When I was eight years old, an absol appeared in our village.

It stood on top of a large rock on the mountain slope, ominous yet majestic, uncaring of the jeers and cries of the people below. It left the same way it had appeared, silent and nearly invisible against the snow.

Three days later, an avalanche hit the village. Three berry trees and a gardening shed collapsed, but no people were hurt. After a visit from the envoy of calamities, everyone had been wary of the mountainside and remained in safety.

As the owner of the shed cursed the absol and the misfortune it had brought, my big sister turned towards me with a wan smile.

"Dunno, I'd rather have an advance warning than a sudden disaster with no signs," she said.

I wasn't sure what to make of her words then. I do now. She had figured out, or at least strongly suspected, something I later learned to be true.

Abby was only trying to protect us.

I trekked upwards my usual path on the eastern slopes of Mount Coronet, shielding my eyes from the winter sun blazing down from the cloudless sky. It was early January, and relatively warm thanks to a heat wave from the west, but it was still well beyond freezing. Having lived north all my life I was accustomed to it, and more importantly was dressed for the occasion.

It didn't take long to reach our usual meeting place, a relatively broad ledge just above the treeline. There were no signs of Abby yet, and it bode well to keep mum on the mountain even without any particular avalanche risk, so instead I removed my backpack to take out the two chesto berries I had brought with me. I set them a couple feet away from me and then leaned against the mountain, waiting.

It wasn't longer than a minute or two when I heard approaching footsteps, so soft I would have surely missed them if I hadn't been expecting them. A moment later, Abby emerged onto the ledge from the path leading towards the summit, her head held up high in nigh regal demeanour.

I smiled and bowed my head. "It's good to see you, Abby."

Abby blinked slowly, then inclined its head ever so slightly.

I pointed at the chesto berries. "These are for you."

Abby approached me calmly, slowly but certainly, until she reached the berries. She gave them an appraising glance, then looked straight at me. Her red eyes gleamed in the afternoon sun.

"I hope you like them," I said, then turned away. Abby preferred eating in privacy.

As she went through my humble offering, I removed a small blanket to sit on, as well as a pecha jam sandwich, from my backpack, and sunk my teeth into it. While eating, I admired the view, familiar by now, but still impressive. Snowrim Village was just by the mountain's foot, even smaller than usual from the heights. My gaze brushed by our one-class school, my parents' berry orchard, and the vast expanses of forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. My lips curled into a smile on their own as I wondered just how miniscule it all must have looked where Abby usually dwelled.

I felt something soft brush against my elbow, and turned to see Abby's soulful eyes staring directly into mine. Often after eating, Abby would immediately leave, but sometimes, especially if I had managed to procure chesto berries, her favourites, she'd stay around for a while.

Some might think it strange, feeding a wild pokémon like that, but most people didn't owe their lives to a wild pokémon, either.

Slowly, she lay on the ground next to me to rest. I wiped the fingers of my right hand clean on my trousers and stroked her fur, careful to avoid touching the horn. She hated it when I accidentally touched it.

I polished off the rest of my sandwich, then took the liberty of curling up next to Abby. Today was a good day indeed: she allowed me to rest my head on her sleek fur. I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes.

It was one of those moments when it feels like time has just stopped. Neither the cold, nor the homework waiting on my desk, not anything that's happening in the world mattered in the slightest. There was just softness, and sweet light, and knowing your friend enjoyed your company as well.

After a while, I felt Abby raise her head. Her heartbeat grew faster, and she stood up, not so fast as to shake me off, but shifting me nevertheless.

Reluctantly, I sat back up and looked up the path. Someone was coming. I just couldn't see them yet.

A stranger stepped onto the ledge. A boy, roughly ten years old, with brown hair, brown eyes, and plain baseball cap. Nothing about his appearance stood out except for his hooded jacket, patterned with colourful comic strip panels — pink, yellow, and acid green.

I blinked in surprise. Five Pokéballs hung from his belt.

A trainer, then. They hardly ever showed up in Snowrim; no major roads lead there, nor is there much that would interest a traveller. Of course, I had seen trainers before, even outside TV, as some stumble across the village every year, either lost or searching for special pokémon that much to their dismay don't live here.

The trainer in the comic panel jacket was yet to say anything. He was busy gawking at Abby and me.

I cleared my voice. "Are you lost?"

"Holy shit, where'd you find that absol?" the trainer bypassed my question entirely and stumbled closer. His eyes shone.

