A/N: I originally published this one-shot on February 7, 2016 on SPPf. Like everything I've written, this one-shot will be revised eventually during one of my Rewrite Months (Februaries).

This is an old but revised one-shot from 2013. It was originally my entry for the Interpretation Contest on SPPf, which was held that year. I wrote this entry during a period of my life where I wasn't that interested in fan fiction (I literally only entered the contest to see how high I would place), so I never bothered to post the entry. Now, however, I'm a lot more active in fan fiction, and I've designated Februaries as "Rewrite Months". So, I'm beginning the month by rewriting, revising, and posting "Experience".

This was and still is a fic that takes place in 5th-generation Unova, so certain aspects in this fic are exclusive to the Unova games - for example, I've chosen to stylize "High Jump Kick" as "Hi Jump Kick" to reflect how it was back in Gen 5.

In this revision, I've kept in mind the judges' comments. I changed the last third of this story a lot, mostly because the ending was the original one-shot's weakest point. I ended up with something quite different from the original, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.

I wake as the early morning sun shines into my neat, tidy den. The golden light bounces off my gently snoring den-mates and sends warmth into my body. I am happy – today is a very bright and sunny day. The grass is green, the flowers are blooming, and the bird Pokemon are singing. It's beautiful, really.

Today, it is my turn to faint… again… and again… and again.

That doesn't bother me, because that has happened to me many times. The fainting, while inconvenient at times, is all part of what I do best - help. I am a wild Audino. My species is a race of healers. Few of us are combative or like arguments. It is our nature to help rather than harm, because hurting others in any way breaks our hearts.

I suppose you can say that we are a very special species of Pokemon. Most of them will not hesitate to fight when a trainer instructs them to do so – they often see battling as something positive, which, given the amount of Pokemon I've interacted with, I understand greatly. But many Audino feel that they will never be great warriors. We are mostly content, peaceful beings who live to heal and make others happy. That is what my species is.

Sure, there are a good number of Audino in the Pokemon World who, like any other Pokemon species, yearn for battle. At least I think there are. I have heard tales among my herd, tales of Audino who participate in Pokemon battles, specializing in defensive and healing moves but also not afraid to fire off an attack or two. We do not know how many of these odd Audino inhabit the Pokemon World - my herd has never met one. But we agree that if we ever meet one, we will treat him or her with respect and understanding. Audino try not to feel negative emotions.

Today, my herd has chosen me to leave camp, gather food, and help out a few Pokemon trainers. It's a great system – we take turns so that nobody gets too tired. Even though we are great healers, fainting too much within a short period of time is not good for anyone's health.

I will forage slowly in the rustling grass, which contains our main source of food. And when a trainer comes, I will not flee – instead, I will do the trainer a service. The trainers I meet always want to raise their Pokemon to higher levels so that they can win battles and perhaps eventually compete in the Pokemon League. And who can blame them? It is really quite wonderful, to have such big hopes and dreams.

So that is why, when I encounter a Pokemon and a Trainer, I will never fight, only help. Like every Audino in my herd, I will let the training Pokemon knock me out and gain valuable battle experience.

I imagine that Trainers must love, adore, and appreciate Audino for being so kind to them and their Pokemon.

Presently, I waddle through the dense bushes to the large patch of tall grass just outside camp. It's always refreshing to leave camp and admire the open sky, the wide fields, and the occasional trainer walking down the dirt road. I wander for a while, gathering plants and enjoying the general beauty of the world. Life is simply wonderful. Then I hear a noise.

"Scrafty, it's an Audino! Quick, use Hi Jump Kick!"

Before I can even turn around, a feel a sharp, heavy impact on my back, and I fall over. I'm alright, though, because my species are good at taking hits. I scramble up, admiring how quick and clever the Scrafty and his trainer was, considering how they just snuck up on me like that. My heart lifts, and I think that maybe we can be friends so that I can bring joy to their lives to the best of my ability. I keep this in mind as I form a Heal Pulse between my paws and fire it at the Pokemon. Alas, turns out that the Scrafty was in full health and, therefore, my healing move did nothing. I'm a little disappointed, but the next thing I know, another Hi Jump Kick completely knocks me out.

Oh well. It's all right… maybe we can be friends next time. As the world goes black, I think of how I just helped train another Pokemon – just another good deed done.

When I come to, I am lying in my den, feeling completely refreshed and rejuvenated. It is still morning, so thankfully I hadn't been out for too long. But of course, my den-mates must have healed me. Audino leaving camp for the day are bound to get knocked out several times during the day, and we all make sure that any Audino who faints gets healed promptly. This fact makes me happy inside – we are just such nice beings. I nod a thank you to my nearest den-mate, and, reminding myself not to be too arrogant, I walk out of camp again. After all, the day is still young. There are plenty of other Pokemon and trainers to help.

