The sun was dimming as it sank down the sky. And the bits of blue visible through the canopy of leaves were slowly turning orange and pink. Kriss stood in a patch of long weeds, ignoring the scratches they left on her legs. How long had she been searching without even a sign of butterfree? The air was starting to turn cold, the once welcoming shade of the forest turned against her. A gust of wind blew past her forcing her to hug herself as a shield against the sudden cold.
"What if that kid was pulling some kind of prank?" She thought. She wouldn't put it past him, the kind of trainer he seemed to be. An embarrassed heat rose through her, in sharp contrast with the evening air. "I let myself get lost out here for a stupid prank?" She turned, frustrated, in the direction that she thought the path might be. If she hurried, she might be able to get somewhere familiar before it got dark. She hadn't even taken a step when another strong gust of wind hit her in the face. She froze, something about that wind bothered her. Didn't the last gust come from the opposite direction? She closed her eyes and felt the breeze tugging at her hair. The wind was definitely blowing in from somewhere in front of her, so where did the breeze behind her come from? She turned back around and stared into the mass of deep green, tinged orange by the setting sun and listened. Daring not to even breathe. As if in response to her pounding heart, a high, lilting call drifted to Kriss' ears. "No way…."
She crouched low, letting the weeds prick at her cheeks. If that was what she hoped it was, she couldn't afford to scare it off. She moved slowly through the grass, praying that no hidden sticks found their way under her tennis shoes. The forest around her was growing dimmer. As the sun's light became blocked out, small ethereal lights started to twinkle around her. Some from tiny bug pokemon and others from strange plants that Kriss couldn't identify. They sparkled in muted oranges and blues as she continued on. Soon, she found herself at the base of a large tree, it's girth overshadowed any other plant in the forest, and it's strong limbs reached out in twisted labyrinths. She stared up at it, frozen. There, illuminated by a stray beam of orange evening light were two large butterflies. Each one bigger than Kriss' face. She could clearly make out their white-as-clouds wings against the tree's dark green leaves. Their high pitched calls almost sounded like children's laughter as they darted around each other, sending gusts of wind with their powerful, yet delicate, wings.
"Gotcha." Kriss whispered as she slowly, soundlessly straightened her legs. She unclipped the pokeball from her belt with slow fingers. It still felt weird in the palm of her hand, as if it was a glove that didn't fit quite right. "Alright, Magikarp, here's your chance." She said softly, gingerly placing the ball on the ground in front of her feet. The butterfree suddenly stopped their game and watched as Magikarp shimmered into existence. It appeared one on side, mouth wide open, exactly what you would expect a fish out of water to look like. The butterfree's chittering call started up again, but this time Kriss couldn't help but feel like it was aimed at her. "Okay, get them." Kriss said, gesturing towards the pokemon in the tree. The magikarp looked at her with it's upwards facing eye. Kriss could see the energy building in it's little body. Then, it hopped up into the air.
And immediately fell down again. It throw itself up and down over and over, writhing and squirming. Somehow managing to splash up water where there was none. The butterfree grew louder. One of them flew over the magikarp helpless on the ground. It flew in small circles over the pokemon, releasing a sparkling powder from it's wings. As the powder settled onto Magikarp's scales, it's movements became slower until finally, it stopped moving at all. Kriss crouched down and poked at it.
"Are you...asleep?" She said. The magikarp ,glassy eye still wide open, only shifted in reply. The butterfree resumed their noises, the one still overhead made motions to leave. "Hey! Wait!" Kriss cried. She quickly stood up and grabbed at the magikarp, catching it by it's round foot. "Just let me catch you." The butterfree looked down at her with it's large red eyes. Every honeycomb shaped section within them poured out annoyance.
"'Freee" The pokemon called out, twisting it's foot free and pumping it's wings towards Kriss. The gust was strong enough to send her sprawling onto her butt as the butterfree flew deeper into the forest. She blinked and stared after it, she hadn't expected a little pokemon to be so strong. She shot up again, grabbing Magikarp's pokeball. She still needed to catch it. She ran after the butterfree, returning Magikarp as she passed by it. The butterfree were fast. Fast enough that she couldn't see them as they raced. But she could see traces of them. Sparkling powder decorating leaves, a high pitched voice along the same path. They gave Kriss confidence that she was heading the right direction.
Finally , she burst through a hedge into an overgrown clearing. She couldn't tell if it was because of the density of the forest, or because the sun had finally finished setting, but her eyes strained to see in the dark green. Some flat stones peeked out of the weeds. Laying on the stones, their wings spread flat over their bodies like shimmering blankets, was a hoard of butterfree. Breathing heavy, Kriss dug around in her backpack. Her hand found the smooth plastic of an empty pokeball. Pokeball in hand, she tiptoed over to the nearest butterfree. The tall, slightly wet grass dampened her footsteps until she was standing directly over the sleeping pokemon. "Come on." she whispered, lowering the ball right next to the butterfree's face. It's eyes snapped open, " 'Freeee!" it cried, waking all the other butterfree. The air was filled with the sound of flapping rings and frantic cries as butterfree scattered in all directions. They all made their way out of the clearing, hiding in the dense treeline. Kriss saw her butterfly start to rise with small flaps of it's wings.
"Oh no you don't" Kriss said, throwing herself at the butterfly. She wrapped her arms around it and held it tight. She raised the pokeball up to it's head. " Just. get. In. your. Home." She said, through grit teeth, struggling to keep a hold on the pokemon.
" 'Terfree" the butterfree yelled, fear clear in it's voice. Kriss loosened her grip. What was she doing? This way was no better than an irresponsible trainer's.
" I'm sorry." She said, dejected. The butterfree squirmed its way out of her relaxed arms. " I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to go with that snot nose either." She held her hands softly in her lap, head hung from the shame of ignoring her own morals. The butterfree took to the air without a sound. A sudden 'thump' drew Kriss' attention. The butterfree was on the ground, trying to get airborne again. It got only a couple feet of the ground before plummeting back down again. It cried out in frustrated pain.
Kriss ran over and crouched near the injured pokemon. She reached out with shaking hands and gently spread the butterfree's wings. There was a long tear from the outside tip of the white wing all the way down to the middle.
" This is my fault, isn't it?" She said, quietly. The butterfree grew still, sensitive to the strain in her voice. " I'm sorry, I'm going to make this right." She scooped the butterfree up into her arms, cradling it like a newborn baby. The butterfree protested, kicking and flapping its wings. " Chill out, I'm just gonna take you to the poke center. Then you can do whatever you want." The butterfree stopped and looked up into Kriss' face. There was a strange mischievousness reflected in it's eyes. Kriss wobbled backwards as the pokemon flung itself onto her chest and climbed up onto her shoulder. It looked down at her with a haughty expression, as if saying " You want to make this right? I'd like to see you try."
