
"Jun?"
The dark haired boy looked at his grandmother, noting the concerned frown tugging her wrinkled face.
"Could you go see if Amanita is hiding in the bushes again? She's late with the berries, and the Pokemon are getting impatient."
"Okay Gramma." he replied, grabbing his two Pokeballs before heading outside. He could practically see Amy's jealous pout in his mind, but it wasn't his fault she was still too little to own a Pokemon.
He soon came to the rows of assorted berries and began calling for his younger cousin.
"Aaaaammmyyy~! Amy! Come on out, Gramma wants the berries! And so do the Pokemon! Aaaaaammmmyyyyy~!" No answer. Frowning, he ventured deeper into the small orchard, still calling, a nervous feeling he couldn't put his finger on welling up in his chest.
"Amy! Amy? Come on, this isn't funny anymore, Gramma and Grandpa are gonna be mad, just come on out! Am-"
His voice froze and his eyes widened, an icy ball plummeting from his chest into his stomach. There, by one of the Pecha trees, a small overturned basket covered in Butterfree stickers lay. Jun could see from where he stood a set of large, inhuman footprints on the grass, followed by tiny unmistakeably human prints.
A beat passed. Two. The direness of the situation slowly sank into Jun's mind as he began to shake, all color draining from his face.
Amy was missing.
The Pokemon took her.
It took...
A scream erupted from Jun's throat and he frantically ripped one of the Pokeballs from his pocket, releasing the Pokemon inside. A young Houndour yawned as he materialized, only to blink at the expression on his master's face.
"Hercules, Amy's been taken, can you smell where she went?! We gotta find her, NOW!" Jun cried out, frantically gesturing to the dropped berries and footprints and lack of little girl. The Houndour was immediately alert, sniffing the basket and prints, before taking off into the woods with a bark and a growl. Not knowing what else to do, Jun ran after him, hoping beyond hope they made it in time...
-Later...-
Amy continued slowly walking forward, eyes never leaving the shiny circle her new friend was holding. Had she been aware she would be crying from how sore her feet were, if not the cuts and splinters she now had. But that didn't matter, her new friend wanted to show her something he found, he wanted her to be his friend too...she wanted to keep watching the pretty circle, it was so soothing, much more than the scratchy lullabies back home. No, that wasn't home, her new friend's home was her home, she could see it now behind him, see the homey looking cave-
A sharp howl of pain shattered Amy's nirvana, and her stunned green eyes blinked as she fell to her knees. A Houndour was attacking that funny yellow Pokemon, it was biting the arm holding the shiny thing, but where did it come from? Where were the berry trees?
Wait...what was that scary cave? Where was the house?! Where was she?!
"AMY!"
She whipped her face behind her, and her eyes widened as a very familiar boy ran to her, his face nearly white and sweat plastering his black hair to his forehead.
"J-Jun? Where are we? Where's the house?" she whimpered, slowly starting to feel the pain in her feet. Jun ran to her side and pulled her up, eliciting a wail from the now frightened little girl as pressure was put on her injured soles. A pained yelp caught their attention as the Houndour was flung away from the now enraged Hypno. Jun's eyes widened in terror, but he somehow managed to yell out a move to the limping canine.
"Hercules, use Roar!" Jun cried out, hugging Amy protectively and covering her eyes. Hercules promptly roared savagely at the Hypno, causing its drooped eyes to widen as it shuffled back into its dark cave.
"J-Jun-!"
"Not now Amy, run!" the boy cried, tugging his cousin away from the cave, Hercules bolting after them.
"Jun, I can't keep running, my feet really really hurt...!" Amy sobbed, clutching her cousin's hand as she struggled to keep up with his near sprinting on her scratched up feet. He skidded to a stop, telling Hercules to wait, the leading Dark type sitting impatiently with a growl. The boy dug through his pocket and pulled out another Pokeball, releasing a cross-looking Hitmonlee.
"Lee, can you help Amy? She can't run anymore and we gotta get home before Hypno comes out again!" Jun hurriedly explained, gesturing to the now sitting little girl. The Hitmonlee glowered almost defiantly, but pity softened his eyes at the scared and confused Amy trying to to stop the tears starting to trickle out of her eyes. With a resigned sigh the fighting type scooped Amy up, moving her to hang onto his back, and the four continued their hurried trek back to the daycare, Lee having no trouble keeping up with his long springy legs.
"Jun, where are we?" Amy asked again, clinging to Lee's back like a lifeline.
"We're almost on the other side of the island, just past the Old Cathedral. You really got yourself in a mess, Hypnos are dangerous." Jun replied, holding onto Lee's arm as they hurriedly followed Herecules guiding them back home.
"Hypno? The funny looking Pokemon?" she whimpered, clinging and mushing her cheek against the warm wall of the muscular Pokemon's back.
"Uh-huh." Jun confirmed, eyeing the darkening sky with worry. "We probably won't get home before dark, definitely past curfew. But I'm just glad Hercules and I ran, otherwise..." he couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to. Amy took in a shuddering gasp, hiding her face in Lee's back as she started to cry again.
"Gramma's gonna be so mad...!" she sobbed, Lee jumping slightly from the wetness falling on his back. Jun blinked, slowing down enough to put his hand on his frightened cousin's back.
"No she won't, it wasn't your fault. She shouldn't have sent you out alone when she knew something was out there, Amy. You won't be in trouble." Jun replied, soothingly rubbing circles into his cousin's back as sobs shook her.
"P-pwomise...?" she whimpered, looking at him while tears streamed down her tiny red cheeks from her nearly pink eyes, hiccuping.
"Pinky promise." Jun swore, hooking one of his pinkies around her tiny pinky finger. She smiled a little as the two shook on it.
Hercules chased off a Duskull that was trying to get too close to the crying child. That ghost didn't need to scare her more, she'd been through enough for one day.
True to his word, when Jun, Amy, and his two Pokemon stumbled in the door later that night, there were no harsh scoldings or punishments. Amy was nearly smushed from how tightly their grandmother was hugging her while Jun agreed to show Granpa where the Hypno's cave was so they could shoo it away in the morning. Amy was taken to the bathroom and her feet were cleaned, de-splintered, and bandaged, and the two were treated to a warm meal each with the promise that they both would not run off alone again ever ever again, at least not without warning gramma or granpa or a Pokemon that could warn them. The two children were then ushered to bed, their grandmother being sure to switch on the night light in Amy's room after reassuring her the Hypno wouldn't come to get her in her sleep.
Amy could be found curled up next to Jun in his bed the next morning, hugging her teddy bear and unconsciously nestled up to her cousin for protection from the scary Pokemon she had feared would haunt her dreams.