"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

-Lao-tzu

Serena was not fooled by the sudden complacency in the bird's demeanor, not for a minute. Her heart kept up a galloping pace, and she scarcely dared to move from where she was still crouched on the ground. In that moment she could empathize with the wurmple's predicament under a swellow's hungry gaze. She was convinced that if she so much as twitched in a conspicuous manner that the yveltal would launch into another frenzy. Minerva seemed to have its attention (for now) and the girl trusted the delphox to cover her again if the need arose.

If she hadn't come to my rescue, I don't think a hazmat team could have scraped my bits off the turf, she thought in hysterical amusement. For once I'm glad that pokéball can't keep her in. Speaking of which...

Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could just see the yveltal's master ball. Somehow it had not been blasted to pieces or knocked into the river by the shock of the Oblivion Wing. The same could not be said for the circle of destruction about them.

The grass and shrubs immediately in the vicinity of the blast were shriveled as could be. Vegetation crackled into dust underfoot, as if it had not seen rain for the better part of a year. Yet it was not a drought that ravaged the plants so terribly. Rather, the life force had been siphoned off from them to feed the pokémon.

She gulped audibly, recalling the lore surrounding the yveltal.

"When this legendary Pokémon's wings and tail feathers spread wide and glow red, it absorbs the life force of all living creatures."

That was more or less what the old man in Anistar City had told her. A shudder passed through Serena. She had been inches from becoming another statistic under the legend's belt, probably just one of a body count of millions.

Feeling more than justified in her earlier fears, she scarcely hesitated to inch slowly but surely towards the river bank.

Of the present company, the delphox had the most reason to resent the yveltal. It had nearly killed her, after all. Minerva's battered pride was worse for wear after their previous encounter. Her loss, in retrospect, had perhaps been inevitable. After all, what chance did a mere mortal, even one endowed with psychic abilities, have against a veritable god? More than one might have expected, especially with a mistress to protect.

She sensed her trainer stir behind her but did not move to acknowledge the moment. Not for a moment did she dare to look away from the scarlet avian. It was a primitive contest of wills between them, and the first to look away would admit to the superiority of the opposition. Minerva had no intentions of yielding to this brute.

:L... lost... I... am... lost...:

:Ah, so you can speak.: Large ears twitching this way and that, the delphox was otherwise silent as she took in the yveltal.

There was that smell of bitter medicine she had come to associate with the pokémon of death. Power rolled off it in waves, a dark miasma that caused the fur along her spine to stand on end in spite of herself. The very air crackled with the ancient, eldritch feel of it.

Yet, in spite of the intimidating energy the yveltal gave off, the creature gave the impression of anything but terrifying. So very different from the vengeful god she had first been acquainted with. Oh, there was certainly a presence of power, but it was so uncoordinated and uncontrolled as to be ineffectual. There was no guiding focus or intention behind those electric blue eyes. Little wonder that she had been able to block the attack with a comparatively weak Light Screen.

Acrid and pervasive, the scent of fatigue and stress that came in on an errant breeze burned her nose. Underneath it was the unmistakable current of - fear?

Shuddering, he keened low in his throat. His head throbbed monstrously. The few words he had sent to that delphox along the connection had sparked a migraine in his temples. Slumping on the sun-warmed rocks, he pressed his head to the soothing heat of the stone. Fevered shivering passed through him as his eyes closed.

Oh, how he longed for the sweet oblivion of the darkness. There was no cause for grief or anxiety in its tender hold. There was no light or wind to disturb him there. The darkness did not run from him. The darkness did not reject and abandon him when he needed its presence most.

:There is something different about you.: He did not look up when the delphox spoke again, much less make a reply. There was no energy left in him for that much.

Her words lapped at his mind like the tide on a sandy shore, thoughtful and soft. There was gentleness that had been absent only a minute ago. While there was still a wary note in her tone, the delphox's voice lacked its earlier fury.

:Now, relax,: the vixen soothed. :I will not harm you. There is merely something I must ascertain for myself...:

Lethargy stole over him like a shroud while a pinkish glow played against his eyelids. Subtle pressure ghosted along his skull and spine. He shied away weakly from the touch. Yet the pressure only increased, and he felt it most keenly in his chest. Pins and needles stabbed at the interior of his ribcage. A sudden anger bloomed at his core.