I don't have to walk for very long when I encounter a trainer and his Serperior. This Pokemon is lightning fast as well – he hits me with an excellent Leaf Blade. Suddenly, I have a whim and I decide to use Take Down this time. I really don't know why. However, I must admit that maybe it's because I enjoy a little bit of variety in my life.

I get myself into a running stance and charge into the Serperior, sending him flying into the air. Both the trainer and the Pokemon look surprised, and I immediately feel very uncomfortable. Firstly, I feel the physical impact of the attack, but much worse is the guilt I'm experiencing. I can't believe that I just hurt someone! The shocked expressions on their faces almost make me slap myself, but I refrain from doing so because that's just silly. I compromise by using Entrainment as a friendly gesture for the rest of the battle. By the time I faint, the trainer and the Pokemon have much happier looks on their faces, and that fact somewhat alleviates my guilt.

By the time sunset rolls around, my good mood feels a little tainted. I've had to face an unusually large amount of brutal Fighting-type moves today, from Wake-Up Slaps to Drain Punches. I'm currently out to help more Pokemon, but I've walked for a while and I'm tired for some reason. I decide to turn back, and I can barely drag myself towards camp.

Still, today also had quite a few bright spots. I helped a slower, slightly weaker Emboar win battle experience by only using After You – by letting him always attack first, I made sure that I could not hurt him in any way. Better yet, after a Scraggy beat me, I later saw her trainer walking with her newly-evolved Scrafty.

I have to admit, though, that it is really quite tedious. The whole cycle of helping, fainting, and recovering definitely gets trite later on. It doesn't help that I've been through this routine many times. Not to mention the incessant attacks and occasionally unpleasant trainers I've encountered. I shake my head, telling myself to stop thinking negative thoughts about what I do best and to get some rest.

I've almost reached camp when I hear voices. My keen hearing detects that two humans are talking to each other. This captures my interest, because I've always wondered what kinds of conversations humans have with each other. Therefore, despite my weariness, I'm too curious to turn away. The voices are coming from pretty close by, so I won't be wasting that much time if I checked out what they are saying, anyways.

I waddle through the bushes and spot the source of the voices. A teenage female trainer, accompanied by a Samurott who I once helped, is making conversation with a younger male trainer.

"Thanks for the great battle!" the male exclaims. "How did you get your Pokemon to become so powerful?"

"Audino grinding, of course," the female replies.

I don't know why, but those words send chills down my spine. I'm not exactly sure what "grinding" means, but it sounds dangerous.

The male trainer gives the female a blank stare, but I can sense his curiosity.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the young male says.

"You've never heard of Audino grinding before?" the female asks, raising her eyebrows. I can sense an aura of confidence radiating from her. "Every trainer should know this, because it's a really great way to level up your Pokemon."

"Ooh, if that's the case, tell me more!" the curious male trainer exclaims excitedly.

"All right," the teenage girl says. She pulls out a small electronic device – I think it's called a "Pokedeck", or something – pushes several buttons on it, and shows it to the boy.

"You recognize this Pokemon?" the girl asks.

"Yes, it's an Audino," the boy says. "I've seen a few before, but they're kind of rare, right?"

"They're more common than you think." The female points to a tall grass patch across from me. "You know how that grass rustles sometimes? Well, for some reason Audino love to hang out in shaking grass. They pop up in those rustling spots quite a lot, and all you have to do is knock them out with your Pokemon to give them lots and lots of battle experience."

"Really?" the boy asks, his eyes wide. "So battling a single Audino would give my own Samurott more experience than if he battled, say, a single Watchog?"

"Yeah, that's the gist of it. Just look in rustling grass, and chances are you'll find an Audino to battle. By battling and winning against many Audino, your Pokemon will become strong so quickly, you wouldn't believe your eyes."

"Wow!" the boy exclaims, bubbling with excitement. Then he frowns, and I can sense that he feels worried. "But wait a second. Audino are kind of rare. Wouldn't they be kind of powerful, then?"

The girl laughs. "Rarity and power are two different things," she says. "Audino are kind of rare, sure, but they still don't stand much of a chance in battles. Well, I'll admit, Audino can be kind of defensively tough. But honestly, most of the time they won't even attack. They'll just use Status Moves that mostly do nothing. And – get this – many of them even use Heal Pulse to heal your Pokemon! Which means that your Pokemon end up getting healed as they gain battle experience."