Abby kept her eyes on the trainer, but made no effort to leave.

I shrugged. "She came to me. Most live on the mountain summit."

"Seriously? I just came from there and didn't see a single one." The trainer shrugged and adjusted his backpack. "Hey, is there a place around here where I can get some Quick Balls and Ice Heals?"

Which ones were Quick Balls, anyway? "You'll probably have to go to Snowpoint for those. The convenience store in Snowrim," I pointed downwards, "might have Potions, but that's all."

"Crap." He pulled out a map from his pocket and unfolded it. "Bad time to run outta stuff."

As he was busy placing himself on the map, I eyed the pokéballs on his belt. Of course he had them. Every trainer that showed up did, and so did those few of us who left the village to become one. There were even some spare ones in the village hall, to be used in case of an emergency: sometimes, powerful wild pokémon roaming the woods stumble smack dab into the village square, so powerful the pokémon living by our side aren't enough to chase them away. In those cases, it's much safer to capture the wild pokémon and later release them somewhere far away from the village, than to endanger ourselves and our allies.

The trainer folded the map, waking me from my reverie. "Okay, I can live without Quick balls till Snowpoint. I like walking in the dark, anyway." He put the map away and was silent for a moment. "I'm Mark."

I nodded. "Ray."

Mark looked at me appraisingly. "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Oh." Mark hesitated. "How'd your trainer journey go?"

I stroked Abby absent-mindedly. "I never went."

"Huh?" Mark stared at me like I had just called his mother a sneasel. "Why not? Did something happen?"

"No, why?" Many kids living in Snowrim never went. Most who did leave found new lives in the big cities, either working with their pokémon or otherwise. I didn't blame them for wanting a change, but I personally wasn't too enamored with the idea of becoming the kind of trainer you had to be to participate in the league.

Mom once told me that when the league was first introduced Sinnoh, pokémon teams without pokéballs had been allowed. Now, however, all pokémon in a team had to be captured and summonable to a pokéball. I couldn't remember the exact reason Mom had given me — something about logistics — but the gist was that if you wanted to be a legitimate trainer in the league's eyes you needed to use pokéballs, and well...I've seen pokémon with both pokéballs and without them, and while I can't put my finger on it, something about the way the pokémon tied to pokéballs act seems strange to me. I don't grudge others for using them, but personally, I'd want to be a trainer like my sister Chris and her staravia Stark, partners in crime with no pokéballs used.

"You mean, you just didn't want to go?" Mark asked incredulously. "Why the hell not?"

"Dunno." I didn't feel like explaining the whole thing to him. Trying to do so in the past with other trainers had never turned out very well. "I wanted to keep up with school, I guess."

By the look on Mark's face, I could have as well told him I refused free candy and a trip to an amusement park. "That's stupid. School's there the next year too. Seriously, you've gotta try it. This is the best time I've ever had in my life." Mark was smiling at me with his chin held up high. "Besides, I bet your absol would like it too." He nodded at Abby.

"Abby's not mine," I said.

"Eh? Whose, then?"

"She belongs to herself," I said, stroking Abby's fur again. "We like to hang around together, that's all."

"Huh." I couldn't tell whether Mark was impressed or just confused until he spoke again. "Seems like a waste. It's a high-level one, too, so why not just go for it? Are you scared of leaving home or something?"

"Nothing like that. I'm not that keen on becoming a trainer."

"Uh huh." Mark wasn't really listening. He wasn't even looking at me. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Abby's face.

Then, he shrugged. "You do your thing. No-one's gonna force you to go." He then removed one of the pokéballs on his belt and summoned the opened it. A red flash, and a luxray appeared on the ledge, shaking its mane proudly from side to side before taking a step towards Abby and me.

Abby tensed up. Her eyes narrowed as she locked gazes of the luxray.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I just wanted to show Rai to you." Mark fished some small treat from his pocket and threw it to Rai, who devoured it voraciously. "Raised it from a cub. I've caught all my pokémon myself. Not everyone does that."

"Oh yeah?"

Mark looked disappointed: he could probably tell I didn't really care. "I'm really careful when it comes to choosing pokémon. I don't mean they have to be particularly strong for their kind, but I want pokémon that were meant to be with me."

"How can you tell that?"

