"Hi there! What's your name?"

"When we work together, we can do anything!"

"We'll be friends forever, right, Totodile?"

"We'll definitely, definitely see each other again soon! I'm sure of it!"

Totodile stared at Chikorita, her entire body rigid with shock. This couldn't be right. It couldn't be. They were going to be raised together, by Trainers who cared for them. They were going to be best friends and rivals, helping each other to improve.

"Totodile…" Chikorita's voice was quiet. The horror had died away from her face, and she was smiling, but her eyes were sad. "Looks like we got to see each other sooner than I thought." Totodile clenched her jaws together. This was all wrong.

"What happened?" she asked her friend in an urgent whisper. "What's going on? Did that Trainer abduct you—?"

Before she could get an answer, the red-haired Trainer narrowed his eyes and snapped at his Pokémon. "Chikorita—take out that Totodile, now!"

Chikorita fixed Totodile with that sad, sad gaze—so unlike her usually bright and confident air. Her composure began to break, and tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Before Totodile could respond, Chikorita launched herself forward and ran towards her, the leaf on her head beginning to glow. It took several confused seconds for Totodile to realize what she was doing, and by the time she did, it was too late. Chikorita slammed into her and swiped the leaf across her neck.

Totodile breathed in a sharp gasp of pain, feeling the sharp edge cut into her skin. Shocked, she reached up to touch the wound—her hand came away tinged with red. Rage began to build inside of her, blocking out all other feelings. With a snarl, she opened her jaws and sent a torrent of water at the Leaf Pokémon. It didn't hurt her much, but it caused her to stumble, giving Totodile the chance she needed to lunge forward and sink her teeth into Chikorita's side. She shrieked, trying to pull away; Totodile released her grip but then slammed her to the ground, pinning her down.

As soon as Chikorita knew she was trapped, she went limp, not even bothering to struggle. "Toto—"

"How could you do this?" Totodile hissed. Her entire body was taut with fury, and she dug her claws relentlessly into Chikorita's sides. "You're listening to him! You're doing what he tells you!"

"I don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, trembling under the weight of Totodile's glare. "I'm so, so sorry, Totodile."

"What kind of pathetic battle is this!?" The red-haired Trainer's scathing voice cut into the air, making both Pokémon flinch. "Fight back, you idiot!"

"Kani!" Makoto's cry was even louder, and Totodile's heart leaped at the sound of it. "You can do it, Kani!"

I've been such an idiot, Totodile thought, both the red-haired Trainer's and Makoto's shouts ringing in her ears. Such a selfish idiot.

"...My name is Kani," she whispered.

Chikorita's eyes grew wide. "Totodile…?"

She looked right into the eyes of Chikorita, the Pokémon who had been her best friend, and bared her teeth as a deep snarl rose in her throat, lifting her right arm into the air. "My name is Kani!"

The revelation sent new energy surging through her. Kani brought her claws down on top of Chikorita's head and raked them as hard as she could along the base of her leaf and continuing downward. Chikorita screamed, writhing underneath her; only when she laid perfectly still did Kani stop her final attack, letting her arm drop limply to her side and leaving a long red gash down Chikorita's side.

There was a long silence. Or maybe time had temporarily stopped. It was what it felt like. Kani was only vaguely aware of her heavy breathing, of the painful beating of her heart, of the blood underneath her claws.

"Kani…!" Warm, gentle hands reached out and picked her up off of Chikorita's unmoving body. Makoto enfolded Kani in his arms, sighing in relief. "Thank Arceus you're okay."

Kani clutched at the front of Makoto's jacket, struggling to calm herself. The blinding rage that had clouded even her vision was beginning to fade, letting revulsion and hurt rise to the surface.

Chikorita has…betrayed me, she thought numbly. And Cyndaquil…

Wait a minute. What had happened to Cyndaquil?

"Idiot!" The red-haired Trainer seethed, interrupting Kani's thought process. He sealed the unconscious Chikorita back inside her Poké Ball and shoved the capsule deep into his pocket. "Worthless Pokémon…"

"Come on, Kani," Makoto muttered, turning away. "Let's get away from this guy."