"Whoa!" the boy exclaims. "Before today I thought Audino did nothing but heal stuff and stink at battling. I never knew that Audino were actually so useful. Sweet. Thanks for teaching me about this!"

"No worries," the girl says. "Like I said, they give your Pokemon a ton of experience when you defeat them. Trust me, I know. You won't believe how quickly I evolved my Dewott this way."

"Awesome," the boy says, laughing. "Glad to know that those stupidly cute pink bunny things are actually useful for something. Honestly, I never cared about them until now."

"Seriously, though, they're great for training. You knock a few of them out, and bam! Your Pokemon learn a lot of new moves. A lot of trainers use Audino this way. Here, I can show you. Follow me."

The boy nods enthusiastically, and the two trainers wander into the closest patch of thick grass. I watch them leave, and for a long time I just stand there, completely shocked.

It takes a while for it to sink in, but then I realize something awful: I've been used.

All this time, I realize, I've been helping trainers' Pokemon to my own detriment. I thought I was being useful, but being useful means being acknowledged, appreciated, and respected. The two trainers I've just overheard had none of those attitudes towards Audino. I've never realized until now that trainers saw me as nothing but an easy source of experience points for their Pokemon. I've never realized how those trainers cared so little for my species.

All this time, I've been hurting myself for nothing.

Something intense builds inside me. I think it's called rage, and it's a rather unfamiliar feeling. But I let it consume me anyways…

"Look, Clara! A wild Audino!"

I whip around and quickly locate the source of the voice: a teenage male trainer with a mop of golden hair. He's probably going to ungratefully use me as an easy source of experience points for his Pokemon. I know for sure what I'm going to do. If this trainer is going to use me for experience points, I'm not going to make it easy for him.

I face the trainer's Audino - who I believe is named Clara - and, without a second thought, charge at her with a solid Take Down attack. The impact hurts a little, and it throws me backwards. But it doesn't bother me, because now I feel very much alive.

Then I do a double take. Clara is an Audino, a member of my species! I can sense that she is the rare, battle-loving type, but maybe she knows something about trainers' apathy towards are species, being a Trainer Pokemon and all. And if she doesn't know, I need to tell her the terrible truth that I just heard.

I open my mouth to speak, but the golden-haired trainer calls out.

"Hey, Audino. We don't want to hurt you. We just need to tell you and your herd something important."

I stop and look up at the teenage boy. "What is it?" I ask, knowing that the boy can't understand me, but Clara can.

"Clara, tell this Audino what we're about," the trainer says.

The Audino named Clara nods and approaches me. We extend our feelers to each other, and I can sense that Clara is sincere, kind, and righteous.

"You are angry," Clara says, surprised. She retracts her feelers. "That is rather strange for an Audino. May I ask why?"

"I just found out that our whole species has been used," I growl. "We think we're helping trainers and their Pokemon, but they don't appreciate us. We want to be their friends, but we're nothing but easy experience points to them. Do you know anything about this?"

Clara nods. She looks calm, but I can sense anger building up inside her.

"My trainer, Auren, told me about that," she explains. "It's awful - most trainers see Audino as nothing but easy experience points, and most Audino have no idea how unrewarding their jobs are. We are letting ourselves get hurt, and the trainers we help don't even appreciate us."

"I didn't know until I overheard two trainers talking a while ago!" I exclaim, my heart filling with negative emotions. "And my herd doesn't know, either! I need to tell my herd the truth."

Clara nods vigorously. "Let Auren and I come with you," she says. "Auren and I have two missions. One, to make Audino all over the world aware of what they've gotten themselves into. Two, to make trainers realize that Audino are more than just experience points, and treat our species better."

"Your goals are very noble, and I'd be happy to join the two of you in helping create a better world," I say righteously, "but first I need to tell my herd the truth. Can you and Auren come with me? I think they'd believe it more if it's coming from a Trainer."

Clara nods and turns to her Trainer. "This Audino is going to lead us to a herd." She motions towards me urgently. "Auren, the more Audino who know the truth, the better!"

"Should I follow you, Clara?" Auren asks.

Clara nods. To me she says, "Lead the way."

"Yeah," I say, nodding. I motion for Auren and Clara to follow me, and then scurry to my herd's camp as quickly as my two short legs can carry me.

Humans need to treat all Pokemon with respect, and Audino are no exception. I can't believe I was ignorant for so long. Now that I know the truth, I'd love to join Clara and her Trainer in their endeavors.

But for now, my herd needs to know the truth.

-END-