*Author's note: My thanks to TopazSoarhire for reading and reviewing. I appreciate the praise. *
Survivor's healing progressed well, in July his cast was removed and he no longer needed bandages on his side. He was now completely healed and was practicing to fly again. The time to let him free was drawing near.
"Coren, you remember Emily, from, the Poke-center, don't you?" asked Mina, Coren's mom.
"Yeah, I do. Why? What's up?"
"Well, she called this morning to tell us about the annual Poke-center Care Awards. She said that you and Survivor were nominated for some of the categories, so she hoped that you would like to attend. It's on July 30th."
"Wow, we've been nominated? Wait'll I tell Aleena!"
"So I take it you want to go?"
"Are you kidding?! It sounds cool! I wonder what I've been nominated for. Is it all right if I use the phone to call Aleena?"
"Of course."
"Good." Coren raced towards the phone. He paused at the living room door.
"Hey Survivor! We've been nominated for some awards!"
Survivor quacked, and then went back to watching the T.V., which Ben had on. They were watching a show with a guy wearing camouflage. He was in the jungle and was talking about how to properly catch tough Pokemon.
"Are you watching Dunsparce Hunter again?" asked Coren.
"Come now Coren, it's a classic," said Ben.
"More like a doofus," muttered Coren. He shook his head and headed back out into the hall.
"Hello?" said Aleena.
"Hey-Leena-guess-what!" Coren said so fast that it took Aleena a moment to register who it was and what they had said.
"What?"
"Survivor and I have been nominated for some of the categories at the Annual Poke-center Care Awards!"
"Wow! Really?"
"Really!"
"So what categories?"
"I don't know. Mom just told me about the fact that I'm nominated. She didn't say anything else. I'll have to ask her. But she might not know."
"So when is it?"
"When is what?"
"Coren, when are the awards?"
"Oh. Uh… July 30th. Do you think you'll be able to make it?"
"I sure hope so."
July 30th came. Coren, his parents, and Survivor had gone to the Poke-center. There were a lot of people there. Coren wasn't sure if had ever seen so many people before. Lily came over to them.
"I'm glad to see you here, Coren."
"Yeah, um, have you seen Aleena?" Coren was craning his neck, trying to see through the crowd.
"That blonde haired girl that's always with you lately?"
"Yeah, her."
"I think so. I think I saw her over by the waiting area. That's were everyone who's been nominated is supposed to be so she's probably over there waiting for you."
"Okay, thanks."
"Sure."
Coren wove his way through the crowd and found the waiting area. Aleena, Darren, Damien, and several other people Coren didn't know were already there.
"Aleena!" Coren called, as Survivor jumped out of his hands and flew to her.
"There you are," said Aleena, as she held out her arms, letting Survivor land in them.
"You're here?" said Damien.
"Yes, I've been nominated."
"Oh? What for?"
"Three actually, Best Trained, Best Recovered, and Closest Bonded."
"I'm in here for the best trained. I don't see what the point of the Closest Bonded is do you? I mean, they don't obey you any better do they?"
"Actually," said Darren, "from what I've heard and seen, they do seem to listen to you better. They're also more loyal."
"Huh. Like their loyalty would actually last in a dangerous situation. They're just Pokemon, their instinct is to survive, not risk their life for you."
Coren said, "Then how come so many of them have risked their lives for humans?"
Damien snorted, "give me a brake, that sort of thing only happens in movies and stories."
A brown haired boy spoke up, "No it doesn't. My grandma had her life save by a Pokemon. At risk to it's own life too."
"It was probably so pampered that it didn't know what danger was."
The boy shook his head, "Uh uh, it was a wild Pokemon."
Damien didn't seem to know quite what to say to that, so instead he said, "who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Tyler Trixton. I don't actually have any Pokemon, but my grandparents let me help out at their ranch. I've been nominated for Best Grooming Care."
They waited a while longer, with a few people talking here and there, but no one really had anything much to talk about. Finally the loud speaker came on.
"WELCOME PEOPLE… ahem, sorry about the loudness, Welcome to the twentieth Annual Poke-center Care Awards. If you would all please gather around the stage…"
People gathered around the stage, and the nominees gathered near the entrance to the stage. The stage was a temporary set up. It had lights around it, shining on the stage (which, since it was evening, was becoming necessary in order to see). Emily was standing up on stage, next to a table with medals and envelopes on it. She was also the one who was holding the microphone.
"The first award that we're going to give out is the Best General Care of a Pokemon. Each year it's given to the person who has given good care on a regular basis to a Pokemon. Often this award goes to breeders, since they have so much to do to take care of their Pokemon, but they still get it done. This year however, it has been given to someone who is not yet a breeder, but has worked really hard to learn as much as they can about Pokemon, and to take the best possible care of their own Pokemon.