"It's like..." Mark chewed on his lip. " I get those people who feel a real catch need to be fought for, but that's not my thing." As he spoke, he removed another pokéball from his backpack, a blue and yellow one. "What I do is that I start every encounter with a wild pokémon by throwing a pokéball at it. Just one. If it doesn't work, then I just fight it off like always. And if it works," he opened the pokéball, ", it was meant to be, and I take the pokémon and raise it. That's what I did with Rai, and that's what I've done with every pokémon since. " He puffed his chest out. "And you bet it has worked. Check it out!" He opened his jacket. Six gym badges were pinned into its lining.

"Pretty nice," I said. Being polite cost nothing.

Mark frowned. "Pretty nice? Know how many trainers never even get their third badge?" He zipped up his jacket and toyed the pokéball in his hand. "I'm going all the way to the top, and nothing's gonna stop me. And that's not the end, either: I'm also going to catch every pokémon there is and become a true pokémon master."

"Okay." I didn't really like where this discussion was heading, and neither seemed Abby: she was standing up so ridigly, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

Mark wrinkled his nose. "You really don't give a crap, huh?"

"I do. I just don't feel as strongly about being a trainer as you do."

"Trust me, being a trainer is the best. Don't knock it till you've tried it" And then, without further warning, he lobbed the pokéball at Abby.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, but it was too late: Abby barely had time than to flinch before she vanished inside the pokéball in a beam of red light.

I shot upwards and took a threatening step towards Mark, my hands curling into fists. "What are you doing? Let her go!"

Mark tried to wave me silent. "Shit, don't jinx it!"

The ball shook from side to side as Abby struggled to break free. I rushed over to where the ball was lying, hoping to break it before it swallowed Abby as a whole. But just when I grabbed, I heard the click that spelled doom to the plan.

"Alright, awesome!" Mark pumped his fist in the air and with his other hand pulled a PokéDex from his pocket. "Good moves, nice...shit, quiet nature? Well, no-one's perfect."

He looked at me and the pokéball still in my hand. "'Kay, fork it over. My pokéball, my pokémon." He beckoned at me as he put his Dex away and took some steps forward.

I gulped and clutched the ball against my chest. "You have no right to it."

"Actually, I do." He repeated the motion. "I don't wanna kick your ass over it, but I will if I have to."

"Screw you!" I took a step backwards and started fumbling with the pokéball. How did you disable the damn things?

Mark took another step forward. "Seriously, give it to me! What's your problem? You said it wasn't yours!"

"She isn't, but that doesn't mean you can just capture her!"

"Does too! Don't you know anything?" He made a sudden lunge at me and grabbed my wrists. "Now give it!"

"No!" I squeezed at the ball as tightly as I could and took another wild step backwards. One too many: I collided with the mountainside, hitting my head with an audible crash. I saw stars as the pokéball fell from my hands and my legs gave in.

"Shit." To his credit, Mark sounded genuinely concerned. "Are you okay?"

I wasn't sure I was, so I grunted. Bolts of immense pain ran across the back of my head and into my limbs. I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes tightly shut in hopes it would make a difference.

When the pain subsided and I opened my eyes, Mark was looming above me, his brow knitted into a frown. "Hey, can you stand up?"

I closed my eyes and opened them again. I needed several more minutes before I'd be able to get back up, but unless I had a concussion I would probably be fine. "Yeah, probably."

"Guess you're fine, then. Sorry that happened, but that's what happens when you mess with other people's pokémon."

I distantly realised the pokéball he clipped to his belt was Abby.

"Fuck you." I would have liked to scream it, followed by decking the twerp, but my lungs betrayed me exactly like my limbs had.

"It's not like I shoved you." The annoyance on Mark's face slowly ebbed away. "Anyway, see ya, I guess."

And with that, he began climbing down the path, away from my life, with Abby still as a hostage.

It took some minutes, but I managed to get back up. My head still throbbed, but other than that I was fine. As far as my physical condition went, anyway.

I lurched back home with a heavy heart. What was I supposed to do now? Mark was right: technically, as long as you were the one to capture a pokémon, it was legally yours. There were some rules about tame pokémon without balls and how they should be treated, but Abby hadn't been tame, not really.

Mom and Chris were outside when I slouched into the yard, placing berry fragments outside for bird pokémon. They paused as soon as they saw me.

"Ray?" my mother asked. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, not wanting to make a fuss. Guess my anxiety showed on my face. "It's nothing."