:STOP!:

Minerva almost jumped back (but not quite, as she refused to show fear) in alarm at the yveltal's protest. The demand for her to cease burst like wildfire across their mental link. The magenta glow of her psychic powers immediately disappeared from around its prone form. Blue eyes promised bloody murder if she attempted to probe him again. The delphox merely raised a brow at her 'teammate,' though the creature was such in name only.

:Glowering menacingly at me will accomplish nothing, you know. A little leering has scarcely hurt me since I was a whelp.: The tip of her tail twitched in amusement. :If you were in your right mind - which I cannot rightfully say you are - you would have realized I intended you no ill will. As it is, I was merely running a diagnostic check on your body.

:You positively reek of fear, by the way,: she continued. :Be glad that Caesar was not the one to come to my mistress' rescue. One whiff of you and that overgrown alpha male of a tyrantrum would have torn to you to pieces.:

She just held back a groan of exasperation at the confusion in the yveltal's gaze. Its cluelessness (or rather, his cluelessness; the pokemon's signature had been decidedly male-ish) was sorely apparent. Is he even listening?! Minerva thought.

Truthfully, the delphox might as well have been speaking gibberish for all the sense she made. That he was still ill with her attempted "diagnostic" did little to help his mood. At least her speech took his mind off the burgeoning ache in his skull. That, or perhaps her chattering made it even worse. He was not entirely sure which was the case. Either way, his focus was not on her at the moment.

A little further off Serena was poking around the water's edge. Every now and again the girl would look back nervously at the two pokémon, nervousness evident in her dilated grey eyes and trembling limbs. When her stare met his by chance, he swore that he could feel the blood freezing in her veins. He instantly turned his head from side to side, trying to find what horrified her so. He found nothing, and then a faint realization dawned in his mind.

Am I... am I the reason she is afraid?

He had no time to muse any further when his train of thought was interrupted by the delphox. When the female glared daggers of irritation at him, he could only return with an expression of chagrin laced with similar annoyance.

Holy Arceus, it's looking right at me!

She went still in the face of that mind-numbing stare. For a few moments Serena thought the yvetlal would leap up and begin its airborne pursuit anew. Something else caught its attention a second or two later, though, and she thanked her lucky stars. "Walking on exeggcute shells" - it was a very appropriate expression for her current predicament. She could not even breathe without being afraid of setting off the behemoth.

After an eternity, she finally got near enough to the master ball to snatch it from the bank. Serena clutched it to her chest, the key to getting out of this nightmare. All she had to do now was sneak up on the yveltal and get within recall range. If she were quiet enough and Minerva kept its attention, the girl would have the raging bird of death restrained in a matter of minutes. Maybe she would even be able to make it to Couriway before dark.

Bracing herself, she slowly got to her feet. Fixing her gaze on the yveltal's form she was careful to be silent. Serena took a few deep breaths to calm the pounding tattoo of her heart. Her hold on the master ball tightened as she steeled her resolve and went forward.

Any caution or gentleness she possessed before was replaced in an instant by indignant fury. Minerva marched straight over to the scarlet-and-black pokémon, her fur bristling and teeth bared. In the space of ten minutes the yveltal had managed to upset her cool as no one else ever had. Marvelous, just marvelous.

The unlit end of her branch came down hard on his muzzle. Once, twice, three times she walloped his face. He grunted out a yelp at each blow, and that satisfied the incensed part of her. It was the way her mother had disciplined her as a young fennekin. If the yveltal insisted upon acting like a pup scarcely whelped, then that was just how he would be treated. He certainly had thrown a tantrum like one, and his venonat-like attention span did him little credit.

:Are you deaf as well as dense?: she berated him across their link. :Impudent little pup! When someone is trying to help you, common courtesy dictates that you at least listen to them in return. One such as you might be expected to have far better manners.:

At least he had the decency to look ashamed. Minerva hit him across the head once more for good measure. Arms crossed, she scowled at the yveltal. From the surprise in his eyes, the delphox now had his undivided attention.

:Ahem.: The fur along her pelt finally settled. Taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke once more. :Now that I have your ears at last, I will continue. As I was saying…:

Come on, Serena. Keep it together, keep it together... Topping a small rise overlooking the river, the girl crept up on the two pokémon. Sweat beaded her brow and neck, as much from trepidation as from the muggy heat of the afternoon. Just a little closer and I'll be in range.