"The prize for the Best General Care of Pokemon is 500 gold pieces, and the B.G.C.P. Award medal.
"And this year's winner for the Best General Care of Pokemon is Lily Piers!" The crowd cheered and applauded.
A woman with long purple hair approached the stage. She was riding a ponyta, with a houndour and umbreon following. The ponyta, whom Coren knew to be Wind Racer, charged forward and leapt onto the stage. The houndour and umbreon also jumped up. Lily bent down, so that Emily could get the medal around her neck.
"Thank you. I don't know what to say. I'd hoped to win, since I needed the money, but I really didn't expect to," said Lily, pulling her hair out of her face. "I guess I'd like to thank everyone who's encouraged me along the way, including Wind Racer, Moon Mist, and Champion. That's basically it."
"Leena, that's the Lily who's helped me with Survivor."
"Really? I thought she looked familiar."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's have another round of applause for Lily Piers!" The crowd applauded again. Coren applauded especially hard. This must really mean a lot for her dreams. She ought to have enough money to go places now! Lily rode Wind Racer towards the edge of the stage. The crowd got out of the way as Wind Racer leapt off of the stage and raced away. Moon Mist leapt off of the stage and ran after them. Champion, who had been preoccupied sniffing something, suddenly looked up. He barked and raced to the edge of the stage. He jumped off and followed them.
"Alright folks, it's time for the next award, which is the award for the Best Groomed Pokemon! This award is often given to professional groomers, since they have so much practice, but this year it's been given to a person who likes to spend their free time taking care of Pokemon, including grooming them.
"The prize is a grooming kit and 500 gold pieces, in addition to the award medal.
"The award for the Best Groomed Pokemon goes to Tyler Trixton, for his grooming of his grandmother's mareep!" Tyler grinned as the crowd cheered. He pulled out a Poke-ball and sent out a mareep.
"Come along, Glowa." Tyler and Glowa, the mareep, walked onto the stage. Emily hung the medal around his neck.
"I'm really pleased. I thought it'd be cool to win, I was right, it is cool."
"Alright everyone, let's hear it for Tyler and Glowa!" The crowd applauded again. Glowa bleated and looked around uncertainly. Tyler took out her ball, put her back in it, and trotted off the stage towards an older woman.
"Next is the award for the Best Trained Pokemon! This award is given to the person who has trained their Pokemon well, and who's Pokemon obeys them.
"The prize for this year is a trainer's kit and 500 gold pieces, with, of course, the award medal.
"The winner for the Best Trained Pokemon goes to Damien Durlan and his machop, Kei!" The crowd applauded as Damien walked up onto the stage.
"Damien, would you be willing to show us this brilliant Pokemon?"
Damien pulled out a Poke-ball and opened it. A machop appeared, flailed its arms menacingly, then stood and stared at Damien. Emily hung the medal around Damien's neck. Damien put Kei back in his ball, and walked off the stage.
"The next award is the Most Recovered Pokemon. It is given to the human who has helped a Pokemon recover from a terrible condition.
"The prize is a first aid kit and 500 gold pieces.
"This year's winner goes to someone who not only helped the Pokemon back to health, but was the one who initially rescued the Pokemon when it was first in trouble. The Most Recovered Pokemon goes to Coren Silmon and the wild Farfetch'd that he has so dutifully taken care of!" The crowed applauded. Coren noticed that Aleena was clapping especially hard. Coren walked onto the stage, holding Survivor.
"Thank you," said Coren. He shook his head, "I- I'm not really sure what to say. Survivor has more than repaid my kindness to him. He's my best friend, my only other friend who can compare is Aleena." As Emily hung the medal around his neck, he looked proudly down at it and Survivor. He hugged Survivor than walked off the stage.
"Let's here one more round for Coren and Survivor!"
"The next, and last, award is the Closest Bond. In my opinion this is one of the best awards, because it celebrates the friendship that can form between Pokemon and human. But it never is easy, or even really fair to say how close one pair of friends is to another pair, especially since different beings express their affection in different ways. So with this award we try to go by what we can see when choosing who is the closest, but just because you don't win this award, it doesn't mean that you aren't close to your Pokemon. In fact this award is really for all of the friendships out there, with the winners being the pair who has been chosen to represent all friendships.
"The prize is a Poke-doll and 500 gold pieces to the winner, also 500 to the Royal Pokemon Preserve, where Pokemon can live without fear of capture.