"Don't think you've won!" The Trainer's angry shouts drifted behind them as Makoto walked off. "Your Totodile may have beaten me this once, but you're still a wimp! I'm going to be the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the world!"

"He makes an awful lot of noise, doesn't he, Kani?" said Makoto, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "I wouldn't worry about him, he's just—what's this?"

He stooped down and picked something up off the ground, careful not to let Kani fall. Straightening, he turned the object over in his hand and frowned. "Kani, look. It's a Trainer card…it's got a name on the back. That guy must have dropped it."

"And you're going to give it back right now!" The red-haired Trainer's voice came from out of nowhere, and as Makoto whirled around, there he was, standing directly behind them. He took another step forward and snatched the card out of Makoto's hands. "Don't get in my way from now on. I don't care if you did see my name." With one last glare, he gave Makoto a hard shove, turned, and stalked off in the opposite direction.

When Makoto returned to New Bark Town with Kani still in his arms, he was startled to find police officers surrounding the lab outside. Nervously, he walked past them, doing his best to ignore the glances he received from some of them. He could feel tense hostility growing in his Pokémon, and he wrapped his hand hastily but gently around her jaw to keep her from growling. She glared, jerking her head to the side to remove his hand, but remained silent.

Professor Elm was talking quietly to another officer at the back of the lab. Makoto set Kani on the floor and moved towards them cautiously.

Before he had gotten even halfway across the room, a man with a notepad and a frown stepped into his path. "Who are you?" he demanded. "We're investigating the case of the missing Pokémon here…" His gaze drifted down to Kani, who stood at Makoto's feet. The suspicious frown on his face deepened. "How exactly did you come to obtain that Pokémon?"

"Professor Elm gave her to me—"

"You stole it from this lab only moments ago!"

"No, of course I didn't—"

"You stole it, and then, overwrought with guilt, came back to return it!" The reporter was working himself into a frenzy. Kani spared him a single look of disdain, which he ignored. Makoto glanced over at the professor for help, but he was still deep in conversation with the police officer and hadn't even noticed him come in.

"It wasn't him!" a new voice exclaimed, one that made Makoto weak with relief at the sound of it. Kotone rushed up and stepped directly between them, interrupting whatever accusation the reporter was about to make next. "Makoto had nothing to do with this," she insisted. "Leave him out of it."

"He clearly is in possession of one of the lab Pokémon," the reporter countered, gesturing to Kani just in case Kotone didn't know which Pokémon he was referring to. "And it clearly doesn't like him very much!"

Kotone scowled. "She's glaring at you, not Makoto."

"Why would it do that unless traumatized from the experience of being abducted? It doesn't even know me!"

"Maybe she's objecting to the way you're falsely accusing her Trainer!"

"There are other indicators that he's the guilty party. Rule number one: 'Whoever did it will come back to the site—'"

"What kind of idiotic rulebook is that!?"

"…Is there a problem?" Professor Elm interrupted. The commotion seemed to have gotten his attention at last. The police officer stood beside him with his eyebrows raised.

"The paparazzi are harassing Makoto." Kotone let out an indignant huff.

"Ah, Makoto!" The professor brightened at the sight of him, who by now was trying his very best to sink into the floor. "I'm glad you and Kotone have both made it back safely. I was beginning to worry you'd lost your way."

"This boy has stolen a valuable Pokémon from your lab," the reporter announced, "and recruited this girl to defend his crimes—"

"What?" The professor frowned. "Makoto wouldn't do something like that. I gave him that Pokémon as a gift."

"Come on, now!" The officer spoke with exasperation. "The man's said repeatedly that the Pokémon stolen was a Chikorita, not a Totodile."

Without warning, Makoto felt a stab of pain in his chest. He looked down and saw Kani with the same glint of pain in her eyes as she had after the battle. He stooped slightly to brush the top of her head, concerned. She didn't respond to the contact, but she didn't move away from him either, which he took as a sign that he could keep petting her.