Minerva was currently keeping her captive in check by locking it in place with her trademark glare. It produced a similar effect to a golbat's Mean Look, though the move was not in the delphox species movepool the last time Serena checked. The vixen often managed Caesar with the same technique when he was in a mood. Apparently it worked on mythical incarnations of death as well as temperamental tyrantrums. The flaming end of her branch that was dangerously close the yveltal's eye probably had something to do with its complacency, too.

On another day, Serena might have laughed to see her starter holding back a legend five times her size with scarcely anything but a disapproving look. At present the girl could only pray her delphox did not get hurt trying to protect her. If Serena feared anything more than the yveltal in that moment, it was the possibility of losing Minerva to the monster.

So focused was she on getting behind the bird, the teenager did not look where she was placing her foot... right into an old durant hole.

"Waaaaah!" With a queazy-making crack! she went sailing head first down the rocky slope. Sending dust and pebbles up in her wake, Serena played the part of a human tumbleweed, grunting and shrieking her way down the slope. When she did stop at long last she was bruised, had dirt up places she did not know she had, and was cursing the universe in general.

Today is just not my day, is it? she thought to no one in particular. Her eyes watered from the debris in them, and her world went bleary for several seconds. Putting a hand out to get back up on her feet, she noticed something rather odd. The surface that had broken her fall felt strangely leathery, and the scent of bitter herbs wafted from all around. Serena immediately stiffened.

When the ground beneath her shifted, a terrified "eep!" escaped her lips. A soft, rumbling trill echoed far too close to her ear for comfort. She was rolled off what was apparently a long red wing, narrowly avoiding the wickedly sharp claws at the end. Breath shallow in her chest, Serena watched in abject horror at the yveltal loomed above her. Propped up on its arm-like wings it all but trapped her beneath that bulky form. Minerva growled in warning some ways off, but the girl could register nothing but the intense blue eyes that held her own gaze.

Suddenly, the yveltal bent its head towards her. Gasping, she scrambled backwards like a corphish from a fisherman's lure. Or, at least, she would have save for the pain firing through her right heel when she put her weight on it. Tears pricked at the corners of eyes as the sprain smarted. Apparently that tumble down the hill had given her more than a few bruises.

"Ow!" She clutched her foot with one hand while scooting back across the ground as quickly as she could from the monster still too close to her. Minerva was by her side in an instant, crouching over her trainer. The delphox's presence was not enough to deter the yveltal this time, however.

Tilting his head to the side, he looked at the girl with tired curiosity. He had been as surprised as she when she came crashing on his back. Serena's weight was nothing to him, of course, but her sudden closeness was both unexpected and... pleasant. Something deep in his core thrummed at her close proximity. It dulled the edge of his fear and stress, deadened the ache in his temples.

/"The trainer-pokémon bond is something that not even modern science can quite explain. Yet, despite the fact that it cannot be seen or measured, there is still something undeniable..."/

He did not miss the way she gingerly held her heel. The girl's face was drawn up in equal parts fear and pain, and he knew he was the cause of both. Guilt burned as a tiny ember in his chest, though it was greatly overshadowed by the vague euphoria clouding his senses. He did not wish to be the reason for her pain, not when her presence alone did so much to anchor him to this world.

/"The two - the trainer and pokémon - grow stronger together, maturing and becoming closer as a team. They live and battle alongside each other, moving and breathing in-sync as if they can read one another's mind. There are even tales of trainers and pokémon who are bonded on such a deep level that they share emotions with each other."/

Ignoring the chittering of the delphox, he shifted until his horns framed the girl's trembling form. He pushed his great head gently into her chest. His growling was so soft that the low rumble might have been mistaken for purring. Sleepiness stole over him once more, and his eyes fluttered slowly shut. Rubbing against her slight body like an affectionate persian, his body began to go lax.

The storm within himself had finally quieted. Fear, anger, sadness - all of it was gone. As he sank into darkness once more, he finally realized what he had been searching for in Serena, in those familiar-yet-unfamiliar grey eyes: peace.

He held that feeling close to himself as the red energy of the master ball flashed around him, pulling him into the shadows of sleep once more.

A/N: And there's another one, folks! Now that we have something of a set up, you can expect the next few chapters to be more action-oriented!

Thanks to all you new subscribers as well as the lovelies who have stuck it out thus far. Your reviews always give me the encouragement I need to keep writing. Have a lovely evening, until next time! ;D

-Xen