"This year it was so hard to decide between the nominated pairs that we have a tie, so they will both get their own prize and instead of 500 gold pieces, it will be 1000 going to the preserve. The winners of this award are Darren Crowthrew and his growlithe Shin Rock, and Coren Silmon and Survivor!" The crowd cheered as both Coren and Darren walked onto the stage, carrying their Pokemon.
Emily hung the medal around Darren's neck, and then another medal around Coren.
"Do either of you have anything to say?" asked Emily. Darren and Coren looked at each other. Both shifted their Pokemon so that they could shake each-other's hands.
"Congratulations." Said both Darren and Coren. Darren smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement. Coren also nodded, then turned to look at his parents and Aleena. They were waving and cheering along with the crowd.
"Well, I'm not sure that the praise for them ever actually stopped, but let's hear it one more time for these four, and all friendships!" The crowd erupted into cheers, applauding, whistling, and noise. Coren and Darren left the stage.
When Coren reached Aleena she shouted over the noise, "Congratulations!" She flung her arms around both Coren and Survivor. Coren grinned.
* * *
Coren sighed. It's almost time to let him go. He watched as Survivor flew from one perch to another. His flight's improving daily.
"Coren! How's he doing?" said Aleena, coming up the drive.
"Better and better," said Coren, trying to smile though it ended up as more of a grimace.
"Well that's good. But it does mean that the time to part is approaching."
Coren sighed again, and nodded, "exactly. It's great news, but it still means that I'm gonna have to say good by soon."
"Well let's forget about that for a little while. I know you need to think about it some, and prepare yourself, but that doesn't mean that you need to obsess about it."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Let's play with Survivor while we can." Aleena picked up a stick and threw it. Survivor looked at and then lunged forward, grabbing it in his beak. He tossed it in the air, caught it, and then flew over Aleena and Coren. He dropped the stick at just the right moment, so that it landed on Coren's head. Aleena laughed.
"Uh! That was hardly necessary…" Coren threw the stick strait up into the air.
Survivor caught it, and this time dropped it while flying over Aleena. She was ready for him, and grabbed the stick out of the air.
"Ready?" asked Aleena, bringing raising the stick over her head, "get it!"
Survivor dived; catching the stick shortly before it hit the ground. He tossed it in the air, but missed catching it. It hit the ground and before Survivor could get it, Coren dove at it. He grabbed the stick just as Survivor got there. Survivor tried to grab it, but Coren rolled over and leapt to his feet, the stick in his hands. He ran with Survivor hopping after him. Suddenly Survivor took flight and streaked past Coren, grabbing the stick on his way by, thus ripping it out of Coren's hands.
"Hey!" Coren stopped to catch his breath.
Aleena took up running under Survivor. He flew lower, so that he and Aleena's head were on the same level. Aleena grabbed the stick. She and Survivor both tugged on it, until Survivor lost his grip.
"Coren! Catch!" Aleena threw the stick towards Coren. He tried to catch it but missed, ending up with Survivor in his arms, instead of the stick. He burst out laughing. Survivor quacked. He squirmed and flapped his wings, causing Coren to lose his balance. They fell to the ground, Coren rolling to avoid landing on Survivor. Then he noticed the stick only a foot away. He crouched and looked at Survivor, who had spotted it two. They looked at each other for a moment and then both lunged for it. Just as they reached it Aleena picked it up.
"Yes!" cried Aleena.
"Hey!" exclaimed Coren as Survivor made a remarkably similar noise. But then neither off them could stop and both crashed into Aleena. All three tumbled to the ground in a mess of legs, arms, wings and feathers. Coren and Aleena collapsed into fits of laughter while Survivor danced around them, quacking.
They managed to untangle themselves and lay back in the grass, catching their breaths. Survivor settled himself between them. He gave a deep, contented sigh, and nestled himself in a ball. Coren echoed that sigh.
"Thanks Aleena. That helped a lot."
"You're welcome, but don't give me all the credit, Survivor himself help quite a bit."
"Yeah," said Coren, rolling onto his side to stroke Survivor. Aleena did the same. Survivor lifted his head up. Coren moved closer to him and rolled onto his back. Survivor sighed another contented sigh and rested his head on Coren's stomach.
"It's amazing how healing just being with, and playing with close friends can be," said Coren gazing up at the clouds drifting contentedly across the sky.
"I know. I'm really glad I met you two." Aleena watched as a cloud that looked like a farfetch'd merged with another to become a rattata.
"So am I." Coren closed his eyes and inhaled deeply of the fresh earth and grass.
A gentle summer wind stroked their hair and feathers, caressing them.
Coren sighed. Things will work out, somehow.