"Well—that—" the reporter blustered, struggling vainly to come up with more evidence to back up his accusations. The officer turned his back on him and spoke to the rest of the group.

"I spoke with the professor earlier, and so far we have no leads as to who could have stolen the missing Pokémon," he said grimly. "We were hoping we could discuss it with you, Makoto. Did you see anyone suspicious on your way to and from Mr. Pokémon's house?"

"Actually," Makoto began, grateful to speak to someone who wouldn't counter him at every turn, "I battled someone with a Chikorita on the way back to New Bark."

"What? Why didn't you say so earlier!?" Professor Elm yelped. "This could solve the case in an instant!"

"What did he look like?" The officer's tone was much more businesslike.

"He was pretty tall…and a few years older than me, I think," Makoto answered. "He had silvery-gray eyes and bright red hair—"

"Red hair?" Kotone cut him off. "Gray eyes? Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah." Makoto nodded. "It was kind of unmistakable."

She stiffened. "That can't be."

He shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I saw."

"What kind of boy has bright red hair?" the reporter muttered from behind them. "I've never seen anyone like that. He's probably making it up."

No one paid any attention. "Did you happen to get his name?" the police officer questioned.

"Yes, I saw it on the back of his Trainer card. It's Silver."

"I see…" The officer wrote on a notepad of his own. "This will make the investigation go much smoother, and hopefully we'll track him down quicker."

"Thank you so much for your time," Professor Elm said gratefully. "If you receive any new information…or if anything happens…"

"We'll contact you right away." The officer gave a crisp nod and headed for the door. The reporter, who everyone had all but forgotten about, cast them a sour look and left as well. Kani snapped at his heels as he passed. He ignored that too.

"Kotone?" Makoto addressed his friend tentatively. She hadn't said a word for several minutes, which was unlike her. "Is everything alright?"

"What?" Kotone blinked and turned to look at him. She seemed to have been deep in thought about something, which was even more unlike her. "Yes, everything's fine. Don't worry about me."

"If you say so…"

"I do say so." Kotone gave him a friendly shove. "Hey, I'm glad you seem to be off the hook about this whole thing, but I have to go now, okay?"

"That's fine. What about our race?"

"What race?"

Now Makoto was really starting to get worried. "You know…our race to Violet City?"

"Wh—oh yeah! It's still on, of course." Kotone gave him an absentminded wave. "I've got to go now, to…find Riri. If you're lucky, I'll give you another head start. See you!" She turned and practically sprinted out of the lab. Makoto watched her departure, wondering what was up with her.

"Now that that's all settled…" Professor Elm let out a heavy sigh. "Well, we may as well move on to some happier news. What was Mr. Pokémon's big discovery?"

"Oh yeah…" Makoto rummaged through his bag and pulled out the egg. He held it out for the professor to see. "He gave me this. I think it's a Pokémon egg."

Professor Elm took it, looking puzzled. "A Pokémon egg? This isn't anything I've ever seen before…still, it does seem to be…just an egg." He turned to place it on his desk. "But since he gave it to us, we should at least try and find out what secret it holds. I'll hang onto it for now."

Makoto nodded, paused, then spoke again. "Professor Oak was there too. He gave me something called a Pokédex…"

"What!?" Professor Elm whirled around to face him, looking astonished. "Professor Oak did that? That's…that's incredible!"

"How come?"

"Makoto, this is Professor Oak we're talking about! He is superb at seeing the potential of people as Trainers…and to give you something like a Pokédex is a big deal!"

"Really?" Makoto said hopefully. Perhaps he had managed to redeem himself in the eyes of the star Pokémon professor after all.

"Absolutely!" Professor Elm stared at Makoto for several moments, as if seeing him in a new light. "Well…this changes the situation quite a bit, doesn't it?"

"Erm…it does?"

"I knew you were a little different," Elm went on. "You've had your Totodile for such a short time, and already she seems to have warmed up to you quite a bit… Goodness, I couldn't get that Pokémon to act friendly with me no matter what I did, and I've taken care of her much longer than you have! She's a challenge, that one!"