Chris squinted at me. "Like hell it's nothing, Squirt."

"Chris! Language!" Mom turned back towards me. "It's alright, sweetheart. You can tell me anything."

I bit my lip and nodded.

Mom gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Chris, go mix us some juice."

Chris rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "Fine." She vanished into the house.

"Come on, then." Still holding me by the shoulder, Mom escorted me into the house. "You'll feel better after talking."

Fifteen minutes later, holding a cold compress to my head, I sipped at my second glassful of oran juice. I had finished telling what had happened in full detail, but despite Mom's assurances, didn't feel any better

"Poor child." Mom stroked my hand after I placed the glass back on the table.

"Yeah, that sucks," said Chris, leaning backwards in her chair on the other side of the table. "I'd hate it if someone came and captured Stark."

"Abby wasn't mine, though," I mumbled, feeling queasy. "I should have said she was. Then he would have left her alone."

My sister shrugged. "You never know with league trainers. Lot of 'em brats think only pokémon captured in pokéballs count."

"I noticed." "I just don't know what to do. I can't just abandon Abby to her fate."

Mom sighed. "I know how you feel, Ray, but as unfair as it is, the trainer is now Abby's legal owner. That's just how the law is." She shook her head. "Back in my day, pokémon trained through other means than pokéballs were equal in the eyes of the law. It was only after trainers who used pokéballs started capturing their opponents' pokémon during battles and badly treated free-range pokémon started running amok that they changed the rules of the leagues, and later the legislation."

"Right." I bit my lip. I had forgotten the particular details about the changes to the law, but while at other times I might have found them intriguing, right then I couldn't bring myself to care. What mattered was that Abby was gone, and I had no legal means of saving her.

Mom patted my head. "It'll all turn out just fine, dear. Who knows, maybe that trainer will realise what he did was cruel and releases her back here."

Chris snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Chris." Mom gave her a sharp look.

"What? What's the point of giving Ray false hope?"

Mom shook her head, but said nothing. I took the opportunity to finish my drink and sink into my thoughts.

If someone had come and stolen me away in front of her eyes, would Abby have stayed put and made no effort to save me? Just because the law said I should do that didn't mean it was right.

"I'll make your favourite for dinner tonight. How about that, dear?"

"Uh huh." My mind was already far away, hunting after Mark.

I excused myself quickly after dinner to finish packing. Spare clothes, my savings...I'd have to sneak into the kitchen later and make myself a snack for the road, as well as rifle through the cabinets to hopefully find a map.

"Hey."

I whirled around, a sock still in hand. Chris was leaning into the doorframe with an unusually pensive look on her heart-shaped face.

"Look, Squirt," she stepped into the room and looked at the contents of my half-packed rucksack.

Flustered, I got in her line of sight, all the while knowing it was too later.

Chris gave me the kind of obnoxious knowing look only an older sister can give, then sighed. "If you're set on going, take Stark with you."

I blinked. "What?"

"You can't go into the woods without a pokémon, and if I ask him to watch over you, he will. Just, while you're out there, make sure that if anyone asks you tell 'em he's yours."

"I..." I realised I was staring with my mouth hanging wide and closed it. ""Do you think it'll make a difference?"

"Which? Having Stark with you or pretending you have a pokéball with his name on it?" She stuck out her tongue. "Yeah to both."

"Okay. I'll say I'm his trainer." I would never have told anyone Stark was free either way, not after what had happened with Abby — my stomach churned as a ghost image of Abby with her dark, trusting eyes and fluffy mane appeared in my mind without my invitation — but my plan had been avoiding anyone who looked like a trainer until I had intercepted the boy with the comic book jacket.

A thought occurred to me. "Doesn't that mean I'll have to battle? I don't want to do that."

"Oh, right." Chris pulled a face. "Guess you'll have to hope you only run into trainers who are polite enough to accept refusals. Gonna be a luck-based mission, either way."

I gazed at my feet.

"Hey. Squirt. Look alive."

I looked up to see Chris staring at me intently.

"Here's the thing." Her tone was unusually grave,."I said I will have Stark go with you, and I'm not going to back down on that. Still, there's something I need you to promise me."

"What is it?"

"That you're fully prepared."

I frowned. "I wasn't planning on running around like a headless spearow, if that's what you mean."