"Kani's been great," Makoto said at once, feeling defensive for the first time in response to the professor's words. "She battled a nest of Caterpie all on her own, and she took on that other Trainer's challenge without even hesitating."

"I'm not criticizing your Pokémon, Makoto!" Elm said hastily. "But don't you see? That reaction you had to defend her, and speak well of her—it's instinctive! You don't even think about it! It's obvious how much you already care about her, and that's one of the most important qualities a good Trainer can have. Professor Oak saw it, and I'm sure your Totodile did as well."

Makoto looked from Kani to the professor and back, feeling an odd sense of pride that he hadn't before.

"Now, I have a proposal for you," Elm went on. "You have talent…you have a Pokémon…so why don't you take the Pokémon Gym challenge?"

"Pokémon Gym challenge?" Makoto blinked.

"That's right," Elm affirmed. "There are Pokémon Gyms scattered all around the Johto region. Challenging each Gym Leader would require a lot of skill, but I think you have that skill. Once you've beaten them all and won all the badges, you could proceed to the Pokémon League and challenge the Elite Four there. Winning against them and the Champion would make you the strongest Trainer in the region…but you don't have to think about that now!" he added, seeing the daunted expression on Makoto's face. "Just take it one step at a time. Becoming the Champion is a huge goal, but it's far off. Focus on challenging the Gyms for now. The closest and easiest is the one at Violet City—"

"Wait a second!" Makoto interrupted desperately. "I haven't even agreed to this yet…how would I know what to do, or where to go next? I've never even been past Cherrygrove on my own before today!"

"You'll have a map, and a phone, and people to ask for help from along the way," Professor Elm assured him. "It would certainly be a long journey, but one that I feel you're ready to take on. Ultimately, of course, it's your decision."

Makoto took a moment to let this sink in, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the prospect of suddenly leaving his home for an indefinite period of time. Whatever the professor might say, he certainly didn't feel like he was in any way prepared for a journey across the region. Still, he couldn't deny that the idea was at least somewhat appealing. He was a brand new Trainer, after all; the experience he'd gain would be worth it, at the very least.

"Besides," the professor pointed out, "you won't be on your own. You'll have your Pokémon with you."

That's right… Makoto smiled, his confidence rising. How could I have forgotten? I'm not alone. As long as I have Kani, I—

He looked down and saw empty space where his Pokémon had been. He blinked, breaking out of his reverie. "Where'd she go?"

"Oh…she must have slipped over there while we were talking." Elm pointed across the room to where Kani stood, hands pressed against the side of the machine holding the final Poké Ball. There was glass around the machine now, to protect the remaining Pokémon in its capsule from harm. "I wonder what she's doing?"

Though he couldn't see her face, Makoto all of a sudden felt a strange urgency, a desire and frustration that was not his own. Hesitantly, he addressed Professor Elm.

"Could…could Kani speak to the Pokémon in there?"

Elm looked mildly surprised, but consented. "I don't see why not." He walked to the machine and pressed a series of buttons, making the glass slide upward and vanish. When he released the Cyndaquil, Makoto immediately sensed relief and gratitude and knew he had made the right decision.

"Let her talk to her friend," said Elm, moving away from the machine towards a couple of chairs. He gestured for Makoto to sit. "In the meantime, we should discuss the matter of the Pokémon Gym challenge more thoroughly."

"To tell you the truth…I don't think there's a lot we can do about it."

Kani glowered. "Why not!?"

Cyndaquil sighed. He had explained this dozens, if not hundreds of times to her before. She never listened. "He's already chosen her. He picked up her Poké Ball, left with her, and battled with her. Like it or not, he is her Trainer now. Chikorita knows it too."

"But he mistreats her!" Kani persisted. "She doesn't want to be with him, I know she doesn't!" She curled her claws into fists, remembering Chikorita's expression as they fought. I've never seen her look like that before…

"She doesn't have a choice," Cyndaquil said patiently. "And neither do we. You need to learn to let things go when there's nothing you can do about them."