"No, seriously." Chris folded her arms "I know you're super at avoiding wild pokémon, but you're going to places you've never been to before, and it only takes one misstep out in the wilderness for you to get attacked. And then what? You can run away, up to a certain point, but what if you find yourself trapped or ambushed? What I'm saying is you're probably gonna have to battle out there, whether you like it or not. Keep that in mind."

My shoulders slumped. She had a point: I had never battled with pokémon, and wasn't keen to begin either. What would happen if I lost against a trainer, and they discovered Stark didn't have a pokéball?

I took a deep breath. "I promise." I would have to give it a shot, for Abby's sake.

"In that case," Chris plunged her hands into the pockets of her trousers, "take these." She handed me a compass and a neatly folded map. "So you can find your way."

Awed, I accepted the items. Then, in a moment of sudden affection, I gave her a hug. "Thanks."

Chris gave me a kiss on the forehead. "Good luck, squirt."

It wasn't yet the crack of dawn when I slid out of my comfy bed and pulled on several layers of clothing. With bleary eyes, I glanced at the clock. Eight o'clock. Chris snoozed till midday when she didn't have school, but Mom would be awake. And Mom was the one I needed to avoid. She'd be sure to flip her lid If I told her I was walking to Snowpoint all by myself.

I beat my rucksack into a less conspicuous shape, then snuck into the living room. Mom was leaning over the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee in one hand, a wooden spatula in ther other. Her eyes glazed were fixed on the muted television. I got her feeling her thoughts were far away from the talking heads on the screen.

She smiled at me when I tip-toed into view. "You're up early, Ray. Do you want eggs for breakfast?"

I bit my lip. I had stashed a large snack into my rucksack, but warm food would keep me going longer. On the other hand, every minute was another minute Mark the Pokémon Poacher had to get away.

"Yes, please," I mumbled, obeying my stomach and leaving my rucksack on the floor.

I fixed myself some jam toast and a tall glass of berry juice as she piled up the eggs on my plate, then wolfed it all down. Skimping down on dinner the day before had been a bad move.

Mom finished her coffee as I ate. "Where are you going?"

I swallowed down the last piece of toast. "The forest with July and Adam."

"This early?"

"Me and Adam will go now, yeah." July hadn't been on time for school for two years know, always running in claiming she had overslept.

Mom nodded. "Be home for lunch."

I nodded, the aftertaste of my breakfast turning sour in my mouth. There'd be trouble later, trouble I couldn't blame on Mom being overly cautious. Going to another town alone wasn't a big deal, but going without a captured Pokémon was another kettle of magikarp entirely.

I avoided her eyes as I cleared the table and rushed past her to put on my boots.

She followed me into the living room. "Make sure to wear the trapper hat today. It said on the forecast it'll be cold the whole day."

"Aw, man!" I hated the doofy old thing. Still, I had a beanie in my rucksack if I wanted to make a switch later. And anyway, I could do at least this one tiny thing for Mom. Let her know I was dressed for the journey she didn't know I was going to embark on.

So, I smushed my hair under the trapper hat and pulled on my gloves. "See you later."

It was cold; the wind as I opened the door was like a slap to my uncovered face. Still, it wasn't so cold I had trouble breathing, and everything but my cheeks and nose was snugly covered in cotton and mareep wool. I'd manage.

It was half a day's trek to Snowpoint City, at least. The furthest I had ever walked in one go. But somewhere out there was Abby, and she needed me. Mark had the advantage, but with luck, he'd still be in town when I reached it.

I had to try, either way. I owed it to her.

I strode past the houses to the border of the forest and whistled. "Stark!"

A heartbeat, another one, and the staravia swooped into view, landing on a branch of the tree nearest to me. He cocked his head, staring at me intently.

I extended my gloved hand, palm down. "Chris asked you to guard me, right? Do you remember?" I looked away from his beady eyes and bowed my head. "Will you come?"

Stark ruffled his feathers, then cocked his head in the opposite direction. Then, with he took back to the air and glided towards me. Too late did I remember he was no longer the relatively light starly who had once sat on my wrist when Chris had practised giving him commands, but it made no difference: rather than land on my arm, Stark flew in a circle around me, then headed upwards and flew larger circles there. He trilled.

I wasn't sure if that meant "yes", but I nodded anyway. "Right, let's go."

I took a few tentative steps forward, then began my stride in earnest. Come hell of high water, I'd hunt down my mark.

For Abby.

A/N: Special thanks to thechinskyguy for much valued beta reading.