Kani clenched her teeth, wondering why she had thought that he would say anything different. She shouldn't have expected anything less from the calm and logical Cyndaquil, so emotionless he could be a machine! She turned away from him, growling. "Forget it. You're useless."

"And you're impulsive," Cyndaquil retorted. "Spontaneous, reckless, and easily worked up. I've known you a long time, Totodile."

"Call me by my name," she snapped.

"Which means you're probably going to do something foolish, like trying to save Chikorita on your own. And you'll never admit that it's impossible."

"Shut up!" Kani whirled around again to face him, teeth bared in a snarl. She couldn't believe that only minutes ago, she was feeling glad to see him. "You have no right to say any of that! You never cared about Chikorita—you never cared about anything! It doesn't matter to you whether she's saved or not!"

For a moment, Cyndaquil's eyes seemed to darken. "I care as much as you do. The difference between us is that I'm willing to acknowledge the truth when it's right in front of my face."

"You're giving up before you've even started!"

"There's nothing to start!" There was an edge to his voice now that Kani had never heard before. "Just as you are bound to your Trainer, Chikorita is bound to hers and will be until the Trainer himself decides otherwise—"

"Shut up! Just shut up already. I don't want to hear your voice."

"That's what you do, isn't it?" Cyndaquil went on coldly. "You don't like what you hear, so you refuse to listen. You just hide from reality."

"And you're a spineless coward," Kani snarled. "I was right. Our promise meant nothing to you."

"Chikorita is gone, Totodile. There's nothing—"

"Call me by my name!" Whether it was his refusal to address her properly or the indifferent way he spoke of Chikorita that sent a renewed surge of fury through her, Kani wasn't sure. All she knew was that she was suddenly lunging towards her former friend with the intention of tearing out his throat.

Cyndaquil dodged her attack without hesitation, almost as if he had been expecting it. Kani opened her jaws and sent a stream of water straight at his head. He ducked and rolled away from the jet; Kani leaped for him again and found herself slashing at empty air. She landed rather awkwardly and rose to face him, seething.

Cyndaquil was several feet in front of her. He looked as calm as ever. "I'm not going to fight you."

Kani lunged for him again. He dodged. She lunged. He dodged. She shot another Water Gun attack at him. He dodged that too.

He's too fast for me, Kani realized as she fought to strike him even once. He knows he can't beat me, so all he'll do is dodge. He won't even fight back.

For some reason the thought only made her angrier. Kani continued her attacks, and Cyndaquil continued to evade her, sometimes leaping to and from high surfaces or rebounding off walls to avoid her claws and teeth and jets of water. The chase seemed almost surreal, a twisted version of the play-fights they used to have together, when they were still a group of three.

One particularly loud crash—caused by Kani and Cyndaquil upending a table—sent Makoto and Professor Elm running. "What on earth—?"

"Kani, what are you doing?" Makoto cried, racing forward towards the two sparring Pokémon and narrowly avoiding a stream of water from Kani's jaws as she tried and failed yet again to hit the Fire Mouse Pokémon. He reached down and grabbed her before she could begin the chase anew. "I thought you were talking to your friend, not starting a fight!"

He's the one provoking a fight! Kani struggled against Makoto's grip, snarling in rage at the completely impassive expression Cyndaquil wore. She wanted to force some kind of emotion onto his face, to make him feel something, anything, but Makoto still held her prisoner so she settled for glaring hatefully at Cyndaquil as Elm sealed him back inside his Poké Ball. Just before the red beam struck, Kani thought she saw something flicker in Cyndaquil's eyes—anger, or sorrow, perhaps—but then he was inside his Poké Ball and back in the machine and Kani was convinced she had imagined it. I hope I never see him again, she thought, seething in Makoto's arms as he apologized for the mess she and Cyndaquil had made in the lab. I was right all along.

A memory flashed through her mind—a memory of fire and blood and a still green shape. She clenched her teeth together.

I never should have forgiven him in the first place.